Christ Our Confidence

Jesus ushered in a new covenant through His shed blood which is far better.  The first covenant depended largely on man's ability to live according to the Law, but grace and truth came through Jesus.  Circumcision was required to submit to the first, but see what Paul (a man circumcised according to the Law) said in 1 Corinthians 7:19:  "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters."

Hold on, some might wonder:  circumcision is a commandment of God.  Is Paul talking out of both sides of his mouth?  Not at all!  God wrote with His finger commands upon tablets of stone, but He promised to one day write His laws upon hearts.  After trusting in Jesus Paul continued to keep the Law of Moses so he would retain credibility amongst the Jews to win them for Christ.  But God did not provide salvation through faith in Jesus for Gentiles to live as Jews.  The lack of Law does not make us lawless, for the commands written on the hearts of those born again by grace through faith are communicated by the indwelling Holy Spirit and supported by the united Body of Christ, the church - and these directives are more demanding than that of Law.  Glory to God for His wisdom, for the Holy Spirit enables us to live in the way which pleases God.

When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus said to love the LORD with all the heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbour as yourself.  Walking in love towards God and man fulfils the requirements of law - and then some.  1 John 3:18-24 says, "My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹ And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. ²⁰ For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. ²² And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. ²⁴ Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."

The confidence of a Christian is not in what we have done, but in Jesus Christ, in who He is and all He has accomplished.  The active love God places in our hearts for Him and others is strong evidence we are changed and have a real relationship with Him.  Believing in Jesus and walking in obedience to Him will always keep us on the right path, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Paul stated in his flesh dwelt no good thing, and this was not humble hyperbole but simply the facts.  Instead of priding himself in his circumcised flesh, Paul humbled himself before God to trust Jesus as LORD and Saviour.  Keeping Christ's commands showed Paul had a new nature and discovered a relationship with God not possible under Mosaic Law - a relationship offered freely today to all who believe in Jesus.

The Horror of Space Travel

As enjoyable and pleasant as like-minded people can be, it is good to have people in our lives which look at life from a different perspective.  I have grown to value differences more as I progress through life:  instead of assuming differences due to ignorance, threatening, or a liability, a variety of viewpoints helps us to see the limitations of our view and thus works to expand our thoughts to unfamiliar arenas.

The late C.S. Lewis was asked in an interview by a Mr. Wirt:  "Do you think there will be wide-spread travel in space?"  I found his answer interesting, partially because he did not bother to deal with the question directly at all.  He said, "I look forward with horror to contact with the other inhabited planets, if there are such.  We would only transport to them all of our sin and our acquisitiveness, and establish a new colonialism.  I can't bear to think of it.  Bit if we on earth were to get right with God, of course, all would be changed.  Once we find ourselves spiritually awakened, we can go to outer space and take the good things with us.  That is quite a different matter." (Lewis, C. S., and Walter Hooper. God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014. Page 295)

Instead of a "yes" or "no", Lewis asserted it would be a terrible thing for human beings to make contact with inhabited planets because we would corrupt them.  Hollywood films tend to present alien species as intelligent, vicious, violent, or malevolent to human beings or our planet.  The science fiction genre is packed with fearful and destructive powers of alien beings, and man's wit and will to live often prevails against all odds.  To me it seems the assertion of Lewis is far more believable and true than space alien horror flicks.  When an area of the world is relatively desolate - apart from man and his polluting, trampling, and littering ways - we call it "pristine."  God created this world pristine teeming with life, and man due to sin has corrupted it.  Wherever people are there will be certain power struggles, government, politics, laws, pollution, and waste.  Going "back to nature" wouldn't bode well for nature if too many people did.

Some are worried aliens might come to earth to make us their lobotomised slaves, but the prime concern of C.S. Lewis was if we were to contact others, we would bring our sin to them.  He did include a caveat:  if we on earth were to be right with God, it would be another matter.  The glorious truth is man can get right today with God and become His ambassador to our fellow men.  I think a lot of people would rather have a visitor from outer space than a chat with a born-again follower of Jesus Christ, and that is why it is important us Christians are walking obediently with Him.  Having been filled with the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus, by God's grace through our lives they can catch a glimpse of God's glory shining through.

We don't need to go into the heavens to discover a secret message from God, for He has spoken freely and openly.  Moses said to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 30:11-16, "For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' ¹⁴ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. ¹⁵ "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, ¹⁶ in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess."

God made a covenant of Law with the children of Israel, and He has trumped the first with a new covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Having died on the cross and rising from the dead, Jesus calls all people to new life through faith in Him.  He does not offer us a plot of land on earth given by lot but an everlasting home in heaven and an abundant life now.  People make great sacrifices to discover truth, and Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life who has come to us and made Himself known.  Colossians 2:9-10 says of Jesus, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."  2 Corinthians 2:14 says of Christ's followers, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place."  Following Christ is the place of triumph wherever He leads us - not of our conquest or subduing of foes - but of thanksgiving and rejoicing in all Jesus has accomplished and His victory.

Baptised into New Life

"For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³ For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

It struck me today with fresh intensity the wonder of the Gospel, that sinners through faith in Jesus Christ are made saints.  Having trusted in Christ as Saviour we are spiritually regenerated - born again - by the Holy Spirit who takes up residence in us.  We are in this moment, Paul explained, "...baptised into one body," the church of which Jesus Christ is Head.  His Body is comprised on many members with various roles which all work to edify the Body and glorify their Head.  This is the first of several baptisms mentioned in scripture.

