My annual report as delivered to Clinton First Church of the Nazarene April 29, 2012.
In Galatians 5, the Apostle Paul gives us a taste of the fruit of the Spirit; that well known list of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. We often think of these as a list of Christian virtues, characteristics which good Christian people should strive to exhibit. To be sure, these are the kind of attitudes and practices we would expect to find among disciples of Jesus. However, I think we sometimes become so enamored with the list itself that we rush over Paul's chosen metaphor for this list without giving it much thought. That is to say, I think it is significant that Paul calls these qualities "fruit of the Spirit".
Consider how a fruit tree goes about bearing fruit. An apple tree doesn't try really hard to bear fruit. It doesn't just keep working at it until it makes a good apple. No, making apples is simply what it does by its nature. It is a natural by-product of its existence as a healthy apple tree. What an apple tree does work very hard at is seeking the life giving elements which will sustain its existence. It is continually putting down deeper roots to find water and nutrients. Its branches actively seek out the sunshine needed to convert those nutrients into usable energy. One might even say that the apples tree's whole existence is consumed and defined by the search for these life-giving elements. Without these things, the tree will wither up and die. With them, it will produce fruit as an effortless out pouring of what it is by its very nature.
I think Paul means to communicate the same thing about these qualities he lists when he calls them fruit of the Spirit. As Christians, it is not our task to seek the fruit of the Spirit. We are not called to try really hard to be loving, joyful, peaceful, etc. In fact, if you've ever just worked really hard at being patient, you may know from your own experience that is one of the fastest ways to make sure you become more impatient. No, our task as followers of Jesus is not to seek the fruit of the Spirit but to seek the Spirit. We are to be a people who are continually becoming more deeply rooted in the Word so that we might drink from streams of living water; a people continually branching out in the ways of the Spirit. One might even say that our whole existence as the people of God should be consumed and defined by this single task of seeking the Spirit. For without the Spirit, this tree will shrivel up and die. With the Spirit, it will produce the Spirit's fruit as an effortless out-pouring of what it is by its very nature.
What I'm saying here is nothing new. In fact, several of you have heard me say this very thing on a number of occasions. However, my confession to you this morning is that as much as I have recognized this on an individual basis, I have failed to fully grasp its significance for us as a church body. As I look over the goals and emphases we have had in past years, I recognize that in many ways we have sought the fruit of the Spirit rather than the Spirit. We have focused on things like outreach, discipleship, serving others, and greater inter-generational fellowship. These are not bad things. They are, in fact, very, very good things. They are precisely the kind of fruit we would hope to exhibit as the Body of Christ. However, I don't think it is our first task to seek those qualities as a church. Our first task as the Church is to seek the Spirit. Really, our only task as the Church is to seek the Spirit. We are called to seek the Spirit and trust that Christ will build his Church. Only then will we produce the kind of fruit we were created to produce as the people of God.
So how do we seek the Spirit? There are a number of ways - what we typically refer to as the spiritual disciplines - things like prayer, meditation, service, study, worship, solitude, and confession. These all have their place in the Christian life. They all are means of seeking the Spirit so that the Spirit's fruit might grow in our lives. However, we find in Scripture two disciplines which were often combined when the people of God desperately needed the Spirit of God to move: prayer and fasting.
Fasting is a way of humbling ourselves before God. It is a way of confessing that we are completely dependent upon God, that the Spirit of God is our real source of sustenance. When we fast, we are saying that we hunger and thirst for God's righteousness more than we hunger for our next meal.
Perhaps you are wondering to yourself how fasting will enable us to be better at outreach, discipleship, service, and all the other things we are about as a church. How is fasting going to help us grow as a church? The answer is that it won't. That's not its purpose. Its purpose is to confess that we can't grow the Church. Its purpose is to confess that we can't disciple, reach out, or serve without the Spirit. We can not be the Church without the Spirit. Fasting is a confession that if the Spirit of God doesn't sustain us then all of our best efforts will not produce an ounce of fruit. It is a confession that if we fail to seek out the Spirit then we will be nothing but a tree that withers and dies.
So I wonder this morning how hungry we really are for God's Spirit to move among us? We say we want God to do miraculous things among us but are we hungry enough to go hungry? Here is what I would suggest. We have four weeks until Pentecost; the Sunday on which we celebrate the gift of God's Holy Spirit to us. Could we engage in a church-wide fast of one meal a week for those four weeks until Pentecost in anticipation of the Spirit movement among us? I know that some will be limited in their ability to fast due to age or health conditions but I beg you not to use that as an excuse to avoid fasting entirely. If you can't fast a whole meal, will you pray and seek out advice about what you can fast? And can these four weeks until Pentecost just be the beginning, a way of jump-starting our spiritual lives together? I don't believe fasting until Pentecost guarantees anything for that particular Sunday. This is not a way of manipulating or controlling God. This is simply a way of getting us started into a new practice together. It is my hope and prayer that after Pentecost we will continue to engage in regular fasting throughout the year as the Spirit leads us.
