New Thoughts (3/2/03-3/4/03)
In classes at church recently, we have been looking at the subject of sound doctrine. What will undoubtedly take years to elucidate, Paul has managed to convey here in just a very few sentences. Consider all the facets of doctrine that Paul manages to touch on here. He's done a fair amount towards describing God to us, declaring to us the love that God has towards man. He also provides a beautiful example of God's triune nature; the Father saving through the renewing work of the Spirit Who was poured out upon us by the Father through Christ Jesus. Indeed, here we have God in all persons working together for one purpose, the salvation of man. In an oblique way, then, we also see God's unity displayed.
As Paul shows us man's nature, we may also learn of God's nature by looking to the opposites. Man, we are told, is foolish. God, being quite the opposite, is entirely wise. Man is disobedient. God, being a God of order, and not chaos, is the Authority of all authorities. Man is deceived. God, being in possession of all knowledge of all events throughout all time, is not deceived by anything. Nothing is hidden from His sight. Man is a slave to his lusts and pleasures. God, being pure, cannot abide to so much as look upon such sinful acts, let alone contemplate pursuing them! Unlike the Greek gods, God is not subject to the passions of His creation, He is fully in control of Himself as well as the whole of His creation. Man seeks out opportunities to express his malice, hating everybody including himself, and hated by all. God, being merciful, seeks out opportunities to express His love, loving everybody, even while hated by all. God is love unconditional. This is all our hope and joy! What a stark contrast is shown, then, between our Creator and His creation! How far we, who were created to bear His image, have fallen in our sins. How incredible, in light of that contrast, is the change He has wrought upon our fallen estate, that we can even begin to approach a likeness to His glory!
One cannot describe the nature of fallen man without describing the nature of the sin into which he has fallen. The nature of fallen man is sin. Man, in his fallen state, is so absolutely addicted to sin that he cannot, of his own accord, do otherwise but to sin. He is enslaved to his sinfulness. There is no possibility of disobedience to this cruel taskmaster. There is no option open to him but to continue serving in this living hell. But, praise be to God, we are created by a merciful God, a compassionate God, a God whose love knows no bounds. He has moved heaven and earth to bring about the end of that enslavement. He has broken the bonds of oppression that held us in our horrible state.
This is the point of salvation. Whether we could choose or not is rather a moot point, and theologians will doubtless continue to debate that until Christ returns. The fact of the matter, though, is whether or not we could choose, we did not and we would not. To choose holiness would be a wonderful work on our part, especially if we were to actually pursue it with all our heart and soul! Why, it would be like keeping the commandments. Indeed, it would be just like keeping the commandments, because that's exactly what the commandments define: holiness according to Him who alone is holy! The fact of the matter is, as Paul points out here, that no man was ever saved on the basis of his own righteous acts. Elsewhere, we are told that the best of our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of our perfectly holy God. The best of men have never managed to walk out the demands of God's covenant. Never. Every man who ever was or ever will be has broken covenant with the faithful God. Yet, moved only by His own mercy, His own active compassion, He has done what was necessary to make amends. He has paid the penalty for our sinful ways, satisfied in His own blood the demands of His own justice, perfectly fulfilled the requirements of His holy Law in such a way that He could break off from upon us the bonds of sinfulness, and set us in a place of true freedom, a freedom to choose voluntary enslavement in the household of God.
This is but a reflection upon the Old Covenant disposition for those enslaved to a household. God had always required that there be a time limit on such service. No man was to be left in this condition forever. The time would come when his master must restore him to his own estate. However, when that time came, there were those who found it preferable to remain with their masters. Allowance was made for this circumstance, and those who willingly chose such a life were marked in the flesh to indicate their decision, to ensure that no slander would come upon the one they served.
Think about this in light of God's work of salvation! When He came upon us, we were sold into slavery. We served a harsh master, who bullied and tricked us into pursuing the tasks he set us to, tasks that could only lead to our own condemnation and death. He refused to willingly restore us to our estate. He had held mankind as a whole captive for thousands of years. But God sets a limit on the period of servitude. He declares that the slaves must be allowed to go free. Israel spent many years in Egypt, captive to Pharaoh and forced to perform back-breaking, spirit-breaking labors. So cruel was he, that their labors were not punishment enough in his sight, he must add to their woes, murdering their newborns by their own hands. But God declared a limit to this servitude. He came in His power and released the captives whose master would not release them.
