Category: Hear From the President

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I’m sure you’ve heard of carbo-loading. The term typically refers to a strategy used by athletes to minimize fatigue when competing in events (like marathons) that require great endurance. The strategy involves eating large amounts of carbohydrates prior to the event. Through digestion, the carbs consumed are converted into glycogen (a form of sugar), which enters the cells of the body through the bloodstream. Excess glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles for future use.

In reading about carbo-loading, it occurred to me that, spiritually speaking, Jesus, “the bread of life,” is our “cosmic carbohydrate.” As we “feed” on him, we are delivered from the spiritual fatigue so often encountered in the race of life. Jesus imparts this grace by sharing with us his own glorified humanity. Because he never leaves or forsakes us, he is always there to meet our deepest need.

Though Jesus fed the multitudes with physical food (loaves and fishes), his greatest desire is to feed us spiritually. Jesus wants us to know him not only as the source of physical food, but also (and most importantly) as the source of our spiritual sustenance. Jesus put it this way: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35 ESV).

Just as physical bread nourishes our bodies, Jesus, the bread of life, nourishes our souls by imparting to us the spiritual energy needed for right relationships with God and each other. Jesus feeds those who are needy and helpless then invites them to join him in feeding others, pointing them to the true bread of life. As Sri Lankan missionary, D. T. Niles, famously said, “Evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”

Following his resurrection, Jesus met with Peter and commanded him to “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17). Peter obeyed that command, and understanding that Jesus himself is the nourishment the sheep need, he wrote this to Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor:

Put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV, italics added)

In writing this, Peter likely had in mind the words of the psalmist: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8).

Of course, we all need physical food—we’d die without it. But our dependency on physical food should remind us of our even greater need for spiritual food—for Jesus, the true bread of life. The Son of God who created us and became incarnate in Jesus, now, through the Spirit, sustains us. And so we depend on Jesus—by the Spirit we feed on him. We do so through spiritual practices such as worship, prayer and Bible Study. In these and other ways, Jesus feeds us from the inside out, blessing us and enabling us to bless others by passing on what we have received—things like love, forgiveness, hope, encouragement, appreciation, faithfulness in relationships, and our material possessions.

Just as a gourmet chef provides the best physical food to nourish our bodies, so Jesus, our Creator and Sustainer, provides the best spiritual food to nourish our souls. Because Jesus knows and loves us as individuals, the way he feeds you may be a bit different than the way he feeds me and others. He feeds us with his life and love in ways that are best for each of us. That’s how much Jesus loves us all.

Speaking of Jesus’ love, I’m sure we’ve all heard the children’s song, “Jesus Loves Me (This I Know)” (it may be a children’s song, but I find that adults love it too!). Here’s an equally comforting phrase someone should put to song: “Jesus Knows Me This I Love.” Jesus knows you intimately. He knows who you are, and knows your deepest needs. This is so because, by the Spirit, he lives within us, and as we feed on him, he becomes for us life-giving “cosmic carbohydrate.” Now there’s a good reason to practice carbo-loading, don’t you think?

Feeding with you on the bread of life,
Joseph Tkach

PS: I greatly enjoyed my recent visit to the GCI congregation in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where I joined in celebrating their 50th anniversary. Pastor Alan Redmond and his wife Carolyn were perfect hosts to us and about 190 others in attendance, including Canadian national ministry leader Gary Moore and his wife Wendy who updated us on Canadian church missions. The worship and fellowship (pictured left and right, below) were wonderful and the food (at center) was fantastic! It was a personal treat to eat the delicious homemade peroghis for lunch (talk about carbo-loading!).

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I’ve always been delighted by the cool gadgets displayed in Star Trek since it began in 1966. Today, some of those gadgets are part of our everyday lives—things like cell phones, voice recognition software, translators, medical sensors, wireless door openers, video conferencing, holograms, 3-D printers, and hydro-spray injectors. Many of us “trekkers” wish someone would invent a transporter to beam us from one location to another. That would do away with the need for long airplane and automobile rides!

The Guinness Book of Answers notes that the vast majority of scientific inventions originated in Europe, the UK and the USA. Many of these have been listed on the Eupedia website. Though some people view technology as “a tool of the devil,” the truth is that many of the advances in technology resulted from the work of scientists holding a Christian worldview—men like Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Pasteur. These men dedicated their lives to studying what they considered to be God’s handiwork and the fruit of their labors have assisted all humanity, including the work of the church in advancing its mission (think of such technologies as the printing press, rapid travel and mass media).

Despite the widely-held myth that Christianity and science are hopelessly at odds, the facts say otherwise. In his 1925 lectures, English mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead pointed out that Christianity is “the mother of science because of the insistence on the rationality of God.” The basis of modern physics was established by such Christians as Newton, Gauss, Faraday, Maxwell, and Lord Kelvin, to name a few. God who created everything that science studies, gave humanity the ability to understand what he created.

Instead of a conflict between Christianity and science, what actually exists is a conflict between opposing worldviews. A prime example is the conflict between a biblical worldview and one known as “Greek philosophical dualism.” This form of dualism, which reaches as far back as Plato and Aristotle, posits two spheres of reality—a transcendent sphere that is impersonal, unreachable and unknowable; and a human sphere that is finite and temporary (and thus has no future). By New Testament times, this worldview posited the separation of mind from body, and the spiritual (which is good) from the material (which is evil). The human sphere of material things was seen as a “prison house” of the soul with human persons regarded ultimately as unreal. Temporary individual souls would be released at death to be absorbed back into the impersonal transcendent sphere. Within this dualistic worldview there is no place for a personal God, and if there were a God who “lives” in the transcendent realm, he certainly would have nothing directly to do with the human/material realm, much less becoming incarnate in that realm in order to provide salvation for humanity.

In the time of the New Testament and beyond, biblical Christianity directly challenged Greek philosophical dualism by pointing to the God revealed in Jesus Christ who is Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer of the entire cosmos. Nevertheless, dualism flourishes in our day, positing a gap between God and creation assumed to be unbridgeable even by God himself. It asserts that God cannot be known, or could not come to us in person to reveal himself in human form—not even in the person of Jesus.

