Colossians 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Col 3:1-4 ESV)

1. Discuss this explanation of union with Christ by Sinclair Ferguson:
If we are united to Christ, then we are united to him at all points of his activity on our behalf.
We share
• in his death (we were baptized into his death),
• in his resurrection (we are resurrected with Christ),
• in his ascension (we have been raised with him),
• in his heavenly session (we sit with him in heavenly places, so that our life is hidden with Christ in God), and we will share
• in his promised return (when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory) (Rom. 6:14; Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-3).

2. What difference should it make in your life today that you have died and been raised in Christ regarding issues of security, significance, and success?

3. How does death and resurrection in Christ affect your relationship to sin? Read Romans 6:4-14.

4. What is it important to see the difference between receiving God’s gifts and receiving a Person in whom are all of God’s gifts?

5. What does the phrase “where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” intend to communicate?

6. What does it mean to seek and think ‘the things above’? How do we do that practically? What is the role of the Word and Holy Spirit in this (see 1 Cor 2:9-16)?

7. How should “Christ is our life” be reflected in our values, our choices, our priorities, our joys and our sorrows?

Why I continue to evangelize other “Christians”

‘Christian’ is a broad term that includes millions who have various understandings of the person and work of Jesus Christ, who identify with a myriad of Christian institutions, and who do many good works in Jesus name.   Yet, despite vast theological differences that exist among Christians, there is a persistent call for unity. The rise of Islam throughout the world, the deterioration of Christian values in the west, and the design to remove all vestiges of Christianity from the public sphere contribute to the growing rapprochement among those who call themselves Christians.

If Christianity is divided, so it is argued, then God’s love is misrepresented to the world and, if divided, it will be unable to withstand the social and political attacks it suffers in the 21^st century. Consequently, there is a rising cry for Christians to not proselytize from other Christian groups.   This move to ‘Christian unity’ is represented by both ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together) and the WCC (World Council of Churches) who call for an end to proselytizing, as well as others.  Listen to the voice of those involved with ECT:

 Three observations are in order in connection with proselytizing. First, as much as we might believe one community is more fully in accord with the Gospel than another, we as Evangelicals and Catholics affirm that opportunity and means for growth in Christian discipleship are available in our several communities. Second, the decision of the committed Christian with respect to his communal allegiance and participation must be assiduously respected. Third, in view of the large number of non-Christians in the world and the enormous challenge of our common evangelistic task, it is neither theologically legitimate nor a prudent use of resources for one Christian community to proselytize among active adherents of another Christian community [underline is mine] (http://tinyurl.com/ye5jntg).

Similarly, the WCC says:

Despite all efforts to combat it, the problem of proselytism is still with us, causing painful tensions in church relationships and undermining the credibility of the Church’s witness to God’s universal love. Ultimately, proselytism is a sign of the real scandal which is division. [underline is mine] By placing the issue of proselytism in the context of church unity and of common witness we suggest a perspective which makes it possible to approach the problem within an adequate theological framework (http://tinyurl.com/6qajmf4).

On the one hand, I agree that Christian churches should not proselytize from other Christian churches when churches agree on the essential promise of the gospel, i.e. through faith alone in the finished work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, sinners are brought into immediate and complete reconciliation with and justification before God; thereby rejecting any notion of saving grace mediated through the church or through the addition of any human work. The gospel asserts the sufficiency and completeness of the work of Christ in redemption removing any suggestion that our acceptance before a holy God is an unfinished process.

Wherever the gospel is blurred, diluted, or rejected I will continue to evangelize. I will evangelize ‘Christians’ who depend upon the church and its sacraments to gradually infuse God’s saving grace into them; I will evangelize those whose clearest understanding of being a Christian is “I was baptized’ or ‘I go to Church’ or ‘I receive Jesus every week in communion’ or ‘I try to live by the ten commandments or the golden rule.’

I will evangelize ‘Christians’ who actually believe in a Christ who is not the Christ of the Bible. He is simply a good teacher, a prophet, or one who opens a path of salvation for some but is equally gracious to those who come another way.

Because the gospel of Jesus Christ is of ultimate and eternal importance, I will forego the temporal protection of a wider, visible Christian unity for the present and eternal security in having spiritual unity with Christ and others believers.

True Christian unity is unity with those who through the gospel have been brought into union with Christ. The gospel creates a union with Christ that is not a gradual, unfinished process but a perfect, finished reality.  There is no middle ground in the gospel. You either are in union with Christ or not. You are either sealed with the Holy Spirit or not. You are either passed from death unto life or not. You are either ‘born anew’ or not. You have been adopted in God’s family or not. You either have been justified before God or not. You are either transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into his marvelous light, or not. The gospel brings about a perfect union with Christ not a possible union.

This is how I understand the offer of the gospel and this is why I evangelize other ‘Christians’ who are hoping to be saved, who are doing their best, who love Jesus in some romanticized way, who follow one of the various ‘Christian’ traditions hoping for eternal life, etc.

What a tragic diminution of the work of Christ to think that my salvation can be achieved or completed through my own religious effort in life or some purgatorial purification at the end.

