Nobody. (It Is God Who Justifies)

Nobody is the answer.  

God is the reason.

I have been listening to John Piper’s series on Romans for the last year and a half, and I am just over halfway through the series.  That may sound like a long time, but consider that it took Dr. Piper nine years to preach through Romans.  I listened to a sermon on the below verse this morning and was inspired to share what God’s Word says and what Dr. Piper expounded:

Romans 8:33 – Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Why is “Nobody” the answer?

This is one of those questions where Paul doesn’t answer the question explicitly but leaves the discourse to answer the question for us.

So can anybody bring a charge against God’s elect?  And what does it mean to bring a charge?  

It essentially means an accusation.  Paul is using the courtroom/legal analogy here, as he often does (more on that later).  So to bring a charge is to make an accusation that requires defense.  Can one bring a charge against God’s elect… meaning those who are truly saved?

Well, yeah.  They can accuse you.  They can say all kinds of things against you… they can run you into the ground.  So why do I say “nobody?”

Because they cannot pin it to you.  There is no accusation that the enemy or anybody can make against you, if you are elect, that will stick… that will bring a conviction. 

They are just empty attacks.

What charge?

What kind of charge are we talking about?  Why would we worry about someone accusing us… of what?  And why would Paul answer with “It is God who justifies?”  

I believe Paul is talking about justification here (among potentially other things).  Paul is encouraging believers – the elect – that nobody can charge you with not being justified, because God is the one who justifies.  

Take heart, new Christians, that you have been bought by the blood of Christ and you are now His.  

Take heart, mature Christians, that you are preserved by the blood of Christ and you are being conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).  

You do not need to work for your salvation.

I say this because the enemy will surely come to you and charge you.  

He will accuse you.  

He will say “you are not truly justified.  You are a wicked person and you need to do more.  You need to do good things… or else God will not love you.”

But you are justified.  God has predestined you before you ever existed (Romans 8:29-30).  And just in case I am not being clear, that means that there is nothing you can do to earn your salvation.  God has done all the work… in the predestining… in the atoning… in the calling… it is all God.

It Is God Who Justifies

Last, I want to emphasize one final thing that Dr. Piper said.  Back to the court analogy that I mentioned earlier: say your accuser comes to you and says you are not justified and the judge agrees.  Or maybe he doesn’t.  Either way, it ends up in the appellate courts and a long battle ensues.  Do you need to worry about the final determination?  

Of course not!  It is God who justifies!  He is the final judge… the Supreme Court!  No matter what anybody under heaven or earth might think or say to or about you, God is the Supreme Judge, and He has the final say on your salvation.

It is God who justifies.  O Glory Hallelujah!

When You Feel All Alone…

I still remember how it felt. 

It hurt.  It hurt so much.  

…And I felt so alone…

So Alone

Many years ago, now, I was in an adulterous relationship.  My first wife’s desire was not for fidelity, but for greener pastures outside our marriage covenant.  It was hard.  Her physical adultery was really only the consummation of what had been building for the better part of a year.  By that point, I was largely numb to the pain of the circumstances, as I had been reeling from the infidelity for many months.  

It started with emotional adultery.  She started to waver from me and began to emotionally draw toward other men.  She would tell me of this, and it would hurt… it would hurt like nothing I had ever experienced before.  I am still surprised at the memories… how she would confide in me her feelings for this person or that person.  

I was very confused… very upset… and very much in pain.  I felt so incredibly alone.

This person – who was supposed to be my other half; the person I was supposed to be “one” with; the closest person I had on this planet; my confidant; my go to person – was not there for me in my time of need.  How could she be?  She was the source of my crisis.  So without my closest loved one available to me, I felt completely and utterly alone.

What do you do when the person closest to you hurts you?

What do you do when the person whom you love and/or trust the most completely crushes and destroys you?  I can think of so many examples:

Your spouse is unfaithful to you.

Your spouse hits you or beats you.

Your father molests or sexually abuses you.

Your best friend slanders you or betrays you.

Your legal system fails you.

