Believe it or not, October 31 is more than just an opportunity to dress up as a character from Squid Game, or to eat so much candy you never want to see a Snickers again (at least for a few more days anyway). It is the opportunity to reflect on a much more significant occasion… Reformation Day!

For those who might not be too familiar with church history, it was on October 31, 1517, that the great church reformer, Martin Luther, nailed his famous Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg church in Germany. This event came to be seen as a watershed moment for the emergence of what would later be called “Protestantism.”

At the time, Luther intended to ignite a much-needed debate within the church of Rome. He had hoped this would lead to the inward reform of the church in both doctrine and practice. And while Luther was certainly a flawed human being (especially by modern standards), it does not seem to be the case that he was a schismatic bent on dividing the church. And in fact, some prominent Catholics, such as Erasmus of Rotterdam, were in substantial agreement with a number of Luther’s critiques. Nevertheless, history tells us that things didn’t quite work out as he had planned. And, over time, a mass movement emerged, aided by the recent invention of the printing press.

One cannot underestimate the significance the Reformation had for reshaping the cultural landscape of Europe. European countries began breaking away from the Roman church and established their own variations of what came to be known later as “Protestant” churches. And of course, it was members of Protestant churches who first set sail for the New World. And so quite uniquely, the United States was not simply a nation influenced by Christianity in a generic sense, but was uniquely marked from its inception by a Protestant ethos.

So, in light of Reformation Day, I’d like to offer three things we can learn from the Reformation in retrospect:

1. WE MUST ALWAYS KEEP THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL AT THE CENTER OF THE CHURCH.

While I personally lament the rampant divisions so often seen in the church today (a sentiment grounded in Scripture, see 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 3:1-4), there are in fact times when it is necessary to make hard decisions to separate ourselves from “professing” Christians who in fact deny the Gospel.

While Luther had numerous complaints against the Catholic church, at the heart of the matter was the concern about how, and in what way, sinners were made right with God. This was no secondary issue. And I believe what Luther was defending was the very doctrine of the Apostle Paul who taught, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Though it is true that the newly developed Protestant churches each held various distinctives, they were united by, what one of my professors has called, “mere Protestant Christianity.”¹ In other words, there was a historical, Protestant core that positively set forth the essence of the Gospel. These have also been referred to as the five solas (“Scripture alone,” “Faith alone,” “Grace alone,” “Christ alone,” “to the Glory of God alone”). And I believe it is urgent that we reclaim and celebrate these core beliefs lest our churches be washed out to sea by the seeker-friendly tide.

Moreover, if we do not keep the Gospel at the center of our churches, then something else will take its place. And when the Gospel is de-centered, Christians will more easily join the ranks of other social groups who also don’t have the Gospel as their center. And worse still, many more may sever their ties from genuine Christians with whom they disagree on non-Gospel issues.

But Protestantism should not be an excuse to divide over foolish things, but a clarion call to remain steadfast in the essential things.

2. WE SHOULD RENEW OUR COMMITMENT TO THE LOCAL CHURCH.

Reformation Day reminds us that we wouldn’t be where we are today, if it weren’t for those who long ago fully committed their lives for the spread of the Gospel through the church.

While COVID and the many issues related to it have certainly complicated and challenged local church ministry in numerous ways, yet God’s plan to form disciples in the image of Christ through the church has not changed. But what would it look like for us to renew our commitment to the local church at this particular moment?

For obvious reasons, physical attendance in church was highlighted over the past year and a half. But what about the vital areas of giving and serving? If we are truly committed to the flourishing of the local church, then we must not mislead people into believing that being a church member is reducible to “parking your carcass” (as my high school math teacher would say) in an auditorium once a week.

The word “fellowship” in Greek κοινωνίᾳ refers to “joint participation in a shared pursuit.” It means to be equally invested in something. Think of The Lord of the Rings for a moment. The Fellowship of the Ring didn’t mean Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, and others sat around and clapped while Frodo went into Mordor by himself. Fellowship meant they gave and served, not merely attended.

Perhaps renewal today would result in a paradigm shift in which churchgoers ask, if I may paraphrase the late President John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your church can do for you, ask what you can do for your church.”

3. WE SHOULD CULTIVATE A GREATER SENSE OF APPRECIATION FOR CHRISTIAN HISTORY.

As American Christians, it is easy to forget that at one time it was a foregone conclusion that if you lived in the West, and you were a Christian, you could only be a Roman Catholic. At one time, you could not own a Bible or read it in your own language. And there was a time when an individual could not worship according to their conscience, but rather, the forms of worship would be legally prescribed by a state-controlled church for all.

Forgetting the past is the surest way to repeat its errors. I pray our churches would all do a better job of cultivating awareness of, and practicing gratitude for, all those brothers and sisters who have gone before us and made our understanding of the Gospel possible.

So, wherever you are this October 31, take a moment and thank the Lord both that we have had the Gospel of grace preached to us, and for the faithful saints of old who have made our religious freedom possible. And let us also consider what we can do to show our love for Christ by solidifying our commitment to His church today.

_{Article Updated: Originally published on October 31, 2019}

_Notes:

_{¹ Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Biblical Authority After Babel: Retrieving the Solas in the Spirit of Mere Protestant Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2016.}

If you own a Bible in your own language, it is a direct result of the Protestant Reformation, and the key figure God used to ignite that worldwide movement of returning to the Bible was Martin Luther: a German monk and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg.

I grew up attending a Lutheran school until eighth grade. During my time there, I learned a lot about Luther, including studying his catechism. Years later, when I put my faith in Jesus and was born again, I started attending a Calvary Chapel church; and over the years, I have grown in appreciation for Martin Luther and the pivotal role he played in God’s work in the world.

The last day of October is celebrated around the world as Reformation Day, because it was on October 31, 1517, that Martin Luther set into motion the movement now known as the Reformation, by mailing a letter. Yes, you read that right: on the eve of All Saints Day (Halloween = “All Hallows Eve”), Luther mailed, not nailed, a letter.^{1 2}

The letter was addressed to the Archbishop of Mainz,³ and Luther sent it because he wanted to alert the archbishop that plenary indulgences were being sold in the archbishop’s name by a man named John Tetzel. Tetzel had been sent from Rome the year before to sell these certificates promising the release of a soul from purgatory in exchange for their purchase, as a fundraising campaign for the building of St. Peter’s Basilica. Luther assumed the archbishop was unaware that this was going on, and that upon receiving his letter, the archbishop would tell Tetzel to cease and desist. That, however, is not what happened.

As a result of the archbishop’s inaction, Luther, as a professor, decided to organize a scholarly debate on the topic of indulgences: whether they were actually effective in procuring the release of a soul from purgatory. To this end, he wrote up what are now known as the 95 Theses, which he titled: A Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. This paper, which was posted on the door of the All Saints Church in Wittenberg, was an invitation to a scholarly debate, but in it Luther challenged both the selling of indulgences and the doctrine of purgatory as unscriptural. By doing this, Luther was challenging the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching and authority, and insisting that the Bible, not the church, should be the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes correct doctrine.

The posting of the 95 Theses is considered the spark which ignited the Protestant Reformation: a movement which sought to reform the church by shedding man-made traditions and returning to the faith which had been handed to us by God in the Holy Scriptures.

Today, there are nearly 1 billion Protestant Christians in the world.⁴ In the “majority world,” including Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Muslim world⁵, Protestant Christianity is growing faster than any other religious movement by conversion.⁶

Before Luther, there were others who sought to reform the church and bring the Bible to the people. John Wycliffe (1331-1384) published the first English translation of the Bible. Jan Hus (1369-1415) taught the Bible to the common people in Prague. Peter Waldo (1140-1218) commissioned a translation of the New Testament into the local vernacular of southern France. Each of these people were persecuted for trying to put the Scriptures into the hands of the common people.

