Riddle 1: What verse of scripture is the hardest for 21st
century Christians to live up to?
My vote goes for Ephesians 6:10: Finally, my brethren
be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
With such words Paul leads us into one of his most famous
passages of scripture, telling us to put on the whole armor of God so that Òwe
can live the successful Christian life.Ó IÕm sure we have all heard, preached,
or taught many times about this armor of PaulÕs writing. But we get so carried
away in the putting on, that we forget that Paul states the only way to do this
successfully is in verse 10, Òbe strong in the Lord and in the power of His
might.Ó
Paul says directly in context, to put on the armor in the
might of the Lord. Nowhere in this whole passage does Paul add, nor do any
translations that I am aware of add, any personal pronouns such as I, or you,
as the enabling sources. Even though those IÕs and youÕs are always the focus
when we listen to our teachings. But according to Paul, the youÕs are always
resultant from the action, but are not the causative agent. All of the armor
starts with the Lord and is directed to you and I, we are mysteriously
involved, but truly not the center of the action, nor its source.
Now this is the heart of the American problem, and really
all Evangelicalism, in the world today.
We put on the armor of God, we minister to God, we praise God, we
prophesy for God, we write books for God, we develop wonderful doctrines, and
we do all kinds of what we consider appropriate things for God, but we never
stop to think that God just may want us to do those things, no matter how
wonderful we consider them, in only the way He would like us to do them. To put it another way, there is so much
noise in the church today, no one can really hear what God is speaking through
His Word.
Notice that really what this passage is saying that we
are to do, what we have been given to do in the power of the Lord, the only things
that are really up to us are ÒStandÓ in verse 14 and to preach Òthe mystery of
the gospelÓ for which Paul was in chains (verses 19,20). To put it another way,
Paul was in chains boldly preaching the gospel, because God put him there. If
Paul had not learned to make his will subservient in weakness to the strength
of the Lord and the power of His might, we could easily see Paul as a
successful pastor, or ministry leader today.
At first glance, this strong and courageous outlook on
life that we see in the church today is really not a gospel message at all, but
a type of works righteousness following as an outgrowth of the Mosaic covenant
in Sinai. It is therefore just as popular to look at the LordÕs words to Joshua
in Joshua Chapter 1. We like to dwell in that land. Be strong and of good
courage, march around Jericho and the walls will come tumbling down.
Hallelujah! We pick our march, or action, and find our own Jericho, and expect
God to make the walls fall down. But we should have grown in our New Covenant
beliefs to know that the marching did not make the walls fall down, it was the
obedience in faith, that the foolish marching would cause God to break down the
walls. We continually miss the point. Faith is not a force, faith is a personal
attribute, given by God with an object. That object being God Himself, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. The whole Jericho episode was all instituted by God and
carried out by God, Josh and IsraelÕs part was to act like a bunch of crazy
fools.
We see this in Hebrews 11:30: By faith the walls of
Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. This ties
completely with Ephesians 6:10. The problem with the church is that we do not
want to look foolish in our own eyes, little more in the eyes of others. We
therefore have developed a gospel message that really is not the message that
Paul preached in an out of his chains. We try to convince people out of our own
knowledge and wisdom to believe in salvation in Jesus the Son of God, but
because of our own sinfulness, clothed in personal holiness, a lost world sees
no difference between themselves and the church, because there truly is no
difference.
The gospel that Paul preached begins with the sinful
nature of man. In that state, all are condemned to eternal perdition
unless,through God alone, a way is made. That sacrifice must be made to God the
Father in propitiation, not just atonement, as we have watered it down today. A
sacrifice that is accepted by God in perfect holiness, for the sinfulness of
all mankind. Historic. Orthodox Christianity as always taught that this was
what Jesus Christ offered on the cross of Calvary for the sins of man, and
through propitiation alone, the sins of believers have been washed away. To put
it another way, we have been justified by ChristÕs holiness and His holiness
has been imputed to us. This whole process has been well defined by many as a
legal adoption of slaves (to sin) making them free (from sin and death).
This brings us to the second riddle: If the bad news is
so bad, and the good news is so good, why do we continue to try to make
ourselves out to be God?
I would say that this is where free will and free agency
really come into play, Ladies and Gentlemen we do not walk with the Lord,
because we really do not understand what is truly written in the Good Book,
because we are lazy. We somehow believe that if we remain ignorant and
following our own path, that will be an acceptable sacrifice to God. Historic Orthodox Christianity has
always also taught that by living the sinless life,Jesus Christ has given us
that gift also through faith. But again we donÕt really believe we need a
savior, so we donÕt try. Grace becomes something we peddle like an iced latte.
To put it in more Puritan words, we have been educated to
believe that all nice (good) people will go to heaven, because God is love.
Hell is just some religious myth that really isnÕt true, for we have been
taught this from our birth. We play church in our own strength, because that is
all we know how to do, and we are to insecure to ask of God for any help,
little lone seek it for our selves in His written scripture. How in the world
if all we have ever been taught in church is how to get more in this life, how
can we ever hope Òto be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.Ó So we have a evangelical church that
endorses the television program, ÒTouched by an angelÓ as a means of reaching
the unsaved, when really it should be condemned as heresy. Since we have not
hell, we have no need for saving grace found in Jesus Christ alone. Faith is a
force by which angels effect our lives and lead us to GodÕs love, and ÒAmazing
GraceÓ is played at every funeral as an anthem to arrogant pride.
So do you know anyone who is Òstrong in the Lord and in
the power of His might?Ó Is that you? In the light of the New Covenant
revelation of Jesus Christ as Paul proclaims in his epistles,this strength is
available to all who believe, both gentile and Jew. All that is required is
that we seek through faith alone, that righteousness we received through Christ
alone. The first step along that path is to recognize that righteousness is not
something native to our natural condition, and we must use our God given
attributes to seek that power available only in His might. The solution to the
riddle is not all that hard, it just exists in God and not ourselves, something
few in this age will ever learn.
Economic conditions continue to improve, thank you for
your intercession. But with the work of natural provision I must rely on God
and others to pray and stand in the might of the Lord. And yes, I shall
endeavor to put my words into practice. As I mentioned last week the cart is
still before the horse, because the cart isnÕt built yet. Please intercede for
that process and finances to buy the horse in the fullness of GodÕs time. Both
of course, must be done in the strength of the Lord and in the power of His
might. Of what Paul is talking about here, I have only a brief glimpse and this
is what I have tried to convey through this message. In a way becoming the
President of the United States, or being the quarterback on the Superbowl
championship team is a piece of cake compared to living completely in Christ as
Paul and a few throughout history have been able to do. Please intercede for
the church (each individual) to rise up in this might of the Lord, in America
and around the world. For that truly is the gospel message this world needs to
hear at this time.