Author: scribblingtheology

Does God Know You? by Alan P. Stanley

scribblingtheologyLeave a comment

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! (Matt 7:21–23).

Matthew 7:21–23 has to be one of the most confronting passages in the Bible. Just listen to the commentators: “These, surely, are in many ways the most solemn and solemnising words ever uttered in this world,” [1] “a passage of heart-piercing application,” [2] “a dreadful warning.” [3] And this from a Christian blog: “This is the saddest and scariest portion of scripture.” [4]

This passage, on the lips of Jesus, is a warning. Christians on the whole find warning passages confronting, and the reason is that these passages typically warn against the absence of works (e.g., James 2:14–26) and fruit (John 15:1–6), or the presence of disobedience (1 Cor 6:9–10; Eph 5:5) and apostasy—turning away from Jesus (e.g., Heb 6). And because we tend to be our own worst critic, it’s understandable that we might be unsettled by such passages.

But this passage in Matthew, while a warning, is different. For it is not a warning against the absence of works, but the presence of them; it is not a warning against disobedience if anything it seems to be the opposite: these people did things in Jesus’ name! And it certainly does not address apostasy. So, to put it bluntly, what the heck?

I want to address one issue, the key to understanding what is going on in this passage, what is the Father’s will? But let’s first deal with a couple of quick issues. First, the destiny of these people? What will it mean to hear, “I never knew you”? Despite objections to the contrary, it is quite evident that “Away from me . . .” carries the same connotations as “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” elsewhere in Matthew (Matt 25:41). An alternative interpretation that is somewhat popular is that these people have not done the Father’s will, which, according to Jesus in John’s Gospel, is to believe in Jesus (see John 6:40).[5] But these people have believed in Jesus. They call Jesus “Lord, Lord,” and they have carried out various activities in his name. But as is common in the New Testament, there is such a thing as belief or faith that turns out not to be non-saving (e.g., John 2:23–25; 8:31–47; 1 Cor 15:1–2; James 2:14–19).

The second issue, quickly, is when will Jesus says these words? The future tense (“Not everyone . . . will enter”; “Many will say”; “I will tell them plainly”) together with the phrase “on that day” indicates that this is a scene that will play out the final judgment. As to the question of whether these people were ever ‘saved,’ I think not given that Jesus says, “I never knew you.” But I don’t think this question is as important as we often think it is. Whether these people have lost their salvation or never had it, makes no practical difference in the end. But that is enough on that for now.

The more important question, by a country mile, is what is “the will of my Father”? since not doing the Father’s will is what excludes people from the kingdom? Doing the Father’s will is an essential concept in the New Testament. Jesus, in Matthew, announces that “whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matt 12:50). Similarly, Hebrews encourages its readers of the “need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised”, going on to make clear that what is promised is salvation (Heb 10:36, 39). And John: “whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). It is not those who confess Jesus Lordship that will enter the kingdom but only those who do the Father’s will. This is something Matthew, in particular, wants to highlight. What though is the Father’s will?

Jesus tells some pointed parables aimed directly at “the chief priests and the elders of the people” (Matt 21:23). The first parable (21:28–32) compares two sons. The first son, while initially refusing to listen to his father and work in his vineyard, eventually changes his mind and does what his father told him. The second son says he’ll go but never does. The point of the parable centres on this question: “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”, or more literally in the Greek: “Which of the two did the will of the father?” The point of the parable, Jesus makes clear in the end, is that Israel’s leaders are not entering the kingdom because they have not done the Father’s will (21:31b–32).

As to what the Father’s will is, Jesus fleshes out in a second parable immediately following; about a landowner who planted a vineyard and leased it out to farmers (Matt 21:33–44). When it came time for the landowner to collect “fruit” from the vineyard, the farmers beat or killed whoever the landowner sent, the last one being his son. The parable is clear: “the kingdom of God will be taken away from [the Jews] and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (21:43).

The Father’s will, then, is that His people produce “fruit.” Readers of Matthew’s Gospel will remember that early on, John the Baptist tells Israel’s leaders to “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’. . . The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt 3:8–10). In other words, fruit is what will count at the final judgment. One’s family tree has nothing to do with it. We need to understand how this would have sounded to first-century Jewish ears, who while they believed that God would one day judge the world and separate the wicked from the righteous, did not believe that Israel would be on the wrong side of the ledger.

