A Generous Life #1 (of 6) 2 Cor 8:9

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Gregg Caruso

I. INTRO

Summit #1 is next Sat (01/14). We are holding our first of three summits. I want to invite everyone 13 years of age and older to come and participate in this process.

If you’re new to the church it’s a great time to jump in to help shape what SBF will become in the next season of fruitful ministry. (My role is as a facilitator and coach – your role is to shape the future through prayerful dialogue with God and one another.)

Today we begin a 6-week series on A Generous Life. (There are study guides available in the lobby and also available for download here at our blogsite.) Why a series on A Generous Life?

The answer is both simple and profound – Jesus Christ lived the most generous life ever lived.

The whole Bible – both the OT and NT, was written to point to Jesus.

We call this a Christ-centered, or gospel-centered view of the Bible.

Again, the whole Bible was written with God’s redemption through Jesus Christ in view. The OT points to the coming of Jesus and the NT extols the coming of Jesus. We want to see Jesus and worship Jesus in every text of Scripture.

Because of the generosity of Jesus Christ one of the gospel graces is generosity – and there is a connection between generosity and stewardship. So this series will be about becoming generous stewards of God’s grace. But the last thing we want to say is that Jesus lived a generous life and now you should too.

No, we want to explore the generosity of Jesus. What we really want – and need – is to enter into His generosity. It is the generosity of Jesus, by grace through faith, that changes us and empowers us to be generous.

Our passage for today, which was read, is 2 Cor 8:9. This will be our foundational passage for the series. Our aim is to engage in a gospel transformation of the soul in and through the sacrifice and provision of Jesus Christ.

Here’s the way pastor and author John Piper says it: “Seeing and savoring the supremacy of Christ frees us from the slavery of sin for the sacrifices of love.”

Living in and for the gospel is counterintuitive[1]…here is how pastor and author Tim Keller has said it: “Christ wins our salvation through losing, achieves power through weakness and service, comes to wealth via giving it all away. And those who receive His salvation are not the strong and accomplished but those who admit they are weak and lost.”[2]

Each of us has three primary areas of stewardship in Christ: We’ll refer to them as our time, our talents, and our treasure. There are other areas of stewardship that we are responsible for as well: We are responsible for our primary relationships, our bodies, our sexuality, and to care for creation.

Again, it’s not about what we should do – the renegade Catholic priest, who initiated the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther speaks about a great exchange… “Learn Christ and Him crucified. Learn to sing to Him and, despairing of yourself, say, ‘Lord Jesus, You are my righteousness, just as I am Your sin. You have taken upon Yourself what is mine and have given me what is Yours.’”[3]

“For our sake [the Father] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

An overview of 2 Cor…

In 2 Cor 8-9 Paul is seeking to mobilize the Corinthian congregation to participate in an offering for the church members in Jerusalem…

You will notice that Paul never uses the word money, in 2 Cor 8-9, instead he calls it “grace,” “generosity,” “blessing,” or “partnership.” He speaks of the “grace of giving” as one of the highest Christian virtues.

With this series we are not aiming at your wallet, we are aiming at your heart.

This series is NOT intended to ask you to give more – it’s intended to show you how.

Paul had quite a rocky relationship with the church at Corinth. There were actually (at least) four letters that were written. What has been canonized as Scripture are letters #2 and #4. (#3 was, apparently, a letter of severe rebuke.)

Chapters 8 and 9 of this epistle concern the offering for the poor saints at Jerusalem. It took between 8-10 years to accomplish; involved thousands of miles of travel; at least 10 collectors involved. An earthquake, crop failures, and persecution contributed to their needs at Jerusalem church.

II. BODY

With that in mind let’s dive into our passage for today – just one verse – 2 Cor 8:9, which is the foundational passage for our series on Generosity… For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

Today we want to ask and consider four questions:

Do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?
How was Jesus rich?
How did He become poor?
How do we become rich?

Let’s look at them one at a time…

1. Do you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?

What does it mean to know?

Ginōskō – a knowledge grounded on personal experience.[4]

Paul is confident that the Corinthian church understood (i.e., was well-taught) in the area of the gospel of grace. This is where the North American Church struggles today…

What is grace? There are 10 ten occurrences of the word “grace” (charis) in chapters 8-9.

While there many facets of grace. This morning I’d like to look at three types of grace:

A. Common Grace refers to the grace of God that is common to all humankind. It is “common” because its benefits are experienced by the whole human race without distinction between one person and another. It is “grace” because it is undeserved and sovereignly bestowed by God. Mat 5:45b – “[God] causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” The fact that you’re breathing this morning is an effect of common grace.

B. Saving Grace, or justifying grace, redemptive grace – or regenerating grace is a momentary action of God to bring about salvation into a previously unregenerated person – it’s an act of quickening the spiritually dead. In John 3 Jesus had a conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus and told him – “…unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 1 Peter 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

C. Sanctifying Grace – Think of saving grace as birth (or regeneration) and sanctifying grace as growth.

Sanctification says the Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q.35), is “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole [person] after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.”

The concept is not of sin being totally eradicated, but of a divinely wrought [or, shaped] character change freeing us from sinful habits and forming in us Christlike affections, dispositions, and virtues (J.I. Packer).[5]

With saving grace, God implants desires that were not there before: desire for God, for holiness, for worship; desire to pray, love, serve, honor, and please God; desire to show love and bring benefit to others. With sanctifying grace the Holy Spirit, “is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).

Here now is my favorite definition of grace – “All that God is, lavishly poured into you.”

U2 song Grace –

Grace
She takes the blame
She covers the shame
Removes the stain
It could be her name

Grace
It’s a name for a girl
It’s also a thought that changed the world
And when she walks on the street
You can hear the strings
Grace finds goodness in everything

2. How was Jesus rich?

Jesus preexisted in the context of a Holy Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have dwelled together in infinite relational harmony for all eternity. Their mutual love is pure, infinite, and perfect. Their love is never stained by conflict, or competition, or polluted by self-centeredness.

Authors and theologians, dating back to the 7^th century (including C.S. Lewis and Tim Keller), have suggested that the Trinitarian relationship is like a dance, with each member deferring to and delighting in the other.[6]

3. How did He become poor?

Jesus condescended to become a human. One theologian said, “This humiliation had the effect of restoring the true human nature without degrading the divine nature…Majesty stepped into the mess.” [7]

Eugene Peterson in his paraphrase (called The Message) writes, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish” (John 1:14).

Jesus gave up the comforts and joys of Triune eternal companionship to enter into the messiness of living with sinful, broken humanity—the hypocrisy, violence, corruption, sickness, and greed. Jesus came to share a new vision, with new power for living with humility, compassion, mercy, and generosity.

