Obvious Conclusions

A gracEmail subscriber asks whether we are capable of correctly concluding from the Bible what God intended to convey. "I believe we can," he says, "and that's why I think obvious conclusions from the Bible are so clear that all other people should also see them."

Yes, it is possible to draw correct conclusions from the Bible using our God-blessed thinking. However, Thomas Campbell, a founder of my own modern-day Churches of Christ, had some wise advice on that point. We must be careful, he warned, not to attempt to bind such deductions on the consciences of others, "farther than they see the connection and evidently perceive that they are so," otherwise their faith will rest in the wisdom of men and not in the wisdom of God.

What is "obvious" to you or to me is not necessarily "obvious" to everyone else. God does not hold others accountable to what you or I understand, but to what each of them understands. A person cannot "see" further than his or her own mind understands. A person cannot obey God further than she or he "sees." God looks at the heart, and he regards what he sees there as if it were the deed itself -- both for good (2 Chron. 30:18-20) and for ill (Matt. 5:22, 28).

Jesus does not call us to be debaters but disciples. He seeks learners, not logicians. We should love the Lord with all our minds, but that is not the same as trusting in our intellectual prowess to get us to glory. We are no more saved by our right thinking than we are saved by our right conduct or behavior. Justification is by grace through faith, not by logic through syllogisms. The gospel is not a puzzle to be deciphered but an announcement to be believed. Studiousness is one proper response to God's gift of salvation. It is not a route to eternal life apart from trusting in Jesus Christ.

Copyright 2006 by Edward Fudge. Permission hereby granted to reprint this gracEmail in its entirety without change, with credit given and not for financial profit.

Psalm 65

Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion;
to you our vows will be fulfilled.
O you who hear prayer,
to you all men will come.
When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions.
Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.

You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
Those living far away fear your wonders;
where morning dawns and evening fades
you call forth songs of joy.
(1-8)

Pray

In college, a book was passed around through all the really “spiritually minded” students called Practicing the Presence of God by a monk named Brother Lawrence. I can’t say I read it completely through, but I remember one particular quote about Brother Lawrence’s personal prayer life: “For many years I was bothered by the thought that I was a failure at prayer. Then one day I realized that I would always be a failure at prayer; and I’ve gotten along much better ever since.”

This week as we get to the end of James, we talk about prayer, and I must say as your speaker for the day, I am a person who often feels the burden of being a failure at prayer. I pray faithfully . . . WHEN I am in a serious bind. WHEN my kids are sick or WHEN someone dies, I pray! But when things are going great, I rarely think about praying. In fact, when things are going sort of bad or things are unsure . . . I usually don’t think to resort to prayer.

I hope not, but maybe you are like me. Maybe you don’t pray as much as you should. When I think logically, it’s just crazy not to pray. Sometimes I wonder if from heaven above God wonders why we choose to struggle so much without asking for help. I can imagine Jesus saying, “How bad does it have to get before you ask for a little help?! I am right here for you—amazing power! The resurrection Spirit of Christ that dwells in every believer is only a prayer away.”

Instead, we run around on our own and say, “No, no, I can handle this.” It’s interesting in James 5: 13-18, James, who much have spent large amounts of time with his half brother Jesus, does not talk about the theology of prayer, or how to pray, or prove the effects of prayer that much. He just applies it. James says, “Just do it.”

This week we will look at how we can “just do it” and be people of prayer.

Mark

James Chapter 5: 7-11

We have been in the book of James for about 8 weeks now, and we are heading for the end. Throughout the book, James has had the same style . . . as a preacher and writer, he is a classic “deductive reasoner.” Here is what he normally does:

A. He states the truth. He is clear in what he is trying to say. He states what he wants you to know right up front.
B. He illustrates it in a manner that is understandable to the reader. (Even if we are 2000 years removed.)
C. He then explains the details . . . usually by defining terms or tying up loose ends.
D. Finally, he applies it to real life.

We mentioned this a few weeks ago, and this week, verses 7-11 are great examples of this again:

~5: 7a “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord . . .“
James states a command, clear and simple.
~5: 7b “Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.”
He illustrates it for an agrarian society . . . they are intimately familiar with farming, so he makes it simple.
~5: 8 “You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.”
Now he gives them more details . . . the NIV says, “brace yourself.”
~5:9 “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”
He applies it to real life, showing them that his command to be patient can be applied in their lives by not complaining against one another.

This week we will look at James again and attempt to apply his simple, straightforward (sometimes difficult to hear) teaching to real life. In the final three weeks of James, may we concentrate more and more on making sure James’ messages jump off the page and take action in our everyday interactions with each other.

Mark

Boasting and Bragging or Serving and Trusting?

This week we will read James 4: 13-17

It says, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are just a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

Wow! That’s a tough verse for those of us planning for retirement. Never mind the last part about knowing what is good and not doing it . . . the previous part about making plans and having dreams for tomorrow seems to fly in the face of what it means to be a responsible person in out culture. James is almost downright un-American!

Yet, James is not so down on making plans and carrying them out as he is about rich people dreaming (or even boasting) about being richer . . . as opposed to dreaming (or even boasting) about serving God. As rich people we should take this as a stern warning. (That’s the tough part.) But as God’s people who have access to the resources that we have in our nation and in our community, we should take it as a charge to boast about the right stuff. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but we do know that whatever happens, we have given our lives to the God who is in charge of tomorrow.

Mark

Resurrected, Returning

Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20: 26b-29

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28: 16-20

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Luke 24: 50-53

Jesus said to them, “ . . . At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect . . . “
Mark 13: 26, 27

Fruit

God’s spirit living in us does something to us . . .*

You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ~James 2: 22

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. ~John 15: 5-8

A young boy approached an evangelist after a revival tent meeting. He inquired about answering Jesus’ knocking at the door of his heart. The conversation continued:

The evangelist squatted down so he could look the boy in the eye. “Did you ask him in?”
“Well, I’d like to,” the boy said, shuffling dirt with the toes of his shoe before returning his gaze to the evangelist. “But I got to figurin’ . . . I’m so little and Jesus is so big—he’s just gonna stick out all over!”
“That’s the point, son,” the evangelist said with a smile. “That’s the point.” **

Let’s get connected to the Vine so that we start bearing fruit . . . Let’s start loving in such a way people can point at our lives and say “I know who you are!” Or better yet, “I know whose you are”—because they see our Lord and his love in us.***

*Mark Moore, Springfield Church News, April 2, 2006
** , *** Joanna Weaver, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, 2000, 2002