Surely God will not everlastingly punish sinners?

I know a great many well meaning Christians who wrestle with this all the time. They think: God is merciful and kind and loving. Surely he will find another way to deal with sinners. Many churches struggle fundamentally with this idea of judgment. Diversity is a badge of honor among these folks, who feel strongly that God must echo their viewpoint.

There is only one place to go for reliable information about how God thinks and judges. That is, of course, the Bible. And we must come to it literally, for if we come to it any other way the Bible will begin to change to reflect our image rather than the image of the living and true God. How we mourn the churches that “go off” mission, getting themselves involved deeply in the mire, and forgetting the very purpose of the church: to proclaim the living Christ to a lost world. In their involvement in the quagmire, they forget the love they are supposed to always have for their God, and the love that requires a setting in truth which they are commanded to show to their neighbor.

The problem for churches is not easy. In their efforts to love others, they compromise their Christian values, even while trying so desperately to reach out. They tend to reach so hard that it becomes easy for them to forget who they are. In their choices they are just becoming tolerant, they think, not realizing that they have compromised the very beings God has made them to be. They have neglected their basic calling.

But this piece is written about the idea that God, being merciful, will not cause sinners to be in everlasting torment. It is a pervasive notion among Christians and even many conservative Christians find themselves wondering if God really does give eternal punishment to sinners. So let us look at what the Bible says, literally.

Why look at the Bible? I am amazed at the fact that I feel it necessary to defend the Bible to Christians of all people, but there it is. There are a great many believers today who are not being built up with the correct teaching. They may know God, but they do not seem to know his person at all. In other words, they may recognize Christ as the son of God, dying on the cross for their sins, but they seem to know little else about the God they purport to serve.

It is to the Bible that we must go if we are to understand the God who has revealed himself to mankind. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God, says Paul, and it is with the confines of scripture that we find God defining himself. Literally, God defines himself in the scripture. It might do us well to pay attention.

Psalm 11 gives us clues about what God does with sorting out mankind (NIV):

The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
⁵ The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
⁶ On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

⁷ For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face.

Let’s look at the passage literally. In context, the Psalmest is complaining about the strength of the wicked, that they even seem to be able to destroy the very foundations of society. The quoted passage of the Psalm deals with the evident success of the wicked. All people are subject to judgment, and all are observed by the Lord, who sees the righteous as well as the wicked. The Psalm tells us that the Lord will judge with burning coals and sulfur, but the upright will see his face.

In this very short Psalm, we are given the promise that God sees and God judges. But we are left with many questions. Who, then, are the wicked? Is there no end to their judgment? Will they forever be out of the presence of God? (Implied in verse 7, I think).

Indeed, as the years unwind and the New Testament came to be, we see the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who did not mince words about the judgment of the wicked. Isaiah famously repeats the refrain of the judgment of the wicked, “their worm does not die, nor is their fire quenched.” Mark famously quotes Jesus, who uses this passage from Isaian three times: their worm does not die, not is the fire quenched.

Just a couple more quotes. We are, after all, looking at the literal passages. Psalm 53 has a most interesting passage:

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.² God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.³ Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

There are several passages that Paul the apostle might be referring to and this is one of them. He says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Literal interpretation says that scripture should be first taken as its evident meaning, changed only as we see symbolic language, or language meant to be taken less than literally, such as obvious metaphors.  What is Paul saying? All means all. All have sinned. All have come short of the glory of God. All people need the grace of God.

Fortunately, that grace was given for all. All have sinned. Therefore all are caught in wickedness. All have need for a solution. Fortunately, Christ has given the solution, exactly as needed, for all. Romans five tells us that: ¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Adam led in disobedience, a fault man was never able to correct. But Christ came that many shall be made righteous.

Even nature itself declares God, says Paul, in Romans 1, verse 20: For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. This, a truth from God, is a verse declaring that the world itself manifests the glory of God, so that all people are responsible for seeing the real and true God. There is no excuse.

But what can account for man sinning? If we have fallen, where have we fallen from? God created man in his image, better and higher than all the rest of creation. Man had been created to occupy a noble height and, in his fall, fell periously far into unmeasured depths. This became the divine dilemma. How could God restore man to have fellowship with him again? The answer, of course, lies in the cross. God made provisions so that every man might be restored fully to the level of Adam, before his sin.

Thus, sin becomes a signal, not just of rebellion, but of a relationship broken with the Creator God. To heal that relationship, to restore man, God had to come himself in the form of man and suffer the consequences of our rebellion against him. God because of his love toward men, sent his Son to do that which we could not; he restored man by punishing his own son in man’s place. This act is perfectly stated in John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

What more can the God of the universe do? He gave himself freely to men, to be despised and rejected, hung on a cross, and put to death with our sins. The sacrifice is complete and covers everyone who will simply believe. What more can the God of the universe do?