You Are Not Alone

So whom did I turn to during my moments of crisis?  How did I cope?  The loneliness was suffocating.

“Whom have I…but You?” the Psalmist asks (See Psalm 73:21-26).

All I had was Christ.  Christ was there for me in my time of peril.  He bid me comfort.  And what is so apparent to me now is that our relationship with God should not be confined to a mere deistic awareness or idealism, but a personal reality.

And for all those ways that you have been wronged… for whomever it was that hurt you, the Triune God will succeed in being that person for you that the earthly person could not be.

And here’s how:

Christ is our spouse (Ephesians 5:22-33; Revelation 21:2-3; cf. Ezekiel 16).  He is our perfect Spouse whom is ever faithful to us… though we commit adultery against Him all day long.

God is our Father (Romans 8:14-17; Revelation 21:7).  He has adopted us.  He is our perfect Father whom would never abuse us… though we abused Him by our sin, sending His Son to the cross to effect our undeserved redemption, where He took the beating we deserve.

Jesus is our friend (John 15:13-15).  The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Counselor.  He will not deride us nor leave us.  He is always present as He lives within us… helping us, guiding us… even while we grieve Him.

God is our sovereign (Romans 13:1).  While God has put government over us as authority, He will never fail to dole out justice.  When we are wronged and our legal system fails us, He sees to it that justice will be served… in this life or the next.

So whether your closest loved one(s) rapes you, beats you, reviles you or wholly betrays you, you will not be alone.  Our Triune God is there for you in exceeding capacity where you have been betrayed by your earthly contemporaries.  He is our Friend… Spouse… Father… Sovereign… and so much more.  There is nothing He cannot be for you. 

And lest we forget, Jesus knows exactly how it feels to be completely alone.  What He felt hanging on the cross, temporarily separated from His eternal heavenly Father… we can never imagine.

And the best part about this assurance: this same person, God, gives you the power to forgive the person that so incredibly wronged you… through the power of Jesus Christ and what He did for you… and that person.

That…… is powerful.

Why Is Christmas Such a Big Deal?

We all celebrate Christmas – if not the Christian holiday, the season it brings.  Most of us look forward to it every year, even if it’s just from a secular perspective of gift-giving or for the aesthetics that accompany the season: lights, music, snow, eggnog, etc.

But why?  Is it about the one time of year that people “spread good cheer,” get a breather from work and have celebrations?  Is it about some baby being born in a manger?  Or is it just a function of tradition, something that Christians mark as one of their several holidays?

Why is it such a big deal?  Or is it even a big deal?

It’s a very big deal.  The point is exactly what Emmanuel means: “God with us.”

Promise

For thousands of years, Yahweh had been telling His people of the coming Messiah… the one who would save His people from oppression and redeem them from their transgressions (Genesis 3:16, Deuteronomy 18:15, Daniel 2:44, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 25:9, 28:16, 32:1, 35:4, Micah 5:2, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:16, among others)… and by Jesus’ time, the prophets in Israel had been silent for half a millenium.  

So for the Jewish people, and by extension, future followers of Christ, the Messiah, Jesus’ coming was the fulfillment of a promise and the breaking of silence.

Commencement

With the birth of Jesus, a new kingdom was ushered in.  This was the beginning of Jesus’ ministry to many, His life in fulfillment of the law, and eventually His death, burial, and resurrection.  It was the commencement of all things that needed to take place to fulfill God’s redemptive plans.  Because without the Incarnation (Christ coming in the flesh), Christ would not have lived… and without life, He would not have died… and without death, He would not have resurrected… and without the resurrection, our faith would be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:13-15).

Christmas marks the answer that God gives to many questions in the birth of Jesus. 

“Return, O Lord!  How long (Psalm 90)?”  

Christ’s coming answered the silence of the Old Testament prophets.  Christ’s coming answered the problem of sin that decayed and was to destroy all of mankind.  

And that is why we mark the Christmas season with Advent, which means “coming,” in Latin… because we mark the coming Christmas holiday in celebration, which marks the first coming of Jesus as the Commencement of what He did to redeem us… and we also mark His future coming that will consummate the kingdom of God.