Sadly, the call for visible Christian unity too often dilutes the clarity of the gospel. Contrary to what Evangelicals and Catholics Together say about proselytizing, it is a prudent use of resources to evangelize those who are adherents of another Christian community, when that Christian community has blurred, diluted, or rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, contrary to the World Council of Churches, the real scandal is not division within ‘Christianity’, but the scandal of seeking a unity that is willing to sacrifice the gospel which alone offers eternal union with Christ.

Clarifying the “Means of Grace”

The term ‘means of grace’ is used by Roman Catholics and Protestants, and many evangelicals. Historically, the term comes out of the Roman Catholic Church which teaches that the sacraments (7 of them) are means by which the saving grace of God is communicated. The Reformers retained the terminology but nuanced the understanding of the sacraments (2 of them) as ‘the means by which saving grace is applied and confirmed.’[1]

Both Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestants institutionalize the means of grace, i.e. the sacramental means are neither available apart from institutions nor apart from the administration of ordained clergy. In many religious circles ordained men and women and religious institutions have control of the means of grace.  In Catholicism, this is taken to the extreme of the church being the repository of God’s grace which priests distribute through the sacraments. In Protestantism, denominations differ on the depth and breadth of ‘sacramentalism,’[2] while generally in agreement that the means of grace are available only through ordained clergy.

Recently, as I led the observance of the Lord’s Table, I mentioned that I preferred to call the observance of the table an ordinance rather than a sacrament.  I prefer the term ‘ordinance’ for both baptism and the Lord’s Table. They are visible signs of the gospel, instituted by Christ for His church, pointing us to the grace that God has given us in Christ. They are not means to receive the free grace of God but means by which to appreciate and value that grace.[3]  Contrary to the Westminster Shorter Catechism,[4] the ‘benefits of the New Covenant’ (WSC, 92) are ‘represented’ but not ‘sealed and applied’ to believers through the sacraments.

The Bible does not teach that baptism and the Lord’s Table are means of grace.[5] Though I appreciate much of Reformed theology, the use of the extra-biblical phrase ‘means of grace’ creates unfortunate confusion. Sacramentalism coupled with an inordinate emphasis on the institution of the church and ordained clergy mistakenly results in one’s dependence upon the church and ordained clergy to receive grace from God.

Please don’t mistake what I am saying. I believe in the church, i.e. both the church universal composed of all those who confess faith in Christ alone as Savior and Lord and the local church composed of believers in a particular locality gathered for the worship and mission of Christ. I believe in the ordination of qualified men to the ministry of the Word. I believe in the necessity of corporate worship, Christian community, and a shared gospel mission. However, the Bible does not teach that the church is a repository and dispenser of the grace of God through the sacraments.[6] While the New Testament teaches the priesthood of all believers, it does not teach that ordination grants anyone privileged access to grace which they can then mediate or distribute to others.

God’s grace is His all sufficient goodness that He offers us in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ (John 1:14-17). God’s grace is only and always mediated through the person of Jesus Christ.  When we believe God’s Word and look to Christ in faith, He gives us grace directly. There are biblical means which point us to our Gracious Savior that we might look to him in faith, such as the Word, baptism, and the Lord’s Table, but inherently they are not instrumental means of receiving grace.  We come to God through Christ for grace. The church through its ministry of the Word and ordinances has a unique role in pointing us to the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

A faithful church will encourage you to look to Christ in faith through its preaching, its public worship, its baptisms, and its celebrations of the Lord’s Table. As you look to the risen Christ in faith, you will find sufficient grace to save and sustain you.  There are numerous means which can point you to the sufficiency of the grace of Christ, but that grace can only be received from God through the mediating work of our prophet, priest, and King, Jesus Christ.

“In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, charity. In all things, Jesus Christ.”
—Chrysostom

1. The Evangelical Free Church of America is a believers’ church—membership consists of those who have a personal faith in Jesus Christ.

The great heritage of EFCA people around the world includes the fact that fellowship and ministry opportunities in the local church are based solely on one’s personal faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and trusting in Him alone for salvation.  Membership requires commitment to sound doctrine as expressed in our Statement of Faith.  However, a person is not excluded from membership because he or she does not agree on every fine point of doctrine. Within the EFCA, there is allowance for legitimate differences of understanding in some areas of doctrine.

2. The Evangelical Free Church of America is evangelical—we are committed to the inerrancy and authority of the Bible and the essentials of the gospel.

The EFCA was born out of a heritage of commitment to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture. We have deep convictions based on the authority of God’s Word, but we do not draw battle lines over minor points. Nor do we make minor issues of doctrine a test of fellowship in the local church. We are evangelical. We believe in separated living and personal holiness, but we are not separatists.

3. The Evangelical Free Church of America embraces a humble orthodoxy in partnership with others of like faith.

We believe in the spiritual unity of the Church though not necessarily in structural union. We join with other Christians and other denominations of like, precious faith in common goals and ministries to accomplish the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. But we believe that there is strength in diversity and that it is important to preserve our distinctives. We recognize that union in structure does not guarantee unity of spirit.  Our foremost concern is unity of spirit with our Lord, with each other and with other Christians.

