by RobertCummins | Apr 12, 2016 | 15. The Grace Of God
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 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. 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. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10 NASB)
As mankind compares himself with himself he appears to be alright. However, as God compares us to the original design we appear more like the Walking Dead. Paul teaches that without Christ our zombie-like spirits marched in step to the self- destructive whims of the flesh and the mind. Like a family of disfigured marionettes we rattled along in a lifeless march, thinking we were free when, all the while, the strings were firmly held by an evil master. As we trekked onward, indulging in our selfish appetites, our strings became impossibly tangled as we were driven toward a precipice from which we would be shoved into a dark unknown.
But it turns out there is another character in our story, One far greater than the one who held our strings. He is the Creator of those doomed and dangling beings whom He still loves even in their entangled and mutated condition. Since He originally designed them without strings He knows there is the capacity, still yet, for Life within them. He knows His breath will awaken them. It is to a troop of these rescued and awakened ones that the Apostle Paul writes. He explains what has happened to them.
He tells them they were rescued by the initiative of their Creator, a rescue that they had nothing whatsoever to do with. Acting out of His own great mercy and love for them, their Creator gifted them with a faith that positioned them on the firm ground of His grace. This salvation was not just deliverance from damnation, it was an impartation of Life. While they were the Walking Dead, He breathed into them and they became the children of light, animated by the very Life of God. They could now walk on their own, by the Spirit.
This salvation included a new status as those elevated from lifeless slavery to a realm situated above the dark one they had come from. Through the gift of the Creator, a family of like-spirited beings are being gathered together and restored to the Creator’s own image. With their strings clipped they are now free to choose to deny the conditioned impulses of an old mutilated nature. Without their strings, they discover a new Life within, empowering them to live and to love out of their new identities.
The Creator aspires to release his family, who is now living from the power of the age to come as freed men, back into the present evil age where they had been imprisoned. The Creator’s good and perfect will is that they, as His own workmanship, enter into the reconciling and redemptive tasks he has prepared for them – putting things back, by way of the Creator’s own Life, into the order which He originally intended.
Father, thank you that in Your kindness You have raised us up with Christ, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places so that in the ages to come and even now You might show the surpassing riches of Your grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Help us to live perpetually at rest in the complete nature of Your gift. Help us to break free of every conditioned response and impulse we learned when the strings were still attached. You are the Giver of every good and perfect gift. All to Your glory.
by RobertCummins | Apr 11, 2016 | 15. The Grace Of God
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:14-18 NASB)
A few small groups I’m a part of were preparing to study the book of Romans. As a prelude to our study, I asked them what they thought about the Bible and its claim of divine inspiration. The words inerrant and infallible were offered immediately as synonyms for inspiration. However, the scriptures themselves do not make these claims about themselves. The testimony of scripture is that it is inspired by God. Translators have arrived at the word inspired by way of the Greek word theopneustros, meaning literally, the wind, or the spirit, or the breath of God. After we went around the room sharing, a person asked me what inspired meant to me. I would like to share what I said along with an additional thought I had early this morning.
Last night I shared that the Bible was one of the first books I read. Sadly, I was 23 when I started reading. I had tried to read the Bible in college, and it just didn’t click. But when I surrendered my life to Christ, something happened in my heart. When I picked up the book this time, I found my heart saying “yes.” I didn’t understand all I read, but there was something new in me that was strongly agreeing with at least the spirit of what I was reading. The words of Paul helped explain this phenomenon.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. (1 Corinthians 2:12)
I explained to my friends that before Christ, I thought my heart was probably like an unformatted disc. This is one way I have viewed our fall (in Adam). When we sinned and died (as God promised we would), our hearts became unformatted, incapable of receiving and comprehending Light. However upon receiving Christ, God imparted the Spirit to us and re-formatted our hearts, giving us himself as our light, enabling us to receive and comprehend his Word. This is one of the ways we know we have been born again. As a new reader and a new Christian, I was blown away when I read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (NASB)
I wish everyone could share the unbounded joy of my Light-deprived heart when I discovered that the same Spirit that had breathed the words of scripture into life had also just breathed into me, imparting a Life of like kind. I was no longer a lost, lonely, increasingly drug dependent waste of a person. I was a brand new creation! I lived in an intense and perpetual OMG-state of mind for at least 2 years. To say the least, the Bible was (and is) a big deal to me. Light had been restored to my spirit, and I now had the capacity for personal relationship with God. It still blows me away. After my reformatting, I soon came across Hebrews 4:12-13:
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Hmmm. That sounds intrusive. Actually, it sounds painful. About that time, I also discovered Psalm 139:
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways…
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
(First and last verse of Psalm 139 NASB)
Within a short time I had grasped that my heart was a big deal to God, and that if I was to call him Lord, I would have to live knowing that I must say yes to his word even when—no, especially when—it painfully intruded upon my understanding and agenda. Yes, It is true that Thy word is a lamp unto me feet and a light unto my path, but it can also be, when necessary, a scalpel unto my heart. In reading 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, I grasped why my heart was such a big deal to God. I had become his residence on earth!
