Fellowship, Not Social Club

From the pen of Jerry Bridges:

 In our Christian circles, the word fellowship has come to mean little more than Christian social activity. It may mean the exchange of pleasantries over coffee and cookies at church, or the social functions of our high school or campus ministry groups. This is not the meaning of fellowship in the New Testament. The first occurrence of the word fellowship in the New Testament occurs in Luke’s account of the beginning of the New Testament church on the Day of Pentecost. As a result of Peter’s sermon, about three thousand people believed in Christ. Luke says of them that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2: 42). We’re not surprised that these new believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to prayer. But to fellowship? It would seem strange to include fellowship along with teaching and prayer if fellowship meant no more than Christian social activity. Or consider the words of the apostle John in 1 John 1: 3: “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (NASB). In both Acts 2: 42 and 1 John 1: 3, the New English Bible translates koinnia as “sharing a common life.” This is the most basic meaning of koinonia, or fellowship. It is sharing a common life with other believers — a life that, as John says, we share with God the Father and God the Son. It is a relationship, not an activity. 

RELATIONSHIP

 Those first Christians of Acts 2 were not devoting themselves to social activities but to a relationship — a relationship that consisted of sharing together the very life of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They understood that they had entered this relationship by faith in Jesus Christ, not by joining an organization. And they realized that their fellowship with God logically brought them into fellowship with one another. Through their union with Christ, they were formed into a spiritually organic community. They were living stones being built into a spiritual house (see 1 Peter 2: 5), fellow members of the body of Christ. As William Hendriksen said, “Koinonia, then, is basically a community-relationship.” 1 It is not primarily an activity; it is a relationship. It is this spiritually organic relationship that forms the basis of true Christian community. It is not the fact that we are united in common goals or purposes that makes us a community. Rather, it is the fact that we share a common life in Christ. There are many organizations, both secular and Christian, whose members work together to pursue common goals. Some of these groups may call themselves communities. But biblical community goes much deeper than sharing common goals, though it ultimately involves that. Biblical community is first of all the sharing of a common life in Christ. It is when we grasp this truth that we are in a position to begin to understand true community.*

*Bridges, Jerry (2012-09-14). True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia (Kindle Locations 89-113). Navpress. Kindle Edition.

The Office of Elder/Pastor Is More Important Than The Office Of The President...Appreciate Them

A Portrait of Paul is a book to be read by congregants and elders alike. Here is a piece from the forward:

Finding faithful pastors is one of the most difficult tasks facing Christ’s church. Any local church that conscientiously seeks to be biblical should understand the need to bring in and train up men that meet the biblical standard for ministers of the gospel. When the pastoral search begins, the applicant pool may appear to teem with possibilities. Annually, fresh crops of seminary graduates seek respectable assignments, and many of these young men abound with big plans, optimism, and energy. Occasionally, more experienced ministers become available, men who range from battle proven to battle broken. Who will be chosen? Which man is best for your church? Sorting through all the options and finally calling the right person takes considerable effort, sanctified discernment, and earnest prayer.

Is there an ideal pastor? There is one: His name is Jesus Christ. He sets the standard for all who would follow in His footsteps. But do not forget the interwoven and full-orbed perfections of the Lord Jesus: no one was gentler than He or consumed with such holy zeal. No one spoke with such tenderness to those in genuine need or with more bite to those who bitterly opposed the will of God. He was a true friend of sinners and a fierce enemy of hypocrites. He could call a child to Himself and embrace him; He could make a whip of cords and drive thugs from the temple of God. He was loved with profound attachment by His friends; He was hated with deep loathing by His enemies. At times thousands hung upon His words; He died a deserted and forsaken man.

