Tests of Faith

from 1 John 1:1-2:6

The first four verses are a key NT assertion of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. John makes a very strong assertion of empirical (based on sensory observation) validation of the Incarnation. By beginning in this way, John invites us to ponder as we read the ensuing letter how the incarnation of Christ permeates all that he says about the Christian life. At the outset John is also alerting us of his credentials to write about Christ: he was a personal disciple of Christ during his earthly ministry. With the preamble complete, John then turns to some preliminary tests of faith. The material is organized very fluidly, and this means that we cannot simply number the tests. We need to read slowly, noting themes that are introduced, succeeded by something different, and then picked up again. Here is a starting list: walking in the light rather than darkness; confessing sin and receiving God’s forgiveness; the need to love rather than hate.

The Word of Life

1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Christ Our Advocate

2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:15-16)

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10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:10-14)

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1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 5:1-6)

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:21-31)

I am back home in the much cooler north (Toronto), but summer has already arrived in Louisville, and Southern Seminary is not immune. It’s already gotten up to 28c on the campus of the country’s biggest seminary, clearly evident by the t-shirts, shorts, dresses and skirts that are being worn on campus by students.

Because the season of 80F plus weather is upon us, I think it is necessary that we remind the young women around us — especially those in seminarians and Bible college students — that modesty is a must as Christians. It is not an option, or a nice to have if possible — it is mandated by God in the Holy Bible. By deliberately disobeying the Lord’s command is not only sinning against your Father in Heaven, but it also leads your brothers in Christ to be tempted.

As I’ve have written in the past of this issue, it is an area of temptation for many, that which many Christian men struggle and fight daily. However, something more must be said in reminder: immodesty in Christian women is a stumbling block to men, and folly to other women. As C. J. Mahaney has rightly noted in a recent blog post, immodesty “is much more than wearing a short skirt or low-cut top; it’s the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It’s pride, on display by what you wear.”

My pastor, Ryan Fullerton, addressed the issue before a full crowd a few Sundays ago, preaching an hour-long sermon on the freedom of modesty; he grilled us pretty hard on the issues at hand!

For there surely is a direct link between our heart and our clothes, and what women wear — what we wear on the outside — is the outward expression of our heart. “Your clothes say something about your attitude.” If the heart is full of pride, lust, and an attitude of “look at me; check out what I got!”, then what you wear will more likely be immodest — showing the world the deceitfulness of your heart. Flaunting what you got, drawing the attention of fallen men, and tempting them to treat you as objects rather than sisters: such is a stumbling block to those brothers and folly for other sisters to observe. It tells those around you about who you really think you are, and what you think about your identity and self-worth.

Dressing to attract and dressing attractively are certainly two different issues, but regardless, both attitudes need an extreme makeover — to “a heart that is humble, that desires to please God, that longs to serve others, that’s modest, that exercises self-control.” Read the rest of this entry »

You gotta watch this — it’s a classic!

A hundred days have made me older
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lies have made me colder
And I don’t think I can look at this the same
But all the miles that separate
Disappear now when I’m dreaming of your face

I’m here without you baby
But you’re still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
And I dream about you all the time
I’m here without you baby
But you’re still with me in my dreams
And tonight it’s only you and me

The miles just keep rollin’
As the people leave their way to say hello
I’ve heard this life is overrated
But I hope that it gets better as we go

Everything I know, and anywhere I go
It gets hard but it wont take away my love
And when the last one falls
When it’s all said and done
It gets hard but it wont take away my love

3 Doors Down - Here Without You

Back in 2005, I gave up coffee for a month — and that has endured for almost three years now. (My old blog records tell me that it was on May 28, 2005 that I recorded that momentous occasion.)  I’ve had sporadic instances here and there when I have had coffee, whether on road trips or with friends who were having “fine” authentic imported coffee.  But other than those sporadic instances, I do not buy coffee or drink coffee anymore.

