Testimony

It's testimony Tuesday in my church's mission week and we've all been challenged to share something of our stories with our friends, family and anyone who knows us. So here goes!

I grew up going to church and God was always very real to me. I made my own decision to be a Christian; it wasn't something my parents could do for me. I knew I wanted to give my life to God and live for Him.

If I was to sum up what it means to me to be a Christian it would be this: saved by grace to be part of God's community. It's nothing to do with anything good I may or may not have done, it's about the fact that Jesus died for my sins so I can be forgiven.

Being a Christian isn't a one off decision, it's a path you have to walk day by day; it's in every choice you make: do you do things your way or God's way? I definitely do not always make the right choices but I'm thankful that He is working in me everyday to change me and make me more like Jesus Christ.

It's not always easy being a Christian - you have to make some hard choices and you need to listen to God and be directed by His plan and priorities rather than what everyone else is doing, but I can definitely tell you that being a Christian is the best decision I ever made. My life has a clear purpose and I found what I was made for: to know the God who made me and to know who Jesus is in a really personal way. I'm so excited about one day seeing Him face to face.

Maybe you sometimes wonder about what will happen when you die or whether there really is a God. We are made to know God and something within us nudges us to find out more about Him. He has done everything to make it possible for us to know him: you can read all about it in the Bible. Why don't you try reading the gospel of Luke, it's pretty short and would not take you very long but maybe you might find the things you thought about Jesus weren't based on the truth or the real Jesus as we see in the Bible.

I am so blessed to be part of Hill City Church and every week we sing songs and look at the Bible together. I always learn something new and God is very present with us as we learn more about Him together. The church is my family and being part of this community is amazing. It gives me a taste of what heaven will be like: no fluffy clouds and harps, but a mass of people from all different places worshipping God together. We meet every Sunday morning at 11 a.m. in Pontnewynydd Methodist Church, why don't you come and join us and see for yourself?

Thank you for reading this and do you ask me any questions you have. I'd love to talk to you more about being a Christian and what you think about it.

Ruth: the beauty of kindness

Ruth the Moabite is a drastic contrast to the other Moabites mentioned in the Bible, who worshipped other gods (Num 21:29), feared Israel and sent a prophet to curse them (Num 22) and led the Israelites into sexual immorality (Num 25). Ruth chooses to worship the God of Israel, Yahweh, and turns her back on the gods of her own people. Instead of fearing Israel, she joins God's people (much like Rahab before her). Unlike Rahab, Ruth is an example of moral purity. She does not seduce Boaz- she appeals to his sense of justice and righteousness.

But what the book of Ruth really seems to extol her for is kindness. She shows the kindness of covenant love which reflects the great hesed of God towards His people.

Ruth doesn't just make a promise like Orpah; she follows through, and at great personal cost: 'where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.' (Ruth 1:16). Naomi has nothing to offer her; she is a poor widow returning to her homeland (which was a place of famine at the start of the book) empty-handed. Ruth was probably grieving the loss of her husband, and Naomi was not going to offer much solace as her words mention the bitterness she feels towards God (Ruth 1:13, 20). Yet Ruth doesn't just talk the talk to her mother-in-law; she lives it out too. Her love for Naomi is steadfast throughout the book. She loves her enough to put aside her own interests and move to another country in order to care for her and look after her. She voluntarily binds herself with an oath in Yahweh's name, showing the seriousness of her commitment: 'May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.' (Ruth 1:17)

Ruth's kindness leads to Boaz's kindness towards her: 'All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord' (Ruth 2:11-12). Boaz, as an instrument of the Lord, rewards Ruth's loyalty and kindness with special protection, provision, and ultimately possession as he marries her when the nearer kinsman-redeemer declines to act. He sees Ruth's willingness to marry him as a greater kindness (Ruth 3:10), because she has not chased after the younger men.

There is nothing grasping or presumptuous about Ruth. It is interesting that the people bless Boaz's union with Ruth by saying 'May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah' (Ruth 4:11). The implication is that Rachel and Leah were barren women (as Ruth appears to be from being married for ten years with no children) blessed with offspring by God, and this is what the people wish for Ruth with Boaz. However, whereas Rachel and Leah seem trapped in a cycle of grasping, demanding children and warring against each other in a lack of sisterly kindness and compassion, Ruth does not seem to think that it is her right to be married and have children. In fact, by travelling to Bethlehem with Naomi, Ruth was considerably lessening her chance of remarriage after being widowed. In Israel, Ruth would be a foreigner and without protection from her own family. So here we see a link between the kindness Ruth shows towards Naomi with Ruth's humility that makes her willing to be an outsider in a strange land, and go without the security of having a husband and family to provide for her.

As the 'underdog', the Moabite woman in Israel, Ruth recognises her dependence on others (such as Boaz), and ultimately her dependence on God. We can perhaps infer that it was her faith that Yahweh would look after her and Naomi, that He would provide for them, that gave her the ability to act in kindness and in faith, and leave the comfort and security of home behind her. Boaz recognises that it is "the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!" (Ruth 2:12) The story shows that her confidence was not misplaced. Ruth encourages us that God's kindness is available to those who depend on Him, and the more we cultivate humility, the more we will be able to show true kindness to others and put their needs before our own.