As for prayer, there is already no shortage of opportunities for corporate prayer in our fellowship. Prayer meeting will resume on Wednesday nights next Wednesday (May 9). We are continuing to have our prayer service on the first Sunday night of each month. There is also the morning prayer times at 9:30 on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for those who don't have to work in the morning. If we are a church that believes in prayer, a church that believes in the power of the Spirit then let us show it by taking part in the opportunities that are already before us.
One of the most consistent themes of Scripture is the propensity of God's people to rely on their own strength rather than God's. I believe this continues to be one of the greatest temptations for the Church today as well. May we be a people who signify our complete dependence upon God through prayer and fasting. May we hear these words of Jesus from John 15 this morning.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
Showing posts with label Galatians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Galatians. Show all posts
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Monday, July 5, 2010
Jesus and Me?
Throughout Galatians, Paul has been arguing against the Teachers who came to his churches in Galatia after him to preach a "gospel" which required Gentiles to follow works of the Jewish Law, which Paul says is really no gospel at all. Having addressed this "no-gospel", Paul now turns to addressing its effect on community life in Galatia.
With two opposing authorities in Galatia (Paul and the Teachers), it is easy to see how division and strife would develop within the community. The Teachers were telling the Galatians that Paul's gospel was incomplete and in order to be truly spiritual they had to follow the Law. This could easily breed a kind of spiritual arrogance among those who did choose to follow the Teachers and become obedient to the Law. The Law observant believers likely would have looked down upon their non-observing brothers and sisters who would have in turn likely resented their condescension. It is possible, if Paul's argument won the day in Galatia, that his letter may have even reversed and exacerbated these circumstances. Perhaps upon receiving Paul's letter, the non-observing Gentile believers might now feel that they were spiritually superior since they had not placed their trust in the works of the Law.
In response to all this, Paul says
However, just as important as restoring that brother or sister is how one goes about restoring that brother or sister. Paul says it must be in a spirit of gentleness. To point out someone else's spiritual weakness to them in a reckless or uncaring way is just another form of spiritual arrogance. The purpose of Christian accountability is not to tear others down by reminding them of all that they've done wrong. The purpose is to bring them back on the right path. Therefore, as Paul alludes to in Ephesians 4:15, it is important not only to speak the truth but to do so in love. We certainly must speak the truth to a brother or sister we believe to be headed down the wrong path but we must do so in a way that has the good of that brother or sister in mind.
Paul also says that this restoration must be done "each one looking to yourself so that you will not be tempted." That is, the process of restoration must not only include gentleness on the part of the one doing the restoring but also humility and self-reflection. Before we try to restore someone else from their sin, we must take an honest look at ourselves to make sure that we are not being tempted by precisely the same thing we are attempting to correct in someone else.
After speaking of bearing one another's burdens in this way, Paul says in v. 5
The kind of accountability that Paul envisions here is certainly a challenging and difficult thing. It is sadly a rare thing in the Church today. For many of us, it is difficult to get up the courage to hold our fellow disciples accountable for fear of coming off as "holier than thou" (and too often we have also made the mistake of actually acting as if we really were holier than the person we were calling to repentance). To make matters worse, when these rare instances of accountability do occur many Christians respond defensively by saying "That's none of your business. That's between Jesus and me!" At best, this is only a half truth. There will indeed be a day on which all of our deeds are only between us and Jesus and we will be held accountable for those deeds. At worst, a statement like this one reflects a complete failure to understand the Church and its crucial role in our salvation. If everything about the Christian faith really is just between me and Jesus, then why bother with Church at all? The whole truth is that God has designed our salvation in such a way that it is wrapped up with the salvation of our brothers and sisters in Christ. God meant for us to be on this journey together. To try to walk this path alone is to be sure that we have wondered down the wrong path. To be on the right path is to find ourselves surrounded by a community of people who are willing to have their course corrected by those with whom they journey.
With two opposing authorities in Galatia (Paul and the Teachers), it is easy to see how division and strife would develop within the community. The Teachers were telling the Galatians that Paul's gospel was incomplete and in order to be truly spiritual they had to follow the Law. This could easily breed a kind of spiritual arrogance among those who did choose to follow the Teachers and become obedient to the Law. The Law observant believers likely would have looked down upon their non-observing brothers and sisters who would have in turn likely resented their condescension. It is possible, if Paul's argument won the day in Galatia, that his letter may have even reversed and exacerbated these circumstances. Perhaps upon receiving Paul's letter, the non-observing Gentile believers might now feel that they were spiritually superior since they had not placed their trust in the works of the Law.
In response to all this, Paul says
"Bretheren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself so that you will not be tempted."Paul wants his churches to be free of this spiritual arrogance so he attaches spirituality to responsibility. In other words, Paul claims that to be spiritual is not a matter of status or privilege; it is not something to be used to raise your own standing in the community. To be spiritual means to have a responsibility to your brother and sister in Christ. Paul is in essence saying "If you really regard yourself as the spiritual one, then it is up to you to take responsibility for the growth and maturity of those who are less spiritual." One's spiritual health is not something to be compared to or lauded over the the spiritually immature. It is to be used to make them healthy as well, to restore them.