Philippians 2:6-9 says “Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

4. How do we become rich?

We become rich by being invited into the dance…

(Farewell Discourse) John 17:19-21 – ¹⁹ “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. ²⁰ “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Here’s how one theologian sums up 2 Cor 8:9: “If this love of Christ, so magnanimous [generous] in its motive and so self-sacrificing in its execution, is an active force in the believer’s heart, how unnecessary, the apostle implies, any command to practice giving ought to be. What, without that love, might seem a cold moral duty has been transformed by it into a joyous privilege.”[8]

III. CONCLUSION

So 2 Cor 8:9, is the foundational passage for our series on Generosity/Stewardship… For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

We will build our series on this verse…

Over the next 5 weeks we will consider 10 Principles of Generosity (two per Sunday):

Generosity is a work of Gods grace (2 Cor 8:1-6)
Generosity is both a work of God’s grace and a choice (2 Cor 8:7)
Generosity points us to the sacrifice of Christ (2 Cor 8:8-9)
Generosity is measured proportionally (2 Cor 8:10-12)
Generosity enables a holy equality (2 Cor 8:13-15)
Generosity necessitates godly stewardship (2 Cor 8:16-24)
Generosity begets generosity (2 Cor 9:1-5)
Generosity is about sowing and reaping (2 Cor 9:6-12)
Generosity is an evidence that someone is an active, intentional follower of Christ  (2 Cor 9:13-14)
Generosity promotes the worship of Jesus as God (2 Cor 9:15)

Finally, I want to share with you my verse for the year…Proverbs 1:23:

“Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.”

I am willing to ask for the Lord’s reproof in my life, so that He will pour out His Spirit on me and make His words known to me. My prayer is that, as a church, Southside will do the same…

[1] I.e., contrary to what we expect.

[2] Gospel Christianity, Redeemer Pres NYC 2003.

[3] Treatise on Christian Liberty (The Freedom of a Christian), AE, Vo. 31.

[4] It’s also a Jewish idiom (not slang, but a stylistic expression) for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman.

[5] J.I. Packer. Concise Theology.

[6] See Tim Keller, The Reason for God, pgs 214-222. See also C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity pg. pg. 152. The idea of the relationship of the Trinity as dance may also be traced back to a 7^th century theologian named John of Damascus who described the Trinity as Perichoresis (the same word we get our English word “choreography” from).

[7] Douglas McCready. He Came Down From Heaven: The Preexistence of Christ and Christian Faith, IVP Academic 2005: 81.

[8] R.V.G. Tasker. 2 Corinthians, Tyndale NT Commentary, Eerdmans 1958: 116.

The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Gregg Caruso

I. INTRO

Today we are studying the Person and ministry of the Holy Spirit. We want to establish an ongoing theological[1] dialogue (vs. discussion).

Picture a continuum:

On one end of the continuum is what John MacArthur has called, “Charismatic Chaos.”
On the other end of the continuum is 2 Tim 3:5 – “holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.”

We don’t want to base our theology and practice solely on what we’re against, but what we are for – what we can embrace theologically.

My personal core values (unapologetically): As an active intentional follower of Christ, as a husband, as a father, as a grandfather, as a pastor, as a friend/mentor/coach:

Theological – The study (and subsequent worship) of God is our highest calling.
Relational – We are to love God, one another, and “seek the welfare of our city.”
Missional – We serve a missionary God and we are called to be on mission with Him.

What will be our guidelines for theological engagement at SBF?

We want to work with what the Bible clearly and plainly teaches (today we will, eventually, consider the biblical phrase: baptism of the Holy Spirit).

First, I would like to define some terms:

Three primary (and overlapping) theological camps in U.S. Protestantism:[2] Fundamentalism (“orthodoxy in confrontation with modernity” -James Davison Hunter), Evangelicalism ( Biblicism, Christocentrism, Crucicentrism, Conversionism, Activism),[3] and Liberalism (individualism, ecumenism, empericalism, skepticism, anthropological optimism, rationalism, ethicalism, social idealism, immanencism). Within Evangelicalism there is also three main camps (think of them as state boarders vs. national boarders…):

1. Dispensationalism –

Sees God as structuring His relationship with humankind through several stages of revelation. Each dispensation amounts to a “test” of humankind to be faithful to the particular revelation given at the time.

Dispe1nsationalism holds to a literal meaning behind all the figurative passages.

As a result of this literal interpretation of Scripture, dispensationalism holds to a distinction between Israel (even believing Israel) and the church. On this view, the promises made to Israel in the OT were not intended as prophecies about what God would do spiritually for the church, but will literally be fulfilled by Israel itself (largely in the millennium). For example, the promise of the land…

2. Covenant Theology –

Covenant theology believes that God has structured His relationship with humanity by covenants rather than dispensations. Old Covenants (OT) and the New Covenant (NT). These covenants are not new tests, but are rather differing administrations of the single, overarching covenant of grace.

Adam sinned and broke the initial, or old, covenant, and thereby subjected himself and all his descendants to the penalty for covenant-breaking — which is condemnation.

God in His mercy instituted the “covenant of grace,” through Jesus Christ, which is the promise of redemption and eternal life to those who would believe in the (coming) redeemer.

3. New Covenant Theology —

The essential difference between New Covenant Theology (NCT) and Covenant Theology (CT) concerns the Mosaic Law. CT holds that the Mosaic Law can be divided into three groups of laws: a) civil law, b) ceremonial law, and c) moral law. According to CT the ceremonial law and civil law are no longer in force because they were fulfilled in Jesus, but the moral law continues.

NCT argues that we cannot divide the law up in that way – so, the whole Mosaic Law is canceled by the coming of Christ (Christ Event) and is no longer binding on the believer. The Mosaic Law has been replaced by the law of Christ. Love God and love your neighbor as your self. Proponents of NCT might say something like, “Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul – and do whatever you want…” They may also quote 1 Cor 6:12: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.”

Do we have to choose one — Dispensational, Covenant, or New Covenant?? No, it’s just good to be aware of these distinctions as we build a theological framework. Can we achieve doctrinal certainty? Not completely on this side of eternity. God and theology are much deeper and more mysterious that we could ever hope to grasp.

Having said that, the Five Solas are five Latin phrases (or slogans) that emerged from the Protestant Reformation that are intended to summarize the Reformers’ basic theological principles in contrast to certain teachings of the Roman Catholic Church of the day. “Sola” is Latin meaning “alone” or “only” and the corresponding phrases are:

Sola Fide, by faith alone.

Sola Scriptura, by Scripture alone.

Solus Christus, through Christ alone.

Sola Gratia, by grace alone.

Soli Deo Gloria, glory to God alone.

These solas will hold us in good stead as we refurbish our theological base during this transition season. Can we move toward doctrinal clarity? Yes!

4. Eschatology — Greek éschato: last + -logy.

We do not need to get caught-up in the rapture debate.

Mat 24:44 – “For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

As a church we will teach people to endure tribulation – and if Jesus come early, it won’t matter.

We will encourage our congregation to read Revelation devotionally. Encounter the risen Christ in Rev 1…

5. Holy Spirit Empowered Gifts

Cessationism – The spiritual gifts, primarily those listed in 1 Cor 12:4-11, have ceased. The key verse is 1 Cor 13:10 — “but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.”

1 Cor 14:1: “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”

James 5:14-15: “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; ¹⁵ and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”

While fear of a loss of control or emotionalism my drive some cessationists, their overwhelming desire is to protect the unique authority of the Bible and to protect the closed canon and not to have anything compete with Scripture in authority in our lives.

