02/22/2009 Open Your Eyes When You Sing
I’m not sure when or how it happened exactly, but at some point Christianity underwent a change from a collectivist faith to an individualist faith. Instead of considering when Paul says, “God’s temple is holy, and you (plural in Greek) are that temple,” or “you (pl) are God’s field, God’s building,” Christians tend to emphasize the one time in all the New Testament when he says in the singular, “do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you.” In the latter he is addressing specific sins that people commit against their body. In the rest of the New Testament the dwelling place of God is the collective whole that is His Church. Peter describes us as “living stones…being built up as a spiritual house.” Paul describes us as a body when he says, “you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” We are told to be bearing each others’ burdens so that if one member of the body suffers the whole body suffers together. Clearly, the biblical teaching is that Christianity is about the collective body, not the specific individuals.
Why in the world, then, did the Western Church start to push this idea of Christianity being primarily a “personal relationship with Jesus”? Where did this notion come from? Why, when I sit in a pew or cushioned seat during a protestant mass or worship service does it seem that the entire experience is designed for me to observe the fullness of the performance with the least distraction from those seated around me? Why do many not partake of the Lord’s table using a single loaf and cup like Scripture teaches (1 Corinthians 10:16,17), instead replacing it with tiny individual wafers and grape juice cups? Why are we implored to have daily personal devotional time but are told we suffice to meet with other believers for only an hour per week, and then in total silence? And why, as the rest of this letter will address, when we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs do we do so like individuals at a music concert instead of one to another?
Paul told the Ephesian church to “address one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”. It seems to me that a comparison of this with the way that Western Christianity treats music is a perfect example of how we have deviated from the corporate expression of Christ that the New Testament describes the Church as being into just another self-centered religion.
I do not want to over-emphasize this problem. My personal belief is that it is but a symptom of many other problems that the Church has. The Protestant Church is far removed from the New Testament Church in a variety of ways. I do not think, however, that we ought to ignore it. A fundamental shift has taken place. The secular world, with its glorification of individualism and selfishness has tainted the Lord’s body. We ought to strive for change. On this ground I implore you, take a small step back toward Biblical Christianity next time you sing.
My implication is not that there is never a time for a Christian to close his eyes while singing praises to God. I am certain that there are times when that is appropriate. But next time you sing during corporate worship of our Lord Jesus, I encourage you to open your eyes. Get the attention of the brother or sister singing next to you or across from you and sing together with them. If you lead worship through song, try to select some songs that use the first person plural pronouns (we, our, us) rather than the singular (I, my, me). Those brothers and sisters singing with you may and probably will feel slightly awkward with these changes. We should expect them to be slightly taken aback at first, but I think over time the spirituality of the Church will improve and our joy of the Lord will be increased through our unity with each other. Prayerfully seek the Lord about trying this just one time. I think you will find it beneficial to building the church together as the dwelling place of God.
-Theophilus
02/08/2009 Dealing With Unbelievers
Today you’ll have to excuse me for the Sunday school lesson. In the New Testament there is a teaching that I believe to be pretty straight-forward. Unfortunately, it seems that Christians today are not only missing it, but they are in fact doing the exact opposite of what this teaching says. For this reason I have decided to give a small biblical exegesis explaining what we should be doing.
There are prescriptions in the scriptures as to how we, as Christians are to react to the sins of both unbelievers and our fellow believers. Clearly, when our brothers and sisters sin against us and then repent we are to forgive (Luke 17:3,4). However, when they refuse to repent, there is an exact formula given in the Bible as to what we are to do. I will briefly describe this formula.
When a brother sins against you, first show him his fault in private in hopes of the two of you being restored to Christian fellowship. If he will not repent, bring one or two other brothers with you. If with at the rebuke of these few, he remains unrepentant, bring the situation before the local church, probably specifically to the elders. If the brother still refuses to renounce his sin, he is to be removed from all fellowship with the body. Matthew 18:17 explains that he is to be treated as those whom the Jews of the day deemed unclean. We must remember, though, that all restoration should be done in a spirit of gentleness (Galatians 6:1). We also must realize through this passage that we are to accept the rebuke of the local church. We can disagree with a brother over our sin, even with the few brothers. However, once the church comes down on the side opposed to ours, we must submit to the leadership of the local church that the Lord set up. They will be obliged to abstain from fellowship with us otherwise. If one simply reads the passage in Matthew 18 it should be abundantly clear on how Christians are to handle situations when their brother sins.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 reaffirms this principle, but it also brings up another point. In verse ten Paul tells us that this principle does not apply to how we are to treat those who make no profession of faith. It is with “so-called brothers” that we abstain from fellowship with, even to the point of not eating with them (verse 11). With people of the world, however, our behavior clearly must be different. When someone lives in open sin while taking the name of Christ we are under an obligation to defend the sanctity of that name and to protect the purity of the local assembly by removing them. This is not necessary with someone who does not profess to be in Christ.
