The Music And The Dance

Day 2 The Holy Spirit: Who is He?

In John14: l6 Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” Who is this other helper and counselor? The answer comes in verse 17 where he is identified as “The Spirit”. Jesus goes on to explain. He, the Spirit, has been “with them,” but now there will be a change: He will be “in them.” In verse l8, Jesus said “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” In the coming of the Spirit, Jesus Christ himself, comes to you. He is saying, “For three years you have lived with Me. Now I’m going away, but this relationship between us is not going to end. I will send my Spirit. So that I will be with you, not in a lesser way, but in a deeper, more powerful way: in you–forever.

So who is the Holy Spirit? To answer the question: “Who is the Holy Spirit?” we have to begin with an understanding of what Christians call “The Trinity”. “Trinity” is a term used to describe what is clearly taught about God in the Scriptures. The Bible speaks of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit…and also clearly presents that there is only one God. Thus the term: “Tri” meaning three, and “Unity” meaning one, Tri+Unity = Trinity.

The relationships between the three persons of the trinity can be illustrated with a triangle.

We shouldn’t be surprised that some truths about God are hard for finite people to comprehend. Nevertheless it’s worth reflecting on these more difficult and mysterious aspects of God’s nature because understanding them helps us live in relationship with him.

Here’s a quote from a famous theologian named J.I. Packer. He wrote a great book titled Knowing God, that is highly recommended for anyone who wants to go deeper in their understanding of God. In another place he writes this about the trinity:

In itself, the divine tri-unity is a mystery, a transcendent fact which passes our understanding. (The same is true of such realities as God’s eternity, infinity, omniscience, and providential control of our free actions; indeed, all truths about God exceed our comprehension, more or less.) How the one eternal God is eternally both singular and plural, how Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct yet essentially one ( so that tritheism, belief in three gods who are not one, and Unitarianism, belief in one God who is not three, are both wrong), is more than we can know, and any attempt to “explain” it — to dispel the mystery by reasoning, as distinct from confessing it from Scripture — is bound to falsify it, Here as elsewhere our God is too big for his creatures’ little minds. (J.I. Packer, I Want To Be A Christian, pp. 29-30)

This is important because it tell us that the Holy Spirit is worthy of our reverence. He is not to be ignored. And this is also important because it tell us that the Holy Spirit requires, from us, a relationship. The Holy Spirit is not a force to be manipulated but a person whose companionship we cultivate in a relationship of reverence.

Remember the memory verse for this week is John 14:20b: I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Posted in Uncategorized

Day 1: The promise of His presence

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” – John 14:15-21

A famous Christian author named A.W. Tozer once said that in his opinion most Christians are attempting to do the impossible. They are trying to be happy without a sense of God’s presence. What Tozer said about happiness is also true of discipleship. The basic command/invitation that Christ gave potential disciples was; “follow me”. In light of that look again at the words of Jesus in John 14:15-21. In your own words what is he telling us in these verses about his presence with us and our relationship with Him after his crucifixion and resurrection? What encouragements or assurances does he give us? What response do you think you should have to his promises? Jot down your ideas below.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Our memory verse for this week is John 14:20b: I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Posted in Uncategorized

DAY 5
Consider a visual illustration that can help us think about how the gospel has to be the foundation for our relationship with Christ and a life of discipleship. This visual illustration is adapted from the World Harvest Missions book, “The Gospel-Centered Life”.

The starting point of the Christian life (conversion) takes place when you become aware of the issue of your separation from God due to the incredible gap between God’s Holiness and your sinfulness. When you turn to Christ as your Lord and trust in him as your Savior the gospel assures you that your debt of sin is cancelled, you are forgiven everything, you are declared righteous in God’s eyes, you are reconciled to God and at peace with him. This is the foundation for your relationship with him. You do not follow Jesus in order to achieve this. This is where you begin and what you build on. 1 Peter 3:18 says, For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God

Most of the time when we first come to Christ we have a pretty limited view of both God’s holiness and our sin. As time goes on, and we live as followers of Jesus, we come to understand more and more about the holiness of God and at the same time we come to see more clearly than ever how sinful and broken we are. It is important to know that when this happens we are not actually becoming more sinful and God is not becoming more holy we are just coming to sense and see spiritual truths more clearly. We are seeing God as he really is (Isaiah 55:8-9) and ourselves as we really are (Jeremiah 17:9-10, 1 John 1:5-9).

