Sanam Doctrinam

 
If you’ve believed in Jesus Christ, you are a Superman (or Superwoman). We think of superheroes as depicted in movies and comic books as those who possess qualities that set them apart from the rest of humanity. They are different than the rest of us because they are gifted with unique powers above that which a normal human would possess. It is occasionally diverting for us to contemplate these larger-than-life characters and imagine what it would be like if we, too, could leap tall buildings in a single bound, or go faster than a speeding bullet.
 
While the thought of possessing amazing, superhuman powers may be fascinating, Scripture depicts believers in Jesus Christ as possessing supernatural attributes that are no less remarkable.
 
Those who call themselves Christians have often simply been identified as nothing more than adherents to one of many world religions. What’s tragic, however, is that many believers in Christ have identified themselves in this way, as well. As believers in Christ, however, we are not merely adherents to another world religion. We are actually a different sort of people than everyone else who inhabits the world. I say this because the Bible tells us that when a person believes in Christ, there is not merely a change in beliefs. Rather, the Bible says amazing transformations occur when a person recognizes Christ for who He is and trusts Him as such.
 
Today’s verse, 1 Corinthians 3:3, brings this out. The context of the passage is regarding the factions and division that were so evident in the first century church at Corinth. But the brief comment Paul makes at the end of the verse is intriguing and full of significance. He refers to the Corinthians as acting as "mere men." That comment suggests that Paul viewed the believers at Corinth as something more than mere men.
 
For the upcoming Monday Musings, I’d like to deal with what makes believers in Christ Supermen and Superwomen—what makes them more than mere men and women.
 
At the outset, I’d like to point something out: Of all these things we will look at that Scripture says happens when a person believes in Christ, it never speaks of any of these things being undone or revoked. Far from being a license to sin so that grace may increase, the fact that Scripture affirms the permanence of these transformations is rather a great encouragement and a compelling source of spiritual security for the believer in Christ.
 
Why is this an important topic? It’s important for two reasons. First, it’s important because Scripture makes much of who we are in Christ—of what He says happens when we believe in Him. Second, however, is that we tend to live from the perspective of who we perceive ourselves to be. If we think of ourselves as mere men and women, we’ll tend to live like it. I believe that was part of the Corinthian problem. They had forgotten who they were as believers in Christ, and, as a consequence, their church had disintegrated into a quarrelsome, fractious, chaotic mess. The consequences of ignoring or forgetting who God says we are as a result of faith in His Son are tragic.
 
In the upcoming weeks, I invite you to join me on this journey of discovery that examines who we are as believers in Christ. While I wouldn’t encourage any of us to start donning a cape, I would like us to begin to see that if we’ve trusted Christ for salvation, we’re far more than mere men and women. In response to these thoughts this week, please join me in considering ourselves more than mere men and women. And, as this is the week we in the United States set aside for a particular remembrance of thanksgiving, this is a perfect time to thank God for His remarkable work in our lives.

If you have been surfing Sanam for very long, you have noticed that we have a JS script that automatically hyperlinks verses, so that when you hover you get the verse, if we have only provided the reference.  This only allowed us to use the ESV (which is a fine version, I might add).  Now, however, I have upgraded us to Logos’ RefTagger which allows a lot more flexibility.

You will notice that we can customize the version (set to NASB right now – John 3:16) and if we want to display it in a different version, we can add that version tag at the end of our reference and it will display it (e.g.. John 3:16 NKJV).

You may also notice a small "L" inside of a box next to the verse, this will open it in Logos/ Libronix, if you happen to have that software.

I am excited about this new feature and just wanted to share it with our 3 readers.

You are the minister. The folks who address the clusters of worshipers who gather in Christian assemblies worldwide each Lord’s Day are no more ministers than you. We all are the ones charged with serving Christ in the world and in the church. There is no passing the buck here. Our responsibility is spelled out in Romans 12:11.
 
Last week we examined the topic of how we remedy spiritual apathy with genuine fervor. This week I’d like to consider what happens when we shun spiritual apathy: We wind up serving the Lord.

