Faith of Jesus Christ

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In studying different resources on Galatians, i ran across an article by Doug Wilson (one of my favorites) and found it very helpful and encouraging. I’d like to share the following excerpt with you. His exposition here covers Galatians 2:16-21. You can read the whole article here.

What is meant by “the faith of Jesus Christ”? In v. 16, we find a striking phrase (which is repeated twice). We know that men are not justified by the works of Judaic law-keeping, but “by the faith of Jesus Christ.” We have believed in Jesus “that we might be justified by the faith of Christ.” Now is this our faith, or Jesus’ faith? Our faith is mentioned, but our believing in Jesus is so that we might be justified by the faith of Jesus. This is in contrast to being justified “by the works of the law.” The reason for that is because “for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” By the works of the law everybody goes to hell. Note well, then, that our justification depends on the faith of Jesus, Jesus believing. Our faith is the instrument which unites us with Christ, and it is in union with Christ (and thereby with His faith) that we find our justification. In the imputation of the active and passive obedience of Christ to us, we do not just receive “His actions.” Everything Jesus said and did is imputed to us, along with His motives for saying and doing them. The imputation of Christ’s righteousness to us cannot be accomplished unless His faith is imputed to us as well — because Christ’s righteousness was not independent of His faith.

But there are some odd objections. In order to be united with Christ in His death and resurrection, both Jews and Gentiles had to acknowledge that they were sinners. We are united with sin on the cross so that sin might there die, and that we might be subsequently raised. Does this promote sin? (v. 17). Of course not. Always remember the importance of resurrection; we include both destruction and rebuilding (v. 18). The law kills and we are raised, together with the law (v. 19).

This is the key to understanding Paul’s theology of justification. Union with Christ begins with crucifixion (v. 20). Nevertheless, life follows, and it is the life of Christ which follows. This life of Christ includes His faith. “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” How could this frustrate the grace of God? It is the grace of God (v. 21). Righteousness does not come by the law. It does not come by fencing the Table. If we must fence the Table against fellow believers, then Christ died in vain (v. 21).

(Doug Wilson, http://bit.ly/qhUkJJ, 7th – 9th paragraphs.)

A Wet Noodle To A Sword Fight

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Recently i instigated (rather sarcastically i should add) a logic discussion with someone who by their own admission isn’t a Christian. Now don’t throw up your hands at my insolence just yet. To my credit i didn’t know that at the time as he was making himself out to be a most authoritative and outspoken kind of a Christian. You know the types, the ones who should be able to handle a bit of the confrontation that they so frequently serve up. I was under the impression he could handle a little engagement of logic and doctrine but that didn’t turn out to be the case and so i endured the whining and the slander that for some reason seem to accompany those of the liberal persuasion. If you ever find yourself in that position, here’s a word of wisdom: When entering a sword fight, refrain from going blow to blow on those who draw a wet noodle from their scabbard. (Full disclosure: I have documented all of the public conversations in their entirety and because it was quite a scene if anyone is concerned or would like to bring a charge, i will gladly hand over a copy of said conversations.)

That whole thing got me thinking. First, about the parable Jesus gives of the Pharisee and the tax collector who went up to pray. I was wondering, would it change the essence of the parable if for instance the Pharisee and the tax collector offered each other’s prayers? If the tax collector turned out to be the haughty one instead of the Pharisee? What about if we give the same parable but use a presumptuous ice cream truck driver and a humble pastor? Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems to me that Jesus is taking a shot at an attitude rather than an occupation.

It seems  that Jesus is taking a shot at presumption not vocation. If that is in fact the case, it would logically explain why the humiliated prostitutes and thieves didn’t evoke the same flavor of “truth in love” as the religious leaders of the day. Think of the woman caught in adultery and the thief on the cross propped up next to the religious leaders, quite a difference. But what is the difference? Well there are obviously quite a few so maybe we should think about the similarities. They’re all filthy, condemned sinners who will shrivel from the wrath of God apart from Jesus Christ. While they had different parents, occupations, probably different clothes; they got their jollies differently and yet they were all undeserving sinners. So what is the difference that provoked such distinct interaction.

A telling clue is found in Matthew 9:11-12, “And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Weren’t they all sick? Jesus distinguished not between actual need as all men are in need (Romans 3:23), rather He was distinguishing between those who admitted it and the stiff-necks! In doing so, He even granted the Pharisees their inadequate self-assessment that they were healthy and righteous (Matthew 9:13).