That fruit counts at the final judgment turns out to be a central theme in Matthew’s Gospel, a theme that his structure makes strikingly clear. Matthew’s five major sections each end with a strong ethical thrust concerning the final judgment. 1) Only those who put Jesus’ words into practice will escape judgment (Matt 7:24–27); 2) only those who take up their cross and follow Jesus will be rewarded at the judgment (10:37–42); 3) at the end of the age the wicked will be separated from the righteous, those that sin from those who do evil (13:40–50); 4) God will show no mercy to those who have not shown mercy to others (18:23–35); and 5) the Son of Man will separate the righteous from the unrighteous at the final judgment, the former will inherit the kingdom, the latter will “go away into eternal punishment” (25:21–46).

Thus, it is not just texts here and there, but Matthew has so crafted his Gospel to make the point that fruit arising from repentance is what will count at the final judgment, not taking solace in “We have Abraham as our father” (Matt 3:9).

But still, we have not answered what doing the Father’s will, or fruit means. Another big picture sweep of Matthew reveals that Jesus repeatedly indicts Israel’s leaders for not knowing their Scriptures: “Haven’t you read what David did” (Matt 12:3), “haven’t you read in the Law” (12:5), “Haven’t you read [in Genesis 1–2]” (19:4), “have you never read [in Psalm 8]” (21:16), “Have you never read in the Scriptures” (21:42), “have you not read what God said to you [in Exodus]” (22:31)? Now, of course, they have read their Scriptures; they know them well. They “sit in Moses’ seat” (23:2), teach the Scriptures (23:7, 10), are familiar with the finer details of the law (23:24), and are knowledgeable about Israel’s Messiah (2:4–6; 22:42). So what do they not understand?

The Scriptures are, of course, the place where God has revealed his will to Israel (cf. Rom 2:18). Therefore, for Jesus to question Israel’s knowledge or understanding of their Scriptures, is to question their understanding of God’s will. We see this clearly in Matthew’s twice repeated reference to a central Scripture, Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”? (Matt 9:13; 12:7). No other Gospel writer cites this verse, and yet Matthew does so, and twice! A significant clue!

Matthew’s use of Hosea for the overall point he wants to make cannot be overstated. First, we should not miss the fact that the word “desire” in the Hosea citation is the Greek word “will!” God’s will is mercy, not sacrifice. Notice the two contexts in which Jesus employs Hosea. In the first context, the Pharisees protest against Jesus eating with “tax collectors and sinners” (Matt 9:9–11). They do not care that these people are “sick” and in need of a “doctor,” to use Jesus’ analogy. They are more interested in remaining pure and undefiled before God, and for that, they must separate themselves from sinners.

In chapter 12, the Pharisees protest again, this time against the disciples who upon feeling hungry while walking through a grain field, pick and nibble on some grain—on the Sabbath! The Pharisees do not care that the disciples are hungry, only that they are doing what is “not lawful” (Matt 12:1–8).

In both these scenarios, sacrifice—a fastidious obsession with obeying the law—has replaced mercy. The heart of Jesus’ critique in both cases mirrors that of another confrontation between Jesus and Israel’s leadership. In Matthew 15, the Pharisees and teachers of the law once again protest against the disciples’ application of the law. But this is merely another example of sacrifice before mercy; an unhealthy obsession with the law and its requirements: money that should go toward parents in their old age is kept back so as not to break an oath made to God.

Do you see the problem that Jesus is rallying against? Let me put it plainly: Israel’s leaders care more about obedience and holiness than they do about people. Matthew 23:23 expresses the heart of Jesus’ critique: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former.”

Jesus describes the people who he never knew as “workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:23; NIV has “evildoers”). Since then “the more important matters of the law” are “justice, mercy and faithfulness” there is no question that those who do the Father’s will are those who are also characterised by justice, mercy and faithfulness. Elsewhere Jesus says that where “lawlessness” exists, “love” has grown cold (24:12). Again, let’s put this plainly: those who Jesus never knew may have been focused on exercising wonderful gifts, but they have not been focused on people.