Unfortunately, and especially since Darwin, some scientists, embracing the ungrounded philosophical assumptions of this dualism, have declared that only empirical truths of material things can be truly known. That is quite ironic, because in making that declaration they rely on philosophical assumptions that have no empirical proof. Whether individual scientists believe it or not, the scientific method itself depends on God. Science and technology are based on a real, ordered, and amazingly stable, rational (knowable) cosmos. Science and technology wouldn’t even be possible without these predictable realities. Said another way, scientific discovery and the technologies that result are possible only because scientists have faith that there are rational, reliable laws in operation that are constant and discoverable, and that the human mind is capable of actually knowing things that are external to that mind.

Scientists do not make the laws of nature—rather they are able to discover those laws because there is a real, rational, interactive dynamic at work in the universe. The Christian worldview can identify who made those laws of nature, and as Christians, we know there is more than just natural law. Our theology of nature gives us good reasons to study and learn about God’s creation by honest experimentation. That theology explains why scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs discover new ways to do new things, resulting in the amazing technologies that intrigue and benefit us. The complex and dynamic laws of nature that scientists discover and depend upon for their methodical exploration are part of God’s trinitarian, creative and sustaining plan: from the Father, spoken through the Son (the living Word), in the power and breath of the Holy Spirit.

I’m reminded here of what the apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Rome: “[God’s] invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20 ESV). God is immaterial (spiritual, not physical), invisible, powerful and transcendent over his creation. Nevertheless, his fingerprints, so to speak, are all over that creation. We see this in the complex genetic code in DNA and the way the atomic structure behaves. It is from the created world that all technology is born. As Paul states, there simply is no justifiable reason to outright deny the existence of a creator God. To the contrary, there is every reason to consider the claims of Jesus preserved in Holy Scripture and declared by the Church that God is Creator, Reconciler and Redeemer.

While it certainly is true that science and technology have been used for horrific evil, it is also true that they have been used for great good. The behaviors and motives of the users are the deciding factor. On the side of what is good, our own denomination uses computer technology to multiply our effectiveness in spreading the good news of Jesus to the world. Our GCI.org website gets thousands of pageviews daily from hundreds of visitors. Every week, we receive emails from independent churches and students of Scripture who say they’ve been greatly helped by what they find on our website. (For a good use of computer technology, see “How technology enhances prayer” under the Church Development heading at left, above).

Some warn against the continued expansion of certain technologies. Atheist-leaning physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, warned that robots powered by artificial intelligence could overtake humans in the next 100 years, going so far as to say, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” Steve Wozniak who co-founded Apple, made a similar comment: “Computers are going to take over from humans, no question. If we build these devices to take care of everything for us, eventually they’ll think faster than us and they’ll get rid of the slow humans to run companies more efficiently.” Personally, I think we’re a long way away from inventing a robot that becomes self-aware enough to cast its human operators aside and take over the world!

I was gratified to see in a current sci-fi series an advanced robot that prays to God. That reminds me of the declaration in Psalm 148 that even inanimate objects like mountains and hills raise their voices in praise to God. Speaking of praising God, I recommend The Joyful Christian, a compilation of quotations from C.S. Lewis showing his deep appreciation for praising God for all things. I join him in that praise by thanking God for his gifts of science and technology—gifts that point to the wonderfully creative and inventive spirit that God has given humankind. May we always use these gifts for God’s glory.

Praising God with you,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

“Can I have a word with you in private?”

If I were to ask you that question, you’d know I have something important to say, and you’d want to learn more. When asked in a movie or TV show, that question typically indicates a plot turn as suspense mounts. Words are powerful. As the proverb says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Proverbs 25:11 ESV).

Yes, affirming and encouraging words uplift, but negative words tear down. I remember a conversation I had with a classmate who always seemed to be in trouble. She lamented, “It doesn’t matter what I say or do, people are down on me. What’s the use?” At the time I thought of Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” I prayed those closest to her would let her know she is valued and loved.

People often use many words to say very little. A case in point is the recent debate of Republican candidates for U.S. president. Each had 60 seconds to answer a specific question, and the others had 30 seconds to dispute that answer. As I heard the questions, answers and disputes, I wondered how anyone could possibly determine what is true. After each candidate proclaimed how he or she would “fix” the country, leading it back to a safe and secure place, the others proclaimed why that plan will not work. A lot of words were spoken, many promises made, and our problems as a society continue.

Words, of course, convey ideas. Sometimes lots of words are used to convey the most trivial ideas. In 1945 the U.S. Department of Agriculture used 26,000 words to set standards for grading cabbage! In contrast, few words were needed to convey these profound ideas:

• Pythagoras’ Theorem: ………………………………….24 words
• Lord’s Prayer: ……………………………………………….66 words
• Archimedes’ Principle: ………………………………….67 words
• Ten Commandments:……………………………………179 words
• Gettysburg Address:……………………………………..286 words
• U.S. Declaration of Independence: ………………1,300 words
• U.S. Constitution with 27 Amendments: …….7,818 words

Though human words can’t solve our problems, we know a divine Word who can and does—the Living Word of God, the Logos (spokesman or speech of God), who became incarnate for us in the person of Jesus. Because Jesus Christ is the full and final revelation of God to us, we can, without reservation or doubt, place our trust in him. In his divine freedom, the Living Word of God came to humanity as a human being to challenge every idea we possess about everything. Jesus, through his life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension, personally fulfilled ancient Israel’s covenant, represented us before the Father, and sends the Holy Spirit to indwell us. As the God-man he continues to be the Word of God with us and for us.

Although it cannot capture all that Jesus Christ is, the written word of God (which we refer to as the Bible), faithfully directs us to the Living Word of God. The Bible must never be separated from the person of Jesus who appointed and authorized those who preached and wrote about him and his gospel and continues to speak in and through Scripture by the Holy Spirit, who he sends to his people. In that way, the Bible is and remains his word. We do not worship the Bible, but we do worship the One it uniquely, authoritatively and infallibly points to. As the church, it is our calling to proclaim the Living Word of God, and we do so by teaching the written word of God (note here the three-in-one aspect of God’s Word: Jesus, Scripture and the proclamation of the church).