These presumptuous types evoked the same “truth in love” as all the other sinners, it’s just a bit more spicy. We have missed the point completely if we begin to ignore the fact that when Jesus came to save the world and not to condemn the world, He wasn’t making exceptions when it came to the proud and “righteous” Pharisees.

So often we hear people cry foul, “you’re judging me” or “you aren’t being loving like Jesus” “you’re just like the religious leaders who crucified Jesus” and obviously there are times when that may be true but more times than not, those are the fussers who are trying to pay the ref. Obviously the cheaters are going to be unhappy unless they’re winning but that shouldn’t stop us from pulling back the curtains and exposing them to the bright light of truth. But what does that look like? For someone like me, it is easy to question why Jesus didn’t point out right then and there that these jokers were so far from righteousness.

Allow me to quote Francis Shaeffer at length, “At the point of tension the person is not in a place of consistency in his system, and the roof is built as a protection against the blows of the real world, both internal and external. It is like the great shelters built upon some mountain passes to protect vehicles from the avalanches of rock and stone which periodically tumble down the mountain. The avalanche, in the case of the non-Christian, is the real and the abnormal, fallen world which surrounds him. The Christian, lovingly, must remove the shelter and allow the truth of the external world and of what man is, to beat upon him. When the roof is off, each man must stand naked and wounded before the truth of what is. (Christian View of Philosophy and Culture, Francis A. Shaeffer, p. 140)”

Shaeffer goes on to say that for someone like this we don’t come galloping in with a dogmatic statement of the truth of the Scriptures rather the truth of the external world and the truth of what man himself is—a sinner. When this avalanche of truth barrels through it is quite enlightening. Think about Christ’s crucifixion, the religious leaders didn’t take His life, He gave it and He gave it for sinners, that’s you and me. Whether prostitute or Pharisee. Some look at the religious leaders of Jesus’ day and gloat just like the praying Pharisee, “At least I’m not like those religious leaders who crucified Jesus. I make my living as an ice cream truck driver.” These are the guys who handle truth like they handle a wet bar of soap in the shower—the guys who bring a wet noodle to a sword fight.

A Vision for Discipleship

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(Guest post by Jeff Ripple my father and pastor on our church’s vision for discipleship.) 

Christ Fellowship Church is called to impact the city of Taylor, surrounding area, and beyond, through discipleship that equips families and individuals to become an effective living witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In our vision to disciple families; husbands and wives, moms and dads, men and women, must be disciples along with children.  That means doctors and lawyers, plumbers and electricians, ditch diggers and street sweepers, homemakers and dress makers, pastors and parishioners must become disciples so that their children can become disciples also.

A disciple is a learner and learning begins first and foremost at home in the family.  You say; “I come from a broken home.”  It makes no difference, the home you raise your children in will be the home they learn in, for good or not.  The home we raise our children in may not be the home we would have chosen, but it is the home we make it.  We are not excused from raising and teaching our children just because life is not what we wish it to be.

You may say; “I am single.”  I say single or not, we have a call from the Lord to be and to make disciples and the first order of business is to be a disciple, single, married, with, or without children.

The scripture speaks of God as our Father as well as a “father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5).”  How is it that God becomes a Father to the fatherless?  I believe it is in no small part through the love and commitment of those spiritual fathers God will raise up through discipleship in the Church.  This is the beauty and blessing of living in community, of being in fellowship with the saints who are the body of Christ.

It begins with a man

To disciple families we must begin where God did…with the man (Genesis 2:7).  Men I wish it were as easy as coming to church week in and week out and by osmosis you become the man, the husband, the father that God declares you are to be.

From the beginning God established a patriarchy.  That simply means that men are to be the primary leaders in society under normal circumstances.  Today this flies in the face of “conventional wisdom” and political correctness, but God is neither conventionally wise nor politically correct.  He is ALL wise and ALWAYS correct.

Men have a tendency to become passive while women have a tendency to become dominate.  Think back to the garden (Genesis 3).  Who was the passive party between Adam and Eve at the dawn of the fall?  It was Adam.  Who was the dominate one?  It was Eve.  In his passivity Adam allowed Eve to have discourse with the serpent and ultimately partook of the forbidden fruit in following her lead.  Eve in her dominance took the initiative and contemplated the merits of the forbidden fruit and reasoned herself, though unsoundly, into indulging and so then passive Adam.