The threads and themes in Matthew’s Gospel substantiate this conclusion. One obvious theme is that of mercy. For a start, the mercy word group occurs more frequently in Matthew than any of the other Gospels (see Matt 5:7; 6:2–4; 9:13, 27; 12:7; 15:22; 17:15; 18:33; 20:30–31; 23:23). Accompanying this theme is Matthew’s emphasis on attitudes and behaviour toward other people (5:21–26, 38–42, 43–46; 6:12, 14–15; 7:1–5, 12; 9:9–13; 10:40–42; 12:1–7; 18:6–35; 22:36–40; 23:23; 24:12; 25:31–46). These emphases explain why Jesus sums up the Law and the Prophets as “do to others what you would have them do to you” (7:12) and “Love your neighbour as yourself (22:39–40). Hence, “for Matthew, the love command presents the core of God’s will.” [6]

What might we say about this concerning application? Though we could say more, here are a couple of things:

First, we need to be careful that we don’t get the wrong idea of holiness or righteousness. If someone asked you “How is your relationship with God?” what would you say? Where would your mind go? What criteria would you use? Typically, we go to our Quiet Times. We think about how often we are ‘in the word’ and prayer, how vibrant is our ‘connection’ with God? But without wanting to sound too dismissive, where did we ever get the idea that these kinds of things marked a relationship with God? Just read Isaiah 58 and John 13:34–35 for an alternative answer. J. I. Packer has observed that it is possible for “fellow believers” to be “constantly seeking to advance themselves in godliness” and yet “show little direct interest in God himself.” According to Packer, “There is something narcissistic and, to tell the truth, nutty in being more concerned about godliness than about God.” [7] Imagine being more concerned about holiness than God. Who is at the centre of such an obsession? Is it not “I,” myself? The only reason we would place holiness above God is because being holy makes us feel worthy, acceptable, clean. Who enjoys feeling like a sinner? I mean it’s one thing to know that we are a sinner, but it’s another thing to experience it.

Do you ever feel like going out and witnessing or saving people when you fall into sin? Or perhaps spending some sustained time in prayer and repentance? Why? It’s just possible that we are unwilling to confront the reality of our own hearts. John Coe observes that it is possible for sincere Christians to hide behind things such as prayer, reading the Bible, holiness, and ministry “to avoid feelings of guilt and . . . shame.” [8] He articulates the phenomenon as the attempt to deal with our spiritual failure, guilt and shame by means of spiritual efforts, by attempting to perfect one’s self in the power of the self. It is the attempt of the well-intentioned believer to use spiritual formation, spiritual disciplines, ministry, service, obedience—being good in general—as a way to relieve the burden of spiritual failure, lack of love and the guilt and shame that results.[9]

In case you haven’t realised, all this leads to self-righteousness, which is precisely the problem with the Pharisees. But self-righteous people will never be able to extend love and mercy to sinners, not real love and mercy. Only broken people can minister to broken people. We all know what it’s like to have struggled with something, and in turn, been effective in being able to help someone else down the track with a similar struggle. But self-righteous people are judgmental (Matt 7:1–5) and saltless (5:13–14), good for nothing; unable to help. They are concerned about being holy, but only because they want to avoid contamination, not realising that they are already contaminated, they only need to see the depth of it for themselves (see 5:3–6). When they do, they are then free to extend radical amounts of love and mercy to others, knowing just how much they themselves have been recipients of God’s love and mercy (6:14–15).

The second point of application is to note how enamoured we can be with greatness (Matt 18:1–4). And yet Matthew is fond of exalting the last to the place of first (Matt 5:3–6; 18:1–4; 19:30; 20:16; 21:31), which of course is exactly what had happened to Matthew (9:9). There are two types of religion, or righteousness, in Matthew. There is a righteousness that is characterised by great activity: prophesying, casting out demons and performing miracles (7:21–23); great attention: giving, praying and fasting (6:1–18); great exclusion (9:1–13; 12:1–14; 15:1–11); and great appearance (chap. 23).

But in the midst of all of this greatness, Matthew presents another kind of righteousness: those who give “even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple” (10:42). This kind of righteousness seeks no recognition (6:1–18), in fact it is a righteousness that would not even label its acts as righteous (25:35–37). It is a righteousness that is ‘learned’ from the one who is “gentle and humble in heart” (11:28–30). He leads the way: entered this world as a nobody (chaps. 1–2), accepted a sinners baptism (3:13–17), gained a reputation for being “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (11:19), and ended up where no self-respecting God person would want to be seen, on a Roman cross reserved for sinners, nobodies and criminals (chap. 27). Yes, there were miracles, demons were cast out, prophesying occurred, but that his fate was crucifixion demonstrates where his real focus always was: “not as I will, but as you will” (26:39).

[1] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Nottingham: IVP, 1959-60), 577.

[2] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (1856: anniversary edition of Matthew and Mark, Zondervan), 69–70, cited in John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount: Christian Counter-Culture (BST; Leicester: IVP, 1978), 205.