As the song says, “Rejoice!  Emmanuel has come!”  God was and truly is with us.  That is why Christmas is such a big deal.

New Mercies Every Morning

The other evening, I stood in my daughter’s room, holding her, praying over her.  As I prayed for her, I began to see a new view of the phrase “His meries… are new every morning.”

I’ve never really grasped before what exactly that means.  New mercies?  What does that mean?  And why are they new every morning?

I’ve been reading through Lamentations 3 this morning.  It is a chilling account of how the author (possibly Jeremiah) feels about the siege and sacking that has befallen his beloved city, Jerusalem. 

We find some chilling language, such as the author saying “surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long (vs. 3)…” and “he has broken my bones (vs. 4)…” and “he has made my teeth grind on gravel (vs. 16)….”  Those last two are vivid and awful.  Imagine grinding your teeth on gravel; not just biting tenderly, but grinding your teeth. 

But this is also where we find the above phrase about God’s mercies being new every morning.  Observe:

²¹ But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

²² The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
   his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.  –Lamentations 3:21-23  ESV

Other versions, such as the KJV and NKJV say it is because of “the LORD’s mercies… we are not consumed.”

Consumed.

This chapter is a chilling account of God and His wrath against the city of Jerusalem, representative of His judgment upon His people for how they forsook Him, and did not heed His warnings through His prophets.  This chapter is an account of judgment upon Israel’s love for themselves and not God. 

But it doesn’t end there. 

Starting in vs. 19, the author begins about God’s mercy and how His mercy and faithfulness can restore a relationship with God.

And this is what I called to mind the other evening while holding and praying for my daughter… and wanting mercy for her more than I have ever wanted anything at all.  I pray fervently every night that she will wake up in the morning, and then more importantly, that God will someday call her to Himself and save her from judgment.

Mercy

See, mercy is when God withholds something bad that we deserve (Dictionary.com says it is “kindly forbearance shown toward an offendor” or “the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone”).  Grace is when He gives us something good that we don’t deserve.

So the natural question is what is He withholding from us?  We deserve judgment… and that is played out in many ways:  starting with what we experience in this lifetime (Romans 1), continuing with our experiencing death, and then finishing with the second eternal death of torment.

And this is the picture that I got in my mind as I was pleading with God on behalf of my daughter… that she would be spared in this life, and that more importantly, she would receive His grace, and her eternal soul would be spared.

And this story is the same for us.  His judgment rests upon us for our wickedness, for how we loved ourselves and not God.  But there is hope, as it says in vs. 21, because His mercies can be new every morning and save us from being consumed. 

It is the redemption of Jesus Christ that can save us from ourselves.

WE ARE (no different than) PENN STATE

I have been a lifelong Penn State fan.  Since as long as I can remember, I have loved the Nittany Lions, Joe Paterno, and the integrity that he and his football program have symbolized.  That is why the unbelievable events of the past week to ten days  have been so difficult for me.  My emotions have been all across the spectrum, ranging from sadness, to confusion, to righteous and selfish anger, and many inbetween.

I was particularly struck by a quote in the comments section of one of the many news articles on the subject; the author wrote,

 “…there is no longer any reason to believe there’s anything “noble” about American College Football.  Not that there was much to believe in left.”  

I believe this person was reflecting on the events of the past few years that have seen several major college football programs find their way into probation or worse for inappropriate recruiting practices or team management activities.  This is especially in light of the downfall of former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, known as much for his Christianity and integrity as his college football success.  

This person’s comment reflected what I believe many are feeling today, that the last beacon of light has left the building.  Joe Paterno has always been the picture of integrity in college football.  He has given over $4 million to the university, helped raise $13.5 million for the university library, among other things, and maintains one of the highest graduation rates of players in the country. 

And we are sad because of this.  We want to believe in mankind.  We want to believe that somebody out there is actually a good person.  …And there was one good person… but we will get to that later.