God began the human race with a man.  It was not good for man to be alone so God created woman from his side.  This can speak of many things in terms of the relationship between a man and a woman, but one undeniable truth is that God created man to be the head of woman.  That is not bad, but good for both.

God has ordained headship.

The Church will never get down to the business of making disciples as long as we have men choosing to be passive while women are left to be dominant.  This has nothing to do with who is the better, but it has everything to do with who is the head.

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.  24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:22-24

You may wonder what all this has to do with discipleship.  Here in lies the problem; we have failed to see the importance of first things and their order along with their ordained operation.  The order and the operation of headship are important.

The theology of “ME”

I believe we are so consumed with a “ME” centered theology that we do not recognize it.  We have defaulted to the belief that what ever needs to be done to minister to “ME” becomes justifiable in the face of passive resistance.  We can read what the scripture is telling us, but we somehow come to believe that the ends justify the means.  In other words it does not really matter how we achieve the vision as long as the vision is achieved.  God’s vision cannot be achieved apart from the ordained means.  Any attempt to achieve a God given vision apart from the God ordained means is nothing more than an illusion…or as the scripture declares “having a form of godliness, but denying the power” (2Timothy 3:5).

Does the end justify the means?  “Stealing from WalMart is acceptable because that is how I can best meet my need…the end justifies the means.  After all WalMart has more than they will miss.”  For most of us that would be unthinkable, but when we bypass the scripture in an attempt to meet our perceived need we have attempted robbery and God will not bless that which is obtained through robbery.

When we look at families…here are some examples;

  • “It doesn’t matter if I go to church, as long as my wife takes the kids”
  • “I would go to church if my wife would go with me”
  • “I would go to church, but I am too busy”
  • “Teaching my kids about God is the responsibility of the church”
  • “I would go to church, but my kids don’t want to go”
  • I would go to church, but it is not worth the hassle”
  • “Education is the responsibility of the public schools” (I just threw that one in).

In all of these examples we see the “ME” theology in full force.  God in Himself is not reason enough…if my spouse, if my kids, If I weren’t so busy, if it were more convenient, if it were more this, or more that…but for “ME” it is not.

Men in their proper place

The Church needs men to rise up and take their proper place.  Men are called to lead, not default into passive resistance while the wife and mother become dominate in the face of a man forfeiting his place.  The discipleship of families must begin with the discipleship of men.  The discipleship of all men, male and female, should begin with the discipleship of fathers.  The discipleship of a child first begins with the father being a disciple.  The model of our leadership is Christ in His humble strength.

The question is never whether the child will be a disciple…a learner.  The question is what will the child learn?  What kind of disciple will the child be? The truth is one way or another every child is a disciple from the day they are born.  The question is will they grow up learning of and following Christ or another way?  Fathers, you hold that answer by the grace and power of God.  It is an awesome responsibility.

What if there is no father in the home?  Then the church that is committed to disciple men in order to obey the scripture is to raise up nursing fathers for the fatherless God has placed in their care.  We see this lived out in the life of Paul and his spiritual children (1Corinthians 4:17, Philemon 1:10).

Discipleship is the responsibility of the church and it begins with the men of the church in order to affect the families of the church, in order to affect the world around us.  If we do not do this we are disobedient and without excuse.

Walking in our land

Too much of the church is content with coming on Sunday morning and then going back to “real life.”  Too much or our Christianity is based on what happens for approximately 2 hours one morning a week.  Our faith and so our relationship with God is not something we experience in a two hour time slot, it is the life we live each and every day in every place our foot treads.  Real life is 24/7 and so is real faith.

God told Abraham in Genesis 13:17 to walk through the land “for I give it to you” and so as the seed of Abraham through faith we should walk through our land…our work places, our shopping places, our homes, our neighborhoods…each day as we live our lives and know that God has called us to be salt and light in the land He has caused us to dwell in…in the land He has commanded us to walk in.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,       Colossians 2:6

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

This “walking through” does not look like some ritual of literally walking our streets and public places and “claiming” them for God.  This “walking through” is our “living in” it is our working in, our relating in the places and with the people of our land.  It is praying for our land and the people of that land.  Our greatest influence comes in the daily living, the daily walking, of our life…that is how people know you and come to trust you and you become an instrument in the hand of God for turning them to Him.  It is in our land that the battles are won and lives are transformed for the glory of God.  It is in the land that the Spirit moves as you move through the land possessed and filled by the Spirit.  That is the way God has ordained it to be.

