Yesterday was my birthday. 34 years old now. It was the first birthday I have ever spent away from home. I didn't realize that until this morning, but it remains true. Growing up, having a birthday in Mid-August meant my birthday was the last thing that would happen before school started back up. Even when I moved away from home for that first run at college, we celebrated my 18th birthday the day before I moved into my dorm. My birthday was always a day surrounded by family and friends. As a kid, it meant mom making me whatever I wanted for dinner... usually manicotti, whatever kind of cake I wanted... cheesecake or black forest cake were always in the running, and a day doing whatever I desired. As time went by, those things changed, as life often does. This was my 8th birthday without mom, 12th birthday since Z and I got married, 9th birthday as a dad, 16th birthday since that day before college started... the first time.
This year, it was a birthday in a different city, in a different state, in a different time zone... birthday wishes from friends and family come from 3000 miles away. And yet, it was the most with family feel I have had in many years. Its funny quickly God creates family. In a home that we've lived in for a month now, in a city that has only been home for 7 months, with people we had never met before January, we had a birthday dinner with 7 new family members. We sat together, we talked, we watched baseball, we ate food, we did what family does.
Shortly before we left on this journey, I was studying in the book of Acts, and I wrote about sacrifice. The idea behind it being that when we read scripture, and we read biographies of missionaries, or martyrs, we often come to a common theme, the idea that when we sacrifice all we know and all we are for the cause of Christ, then we find that we truly have sacrificed nothing at all. (You can find that post here) As I sat in my living room Saturday evening, I didn't feel the distance between me and my family, I didn't feel the strife of selling our home. I didn't feel the sting of leaving behind the path we though we had laid before us. I didn't feel loss. I felt love, and comfort, and home.
That is the power of the gospel for believers. We so often stop with the gospel at salvation and leave it there, mistakenly thinking that it only the power of God unto salvation. Or, more correctly, we mistakenly believe that salvation has to do with a single, momentary flash of light bringing the sinner from death to life. Salvation is an every-present, growing reality in the life of those who have been, are being, and will be saved, and thus the gospel is not simply the power to begin this process, it is the power and life-blood that courses through the beating heart of the now-living Christian. The gospel does not lose power or benefit after one professes belief, rather that is only beginning of it's power! The power of the life-giving word of God is desperately needed among the church, in the midst of the believers. The gospel has the power to bring you to new places, to meet new people, and to LOVE them... you cannot love them without it, you're not that strong, that good, or that powerful. Without the power of the gospel, my home wouldn't be full of people I didn't know before the calendar flipped this year. Without the power of the gospel, they wouldn't be my family.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Imperishable seed
I often find that I pay much more attention to Paul than I do other authors of the New Testament. Obviously, by sheer volume, Paul pretty well dominates the NT landscape. His gifts of writing and crafting sound reason build a strong frame onto the foundation of Christ for our faith. The last couple of mornings, however, I turned to Peter.
Among the many reasons I love the Bible, and believe it to be the living Word of God, is that, though the words themselves remain the same, their impact and the way they pierce the heart change throughout our lives. The meaning of the text is always there, the original, bedrock purpose for which the authors put pen to paper, but in certain times, on certain days, the light shifts in our eyes. The analogy of scripture being like a multi-faceted diamond holds true. The reality and substance of this gem does not change, rather, if you were to place a diamond to be held up in an open field, as the sun rises, crosses, and sets across the sky, the reflection and brilliance of the diamond with shift to show its beauty in new ways. This is what happens as we read scripture throughout our lives, revisiting familiar words, but with ever-changing circumstances... differing angles and balance of light and darkness that flash through the words and the pages with new brilliance that we would not see if it were not for the circumstances of our momentary sight. This is what it was for me today, visiting 1Peter 1.
