Tag: the Holy Spirit

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Six)

20120605_1038432 Peter 1:20-21

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (NIV).

The Spirit acted in a way that made sure that the content was God’s word: “as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The process of the Spirit breathing out the word is full of mystery. This brief phrase is as close as the Spirit comes to explaining his communication of God’s message through human writers. He carried them along, is a forceful expression. Compare the use of the Greek word phero in Mark 2:3; 4:8; 12:15-16; Acts 27:15, 17. But how did he carry them along? “We take the historic fact; but we decline every attempt to explain the inscrutable mode… no finite mind can venture, without presumption, to say how the human faculties concurred and acted with the Spirit’s activity in the expression of a divine oracle” (Smeaton, The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, p. 166).

As God the Holy Spirit carried along the apostles and prophets, he “did not destroy the author’s individuality and talents, making the whole Bible stereotyped, with one style from Genesis to Revelation—the style of the Holy Spirit—with all the human differences of the writers overridden and ignored” (Palmer, The Holy Spirit, p. 50). Instead, the Holy Spirit acted differently. He used “the experiences of the authors to govern their writing, their different emotions to color their thinking, their individual tastes to be expressed in the Bible” (Ibid.)

Let’s think of some examples. What would the Bible be like without the strong faith of Abraham in Genesis 22, or the repentant prayer of David in Psalm 51, or Paul’s holy passion to know Christ in Philippians 3 or John’s tender exhortation to his dear friends to love one another in 1 John 4? In the Scriptures you see our holy Maker getting down in the muck of human lives to draw forth gems for his glory and our good. You ought to worship a God like that!

The process of the Spirit breathing out the word is full of God’s sovereignty. This is seen in the various ways that he gave the Scriptures (Hebrews 1:1): “dreams, visions, individual illumination and research, as well as ordinary and extraordinary divine providences, are involved in the process” (Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, p. 27).

The Spirit carried along the men who spoke in many ways:

  • By directing their heredity, family upbringing, education and personal history
  • By his continual work in the history of redemption; all stood at a point of history for his selected purpose
  • By his influence on their hearts through previous revelation
  • By applying Christ’s redemptive work to their hearts
  • By in some way revealing God’s mind to them so that they had to speak it, consider Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-10; 15:16; 20:9)
  • By leading them to produce a unified message: the story of God’s glory in Jesus Christ

The Scriptures themselves are one of the brightest witnesses to the sovereign grace of God. The Lord the Spirit reached down among people in conformity with the Father’s choice, molded a life, drew that person to salvation, and worked through them in such a way, so that when they wrote the Scriptures, it was the Spirit of God speaking (2 Samuel 23:2; Matthew 22:43; Acts 4:25; 28:25). Now is the time to worship the Sovereign God, who can so powerfully work in human hearts! And here is hope. The same God still speaks through his word today! He can change your life and the lives of people you love!

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Five)

IMG_26382 Peter 1:20-21

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (NIV).

The content of the Scriptures does not originate with mankind— “for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man”. The apostle clearly teaches that the prophets did not concoct the Scriptures out of their own choices. They did not have some kind of superior insight from their human nature into the human predicament. They did not invent cleverly devised tales. In many passages you can easily observe the artless words of an eyewitness to an event or those stating what they had been told by God. There is no effort to “clean up the text”. And the heroic acts of the people of God are present right alongside of their miserable failures. Think of David, Samson, Asa, and Peter, too! In addition, often the prophets wrote things that were beyond their knowledge, like Isaiah’s prediction of Cyrus. At other times they wrote what they did not even like: Jeremiah (Jeremiah 15:10; 20:7-18), Jonah (Jonah 1:3; 4:1), and Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:2-4).

This phrase puts at least two necessary limits and clarifications on our thoughts about the Scriptures. “The Biblical writers do not conceive of the Scriptures as a human product breathed into by the Divine Spirit, and thus heightened in its qualities or endowed with new qualities; but as a Divine product produced through the instrumentality of men.” [Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, p. 153] So though we might call it a joint product, both parties are not contributing to the written product in the same way. Also, the apostles and prophets were not responding to cultural situations out of their own wills. Yet many argue contrary to this text in cases when the Word of God comes into direct conflict with one of the darling ideas of a godless and wicked culture, such as many kinds of sexual immorality.