There remains nothing left to be done, except that which Jesus has left to the church. We are to act as heralds, announcing the good news, in the hopes that some might hear and turn from their error toward the living and true God. For in creating man, God gave them an autonomy to choose to receive his sacrifice, or to reject it. If man was to retain his created autonomy, God could not choose for man; he had to choose for himself.

Even the benign and seemingly almost innocent people of society are rejecting God when they hear the good news, or even when they see his wonderful creation. His imprint is all over his creation, so that man is without excuse. But not just without excuse—in the deepest rebellion against God himself. For in hearing the good news and rejecting it, they spurn the very grace that would redeem them. There is no other sacrifice for sins.

It seems as if Lewis is right. We, as Christians either say thy will be done, or in the end God says to us, thy will be done. God says if you are determined to spurn and hate me, thy will be done. I will allow you to hate me. The consequences are simply awful, the chief one being a separation from the very God who loves you and would have you believe.

So yes, God is perfectly justified in punishing those who refuse his sacrifice. The alternative we see in the world about us. An unmitigated evil, growing like a runaway cancer, obliviating the world around us, and seeking to erase every vestige of goodness left. Such a people in heaven? Could God possibly allow such men in his heaven? Having given himself for mankind there remains nothing left to give, for he took all of his power, and redeemed us in love. But it is our refusal to believe that locks the door on our fate.

Yes, God will allow sinners who refuse him to suffer an everlasting fate. There is nothing else to be done. Literally true.

Background scriptures:

John 3:16
¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans 8:5
⁸ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:15
¹⁵ But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

Matthew 23:15
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

Matthew 12:36
³⁶ But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

John 16:8
When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:

Matthew 18:9
 ⁹ And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

Mark 9:42-48
⁴² And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.⁴³ And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:⁴⁴ Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.⁴⁵ And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:⁴⁶ Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.⁴⁷ And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:⁴⁸ Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Isaiah 66:24
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Grace Plus Nothing Part Four of Four

 The parable of the sower:

Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matthew 13:3-9

 

In our local church, I fear the church regularly over-estimates the possible Christian response. Often I hear that “all Christians ought to make disciples”.  Or worse, I hear that Christians must follow Jesus before they are truly saved. Recently I read one claim that now defined “making disciples” as a fruit of the Spirit. Not to be found in my Bible, but when Christians wax esoteric apparently the impossible becomes possible.

 

It seems to come often when we are over-estimating the good in our fellow Christians—not such a bad thing, I guess. But it is nowhere accurate. As I have tried to show in these brief sections, Christians are a lot more broken than is often measured. I have hoped in the illustrations of just my parents to show that, indeed, grace remains the theme of all salvation.

 

It was the theme in the last hours of my father’s life—that he might be saved by believing. It was true in my mother’s life, though she spent decades without building any discipleship skills. It is true of each and every person that believes. They encounter the pure grace of God.

 

Jesus explains this to Nicodemus in John 3. He says that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up. The serpent, in the midst of a rapidly spreading plague, was lifted up on a pole in the center of Israel’s camp. If they had become infected, there remained one sure cure—they were to look upon the serpent, and in their looking they would be healed. Jesus went on to explain to Nicodemus, that as it was with the serpent, so must the son of man be lifted up, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

 

I do not know how Jesus could have been more plain. There is nothing else to be added to salvation. It is good as James suggests, that others should show us their faith by their works, but there is not any suggestion that this is the basis that God judges us. God only asks that we believe—much else ought to come from that belief. But it is never guaranteed to come—it just ought to. The seed is planted with every hope that it will reproduce many times, but casual observation ought to show that in many cases, it just is not so. As those who looked in faith on the serpent, so we are commanded to look and believe that God sent his only Son that we might have eternal life.

 

I can almost hear some teachers object that that lets people off of the hook. They no longer have to do anything for salvation. Exactly! God in Christ either did everything for us, or else we have no hope. There is no middle ground.

 

I remember when Luther first started to pull away from the Catholics. It was over this very issue. The leaders looked at Luther’s doctrine of salvation and objected that Luther had made salvation free. They argued that they would no longer be able to urge the people to earn their favor with God, now that Luther had taught that grace was free. Exactly! Grace comes without cost to us of any kind. The least suggestion that we must do such and such puts us in the same boat as Luther’s critics: that salvation must have a cost or we will never be able to force people to follow us.

