The Walk of Love

One thing I remember struggling to reconcile with Jesus Christ being the end of the Law of Moses for all who believe were the commands given by the Holy Spirit and the church leaders in Jerusalem to Gentile believers.  It seems the Jews struggled with it too, as they mistakenly believed to be saved it was necessary for Gentile believers to be circumcised and keep the Law - a Law which they themselves could not keep and could only condemn.  God did not call Gentiles to live as Jews or Jews as Gentiles, but having made the two groups one they were to love one another as Jesus loved them.

The context is key to understanding and applying the Acts 15 passage personally.  The background of the Jews and Gentiles could not have been more different:  Jews were monotheistic, kept the Law of Moses and the feasts in Jerusalem, and it was forbidden to fashion any image.  The Gentiles were pagan and had countless deities they worshipped through drunken feasting and fornication.  Every man did what was right in his own eyes.  Though the Gospel was first preached among the Jews by Jesus and other Jews, it was rejected full-stop by the Pharisees, chief priest, and scribes in Jerusalem.  Fierce persecution scattered thousands of Jewish Christians throughout the world and Gentiles in droves came to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul's custom when he entered a city was to go straight to the Jewish synagogue and reason with the Jews concerning Jesus being the promised Messiah and Saviour of the world.  When the Jews refused to listen, Paul took the message of salvation by grace through faith to the Gentiles and many believed.  These Gentiles became Christ's ambassadors in their towns and cities to pious Jews who dwelt among them.  Because the background of the Gentiles was pagan and their practices unclean under Law, they had absolutely no credibility among the Jews and would be shunned.  So how could the gap be spanned?  This was done not by Law but by the love of Jesus Christ in these Spirit-filled Gentiles as they implemented lifestyle changes as God determined necessary.

After much discussion in Jerusalem, the decision of the church concerning the conduct of Gentiles was delivered in Acts 15:28-29:  "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: ²⁹ that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."  These directives are found in the Law of Moses and put very simply for these Gentiles to implement.  It was not a condensed or abbreviated new set of laws to govern men, but to aid Gentiles to understand what tripped Jews up in Gentile society.  Greek or Roman Law did not forbid any of these things; it was a foreign concept entirely that meat offered to idols was offensive or eating raw meat, or sleeping with temple prostitutes or having child lovers was an issue.

I believe the response of the believers showed they were filled with the same Spirit, they were edified.  Acts 15:30-31 reads, "So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. ³¹ When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement."  The prohibitions delivered to the Gentiles are not a new set of laws for us to observe, but the way Gentiles could walk in love towards people whose strict lifestyle they were entirely unfamiliar with.  The principle behind these commands is in full force for all followers of Jesus Christ today, that out of love we would be sensitive to the feelings and background of others.  With a desire to see other people follow Jesus we should not cater to sin, but ensure we do all we can to avoid laying stumbling blocks in the way of others and walk in love.

Shadow and Substance

 "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."

Colossians 2:16-17

The truth of these verses has impacted me this week.  Instead of Paul saying, "Don't judge one another in food or drink" he exhorted believers:  "Let no one judge you in food or drink."  This is an important distinction.  Navigating through life requires choices and judgments, and we are called to judge righteously (John 7:24).  These judgments are no longer to be dictated to us by the Law of Moses because Christ is the end of the Law for all who believe.  The Law was a schoolmaster to correct and guide us until Christ came, and having instituted a new covenant in His blood we are guided by our risen Saviour through the Holy Spirit.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not to be swayed by people who urge us to return to Law for our standard of righteousness.  Since we are connected to Jesus the Head of the Body our righteousness is in Him.  The Law was the shadow of which Christ is the substance.  A helpful illustration of how our relation to the Law changes since Jesus Christ has come is like how we are freed from following the list provided by the homeowner for whom we have been house-sitting.  As the present owner of the home he or she trumps the letter of law conveyed in the list.  They break no law to choose to put off watering for a day, or to water the plants extra because the plants are theirs.

Life is more than eating and drinking, and our eating or abstaining does not make us righteous before God.  Whilst we ought to ensure our dietary habits do not cause others to stumble (1 Cor. 8:8-9), the main thrust of the Colossians passage is to not allow the judgments of others to dictate our decisions but to be led by Jesus Christ - who will never lead us wrong.  The fear of man and desire to please people can be a snare, especially when they pressure us to return to the Law in an attempt to find favour with God.  Our standing with God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not in our abstaining from particular foods or drinks.  We are righteous, not because we observe the Sabbath ordinances in Law - by what or when or how we do things - but why we do them:  because we desire to obey and please God.  We aren't to observe the shadow when we are complete in Jesus.

Taking My Leave

Retiring from regular work is difficult for many people.  At the age of 70 my grandpa gave me his perspective on the matter:  "When you retire, you're just waiting around to die."  Believe it or not, he continued to run his own business laying carpet well into his 80's.  Many times I had colleagues during my mechanical insulation career who excitedly retired because they were finally of retiring age, just to see them return 6 months later because they missed the routine and extra money.  There were only so many projects left on their houses and fishing wasn't the outlet they hoped it would be.

Though I am God-willing decades from retirement (at this point it will be when God retires me!), I find it a great challenge to take my leave of pastoral ministry for weeks at a time.  When I do take leave, church related responsibilities seem to find me.  If I am asked to take weeks of my paid leave, it feels like a demand to leave family and the thing God has called me to do.  It feels like a forced obligation to turn a blind eye to needs and opportunity for service unto the LORD, even passing off my responsibility on others.  Pastoral work is aspect of my life I wouldn't trade, and I would do it paid or not.  As I mused on the subject yesterday, I discovered (strange as it might sound!) I would rather be unpaid for what I do than to be paid to step away from what I do.  My glad obligation to minister is not only before brothers and sisters in Christ whom I love but before the LORD.

A break from regular routine has benefits to be sure.  My family and I took a three-week trip to the States last year and it was filled with family, friends, good food, and happy memories.  I am not convinced, however, that a holiday does anything to "recharge my batteries."  That has a great deal more to do with the state of my relationship with Jesus and my season of life.  Personally I find trips and holidays generally more stressful than regular routine I find enjoyable enough.  There is no place I feel more at home than being in the arms of my wife, hanging out with my kids, and being intimately involved in church ministry.  To worship the LORD and preach the Word is not something I want or need a break from.  It is work to labour in the Word of God, but also amongst the greatest joys of my life.  Work is a necessary and beneficial aspect of life, one Jesus Himself relished (John 9:4).

The key in all of our labours is we do all as unto the LORD.  Colossians 3:22-24 says, "Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. ²³ And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ."  I could find unspeakable enjoyment working with itchy fibreglass every day when I fulfilled my responsibilities as unto the LORD.  There were plenty of rough days and difficult situations to navigate, but I learned enduring satisfaction does not come from a change of scenery, being a boss, making more money, or embarking on a new career:  it comes from a relationship with Jesus.  If you believe pastoral ministry will unlock satisfaction and fulfilment not yet realised, should you ever attain your dream job you stand to be seriously disappointed and disillusioned when what you wished for continues to elude you.  Praise the LORD that whatever we do - whether in routine or on a sabbatical - we can glorify God by doing so heartily as unto the LORD.  Even on holiday we never take our leave of Jesus our Saviour.

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.