Though I don’t place my trust and hope in the words of politicians, I do trust Jesus, the Living Word of God. He is our hope of a new day that has come, and one day will come in all its fullness. Though I’m discouraged by spoken and written words that misrepresent the Living Word of God, I’m never discouraged about who that Word is, and I’m constantly inspired in studying the written word that points me to him—to Jesus, the One who continually gives us assurance and hope.

Through Scripture, and by his Spirit, Jesus shows us a whole new way of seeing everything. It’s only through the Living Word of God that we have a rational basis to understand both the created order and our place of freedom within it. Jesus calls us to be a new creation and to participate in the unfolding of a new heaven and new earth. Whether we realize it or not, we live right now in the grace and truth of this Living Word, and when we embrace his unconditional love for us and all humanity, we will experience a new way of being and living—a way that lasts forever.

Grateful for the Word,

Joseph Tkach

PS: In thinking about various ways the gospel is being proclaimed in our world, I came across a tongue-in-cheek comparison (all in good fun, I hope you get a chuckle):

• Evangelical: God thinks you’re despicable. But Jesus loves you!
• Liberal Protestant: God thinks you’re wonderful. Here’s a crayon drawing I did earlier to show you.
• Progressive: I have not the faintest idea of what God, if there is a God, thinks about you. And if any of you disagrees with me, God thinks you’re an arrogant fundamentalist, and I agree.
• Roman Catholic: I know many different things that God thinks on various matters. Here are nine of them, in no particular order.
• Orthodox: We Orthodox are absolutely certain about what God thinks. But here instead is a story about something that happened to me the other day.
• Pentecostal: God doesn’t think, God feels. And how does God feel about you? Great!
• Presbyterian scholar: I—that is to say, myself, the ego, the first-person speaker whom Paul so poignantly yet so ambiguously names in Romans 7—know—meaning that I perceive it, not only by way of intellectual comprehension but as something that I grasp and apprehend with my whole being, in the way that “Adam knew Eve his wife” (Genesis 4:1 KJV)—what God thinks—that is to say, not just the content of the divine mind but the entire mode by which God apprehends created things, what one commentator has aptly called God’s “sapiential omniscience.”
• Itinerant evangelist: God is thinking about that ten dollar bill that you’ve got hidden in the bottom of your pocket.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

My Dad’s sister, Aunt Lil, was the youngest of my grandparents’ daughters and the wife of my Uncle Art. I was in Aunt Lil’s home when she died. It brings tears to my eyes as I remember Art, a World War II veteran, holding Lil in his arms, crying and declaring over and over, “My dear wife, darling, honey! I miss you!” In the years that followed, Art told me that Lil’s death was on his mind every day. In his last years (he lived to age 86), he told me that all his friends were dying and funerals seemed a weekly occurrence. He said it felt like “dying daily.” The apostle Paul said something similar concerning the perils he faced in serving Christ: “I die every day!” (1 Corinthians 15:31 ESV).

Dying with Jesus is probably not our first thought each morning. Instead, we likely think about living with him. But, according to Paul, the two concepts aren’t so different: “I am crucified with Christ,” he wrote, “nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 KJV).

Dying daily with Jesus

You likely know the Black-African spiritual, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? The answer, of course, is yes we were. In fact, we all were, for when Jesus died, we all died with him. Though that idea seems nonsensical at first, it makes sense when we consider that all humanity can be included in the life of the One who created us. The truth of the gospel is that all people are included in Jesus’ substitutionary, representative humanity (Romans 5:12-17). That means we have a share in what Jesus did through his death to cleanse us from sin and conquer the grave, and what he did (and continues to do) through his life to grant us new life and eventual glory (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:13; 3:1). Jesus’ story is our story, and as we embrace and live into that reality, we begin to experience all the benefits of what Jesus has done and is now doing on our behalf. Yes, we share the pain and sorrow of his crucifixion, but we also share the fruit of his faithful life leading to his resurrection and ascension to glory.

Several scriptures exhort us to take up our cross and die daily to self so we may live with Jesus and thus bear the fruit of his righteousness (see Mark 8:35; John 12:24; Romans 6:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24). Dying daily means putting to death the deeds of the flesh and plunging selfishness back into the grave. When I find myself taking offense, I try to remember that in Christ I died many years ago and thus words and individuals can’t hurt me anymore. Because Jesus died for me, I’m willing to die with him today and every day. That daily death to self and sin does not mean the end of my personality, but the beginning of becoming who God created me to be.

Living daily with Jesus: a journey of transformation

Only Christ has true life for us. Only his will for us leads to true freedom. Alive with Christ, we freely and gladly receive what he gives—no more and no less. Life in Christ means the transformation of the will and the heart that allows us to live and love as God intends for us. This transformation is a journey with Jesus by which, through the Spirit, we become more and more like Jesus. As I wrote last week, he gives us a new identity. Along the way, our old identity (in the first Adam) passes away while our new identity (in Christ, the last Adam), becomes more and more the defining reality of our lives.

These two identities (or natures) exist for a time side-by-side, competing for our time and affections. It’s often a struggle, but we have the responsibility to choose which nature we will follow: the old one with its lusts and pride that leads to destruction, or the new one with its self-sacrificial willingness to love and serve both God and people, leading to true, abundant life.

Christ promises to guide us on this journey, giving us strength to choose as he shares with us, through the Spirit, his own sanctification. We’ll find some sins easier to forsake than others (some are more enjoyable than others!). But all sin needs to go in order for us to enjoy fully the life that Jesus is sharing with us. Because he bought us with a price, our bodies are not our own—they belong to the One in whom and for whom we live.

Instead of doing what pleases us, in fellowship with Jesus we seek to do what pleases him. That leads us to discover that his way really is best. Amazingly, his way then becomes pleasing to us. This journey with Jesus involves thought and repentance, self-sacrifice and patience. It also involves yielding to Jesus who always is with us, living in us. As we do, we won’t instantly, or even gradually, become perfect. But we’ll journey forward, sharing Jesus’ abundant, new life as we go.