Over a century before Luther, Hus had protested the sale of plenary indulgences, pointing out that the idea that God’s favor or blessings could be earned in any way, runs contrary to the message of the gospel and the testimony of the Scriptures, and the concept of purgatory is in conflict with the biblical teaching of the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement on the cross.

Martin Luther had long struggled with feelings of condemnation and inadequacy, until his own reading of the Scriptures led him to an epiphany when he read Habakkuk 2:4: “Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.” This led Luther to the other places in the Bible where this phrase is repeated: Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38 – where the message is clear: It is not by our own works that we are justified before God, but it is God who justifies us sinners as a gift of His grace, and we receive that justification by faith. After all, the Bible explains, this is how Abraham, the father of our faith, became righteous: he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3, 22). We receive God’s righteousness, which he has provided for us in Christ, in the same way.

Luther became convinced that everyone needed to be able to read the Scriptures for themselves, and he took it upon himself to translate the Bible into German, a translation that is still in use to this day. Soon the Bible was translated into other languages, including English, as the Reformation spread.

Martin Luther called people back to a belief that the Scriptures are perspicuous (clear), and can be understood by those who read them. He called us back to a belief in the inspiration and sufficiency of Scripture: that it is the ultimate rule of faith, by which we are to measure both doctrine and our lives.

In April 1521, Luther was brought before Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms, at which Luther was commanded to recant his teachings. Luther refused to do so, famously stating:

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason – for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves – I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant.”⁷

This October, as we celebrate Reformation Day, may we take the opportunity to open the Bible and read it for ourselves, and may we embrace and celebrate the message of the gospel: that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and that we are justified freely by his grace as we trust in him by faith.

_Notes

_{¹ Marshall, Peter. 1517: Martin Luther and the Invention of the Reformation. OUP Oxford. 2017.}

_{² Little, Becky. “Martin Luther Might Not Have Nailed His 95 Theses to the Church Door.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, October 31, 2017.}

_{³ “Luther’s Letter to the Archbishop of Mainz (1517).” Historyguide.org, 2002.}

_{⁴ “Global Christianity: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Christian Population.” PewResearchCenter. Accessed December 2011.}

_{⁵ Miller, Duane A., and Patrick Johnstone. Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census II (2015): 2–19. academia.edu}

_{⁶ Melton, J. Gordon (22 October 2005). Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9780816069835 – via Google Books.}

_{⁷ “Here I Stand: Martin Luther’s Reformation at 500.” Abilene Christian University Special Collections, March 11, 2019.}

In principle, we agree with the psalmist when he writes, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the ungodly.” But we also know the power of sin in our lives. We do those things we do not want to do. We do not do the things we want to do. We know futility and wretchedness by experience. How do we quit the way of sin when it seems impossible?

The answer is Psalm 1:2, to delight in the law of the Lord, and to meditate in it day and night. Meditation in the law of God brings delight and prepares a person to do the law of God, which results in blessing now and eternally.

“Delight” parallels “meditate.”

Hebrew poetry deals, not with the sounds of words, but with the rhyming or contrast of ideas. A line will state an idea, and the next line can repeat the same idea in different words, or it can contrast ideas. This approach is called parallelism.

These two lines are saying the same thing with different words. Notice in the passage that “delight” is paralleling “meditate.” They are the two verbs being used in dealing with the law of the Lord.

Here are two things you can and should do with the law of the Lord: delight in it and meditate in it.

Meditating is preparation for doing.

Meditating is for the mind what digestion is for the body: It is the way to inwardly receive what one needs to live.

When you eat, you chew your food and enjoy the flavour. Then you swallow it. Your stomach adds enzymes and acids to further break down the food into its constituent elements: amino acids, fats, glucose (simplest sugar), minerals, vitamins. Then in the intestines, these elements are absorbed into the body and utilized as needed. In particular, the glucose is circulated through the body via the blood system and is absorbed into the cells. Finally, the body secretes a hormone, a chemical message that tells the cells in the body to open up and take in the glucose.

There is a disorder in which the body loses the cells that secrete the hormone. When that happens, the cells do not take in the glucose. Instead, the blood sugar rises to a level that endangers the system. Thus the system reacts by flushing out the unused blood sugar through the kidneys and urinating it out of the body. A person with this condition eats and digests adequately, but because the cells never properly receive the needed glucose, the person eventually starves to death. It is as though he has not eaten at all. This disorder is called type-1 diabetes.

Similarly, you can read scripture and study it, but still not receive any benefit, because the last step of inwardly receiving the scripture doesn’t happen. It is as though you have not read at all. When you meditate on the scriptures, you are internally receiving those words into the deepest part of your heart. Just as your food becomes part of you, that Word becomes part of your heart. The will of God is no longer coming from outside but lives in you. You do the will of God from the heart.

Meditation is preparation for doing. We see this in Joshua 1:6-8:

“Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”

Notice first what God told Joshua to do: Joshua was to bring the people of Israel into the Promised Land to possess it. It was a formidable and intimidating assignment. Not even Moses, with his glowing face, accomplished that.

Next, God told Joshua how to do what was commanded: Obey the law of Moses without fail.

And then God told Joshua how to obey the law of Moses: He was not to allow that book to depart from his mouth but to meditate on it day and night. He was to receive God’s law continually, inwardly. God confirmed that if he did this, He would make Joshua’s way prosperous, and he would succeed in doing the will of God.

The law of the Lord is delightful?

Somebody might say: “I thought the law was all a bunch of dos and don’ts. Where’s the delight there?” That would echo the counsel of the ungodly: How could obeying God’s law possibly be fun?

But we are talking about something beyond mere fun or entertainment. We are talking about blessing, which leads to eternal life. Anything less than eternal life is a stay of execution.

The psalmist spoke about the delights of the law of the Lord in Psalm 119:97-104:

“O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word. I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”

Never Gets Old

Notice how the psalmist can meditate on the law of the Lord all day long and not get tired of it. You can get tired of music, movies, games, books. But here is something that delights all day long. That’s because the word of God is eternal. When you meditate, you are putting something eternal into your innermost being.

You Become More

In the next three verses, the psalmist says he is more than his enemies, his teachers and even the aged with all their experience. The law of the Lord gives us the wisdom, insight and understanding of God Himself, who is above and beyond any human or angel. The psalmist had enemies who were more powerful and more numerous, who wanted to kill him, yet the law of the Lord enabled him to have insight that nullified all their superiority. You are not supposed to be greater than your teachers, yet the law of the Lord surpasses human knowledge. And the aged may have the experience, but experience alone is not superior. That experience can be a mistake after mistake. You don’t have to learn in the school of hard knocks. The law of the Lord enables a person to avoid bad decisions and experience the goodness of God.

Security

Verses 101-102 show how meditating on the law of the Lord enables a person to avoid deception and sin. Through meditation, God Himself teaches a person to continue in doing what is right. You will not fall away. That results in security now and forever.

Sweetness and satisfaction

The word of God is sweet like honey, says the psalmist, and we think: “How could that be?” Because these two commandments express the entirety of God’s law: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and love your neighbour as yourself. A life lived in the love of God is sweet and satisfying. Nobody was ever satisfied with a life of sin and rebellion against God. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. It is truth woven into the fabric of the universe: If you genuinely want to be blessed, then give to someone. Make someone else’s life better. Live in love.

The only catch is that you have to be connected to a source of love that doesn’t run dry. Otherwise, you will run dry, and that’s no fun. The good thing is that when you meditate, you are connected. There’s more about that in this psalm that we will look at next time.