Continuationism – All the gifts are for today. Consider the context: 1 Cor 11, 12, 13, & 14…

II. BODY

The Person of the Holy Spirit

“The Trinity: God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. -Wayne Grudem

“In no other subject is error more dangerous, or inquiry more laborious, or the discovery of truth more profitable.” –Augustine, On The Trinity[4]

C.S. Lewis described the Trinity as a “dance” saying, “God is not a static thing…but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost…a kind of dance.”[5]

Tim Keller elaborates on this concept in the Reason for God in Chapter 14 – The Dance of God.[6]

The early leaders of the Greek NT church had a word for this – perichoresis. Notice the root of our word ‘choreography’ within it. It means literally to “dance or flow around.”

The Father…Son…and Holy Spirit glorify each other…At the center of the universe, self-giving love, joy, delight – perfect fellowship is the dynamic currency of the Trinitarian life of God. The persons (not personalities) within the God-Head exalt, commune with, and defer to one another…

When early Greek Christians spoke of perichoresis in God they meant that each divine person harbors the others at the center of His being. In constant movement of overture and acceptance each person envelops and encircles the others.

When Jesus died for you He was, and is, inviting you into the dance…when we discern Jesus moving toward us and encircling us with infinite, self-giving love, we are invited to put our lives on a whole new foundation…

Since the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and is true and eternal God, then we must invoke, worship, and serve the blessed Holy Spirit, even as we do God the Father and God the Son.

Jesus taught us to do this in Mat 28:19 (The Great Commission): “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Now let’s consider the phrase “baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit is to be more than a doctrine. The Holy Spirit is to be experienced.

Gordon Fee wrote, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul. It’s 992 pages; Fee highlights, analyzes, exegetes, and summarizes every mention of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s writings. Pneumatology (the study of the Holy Spirit).

His findings can be reduced to three words: “God’s empowering presence.”

Fee concludes that, for Paul, the Holy Spirit was more real and evident than we can possibly imagine in our day and age, the vital and experienced presence of the Holy Spirit was an assumed reality.

How do we experience the Holy Spirit? Gal 5 is about “walking in the Holy Spirit.” Paul says in the first 12 verses that they have opted for legalism (or moralism).

Then in verses 13-14 Paul lays it out: “…but through love serve one another. ¹⁴ For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Paul takes them back to the Great Commandment: Love God with your whole heart, soul, and mind – and love your neighbor as yourself.”

And then here is the evidence of the Holy Spirit…Paul calls it “fruit.” “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22-23).

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means to be immersed in the Holy Spirit. No power, no Spirit. (Holy Spirit power is different than will-power.)

Four Reasons Why It Is Appropriate To Expect To Experience the Holy Spirit Baptism:[7]

1. Terminology — The very term “baptized in the Holy Spirit” implies an immersion in the life of the Spirit. (Refer to hand out…)

2. Power, Boldness, and Confidence

Jesus says in Acts 1:5 and 8 that baptism in the Holy Spirit means, “You shall receive power…and you shall be my witnesses.”

This is an experience of holy boldness, confidence, and victory over sin.

A Christian without power is a Christian who needs a baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Eph 5:18 – we are to be continually and regularly “filled with the Holy Spirit.” The verb filled has an imperative mood meaning it is a command and addresses the volition and the will. Why? Because we leak…

There is no reason to think that for Paul the baptism in the Holy Spirit was limited to the initial moment of conversion. And for sure in the book of Acts the baptism in the Holy Spirit is more than a subconscious divine act of regeneration—it certainly seems to be a conscious experience of power (Acts 1:8).

3. The Testimony of Acts — In Acts the Holy Spirit is not a silent influence but an experienced power. Believers experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit. They didn’t just believe it happened because an apostle said so.

4. It Is The Result of Faith

The fourth reason we should stress the experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit is that in Acts the apostles teach that it is a result of faith.

In Acts 11:15–17 Peter reports how the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius just as on the disciples at Pentecost. “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I should withstand God?”

Notice that the gift of the Spirit, or baptism in the Holy Spirit, is preceded by faith. The NASB correctly says in v. 17 that God gave the Holy Spirit after they believed.

How to Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit.[8] Peter’s instructions for how to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38–41…

1. The Word of God Must Be Heard. Peter has preached that in God’s plan Jesus was crucified, raised, and exalted as Lord over all the universe and that forgiveness of sin and spiritual renewal can be had from Him. God’s Word has been heard.

2. God Must Call People To Himself.

The sovereign God must call men and women to himself, or we will never come. Verse 39: “The promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, everyone to whom the Lord our God calls to him.”

No one comes to faith in Christ unless the Father draws him (John 6:44, 65). The proclaimed gospel is heard with conviction and power only when the effectual call of God lays hold on the hearers.

3. We Must Receive the Word.

Third, we must “receive the word.” Verse 41: “So those who received his word were baptized.”

Receiving the Word means that it becomes part of us so that we trust the Christ it presents.

We trust His provision for your forgiveness.
We trust His path for your life.
We trust His power to help you obey.
And we trust His promises for your future.

Radical commitment to Christ always involves repentance—a turning away from your own self-wrought provisions, paths, powers, and promises. And when we really turn to Christ for new paths, power, we open yourself to the Holy Spirit, because it is by His Spirit that Christ guides and empowers.

4. We Express Our Faith Through Water Baptism.

Finally, we give an open confession and expression of faith in the act of water baptism (full immersion – like with the Holy Spirit, do you want to be sprinkled or immersed?) in obedience to Jesus Christ.

Baptism was the universal experience of all Christians in the New Testament. There were no unbaptized Christians after Pentecost. Christ had commanded it (Matthew 28:18f.) and the church practiced it. So we do today.

III. CONCLUSION

Finally, let’s affirm and critique the Charismatic and Pentecostal Movements:

Affirmation:

The most positive thing about the moderate Charismatic/Pentecostal teaching is that it is theologically appropriate to stress the experiential reality of receiving the Holy Spirit.

When we read the NT honestly, we can’t help but notice a BIG difference from a lot of our contemporary Christian experience.

For them the Holy Spirit was a fact and reality of experience. For many Christians today it is only a fact of doctrine. The Charismatic renewal has something to teach us here.

Critique:

That the unity of their fellowship is too often based around their experience – not theology.

Whether Paul sought to bring encouragement or correction to the churches in the NT, he wrote theological essays… Paul generally spends the first half of his letters laying out theology and the second half he describes how to implement, or engage, the theology.

When Paul wanted to go to the church in Rome and develop them into a missional sending church (for his intention to travel to Spain), what did he write? Theology. Experience is the fruit of biblical theology, not the goal. Our impatience tends to confuse fruit for goals (e.g., love, joy, peace, etc. cannot be pursued on their own accord, they are the “fruit” of the settled presence of Christ in our hearts/lives).

This brings me to my second critique: The gifts of the Holy Spirit were given for the purpose of mission and not personal gratification. One good description of the kingdom of God is: speaking the words of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus. Words and works help to make the invisible kingdom visible.

We serve a missionary God:

The Father sent the Son, the Son sent the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit sends you.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is, basically, 4-fold: He 1) Saves, 2) Seals, 3) Sanctifies, and 4) Sends.

My prayer for us as a community of believers: “That we would experience Jesus Christ, the sovereign, risen, living, Lord of the universe; and that He would continue to become THE source and content of our real hope and joy.”

This coming Sunday: Beatitudes. Read Matthew 5:1-12. See you then!!

