The Goal of Life

November 28, 2011

On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick attempted to swim the channel from Catalina Island to California. She was no new comer to long distance swimming. She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. The conditions that day were challenging. The water was numbing cold. Sharks were driven away by rifle fire. But the greatest challenge was the fog. The fog was so thick that you could barely see the boats that accompanied her. For 15 hours, she swam before asking to be taken out of the water. Her trainer attempted to urge her on, but to no avail. She quit only to find herself one mile from land. In an interview she said, “I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I might have made it.” The fog obscuring her view of the goal had defeated her.

Do we see our goal or does the “fog” of busyness and daily living obscure our sight and discourage us? One thing is certain—Christian living is goal oriented. Listen to the Apostle Paul.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:7-14, ESV

Paul clearly sees his goal. He realizes that he has not yet attained it. He is willing to sacrifice everything to attain “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Such goal oriented language is not unusual in scripture (see also 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 22:37, and Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Two months after Florence Chadwick’s failed attempt, she again stepped into the waters off Catalina. She swam the distance setting a new speed record for the swim. The difference—this time she could see her goal. The fog had lifted.

Is there a fog obscuring your sight of the goal of life? May we with Paul say, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14, ESV).

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Posted by Russell Holden

Regeneration

November 14, 2011

Regeneration means to be born again. In the context of the New Testament, it is the spiritual rebirth associated with receiving the Holy Spirit. Some argue that regeneration occurs first and then is followed by faith. Others argue that regeneration differs from person to person. Some argue that a person becomes a Christian and then one must seek the Spirit to receive Him. By definition, regeneration must be God’s act, but we still ask when does regeneration take place? What is the evidence of the New Testament?

  • John 7:37-39 “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” ESV Evidence: belief * regeneration
  • Galatians 3:2 “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?” ESV Evidence: hear * faith * regeneration
  • Acts 2:38 “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” ESV Several things suggest that “gift of the Holy Spirit” refers to the gift which is the Holy Spirit. It is certainly one of the grammatical possibilities. This grammatical possibility seems to make the best sense in the light of the New Testament’s teaching that Christians receive the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:9 and 1 Corinthians 6:19). Evidence: repentance * baptism * regeneration
  • Acts 5:32 “And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” ESV Evidence: obedience * regeneration
  • John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” ESV Grammatically, the passage is talking of one birth with two aspects: water and the Spirit. Given the context of the New Testament, the water in this passage most likely refers to baptism. Evidence: water and regeneration
  • 1 Corinthians 12:13 “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” ESV Evidence: baptism and regeneration
  • Titus 3:5 “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” ESV Clearly baptism and regeneration are linked together in other passages. This makes the reference to washing most likely a reference to baptism. Evidence: washing and regeneration

When taken with all the New Testament evidence, becoming a Christian involves faith, repentance, confession, baptism, and regeneration. Regeneration before faith does not fit the evidence. Neither does the idea that the reception of the Spirit is long after becoming a Christian. And although there is a variety of ways of expressing things, as the above list demonstrates, the variety is not inconsistent. A pattern emerges from the evidence when taken as a whole. Have you been born again?

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Posted by Russell Holden

Till When?

November 4, 2011

The answer in the traditional wedding vow to this question is “till death do us part.” A few years ago I was reading through some sample wedding vows online and found one that read “till love dies.” That is certainly the vow many people seemingly mean even if it is not the one they promise, and the tabloid news gives us an example of this in one more brief celebrity marriage lasting 72 days. If it were just a matter of celebrities, I’m not sure it would be worth noting, but the evidence around us is that a biblical view of marriage is in trouble.

What is the evidence? The divorce rate for first time marriages is around 40% (it has been as high as 50%). Seventy percent of Americans were married in 1960. Now it is about 50 percent. In the 1960s, two-thirds of twenty year olds were married. Today it is about 26%. What has replaced marriage among young adults is living together. Cohabitation which was once rare is now the norm. Over half of marriages begin with cohabitation, yet couples who cohabit are more likely to divorce. Forty percent of births in the U.S. for 2007 were out of wedlock.