Lessons from Numbers- the danger of rebellion (part 3)

Numbers 13 introduces a crisis which is the very heart of the book. The main theme of the book is God's promise (in covenant) of giving the people a land of their own, as well as descendants and blessing to other nations through them. Chapter 13 recounts how they sent spies into Canaan, who discovered that the land was good, but they were terrified by the 'giants' who occupied it. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who had faith to believe God would do as He had promised; nothing was too hard for Him:

“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:7-9)

Chapter 14 details the people's reactions to the spies' report. No one seems to listen to Joshua and Caleb; they all start talking about choosing a new leader and heading back to Egypt (v4). Moses has to again intercede for them before the LORD, who says He will destroy them. In the end, the faithless spies die, and everyone else has to travel the wilderness for 40 years as none of that generation are allowed to see the promised land, except Joshua and Caleb.

It's a sobering lesson in what it means to have faith. You're never going to be 'mainstream'; you'll be in the minority. God describes Caleb as having 'a different spirit' and commends him for following Him 'fully' (v24). How many of us can honestly say that we are following God fully too? There are often areas of our lives where our discipleship is a bit lack lustre and half hearted, or perhaps where we think we are following God wholeheartedly, but the reality is, we've never been tested in those areas.

It is so easy to be held back by fear, but the lesson in Numbers here is that ultimately, the things the Israelites feared (falling prey in the wilderness) actually happened because they didn't trust God. It's safer to go forward into the unknown when God is with you, than to try to stay safe without God. That's no safe haven at all.

On 'just doing something' - risk-taking faith for the kingdom of God

Reading 'Nevertheless', John Kirkby's story of how he started CAP (Christians Against Poverty), an amazing charity that offers free debt counselling and has helped many many people get debt-free and also come to faith in Christ, has massively encouraged me with just its main message of perseverance despite circumstances. John had personal debt, he was in danger of his own home being repossessed, and the charity had few sources of income. He had several discouraging letters from Christians who said they wouldn't support CAP, that the fact the charity was struggling for money meant that they were doing something wrong, and John should seriously rethink what he was doing. Yet looking at the international work that CAP are doing now, and the huge numbers of those who have come to faith through their work, and it is clear that John was totally right to hold on to his belief that this was what God had called him to do.

There is undoubtedly scepticism regarding the notion of a 'call' in many Christian circles today. Instead of looking for specific guidance, many would advocate using the Bible to discern if something is sinful (in which case, don't do it), commanded (in which case, do it), and if it is neither, then use wisdom and try it, and if it's not right, the door will shut. I have to confess I am one of the first to get uncomfortable when people start talking about 'prophecies' and 'words' they have, which have directly impacted their decisions. And yet, when we were praying about moving to Garndiffaith, God did clearly confirm it was the right decision through Scripture for us. Since being here, nothing has really turned out as we expected -- in fact I'm not even sure what our expectations were to begin with anyway-- and yet we know this is the right place to be. If we were judging things on human results and circumstances, we'd have probably put our house on the market again and tried to jump ship!

The key illustration in the book for me is on p57:

'A seed which receives no water will only survive if it sends its root deep underground trying to find the water. The eventual tree that results is strong and fully able to use the rains when they come. God needs to ensure that we will be able to manage what he has for us.'

There are times when, from a human perspective, things don't make sense. They don't look good. It seems as if you are banging your head against a brick wall. But the fact is, God often brings His people to those kind of places in order to grow a deeper trust and faith in His power and provision. Just thinking through the heroes of faith in Scripture: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua... The list goes on! They all went through times of great testing, times where nothing was happening, times where they had nothing else to do except hold on to the promise God had made them. What would it have been like building the ark before the rains came? What about believing that God would give you a son when you were a hundred years old? And how about the burden of leading a people who were continually rebellious, ungrateful and critical of everything you did?

The way God works is not the way we work. He often allows things to happen that we would not, if we were the ones in control. He does let things get bad sometimes, from the uncomfortable to the heart-rending, grief stricken circumstances you just want to get out of as soon as you can. I worry sometimes that the rationalisation of the Christian life (to 'just do something') has eroded the very meaning of faith and what it means to live expecting God to speak and lead your life, even when He takes you into unexpected and not-very-nice places.

The danger is, that if we leave everything up to 'wisdom', then we will never take risks for the kingdom. We can all too easily find excuses why we shouldn't give up our job / move to that estate / give that money away / get more involved with that difficult person... I know my own propensity to kid myself that I am making a decision for the 'right' reasons when actually I'm just justifying staying in a more comfortable situation.

The stuff which inspires me in John Kirkby's story is the same which inspires me about the lives of the great pioneers, missionaries and preachers of the past (Muller, Whitefield, Taylor etc), and ultimately which I see in the men and women of faith in the Old and New Testament. They don't look at their circumstances and then draw their conclusions: this mission has failed, God is not with us, I should give up and go home. No! They look at their God, and they say, "we don't know exactly what's happening, we don't know when things will change, but we know You and we believe and trust that You are good and what You do is right. We will obey You in what You've called us to do." That's the kind of faith I want.

