photo by Laura Evans But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV Dear ICB family, The rich loamy soil that covered the hillside made for the perfect spot for his vineyard. He knew it would take a lot of work, but he was up to the task. By the sweat of his brow he cleared the ground—boulder by boulder, rock by rock, stone by stone. He spared no expense on importing the finest grapevines and rooting them in the fertile earth. Not only a hedge but a wall as well rimmed the property, providing a place of safety in which his vines could flourish. Ready to make the hillside his permanent home, the man built a tower in the middle of his vineyard and carved out a storage place for the rich harvests he knew would come as a result of his labor. He knew it would take a lot of work, but he was up to the task. The sun rose and set. The clouds passed overhead and let down their rain. And the day came for the vineyard owner to inspect his vines. Instead of heavy laden clusters of grapes, however, the man was dismayed upon his inspection. His vines had produced grapes no better than the vines that could be found out in the wild—those abandoned to chance, left to fend for themselves, and under the care of no expert vinedresser. There was literally nothing else the vineyard owner could have done. His planning was thorough. His execution was flawless. His provision was lavish. He was left with but one option: destruction, desertion, and desolation. He set fire to the hedge and pulled down the walls around the perimeter. He abandoned his tower and vat to the elements. His expert sheers would no longer trim the vines, and his capable hoe would no longer work the soil. Thorny weeds would choke out the unfruitful vines. And if that were not enough, the vineyard owner would turn nature itself against the vineyard in which he had invested so much. From then on the clouds would skirt the once fertile hill and deposit their life-giving rain on other, fruit-bearing hills. There was literally nothing else the vineyard owner could have done. And all this because the owner of the vineyard had come looking for fruit but was left wanting. Israel was God's beloved vineyard. He had done everything for them. He had single-handedly redeemed them from slavery. He had turned a disorganized, ragtag community into a full-fledged nation with a law code that would prove to be the envy of the nations. He had entered into a sacred covenant with them that outlined how his relationship with his people was going to work. He had driven out dozens of other peoples so that his chosen people could inherit a rich land complete with already built farms and cities. The owner of the vineyard had come looking for fruit but was left wanting. And then, after all that, God stooped down and looked for the fruit that should have grown up and out of hearts that had experienced the most amazing expressions of free, unmerited grace. Instead of justice, however, he found bloodshed. Instead of righteousness, he heard the cries of the oppressed. He was left with but a single course of action. So goes the prophetic word in Isaiah 5. So that's it, then? God's people didn't produce the fruit God had freed them from slavery to produce, so he abandons them to their utter destruction? Not quite. One day, a branch would bear the fruit that the vinedresser was looking for. This shoot from the stump of Jesse was not meant to be the only one in whom the Spirit of God dwelled. One day the Spirit would be poured out in abundance over God's people (32:15). One day God would shower this same Spirit on Israel's descendants (44:3), and God's Spirit would not depart from them (59:21). Then—and only then—would they finally bear the fruit that God so longed for them to bear; then righteousness would define God's people, and the effect of righteousness would be happy, quiet peace (32:16–20). This is, of course, our story. By God's good grace, we live on this side of the coming of the very Spirit that God promised throughout the pages of the Old Testament. This is the "promised Spirit" that we receive "through faith" (Gal. 3:14). The same Spirit who descended upon Jesus, empowered him, and led him lives in us today and longs for us to walk in step with him. He is the one who produces the very fruit that God so longs to see hanging from the branches of his people, fruit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Spirit is the one who produces the very fruit that God so longs to see hanging from the branches of his people. Exactly as Pastor Neil said on Sunday, God saved you and freed you from slavery to sin so that you would bear fruit. Knowing such fruit-bearing is impossible on your own, he's given you his Spirit for that very purpose. So, with the promise of the presence of God's fruit-bearing Spirit ringing in your ears, go grow the fruit you were created to bear! You don't bear fruit in order to become a branch of the vine. You bear fruit because you are a branch of the vine (John 15). As Spirit-filled believers, we are finally free to do what we were made to do. We're free to grow the fruit that our God so earnestly desires to see hanging from our branches. And when he sees his fruit, the work of his own hands, he smiles, and the vines of his vineyard are full of joy. Longing for more fruit, Eric