If you don’t meditate, you won’t “do.”

The biblical order of obedience is: Meditate on the word of God, receive it inwardly, then you will do it from the heart. If you are not doing the will of God, don’t beat yourself up. You’re likely behind on your think time. Check to see if you are consistently meditating on that will of God that you are failing to do. Meditating prepares your heart for doing. You do what you meditate on.

This principle also works the other way. That’s why there are books, music, videos and movies that all present rebellious, sinful ideas. Murder, adultery, jealousy, revenge, hatred, self-centeredness, lust, it’s all present in our entertainment. “Entertain,” by the way, means to maintain, keep, hold in the mind. The devil wants to actively keep sinful ideas in your mind so that you will eventually do them. If you meditate on sinful things, don’t be surprised if you do those sinful things.

But you can decide what you think about. You are not a victim; you are a volunteer. What are you volunteering for? What do you set your mind on?

“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things” (Philippians 3:18-19).

Can you imagine believers in Jesus who are actually working against their own salvation? People who are not going to make it to heaven? Paul knew them personally. It was a grief to him that they were unreasonable, stubborn, refusing to consider their ways and change what they thought about.

Challenge yourself

Here’s a challenge. If you believe in Jesus, and you want to experience His goodness, then delight in His word for the next 30 days.

While you do this, it might be a good time for a media blackout. The reason is to get your taste buds for the word of God recalibrated.

When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they complained about the manna God gave them to eat (Numbers 11:4-9). Manna tasted like wafers made with oil. It had a good taste, but evidently, it didn’t register on Israel’s taste buds. They were used to more zip, bang, pow in their food, with garlic, leeks and fish. The effect might be similar to always having your food with Sriracha and Tabasco sauce. Israel was discontent because they couldn’t taste God’s bread from heaven.

Is the Bible tasteless to you? That might be because you have been conditioned to want zip, bang and pow in your media. Advertisers, writers, marketers and video producers are all aiming to stimulate your body’s dopamine production. They want to make you addicted to a media-saturated lifestyle.

In a world filled with things that scream for your attention, the Bible is not one of them. God will not lunge at you and compete with marketers for your attention. Did you notice that when He spoke to Elijah (1 Kings 19:11), He wasn’t in the raging wind, nor the earthquake, nor the blazing fire? He speaks in a still, small voice. To some people who are accustomed to incessant media exposure, it is silent and tasteless.

I often suggest to people wanting to hear from God to get desperate. Do the media fast for 30 days. Cut out all the stuff that you allow into your life that you know has nothing to do with Jesus. These blogs, news sources, chat groups, forums, magazines, music, videos or whatever, may not be harmful in themselves, but what do they have in common with Jesus? For this particular time of seeking the Lord, I would even suggest cutting out Christian media. The good can be the enemy of the best. The best is you receiving from God Himself. Nothing else compares when God is speaking.

For the sake of the challenge, be brutal. Make it just you and the Bible.

Read several chapters every day. Find out what is a good, daily amount for you. Pick out pertinent verses in those chapters and think about them deeply. Write down your thoughts in a notebook: your observations, your questions, other verses as they occur to you. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to get insight. Pray about those things that you learn.

You will probably experience some unpleasant cold-turkey withdrawal from the media you cut out. You don’t have to feel bad about it. After all, we are still physical, “carnal” beings. At the same time, you will also find yourself increasingly satisfied by God. You will want more of God speaking to your heart. You will find yourself delighting in the law of the Lord.

Do you think it will take 30 days for God to start speaking to you? I sincerely doubt it. I think it will be a fabulous time of communion with God.

And then what?

What you do after the fast is over is totally up to you. But consider the long run. What do you think would happen if your top priority was to meditate in the Bible for the rest of your life?

The answer is some seriously transcendent, wonderful, glorious things. We will discuss them in my next article.

“Richard Dawkins’s Latest Case for Outgrowing God”– The Gospel Coalition
“‘I finally gave up on God when I was 15,’ Richard Dawkins writes in his latest book, Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide. He hopes to midwife kids of a similar age through a similarly rational rebirth. Believe in God as a child if you must. If your parents believe, you probably will. But follow the facts, Dawkins suggests, and you’ll outgrow theism like pubescent acne.'”

“History: Did Christianity give us our human values?”– Unbelievable?
“Belief in the dignity, value and equality of human beings has become a cornerstone of Western societies. But how did those values arise?”

“What is the Bible and Why Should We Read It?”– TheWeeFlea
“Some see the Bible as a book of oppression, others as a book of liberation. Some see it as outdated, others as the most culturally relevant book for our generation. Some see it as full of hatred, others as the book of love. Is it really the case that the Bible is whatever we see it to be? What if our vision is distorted?”

“The Priestly Blessing”– Theology & Apologetics
“An in-depth study of the priestly blessing: Numbers 6:22-27. The Podcast bringing you theology, biblical exposition, apologetics, bible study, and cultural commentary from a biblical worldview to help you strengthen and defend the Christian faith.”

“Expositors Collective Seminar: February 21-22, 2020“– Expositors Collective
“The Expositors Collective is a growing network of pastors, leaders, and laypeople which exists to equip, encourage, and mentor the next generation of Christ-centered preachers. Our next training seminar for young preachers (men and women 18-34 years old) will take place on February 21-22, 2020, at Calvary Chapel Las Vegas in Las Vegas, NV.”

“PEP Talk Podcast With Sarah Yardley”– Solas
“When you run one of the biggest evangelistic events in the UK, can you take a holiday from sharing the gospel for the rest of the year? At Creation Fest this summer, we caught up with the woman making it all happen – Sarah Yardley – and found out that sharing the gospel, friendships and hospitality are important year-round.”

“The Moral Universe of Timothy Keller: A Conversation with the Evangelical Pastor and Theologian”– The Atlantic
“Since that time Keller, 69, has become one of the most consequential figures in American Christianity. When he founded Redeemer in the fall of 1989, fewer than 100 people attended; in the aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001, Keller was preaching in multiple services in three different venues each Sunday to about 5,000 people—mostly young, single, professionally and ethnically diverse.”

“Discerning the Spirits”– Back to Basics
“The ability to recognize false teaching and false teachers is an ability given by God referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:10 as the ‘discerning of spirits.’ Since false teaching is one of the greatest hindrances to the progress of the church, God has given some believers the ability to discern error so that others might be warned and protected from being led astray.”

The Link is a collection of content from around the web, discussing topics in culture, theology, ministry and current events. CalvaryChapel.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with every message or perspective in the diverse pieces posted on The Link. By providing The Link, we hope to help you stay informed of important events and conversations taking place in the world that are relevant to the Christian faith.

There’s a joke that Christians here in Ukraine like to tell. One day, a pastor goes to visit a class in the children’s ministry at his church. He’s trying to break the ice with the small children and decides to play a guessing game. “Kids, who can tell me what lives in the forest, has pointy ears, a big bushy tail and climbs trees?” The children are awkwardly silent, afraid to answer. Then finally one brave, young boy raises his hand. “Well, I know the right answer is ‘Jesus’, but it sure sounds a lot like a squirrel.”

I lead preaching labs with City to City Ukraine. Our goal is to help preachers craft Gospel-centered sermons. Sometimes I run into a question much like the joke above. “What if all I see in the passage is a ‘squirrel’?” What if that’s all the writer saw? If Christ isn’t mentioned in the passage, aren’t we twisting the meaning of Scripture if we read Him in? Aren’t we supposed to be directed by the author’s original intent?” The desire to avoid reading something into the text that’s not there is a good one. We should be on guard against it. But is that what a Christ-centered approach to Scripture is doing? Or, on the contrary, do we have a biblical mandate to search for Christ in passages that don’t directly mention Him?