However, just as important as restoring that brother or sister is how one goes about restoring that brother or sister. Paul says it must be in a spirit of gentleness. To point out someone else's spiritual weakness to them in a reckless or uncaring way is just another form of spiritual arrogance. The purpose of Christian accountability is not to tear others down by reminding them of all that they've done wrong. The purpose is to bring them back on the right path. Therefore, as Paul alludes to in Ephesians 4:15, it is important not only to speak the truth but to do so in love. We certainly must speak the truth to a brother or sister we believe to be headed down the wrong path but we must do so in a way that has the good of that brother or sister in mind.
Paul also says that this restoration must be done "each one looking to yourself so that you will not be tempted." That is, the process of restoration must not only include gentleness on the part of the one doing the restoring but also humility and self-reflection. Before we try to restore someone else from their sin, we must take an honest look at ourselves to make sure that we are not being tempted by precisely the same thing we are attempting to correct in someone else.
After speaking of bearing one another's burdens in this way, Paul says in v. 5
"For each one will bear his own load."At first glance, these statement might seem contradictory. How can Paul say "carry each other burdens" and just a few verses later say that each one will carry his own burden? As is often the case with Paul, the important difference between the two statement is their place in the timeline of God's salvific work in history. In v. 2, Paul speaks with a present imperative, telling the Galatians to bear one another's burdens now. In v. 5, Paul uses a future tense verb to say that "each one will bear his own load". Often when Paul speaks of the future, he has the final judgement in mind. That future judgement is the day when everyone will finally be responsible for their own lives; we will each bear the load of our lives before God. But, Paul says, until then we are to bear one another's burden. That is part of the very purpose of the Church's existence; to hold each other accountable and to restore each other when we have fallen short. Furthermore, the extent to which we give ourselves in that of bearing each other burdens is part of our own "load" which will be judged on that final day.
The kind of accountability that Paul envisions here is certainly a challenging and difficult thing. It is sadly a rare thing in the Church today. For many of us, it is difficult to get up the courage to hold our fellow disciples accountable for fear of coming off as "holier than thou" (and too often we have also made the mistake of actually acting as if we really were holier than the person we were calling to repentance). To make matters worse, when these rare instances of accountability do occur many Christians respond defensively by saying "That's none of your business. That's between Jesus and me!" At best, this is only a half truth. There will indeed be a day on which all of our deeds are only between us and Jesus and we will be held accountable for those deeds. At worst, a statement like this one reflects a complete failure to understand the Church and its crucial role in our salvation. If everything about the Christian faith really is just between me and Jesus, then why bother with Church at all? The whole truth is that God has designed our salvation in such a way that it is wrapped up with the salvation of our brothers and sisters in Christ. God meant for us to be on this journey together. To try to walk this path alone is to be sure that we have wondered down the wrong path. To be on the right path is to find ourselves surrounded by a community of people who are willing to have their course corrected by those with whom they journey.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Free To Be Slaves
Galatians is Paul's greatest argument for Christian freedom. Paul has argued throughout this letter that the Galatians are free, or more precisely, that they have been freed because the faithfulness of Christ has set them free. They are now free from the curse of the Law, free from its obligations, free from the power of sin, free to be a part of the people of God because of what Christ has done.
But now Paul turns the notion of freedom on its head. He says in 5:13
This is a substantially different concept of freedom than we normally have. Usually, freedom is to be free from any restraint, it is to be allowed to do whatever we want, to fulfill all our own desires. But that is not the kind of freedom Paul believes the Galatians have been granted through Jesus Christ. In fact, Paul says it is the constant need to seek gratification of all our own selfish desires which is the real slavery. Therefore, true freedom is to no longer be enslaved to our own self-centeredness and as a result to be able to serve others in love.
In fact, Paul almost personifies these selfish desires, which Paul refers to as "the flesh", and the work of the Spirit as two parties warring again each other. In v.17, he says:
It is no accident that I am preaching from this passage on the day we celebrate our nation's independence and freedom. I count it a great privilege and blessing to have been born in America and it is hard to imagine living anywhere else. I also have respect for the men and women who give their lives to defend the political freedoms that we have as a nation. Anyone willing to give up their life for a cause bigger than themselves is worthy of respect. Yet I also know that the freedom we celebrate on the 4th of July is not the freedom which Christ died to bring us. In fact, while our political freedoms are important and good, they often become precisely the kind of operating base for our sinful desires which Paul describes. Without the work of the Spirit in us, our freedom to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" quickly becomes slavery to "my needs, my rights, and my greed".
While the language of rights and liberty might be the foundation of our nation's democracy, it is responsibility, submission, and Christ-like service to one another which make up the grammar of the Church's life together. The freedom Christ grants us as members of his body is not about what we like or don't like, its not about our plans, preferences, agenda, or desires. It is about allowing the Spirit to work in us so that we might be freed from precisely those things and then be able to put others ahead of ourselves just as Christ did. To be free in Christ is to be free to become a slave of Christ-like love to all.
