1 Cor. 11:23-26, The Sufficiency of the Cross Applied (4)

In the previous post we mentioned seven sacraments in Catholicism.  You may be aware that non-Catholic denominations do practice baptism and the Lord’s Table or “communion.”  As we mentioned previously, we do not believe that these works bring grace.  Again, Catholicism says,

The bible gives us God’s teaching, and at the same time prepares us to receive his grace in the sacraments.  Christ speaks to us through the scriptures, arousing faith in us, leading us to respond by the sacraments.  The better prepared we are by the scriptures, the better is our worship and the more of God’s grace-presence the sacraments bring us. (p188)

The one consistent truth about water baptism (immersion, that is what the Greek term means) is that it is for those who have already received the grace of God through faith in Christ.  “Communion” is all about remembering what Christ did for us (1 Cor. 11:23-26).  But in Catholicism the “mass” is both a reenactment and a continuation of Christ’s death for us.  Here is Catholic doctrine:

Christ wants us to take part with him in his death and resurrection

… the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ.  By the power of Christ working through the priest the bread and wine, though still appearing to be bread and wine, become Christ.

When Jesus Christ living among us in the holy eucharist prolongs his death and resurrection so we can take part, this is the Mass.

At Mass, we are not only present at Christ’s actual death and resurrection, we can actually take part in them to the extent that we want to. (p244-245)

You see that the priest is required for this event; it is only as he blesses the bread and wine that it is changed into the actual body and blood of Christ.  This challenges the fact that Christ was our High Priest, with a sufficient sacrifice for sin, so that there is no longer a need for a priest to bring us to God.  But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11-12).  We do not need another priest.  We do not need to literally drink His blood and eat His flesh.  Those words of Christ (John 6:51-58) refer to the faith that is required to receive Him by the grace of God.  It is past tense, once and for all that He “entered” heaven’s tabernacle, “having obtained” eternal redemption.  Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (Heb. 9:28).  But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God (Heb. 10:12).  We do not need to continually be joined to Christ in His death and resurrection.  Again, it is past tense: as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death (Rom. 6:3).  Anyone who tells me I need another priest or a repeat of the cross is seeking to cheat me of my reward!

Gal. 6:11-15, The Sufficiency of the Cross Applied (3)

Along time ago, when we started talking about the “sufficiency of the cross,” and the Son being forsaken by the Father, and Christ refusing anything that would diminish His full identification with sin and sinners, I mentioned some recent non-Catholic churches we attended (I have attended 2 Catholic services in my lifetime: a funeral and a wedding, if you need to know) where the sermons were encouraging me to observe “lent.”  I also mentioned being aware of claims that many young people are moving to the Catholic Church these days. 

As we seek to apply the “sufficiency of the cross” I want to return to those situations and to the subject of Catholicism.  I am not picking on the RCC.  As I have said, every religion seeks to cheat believers of their reward.  I am going to speak of this particular one for the reasons I already gave: it has come up in my own experiences.  I understand as well that, especially in the USA, practicing Catholics might not understand the official doctrine of the Church.  For that reason, my issue is not with what people think about Catholicism but about what the Church actually teaches.  One additional reason for this approach is that we plan, Lord willing, to be in a very Catholic country for three months in the near future, where the teachings of the RCC are not so “debatable” as they seem to be in the USA.  My source for RCC doctrine is Christ Among Us: A Modern Presentation of the Catholic Faith for Adults (6^th edition) by Anthony Wilhelm.

Let me begin with the general issue of the “sacraments,” as I referred to these in the previous post.  There are seven (p187): baptism, confirmation, the holy eucharist, penance, the anointing of the sick, holy orders and marriage.  Here is the summation:

“The great means by which God gives himself to us are the bible and the liturgy – “Word and Sacrament.”  Each is a special meeting with Christ and the Trinity.  God uses them above all else to give us his grace and teaching.  Together they form the Christian’s way to God.”