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photo by Laura Evans I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! Galatians 5:12 ESV Dear ICB family, For four whole chapters now, Paul has gone after these troublesome distorters of the gospel of Christ (1:7), and as Pastor Neil said on Sunday, here Paul uses language that is almost hard to believe coming off the pen of a Spirit-inspired apostle. In fact, it's hard to imagine Paul using any stronger language than that of wishing emasculation upon this particular group of people who insisted that Christians return to Torah keeping as the basis of their right standing before God. It's hard to imagine Paul using any stronger language than that of wishing emasculation upon this particular group of people. There are moments to feel deep anger and even to use strong language. Your beloved spiritual children falling into a perversion of the gospel, in this case self-righteousness, is one of those times. I can only wish that that was what got my goat. Instead, I want to use strong language when I drive in Bishkek. I feel deep anger when someone slights me. If only it was my love of Christ and others and not my self-centeredness that stirred such strong emotions within me. But let's back up a moment. Am I even right to call Paul's extreme language an expression of his love for Christ and for others? Surely he was out of line here. Surely true love would soften its tone. Hasn't Paul read 1 Corinthians 13? We cannot be overly simplistic here. Psalm 97:10 says bluntly, "O you who love the LORD, hate evil!" And Paul himself wrote, "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good." Remember, Jesus flipped tables and drove out with a whip those who were profaning his Father's house (John 2:13–17). One day that same Jesus will descend from heaven on a white horse, a sword will come out of his mouth with which he'll strike down the nations, and he'll rule over the world with an iron rod (Revelation 19:11–16). I'd say the relationship between love and even the strongest of actions and language is more complex than it might seem at first glance. We cannot be overly simplistic here. So how do we know when it's OK to wish that a person would go emasculate himself and when such a wish is a reflection of a sinful heart? Let's start with the observation that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20). That is, anger as a starting point does not result in anyone going and carrying out righteous actions. That's true. Of course it is. Scripture says so. But what if anger is not the starting point? What if love is, and what if anger is the result of love? While anger does not produce the righteousness of God, might love produce both anger and the righteous acts that God wants his children to produce? The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (James 1:20). And since I mentioned 1 Corinthians 13, let's take a look there for a moment: "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." There's no way Paul's wish that the false teachers would go emasculate themselves fits this definition of love, right? Well, let's see. Was Paul being impatient with either the Galatians or the false teachers themselves? It doesn't seem so. Can we say for sure that Paul was being unkind, especially if his use of such strong language was so that no one would find himself ultimately "severed from Christ" and "fallen away from grace" (Gal. 5:4)? No. Was Paul expressing envy of these false teachers? Not in the slightest. Was he boastful of his apostleship before them, or was his language a demonstration of arrogance? Not a chance. Just read the entire letter as a whole. Paul was most assuredly not seeking his own interests. But come on, Eric, surely this was rude. Well, the nice folks at Wikipedia define rudeness as "a display of disrespect by not complying with the social norms or etiquette of a group or culture." Was Paul's intent disrespect, or was it instead meant to serve as a rude awakening (pun intended) for those whom he considered his dearly beloved children? I don't think so. And who can say that Paul was insisting on his own way here? In fact, Paul says that even if he himself turned up one day and started preaching that they all should get circumcised, the Galatians are to count Paul himself as accursed (1:7). In fact, this might be some of the strongest evidence. Paul was most assuredly not seeking his own interests (see 1:10; 5:11; 6:12). Was irritability or resentfulness at the root of the use of Paul's language here? I think it might better be called love. He certainly wasn't rejoicing at wrongdoing, and it's clear that Paul rejoiced in the truth that salvation is a free gift to be received by faith. He had borne so much on account of the Galatians and had even endured sickness (see 4:11, 13), and he continued to believe and hope that the Galatians would ultimately listen to him, their spiritual father (5:9). If only it was my love of Christ and others and not my self-centeredness that stirred such strong emotions within me. In short, I do believe that even language as strong as Paul's in Galatians 5:12 can be the expression of genuine love. The proof is not in the words themselves but in the heart from which those words flow, and more than a mere cursory reading of Galatians shows that Paul's heart, even as expressed in 5:12, was full of deep love for the Galatians. May we imitate such love, and may even our strongest language be an overflow of love and not of anger. Grace and peace, Eric Galatians 5:1-12; Deuteronomy 10:12-22Two applications from these passages
Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion
photo by Laura Evans Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Galatians 4:25-26 ESV Dear ICB family,
Two mothers. Two covenants. A mountain in Arabia. Two cities with the same name. And two sets of children. Paul moves through imagery quickly in Galatians 4:21–5:1, so it can be hard to keep up. Let's see if we can demystify what Paul is getting at. Hagar, a slave = God's covenant with his people that he made on Mount Sinai = present Jerusalem Hagar's children (that is, children of the Sinai covenant or children of present Jerusalem) are kept in slavery. They inherit nothing and are cast out. Sarah, a free woman = some other covenant that Paul doesn't explicitly mention = Jerusalem from above Sarah's children (that is, children of this unnamed other covenant or children of the Jerusalem from above) are free. They inherit everything from their father and are kept. What is Paul getting at? Hagar's children (a.k.a. children of present Jerusalem) are Jews still living under the old covenant that God made with his people on Mt. Sinai. Ironically, Paul refers to the ethnically Jewish teachers from Jerusalem who were causing all these problems in Galatia as children of Hagar! He calls the physical descendants of Isaac children of slavery! Sarah's children (a.k.a. children of the Jerusalem from above) are both Jews and Gentiles who are living as children of another covenant that Paul never defines, at least not explicitly—unless you know the context of Isaiah 54:1, the verse that Paul quotes in Gal. 4:27. Whenever you come across an Old Testament quote in the New, there's a good chance the author has the entire passage in mind when he quotes it. The quoted part should jog our memory to call up the rest of the passage. And what do we find when we go back to Isaiah 54? Well, the most careful observers will note that Isaiah 54 comes right after Isaiah 53, the last verse of which reads, "[A]nd he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors." Then Isaiah 54:1: "'Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,' says the Lord." Singing is the only appropriate response to the one who poured out his soul to death, who bears the sins of many, and who makes intercession for transgressors. In Isaiah 54 God goes on to say that even though his people have been disgraced for a while, they won't be put to shame forever. "For your Maker is your husband," he says (v. 5)! Yes, he was angry with his people for a while, "but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you" (v. 8). Then in verse 10 God promises his people, "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed." On that day, God says, "All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children" (v. 13; cf. Jeremiah 31:33–34). Who can enter into this covenant of peace that Isaiah mentions in 54:10? He says, "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (55:1), meaning it's a gift for those who come and receive it. "Incline your hear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant" (55:3). This is no reference to God's covenant with Israel on Mt. Sinai. This is a reference to God's promised new covenant that he will make with his people. Take in, then, the context of Isaiah 54:1: there's rejoicing on the heels of the death of one who bears the sins of many and makes intercession for transgressions (53:12), there's a covenant of peace with Israel's husband and Maker, who will have compassion on his people with everlasting love (54:10, 5, 8), and there's the offer to enter into this everlasting covenant by merely coming and receiving it freely with no payment whatsoever (55:1–3). With all that context ringing in our ears, Paul's quotation of Isaiah 54:1 at the end of Galatians 4 suddenly takes on new significance. If Hagar represented the covenant on Mt. Sinai, then, of course, Sarah represents the new covenant that God promised to make with his people at several points throughout the Old Testament, including here in Isaiah 53–55. This is a radically different kind of covenant. Sarah's true children, then, are comprised of both Jews and Gentiles who have entered into this new covenant that God has made with his people. It is hard to overestimate how explosive Paul is being here. He's saying that unless the children of "the present Jerusalem" (i.e., all those insisting on living under Mosaic covenant) turn and become children of "the Jerusalem from above" (i.e., those who have entered into God's new covenant made possible through Christ), they are going to be cast out right along with Ishmael and all his descendants. And many people without a single drop of Abraham's blood running through their veins will come and inherit everything right along with Isaac. And you want to run back to the old covenant? You want to forsake your entire inheritance by returning to the status of slave? Don't go there, Paul pleads with the Galatians and with us today. We're children of the free woman and heirs of God. Therefore, Paul says, "Do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1). No longer a slave, Eric Galatians 4:21-31; Genesis 16To celebrate ICB's 20th anniversary this year, Alastair Morrice, ICB's founding pastor, shared with us by video.