[1] Theology means the study of God.

[2] Protestant Reformation – Martin Luther is regarded as the primary catalyst when he nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door at Wittenberg for the in 1517. (While Pope Leo was corrupt, the upshot of Luther’s theses was that followers of Christ are saved by grace alone, through faith alone.)

[3] Triperspectivalism (cut-and-paste this word and search for it on this blog and you will find an article).

[4] Book 1.3.5.

[5] Mere Christianity: 136.

[6] Pgs 214-221.

[7] Adapted from John Piper.

[8] Also adapted from John Piper.

The Great Commandment Pt 1 – Matthew 22:33-40

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Gregg Caruso

I. INTRO

A. We are going to take the next couple of weeks and look at what the Bible refers to as the Great Commandment. An important preliminary vision passage because it synthesizes so much of the Bible into two pretty straightforward commands.

B. Matthew 22:33-40 (NAS): “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Notice the order. Loving people id the outflow of loving God.)

C. We will divide this passage up into two messages…

This week: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind – this is the great and foremost commandment.”
Next week: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

D. Here are two important questions…

What is God’s heart for Southside Bible Fellowship? And for you?
What is God’s VISION for us during this transition season? Vision will focus us. Vision will restrain us – Pro 29:18 (NAS): “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained…”

II. BODY

A. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind – this is the great and foremost commandment” is a quote from Deut 6:5 and is:

1. Part of the Shema Yisrael (Heb word for hear), vs. 4-9. The Shema is the central prayer in the Jewish prayer book and is usually the first section of Scripture that a Jewish child learns – as well as the prayer that is most often said each morning and evening by the Jewish people.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

2. Rabbi Julian Sinclair: Oneness, [or] unity, is the aspiration of love, and love emerges from a perception of unity. This insight is also expressed in the Shema: its first line declares God’s unity, and ends with the word “one.” Then follows the mitzvah [commandment] to love God. Love comes out of a sense of God’s unity pervading all things.

3. In the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) there are 613 commandments (explicit and implicit).

4. The 10 Commandments (Ex 20 & Deut 5) are understood to be the root commands — revealing God’s standard of holiness. They also reveal our need for a Savior.

Gal 3:24 – “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”
The Law is like a dentists mirror – it can point out decay, but can’t do anything about it.

5. In Deut 5 – the previous chapter, we find the second listing of the 10 Commandments (also in Ex 20).

The first two commandments speak to the issue of idolatry: #1 is Deut 5:7 – “You shall have no other God’s before me.”
The 2^nd Commandment states – Deut 5:8-10: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ⁹ You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ¹⁰ but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

6. Theologians think that if someone were to be able to keep the first commandment the others would not be a problem – because they all have to do with idolatry.

7. Martin Luther: All those who do not at all times trust God and do not in all their works or sufferings, life and death, trust in His favor, grace, and good-will, but seek His favor in other things or in themselves, do not keep this [First] Commandment, and practice real idolatry.

8. Tim Keller: Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry.

9. So, what are we saying? All 613 unchangeable commandments of the Torah can be summed-up in these two verses (or 6 words): Love God and love your neighbor. Every person on the planet has this built-in longing to deeply connect with God and people. We were designed, created to be worshippers. This, then, becomes the grand objective and passion of every human heart. Augustine said it well: “Our heart’s are restless until they find their rest in God.”

B. Years ago Rick Warren said something that, I think, begins to put this into perspective: “A great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow a great [Christian and a great] church.”

A key and critical question is, how will this commitment be expressed?
The Church (at least in N America) has placed an emphasis on the Great Commission without a sufficient understanding and practice of the Great Commandment.
John Piper: Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in evangelism because we cannot commend what we do not cherish.
I believe this is THE most critical issue facing Southside Bible Fellowship during this season – duty or delight.

C. So, if we are to “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND” our question is – How do we get there from here?

1. Come alive to God. Ephesians 2:1-10 — An explanation of the Gospel…

¹ And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, ² in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. ³ Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

2. Find your true joy and delight in the message of the Gospel – and the Person of Jesus Christ.

My prayer for us as a community of believers: “That we would experience Jesus Christ, the sovereign, risen, living, Lord of the universe; and that He would continue to become THE source and content of our real hope and joy.”
One of the most important discoveries we will ever make is: God is most glorified in you when you am most satisfied in Him (John Piper). This is to be the motor that drives our lives. This concept, I believe, will be key to this transition season here at SBF.
Tragically most of us have been taught that duty, not delight, is the way to glorify God. But here is what the Great Commandment is instructing us to do: To delight in God is your duty!
John 15:11-12 (AMP) – “I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing. This is My commandment: [or, out of that joy and delight] that you love one another [just] as I have loved you.”

3. Come to grips with the idolatry that grips ALL of our lives.

a. Tim Keller:[1] One of the main ways to read the Bible is as the ages-long struggle between true faith and idolatry. In the beginning, human beings were made [created] to worship and serve God, and to rule over all created things in God’s name (Gen 1:26–28).

Rom 1:21–25 — Paul understands that original sin as an act of idolatry:

²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

b. Instead of living for God, we began to live for ourselves, or our work, or for material goods. We reversed the original intended order. And when we began to worship and serve created things, paradoxically, the created things came to rule over us.

1 John 5:20-21— “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. ²¹ Little children, [speaking to believers] guard yourselves from idols.”

c. What is idolatry?

It exchanging the truth for a lie.
Putting our trust in other saviors – “momentary functional saviors,”
“Exchanging God for pitiful substitutes.” (John Piper),
Whoever or whatever we give central value to,
Whatever controls us is our Lord.

d. David Powlison writes in Seeing with New Eyes[2]: The most basic question which God poses to each human heart: “Has something or someone besides Jesus the Christ taken title to your heart’s functional trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear, or delight?

e. Here are some questions that will bring some of our idol systems to the surface:

What do I worry about the most?
What, do you really want, or expect out of life?
What do I use to comfort myself on a bad day? Cope? Release valves?
What preoccupies me?
A Puritan writer from the 17^th century said: Our religion is what we do with our solitude (What do you daydream about?).
For what do you want to be known?
What prayer, unanswered, what make you seriously question God?

f. Root idols vs. branch (surface) idols: Lust, like rape, is hardly ever about sex – it’s about self-image, it’s about anxiety, it’s about fear. These are some of the root idols that seek to control our lives – they are the sin behind the sin…

III. CONCLUSION

A. How do we replace our idols?[3]

B. Idolatry is not just a failure to obey God; it is setting our heart and affections on something, or someone other than God. This cannot be remedied by repenting that you have an idol – or by engaging willpower to try and live differently.

C. Here’s the final passage for today…

Colossians 3:1-3 (Put On the New Self)

¹Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on the things above [i.e., YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, AND MIND], not on the things that are on earth. ³ For you have died [to sin, to idolatry] and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

D. We are invited to rest in, appreciate, rejoice in what Jesus has done through his hideous death – and resurrection.

E. Jesus must become more beautiful to your imagination, more attractive to your heart, than your idols.

F. If we uproot our idols (through repentance) but fail to plant the love of God (or, delight in God) in its place, the idol will grow back – like mowing a weed.

G. Repentance and rejoicing must go together.

[1] “Talking About Idolatry in a Postmodern Age.”