Note that the Bible, and thus the gospel, alone is insufficient for a Christian to come into relationship or fellowship with God.  Sacraments are essential.  They are essential because they are means of receiving grace.  The “doing” of these things bring grace.  What the Bible says is that if our work is essential to receive grace then it is no longer grace but reward or payment (Rom. 11:6).  Faith along is the means by which we receive the grace of God (Eph. 2:8-9).  And do not fall for the idea that a sacrament is an “act of faith.” Paul spoke of circumcision, a Jewish “sacrament” (they didn’t call it that but it fits the definition) saying it does not avail anything.  Instead he said, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14-15).  The above paragraph violates every doctrine of the Reformation: Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, therefore Solo Cristo, and thus Soli Deo gloria!  Whoever tells me that the Bible is insufficient to bring me to God is trying to cheat me of my reward (Col. 2:18-19).

Rom. 7:7-12, The Sufficiency of the Cross Applied (2)

In Colossians who might have been cheating the Believers?  In some cases it was those “Judaizers” who tried to make the Church Jewish.  They tried to bring Christians back “under law” and thus not “under grace.”  Since Christ had satisfied the law, and was “the end of the law for righteousness” (Rom. 10:4), a return to the law was a return to the flesh and thus “carnal” Christianity.  It also might have been the “mystery religions” of the Roman Empire.  These promoted a religion that allowed you to submit to the Emperor as God or Savior, but who also had their own liturgy and doctrine to follow.  Most of them were wed to the Greek “Gnostic” philosophy that, among other things, claimed that in addition to Christ and the Bible you needed additional special knowledge (Grk. gnosis).  I think you see all of this in Paul’s words in places like Col. 2:8,16-23.  

It is no different today.  Any religion that tells us there is a “law” by which we can be righteous and have a right standing before God, they also are trying to cheat us, to keep us from holding fast to Christ, our Head, from whom we receive all we need to grow into His likeness (cf. Col. 2:18-19).  Paul illustrated this in the Ten Commandments which said, “Thou shalt not covet” (Ex. 20:17).  I could quote the law every day, and it would not cure my covetousness.  Only what I have in Christ can change my life.  If I continue to commit this sin I have not forgotten the law; rather, I have forgotten who I am in Christ. 

The problem is not just the “law of Moses.”  Every religion calls people to a carnal (fleshly) approach to righteousness and a right standing before God.  They all have laws/rules of some sort that are the key to fulfilling the demands of said religion.  Hinduism has the Dharma, Islam the five Pillars, Catholicism has seven sacraments, Seventh Day Adventists these days mainly judge you “in food or in drink,” and in the mega-business called Latter Day Saints the top of nearly every list is that you pay the tithe.  But hear this: any pastor who tells you that you can solve some deep moral issue by ABC or 12 steps or 10 laws is potentially setting you up for the frustration and failure of living in the flesh.

Before giving you specifics, you might consider me a hypocrite because I told you, from Romans 6, four words that are fundamental to sanctification.  So let me remind you: what Paul did was to call you to live life the same way you received Christ.  You received Christ by faith and faith must not be a work (Eph. 2:8-9).  It is the absence of work.  So what Paul said was: you KNOW this, so RECKON it to be true of who you are.  As you laid aside your works to become a Christian, lay aside your works to live as a Christian: YIELD your body to Christ.  Our good works are called “fruit” because they are the work of the Holy Spirit rather than the your work.  In every other system you are called to do some work that will cause God to bless you or give you grace.  In Christ you are called to faith whereby He produces the fruit of righteousness in our bodies.

Col. 2:16-23, The Sufficiency of the Cross Applied (1)

Col. 2:11-15 has made a powerful statement about the sufficiency of the cross of Christ.  Through the cross we have been spiritually circumcised and baptized into Christ.  Believers are complete in Him (Col. 2:10), being graced with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3), having all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pt. 1:3). 

One characteristic of Colossians is the repeated use of words like “all” and “none” and “every.”  These are words that have no room for compromise.  Here are some more of these terms. LET NO ONE JUDGE YOU.  LET NO ONE CHEAT YOU. If you weaken these you will be denying all that Christ has done through His cross.  For the honor of Christ, “no one” must mean not any one, at all, ever!

“Let no one judge you” applies to v16-17.  Let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths.  Some might try to limit this to a Jewish influence at Colossae.  Paul’s note in v17, that these are a “shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ,” might lead us to think this way.  After all, OT worship all pointed to Christ.  But on the other hand, find me a religion anywhere that does not have rules for diet and holy days.  Let NO ONE judge you in these matters.  This applies to any religion!