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (NASB)
And my heart, (a bit meekly) prayed, “Alright Lord, I guess I had best ask—what do those words mean? Romans 12:1-2 began making impressions on my heart:
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (NASB)
I began thinking in those early years that it is an understatement to say that fairy tails really do come true. A frog becoming a prince is a watered down reality compared to my story. I was a hopelessly lost and clueless spirit, plagued with doubt, bound up in a self destructive lifestyle, condemned to die when (rather suddenly) God breathed his very own life into me, releasing me from my slavery to sin, transferring me from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. I was no longer a slave to sin; I was a son of God!
I have been blessed to live for 4 decades with these eternal values operating in my spirit. Everything that has happened to me since has had to pass (often as great messes) through these filters.
The thought I awakened with this morning (which I didn’t share with my group) is related to Isaiah 55:11:
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. (NASB)
God breathed out His Word and the cosmos appeared. God’s Word is the DNA of creation, holding everything together. Simultaneously the Word and the Spirit are working in tandem to reconcile all things back to God, establishing his Kingdom. Both in the cosmos and in our hearts, it is true that his Word:
Will not return to Him empty, without accomplishing what He desires, and without succeeding in the matter for which He sent it. (NASB)
So, as my friends and I embarked on this Bible study, I prayed that the spirit of His Word will make the living truths of Romans comprehensible, applicable, and ultimately transformational, not (God forbid) just more Bible-data to store up in our heads. I pray that as the Spirit of God blows over our own spirits with His Word, that we too shall:
Go out with joy and be led forth with peace; that the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before us, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands; that instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, and our hearts will be a memorial to the Lord—an everlasting sign which will not be cut off. (Isaiah 55:12 NASB)
May our hearts tell their own stories of how His Word:
Living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword has pierced as far as the division of our own souls and spirits, of both our joints and marrow, and has judged the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. (Hebrews 4:12 NASB)
Then perhaps the world will look upon us as children of Light, seeing that our claims regarding the light of God’s Word are true, noting that our own transformed hearts have become evidential light in themselves to those remaining captives to darkness.
In Genesis 1, the climax is the creation of humans made in God’s image. In John 1, the climax is the arrival of a particular Human – the Word made flesh. At creation the Word challenged material chaos and darkness, bringing out of it order and purpose. Now the Word challenges spiritual chaos and darkness which is bound up within creation itself. The Word is now bringing into being the new creation, in which God says once more, ‘Let there be Light!’ (from N.T. Wright’s John for Everyone)
Father, help us to not lose sight of the fact that you have never lost sight of us, that nothing and no one are hidden from Your sight. All things (especially our hearts) are open and laid bare to Your eyes, the One with whom we have to do. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Apr 10, 2016 | 14. Chosen By God
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:28-39 NAS)
A good friend told me that a young clean cut man entered his office complex and announced, in the most friendly manner,”I am Jesus and I just want you to know that everything is going to be OK.” Then he casually turned and left, leaving the employees with something to talk about during coffee break.
According to Paul, this is just the kind of thing Jesus would say;
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28 NAS)
In our passage, Paul then goes on to explain some of the how’s and why’s of this announcement … Why this is true for you is that you have been called according to His purpose. You are foreknown. You are predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. You are now one of Jesus’ siblings. You are called. You are justified, which means you are acquitted, made righteous, put into right standing with God. You are also glorified which means you have been raised to a heavenly dignity and condition or state of being (according the Amplified Bible). We now have a rock solid basis for the notion that things are going to be OK. Paul then asks,
What then shall we say to these things?