[2] Pgs. 132-40.

[3] Adapted from Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller, pgs. 170-172.

The Gospel and the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10)

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Gregg Caruso

This is a sermon I spoke at three services at Shiloh Community Church in Orleans MI last weekend (Palm Sunday). I focused primarily on poor in spirit, mourning, and peacemaking…

It’s Palm Sunday and we are remembering and celebrating the triumphal entry of The Servant King Jesus – arriving into Jerusalem to the praise and adulation of the multitude — and less than a week later, he is to be brutally and shamefully murdered…

Next week is the high point of the Christian calendar as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Jesus triumphed over death and hell and bridged the gap between our utter depravity and God’s standard of holiness. (To miss the mark by even a little is still to have missed the mark.)
We call this sacrifice the Gospel – or Good News.

I believe it is Tim Keller who reminds us that the Gospel is not advice, it is news. It is the ultimate Good News. He suggests that weekend services are not primarily the place to give advice… Gospel-centered (or Christ-centered) change is rooted in remembrance. We are to remind one another of what Christ Jesus has done, not what we must do.

We cannot commend what we do not cherish. -John Piper

The essence of Christian maturity is when the Gospel – or, what Christ has done — gets worked in – and then through our lives, which is what I’d like to spend our remaining time considering.

Turn to Matthew 5 where we will take a look at the Beatitudes. While you’re turning, allow me to offer a few introductory thoughts.

What is Christian conversion? Christian conversion, or salvation, occurs when genuine repentance and sincere faith in Jesus intersect.

These are not two separate actions – but one motion with two parts:

As we turn to Christ for salvation we turn away from the sin that we are asking Jesus Christ to forgive us from. (Rom 3:23 – All have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard.)
Neither repentance nor faith come first – they must come at the same time.

They are two sides of the same coin.[1]

Contained in the Beatitudes are eight qualities that characterize the life of Jesus Christ, and therefore, through conversion, they begin to characterize our life in Jesus Christ. Jesus calls us to follow him through life and to depend upon his strength and power.

The word beatitude comes from the Latin word meaning “blessed.”

More specifically the word means exalted joy, or true happiness. (Joy is calm delight in even the most adverse circumstances. Joy fueled Paul’s contentment.)
With the beatitudes, Jesus dives into our innermost being probing the heart and raising the question of motive.
What made Jesus a threat to everyone and the reason He was eventually killed was that in His encounters with people (particularly the religious leaders), He exposes what they were on the inside. Some people find it liberating – others hate it.

The Beatitudes, I have come to see, are our surrendered response to the Gospel. I view the Beatitudes as a step-by-step spiritual formation process that moves us toward spiritual depth and maturity. This becomes cyclical as we grow deeper and deeper in our faith. The Beatitudes become the outworking of the Gospel in and through our lives.

Matthew 5:3-10…

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are the meek (gentle), for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Following is an overview and how one unfolds into the next…The first two are foundational to the Gospel blossoming in and through our lives…

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit…

a. “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” (MSG)
b. Another translation renders this verse, “Happy are those who know their need for God.” (JBP)
c. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? A desperateness of soul that is weary of living in it’s own strength and longs for God’s mercy and grace to come and refresh the soul. In a word, it is DESPERATION.
d. Consider the Prodigal Sons (Lk 15)…

2. Blessed are those who mourn…

a. I have a river of sin in my life – with 3 primary tributaries…

#1 – Original sin (Adam & Eve traded the presence of God for the knowledge of God – and that’s been our core tendency ever since…

#2 – Family of origin issues

#3 – My own dumb choices.

b. As we are honest about the sin that has infected us there will be a transforming grief and accompanying repentance, that surfaces – not only for our own lives, but also for the injustice, greed, lust, and suffering that grips our world.

c. I want to own my sin everyday.[2]

d. This is counter intuitive (paradox – seeming contradiction). We go down to go up; death precedes resurrection; we get to joy by traveling through grief. Our soul wants to find a way around grief, but God says, “No, you must travel through grief – and the good news is, He says, “I’ll go with you and we will do it in My strength and power.”

e. The way of the Gospel is a death and resurrection cycle…

f. The gospel has the greatest potential to captivate us when we understand that we are more depraved than we ever realized and simultaneously more loved that we ever dared to imagine.

g. I don’t mind inviting you to question your own salvation today. If our default mode is, “I’m basically a good person…” then we simply have not understood the gospel.

3. Blessed are the meek…

a. Rick Warren would say, “Meekness is not weakness, but the power of your potential under Christ’s control.”

b. The concept of meekness describes a horse that has been broken. We can either surrender to Christ and invite the breaking, or remain the undisciplined and wild stallion.

c. Grieving over sin and suffering grows meekness in us and delivers us into a humble learning posture (disciple means learner).

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…Spiritual hunger and thirst is the growing desire to be empty of those things that don’t reflect God, and initiates a deep longing for wholeness in our lives.

5. Blessed are the merciful…

a. Mercy is entering into another persons feelings – attempting to see things from another person’s perspective – all with understanding AND acceptance…just like Jesus has done for us.

b. As we receive God’s mercy we begin to give mercy – to ourselves and to others.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart…

a. Mercy cleanses our heart and restores purity to our lives.

b. Did you know that your (spiritual and emotional) virginity CAN be restored?

^{2 Cor 11:2}For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers…

a. Purity gives way to a personal serenity and peacefulness. Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the absence of anxiety in the midst of inevitable conflict – and when others encounter it, they want it too.

b. Our Western concept of peace needs to be considered in the light of the ancient Hebrew concept of peace, which is SHALOM — and means more than our limited understanding of peace (i.e., the lack of conflict).

Biblical SHALOM speaks of a universal flourishing, wholeness and delight; a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied, natural gifts a fruitfully employed — all under the arc of God’s love. Shalom is the way things ought to be.

Neal Plantinga – “the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in equity, fulfillment, and delight.”

c. There is a difference between a peacemaker and a peacekeeper.

To be a peacemaker does not mean peace at any cost.

Peacekeeping creates a false peace.

Many of us live out our lives with this false peace and say nothing or do nothing to change it—in churches, homes, work places, and our marriages.

Examples:

(i) A family member makes a scene at a family gathering. It embarrasses you, the rest of the family, but you say nothing. You keep the peace because to go there would unearth a lot of stuff that you just aren’t willing to deal with.

(ii) Your spouse makes insulting remarks to you or humiliates you publicly through critical tone of voice. It grates on you. But you keep silent because you want to keep the peace.

d. We struggle with this false peace because the conventional wisdom of the day is that its better to keep the peace than to make the peace and there is a very real difference.

e. Keeping this false peace insures that real issues, real concerns, and real problems are never dealt with.

f. A façade, or veneer, of peace in that there is calm but the reality is the tension is still there.

g. True peacemakers will challenge and disrupt the false peace.

h. Jesus didn’t have a problem disrupting the false peace of his day.

i. The whole history of redemption, climaxing in the death and resurrection of Jesus is God’s strategy to bring about a just and lasting peace between rebel man and himself and between man and man (Eph 2:14-22)

j. Colossians 1:19-20 puts it like this,

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

k. True peacemakers will give people the benefit of the doubt while graciously bringing up concerns

l. But true peacemakers will deal with what is real. FIRST IN THEIR OWN LIVES…

m. True peacemakers will steward the conflict they find themselves in because God will often use conflict to develop things in our lives that are developed in no other way.