4. The Evangelical Free Church of America believes in Christian freedom with responsibility and accountability.

We believe in Christian liberty, but freedom always has its limitations. Responsible Christians do not abuse freedom. The apostle Paul wrote forcefully about Christian liberty in the Book of Galatians.  He shattered the legalists with the doctrine of grace. But in First and Second Corinthians and Romans, the apostle also rebuked believers when liberty was abused. He declared boldly the principles of Christian liberty, but spoke with equal forcefulness about Christian accountability. The EFCA desires to preserve our freedom in Christ.  We encourage our people to be responsible, godly men, women and young people who desire to live under the control of the Holy Spirit in obedience to the principles and precepts of God’s Word, and in harmony with God’s will for life as revealed in the Scriptures.

5. The Evangelical Free Church of America believes in both the rational and relational, i.e. the head and the heart, dimensions of Christianity.

We believe the Scriptures must be applied to our individual lives with warmth of heart, warmth of message and warmth of concern. We believe it is essential to have solid, biblical content in our doctrinal understanding of faith, but it is equally important to have a dynamic, vital relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son and to live by the power of the Holy Spirit. Sound Christian doctrine must be coupled with dynamic Christian experience. Ours is a ministry of love and spiritual reconciliation.

6. The Evangelical Free Church of America affirms the right of each local church to govern its own affairs with a spirit of interdependency with other churches.

The EFCA is committed to a congregational form of government as stated in our Articles of Incorporation: “The Evangelical Free Church of America shall be an association and fellowship of autonomous but interdependent congregations of like faith and congregational government…”  Strong pastoral leadership coupled with discerning and well-equipped Christian lay people can produce spiritual growth as well as significant church growth. While the EFCA affirms the right of each local church to govern its own affairs, we also believe in the biblical values of interdependence and cooperation.

We are a movement of churches committed to working with one another in order to fulfill the Great Commission in the United States and abroad.  This is only possible when there are strong ties with other EFCA churches, with local district organizations and with the national EFCA ministries.

Loving the City?

Urban Ministry and Urban Living often attract those who are infatuated or flirtatious with the mystique of the city and even some who profess to love the city. Some of us simply love the gospel and the density (crowded neighborhoods) and diversity (economic, ethic, educational, cultural, and age differences) of people who are found in the city – offering an opportunity for a strategic advance of the gospel.

We should be cautious about the phrase ‘Loving the city’ because it can be no more than a cliché of those who either do not know the city or those who have come to believe that it is mark of spiritual achievement when you can say, “I love the city.”

To be able to say “I love the city” you need to spend quality time with the city.You do not know the city because you may venture in to Penn Plaza or the Art Museum. Picnicking or playing soccer in Fairmount Park does not make you ‘urban.’  Eating at a nice restaurant in Manayunk or on South Street has not really introduced you to the city. Staying at the Hilton or the Marriot for a weekend does not constitute ‘having experienced the city.’

After you have lived in the city and have become acquainted with the city, you choose carefully when you might say, “I love the city.” I have seen enough of those who come enthusiastically to the city only to leave defeated and hating the city. Without a heart-felt affinity for the density and diversity of people in the city, a commitment to the gospel, and dependence upon God to endure the brokenness of the city, you could easily be driven away because there is so much about the city that could PO[1] any average person.  Here is a beginning PO’ed list:

1. Slum landlords who collect outrageous rents but care nothing for their property or the neighborhood.
2. Slobs – people who litter and trash the city, whether they drive a Mercedes, a Ford, a bicycle, or they walk.
3. A school system that allows students to advance and even graduate knowing that they have not achieved an adequate and competitive level of education.
4. The PPA (Philadelphia Parking Authority), a merciless system that legally harasses the citizens of and visitors to Philadelphia.
5. Non-profits that take tax payer money and look good on paper but only do enough to maintain a semblance of legitimacy.
6. Bureaucrats and politicians whose main occupation in life to keep their jobs or get reelected at any cost.
7. Government funded drug addiction that places people on medication for life and convinces them that they will never be competent enough to live without a government pill or paycheck.
8. Beggars who feign hunger or tell elaborate lies in order to get money for drugs or alcohol.
9. Poor and blighted neighborhoods that are imprisoned in dependency on failing government programs.

There is more, but I’ll stop there. To focus on those things leads to a kind of despair that loses sight of the living hope we have in the gospel.

On the other hand there is much about the city that should generate excitement in most anyone. Here are some of my favorites:

1. A church that begins to reflect the economic, racial, educational, and age diversity of the city and the world.
2. Neighbors whom you actually get to know.
3. Neighborhoods with a diversity of people, coffee shops, restaurants, and more within walking distance.
4. The Art Museum, Water Works, Ben Franklyn Parkway, Kelly Drive, the Philadelphia Zoo, etc.
5. Universities bustling with young people eager to learn and to live.
6. Conversations with people from all over the world.

