“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This is the what Jesus tells His disciples in John 13 shortly before going to the cross. The level of love commanded here is quite amazing. We are love each other just as Christ loved us. What did He do for us? He considered Himself of no reputation and took on the form of man and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2)
This is the kind of love we are to have for one another. That same chapter of Philippians verse 4 tells us to look out not only for our own interests but also for the interests of others esteeming others better than ourselves.
When we look at the characteristics of love given for us in 1 Corinthians 13 we find that love suffers long and is kind. Love is not boastful or envious. It doesn’t put on airs and is not puffed up. It does not behave rudely nor seek its own way. It is not provoked and does not think evil of others. It’s relatively easy not to speak evil of others, but not to think it?!
What a challenge for us who call ourselves Christians to realize that this kind of love is the target we are aiming at. Jesus told the disciples in John 13 that everyone would know our connection with Christ as His disciples by the evidence of this kind of love.
I have a long way to go.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
A Picture of Humility
The picture Jesus used to illustrate humility is interesting to me. There are probably other things He could have used if all He was trying to teach was the need for humility. In this instance, though, He used a cleansing process. To me this shows that what we do for one another is a type of spiritual cleansing. We are our brother’s keeper. Not in a pride, arrogant and pharisaical way, but in a humble serving way. James 5:16 tells us that we are to confess our faults to one another and thus be healed. Galatians 6:1 tells us that when a brother is overtaken in a fault, a spiritual person should restore this one with a spirit of humility. I Thessalonians 5:11 tells us that we are to edify one another. All of these verses speak of a humble cleansing process that Christians do for one another.
This, of course, takes a great deal of humility. It takes humility to receive admonition and spiritual advice from someone else. Just as Peter resisted, we often resist. We don’t need the help. We can do it on our own. Who do they think they are to give us advice or challenge our behavior?
It also takes humility on the part of the person reaching out to give the spiritual assistance. Jesus laid aside his regular garments and dressed like a servant. We should do the same when playing this role.
This cleansing or washing that we do for one another needs to be based on the Word. Ephesians 5:26 says about Christ that He “gave Himself for her {the church}, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” Our service to one another in the sense that I am writing about today is based on and uses the Word of God. We have not right to take our personal preferences and opinions and impose them on other people. Rather, we are to use the Word of God as the cleansing agent. It alone has the power to cleanse and change lives. We need to take the Word, make sure we have applied it to our own lives first (Matthew 7:3), and then gently and humbly help others in their walk with Christ. Paul had said in Philippians 1 that his purpose for having been left here on earth was for the progress and joy of faith of others. (vs 25) and that should be the same for us.
This, of course, takes a great deal of humility. It takes humility to receive admonition and spiritual advice from someone else. Just as Peter resisted, we often resist. We don’t need the help. We can do it on our own. Who do they think they are to give us advice or challenge our behavior?
It also takes humility on the part of the person reaching out to give the spiritual assistance. Jesus laid aside his regular garments and dressed like a servant. We should do the same when playing this role.
This cleansing or washing that we do for one another needs to be based on the Word. Ephesians 5:26 says about Christ that He “gave Himself for her {the church}, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” Our service to one another in the sense that I am writing about today is based on and uses the Word of God. We have not right to take our personal preferences and opinions and impose them on other people. Rather, we are to use the Word of God as the cleansing agent. It alone has the power to cleanse and change lives. We need to take the Word, make sure we have applied it to our own lives first (Matthew 7:3), and then gently and humbly help others in their walk with Christ. Paul had said in Philippians 1 that his purpose for having been left here on earth was for the progress and joy of faith of others. (vs 25) and that should be the same for us.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Wash My Feet? Never!
This week I’ve been meditating on John 13:1-17 which deals with Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. I’m not one of those who believes that this practice is literally to be practiced in the church, so I ask myself what exactly am I to learn from this account?
One of the first things that caught my attention was the illustration this is of Jesus’ step of humbling himself to come to earth to redeem us. Verse 4 says that he arose and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded himself. It struck me how similar this is to Philippians 2 where we learn that Jesus made Himself of no reputation, and taking the form of a bondservant, He humbled Himself. It seems to me that this event of washing feet is a picture of the grander event of Christ’s humiliation for us.