Those who follow in the footsteps of a crucified Christ partake of His character, though always imperfectly. Would you want such a man to shepherd you? Suppose someone were to suggest a man with a reputation for stirring up trouble, although he has seen many people converted. Wherever he goes, he seems to divide opinion. He is often run out of town before he seems to make much progress, sometimes causing riots and disturbances. Sometimes he is so quick to stir up antagonism that he cannot avoid a beating, and his body bears witness to the bruising he has borne. He would be ugly even without those scars and is a powerful, though not an overly polished, speaker. He is a regular troubler of the civil and religious authorities and has the jail record to prove it. He struggles with several chronic health conditions, sometimes being completely, albeit temporarily, debilitated by them. He is not always easy to work with, and some of his companions have gone their separate ways; in fact, some of those with whom he has worked are not even walking with Jesus any longer. He is in many respects a driven man, full of energy and with no appetite for the status quo, always unsettling things and people. When there is tension in his relationship with a church, he will write letters dealing with their faults and defending his own calling and reputation. Despite the fruits of his ministry, he has left no megachurches behind him, but rather small groups of faithful men and women. If you instinctively back away from the idea of considering such a man as a pastor and preacher, consider this: you would be in danger of the great folly of rejecting the apostle Paul. You could hardly make a worse decision.*

Now go out and get the book here.


*Ventura, Rob; Walker, Jeremy (2011-12-27). A Portrait of Paul (Kindle Locations 223-247). Reformation Heritage Books. Kindle Edition.

Some Things to Notice About Paul's Epistles

Some things to notice about Paul’s letters: (as well as those other epistles of the apostles and writers of the New Testament corpus:

First, a simple observation, but one that, nowadays, is often lost on those among the various churches that style themselves to be of the one catholic body of Christ: Paul was writing to Christians.

This should be obvious, but at times, it is not for many who are professing Christ, for as they come to the warning passages in these epistles, they often forget that Paul begins and ends his letters to the churches with this assumption (if the inspired writing of Scripture may be said to contain assumptions by those who were moved along by the Holy Spirit to pen God’s divine words to His church; I contend strongly that such assumption, or presuppositions, are inherent and purposed of God for our edification)

The second thing to notice in Paul’s letters is that he is writing to churches.

The frequent use of plural pronouns in the letters cannot be ignored, nor the particular use of direct address to the churches that begin many of his letters, and permeate them throughout, nor the direct allegories concerning the structure and membership of the church, especially in its local form.

The third thing to notice, in a general overview which is addressing only specifics such as this one, is that those assumptions, or presuppositions, which I strongly asserted above are definitely intended by God to be present within the body of the letters, is this: Paul did not assume that all those he addressed, either individually or corporately, were making the true confession of faith in Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior, though he always weighted this assumption with that love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. This gives us the reasons for many of the warning sections, which, in a synopsis statement by Paul, may be understood as if indeed you continue in the faith (that is, the body of Christian doctrine which comprises all things for our rule of knowledge and practice in living out the grace of God which is in Christ Jesus), as in Colossians 1:23. He indeed does give even stronger warnings, but as said, this statement can be taken as a synopsis of those warnings. The assumption is that those who do not continue in the faith are not of the faith; the certainty, in any harmonious considerations of God’s teaching through Paul’s writings, is that those who are called to be saints will indeed continue in the faith, since it is God who both wills and works within them to do of His good pleasure.

Therefore, the last thing to focus on in such a short article as this, regarding Paul’s letters, is that He strongly affirms that doctrine of the saints indeed persevering, not because of any valor or value in their character or actions, but by the sovereign keeping in the love of Christ and all Christian graces of the God who cannot fail to keep His own covenant for His people which He made within Himself. Paul powerfully asserts that powerful working of God to keep His people because of His being their God – God cannot lie, and Paul shows that the character of the God who saved those who are His saints, or called ones, is the sole basis for not only the burgeoning of faith in their regenerate natures, but also for the completion of their salvation. He asserts that all things, however we may regard them according to the flesh, are working together for those who love God, and nothing created can separate them from the love that God has given to them and holds them within.

Peter states of Paul’s letters: ^“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:15-18).