Frankly, if I forget that I am here to love and reach people for Christ, then there is enough about the city to drive me away or cause me to practice the outdated missionary model of living on a safe compound and only venturing into the city for ministry or sightseeing.

I am living here because I want to know and love the people whom the gospel offers hope — PPA agents, lying beggars, those who have lost any hope of being free from illegal and legal drugs that affect their ability to think, teachers and school workers who are dismayed at the enormity of the task before them, and slum landlords who need forgiveness and a new value system. The gospel of Jesus Christ has power to transform slobs, politicians and bureaucrats,  business leaders and non-profit directors, etc.  I am here not to look with disdain and hatred at the things which PO me, but to hear in them a voice crying for redemption. Of course, it is true that people everywhere need Jesus, but in the city there are more voices crying and more kinds of people in need of redemption. That is why I am here.

So, please do not be mistaken about an attraction to the city that seems like a ‘call’ from God. Let the deeper call of the gospel and the call to love all kinds of people attract you to the city.

If you approach the city like you might a flirtatious, attractive woman, you will soon find that she offers enough to get you interested but without any future for a meaningful relationship.

If you come to the city with infatuation, you will find that the image in your mind to which you have been attracted, does not represent reality.  The outward attractiveness will will soon be overwhelmed  by her harsh inner character that cannot be known casually.

If you come to the city, thinking that you ‘love the city,’ you will soon find enough in her to turn your heart and your stomach or enough to capture you with an idolatrous love that steals your heart from mission.

But, if you love people and love the gospel, and if you are not uncomfortable with density and diversity, then you will find enough people in the city to whom the gospel calls you and enables you to love and offer hope. And, when you love people and the gospel, you will experience grace to handle all those things which PO you and you will grow in thankfulness for the goodness of all those things that excite you, but never allowing them to capture your affections.

So come to the city – not because it is the best place to live  or because you ‘love the city’– come, because it is place where the gospel can touch many people and many different people; come, because it is a place where you will grow in experiencing God’s grace in the midst of a broken world; come, because you will grow to appreciate God’s common grace at work in the many cultures of the city.

Come to the city! And, if you choose not to come, pray for those who do and we will do the same for you, as you love people and the gospel where you are.

1] For those of you who are not familiar with the acronym PO or PO’ed, you will need to look it up in an Urban Theological Dictionary.

A Gospel-Centered Way Beyond Fundamentalism and New Evangelicalism

At Grace Church of Philly, we long for Christian fellowship with other believers that is based upon gospel essentials. By gospel essentials, we mean those teachings of Scripture which are necessary for one to truly be called a Christian. Those gospel essentials would at least include a belief in the authority and reliability of Scripture, the Trinity, the exclusiveness and sufficiency of the redemptive work of Christ, and the depravity and inability of mankind. Also, included in those gospel essentials would be credible evidence of belief, including at least a maturing, obedient love for God and others, especially love for other believers.

Unfortunately, in the world-wide church of Jesus Christ, Christian fellowship based on gospel essentials has been difficult to achieve. This is evident in the historic divisiveness between the two movements of Fundamentalism and New Evangelicalism. Neither of these movements today has clear definition or significant influence, but I will use them as an illustration of losing sight of the gospel.

As a young Christian I was introduced to Fundamentalism and thought that anyone who believed the gospel but did not agree with me on other areas of doctrine must have been a New Evangelical. I suppose that many New Evangelicals considered anyone who criticized their openness on some doctrinal matters to be a Fundamentalist.

I can remember the days when John MacArthur and John Piper were considered to be New Evangelicals by Fundamentalists, though it is likely that New Evangelicals considered them both to be Fundamentalists.

This common way of thinking presents a false dilemma in that it offers only two options (Fundamentalism and New Evangelicalism) and requires that you make a choice between the two.

Additionally, not only is there a false dilemma, there is an arbitrary standard of what characterizes a Fundamentalist and a New Evangelical. From Fundamentalism’s vantage point, one is a New Evangelical and not a Fundamentalist, because they do not practice ‘biblical’ separation from those who do not agree with their full understanding of Scripture. From a New Evangelical’s vantage point, one is a Fundamentalist and not a New Evangelical, because they practice a “non-biblical’ separation from those who differ on various aspects of biblical teaching. Fundamentalists would say that New Evangelicals practice separation over nothing; New Evangelicals would say that Fundamentalist practice separation over everything.

Rolland D. McCune, a Fundamentalist, alleges that New Evangelicalism’s movement away from ‘true Christianity’ could have been prevented had they practiced ecclesiastical separation.  Of course, for fundamentalists, true Christianity includes much more than gospel essentials and true Christianity is lost by granting Christian fellowship to those who do not meet the Fundamentalist standard of  ‘true’ Christianity.

“This comes as no surprise to fundamentalists because the greatest hedge against this corruption by association (1 Cor 15:33) is the practice of ecclesiastical separation. Since the repudiation of this doctrine was probably the chief cornerstone of the new evangelicalism from its inception, the movement had a manifest destiny of deterioration in theology and ambivalence in practice from the beginning. Its antiseparatist obsession left it shorn of the God-appointed means of preserving and propagating true Christianity (DBSJ 8 (Fall 2003): 85–99).”