When one who does not belong to Christ sins, we are not to expect them to repent. We do not “hold them accountable” the way that we do a believer. We are gracious to them, even to the point of enduring their persecution of us. So the principle is different. We are given instructions in the New Testament on how to curb the sins of unbelievers, but it always has to do with more closely monitoring our own behavior and never with attempting to forcibly change theirs. An example of this is in 1 Peter 2:12, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so when they slander you, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” See also Matthew 5:14-16 and Ephesians 5:11-13.
In my observation, the Church, especially in America today, is doing this exactly wrong. I see the rebuking and correcting of non-believers, and I see the ignoring of the sins of fellow Christians. When people of the world are involved in sin, American Christians have a terrible habit of trying to use political means to stop them. It seems pride in traditional Americanism has superceded obedience to the Scriptures. Christians also get a separatist mentality sometimes, trying to keep worldly influence away rather than graciously enduring the suffering of being in the world for the sake of the gospel. On the other hand, when confronted with wickedness within the Church, I rarely see Christians take a hard-line against it. When denominations ordain homosexual clergy, when televangelists are lost in greed, when the divorce rate is as high among Christians as among non-believers, it seems Christians want to sweep the issue under the rug. God forgive us! We do exactly the opposite of what we’re instructed.
Lord, please help us. As your Church, we want to represent you. Help us to show love and grace to those who do not know you yet. Help us to accept our role as light in a dark place. Yet, please help us to “purge out the leaven” as you’ve instructed us to.
-Theophilus
01/25/2009 Not I, But Christ
I must confess, I have often felt exasperated. When you read the teaching of our Lord as recorded in the gospel of Matthew chapters five through seven, if you are like me, you may be tempted to throw up your hands and give up on the Christian life. In a way, I believe that this is what the Lord Jesus actually wants us to do. He tells us to do what seems to be impossible. He says not to simply avoid adultery, which many men are able to do, but to not even look at a woman with lust. He says not to avoid provoking a fight, but rather to turn the other cheek after having the right cheek struck. He says to love our enemies, to give expecting nothing in return, to keep from harboring judgment in our hearts, and on and on it goes. Many of these commands (probably all of them in some capacity) are not teaching about controlling outward conduct, but about having a properly conditioned heart. Because of this, I must conclude that our Lord does not only seem to be teaching the impossible, but actually is teaching the impossible. You can tell a man to do something that he does not wish to do, and he may have the will power to grit his teeth and do it. But no amount of telling him will change the fact that he does not want to do it. Men are capable, at times, of controlling their actions, but they cannot control the desire of their heart. Jesus is asking of his disciples what man simply cannot do.
The problem here is that though this is a humanly impossible task, the Lord still requires it of us. What are we to do? I believe the answer is found by looking back at how we received justification. In the epistle to the Romans chapter three verse twenty-eight the apostle Paul tells us, “a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” He then defines what faith is for us in Hebrews chapter eleven verse one: “Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for.” (Darby Translation) Those of us who are believers in Christ Jesus know what this adds up to. Roughly 2000 years ago Jesus died to make an atonement for our sins. Now, once we believe in him, this truth is substantiated. Faith makes it real for us.
What does this have to do with our obedience to Jesus’ impossible teaching? Well, let’s look at another truth that may need to be substantiated by faith. Many places in the scriptures our co-death with Christ is mentioned. In Romans chapter six we are told two things about this death with Christ. First, we ought to know that our old man was crucified with him (verse six). Second we ought to reckon ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God (verse eleven). We cannot reckon something until we know it to be true. We have, in fact been crucified with Christ. Therefore let us account ourselves dead. We are not only dead to sin, but because of Jesus’ resurrection we are now alive to God in Christ Jesus. This, I believe, is the answer to our dilemma as to how to obey the Lord’s teaching. We cannot do it, but he can. Because of our death with him and subsequent resurrection with him, we are able to live a life pleasing to the Father through his life in us. This is why in Colossians three verse one Paul tells us that it is because we have been raised up with Christ that we can seek things above.
Sadly, this is not the case for many Christians. Most Christians, I believe, spend most of their time struggling to obey Christ through their own strength. They often sound like Paul in Romans seven verses nineteen through twenty-four and end up exclaiming with Paul, “Wretched man that I am!” They never get to verse twenty-five through chapter eight verse two. There can now be “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Many Christians never get to this point. I even saw a pastor preach on Romans seven recently and he taught this as being the norm for the Christian! He had a rope on stage and described how our whole life is like a tug-of-war match against sin. Apparently he does not realize that this struggle will always lead to Paul’s exasperation in verse twenty-four. We need to be set free from this struggle! Paul gives the answer to how we can be in the epistle to the Galatians in chapter two verse twenty. This also ties in with our discussion about faith being the substantiation of things hoped for.
