“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
Without a doubt, the Gospel of John Chapters 13-17 are some of the greatest in the Word of God. The interesting part about these three verses found here (and of course all of the surrounding matter) is that they bring out things which are so deep as to take a lifetime to really realize.
Christ starts off, by saying that He loves us with the same love that the Father has loved Him. That is as amazing as it is undeserved. The Father loves Christ who is of the same substance as Himself, and Who is perfectly yielded to Him with an infinite love. Yet Christ manifests that same love to us who have been most disobedient, and totally undeserving of it, who are of a contrary substance. He then says to continue in His love or more literally in the Greek, “Continue in the love, that which is mine.” That says more than our English. It is His love in us that loves Him, and that loves others. It is not so much a continuing to be good so that the love of Christ may remain on us, as instead a continuing to allow His love to work in and through us as we follow the commands that He gives. Disobedience separates us from the source of His love and thus stops its flow.
The standard of obedience He gives is His own obedience to the Father, which is perfection to the utmost.
He tells us these things that His joy, again literally, “the joy that is mine” might remain in us. A few months ago I had an experience which sort of brought this home to me. Without going into any details, I had a strong sense of God’s joy in the purposes He has for my life. That experience made me realize the meaning of the phrase, “Enter into the joy of Your Lord.” It is His joy that we are allowed to share. Firstly it is His own joy which is in Himself and infinite. Secondly, it is His joy in what we do by His power and in obedience to Him that we enter into. These joys cause our own joy to be filled, producing joy in us.
Praise God!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thoughts on John 15:9-11
“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
Without a doubt, the Gospel of John Chapters 13-17 are some of the greatest in the Word of God. The interesting part about these three verses found here (and of course all of the surrounding matter) is that they bring out things which are so deep as to take a lifetime to really realize.
Christ starts off, by saying that He loves us with the same love that the Father has loved Him. That is as amazing as it is undeserved. The Father loves Christ who is of the same substance as Himself, and Who is perfectly yielded to Him with an infinite love. Yet Christ manifests that same love to us who have been most disobedient, and totally undeserving of it, who are of a contrary substance. He then says to continue in His love or more literally in the Greek, “Continue in the love, that which is mine.” That says more than our English. It is His love in us that loves Him, and that loves others. It is not so much a continuing to be good so that the love of Christ may remain on us, as instead a continuing to allow His love to work in and through us as we follow the commands that He gives. Disobedience separates us from the source of His love and thus stops its flow.
The standard of obedience He gives is His own obedience to the Father, which is perfection to the utmost.
He tells us these things that His joy, again literally, “the joy that is mine” might remain in us. A few months ago I had an experience which sort of brought this home to me. Without going into any details, I had a strong sense of God’s joy in the purposes He has for my life. That experience made me realize the meaning of the phrase, “Enter into the joy of Your Lord.” It is His joy that we are allowed to share. Firstly it is His own joy which is in Himself and infinite. Secondly, it is His joy in what we do by His power and in obedience to Him that we enter into. These joys cause our own joy to be filled, producing joy in us.
Praise God!
Without a doubt, the Gospel of John Chapters 13-17 are some of the greatest in the Word of God. The interesting part about these three verses found here (and of course all of the surrounding matter) is that they bring out things which are so deep as to take a lifetime to really realize.
Christ starts off, by saying that He loves us with the same love that the Father has loved Him. That is as amazing as it is undeserved. The Father loves Christ who is of the same substance as Himself, and Who is perfectly yielded to Him with an infinite love. Yet Christ manifests that same love to us who have been most disobedient, and totally undeserving of it, who are of a contrary substance. He then says to continue in His love or more literally in the Greek, “Continue in the love, that which is mine.” That says more than our English. It is His love in us that loves Him, and that loves others. It is not so much a continuing to be good so that the love of Christ may remain on us, as instead a continuing to allow His love to work in and through us as we follow the commands that He gives. Disobedience separates us from the source of His love and thus stops its flow.
The standard of obedience He gives is His own obedience to the Father, which is perfection to the utmost.
He tells us these things that His joy, again literally, “the joy that is mine” might remain in us. A few months ago I had an experience which sort of brought this home to me. Without going into any details, I had a strong sense of God’s joy in the purposes He has for my life. That experience made me realize the meaning of the phrase, “Enter into the joy of Your Lord.” It is His joy that we are allowed to share. Firstly it is His own joy which is in Himself and infinite. Secondly, it is His joy in what we do by His power and in obedience to Him that we enter into. These joys cause our own joy to be filled, producing joy in us.
