Conditional Christianity

How do you understand Psalm 37:4 - "Delight your self in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"? We tend to think this means if I delight in God, he will give me what I have always wanted. So the single person may think "if I delight in God, He will give me a partner"; the frustrated employee "God will give me a better job"; a pay rise; health; wealth..... whatever.

This is a misinterpretation of the verse. It makes our love of God conditional, like being good a few weeks before Christmas so Santa will give us what we want.

Martyred missionary Jim Elliot wrote in 1949 on this verse: "It does not say He will give you what you want. It does say he will give you THE want. Delight in Christ brings desire for Christ." In other words delight in the Lord does not somehow trigger God to answer our indulgent prayers; instead, delight in the Lord transforms the desires of our heart. We come to see the pettiness of our earthly desires and how insufficient our limited dreams are for ultimate fulfilment.

God is calling us to find a deeper fullness in Him - not by fulfilling our desires, but by discovering His.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Unquenchable Flame - introducing the Reformation" whilst on holiday last week. (IVP; ISBN 978-1-84474-385-8). A brilliant introduction to the most formative period in our nation's history.

The doctrine of justification by faith alone affects everything - our confidence, our worship, church life, art, music....

Interesting that Johann Sebastian Bach was an ardent Lutheran all the way down to his tapping toes. Hence his version of "Hosanna" is strikingingly different from the Catholic version sung dutifully since it was penned in 1555. When the exact same piece was given Bach's lutheran treatment 190 years later:

"It has an entirely different resonance:now the hosannas are belted out with an unmistakable, unbounded enthusiasm and joy. Such was the natural effect of believing Luther's doctrine of justication (pg. 172)."

And how about this quote from William Tyndale who gave us our first bible in English:

"Evangelion (the Gospel) is a greek word and signifieth good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that maketh a man's heart glad and maketh him sing, dance and leap for joy."

The Glorious New Covenant

Here is my summary of 2 Corinthians 3 on the glorious new covenant:

There is nothing like the glory of the life giving, non-condeming, righteousness-imparting, all-surpassing, everlasting, eye-opening, freedom-giving, life-transforming, Christ-exalting new covenant of the Spirit.

"Scan the book of Acts to find the Apostolic liturgy. You'll come up empty. What you will find are people moving in spontaneous obedience as they are propelled by the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit" - quote from Jim Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.

fruit of the Spirit

When I said last post that I would blog each day this week on the fruits of the Spirit, I forgot I would be away for 2 of those days and playing catch-up the rest of the week. Sorry.

In the upper room Jesus promises these very 3 things to His anxious disciples:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled(Jn 14:27)

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love 15:9

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 15:11

And Paul speaks of these very same qualities as benefits of being Christ in Romans 5:

Romans 5:5 - God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Rom. 5:2 - we rejoice in hope of the glory of God

Rom. 5:3 - and hope does not put us to shame

Finally in Romans 14:17 we read that the kingdom of God is a matter of "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit".

SO, Jesus promised love, joy, peace, delivered them, and pours them out through His Holy Spirit. Enjoy!

fruit of the Spirit

Studying Galatians 6:22-23. Read in conjunction with FF Bruce, there are some real gems that help take you beyond the familiar "fruits of the Spirit" treatment you may associate with Sunday School:

I especially like SH Hookes comment on v. 23 - against such there is no law. We are in a sphere in which law has nothing to do. Law may prescribe certain forms of conduct and prohibit others, but love, joy, peace and the rest cannot be legally enforced.

A vine does not produce grapes by Act of Parliament; they are the fruit of the Vine's own life; So the conduct which conforms to the standard of the kingdom is not produced by any demand, not even God's, but it is the fruit of that divine nature which God gives as a result of what He has done in and by Christ.

WOW!

And I like W. Barclay on love: "Christian love springs to life when Christ is incarnated again in a man or woman who has given himself absolutley to Him."

I am preaching on Sunday around this and into Chapter 6, but my plan is blog each day for the next week in detail on the various fruits of the Spirit.

Some quotes worth remembering

Some bible verses worth remembering, from my readings today:

1. "Contend for the gospel which was once entrusted to all the saints" - Jude 1:3
2. "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ" - 1 Tim. 2:5
3. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love, and of self discipline" - 2 Tim. 1:7
4. "You then my Son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" - 2 Tim. 2:1
5. "He has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace" - 2 Tim. 1:9

And one from Mark Driscoll (Vintage Church, pg. 43):
"You can be baptized in the church, raised in the church, confirmed in the church, serve in the church, marry in the church, die in the church and have your funeral in the church, and still wake up in hell if you are merely in the church and not in Christ."