But now Paul turns the notion of freedom on its head. He says in 5:13
"For you were called to freedom brethern; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."Did you notice what Paul did there? He has essentially said "You've been freed. Now become slaves again." Most translations soften Paul's rhetoric by saying "serve one another" but the verb here comes from the same root as the word for slave. Paul is urging his churches in Galatia, who have been set free in Christ, to use their new found freedom to become slaves to one another in love.
This is a substantially different concept of freedom than we normally have. Usually, freedom is to be free from any restraint, it is to be allowed to do whatever we want, to fulfill all our own desires. But that is not the kind of freedom Paul believes the Galatians have been granted through Jesus Christ. In fact, Paul says it is the constant need to seek gratification of all our own selfish desires which is the real slavery. Therefore, true freedom is to no longer be enslaved to our own self-centeredness and as a result to be able to serve others in love.
In fact, Paul almost personifies these selfish desires, which Paul refers to as "the flesh", and the work of the Spirit as two parties warring again each other. In v.17, he says:
"For the flesh sets its desires against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please."Paul describes human beings as being incapable of complete autonomy; we will either be led by the Spirit or the Flesh. There is no middle ground. That is why Paul warned the Galatians in v. 16 not to allow their freedom to become an "opportunity" for the flesh. The word translated opportunity, aphormen, literally refers to a military base of operations. Paul does not want the Galatians freedom from the Law to become a forward operating base for their own selfish desires to run rampant in their lives which would lead to all the vices Paul lists in v. 19-21. Instead, the Galatians must walk by the Spirit and as a result bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
It is no accident that I am preaching from this passage on the day we celebrate our nation's independence and freedom. I count it a great privilege and blessing to have been born in America and it is hard to imagine living anywhere else. I also have respect for the men and women who give their lives to defend the political freedoms that we have as a nation. Anyone willing to give up their life for a cause bigger than themselves is worthy of respect. Yet I also know that the freedom we celebrate on the 4th of July is not the freedom which Christ died to bring us. In fact, while our political freedoms are important and good, they often become precisely the kind of operating base for our sinful desires which Paul describes. Without the work of the Spirit in us, our freedom to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" quickly becomes slavery to "my needs, my rights, and my greed".
While the language of rights and liberty might be the foundation of our nation's democracy, it is responsibility, submission, and Christ-like service to one another which make up the grammar of the Church's life together. The freedom Christ grants us as members of his body is not about what we like or don't like, its not about our plans, preferences, agenda, or desires. It is about allowing the Spirit to work in us so that we might be freed from precisely those things and then be able to put others ahead of ourselves just as Christ did. To be free in Christ is to be free to become a slave of Christ-like love to all.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Why the Law?
Up to this point in Galatians, Paul has said some pretty harsh things about the Law in order to convince the Galatians that works of the Law are not a necessary part of their salvation. All of these negative comments about the Law might lead one to wonder why God gave the Law in the first place. If the Law couldn't bring life and righteousness, then why did God even bother with the Law in the first place? Or was the Law even God given?
Paul answers these questions in Galatians 3:19-29. He says that the Law was given through angels by a mediator thereby distancing the giving of the Law from God himself. However, Paul says the Law was not contrary to God's purposes. Instead, God allowed the Law to act as a custodian in the time between Moses and Christ. Specifically, Paul says that Law was a paidogogos, that is, a slave who was in charge of making sure that a child made it safely to and from school everyday. When the child was no longer school-age, the service of the paidogogos was no longer needed. Paul says the function of the Law was similar; it's purpose was to keep God's people safely on the right path until the faithfulness of Christ was revealed. Now that righteousness by faith/faithfulness has been revealed, the services of the Law are no longer needed.
This brings Paul back to his main point that he has been making all along; the Galatians are already children of God by virtue of their faithful living in Christ Jesus and therefore have no need of works of the Law. The Galatians were clothed with Christ when they were baptized just as the Jewish Christians teachers were. That means there is no difference between them.
Interestingly, Paul doesn't leave it at that. Paul has been trying to erase the boundary between Jew and Gentile for the entire letter so his first in the list of pairings that appears in v. 28 comes as no surprise. However, Paul goes on to say that there is also no difference between slave and free, male and female for they are all one in Christ Jesus and therefore Abraham's descendants and heirs according to the promise.
With this, we get a glimpse into Paul's larger understanding of the Church. The new creation inaugurated in Christ and lived out in the Church doesn't only erase the boundary between Jew and Gentile but all kinds of other boundaries that divide our world as well. While socio-economic and gender divisions may still exist in our world, Paul says that they have no place in the Church. The gathering of Christ's followers is to be a place where the rules of the old world no longer apply. Instead, those who gather around the body of Christ are brothers and sisters, members of one body, and to be treated with love and equality regardless of their position or status outside of the Church.