8. Blessed are the persecuted… Living life from a kingdom of God perspective will place us in conflict with those that oppose it (often times it’s “religious” people!).

Without the knowledge of our extreme sin, the payment of the Cross seems trivial and does not electrify or transform.

But without the knowledge of Christ’s completely satisfying life and death, the knowledge of sin would crush us – or move us to deny and repress it. By walking the way of the Beatitudes we hold our depravity and the Cross in a healthy and dynamic tension that will lead to transformation and renewal.

[1] Wayne Gudem, Systematic Theology, p. 713.

[2] “None is righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10 (ESV)
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Eph 2:1-2 (ESV)

Lifestyle Repentance

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Gregg Caruso

This is an outline for a sermon to be delivered on 10/10/10. This outline is way too long for the time allotted, so I am placing it here for reference.

I. INTRO

A. Brennan Manning has said, “The temptation of the age is to look good without being good.”

B. Before we get any further it’s important to distinguish between life-style repentance and conversion repentance…

1. Christian conversion, or salvation, occurs when genuine repentance and sincere faith in Jesus intersect.

2. These are not two separate actions – but one motion with two parts:

a. As we turn to Christ for salvation we turn away from the sin that we are asking Jesus Christ to forgive us from.

b. Neither repentance nor faith come first – they must come at the same time.

3. Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin.[1]

C. So, there is an initial repentance (with faith) that leads to salvation, but what does life-style repentance look like in the life of a believer?

D. The Beatitudes seem to affirm this…Mat 5

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, [who see their need for God]
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴Blessed are those who mourn, [this a call to a lifestyle of repentance]
for they will be comforted.

E. For those of us who have read Pete Scazzero’s book, The Emotionally Healthy Church, we remember that the 3^rd principle of the EHC is to live our lives in brokenness and vulnerability.

1. Scazzero says this means living (and leading) out of our failure and pain, and out of our questions and struggles…[2] (Did you know that the words intimacy and intestine come from the same root word… share your guts. This is a picture of what the church is to be.)

2. At best, life-style repentance is counter intuitive to our normal way of thinking.

3. One of my favorite authors on the subject of life-style repentance is Dan Allender.

a. In one of his books Allender relates repentance to the “unlikely route to joy.” A more complete description of his premise would include 3 conditions: (1) complete honesty (Larry Crabb – integrity is not pretending about anything), (2) repentance, and (3) bold love. This is what he says about repentance:

b. “Repentance is an about face movement from denial and rebellion to truth and surrender…it involves the response of humble hunger, bold movement, and wild celebration when faced with the reality of our fallen state and the grace of God…It is a shift in perspective as to where life is found…It is melting into the warm arms of God, received when it would be so understandable to be spurned.”

F. Some definitions:

1. “Some of us will wear ourselves out trying to change ourselves before we
realize that it is not about fixing; it is about letting go…[3]

2. CS Lewis describes repentance as the “process of surrender…full speed astern.”[4]

3. “A shift in the direction of our soul from self-protection to trusting love… The richest love grows in the soil of an unbearable disappointment with life… The fruit of repentance is a changed style of relating that replaces self-protective maneuvering with loving involvement.”[5]

4. Tim Keller refers to “gospel repentance.”[6]

a. With reference to the parable of the Prodigal Sons (in Luke 15), Keller says that we don’t only need to repent for things we have done wrong, but that we also need to repent of the things we’ve done right! – or, under our own power. He notes that the older brother said he had never disobeyed his father and his father did not dispute this. Keller calls the sin of seeking to be our own Lord and Savior.

b. The purpose of gospel repentance is to repeatedly tap into the joy of our union with Christ in order to weaken our need to do anything contrary to God’s heart.

5. Thomas Watson, English Puritan (ca. 1620-1686) wrote a helpful treatise on repentance. He said, “Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed.”[7]

6. Repentance is not a decision of the will to do right instead of wrong. It’s an internal shift in our perceived source of life. [8] –Dan Allender

G. “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19 (NAS)

H. Repentance is one of the great privileges of the unconverted as well as the Christian. Why do we usually postpone repentance until after nothing else seems to be working??

II. BODY

A. Hebrews 12:14-17 (NAS)

B. The overarching theme of Hebrews is that the implications of the Christ Event are superior to Judaism.[9]

C. The author moves seamlessly between teaching doctrine and exhorting (meaning to draw near – cheerleader) (or application). This is distinctive from Paul’s style, which is to teach doctrine in the first section and save exhortation/application for the second section.

1. Context: If we had to boil down the book of Hebrews to a one-word description, the word would be perseverance. It is thought to have been written by a pastor to his congregation, who were struggling to hang in there.

2. As we move into Hebrews 12, we find the first half of the chapter speaks of God’s admonition to fix our eyes on Jesus, submit ourselves to God’s instructive disciple (disciple?), and strengthen one another. Verses 14-17 instructs us in how to do engage, specifically, in a lifestyle of repentance…

¹⁴Pursue peace with all [men], and the sanctification without which no one will see [to see with perceptive insight – the author is speaking about an Aha! moment] the Lord.

¹⁵See to it [Looking diligently – episkapao for 3 things:] (1) that no one comes short of the grace of God; that (2) no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled [stained];

¹⁶(3) that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

¹⁷For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing [Esau was double-minded – we tend to want the glory of God w/o the discipline of God], he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance [NIV – he could bring about no change of mind], though he sought for it with tears.

D. In the words of Jesus (Matt 6:24) we sometimes get stuck trying to serve two masters. We seem to want God’s blessing w/o responsibility…

E. To quote one commentator: “The only one who experiences the radiance of joy and light is the one who chooses a single goal with a single eye.”[10]

F. Listed in this passage are (at least) 6 instructive admonitions to biblically engage a lifestyle of repentance.

1. Pursue peace with all (v.14)

a. Pursue: to run swiftly [NIV – Make every effort]

b. Peace: from a primary verb eiro (to join or bind together that which has been separated).

“If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.” Matthew 5:23,24 (NAS)

“…As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Roms 12:18

c. Are you a peacemaker or peacekeeper? (Mat 5:9)

d. We tend to think of peace as the absence of conflict, yet biblical SHALOM is MUCH more than that…SHALOM means the knitting together of God, humankind, and all creation in equity, fulfillment, and delight.[11]

e. I once flew from Reno, NV to Tulsa, OK and then rented a car and drove 3 hours just to ask someone’s forgiveness after reading Matthew 5:23-24 and taking it to heart.