Indeed, what is our response to Paul’s words? Many respond, “Ah yes, its good to be saved. I am a wretch at the moment but I certainly look forward to these nice things after I die.” One of the primary themes of MwM (and I believe, the New Testament) is that the kingdom of God is here on earth right now. Yes, its also coming but it has also come. Because it came with Christ, many glorious things are intended for us before we die. This reality brings now import to passages such as this. I believe this is how Paul would have us respond;
We should announce that with God being for us, no one can prevail against us because He did not spare His own Son. He delivered Jesus over for us all. In Christ, God has freely given us everything. No one can successfully bring a charge against us. Since it is God who has justified us, no one is in a position to condemn us. Yes, things are OK because Jesus died, but He has been resurrected and currently sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us. No one, no thing, can separate us from the love of Christ, not even tribulation, distress, persecution, famine,nakedness, peril, or sword. Nothing!
The odd intruder may have been insane but he was eerily on point. We absolutely do have a strong basis for concluding that everything is OK between God and us. If we are to continue in transforming our minds, along with Paul, we must continue with our announcement;
Even in our distresses, we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loves us. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
In contrast to Paul’s perspective on redeemed men, many of us seem to harbor an exponentially negative view of ourselves. Thinking of ourselves in such favorable light as Paul casts provokes fearful tremblings among the devout, “Why, if all this were really true about me, I am sure I would indulge my flesh without constraint.” Paul seems to say, “Absolutely not! As Jesus’ siblings, you are now constrained by the love of God. With His Spirit in you, you are no longer empowered by your will alone. You have the life of God in you. Get this and things will be OK, and then some.”
Unfortunately, the devout will wrangle with this, “But you don’t know my flesh. You don’t know my sin.” They will then attempt to work out their salvation with misapplied scripture, “For the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom”….and…”God shall not despise a broken heart. I am a wretch and I know it.” I have sympathy for this person because I have been him. I have been that believer whose conscience alternately accuses then exalts him. I will testify, this is a brutal and exhausting trail. Father wants to rescue all His children from this path of bondage. Nothing good can come of it except guilt and religion. Our minds must be renewed; nothing can separates us from Father’s love and kindness. This issue has to be settled in-heart before we can leave this trail of false righteousness.
Father, help us to believe the highest good about ourselves, in Christ, even if its true. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Apr 9, 2016 | 14. Chosen By God
I’ve been thinking lately about the many altar calls that were made on Easter. The old, old story was retold with its rightful emphasis on Jesus Christ, the unblemished lamb that was offered up as the qualified sacrifice, atoning for the sins of man. He suffered a brutal murder and was buried, but the grave would not hold Him. With well-choreographed events and nuanced audio-visual stimuli, the evangelists used their most influential and moving phrases to bring men to that place of decision.
As one who is conscious of some unhealthy statistics about those of us claiming to be Christian, I ask myself is there anything right here at the start of the Christian life, at the altar, that is amiss in some way that contributes to the nominalism that G.E Ladd claims is the curse of western Christianity (see Friday’s MwM post). Could there be anything false (or half-true) in the western gospel message that contributes systemically to our alleged nominalism? So I am asking, on Easter, what exactly was the nature of those decisions that were made? Was the gospel heard on Easter the same one preached in the New Testament?
Jesus’ altar–manners were unorthodox, to put it mildly. To his audience, he says, “Even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me.” Notice he doesn’t invite them to believe. His comments seem limited to whether they already believe or whether they do not. Jesus’ understanding is that every person the Father gave him eventually came to him. Without musical backdrop to His invitation (if you could even call it that), Jesus seems to try and drive them away instead of calling them forward.
You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free. (John 6:26 MSG)
How many people have said yes to the altar calls that drew people with some “free lunch” carrot? I’ve heard it, and I suspect you have too:
Evangelist: I know many of you out there are suffering. You have financial problems, marital problems, serious health issues…some of you have wayward children that are lost. Some of you are in deep depression and have even thought of taking your own lives. Listen to me! Come to Jesus and he will give you life!