Esther

I've been reading the book of Esther recently, and I always feel challenged to actually think about it and not just race through the story (which is pretty gripping). I don't think it's a particularly easy book for Christians to read and respond to, but it is there in the Bible for a reason! I was reading some articles about it and I thought I'd briefly post on some ideas for how to receive and apply the book.

1. Esther is a heroine, but not always an ideal one.
I have felt uncomfortable before with books or speakers who, in their quest to find examples of female heroines in the Bible, use Esther as a prime example. They often draw on her courage -which is definitely one of her strong points- and hail her as a hero of faith -something a little less clear in the book itself. She calls a fast, which implicitly would link with prayer, but she doesn't explicitly talk about God or give Him credit when the Jews are delivered (at least, not that is recorded in the book). This would contrast with someone like Deborah in the book of Judges, or Miriam in Exodus 15, who both give songs of praise to God for delivering His people. The events of the book -a great aversion of tragedy- should give rise to the same kind of praise as these previous events in Israel's history. The people celebrate with a feast (still kept today in Judaism), but the reader is left to draw his or her own conclusions about the events the book so meticulously describes.

I think the situation of Esther is certainly an unorthodox one. She is living in exile and to become part of the king's harem, eventually his queen, perhaps seems to be taking 'assimilation' too far. The book of Daniel really emphasises his desire to keep himself separate from the corrupt pagan practices around him; we don't see this in Esther. However, it does seem that God put Esther in her position of power at a key time so that she could intervene to save the Jews from destruction: 'And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?' (4:14) She has to put her own life in danger in order to make her request of the king, and she doesn't let her fear hold her back. Where did this courage come from? Surely it must have come from some amount of faith that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would not let His covenant people, despite being in exile for their disobedience, be annihilated? Esther is certainly the heroine of the story, not always an ideal one, but she does act in courage and (implicit) faith.

2. God is the hero!
Although God's name is never mentioned in the book, God is the hero of the story. So many elements, the events that took place, were outside human control... but not beyond divine intervention. It seems that the whole time, God is providentially watching over His children, and no power against them can stand. There isn't really any other explanation for how the deliverance of the Jews could happen, as there are so many 'co-incidences' or chance meetings which end up being crucial for the saving of God's people. This is, I think, the main way to apply the book today: trust in God's sovereignty over every event, situation in life, and take responsibility to act with courage and initiative when circumstances require it. Barry Webb writes:

'In particular, the hiddenness of God that we find in Esther mirrors the world many of us live in today... the absence of the miraculous does not mean the absence of God. He remains committed to the welfare of His people, and works all things for their good, even when He is most hidden.' ('Five Festal Garments' p131).

Lessons from Psalms #3: History

You can't read the Psalms without getting a real sense of history. From the account of creation in Genesis, to the story of God's dealings with the descendants of Jacob, leading them out of Egypt (as recorded in Exodus), even up to the exile of Israel to Babylon, all of these historical events inspire the psalmists to write songs of praise to God and to warn God's people to obey Him and remember all His deeds.

Psalms 77-81 feature elements of Exodus and Deuteronomy as they recount God's dealings with Israel to explain their current situation and provide hope for the future. Psalm 77 is a personal cry to God, remembering His promises and works:

'I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds' Ps 77:11-12

The Exodus from Egypt is one of the biggest, most significant events which the Psalmist remembers (see v15-20), as this was in many ways a definitive act of salvation in which God set apart Israel as a people for Himself. Continuing with this focus, Psalm 78 gives a long history of Israel, teaching lessons from it, to evoke praise and faithfulness in God's people in the present:

'so that the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.' Ps 78.6-7

The main lesson to be learnt from the history of Israel, it seems, is that we need to have real faith in God, a faith that is willing to trust Him and not constantly look for something better elsewhere. The psalmist's main judgement on Israel is that 'they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.' (Ps 78.22) They occasionally had moments of revelation and repentance, but often they paid God lip service whilst their hearts were not loyal to Him (v36-37). This is one of those times where Scripture just cuts right to the heart of the matter and exposes our so-called good intentions as merely playing at being good to try to get away with as much as possible. It doesn't work with God! He sees our every thought. And this is where the history in the Psalms is so valuable for us today as Christians. It's our history too. If we're honest, we have exactly the same tendencies as Israel did, to go along to church and sing all the songs, but then to desire the same things as everyone else. We may not do anything visibly wrong, but we're just kidding ourselves if we think God will be satisfied with anything less than our whole devotion, love and obedience.

Where is the hope in this sorry history then? Ps 78:68-72 talks about God choosing Judah, and raising up David to lead them. The hope has to be in God's persistent goodness, despite His people's disobedience and lacklustre faith. Psalms 79-80 lead us in crying out to God for restoration, healing and forgiveness:

'Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
Help us, God our Saviour,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.' Ps 79.8-9

Finally, Psalm 81 reiterates many of the key points of the Law from Exodus and Deuteronomy, to remind God's people that He has infinite grace and infinite resources to satisfy them. We don't need to look elsewhere!

'I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it...
But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’ Ps 81:10, 16

By Faith Alone... how important are our good works?