Notice this related instruction from Paul:

• We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (Romans 6:4).
• Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body…. Offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:11-13).
• We are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

It boils down to knowing who Jesus is—the truth that points to our own identity as God’s dearly loved children. No longer are we the old person we once were—our sins have been forgiven; that old person has died with Jesus. Now we are a new creation. Alive with Christ, sin has no power to force us to do its will. With Christ in us, we can choose to do what is right—what fits who we really are becoming.

We embrace this new identity as “slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18), obeying our Lord Jesus because we want to be with him and receive from him daily all he has to give us. We obey out of our trust or faith in him, and in his good purposes for us. No longer fearing condemnation (Romans 8:1), we aren’t afraid of God; we now see him as our perfect Father who loved us so much that he sent his Son to die for us. Because Christ now lives in us, his love for us and all people compels us to die daily so we can join him in his ongoing ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21).

Joining you in dying and living with Jesus,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and sisters,

Our increasingly secular, individualistic culture has lost sight of the truth that God gives us the precious gift of human identity. This loss leaves people to define their own identity. In doing so, instead of relying on widely agreed-upon values concerning life’s meaning, purpose and destiny, they rely on a secular “law” that values complete individual autonomy from God and people. Instead of producing freedom, this law produces slavery.

Because we are called to minister with Jesus within particular cultures, we must be aware of how culture shapes identity, and how the gospel testifies that the true identity of all people is found in Jesus. As Christians, we believe that the Son of God created us, became human, shared our life, died on our behalf, and now lives to help us, holding our future secure in his hands. This gospel truth is our primary frame of reference—our source of identity.

Sadly, the identity of many people is shaped not by the gospel but by such identity-forming cultural forces as media (including social media), advertising, education, entertainment, politics, technology and peer pressure. “Swimming” within this “cultural soup,” people come to believe they don’t need God—that they can be self-sufficient and make their own way. They learn to place their identity in their nationality, race, vocation, peer group, or hobby. And now many feel the need to place their identity in their sexual preferences (for more on that topic, click here or on the “LGBT issues” link above, left).

Into this “cultural soup” comes Jesus with a radical message of a new, transformed identity. That identity is not principally about human distinctions (Galatians 3:28), but who humans are, by grace, as God’s dearly loved children. Sadly, many people don’t know of this Christ-centered identity, largely because they hold false views about who God is. They’ve heard he’s like an angry, abusive parent out to punish his disobedient children. They’ve heard he’s so offended that he can’t stand to be in the presence of sinners and has plans to inflict pain on them forever and ever.

But all these views of God are wrong—they all suffer from a case of mistaken identity. God’s true identity is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. In Jesus we see that God is willing to suffer for us, even die for us, so that we can live forever with him. In Jesus we see that though we all sin and fall short of perfection, God, in love, has done something about it.

People react to this truth about God in different ways. Some won’t accept it—they don’t think their sins are anywhere near bad enough to necessitate such sacrifice. Others know they’ve sinned, but believe the good they’ve done outweighs the bad. Others, painfully aware of their guilt, desperately try to earn their way back into God’s favor.

The good news is that God’s favor, as a loving Father, is already there for all people. Even when we were sinners (his enemies!) he loved us and sent his Son to die on our behalf and reconcile us to himself. That truth—the gospel—forms the basis for our true identity. Yes, we all are sinners, and no, we can’t change that, but God can and has. As his freely given gift, he sent his Son to live and die in our place so that we would be forgiven and raised with him to new life. And now in Jesus—in who he is, and what he has done—we are the dearly loved children of our heavenly Father. That is who we truly are. That is our true identity.

Over the centuries, followers of Jesus, embracing their true identity, have committed their lives to helping others come to know who they truly are in Christ. Paul described that gospel work this way: “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…” (Galatians 4:19). Paul’s work in Galatia, as elsewhere, was to help people know Christ and to have Christ formed within them—to understand their true identity and then have their lives transformed as they live into that identity (see Galatians 2:20 KJV).

As a church, our primary goal is to participate, as did Paul, in what Jesus is doing to help people come to know him and then to be transformed as Christ is formed within them (Romans 12:2). That journey of transformation is about having our identity formed in Christ rather than in the “cultural soup” that surrounds us. It means yielding to the Spirit of Christ as he shapes us into what he wants us to be, using the gifts he gives us to join in the work he is doing, being instruments of his righteousness and peace for the benefit of people who desperately need to know him and know who they truly are in him.

This journey of transformation happens neither by accident nor by force. At times the journey seems slow, but it’s real and leading to our glorification—the time when we’ll be conformed perfectly to Christ and thus live fully into our true identity in him (see Romans 8:29 and 1 John 3:2). On this journey, the Spirit leads us to turn away from all other sources of identity and give our lives to Christ daily, as he continues to shape us to be more and more like he is. Note how Paul describes the process:

• “You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:9-10).
• “Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).

Out with the old identity—in with the new! Off with the way of sin—in with the way of Christ! As we surrender to Jesus, he gives us this new identity and way of being. It’s no pretense; no religious show—it’s reality, the gift of our true identity that gives us our meaning, our purpose, our security and our destiny. It’s a journey with daily challenges and joys. It’s about a life centered on Jesus, who not only shows us the Father, but shows us what we can become as we journey with him.

Our mission is to tell others this wonderful news—the simple (yet profound) truth that God who made us wants really good things for us. Even though we humans run from God, or act as if he’s not there, or refuse his help, God still loves us, still pursues us. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to become human with us, to speak our language, feel our pain, and take the sting of death upon himself removing all the barriers between us and God, giving us all our true identity as God’s dearly loved children.

Joined with you in living out our true identity in Christ,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As a young teen I was seated in a movie theater when the power went out. The murmuring of the audience grew louder as each second in the dark passed. I found myself squinting, trying to see a way out when someone opened a door to the outside. Light poured into the theater and the murmuring, and my squinting, quickly ended.