The Divine Authorship of Scripture

Whenever we approach a passage of Scripture, we always come at it with a specific set of assumptions. None of us is free from our own tradition or culture. But hopefully, we are open to refining our assumptions based on what we find in Scripture. For example, Scripture itself tells us that it is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). So we approach Scripture with the understanding that it is not merely the words of men, but also the Word of God. New Testament scholar Vern Poythress writes, “Whether or not they were perfectly self-conscious about it, the human authors [of Scripture] intended that their words should be received as words of the Spirit.”¹ That means Scripture’s meaning is not defined solely by the human author’s intent. In fact, that approach is actually ignoring their intent, because they intended us to understand their words as being words from God. To agree with the intent of the human authors, we must recognize their words as more than the product of those authors.

One Passage, Two Authors

Every passage of Scripture has not one author, but two: the human author and the divine Author. So to understand the full meaning of a passage, we must ask not only what the human author’s original intent was, but also what God’s intent was. Some people argue that the intent of the human author and the divine Author must be identical. Walter Kaiser is one such scholar. He writes, “The Bible can have one and only one correct interpretation and that meaning must be determined by the human author’s [intent].”² Kaiser is trying to make sure that we don’t read our own ideas into the text. That’s a right and admirable goal. And though his approach might safeguard us against fanciful additions, it’s over-simplified. Scripture does not give us grounds to make a one-to-one correlation between human authorial intent and divine authorial intent.

First, there are biblical examples that contradict this over-simplification. There are passages where God has an intention that the human writer didn’t understand. One of the clearest examples is Daniel. Daniel is faithful to record the visions God gives him. But he explicitly states that he did not understand their meaning (Daniel 8:27;12:8-9, etc.). Sometimes Daniel gets an explanation, sometimes not. And even when there is an explanation, Daniel says he still doesn’t understand what God means in these words. These examples show without a doubt that God’s intention in Scripture sometimes goes beyond the human author’s intention.

It’s also worth considering how the New Testament authors use the Old Testament. For example, Matthew quotes a line out of Hosea 11, “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Matthew 2:15). Matthew goes on to tell us that this is actually fulfilled in Jesus being taken to Egypt and then returning after the death of Herod. In other words, the full meaning of this phrase is found in Christ. But in Hosea, there’s not even the slightest hint that this phrase has anything to do with Jesus. It’s actually used to describe how God historically brought Israel out of Egyptian slavery. And yet, Matthew tells us that this phrase was ultimately intended to point toward Christ. And we don’t get to argue, because Matthew is Scripture too. When Hosea wrote these words, it seems highly unlikely that he was thinking about Jesus. But the New Testament shows us that this Christ-centered meaning was part of the divine intention. The full meaning here, as in all Scripture, is found in its reference to Christ.

This brings up another interesting question: Where should we get our model of Bible interpretation? Ironically, sometimes those who would call us to faithful Bible interpretation ignore the New Testament’s own model of interpretation. Usually by “faithful interpretation” they mean a strictly grammatical-historical approach that acknowledges only the human author’s intent. But as we’ve seen, the New Testament authors approached Scripture with an understanding of the divine authorial intent that at times goes beyond the human author’s intent. They also understood the divine intent to be ultimately Christocentric. So if we really want to be faithful to the Bible, we must use the Bible’s own interpretive model. We cannot neglect the overarching, Christ-centered divine intent.

What We Should Look For

None of this is to say that the human authorial intent can or should be abandoned. On the contrary, God’s intended meaning cannot contradict the human authorial intent. If it could, this would be a mystical approach to Scripture where we just import our own preferred ideas and the human author’s words mean nothing. Let’s be clear: There is no genuine divine meaning which would contradict the human authorial intent. But that also doesn’t mean it stops with the human intent.

On the other hand, as we’ve seen, Scripture supports the idea of a divine meaning which the human author doesn’t always fully understand. In this sense, the term “grammatical-historical plus” used by professor E. Earle Ellis to describe the New Testament authors’ interpretive model is fitting. The fuller meaning of Scripture is just that: fuller than mere human intent, but never contradictory to it. God may intend more than the human author does, but never less and never at odds with the human author’s intent.

The authors of the New Testament use Old Testament Scripture, understanding that the goal of the divine intent in any passage is Christ Himself. The meaning of a passage cannot be detached from the overall revelation of Scripture which culminates in and centers on Christ Himself. He is the ultimate and final revelation of God (Hebrews 1:1-2). Jesus points this out in his rebuke of the Pharisees, saying, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39). Christ is the eternal Word of God. He is the ultimate goal of the divine intent in revelation. As we study the Scriptures, both for ourselves and in preparing sermons for our churches, may our eyes be open to the fullness of God’s intent in pointing us to Christ in every passage.

Notes:

¹ Vern Poythress, “Divine Meaning of Scripture”.
² Walter Kaiser, quoted in Jared Compton, “Shared Intentions? Reflections on Inspiration and Interpretation in Light of Scripture’s Dual Authorship”.

In part one of this study, we began to look at the subject of Israel as a biblical theology theme. We began looking at five truths from Romans 11:25-29 that provide a basic outline of a theology of Israel. The first two points previously examined come from 11:25. One, that the Gentile church is often misinformed and superior in its attitude towards Israel. Two, the present hardening of Israel is both partial and temporary.

1. Israel will experience National Regeneration.

“…And so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,

‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,

HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.’

‘THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM,

WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS’” (Romans 11:26-27).

This clause is the “eye of the storm” for understanding Romans 9-11. Several possible interpretations have been offered by theologians. Some see “Israel” here as pertaining to the elect, the one people of God comprising both believing Jews and Gentiles. This position seems doubtful given that Paul has used the term consistently ten times throughout Romans 9-11 to refer to ethnic Israel. Others have claimed that “all Israel” is to be understood as a reference to all Jews throughout history. This position, however, raises a myriad of soteriological problems and does not fit the context of the discussion. Still, others simply see this as a reference to the elect within Israel who are now part of the church. The multitude of interpretations only shows how disparate the church’s theology of Israel has become.

I will not engage with all of these viewpoints but argue for the view that seems to be the most straightforward. If we read it without any preconceived presuppositions inherited from our particular theological systems, then some of the confusion evaporates. To interpret “all Israel” as a reference to the ethnic nation of Israel seems to fit the context best. Moreover, to understand the words “will be saved” as a reference to the national salvation of Israel should not be seen as somehow unfair to those outside of Israel, or as God giving a certain group of people a second chance that He is unwilling to give anyone else. The national regeneration and eschatological salvation of Israel is one of the most frequently recorded hopes of the prophets (cf. Ezekiel 37:25-28; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Micah 4:1-4).

Paul seems to emphasize this point by his selection of Old Testament quotations. He first quotes a verse from Isaiah 59:20. The context is crucial; Isaiah 59 is an eschatological chapter dealing with the second coming of Christ in judgment at the end of the age to repay those whose deeds are wicked. This same chapter describes Jesus as a “redeemer” who will come to Zion (location) and remove the sins of Israel (ethnicity). The next verse (Isaiah 59:21) links these events, the salvation of ethnic Israel to the New Covenant. This is supported by the second Old Testament quote that Paul selects from Jeremiah 31:33-34 where he explicitly ties the salvation of Israel to the New Covenant. Most theologians today would not deny that the New Covenant awaits its final consummation with the coming of Christ. Paul has now explained that part of this consummation involves the national salvation of Israel. Paul used these Scriptures from the Old Testament to demonstrate that this is a theme which runs through the Bible and these Scriptures have provided a chronological sequence for their fulfillment.