In thinking about the Reformation teaching of salvation by faith alone, I've been thinking about how important our 'good works' are as Christians. The following is adapted from a long email conversation with a friend on this topic.

The main idea of reformation thought is that the Bible teaches that God created man to be in perfect relationship with Him and give Him glory. The fall has severed that relationship, and when man is fallen, even his best efforts cannot please a holy God. Man's fallenness completely incapacitates him. Calvin writes: 'Therefore, since reason, by which man discerns between good and evil... is a natural gift, it could not be entirely destroyed, but... a shapeless ruin is all that remains.' He quotes from Paul's letter to the Romans to give a scriptural basis for this:

'none is righteous, no, not one (which is a quote from Ps 14)... whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.' (Romans 3:10, 19-20)

Paul's letter then continues with one of the great 'turning points' of the Bible:

'But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law... the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.' (Romans 3:21-26)

So the main idea here is that Christ's death was a sacrifice of atonement for sins past, present and future. His death was the great act of redemption, even greater than the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt at Passover. He was the Passover Lamb, sacrificed to pay the price for sins. This satisfies God's justice: there must be a punishment for sin, and Christ took it.

But our justification is not just that Jesus paid the price for our sins. His perfect obedience to God, His perfect law-keeping, is credited to our account when we trust in Him. So when God looks at us, He sees the perfection of Christ. Therefore we have total assurance of our salvation, because it depends not on anything we do, but on Jesus, and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). Heb 7:25 says that Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him, and this is supported by Jesus' words to the dying thief on the cross next to Him: 'Today you will be with me in paradise'. (Lk 23:43)

Now, what is our response to being justified? It is to now live in a totally different way. Before we were justified, before we came to know and trust in Christ, we were slaves to sin. We were incapable of doing good, even if we wanted to (see Romans 6). But because God has worked a miracle in our hearts to make us 'born again', that is spiritually renewed with real faith, we are now enabled to live in holiness in a way that we were not before. A non Christian has no power to resist sin. A Christian has the Holy Spirit! (See Galatians 5:16-25). We are told to 'walk by the Spirit' and not 'gratify the desires of the flesh' because they are 'against the Spirit'. If we have truly been saved and come to love God, then we will want to give our whole lives to Him to please Him. We will want to walk in purity, rather than pursuing the things that God's Word makes clear are wrong. We won't want to live selfishly anymore. I don't think someone who is a genuine Christian can at the same time not care how they live and what God thinks about their life. I don't see how someone can really understand the cross and God's grace towards them, if they basically reject everything God says in the Bible about the way we should live.

We don't obey God's Word to earn our salvation; we obey because it's right. God knows what is right and best for us, so therefore we follow His way. We uphold marriage, we don't steal, we don't lie, we try to put God first in everything (I'm roughly paraphrasing the 10 Commandments here- see Exodus 20), because this glorifies God and it's the best way to live! And God has promised to 'sanctify' us- every day, we're becoming more and more like Christ. We still fall down and stumble over our old ways of sin, but God promises that sin no longer has mastery over us (Romans 6:12-14).

So much of the New Testament is Paul or other apostles writing to young churches, telling them how important it is for them to live in a way that pleases God. Not to earn their salvation, but as the only proper response to their salvation. And also to make an impact on the world around us. Here's the opening of Paul's letter to Timothy:

'I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.'

Notice here how Paul says how important living in godliness is: it pleases God, and it leads others to know the truth and be saved themselves. But look how they must be saved: through the mediator of Christ, who gave himself as a ransom. He's not saying 'live godly lives in order to win salvation'. It is clear that salvation comes through Christ alone.

I think the major difference between Roman Catholic teaching and evangelical teaching is that we are saved by faith alone in the latter. I recently read 'By Faith Alone' by RC Sproul and found it very helpful in explaining this difference.

He highlights the key questions:

Does faith enable us to become actively righteous so that God will declare us righteous? Or does God declare us righteous before we actually become actively righteous by imputing to us the righteousness of Christ?

Sproul argues that the Bible teaches the latter, and I would definitely agree with this.

Catholicism teaches that the sacraments are the instrumental means by which we receive grace, whereas the reformers argued that faith is the instrument by which we are linked to Christ and receive the grace of justification. Sproul also writes:

For Rome the righteousness of Christ is not imputed to the believer, but infused into the believer. When the believer cooperates with this infused righteousness, the believer then possesses an inherent righteousness, which then becomes the ground of justification.

Since the infusion of Christ's righteousness is initiated by faith, Rome can say that justification is by faith. However, since the infusion of Christ's righteousness does not complete our justification immediately, we are not justified by faith alone.

...

Rome declares that sin has a 'double consequences': eternal punishment and temporal punishment. Forgiveness involves the remission of eternal punishment, but temporal punishment remains and must be purified on earth or in Purgatory.

The sacrament of penance and the doctrine of the treasury of merit (that is, Christ's merit plus the merit of Mary and the saints) cast a heavy shadow over the sufficiency of Christ's saving work. According to this doctrine the prayers and good works of Mary and the saints are added to the merit of Christ. In a broad sense the saints contribute to the redemption of others. The expiation of sin accomplished by Christ must be augmented by expiation in purgatory to satisfy temporal guilt.