It is easy to list many objections that unbelieving people have against ideas and values that the Bible presents. They suppose the Biblical writers were anti-human because they prohibited sinful practices that are spiritually and often physically destructive, yet which unbelievers are fond of, such as drunkenness.  The inspired writers did not speak from their own desires, but communicated God’s desires, which seek the peace, joy and unity of his people.

In the face of this statement, we must all submit to God’s authority and bow before it. See 2 Timothy 3:16. This is not a popular position to take in these lawless days, but it is God’s path. Let God be true, and every man a liar (Romans 3:4). The Spirit of truth (John 15:26) acted in the giving of the Bible to provide an accurate presentation of the human condition. Like medical doctors who give their patients correct though unwelcome diagnoses, the Spirit tells us the truth about ourselves. Unlike medical doctors in many situations, the Holy Spirit knows the exact remedy for us. In the Scriptures, he proclaims the only way for people to be right with God. Sadly, the truth is unwelcome, much more unwelcome than the medical doctor that tells you to lose twenty pounds. But better than medical doctors, the Spirit of God can cause us to love the message of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, cause many to love the truth and to be saved!

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Four)

dscn00222 Peter 1:20-21

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (NIV).

Next, we want to think about the activity of the Holy Spirit of God in giving us the written message, the Holy Scriptures. As we begin, it is wise to state that we will encounter mystery here. The Spirit does not answer all our questions in the Bible. In it he gives us true truth, though not exhaustive truth. But though we cannot know fully, we have all we need to know. Consider one illustration. The games of the great chess grandmasters have been preserved for people to enjoy and study. If you have some understanding of chess, you can replay them and grasp to some degree how they achieved victory. But sometimes it is beyond the comprehension of most of us how they could discern the possibilities in a position and bring out its potential through a sequence of many moves. Watch the movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer, if you want to see an example of this. In a similar way, when we come to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures, we can learn what he has done, but he has not made known the full process of how the Scriptures were written. We should stop where the Scriptures stop. Be content that the Spirit knows, even though you do not!

The Scriptures are a joint product of the Holy Spirit and people. We see this divine-human interaction in many areas of Biblical teaching:

  • Christ has two natures (one divine and one human) in his one person. Both are clearly attested in the Scriptures, though the exact nature of the interaction is beyond our understanding.
  • God’s sovereignty interacts with human responsibility in salvation. God clearly chooses people to salvation, yet everyone who is saved repents and believes.
  • The work of evangelism is another divine-human interaction. Our job is to tell others the good news, but unless the Holy Spirit regenerates, all our evangelistic efforts fail.
  • In the Christian life, the whole process of growth in grace involves divine-human interaction.

Each of these divine-human interactions varies in different ways. But the product of the Scriptures is closer in kind to the relationship between Christ’s two natures than the others, all of which involve human sin.

The apostolic teaching is that “men spoke from God” or “holy men of God spoke”, as the NKJV reads following the textual variant. In either case, we are clearly taught the following:

  • In some way, the Scriptures came through human instrumentality – “men spoke”. We see this same assertion made in other places: David (Luke 20:42; Acts 2:34), Isaiah (John 12:39), Joel (Acts 2:16), and “the word of the prophets” with Amos in mind (Acts 15:15). Compare also Matthew 13:14; 15:7; 22:43; Mark 12:36.
  • Yet as these men spoke, God was speaking through them (Matthew 2:17; 3:3; 13:35; 21:4; Acts 4:25).
  • We can also see this in the differences of style among the various human writers. Ezekiel does not sound the same as Moses, nor does Paul sound like John. Yet in all we read the same consistent teaching, sense the same heart of the master author, and are presented with the same zeal for God’s glory in the face of Christ. And all this in about forty human writers over the space of 1600 years!

The observable facts of Scripture attest to this divine-human interaction. This should lead us to worship the Lord. Who are you, Almighty God, that you can work in human hearts in such a magnificent way?” And the Spirit uses the Scriptures to change us!

Grace and peace, David

The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Part Two)

img_5033Acts 1:3-5

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (ESV).

