Understanding the Covenant

God has provided us brains to reason and think, and it is good to consider carefully the things we read and hear.  Though we all have knowledge, we can come to incorrect conclusions.  Even Christian believers we respect who have taught us much through books, people we knew personally who led exemplary lives of obedience and faithfulness, are not infallible.  It is the scripture, not the teachings of men or even what seems expedient or useful, which keeps us grounded in truth.  Another difficulty is when the reader misunderstands what is meant by the author.  This can happen when the definition or common use of words change over time or are used differently in another culture.

I am reading through a new compilation of A.W. Tozer's sermons and came across a thought which has been on my mind of late.  Having established how obedience to God is a key aspect in our relationship with God, he said this:  "My obedience is based on my commitment to God.  As I understand my commitment to God, I begin to see flowing into my life the attributes of God that protect me from an enemy or an adversary." (Tozer, A. W., and James L. Snyder. A Cloud by Day, a Fire by Night: Finding and Following Gods Will for You. Bethany House Publishers, a Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2019. page 49)

Commitment is a tricky issue I have been thinking about lately.  "Commit" is a word often used in scripture; the word "commitment" never occurs in translations I checked (KJV, NKJV, NIV, NAS).  When a person commits a crime, it means they have done the thing.  When I make a commitment to take out the rubbish, it is a promise or pledge I will do so.  Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established."  We are not told to make a "commitment" but to "commit" our works to the LORD.  In the church I grew up in it was common for backsliders to "re-commit" their lives to the LORD - another term not found in scripture.  You commit your life to the LORD, or you don't.  Making a commitment may only be words.  A backslider is called to repent of sin and start doing what pleases God - not to jump on for another go on the "re-commit-cycle."

If I define Tozer's use of "commitment" to the Oxford dictionary it means, "responsibility, obligation, duty."  But is this why I ought to obey - because I have said I would or because I know God is holding me responsible?  Maybe.  Think about this: a man and woman make a commitment to be married, but their bond is deeper than spoken words because it is a covenant before God He has established.  Understanding God has offered me a covenant for my eternal salvation in His own blood I entered into by grace through faith is far more binding than my commitment.  It was the love of God, God's love demonstrated towards Paul that constrained him to obey God - not primarily a sense of duty or obligation (which I'm sure was part of the equation on some level).

After reading what Tozer said about obedience I believe the opposite rings more true:  "My obedience is based on God's commitment to me."  All kinds of words have come out of my mouth.  I have spoken truth but also during my life there has been boasting, lies, deceit, exaggeration, gossip, and blasphemy.  But when God says something, everything He says is true, righteous, and trustworthy.  When I make a commitment I may or may not follow through, but Jesus already committed Himself into the hands of the Father on Calvary.  He demonstrated His love for me whilst I was a sinner by dying in my place.  God's Word has been proven true again and again so when He speaks, it is the Gospel truth.  When I understand the covenant of grace and love God has given to me, I am learning to obey with thanksgiving. 

Our Need for Faith

Yesterday during the evening quiz on ABC radio the question was posed, "If you could time-travel to any time in history, where would you go?"  It didn't take long for me to have an answer:  to Jerusalem at the time of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is not because I question or doubt the biblical accounts or need visual confirmation, but to witness events which had an eternal impact for all humanity.  To talk to the "man on the street," hear the buzz of the locals and travellers alike concerning Jesus, and to see their reactions of the reports of His resurrection would be intriguing.

A few callers in there was a man (to my surprise) who said he would like to see Jesus.  "I'd like to hear Jesus teach the Sermon on the Mount and see if He really did miracles," he said.  "Seeing a miracle or two would be great."  "Sure," the host declared.  "You could see if Jesus was the real deal."  The caller surprised me again when he exclaimed, "With a time machine you could go forward a bit in time and see Mohammed as well."  This was an odd leap for me:  if Jesus IS the real deal, why would you care to see Mohammed or any other self-proclaimed prophet?  The caller's perspective rang true to what scripture bears out:  seeing miracles does not make believers.  Countless people saw the miraculous signs and wonders Jesus did.  Some followed Him, curious to see what He would do next, others reported to the chief priests who plotted to kill Him, and a handful believed.

Jesus spoke of a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus who both died and went to Sheol, to a place called "Abraham's bosom."  It was a place of comfort for Lazarus and a place of torment for the rich man separated by a great impassable gulf.  The rich man begged Abraham to have Lazarus dip his finger in water and to send Lazarus over to cool his tongue and ease his torment.  Abraham (in so many words) replied he was receiving his just due and it was impossible.  Undeterred, the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to the land of the living to warn his 5 brothers what torment awaited them if they continued on their current course.  The end of the conversation is recorded in Luke 16:29-31:  "Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' ³⁰ And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' ³¹  But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"  These words are true.

People do not need to see miracles or additional evidence outside of the Law and prophets to be convinced Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah and Son of God, the Saviour of the world.  Isn't this an astounding remark?  "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them."  Jesus spoke of the rich man and Lazarus before His crucifixion and resurrection, and after being raised from the dead Luke 24:44-47 says, "Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." ⁴⁵ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."  The truth had already been spoken, but people refused to hear it and believe.

The underlying issue for many people is not the lack of historical or biblical evidence, the alleged hypocrisy of professing Christians, or bad experiences in church, but plain unbelief.  God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand and yet they did not enter into the Promised Land because they did not believe.  After warning against a heart of unbelief which departs from God, the writer of Hebrews used the fallen children of Israel in the wilderness as an example. Hebrews 4:1-2 says, "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it."  People can read the Bible and have intimate knowledge of what is written therein, but without faith it cannot profit them.  The natural man is unable to receive the things of God and even divine wisdom appears foolishness to him because it is only spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:12-16).  Witnessing miracles done by Jesus Himself and knowledge alone are powerless to save.  Without faith in Christ our knowledge of the Bible and even Christ's words and deeds are stunted, distorted, and incomplete.

Unbelief is more than lack of faith:  unbelief is a steadfast refusal to believe and trust God, rebellion to submit to His wisdom and the revelation of scripture.  No man can blame God for his own unbelief, for God has given us all the capacity to think, surrender our will, and trust in Him by grace.  Paul wrote in Romans 12:3:  "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."  See that?  God has dealt to every man a measure of faith.  He has given us the capacity to hear Moses, the prophets, the Psalms, the words of Jesus, and the testimony of His followers - and believe in Jesus whom the Father has sent.  Let us never blame God for man's unbelief.  Praise the LORD we can be born again by grace through faith in Jesus.  There is much even the learned do not understand:  we must not allow what we cannot understand become an excuse for unbelief and departure from the truth God has revealed.

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.