...

Calvin rejected the RC distinction between mortal and venial sin. All sins are mortal in that they deserve death. No sin is mortal in the sense that it destroys the grace of justification.

I think that the Bible clearly teaches that God saves us by grace alone, but then gives us power to be righteous because we are then regenerated and made new. But the good things we do as Christians aren't really anything we can take credit for, because we are only able to do them by the grace of God working in us through His Spirit.

Let's look at some "controversial" Bible verses with regard to this teaching:

"We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments. Anyone who says, ’I know him’, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, refusing to admit the truth. But when anyone does obey what he has said, God’s love comes to perfection in him. We can be sure that we are in God only when the one who claims to be living in him is living the same kind of life as Christ lived." (1 John 2:3-6)

I think this is teaching us that we can have assurance of salvation ('by this we know') by giving ourselves an 'ethical test'- have we got a changed life? Has our behaviour been transformed? I don't think this is to save us, because 1 John 2:2 refers to Christ as the 'propitiation for our sins'- a sacrifice that bears God's wrath and turns it to favour. So our assurance of salvation comes from
1. Knowing that Christ died for us, taking God's wrath for us
2. Seeing our own lives transformed by the grace of God.

Next let's look at James 2:

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by his deed, because he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
22 So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what he did.
23 In this way the scripture was fulfilled: Abraham put his faith in God, and this was considered as making him upright; and he received the name 'friend of God'.
24 You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified.

I think it's important to see how James is writing from a different angle to Paul here. Paul is talking to legalistic law-keepers, telling them 'you are justified by Christ!' James is talking to libertines, telling them 'God cares about what you do!' James is looking at someone who professes faith but doesn't back it up with their lifestyle. He makes it clear that simply saying you believe does not result in salvation. If your life remains unchanged, then there's no use in saying you believe. Effectively, you don't.

It may seem that James is contradicting Paul. But I also think it's important to look at how they both use Abraham. Paul quotes from Gen 15:6 about Abraham's faith being 'counted to him as righteousness'. James looks at the incident in Gen 22 where Abraham was called to sacrifice Isaac. I think they are using the word 'justify' in different ways. Paul is talking about being declared righteous by God through faith, on the basis of Jesus' atoning sacrifice, whereas the primary way that James uses the word 'justify' seems to emphasise the way in which works demonstrate that someone has been justified. 'Justify' in James means to declare someone righteous because, at the final judgement, the person's works give evidence of true saving faith.

I think James is a fantastic book and definitely meant to be in the Bible! And I do think that in evangelical Christianity, we err on the side of under-emphasising the importance of how we live our lives as Christians. We are not as good as secular charities at caring for the poor. And James speaks a very relevant word for us.

Marks of a True Believer

Sermon notes from a series by Rev Tom Jeffries, based on John's gospel

- True faith involves dynamic interaction- receiving Christ into every aspect of life. It is not enough to just believe in Christ, we must receive Him too and make Him our personal Saviour.
- A true believer will keep on following Jesus, even when they don't understand everything (look at Andrew and Peter when Jesus first called them).
- A true believer follows Jesus whatever the cost.
- A true believer feeds on Christ. They read His Word, pray to Him, and depend on Him for everything.
- A true believer accepts the hard sayings of Jesus.
-A true believer worships Christ. This is expressed in praise and thanksgiving, and deeds and acts of service (not to buy God's favour, but in response to His grace shown towards us).
- A true believer obeys Christ.

The secret of success in the Christian life is to focus on Christ.

Commitment at the highest level is seen in Christ Himself. He loved us till the end, till we were redeemed. Our commitment to Him pales into insignificance when we look at what He did for us on the cross.

Challenges:
What areas of your life are not surrendered to God?
Are there things you treasure more than following Christ?
What is your commitment to Christ like?

Encouragement to keep going

I don't know about you, but I often find it hard to keep sharing the gospel. Many of my friends and family reject Jesus, and it's hard to keep praying for them and keep hoping that God will save them. Well I had a huge encouragement this week that I wanted to share, to help you to keep going too.

I help to run a Christian Union in the school where I teach, and since the exam year groups have left school there have been a core of about 4 students attending. We've been doing an 'exploring the basics of Christianity' course as most of these students come from non-Christian families. A few weeks ago, I asked them how you get to heaven. One boy said that you had to be a good person. Since then we have looked at various Bible passages which show that only through Jesus you can be saved. Yesterday, at the meeting, this boy said outright that you can't be good enough, only through Jesus can you be righteous in God's sight. Hallelujah!

This was really encouraging because it shows that there will always be people who are just waiting to hear the full gospel. When they hear it, they respond in faith through God working in their hearts. I think I spend too much time telling God who to save, and not enough responding to the people in my life that He IS working in, and rejoicing in that.

'Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.' James 1:12

Bible bashing

I typed 'Bible basher' into Google and the Urban Dictionary gave me these definitions:

A Bible Basher is someone who constantly goes around forcing the word of the bible on everyone else, and claims that everything BUT the Bible is evil.