Along a similar vein, Dr. Harold Ockenga, a New Evangelical who wrote the foreword to Dr. Harold Lindsell’s book, The Battle for the Bible, published in 1976, affirms the anti-separatism of New Evangelicalism:

“Neo-evangelicalism was born in 1948 in connection with a convocation address which I gave in the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena. While reaffirming the theological view of fundamentalism, this address repudiated its ecclesiology and its social theory. The ringing call for a repudiation of separatism and the summons to social involvement received a hearty response from many evangelicals… It differed from fundamentalism in its repudiation of separatism and its determination to engage itself in the theological dialogue of the day. It had a new emphasis upon the application of the gospel to the sociological, political, and economic areas of life.”

New Evangelicalism admittedly refused to allow its theology (including gospel essentials) to determine its ecclesiology.

Is it not possible that both Fundamentalism and New Evangelicalism have a deficient ecclesiology that diminishes the primacy of gospel essentials? McCune argues that the “greatest hedge against this corruption by association is ecclesiastic separation” to preserve what he called ‘true Christianity’ while Ockenga argued that “while reaffirming the theological view of fundamentalism,” New Evangelicalism “repudiated its ecclesiology and its social theory.” Unfortunately, Fundamentalism’s understanding of ‘true Christianity’ and basis for ecclesiastical separation was often arbitrary, unpredictable, provincial, and beyond gospel-essentials. While, New Evangelicalism was right in rejecting this aberration of separation, their lack of commitment to gospel essentials led them down a path of diluting the true nature of Christianity.

Fundamentalism and New Evangelicalism represent contrasting ecclesiologies of exclusion and inclusion. Fundamentalism has an ecclesiology that defines genuine Christianity in expanded terms including much that has no bearing on gospel essentials (such as eschatological systems, church government, etc), thereby excluding many. From a Fundamentalist perspective, agreement on all matters of faith and practice is essential and any disagreement is equivalent to disobedience and, consequently, cause for exclusion. Fundamentalism diminishes the primacy of gospel essentials by elevating other biblical teaching to an equal or greater level.

On the other hand, New Evangelicalism diminishes the primacy of gospel essentials by often expanding Christian fellowship to include those who reject gospel essentials.

My assessment is that if gospel essentials were rightly elevated, Fundamentalists would be more inclusive and New Evangelicals would be more exclusive. If Fundamentalism focused on the primacy of gospel essentials their appreciation of the believing church would grow to include many whom they now reject because of disagreement on non-gospel essentials. If New Evangelicalism focused on the primacy of gospel essentials their appreciation of the church would bring them to exclude those who reject those gospel essentials. Gospel essentials need to determine the parameters of exclusion and inclusion.

Beyond Fundamentalism and its certainty on all matters of theology and New Evangelicalism’s openness to accept most everything, we desire to identify with those individuals and groups who have questioned both the arrogance of Fundamentalism and the tolerance of New Evangelicalism and who seek Christian fellowship based on gospel essentials.

In essentials, unity

In non-essentials, liberty

In all things, charity

From time to time I hear concerns from well-meaning people questioning our use of the Apostles’ Creed. Most often it has to do not so much with the content, but with their personal history of having recited it in the Roman Catholic Church or a liberal denominational church. Part of their conversion story is that in understanding the gospel of salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ, they left a religious system that had corrupted and confused the gospel. We rejoice with them in their conversion and their choice to leave a faulty religious system.

However, in our use of the Apostles’ Creed and other ancient creeds we are reclaiming from corrupt religious systems what belongs to historic Christianity. The content of the creed is thoroughly biblical and generally accepted by evangelicals around the world. Though there are some nuances of how one understands ‘he descended into hell,’ most would agree there is a biblical basis for the idea. We choose in our recitation to omit it. Others are offended with the phrase ‘holy catholic church’ because they mistakenly associate ‘catholic’ with Roman Catholic. Actually, catholic is a good word that highlights the universal, worldwide expression of the church of Jesus Christ. We replace ‘catholic’ with Christian to accommodate some of those sensibilities and misunderstandings.

The creed simply sets forth an ancient, historic representation of the Christian faith. It does not set forth how one becomes a Christian. Yes, it is possible to believe and recite the creed and not be a Christian, just as it is possible to recite the Lord’s Prayer or pray a ‘sinner’s prayer’ and not be a Christian. Nevertheless, the creed is helpful as a catechetical tool for believers but only secondarily as an apologetic tool for unbelievers. We understand that both believers and unbelievers need more than the creed.

Admittedly, though we recite the creed regularly at Grace Church of Philly, we are not totally satisfied with the creed – not because of what it says but what it does not say. Had I been on the ‘creed editorial committee,’ I would have made the atoning work of Christ clear. For some reason I was not invited to that committee. Here at Grace Church of Philly, we are committed to being gospel-centered. The gospel is the good news that Jesus the Redeemer-King has come. At the heart of the good news is ‘Christ died for our sins.’ Since there is no substitutionary atonement in the creed, there is no preaching of the gospel in the creed. That is why I say that the creed is primarily a catechetical tool for believers not an apologetic tool for evangelism. It is both a personal and corporate confession and a teaching tool for those who already understand and believe the gospel.