A fundamental question in today’s musing is to discern what exactly is involved in serving the Lord. If I had to try to summarize the key idea in what is involved in serving the Lord, I’d say it’s to place ourselves at His disposal, doing exactly what He wants.
 
It may strike fear in our hearts when we hear this definition. Our response may fall along the lines of, "I don’t know what God wants for my life!" I can identify with that sentiment. As I read Scripture, however, I don’t find many injunctions for us spiritually to play the game of "pin the tail on God’s will." What I see in Scripture is that God’s will is already evident in its pages. We don’t need to look for some detailed grand master plan for "our calling." We need rather, to get busy about what God has declared His will to be in Scripture. I’ve found that when I get busy doing what God has called me to as a believer in His Son, He faithfully and unfailingly guides me. As I survey Scripture, I can quickly give you five things we’re called to, and these are enough to keep us occupied. They all constitute aspects of our service for Christ—knowing and doing His will, in the power and motivation of His Spirit.
 
First, God’s will is for us and others to be saved, to be rescued from God’s just wrath against sin (1 Timothy 2:3-4). That means, of course, that priority one is that we must trust Christ as Savior if we have not. The corollary to this is that we’re called to reach others who haven’t trusted Christ, as well. That’s serving God.
 
Second, God’s will is for us to be Spirit-filled. He wants our lives to be guided by the impulses and direction of His indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-18). This requires a clean heart before God—one that does not harbor sin, delighting in its own way over God’s. Serving God requires this.
 
Third, God’s will is for us to be sanctified (1 Thessalonians 4:3). We’re to keep ourselves pure in a filthy world. Despite the enticements the world dangles before us, we’re to walk faithfully in God’s ways, making His priorities our own. That’s serving God.
 
Fourth, God’s will is for us to be submissive to human authorities (1 Peter 2:13-15). Rebellion against them is rebellion against His very emissaries. He establishes human authority. When we recognize it (even if we don’t agree with it), and humbly bow before it, God is pleased. That’s serving God.

Fifth, God’s will is for us to suffer faithfully in the midst of difficult times (1 Peter 3:17). Being faithful in the middle of trials pleases and honors God, especially when we suffer as a result of persecution. That’s serving God.
 
These are more passive expressions of service to God, but we’re certainly called to serving others in ministry, as well. An exercise can prove helpful at this point. Take a concordance, and search out every time there is a "one another" in Scripture. You will find a great host of these. In so doing, you’ll also find some means of ministry—ministry to which each of us is called. Examples we might cite include loving one another, encouraging one another, admonishing one another, teaching one another, comforting one another, praying for one another, and showing hospitality to one another. Remember: You are the minister!
 
I heard someone say once that Christianity is the only sport they knew of in which the coach is on the field and the players are watching. That may be a bit of an overstatement, but the point is clear. We need to earnestly consider how we can be personally engaged in ministry. Today’s Monday Musings gives us some examples. We’re the ministers. Let’s get to ministering.
 
Off the bench, church!

As I was reading the Gospels this morning I was overwhelmed by the miracles of Jesus. His compassion and His grace are evident in these events.

The question that is always raised is that of purpose. Why did Jesus do these miraculous (powerful in the Greek) signs. The answer is in the second word. He did them as signs to point to the people Who He really is. Does that diminish those acts of their Grace and Compassion? I think not. But John said,

"Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name."

Christ Himself told the Pharisees as they ridiculed, that they would not receive a sign, even though signs were happening all around them. (Mark 8:12) He told them that the miracles He did pointed to the fact that He is a person in the Godhead, that He and the Father are one. (John 10:24-30)

What signs are we demanding? There is a fascination with the idea of performing miracles and doing works of great wonder. To what end? Likely, it is to the end of fame and fortune. When the disciples healed or performed anything close to what Jesus did, it was all for the sake fo the Gospel and all for the sake of solidifying their message.

