SIMPLE THEOLOGY

Category: The Gospel

  • Hello, Advocate!

    Hello, Advocate!

    “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother” – Matthew 18:15

    “Truth carries with it confrontation. Truth demands confrontation; loving confrontation, but confrontation nevertheless.”

    ― Francis A. Schaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster

    Luke 10:29 – “But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

    A Jewish lawyer to test Jesus had asked him how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus asked him what the law said about it. The man responded by saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” And Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS, AND YOU WILL LIVE.” “But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Instead of acknowledging his incapability to live according to the law, the lawyer has sought to justify himself. He wanted to show that he was already living right.

    The Problem

    It is not just a Jewish problem. I think there is a narcissist in every one of us. We must confess that it’s everyone’s problem. The problem lies at man’s heart is an unwillingness to acknowledge one’s mistakes and to seek grace because man by nature is self-oriented. Our self is important to all of us, and we instinctively try to defend ourselves, especially when we have to take responsibility for our actions and words that hurt others. 

    painting of man

    The problem of justifying one’s wrong actions began long ago in the Garden of Eden. Adam, instead of acknowledging his mistake, blamed Eve and God when confronted by God. He justified himself. Even Eve followed the trail of Adam by blaming the Serpent. Both Adam and Eve did not take responsibility for their sins. They were embarrassed to acknowledge that they were wrong.

    As the descendants of Adam and Eve, we too have expertise in justifying our wrongs when confronted. We see ourselves in that situation every day, maybe at home or work, and with friends and strangers. When confronted, we want to cover up our sins by guarding ourselves against the embarrassment of our faults and would like to paint a righteous image of ourselves. We all have an advocate within who is ever-present to defend us.

    One day in my conversation with a friend, I had spoken disgracefully of another friend. Upon hearing, my friend immediately confronted me that I was gossiping and unmerciful to my brother. I was upset by my friend’s confrontation, and soon the advocate in me justified my gossip. I tried to cover up my ghastly comments. After some time, I could see guilt resurfacing my heart and had to confess my offensive words.

    In another incident, when I confronted a preacher for wrongly interpreting a passage, the preacher took offence and began bragging about his greatness as a preacher instead of examining my comments. I could only see how self-centred he was.

    We all have similar issues with our self-importance and witness the same in others. It is essential to know that this is a problem that needs constant help.

    The Beginning of change

    Is this change even possible in an independent and self-obsessed culture?

    Every one of us is prone to fail in one or other ways daily. We fall in our thoughts, actions, behaviours, and in our relationships. Not many of us are willing to acknowledge one’s folly in contributing to the point of failure. We are more prone to blame others and are cynical towards others. We try to wrap ourselves in a fairy fantasy world of self-righteousness and perfectionism. Therefore, we fail to acknowledge the fundamental problem of our nature and give in to the blame game. 

    Justifying one’s faults gets dirty; the more we defend ourselves, the nastier we appear. In this process, one fails to acknowledge the fundamental problem with self, and we atone ourselves with words of self-righteousness by becoming our advocates. When we advocate ourselves, we manifest our sinfulness. The problem with us is that we have a high view of self and therefore demand respect from others.

    We all need to understand that we have nothing good in us, and God, in His mercy, called us by his gospel to become good, i.e., to become like his Son through his grace. The God-Man, our eternal High Priest, is our only advocate who makes us right.

    The only way to be grounded in reality is by exposing ourselves to the grace of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ every day. The gospel points us to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel shows that we are sinful, and there is nothing in us that could cover up for our sins and gives us a right standing before God. The sacrifice of our Perfect High Priest alone can atone for our sins. As our eternal high priest, he stands as the mediator between God and man. We are in right standing before God because of His imputed righteousness. Christ alone by the indwelling Spirit supplies the sanctifying grace to be conformed into His image.

    We need this gospel grace every day and need to acknowledge our sinfulness and the need for Christ’s redeeming grace. The Cross shows our incapacity of pleasing God and points us to the throne of grace where we can find mercy for our daily lives.

    If we live every day realising that we are people with weaknesses and need grace and help, we wouldn’t be embarrassed by others’ confrontations. There is grace available for us in Christ Jesus, which liberates us from our self-importance and all the unpleasant things that flow from it. 