As I was saying, I am particularly fond of the Pauline descriptions and arguments of faith. They bolster me and throw ballast in the depths of my soul. But this morning, Peter's reminder to his readers of what the Christian life is, and how salvation looks, was a searing reminder of the importance of joy, the reality of suffering, and the hope that lies only in the imperishable seed of Christ:
He starts, reminding his hearer that all that Peter is about to share of the blessed hope of salvation has come from the great mercy of the resurrecting God of Jesus. We are born again, by the power of this resurrection, to a living hope. (v. 3) But just what is this living hope? Peter states it another way, for the sake of clarification in verse 4, calling it an inheritance. He tells us of an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, an inheritance that is being kept for us in Heaven. But lest we think that this inheritance is for any who claim to be of this "rebirth", Peter cuts off the though with a qualifier. Who is the inheritance being kept for? In verse 5, it is those who by God's power are being kept, being guarded through faith, awaiting the revelation of their salvation in the last time. So, who has access to the rebirth, the living hope, the inheritance? Those whom God is guarding, through faith, as they await their salvation. This sounds an awful lot like Matthew 24:13 where, after laying out the coming trials and tribulations that will be faced by those who bear His name, Jesus tells his disciples, "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." Peter is reminding us here that it is not mere words spoken, or even deeds done that measure a man's salvation. Man is not born again simply because he says he is. We do not gain the unfading, imperishable inheritance of God simply by claiming it as our own. Rather, this inheritance belongs to those whom God has caused to be born again (v. 3 again).
Okay Peter, but how can we know if we are being guarded by faith, born again of Christ's resurrection? How can I know if my salvation is ready to revealed in the last times? Peter says, "In this you rejoice." (v. 6) The Christian does not scoff at or cry foul at the though that his salvation can not truly be revealed until the end comes. The Christian lays all trust at the foot of the cross, saying that our only hope of salvation is through the blood of Christ and the propitiation for our sin is found only in his death. We grasp the sovereign will of God, through the resurrection of Jesus, and say not that we are born again, but that we trust that the only way to become born again to this living hope is by grace through faith. We do not claim, only, a salvation that has been accomplished in us, but also a salvation to be revealed in us. We, to use Peter's words, rejoice in the faithful guarding of our salvation. We rejoice through whatever means by which our God has chosen to reveal our salvation. This is the process of sanctification, the revealing of our salvation. Peter tells us that our rejoicing continues, even through momentary trials. Though we may be grieved by these afflictions, and troubled by these tests of faith, we rejoice in the knowledge that it is by these wounds, by this weakening of our flesh, that our faith is made stronger, more pure, refined by the fire (v. 7). And Peter tells us that if we are indeed born again, and if we can lay any claim on the promised inheritance, then we come into and through these trials with praise, singing the glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Though we no longer see him physically on this earth, though we might have struggled to see him active in grace through our trials in this momentary pain, the Christian believes in him and rejoices with an inexpressible joy, and glows with the glory of Christ. By this, Peter says, we obtain the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls. (vv. 8-9)
That's great Peter, but how, practically, do we do this? I'm willing to buy in and believe that what you're saying is true. I mean, you did walk, literally, with Jesus, there is probably no one who has lived that can say with more authority what Jesus taught his disciples. So, I guess I should just take your word that this is true, right?
I think this is what really stuck the chord with me this morning, Peter could have just made this claim on the veracity of his own testimony and life. He could've, and I think we would still take it as the authoritative word that it is. But Peter doesn't do that. He goes further, in providing a more sure footing in the historical texts that his hearers knew, Peter drives a stake, a firm foothold of faith, into the whole of redemptive history:
"Concerning this salvation..." (v. 10)
Peter shows that the prophets, those who first wrote to us about the grace and mercy by which we would be saved, these prophets have been revealed to be not writing to just themselves, for themselves, by themselves, they were not serving only the prophets of God through their preaching, teaching, writing... they were serving us, the Christians to come, through those who have announced and preached the good news to us by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven. (vv. 11-12) Peter is saying, "Don't take my word for it, for this is the truth of the prophets. This salvation is the salvation that has been spoken to you from Abraham down through all those who have faithfully heard and preached the good news of God." Peter could've staked the claim of true regeneration, and true adoption, true inheritance on his own authority, but instead, he turned back to the source of his authority, the living Word of God, revealing to his hearers truths that "angels long to look" into.
Peter, that sounds good, but as a 1st Century Jewish man, I'm not sure I quite grasp this salvation you speak of...
In verse 13, Peter prepares the recipients of his letter to receive a concise, cutting, piercing reality that Jesus Christ is the only source of living hope, not an addition to their faith, but the culmination of the faith of their fathers. These people have been waiting centuries for the inheritance of their fathers, and Peter is about to unload on them that that inheritance is through the risen Messiah: "Preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (v. 13)
Hold on to your hats, folks:
"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (vv. 14-15)
-- You want the inheritance that was promised to our fathers? It is found only in God, and to be with God, you must be holy. Not good, not even faithful... holy. Not just pretty holy... holy in ALL your conduct.
