Month: October 2018

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Reformation Day: Why Works Won’t Work

The central protest of the Protestant Church is that justification is by faith alone and not by the works of the law.

When it comes to our standing before God, works won’t work.

Why? Because the law says that we’re guilty. When the law speaks, we become aware of our sin and are held guilty before the law (Rom. 3:19 & 20).

Martin Luther, whom God raised up to begin a Reformation of the Church 500 years ago this month, saw this very clearly.

Martin Luther believed that he could be justified by his works. He tried very hard to be declared righteous on the basis of what he did.

He also saw that he had sin, so he would spend two hours confessing his sins, walk away, and realize he had committed more sins that he had forgotten. This led him to adopt very strict practices and even to inflict pain on himself as a way of paying for his sin.

The more he worked, the more he saw the futility of it.

He realized that no one would be justified by the law because all have sinned, and all stand condemned and guilty before God.

Now, most people don’t take that approach. Most people aren’t trying that hard to do what’s right. Most people get around the weight of their sin by bringing the law down to their level.

We can do this in a variety of ways. Most of the time, we think we’re OK with God because we’re not that bad, perhaps go to church, and don’t do anything society considers really bad.

Sometimes, people avoid the law by focusing on a few moral issues. However, usually that morality does not touch our heart. It’s external things that we can easily avoid and look down on others for. “We don’t smoke, and we don’t chew, and we don’t run with boys who do” (see Mt. 23:23).

Sometimes, we can make religious knowledge or awareness the basis of our standing before God. I know these doctrines, so I’m OK. Those who don’t are not in the club.

Sometimes, even grace can become a sort of club. I’m better than others because I get grace!

Wherever we tend to view ourselves highly and look down on contempt on others is a place where we are tending to rely on as our righteousness before God.

But none of these will work. They’re actually a distraction from the real issue.

They won’t work because God’s holiness demands that we obey His law, all His law, to be declared righteous.

And we haven’t. We’ve all sinned. So, we’re in trouble.

We all stand guilty and condemned before a holy God.

So, where does that lead us? To Luther’s glorious insight. We stand guilty and condemned before God, but God offers us acceptance as a free gift because of what Jesus has done.

“All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

That’s justification by grace alone through faith alone. This is what the Reformation is all about. This is what the Bible is all about.

We all stand guilty before God, but God accepts us a free gift to be received by faith alone because of what Jesus has done.

That’s a rallying point. Think about it. Meditate on it. Live it. Let it transform you. Let it transform your churches. Let it soften your heart.

Works won’t work, but the Gospel will.

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Is God Telling His People to “Be Better”?

“Put off your old self . . . and put on the new.” That’s one of the central teachings of the Christian faith.

Does this just mean “be better”? You could take it that way.

And, of course, there is one sense in which God commands us to be better. It is always our moral obligation from God to be better: to love more, to hate less, to be more kind, and to forgive.

There is also some advantage to a reminder to “be better.” How often do I think, for example, that I’m supposed to pursue “compassion” or avoid “slander”? It’s good for me to be reminded that this is what I’m supposed to do.

The problem is that I fail. The commandment just isn’t enough to get me where I need to be. It’s more like the New Year’s resolution that I continue for a week and then forget (and usually don’t do perfectly even that one week!).

Further, the Bible teaches that salvation and transformation is a gift of God’s grace from first to last. How do we square this with the call to “be better”?

One way people have understood this is to recognize that the commandment is good but that we need God’s grace to fulfill it. As Augustine said, “Command what you will, and give what you command.”

I do believe that this is taught in Scripture. However, I’m not sure that this is what the Apostle Paul is after in Ephesians 4:22–24 when he tells us to put off the old self and put on the new.

I take his command more like this: accept the work of God’s grace in your life and avail yourselves of everything God provides in order to make you what He calls you to be.

Let me suggest that this involves at least 5 things.

First, confront the issue. Sin is not simple. It is complex. It involves a way of thinking, wrong desires, and even ignorance (see Eph. 4:17–19). We need to do more than look at the outward action. We need to consider where our heart is, what our mindset is, and what our thinking is.

Two ways that I have found particularly helpful for discerning the pattern of sin are to look at my strong emotions and desires. When we feel strong negative emotions like anger or anxiety, it is an opportunity for us to examine what’s going on under the hood. When our desires take over us and lead us in wrong directions, it’s a good idea to ask, what is the source of these desires? Why am I wanting this recreation, relationship, or reaction so much?

This consideration will help us see more clearly how we need God’s grace to work in our lives.

Second, convert our thinking. It’s not just about behavior. It’s what’s in our hearts and minds that is the issue. Paul begins his discussion of the old self in this passage by saying there is “futile thinking.” The new self involves being renewed “in the attitude of our minds” (Eph. 4:23).

For example, if we think our acceptance is based on what other people think of us, we will be continually frustrated (futile thinking!). If we believe our acceptance is based on God’s view of us, we are open to the peace that is available to us in Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:7). So, we convert our thinking by keeping in mind all the things that God has said about His grace in Ephesians 1–3, that we have “every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Third, connect to God’s grace. In the first part of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul speaks of God “enlightening our hearts” and “giving us power to see.” Transformation is a gift of God’s grace.

However, there are places where God’s grace is flowing. We call these “the means of grace.” They include the Word of God, the sacraments, prayer, and people. If we want to experience God’s grace, we should humbly make use of the means that God has given to experience His grace.

Fourth, continue in grace-empowered effort. It is important that this not come first, but it plays a part. I believe we should try hard to be compassionate and kind, but this is not always the effort that is needed. Sometimes the effort is working on re-shaping our thinking, making time to spend with Jesus, devoting ourselves to prayer, and taking the risk of connecting with people who can help us.