What does God’s word have to say? Here’s a small sampling:

So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. (Matthew 19:6, ESV)

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. (Hebrews 13:4, ESV)

Let me summarize the Bible’s teaching on marriage.

  • God designed marriage as the union of one man and one woman. (Genesis 2:18-25, Matthew 19:4-6)
  • God desires that marriage be until death do us part. (Matthew 19:6)
  • God permits divorce in the case of sexual immorality, but God hates divorce. (Matthew 19:9, Malachi 2:16 see NASB)
  • God will judge sexual activity outside of marriage. They are the sexually immoral and adulterous. (Hebrews 13:4)

In today’s world, these verses are like a voice crying in the wilderness. Do we have eyes to see and ears to hear?

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Posted by Russell Holden

How to Read Psalm 119

October 28, 2011

To be a Bible reader is to read poetry. Someone has estimated that sixty percent of the Old Testament is in poetic form. Poetry also occurs in the New Testament. The basic marker of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. The two parallel lines will say the same thing in different words, or say contrasting things, or sometimes the second line will build on the first.

The longest poem in Psalms is Psalm 119. I have to admit in the early days of my Bible reading I would feel a little dread of Psalm 119. It is so long! It is twenty-two stanzas and 176 verses long. Even then, it was easy to recognize some high points in the psalm:

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. Psalm 119:9, ESV

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11, ESV

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105, ESV

Yet 176 lines is a long way to go for a few choice nuggets. I recognized some familiar trees, but I didn’t have a sense of the beauty of the entire forest.

I wasn’t alone. Some unkind things have been said about the psalm by commentators through the years. Some have felt that the poem is disjointed. Yet to be a Bible reader is to read and to read again. In time, I’ve come to appreciate the psalm as a whole and to see its beauty.

Psalm 119 is a tightly structured poem. It is an acrostic poem. The twenty-two stanzas of the poem are usually marked in English with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Hebrew has only twenty-two letters in its alphabet. That means that each of the eight lines in the stanza begin with that letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Eight lines beginning with the same letter and a stanza for each letter of the alphabet is a challenging task. The poem uses the word law (Hebrew torah which also means instruction) and seven synonyms for law. Likely the reason for 8 lines per stanza is the fact that the psalm uses 8 words for law. One of these 8 words for law occurs in every line except four, but in five lines of the poem a synonym for law occurs twice.

What helped my reading of this psalm? Read through the psalm and look for the circumstances of the psalmist. Read through the psalm and look for the petitions of the psalmist. Read through the psalm and look for the things he says about law or instruction and its benefits. Read through the psalm and look for praise of God. Do this and I think your appreciation for the psalm will grow. You will see its lament, wisdom, and praise. You will see how the whole psalm fits together in a wonderful way.

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Posted by Russell Holden

Is Mormonism a Cult?

October 22, 2011

I have no interest in the political aspects of this question, and I have no political recommendations for you. I’m interested in the question because I’m fascinated by words and by the media’s inadequacy in dealing with religious questions.

The problem with the question is that the word “cult” has several meanings. I can think of a number of different usages, but only two are germane to the current question. The popular meaning of cult today is a religious group often with a charismatic leader who is authoritarian and uses mind control techniques on his followers. Think Jim Jones and the mass suicide of his followers in Guyana or David Koresh and the Branch Davidians who died in Waco. Is Mormonism a cult in this sense? I think the answer is no.

But there is another definition that is relevant. The late Anthony Hoekema, a former Calvin College professor, wrote a book called The Four Major Cults. The four are Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, and Seventh Day Adventism. He had a very specialized meaning of cult in mind. His definition is that which is unorthodox and breaks with historic Christianity.1 The World Christian Encyclopedia is a social science reference book that attempts to classify all Christian denominations, but they break all of them down into six major groupings. One group is “marginal,” and that is where Mormonism is placed. Why marginal? Again, it is because of their break with historic Christian beliefs.

How different is it? Latayne C. Scott is a convert from Mormonism. Her book, The Mormon Mirage, was published 32 years ago by Zondervan and is still in print. When asked whether Mormonism is Christian, she answers with a series of questions.