 

I would carry the boat analogy a bit further. Imagine that our lives are that boat, and if it capsizes all is lost, for we are way out in the sea. In our belief, God offers us the bucket of salvation, Jesus, that quickly saves us from capsizing. Now imagine that some of us pull out our thimbles and begin emptying the boat with them. Then we claim that without our help, we would have been lost totally! That analogy, imperfect though it is, is exactly what we do when we bring our “thimbles” before God, pretending that we have helped God in our own salvation. How insulting that must be to God! He gave us Jesus freely to save and rescue us from everything. But we insist our thimbles are essential. How great is our folly!

 

Eternal life is given to us, not by works, but by grace. The mathematical formula for this would be eternal life = belief in Jesus + nothing. To add our thimbles, whatever they may be, is only to show our lack of belief in what God has already and completely done. To those who are still skeptical about this plan of God not working—I would just point out that it has worked very well for two thousand years. Involving sinful man in effecting salvation only ruins what God has done.

 

¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:14,15

 

 Chafer’s Corner: 

God cannot propose to do less in grace for one who is sinful than He would have done had that one been less sinful. Grace is never exercised by Him in making up what may be lacking in the life and character of a sinner. In such a case, much sinfulness would call for much grace, and little sinfulness would call for little grace. The sin question has been set aside forever, and equal exercise of grace is extended to all who believe.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Grace (p. 7). Biblos Project. Kindle Edition.

 

 

Grace Plus Nothing Part Three of Four

Grace Plus Nothing 

Part Three of Four

It was 1949 and I think my mother was about 23 years old. She had married my father in 1947. Her grandmother decided to go to see the new evangelist everyone was talking about. Grandmother invited her granddaughter to go with her, and that is how my ancestors ended up going to the absolutely epic beginning of Billy Graham’s career. The service must have been moving, for my grandmother (of whom I have no memory) and my mother prayed to receive Christ.

Going back to my father and explaining her decision must have been difficult for her. My father was fairly strong in his unbelief, but after talking it over they decided they would raise all their children to “decide for themselves”. Mom made peace with this decision. After all, children seemed to be denied her. Had they not been married for two years? Indeed, it was not until 1952 that the first boy (me) was born.

Looking back in her many notes that she made, mostly later in life, I find that she sort of cheated in their agreement. Outwardly, she did what they had agreed to; inwardly she held all of her four boys up to God in prayer and asked God to save them. All four boys grew up and eventually came to peace with Christ, most becoming fine disciples of Christ.

Dad was pretty comfortable with his unbelief though he had several memories of things he could not explain. He pointed out the obvious hypocrisy of many people that they knew going to church. Mom sort of decided his view was correct and did not go to church at all. But her prayers must have been the deciding factor, for all four boys chose to believe in Christ. Three of them became leaders in the church, even to the point of speaking often. From her notes, this must have provided her with a great deal of comfort in her older years, before a sudden cancer took her.

As I look back on her life, I find many questions. Oh, there is no doubt in my mind that I will see her in heaven, along with a grandmother I have no memory of, and probably many others that I do not see. What a delight that will be! According to what I think, the Bible speaks of seven years that we will spend in heaven together. For Jesus told the apostles right before he left that where I am, there you may be also. Part of that time will be the glorious Marriage Supper of the Lamb, but I expect a great deal will be coming to a realization of just how inter-related we all really are. Certainly, all will be our brothers and sisters by our decision for Christ, but many of us will discover an ancestry that goes back in Christ for generations.

But, as I said, I have many questions, not about the future, of which I have been told, but about the place my mother found herself in after accepting Christ. She was a seed which had germinated. Her faith was important to her, but she had absolutely no discipleship. Yet, at the age of seventy, as she was about to pass away, my wife asked her whether she needed to make anything right with God. Mom replied, “I gave it all to Him a long time ago, and if that is not enough, I am done.”

So, no matter how I twist it, Mother trusted Christ for her salvation. Completely. But never grew in doctrine or discipleship. Had no church habit. But loved and trusted what she knew of Christ. Yet, today I have many non-thinking speakers in church declaring that every Christian must show their decision. They quote James, which talks about showing my faith by my works.

Yet, I might point out that we must all appear before God. James did not suggest that we would demonstrate our faith to God by our works, rather he practically pointed out that Christians tend to reveal themselves by their works; God, who sees the hearts will know those who are his. He will have no need to check over our works. Commendable works Christ has promised to look over at the bema seat of judgment for believers. Condemnable works will be judged harshly by our Father in heaven.