"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, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." (vv. 17-19)
-- If you want to go to him with only the holiness which you can muster through your deeds, you must approach with fear. It has been revealed to you, that the ways that your fathers approached God has now been made futile. You neither need to, nor can you, approach your Father in the ways that you had inherited from tradition. Rather than the perishable sacrifice, you can approach through the precious blood of Jesus.
"He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 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." (vv. 20-21)
-- This Jesus is Eternal God, made manifest here in our midst, as the promised Messiah. For the sake of those, such as yourselves, who claim a belief in God. This Jesus was raised from death, shown in the fullness of glory, so that your faith and hope are truly in God. Jesus is the way of salvation.
"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God, for 'All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.'" (vv. 22-25a)
-- The hearers of this letter had a desire to claim a salvation from Christ, they simply were not going about it correctly. Peter, having relaid the foundational truths of their new faith, and the exclusivity of Christ as the only path to the holiness that is required to be in the presence of a holy God, finishes with the greatest commandment: since you have been saved, born again, love one another.
"And this is the good news that was preached to you." (v. 25b)
-- Tying it back together, Peter launched into this sermonette as an explanation of how his hearers can be born again to a living hope and the promised inheritance of God's people. Peter's answer was to live the life that had been preached to them. Peter reminds them that this is the life that has been preached, the good news of the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, and the foundation of the new, built upon the blood of Christ. It is not to be mingled back with the old traditions, but set apart, called out of the old, and made new. Peter tells us that because of this, we can trust the abiding, imperishable Word, that if God has caused us to be born again, then we will be guarded through faith, desiring to rejoice, even in the trials, shouting praise and glory of the only begotten of the Father. Our faith is not dependent on that which can been seen, but on the knowledge of the truth of that which is unseen. And yet, it rests on the revelation that has been given throughout the entirety of human history, recorded by the prophets and preached to God's people.
So, what does the Christian life look like?
According to Peter, it looks like obedience to the truth that has been revealed, loving one another in grace, persevering in the trials, praising God and rejoicing with inexpressible joy throughout our lives. It looks radically different from anything that is not the Christian life, drawing daily sustenance from the imperishable seed.
Among the many reasons I love the Bible, and believe it to be the living Word of God, is that, though the words themselves remain the same, their impact and the way they pierce the heart change throughout our lives. The meaning of the text is always there, the original, bedrock purpose for which the authors put pen to paper, but in certain times, on certain days, the light shifts in our eyes. The analogy of scripture being like a multi-faceted diamond holds true. The reality and substance of this gem does not change, rather, if you were to place a diamond to be held up in an open field, as the sun rises, crosses, and sets across the sky, the reflection and brilliance of the diamond with shift to show its beauty in new ways. This is what happens as we read scripture throughout our lives, revisiting familiar words, but with ever-changing circumstances... differing angles and balance of light and darkness that flash through the words and the pages with new brilliance that we would not see if it were not for the circumstances of our momentary sight. This is what it was for me today, visiting 1Peter 1.
As I was saying, I am particularly fond of the Pauline descriptions and arguments of faith. They bolster me and throw ballast in the depths of my soul. But this morning, Peter's reminder to his readers of what the Christian life is, and how salvation looks, was a searing reminder of the importance of joy, the reality of suffering, and the hope that lies only in the imperishable seed of Christ:
He starts, reminding his hearer that all that Peter is about to share of the blessed hope of salvation has come from the great mercy of the resurrecting God of Jesus. We are born again, by the power of this resurrection, to a living hope. (v. 3) But just what is this living hope? Peter states it another way, for the sake of clarification in verse 4, calling it an inheritance. He tells us of an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, an inheritance that is being kept for us in Heaven. But lest we think that this inheritance is for any who claim to be of this "rebirth", Peter cuts off the though with a qualifier. Who is the inheritance being kept for? In verse 5, it is those who by God's power are being kept, being guarded through faith, awaiting the revelation of their salvation in the last time. So, who has access to the rebirth, the living hope, the inheritance? Those whom God is guarding, through faith, as they await their salvation. This sounds an awful lot like Matthew 24:13 where, after laying out the coming trials and tribulations that will be faced by those who bear His name, Jesus tells his disciples, "But the one who endures to the end will be saved." Peter is reminding us here that it is not mere words spoken, or even deeds done that measure a man's salvation. Man is not born again simply because he says he is. We do not gain the unfading, imperishable inheritance of God simply by claiming it as our own. Rather, this inheritance belongs to those whom God has caused to be born again (v. 3 again).