Praise God!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Law Internalized
During my teaching of Romans (specifically chapters 5-7) in Rwanda, I had a thought which I want to develop here. Some people write because they have a clear thought to express, others, like me, write to clarify and crystallize thoughts that they have only half-formed in their minds. So we’ll have to see how this goes, but here it is.
First, God’s law is internal to Himself, because He is Faithful and True, He cannot of His nature command differently than He does in His Word. His Word is a self-revelation of Himself, thus for example stealing is a sin not only because it goes against His command, but it is against His command because it is against Who He in fact is in Himself. God as revealed in the Bible is a satisfied God, the three persons of the Godhead need nothing to complete them, they are complete in their love and enjoyment of each other. They chose to create, so that They might have others to bring into fellowship with Them, and freely bestow all that is needful for life and happiness upon Their creation. Theft is the result of several attitudes and actions contrary to godliness. Firstly it lacks trust in God, which the Godhead has within itself (fear and distrust cannot be in the perfect love of the Godhead for Itself). Christ manifested complete trust both in the ability and intention of His Father while He was on earth. Secondly it reveals an exaltation of one’s own wants over another’s, contrary to the beautiful flowing together of the Trinity, where the Son’s desire is to bring glory to the Father, the Spirit glorifies the Son and both Father and Son will defend the Spirit against any slights done against Him.
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were sinless, but this was a state of innocency. The law was solely external to them, it was given by God but their nature was capable of obedience or disobedience. They disobeyed and through Adam’s transgression we received a nature of sin. This nature needs only a law to transgress to become a transgressor. It is a nature that stands opposite to the character of God, having been infected with the nature of the serpent. It has a threefold root which produces all actual actions of sin – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (Gen. 3:6; 1 John 2:16). These three roots will are contrary to the very nature of God, and only await for the law to manifest themselves in disobedience. However, until the law was there, sin was not manifest (Rom. 5:12-15). The law was given so that we would see the nature of God and His commands and realize our own inability to follow them. For that purpose the law worked very well… The next 1500 years or so of Biblical history are records of Israel’s failed attempts to keep the covenant of the law.
God then promised a new covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-34, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Often we major on the last part of this covenant – the forgiveness of our sins, because that is great news, but no less great news is the first part. God is going to internalize the law, so that we can be like Him. We do not have to always be up and down as we read in Romans chapter 7, Romans 8:2 speaks of the law of the Spirit of Life. This law deals with the other two laws which are found in chapter 7. The law of sin is the law of Adam’s failure being repeated. God’s law as given to us shows us what to do, but we are powerless to do that in the flesh. However, the law of the Spirit of Life empowers us to do that which we are unable to do in ourselves.
This is the internalized law. It is placed in us when we are born again (born from above). The very nature of Christ is placed within us at that moment so that we may nurture it and allow it to grow. We become partakers of the divine nature. This new nature cannot sin (1 John 3:9). However, we still have the old nature in us which can sin. This means that we can yield to the old nature and sin, but the new nature is stronger. If we follow the new nature, the law of God will be imprinted on our hearts, our character will change. In a certain sense the external law ceases to bind us (it is still morally binding, but it does not go against your renewed will, 1 Timothy 1:8-10). God gives us a willing heart that desires to walk in His ways. This is what God wanted even before Eden, a group of men and women who become consistent like Him, whose thoughts, motives and deeds flow from His goodness placed in them through the divine nature of which they are partakers. This is only fully realized in heaven, but it is a lifelong process. Praise God for His full salvation!
First, God’s law is internal to Himself, because He is Faithful and True, He cannot of His nature command differently than He does in His Word. His Word is a self-revelation of Himself, thus for example stealing is a sin not only because it goes against His command, but it is against His command because it is against Who He in fact is in Himself. God as revealed in the Bible is a satisfied God, the three persons of the Godhead need nothing to complete them, they are complete in their love and enjoyment of each other. They chose to create, so that They might have others to bring into fellowship with Them, and freely bestow all that is needful for life and happiness upon Their creation. Theft is the result of several attitudes and actions contrary to godliness. Firstly it lacks trust in God, which the Godhead has within itself (fear and distrust cannot be in the perfect love of the Godhead for Itself). Christ manifested complete trust both in the ability and intention of His Father while He was on earth. Secondly it reveals an exaltation of one’s own wants over another’s, contrary to the beautiful flowing together of the Trinity, where the Son’s desire is to bring glory to the Father, the Spirit glorifies the Son and both Father and Son will defend the Spirit against any slights done against Him.