2. Unbelieving Jews are our beloved enemies.

From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. Romans 11:28

Paul here gives a clear summary of Israel’s dual status and how it relates to the main thrust of the argument that he is addressing in chapters 9-11. Israel, who even now is hardened toward the gospel and in a state of enmity toward God, is not completely rejected. The Gentile church is to understand that this present state of hardening was necessary for salvation to come to the Gentiles. Given this situation, the Gentiles must be careful not to become arrogant toward the “natural branches.” Understanding and accepting this fact should provoke a response from unbelieving Israel—to make them jealous (Romans 11:11).

With this response in mind, it is important to understand how a church that has become arrogant against the natural branches because of their unbelief, or a church which actively promotes theology that is anti-Semitic, stands little chance of provoking Israel into a state of jealousy.

Israel then remains the elect nation, beloved by God for the sake of the fathers on account of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This dual status of Israel is the key to understanding the “mystery” of Israel.

3. The promises given to Israel are irrevocable.

“… For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29).

Paul has argued that Israel remains important in God’s plan based upon the promises given to the patriarchs. As long as those promises stand true, then so does his argument concerning the future of national Israel. He confirms this simply by announcing that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. It is best to see the phrase “calling” here as referring to the election of Israel as a nation, and “gifts” is best identified as encompassing all the privileges and blessings that go with this. The term “irrevocable” carries with it the idea that something cannot be undone or changed. The promises of God concerning Israel are certain, for the Word of God cannot be broken; His promises are sure.

These four verses in Romans chapter 11 provide for us a basic outline of a biblical theology of Israel. Any attempt to address the topic theologically must provide a response to the areas outlined in these verses, i.e. that Israel was elected in the past, that the majority of the nation rejected the claims of the gospel, but even in this unbelieving state, they still remain an elect nation. This nation will one day receive the promised covenantal blessing of national salvation when the Messiah comes again.

Historically, the evangelical tradition has been very supportive of Israel. Yet with the growing resurgence of supersessionism (replacement theology) eroding this support, as well as the alarming increase of global anti-Semitism, it is imperative that evangelicals understand the role of Israel from a biblical perspective. Unfortunately, many people today lack a proper biblical foundation to navigate this issue, and their interpretations are too easily colored by the rhetoric of the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Admittedly, the topic is complex and requires examination from both theological and political vantages. However, we as Christians must ensure that we give this issue adequate theological treatment before engaging with the subject on other levels.

In order to achieve this, the entire subject of the house of Israel needs to be seen for what it is in the biblical corpus—perhaps the largest metanarrative in all of Scripture. The topic of Israel needs to be treated as a biblical theology theme that runs throughout the entire Bible. The scriptures address the past, present and future role of the Jewish people in the plan of God. In setting out a biblical theology of Israel, which will incorporate periods of exile, periods of unbelief, and ultimately, anticipates an eschatological kingdom, we seek to offer a theology that affirms the unique role of Israel in salvation history. We also want to avoid the rather simplistic error of creating a theology that places the modern nation state of Israel on a pedestal above all criticism. To hold a view that acknowledges God’s heart for the Jewish people does not mean one is bound to support every decision of the secular Government of the modern state of Israel.

We must go to the Scriptures first. Although this section of Romans is the final portion of a much larger section of chapters 9-11, which expounds upon the subject of God’s dealings with Israel, verses 25-29 provide us with five salient truths that will shape our biblical theology of Israel. We will start with the first few below.

1. The Gentile church is prone toward ignorance and arrogance regarding the issue of Israel.

“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation …” (Romans 11:25a)

The text states that the church must be careful not to display an attitude of ignorance concerning Israel’s current position of blindness, nor are we to allow this position to produce in us an attitude of superiority or arrogance. Unfortunately, the ugly mixture of ignorance and arrogance is an apt description of the church’s attitude for much of its history, indicating that Paul’s warning has gone largely unheeded. The doctrine of supersessionism, more commonly known as replacement theology, has been the majority view throughout the history of the church. The idea is that the church has replaced Israel in the future plan of God. Those who hold this view believe that the covenantal promises regarding Israel’s future have now been transferred to the church—it has become the new “spiritual Israel.” This position quickly became the dominant stance of the post-Apostolic church. And as the influence of supersessionism grew, it brought with it a shameful legacy of Christian anti-Semitism that persisted, and some would say culminated, in the terrible events of the 20th century.

Although post-Holocaust theology made efforts to redress this imbalance, recently there has been a resurgence of supersessionism in the evangelical church. This resurgence has been inflamed by the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the support of those who advocate imposing a social justice narrative onto the Scriptures. This type of narrative portrays the Palestinians as helpless underdogs trying to resist the might of their imperialist overlords—Israel! This movement is known as “The New Supersessionism,” and it fuses together traditional supersessionist doctrines with Palestinian nationalism and quasi-Marxist liberation theology.

Now it is very important to realize that as a democracy, an imperfect democracy, criticism of Israel can be important for positive change. A valid, albeit negative criticism of Israeli policy, should not be considered anti-Semitic. In a government consisting of both religious and secular groups, having those on the left and the right, you will not find fiercer debate about Israeli policies than within Israel itself. Thomas Friedman of the New York Times wrote the following: “Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction – out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East – is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest.”¹

Evangelical theology should be able to stand against any form of anti-Semitism, whether it is directed at Jews individually or against Israel collectively.

2. The hardening of Israel is partial and temporary.

… That a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Romans 11:25b).

This next clause is a theologically rich and important statement. Church history will show that Gentile Christendom has often reacted against charges of anti-Jewish bias by pointing out that the Jewish people rejected Christ and are presently unbelievers. Paul here seems to preempt this response by explaining the reason for Israel’s present hardness.

Paul had previously explained the reason for God allowing Israel to stumble (11:1-15) and here reaffirms his interpretation of Israel’s current position as the result of divine hardening. He emphasizes that the current hardening is only “partial,” and there remains a faithful remnant of believers within the nation; Paul himself being one of them. This remnant is evidence of God’s continued faithfulness to Israel, which proves the nation has not been rejected (11:5). However, the real content of the mystery is not just that a believing remnant in the nation would remain, as this concept is found in the Old Testament. Neither is the mystery of the fact that Israel would one day experience a national revival beyond the locus of a small remnant, as this too is clearly taught in the Old Testament. Rather, the novel aspect of this Pauline mystery is that “the inauguration of the eschatological age would involve setting aside the majority of Jews while Gentiles streamed in to enjoy the blessings of salvation and that only when that stream had been exhausted would Israel as a whole experience these blessings.”²

This period of history is set to continue “until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in.” The word “until” in this context indicates a temporal cessation of one situation and the commencement of another. Paul is saying that this present position of hardening will exist until the full number of Gentiles has been reached. The “fullness of the Gentiles” is this present age when God is “taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name” (Acts 15:14). The phrase is closely related to the expression “times of the Gentiles,” which is used in Luke 21:24. The former seems to have a numerical focus whilst the latter is chronologically focused. The termination of the times of the Gentiles would seem to point to when Jesus returns (cf. Acts 15:14-16; Luke 21:24-27), thus indicating that the “fullness” of the Gentiles in a quantitative sense will coincide with the end of the “times of the Gentiles” when Jesus returns.

Paul’s brief sketch of salvation history then includes unbelieving Israel in the present age, and this crucial aspect must be factored into any biblical theology concerning Israel.

Notes:

¹ Friedman, Thomas. “Campus Hypocrisy”. New York Times, October 16, 2002.
² Moo, Douglas. “The Epistle to the Romans”. NICNT. Grand Rapids. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1996. Pg. 717.