Peter’s reaction to all of this is interesting. First he says, “You will never wash my feet!” Then when Jesus tells him that if he doesn’t then he will have no part with him, Peter goes to the other extreme and asks for a complete bath. There is humility in receiving some service or gift from another. Jesus was willing to be humble enough to wash feet, but at first, Peter wasn’t humble enough to receive it. How many times have you been in a situation outside of your control where you needed to call someone to help you? Don’t you often look for any other possible way to accomplish the task without help? We so often try to be self sufficient and we don’t like the humble position of needing help. 2 Corinthians 8:14 tells us that our abundance is to be used to help someone else and then at some other time their abundance will be available to help us when we lack.
One of the first things that caught my attention was the illustration this is of Jesus’ step of humbling himself to come to earth to redeem us. Verse 4 says that he arose and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded himself. It struck me how similar this is to Philippians 2 where we learn that Jesus made Himself of no reputation, and taking the form of a bondservant, He humbled Himself. It seems to me that this event of washing feet is a picture of the grander event of Christ’s humiliation for us.
Peter’s reaction to all of this is interesting. First he says, “You will never wash my feet!” Then when Jesus tells him that if he doesn’t then he will have no part with him, Peter goes to the other extreme and asks for a complete bath. There is humility in receiving some service or gift from another. Jesus was willing to be humble enough to wash feet, but at first, Peter wasn’t humble enough to receive it. How many times have you been in a situation outside of your control where you needed to call someone to help you? Don’t you often look for any other possible way to accomplish the task without help? We so often try to be self sufficient and we don’t like the humble position of needing help. 2 Corinthians 8:14 tells us that our abundance is to be used to help someone else and then at some other time their abundance will be available to help us when we lack.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
The Cross - Part 4
Another result of the death of Christ is the fact that in His death, we have died to the law. To prove his point, Paul uses the example of marriage in Romans 7. I’m not going to quote all 6 verses here, but if you find a Bible and read this section, I’ll summarize it for you.
Basically what Paul is saying is that if a woman’s husband is alive, it would be adultery for her to marry another man. If however, her husband has died, that law no longer has jurisdiction over her. She is free to remarry.
The key point begins in verse 4. “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another.” In the same way that the woman in this illustration has been freed from the law because of the death of her husband, we too have been freed from the law through the death of Christ.
Galatians 2:19,20 says, “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ….” Do you see what Paul is saying here? It is through the law that I died to the law through Christ. It is the law that frees us from the law. It is the law which says that it applies to a man only while he lives. Since we have died with Christ, according to the law, we are not under the law any more.
The standards of God haven’t changed. His holiness hasn’t changed, but our relationship to Him and the law has changed. The law has no jurisdiction. If the accuser of the brethren (Satan) brings a charge against us and challenges God to punish us based on the law, I imagine God saying something like this. “The sins you have brought up are worthy of death according to the law. But this person has already died and so that law doesn’t apply to someone who has died. I can’t punish him with death again.” So even though God is holy and righteous, and though He expects us to live righteously, the law is not the means to accomplish that. (See the previous post.)
Paul tells us in two different places that sin gains its power from the law. In Romans 7:7, 8. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.”
In I Corinthians 15:56 Paul writes, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” Once the law has been put into its proper place and perspective, it can no longer give power to sin. In “O For a Thousand Tongues” the writer says, “He breaks the power of cancelled sin.” That’s the point here. Sin’s curse and power have been broken by Christ on the cross. Law’s accusatory finger can no longer point at us and charge us with anything because we are no longer under its dominion. We have died with Christ and been raised with Him and therefore are on the other side of the resurrection as far as God is concerned. Because of this sin’s power has been removed.
Some have great fear that when we start discussing the fact that we are no longer under the jurisdiction of the law that that will bring forth all sorts loose living. But we need to go back to what we read from Romans 6. “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” The answer is that we can’t. Some misunderstand what grace is. Titus 2:11 tells us that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live righteously and godly lives. Grace, forgiveness and freedom from law do not provide the occasion for loose living. They provide the strength and power to live godly lives.
Basically what Paul is saying is that if a woman’s husband is alive, it would be adultery for her to marry another man. If however, her husband has died, that law no longer has jurisdiction over her. She is free to remarry.
The key point begins in verse 4. “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another.” In the same way that the woman in this illustration has been freed from the law because of the death of her husband, we too have been freed from the law through the death of Christ.