Christians have been spiritually been baptised into the Body through faith, and in obedience to the command and example of Christ we are also baptised in water.  This is more than John the Baptist's baptism of repentance (Acts 19:4) but one in identification with Christ's death and resurrection.  The Ethiopian eunuch was baptised in water to express his faith in Jesus being the Son of God.  Romans 6:3-4 says, "Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."  The importance of water baptism is not only a public declaration but and indication of the new life we are to walk in as we obey Jesus.

There is a third baptism revealed in scripture, for Jesus baptises with the Holy Spirit.  By the Holy Spirit we are baptised at conversion, and at that time or subsequent to this we can be baptised with the Holy Spirit.  After Jesus made His disciples to receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22), He also promised they would be baptised with the Holy Spirit in Acts 1:4-5, 8:  "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; ⁵ for John truly baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now... ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  This baptism or immersion, this receiving of the Holy Spirit to overflowing, is seen throughout the book of Acts and to this day by all who ask believing.  On the Day of Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit Peter declared this "gift" of the Father is for as many as our LORD will call (Acts 2:38-39).

We are baptised by the Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ, we are buried with Christ in water baptism and raised to new life, and then baptised with the Holy Spirit to empower us to be Christ's witnesses.  From beginning to end our salvation and fruitfulness depends upon Jesus Christ, for we are complete in Him.  Our relationship with God is filled with opportunities for us to surrender our will before God and present ourselves as living sacrifices before Him.  Not one good thing do we deserve or earn from our God who saves and sanctifies us by His grace.  Blessed be the LORD by who baptises us into new life!

A Danger of "Progress"

I have almost finished a book of compiled essays by C.S. Lewis titled, God in the Dock.  Throughout the book I have encountered passages which in our day have proved almost prophetic as Lewis shared thoughts and insights.  After hearing the frantic claims of politicians quoting scientists concerning how swift action must be taken on climate change, what Lewis wrote years ago is relevant today.  In an article printed in 1958 titled "Is Progress Possible," C.S. Lewis had this to say concerning government control and overreach in the name of science:

Again, the new oligarchy must more and more base its claim to plan us on its claim to knowledge.  If we are to be mothered, mother must know best.  This means they must increasingly rely on the advice of scientists, till in the end the politicians proper become merely the scientists' puppets.  Technocracy is the form to which a planned society must tend.  Now I dread specialists in power because they are specialists speaking outside their special subjects.  Let scientists tells us about sciences.  But government involves questions about the good for man, and justice, and what things are worth having at what price; and on these a scientific training gives a man's opinion no added value.  Let the doctor tell me I shall die unless I do so-and-so; but whether life is worth having on those terms is no more a question for him than for any other man...I believe in God, but I detest theocracy.  For every Government consists of mere men and is, strictly viewed, a makeshift; if it adds to its commands "Thus said the Lord', it lies, and lies dangerously.

On just the same ground I dread government in the name of science.  That is how tyrannies come in.  In every age the men who want us under their thumb, if they have any sense, will put forward the particular pretension which the hopes and fears of that age render most potent.  They 'cash in'.  It has been magic, it has been Christianity.  Now it will certainly be science.  Perhaps the real scientists may not think much of the tyrants' 'science' - they didn't think much of Hitler's racial theories or Stalin's biology.  But they can be muzzled...We must give full weight to the claim that nothing but science, and science globally applied, and therefore unprecedented Government controls, can produce full bellies and medical care for the whole human race:  nothing in short, but a world Welfare State.  It is a full admission of these truths which impresses upon me the extreme peril of humanity at present. (Lewis, C. S., and Walter Hooper. God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014. pages 350-352)

When I hear campaigning politicians quoting unnamed scientists as if there is a unified consensus amongst them - of precisely what the problem is and what we must do or sacrifice to rectify it - I am most wary.  These plans seem to always include taxes and vast sums of money, basically a grant given to forward a political agenda by citizens to "research" or implement what is already outdated or deemed too expensive for practical use.  From a biblical perspective, to say there are only 10 years left for the United States to address a global issue is rubbish:  do we think so much of ourselves to go beyond the Word of God?  This is my issue when such time-sensitive assertions of global catastrophe are made.  According the the Bible at any given time there is (after the visible return of Jesus and establishment of His kingdom) at least 1,000 years to go until God dissolves this planet and universe.  Jesus Christ has not yet come in judgment, as He is not sitting on the throne in Jerusalem ruling nations with a rod of iron.  Jesus has created all things, sustains them, and He will someday unmake all to make way for the new heavens and earth where only righteousness dwells.  Do I think we should be good stewards of this earth God has created and entrusted to our care?  Certainly.  But I do not for a moment think man wise or powerful enough to know how to save a world God created (and we have done our best to destroy - even by application of scientific discoveries like the hydrogen and nuclear bomb) and still He upholds all in His wisdom and might--regardless what scientists supposedly claim.

I will gladly allow C.S. Lewis to conclude with the final flourish of his article:  "What assurance have we that our masters will or can keep the promise which induced us to sell ourselves?  Let us not be deceived by phrases about 'Man taking charge of his own destiny'.  All that can happen is that some men will take charge of the destiny of the others.  They will be simply men; none perfect; some greedy, cruel and dishonest.  The more completely we are planned the more powerful they will be.  Have we discovered some new reason why, this time, power should not corrupt as it has done before?" (Ibid, pg. 353)