In contexts where the gospel has been eviscerated, the Apostles’ Creed is nothing but vain repetition, as is the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and the singing of “Holy, Holy, Holy” by many Roman Catholics, many Orthodox churches, and all theological liberals. But, in contexts where the saving gospel of Jesus Christ is central, the creed reaffirms elements of the historic Christian faith. When recited by those whose hearts are being transformed by the gospel, the Apostles’ Creed becomes a hearty, personal and corporate confession of Christian belief, not vain repetition.

The confession which begins with, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth …”, is rooted in what we have already confessed and continue to confess” “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

1 Peter 3:8-12 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”


Introduction:
“Finally” – this is the last set of instructions on the topic of submission that began in 1 Peter 2:13.

Remember to whom he has been speaking about submission:
Citizens under the rule of government
Slaves under a sometimes harsh master
Women with unbelieving husbands
Husbands called to a life of self-denial and consideration of their wives.

Now he says, “All of you.” He addresses the church – men and women, young and old. These qualities and instruction are for all believers
He sets forth a charter for Christian character. Here are the inner qualities and outward actions that are developed in a life that is submissive to God and transformed by the gospel.

As ‘aliens of the dispersion’, living in a hostile world is the crucible in which Christian character is formed. The church thrives and grows not in a protected Greenhouse but in the storms of life. Our difficult circumstances do not release us from the obedience God requires rather they test the reality of our commitment to the gospel. The unregenerate heart is naturally defiant to submission. Only the gospel brings that defiance to surrender.

There are three things that this text encourages us to pursue in regard to the submissive life.

1. Develop the Inner Qualities of a Submissive Life
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

These are reciprocal qualities within the Christian community – the qualities of the new creation, the values of the kingdom (Bautitudes), the ethics of the new community that God has created in an alien world).

 Unity of Mind – The unity of mind to which Christians are called is a mind that is gospel-centered, rooted in the Bible-based ethic of love and brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:3-6 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit– just as you were called to one hope when you were called– 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

This unity of mind is a commitment to think God’s thoughts after Him.

Philippians 4:8 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable– if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.

Unity of mind works against the natural divide that the mind often creates. Look at the various schools of study in in a university.

 Sympathy – Submission means having deep feeling for others. Submission comes out of a heart that says, ‘I care for you.’

Christians are not robots who are programmed to act coldly and mechanically in a certain way. They do not simply act out or obligation. They care for each other. They laugh together and cry together.

 Brotherly Love – Submission means loving others in the church as your family. Love as bothers (or as brothers should).

“be true philadelphians”

 A tender Heart – Submission means being softhearted to those in distress.
You can choose to either hate or disdain those who suffer and place upon you the duty of mercy or you can be merciful to them. And you should be merciful to them, for God has shown mercy to you in your suffering.

 A humble Mind – Submission means seeing myself as a servant to others.

Ultimately submission is an issue of the heart. Unless your heart seeks Christ-centered unity, feels sympathy, desires brotherly love, is tender, and humble, you will be a cancer eating away at the life of the church, a tornado leaving destruction in your path, an open painful sore that won’t go away.

We may try to convince ourselves that the evil in our heart is justified. We blame our circumstances, our past, people, and even sometimes God.

The kind of inner life described here is beyond our ability. The kind of heart described here calls us to the gospel, causes us to cry out for grace and mercy.

Listen to Jesus’ word about the power of the inner life:

Mark 7:20-23 20 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”

A few years ago I wrote these words as I thought about Jesus’ words:

It’s My Heart, LORD

It’s my heart, Lord, yes, my heart
Corrupt and filthy in the inner part
Secret admirer of all called – sin
A burning passion for evil within

It’s my heart, Lord, yes, my heart
Greed and malice in the inner part
Envy, slander, deceit and folly
Far apart from all called holy

It’s my heart, Lord, yes, my heart
Lewd, immoral in the inner part
Theft, Murder, and adultery
Arrogance ruling within me

It’s my heart, Lord, yes. My heart
It’s who I am in the inner part
Unclean within, it’s not the outside
I’m vile, unholy, full of pride

It’s my heart, Lord, yes, my heart,
Cleanse me deep in the inner part
The blood of Christ can wash the soul
The blood of Christ can make me whole

It’s my heart, Lord, yes, my heart
Through faith alone, a brand new start
Though warring now with latent sin
Assured in Christ the war to win

Take my heart, Lord, Take my heart
Cleanse me deep in the inner part
Conquer vice that lives within
Freed to love and not to sin

It’s my heart, Lord, it’s my heart
Life proceeds from the inner part
Wellspring of life is the heart indeed
To love Christ it’s greatest need
JPD

These inner qualities require gospel-transformation which only takes place in view of Christ and His work for sinners which brings about repentance and renewed dependence on His grace. We sing and pray with King David: “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew and right spirit within me.”