Jesus introduces you into the same relationship that he himself has with the Father, and access into such a relationship is a gift of God's free, unmerited grace. However, in the churches in the region of Galatia, new teachers were saying, "Oh, that's nice, but now there's something else." They added requirements to receiving acceptance before God. Pastor Morrice walks us through the consequences of such teaching as well as Paul's arguments against it. He concludes with the following practical applications:
Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion:
photo by Laura Evans [H]ow can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? Galatians 4:9 ESV Dear ICB family, The Bible gives us penetrating insight into the human soul. Tucked away at the end of this verse is a short phrase that provides us with an example of such insight: "whose slaves you want to be once more." Surely Paul has made an overstatement here, right? No one wakes up one morning and says, "You know what I really want? I want to be a slave. If only I had a taskmaster over me to whom I could grovel!" In fact, in our day, authority, submission, or service to others amounts to secular blasphemy. We're free. We serve no one. We submit to one. We are our own authorities. Or so we say. The reality, however, is that the throne of the human heart cannot remain empty. If one master is removed, another will most certainly take its place. If one god is set aside, another will fill the void. And we will be the first ones to ensure the vacancy is filled. The throne of the human heart cannot remain empty. But why? What drives us to set up masters over ourselves when, in our day, nearly all we can talk about is our freedoms and our rights? Why is it that we actually want to be slaves? Deep down, we as human beings know something. It's probably not a conscious thought to most, but as surely as we all know what love is without ever being taught it and even without being able to properly define it, so, too, we all know that we by ourselves can never satisfy our deepest longings. We were not designed to be able to do so. We lack the internal machinery needed to produce the joy and satisfaction that our souls long for as much as our lungs long for oxygen. Our domestic economies are fully dependent upon imports. We must look outside ourselves. Though few would admit it, we all know it. At least we all instinctually perceive it, even if it's not a conscious thought. So we go in search of a master that we think can get us what we need. In other words, we want to be slaves. We all know that we by ourselves can never satisfy our deepest longings. The answer, then, is to be dependent on nothing, right? Surely the answer is to be set free from all masters. Some people do in fact sit down on the throne of their own hearts. Such people are perhaps the silliest of all. The very existence of the throne is indicative of the fact that we ourselves cannot ultimately satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts. We need an external source of hope and meaning and everything else, and that need is due to the fact that we are essentially dependent creatures who could never possibly meet our greatest needs ourselves. So what is a person to do? The biblical answer is not to cast off all masters. The biblical answer is to cast off all masters that can never satisfy and replace them with the one master who can. Israel was not freed from Egypt to remain from then on masterless. They were freed from Israel so that their good King Yahweh could take evil king Pharaoh's place. Cast off all masters that can never satisfy and replace them with the one master who can. So don't fight your urge to run back to slavery only by casting off other masters that enslave you. You must do that of course. But it is equally important to ensure that God takes up his place as your new master. Exactly as we have always wanted, this master is also infinite father and caring husband and faithful friend. He's powerful enough to be able to supply all our needs and loving enough to use that power for our good. He is the source outside ourselves that we were built to be connected to and therefore live. So come. Submit to his light yoke. Embrace the only one whose slave you actually want to be.* Grace and peace, Eric *Is it right to consider ourselves slaves of God? Didn't Jesus say, "No longer do I call you servants [literally slaves or bondservants], for the servant [slave] does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends" (John 15:15)? Yes, and this same Jesus told the parable that ends with "So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants [slaves]; we have only done what was our duty" (Luke 17:10). Furthermore, Paul begins Romans by calling himself a slave of Christ Jesus, and he begins Titus by identifying himself as a slave of God. James and Jude begin their letters similarly, and so does Peter in his second letter. So yes, it is right to consider ourselves slaves of God. We are not only slaves, of course. We are also friends and children and heirs and brides. Even so, we do not dare give up the very precious title "slave of God."