In light of the story of Jesus and the woman who loved much because she had been forgiven much, this growing sense of our sinfulness and God’s holiness can serve to deepen our love for Christ. But this deepening of our love and discipleship will only happen if we have a growing understanding of, and appreciation for, the cross and the gospel. If your understanding of the love of God and his grace revealed in the gospel also grows larger and larger, love for Christ and true discipleship is strengthened.

What we have to fight against in discipleship is the tendency to take a different path. Sometimes instead of magnifying the cross we fall into minimizing our sins or trivializing God’s holiness. We think too lightly of God’s hatred of sin or we think too highly of ourselves. When that happens we sort of “shrink” the cross in terms of its place in our lives and its importance for us. The result is that the powerful dynamic of love that Jesus praised in the woman with the alabaster jar becomes something foreign to us.

What needs to happen is that our view of love for, and faith in, the gospel needs to grow. But what seems to be the tendency of the human heart is that we try to resolve this tension in other ways. Instead of our understanding, love for and faith in the gospel growing we do several things. Sometimes we try to deal with the tension by pretending we are better than we are. Like Simon, we think of ourselves as pretty good and certain others as serious sinners.

Sometimes along with pretending we try performing. We try very hard to live better lives so that we can feel that we are acceptable to God, to others and to ourselves. What’s wrong with that? Well it’s good to live a better life. But Jesus says we are just too broken and sinful to ever live well enough to earn God’s acceptance. Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. If you try to earn your acceptance you will end up anxious and dishonest. And you will never awaken the dynamic of love that could most powerfully change you. So we have to receive the good news that he has done for us what we cannot do. Then we love, follow and obey him, not to earn his acceptance but because we already have it and we love him for it.

Sometimes we get tired of pretending and tired of performing and so we just opt out. We go for numbing or distracting. Maybe that was the path the sinful woman in the story was on until it caught up to her and she came to Jesus. We drink too much or watch too much TV, spend too much time on the internet or try to fill our lives with engaging hobbies or people that keep us occupied. Some of these things are not bad in themselves but they aren’t the answer either.

What is the answer for us? When we come to see more clearly God’s holiness and our sinfulness and feel the tension of the huge gap between who we are and who we ought to be, the only thing that will help us is a larger view of the cross. Our understanding of and dependence on the gospel has to grow with us throughout our lives so that no matter how much we see our sins and short-comings we see the cross as even larger and always sufficient to cover our sins and bring us to God.

If you find yourself like Simon, unhappy with what Jesus is doing or allowing, complaining in your heart, critical and condemning toward others you are not deeply understanding and believing the gospel.

If you find that the devotion in this woman seems very distant from anything you have ever felt or experienced in your heart then you are not deeply understanding and believing the gospel.

This story is in the Bible not so that we can simply know it happened once but so that we can hear in it Jesus speaking to us and calling us to believe more deeply so that we love and follow him. Believe big, believe in a big gospel full of promises and keep growing in your believing.

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse also. ____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Posted in Uncategorized

DAY 4

“To follow Jesus we have to believe the gospel deeply.”

At the end of the story in verse 50, Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” It’s through faith that we receive forgiveness and are reconciled to God. That’s part of understanding the gospel, but there’s something else. This story is not just about the facts of the gospel, but deep faith in the gospel. When Jesus says the one who has been forgiven much loves much he doesn’t mean there are only a few people, the really big sinners, who can ever love much. He is challenging all of us to believe more deeply our utter need for the gospel and to believe more deeply in the beauty and power and grace of the gospel for us! Jesus brings the gospel into the center of a situation in which what he is dealing with is a man who is self-righteous, unhappy with Jesus, and judgmental toward others. Jesus brings the gospel into the middle of this situation because deeply believing the gospel solves all of those problems. So much so that you can flip it and say if you are self-righteous, if you are unhappy with Jesus and if you are judgmental toward others you do not deeply understand and believe the gospel.

Jesus isn’t just telling us how forgiveness is received but how love is awakened. Notice the question in verse 42, which will love him more? Look at verse 47 again, Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” We said one of the problems with this man, Simon, in this story is that what he thought he already knew made him in some sense blind or insensitive to what he needed to deeply see and believe. I wonder if that is what happens to us. We think we do believe in and love Jesus so we don’t go deeper like we could and should.

In the book by Ann Voskamp titled: One Thousand Gifts, she cites some interesting research about gratitude. A couple of university professors and scientific researchers did what is probably the first comprehensive study of the quality of gratitude. What they discovered is that there is a big difference between what people say and what they actually feel. There is a big difference between what they know intellectually and what they actually experience within.

