Jesus did not stray far from John the Baptist. He too believed that repentance should be followed up by certain actions, but those actions were mixed with the wonderful news that the Kingdom of God had arrived. His was more of a celebration because the Kingdom of God was present, more than a lifelong struggle to live in holiness before God.
And yet...
- John the Baptist demanded that people bring fruits of repentance before he would baptize them. Jesus had no such demands. Jesus did, however, pare down his followers by breaking down their false notions about him (John 6).
- John the Baptist warned about the coming kingdom, which came as the judgment and the wrath of God purging the land. Jesus celebrated the arrival of the kingdom of God that had been long awaited.
- John the Baptist had nothing to say to those who rejected him. Jesus condemned the cities that rejected him because in rejecting him, they were rejecting God's kingdom that had come.
- John the Baptist preached that the fires of hell came with the coming kingdom and the "one who was to come." Jesus preached that those fires came later at the final judgment, which most believed was very close. However, Jesus did see that through his ministry, he was kindling that fire (Luke 12:49-59).
-John the Baptist preached that the fires of hell would be for those who did not bring forth the fruits of repentance. Jesus said it was for those who rejected him and his kingdom, and for those who neglected the needs of the poor and the powerless.
So repentance was demanded by both John and by Jesus, but John's carried with it a different meaning. It was what my friends and I use to call "fire insurance," keeping people from the fires of God's wrath. For Jesus it was more of a welcoming in celebration.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
The Beginnings of Community - Repentance According to John the Baptist
To enter the kingdom of God, repentance was absolutely necessary. It was commanded by John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, and Paul. Although it is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible, one could easily conclude that it was demanded by all of the apostles.
Repent means literally, "to turn around." Jesus wanted his followers to turn from self centered living to a more community lifestyle. John the Baptist asked people to share their food and clothes with others, he asked soldiers to back off from abusing others and to stop complaining about their pay, he asked tax-collectors to back off from taking too much from others, and he asked religious leaders stop focusing on who they were and focus more on what they did. These were ways that people could live out the end result of their repentance.
Today, churches that emphasize repentance usually focus on personal relationship with God, which is good; but by focusing only on God, they neglect what John the Baptist and Jesus focused on - turning away from self seeking and building good relationships and sharing within the community of faith as well as with those who stand outside of God's kingdom.
A John the Baptist model for building biblical relationships today would take the form of giving sacrificiallly to those who do not do as much as we do. It would mean turning away from opportunities for profit that use or hurt other people. A John the Baptist model would put helping others above personal goals and self service. It would mean that the best Christians would be defined not so much by being born again, or being filled with the Spirit, or how gifted and talented they were, as much as it would be defined by serving and loving others.
Repent means literally, "to turn around." Jesus wanted his followers to turn from self centered living to a more community lifestyle. John the Baptist asked people to share their food and clothes with others, he asked soldiers to back off from abusing others and to stop complaining about their pay, he asked tax-collectors to back off from taking too much from others, and he asked religious leaders stop focusing on who they were and focus more on what they did. These were ways that people could live out the end result of their repentance.
Today, churches that emphasize repentance usually focus on personal relationship with God, which is good; but by focusing only on God, they neglect what John the Baptist and Jesus focused on - turning away from self seeking and building good relationships and sharing within the community of faith as well as with those who stand outside of God's kingdom.
A John the Baptist model for building biblical relationships today would take the form of giving sacrificiallly to those who do not do as much as we do. It would mean turning away from opportunities for profit that use or hurt other people. A John the Baptist model would put helping others above personal goals and self service. It would mean that the best Christians would be defined not so much by being born again, or being filled with the Spirit, or how gifted and talented they were, as much as it would be defined by serving and loving others.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Ethics in the Kingdom of God - Balaam and The Christian Attitude
ATTITUDE
The Bible (Numbers 22) talks about a man from Moab named Balaam who had amazing prophetic powers. Whatever he said happened. If he cursed people, bad things happened; if he blessed them, good things happened. His powers were renowned.