Self-righteousness

Yet for all our desire to believe in mankind, the immediate self-righteous condemnation we profess is astounding.

It has been interesting to me to follow this series of events and to watch the public outcry and backlash against Jerry Sandusky (the man charged with the crimes), Joe Paterno, the administrators of the university, and the students and fans of the university themselves.  I have seen countless news articles and blogs, several Facebook posts and heard countless radio pundits all denouncing the above-mentioned individuals, and it has struck me how self-righteous we all sound… and we don’t even know it.

In an era where we hear Katy Perry on the radio singing her pedophile-worthy lyrics of “Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight…” where we say teenage students sleeping with high school teachers is wrong but snicker about it or see it’s glorification in popular movies or song (Van Halen, you know who you are)… or where just about any man or woman has had lustful thoughts for the latest teenage heartthrob… are we really any different?  

Make no mistake that what Jerry Sandusky has allegedly done is disgusting and of the worst kind of crime.  I am not mistaking that for a second.  But we do the same things, just to different degrees or in different ways.  And of those who did not take the evidence to the authorities, we keep crying, “They should have done more!”  

But couldn’t we all do more?  Am I mistaken to think that none of us (save one) has ever been able to claim that we needn’t do more?

Paul says in Romans 2:1 that “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.”  

And just so we do not mistake the seriousness of what Paul is saying here, this passage falls directly on the heels of his discourse in Romans 1 about men being “consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men,” which would definitely apply to Sandusky’s alleged acts.

At this point you may object, “But my sins have never hurt anybody.  He has ruined these young boys’ lives!”  And that may be true, that you may not have acted on your desires, and you may not have directly hurt anyone as is the case for these poor victims.  But Jesus tells us a different way to understand our sin: He says in Matthew 5 that our actions are simply the outward expressions of what’s in our hearts.  

In these sins of the heart, we have sinned against God.  And while we may not regard this as serious, He does.  All of us have sinned and regardless of the “seriousness” of our personal sins, condemnation rests upon us.  David says to God in Psalm 51:4, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

And lest we fail to see the wrath that we have stored up for ourselves by our sin against an infinitely holy God, we need look no further than the beginning of the Bible, Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve sin by eating the fruit.  What person did they sin against?  They did not sin against any individual person, but sinned against God, by disobeying Him and stealing His glory.  And how did God respond?  He didn’t only curse Adam and Eve, but the entire human race, and banished them from the Garden of Eden.  

I think it’s safe to say that God takes this very seriously.

The truth is that we are completely infatuated with our own self-righteousness – which in itself is a complete fabrication.  We all are angry at Joe Paterno and the school administrators for not doing “more.”  And based on what we know of the facts, it does appear that way, that they should have done more.  But so should any host of people involved.  And so should you or I for any of a number of reasons… whether it’s failing to help the man next door that needs help (sins of omission), or failing to report a crime (regardless of how “serious” its nature is).  It’s all serious to God, when we fail to obey Him.

Thankfully, the only One who never had to say, “I should have done more,” did everything it took to save us from our life long failure to do more.  When we were busy sending Him to His death by our sins against Him, He was busy emptying Himself out for us, doing everything He could, so that our self-righteousness that leads to judgment won’t be the end of us.

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  –Romans 7:24-25

The Bride Should Always Wear White

Growing up, I recall being told that the white wedding dress worn by the bride on her wedding day was a symbol of purity (though it appears this was not always the case.  A virgin bride was to wear white, and those who were not, were to wear something else.  I also remember the judgment that came with this idea:  “I can’t believe she is wearing white,” would be a typical statement directed at a bride perceived as less than pure.

I was influenced by this paradigm.  I began to judge the brides based on what I knew of them and I began to consider them dishonest if they wore white on their wedding day.

Virginity

This coupled with my convictions on virginity.  When I was an adolescent, I benefited from a wonderful Sunday School teaching on the value of chastity.  I committed to myself to maintain this until marriage and desired for the reciprocal maintaining from my future spouse.  Further, I remember having many conversations with like-minded friends, where we all desired to only marry a virgin, considering ourselves both super-virtuous and somehow worthy.  