Until faced with darkness, most of us take light for granted. But without light there is no sight. We see because light upon an object moves through space, where reaching our eyes it stimulates our optic nerves, producing a signal that our brains interpret as an object in space having a particular appearance, location and movement. Understanding the nature of light has been a challenge—early theories posited light as a particle, then a wave. Today, most physicists view light as both—a wave-particle. Note what Einstein wrote:

It seems as though we must use sometimes the one theory and sometimes the other, while at times we may use either. We are faced with a new kind of difficulty. We have two contradictory pictures of reality; separately neither of them fully explains the phenomena of light, but together they do.

An interesting aspect about the nature of light is how darkness has no power over it. While light dispels darkness, the reverse is not true. This phenomenon plays prominently in Scripture in pointing out the nature of God (light) and evil (darkness). Note what the apostle John wrote:

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:5-7).

As noted by Thomas F. Torrance in his book The Trinitarian Faith, early church leader Athanasius, following the teachings of John and the other original apostles, used the metaphor of light and its radiance to speak about the nature of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ:

As light is never without its radiance, so the Father is never without his Son or without his Word. Moreover, just as light and radiance are one and are not alien to one another, so the Father and the Son are one and are not alien to one another but are of one and the same being. And just as God is eternal light, so the Son of God as eternal radiance of God is himself eternally light without beginning and without end (p. 121).

Athanasius was making a vital point that he and others codified in the Nicene Creed: Jesus Christ shares with the Father the one being (Greek=ousia) of God. Were that not so, it would have made no sense when Jesus proclaimed: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). As Torrance notes, if Jesus were not homoousios (of one ousia) with the Father (and thus fully God), we would not have in Jesus the full revelation of God. But as Jesus proclaimed, he truly is that revelation—to see him is to see the Father; to hear him is to hear the Father. Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father from his very being—that is, from his essential reality and nature. Torrance comments:

The Father/Son relation falls within the one being of God, the Father and the Son inhering and coexisting eternally, wholly and perfectly in one another. God is Father precisely as he is eternally the Father of the Son, and the Son is God of God precisely as he is eternally Son of the Father. There is perfect and eternal mutuality between the Father and the Son, without any “interval” in being, time or knowledge between them (The Trinitarian Faith, p. 119).

Because the Father and the Son are one in being, they also are one in doing (action). Notice what Torrance wrote about this in The Christian Doctrine of God:

There is an unbroken relation of Being and Action between the Son and the Father, and in Jesus Christ that relation has been embodied in our human existence once and for all. There is thus no God behind the back of Jesus Christ, but only this God whose face we see in the face of the Lord Jesus. There is no… dark inscrutable God, no arbitrary Deity of whom we can know nothing but before whom we can only tremble as our guilty conscience paints harsh streaks upon his face.

This understanding of the nature (being) of God, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, played a critical role in the process of officially determining the New Testament canon. A book was not considered for inclusion in the New Testament if it did not uphold the essential oneness of the Father and the Son. Thus this truth and reality served as a key hermeneutical principle by which the content of the New Testament was determined for the church.

Understanding that the Father and the Son (with the Spirit) are one in being and doing helps us understand the nature of grace. Grace is not a substance created by God to stand between God and humanity but, as Torrance notes, “the self-giving of God to us in his incarnate Son in whom the Gift and the Giver are indivisibly one God himself.” The content of God’s saving grace is a person, Jesus Christ, for it is in, through and by him that salvation occurs.

The triune God, who is eternal light, is the source of all “illumination,” both physically and spiritually. The Father who called light into existence, sent his Son to be the light of the world, and the Father and the Son send the Spirit to bring illumination to all people. Though God “lives in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16), he has revealed himself to us by his Spirit in the “face” of his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 4:6). Even if we must, at first, squint to “see” this stunning light, those who embrace it soon find the darkness has been driven far away.

Basking in the light,
Joseph Tkach

PS. If you’d like to learn more about the incarnational Trinitarian roots of the Nicene Creed, go to http://thesurprisinggodblog.gci.org/p/nicene-creed.html where you’ll find an excellent article by Ted Johnston summarizing key points about the Creed from Torrance’s book The Trinitarian Faith.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Perhaps you remember Wayne’s World from the TV show Saturday Night Live. Comedians Mike Myers (as Wayne Campbell) and Dana Carvey (as Garth Algar) gave tongue-in-cheek compliments by kneeling and waving their arms in mock worship, proclaiming, “We’re not worthy!” People today exclaim “I’m not worthy” upon witnessing a particularly amazing feat. When I think of some of the skilled folks I’ve been blessed to fish with, “I’m not worthy” comes to my mind as well.

Of course, some not-so-skilled people tell exaggerated stories about their “epic” fishing trips. But let me tell you two fishing stories that need no exaggeration. The first story is a personal one, about the time I took my son on his first fishing outing. As attested by the pictures above, it was a good day. I’ll never forget the look on my son’s face as he reeled in his first fish. Rather large for a less-than-four-year-old boy, it nearly pulled him out of the boat! When we met some people back on shore, and they realized it was my son’s first catch, several jokingly proclaimed, “We’re not worthy!” Quite a fishing story, don’t you think? But nothing compared to the second—one I’m sure you know. It’s the incident where Jesus directed Simon Peter to a location where he and his companions then hauled in a record catch. Though Simon was the professional fisherman, Jesus gave Simon these instructions:

“Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. (Luke 5:4-7)

Notice Simon Peter’s reaction (illustrated in the painting above):

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken…. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:8-11)

Peter’s response to Jesus was, in essence, “I’m not worthy.” Isn’t that how we often feel when encountering God’s love and grace? We know we’re sinners and there’s nothing we can do to make ourselves worthy in God’s sight. But Jesus’ intent is never to push us away, or to shame us, but to help us understand that our worthiness comes not from ourselves, but from him. Jesus makes us worthy.

“But,” some might object, “isn’t it true that God refuses to be in the presence of sinners?” Though this false idea is held by some, the truth, thank God, is that the Son of God came to live among sinners—to be in their presence, and through his presence to make them worthy. This doesn’t mean that Jesus ignores our sin; in fact, he hates it—he hates how it hurts us and distorts and denigrates God’s character and God’s purposes for us.