A Sure Foundation

“Here I stand; I can do no other, so help me God.” These are the now infamous words uttered by Martin Luther as he faced off with the powers of Rome. With his “conscience captive to the word of God,” he stood firm in the face of a hostile crowd. Upon this act, the war cry of the Reformation was born—Sola Scriptura, “by Scripture alone.”

Similarly, the church today seems to be fighting the battle on many fronts as an increasingly hostile culture encroaches upon our doors. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “will we be able to stand?” Is our foundation strong enough to withstand the onslaught from a secular world? Or have we unwittingly destroyed our own foundations? Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). The Word of God is the only sure foundation that can support us as we seek to combat the challenges brought against the Christian faith in our world. The moment we step off the rock of God’s Word and place a foot on the sinking sands of popular culture, or seek to add the prevailing wisdom of men to the Word of God, we compromise our foundation. Scripture must occupy the supreme position in our thinking. The respected British preacher and author Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones once said, “There can be no doubt whatsoever that all the troubles in the Church today, and most of the troubles in the world, are due to a departure from the authority of the Bible.¹

The Light Shines in the Darkness

For those of us who seek to uphold the authority of Scripture from the very first verse, we need to be aware of a new battle that is emerging with ever-increasing vigor. Not only must we engage with a culture that seeks to openly mock God and His Word—a culture that lauds the things that God opposes—we must also hold to account those from within our own ranks who claim that God’s Word in Genesis needs to be reinterpreted in light of evolutionary dogma. Theistic evolution is on the rise and, rather surprisingly, its advocates seem to set their targets more on biblical creationists than upon the spiritual war waging around us. As paradoxical as this may seem, it is where we stand today! Such an overwhelming multi-directional attack can be disheartening. Yet, at the same time, we need not be alarmed if we stand on the right foundation. The Word of God can shine brighter as the culture gets darker! The Gospel of John says that, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). The prophet Isaiah reminds us that, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:2). There are no greater lights than Jesus and His Word. Why would we seek to stand on any other foundation? God is not looking for the strong or the popular, He is looking for the faithful. This is how the victory is won.

A Light from Scripture

We do not walk this path alone. We have the examples of many great torchbearers who have gone before us. The prophet Daniel was taken captive to Babylon when he was just a teenager. In the midst of that pagan culture, he was taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans. It was an attempt to re-educate him and remove any loyalty he had to the God of Israel. He was subjected to all the wisdom and culture of the Babylonians. This is a strategy that Satan still uses today. He wants us to find our identity, our entertainment and even our religion in the culture where he operates as the “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). How did Daniel withstand such an onslaught? He gives us an enduring spiritual lesson. It says that Daniel “resolved he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank” (Daniel 1:8). He would not break the dietary laws given in the Word of God. He made up his mind beforehand that no matter the cost, he would not compromise the Word of God.

A Light from History

A little-known Reformation hero provides another clear example of how we should act in these times. Lady Jane Grey was Queen of England for nine days before she was overthrown, incarcerated and then executed by Queen Mary, “Bloody Mary.” Before her execution, Queen Mary sent her spiritual advisor, Benedictine monk John Feckenham, to persuade the 16-year-old Jane to leave her Protestant faith and return to Catholicism. In the ensuing dialogue, we are given another spiritual lesson. Feckenham pushed her regarding the sacraments:

Feckenham: “How many sacraments are there?”

Lady Jane: “Two; the one the sacrament of Baptism, and the other the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.”

Feckenham: “No, there are seven.”

Lady Jane: “By what scripture find you that?”²

Lady Jane’s piercing final question should serve as the yard stick by which we size up all the claims and debates we see around us today. “Where is that in the Bible?” “What is your biblical authority for that teaching?” When people imply that God used the evolutionary process in creating mankind, we must ask that very question: Where is that in the Scripture? This will quickly expose the foundation, be it the Word of God or the words of men.

Always Bearing Fruit

In order to stand firm in this culture, we need to make sure we stand on the Word of God. We do this every time we affirm the true history as recorded in Genesis, and by doing this, we also confirm the Gospel which is rooted in that history. From this stance, we can have full confidence that the Gospel is constantly “bearing fruit and increasing” (Colossians 1:6) throughout the whole world.

Notes:

¹ Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. The Christian Soldier: Ephesians 6:14 – The Scripture of Truth, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003. Pg. 210

2 Taylor, J., “How a 16 -year-old Girl Explained the Sacraments to a Catholic Interrogator”. The Gospel Coalition, www.thegospelcoalition.org, September 19, 2012.

I was driving alone in the car, and I was thankful for the solitude. The silence was like an old friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, and I yearned to just visit with for awhile. As I drove up Warner Boulevard, my head was spinning with the way things weren’t working out, and my heart was broken that God hadn’t seen fit to do things the way I wanted Him to. I stopped at a red light and just began speaking (a.k.a. praying) to my best friend, Jesus. “I am mad! I’m mad that you aren’t doing things the way I thought you would. I’m angry that you aren’t changing things and making everything OK and allowing this difficulty to continue! This isn’t the way things are supposed to go!” I have to be honest and say that I didn’t have a kind tone; I wasn’t even really being reverent. I was just being honest.

I want to pause and ask you a question…having read my prayer above, did you say to yourself “Whoa Shannon! Looks like you forgot your place! I can’t believe you would pray like that!” Now let me ask if you have ever felt those raw, honest, angry thoughts deep inside your heart? I know we all have, even King David himself did! In Psalm 22 we see David crying out, “God where on earth are you?! Why aren’t you helping me?!” Of course, that’s the Shannon version, he used an even more desperate term, forsaken, which means to abandon or desert. Did David really believe God had forgotten all about him, abandoned him even? I don’t think he really BELIEVED he was forgotten, as much as he FELT forgotten, but only for a moment.

Have you been there?

The beautiful thing about coming to Jesus with our heavy hearts is the fact that He is eager to lift that burden and remove the blinders from our eyes to cause us to see! Before the anguished words from our lips reach His heart, He is already lavishing us with hope. You can see David’s struggle throughout Psalm 22 to grab onto that hope with everything he has. He jumps back and forth between proclaiming God’s holiness to detailing the ways people persecute him and how strapped of strength he is. Oh, how thankful I am to have the Bible that reminds us that the people who came before us were JUST like us! They wavered in their hope and needed restoration, and doggone it, they just needed to vent sometimes!

As I continued my drive up Warner, speaking honestly and openly, God’s hope began to wash over me. I began to see that though His way may take longer in my eyes, the deep healing, depth of character and hope that is cultivated has no comparison. I am thankful for a God who allows us to come to Him in whatever state we may be in. He can see past our moodiness, through our irreverent tone, deep into the heart that is longing for a reminder that He sees us, understands us; and that His future plan for us, our families and even our teenage children is beautiful. Let me encourage you to go to Jesus honestly today, pour out your heart and wait for the softening that can only come from your loving, Heavenly Father.

“We need to adapt the Christian message to the way things are in society today!” How many of us have heard this statement? With issues like abortion, racism, the LGBTQ agenda, along with the sudden emergence of the trans and pangender movement, it is easy to feel that, as Christians, we need to change things up and adapt the Gospel message in order to relate to and identify with the culture.

But can the Christian go too far in seeking to identify with culture?

Many believers struggle with this today. Yet, it is not a new question; as early as the first century, Christians were already grappling with a flood of ideologies that attempted to adapt the Christian message to the surrounding Greco-Roman culture.