Fifth, conform to the pattern of Christ. It is important for us to remember that the call to transformation is always directed toward Christ as the power for transformation and as the example to which transformation will conform. “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us” (Eph. 5:2).

If we just look at ourselves, we might not have any hope for transformation. Looking to Christ and the power of His resurrection, we have tremendous hope for change! We don’t have to rest in the same old patterns. By God’s grace, we can experience the grace of out with the old and in with the new. Christ is risen!

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The Christian and Politics

The intensity of political division in our nation has given me a desire to write on politics from a Christian perspective. I still plan to do so, but I found Pastor Tim Keller’s op-ed in the New York Times a great start. His article is entitled “How Do Christians Fit Into the Two-Party System? They Don’t.” I would recommend it to your reading.

Mark Tooley has provided a good summary of the key points of Keller’s article on his blog. He summarizes:

  • “Those who avoid all political discussions and engagement are essentially casting a vote for the social status quo.”
  • “While believers can register under a party affiliation and be active in politics, they should not identify the Christian church or faith with a political party as the only Christian one.”
  • “Most political positions are not matters of biblical command but of practical wisdom.”
  • “The biblical commands to lift up the poor and to defend the rights of the oppressed are moral imperatives for believers.” But, the “Bible does not give exact answers to these questions for every time, place and culture.”
  • “Jesus forbids us to withhold help from our neighbors, and this will inevitably require that we participate in political processes.”
  • Finally, Keller warns that “increasingly, political parties insist that you cannot work on one issue with them if you don’t embrace all of their approved positions,” which Christians must reject.

The key thing for us as Christians is to remain engaged without letting our faith or churches become pawns in the political battle between our two parties. Keller’s article is a good summary of why we should move toward that goal.

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10 Ways to Get Closer to the People You Value

A few years ago, a relative of mine, Rev. Russ Gunsalus referred me to a book on connecting with people. It is called The Friendship Factor by Alan Loy McGinness. This book is filled with simple yet profound insights that have given me guidance on how to better connect with the people in my life.

I continue to meditate on its contents, and as I grow, I see the wisdom of its insights. Recently, for example, I heard about two funerals, one for someone’s father and the other for his mother. At the father’s funeral, there were a lot of children of his friends and relatives. At his mother’s funeral was a lot of her friends. What was the difference? His mother kept making friends.

This powerfully illustrated a key point in the book: Friendships are not static. They ebb and flow. It’s not as if we make friends once and for all and then are done with it. We have to keep working at it, or our friendships diminish. This was a powerful reminder to me to keep working at building friendships.

The insight from the book combined with the story that I heard to make the story all the more compelling and illuminating.

Here is a brief sample of the book, though I recommend that you read it all for yourself.

Five Ways to Deepen Your Relationships

  1. Assign top priority to your relationships. Building relationships is work, and we must recognize this.
  2. Be willing to share things about yourself. Cultivate transparency.
  3. If you like something in people, say so. You won’t go wrong in this.
  4. Figure out what people enjoy, and show them love in ways that are meaningful to them. It may not be the same thing that is meaningful to you.
  5. Create space in your relationships. All relationships need a balance of togetherness and separateness. Recognize that relationships have different seasons.

Five Ways to Cultivate Intimacy

  1. Please touch. Obviously, you need to have a sensitivity, but people do need appropriate touch. It’s not for nothing that Paul said to greet one another with a kiss.
  2. Be liberal with praise. Again, if we can see something good in someone, it is worth saying it.
  3. Schedule leisurely breaks for conversation. It’s easy to become too task-oriented. Stop and visit with folks.
  4. Learn how to listen and ask good questions.
  5. Talk freely about your feelings and encourage others to do the same.

What might you suggest for getting closer to the people you value?

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Why We Don’t Get All We Could from Jesus

Where do we go when we are discouraged, confused, anxious, struggling with guilt, or lonely? The Christian answer to that is Jesus. In Jesus, God has made Himself available to us for our healing and restoration.

But how do we connect with Jesus?

When Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church (1 Cor. 12:3).

However, the Spirit does not give everyone the same gifts. He gives a variety of gifts to a variety of people (see 1 Cor. 12:4–6).

In Ephesians 4, we read that to “each one us grace has been give as Christ apportioned it” (4:7) He gives different gifts to different people. He gave the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers “to equip his people for works of service” (4:12). So the pastors and teachers equip, but the equipping is so that the people can serve one another.

Consequently, our connection with people is crucial to our healing and growth. As people speak the truth in love, “we will grow to become in every respect the mature body.” The body “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (4:16).

The point here is that there are a variety of gifts given to a variety of people to meet the needs of God’s people.

Now, why don’t we experience all that Christ has for us? The answer is that Jesus wants to give us His grace and His gifts, but He wants to do it through His people.

Oftentimes, when we are struggling with discouragement or anxiety, we think, “I need to go to Jesus for help.” That is true. I don’t want to downplay the importance of private communion with God.

However, we also can and should connect with Jesus through His people because He wants us to experience His grace through His people!

In other words, when we are feeling confused, discouraged, guilty, or hopeless, we need to seek out the people who have been gifted by Jesus to help us with such things. We can often isolate ourselves, but Jesus has the solution for us–waiting for us in connection with His people.

I have seen this over and over again in my life. I know that from time to time I can get in moments where I’m just stuck worrying or struggling with something. I can try to work through it on my own, but oftentimes I’m still stuck. Then, I can call a trusted friend to share it with. It’s amazing how often something that has gone round and round in my head can dissipate after connecting with a friend. I see it in a whole new light.

So, are you struggling with something today? Let me encourage you to connect with Jesus–through His church, His people. When you go to church this Sunday, look around at the congregation. These people represent the many gifts that Jesus has for you for your restoration and healing and growth in mutual service.

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