The Holy Spirit is the gift that God the Father promised his people (1:4-5). With Christ’s victory, a new ministry of the Holy Spirit was about to begin, only ten days after Jesus spoke these words. Clearly, the Spirit of God had come upon some of the people of God before Pentecost (Bezalel, Exodus 31:1-3; Othniel, Judges 3:10; Gideon, Judges 6:34; Jephthah, Judges 11:29; Samson, Judges 14:6; Azariah the prophet, 2 Chronicles 15:1; Ezekiel; Ezekiel 2:2; etc.). But this giving of the Holy Spirit would be of a different order. It would be his “coming”. Compare 1:8: “when the Spirit comes…” and John 7:37-39; 15:26; 16:13. Something of incredible significance was about to happen!

This new ministry is spoken of in another way: as a baptism. As they had been baptized (immersed or submerged) in water, so they would be immersed with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus built on the teaching of his forerunner, John the Baptist (Luke 3:15-17). Christ would do the baptism by the Spirit. When John and Jesus talked about the Spirit, they obviously were not speaking about someone the people of God had not heard about. No one asked, “Who or what is the Spirit of God?” Why not? The Old Testament Scriptures have many references to the Holy Spirit.

Christ could not baptize with the Holy Spirit until something happened. He had to be glorified (John 7:37). What does that mean? Notice in Acts 1:3-5 quoted above, spoken before his ascension, the baptism with the Spirit was still a future event, though Christ had been raised from the dead. What needed to happen was Christ’s ascension, when he was exalted to the right hand of God. Then he could pour out the Spirit, because God had made him Lord (Acts 2:33-36). By the way, do not speak of “making Jesus Lord”. A Christian should never say such a thing! Jesus Christ is Lord of all (Romans 14:9; Philippians 2:9-11).

The baptism of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was an event in history, as much as the coming, crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. It was looked for and then it happened to the whole church that existed at that moment in history. All believers were together in one place, and all received the Spirit’s baptism (Acts 2:1-4). All those saved since that non-repeatable event of history also receive the Spirit when they repent (Acts 2:38-39).

All of this should cause God’s people to respond to God with great gratitude. God the Father planned for us to have a Divine Helper living in us during this new age. God the Son accomplished the work of redemption, in order that we might have the Spirit. God the Holy Spirit has come to be with us forever (Jn 14:16). Suppose I handed you the keys to one of the new luxury home, and said, “It’s yours; it’s totally paid for. Enjoy it.” How would you respond? Since Christ died, rose again, and ascended to the Father, he has given you many great gifts. How ought you respond to this gift, a greater gift than a luxury home—the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Grace and peace, David

The Believer’s Happiness a Reason for Praise (Part One)

dscn3658Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Psalm 146:1-10

The closing psalms are the outposts of heaven. In the Psalms the ruin of sin has been discussed and the glory of God set forth over all. At the end of the collection, the Psalms conclude with praise to the Lord. “Come, rejoice with me; let us magnify his name together!” is a worthy theme for the ending of this collection of writings. This psalm of praise also has an instructional purpose: to urge people to put their trust in the Lord, for only then are we humans truly happy.

The psalm opens with determination to praise the Lord. Hallelujah! My soul, praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing to my God as long as I live (146:1-2 HCSB).

The writer provides a lesson in self-exhortation (146:1; cf. Psalm 103:1; 104:1). Spiritually, we must be self-controlled; that is, we must not allow the events and circumstances of life to dictate our spiritual tone. This requires us to talk to ourselves. “Why are you so depressed or lethargic, my soul? You are a child of the King, an heir of heaven, and one who will reign with Christ!” This involves the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as we will see in our series of articles about the Spirit of God. “O Holy Spirit, enlighten my eyes with the glory of my blessed Redeemer. Control me with the truth that is in Jesus, and then I will be self-controlled.” Practically, we must start here, because we will never be able to encourage others to praise the Lord until praise for him flows out of our own hearts.