It is just here, as with all the Scriptures, the apostle Peter states, that those who have a form of knowledge which is no knowledge at all twist the truth of God so out of context that it is distorted beyond recognition.

First to be sacrificed in such false knowledge is their own salvation, for there is no salvation apart from the true knowledge of God in the Scriptures, all of which speak of His Son, our Lord.

I say, above, first to be sacrificed, but it may well be that the error of the first part is rather that they serve the creature rather than the Creator; that is, they deny God’s sovereignty in all things, and especially in the matter of salvation and ongoing sanctification, while affirming man’s responsibility in such things to that point where God is made a helpless bystander waiting to see if they will keep themselves in His love and faith, citing numerous passages that state we must make our calling and election sure (which indeed is true, but not as they perceive it), and other imperatives which are not to be seen as man dictating to God that which He surely does, but obeying God out of a sincere faith from a good conscience from a heart made pure to love God and brethren with that love that has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (1 Timothy 1:5: Romans 5:5; cf. Ephesians 2:10). Such do not rightly divide the word of truth – they do not count the precious promises of God to either rule over their own efforts which proceed from that faith given by God’s grace, or to keep them zealous for good works despite their flawed attempts: It is not too strong a thing to say that such false believers have no understanding of God’s grace whatsoever. Subverting the commandments of our Lord to a place above even Him (as if God would contradict Himself), as said before, they place the created creature in the primacy over God, and that this is very much done in Paul’s epistles by these people shows that not only do they not know the grace of God, but that they truly have no knowledge of God as sovereign.

I listed various elements of Paul’s letters to show that disharmony of those who twist his (and other Scripture) words out of context, for when all these things (and this is very basic) are considered together, by God’s Spirit enlightening the understanding of those He has infallibly called to be saints in the formation of local bodies of His church universal, such errors cannot stand. Harmony in reading and study and meditation of our Lord’s Scriptures – the analogy of the faith – leads to those sure conclusions by which He both states His glory and holiness, and gives us to be able to show some of that inestimable radiance of His perfection through our yet-flawed lives, as we progress in this pilgrim’s progress, together.

Grace and peace in the love of God in Christ Jesus,

SDG - Bill

Solitary Christian Syndrome: It's Causes and Cure

11 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)

One of the saddest things in the modern version of the church (which I do not say is how the church should be) is the solitary Christian syndrome.

Although, as in the Scripture passage above, it is seen that the illustration the apostle Paul uses of the human anatomy is to show connection of each born again spirit, one to another, each of which finds their full supply from the Head, our Lord Jesus Christ, very often, in today’s version of the Christian church, we are left with members which are cut off from that flow by the heartbreaking reality of the other members indeed saying, implicitly or explicitly, or both, “you are not a hand, foot, mouth, etc… I have no need of you,” which in turn will very often lead to the member of Christ’s body thinking they are not a part of that body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

To say this syndrome is pandemic in most of today’s churches is a gross misrepresentation of the fact of it; an understatement of the strongest kind.

We can blame the seeker-sensitive movement, Pelagianism, semi-Pelagianism, the health-wealth gospel, the social gospel, or whatever, but the truth of the matter is that, though all of these have their respective hands in the pie of this sorrowful condition among the body of Christ, it goes deeper than that.

This fact is born out by individual believers feeling isolated from fellowship in even the several Reformed churches (and to say “these things ought not to be” is again a gross understatement).

Why is this so rampant among even those churches which hold to true Christian doctrine?

It is because of all the things mentioned above, coupled with a good dose of Scriptural ignorance, plus the appetites of the flesh (not in gross form, but in thoughts and attitudes and demeanor towards fellow believers).