2. Pursue sanctification (v.14)

a. Sanctification: hallowed [NIV – and to be holy] The Lord’s Prayer (Mat 6) hagiasmos (Heb 12:14 – noun), hagiazō (Mat 6 – verb)

b. The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer for and about sanctification…

c. The prayer Jesus taught us is a prayer of community and reconciliation, belonging to a new kind of people who have left the land of “me” … Here our God teaches us the interconnectedness of grace and liberation in a new social order.[12]

d. “Hallowed be your name,” then, is a prayer that God would teach us to live a new way of life…

e. …We form habits of hoping that our lives will look more like God’s life. And at the same time, we give ourselves over to an extended family of all God’s children, in which we learn to give ourselves as Christ gave himself for us.

f. As we’ve talked with God this way, we’ve also begun to see that we gain a community of others who are learning to give themselves for us. Which is another way of saying that we find our lives in Christ. We become the kind of community that is the answer to our request: Make your name holy, Father, by bringing your kingdom here on earth. Christian community is the gift of a life that is worthy of God’s name. Forgetting our- selves, we become the sort of joyful people who hallow God’s name by how we live with one another.

g. When we see God’s Name as hallowed, it “lift[‘s] us right out of the prison of the self.”[13] (217)

h. “…Just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.” Romans 6:19 (NAS)

i. Sanctification means to be set apart for God’s purpose.

j. Notice the word “present.” That’s where it starts – it’s not about ability, its about surrender.

k. Esau was rejected by God because he steadfastly refused to serve the purpose of God and instead served his lust for the immediate and the tangible.

3. Pursue grace

a. “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God.” (v.15)

b. Grace: All that God is lavishly poured into you. If God has acted lavishly toward you, could you not be lavish to others?

c. Why do we call grace amazing? Grace is amazing because it works against the grain of common sense… Realistic common sense tells you that you are too weak, too harassed, too human to change for the better; grace gives you power to send you on the way to being a better person…[14]

Saving grace to us

Sanctifying grace in us

Serving grace through us

d. Jerry Bridges, in his masterpiece Transforming Grace says, “The idea portrayed here is analogous to the ocean waves crashing upon the beach. One wave has hardly disappeared before another arrives.[15]

e. We don’t need a changed life, we need an exchanged life…

f. Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz said, grace is living in a system where nobody owes anybody anything…We don’t mind giving charity, but we don’t like being [God’s] charity…[Miller asks himself] why would I forsake the riches of God’s righteousness for the dung of my own ego? …Our role in our relationship with God is to humbly receive God’s unconditional love. [16]

g. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.” Titus 2:11-12 (NAS)

“Disciplining us…”

Deposit grace into each other’s account.

4. Pursue the truth in love

“See to it that…no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” (v.15)

a. Notice the word, “many.”

b. Esau despised his birthright. (Gen 25:34b); So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.’ (Gen 27:41)

c. Like a small root that grows into a great tree, bitterness springs up in our hearts and overshadows even our deepest relationships.

d. A “bitter root” comes when we allow disappointment to grow into resentment, or when we nurse grudges over past hurts. Bitterness brings with it jealousy, dissension, and immorality.

e. “God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love – like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do.” Ephesians 4:15,16 (The Message)

In my view this passage speaks to the epitome of what it means to be emotionally healthy – the capacity to speak the truth in love…

Peter Scazerro speaks to this in his book, The Emotionally Healthy Church – as differentiated people we fully enter into another’s world while holding on to ourselves and live in the tension of the two.

4. Pursue purity

a. “See to it that…there be no immoral…person like Esau.” (v.16)

b. pornos – when we lust, we stop loving.

c. “I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:2b-3 (NAS)

5. Pursue God

a. Instead of being godless (or, “unhallowed, profane” – Vine’s]

b. “In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” Proverbs 3:6 (TLB)

c. Esau found no place for repentance (metanoia), though he sought for it with tears.

d. We usually associate tears with repentance. And it’s true that tears very often accompany true repentance. But here we have the instance of Esau crying for repentance but not finding it. Why? Esau was in relentance, not repentance.

e. This may be similar to the difference between Peter and Judas on the evening before the crucifixion of Jesus…

Both men committed the most grievous sins of their lives that night – Judas betraying Jesus and Peter denying Jesus.

Yet Judas committed suicide and Peter was ordained into the ministry about 2 weeks later. What’s up with that???

Judas relented (or lamented), while Peter repented.

Judas said “no” to forgiveness, while Peter said “yes” to forgiveness.

Judas said “no” to the future, while Peter said “yes” to the future.

b. I want my heart to remain soft and pliable before the Lord through humility, honesty, and integrity – quick to confess and forsake my sins.

c. I want to live my life in grateful surrender to the plans and purposes that God has ordained for my life.

d. I want to experience the blessings of being in right relationship with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, as well as exalted joy and true happiness – through the privilege of repentance.

III. CONCLUSION

A. The truest fruit of repentance is always hope…which is not optimism; rather it is moving forward in anticipation of redemption in spite of the improbability of rescue. (Dan Allender, Sabbath: The Ancient Practices.)

B. The results, or the fruits, of repentance are a series of freeing movements in our lives that return us to the wonder of the cross.[17]

C. How do we live with our failures? [I will share how I seek to live with my failures at the conclusion of the message.]

[1] Wayne Gudem, Systematic Theology, p. 713.

[2] EHC: 110.

[3] Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: 53.

[4] CS Lewis, Mere Christianity: 44.

[5] Larry Crabb, Inside Out: 213-214, 196.

[6] Tim Keller, Prodigal God: 78-79.

[7] Thomas Watson, The Doctrine of Repentance, Banner of Truth 1999: 18.

[8] Wounded Heart Workbook

[9] The Christ-Event is fivefold: (1) the virgin birth, (2) the miraculous ministry, (3) the shameful death, (4) the glorious resurrection, and (5) the triumphant accession of Jesus. Each of these facets of the incarnation, over a 33-year period of time, inaugurate – or establish – the kingdom of God upon the earth.

[10] Louis Evans Jr., Hebrews: The Communicator’s Commentary Vol. 10, Word 1985: 233.

[11] Neal Plantinga

[12] Shane Clairborne & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Becoming the Answer To Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals, IVP 2009:18-31.

[13] Simone Weil, Waiting for God, Harper 2009: 217.

[14] Lewis Smedes, “How Can It Be All Right When Everything Is All Wrong?” Christianity Today-Vol. 39, #13.

[15] Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace.

[16] Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz: 83-85.

[17] Dan B. Allender, Tremper Longman, Dreams and Demands: 62.

Random Reflections on the Prop 8 Ruling…

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Gregg Caruso

I have mixed emotions about yesterdays Prop 8 ruling. As an intentional follower of Christ, I hold a historic, orthodox, New Testament view of marriage. I am also cognizant of how we (Protestants at least) have allowed any moral authority on this issue to dissipate by collectively allowing our divorce rate to match (and some would say, exceed) that of the larger culture. If we can’t do marriage well, how can we weigh in on others? I am reminded of Paul’s words to the Corinthians that we are not to “judge” those outside the church, but that we are to judge ourselves – those of us inside the church (1 Cor 5:12). As active, intentional followers of Christ we would probably be wise to focus on removing the log from our own collective eye (Mat 7:3).

In my view, legislating morality is always Plan B. Plan A, according to my understanding of the Bible, is cultivating and growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ (personally and collectively), growing in sound doctrine, modeling authentic community, and learning how to love. (The first three, BTW, are intended to feed the fourth.)

I appreciate author and pastor Tim Keller’s approach here…In Prodigal God he quotes from The Lord of the Rings – the hobbits asking the ancient Treebeard whose side he is on: “I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side…[But] there are some things, of course, whose side I’m altogether not on.” Keller notes that Jesus’ own answer, through a parable, is similar. Jesus doesn’t pick a side yet singles out religious moralism as a particularly deadly spiritual condition (pg 13). I find religious moralism on both sides of the Prop 8 issue. I would prefer honest respectful dialogue.