Okay Peter, but how can we know if we are being guarded by faith, born again of Christ's resurrection? How can I know if my salvation is ready to revealed in the last times? Peter says, "In this you rejoice." (v. 6) The Christian does not scoff at or cry foul at the though that his salvation can not truly be revealed until the end comes. The Christian lays all trust at the foot of the cross, saying that our only hope of salvation is through the blood of Christ and the propitiation for our sin is found only in his death. We grasp the sovereign will of God, through the resurrection of Jesus, and say not that we are born again, but that we trust that the only way to become born again to this living hope is by grace through faith. We do not claim, only, a salvation that has been accomplished in us, but also a salvation to be revealed in us. We, to use Peter's words, rejoice in the faithful guarding of our salvation. We rejoice through whatever means by which our God has chosen to reveal our salvation. This is the process of sanctification, the revealing of our salvation. Peter tells us that our rejoicing continues, even through momentary trials. Though we may be grieved by these afflictions, and troubled by these tests of faith, we rejoice in the knowledge that it is by these wounds, by this weakening of our flesh, that our faith is made stronger, more pure, refined by the fire (v. 7). And Peter tells us that if we are indeed born again, and if we can lay any claim on the promised inheritance, then we come into and through these trials with praise, singing the glory and honor of Jesus Christ. Though we no longer see him physically on this earth, though we might have struggled to see him active in grace through our trials in this momentary pain, the Christian believes in him and rejoices with an inexpressible joy, and glows with the glory of Christ. By this, Peter says, we obtain the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls. (vv. 8-9)
That's great Peter, but how, practically, do we do this? I'm willing to buy in and believe that what you're saying is true. I mean, you did walk, literally, with Jesus, there is probably no one who has lived that can say with more authority what Jesus taught his disciples. So, I guess I should just take your word that this is true, right?
I think this is what really stuck the chord with me this morning, Peter could have just made this claim on the veracity of his own testimony and life. He could've, and I think we would still take it as the authoritative word that it is. But Peter doesn't do that. He goes further, in providing a more sure footing in the historical texts that his hearers knew, Peter drives a stake, a firm foothold of faith, into the whole of redemptive history:
"Concerning this salvation..." (v. 10)
Peter shows that the prophets, those who first wrote to us about the grace and mercy by which we would be saved, these prophets have been revealed to be not writing to just themselves, for themselves, by themselves, they were not serving only the prophets of God through their preaching, teaching, writing... they were serving us, the Christians to come, through those who have announced and preached the good news to us by the Holy Spirit sent from Heaven. (vv. 11-12) Peter is saying, "Don't take my word for it, for this is the truth of the prophets. This salvation is the salvation that has been spoken to you from Abraham down through all those who have faithfully heard and preached the good news of God." Peter could've staked the claim of true regeneration, and true adoption, true inheritance on his own authority, but instead, he turned back to the source of his authority, the living Word of God, revealing to his hearers truths that "angels long to look" into.
Peter, that sounds good, but as a 1st Century Jewish man, I'm not sure I quite grasp this salvation you speak of...
In verse 13, Peter prepares the recipients of his letter to receive a concise, cutting, piercing reality that Jesus Christ is the only source of living hope, not an addition to their faith, but the culmination of the faith of their fathers. These people have been waiting centuries for the inheritance of their fathers, and Peter is about to unload on them that that inheritance is through the risen Messiah: "Preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (v. 13)
Hold on to your hats, folks:
"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (vv. 14-15)
-- You want the inheritance that was promised to our fathers? It is found only in God, and to be with God, you must be holy. Not good, not even faithful... holy. Not just pretty holy... holy in ALL your conduct.
"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, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." (vv. 17-19)
-- If you want to go to him with only the holiness which you can muster through your deeds, you must approach with fear. It has been revealed to you, that the ways that your fathers approached God has now been made futile. You neither need to, nor can you, approach your Father in the ways that you had inherited from tradition. Rather than the perishable sacrifice, you can approach through the precious blood of Jesus.