As we have learned, Greco-Roman culture was very influential and pervasive, having been enforced by the Roman Empire and eventually accepted and embraced by virtually every people group around the Mediterranean. One of its most influential elements was Greek philosophy. At the heart of much Greek philosophy is the concept of dualism, the belief that the world is ultimately divided between the two cosmic forces of good and evil¹ ; this is accompanied by the belief that the material world is crude and evil, while the spiritual realm is pure and good. It wasn’t long before this popular and widely accepted belief system reached the young Christian Church.

The identification of Christianity with Greek philosophy presented itself in a variety of packages, but none was as threatening and insidious as Gnosticism.

Although it predated Christianity, when combined with Christian teaching, Gnosticism proved so attractive that at one point in history many who called themselves Christians adhered to some form of Gnosticism as well!²

Gnosticism derived its name from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge.” Gnostics claimed to possess a higher spiritual knowledge and understanding of the universe that had been revealed by Jesus to secret teachers other than the disciples. Like the Greeks, they believed that all matter is evil. Therefore, while they embraced the spiritual aspects of Christianity, they were uncomfortable with the material elements taught in the Bible—particularly the doctrine of Creation and the Incarnation.

The Gnostics concluded that God would certainly not have lowered Himself to create the material world; and by no means would He have made His Son Jesus an actual physical body! No, events like the Creation and Incarnation must have been “aeons” or “emanations” of God made by subordinate heavenly powers, not God Himself! In a word, the Gnostics denied the biblical Creation account and the humanity of Jesus Christ, because these were “uncomfortable” doctrines that were incompatible with prevailing Greek philosophy.

Now, Gnosticism was appealing for several reasons. First, it embraced some key elements of the Christian faith: the concept of salvation, the notion of a supreme deity and the idea of spiritual beings at work in the universe.

Indeed, Gnosticism placed great emphasis on the spiritual realm, which, no doubt, appealed to Christians who desired to “set their minds on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). Thus, there was just enough Christian truth to legitimize it and make it palatable to unsuspecting believers.

Secondly, its identification with Greek philosophy made it very comfortable and familiar to those living in the Greco-Roman world. Although Christians were to be “in the world but not of it,” they still lived in and were exposed to the culture around them just as we are today; it would be extremely difficult not to be in some way influenced by such strong cultural crosscurrents, and particularly, a doctrine that not only seemed to teach Christian truths, but was also culturally familiar and acceptable.

Thirdly, the Gnostics declared they had special revelation or understanding not given to the common man, and so their version of the Christian message belonged to an intellectual elite. Thus Gnosticism was essentially “Christianity for the Philosophers and Intellectuals,” a belief system that appealed to human pride, to those who, as the Apostle John warned, “love to have the preeminence among them” (3 John 9). In a culture that glorified philosophers and intellectuals, this would certainly have been a temptation to many believers. As Bruce Shelley insightfully points out, “[Gnosticism] speaks to all who try to raise Christianity from the level of faith to a higher realm of intelligent knowledge and so increase its attractiveness to important people.”³

Clearly, Gnosticism was a deviation of the Gospel derived from the surrounding culture, altering key biblical truths to appeal to the Greco-Roman worldview. And because it maintained many elements of the Christian message, it gained wide appeal and was difficult to uproot.

However, God is intentional in what He allows us to face as believers; and what the enemy intends for evil, He can ultimately turn to good. Gnosticism was indeed a great threat to Christianity, and yet it became one of the driving forces in the establishment of systematic theology and Christian doctrine. It forced the Church to articulate the truths of God’s Word and to confidently defend these truths. As God raised up men to contend for the faith, the truth prevailed; as with every attack on Christianity throughout history, Gnosticism capitulated in the face of biblical truth proclaimed by the power of the Holy Spirit. As dangerous as Gnosticism was, it eventually faded into obscurity, as did the dualism and Greek philosophy it championed.

The lesson here is this: There will always be cultural movements, social issues and intellectual challenges to biblical Christianity—even from within the Church itself!

Today’s challenges and pressures from the current culture may seem overwhelmingly strong and influential—but so did Gnosticism! Yet, like Gnosticism, these ideologies and philosophies will fade off the scene; this has been the case for over two millennia. Therefore, as Shelley so accurately states, “The attempt to tie the gospel to the latest theories of men is self-defeating. Nothing is as fleeting in history as the latest theories that flourish among the enlightened, and nothing can be more quickly dismissed by later generations.”⁴

Our task as Bible-believing Christians is to do what the Early Church did when faced with Gnosticism; don’t try to cater to the culture—contend for the truth! Social upheaval and cultural currents may come and go; yet as the Apostle Peter declared, the incorruptible seed of the Word of God lives and abides forever (1 Peter 1:23).

¹ Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language

² Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity

³ Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language
⁴ Ibid.

One of the most powerful evidences of a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ is the fruit that is produced in our lives—the practical outworking of the inward reality of what God has done by His Spirit. James 2:18 challenges, “…Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works!” As we have seen, the Early Church took this exhortation seriously, as they showed their faith by their works to the Roman world around them, powerfully influencing society in practical areas such as the preservation and sanctity of life, sexual morality, and even charity and health care. This month, we conclude our look at early Christian influence with one more very practical issue in Roman society: LABOR and WORK ETHIC.

In the Roman world, manual labor was seen as beneath the philosophers and freeborn citizens, and was strictly for slaves and lower class people.

Not surprisingly, Christians stood out like a sore thumb because they believed that all labor held dignity and honor for all people. Jesus Christ was their example, having Himself been a carpenter, as was the Apostle Paul, an academic and tentmaker whose own testimony to the Thessalonian Christians was that he did not “…Eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you” (2 Thessalonians 3:8). He exhorted these believers to follow his example, saying, “…If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

It is fascinating to note that in so many areas in which Christians were simply obeying God’s Word and living Gospel-centered lives, they ended up influencing society on a greater scale than they might have imagined. This was the case with their work ethic. The fact that early Christians of any background and social standing were willing to undertake all forms of labor markedly affected society.

For one thing, these hard-working Christians altered the class system of the Roman Empire.

Whereas in Roman culture, there were, for the most part, two very distinct classes—rich and poor—Christian workers created a third class somewhere in the middle of these extremes—the middle class! This had never existed prior to the birth of Christianity.

Schmidt notes, “The presence of a middle class in Western societies has rightly been credited with greatly reducing the extent of poverty and its concomitant by-product, disease. It has also been a potent variable in fostering and maintaining political and economic freedom.”¹

Another effect of the Christian work ethic and the dignity Christians gave to labor was that it helped in some measure to weaken the system of slavery in the Roman Empire. By encouraging one another as believers to perform even the most menial tasks (those that only slaves would customarily perform) as unto the Lord, Christians effectually undercut the system of slavery.² In fact, by the end of the fifth century, slavery was on the decline.

Now, we might assume that Christians spoke out against slavery as they would today, but interestingly enough, that was not the case; in fact, many Christians owned slaves themselves, as it was a common practice in that day. However, their view of slaves was certainly different than that of the Greeks and Romans, who regarded slaves as dispensable and often treated them harshly. As the Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “A slave is a living tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave. Therefore, there can be no friendship with a slave as a slave.”³

By contrast, Christian masters were taught in Paul’s epistles to treat their slaves humanely and lovingly; the Christian belief in the value of human life and the dignity of labor, no doubt, reinforced this principle. What’s more, if a slave was a fellow believer, he or she was to be treated as a Christian brother or sister with the rights and privileges of all believers; in fact, one of the early bishops of the church in Rome was a former slave!

After all, Paul declared that there is neither slave nor free in Christ, and the Early Church attempted to live out that truth.

C.P.S. Clarke noted, “[The Church] introduced no new system of economics or social order as such; but its doctrine of brotherhood and of love to neighbors, of the equality of all in the sight of God, were bound in time to destroy the whole system of slavery.”⁴ Combined with their strong work ethic, that is exactly what happened! As Christians expressed these biblical doctrines in word and deed, people were drawn into personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which in turn, changed the society around them.