A Vision for Discipleship

Christ Fellowship Church is called to impact the city of Taylor, surrounding area, and beyond, through discipleship that equips families and individuals to become an effective living witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We will do this as we:

  • Hold Jesus Christ and His Gospel as central in all things
  • Teach and disciple people in the Scriptures
  • Equip and establish people in a scripturally based Spirit led life
  • Identify and permeate all areas of influence God has presently granted
  • Expand our areas of influence in an authentic and meaningful way
  • Joyfully sacrifice our convenience as a love offering for His glory
  • Find our greatest fulfillment and happiness in Christ and in His Body
  • Establish multiplying leadership for multiplying ministry
  • Establish multi-functional ministries for discipleship and outreach
  • Establish multi-site ministries (not mega) for more effective reach into our community and beyond

The Sands Of Time Are Sinking

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This Lord’s Day we’ll be singing a new song, and while new to our fellowship, this song has been around a good while. I thought it would be most enjoyable and helpful to introduce the song a bit more thoroughly before.

    The Sands of Time are Sinking was written in 1854 by Anne Ross Cousin while in Scotland with her husband who was a presbyterian minister. Cousin was inspired by the writings of the Scottish Samuel Rutherford who was a presbyterian theologian.

    Wayne Grudem author of Systematic Theology: An Introduction To Biblical Doctrine says this of the song: “This is one of the most beautiful hymns ever written in any language. It expresses so clearly the fact that the beauty of heaven is the glory of God, and the great beauty of God’s glory is the Lamb who died for us and now reigns.” Anne’s original edition which is also know as Immanuel’s Land, has nineteen verses but was later introduced by a Reverend with only these five:

The sands of time are sinking,
The dawn of heaven breaks;
The summer morn I’ve sighed for -
The fair, sweet morn awakes:
Dark, dark had been the midnight
But dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

The king there in His beauty,
Without a veil is seen:
It were a well-spent journey,
Though seven deaths lay between:
The Lamb with His fair army,
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land

O Christ, He is the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of love!
The streams on earth I’ve tasted
More deep I’ll drink above:
There to an ocean fullness
His mercy doth expand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

The bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.

O I am my Beloved’s
And my Beloved is mine!
He brings a poor vile sinner
Into His house of wine
I stand upon His merit -
I know no other stand,
Not e’en where glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

    I encourage you to meditate on these lyrics, let them saturate your soul. Then listen to this demo from igracemusic.com so when we gather this Lord’s Day you’ll be prepared to belt it! Songs like these should not only encourage us because of the deep Scriptural ingredient but also songs like these serve to remind us of our beautifully rich Christian heritage.

Critique Modern Youth Ministry

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Just read a really good and helpful booklet—Critique of Modern Youth Ministry by Christopher Schlect. As i’ve been struggling and thinking much about “modern youth ministry” i’ve realized that there is so much that is assumed and not actually biblical. Here are a few of my favorite miscellanies from the essay. If you’d like to read it, which i would strongly urge, you can find it here.

“I am convinced that young people have a far greater capacity for spiritual and social maturity than we tend to give them credit for, and parents have been given the responsibility to see that this capacity is realized.”

“Effective youth ministry is the father’s task; he has the responsibility to establish a godly atmosphere in the home. Fathers must be leaders in worship, prayer, reading and studying the Bible, and in fellowship with other saints. Moses demanded that fathers in Israel rear their children in such an environment that the majesty of God was plainly manifest to them everywhere they turned (Deut. 6:6-9). This standard remains, and fathers today must meet it. If children do not come face to face with Almighty God in every aspect of their lives, their fathers,through abdication, are bringing them up in practical atheism.

Where does this leave the modern church youth ministry? It has no place where fathers live up to God’s demands. Where fathers have abandoned their responsibility, churches should not focus on the abandoned children, but rather on the fathers.”

Interesting isn’t it? Yes, i’m a youth pastor but i desperately wish that i wasn’t needed in that capacity. There are many discussions that need to transpire on this subject and i’ll see to it they begin soon. My longterm goal: work myself out of a job.