"He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 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." (vv. 20-21)
-- This Jesus is Eternal God, made manifest here in our midst, as the promised Messiah. For the sake of those, such as yourselves, who claim a belief in God. This Jesus was raised from death, shown in the fullness of glory, so that your faith and hope are truly in God. Jesus is the way of salvation.
"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God, for 'All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.'" (vv. 22-25a)
-- The hearers of this letter had a desire to claim a salvation from Christ, they simply were not going about it correctly. Peter, having relaid the foundational truths of their new faith, and the exclusivity of Christ as the only path to the holiness that is required to be in the presence of a holy God, finishes with the greatest commandment: since you have been saved, born again, love one another.
"And this is the good news that was preached to you." (v. 25b)
-- Tying it back together, Peter launched into this sermonette as an explanation of how his hearers can be born again to a living hope and the promised inheritance of God's people. Peter's answer was to live the life that had been preached to them. Peter reminds them that this is the life that has been preached, the good news of the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, and the foundation of the new, built upon the blood of Christ. It is not to be mingled back with the old traditions, but set apart, called out of the old, and made new. Peter tells us that because of this, we can trust the abiding, imperishable Word, that if God has caused us to be born again, then we will be guarded through faith, desiring to rejoice, even in the trials, shouting praise and glory of the only begotten of the Father. Our faith is not dependent on that which can been seen, but on the knowledge of the truth of that which is unseen. And yet, it rests on the revelation that has been given throughout the entirety of human history, recorded by the prophets and preached to God's people.
So, what does the Christian life look like?
According to Peter, it looks like obedience to the truth that has been revealed, loving one another in grace, persevering in the trials, praising God and rejoicing with inexpressible joy throughout our lives. It looks radically different from anything that is not the Christian life, drawing daily sustenance from the imperishable seed.
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
because of me
"And they glorified God because of me."
This is the statement by the Apostle Paul at the end of Chapter 1 of the book of Galatians. It stood out to me this morning as I was studying. I think there is a very real struggle in the life of the Christian that we desire that through the life we live, others (namely other Christians) would glorify God because of us. We struggle because this seems counter-intuitive to the life we feel called to... we are to be humble bondservants of the Lord, not a self-seeking, self-aggrandizing braggart. But, in Paul's words here, it would appear that there is a sense in which we can indeed live out our faith in a way that causes others to glorify God because of us. There is a way to satisfy this that is not only not sinful, but is worthy of the glory. These were not new-convert Gentiles, or uninformed "nobodies" who were glorifying God because of Paul, it is the churches of Judea of whom Paul speaks in Galatians 1:24.
Paul spends this first chapter reasserting to the Galatian churches who he is, and in what way he has been established as an Apostle of the truth. He feels he must repair a foundation within this church that has begun to falter in his absence, stating his astonishment that there are those among this church who are deserting the true gospel for a twisted entanglement of truth and lie. Paul is setting the stage for a treatise on the establishment of faith in the life of a believer, the wellspring of grace that erupts in the heart of the true convert, and the practical walking in the spirit that must be sought by those who lay claim to the adoption as sons and heirs of the promise. And, as he often does, he is starting by establishing himself as an example of the life to be lived by the Christian... he is calling this church to live a life so saturated by the gospel that the true Church would glorify God because of the life of these saints.
I think what Paul lays out here is one of the clearest representations of Jesus' parable of the treasure hidden in the field from Matthew 13:44 ("The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.") Paul lays out the short version of his life, and conversion in such a way that seems to parallel this parable. After recapping his persecution of the early church and establishing himself as a enemy of the faith, reminding the Galatians of who he was as he set forth to Damascus (a man walking through a field), Paul says, "But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me..." (a treasure hidden in a field, found, or rather revealed to, the man)..."I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me,"... (and covered up the treasure.)... "but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem..."