    God’s Design for our change

    God’s dynamics for our change is in the institution of the church. God placed us in a church for our sanctification. We must get this straight; a failure to confess our sins upon confrontation by others is a failure to benefit from the one-another ministry in the body of Christ. Consider these Bible verses:

    • Love one another (John 13:34).
    • Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Romans 12:10).
    • Instruct one another (Romans 15:14).
    • Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13).
    • Carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). 
    • Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). 
    • In humility, consider others better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).
    • Admonish one another (Colossians 3:16).
    • Encourage one another and build one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
    • Spur one another (Hebrews 10:24).
    • Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5). 
    • Confess your sins to each other (James 5:16).
    • Pray for one another (James 5:16).

    These are few among such commandments. There is much emphasis on healthy relationships in the church to build one another up. We must learn the crucial role that the church plays in our sanctification. The aim of speaking to others of their sins is not to undermine them but to restore them (Galatians 6:1). Nevertheless, confronting one another with love and gentleness (Galatians 6:1) when one is in the wrong builds up an individual, and the body of Christ and such is the mark that we love others (Proverbs 27:5; 28:23). 

    Ministry of others in the church is the means of God’s grace to us. If we are not submissive to the ministry of others, we are shutting ourselves to the transforming grace of our Lord. God helps us grow into the image of our Lord Jesus not just in isolation but also in the community of God’s redeemed people. If the church is God’s plan, then one another ministerial relationships are part of it. To receive correction from others and a willingness to confess our faults are part of these relationships in the body of Christ. Staying away from such relationships in the body of Christ stunts our growth. Part of our maturing happens in the meaningful, purposeful fellowships of God’s people.

    Therefore, immaturity persists in isolation, and maturity thrives in fellowship. Every believer must be glad upon confrontation of one’s faults by others and must count it as a blessing. Confrontation of our faults must always lead us to introspection and repentance. Such one-another ministerial relationships will build an individual and the body of Christ.

    May God bless you with His grace

    Picture: Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash

  • Remember! What God has done – Happy Reformation Day

    Remember! What God has done – Happy Reformation Day

    The Church is called to be the light in the world, leading people from the deception of sin to the truth of the Living God. For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has suppressed the truth and put people in darkness. The purpose of the Church and the Scriptures was defeated during this dark period.

    According to Church history, right from the early second century, the Church has slowly deviated from the word of God to mere human methods and traditions. By the Medieval period, the Church has come into a state of darkness. The corruption in the Church was so evident and strong that God called for a reformation.

    God in His own sovereign way worked out a reformation. He raised up his men who would expose the corruptions of the Roman Catholic Church and its popes. God enabled His men to fight until the truth was available for everyone. These men fought to bring back the scriptures to the primitive place and into the hands of every common man.

    Today is commemorated as the Reformation day. October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the Wittenburg church door, leading to a firestorm response in Germany. Reformation fire spread across Europe. Men like John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, John Knox, William Tyndale and many others played a major role in Reformation and men like John Hus, John Wycliffe, Jerome of Prague and others paved the way for Reformation. Oh! We cherish now because of their efforts. We hold our Bibles because of them. They laboured hard that the Word of God would be available to the common man. They laid down their lives that all men may be exposed to the Truth of God’s Word which was hidden from the world by the Popes and the Roman Church. Let us thank God for what He has done through these men. The Truth of God had burst forth through the overlay of papism, and other Roman Catholic heresies.

    Let us re-affirm our allegiance to the truth revealed in the Scripture alone. Let us stand for the Truth like these men and honour God alone. For, the reformation is not over yet. Look at the modern church which is plagued by many heresies. Heresies, which spring from the wrong interpretation of the scriptures and also from those who are not subjected to the word of God.

    Lo! There are false preachers everywhere, who do everything in the name of Christ, but they do not know Christ, they do not preach the truth, and only speak lies to deceive people. And there are people who flock to them, who do not seek the truth. They both represent only a false Christianity. We need to expose them. It is time for the faithful remnant to take a stand against them and against the heresies that they teach. Let all the faithful become the beacon of lights in a time where darkness pervades everywhere. A vast majority of people in the church are ignorant of even fundamental truths of the Christian faith. Many do not know that we are justified by faith alone through God’s grace alone. They need to know the importance of the word of God and the right way of studying, interpreting and applying the same.

    Today’s Church needs men and women who are slaves of God and who are subjected to the word of God. We need more Pastors who would not care for their own bellies but rather shepherd the Church with love and truth. We need more faithful preachers and teachers who would expose and divide the word rightly and point people to Christ alone.

    It is time for us to pray for another reformation in our day and suffer to declare the wonderful Word of God with great Joy and Gladness. May God open the eyes of His people.

    May God bless His Church.