“Let no one cheat you” applies to v18-19.  “Cheat” is an interesting word.  This is the only use of this compound verb in the NT, but the main part of the word is used in Col. 3:15, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.”  The “word” experts say it means to “act as an umpire.”  We should let peace call the “balls and strikes” in our lives, but don’t let anyone have that role if it means they are cheating you. 

How do you know if they are cheating you?  First, it again involves “religious activity” such as taking delight in false humility and worship of angels as was happening in Colossae.  But more importantly, if what they are calling you to do “vainly puffs up the fleshly mind.”  This is the nature of “religion.”  It involves a system that makes you proud of yourself.  The classic illustration is the first one.  God was not pleased with Cain’s worship in Gen. 4.  Cain brought the best he had, but God wanted something else, something specific.  Climbing the “ladder of religion” is all about doing the best I can.  Paul even warned Timothy about this in appointing elders in a church: not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil (read about it in Isa. 14:12-15).

But MOST important, this person or practice will be cheating me if it turns me away from the Head, from Christ who is the fullness of God, who is the source of my nourishment and growth in my new life (Col. 2:19).  The “religious” activities, with their false humility, are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.  If my religion takes that away, I am truly being cheated.  And yet, it is happening more and more these days.  And more on that in the coming posts.

Rom. 6:15-23, With Christ in Baptism (4)

We begin with what we know as believers in Christ, things we know because the Bible and especially the gospel say they are true (e.g. Christ died, then was raised to life so that death no more had dominion over Him), and things we have come to know by experience through faith in Christ (we too have been raised from the dead to live a new life).  But then we must stop and think: this is true of me!  I am “in Christ” and this is who I am in Christ!  This is a critical step in the “renewing of the mind.”  We need to think sound doctrinally, but our doctrine is not merely intellectual.  Eternal life is a real life, a new life.  We have been born again.  We are new creations. 

And now we have come to “yield.”  In light of who we are, we are now commanded to present our bodies, and yes, even the various parts of our bodies, to Christ.  In one sense, this is the repetitive act of “faith in Christ” that characterized our faith when we first trusted the Christ of the gospel.  We walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7).  As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (Col. 2:6).  The principle of living the Christian life is no different than the principle of beginning the Christian life.  This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Gal. 3:2-3). 

We see this in Rom. 6, that the command to present ourselves (6:12-14) is preceded by the “baptism,” our union with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection (6:1-10; cf. Col. 2:12.  We are by NATURE a new creation.  It is real.  We are citizens in a new kingdom (Col. 2:12), one where grace reigns “through righteousness.”  Regardless of how sinful the natural world is around us, we do not live in nor are we ruled by that kingdom.  So it no longer makes sense for us to present our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.  It only makes sense that we would present our bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.  That is why Paul is incredulous at the thought that we should knowingly continue in sin (6:1).  It is also why he says in 12:1 that presenting your bodies to Christ as living sacrifices is “your reasonable service.”  “Service” here is not the bond-slave but religious service.  Heb. 9:1 speaks of the Old Covenant and the Levitical system as, ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.  That is the same word.  In Christ, under the new covenant, we do not have the kinds of service practiced in the OT.  Rather, we present our bodies to Christ and what He produces is the new service.

OBEY.  And note that 6:12-14 on “yielding ourselves to God” leads to righteousness.  Here is one thing to note: in the rest of the chapter there are no commands to “be righteous” or “obey” or “don’t sin.”  The decision was made when you presented yourself to God.  You are the slave of the one to whom you present yourself (v16).  Having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness (v18).  That constant faith, “presenting” yourself to God, will produce in your life fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life (v22).

Psalm 100

This is one of the more familiar Psalms.  From childhood I remember Psa. 100 in every Thanksgiving service in our church.  We actually met on Thanksgiving Day, at 9:30 AM.  Just enough time to get the turkey in the oven and then off to church to rejoice in the blessing of living in America.  It was a perfect fit being a clear call to the very reason for our gathering: thanksgiving. 

Of course it’s the familiar ones, like Psalm 1 and 23 and 100, etc. that can lose their significance.  We can say them without thinking.  Just like some of our favorite hymns or worship songs.  So slow down today with Psalm 100.

·         It is, in fact, a Psalm for the nations, not just Israel.  Thus it was, and is, appropriate to use in the context of national thanksgiving, wherever we live.