Without denigrating the seriousness of sexual purity, I wonder if we place too much of an emphasis on virginity as Christians.  While maintaining initial sexual purity is Godly and honoring to Him, I think it can become an issue of self-righteousness and potentially self-loathing (especially when we consider that none of us are actually pure, as true purity goes beyond a simple physical act (Matthew 5:27-30)).

If we place so much emphasis on our sexual purity, we are likely not honoring God, but heaping honor on ourselves… or hoping others honor us.  And if we hold such an all-or-nothing view, we can lead those who stumble to see themselves as failures and to continue in sexual impurity based on their self-loathing for their fall.

But most importantly, I believe an overemphasis misses the point of the Gospel.

Please don’t misunderstand me; God calls us to holiness, and sexual purity is what He calls us to and should be what we desire.  But we also need to look to the good news of Jesus Christ for how we handle the instance of sexual impurity in others.

When we look at Ephesians 5, we see symbolic language for Christ’s relationship with the church, where Paul says, 

25 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

We need to remember that we, as Christians, are not righteous on our own.  We were by no means pure.  Instead, Christ marries us anyway.  We see this in Revelation 21:

1”Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God… 

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.“

Jesus is making all things new.  

That is what this is all about.  We are not holy on our own, but He makes us new.  This is redemption… bought by Christ’s redeeming love.  He takes our wretched, sinful, disgusting, chaotic condition and breathes new life into us and takes us as a bride for Himself.

He redeems us from our adultery against Him… our sexual immorality of our pasts.  How can we not treat those who stumble in this life in a like manner?

I have come to see that two repentant people who love Jesus and pledge their faithfulness and fidelity to one another at a wedding ceremony are a picture of this redemption, of this scene in Revelation.  Who cares what they did before that day.  It undoubtedly could have far-reaching consequences, but in terms of purity, Christ has redeemed them from where they once were to where they now are.

The picture in Ephesians 5 of the pure spotless bride tells me that Christ would want our brides to wear white.  

The bride should wear white.

Check out this wonderful video clip of Matt Chandler discussing God’s redemption over sexual impurity.

Life Is Messy

“Nobody is as happy as he seems on Facebook.  And no one is as ‘spiritual’ as he seems…”

I ran across these lines in a poignant blog by Russell Moore when reading through an excellent article about Steve Jobs, Apple, and how the iPhone has become the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”  

In that article, the author, Mike Cosper, makes reference to the point of Moore’s blog, that “Social media… has effectively increased the distance between us.  It presents a false picture to the world, a place where we can highlight how wonderful and perfect our lives are, which is alienating to those who are hurting and broken.”

This struck me in a profound way.  I thought about my Facebook page, and how I do this as well: I put my best foot forward.  My profile picture is a gorgeous picture of my six-month-old baby, and all the pictures I post are glamour-type shots of my family and all the things I post are positive in terms of my life or in terms of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now it may be true that my motive for this is to be positive, to not tear anybody or anything down, and to use this social medium for the glory of God, but it is very possible that I am also perpetuating what Cosper says in the above quote: I could be presenting a false picture to the world and could be frustrating or alienating those who are hurting.

Because, let’s face it.  Life is messy.  It’s not all smiles and warm moments.  People die.  People get sick.  People lose their jobs.  People hurt each other.  And closer to home, I have many such moments that are far from happy… like when I fight with my wife, or I react harshly to my children, or I feel under the weather, am wronged by somebody or have a bad day.  In fact, though I am saved by grace, my sanctification is (and will continue to be) a growth process which is incomplete to this point.  Therefore, I still behave badly and sin against my God and everyone I love.

Life is messy.  And so am I.

And it is important for us to be real people, to be honest with one another about the struggles that we are facing.  This creates identification and community and can help others through their tough times.  