The fact that we are sinners does not deter Jesus from seeking us out and fellowshipping with us—drawing us to the Father, in the Spirit. And while it’s true that what is “dead in sin” cannot make itself holy, God is both willing and able to make that which is dead, fully alive—to make that which is unholy, truly holy.

Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus associated and fellowshipped with sinners, much to the dislike of the Jewish religious leaders of his day: “The Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them'” (Luke 15:2). Jesus, who is the ultimate “fisher of men” (and women), rubbed shoulders with the people (sinners all) he intended to “catch,” including the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7-29), pictured at right.

The Bible describes more than one miracle of Jesus involving catching fish—you might say that Jesus is the author of the ultimate fishing stories! Unlike fishermen who are famous for exaggerated stories, Jesus has no need to exaggerate. He skillfully gathered in Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He took a group of men who normally would not associate with each other and soon had them “swimming” together. Jesus “caught” those who became his apostles: Peter, Paul and the others. Throughout history he has continued to make stellar catches including former atheists C.S. Lewis and Alister McGrath. And let us not forget how he caught you and me in his net for eternal life!

Though there is nothing you or I can do to make ourselves worthy, we rest assured knowing that God the Father, by his sheer grace, makes us worthy by sharing with us in Christ through the Spirit, his own holiness. Now that’s the ultimate fishing story, and it’s great good news!

Glad to be caught by God,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I saw a Peanuts cartoon recently in which Charlie Brown, talking with Lucy, wonders if God is pleased with him. When he asks Lucy if she ever wonders the same thing, she replies, “He just HAS to be!” Humorous? Yes, but touching on a profound issue we all relate to, for we all seek affirmation. At one level, that’s OK—God created us as relational beings and it’s natural to seek affirmation from others. But that desire becomes a problem when affirmation is sought not knowing that God, who knows who we truly are and are becoming, is pleased with us already.

For those not secure in this gospel truth, I recommend they read The Mediation of Christ, by Thomas F. Torrance. It powerfully proclaims a vital pastoral principle: Because the gospel is always Yet not I, but Christ, we must avoid casting people back on themselves. We work contrary to that principle when our preaching and teaching point people to their sinful nature, or impose long lists of things they must do to please God. Doing so tends to focus people on self rather than Christ. But the gospel truth is that we are who we are, and who we are becoming, not apart from Christ, but in Christ. In fact, we have no being apart from Christ. Everything that was ours he has made his own so that everything that is his, is now ours in him. Paul put it this way:

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

The Mediation of Christ helps us understand the good news that God really is pleased with us. That’s important to know in a world filled with so much bad news: the Chinese stock market imploding, Wall Street and United Airlines computer systems crashing, Greece on the brink of bankruptcy, ISIS executing thousands. Seeing all this bad news, some wrongly conclude that God is causing (or at least allowing) these things because of his hatred of sin. While it’s true that God hates sin, it’s not for the reason many assume. The truth is that God is not surprised by sin, and evil cannot thwart the plan he is working out in the universe. God hates sin because it damages and hurts his creation—it causes it pain and suffering, and that is not God’s will.

When God created the universe, he declared it good, even very good (Genesis 1:25, 27, 31). But how could God say that foreknowing that the creation would become so broken and diseased? Scripture (rightly understood) tells us that sin and evil entered the world as the absence of and defection away from what ought to be. Sin and evil are a corruption of God’s good creation and God is not the source—the creatures he created are, and we all are culpable. Yet God has good news for us—sin and evil do not change his love for his creatures, including humans who are created in his very image.

God was not caught off guard when in our pride and arrogance we rebelled against him. Along with his very good creation, God had a very good plan to assure his purpose for creation would survive even the greatest evil humans could devise. That is why John wrote about “the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). God’s plan was no fourth-down punt (to use an American football analogy), nor an emergency contingency plan. God created humanity to be in relationship with him and our failures were not unanticipated, they are not a showstopper. The opposite is true: God’s plan is the showstopper!

Regardless of what we do, or how much evil is in the world, Jesus is sufficient. He is the Son of God who assumed all original sin in the incarnation, all without sinning. In his purity, especially on the cross, he condemned sin in the flesh for the salvation of all humanity. That, dear brothers and sisters, is the good news of the gospel, which, as Paul wrote to the church in Colossae, tells us of the supremacy of Jesus, who is the very center of God’s plan:

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Colossians 1:15-23)

In explaining who God is, Torrance reminds us that God never repents of being love. His love is always and everywhere unconditional:

It is his loving of the sinner which resists his sin that is His judgment of the sinner.… The total self-giving of the self-affirming God in love is and cannot but be the judgment of His love upon the sinner. He does not hold back His love from the sinner, for He cannot cease to be the God who loves and loves unreservedly and unconditionally. (The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons, p. 246)

Yes, God is implacably opposed to sin for he takes no delight in seeing his creation besmirched. Yet sin and evil do not decrease God’s love for us. Note what God says through Ezekiel: “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone… so turn, and live” (Ezekiel 18:32 ESV).

In saying God is pleased with us already, we are not being antinomian nor “light on sin.” In The Doctrine of Jesus Christ, Torrance teaches that sin is a contradiction in the heart and at the basis of human existence—a corruption of our existence and a disintegration of our very being in relation to God. God, who has guaranteed that evil has no future, in mercy cuts and burns away the sin in us, condemning it to hell, and rescuing us for eternal life with him. God made this possible in Jesus where we die with him under God’s judgment—his No against sin, including the sin within us. With Christ we are ransomed and raised to newness of life. God’s love for us, therefore, is not based upon our works (good or bad). No, God is infinitely pleased with us, not because of what we do but because of who we are as his children and what he can do in and through us in fellowship and communion with him.