In every one of our lives, God has worked a similar miracle! We were trekking ever onward, bearing our heavy burden, and pursuing the awful tasks our master set for us. Not satisfied to see us struggling to complete the work he set us, he must add to our woes, causing us to slowly murder ourselves by our own actions. But God declared a limit to this servitude! He came in His power and released the captives whose master would not release them! He has broken the power the held us in chains, and offered us our freedom!
Coming into that freedom, we find ourselves faced by a choice: some, finding themselves freed, prefer to return to their chains. They take upon themselves the mark of permanent servitude, and return to their heavy labors. Others look upon this One who has freed them, and gladly join His household, recognizing the great price He has paid on their behalf, and knowing that, even should they give all they have for all the days that remain, it will never begin to repay that gift. They, too, choose permanent servitude, but they choose to serve a new and better Master. This is the life we walk in. We have taken upon us the mark of a permanent member of the household of God. That mark is the Holy Spirit, given us as a pledge, a seal, and a sign. Yet, though we would willingly come into His household as no more than servants, His love for us is not satisfied with that! He gladly brings us into His household, but refusing to call us slaves, He calls us His own children! He declares us possessed of full rights and privileges of a child of His own household! He declares us coheirs with His only Son, the very One who shed His blood to free us in the first place! This is why we do such works as we can do: because we have so much to be thankful for, because we have such a wonderful, loving God. Because we are His children by His choice, how great is our love for Him! And, how better can we declare that love than to do the things we see Him doing?
Having been made sons of our God, we seek now to emulate the ways of our older Brother. His work we also find discussed in this short passage. He is the means of the Father's plan. He is also, most immediately, our Savior. It was the will of God that we be saved. It was the obedience of Christ even unto death, that saved us. The grace that God pours out, He pours out through His Son, through the shed blood by which the penalty due our sins was paid, by which the justice of God was served. Jesus is the means. He is the sole means by which we can approach the Father, established as our only, eternal High Priest. He is the sole means by which we can attain to the righteousness that our best efforts failed to achieve. Indeed, He is the sole means by which the efforts we now make out of gratitude to Him are made acceptable to God. He is the Man in the middle, the One who has been both God and flesh, the One who understands our nature intimately, having shared in it, and yet understands the godhead most intimately, sharing fully in the essence of God, being God Himself.
His is the priesthood that never ceases, and never fails. His is the task of serving within the Holy of Holies. He it is who takes our offerings, removes every blemish, cleanses them of the filth that cannot help but attach to every work of our hands, and places them on the altar to produce an aroma pleasing to our God. He it is who paid our old master the full price of our purchase, the price of death which alone could by our freedom. He paid that price and brought us into His own possession. He redeemed us to Himself. He does not force us to stay, but who could look upon such a wonderful Master and desire to serve elsewhere? Who could look upon the face of Life, and seek instead to pursue death once more?
Here, also, is the work of the Holy Spirit declared. He, too, is involved in the work of redemption. Christ, in His sacrifice on the cross, accomplished the once for all redemption of us from our sins. He paid the once for all sacrifice of atonement for our sins which, having been made in perfection, need never be made again - indeed, cannot be made again. But even with this, there remains a great deal in us that needs working on. We have been saved, but we still must be changed. And having been changed, we must be strengthened so as to hold the ground of that change against the onslaught of the fallen world we live in. Enter the Holy Spirit. Poured out upon us through the Christ who saved us, sent by the Father and given to us at His request; He has come to create in us a complete and radical change for the better! Daily He continues His work in us, daily He washes us in a bath of restoration, working to restore the pristine state that was present in the Garden before the fall of man.
Daily, as we walk in the world, we cannot but pick up the dust of the world. Walking through fields of sin, it is inevitable that sin will touch us. We have not the perfection of the Son. We remain creatures of flesh, blood, and bone. While we have been changed, there remains with us the remnants of what was. As we are dirtied by our daily walk, we have need of a daily bath. This is the role of the Spirit in our lives. As we walk, He is there, pointing out the things we should avoid, showing us the path of purity amidst the mess. When we stumble, it is He who picks us up and dusts us off. When we wander from the way He has pointed out, He is there with us, pointing out the way back. And when we have returned to our senses, when we have once more come out of the world of death, He draws for us the bath of restoration! He submerges us in the cleansing waters of the Word of God, washing away the sins that have collected on us through the course of our meandering.