Click on the image above to watch the service on our YouTube channel. Galatians 4:8-20; Numbers 14:1-4Paul is pleading with the Galatians not to turn back, and he gives them four reasons why:
For us today:
Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion
photo by Laura Evans [W]e were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. Galatians 3:23 ESV Dear ICB family, On Sunday we gathered in close and heard the story of God's grand gospel retold through three precious biblical metaphors: the metaphor of the guilty being declared innocent in God's courtroom (that's justification), the metaphor of the slave being released from bondage and granted freedom (that's redemption), and the metaphor of the orphan being adopted into a new family (that's adoption). Each picture provides us as believers with deeper understanding into the great work of salvation that God has accomplished for us. A question arises here. What did God have in mind when he went to such lengths to secure our salvation? What was he driving at? What was his aim? His hope? His goal? Three passages give us a glimpse into God's purposes. First, consider Exodus 19:3–4. After Israel fled Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai, "[t]he Lord called to [Moses] out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." Did you catch that? God hadn't merely afflicted the Egyptians. He hadn't only rescued Israel from bondage. His work was not just an act of miraculous deliverance as if on eagles' wings. It was all that. But it was more. You see, in delivering Israel, God was bringing his people to himself. Israel's greatest gain in casting off their old masters' shackles was not a reduced workload, the right to self-governance, or even freedom from institutionalized slavery—as great as such blessings are. Soaring high and above all those blessings was this: Israel got God. God took Israel out of Egypt so that he could reveal himself to them on Sinai and form with them a covenant through which they could commune with the living God. God sets his people free for relationship with him. In delivering Israel, God was bringing his people to himself. Skip ahead in time over 1400 years and dip down into the first century A.D. Years after Peter had walked with the Jewish Messiah, witnessed his death, wondered at his resurrection, and seen him rise back up into heaven, he penned these words: "Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it? Why did Christ suffer? Why did the righteous one die in place of the unrighteous? The answer could not be clearer: Jesus justifies the unjust that he might bring us to God. We rejoice in the great doctrine of justification; however, we don't stop rejoicing as soon as the judge reads the verdict "not guilty." Christ's provision of a way that guilty sinners could receive an innocent verdict was aiming at something. That was the only way the Judge could leap off his bench, race over to the formerly guilty defendant, and embrace him! God makes his people righteous for relationship with him. Jesus justifies the unjust that he might bring us to God. Back up in your Bibles to Ephesians 1:5–6, where we read, "[God] predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace." Adoption involves a lot of time. There's endless red tape. The costs are huge. What was God after? Different from our two previous answers, here Paul says that God gave his people the destiny of being his adopted children "to the praise of his glorious grace." In other words, God adopted his people so that his mind-numbingly beautiful grace might be sung on the lips of his people for all eternity. God has adopted us so that he might receive the praise that is due him for his matchless gift of unmerited grace. God adopted his people so that his mind-numbingly beautiful grace might be sung on the lips of his people for all eternity. You might be tempted to ask, OK, so which is it? Did God save us to bring us to himself (Exodus 19:3–4; 1 Peter 3:18) or so that his adopted children would sing the praise of his amazing grace (Eph. 1:5–6)? Of course, just like we don't have to choose between understanding salvation as a declaration of not guilty, as freedom from slavery, or as adoption, neither do we have to choose between God's aims in securing his people's salvation. In fact, if you hold the diamond of salvation at just the right angle, you see that even these two ends are intertwined. One way of summing it up would be to say that in saving his people, God was aiming at reconciling a people to himself for his glory. When God makes a way for his people to come back to him, what else could they do but sing the praises of his grace? So as we experience the gifts of justification, freedom, and adoption, let us come to God and sing his praise. Coming and praising with you, Eric Click on the image above to watch the service on our YouTube channel. Galatians 3:23-4:7; Jeremiah 3:14-20Three words of hope: justified, redeemed, adopted
Justified: We are set right with God. The verdict "not guilty" has been handed down by the judge. Redeemed: We are set free from slavery. Redeemed means removed from the market and removed from being on sale. God has bought and freed his people. Adopted: We are set in the family. God takes us from the orphanage and into his home. He is the Father we all long for. Questions for personal reflection and/or group discussion