Not a lot is written or known within scripture about the time Paul spent in Arabia, and the timeline of when he began teaching in Damascus, and when he went to Arabia, or when the three years before Jerusalem is not clearly delineated. But we do have words speaking to Paul's strengthening, and deepening in understanding. In his vision to Ananias, when Jesus told the believer to go and pray over Paul, Jesus tells Ananias to go to Paul because he is "the instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." (Acts 9:15b-16). From this, it would seem possible that in his time after his conversion, in Damascus, and in Arabia, that Paul received further teaching and visions from Christ himself. Paul alludes to much as he tells the churches that he did not receive his gospel from flesh and blood but by the Spirit. Having seen the glory of Christ revealed, and being taught by the Spirit, it is easy to see how Paul, as the man walking in a field, found a revealed treasure, covered it up as not to reveal what he had found too quickly, then in his joy of coming to see the glory of the revelation, and under the teaching of Christ, understanding the cost of the field, sold all that he had to obtain the treasure. Jesus told Ananias that he would show Paul the cost of his calling, Paul, tasting of the beauty and glory of truth, sells all that he has... his citizenship, his upbringing, his education, his standing as a Pharisee, his reputation among men, the health of his physical body, the satisfaction of the flesh, material desires... he bets it all on the treasure of the field being worth it.
Paul took the truth and the beauty of the Gospel that had be revealed to him, and he poured himself out fully on the behalf of those to whom he was sent that they might see and savor the Christ who was worth everything. To drive home the validity of the visions and teachings by the Spirit that Paul claimed to have had, he did not seek out the established Apostles in Jerusalem, spending 3 years teaching and proclaiming. Even then he only sought out Peter, meeting James along the way, spending 15 days, before heading back to Syria and Cilicia. Paul makes the point here that in all of this, he did not visit or make himself known to the churches of Judea, relating to us only that it became known to him, that those churches had become aware that "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." (Gal 1:23). The zeal with which he once sought to end the teachings he saw as a threat to what he had then understood as truth had now been turned and levied into the revealed treasure of the field. The veracity with which Paul taught throughout the region, even in this early period of his Christian life became quickly recognized as something different, special, and set apart even from that of the Apostles. Not as a different faith, but as a faith that was not reserved to the biologic heirs of Abraham, but as a faith that was to be spread to the true heirs of faith, the adopted sons of the promise.
And Paul holds up this story, this redemptive Magnum Opus, to show and remind the Galatian churches (and the Church throughout the ages) that the power that brought him from death into life, the light the blinded him to the point of giving him true sight, that the blood by which he had been washed, that a life which sells all that it has so that it can lay hold of the treasure, is not done to the praise of himself, or the praises of men, but to the glory of God. Because when the churches of Judea heard that the enemy of their faith had miraculously began to preach the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, they did praise the redeemed sinner, but they glorified God for the work that had been done.
And thus, Paul starts into a practical outlaying of how we are brought into faith, how we grow in that faith, and what the end of that faith promises. Having reestablished for these believers the foundation on which their salvation rests, Paul seeks to steady the trembling house. He reminds them that the true gospel, the gospel he preached to them was not received by man, and in reminding them of where and how he received the true gospel of Christ, he points not to himself, but through himself to the Glory of God alone.
So, how do we live a life that allows us to say, "And they glorified God, because of me."?
We stand and say, "The only thing that's good in me, is Jesus". We lay ourselves open, and in the right time and place, we show the treasure we found in the field. We live a life that says that that treasure was worth everything I owned. We proclaim the revealed truth, nothing more, nothing less.
This is the statement by the Apostle Paul at the end of Chapter 1 of the book of Galatians. It stood out to me this morning as I was studying. I think there is a very real struggle in the life of the Christian that we desire that through the life we live, others (namely other Christians) would glorify God because of us. We struggle because this seems counter-intuitive to the life we feel called to... we are to be humble bondservants of the Lord, not a self-seeking, self-aggrandizing braggart. But, in Paul's words here, it would appear that there is a sense in which we can indeed live out our faith in a way that causes others to glorify God because of us. There is a way to satisfy this that is not only not sinful, but is worthy of the glory. These were not new-convert Gentiles, or uninformed "nobodies" who were glorifying God because of Paul, it is the churches of Judea of whom Paul speaks in Galatians 1:24.
Paul spends this first chapter reasserting to the Galatian churches who he is, and in what way he has been established as an Apostle of the truth. He feels he must repair a foundation within this church that has begun to falter in his absence, stating his astonishment that there are those among this church who are deserting the true gospel for a twisted entanglement of truth and lie. Paul is setting the stage for a treatise on the establishment of faith in the life of a believer, the wellspring of grace that erupts in the heart of the true convert, and the practical walking in the spirit that must be sought by those who lay claim to the adoption as sons and heirs of the promise. And, as he often does, he is starting by establishing himself as an example of the life to be lived by the Christian... he is calling this church to live a life so saturated by the gospel that the true Church would glorify God because of the life of these saints.