King Solomon wisely observed, “There is nothing new under the sun.” If there is one thing that is demonstrated clearly in the practices and influence of the Early Church, it is that the early Christians encountered many of the same problems and issues that we encounter today; like us, they lived in a culture largely antagonistic to biblical principles and contrary to the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Yet, as we have seen the dynamic influence of these believers on the world around them through the practical outworking of their inward transformation by the Holy Spirit, may it not only encourage but inspire us to “show our faith by our works,” to bring the love of Jesus Christ and the power of the Gospel to the dark and dying world around us in every area of our lives!

¹Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World

²Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity
³Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics 8.11
⁴C.P.S. Clarke, Church History from Nero to Constantine

Enjoy part two of this series on the Early Church! Also, read the first part on “How Christianity Revolutionized the Sanctity of Life“

One of the most profound descriptions of the Early Church was made by non-Christians who said in Acts 17:6 that they were “these who have turned the world upside down.” We opened our first article by introducing specific, practical ways in which the early Christians did in fact begin to turn the Roman world they lived in upside down, starting with their regard for the sanctity of life. This week we will explore further areas of Christian influence.

We begin with the area of SEXUAL MORALITY.

The Romans had become degraded in their sexuality—“promiscuous” is putting it mildly! Theirs was a society completely addicted to sex. Not only were sexual acts often committed publicly, they were also portrayed in artwork and on common household items; the Romans never bothered to shield their children from such things! When adultery for women was outlawed, many upper class women simply registered as public prostitutes in order to continue their promiscuity. Not surprisingly, marriage was a pretense and generally disrespected; in fact, it was rare to find a faithful spouse.

Homosexuality was also quite rampant, but what most people don’t realize is that this occurred primarily in the context of pedophilia. The upper classes, and notably the emperors themselves, were prolific in this area; in fact, Emperor Nero actually “married” two young boys. The Romans even practiced bestiality, having given themselves over in the realm of sexuality. No wonder Paul wrote in Romans 1:24-26, “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.” When you consider these verses in light of Paul’s audience, it certainly gives context and perspective to his words!

This was the world that Christianity was born into—and you can imagine that by living pure and self-controlled lives, honoring marriage by being faithful to their spouses, and serving one another through genuine love instead of satisfying their selfish desires, they stood out like a sore thumb! It is likely that they didn’t have to even say anything against Roman behavior—their lives were a continual protest to the debauchery around them and a shining example of virtue!

Although many Romans naturally looked down on and even despised the chastity of Christians, there were those who admired and respected such self-control and honor for one another. The physician Galen, impressed with Christian sexual behavior, said they were “…So far advanced in self-discipline and…intense desire to attain moral excellence that they are in no way inferior to true philosophers.”¹

Christians also restored the sanctity of marriage; unlike the Romans, Christians treated the wedding ceremony with dignity and respect, taking their vows seriously. In fact, Alvin Schmidt notes, “The dignity and sanctity of marriage that Christianity brought to Roman culture were mostly due to the early Christian women.”² They really took their roles as wives and mothers seriously, such that a pagan named Libanius exclaimed, “What women these Christians have!”³

Not only did Christians highly esteem marriage, they advocated privacy in their sexual relationships in contrast to the wanton public nature of Roman sexuality. In fact, it has been noted by various historians that the concept of privacy in general has strong Christian roots dating back to this time!

As with the areas of infanticide and child abandonment, it was the influence of Christians living upright, pure lives that eventually worked its way up the ladder, so that when Constantine became the first Christian Emperor, he radically changed Roman society’s attitude toward marriage to conform with Christian standards. This naturally trickled down into society’s views concerning homosexuality, pedophilia and bestiality as well. Think of what Western society today would be like if Christ and Christianity had never come on the scene!

The early Christians certainly teach us never to underestimate the power of selfless love and service; the same testimony and example that transformed an empire can transform society today!

Next let’s look at the area of CHARITY & HEALTH CARE.

As you can probably imagine, a culture like Rome that had such a low regard for human life did not exactly excel in terms of compassion for the needy! The Romans practiced something called liberalitas, which was in essence, “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” reciprocal charity. Because of this, Romans viewed voluntary, unreciprocated giving as suspicious and defying common sense—why give to someone without receiving anything in return? It was a very pragmatic, utilitarian, but wholly calloused and self-centered viewpoint!

Granted, many Greek and Roman philosophers encouraged voluntary giving, and there were isolated incidents in which the wealthy would assist those in need in time of crisis, but the mainstream culture generally disregarded such practices.

Naturally, the lack of compassionate giving meant the Romans gave no thought to medical treatment for the ill or dying. They did make provision for people to have their illnesses diagnosed with medicine, but there was no nursing care. The only hospital-like facilities were for sick slaves, gladiators and soldiers. Any health care beyond that—especially for the poor, common folk—was rare if not totally absent. For example, a third century Christian bishop named Dionysius described Roman behavior during a plague in Alexandria as follows: “They thrust aside anyone who began to be sick, and kept aloof even from their dearest friends, and cast the sufferers out upon the public roads half dead, and left them unburied, and treated them with utter contempt when they died”⁴ Plato said that a poor man who was no longer able to work because of illness should be left to die—again, a very pragmatic viewpoint, but utterly devoid of compassion!

Not surprisingly, Christians who followed Jesus’ example of compassion for all in need stood out in stark contrast to Roman society. Contrary to liberalitas, the Christians practiced something called caritas, which meant “giving to relieve the recipient’s economic or physical distress without expecting anything in return.”⁵ It was totally unconditional, voluntary giving, inspired by the love of God and His call to love one another.

Christians continually reached out to practically provide assistance to those in need. This was especially notable during times of plague; when the Romans would flee and abandon the sick and dying, Christians would stay behind to nurse them without any regard for their own well-being or safety. This caused Emperor Julian the Apostate (who had renounced the Christian faith) to bemoan the fact that “The impious Galileans relieve both their own poor and ours.”⁶ The behavior and testimony of Christians in fact led to the salvation of many Romans.

Eventually, it was the practical care and concern of Christians that led to the establishment of the first real hospitals, starting with St. Basil of Caesarea in 369 A.D. Christians were also responsible for establishing the first facilities for elderly care and the first orphanages, a natural response to the New Testament exhortations concerning care for widows and orphans. In fact, Schmidt notes that even the custom of requiring godparents to take care of children if their parents died is a Christian innovation. In a culture that practiced infanticide and child abandonment, this was absolutely revolutionary!

Schmidt sums it up best, “When modern secularists show compassion today upon seeing or hearing of some human tragedy…they show that they have unknowingly internalized Christianity’s concept of compassion…. But had these…not grown up under the two-thousand-year-old umbrella of Christianity’s compassionate influence, they would probably be without much compassion, similar to the ancient Greeks, Romans, and others. As Josiah Stamp has said, ‘Christian ideals have permeated society until non-Christians, who claim to live a decent life without religion, have forgotten the origin of the very content and context of their decency.”⁷

Roman society was indeed depraved, but as we continue to see the powerful influence of the early Christians on a decadent culture, it may inspire us with confidence in what God can do through His people in our own culture today—may it start with us!

¹Cited in Will Durant, Caesar and Christ: A History of Roman Civilization and of Christianity from Their Beginnings to A.D., 325.
²Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World

³Cited in L. Millar, Christian Education in the First Four Centuries

⁴Dionysius, Works of Dionysius, Epistle 12.5
⁵Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World
⁶Julian, Epistles of Julian, 49.
⁷Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World