Paul answers these questions in Galatians 3:19-29. He says that the Law was given through angels by a mediator thereby distancing the giving of the Law from God himself. However, Paul says the Law was not contrary to God's purposes. Instead, God allowed the Law to act as a custodian in the time between Moses and Christ. Specifically, Paul says that Law was a paidogogos, that is, a slave who was in charge of making sure that a child made it safely to and from school everyday. When the child was no longer school-age, the service of the paidogogos was no longer needed. Paul says the function of the Law was similar; it's purpose was to keep God's people safely on the right path until the faithfulness of Christ was revealed. Now that righteousness by faith/faithfulness has been revealed, the services of the Law are no longer needed.
This brings Paul back to his main point that he has been making all along; the Galatians are already children of God by virtue of their faithful living in Christ Jesus and therefore have no need of works of the Law. The Galatians were clothed with Christ when they were baptized just as the Jewish Christians teachers were. That means there is no difference between them.
Interestingly, Paul doesn't leave it at that. Paul has been trying to erase the boundary between Jew and Gentile for the entire letter so his first in the list of pairings that appears in v. 28 comes as no surprise. However, Paul goes on to say that there is also no difference between slave and free, male and female for they are all one in Christ Jesus and therefore Abraham's descendants and heirs according to the promise.
With this, we get a glimpse into Paul's larger understanding of the Church. The new creation inaugurated in Christ and lived out in the Church doesn't only erase the boundary between Jew and Gentile but all kinds of other boundaries that divide our world as well. While socio-economic and gender divisions may still exist in our world, Paul says that they have no place in the Church. The gathering of Christ's followers is to be a place where the rules of the old world no longer apply. Instead, those who gather around the body of Christ are brothers and sisters, members of one body, and to be treated with love and equality regardless of their position or status outside of the Church.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
A New Option. The Only Real Option.
In the final verses of Galatians 2, Paul made the argument that everyone involved in this controversy in Galatia (himself, the teachers who oppose him, Peter and the Jerusalem council whose authority has probably been invoked by the teachers) knows that no one is made righteous by works of the Law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Paul says that since this is true it would be absurd to force the Galatians to observe these works of the Law which the teachers are telling them they must observe. In fact, to do so would be to nullify the grace of God which came through the faithfulness of Jesus. This is the main point of Paul's letter to the Galatians. In 3:1-14, Paul begins to make his supporting arguments for this main point.
Paul's first supporting argument begins with the experience of the Galatians themselves. He says in v.2 "This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the message of (Christ's) faithfulness?" Like a good lawyer, Paul only asks questions for which he knows the answer. Paul's whole argument here rests on the Galatians agreeing that they received the Spirit when they heard about the faithfulness of Christ, long before these teachers ever showed up to tell them about works of the Law. (This is an interesting point in itself since the Galatians' reception of the Spirit must have been such an obvious and demonstrable thing that no one would have debated whether or not they had indeed received it. It is such a sure and unquestionable experience that Paul could build his argument on it. Perhaps we are to imagine something happened in Galatia similar to the story of Cornelius and his household in Acts 10?) For Paul, this alone should be enough to settle the matter. If the Galatians received the Spirit before being taught about works of the Law, then clearly God has already accepted them and began to make them righteous and these works of the Law are an unnecessary addendum to what God is already doing in them.
Paul drives this point home further with an argument from Scripture. Paul says it was the same way with Abraham as it is with the Galatians. Abraham placed his trust in God by faithfully following God's calling for him and God said that Abraham was righteous for doing so long before God ever commanded Abraham to be circumcised. Like the Galatians, Abraham was counted as righteous by God before "works of the Law" were even a part of the picture. Therefore, Abraham exemplifies Paul's argument that it is those who live faithfully whom God makes righteous, not those who seek to find life in circumcision, food laws, and sabbath observance. Paul says that the Scripture even anticipates the inclusion of the Gentiles in this righteous living through faithfulness when it told Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through him; not just Jews but Gentiles as well.
Having made his parallel between Abraham and the Galatians, Paul now turns his argument to demonstrating why works of the Law are not a part of the righteousness which comes through faith/faithfulness (and in doing so writes four of the most theologically dense and widely debated verses in the New Testament). Paul begins this point by saying that everyone who is of the works of the Law are under a curse and he quotes Deuteronomy to support this point; "cursed is everyone who does not keep everything written in the book of the Law to do them." Some take these words to mean that everyone who tries to follow the Law is cursed because following the Law is impossible but this is not at all what Paul is saying. Jews did not find the Law impossible to follow. Paul declared himself blameless as to the Law (Phil 3:5). Paul is simply saying that anyone who chooses to derive their identity from the works of the Law stands under the threat of a curse; they may not actually be cursed if they keep the whole Law but the threat is always there. (If you read in some of Paul's writing in Romans at this point, then you can obverse that in Paul's mind, this is all the Law can really do: pronounce curses. It was supposed to be a life giving blessing that would protect Israel from sin. Instead, it was powerless to prevent sin and itself became a tool of sin. Therefore, all the Law could do was threaten, it could not make one alive, make one righteous.)