Let me read one quote:

People generally do not make efforts to actively infuse their daily experiences with greater emotional quality. Although most people definitively claim that they love, care, appreciate, it might shock many to realize the degree to which these feelings are merely assumed or acknowledged cognitively, far more than they are actually experienced in their feeling world.

In the absence of conscious efforts to engage, build and sustain positive perceptions and emotions, we all too automatically fall prey to feelings such as irritation, anxiety, worry, frustration, self-doubt and blame. (Rollin McCraty, “The Grateful Heart,” The Psychology of Gratitude, ed. Robert A. Emmons [New York: Oxford University Press 2004], 241, emphasis added.)

What this means is that you can think you are a thankful person, claim to be a thankful person, know that you have a lot to be thankful for, be able to list all the things for which you should be thankful and therefore assume that I am grateful when in fact what I feel is dissatisfied and irritable. What’s true of gratitude is true of this whole dynamic of the gospel and faith and love. We can really believe in a sense and not deeply believe as we should. We can know so much about the gospel that we think we are believing the promises of the gospel more than we actually are in our daily lives.

Stop and ask God to show you how you can deepen your faith in, and appreciation for, the gospel. How can you cultivate a gospel-centered heart of deep love for Christ?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse also. ____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Posted in Uncategorized

Week 1 Day 3

In our first study of “The Walk” we saw that it was after Peter affirmed his love for Jesus that Jesus said to Peter: “Follow me”. In the story of the woman at Simon’s house the thing Jesus focuses on is her love for him. True discipleship is always deeply relational. So it is important to understand that the gospel is the good news of what God has done to restore our relationship with him. The result of what he has done is not just that a debt has been paid but that a relationship has been restored.

Take a moment to read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

What key relational or relationship word appears several times in these verses?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

How many positive benefits can you identify from this passage as true for anyone who is “in Christ”?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

According to Ephesians 1:13, how does a person come to be “in Christ”?

Ephesians 1:13  And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

2 Corinthians 5:19 says, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. (That’s forgiveness) But notice that forgiveness is for the purpose of reconciliation. Verse 21 tells us how God reconciles us to himself. It says, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God made Jesus, who was himself sinless, to be the one who would be treated as if he had committed every sin ever committed by everyone who would ever believe in Him. God treated Jesus on the cross as if he had lived my life and God condemned him in my place. God then chooses to treat me as if I had lived Jesus’ life. This is much more than my debt cancelled. This means God chooses to see you, in Christ, as just as righteous as Jesus himself.

Reconciliation is an important part of the gospel to understand because our hearts are made for relationship with God. Our relationship with God was broken through our sin. All our hang-ups, hurts and addictions are tied into this deeper issue of our broken relationship to God that shows up in life as an emptiness that haunts us and a hunger we try to satisfy with all kinds of things that don’t work because your were made for God. At the same time that we are living this futile life trying to fill the emptiness, we are piling up spiritual indebtedness to God for our constant sins. We are forfeiting his strengthening presence while at the same time provoking his righteous judgment. It is into that context that the good news comes. What he offers us in the gospel is not only an escape from his judgment but a way back to him. The promise of the gospel is about more than escaping hell. In fact, in most places where Jesus talks to people and offers the gospel he doesn’t emphasize himself as a ticket out of hell. He offers himself as the water and bread of life and he offers rest for the weary and redemption for the enslaved and he offers reconciliation, oneness and relationship with God and fullness of life. What Christ offers in the gospel is not less than deliverance from damnation but so much more! 1 Peter 3:18 says, For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. On the cross he paid the debt you cannot pay, not so that you would go your own way relieved that you have escaped judgment at the end of history, but so you can be free to live in relationship with him. He sets you free so that you can come to him like the woman in this story, whose burden was lifted and who loved and worshiped Jesus for it.

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verses also. ____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Posted in Uncategorized

It’s day two! Take it easy but keep it up…if you miss a day just start back when you can.

The picture above is from Bernardo Strozzi 1629. I’ve added a few notes about the painting that I found online at the end of this post.

WEEK 1 DAY 2
The story that Jesus told in Luke 7:40-43 is a picture of the gospel. The word “gospel” means good news. Jesus spoke of a man who owed five hundred denarii or about two full years wages. In the days of the Bible if you owed a debt like that and couldn’t repay it you could end up with all your possessions seized. You could be thrown into prison or made a slave. If you owed two years wages and had no way to pay it back it and it meant that you could lose all you have and end up in slavery but someone said, “the debt is canceled”, would that be good news? Yes! The idea of a life-threatening debt being freely cancelled is a picture of the good news of what God does for us through Jesus.