Galatians 2:19,20 says, “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ….” Do you see what Paul is saying here? It is through the law that I died to the law through Christ. It is the law that frees us from the law. It is the law which says that it applies to a man only while he lives. Since we have died with Christ, according to the law, we are not under the law any more.
The standards of God haven’t changed. His holiness hasn’t changed, but our relationship to Him and the law has changed. The law has no jurisdiction. If the accuser of the brethren (Satan) brings a charge against us and challenges God to punish us based on the law, I imagine God saying something like this. “The sins you have brought up are worthy of death according to the law. But this person has already died and so that law doesn’t apply to someone who has died. I can’t punish him with death again.” So even though God is holy and righteous, and though He expects us to live righteously, the law is not the means to accomplish that. (See the previous post.)
Paul tells us in two different places that sin gains its power from the law. In Romans 7:7, 8. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.”
In I Corinthians 15:56 Paul writes, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.” Once the law has been put into its proper place and perspective, it can no longer give power to sin. In “O For a Thousand Tongues” the writer says, “He breaks the power of cancelled sin.” That’s the point here. Sin’s curse and power have been broken by Christ on the cross. Law’s accusatory finger can no longer point at us and charge us with anything because we are no longer under its dominion. We have died with Christ and been raised with Him and therefore are on the other side of the resurrection as far as God is concerned. Because of this sin’s power has been removed.
Some have great fear that when we start discussing the fact that we are no longer under the jurisdiction of the law that that will bring forth all sorts loose living. But we need to go back to what we read from Romans 6. “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” The answer is that we can’t. Some misunderstand what grace is. Titus 2:11 tells us that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live righteously and godly lives. Grace, forgiveness and freedom from law do not provide the occasion for loose living. They provide the strength and power to live godly lives.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
The Cross - Part 3
In addition to what we have seen in the last two posts, the Bible teaches us that if we know Christ as Savior, we died with Him when He died. This has tremendous implications both for our understanding of what we have in Christ and for our daily walk in victory.
Romans 6:3 says “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Ephesians 2:5,6 adds to this by saying, “even when we were dead in trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
I believe that the baptism mentioned in Romans 6:3 is not water baptism, but the baptism of the Spirit which means that the Spirit immersed us into or placed us into the body of Christ. This is spoken of in I Corinthians 12:13 where it says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”
So since we have been placed into the body of Christ, God sees us as having died with Christ, risen with Christ and seated with Christ in heavenly places in Christ. This has great implications for our daily walk as Romans 6 teaches us.
If we go back to Romans 6:1 Paul asks, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” His answer in verse 2 is that we cannot because how can someone continue to sin who has died to it? In what way have we died to it? We died to it when we died with Christ. Paul says in verse 6, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.” That is a strong statement.
Sometimes sin seems to have so much power over us and we feel like we are its slave. But God tells us that if we are a Christian we have died with Christ and we have been freed from sin and its power. He goes so far as to say that the body of sin was destroyed or done away with. It certainly doesn’t feel that way does it? This almost makes it worse when we sin because we are doing so freely and we cannot blame our bondage to it and its power over us.
The key to victory is given in verses 10 and following. “For the death that He (Christ) died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” Now here’s the key, verse 11, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead.” We are to count ourselves to be dead with Christ. We are to believe it to be true and to act accordingly. So much of the time we let our minds dwell on things that aren’t true. In this case we are to think on and reckon as true the fact that we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3) We are to give ourselves to God as those who are past death and past the resurrection. As resurrected people we are to offer the parts of our body as tools or instruments to God for righteousness and we are to avoid presenting our bodies to sin as instruments or tools of unrighteousness. We may have given our bodies to sin before we died, but now that we are dead and resurrected, we are to be tools that God can use.
It’s interesting to look back at the passage in Colossians 3 that I quoted from earlier. The motivation for what we do is to be based on these truths. We are to seek those things which are above because we’ve been raised with Christ. We are to set our minds on the things above because “you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
The next post will be related to our new relationship with the law because of our death with Christ. However, I might mention here that right thinking concerning our identity with Christ and our death with Him is the best and most effective motivation for right living.
Romans 6:3 says “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Ephesians 2:5,6 adds to this by saying, “even when we were dead in trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
I believe that the baptism mentioned in Romans 6:3 is not water baptism, but the baptism of the Spirit which means that the Spirit immersed us into or placed us into the body of Christ. This is spoken of in I Corinthians 12:13 where it says, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”
So since we have been placed into the body of Christ, God sees us as having died with Christ, risen with Christ and seated with Christ in heavenly places in Christ. This has great implications for our daily walk as Romans 6 teaches us.