A religious person who is obsessively you could say, and insanely into his or her religion. They tend to 'bash on' about their religion and try to feed it to you. No disrespect to their religious beliefs, but knowing a bible basher can sometimes get sticky. They tend to be very protective over their religion, and know nearly everything about it. They will argue the point, and during times of bashing, can become quite violent.

A bible basher is one who lives their life by the bible, and tries to force the bible upon all they meet.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bible+basher

Wow! I'm guessing all these people have had a pretty negative experience with Christians. Faced with this definition, who wants to be a 'Bible basher'?

Well in this post I want to try to explain why the Bible is so important to me (and therefore why so much of my blog is based on the Bible), and also try to explain how I have no intention of bludgeoning people in an insensitive and emotionally detached manner, but I do want to confront people with the truth that the Bible claims has relevance for their life as much as mine.

The Bible is a unique book. It's made up of many different types of literature, written by different people at different times in history. It makes astonishing claims about who we are, why we are here, who God is, and how we can know Him. Many people look at the world around and think 'There must be a God behind all this'. But it's only in the Bible that we find out exactly who this God is. I believe this because, having read the Bible over and over since my childhood, I have never found a book like it which holds together so well, considering it was written under so many different circumstances as I mentioned above.

I love reading. I studied English at university and read many books by the same author (Dickens and Eliot being my favourites). What has always interested me is the way that a writer's ideas change over time. Even when you find ten books written by the same author, they will not always be consistent in ideology and morality or politics. And yet, despite the fact that so many different individuals contributed to the Bible, there is a striking coherence and unity throughout the various books. The main idea is that God is real, He made everything and wants to know us. Over the centuries that the Bible texts cover, there is a recurring cycle of people turning away from God to 'do their own thing' and live life the way they want to. God is never happy with that. He keeps on calling people to follow Him and go his way. But man's disobedience has separated him from God, so God sent Jesus, His Son, to come into the world and die on the cross to be punished for the sins of the world. He raised Jesus to life and calls people everywhere to follow Him and believe that their sins can be forgiven through Jesus.

All the Bible books in some way contribute to this message. They could be establishing the fundamental disobedience of humanity, as seen in Genesis. They could be calling men back to follow God, as seen in the prophets such as Isaiah. They could be predicting the coming of Jesus, such as the prophet Micah. They could be telling the story of Jesus' life, like the gospel of Matthew. All of the books in the Bible provide a piece to the puzzle. Together, they give a wholistic picture of who God is and how we can know Him.

So really, you have to read the Bible through and through before you judge it. So many people have said to me that the Bible is not trustworthy, that it's full of contradictions. But many of these people have not read it thoroughly. Perhaps their knowledge is based on taking some words out of context. The Bible is not always easy to understand, but I have found that the more I study it, the more it makes sense. It really does fit with what I see around me: people suffering with broken lives, desperate for meaning, but unable to find that meaning in human relationships, money and status. I see a world that needs Jesus. I can testify to how He has changed my life, and the lives of many others too.

Ultimately, I follow the Bible because Jesus did. Jesus is the most impressive person that ever existed, to me. He had an astounding impact on history and on the lives of those who met Him. And He identified the scriptures as the indestructible and authoritative word of God. He upheld the Bible at every turn, as an authority about God (Mt 21:42, Mt 22:29), as true promises which will always be fulfilled (Mt 26:54), as never becoming void (Jn 10:35, Mt 5:18). He saw the Bible as coming from God, revealing the truth and being utterly reliable. His life was based on scripture, and His life was amazing. Therefore I decided to follow Jesus, and so I am trying to base my life on scripture too.

The writer of Hebrews suggests that the word of God is 'living and active', 'Sharper than any double-edged sword... it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart' (Heb 4:12). I have always found this to be true. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:15-17 that scripture is 'God-breathed', and it certainly speaks with authority that seems to be more than human; divine. The Bible says many things which are difficult for us to accept -such as the existence of hell and the reality of God's judgement, which I have been blogging about recently- and I don't know why any human would make such terrifying stuff up! The Bible is full of genuine insight that makes sense with reality and does indeed judge the heart of anyone who reads it- again in a way that no human finds comfortable. Of course, humans physically wrote the Bible, but they were 'carried along by the Holy Spirit' (2 Peter 1:21), and it is God's words rather than the words of mere mortals.

The thing is, it's difficult to say that the Bible is only partially true and worship God. Surely you don't want to be friends with a liar? God has to be 'the true God' (Jer 10:10) or He is a false god. The Bible has to be truth, or lies. I don't think you can have it both ways.

The post-modern attitude towards texts and textual analysis is that there is no absolute truth and every reader brings something different to a text. For example, a Marxist will read Dickens and take away a Marxist message. English degrees are a lot about this! But I don't think you can approach the Bible as the same as any other text and just 'get something' from it. Either something is true, or it is false. If the Bible is true, it's worth building your life on it. If it's false, there is no point bothering.

And it follows that if the Bible is true, it is universally true. That means it's not just 'true for me'. It applies to everyone. That is why my blog is based on the Bible, and why I try to respond to people's questions, to the books I read, thinking about what the Bible says. I am sorry if it comes across as emotionally detached Bible-bashing! But in my view, what I personally say has very little value for the world. What God says does! That's why I look to Him for answers, rather than my own thinking.