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were sinless, but this was a state of innocency. The law was solely external to them, it was given by God but their nature was capable of obedience or disobedience. They disobeyed and through Adam’s transgression we received a nature of sin. This nature needs only a law to transgress to become a transgressor. It is a nature that stands opposite to the character of God, having been infected with the nature of the serpent. It has a threefold root which produces all actual actions of sin – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (Gen. 3:6; 1 John 2:16). These three roots will are contrary to the very nature of God, and only await for the law to manifest themselves in disobedience. However, until the law was there, sin was not manifest (Rom. 5:12-15). The law was given so that we would see the nature of God and His commands and realize our own inability to follow them. For that purpose the law worked very well… The next 1500 years or so of Biblical history are records of Israel’s failed attempts to keep the covenant of the law.
God then promised a new covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-34, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Often we major on the last part of this covenant – the forgiveness of our sins, because that is great news, but no less great news is the first part. God is going to internalize the law, so that we can be like Him. We do not have to always be up and down as we read in Romans chapter 7, Romans 8:2 speaks of the law of the Spirit of Life. This law deals with the other two laws which are found in chapter 7. The law of sin is the law of Adam’s failure being repeated. God’s law as given to us shows us what to do, but we are powerless to do that in the flesh. However, the law of the Spirit of Life empowers us to do that which we are unable to do in ourselves.
This is the internalized law. It is placed in us when we are born again (born from above). The very nature of Christ is placed within us at that moment so that we may nurture it and allow it to grow. We become partakers of the divine nature. This new nature cannot sin (1 John 3:9). However, we still have the old nature in us which can sin. This means that we can yield to the old nature and sin, but the new nature is stronger. If we follow the new nature, the law of God will be imprinted on our hearts, our character will change. In a certain sense the external law ceases to bind us (it is still morally binding, but it does not go against your renewed will, 1 Timothy 1:8-10). God gives us a willing heart that desires to walk in His ways. This is what God wanted even before Eden, a group of men and women who become consistent like Him, whose thoughts, motives and deeds flow from His goodness placed in them through the divine nature of which they are partakers. This is only fully realized in heaven, but it is a lifelong process. Praise God for His full salvation!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Back In Malawi
Well, I am now back in Malawi after a great trip to Uganda and Rwanda via South Africa (only in Africa do you fly a couple thousand miles south so you can head a few thousand north).
It was a great trip, I met up with my cousin Cameron, who was flying in from Singapore. We took a bus from Kampala to Kigali and did tag team ministry for 5 days in Rwanda teaching Romans to a class of 24 students. Then we took the bus back (11 hours and not fun). On the bus ride, after about 9 hours of being bombarded by repetative annoying music, one of our fellow passengers requested that they shut it off which they readily did, if only we had asked earlier...
In Uganda we had some more great times of ministry and also did some Romans highlights (We only had an hour each to cover parts of the book). Then Cameron and I parted ways to head to our homes.
It was a real blessing to meet up with a lot of my friends from South Africa in the short time I was there (not quite 2 full days).
I brought back a laptop someone donated for my dad and they let it in duty free which was a real blessing. My first order of business when I returned was to get our internet up again. Dad had been unable to get signal for 3 days. I walked around with laptop and dongle until I found signal. Today we went to check on ways to boost signal to our area since even when we are getting signal it is not very strong. We may have a solution now, we'll know in a couple days. Things are pretty much back to normal here, mom is really busy gathering info on orphan families on our list, and receiving a tenth from those we helped buy fertilizer and giving it out to others who have no land to farm or are unable to do so. It's good to be back.
It was a great trip, I met up with my cousin Cameron, who was flying in from Singapore. We took a bus from Kampala to Kigali and did tag team ministry for 5 days in Rwanda teaching Romans to a class of 24 students. Then we took the bus back (11 hours and not fun). On the bus ride, after about 9 hours of being bombarded by repetative annoying music, one of our fellow passengers requested that they shut it off which they readily did, if only we had asked earlier...
In Uganda we had some more great times of ministry and also did some Romans highlights (We only had an hour each to cover parts of the book). Then Cameron and I parted ways to head to our homes.
It was a real blessing to meet up with a lot of my friends from South Africa in the short time I was there (not quite 2 full days).
I brought back a laptop someone donated for my dad and they let it in duty free which was a real blessing. My first order of business when I returned was to get our internet up again. Dad had been unable to get signal for 3 days. I walked around with laptop and dongle until I found signal. Today we went to check on ways to boost signal to our area since even when we are getting signal it is not very strong. We may have a solution now, we'll know in a couple days. Things are pretty much back to normal here, mom is really busy gathering info on orphan families on our list, and receiving a tenth from those we helped buy fertilizer and giving it out to others who have no land to farm or are unable to do so. It's good to be back.
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