Do you believe that God the father was once a man and grew to adulthood on another earth and achieved godhood? Do you believe you can become a god or goddess? Do you believe that the Bible is so flawed and in error that it gives Satan power over people who read and believe it? Do you believe that Jesus didn’t keep his promise to protect his church against the gates of hell?2

Mormonism does not believe in God as trinity, but rather the Father Son, and Holy Spirit are three gods. Doctrines and Covenants teaches that the Father has a body of flesh and blood (130:22). Human beings have the potential of becoming a god. Mormons have a wonderful emphasis on family and a notable missionary zeal, but they frequently use Bible terms with entirely different meanings. Are they a cult in the sense that they break with historic Christian teaching? The answer is yes.

1Anthony Hoekema, The Four Major Cults, p. 374

2http://www.christianchronicle.org/article2159446~A_conversation_with_Latayne_C._Scott

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Posted by Russell Holden

Being Punctual

October 12, 2011

I will confess at the outset that I like to be on time, which for me usually means being early. So this amounts to my rant on a pet peeve. Being punctual means we adhere to arriving at the appointed time when we keep social engagements. It is closely related to etiquette and good manners. When I arrive on time, I’m indicating that I value the social relationship, and I value other people’s time.

Recently, I officiated at a wedding. The experience of this wedding is typical for today. People were arriving late — after the processional had started. People were arriving and entering as the bride was coming down the aisle. People were arriving and entering late after the ceremony had started.

These modern wedding goers might have a hard time understanding the parable of wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). In Jesus’ story, once the bridegroom arrived and the guests had entered, the door was shut. When the foolish virgins arrived, they did not gain entrance, but were told by the bridegroom, “I do not know you.”

But there are etiquette expectations even in modern times for weddings. You can google it for the answer. The expectation is that a guest will arrive fifteen minutes prior to the wedding time. You will need time to sign a guest register, and the seating may be ushered. All of this takes a few minutes, and with the crush of guests arriving, the time is needed.

But problems with being punctual are not just issues with weddings. I’ve seen funeral home directors also fret with attempting to start a funeral on time as they watch a number of cars pull into the parking lot late. People may not realize that funerals involve the scheduling of a number of things (fellowship time after the funeral and coordination with the workers at the cemetery for the grave side service and interment), and that the funeral home director may have more than one funeral that day.

I also have the same concerns for being punctual for church gatherings. (I do recognize that Wednesday nights are a bit of exception, because we have people rushing home from work and attempting to make it for our time together. Not everyone’s schedule is exactly the same.) I’m concerned about the message we convey to students in classes and visitors to our assemblies when so many people are late. It is especially important for teachers to be in the classrooms to greet students. If you have a special function or are a church leader, it is good to be early, so that guests and members can be greeted.

It is frustrating to teachers to have students coming in 10 to 20 minutes late. Now obviously, we would rather the student come than not come, but I don’t think we would tolerate this kind of tardiness in our students secular education. In our faith, we claim that the eternal is greater than the temporal. Are we living out that commitment, or are we demonstrating carelessness?

When we start talking about punctuality, someone will often bring up the fact that Christians in third world countries don’t worry about the time so much. In other words, punctuality is just so much cultural baggage that maybe we should jettison it too.

Yet most moderns only want to partially jettison the cultural baggage of punctuality. They still want events to end on time. In the third world situation, the start time may be fluid, but they usually spend a long time together when they assemble. The end time isn’t as important to them either.

I think there is a case for punctuality for us. We live with careful time keeping and most of us are not far from a watch or clock. We live with calendars and even appointment alarms on our smartphones. We live with busy schedules. Most of us receive rewards or punishments for being on time or late for things like work or school. So punctuality is something that we practice for at least certain events in our life.

Being punctual is a way of communicating to others that we value the time of everyone involved in a social activity. Being punctual communicates that we value the social engagement that has been scheduled.

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Posted by Russell Holden

Why Be Baptized?