Of course, I apply my thinking to the Bible. God doesn't ask us to switch our brains off when we open His word. But I think the tendency in our culture to come to the Bible with our own ideas of what is right and wrong, and judging its 'truth' on how it fits into our current worldview, is a fundamentally flawed concept. If it is the words of God, a God who is eternal and all-knowing and all-seeing, how can we possibly deem it our place to judge it against our standards? That would be like me handing my dissertation on George Eliot to a five year old who had just learned to read. My dissertation is nothing special, but I don't think the kid would have a chance of understanding it!

I don't want to bash the Bible, in both senses of the phrase. I don't want to crush people with it, but I don't want to under-value it and over-value my words and thoughts. I want people to know the truth, and I think the Bible contains better answers than my befuddled brain.

Are non-believers accountable to God? A response

Recently I received this extended comment on my post 'Being Good Part 2':

Someone who isn't a Christian will not 'struggle' with sin. They'll just do it, without caring what God thinks.

Does this in some ways mean that they are not to blame for this sin, and thus can incur God's forgiveness, as it is not a struggle, since they in effect have nothing to struggle against?

I am having many, many problems with "No-one comes to the Father except through Me" at the moment, and I think this is related.

This, to me, implies that knowledge and acceptance of Jesus is a prerequisite to salvation. This brings up the problem, however, of those who do not 'know' (I find know very limiting in English!- it's the French distinction that I need!) Jesus being necessarily 'damned', although for want of a better word, as I understand that this should not be passive, but active, as in someways damning is done to oneself with God. In my mind there are three groups of people that this affects: those pre-incarnation; those who, because of remoteness have no access; and those who are not exposed in the correct way to the Gospel (I think Gandhi is the best example, being turned away from a church). for the first group, I can see that this is filled by an "implicit" belief in Jesus through faith. The second and third groups, however, seem to be excluded from Salvation because of the exactness of this passage - "no-one".

I cannot reconcile this with my faith!

Hope you can convince me otherwise!

Loads of good questions raised here! And I think they are indeed closely related.

Are non-Christians to blame for their sin? Are they held responsible? Are people who don't know about Jesus damned?


The book of Romans is a good place to turn to here. Romans 1 argues that all men are accountable for their rejection of God: 'For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- His eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.' (v20) Paul argues that 'Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin' (Romans 3:9)- the Jews, because they had God's law and knew what was right and wrong and yet failed to obey; the Gentiles, because God's glory is evident through creation and they 'suppressed the truth by their wickedness' (Romans 1:18). Quoting Psalm 5, Paul writes 'There is no-one righteous, not even one' (Romans 3:10). And because God is holy and just He cannot tolerate sin. He must punish it because it would go against His nature to ignore it.


But God has made a way for us to be seen as righteous in His sight, through sending Jesus. With Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross, if we trust in Him, we can come before God and God will see Christ's perfection, not our sin. This is what Paul means when he says 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- 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.' (Romans 3:23-26)


Now there are still people out there who have never heard the good news about what Jesus has done. God will judge them and I cannot say what He will say to them. I do know that He is perfectly just, more just than our puny human souls can fathom or imagine. Jesus says that 'And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.' (Matthew 24:14) This means that God will wait until all people groups have been reached with the gospel before the Final Judgement. It also says that 'The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance' (2 Peter 3:9). The reason Jesus hasn't yet returned is because God wants more people to be saved. So we can safely trust that God is not rejoicing in the fact that people don't know the gospel. He desires more people to come to believe in Him. That is why it is so important for Christians to tell others about the good news of Jesus, and support mission work overseas too.


But on the 'pre-Incarnation' point, Jesus Himself made it clear that His death paid for sins past, present and future. He spoke of Abraham as alive, rebuking the Sadduccees' dismissal of the idea of resurrection of the dead. (Matthew 22:32) The only way Abraham could be with God was through Jesus' redemption for him on the cross. The writer of Hebrews also talks about the great people of faith in the Old Testament. They were saved because of their faith that God would justify them... which would happen on the cross in the future.


I hope that helps slightly. Keep seeking and you will find! Although perhaps sometimes we should not simply seek answers to our questions, but a peace of trusting that God knows what's best and accepting that sometimes we don't understand everything. Thank you for your comments!

Panic attack

Isaiah 7

'If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.' (9)

This is the resounding message of this chapter. Ahaz panics at a military threat, and Isaiah reminds him that God is in control, and he needs to have faith.

God wants to glorify Himself by a sign, and Isaiah prophesies Jesus' birth. He speaks of a time when Israel would experience pillaging and shame, and this would be fulfilled in the exile to Babylon and the coming of the Romans.

But throughout all these things, God would be with them, and the fact that Jesus is called Immannuel shows this unique presence as God amongst His people.

Gideon Part 1

Judges 6

The story of Gideon is really remarkable. God punishes the people for turning away from Him, but graciously helps them once they turn back and cry for help.

Gideon doesn't seem to have much faith- he questions where God is in all the misfortunes of Israel, he questions God's command for him to lead the people and he obeys God's command to take down the Baal altar in the dark, because he fears the reaction from others.