Does God perform miracles today? Yes, but not in the way we are seeing it displayed and trivialized in our day. A miracle is a working of power and certainly, the fact they we are still sustained is one way in which we are recipients of the power of God. The most fantastic miracle of our day, is the conversion of the soul. That God would take sinful, dead men and bring them to life and make them His own, that is a miracle. The greatest miracle the Godhead ever performed was that of the resurrection of Christ. No one was standing outside of His tomb, crying "Jesus, come forth!" It was the will fo the Trinity together to raise Christ and assure all who repent of their sins and trust in that death and resurrection alone (Christ bearing the sins on the cross of all who would ever believe); that those would be made right with God.

That my friends is the greatest display of power…ever!

 
Last week we looked at the problem we face in the church of Jesus Christ—spiritual apathy. Today I’d like us to consider the remedy we need, namely spiritual fervor.
 
Fervor can frighten. The very word may conjure images of wild-eyed zealots, foaming at the mouth, spouting propaganda. From the time I’ve been in the church, I can say that overactive enthusiasm is not the danger. If anything, I’ve found the opposite to be true among Christians. Our problem is not trying to restrain spiritual passion in believers in Christ. Our problem is trying to warm them up. Some time ago someone remarked to me that in the final analysis it’s a lot easier to cool down a fireball than it is to warm up a corpse. And corpse-warming is the order of the day in the church. The body of Christ is full of regenerate people who, as far as spiritual passion goes, are practically corpses. The New Testament elder can sometimes feel like a mortician, tagging and bagging those who showed up to worship at 10:30 a.m., sharp, and left at 11:30, dull. Lest I sound too judgmental in these pronouncements, I find this lack of passion in my own heart, a creeping death, numbing my passion for the things of God. It’s a constant battle.
 
How do we fix it?
 
Today’s verse gives us a clue when it tells us to be fervent in spirit. The word Paul employed is literally, "to boil." It’s used only here and in Acts 18:25, when the text speaks of Apollos. We could use some Apolloses in the church of Jesus Christ today! We read: "Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit [lit, “boiling in spirit], he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately."
 
Priscilla and Aquila had the happy task of wedding Apollos’ zeal with knowledge. And as a result, he lit the world for Christ.

How do we get there? That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? I want to give this question three answers.
 
First, we need to confess all known sin. Unconfessed, harbored sin is like a wet blanket on a would-be boiling spirit. If we are harboring sin in our lives, there is no way we can have spiritual passion. It’s like trying to light floating wood—a fruitless endeavor. The idea behind confession is to agree with God about our sin, coming clean before Him. If we’re going to cure spiritual apathy, looking at our sin the way God does, and confessing it to Him is a non-negotiable.

Second, if we’re to beat spiritual apathy, we’ve got to get close to people who have spiritual passion. Spiritually enthusiastic people make me nervous. There are people who challenge my status-quo, and make me feel uncomfortable. We need these sorts of people. They may not do everything right, but they keep the fires burning in the church. It’s good to get around people who are deeply enraptured with Christ. Otherwise, the ambient spiritual temperature of the church drops precipitously, and we freeze to death en masse. Get close to boiling people. Read their books. Listen to their words.
 
Finally, we have to get close to the object of spiritual passion. I’m talking about Christ. Let me take you to a group of plain-old nobodies from yesteryear. They spend three years at the side of one man, and you couldn’t cool these fireballs down for anything. Their names were “the Apostles” and the man with whom they lived for three years was the Lord Jesus. Close association with the Lord Jesus is the ultimate key to spiritual passion—to becoming fervent in spirit. Are we living in close fellowship with Him, or is He more like a distant acquaintance?
 
I love Charles Spurgeon’s description of Martin Luther:

"Luther was the man for decision. Nobody doubted that he believed what he spoke. He spoke with thunder, for there was lightning in his faith. The man preached all over, for his entire nature believed. You felt, ‘Well, he may be mad, or he may be altogether mistaken, but he assuredly believes what he says.’"
 
May the church be afflicted with that reformer’s disease!
 
In this second part, I must confess that my answer on how to deal with spiritual apathy is somewhat incomplete. Next week, I hope to fill in the blanks. Today’s application is clear, however: By confessing all known sin, getting close to people who have spiritual passion, and getting close to the object of spiritual passion, we can begin to wage war on spiritual apathy.