But at the end of the day, the real truth is that I do, indeed, have a wonderful life.  How I portray my life on Facebook or outwardly as a person does fairly reflect my actual state.  But what is important is that this is not because of me… it is not because of anything I have done to be blessed by God… 

It is because of the Gospel… it is because of what God has done for me.  It is because of what He has chosen to give me.  It is because He chose in eternity past to love me, despite the wretch that I am.  Because at my core, I am an awful person, deserving of awful circumstances and an awful life.  But He chose to give me a different life, secured by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

And that is what I choose to glory in.  That is why I have a great life.  It doesn’t mean I never have rough moments – because I have them every day – but it means that regardless of what life throws at me, I can take joy in Jesus Christ and the redemption that He bought me at Calvary.

And the best part about this is so can you.  

If you are reading this from the link I posted on Facebook, you don’t have to look at the outward picture I paint of my (or any other Christian’s) life and think it’s something you can’t have… because you can.  And regardless of the circumstances of your life, you can have joy.

This is why the day my mom died, I could praise God and feel nothing but immeasurable gratitude toward my Savior and inexpressible joy.  

Whatever befalls me, Christ is what I have.  

Christ is all I have.

Give Away Your Fame, Fortune and Freedom

“Well at least I still have my self-respect.”

But what if you didn’t?  Would you still respect yourself if no one else did?

Or for that matter, what if you didn’t have your freedom, your money or even your clothing?

These are hard questions that Jesus forces us to consider in His famous Sermon on the Mount.  Recently, my pastor has been working through this part of the Book of Matthew, and this last week he tackled the idea of living with others’ good in mind instead of our own.

And as I was rolling this Scripture over in my mind, it struck me what Jesus was really asking of us.  While He is asking us to consider others over ourselves, considering the things we have as tools to help others (and in-so-doing glorifying God), not just tools to gratify ourselves… He is also asking us to do so at a considerable cost to ourselves.  Let’s take a look at what He says.

Reputation

Matthew 5:38-39 says, “38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

Jesus is addressing if someone backhands you in disrespect, you are not to retaliate, but to allow him to disrespect you again.  Consider them more important than the respect you desire.

Clothing

Matthew 5:40 says, “40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”

We always talk about food, shelter and clothing as our basic needs.  Jesus here talks about one of those needs.  The tunic worn in Biblical times was an undergarment worn next to the skin.  Thus, if someone takes your tunic, he is literally taking the clothes off your back.  But what does Jesus say?  He doesn’t say “retaliate!”  He doesn’t say, “Let him have your tunic, for you can still cover up with your cloak,” but He says to give him the cloak as well.  This basically would leave you naked without clothing.  

Freedom

Matthew 5:41 says, “41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”

In this country we consider freedom as an unalienable right, as long as we stay within legal boundaries.  In the Jewish culture, they were required to perform certain levels of service to Roman soldiers while under occupation.  This would limit their basic freedom.  But Jesus doesn’t say to fight this, He says to further subject yourself to this oppression in the name of doing good to your oppressor.

Money

Matthew 5:42 says, “42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”

Last but not least, money.  Face it: we’re all thinking, “Please don’t talk about money.”  The last thing we want to give up is our financial security… or what goes beyond that: our wealth and what it entails.  Jesus says to give liberally, whether it’s to those who can pay it back or not.

So in summary, Jesus is asking us to put others before our basic needs (i.e. clothing), our personal well-being (i.e. money), our self-worth (i.e. reputation) and even our freedom.  How can He ask such things?  I mean, who has the right to make such outlandish requests?

Jesus does.  

Christ was poor and homeless.  He was repeatedly slandered and beaten yet He returned no evil.  His freedom was stripped from Him and He died naked and alone.  And He did it all without an ounce of retaliation.  

He did it for love.  Yes, He did it for love.

If this doesn’t give you chills, I’m not sure what will.

The Gospel Gives Us Power

See, the Gospel – the good news that Jesus lived a perfect life of love to fulfill the law and died a horrible death to take the punishment for our sins… and rose again that we might resurrect to be like and with Him, despite our fallen selves – gives us the power to do this.  When we look to the cross, we see what He did – putting us ahead of Himself, using what He had… His very life… to do good to us – and we see that it is possible to put others ahead of ourselves, even to our own personal detriment… to use our things for others’ good.  