In contrast to the "Law option" in which everyone stands under the threat of a curse, Paul argues that there is now another option: that of faith/faithfulness; and, in fact, this faith/faithfulness option is the only true option for being made righteous. In v.11, Paul says "since it is evident that no one is made righteous before God by the Law, the righteous will live by faith/faithfulness." It is evident that no one is made righteous by the Law because of Israel's history. Israel had followed the Law for hundreds of years but it had never made Israel truly righteous and Israel knew it. Israel's own prophets described their longing for the day when God would pour out his Spirit to truly make them righteous in a way that the Law had not. Since the Law failed to make Israel righteous, Paul argues there must be another option for righteousness and that option is the faith/faithfulness in which the Galatians were already living before these teachers showed up telling them that they must follow the works of the Law.
In v.12, Paul says these "works of the Law are not of faith but those who do them will live by them." In other words, life by works of the law and life by faith/faithfulness can not coexist, they are incompatible. This is because they both represent an ultimate orientation in life. That is the point Paul is making by quoting Leviticus 18:5: "those who do these things live by them"; that is, those who follow these works of the Law live their whole life by them. The problem with works of the Law is not the works themselves. The problem is orienting one's whole life around them, expecting to find life in them, attempting to be made righteous by them when instead one should be seeking life and righteousness in the faithfulness of Christ and orienting one's life around faith in him.
After all, it is not these works of the Law which redeemed us from the curse of the Law. It is Christ who did that by becoming a curse for us. Christ became a curse by being crucified. Without the resurrection, crucifixion was a certain and public sign that Jesus was not the messiah he had claimed to be. Furthermore, Paul points out in quoting Deuteronomy 27:26 that anyone whose dead body was left hanging for public displayed was considered cursed by the standards of the Law. However, Christ willingly took that curse upon himself so that we would no longer have to stand under the threat of the Law's curse.
In v.14, Paul says that Christ became a curse for us "in order that the promise of Abraham might come to the gentiles through Christ Jesus in order that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith/faithfulness". That is, it is Christ's death which opens the blessing of Abraham and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to gentiles as well as Jews and that is essentially what it means to be redeemed from the curse of the Law. We have been redeemed, bought back, freed from the slavery of the threat of the Law's curse because there is now another option for righteousness besides living under the Law and its threat; the option of living in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And, of course, Paul would say this new option is the only real option since the old option of living under the Law was really powerless to protect again sin and make one righteous anyway.
Paul's first supporting argument begins with the experience of the Galatians themselves. He says in v.2 "This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the message of (Christ's) faithfulness?" Like a good lawyer, Paul only asks questions for which he knows the answer. Paul's whole argument here rests on the Galatians agreeing that they received the Spirit when they heard about the faithfulness of Christ, long before these teachers ever showed up to tell them about works of the Law. (This is an interesting point in itself since the Galatians' reception of the Spirit must have been such an obvious and demonstrable thing that no one would have debated whether or not they had indeed received it. It is such a sure and unquestionable experience that Paul could build his argument on it. Perhaps we are to imagine something happened in Galatia similar to the story of Cornelius and his household in Acts 10?) For Paul, this alone should be enough to settle the matter. If the Galatians received the Spirit before being taught about works of the Law, then clearly God has already accepted them and began to make them righteous and these works of the Law are an unnecessary addendum to what God is already doing in them.
Paul drives this point home further with an argument from Scripture. Paul says it was the same way with Abraham as it is with the Galatians. Abraham placed his trust in God by faithfully following God's calling for him and God said that Abraham was righteous for doing so long before God ever commanded Abraham to be circumcised. Like the Galatians, Abraham was counted as righteous by God before "works of the Law" were even a part of the picture. Therefore, Abraham exemplifies Paul's argument that it is those who live faithfully whom God makes righteous, not those who seek to find life in circumcision, food laws, and sabbath observance. Paul says that the Scripture even anticipates the inclusion of the Gentiles in this righteous living through faithfulness when it told Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through him; not just Jews but Gentiles as well.
Having made his parallel between Abraham and the Galatians, Paul now turns his argument to demonstrating why works of the Law are not a part of the righteousness which comes through faith/faithfulness (and in doing so writes four of the most theologically dense and widely debated verses in the New Testament). Paul begins this point by saying that everyone who is of the works of the Law are under a curse and he quotes Deuteronomy to support this point; "cursed is everyone who does not keep everything written in the book of the Law to do them." Some take these words to mean that everyone who tries to follow the Law is cursed because following the Law is impossible but this is not at all what Paul is saying. Jews did not find the Law impossible to follow. Paul declared himself blameless as to the Law (Phil 3:5). Paul is simply saying that anyone who chooses to derive their identity from the works of the Law stands under the threat of a curse; they may not actually be cursed if they keep the whole Law but the threat is always there. (If you read in some of Paul's writing in Romans at this point, then you can obverse that in Paul's mind, this is all the Law can really do: pronounce curses. It was supposed to be a life giving blessing that would protect Israel from sin. Instead, it was powerless to prevent sin and itself became a tool of sin. Therefore, all the Law could do was threaten, it could not make one alive, make one righteous.)
