Law and grace

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

A few weeks ago, while listening to Billy Joel’s song, “New York State of Mind,” I was scanning the news online. Coincidentally, my eyes fell on an article explaining that the state of New York had recently passed a law making it illegal to pierce or tattoo pet animals. It amused me to learn that a law like this is needed. Apparently the practice has become a trend. I doubt many New Yorkers took note of the passage of this law since it was only one among many recently enacted in the state.

By their very nature, governments (local, state and federal) have legalistic tendencies. They certainly enact a lot of laws! For the most part, they do so seeking to make the world a better place. But some laws are needed simply because people lack common sense. Whatever the reason, CNN reported that within the U.S. in 2014, 40,000 new laws were enacted at the state level.

Why so many laws? Largely because we humans, with our bent toward sin, find loopholes in existing laws. As a result, more and more laws are needed. Few would be necessary if laws were capable of making people perfect. But they aren’t. The purpose of law is to restrain imperfect people in order to promote social order and harmony.

In his letter to the churches in Rome, Paul wrote about the limitations of the law that God gave to Israel through Moses: “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh…” (Romans 8:3). Not understanding these limitations, Israel’s religious leaders added bylaws and amendments to the law of Moses. It got to the point where it was nearly impossible to keep track of these laws, let alone obey them. And no matter how many laws were enacted, perfection was never achieved (and never will be) through law keeping. And that was exactly Paul’s point. God did not give the law to make his people perfect (righteous and holy). Only God, by grace, does that.

When I contrast law and grace, some accuse me of hating God’s law and encouraging antinomianism (the belief that one is released by grace from the obligation of observing the moral law). But nothing is further from the truth. Like anyone, I wish people were better law-keepers. Who wants lawlessness to abound? But as Paul reminds us, it’s vital to understand what the law can and cannot do.

In his mercy, God gave Israel the law, which includes the Ten Commandments, to guide them along a better path. That’s why Paul said that “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12). But by its very nature, the law is limited. It cannot bring about redemption nor free anyone from guilt and condemnation. The law cannot justify or reconcile us, much less sanctify and glorify us. Only the grace of God through the atoning work of Jesus working in us by the Holy Spirit does that. As Paul wrote to the Galatians: “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21). Karl Barth made a similar point in a sermon he preached to inmates at a prison in Switzerland:

Let us hear therefore what the Bible says and what we as Christians are called to hear together: By grace you have been saved! No man can say this to himself. Neither can he say it to someone else. This can only be said by God to each one of us. It takes Jesus Christ to make this saying true. It takes the apostles to communicate it. And our gathering here as Christians to spread it among us. This is why it truly [is] news, and very special news, the most exciting news of all, the most helpful thing also, indeed the only helpful thing.

Some people upon hearing the good news (gospel) worry that God’s grace won’t work. Legalists in particular worry that people will turn grace into license. They can’t grasp the truth revealed in Jesus that our lives are about relationship with God—co-ministering with him rather than usurping his role as Creator and Savior.

Our role in living and sharing the gospel is to proclaim God’s love and to be an example of gratitude for God’s self-revelation and intervention in our lives. Karl Barth wrote in Church Dogmatics that this obedience to God begins in the form of gratitude: “Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightning.” Barth commented further:

When God loves, revealing His inmost being in the fact that He loves and therefore seeks and creates fellowship, this being and doing is divine and distinct from all other loving to the extent that the love of God is grace. Grace is the distinctive mode of God’s being in so far as it seeks and creates fellowship by its own free inclination and favor, unconditioned by any merit or claim in the beloved, but also unhindered by any unworthiness or opposition in the latter—able, on the contrary, to overcome all unworthiness and opposition. It is in this distinctive characteristic that we recognize the divinity of God’s love.

I imagine your experience is not that different from mine when it comes to the topic of law and grace. Like you, I’d much rather have a relationship with someone that flows from love than one compelled by law. Because of God’s love and grace toward us, we desire to love and please him. Sure, I can seek to obey him out of a sense of duty, but I’d rather co-minister with him as the outflow of a genuine relationship of love.

Thinking about living by grace reminds me of another Billy Joel song, “Keeping the Faith.” Though not theologically precise, its chorus makes an important proclamation:

When the memory stays, yeah
I’m keeping the faith
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Keeping the faith
I’m keeping the faith,
Yes I am

Living by grace and keeping the faith with you,

Joseph Tkach

PS: Anthony Mullins and Mike Rasmussen shared with me a video of a performance by Kyle Brownell of a piece of “slam poetry.” He performed this at our CrossWalk Camp in Oklahoma. It’s called “Saved By Grace” and the lyrics declare the good news in a profound and personal way. Watch and enjoy on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pxgCEKE51c&feature=youtu.be.