The Gospel gives us this power to change our paradigm.  It gives us the power to want to seek others’ good more than we want to seek our own.

And when we are willing to put aside our needs, self-worth, personal well-being and even our freedom, we are fulfilling the law because we are loving perfectly like Christ.  May His Holy Spirit give us the power to do so.

Does Steve Bartman Deserve Grace?

Last night I watched a bit of an ESPN documentary called “Catching Hell,” a documentary that took a detailed look at the infamous Steve Bartman foul ball that potentially changed the face of Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series, continuing the now century-long misery of the Chicago Cubs.

If you are not familiar with the events surrounding this historical snafu, a quick synopsis is that late in the game that should have clinched a World Series appearance for the hometown Chicago Cubs, a fan, later identified as Steve Bartman, reached into the field of play on a foul ball and disrupted the Cubs outfielder from making the out, potentially prolonging the inning, and possibly causing the Cubs the game and the opportunity to reach the World Series.  A more detailed account can be found here.

I watched this documentary last evening for the better part of an hour, reliving the game as the documentary recapped in detail the events of the 8th inning in Game 6.  The documentary showed the real, ugly side of humanity, as the fans’ anger slowly increased and began to express itself outwardly.  The fans outside the stadium and then inside the stadium began to chant an expletive at Steve Bartman.  Eventually fans walked over to him and insulted him, threw their alcoholic beverages at him, and even their food at him.  Finally, security, realizing the dire situation, stepped in and escorted him and his two friends out of the stadium.  Even the exit was tenuous, as people screamed at Bartman and tried to get at him.  Bartman has since essentially gone into hiding, having received death threats and being constantly jeered.

Watching the events of this 2003 October evening unfold deeply saddened me.   It saddened me for Bartman… what he, a simple baseball fan, must have felt as the object of denigration from his fellow fans of their shared beloved team.  It saddened me for all the fans everywhere who placed their anger on this man, unjustly, as Steve Bartman was not even the direct cause of the loss (e.g. the ball fell foul, meaning the pitcher still could have gotten the batter out; Bartman reached into the field of play and thus the umpire could have ruled the batter out on fan interference, but for some reason chose not to; there is no guarantee that Moises Alou, the outfielder, would have caught the ball; Alex Gonzalez, the Cubs shortstop, could have gotten the Cubs out of the inning without much damage had he not committed an error on a tailor-made double-play; and last but certainly not least, Bartman never played a single pitch on the field… the Chicago Cubs were entirely responsible for the loss by giving up the hits and runs and failing to score runs in the remainder of Game 6 and the final loss of Game 7).

But most of all, it saddened me to see such a dark side of humanity, where we put the outcome of an ultimately inconsequential sporting event above the well-being and worth of another human being. 

I have often said that baseball was my first love.  As a life-long Cubs fan myself, I grew up playing baseball and played as long as I was able to play.  I even still play softball occasionally, just trying to see a shadow of the game I grew up loving.  But at the end of the day, it is just a game.  It is just a game.  Aren’t the people surrounding the game more important than the game itself?

But none of those frustrations sadden me as much as a conversation I had with someone today, a professing Christian.  He kept saying that Bartman deserved what he got and deserved to die.  Now, I am not certain he meant this last part, but he was unequivocally sure that Bartman doesn’t deserve forgiveness, even after I reminded this person that he professes to be a Christian.  While I have sympathy toward Bartman’s feelings and experiences, a desire to see justice, and sadness at the side of darkened humanity, I understand that human beings are evil at the core, as I’ve discussed before , and I also understand that all things will not be restored until the kingdom of God is fully consummated.  

However, a Christian should know better.  A Christian is someone who has been saved by God’s grace, forgiven for his or her sins, and should remember what it was like to be dead in our sins and to be given new life… a second chance.  How then can we not forgive Steve Bartman for something so natural as doing what everyone else around him was doing (and you or I probably also would have done): reaching out to catch a baseball heading toward him.