Was this the gospel Jesus and his followers preached? This does not seem even remotely familiar to anything I’ve read in the Bible. And how many people have responded to those altar calls that attempt to prod people from behind with the fear of hell?
Evangelist: I know many of you out there are entangled in sin. Sin is your master and you are Satan’s slave. You know there is a fiery judgment awaiting you. You do not know when your time will come. Listen to me! Come to Jesus. He is the only escape from the hell you deserve!
Was this the gospel Jesus and His followers preached? It sounds very familiar to my ear, but again, not because I ever read anything like it in the scriptures.
So, what was the good news of the original gospel? It seems from our passage, Jesus would simply have answered, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven.” It then appeared He would let them believe or grumble or to question as they would.
Jesus too may have looked forward to their decisions at some point, but it didn’t seem he was compelled to draw decisions out of people or prod them into making one. What would Jesus’ altar call have sounded like, anyway? If we handed Him the mic, He might say:
“I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! And I myself in this flesh and blood body am that very Bread so that you can eat and live.”
Is there a place for questions in that setting where we attempt to bring men to points of decision? Many New Testament accounts were not monologues as much as they were conversations. No doubt, a question might be interjected at this point, “But Teacher, we are not cannibals. How are we to eat your flesh and drink your blood? We’re forbidden to consume blood. Just tell us what kind of decision we need to make.”
Jesus might say at this point, “Be at peace. This will not all make sense now, I must go to my Father first.” They of course protest and beg him, “Why don’t you give us a clue about who you are, just a hint of what’s going on? When we see what’s up, we’ll commit ourselves—then we will make a decision.
“Okay,” Jesus says. “Here it is. The Kingdom of God is among you. When I tell you to repent, My Kingdom is at hand, I am saying, ‘Throw your lot in with Me, the One that God has sent.’ This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees Me and trusts who I am and what I do and then aligns with Me will enter real life, eternal life. This kind of a commitment gets you in on God’s plan. But still, this will all make more sense in the near future.”
If we were to ask George Eldon Ladd to handle our altar call (remember, he is the one concerned about our nominalism), he would say:
“Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. By repent, I mean to turn around, to reverse the course of life, to change the whole direction of action. By repent I mean you must embrace in decision the Kingdom of God. God faces us with only one demand: Decision! Yes. You heard me correctly, the Kingdom makes one fundamental demand: the demand for a decision! The basic demand of the kingdom is a response of man’s will.
When the claim comes to you, you cannot trifle with it! You may think, first I must live my life. First, there is a career to be pursued. I must live my life. I have important plans for my future, which must first be carried out. I have obligations, which I must discharge. No! Jesus said there must be an immediate decision, which is resolute and unqualified!
I don’t think you understand yet….the Kingdom demands a response so radical that it may be described in terms of violence and force! You may be asking, “What does violence have to do with receiving the Kingdom of God?” I am telling you everything! The decision for the Kingdom demands radical decision! Some decisions are easily made and require little effort; but the decision for the Kingdom is often difficult and requires great energy of will.
Give me your full and undivided attention now. I ask you to stand if right now you are prepared to turn around! Leave your old life and receive the Kingdom and Follow Christ on His terms.
Note: These words were borrowed verbatim from Chapter VIIL “The Demand of the Kingdom” from his book published in 1959, The Gospel of The Kingdom.
Given the nature of Mr. Ladd’s altar call, it is quite natural for him to transition into the topic of discipleship—the process of taking up our crosses and daily following Christ. He explains that in this process an outward expression of our new inner life will take place. He says this is how you will be the light of the world.
I believe western Christianity has somehow made it very difficult, if not impossible, to transition into discipleship from the altar where Jesus has been invited into one’s heart. What expectations will the prayer of the “convert” have if belief and surrender are not a part of the understanding? Without this type of decision at the origin and core of the gospel, do we not create, by default, an opt-out-of-discipleship track for converts to run on? (Note; please see foot note re: discipleship.)
And what happens when Christ comes and crosses the new convert’s will as He endeavors, as Lord, to be their daily Bread? The convert, having never heard this part of the deal, must find some alternate way to explain the would-be test of faith. From this point many travel in great packs to find gospels that will tickle their ears with a less demanding Christ. Others may remain in the flock and live in defeat and inner turmoil because the process of walking with Christ as a disciple is alien to their weekly or bi-weekly ration of teaching.