We read of the response of the writer’s soul to his self-exhortation (146:2). A fire has been kindled in the psalmist’s soul. And not only is that true, but the fire has intensified so much that he resolves to praise God as long as he lives (cf. Psalm 104:33). This is like being “bit” by the physical fitness “bug”. Those bitten by it desire to do their selected activity repeatedly, whether it is swimming, walking, running, cycling, hiking, or skiing. (Let it snow!) When godly aspirations govern the soul, a person does not think about growing weary of them or of them ever losing their freshness. Even now, for example, I can sense the excitement of putting on the skis and taking off in eight to twelve inches of fresh powder. The problem is that too few have tasted the majesty, the glory, and the goodness of God, so that they long to praise him. Do you crave the glory of the Lord?

If your soul has been saved from eternal wrath, then come, let us praise God together! Certainly, we have something we can share together, because we know the joy of sins forgiven and the wonder of Christ’s perfect righteousness, and the Spirit living within as the Spirit of adult sonship. We cannot tell how long or short our lives may be, but as long as we live, we may glorify the Lord!

The key to such praise is knowing that God is yours—that he is in covenant with you in Christ by the blood of his cross. Can you say, “The Lord is my God; I will praise him forever?”

Grace and peace, David

A Turning Point

img_4139-edited2 Chronicles 20:14-15a

God made people to be worshipers. We all worship something, whether in a religious format, or the pursuit of created things, or even ourselves, which we usually call pride. If you wonder about the rightness of God commanding us to worship him, I will now simply refer you to John Piper’s book, Desiring God. But now we must see what the Lord does to bring out this desire to worship and praise in Jehoshaphat and his people.

In the account of the life of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, we can see what we all experience: a clash of good and bad desires. Sometimes we can wonder about ourselves and others! Why do we feel such desires for what is evil and destructive? Why do our lives get out of control? How can we change for the glory of God and the good of others? In this chapter, we have seen Jehoshaphat filled with fear. Yet he counteracted his fear with faith, expressed in leading his nation in prayer. But at the end of the prayer, has anything changed? Does God listen to our prayers? Is it meaningful to pray? Many struggle today at this point, and so we need this part of God’s word to encourage us to pray. It is not that we expect the Lord God to do exactly what he did in this account in answer to his prayer. But we need to learn that God does hear our prayer, and he answers in unexpected ways. I doubt that anyone at that time expected to get the answer given in our text.

In the middle of the congregation, the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants) and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s’” (2 Chronicles 20:14-15 HCSB).

The Spirit of God stepped in to bring radical change to the situation of God’s people. This idea is developed throughout Chronicles. When God tells us stories in his word, the Bible, he wants us to understand ideas about him and the way he relates with his creatures. In Chronicles, the Holy Spirit tells us a few things about his activity, so that we might know its absolute necessity for life and worship.

  • The Spirit worked so that people gathered to support David as king (1 Chronicles 12:18).
  • The Spirit gave the plans for the building of the temple (1 Chronicles 28:12).
  • The Spirit spoke to encourage Asa to act against idolatry (2 Chronicles 15:1).
  • The Spirit enabled Zechariah to stand against the wickedness of Joash near the end of his reign (2 Chronicles 24:20).
  • The Spirit came upon Jahaziel to deliver God’s message to the people.

We only know the truth and power of God’s message when the Spirit is working in its delivery. Otherwise, we are like elementary school students hurrying through the Philadelphia Museum of Art, ignorant of the masterpieces on display. Here, the Spirit of the Lord is active in both the message and their response to it. We ought to pray constantly for the work of the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

The Word is the basis of radical change, which the Holy Spirit produces.

  • Our contemporary Christian problem resides very much in extremely low opinions of the Word of God. For example, we do not appreciate its power, as displayed in the creation (Genesis 1; cf. Psalm 33:6-11). In a decaying situation, we remain unmoved, unlike Jeremiah, who knew the power of God’s word (Jeremiah 23:29).
  • The Spirit uses the Word to produce deep change in human hearts (Psalm 19:7-11). All true spirituality comes from and agrees with God’s Word.

Have you ever listened to God’s Word? I mean, not just heard it, but do you pay attention to it? Do its ideas grip you, transform you, and motivate you? How is the Spirit presently using the Word to transform you into the likeness of Christ?