We Christians are all sinners, and Christ has lived and died and lived again to give us new life, to give us a second chance.  It’s said no where better than in this parable that Jesus told in Matthew 18:

21Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

23″Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.  24When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

I am that servant who was forgiven yet failed to forgive – and so are you — if we do not forgive the way we were forgiven.

Complementarianism Is Trinitarian

In my reading of the Trinity in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, I came across some parallels between God and the family unit.  These parallels are not perfect, but they seem analogous enough to me that it appears that God meant for us to reflect His relationship among Himself in our relationships among ourselves.  And one of the parallels that I see is the Complementarian understanding of male and female roles within the family and the church.

One of the great points that Mr. Grudem makes is that there is no perfect analogy for the Trinity.  That should be obvious, as there is nothing else in our world like it.  That said, there are some comparisons that can be helpful for us to understand the nature of the Trinity.

Let’s do a quick review of the Doctrine of the Trinity:

1     God is three persons
2     Each person is fully God
3     There is one God

As the old hymn goes, “…God in three persons, blessed Trinity.”  While this gives us a good summary of what the Bible says about the Trinity, I think it is safe for us to agree that we will not fully be able to understand how the Trinity works, this side of heaven.

So if God is three persons, how does that work?  What does that look like?  Well, we know that each person of God – the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit – is fully God, meaning they all share the attributes of God (i.e. omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, eternality, etc.); then how are they different?  Grudem profoundly says that they are different in how they relate to people and to one another.

Within the Trinity, there is what’s called “economic subordination,” that while all three persons are equal, the Son submits to the Father, and the Holy Spirit submits to the Father and the Son.  We see this expressed in the Filioque, which was a controversial addition to the Nicene Creed that contributed to the East-West Schism, splitting the western church (the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches today) and what is now the Eastern Orthodox church in 1054 (although, it should be noted that political forces were likely primarily responsible).  The Filioque portion of the Nicene Creed added that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, which seems to be Scriptural (John 15:26; 16:7).

So in the Trinity, we see that Jesus submits to the Father, and the Holy Spirit submits to the Father and Jesus.

Parallels in Creation: Oneness and Procession

When looking at creation of the nuclear family, one can’t help but see parallels.  A husband, his wife, and their children are all created equally in the image of God, but have different roles and relate to one another differently.  The Bible says that the man and woman become one when married (Genesis 2:24),  and while it doesn’t say the same thing about children, one could see a “sort of oneness” as the child is physically created by his parents and extends their legacy.

Genesis 2 says that the man was created first, and then the woman was created out of man.  Finally, children are procreated from the man and the woman.  This reminds me of the Filioque concept of the Trinity, where Jesus proceeds from the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son.  (Note: I want to emphasize again that this is an imperfect analogy and that in no way am I suggesting that either the Son or the Holy Spirit are “Created beings;” they have coexisted with the Father since eternity past).

Parallels in Marital Roles: Submission

Again, when looking at the roles within the nuclear family, Complementarian parallels are evident.  As I mentioned earlier about economic subordination, all three persons of the Trinity are equal, but we see that the Son submits to the Father, and the Holy Spirit submits to the Father and the Son.  This parallels with the Biblical perspective of marital roles, where the wife submits to her husband and the children submit to both parents.

Conclusion

The reason I probe these examples is to emphasize the support for the Complementarian view that I wrote about last week. Largely, the objections to the Complementarian viewpoint are typically cultural, that we don’t believe that the Apostles teachings are relevant today, or quite frankly because we do not like them.  However, I think it is significant that the support the Apostles use for their stance is not cultural, but theological, as evidenced by these parallels here.

God gives us a pattern for our marriages and our relationships between parents and children based off of the greatest example of all: Himself.  We need to remember, be thankful for and honor that.

If we want to see a perfect example of united, loving community, we need look no further than the Trinity.  If we follow that pattern, our families’ joy and fruitfulness should be greatly increased.