The spiritual reality Jesus illustrates here is that we owe God a debt that we can never pay. Part of Simon’s problem in this story is that he sees this woman as sinful but he doesn’t seem to really feel himself to be deeply sinful. If you have ever been frustrated by the judgmental attitudes of self-righteous Christians then you need to see in this story that Jesus shares that frustration. If you have a tendency to look down on others while thinking well of yourself you need to see in this story that you are a lot like Simon! We have all not only dishonored God repeatedly but we have disobeyed the laws of life he has clearly revealed for all of humanity.

Read Romans 3:10-28 and answer the questions that follow.

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17 and the way of peace they do not know.”18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

What stands out the most to you in the Bible’s description of human sinfulness?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Do you find it harder to believe that we are this sinful or harder to believe that God complete cancels our debt through forgiveness?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

Keep  reading the Bible. The first assignment is to begin reading the gospel of John. Take your time, read at your own pace and don’t worry about what you don’t understand at first. Focus on what you do understand. Listen to the Scripture personally as if you are witnessing what is happening and John and Jesus are speaking to you about these things.  Ask yourself “What am I to make of all of this? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read.

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Verses to commit to memory

What’s up with the memory verses.

Well, I sort of messed up and gave you two right off the bat. So here they are… Sse if you can do them both. Start with the one I gave out on the card at the class.

John 21:22 b: “…What is that to you?  You must follow me.”

Then if you’ve got that down work on the one I gave in this week’s notes:

John 1:12: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 

Notes on the painting.

Bernardo Strozzi the last of the three painters who revitalized Venetian painting at the beginning of the 17th century, came to Venice from Genoa in 1631. In his works the artistic language of Fetti and Liss is developed in a more decorative style influenced by Veronese, with a robust exuberance of colour reminiscent of Rubens. Strozzi’s admiration for Veronese even before leaving Genoa is evident in Banquet at the house of Simon, clearly inspired by the works of the great painter, even if the exuberant style is now clearly Baroque. The banquet table is set diagonally in the wide niche. There are two focal points to the composition: Christ defending Mary Magdalene and Simon leaning incredulously over the table. A dense, rich colour, vibrant with atmospheric luminosity renders the figures physically and spiritually alive. The close observation of detail has a post-Caravaggio realism in the brilliant depiction of the servant interrupting the scuffle between a dog and a cat, or of the page bearing a tray of fruit, silhouetted against the sky.

Posted in Uncategorized

DAY 1
“Relationship With Jesus is Rooted in the Gospel.”

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” – Luke 7:36-50

The story of Simon the Pharisee and the woman with the alabaster jar of perfume in Luke 7:36-50 is one of the classic stories from the life of Jesus. It beautifully reveals the dynamic at work in the heart of someone who follows Christ. It’s not what a lot of people think. Actor Bruce Willis was once quoted in USA Weekend. He said: “They [organized religion] used to hang the whole thing on one hook: If you don’t do these things, if you don’t act morally, you’re going to burn in hell.” I imagine that is close to what a lot of people think Christianity is about.

But what does the Bible actually teach? Look again at the story from Luke 7:36-50. Look at and listen to Jesus as portrayed in this story.

1. What is it that Jesus values most in the woman?

2. What does Jesus reveal about the relationship between love and forgiveness?

Looking at verses 41-42 what was different about the two men in the story Jesus tells? What did they both have in common?

Based on the question of Jesus in verse 42, what is the story really about?

One thing this story shows us is that Jesus wants us to follow him because of our love for him and that love for him comes from the grace he gives us in the gospel. 1 John 4:19 says: We love because he first loved us. Throughout this story what Jesus identifies in this woman is the same source of power or devotion for discipleship that we saw in the life of Peter in John 21. I wonder how well we understand that? How well do we understand the way in which what we call the gospel, the good news, not only gets us into a relationship with Jesus as our Savior but empowers us to live as followers of Jesus who follow him because of our love for him?

Take a moment to pray today that God will help you to grasp the greatness of his forgiving grace so that you will respond to him with authentic love.

If you don’t already have a Bible in a good modern translation buy one. I will mostly be using the New International Version (NIV) for this class but there are other good translations like the English Standard Version (ESV) also. If you can afford a good Study Bible you may find the notes very helpful. If you do not own a bible ask the church or whoever is doing this study with you to help you get one.

This week’s memory verse is John 1:12: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

Begin reading the Bible. The first assignment is to begin reading the gospel of John. Take your time, read at your own pace and don’t worry about what you don’t understand at first. Focus on what you do understand. Listen to the Scripture personally as if you are witnessing what is happening and John and Jesus are speaking to you about these things. Ask yourself “What am I to make of all of this? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read.