Grace and peace, David

Unnoticed Example

DSCN03612 Timothy 1:16-18

We praise God for the many, many followers of Jesus that give themselves unselfishly for the good of others. They labor behind the scenes, not sounding trumpets (Matthew 6:1-4) to attract attention to what they’re doing. I encourage people to read biographies of Christians, because they testify to what the living God can do through his followers. (Thank God for his work through them without exalting them. Remember 1 Corinthians 1-4.) However, you do not find many biographies of common Christians. That should not dissuade us from noticing and celebrating what the Spirit does through average children of God. We can profit from their examples.

Paul the apostle presented one such example in his second letter to Timothy. It is an example that easily goes unnoticed in the teaching most of us receive from the Word. As Paul neared the end of his life, he found himself deserted by many; the loss of Demas seemed especially bitter to him (1:15; 4:10). In this context, the Spirit of God directed him to write about a man who remained faithful. His name was Onesiphorus. What Paul says of him gives us a four-part paradigm about how to help in the service of the good news of Christ. May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus (NIV).

  • Onesiphorus was an encourager (1:16). Paul experienced many down times during his years of service for the Lord (2 Corinthians 4:8-10; 6:3-10; 11:23-33). Except for this text, we would not know that Jesus had Onesiphorus there often to encourage Paul. It should make us all pause to think of how much the apostle of Christ depended on the service of Onesiphorus and others like him. The story of his life would be much different from what we read in Acts apart from these people. Paul especially praised God that he refreshed This word can include both spiritual and physical actions. In both cases they would have been a strong encouragement to Paul. Many times a simple encouraging word does wonders. Other times, more extensive works are need to refresh people. He understood how to help Paul in a way that left Paul refreshed and encouraged.
  • Onesiphorus was bold (1:16). He was not afraid to serve Paul while he was a prisoner. Anyone in jail or prison in ancient times was in deep trouble. Often they were dependent on friends outside for food, clothing, and other needs. For those helping there was the danger of “guilt by association” with the imprisoned. Onesiphorus boldly helped Paul in spite of whatever dangers might come. When we help people, we can expose ourselves to danger, like when someone has an illness that is contagious. He trusted the Lord to care for him as he took these risks.
  • Onesiphorus was diligent (1:17). When Paul was a prisoner in Rome, Onesiphorus had to look hard to find him. It is easy to make a quick effort to try to contact a person and then to give up. Obviously, he cared about Paul enough to persist through disappointments. I can imagine the conversation going something like this. “I’m looking for Paul, the prisoner being held for trial before Caesar. He’s under house arrest. Do you know where’s he is?” And the answer comes back, “Let’s see; that’s really not my department. But if you contact Julius Gaius, he might be able to tell you what you know. However, he’s out of town for a couple days.” We all have been through this runaround, but he didn’t quit.
  • Onesiphorus was generous (1:18). He helped Paul in many ways. It is always tempting to assume that we have done enough when we have done a little. But Onesiphorus did not have that kind of attitude. When one task was done, he was spiritually and mentally prepared for the next one. What some might have looked at as an expense, he considered to be an investment in God’s kingdom.

We need examples like this to spur us on to love and good works. Our vision is limited by what we think is easily doable. Onesiphorus provides a better model. May the Spirit use it to impel all of us to do more for the cause of God and truth!

Grace and peace, David

Reassurance of Friendship

IMG_08592 Corinthians 7:2-4

The apostle Paul concluded the previous section of 2 Corinthians by calling his readers to live according to what they are in Christ; namely, the temple of the living God. One of the great truths about the new covenant people of God is that we do not have a temple but that we are the temple. God lives in us by the Holy Spirit. After doing that, he immediately reassures them of their friendship or fellowship or partnership in the gospel. What we want to think about today is the attitude that must saturate our approach to the Christian way of life. How ought we to live together as Christ’s people? We can profit greatly by learning how Paul reassured his dear friends in Corinth.

Paul told them to “make room” for him (7:2). A contrast of two churches, Corinth and Thessalonica, will help us understand the reason for this request. Both were started at about the same time by the same church planter (Paul), but they had developed different views of the Christian way of life, and Corinth’s view was very defective.