In all likelihood, he was a prophet for Moab, in the tradition of Biblical prophets. In other words, as Israel had their prophets like Elijah, Samual and Nathan, Moab had their's. Israel's good prophets served the spiritual interests of Israel, which meant that they sought God's favor for Israel through fasting, supplication, and warnings. They also communicated God's messages and direction for Israel, helping them to serve God and thereby to prosper.
As Israel had their prophets who sought to help with Israel's interests, Moab had theirs, who sought the wellbeing of Moab and her spiritual interests. We don't hear about them in the Bible, because they are of little concern for Israel. But we do hear about Balaam because he was called by their king (Balak) to bring a curse upon Israel. Balaam's word was powerful; whatever Balaam pronounced came to be. If he pronounced cursing, disaster came about; if he pronounced blessing, good times came. If Balaam could curse Israel, Israel could only face certain doom.
One thinks that it should not be that hard. Isreal struggled in the wilderness with idolatry, fornication and rebellion. They were every leader / every pastor's worse nightmare. There were divisions in Israel, as well as constant complaining about God's provisions and his leaders; they wanted to set up other gods to lead them back into Egypt to become slaves again. Israel even complained about Moses' second wife because she was black. All of these should have made Balaam's job easy. On one occasion, God ran out of patience and sought to let Israel perish in the wilderness giving Moses the honor of becoming the father of a nation. But Moses would have nothing of it. He prayed for Israel, seeking God's forgiveness and longsuffering. He convinced God to back off from destruction, he convinced God to let the people live.
So what happened when Balaam went to curse Israel? He could only bless the people of God, he could say nothing evil.
From the inside, the Church looks like a mess; but from God's point of view, it is blessed.
HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND?
Who accuses the people of God? The Bible tells us that Satan does.
Who prays for, supports and loves the Church, giving his life for the Bride of Christ? Jesus.
We stand at a crossroad. We can accuse, complain, and point out the faults of fellow Christians (there are many); or we can love the Church, pray for the people of God, and seek to protect it, warn the Church and encourage it, knowing that it is the Bride of Christ, bought with the blood of Jesus, the Body of Christ, called out of the world and presented before a holy God.
Before we can get into Jesus' teachings on right and wrong behavior within the community of God, it is important to begin with this: Love the Church, love the people of God.
The Bible (Numbers 22) talks about a man from Moab named Balaam who had amazing prophetic powers. Whatever he said happened. If he cursed people, bad things happened; if he blessed them, good things happened. His powers were renowned.
In all likelihood, he was a prophet for Moab, in the tradition of Biblical prophets. In other words, as Israel had their prophets like Elijah, Samual and Nathan, Moab had their's. Israel's good prophets served the spiritual interests of Israel, which meant that they sought God's favor for Israel through fasting, supplication, and warnings. They also communicated God's messages and direction for Israel, helping them to serve God and thereby to prosper.
As Israel had their prophets who sought to help with Israel's interests, Moab had theirs, who sought the wellbeing of Moab and her spiritual interests. We don't hear about them in the Bible, because they are of little concern for Israel. But we do hear about Balaam because he was called by their king (Balak) to bring a curse upon Israel. Balaam's word was powerful; whatever Balaam pronounced came to be. If he pronounced cursing, disaster came about; if he pronounced blessing, good times came. If Balaam could curse Israel, Israel could only face certain doom.
One thinks that it should not be that hard. Isreal struggled in the wilderness with idolatry, fornication and rebellion. They were every leader / every pastor's worse nightmare. There were divisions in Israel, as well as constant complaining about God's provisions and his leaders; they wanted to set up other gods to lead them back into Egypt to become slaves again. Israel even complained about Moses' second wife because she was black. All of these should have made Balaam's job easy. On one occasion, God ran out of patience and sought to let Israel perish in the wilderness giving Moses the honor of becoming the father of a nation. But Moses would have nothing of it. He prayed for Israel, seeking God's forgiveness and longsuffering. He convinced God to back off from destruction, he convinced God to let the people live.