[3] S. de Diétrich, Saint Matthew (London, 1962) cited in Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew (PNTC; Grand Rapids: IVP, 1992), 181.

[4] http://adamkoppin.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-never-knew-you.html.

[5] Bob Wilkin, “Not Everyone Who Says ‘Lord, Lord’ Will Enter the Kingdom: Matthew 7:21-23” http://www.faithalone.org/news/y1988/88dec3.html.

[6] Petri Luomanen, Entering the Kingdom of Heaven: A Study on the Structure of Matthew’s View of Salvation (Tübingen: Mohr, 1998), 98.

[7] J. I. Packer, Meeting God: A Lifeguide Bible Study (Madison, Wis.: InterVarsity, 1986), 9 cited in Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams: God’s Unexpected Path to Joy (Colorado Springs: WaterBrook Press, 2001), 182–83.

[8] John Coe, “Resisting the Temptation of Moral Formation: Opening to Spiritual Formation in the Cross and the Spirit,” Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care 1 (Spring 2008), 63.

[9] Coe, “Resisting the Temptation of Moral Formation,” 55.

Right Ecclesiology in the Wrong Era

scribblingtheologyLeave a comment

I’ve been to a lot of different churches in my time. Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, CoC, Hillsong, and Baptist (the one true Church).  I’ve been to them all, and I’ve loved and hated all of them. Before I get stuck into it, there’s no such thing as a perfect church because it’s full of imperfect people. However, the way I see it is that God, through His Word, gives us guidelines of what a healthy church should look like in a sinful and broken world. So, as I’ve perused the many different churches that I’ve been to over the years, I can’t help but ask myself “why does every church seem to miss the mark when it comes to being a biblically healthy church?” The answer is modernity and “church models”. I’ve come to realise that sound biblical principles for church become increasingly challenging to enforce and live by in a world that has strayed so far from first-century models of church. Take complementarianism, for example. It’s almost impossible to know where to draw the line for where women can and can’t teach scripture. Every complementarian agrees they shouldn’t be elders and teach God’s Word on a Sunday over the congregation, but what about conferences, homegroups, youth groups, leadership retreats, and bible colleges?

We do all of these things because they’re good for us, yet none of them are biblical church practices, at best they’re extra-biblical. It has become increasingly challenging to fit sound biblical principles into modern church paradigms, and I haven’t been to a single church that doesn’t struggle with this. Take church membership as another example. We believe that there are members of local churches, yet we all disagree on how they should be identified, how they should participate and be active in our local churches. Does there need to be formal membership (I’d say so), or is anyone fair game? What benefits are there for our church members? What do we expect of them? Again, the Bible tells us to bear one another’s burdens, pray and love one another and to minister to one another. However, what church membership looks like, has become hard to define in an era where the church has become very individualistic and program orientated. Instead of flourishing members of a local church, we slot people into programs to facilitate their needs and gifts rather than allowing them to organically yet intentionally serve one another in Christ. So my question to us then is “how do we return to the ancient ways of doing church in the modern era?”

First, we have to consider what church is. I think I’ve said this elsewhere, but theologically the church is understood in two ways. It is universal and invisible. It is comprised of every Christian throughout space and time in which Christ is the head. It is also local and visible. It is where people visibly and tangibly gather to worship God, where the invisible church is locally represented. This is comprised of both Christians and non-Christians. So then, the local church is a group of people in any building or space gathering together to worship the God of the Bible. However, this definition assumes something, that the Bible is central to the function of the local church. Without it, we wouldn’t know who God is, who the Messiah is, or what the Gospel is.

This is where we start to recover the ancient ways of doing church. God’s Word being delivered to His people through the prophets and the apostle’s teachings were always central to the gathering of the saints. It’s what leads them to worship and be transformed into a flourishing community of God’s people. Without the Bible being taught and shared faithfully, there is no local church because they’d be no way to know who God even is let alone worship. This, of course, presupposes that there are teachers.

The Bible calls these “teachers” elders, overseers, shepherds and pastors. They guide each church as they faithfully proclaim the Word of the Lord, as they commit themselves to prayer and demonstrate His goodness through their character (1 Tim 3:1-7; Tit 1:5-9). Without this crucial role, the sheep would be lost without their God-ordained undershepherds. In His divine wisdom, God has deliberately called wise men to guide His sheep in His Word so that they may be nourished upon the Word and led into the green pastures of His Kingdom. However, it’s not only that the sheep need their shepherds, but rather the shepherds also need their sheep as well. This is called biblical church membership.