Sorrowfully, many things are looked at according to that which was normative before conversion, among the body of Christ, even in churches that are orthodox in doctrine (although obviously not in orthopraxy). Things learned in the world, personal traits acquired by one’s experience in interaction with non-Christian society, are used as illustrations of how one is to exercise their spiritual gifts and discharge their ordained offices, with the result that Scripture is not the norm or the supply for that faith which is to be based only in Scripture, and common sense has taken the place of the Spirit of God implementing the vital truths of Scripture in renewing the mind that the fruits of the Spirit may reproduce in us the new man created in God’s image after true righteousness and holiness.

Where pragmatism takes the place of God’s doctrine, at that point, even in the most doctrinally sound assemblies, there will be resultant schisms and consequential fleshly fruits, all of which, in turn, break the realized reality of our having fellowship with one another by walking in the light as He is in the light. Members will thus be isolated and ignored, to the detriment of the body as a whole, and the testimony of Christ among both the body and in the world; in fact, the world simply sees itself in these things, glossed over with religious language and behaviors.

While realizing that God providentially provided us with that which we, while yet unconverted, utilized to function in the world and non-Christian society, be it at the work place, at home, or at play, it is a terrible mistake to take such unredeemed qualities of fleshly personality development and make them normative in dealing with and interacting with one another, for to do so simply yields that upon which the judgment of God is upon and coming, being of the flesh, not of faith (John 3:18-20; Colossians 3:5-9; James 4:1-3).

On the other hand, realizing that these things were providentially given, and that we must “put to death our members which are upon the earth,” we can redeem these traits as good stewards of that grace which has been given to us; the danger, and disaster, lies in looking to and using these fleshly traits as we did before having been born again.

Let each of us examine ourselves, looking to the formation of that new personality which is of the new man which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator; that is, being conformed to the image of Christ our Lord, and put off the old man, that is, those character traits we esteem as a part of our natural growth as if they were on a par with those traits which are of Christ our Lord, by His Spirit (Colossians 3:12-15; Galatians 5:22-26).

There is always healing in the body of Christ, if we do not attempt to make that which is of the natural man and the world our guidelines, but bring such captive to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ by His Spirit of holiness applying His Scriptural truths to our lives, that we may indeed be supplied by the Head so that each part works properly with that which it is supplied unto the edification of the body, in maturity, building itself up in love.

We are Christ’s body on earth, now; let us live according to those truths of His communicable attributes, in love, to the glory of God.

Christlikeness in Humility - A Good Sermon On These Things

SDG - Bill

Suffering as the Kind Intention of His Will

Let us consider, now, the kind intention of His will – that which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord before the ages began (Ephesians 1:4-5; 2 Timothy 1:9).

This is the testimony that Paul shares with us, of which he tells us not to be ashamed (2 Timothy 1:8).

Now, is telling us this, Paul is not speaking of himself in circumstances which would be construed as benevolent – at least, not by the standards of the world.

When a person is suffering, we attribute such, most often, to the fact that there is something wrong, and that would not be an improper assessment here, for Paul suffered by reason of that which is wrong with the world; however, the world would not see that assessment as proper, for it sees nothing wrong with itself, and so it is a matter of perspective for we who have been bought out of that world by the life-blood of our Savior and Lord. Nor would the world note that this is according to the kind intention, or good pleasure, of the will of God, for the world cannot see that will of God which is a mystery revealed only to those the Spirit of God has regenerated and indwelt.

For the world, suffering is always a grievous thing, and most often associated with not the kind intention of the will of the Triune God, but because a thing is wrong with the person suffering. It could be their circumstances, or it could be the manner in which they take care of their health (or fail to take care of their health), but in any case, from the perspective of the world, it is, at the least, a very sad thing; at most, the well-deserved consequences of choices and actions that the one suffering has participated in to their own detriment.

Yet, it was through the suffering and death of our Lord of Glory that God purposed this kind intention towards us, and this purpose was before the world began; is it any wonder that the continuation of such suffering and death, though not vicarious, as in the death of our Lord, yet shows forth that glory of God’s grace in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:24)?