Oh, God, how shall I sing the praises of the wonders of Your goodness to me? How can I take lightly all that You have done on my behalf? How can I declare loudly enough, long enough, well enough, what You have done for me? Indeed, mine was a life of death, pursuing things that could only do me harm, finding pleasure in pain. Oh, how blind I was! How I refused to see Your hand at work around me! How I reviled Your very name, the very thought of You! How I pursued any other god I could come up with, rather than fall down in worship at the feet of the only God who is, the only God who created me, and who, even in that dark time of life, was watching over this rebel son!
But You, oh, Lord, were not willing that I should be lost to You. Before the worlds were created, You had provided for my freedom from those pursuits. Before I yet knew You were pursuing me, You had begun that cleansing work in my life, delivering me from habits that bound me, that made me less than You created me to be.
David cried out to You, my God, in wonder that You could be bothered to care for such a mean thing as a man. He also cried out in recognition that everything that he had, everything he had accomplished, everything he was, was solely by Your hand. I must acknowledge that same recognition before You. I must share in His wonder, when I consider what You have done in this life? What am I, Lord, that You should bother? What have I ever done that could deserve such love? Nothing. I know there is nothing in me that has called You to me, You have sought me out. Never in this lifetime will I be able to comprehend the why of that love, my God, but I can surely comprehend how great a debt of thanks I carry.
And truly, Lord, how can I look upon the places You have set me today and not see Your hand in it? You have made of me the engineer I was too lazy to make. In spite of the foolish choices of youth, You have given me a wisdom and understanding beyond my own ability, to pursue such employment as I have. You have given me favor with those whom You have chosen as my employers. You have drawn me to these times of study, again feeding me with knowledge beyond my own. You have made of me the musician I always wanted to be. You have placed me on stages, before cameras. What is there in me, my God, that could possibly deserve all this! How could I ever turn aside from such love?
Oh, how thankful I am, that even where I can't imagine turning aside, You know that the possibility remains. You know, and You have prepared for that! Even as You had planned the course of my redemption before there was even a Garden in which the Fall could occur, even so, You had planned for the days of my life here in Your creation. You had planned for the presence of Yourself, Your very Holy Spirit here in me! (How, Lord, can You take residence in one so imperfect as I am? This still amazes me!) Yet, You are here, forever correcting, forever adjusting, forever bringing about the needed change.
Marvelous! There are not words sufficient to describe the incredible dimensions of Your love! Words fail! Thought fails at the contemplation of Your wonderful ways! "Thank You" just isn't enough! May all my days be a living shout of praise to You, my God. Even then, it cannot begin to express the gratitude in my heart! Even then, I will have but scratched the surface of the wonder of You! Oh, my sweet brother Jesus, may You clean up this offering, would You please help it to express what I am trying to say? Would You present this to our Father in such a way that He will be pleased by all that is in my heart today? Holy Spirit, will You come and wash that heart once more today, hide Yourself within my heart today, that I might not sin against You. Make Your home in me, that I may dwell in You throughout eternity! May it be so, Amen.
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind was suddenly made clear, being openly shown, 5 He saved us in one singular and accomplished act, delivering us from error and corruption into purity and pardon, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His active compassion, by the bath of restoration, restoring all things in us to a pristine state, creating in us a radical change of mind for the better, and making a complete change for the better by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out in large distribution, in that one accomplished act, giving out with great largess the most precious Holy Spirit upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.
What shall we say to this? It is finished! He has accomplished our deliverance! It was assuredly none of our own doing, the answer to our every 'why' is that He has done it because of His great compassion. Because He loves us so dearly, He has done what was needful for us to be restored to His own good graces. He has given to us from the riches of His glory, pouring out with seeming abandon, the most precious Holy Spirit upon us. Day by day, having created in us a radically changed mind, He is completing the change. But remember this: It is finished! Mission accomplished! Though the results take time for us to see in full fruit, the work has been done, the victory's been won. He has delivered us from corruption into purity. We have been submerged in the baptismal waters of restoration. What remains is the daily washing, the feet and the hands. Oh, the joy of knowing this is a done deal! Oh, the security of the realization that it wasn't my doing that brought me to this place!