I am driven back to think of the parable of the sower. What if God was really pointing out there are different degrees of seed with types of believers? Some would be his vessels in the way that he wanted and would go on to reproduce many times. Others would germinate, but not ever be successful plants. Could not a great many of us be in this category? Jesus reminded us that blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

As a part of my early ministry, I was called to serve for years with the homeless in a rescue mission. I saw broken people which many of us do not even think about. I saw men and women of a very low intellect, that had hard times and more hard times. Often, they would make a decision for Christ, which I saw signs of conversion afterward, but I discerned that they had a really difficult time in growing. I saw alcoholics and drug addicts that lost their entire families convert to Christ. A few made it back to their families after conversion; most did not.

I ask the question. No, I do not ask the question. Rather, I am driven to contemplate the problem. If Christ did not die for these, who am I to think he died for me? I see only one answer; it is never on the basis of what we have done. It is always on the basis of what Christ has done. There is no cost except the cost of choosing to believe. Jesus told us plainly of this cost when they asked him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus replied, This is the work of God, that you believe in him who he hath sent.

I think we will find a whole host of believers in heaven which we did not anticipate. It is not our job to judge whether someone believes or not. It can only be in the province of God. Ephesians 2: 8 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. Either God is truthful or he is not. As for me and my house, we will trust in him.

On the other side, I do not doubt we will miss some whom we misjudge as brothers or sisters. Do we not discover “Christians” who do not really believe? John tells us that they went out from us because they were really not of us. Who has not worked next to someone who appears to be a brother, only to find them straying away? Who himself has not strayed?

I call it the Great Sortout. It is God alone who shall judge on that day. But I fully expect to see my mother and greet my grandmother when we finally get there, to see Him as He really is.

James 2:18
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Ephesians 2:8&9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

John 6:28, 29
Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Chafer’s Corner

Grace ceases to be grace if God is compelled to withdraw it in the presence of human failure and sin. In fact, grace cannot be exercised where there is the slightest degree of human merit to be recognized.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Grace (p. 7). Biblos Project. Kindle Edition.

Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Grace (p. 7). Biblos Project. Kindle Edition.

 

 

Grace plus Nothing part two

 

Grace Plus Nothing

Part Two of Four

“Mr. Davis, you have a perforated gut. Holes are in your intestines, and things are leaking through. That is why you have been in and out of emergency. We hope to operate and repair your intestine. You will not have a normal life remaining, but will be very limited in what you can do and eat,” said my father’s doctor. With those words, Dad was on a short leash. The operation took seven long hours, but the intestine was too perforated to patch, so eventually they sewed him back up, and sent him back to his room. He was to live another 10 days.

Thirty-five years I had prayed for this man, for God to reach through to his very soul and bring him to Jesus. The strange thing about my prayer is that it was seemingly answered the third time I prayed for him, just a month or so after I had been saved. The year was 1972, and I had gone to my knees a third time for my family, wrestling before a God I had just recently discovered. Oh, what a glorious discovery it was! God had revealed himself to me, an inquiring mind, and simply overwhelmed me with showing me how many times he had already been there in my life. I had turned, a radical change, from being a skeptic to being a wholehearted follower of Christ.

During the early stage of coming to Christ, it has often been my observation that God will frequently answer the new believer’s prayer, almost as if it were a part of his sealing us into the body of Christ. At any rate, it seemed that way to me—I offered prayers and God seemed to delight in answering them. I had discovered a pipeline leading to the Creator of the universe, and I was certain I had his ears when I prayed. So, I prayed earnestly three times for each of the five members of my family. One by one, I seemed to receive assurance that God would take care of each one—until I at last came to Dad. Heaven seemed silent, but I persevered all the more. “God, would you please take care of my dad?” Still, it was quiet, even unto the third time. By this time tears were streaming down my face. “God, please remember my dad.” There seemed only a thundering silence, but all of a sudden, I seemed to receive some assurance. The answer seemed so clearly to be finally, “Yes, I will take care of your dad, but it is going to be really hard.”

For the next years, I watched as all the members of my family, one by one, came to a realization of their need for Christ as savior. I discovered my mother had already chosen for Christ, and my next brother had already received Christ in a church. The other two brothers came to Christ in their own time. I would pray to God, thanking him for his answer. Then, of course, I would turn to God about Dad. Every time I would start to pray for his salvation, but seemingly I was reminded by his Spirit that he had already answered that prayer. I would find myself turning to praise and thanksgiving for an answered prayer that I did not yet see. For thirty-five years, I waited and was thankful for that answer.