We must not imagine that there was anything actually lacking in the sufferings of our Lord for the propitiation of God’s wrath, that He would then visit upon us the undeserved merits of our Lord’s goodness, righteousness, and holiness, as if it were our own, nor is this what Paul means when he speaks in this manner; what he does mean is that it is set to show that completely sufficient sacrifice, as pointing to our Lord’s particular and eternally effective atonement, that Paul suffers and, indeed, which all Christians are to not only be willing to suffer to show forth, but to even rejoice in such sufferings ordained of God, for this is what produces that character which is of the new man created after God in truth, righteousness and holiness, being renewed in His great knowledge (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10); this is that which is emanated and mirrored from our renewed nature by the Holy Spirit of God who is in us (Romans 5:1-5).

You see, then, what we are pointing to: God, in the kind intention of His will, not only granted us the faith to believe through Jesus Christ our Lord, but deliberately, as He did with His preeminent Son, purposed, before the ages or world began, that a very primary manner in which He is to be continuously revealed to the world is through the suffering of His saints (Philippians 1:29).

Our Lord scorned what was set before Him for the glory of God that the suffering and cross He bore revealed, and it was according to the Father’s pleasure to crush Him; so our glorious and holy Lord of Life counted as of no esteem or worth that shame He endured, and He looks on the fruits – the results, the people He redeemed for Himself – with satisfaction (Isaiah 53:10-11; Hebrews 12:2).

How small a word can be in our estimation, and yet used by God, show forth infinite satisfaction – our Lord is satisfied – filled to the full with satisfaction – at what He had definitely accomplished, which was to glorify God, and subsequently give the benefits of His glorifying God, through His suffering, to us, His children of spiritual seed.

And He did it by suffering, after preaching the gospel for a few years – it was the primary reason He came (to glorify God, and give us, His beneficiaries, the results of that glorification – the gracious free gift of eternal life by His work alone).

Again: He did it by suffering. It was suffering for the infinite, eternal God the Son to even enter into the world of His creation after subjecting it to futility by the curse He put upon it; it was suffering for Him to continue to live among fallen man to bring to humankind the gospel of the kingdom; it was suffering for Him to be persecuted for righteousness and the gospel’s sake; it was suffering by which He made the reconciliation of His people with His Father and ours. This is the glory of suffering which God the Son undertook willingly; this is that which our faith will apprehend in both small and large degree, as the history of men made holy by the Most Holy God shows throughout church history, from the apostles to the Protestant Reformation and up to this present day. God has willed to use suffering to reveal His kind intention and patience to all the world, both those who will come to Him, and those who will not; it is foolishness most obvious to those who are perishing, yet it reveals the saving truth of God to those who are being saved.

The servant is not above his Master; it is enough that he be like his Master (Mark 10:24-25). It pleased God to crush His Son; how, then, is it that we expect an exception to this, particularly when, as we have looked at in some small detail, we not only see that we were promised such suffering, but also that it is the primary manner in which God shows forth His glory in this present age?

Since it pleased God to crush His Son, it certainly is not any trouble to look at the promises given us regarding suffering and seeing that it is indeed according to the good pleasure of His will that we go through such – it may not be popular in today’s facades of what is passed off as the true church of Christ, but it is indisputable, God glorifying truth, and we are to be joyful regarding these things.

As spoken by God to us through His apostle: Think (meditate) upon these things.

SDG - Bill

Of Impartiality, Entitlement and God's Sovereignty

I recently posted this to facebook.

It was, as usual, during one of the times when God was pleased to have me understand somewhat of His Scripture and man's misuse of it, during a time of meditation.

That God even gives such moments of clarity to any of us is of His graciously giving us all blessings in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), by which is meant not simply that heaven transcendent where God resides, but that calling of God whereby we are not only united to our Lord and Savior in His certain sovereign reign from His seat at the Right Hand of Majesty, but now, and here, in these places we are at, for all places are to be understood which may be called heavenly places - we are now united with Him as certainly as we shall be with Him in ultimate glory, which is to say, His glory, when He has perfected us (Philippians 1:6). Our Lord made certain that His apostles, and so we, understand these things (John 14:15-17, John 14:23; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Colossians 1:23; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 1:1-3, 1 John 1:7).