So what happened when Balaam went to curse Israel? He could only bless the people of God, he could say nothing evil.
From the inside, the Church looks like a mess; but from God's point of view, it is blessed.
HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND?
Who accuses the people of God? The Bible tells us that Satan does.
Who prays for, supports and loves the Church, giving his life for the Bride of Christ? Jesus.
We stand at a crossroad. We can accuse, complain, and point out the faults of fellow Christians (there are many); or we can love the Church, pray for the people of God, and seek to protect it, warn the Church and encourage it, knowing that it is the Bride of Christ, bought with the blood of Jesus, the Body of Christ, called out of the world and presented before a holy God.
Before we can get into Jesus' teachings on right and wrong behavior within the community of God, it is important to begin with this: Love the Church, love the people of God.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Ethics and the Kingdom of God
What we do in the Kindgom and for the Kingdom is far more important than we are led to believe in many of today's churches.
JOHN THE BAPTIST
When people came to John the Baptist for baptism, he oftentimes told them to go away and show the fruits of repentance before coming back to be baptised. When people asked him what to do, he gave them specific ethical instructions that related to their jobs and/or position in life.
1. He told soldiers to be content with their wages and to stop using their position to bully others.
2. He told religious leaders that they could not depend on their identification with God, neither the rituals that marked them as God's, nor their nationality.
3. He told the tax-collectors (who were business men) not to take advantage of shady opportunities just because they could.
4. He told everybody to share - if someone had 2 coats, they were told to give one to a person who had none. John also told them to do the same with meat. John used these as examples to say that we should be sharing everything we have with those who have less. The early church followed this rule for a short time (Acts 2:44 & 4:32). Eventually this practice was given up.
THE APOSTLE PAUL
John the Baptist was not the only biblical figure to demand works to demonstrate repentance. According to Acts 26:20, even Paul the Apostle demanded good works from followers of Jesus (Paul is best known for his emphasis on grace and faith - it is the gift of God, not works lest anyone should boast). When Paul stood trial before King Agrippa he summed up his ministry and his message: "I preached that they (the Gentiles) should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds (literally translated = works)."
While emphasizing grace and faith in his most famous passage in Ephesians, Paul stated that we are not saved by good works, but by faith. However, Paul's thought does not end there. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul said that the entire purpose that God saved us by faith was so that we would do good works.
The Reformation rediscovered the truth of grace and faith as the entry point of salvation, but in an over-reaction to a work centered church of the day, many (even today) didn't get that we are saved by faith for good works (Ephesians 2:10). Works are crucial to the Christian life.
JUDGMENT DAY
Just about every time the final judgment is mentioned in the Bible, works are the defining factor of where people spend eternity. Again, being saved by grace, in Romans 2:6, the Apostle Paul says that we will be judged by what we do in life: "God will give to each person according to what he has done (literally according to their works [Romans 2:6]).”
Jesus likewise emphasized the importance of good deeds on judgment day, when he told his followers that if they feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, or visit the prisoners and the sick; they are doing so to Jesus himself; and as a result, securing eternity with him. However, when they neglect the same, they neglect Jesus, and for that will be seperated from Christ for eternity (see Matthew 25:31-46). In other words, the deeds/we do to and for others determine where we will spend eternity. If we do good to and for others, it will go well for us; but if we neglect the needs of others, we will face severe consequences.
Revelation follows the same thought. Seeing a vision of the Judgment Day, John wrote, "The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books (Revelation 20:12)."
All of these passages are using the same Greek word that translates as "works," which is the same word that Paul used when he told us that we are not saved by works, but by faith.
JAMES
James faced people who were overfixated with grace and faith, and played down the importance of works. He responded to these people by saying in effect, "If you have faith, it will be demonstrated by works; so until I see your works, I do not believe you have faith." For faith always produces good works.