In Galatians chapter two verse twenty Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” We know that the old man was crucified with Christ. Just like the case was with our justification, this truth is substantiated to us through our faith. This is why I believe the Lord’s speech in Matthew five through seven is really trying to get us to give up. We must know that we cannot win the battle against sin, we must trust him to win it for us.
Brother Watchman Nee said it well when discussing the Lord’s command to turn the other cheek. He said, “No one can exhaust the Lord’s grace in me. Let us see that what is taking place here is that God is testing me. Yet, as a matter of fact, it is not I whom God tests, but actually he is testing himself, in showing me, if he be allowed to do so, what the Lord who abides in me can do.” Therefore, if ever you feel like the old man wishes to act, that sin living in you wants to act through you, know that you can reckon yourself dead, because, by faith, you know that you are dead, and allow Christ, through His Spirit to make His life in you.
-Theophilus
01/18/2009 Gospel of Life
I thought it would be appropriate for me to share the first thing that I generally share with people about Jesus Christ: The grace gospel. It is, I believe, the most essential and foundational message of Christ presented in the Bible. I hope you find it helpful. This is the initial spiritual truth that I believe all other spiritual truths should grow up from.
Salvation by Grace Through Faith:
The Gospel of Life
How can a person please God? During His earthly ministry Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments." (John 14:15) He also referenced the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses which says, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:5) It is obvious that the people of the world are not keeping God's commandments. This can be seen in global problems like war, crime, corruption, and poverty, as well as in personal evils such as anger, pride, greed, and selfishness. The apostle Paul was certainly correct when he said "There is none righteous" (Romans 3:10). This naturally leads to the conclusion that men simply do not love God. Paul, in fact, goes on to say, "There is none who seeks for God." (Romans 3:11)What then is the answer? How can a person love Him and thus keep His commandments? There is only one way, and it is found in the one person in whom God was, in fact "well pleased." This One is His "beloved Son," Jesus Christ. (Matthew 3:17) Those who believe in Jesus ought to know that they have partaken of his death. When Jesus died the sinful self died with Him (Romans 6:6) so now believers in Him no longer have to receive judgment (John 5:24). Believers also have partaken of His "divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). This means that because of His resurrection, the Christian now receives “newness of life” (Romans 6:4) through Jesus’ dwelling within him. Now, because of the partaking of God’s nature, love for God the Father, for Jesus the Son, and for everyone else should now just pour out of the believer. This is the theme of most of what is written in the New Testament by the apostle John. 1 John 4:7,8 says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." Does this not show a profound truth about God? His very nature is love! The apostle John says that it was because of God's great love that He as provided the opportunity for the forgiveness of sins and the eternal, divine life of God. He says, "For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16) Now for those who have not yet received this life, John goes on in this same passage to say how one can receive this life. He says, "...that everyone who BELIEVES in Him shall not perish, but has eternal life." The apostle Paul confirms this point when he says that people are saved "by grace...through faith." (Ephesians 2:8,9) Do you wish to receive this gift of God? Do you want to have your sins forgiven and to receive the life of the Lord Jesus? All you need to do is believe in Him. John makes this clear when he quotes Jesus as saying, "He who believes has eternal life." (John 6:47) That's it. All it takes is belief. While there are other important truths taught in the Scriptures, not one is as basic or essential as this one. This truth is also quite simple. Many, through misunderstanding of other teachings in scripture, will alter this foundational message. We need not be misled, however. There is only one means of pleasing the Father and that is through the life of the Son, and there is one and exclusively one means of receiving the eternal life of the Son: believing in Him. At the risk of redundancy I repeat the message of Jesus according to the apostle John: "He who believes has eternal life" (John 3:36).
-Theophilus
01/15/2009 First Letter
This web log will be the place that I put my opinions, specifically regarding matters of theology and biblical interpretation. I am doing this anonymously because I want readers only to consider the thought process of what is written and not the writer. Everything I write I give to the Lord Jesus. If I deem anything here undeserving of him I will quickly delete it. I hope and pray that he would use my humble effort to speak his word to reach the spirits of those who read.
I implore all those who read these words of mine to do so with an open mind and heart, and more importantly an open Bible. Everything we here from men, be they brethren or not, should be measured against the inspired Word of God.
It is my belief that entirely too much of modern Christendom's understanding of the Bible is skewed and misses the mark. I will not shy away from telling what I believe to be the whole truth. That being said, it is not at all my desire to offend my brothers. If you believe that anything written here is in a bad spirit, please inform me and I will reconsider posting it.
Now may Christ Jesus our Lord use this humble presentation as he sees fit. With brotherly love,
Theophilus
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