I think what Paul lays out here is one of the clearest representations of Jesus' parable of the treasure hidden in the field from Matthew 13:44 ("The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.") Paul lays out the short version of his life, and conversion in such a way that seems to parallel this parable. After recapping his persecution of the early church and establishing himself as a enemy of the faith, reminding the Galatians of who he was as he set forth to Damascus (a man walking through a field), Paul says, "But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me..." (a treasure hidden in a field, found, or rather revealed to, the man)..."I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me,"... (and covered up the treasure.)... "but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem..."
Not a lot is written or known within scripture about the time Paul spent in Arabia, and the timeline of when he began teaching in Damascus, and when he went to Arabia, or when the three years before Jerusalem is not clearly delineated. But we do have words speaking to Paul's strengthening, and deepening in understanding. In his vision to Ananias, when Jesus told the believer to go and pray over Paul, Jesus tells Ananias to go to Paul because he is "the instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." (Acts 9:15b-16). From this, it would seem possible that in his time after his conversion, in Damascus, and in Arabia, that Paul received further teaching and visions from Christ himself. Paul alludes to much as he tells the churches that he did not receive his gospel from flesh and blood but by the Spirit. Having seen the glory of Christ revealed, and being taught by the Spirit, it is easy to see how Paul, as the man walking in a field, found a revealed treasure, covered it up as not to reveal what he had found too quickly, then in his joy of coming to see the glory of the revelation, and under the teaching of Christ, understanding the cost of the field, sold all that he had to obtain the treasure. Jesus told Ananias that he would show Paul the cost of his calling, Paul, tasting of the beauty and glory of truth, sells all that he has... his citizenship, his upbringing, his education, his standing as a Pharisee, his reputation among men, the health of his physical body, the satisfaction of the flesh, material desires... he bets it all on the treasure of the field being worth it.
Paul took the truth and the beauty of the Gospel that had be revealed to him, and he poured himself out fully on the behalf of those to whom he was sent that they might see and savor the Christ who was worth everything. To drive home the validity of the visions and teachings by the Spirit that Paul claimed to have had, he did not seek out the established Apostles in Jerusalem, spending 3 years teaching and proclaiming. Even then he only sought out Peter, meeting James along the way, spending 15 days, before heading back to Syria and Cilicia. Paul makes the point here that in all of this, he did not visit or make himself known to the churches of Judea, relating to us only that it became known to him, that those churches had become aware that "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." (Gal 1:23). The zeal with which he once sought to end the teachings he saw as a threat to what he had then understood as truth had now been turned and levied into the revealed treasure of the field. The veracity with which Paul taught throughout the region, even in this early period of his Christian life became quickly recognized as something different, special, and set apart even from that of the Apostles. Not as a different faith, but as a faith that was not reserved to the biologic heirs of Abraham, but as a faith that was to be spread to the true heirs of faith, the adopted sons of the promise.
And Paul holds up this story, this redemptive Magnum Opus, to show and remind the Galatian churches (and the Church throughout the ages) that the power that brought him from death into life, the light the blinded him to the point of giving him true sight, that the blood by which he had been washed, that a life which sells all that it has so that it can lay hold of the treasure, is not done to the praise of himself, or the praises of men, but to the glory of God. Because when the churches of Judea heard that the enemy of their faith had miraculously began to preach the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, they did praise the redeemed sinner, but they glorified God for the work that had been done.
And thus, Paul starts into a practical outlaying of how we are brought into faith, how we grow in that faith, and what the end of that faith promises. Having reestablished for these believers the foundation on which their salvation rests, Paul seeks to steady the trembling house. He reminds them that the true gospel, the gospel he preached to them was not received by man, and in reminding them of where and how he received the true gospel of Christ, he points not to himself, but through himself to the Glory of God alone.
So, how do we live a life that allows us to say, "And they glorified God, because of me."?
We stand and say, "The only thing that's good in me, is Jesus". We lay ourselves open, and in the right time and place, we show the treasure we found in the field. We live a life that says that that treasure was worth everything I owned. We proclaim the revealed truth, nothing more, nothing less.
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