2. Pursue the Outward Actions of a Submissive Life
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it

These actions are especially meaningful in the context of an environment that is hostile to Christianity (aliens of the dispersion). Those they are needed along believers, the focus is on the exercise of these actions in the midst of a hostile society. These actions flow out of a heart, as described in verse 8, that is being transformed by the gospel.

 Don’t retaliate
We are neither capable of being just nor do we have the right to as judge and punisher.

Romans 12:19-21 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 Bless (a ‘good word’, i.e. a benediction).
This is what Christians are called to – Bless. Abraham was called by God to be a blessing to the world. Israel was called to be a blessing. Christians are called to be a blessing. If cursing and judging needs to be done, that is God’s jurisdiction.

There is power in blessing those who hurt you. Calling down blessing from God on others who hurt you is tangible evidence of the power of God at work in your life.

Peter says that we are called to this. Along with the gospel call to discipleship is the call to meekness, to bearing injustice, to non-retaliation, to acts of kindness in the face of injury. These qualities are subversive to a hostile society by the greater power of love and blessing our enemies.

As Jesus suffered on the cross, he cried out, “Father forgive them …”

As Stephen, the first martyr of the church, was being stoned, he cried out “Father, forgive them.” He blessed them.

 Keep tongue from Evil and deceit
“Who when he was reviled, reviled not again; who when he suffered he threatened not …”

We should avoid facing hostility by the power of evil words which seek to defeat or by lying words which seek to deceive.

James 3:6 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

 Turn away from evil and do good

The response of the flesh is tit for tat. “Hit back ..”

Here the context is that we not return evil for the evil that is done to us. Exceptional goodness in the face of provocation is the duty and delight of believers.

 Seek and Pursue Peace

James 3:17-18 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Have you ever played the game ‘hit-back’? I’m sure that you have either physically or verbally. You hit me; I hit you harder. You hit me a little harder; I hit you even harder. Etc. The purpose of ‘hit-back’ it to win. You hurt me; I’ll hurt you more.

Nobody likes to lose. Unfortunately, we play by the world’s rules of the game instead of God’s and we lose anyway. We lose friendship; we lose opportunity for a Christian witness; we lose inner peace; we lose the favor of God.

I’ve never met a vengeful person who enjoys peace. You become a prisoner of those whom you hate and desire to hurt. The very thought of them brings you to anger.

For those committed to revenge there is even a website to purchase items for revenge like, 1 dozen wilted roses, stink bombs, itching powder, fake winning lottery tickets, There were over 1 million hits on the site in less that 2 years.

Instead we should heed the words of Mirslav Volf:

When blessing replaces rage and revenge, the one who suffers violence refuses to retaliate in kind and chooses instead to encounter violence with an embrace. But how can people give up violence in the midst of a life-threatening conflict if their identity is wrapped up in rejecting the beliefs and practices of their enemies? Only those who refuse to be defined by their enemies can bless them. (Mirslav Volf in Soft Difference http://www.northpark.edu/sem/exauditu/papers/volf.html).

Can we begin to imagine the impact that this kind of life has on a pagan society? What a powerful confirmation of the gospel!

3. Know who you are in Christ
9, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

There are three phrases/conepts within these verses that identify the uniqueness of believers in Christ.

• We are called to inherit blessing – ‘that you may inherit a blessing from God’

The phrase ‘for to this you were called’ – is difficult to determine whether it goes with what is before or after. Peter does this often – he leaves it ambiguous because it is both. In Christ we are called to inherit blessing and to be blessing. This is who we are as Christians.

Unfortunately we are more interested at times in inheriting a blessing than being a blessing. Peter refuses to separate the two. We are called to be bless and to be blessed.

The saving grace of the gospel is also life-transforming grace.

• We have transformed values of what constitutes the good life – Literally – ‘wishing to love life and to see good days’.
Whoever desires to love life and see good days – this phrase is a description of believers in old covenant terms. Only those in covenant with God could expect life and good days.

The gospel transforms the way we think of ‘life’ and ‘good days.’

I was talking to a neighbor one day who mentioned that he wished he didn’t have to work and hoped he could win the lottery. Our conversation raises the perennial question: “what is the good life.” I imagine that most people have had at least a momentary fantasy of what it would mean to win the lottery. Personally, I have never bought a lottery ticket, but have been tempted a few times to believe the seductive lie that more money is the road to the good life.

I was listening to Joel Osteen talk to his congregation about how God had blessed them by giving them the convention center in downtown Houston where the Houston Rockets used to play. He told them that because they gave to buy that property, God would bless them materially. He told them that God did not want them living in apartments but owning their own homes. God was going to bless them materially because they had given to purchase the new property. Let me say that Joel Osteen has bad theology and bad theology is always a lie. What is the good life?

It is not only people on the street but preachers in the pulpit who are mistaken about the good life.

Can ‘the good life’ possibly be a life of obedience, of holiness, of submission, and of suffering?