Biblical church membership sounds scary. Well, it is. This is because membership is about:

  1. Service: loving others and self-sacrifice (Matt 22:34-40)
  2. Transparency: confessing sin and being open about struggles (Jas 5:16)
  3. Humility: allowing others to correct, rebuke and exhort you (Matt 18:15-17)
  4. Submission: to the elders, deacons, and other church members (1 Pet 5:5; Heb 13:17)
  5. Commitment: to the regular weekly gathering of the saints (Heb 10:25)
  6. Jesus as King (worshipping, loving and proclaiming the Gospel to the world)

Real biblical membership is organic and Spirit-driven. It doesn’t rely on the programs offered by the church before its members can serve, it naturally seeks out the needs of others and loves them even if there isn’t an official ministry in that category yet. Real biblical membership causes us to see the importance of loving one another, submitting to our leaders and other members and to be real about sin and self. Biblical fellowship says, “I am publically, with this local church, identifying as a member of God’s Kingdom in which I am now accountable not only to God but others, and they – me.” With authentic biblical Spirit-led membership, the world should be able to look upon your church and see a legitimate slice of the Kingdom of God and covet it. Finally, I’d add a few other must-haves in a biblical church:

  • The sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Rom 6; Col 2:9-15)
  • Deacons: those who are set apart to help out the practical needs of the church (Acts 6:1-16; 1 Tim 3:8-13)
  • Worship: singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs and prayer (Eph 5:19; 1 Tim 2:1-3)
  • Spiritual gifts: the right biblical practice of spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12)
  • Missional: a church must be joining God in His mission to redeem the world around them, not just the building they gather in (Matt 28:16-20)

So then, this is what makes up a biblical church. However, how do we squeeze these biblical principles into the modern age? I suggest a radical renovation of our church models and methods. Rather than trying to fit what’s biblical into the contemporary church, let’s make it, so the modern church fits the biblical principles.

Church size: It’s nice to have hundreds or thousands of people eating out of the palm of your hand every Sunday, the problem is this becomes a nightmare to manage. It’s so challenging to practice organic loving and intentional church membership and eldership care when you might see one church member once every 3 or 4 years if you were to get around to everyone. Ok, sure, more leaders and a bigger pastoral care team might be helpful. It’s not impossible to run a big church. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that instead of building a church in one spot or area (sounds familiar right? Genesis 11 and Acts), the church is meant to plant and multiply. It’s supposed to spread and take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. So let’s strip back the sizes of our churches, love our members well, and invest in church planting. Imagine hundreds if not thousands of little churches all gathering together to worship the Lord and committed to one another instead of monster mega-churches dominating our areas that let too many Christians fall through the cracks. 

Programs: when we strip back the size of our churches, we start to find that programs aren’t as important as loving one another, the ministry of the Word and mission becomes more organic and personal. We don’t need to rely on chat and chew mum’s groups or men’s breakfasts to love one another (don’t get me wrong; these can be helpful). Instead, as we’re encouraged by biblical teaching, and as we’re in close spiritual proximity to one another we’re almost compelled to ask our fellow Christian “are you ok? How can I pray for you? What are you struggling with? Can we help you?” even if I usually don’t socialise with them in other areas of life. All of a sudden church is becoming deep, more than a superficial club or a thing we do on a Sunday to pass the time. We actually begin to care about people, not performing for there is no space for performance in the ancient church.

Imagine you find yourself stranded on a deserted island with nothing but a copy of the Bible. You have no experience with Christianity whatsoever, and all you know about the Church will come from your reading of the Bible. How would you imagine a church to function? Seriously. Close your eyes for two minutes and try to picture “Church” as you would know it. Now think about your current church experience. Is it even close? Can you live with that?
― Francis Chan

Living Water John 4:1-42

scribblingtheology2 Comments

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” – John 4:10

The story of the women at the well (John 4) is a famous one, and its narrative elements are as old as time. A wise sage (Jesus) meets a broken person (the woman at the well) and offers her insight about God, life, and herself. As a result, the person and the village are changed, rejoice, and the sage goes on His way to the next group of people who needs His wisdom. Every movie ever. Except this isn’t just a story, Jesus isn’t just a sage, and He gives the broken woman not only sound insight but hope and life. Here’s the scene. It’s a hot afternoon, Jesus, a pure-blooded Jewish rabbi, sits alone by the side of a well. A Samaritan woman (typically hated by the Jews), also alone, comes to draw water from the well when Jesus asks her for a simple drink. This simple request, scandalous for its time, ended up showing the woman that her need was more than just a cup of water, instead, she needed living water from which she’d never thirst.