(FYI: I don’t consider espresso drinks “coffee”; I do still drink and love espresso drinks like lattes and macchiatos!  When most people say “coffee”, they mean brewed coffee.  Espresso ain’t brewed coffee!)

In those days, back in the middle of this decade, I thought that my coffee consumption was excessive and thus detrimental to my health. It still is, since coffee has not changed; my caffeine alternative these days — energy drinks — are no better for my health wise then coffee itself.  I made a change in the past that has changed my life forevermore, and I don’t regret making it.  I cannot agree more with the age-old saying, “What doesn’t kill ya only makes you stronger.”

I am alive and well today because I stopped drinking coffee in days past. I have contemplated starting up drinking coffee again, not because I need to or really really want to, but because on those special occasions in life, it would be nice to have — and there are many such special occasions in life!  My life is pretty simple, and I never really drink or eat anything outside of the box, so to speak. But I do think I am open to trying new things :-)  If it means stepping out of my comfort zone to try something new in the pleasure of good company, I am certainly — definitely — up for that!

I’m up for getting back on coffee.

Not just any coffee — good coffee, the best coffee that I can possibly find, that God can possibly make! The expensive stuff, the valuable stuff, the treasured kind that is worthy of my hard-earned money and precious taste buds. The kind that you need to search far and wide to find just the right — perfect — bean.

I’m looking for that kind of coffee.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger.
May you never take one single breath for granted,
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens.
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance…

**I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance.
Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they’re worth takin’,
Lovin’ might be a mistake, but it’s worth makin’.

Don’t let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin’ out, reconsider.
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance…**

Time is a wheel in constant motion, always rolling us along.
Tell me who wants to look back on their years
and wonder where those years have gone.

Leann Womack - I Hope You Dance

When you know that you know who you love, you can’t deny it.
Or go back, or give up, or pretend that you don’t buy it.
When it’s clear this time you’ve found the one, you’ll never let her go
Cos you know and you know that you know.

When you feel in your skin in your bones and the hollow
Of your heart, there’s no way you can wait till tomorrow.
When there isn’t any doubt about it once you come this close
Cos you know and you know that you know.

You can feel love’s around you like the sky ’round blue
This is how love has found you, now you know what to do.

And it’s time you come in from the cold.
Haaa…
And you know that you know.

Shawn Colvin - When You Know

A few months ago, I was reminded through David Peterson hefty book “Engaging God” that the church gathers in corporate worship to build each other up — for mutual edification – and not just ‘to worship’ God by ourselves as some would think.

Peterson argued from an exegesis of Hebrews that the concept of the meeting of God’s people for edification for is of central importance to biblical worship. The mutual up building between Christians is purposed to help each other persevere in the faith and grow in spiritual maturity in light of the apostasy that a believer can possibly fall into. This is precisely why the divinely inspired writer of Hebrews exhorts us not to forsake the local gathering of believers as some professing Christians do.

Here’s some helpful tips for reading this text, from Ryken and Ryken:

Exhortation to endure in the faith [ Hebrews 10:19-39 ]. This unit leads scholars to say that Hebrews has affinities to a sermon, though the pastoral intensity of the passage would feel right at home in the NT epistles as well. The opening connective word “therefore” (v. 19) signals the relation between this passage of practical exhortation and the preceding Christological arguments. Reinforcing this are the “since” clauses that lead up to the main appeal (vv. 19, 21). With the weight of preceding arguments about the superiority of Christ and the new covenant as a backdrop, the author now makes a persuasive appeal to his readers to endure in their loyalty to such a Savior and such a covenant. The first movement of the appeal consists of three “let us” commands (vv. 22, 23, 24). This is followed by a paragraph warning the reader not to abandon belief in Christ’s sacrifice (vv. 26–31). This negative approach—a dissuasion—leads to a positive persuasion or exhortation to persist even in the face of persecution, with God’s eternal reward offered as an incentive to persevere in faith (vv. 32–39).

Hebrews 10:19-39

Read the rest of this entry »