photo by Laura Evans It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers.... Deut. 7:7–8a ESV Dear ICB family, As we saw on Sunday from Deut. 7:7–11, Israel's only hope was that God would remain faithful to do exactly what he said he would do. "[I]t is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharoah king of Egypt" (Deut. 7:8 ESV). And just in case Israel might have gotten the idea that they as a nation contributed at least a little to God's decision to deliver them, God says, "It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples" (Deut. 7:7), and, "Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust [the Canaanites] out [of the Promised Land] before you, 'It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,' whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you…. and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Deut. 9:4–5). God loves you because he loves you. In other words, as Pastor Neil so pointedly stated, "God loves you because he loves you," which is another way of saying that God loves his people not because of their loveliness but because God is a loving God. Likewise, God said he going to be faithful to his people because he is a faithful God. He hadn't chosen Israel because of all the great traits he saw in them, and he wasn't going to remain faithful to his promises to them only to the extent that they remained faithful to his covenant commands. Nearing the end of Israel's 70-year captivity in Babylon, Daniel prays something that reveals that he had read his Pentateuch: "O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our please before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name" (Dan. 9:18–19). 'I will remember my covenant' (Lev. 26:42). God had promised his people numerous curses including exile for their trusting in idols and not keeping his commandments (Lev. 26:14–46; Deut. 4:25–31; Deut. 28:15–68). But he had also promised them that even then, "[I]f they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they have committed against me… [and] if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land…. [W]hen they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the LORD their God" (Lev. 26:40–45). Daniel got it exactly right when he based his entire prayer solely on God's mercy and faithfulness to his people who were called by his name. Now, what does all that have to do with us? Just like Israel, we as God's people under the New Covenant (the covenant that God has made with us and ratified by the blood of his Son) have a single hope, and that is the same single hope that Israel had: God will be faithful to us today and will fulfill his promises to us today for the sole reason that he is a faithful God. He didn't chose us because he saw our great potential. (If you've seen The Chosen, though I like the series in general, I happen to strongly disagree with the words put in Peter's wife's mouth to Jesus that Jesus must have seen all that Peter could have become and that that's why he chose Peter to follow him.) Likewise, God will not remain faithful to us based upon our faithfulness to him. We as God's people under the New Covenant… have a single hope, and that is the same single hope that Israel had: God will be faithful to us today and will his promises to us today for the sole reason that he is a faithful God. He does not hear our prayers for forgiveness and restoration when we find ourselves under his loving discipline because of our righteousness or because of how sorry we feel or because of how much penance we've done to set things right. Yes, God is "near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18), meaning there is no way around true repentance. However, what I'm arguing here is that our ultimate, bedrock hope that God will hear our repentant cry is that he is faithful to his promises. That's how we can know without even the slightest hint of a fraction of a doubt that when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). He will do that because that is a clause in the New Covenant. We can rest assured that Jesus will welcome us the very minute we have committed the most grievous sin we can think of because Jesus said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out" (John 6:37). And Jesus will do that because that, too, is a clause in the New Covenant. And God keeps his covenants. When we as individuals, as a community, as a local church, as a nation, or as the worldwide body of Christ come to God, our only hope in that moment is that God will be faithful to honor the promises that he has ratified to his people in the New Covenant. Do you pray that way? Not, "Bless us because of our shining righteous example." Instead, "Bless us because you are a good Father who knows how to give good gifts to your children, and you've promised to do so." Not, "Forgive me because this time I promise I will never do it again." Instead, "Forgive me because you have promised to forgive and cleanse your people when they confess their sins." Not, "Fill me with your Holy Spirit because I'm pretty good and could become great if I had a boost of divine power." Instead, "Fill me with your Holy Spirit because you promised that under the terms of your New Covenant with your people you would do exactly that." Not, "Hear our cries for deliverance because we're so lowly and pitiful and could really use your helping hand right about now." Instead, "Hear our cries because you have commanded us to cast all our cares upon you because you care for us." This is what it means to live by faith. At every moment we anchor our soul in what God has promised us, and we cling to that as the only basis of our hope in this life and the next. Standing on the promises with you, Eric |
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