·         It is a call for exuberance.  The items of note in this Psalm, as we will see, call for a joyful shout, gladness and singing.  Singing must be from the heart but by definition it must be audible. 

·         Make a joyful noise about the Creator.  This is the first theme.  The Lord (Heb. YHWH, the God of Israel, as opposed to all other supposed gods) He is God.  You must know this.  Not just knowledge from a book.  Knowledge with perception, knowledge involving a thorough acquaintance with the subject.  God has revealed Himself for this very purpose: that you might know Him!  You see Him in creation.  You see Him in your conscience (in case you didn’t know, a conscience is the Creator’s law written in your heart).  You see Him most clearly in His Son, Jesus Christ, in the pages of the Bible.

·         Once you know He made us, then you also know we are His.  That’s the way it always is: if you made it, it’s yours.  He made us so we are His.  And that’s an amazing thing because He has provided well for us.  We are the sheep of His pasture.  He made the world and put us in it so we would have what we need.

·         The second theme is also about the Lord.  He is good!  The pasture where we reside (i.e. planet earth) is unique in all the universe.  The temperature range is perfect for humans.  So is the tilt and rotation of the earth.  There’s plenty of water in all its forms.  He is a good Creator and Sustainer of all we enjoy.

·         But actually His goodness is better seen in His mercy and faithfulness.  His goodness in creation is amazing.  But His goodness to us, given our sin and rebellion against Him, is indescribably wonderful.  He has been gracious to us by reconciling us to Himself.  In other words He has offered to reestablish us in fellowship with Him.  And He offers this without denying the fact that we deserve to be punished, eternally.  Both His mercy and truth have been satisfied by the fact that He has paid the price Himself for our sin.  He took our punishment on the cross of Christ. 

With all of this in mind, do we really need to be told to make a joyful shout to the Lord?  No, I didn’t think so.  If we will not give thanks and glorify God then, well let’s just say, we have no excuse (Rom. 1:18-21).

Rom. 6:1-14, With Christ in Baptism (3)

How do I live “under grace” rather than under law?  We have four words to consider in Romans 6.

KNOW.  First, this word appears several times.  Don’t you know (v3,16) and knowing (v6,9).  Second, none of these is a command.  None are in the Greek imperative mood.  It is assumed that you know these things, or at least you should know them.  Third, there are two types of knowledge bound up in two different words.  There is “knowledge by experience” in vs. 3 and 6.  Then there is knowledge that you just know to be true, whether it is your experience or not (v9,16). 

You could say, for example, that you know something to be true because the Bible says it is true.  In v6 we know that our “old man” (the person we were from birth until the new birth when we became a “new man”) was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be done away with (spiritual circumcision).  This is about us as believers in Christ.  We are learning this by experience from day to do.  But we first know this because, as Paul explains in v7-10, we see it in Christ.  He died and was then raised.  Death no more had dominion over Him.  That is the gospel, the good news proclaimed in the Bible.  Again, in v16, we know we are slaves to whomever we yield ourselves.  We know this because Jesus taught this (John 8:34).  What this means is that our knowledge begins with the Word of God, and then it becomes personal as we grow in Christ.

Thus, Paul reminds us in 6:1-10 of who we are as believers in Christ.  We have been spiritually baptized, joined with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.  Related to the “know” words is the word “believe” in 6:8. We know what we know because we believe God; we take Him at His word.

RECKON.  “Reckon yourselves to be …!”  This, like “know,” is a “mind” or “thought” term.  It means to take what we “know” in v1-10 and consider it to be true of us.  Who we are in Christ must be very personal.  We must embrace it.  We must see this as real and not merely as doctrine. 

Lest we forget, we are taking considerable time to explain Col. 2:9-23, and the sufficiency of the cross.  Verses 9-10 tell us Jesus is the fullness of God, which means that those who have received Christ by faith are themselves complete!  What Paul was trying to get the Colossian believers to do was to “reckon” themselves to be who the Bible says they are, in Christ!  So, yes!  This word is an IMPERATIVE. 

YIELD.  This is the point when our renewed minds change our hearts.  Given who we are in Christ, the only sensible thing to do is to submit to Him, to take these bodies and every part of them (tongue, hands, feet, faces, everything) and give them to Him.  In other words, in light of His grace which has raised us to new life, we give ourselves to Him to use for His will (Rom. 6:12-14; 12:1).  Yes!  This is a command!