October 7, 2011

The practice of baptism in the New Testament is immersion in water, but why be baptized? Some view baptism as a mere symbol of something that has already taken place in a person’s life. In other words, a person becomes a Christian, and then he or she is baptized. Baptism, then, is non-essential to becoming a Christian. Others view baptism as the place where God has promised to give the benefits of salvation. Which view fits the teaching of the New Testament?

  • Mark 16:15-16. Both “believes” and “is baptized” are linked with “will be saved.” Some object to the linkage because of the phrase “whoever does not believe will be condemned” doesn’t mention baptism. But no one is arguing for baptizing the unbelieving. Without faith no one is scripturally baptized.
  • Acts 2:38. In this passage “repent” and “be baptized” are linked with “for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Forgiveness and regeneration are reasons for baptism.
  • Acts 22:16. “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (ESV). Baptism is said to be the place where sins are washed away. Baptism is also linked to one’s confession or appeal to God. The phrase “calling on his name” is an allusion to Joel 2:32.
  • Romans 6:3-5. Baptism unites us to Christ and to his death. After being raised from the waters of baptism, we have the blessing that “we too might walk in newness of life” (ESV). This last phrase also links baptism to regeneration.
  • 1 Corinthians 12:13. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (ESV). Baptism unites us to the church, the body of Christ. Note again that baptism is linked with regeneration—“to drink of one Spirit.”
  • Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (ESV). It is in baptism that we put on Christ.
  • 1 Peter 3:21 “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (ESV). Baptism saves. Peter is clear. The reason baptism saves is because of what Christ has done for us.

Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) is responsible for the Reformed doctrine of baptism, which views baptism as a mere symbol. He argued that no physical act could have a spiritual effect. The problem with such an argument can be seen in one simple question. What about the crucifixion? Zwingli was influenced by a philosophical dualism that does not have its roots in the Bible. Although baptism has symbolism (death, burial, and resurrection), the New Testament teaches that something real and spiritual takes place at baptism.

Why be baptized? Forgiveness of sins. Salvation. Regeneration. Union with Christ. Putting on Christ. Union with the body of Christ.

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Posted by Russell Holden

The Cross-Centered Life

September 30, 2011

The cross is at the center of the Christian message. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2, ESV). Why was Paul so centered on the cross? Because the message of the cross is the power of God for salvation (1 Cor. 1:18). The cross is God’s means of reconciling the world to Himself (Eph. 2:16, Col. 1:20). On the cross, Jesus became the sacrifice for our sins.

The cross is also at the center of our conversion. Even during his earthly ministry, Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34, ESV). In the first century world, to take up your cross was to die. Luke’s account adds the word, “daily,” making clear that Jesus is speaking figuratively (Luke 9:23). Jesus demands that we die to ourselves, to our old lives.

This same imagery is associated with baptism. Paul wrote, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4, ESV). The Christian also has a cross, a tomb, and an empty tomb. We die to ourselves, and we are also united to Christ. The watery grave of baptism connects us to Jesus’ death and burial. We are resurrected from the waters of baptism to newness of life. There is a new life to be experienced now because we are united to Christ, and there is the hope of resurrection when He comes again.

The cross is at the center of Christian living. The new life has power. We are forgiven of our sins in the past, but we are also transformed. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, ESV). Later in the same letter, Paul explained, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14, ESV). Connected to Christ we can live better than we can with our own efforts alone.

The cross teaches me that I’m loved because Jesus endured the cross to save sinners like me. Jesus paid my debt on the cross. But the cross demands a response. Jesus asks me to die to myself. In baptism, my status before God is changed. I become united to Christ. My sins are forgiven, and I become a part of the people of God. The cross-centered life also gives power for living. In dying to myself and letting Christ live in me, I find the strength to be transformed. With Christ, I can do things I could not do alone.

Are you living a cross centered life?

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Posted by Russell Holden

I Still Pray

September 22, 2011

He had received a death sentence; at least the kind doctors deliver with estimates of how many months he had to live. There are no glib answers with that kind of visit, so I listened. He did not want to die. He had many things he still wanted to do and felt like he should do. He prayed for a cure. He said, “I believe God is able to cure me, but I know that He often chooses not to cure.” We prayed, and later, I conducted his funeral.