Consequently, when we share that which is of the meditations of His Scriptures, in union (fellowship) with Him through the application of His great and precious promises by the Holy Spirit of truth, we must see that which is of His glory, not that which is of any entitlement we supposedly own, for God's impartiality is of His character, infinitely good and holy, and it is by that, as shown to us by Him in the Scriptures, of which we both write and, we trust, are made manifest to both ourselves and others, regarding these things of God.

                   _________________________________________________________________________________________

In many countries - primarily in what we call "Western" or "free," though the second is indeed a misnomer - among those communities of peoples who call themselves by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the word "impartiality," as it appears primarily in the New Testament, has been used to indicate a neutral moral state of our God's character, regarding what these communities see as "entitlement."

That it does not indicate such is plain from the context of Scripture overall, as well as in the immediate contexts in which it appears.

God is not "morally neutral," nor does He see anything as "entitlement" to either the individual believer, or the various local covenant communities (where those communities even recognize the concept of "covenant").

He is angry with and hates the evil of sinners (Psalms 5:5; 11:5), and it is only in the appeasement of His wrath in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ that the sinner finds that anger assuaged and himself reconciled to the most holy God (Romans 5:1, 6-11).

God's impartiality is based in His holiness, and so underscores the fact of His finding no redeeming merit in any of the efforts and actions of men, in thought, affection, choice or deed, with which to pardon them.

Those who ignore this and think that they are actually doing that which makes them acceptable to God, aside from - and in some circles, outside of - the propitiatory sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ place themselves, therefore, in the most precarious of positions, and need to, with the tax-collector of Luke 18:13, seek the justification that only comes through the Son (Psalm 2:12), lest they find what it truly means for God to impartially reward them with the wages of their earned reward (Romans 6:23a).

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

SDG - Bill

A Can of Candy

It’s that time of year. And since the charismatics, fundamental Baptists, and the rest of the animals in between will be waging their holy war on Halloween, I thought I would join in on the fun. Last year I wrote on why I partake on Halloween here. And since the same decrepit arguments are used by the former groups named before, I thought I would keep pressing my rebuttal until better arguments are brought forth.

I have a nephew who is ten years old. Last year he dressed up as a cop. His sister, my niece, was the golden haired girl from the movie Tangled. They weren't dressing up to be little Samahin devil worshipers  holding a pitch-fork, uttering incantations in some foreign tongue. Though, I guess there could be some kids who do that (darn Gaels), but it is highly unlikely. My niece, and nephew, simply wanted to be driven around neighborhoods collecting all the chocolate their little tummies could take for the next few months. That’s all. Now, if they were dressed in costumes that glorify evil, or actually believed in the folklore of Samahien, or were in reality little devil worshipers, we would have a problem. But such is not the case, and it isn't the case with a lot of kids.

The problem of inconsistency was raised in the post last year, and I’ll raise it here briefly. Why is it that we choose and pick which historically pagan rooted tradition we’ll bash and accept? If the argument is that we as Christians have an obligation to do away with all rooted in paganism, then let’s be consistent. "Throw away that wedding ring, granny. Don’t ya know pagans did the same thing?” "Hey, I ain't going to school on Tuesday, don't ya know the word Tuesday originated from a pagan god?" See where this gets us? I believe, it is more biblical to say, “X was linked to some weird pagan stuff, but we don’t use those things in the same way, and we can still use those things to glorify our God”. 

Last thing: If wearing a mask, or allowing your kids to wear a mask, violates your conscience, feel free to stay home and do whatever it is you were going to do. Paul says that whatever is not of faith is sin; and I would never want you to violate your conscience. At the same time, permit us the same freedom.

Happy Halloween

-awretchsaved