The theme of living waters is splashed (pun intended) all over the Scriptures. Like most themes, we find it on the first few pages of the Bible in Genesis 1. The first time water is even mentioned is in Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Coupled with the term without form and void (wild and waste), the imagery here is an earth that is a chaotic watery wasteland with God’s Spirit sovereignly hovering over it ready to order and shape. In the rest of the chapter, waters or seas are mentioned for a total of 16 times. We see from the beginning of the chapter that waters are chaotic, but God eventually turns it into something ordered, good, and life-giving. The theme continues:

  • In Genesis 2 after God rests in His cosmic temple, God places the Garden in Eden, and with the tree of life at the centre of the Garden, rivers flow forth to water and give life to the entire world (Genesis 2:10-14).
  • In Genesis 6-9, the world has become exceedingly wicked. Everyone has turned away from Yahweh and follows after their own rebellious desires. As an act of judgement and restoration, God floods the world both destroying it with chaotic waters but also renewing with those same waters. The flood is giving life to a sort of newly created order in which God will start again with His new Adam Noah.
  • In Exodus 14 after Israel has been freed from the oppressive rule of Pharoah in Egypt, they come to the beach of the Red Sea that separates them from the promised land. God, through Moses, parts the waters to allow His people to safely travel through eventually closing the sea behind them, destroying the pursuing Egyptians.
  • God is depicted as being living water in opposition to idols and other gods (Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13).
  • Like the Garden of Eden, the temple is depicted as having water flowing out of it (Ezekiel 47:1-12) giving life to the surrounding area.
  • Zechariah 14:8 talks about living waters flowing out of Jerusalem (also analogues for sacred space) watering the whole earth in the new creation.
  • As we come back to the woman at the well, we see Jesus obviously identifying Himself as the waters of life. Jesus is the temple that houses the presence of God, that gives life to those around Him (John 4:10-11). In fact, John depicts water flowing from the side of Jesus on the cross (John 19:34).
  • Those who are united to Jesus in faith will also have living waters flowing from their hearts (John 7:38) as part of the new temple and the new creation.
  • Finally, in the new heavens and earth, we see Jesus, the Lamb of God leading people to rivers of living water (Revelation 7:17) to drink from (Revelation 21:6) that flow from the throne of God and the lamb with the tree of life on each side of the river (Revelation 22:1-2).

These are just a few examples of what living waters throughout the Bible. Whether or not the woman at the well was clued into even most of these ideas is uncertain. However, what we do know is that after the conversation she had with Jesus she believed, she was transformed, and as a result, many others believed in Jesus as the Messiah as well. At the end of the day, two things can be taken away from this. 1. That real-life comes from Jesus the Messiah. You will never thirst. 2. If you’re a Christian, your job is to go about watering the earth and giving life to it with the Gospel and by loving others. If salvation is anything, it is giving life to those who don’t have it.

Salvation Is: Substitution and Sacrifice Part III

scribblingtheology3 Comments

Christians are obsessed with the idea of salvation. Fair enough, salvation is essential. The problem, however, is that everyone has different opinions on what salvation actually is. Different traditions tend to emphasise and even make exclusive claims to their own definition of salvation at the expense of others. So in this series, I aim to explore the different facets of salvation so that we may better understand what it really is. Here are the salvific themes we’re going to explore:

  1. Liberation and Exile
  2. Sin and Judgement
  3. Substitution and Sacrifice
  4. Recapitulation
  5. Vocation
  6. New Creation

Each motif plays a pivotal role in demonstrating what salvation is, how it is achieved and received, and how it is lived out by the believer. In this post, we will be exploring substitution and sacrifice.

So far, we’ve explored some essential themes. However, substitution and sacrifice sit right at the centre of all these themes as it is how exile and liberation, sin and judgement are dealt with. Without sacrifice and substitution, there would be no forgiveness of sin, there would be no freedom from guilt, death and the satan, and there would be no new creation.