If we go back to Romans 6:1 Paul asks, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” His answer in verse 2 is that we cannot because how can someone continue to sin who has died to it? In what way have we died to it? We died to it when we died with Christ. Paul says in verse 6, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.” That is a strong statement.
Sometimes sin seems to have so much power over us and we feel like we are its slave. But God tells us that if we are a Christian we have died with Christ and we have been freed from sin and its power. He goes so far as to say that the body of sin was destroyed or done away with. It certainly doesn’t feel that way does it? This almost makes it worse when we sin because we are doing so freely and we cannot blame our bondage to it and its power over us.
The key to victory is given in verses 10 and following. “For the death that He (Christ) died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” Now here’s the key, verse 11, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead.” We are to count ourselves to be dead with Christ. We are to believe it to be true and to act accordingly. So much of the time we let our minds dwell on things that aren’t true. In this case we are to think on and reckon as true the fact that we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3) We are to give ourselves to God as those who are past death and past the resurrection. As resurrected people we are to offer the parts of our body as tools or instruments to God for righteousness and we are to avoid presenting our bodies to sin as instruments or tools of unrighteousness. We may have given our bodies to sin before we died, but now that we are dead and resurrected, we are to be tools that God can use.
It’s interesting to look back at the passage in Colossians 3 that I quoted from earlier. The motivation for what we do is to be based on these truths. We are to seek those things which are above because we’ve been raised with Christ. We are to set our minds on the things above because “you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
The next post will be related to our new relationship with the law because of our death with Christ. However, I might mention here that right thinking concerning our identity with Christ and our death with Him is the best and most effective motivation for right living.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
The Cross - Part 2
We’re thinking through some of the implications and results of Christ’s death on the cross for us. Last time we looked at His victory over Satan and sin. Today we consider the fact that the cross is different things to different people. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 1:18 ff that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Later in verse 23 he says that it is foolishness to the Greeks or Gentiles.
Isn’t that the truth in today’s sophisticated culture? The thought of God becoming a man in the first place seems like foolishness to most people today. To go further then and say that this one man’s death provided salvation for those who would come to Him by faith apart from works seems even more foolish.
Yet Paul quotes from the Old Testament and says that God will destroy the wisdom of the wise. God has made foolish the wisdom of this world. It was in the wisdom of God that He made it so that people could not come to Him through their wisdom, but through the “foolishness” of the message preached.
Besides being foolishness to the Gentiles, the cross is a stumbling block to the Jews. The Jewish nation was looking for a Messiah who would be a conqueror and release them from the Roman oppression and set up a kingdom on earth then and there. They missed what had been written in the Old Testament about the fact that the Messiah must come, suffer and die and be raised to life before any promised kingdom could be established. So for the Jews, the cross was a stumbling block.
“But”, says Paul, “to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” In verse 24 he says it this way, “but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
The cross is the central message we are to preach. So many churches today have abandoned the message of the cross and yet it is the central and most important message that must be preached. There is no other salvation than through Christ and His death, burial and resurrection.
Isn’t that the truth in today’s sophisticated culture? The thought of God becoming a man in the first place seems like foolishness to most people today. To go further then and say that this one man’s death provided salvation for those who would come to Him by faith apart from works seems even more foolish.
Yet Paul quotes from the Old Testament and says that God will destroy the wisdom of the wise. God has made foolish the wisdom of this world. It was in the wisdom of God that He made it so that people could not come to Him through their wisdom, but through the “foolishness” of the message preached.
Besides being foolishness to the Gentiles, the cross is a stumbling block to the Jews. The Jewish nation was looking for a Messiah who would be a conqueror and release them from the Roman oppression and set up a kingdom on earth then and there. They missed what had been written in the Old Testament about the fact that the Messiah must come, suffer and die and be raised to life before any promised kingdom could be established. So for the Jews, the cross was a stumbling block.
“But”, says Paul, “to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” In verse 24 he says it this way, “but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
The cross is the central message we are to preach. So many churches today have abandoned the message of the cross and yet it is the central and most important message that must be preached. There is no other salvation than through Christ and His death, burial and resurrection.
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