  • The church of Thessalonica started in a time of persecution. They had a decisive break from idols and quickly became an effective partnership in the mission of the gospel. The word rang out from them (1 Thessalonians 1:8)! Yes, they needed to grow in grace, like all Christians do. Although they knew Paul only a short time, they were open to his ministry.
  • Some conflict with the Jews in Corinth happened in Corinth, but this church did not start in the turmoil of persecution. In fact, the Lord Jesus guaranteed Paul release from persecution there (Acts 18:9-10). This was a great outward advantage that Paul used well. But at the same time, the believers in Corinth seemed a little too at home in the world. This attitude showed itself again and again in their opinions about worldly wisdom and their willingness to participate in contact with idolatry, which every new gathering of believers had been urged to avoid (Acts 15:29). Both of these combined together, with evil actions of false teachers, to make them rather closed to Paul’s new covenant ministry.
  • So then, after telling them to separate from idolatry, which they had been too open towards, Paul commands them as Christ’s apostle to make room for him, whom they had been closed towards. They had been open toward the wrong things of idolatry and closed to their true gospel partner. So he repeats the command of 6:13 in different words. Each of us should evaluate ourselves to see if we are open to gospel influences and closed to the influence of the world and its idols.

He joins another personal defense of himself to this command. I think that here Paul gives a summary, forceful defense of himself of any supposed charges that anyone could possibly bring against him. He wants to end the past mess once and for all, in order to have a fresh start with them.

  • He had mistreated no one. When he directed the church to take action against certain people, they were receiving what they deserved. Christ’s apostle was simply applying the Lord’s directives to them.
  • He had corrupted no one. Teaching the way of grace does not provide a license to sin, regardless of how some have twisted the gospel. Gospel grace always leads to a godly way of life.
  • He had taken advantage of no one. The fact that faith in Christ involves a break with a worldly and idolatrous way of life, which can lead to financial loss for some, does not mean than Paul was somehow out to ruin some of them. I will illustrate. Consider the book Radical by David Platt. Suppose a couple reads it and agrees to downsize their lifestyle in order to give more of their lives and finances for the gospel. In the process, something unexpected happens and they suffer financial loss. The author was not trying to cause them harm, but he redirected them to follow Christ more fully. Sometimes in God’s providence people suffer unforeseen difficulties, which might have happened anyway!

If people are going to work together as gospel partners (and all Christians are to be gospel partners with other followers of Christ), we must make room for each other in our hearts and lives. This is where our walk with one another can get messy. Part of the process involves getting rid of incorrect theological views. Sadly, many professing Christians don’t want to invest time in accurate Christian teaching. Then they wonder why the wheels have come off their lives and their relationships with others. Your doctrinal assumptions will affect your life. We must also try to clear out misunderstandings about our actions. This requires patience, which comes from the Holy Spirit.

Grace and peace, David

Unneeded Teaching

1 Thessalonians 4:9-10IMG_2092

Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more.

First Thessalonians is one of the first letters that the apostle Paul wrote. By God’s grace, he was able to start a church in Thessalonica, which was the capital of Macedonia with a population of approximately two hundred thousand. Paul was only there a short time and had to leave because of intense opposition to the gospel of Christ. One of the purpose of this letter is to give instruction about the Christian way of life (4:1-5:22). He wants his readers to know how to please God (4:1). He had instructed the Thessalonian believers about this, but he felt that they needed more. Thankfully, he sensed their need and by the Spirit we have this letter.

The apostle’s method to arouse their attention is paradoxical for two reasons. First, their love for one another is evident. It appears unneeded, since there were people who were the recipients of their love. Second, in an earlier prayer for them in this letter (3:12), he had prayed that their love for each other would increase. Why say that they didn’t need this instruction, if he had sensed the need to pray about this concern? Let’s make a couple suggestions.