I do not believe in some kind of “Christian deism” – God acted to get things going in the church, and then after the first century A.D. withdrew from His world to no longer act. No, I don’t expect the signs of the apostles (2 Corinthians 12:12), they were unique to those special messengers. Yet, I still believe in the providence of God. J. D. Thomas defined providence as “God’s interposing in man’s affairs or influencing man’s life in ways different from the ordinary workings of natural law and other than through the written word.”1 God is still intimately involved in this world and in the lives of His people.

Prayer changes me, but I believe that it also changes the world too. Jesus teaches us that we have a Father who sees in secret and rewards. We have a Father who knows how to give good gifts, better even than our earthly fathers who would not even dream of giving snakes for fish or stones for bread. Yet prayer is not magic. God is not the cosmic vending machine – insert prayer, press the right button, and requests dispensed.

I believe that cures sometimes happen in answer to prayer, yet I wonder why God doesn’t wipe away every tear now. Why do good people suffer and die? I suppose my questions begin to sound like Job’s. After all of Job’s laments, God appears and asks him all kinds of questions about the creation that Job could not answer. I suspect it is God’s way of telling us that we don’t have enough wisdom to run the universe. How do you balance free will and intervention?

I suspect that God doesn’t answer all of our prayers the way we wish, because He desires a world in which we seek after Him in faith. I suppose that if prayer did seem like magic, our faith would actually be sight. Who could resist such evidence? But God seeks to woo us not compel us to love Him.

A paradox of faith is that Christians may give the strongest testimony by their suffering and death. Grace, faith, patience, and love in the midst of suffering make an indelible impression. Metals refined by the fire and character tested in the crucible of suffering are precious. After all, we follow the One who suffered.

The ultimate answers are in the Age to Come. God will reverse the curse of sin and death for those in Christ. He will wipe away every tear. But in the meantime, I still pray.

1J. D. Thomas, The Spirit and Spirituality, p. 27.

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Posted by Russell Holden

Once, Now, and If

September 16, 2011

They are two adverbs and a conjunction — once, now, and if. Yes, I know that grammar is not everybody’s cup of tea, but these three words reveal the structure of Paul’s thought in Colossians 1:21-23. It is good for us to ponder once, now, and if.

With the word “once,” Paul points to the past, the pre-christian past of his readers. They were once alienated. This is an objective statement about status outside of Christ. Christians can and should be welcoming to non-Christians in the assembly. But just as a tourists can be welcomed in a foreign country and yet not have the privileges of citizenship until they have moved from the category of aliens to citizens, the same is true for those outside of Christ.

But Paul has two more descriptions of the past: hostile in mind and doing evil deeds. The classic statement that says our way of thinking is different from God’s is Isaiah 55:8-9.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8–9, ESV

The more alienated we are from God, the more our thinking is going to be off, and the more our thinking is off, the more our behavior will be wrong, even evil.

“Now” indicates the change in status. The Christian’s present is different from the past. Now we are reconciled to God by the death of Christ. Reconciliation means that the broken relationship that was once hostile and alienated has been made right. We have been brought near. This is done so that we might be presented holy, blameless, and above reproach before him. There is the justification sense of that. Because I am in Christ, God will say no punishment for me. There is the sanctification sense. Because I am in Christ, I am actually growing more holy in life and conduct.

Finally, there is the big “if”. Paul says that we must continue in the faith. Although translations differ here (“the faith” ESV, NASB, KJV, NKJV and “your faith” NIV), I think “the faith” is preferable, although both statements would be true. The Greek text does have the definite article (i.e., the), and it seems to link up with what was heard and proclaimed in the latter part of the sentence.

Paul wants us to be stable, steadfast, and not shifting from the faith, the apostolic message. If we do that, we will stand before God blameless and above reproach.

Paul gives us a glimpse into our past, present, and potential future with once, now, and if.

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Posted by Russell Holden

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