  • God’s Glory on the Cross

     Can a sinful man appreciate God’s greatness? Scriptures are very clear, for they say:

    “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” Romans 1:19-20

    Paul mentions, that, God’s invisible attributes like His eternal power are very evident in the creation. The word ‘eternal’ suggests that He is uncreated, uncaused and divine. Anyone who looks at the creation should be able to acknowledge the greatness of its creator; He fills the vast oceans with water, He hung the sun, the moon, and the planets in the space and the way the earth functions, its seasons, vegetation, rains, etc. All creation declares the glory of the Lord.

    Paul goes on to say that:

    “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” Romans 1:21-23.

    Though man can perceive the greatness and the uniqueness of God, it is very plain from the above passage that man by nature cannot honor God.

    How can we overcome our inability to honor God? Only at the cross of Christ Jesus, we begin to appreciate the greatness of God. The cross is very crucial and central for a man’s relationship with God. Because only there we begin to see our unworthiness and our filth within and God begins to unveil His magnificent attributes.

    We also understand from the scriptures that the work of Christ on the cross was pleasing to God.

     “The Lord was pleased to crush Him” Isaiah 53:10.

    The offering of the Lord Jesus on the cross was a fragrance to God.

     “…Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” Ephesians 5:2

    How can a ruthless, and a bloody death be pleasing to God? God was pleased with Christ’s offering because crucifixion was the stage upon which God would display his glory, his attributes.

    Love

    “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” John 3:16.

    How could we appreciate God’s great love?

    A sinner can experience the love of God only at the cross of Christ Jesus. Humans, by nature, are irreconcilably alienated from God. All the efforts of man would never even bring him an inch closer to God. With our finite minds, we could never comprehend the immensity of God, and we could have never known God.

    God prepared a substitutionary atonement in the person of Christ Jesus for the sake of man, which demonstrates His great love for man. And the cross is the place where we behold this love. Apart from the cross of Christ Jesus, we can never understand the magnitude of God’s love.

    Righteousness and Justice

    According to God’s perfect righteousness, disobedience to His Laws incurs His punishment. Thus, His justice demands the punishment of all sinners. Therefore, sparing a sinner would make God unjust.

    How could a Just God spare sinners? Don’t we deserve His just punishment?

    Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross, and God deemed it right to punish Him on our behalf. Thus, His justice was satisfied.

    Thus, God’s righteousness triumphed on the cross.

    Holiness and Wrath

    God decreed to punish sin because He is infinitely Holy, and He is set apart from all that is evil and sinful. On the cross of Jesus Christ, as our sins were laid on Him, His wrath was let loose upon His Son, God demonstrated His absolute hatred towards sin, and God crushed Jesus under His holy wrath.

    Therefore, on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, God magnifies His Holiness and His Holy Wrath.

    Wisdom

    “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Romans 11:33.

    How could sinful people ever be reconciled to a holy God? How can God spare those who rebel against Him? How can a just God forgive the sins of unworthy and sinful people?

    Because of God’s wisdom, there is the hope of salvation for man. The Cross of Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. If God did not devise a plan of salvation through His Son, there wouldn’t have been any scope for man. The Cross is the only place where the love of God kissed the justice of God. That is God’s wisdom. Reconciliation with a holy God and a right standing before God is only possible because the all-wise God made it possible.

    Mercy

    At the cross of Jesus Christ, we not only see God punishing Jesus on our behalf, and we also witness divine mercy.

    God’s mercy is withholding something that we deserve. We are sinners, lived a sinful course of life, and we rightly deserve to be crushed under God’s severe wrath. Yet, God saved us by sending His Son to suffer under His wrath that we deserve. God withheld His wrath from us because our Lord Jesus interposed. The wrath that we deserve fell on Jesus and was crushed under it. That is His mercy.

    Grace

    We deserve nothing but God’s displeasure and His wrath. Grace is receiving what we do not deserve. At the cross of Jesus Christ, God offered us this gift of redemption. We are unworthy of such a great gift. Because of what Christ Jesus accomplished on the cross through His sin atoning sacrifice, God freely pardoned us, and He adopted us as His Children. Marvelous grace!

    Conclusion

    In Christ’s atoning sacrifice and His finished work on the cross, we witness the glory of God and our salvation. Apart from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glories of God wouldn’t make much sense to us.

    Have you come to the cross of Christ Jesus? Have you witnessed there the glories of God? Were you awestruck at the cross?

    The cross is central in a Christian’s walk. Without the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no Christian life. We ought to live cross centered lives. The cross reminds us of who we are; sinners saved by grace and the cross reminds and supplies what we need; the grace to persevere in this Christian life.

    May God bless you