Posted in Uncategorized

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”- John 21:20-22

For many years we at Christ Community Church have done sunrise baptisms at the beach and it has always been beautiful. The sunrise itself is like brilliant symbol of God’s grace bringing new life and light into our lives. It reminds me of 2 Corinthians 4:6, which says; For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. When people come to be baptized we always stress that the living of that new life requires us, not only to believe in Jesus but to follow him. When the people come to be baptized we ask them two questions. First, are you confessing that your faith for your salvation is not in your goodness but in Jesus as your Savior? Second, “Do you renounce the devil and his works and promise as a disciple of Jesus to follow Him as your Lord for the rest of your life?”

When we ask people not only to confess belief in Jesus as Savior but commitment to follow him we are reflecting what Jesus himself taught us. Twice in the passage we have read from John 21, Jesus says, “follow me”. First, at the end of verse 19 and then again at the end of verse 22, Jesus says, “Follow me”.

This Wednesday we begin a new class: The Walk”, focused on what it means to follow Jesus in our lives today. This class is offered for twelve weeks on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:00 pm beginning January 18th and ending April 4th (just before Easter Sunday). It will look at both the underlying dynamics and the practical disciplines of following Jesus. It will cover what it means to live life with Jesus, find life in Jesus, live life for Jesus, and live life like Jesus. It will also offer practical help developing practices of spiritual growth that are centered on the Word of God, prayer, living in community with other Christians and serving in ministry and on mission. The goal of this course is not only to deepen the spiritual life of the participants but also to equip them to help others to walk the walk and follow Jesus.

In addition to the classroom teaching, we will be posting weekly assignments here on “The Music and the Dance”. We are going to invite folks doing “The Walk” with us to join us online, to raise questions, make comments or just check out the weekly assignments.

Posted in Uncategorized

Grace and Growth

Richard Lovelace, The Dynamics of Spiritual Life ( Downers Grove, Ill.:IVP, 1979)

1. Justification and sanctification.

In the New Testament… justification (the acceptance of believers as righteous in the sight of God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ accounted to them) and sanctification (progress in actual holiness expressed in their lives) are often closely intertwined… However, they are quite distinct: justification is the perfect righteousness of Christ reckoned to us, covering the remaining imperfections in our lives like a robe of stainless holiness; sanctification is the process of removing those imperfections as we are enabled more and more to put off the bondages of sin and put on new life in Christ…

2. Justification reversed with sanctification.

a. Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so light an apprehension of God’s holiness and of the extent and guilt of their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure. Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for their justification… drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude…

b. A conscience which is not fully enlightened both to the seriousness of its condition before God, and to the grandeur of God’s merciful provision of redemption, will inevitably fall prey to anxiety, pride, sensuality and all the other expressions of that unconscious despair which Kierkegaard called “the sickness unto death.” [So] we start each day with our personal security resting not on…the sacrifice of Christ but on our present feelings or recent achievements… Since these arguments will not quiet the human conscience, we are inevitably moved either to discouragement and apathy or to a self-righteousness which falsifies the record to achieve a sense of peace.

3. Justification as the basis for all sanctification.

a. Much that we have interpreted as a defect of sanctification in church people is really an outgrowth of their loss of bearing with respect to justification. Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure persons — much less secure than non-Christians, because of the constant bulletins they receive from their Christian environment about the holiness of God and the righteousness they are supposed to have. Their insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce, defensive assertion of their own righteousness and defensive criticism of others. They come naturally to hate other cultural styles and other races in order to bolster their own security and discharge their suppressed anger. They cling desperately to legal, pharisaical righteousness, but envy, jealousy and other branches on the tree of sin grow out of their fundamental insecurity…

b. It is often said today, in circles which blend popular psychology with Christianity, that we must love ourselves before we can be set free to love others… But no realistic human beings find it easy to love or forgive themselves, and hence their selfacceptance must be grounded in their awareness that God accepts them in Christ… [There is much evidence in our experience against the idea that we are children of God, but] the faith that surmounts the evidence and is able to warm itself at the fire of God’s love, instead of having to steal love and self-acceptance from other sources, is actually the root of holiness…

c. Presented in this context, even the demand for sanctification becomes part of the good news. It offers understanding of the bondage that has distorted our lives and the promise of release into a life of Spirit-empowered freedom and beauty. Ministries that attack only the surface of sin and fail to ground spiritual growth in the believer’s union with Christ produce either self-righteousness or despair…

Posted in Uncategorized