CONCLUSION
Paul and James were not set apart in their outlook about the importance of works. Each one attacked the side that was doing the greatest damage among their own followers - Paul was faced with those who relied on works for salvation and James was faced with those who believed works were not so important.
Works that are not the result of repentance, grace and faith are the types of works that leave us empty of God. One is never saved by the works that they can do. Good works that God looks for are works that are the result of grace, faith and repentace. The right kind of good works are born in repentance, grace and faith.
JOHN THE BAPTIST
When people came to John the Baptist for baptism, he oftentimes told them to go away and show the fruits of repentance before coming back to be baptised. When people asked him what to do, he gave them specific ethical instructions that related to their jobs and/or position in life.
1. He told soldiers to be content with their wages and to stop using their position to bully others.
2. He told religious leaders that they could not depend on their identification with God, neither the rituals that marked them as God's, nor their nationality.
3. He told the tax-collectors (who were business men) not to take advantage of shady opportunities just because they could.
4. He told everybody to share - if someone had 2 coats, they were told to give one to a person who had none. John also told them to do the same with meat. John used these as examples to say that we should be sharing everything we have with those who have less. The early church followed this rule for a short time (Acts 2:44 & 4:32). Eventually this practice was given up.
THE APOSTLE PAUL
John the Baptist was not the only biblical figure to demand works to demonstrate repentance. According to Acts 26:20, even Paul the Apostle demanded good works from followers of Jesus (Paul is best known for his emphasis on grace and faith - it is the gift of God, not works lest anyone should boast). When Paul stood trial before King Agrippa he summed up his ministry and his message: "I preached that they (the Gentiles) should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds (literally translated = works)."
While emphasizing grace and faith in his most famous passage in Ephesians, Paul stated that we are not saved by good works, but by faith. However, Paul's thought does not end there. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul said that the entire purpose that God saved us by faith was so that we would do good works.
The Reformation rediscovered the truth of grace and faith as the entry point of salvation, but in an over-reaction to a work centered church of the day, many (even today) didn't get that we are saved by faith for good works (Ephesians 2:10). Works are crucial to the Christian life.
JUDGMENT DAY
Just about every time the final judgment is mentioned in the Bible, works are the defining factor of where people spend eternity. Again, being saved by grace, in Romans 2:6, the Apostle Paul says that we will be judged by what we do in life: "God will give to each person according to what he has done (literally according to their works [Romans 2:6]).”
Jesus likewise emphasized the importance of good deeds on judgment day, when he told his followers that if they feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, or visit the prisoners and the sick; they are doing so to Jesus himself; and as a result, securing eternity with him. However, when they neglect the same, they neglect Jesus, and for that will be seperated from Christ for eternity (see Matthew 25:31-46). In other words, the deeds/we do to and for others determine where we will spend eternity. If we do good to and for others, it will go well for us; but if we neglect the needs of others, we will face severe consequences.
Revelation follows the same thought. Seeing a vision of the Judgment Day, John wrote, "The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books (Revelation 20:12)."
All of these passages are using the same Greek word that translates as "works," which is the same word that Paul used when he told us that we are not saved by works, but by faith.
JAMES
James faced people who were overfixated with grace and faith, and played down the importance of works. He responded to these people by saying in effect, "If you have faith, it will be demonstrated by works; so until I see your works, I do not believe you have faith." For faith always produces good works.
CONCLUSION
Paul and James were not set apart in their outlook about the importance of works. Each one attacked the side that was doing the greatest damage among their own followers - Paul was faced with those who relied on works for salvation and James was faced with those who believed works were not so important.
Works that are not the result of repentance, grace and faith are the types of works that leave us empty of God. One is never saved by the works that they can do. Good works that God looks for are works that are the result of grace, faith and repentace. The right kind of good works are born in repentance, grace and faith.
...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (Philippians 2:13).
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