“With the other New Testament writers, Paul always points to the death of Jesus as the atoning event, and explains the atonement in terms of representative substitution – the innocent taking the place of the guilty, in the name and for the sake of the guilty, under the axe of God’s judicial retribution”
– J. I. Packer

Like every other theme, substitution and sacrifice first appear on the first few pages on the Bible. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve are presented with a choice to either eat from the Tree of Life or to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. In the form of the serpent (Genesis 3:1), temptation draws humanity to eat from the Tree of Knowledge which they were told to not eat from (Genesis 2:17) and as a result, they’re cursed, the earth is cursed, and they are exiled from the Garden of Eden (God’s presence). Now sin has entered the world (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21) and corrupts all things (Romans 8:19-23). However, instead of leaving humanity to its own devices God promises that there will be a seed from the woman that will crush the head of the serpent while the seed is wounded by the serpent (Genesis 3:15). Before throwing them out, God clothed them in animal skins (an apparent reference to substitution and covering) and then drives them eastward (Genesis 3:20-24).

Next, we find Cain and Abel offering up gifts and sacrifices to God (Genesis 4:1-7). Strangely, at this point in the narrative, God hasn’t required any sacrifice to be made. Yet Cain is offering fruit and grain (a clear connection to Leviticus 2), and Abel offers up the firstborn of his flock. The idea of offering and sacrifice is a recurring theme throughout the biblical narrative, where we next see it with Noah:

  • The earth is increasingly sinful and wicked, God destroys the planet with a flood (Genesis 6-9) yet saves humanity through one family and an ark. After the flood, Noah sets up an altar and offers up sacrifices of clean animals which leads God to make a covenant with humanity to never destroy the earth again (Genesis 8:20-22).
  • God promises that through Abrahams seed all the nations will be blessed (Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18), yet as a test of faith, God asks Abraham to offer up his firstborn son as a sacrifice to Him (Genesis 22:1-2). However, instead of Isaac dying, God provides a substitution (Genesis 22:10-14).
  • Through Moses, God sets free His people by sending plagues on the Egyptians finally culminating in the Passover (Exodus 12). Because of the lamb’s blood being painted on the doorpost of Israelites God’s people are identified, their firstborns are spared, God’s people are literally passed over by the angel of destruction, and eventually, they’re lead into the wilderness to worship God.
  • We also see examples of substitution in Numbers 3:12-13; 1 Samuel 17:9; 1 Kings 20:42; Ezekiel 4:4 and of course famously in Isaiah 53. Here we have one of the most prominent passages of substitution and sacrifice foreshadowing the Messiah.

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.

– Isaiah 53:4–11

Moving words. This passage prophetically sheds light on the meaning of the coming Messiah’s mission. In light of Jesus, it becomes clearer that even the New Testament authors considered Jesus to be the lamb of God that was to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29, 3:17; Acts 2:23–24; Romans 6:9; 1 Corinthians 15:4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:5, 9; 2 Thessalonians 1:11). As one author explains:

The old-covenant-era hearers would have understood what this meant, for guilt offerings were sacrificed to God as substitutes in place of those who had sinned against him, so that the sinners themselves would not bear God’s righteous anger. And the old covenant foreshadowed the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 12:24), where the great Servant, the great Propitiator, would offer himself as the final once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice in the place of sinners (Hebrews 9:26).

– Jon Bloom

  • Finally, we see the Lamb of God, Jesus, who was our substitute and sacrifice being worshipped and praised (Revelation 5:6-12, 7:9-17, 15:3, 17:14, 22:1-3).

Every other theme in the Bible hangs off the idea of sacrifice and substitution for it is how every other facet of salvation is achieved. Our King gave up His life willingly so we wouldn’t have to. He died to forgive sins, to set us free from our exile, to lead us into our new humanity, vocation, and new creation.

Salvation is: Sin and Judgement Part II

scribblingtheology3 Comments

Christians are obsessed with the idea of salvation. Fair enough, salvation is essential. The problem, however, is that everyone has different opinions on what salvation actually is. Different traditions tend to emphasise and even make exclusive claims to their own definition of salvation at the expense of others. So in this series, I aim to explore the different facets of salvation so that we may better understand what it really is. Here are the salvific themes we’re going to explore:

  1. Liberation and Exile
  2. Sin and Judgement
  3. Substitution and Sacrifice
  4. Recapitulation
  5. Vocation
  6. New Creation

Each motif plays a pivotal role in demonstrating what salvation is, how it is achieved and received, and how it is lived out by the believer. In this post, we will be exploring sin and judgement.

Sin is often understood in a few different ways. Sin is breaking the rules and rebellion (1Jn 3:4 See also 1Sa 13:13-14; 1Ch 10:13; Ne 9:29; Mic 1:5; 7:18; Ro 2:23; 4:15; 5:14-17; Jas 2:10-11). It can be understood as falling short or missing the mark (Rom 3:23 – this is the most common use of the word in both the OT and NT). Fundamentally, however, sin is idolatry. What is idolatry? G. K. Beale writes that:

Martin Luther’s larger catechism discussion of the first commandement (“You shall have no other gods before Me” [Ex 20:3]) included “whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is your God; trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and idol.” I might add here, “whatever your heart clings to or relies on for ultimate security.” “The idol is whatever claims the loyalty that belongs to God alone.”