In contrast to the "Law option" in which everyone stands under the threat of a curse, Paul argues that there is now another option: that of faith/faithfulness; and, in fact, this faith/faithfulness option is the only true option for being made righteous. In v.11, Paul says "since it is evident that no one is made righteous before God by the Law, the righteous will live by faith/faithfulness." It is evident that no one is made righteous by the Law because of Israel's history. Israel had followed the Law for hundreds of years but it had never made Israel truly righteous and Israel knew it. Israel's own prophets described their longing for the day when God would pour out his Spirit to truly make them righteous in a way that the Law had not. Since the Law failed to make Israel righteous, Paul argues there must be another option for righteousness and that option is the faith/faithfulness in which the Galatians were already living before these teachers showed up telling them that they must follow the works of the Law.
In v.12, Paul says these "works of the Law are not of faith but those who do them will live by them." In other words, life by works of the law and life by faith/faithfulness can not coexist, they are incompatible. This is because they both represent an ultimate orientation in life. That is the point Paul is making by quoting Leviticus 18:5: "those who do these things live by them"; that is, those who follow these works of the Law live their whole life by them. The problem with works of the Law is not the works themselves. The problem is orienting one's whole life around them, expecting to find life in them, attempting to be made righteous by them when instead one should be seeking life and righteousness in the faithfulness of Christ and orienting one's life around faith in him.
After all, it is not these works of the Law which redeemed us from the curse of the Law. It is Christ who did that by becoming a curse for us. Christ became a curse by being crucified. Without the resurrection, crucifixion was a certain and public sign that Jesus was not the messiah he had claimed to be. Furthermore, Paul points out in quoting Deuteronomy 27:26 that anyone whose dead body was left hanging for public displayed was considered cursed by the standards of the Law. However, Christ willingly took that curse upon himself so that we would no longer have to stand under the threat of the Law's curse.
In v.14, Paul says that Christ became a curse for us "in order that the promise of Abraham might come to the gentiles through Christ Jesus in order that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith/faithfulness". That is, it is Christ's death which opens the blessing of Abraham and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to gentiles as well as Jews and that is essentially what it means to be redeemed from the curse of the Law. We have been redeemed, bought back, freed from the slavery of the threat of the Law's curse because there is now another option for righteousness besides living under the Law and its threat; the option of living in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And, of course, Paul would say this new option is the only real option since the old option of living under the Law was really powerless to protect again sin and make one righteous anyway.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Paul's Gospel
Last week I talked a little bit about the background behind Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Paul has planted these churches in the province of Galatia. He preached the gospel to them and taught them how they should live in response to this good news and then he moved on to plant other churches elsewhere. However, it seems that some time after Paul left, some other teachers, Jewish Christians like Paul himself, came and began to preach to the churches of Galatia. As it turns out, these preachers were not preaching quite the same message that Paul had. In fact, they said that Paul’s gospel was incomplete; that Paul had left some things out.
It seems that from what Paul writes in Galatians the things that Paul was being accused of “leaving out” of his gospel were adherence to circumcision and food laws, what Paul refers to as “works of the Law”. It is important to recognize here that these are not just any “good works” as we sometimes use that phrase as the antinomy of faith. These are specific works which set Jews apart from Gentiles. Circumcision and the practice of not eating certain “unclean” foods and not eating with “unclean” people (Gentiles) is what made Israel distinct and separate from the rest of the world. In other words, this is not so much about “faith vs. works”. Both Paul and the other teachers would have agreed that salvation included both faith and works. (In fact, they probably would not have even separated the two. Both are captured in the same Greek word (pistis) which is often translated faith but can also mean faithfulness. Faith, at least the way it is spoken of in the New Testament, should not be limited to an inner disposition while works is something outward and separate from faith. Faith is both elements: the inner disposition and the works; without either faith does not exist.)
No, this is more a debate about the kind of works that are necessary to be a part of the people of God. For Jews, circumcision and food laws (and Sabbath observance, though that doesn’t seem to come up in Galatians) were always a part of that equation and therefore it was natural for these Jewish Christians to expect Gentiles who wanted to be a part of God’s people to have to do the same thing. But Paul says that forcing Gentiles to follow these works of the Law is a gospel other than what he preached which is really no gospel at all. This leads Paul to articulate in summary form his understanding of the gospel in Galatians 2:15-21.
There he begins by appealing to what he and the teachers who oppose him agree upon. He says “We are Jews by nature…knowing that a man is made righteous not by works of the Law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.” In other words, even the opposing teachers know that it is not these works of the Law which make a person righteous; it is the faithfulness of Jesus. No Jew thought that they had to earn God’s salvation by following the Law. Every Jew knew that they were made righteous only by God’s faithfulness to Israel. Therefore, it was no different for Jews who came to believe in Jesus. They knew that it was God’s faithfulness through Jesus which had made them righteous, not the Law. If this is the case, Paul argues, then how can these teachers require Paul’s Gentile converts to do these works of the Law when Paul and the teachers themselves already know that even as Jews it is not these works of the Law which make them righteous? Paul says that would be like rebuilding a wall or barrier which has already been torn down. It is putting up an obstacle to salvation which Christ gave his life to abolish.