  • Followers of Christ can display the reality of the Spirit’s work, and still be in the need for instruction. Sadly, there are some who think they have “arrived” and do not hesitate to let their pastor or Bible teacher know that they already know what he is teaching them. They look at themselves as the educated elite, above the needs of ordinary Christians. They say something like “This stuff is Christianity 101. We need something deeper.” Certainly, I would never plead for constantly giving out the “ABCs” of the Christian faith and walk. However, there is something wrong in the spirits of those who look down on the basics. We can get rather blind to our own weaknesses at the very time the Spirit directs someone to teach us what we need to hear. A useful practice is for everyone to read a devotional like Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening. Sharon and I have found many times that what he wrote years before and that we have read more than once is applicable again to our current situation.
  • The Holy Spirit can burden teachers to pray about a matter and then to teach on it for the ongoing progress of those who listen. Let us never forget the help that our Friend from heaven gives through his work in the souls of those that speak to us. Part of it might come from the teacher’s own observations and those given to him by others, but often the Spirit leads those that teach into the word to help the hearers in a special way. When the Spirit urges us to pray for others about some need, you can be sure that there is a reason.
  • Though we might be doing what the Spirit teachers, we all need to grow in our faith and practice. No one has arrived. Yes, we might be strong in faith or love or hope. But really, how much greater is your faith than a mustard seed? Are you overflowing with hope? How much stronger and deeper ought your love to be? Remember that in all points, the measuring point of the new covenant way of life is “as I have loved you” (John 13:34-35; 15:12).
  • God has taught every Christian to love one another. This is an interior, life-changing act by the Spirit of God. It’s what happens when we’re born again from above. He gives us an inward impulse to reach outward in love toward each other. Yet, this inward teaching still needs the instruction from the Holy Scriptures. It is always the Spirit and the word!

So then my friends, this unneeded teaching is much need. Let us respond by loving one another “more and more”.

Grace and peace, David

A Forgotten Responsibility

IMG_3993Hebrews 10:24

Observe the progression in this passage (Hebrews 10:19-25). The writer moves from the way we live before God to the way we live before people outside the church to the way we live before one another in the church. Sharing life together in the church used to be overlooked almost completely. For example, Jerry Bridges said that his least popular book was True Fellowship. They even tried to increase sales by giving it a new title, The Crisis of Caring, but it didn’t work. Now thankfully, more attention is given to life as a body of believers. Yet there is a long way to go. To paraphrase a comment by the seventeenth century writer John Owen, the Christians of old used to live as spoken of in this text. But now the principles of building one another up have been lost as if the New Testament Scriptures had never presented them. Surely our life before God is crucial and primary. And we must never forget our responsibility to live as a light in the world. However, the restoration of biblical practice in a culture of “me first” needs to be a constant emphasis.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds… (NIV).

Believers are capable to serve another. This might seem obvious, but too many have the wrong opinion that such matters are better left to the professionals, since they have more skill and time. In contrast, the Spirit says through the writer, “Let us consider…” This means that each of us are to pay thoughtful attention to the ways that we can help one another. (The same verb is used in Hebrews 3:1.)

A right approach begins with the correction of a mistaken idea. We can call this the “professional minister” view: the church has a pastor or pastors so that the members can release themselves from any duty to one another. The roots of this view are such concepts as a wrong view of church authority, an idolization of institutional education, a practical lack of spiritual maturity among God’s people, and self-centeredness. The essence of the idea can be stated this way: “We’ve got the pastors; let them do it!” But notice carefully that this text lends no support to such a mistaken idea. The Holy Spirit does not say, “Let the pastor (or the pastors or the church staff) consider how they may….”

In the Bible the Lord stresses the responsibility of each member of every local assembly to help each other spiritually (Romans 14:19; 15:14; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11,14-15; Hebrews 3:13). Since the Holy Spirit has been given by Christ to help us (Romans 8:26), and since we have the sufficient Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16), we should never plead incompetence in this manner. The Spirit of God loves to help the ordinary follower of Jesus to build up and strengthen and encourage and care for other believers.

To continue a correct approach, we must launch a new attitude. Our starting point is the reality of all that we are and have by God’s grace. We are right with God and have the position of an adult son in the Father’s family. You have the Holy Spirit as your leader, the Bible, and in many cases years of Biblical training. Since these things are so, each of us need to see ourselves as fellow workers in the job of building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12). Brothers and sisters, our time cards are in the rack by the time clock; it’s time to punch in and get to work helping each other. Don’t wait for tomorrow. How much can we do today for the cause of God and truth?

This involves the application of what God has taught us. Certainly first to ourselves and then to others in God’s family. How fervently we ought to pray, “Lord, help me demonstrate the reality of your truth in my life, my family and my church.” But then, we need to stir ourselves to act. This requires more than merely agreeing, “Yes, I need to do something… sometime.” We need to be alert to opportunities to help one another. Find ways to act!

Grace and peace, David