Let me share one more quote from Tom Torrance in The Mediation of Christ:

God loves you so utterly and completely that he has given himself for you in Jesus Christ his beloved Son, and has thereby pledged his very being as God for your salvation. In Jesus Christ God has actualized his unconditional love for you in your human nature in such a once for all way, that he cannot go back upon it without undoing the Incarnation and the Cross and thereby denying himself. Jesus Christ died for you precisely because you are sinful and utterly unworthy of him, and has thereby already made you his own before and apart from your ever believing in him. He has bound you to himself by his love in a way that he will never let you go, for even if you refuse him and damn yourself in hell his love will never cease. Therefore, repent and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. (p. 94)

Even our individual repentance is flawed, and our Savior acts in our behalf on that too. Through his grace, we are “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). That means when God looks at us, he doesn’t see our sin—he sees the perfection of his Son—a perfection he is building in us by the Holy Spirit and that will be completed on the other side of our death, in Christ Jesus. It pleases God to reveal his Son in us (Galatians 1:15-16). Moreover, God sees the beginning from the end and he loves a good ending more than we realize.

Yes, God is pleased with you already, for you belong to him in Jesus Christ.

Feeling his pleasure as we proclaim the good news!
Joseph Tkach

PS: For a short booklet (tract) that presents this gospel truth, including an invitation to receive Christ, see the post under the Church Development heading above, left (or click here). I encourage our congregations to print copies of this booklet for members to give to friends and family, and to give to visitors at church.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I watched a video recently that parodies a TV infomercial—in this case hawking a fictitious Christian worship CD entitled It’s All About Me. The songs on the CD include Lord I Lift My Name on High, I Exalt Me, and There is None Like Me. Funny? Yes, but illustrative of the sad truth that we humans tend to worship self rather than God. As I noted last week in my “Quaffing Grace” letter, this tendency short-circuits our spiritual formation, leading to reliance on self rather than on Jesus, “The author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2 KJV).

Sometimes preachers inadvertently help people embrace a wrong approach through messages on Christian living topics like overcoming sin, helping the poor, or sharing the gospel. These topics can be helpful, but not when they focus people on self rather than on Jesus—who he is, and what he has done and is doing on our behalf. It’s vital that we help people rely fully on Jesus for their identity, their life’s vocation and their ultimate destiny. With eyes fixed on Jesus, they will see what they do to serve God and humanity not as “pull-yourself-up-by-your bootstraps” self-effort, but as real participation, by grace, in what Jesus is doing in his union with the Father and the Spirit, and with all humanity.

Let me illustrate by sharing discussions I had with two dedicated Christians. The first was with a man concerning his struggle with giving. For a long time he strove to give more in offerings to the church than he had budgeted, based on the wrong concept that giving, to be generous, must cause some pain. But no matter how much he gave (and how much pain he experienced in doing so), he still felt guilty knowing he could give more. Thankfully, his approach to giving changed one day while writing a check for the week’s offering. He found himself focusing on what his generosity would do for others rather than on its effects on himself. As this shift in his thinking occurred, feelings of guilt turned to ones of joy. For the first time, he understood a scripture often quoted in offertories: “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). He came to realize that God didn’t love him less when he wasn’t a cheerful giver, but God loved seeing him experience joy when he was.

The second discussion involved two conversations with a woman concerning her prayer life. In the first she shared that she set the clock when she prayed to be sure she prayed at least 30 minutes. She would cover everything she thought important, but would be dismayed when she looked at the clock and saw not even 10 minutes had passed. So she would pray more, but each time she looked at the clock, feelings of guilt and inadequacy would rise. My comment to her, said in jest, was that it seemed to me that she was “praying to the clock!” In our second conversation she told me that my comment had revolutionized her approach to prayer (for that, God gets the credit, not me). Apparently my off-the-cuff comment got her thinking and she began to just talk with God when she prayed, not worrying about how long she prayed. In a rather short time, she started feeling more deeply connected with God than ever before.

Christian living (including spiritual formation, discipleship and mission) is not about “shoulds” and “oughts” focused on our performance. Instead it’s about participation, by grace, in what Jesus is doing in, through and around us. A focus on self-effort tends to result in a self-righteousness that often compares with others or even condemns them, falsely concluding that we have done something to deserve God’s love. But the truth of the gospel is that God loves all people as much as an infinite God possibly can. That means he loves others as much as he loves us. God’s grace does away with any “us vs. them” approach that exalts self as righteous and condemns others as unworthy.

“But,” some might object, “what about people who commit great sins? Surely God doesn’t love them as much as he loves faithful believers!” To answer this objection we need only look at the heroes of faith profiled in Hebrews 11:1-40. These were not perfect people—many of them experienced times of colossal failure. The Bible tells more stories about people God rescued from failure than about people who lived righteous lives. Sometimes we misread the Bible as if the redeemed did the work instead of the Redeemer! When we fail to understand that our lives are disciplined by grace, not self-effort, we erroneously conclude that our standing with God is about our performance. Eugene Peterson addresses this mistake in his helpful book on discipleship, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction:

The central reality for Christians is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment that God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination; it is the result of God’s faithfulness. We survive in the way of faith not because we have extraordinary stamina but because God is righteous. Christian discipleship is a process of paying more and more attention to God’s righteousness and less and less attention to our own; finding the meaning of our lives not by probing our moods and motives and morals but by believing in God’s will and purposes; making a map of the faithfulness of God, not charting the rise and fall of our enthusiasm.

God, who is ever-faithful to us, never condemns us when we are unfaithful to him. Yes, our sins grieve him because they hurt us and others, but our sins don’t determine whether or how much God loves us.

Our triune God is perfect, complete love—there is no lesser or greater measure of his love for any person. Because God loves us, he gives us his Word and Spirit to enable us to recognize our sin, to confess it (agree with God about it) and then repent—turn away from sin back to God and his grace. Ultimately, all sin is a rejection of grace. Anyone who dies to their (false, old) self, confessing and repenting of sin, rather than justifying themselves, does so because they have received the gracious, transforming work of God. In his grace, God accepts us where we are but never leaves us there.

When we focus on Jesus and not self, we see ourselves and others the way Jesus sees us—as God’s children, and that includes the many who do not yet know their heavenly Father. As we walk with Jesus, he invites and equips us to participate in what he is doing to reach out in love to those who don’t know him. As we participate, we see with greater clarity what God is doing to turn his beloved children toward him in repentance, helping them put their lives entirely into his care.