Media in Europe

We’re pleased to announce two GCI media developments in Europe. Our program “Speaking of Life” (with a UK ending appended) is now airing in the United Kingdom on SKY TV and on an internet video channel. In the Netherlands, we have launched a new website at www.gracecommunion.nl and a new YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/gcinetherlands. Here is one of the videos there:

Watch on YouTube at http://youtu.be/dmiApTe-2fc.

New Pastors’ Orientation

The GCI home office recently hosted several new pastors and their spouses for New Pastors’ Orientation. The conference, which was facilitated by Church Administration and Development (CAD), had a two-fold purpose: to share ministry tools and information and to provide an environment that would nurture mutual love, support and respect. An immediate bond of love developed among participants (pictured below) as the group experienced God’s presence in prayer, worship and meals.

Topics addressed during the conference included church history, participation in the mission of God, reading and interpreting Scripture with trinitarian eyes, a pastor’s ministry, preaching and pastoral counseling. Home office staff from IT, Media and the Treasurer’s Office presented helpful practices and shared ministry vision and goals. GCI President, Joseph Tkach, ended the gathering by commissioning the new pastors and leading communion. He reminded the group of the privilege we have to labor together in the shadows of the triune, loving God.

Two conference participants received special recognition. Dan Rogers, one of the instructors, was honored on the occasion of his retirement as CAD director. Mike Rasmussen, who accompanied several new pastors to the event, was commissioned as a regional pastor (see picture at left). Mike will continue to pastor the GCI church in Oklahoma City while serving the pastors and churches of the U.S. south-central region.

Many event participants commented that they felt a renewed sense of hope and courage, now viewing challenges in their ministries as opportunities to share the abundant love of Jesus. In a survey to receive feedback, one of the questions asked was, “What are your greatest take-aways?” Here are a few of the most frequent responses:

God loves me. God is love. His love is constant.
Sense of community. I’m not alone. We all work together for a common goal. Network.
There is a huge support system and encouragement base.
Being free to go and do what God has called me to do.
It is with humble hearts that we thank our congregations for their generous support as we partner in ministry.
We look to the future with excitement and anticipation.

GCI-Philippines

Here are links to updates about GCI-Philippines missions, single’s activities and conferences:

Snowblast in Minnesota

Snowblast 2015 was held recently in Minnesota. This intergenerational winter camping event has been a GCI tradition for nearly 20 years.

About 60 people participated this year. The primary organizers were from the Fargo/Moorhead church. Activities included ice fishing, pottery, knitting, model rubber-band airplane making, hiking, ice skating, games and some indoor sports. The cold dark evenings were brightened by popcorn, snacks and movies in the warmth of Lakeview Lodge.

By using an auger to drill a hole in the three-foot-thick ice, and erecting a canvas ice fishing shack for shelter (see picture below), the group was able to enjoy excellent fishing—62 fish were caught: 2 bass, 40 sunfish, 15 crappies and 5 northern pike.

The event included times of worship with messages about God’s love from Tom Kennebeck, Betty Johannsen and Troy Meisner. Doug Johannsen and Becky Deuel gave interactive devotionals.

Plans are already underway for Snowblast 2016.

The Nicene Creed’s Trinitarian roots

Is GCI’s incarnational, Trinitarian theology a recent innovation? Some make that claim. But a careful study of the history of theology says otherwise. In fact, the Nicene Creed of 325 A.D., which codified for the church a doctrinal statement that has stood the test of time, was formed in accordance with the incarnational, Trinitarian theology of its framers. In his book The Trinitarian Faith, Thomas F. Torrance makes this point, carefully tracing out the creed’s historical development and examining its theological framework.

A post on GCI’s The Surprising God blog summarizes the key points of Torrance’s book and provides a helpful study of the Nicene Creed. You’ll find the post at http://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/p/nicene-creed.html.

Floods in East Africa

This prayer request is from Tim Maguire, one of GCI’s Missions Directors serving in Africa.

Please pray for our members and other people in Mozambique and Malawi who have been devastated by recent floods as the result of torrential rains. The flooding has destroyed homes and crops. I have been in contact with our leaders in Mozambique, but they do not have much information other than to say that “it is very bad” there. Many areas are without means of communication. More details are available by following these links:

Here is a note from the GCI Treasurer’s Office:

Probably the best way to assist members suffering in disasters like these in Africa is to donate to the GCI Disaster Relief Fund, which provides members in disaster areas with emergency needs for food, water, medicine, clothing, temporary housing, home and/or church hall repairs, temporary local pastoral salary expenses, etc. Monies donated to the Fund that are not immediately needed remain in the Fund to be allocated in future disasters. Congregations can donate to the Fund by having their treasurer set up a one time or monthly donation using the GCI online system (http://online.gci.org—log in and select “Church Giving” under the “Treasurer” tab at left). A congregation or individual may donate to the Fund by check made payable to Grace Communion International, indicating on the memo line that it is for the GCI Disaster Relief Fund. Send checks to:

GCI Disaster Relief Fund
Grace Communion International
P.O Box 5005
Glendora, CA 91740-0730