In commenting on the Parable of the Prodigal (Keller would say it should be plural), Keller correctly identifies two basic ways people seek happiness: 1) moral conformity and 2) self-discovery. Each is a way of finding personal significance and worth, of addressing the ills of society, and for determining right from wrong. The elder brother in the parable illustrates the way of moral conformity, while the younger illustrates the way of self-discovery. Underneath both brothers’ sharply different patterns of behavior is actually the same motivation and aim – using their father to get the things on which their hearts are really fixed. For both, it was the wealth of the father, not the love of the father, that they believed would make them happy and fulfilled (pgs 29-39). (If you’ve found yourself asking, “Why does he title the book Prodigal God? That’s a great question…get the book.)

As I contemplate my life, I have spent various stints as both the younger and elder brother. In both, during my darker moments, I have sought the hand of God and not the heart of God.

Just last night Linda and I were reading a biography of the early church father, Athanasius (don’t ask). He defined sin as an abuse of freedom. We humans, he said, were originally given the ability to know God by looking at the creation (and seeing its otherwise inexplicable order and harmony) and noticing the image of God within ourselves. But we have turned away from the signs of God in creation and ourselves, and turned instead to the things of this world to satisfy ourselves – whether, I would add, it be moral conformity or self-discovery.

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Ghandi’s encounter with a respected Christian missionary… Gandhi admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount. Once when E. Stanley Jones met with Ghandi he asked him, “Though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?” Ghandi replied, “Oh, I don’t reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It’s just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Somethings just don’t seem to change. Ann Rice is another, more recent example of someone, who “in the name of Christ,” quit the church.

This is yet another wake-up call for the us (inside the church). Not to react with religious moralism, but to respond with appropriate self-reflection, honesty, repentance, love – and a willingness to dialogue. In the great political cartoon strip of its day, Pogo declared, “We have met the enemy and it is us!”

Trinitarian Dance

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Gregg Caruso

C.S. Lewis described the Trinity as a “dance” saying, “God is not a static thing…but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost…a kind of dance” (Mere Christianity, p 136).

Tim Keller elaborates on this concept in the Reason for God in Chapter 14 – The Dance of God (pgs 214-221):

I believe that Christianity makes the most sense out of our individual life stories and out of what we see in the world’s history. In the last six chapters I have been arguing that the Christian understanding of where we came from, what’s wrong with us, and how it can be fixed has greater power to explain what we see and experience than does any other competing account. It is time to draw together the various threads of the narrative we have been examining and view the story line of Christianity as a whole. The Bible has often been summed up as a drama in four acts – creation, fall, redemption and restoration.

The divine dance
Christianity, alone among the world faiths, teaches that God is triune. The doctrine of the Trinity is that God is one being who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Trinity means that God is, in essence, relational.

The Gospel writer John describes the Son as living from all eternity in the ‘bosom of the Father’ (John 1:18), an ancient metaphor for love and intimacy. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus, the Son, describes the Spirit as living to ‘glorify’ him (John 16:14). In turn, the Son glorifies the Father (17:4) and the Father, the Son (17:5). This has been going on for all eternity (17:5b).

What does the term ‘glorify’ mean? To glorify something or someone is to praise, enjoy and delight in them. When something is useful you are attracted to it for what it can bring you or do for you. But if it is beautiful, then you enjoy it simply for what it is. Just being in its presence is its own reward. To glorify someone is also to serve or defer to him or her. Instead of sacrificing their interests to make yourself happy, you sacrifice your interests to make them happy. Why? Your ultimate joy is to see them in joy.

What does it mean, then, that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit glorify one another? If we think of it graphically, we could say that self-centeredness is to be stationary, static. In self-centeredness we demand that others orbit around us. We will do things and give affection to others, as long as it helps us meet our personal goals and fulfils us.

The inner life of the triune God, however, is utterly different. The life of the Trinity is characterized not by self-centeredness but by mutually self-giving love. When we delight and serve someone else, we enter into a dynamic orbit around him or her, we centre on the interests and desires of the other. That creates a dance, particularly if there are three persons, each of whom moves around the other two. So it is, the Bible tells us. Each of the divine persons centers upon the others. None demands that the others revolve around him. Each voluntarily circles the other two, pouring love, delight and adoration into them. Each person of the Trinity loves, adores, defers to and rejoices in the others. That creates a dynamic, pulsating dance of joy and love. The early leaders of the Greek church had a word for this – perichoresis. Notice the root of our word ‘choreography’ within it. It means literally to ‘dance or flow around’.

The Father…Son…and Holy Spirit glorify each other…At the center of the universe, self-giving love is the dynamic currency of the Trinitarian life of God. The persons within God exalt, commune with, and defer to one another… When early Greek Christians spoke of perichoresis in God they meant that each divine person harbors the others at the center of his being. In constant movement of overture and acceptance each person envelops and encircles the others. (In The Reason For God, Keller quotes from Cornelius Plantinga – Engaging God”s World, from which the above paragraph is taken.)

In Christianity God is not an impersonal thing nor a static thing – not even just one person – but a dynamic pulsating activity, a life, a kind of drama, almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance. . . . [The] pattern of this three-personal life is . . . the great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very centre of reality.

The doctrine of the Trinity overloads our mental circuits. Despite its cognitive difficulty, however, this astonishing, dynamic conception of the triune God is bristling with profound, wonderful, life-shaping, world-changing implications.

The dance of love
If there is no God, then everything in and about us is the product of blind impersonal forces. The experience of love may feel significant, but evolutionary naturalists tell us that it is merely a biochemical state in the brain.

But what if there is a God? Does love fare any better? It depends on who you think God is. If God is unipersonal, then until God created other beings there was no love, since love is something that one person has for another. This means that a unipersonal God was power, sovereignty and greatness from all eternity, but not love. Love then is not of the essence of God, nor is it at the heart of the universe. Power is primary.

However, if God is triune, then loving relationships in community are the ‘great fountain…at the center of reality’.

When people say, ‘God is love,’ I think they mean that love is extremely important, or that God really wants us to love. But in the Christian conception, God really has love as his essence. If he was just one person he couldn’t have been loving for all eternity. If he was only the impersonal all-soul of Eastern thought, he couldn’t have been loving, for love is something persons do. Eastern religions believe the individual personality is an illusion, and therefore love is, too. Chesterton wrote, ‘For the Buddhist…personality is the fall of man, for the Christian it is the purpose of God, the whole point of his cosmic idea.’ It is the purpose of God because he is essentially, eternally, interpersonal love…

The dance of creation
Jonathan Edwards on reflecting on the interior life of the triune God, concluded that God is infinitely happy. Within God is a community of persons pouring glorifying, joyful love into one another…

Returning to the dance
…When Jesus died for you he was, as it were, inviting you into the dance…when we discern Jesus moving toward us and encircling us with infinite, self-giving love, we are invited to put our lives on a whole new foundation…

BTW, you can find an excellent unpublished essay on the Trinity by Edwards here.

Gregg Caruso

Refractions on Life and Leadership

Tag Archives: Tim Keller