We long for the good life – to love life and see good days – but who will define that good life for us. Did Jesus have the good life? It ended at the cross. Did Stephen have the good life? He was stoned to death. Did Peter have the good life? He was crucified upside down. Did Paul have the good life? Read 2 Corinthians 6 and 11. He was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, and suffered numerous deprivations. Most of the original apostles died in cruel martyrdom. Did they have the good life?

Do I measure God’s blessing in worldly comforts which any sinner with money can buy, or do I measure it by the gifts of the Spirit that enrich the soul which can only be had through Jesus Christ?

In this text the ‘good life’ is essentially a life in which the gospel is transforming the way you respond to evil.

Believers are not only called to a righteous way of living but to a righteous response to evil. Here is where we are more likely to fail.

• We are the righteous ones whose prayers are heard by God – “the eyes of the Lord are watching over the righteous’, i.e. those who are in Christ and pursuing the obedience to which we are called.

This is the classic, biblical division of humanity – the righteous and the evil.

The righteous are those who believe, who submit to Christ as Lord and seek to live righteously under that Lordship. God hears their prayers.

The wicked (evil) are those who resist God’s offer of grace. They may be self-righteous, religious, or blatantly immoral and profligate. God turns his face away from them.

Who you are in Christ (Blessed in order to bless, understanding what ‘the good life’ is; prayer that God hears) undergirds the development of the inner qualities the outward practices in this text.

Conclusion:
These verses set before us a beautiful portrait of Christian character. Along with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5; the great commandments in Mark 12, this is basic Christian living.

This character is not the product of human effort; it is the effect of the gospel at work in our lives. This character comes as a result of dying to sin and rising to new life in Jesus Christ. To truly believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior is to become like him in living as a Christian in a non-Christian world.

Why should we think personal righteousness important, and make it our daily aim? First, because God commands it. Second, because it pleases him, and gratitude for grace must make us want to please him. Third, because hearty obedience is basic to honest doxology: glorifying God with our lips is hollow and phony unless our lives are right. Fourth, because our own moral transformation gives credibility to our gospel whereas unchanged lives will destroy its credibility; no one will believe what we say about the power of Christ if we ourselves do not show its fruit. To pull the threads together —yes it matters much how we live! (J.I. Packer, http://www.alliancenet.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID307086|CHID559376|CIID2066484,00.html)

This loftiness of this character is not meant to call us to despair and defeat because it indicts us, but to repentance and renewed dependence upon Christ because apart from his grace this is beyond our natural ability.

17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

1. What do we mean when we say that the Old Testament background for ‘fear of the Lord” includes an objective, subjective, and psychological element?
If you will fear the LORD, you must KNOW what He expects
If you will fear the LORD, you must SUBMIT to His authority.
If you will fear the LORD, you must ANTICIPATE both reward and retribution.

2. Why is the holy character of God a reason for terror? To whom is God a ‘dangerous God’?

3. What distinguishes the fear of the Lord that a believer and a non-believer should have?

4. Why should calling the Judge, Father, draw us to reverent worship rather than give us permission to live carelessly?

5. In what ways does God as an impartial judge hold His children accountable?

6. Why does knowing that He is not only your Father, but that He stepped down from his Holy throne (in his son) and bore the penalty of the law to redeem you, encourage you to live in fear?

7. How does Peter describe the life from which we were rescued?

8. Which of the following scenarios best describes your life prior to Christ?
If you were a Jew receiving this letter, your former way of life would have been one of religious activity, and pride about those external trappings of religion that set you apart from others.

If you were a Gentile receiving this letter, your former way of life would have been one of idolatry – false substitutes for the true and living God.

9. How does Peter describe the great value of our redemption?

1. Why is it important that we understand that Christian living in a non-Christian world is grounded in knowing our identity, valuing it, and allow it to define who we are and how we will live in this world?

2. What is the difference between a ‘value’ and a ‘belief’?

3. How does the development of these values create a growing distinction between the values of the world (which we once held) and the values of the kingdom of Jesus Christ?

4. Why does the development of these values create both friction (a tension, a rub) and an opportunity to display the superior values of the kingdom of Jesus Christ?

5. Why is it important to know the Christian values are rooted in the gospel?

6. In what way is the grace that we now experience in Christ not the final and fullest expression of grace?

7. How does future grace empower us to live holy lives?

8. What is the difference between having an existential versus an eschatological perspective on our choices in life.

9. Discuss our responsibility to have a disciplined and sober mind and what that looks like.

10. Why does a commitment to holiness make no division between the secular and the sacred?

11. Why does coming to Christ mean that we begin a life-long evaluation of everything we do?

12. Discuss how the gospel calls us to reject the life that is simply driven by self-centered passions and to pursue the life is set apart for God’s sacred use.

13. Discuss Titus 2:11-12 and how the grace of God teaches us to live in a way which reflects God’s Lordship over our lives.

14. What does it mean to have a sacred God-orientation in everything in all life?

15. Discuss this statement: Because in Christ we are already holy, the pursuit of holiness is our joy, not a burden, because we know that our imperfect pursuit of holiness is never the ground of our acceptance with God.