As we share with Jesus in this ministry of reconciliation, we learn more clearly what Paul meant when he said that the law condemns but God’s grace gives life (see Acts 13:39 and Romans 5:17-20). That is why it’s vital that all our ministry, including our teaching about Christian living, is done with Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, under the umbrella of the grace of God.

Staying focused on grace, Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Last week we noted that when it comes to the freedom that is ours in Christ, some can’t handle the truth. Jesus came to reveal the freedom that is ours under grace, not to give us rules and regulations to live by. Sadly, many Christians prefer legalism over grace. Some Christian leaders won’t preach grace, fearing it would encourage their people to sin. They worry that in teaching grace they would lose control over their members who would begin doing whatever they wanted.

For some, grace is scandalous. How can God forgive all unconditionally—aren’t some sins much worse than others? How can all people have opportunity for the same reward?

For others, grace is irrational because it offends their sense of fairness and justice. You’ll recall the parable where the workers in the vineyard didn’t like it that others were paid the same for doing much less work (Matthew 20:1-16).

For others, grace is risky. One well-meaning Christian woman told me not to preach grace because that would open wide the door to lawlessness and unrighteousness. If God already has pardoned us, she wondered, wouldn’t people naturally desire to get away with as much as they can? What she failed to understand is that someone who hears of God’s grace then uses it as an excuse to continue in disobedience has actually not received grace but is presuming upon it. God’s grace does not promote licentiousness and it’s not some “newfangled idea.” No, grace has been around since the beginning. Note what the apostle Paul told his protégé Timothy:

So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord… Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:8-10).

I can say from personal observation and experience that legalism produces far more lawlessness than grace. Like many of you reading this, I spent years hearing one sermon after another pleading with me to stiffen my upper lip, steel up my backbone, try harder, pray longer, read the Bible more, serve more diligently and stop every thought contrary to God’s law. All this was so I would become more holy—more like God. Over time, I realized I was actually developing a spiritual numbness. I was praying more, studying more and serving more, but it was more out of a sense of guilt or because it was expected of me, than out of a desire to know God and share his love with others.

While there is nothing wrong with praying or reading the Bible more, neither made me more holy. At times it might have made me more judgmental or pious, but not more holy. (As a side note, one of the most mature Christians I have known never read the Bible because she did not know how to read!)

Many of my favorite quotes about grace are from the colorful Christian author, Robert Farrar Capon (pictured at right). In his book Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus, he wrote this:

The Gospel of grace must not be turned into a bait-and-switch offer. It is not one of those airline supersavers in which you read of a $59.00 fare to Orlando only to find, when you try to buy a ticket, that the six seats per flight at that price are all taken and that the trip will now cost you $199.95. Jesus must not be read as having baited us with grace only to clobber us in the end with law. For as the death and resurrection of Jesus were accomplished once and for all, so the grace that reigns by those mysteries reigns eternally—even in the thick of judgment.

I wonder why we don’t hear more sermons about Jesus and his grace, and less sermons about Christian living and how to improve ourselves or our ministries. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not opposed to sermons about personal improvement, moral living and letting our lights shine. But if those sermons are not given under the umbrella of grace, we can lose sight of the Author of grace. Here’s an illustration: One popular preacher on television almost always has three to seven “to-do” points in his sermons about how to become a more successful Christian. After a year, listeners would have at least 150 points to live by, and nearly 500 after three years. It wouldn’t be long before they’d have more points to live by than the 613 commands of the old covenant! It would be impossible to even remember all these points, let alone consciously put them into practice.

Grace is different, even counter-intuitive. God’s Spirit living in us leads us to bear fruit as we live our lives in union with Christ. We don’t produce the fruit that comes forth—we share what our Lord gives us. It’s simple to remember—we can’t do God’s work in our own power. As we live the new life in Christ, grace wrestles control out of our hands and destroys our safe, conditional world. God’s grace doesn’t just cosmetically change us—it transforms us from the inside-out. Notice Paul’s comment:

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:11-14).

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon (pictured at right) put it this way:

When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I beat my breast to think I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so and sought my good.

This is the experience of many when they move away from legalism (where they strive diligently through their own efforts to live right and stop sinning) and, trusting in Christ, begin living under grace. In that regard, note this from Capon in Between Noon & Three: Romance, Law & the Outrage of Grace:

The Reformation was a time when men went blind, staggering drunk because they had discovered, in the dusty basement of late medievalism, a whole cellar full of fifteen-hundred-year-old, two-hundred proof Grace—bottle after bottle of pure distillate of Scripture, one sip of which would convince anyone that God saves us single-handedly. The word of the Gospel—after all those centuries of trying to lift yourself into heaven by worrying about the perfection of your bootstraps—suddenly turned out to be a flat announcement that the saved were home before they started… Grace has to be drunk straight: no water, no ice, and certainly no ginger ale; neither goodness, nor badness, not the flowers that bloom in the spring of super spirituality could be allowed to enter into the case.

Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more—no spiritual calisthenics, no renunciation, no knowledge gained from seminaries and divinity schools, no crusading on behalf of righteous causes. Grace also means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less—no racism, pride, pornography, adultery or even murder. Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God possibly can. Imbibing deeply of such grace forever changes us.

I’ll have more to say about grace next week when we look at how people short-circuit their spiritual formation by fixing their eyes on self rather than on Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith.

Quaffing grace from a large decanter,
Joseph Tkach

PS: Tammy and I recently visited our congregation in Fairfield, California, pastored by Steve and Karon Smith. We had a wonderful time there with 40 brothers and sisters in Christ. Fairfield is gorgeous—surrounded by orchards, groves and vineyards. In nearby Healdsburg we visited Mauritson Winery (pictured at right), owned and operated by Clay and Carrie Mauritson. Clay was an outside linebacker for the Oregon Ducks and Carrie is the daughter of Gordon and Marilys Green, one of our pastoral couples in South Africa. I recommend Mauritson’s Zinfandel and we’ll have to return to taste their Cabernet Savignons. Oh, and their Port is quite nice—just ask Mike Swaggerty who joined us for dinner!