Thank You, Lord, that it's been all about You. Thank You, that my salvation has been all about You. Nothing I did earned that salvation. Nothing I did secured that salvation, and nothing I do can cause You to be unfaithful to Your own covenant! Awesome, awesome, awesome!
Lest there remain any doubt in anybody's mind, take a stroll with me through the many, many verses that parallel Paul's thoughts in this passage. Looking at them all collected in one place can't help but cause the confident hope of salvation to well up within! He saved us, He called us with a holy calling. He did not do so because of our marvelous achievements, but solely to satisfy His own purpose, which was to show His own grace. That grace was granted to us before creation in Christ Jesus (2Ti 1:9). Notice that! Before creation, our Lord and Savior is! What has been done on our behalf was no result of our own works. There is no place left for us to boast of ourselves and our accomplishments (Eph 2:9), no God did it because of the depth of the love He has for us, because of the greatness of His mercy (Eph 2:4). It is solely according to His incredible mercy that we have been reborn. He has caused this rebirth, that we might know a lively hope, knowing our Christ resurrected, and seeing in that resurrection the promise of our own (1Pe 1:3)! It is only through that rebirth, through knowing both the birth of the flesh, and the birth of the Spirit, that we can enter into His kingdom (Jn 3:5), and He has caused that rebirth in us (Ti 3:5)! He has caused to happen to us that without which we could not come home! What a loving Father is our Father in heaven! How has He done this? Christ gave Himself to sanctify us, He had already cleansed us in the bath of His Word (Eph 5:26), now, in the complete and completing work of His perfect sacrifice, He purchased our own perfection, He set us apart as "Holy unto the Lord," no longer to be profaned.
What shall we say to this, then? Don't be conformed any longer! Don't accept what the world asks you to pick up, don't buy into it! NO! Allow the accomplished renewing of your mind to work that complete transformation in your life! You seek to glorify God? Here's the way He has ordained! Allow Him to complete that transformation, and then you will stand out as living, walking proof that His will is indeed good and acceptable. You will be His testimony that His will is perfect! Nothing lacking, no room for improvement. That is the offering He would have of us (Ro 12:2)!
Even so, remember, that it is His kindness that has led you to repentance (Ro 2:4). It is His patience that has allowed place to your repentance. This is the ground of our hope. Don't hope in riches, riches will fail without a moment's notice (1Ti 6:17). Don't put your trust in these flimsy props, hope in God, for He richly supplies everything we need, not only that, but everything necessary for our enjoyment! Indeed, such a hope will never disappoint, because that hope is founded not on fallible man, but upon the infallible, unchanging, incomprehensible love of God. Such hope is ours because, in His great love for us, He has poured out His own love into our very hearts, where resides the Holy Spirit He has given us (Ro 5:5).
Are you feeling the strength surge into your spirit as you look at this? I know I am as I type it. It seems with every phrase, my heart is turning to praises of His magnificence! There is such a joy bursting inside me right now, such a magnificent thrill to see laid out like this the shape of my Savior's love for me! How complete, how perfect in every detail has been His labor on my behalf!
Oh Lord! Here I begin to feel some of what I see in Paul so often. How, indeed, can one consider the works of Your hands and not be led into rhapsodies of praise! Oh, I know You have shown me these very same truths before, but every time I see them, God, I cannot help but tremble with rejoicing. What excitement can compare with this, with knowing how great Your love towards me is, how long Your love for me has been working, and how absolutely unshakable is the salvation You have wrought for me! Indeed, I could sing of Your love forever, and not even begin to exhaust the praises that are Your due! Most Holy Lord, I am so in love with You. I am so overjoyed at the considerations of Your marvelous works! Who am I, Lord? I am nothing. Yet, because You have esteemed me as worthy of Your attention, I am a most precious thing. You have declared me holy unto Yourself. I have been sanctified, set aside for Your use alone. I, who am nothing, have been made by You something more marvelous than words can describe. Words fail me, Lord. Words fail me. I feel that I could just continue this forever, but time marches onward, and I must be about the tasks of this day You have created. Oh, may this joy accompany me through the day, that as I write now, I might live today, simply overflowing with the joy You have placed in me!