One New Testament professor of mine always used to say that idolatry is the root where sin is the fruit. In other words, the reason why we do bad things like commit adultery, tell lies, cheat and steal is because of the things we either wittingly or unwittingly worship. For all of us, there are little gods in our lives that lay claim to our hearts and turn us away from wholly giving ourselves to Yahweh. This was essentially the primordial sin of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 they trusted in the serpent and in themselves over and above Yahweh, which is a picture of us all. Each day, perhaps in each moment we’re faced with a test to trust in God or to trust in idols. To allow Yahweh to rule over us or the things of this world to rule. Yet even if we passed 99/100 of the tests, sin can not be overlooked.

What we worship matters because we become what we worship. Consider Psalm 115:4-8

Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.

In other words, if we worship money, we become greedy if we worship popularity, we become arrogant if we worship darkness we become dark, lost and broken. However, if we worship God who is love (1 John 4:7), holy (Is 6:3; 1 Peter 1:6), patient (Num 14:18; Ex 34:6), and merciful (Ex 34:6-7; Eph 2:4-5) we will become like that as well. Therefore, whoever it is we worship deeply affects the world and the people around us. Sin perpetuates sin, and idols flourish among one another. Sin corrupts the world and destroys lives, it offends God as it disrupts His established order – His Kingdom in which He desires humanity to be a part of.

So then, this idolatry and sin cannot be overlooked. God might be love, but God is just (Is 61:8 ), and He will not let sin go unpunished (Is 13:11; 2 Thess 1:9). He will judge the world and give each one what they deserve according to their deeds (Rom 2:6; 2 Cor 5:10; Rev 20:12), He will punish and destroy the wicked (2 Peter 3:7). We see this pattern starting Genesis 3 where God curses humanity and the earth and removes them from the Garden of Eden, however, notice that God judges to restore not to simply pour out His wrath:

  • God curses humanity and the earth, then He exiles them from Eden. Yet God makes a sacrifice, covers Adam and Eve in animal skin and as an act of mercy so evil cannot live eternally denies them access to the tree of life. Finally, God promises that through the seed of Eve, one will come who will crush the serpent (sin) and restore everything to the Edenic ideal (Genesis 3).
  • Cain murders Abel, and God curses Cain as a result. Yet God protects Cain from ongoing murder. It was through Cains seed that “people began to call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4).
  • God floods and destroys the earth because of their great wickedness (Genesis 6:1-7). Yet He chooses Noah and his family to build an ark, to save the animals and as many people who’d hear the call of repentance. God judges and renews the earth with chaotic waters and starts over with Noah (a new type of Adam) as God gives him the command to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 9:1).
  • God judges and destroys Sodom, and Gomorrah yet saves Lot and his family (Genesis 19).
  • God sends plagues on Egypt and kills the firstborns, yet saves His people out of slavery so that they may worship Him (Exodus 4-15).
  • God sends Israel into exile under the Babylonian rule as judgement, but also to be a light to the nations and flourish (Jer 29).
  • Jesus is judged in place of humanity. He takes on the full justice of God yet only to save humanity from God’s just judgement (Jhn 3:36; Rom 5:9; 1 Thess 1:10).
  • God will judge the wicked and the righteous only to restore everything in the new creation (Rev 20-22).

Finally, sin is grave. God takes it seriously, and so should His Church. As my friend Alan Stanley explains:

Judgement is the natural outcome of idolatry. For example, Adam and Eve’s sin leads to an experiential separation from God before God removes them from the garden. In Romans 2, God’s wrath is described as his eschatological judgment. But in Romans 1 people experience judgment/wrath now by God handing them over to their desires. The more one becomes enslaved by their desires, the more one experiences death now because they do not know life. John 3:18 says that those who do not believe in Jesus stand judged already, and God’s wrath remains on him (3:36). In other words, those who worship idols do become like them: they become blind, etc., and are unable to experience the reality of God. This is judgment, in the present. The final judgment then is not so much God whacking his stick over his naughty and disobedient children, but it is punishment nevertheless; a punishment that people have chosen for themselves during this life.

Let us consider God’s judgement on sin and the ramifications of our idolatry on the world around us.