Paul then gives the alternative to following these “works of the Law.” After all, as has already been said, Paul is not advocating faith instead of works. Paul does not preach a lawless gospel. He simply says it is not these works of the Jewish Law which Christians are to follow. Instead, Christ himself has become the law for his followers, that is, Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are now the guidelines for how to live righteously. Our lives, our stories, are to imitate the faithfulness of Christ. That is what Paul is saying in v. 19-20 when he says that he died to the Law so that he might live for God and that he has been crucified with Christ so that Christ now lives in him. Paul is saying that the story of Christ has become his story. Paul’s rule for life is no longer the Jewish Law but the law of Christ.
However, the law of Christ is not something that Paul follows by force of will. It is not that Paul simply wills himself to be more like Jesus. The good news that is the gospel is that Christ’s death and resurrection is not only something for us to imitate; they make our own death and resurrection possible. Paul believed that the death and resurrection of God’s Son inaugurated a completely new age in history which in turn meant that our old, sinful nature could be crucified, put to death, so that Christ’s Spirit might truly live in us and therefore we might truly live for God.
The error of the teachers who opposed Paul was that they failed to grasp the full significance of Jesus’ world changing, epoch dividing, creation renewing cross and resurrection. As a result, they failed to distinguish between the essentials and non-essentials of the gospel. They felt circumcision and food laws were essential to the new good news just because they had been an important part of what God had done in the old age. Instead, Christ’s death had rendered these things as unnecessary obstacles to salvation.
The Church today must be careful not to make the same mistake. We tend to add extra hoops that people must jump though in order to meet our criteria for what it means to be Christian. Too often, it is not enough for us that someone simply be Christ-like. It is also necessary for them to dress a certain way, talk a certain way, and maybe even vote a certain way. We may not be too concerned about circumcision or what a person eats but we still have a tendency to use specific actions or practices as a litmus test of someone else’s Christianity. Paul’s words are a reminder to us that the gospel is nothing other than the faithfulness of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and our righteousness is found solely in that good news.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Cross-logic
What is the gospel?
That is the question that lies at the heart of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Of course, one could argue that this is always the question when interpreting scripture. However, it especially the case with Galatians. Paul had preached to Gentiles that they could be followers of Jesus and therefore a part of the true Israel without being circumcised and without maintaining Jewish food laws. It seems that some other preachers came to Paul's churches in the province of Galatia after he had left and said that he didn't quite have it right, that Paul was misrepresenting the gospel, leaving it incomplete. These preachers said that these gentiles did indeed have to be circumcised and follow the whole Jewish law if they were to be a part of the people of God.
To this Paul says "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all." Paul will go on to argue in the letter that for these gentiles to be circumcised is nothing short of forsaking the gospel which they recieved by grace. If these gentiles must follow the Jewish law then there is really no good news in the gospel because it means things have not changed, a new era has not begun in Jesus Christ. For these gentiles to follow the rules of old era is to deny the victory that Christ accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection.
While circumcision and food laws may not be the most pressing issues facing Christians today, the question remains; what is the gospel? And what does it mean for the way we live life? Like Paul, we must begin with the world changing event of the cross and work everything else out from there. The Christian life is not so much about a spiritual checklist of rules and disciplines. It is about evaluating every aspect of life in the shadow of Jesus' cross and the light of his resurrection.
That is the question that lies at the heart of Paul's letter to the Galatians. Of course, one could argue that this is always the question when interpreting scripture. However, it especially the case with Galatians. Paul had preached to Gentiles that they could be followers of Jesus and therefore a part of the true Israel without being circumcised and without maintaining Jewish food laws. It seems that some other preachers came to Paul's churches in the province of Galatia after he had left and said that he didn't quite have it right, that Paul was misrepresenting the gospel, leaving it incomplete. These preachers said that these gentiles did indeed have to be circumcised and follow the whole Jewish law if they were to be a part of the people of God.
To this Paul says "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all." Paul will go on to argue in the letter that for these gentiles to be circumcised is nothing short of forsaking the gospel which they recieved by grace. If these gentiles must follow the Jewish law then there is really no good news in the gospel because it means things have not changed, a new era has not begun in Jesus Christ. For these gentiles to follow the rules of old era is to deny the victory that Christ accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection.
While circumcision and food laws may not be the most pressing issues facing Christians today, the question remains; what is the gospel? And what does it mean for the way we live life? Like Paul, we must begin with the world changing event of the cross and work everything else out from there. The Christian life is not so much about a spiritual checklist of rules and disciplines. It is about evaluating every aspect of life in the shadow of Jesus' cross and the light of his resurrection.
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