Back to Mr. Ladd and his response to eating the body and drinking blood. I think he would say, “Yes, take communion by all means, but know that it is only a reminder that we are partaking of the Bread of Heaven moment by moment as our very own inner and eternal life.” To Mr. Ladd and to Jesus, the Kingdom of God is simply the now Rule of God. Living as his disciples is simply the process of having ceded over title of our lives to Him upon accepting the Kingdom and responding to his rule in the process of doing life as He endeavors to win us more deeply into His love, to reign more completely in our hearts, and to transform us progressively into the image of the Son.
It is very difficult to remain nominal when, in your abandonment to his rule, Christ has becomes your all in all, the very essence of your existence, one who dwells in you and in whom you live and move and have your being. On the other hand, if you made the decision to say ‘yes’ to some gospel that was focused more on being rescued from the discomfort of pressing trials or from the fires of hell, wouldn’t nominalism be the natural consequence?
Father, thank you that you are our Daily Bread, our very Life, that you sustain us moment by moment. Thank you, Jesus, that every one of us the Father has given you eventually comes to you and that once that person is with you, you hold on and never let go. Thank you that you are putting us on our feet alive and whole now and at the completion of time. Thank you that we can be personally taught by you. Rescue us from the debilitating half-gospels we’ve bought into that result in lukewarm hearts. Come and alter our altar calls. Amen.
Note: The word discipleship is not found in the Bible and it has myriad definitions depending on what franchise you subscribe to. When I use the term, I am trying to defer to Jesus, who said it best; “And then they will all be personally taught by God.” (John 6:45 MSG) If I use the word, I am referring to the organic process of living in Christ and Him living in us. It is the mysterious process of being transformed into His image. It is the mystery into which we have been caught up.
by RobertCummins | Apr 8, 2016 | 14. Chosen By God
So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God. Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent: Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it. To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him, the stone the workmen threw out is now the chief foundation stone. For the untrusting it’s…a stone to trip over, a boulder blocking the way.
They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted. But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. (1 Peter 2:1-10 MSG)
One of the great truths about God is his sovereignty and the accompanying truths of election and predestination. However, when this doctrine operates without any consideration of human choice, some unhealthy things (such as indifference) can take place in a soul. If our choices are not involved, then a mockery is made of all the counsel and commands in scripture. Why heed 1 Peter 2:1-2?
So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk.
Why bother? If in God’s sovereignty He has chosen us, if we are saved by grace, matters of eternity are in the bank. Right? I don’t believe so—at least not all of them. If the matters of eternity were limited to salvation’s after-life benefits perhaps this would be so. But the matters of eternity came to bear in our hearts when Christ took up residence there as our resurrection Life. We became citizens of the eternal Kingdom upon rebirth in Christ. In us, the power of the age to come has come to bear upon the here and now.
In his book The Gospel of the Kingdom G.E. Ladd says, “Nominalism is the curse of modern western Christianity.” What are its roots? Could nominalism be traced to the gospel, which the nominal have said yes to? Is it possible that the nominal are simply living in harmony with the alter call they initially responded to and the preaching they hear? Ladd’s simple point is that there is a high cost to receiving the free gift of God and that this theme is alien to much preaching in the west. While the will of some adherents of extreme sovereignty have been shifted into neutral, Ladd in contrast teaches, “The Kingdom demands a response so radical that it may be described in terms of violence and force.”
As a contractor I have appreciation for the allusions to building in this passage:
Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.
Perhaps we can look upon ourselves (in the context of “election”) as His predestined building site. Long ago, before the earth was even created He – the Owner, had surveyed this site and reserved it for construction at the appropriate time. We were not consulted on this matter. However, what will be built upon the site is another matter. As holy priests, called to watch over our hearts (His temple) with all diligence, offering up Christ-approved lives to God. What He’s building is very much a joint venture in which the contributions and co-laboring of both God and man are the co-mingled and essential components to the project. This is the mystery you and I are in the middle of.
Father, please rescue us from every way in which our hearts have become nominal. Grant our hearts to see the fullness of your Kingdom gospel. Equip us with our own night-and-day–difference stories. Help us to live in this mystery with our wills fully engaged in obedience while we remain at total rest in You. Amen.