In all of this, God marvellously and graciously works to ensure His purposes are fulfilled. He even grants Gideon's requests for the fleece to be wet, then dry, to give him reassurance. God loves His people so much that He does all of this. How amazing!

A summary of David's life

Lessons from David- 2 Samuel 23-24

It is the end of the book, and the writer records David's last words in ch 23 as a summary of his reign and role as king:

- He was a poor man anointed and exalted by God (1).
- God's Spirit spoke through him (2)- we see this in the Psalms and in his godly leadership.
- He ruled in righteousness and fear of God (3), and this points towards Jesus, the ultimate Ruler of righteousness.
- God made an 'everlasting covenant' with him, to keep his house in the lineage for the throne- again this points towards Jesus as David's son and heir.
- David was confident that God would save him and answer his prayers (5). This confidence came from his persistent trust and faith in God throughout his life.
- David avoided evil in his life and always disassociated himself with evil men (6-7).

The added descriptions of David's 'mighty men' further emphasise that this was a blessed time in Israel's history. God had raised up a leader after His own heart, and had given Israel victory over their enemies through miracles and the great courage and strength of those who fought for David. Dai Hankey's book 'The Hard Corps' is an inspiring read based on these heroes who are often overlooked.

The incident of David numbering the army perhaps occurs at the end so that we do not idolise him- he did make mistakes, and his imperfections shown how much we need Jesus, our perfect King.

The account of the plague sent by God, the way He stopped it at the threshing-floor of Araumah, and the way David built an altar there and worshipped the Lord, all point towards God's incredible grace and mercy, rather than David being an inherently 'worthy' person.

Psalms 54-55: Calling out in a crisis

Lessons from David- Psalms 54-55

These two psalms really emphasise God as the One to turn to in a crisis. David is surrounded by enemies and anguish and trouble, yet he can say:
'Surely God is my help; the Lord is the One who sustains me... I will praise Your Name, O LOrd, for it is good. For He has delivered me from all my troubles.' (4-7)

In faith based on God's character and God's previous actions, David expects to be saved. And so in Ps 55 the tense moves to a continual present:
'I call to God, and the Lord saves me... He hears my voice' (16-17)

David thus encourages the people to exercise the same dependence and faith in God:
'Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He wil never let the righteous fall.' (22)

Don't turn away from God in a crisis- He's the best One to turn to.

Psalm 34: Experiencing God's goodness

Lessons from David- Psalm 34

'I will extol the Lord at all times,' David cries (1), because 'I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.' (4)

The context for this Psalm (David's encounter with Abimelech, when he feigned madness and managed to escape) shows that it is a testimony of a time where David sought God and God answered. It is an experience of God's goodness that leaves David jumping for joy with praise to God, despite his otherwise troublesome situation (being on the run from Saul).

And what is the point of our faith unless we experience God's grace for ourselves? Unless the joy of being in a relationship with Jesus penetrates our attitude and daily life, we can have no true faith.

This psalm calls us to experience God's goodness personally:
'Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him' (8).

Note that it says 'takes refuge'- that implies that things will be difficult for us. We will have troubles, and we will need refuge. Experiencing God's goodness is not, then, about having a sunny problem-free existence, but about coming to God in the bad times as well as the good, and still praising Him- because there is always something to praise God for.

The Bible gives us great promises that are REAL! We can know God's grace now and even this side of heaven, we can discover that 'those who fear Him lack nothing... no good thing' (9-10).

We need to turn from evil and do good (14) if we want to know true blessing, but the best thing is that the Lord redeems us. No matter how sinful we are, 'no-one will be condemned who takes refuge in Him' (22). This is the amazing truth of the Gospel.

A daring act of faith

Lessons from David- 1 Samuel 17

The story of how David killed Goliath is well-known, but what is made pointedly clear by the writer of this book is that it was not a victory of skill and strength, but of faith. It's easy to miss that in the thrill of the story.

Saul and the Israelites were 'dismayed and terrified' (11) of Goliath's stand-off challenge. But look at David's reaction:
'Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?' (26)

Is David being young and foolhardy, or conceited as his brother accuses him (28)? No, David knows his God! He sees the 9ft tall armoured giant... then thinks of his God, who made the universe and formed the stars with His hands. No comparison!

David was filled with God's Spirit since his anointing by Samuel (16.13). He spoke with faith and courage from God's Spirit, who reassured him that the God he trusted in would not fail him. In earlier battles with lions and bears (34-36), David learnt the grace of God's protection and strength:
'The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.' (37)

But more than Saul or anyone else, David recognises (in Spirit-given wisdom) that this is more than a physical battle. God's Name stands trampled by Goliath's pride- he has 'defied the armies of the living God' (36) in his challenge. And God's people needed to act to glorify God's Name. It is no testimony to God's power and might when His people run away in fear.

When he faces Goliath, David does so for God's glory, in God's strength (not his own):
'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the Name of the Lord Almighty... This day the Lord will hand you over to me... and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel'. (45-46)

In humble simplicity, David the shepherd defeats Goliath the warrior- all through God's strength and power. It is notable that God uses the humble, lowly David rather than Saul the King or even Eliab the elder brother, because out of all of them, only David had faith that God would act to defeat Goliath and glorify His Name. We need the same faith.