Humility

What Does Unity in the Church Look Like? Ten Truths from Ephesians 4

/ davidsschrock / 4 Comments

 

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And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
— Ephesians 4:11–16 —

Few things are more important for growth as a Christian than learning how to walk in unity with others. And, at the same time, few things more confused than discussions about unity in the church today. Indeed, how many seek Christian unity without the foggiest idea of what Scripture says about the church, and thus they seek unity in the church with definitions and desires formed without the light of Scripture.

Still, unity in the church is a goal that biblical churches must pursue. Jesus prayed for it (John 17), and Jesus died for it (Ephesians 2). And thankfully, Scripture speaks of it in passages like Ephesians 4. Therefore, consider ten truths that we find in Ephesians about what church unity is and is not.

  1. Unity is a gift from God.
  2. Unity is maintained, not created by man.
  3. Unity grows over time.
  4. Unity is most opposed by pride and self-interest.
  5. Unity is a uniquely Christian adornment.
  6. Unity requires a doctrinal center – the gospel.
  7. Unity does not mean uniformity.
  8. Unity depends on grace and gifts.
  9. Unity grows when it is stretched, pressured, and even threatened.
  10. Unity glorifies God and attracts unbelievers.

Continue reading →

Finding Evidences of Grace

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I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
— 1 Corinthians 1:4–9 —

graceIn Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he begins by observing evidences of God’s grace (1:4). This astounds us because of how easily Paul could have fixated on their immaturity and iniquity rather than their position in Christ—after all the church was divided, disorderly, and dangerously lax towards sin. For most of us, it would have been difficult to get past Corinth’s glaring sins to commend the grace of God in their midst.

And yet, in his opening verses, he looks below the surface and praises God for the grace he sees in the Corinthians. How did he do that? How might we do that? When we encounter other believers whose sin stains their lives, how can we find evidences of grace?

In my Sunday’s sermon, I argued that grace looks back to see the work of Christ in a believer’s life; it looks in to see the ongoing work of Christ; and it looks forward to the day when a believer—however immature now—will be made complete in the day of Jesus Christ. This is how Paul saw grace in the Corinthians: he remembered how the gospel (i.e., the testimony of Christ) brought spiritual life to them (vv. 5–6); he saw an abundant supply of spiritual gifts in them (v. 7) ; and he trusted that God who began a good work in them would complete it on the day of Christ Jesus (v. 8; cf. Philippians 1:6). There is much we can learn and apply from Paul’s observance of grace in the Corinthians. But how? Continue reading →

The Gospel Perfectly and Proportionately Humbles and Exalts

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Why is the Gospel of Jesus Christ so vital to the restoration of mankind?

Simply put, there is no other message or medium, person or power that is able to elevate a man without making him an arrogant ogre. The gospel humbles a man to dust, and raises him to glory. Through its life-giving message of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, sinners are forgiven and given the very life of God.

This balanced work of the gospel was observed centuries ago by Blaise Pascal (1623-62).  In his Pensées (208), he observes.

Without this divine knowledge, how could we help feeling either exalted or dejected? The Christian religion alone has been able to cure these twin vices, not by using the one to expel the other according to worldly wisdom, but by expelling both through the simplicity of the Gospel. For it teaches the righteous that they still bear the source of all corruption which exposes them throughout their lives to error, misery, death, and sin; and [yet] it cries out to the most ungodly that they are capable of the grace of the Redeemer. Thus, making those whom it justifies to tremble, yet consoling those whom it condemns, it so nicely tempers fear with hope through this dual capacity…. Grace and sin! It causes infinitely more dejection than mere reason—but without despair, and infinitely more exaltation than natural pride—but without puffing us up! (cited by Tim Keller in his foreword to J. D. Greear’s book Gospel).

Pascal was followed by Charles Hodge (1797-1878), who said of the finer points of the gospel, “the doctrines of grace humble man without degrading him and exalt him without inflating him.” Indeed, this is the reason why Christians must never leave the gospel behind; it simultaneously humbles and exalts.

The gospel restores men wrecked by the Fall to reflect the glorious image of God, but it also forces them to confront the ugliness of their sin and the immensity of God’s holiness. The result? Men are most glorious when they fall face down before the King of Glory. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can effect that.

May we endlessly delight ourselves in the perfect, proportionate gospel of Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria, dss

Faithful Exegesis: A Mark of Humility

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Colin Adams, at Unashamed Workman, posts a thought-provoking nugget this morning about the faithful exegesis and the example of John Calvin.  He writes:

There are many loose ends in Scripture. All too frequently in my preaching I feel gravely tempted to tie some of those ends together: or at least to make educated guesses regarding ‘unknowns’ beyond the text. I was interested, then, to read of John Calvin’s attitude to these “One might imagine….” comments:

“There were…necessary safeguards to [Calvin’s] reasoning process. In dealing with any biblical text, Calvin purposed not to exceed what Scripture itself taught. The Reformer was careful not to enter the realm of speculation. As Calvin said, ‘Where the Lord closes His holy mouth, let us also stop our minds from going any further.’ In other words, he would say no more than Scripture” (Steve Lawson, The Expository Genius of John Calvin, p 79).

With Colin, I have felt that angst, seeing in Scripture possible connections, plausible connections, even probable connections, but connections that lack explicit textual warrant.  This is part of the joy of biblical theology–seeing the intertextual types, patterns, and allusions employed in Scripture.  Nevertheless, making too many connections may become a theological and exegetical snare.

In fact, the temptation to say more than God says, takes us back to the Garden.  It pulls on our sinful longings to be like God (cf. Gen. 3:1-6).  So, I appreciate Colin’s reminder this morning that faithful exegesis is hard and humbling.  Hard because we are called to say what God says, and this is sometimes difficult to grasp; and humbling because it restricts us to say only what Scripture says, nothing more.  Overly speculative exegesis is not faithful exegesis.  In this instance, Proverbs 13:3 is sage advice:  “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.”

Deuteronomy 29:29 is another timely word: The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deut. 29:29).  God has given us his Word that we might know him; he has fully revealed himself in Jesus, the incarnate Word (cf. John 1:1-3, 14; Heb. 1:1-2:4).  But at the same time, God’s word is not like google.  There is a defined limit and we cannot simply search out whatever our vain curiosities desire.  By design, there is sixty-six book limit, and as such, we are humbled to wrestle with what God has said–not what he might have said, not what he could have said, not what he will say, not what he left out, but should have said.  God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and for that we are eternally helped and gratefully humbled.

This week as we consider God’s word, may we speak the revealed things boldy, loudly, persistently, and may we with reverence and silence cover our mouths concerning the unspoken mysteries of God.  As Solomon tells us “there is a time to keep silent and a time to speak” (Ecc. 3:7)

Sola Deo Gloria, dss