We almost lost Dad two or three times. He had trouble with aneurysms and eventually they led to some very dire hospitalizations. Once, they had to transfer him to a bigger hospital because he went in with an aneurysm that the smaller hospital could not handle. The chief physician came to me after the operation with amazement on his face. He explained that the aneurysm was right next to the heart, and the surgical team had actually designed a new surgery to fix it. Mind you, I do not think the doctor was a believer as he gave no sign of faith. But he exclaimed to me, “We just do not understand it. He came by ambulance over two hours away. The aneurysm that burst was right next to his heart. He should have bled out within seconds, yet for some reason the blood did not empty.”

I smiled at the doctor through my tears. “Doctor, he is under my prayers, and his time is not yet. This was an answer to prayer.” I was, of course, thinking of my prayer for salvation for Dad, not just our prayers for him in his emergency condition. But the doctor readily agreed, commenting again that there seemed to be no natural explanation for Dad being alive. I knew that God was not done with answering his prayer.

Fast forward to the end of his life, the beginning of our story. It is 2007 and thirty-five years have passed since I found the audacity to plead for the soul of my father. The operation is not successful, and with all kinds of tubes in his arms and mouth, we waited and watched for his time.

My brother, moved by the Spirit, asked Dad if he wanted to receive Christ. Dad, to our surprise, sat almost bolt upright in bed, nodding his head. There in front of me I watched Dad bow his head and receive Christ. My brother wanted to be sure, so he contacted his beloved pastor who came in, and the next day, did the same thing with dad. I could see the joy and earnestness on his face as he participated in the decision.

I said all of that to make the point in the parable of the sower. I assumed that the only seed to be, was the one that multiplied, thirty and sixty and one-hundred times. In my looking at wanting to be that seed, I ignored the other seeds. Is it not at least possible that the other seeds, which do germinate, are representative of believers?

Dad did no Christian works with his life. He reproduced not one other seed. He was completely bereft of works. Yet, I cannot think there are many, who in reading this story, doubt the grace of God. I, of course, believe in the grace of God, and know that Ephesians 2:8&9 are written that we may know the grace of God.

“For by grace, not by works”, it says. “It is the Gift of God, not of works.” We have absolutely nothing to stand before God, and tell him that we deserve salvation. No one, not one has the credentials with which to present, as it were, a “bill” to God, stating that He owes us. How silly man must appear when he presents himself as the least little bit clean before God! Is he going to put on his filthy rags with the white robe belief in Christ gets him? How utterly silly that picture is! We must come to God, believing that his Son died for us, and there is not one more thing that we can do for our salvation. It is exactly what God does ask of us when he tells us, “this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he hath sent.” Nothing added to it will “garnish” our salvation, and our refusal to believe will completely condemn us before God. “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the Son of God.”

Let’s not hear the nonsense about what you must do to become a Christian. Except for believing, the work is completely done. Grace has been adequately and freely given. Let us not insult God by adding to it. Works are always what a saved Christian ought to do; they have nothing at all to do with his or her getting into heaven. That is, and remains, solely the work of God.

 

Ephesians 2: 8&9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

John 6:29
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

John 3:18
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

 

Chafer’s Corner:

Grace means pure unrecompensed kindness and favor. What is done in grace is done graciously. From this exact meaning there can be no departure; otherwise grace ceases to be grace.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Grace (pp. 6-7). Biblos Project. Kindle Edition.

 

 

Grace plus Nothing Part One of Four

Part One of four

One of the major hurts in my older Christian life is my discernment in a movement on the part of Christian churches away from grace. It seems to me that we should be able to get basic doctrine under our belt, and then proceed forward, but such action does not seem to be the action of the Christian church. I find history replete with Christians not meeting the expected and desired behavior. All too often, the church just seems to miss it entirely. Our failures, listed here, would likely fill endless pages.

Church leaders used to teach that the church would progress in adopting Christian values until the church itself progressed to a point where the Christ would find earth once more to his liking and would return. I shake my head at our folly. Christ’s return is predicted, but first he will judge men in their absolute wickedness, and then he will reign in Jerusalem with Israel and forever will his saints be with him. “So shall we ever be with the Lord.” There is absolutely no way that the Church will ever perfect herself; the best she can hope for is that individuals, living and walking by the Spirit, will do the will of God. But I digress for this short piece is to be on grace, not on living in the Spirit.

Watching The Chosen last night on the TV was a delight. There was one scene I think fitting for our discussion. James and John finally ask their question about them sitting on the left hand and the right hand of God. Jesus shows his abruptness with their question and, in the TV is seen shaking his head and almost muttering about their lack of understanding. He had taught them for over three years, and they still thought of having power and distinction over others. He was frustrated because even his best disciples did not get it. So I think Jesus might often have to deal with our lack of understanding. Often, we are as children, needing the basics gone over time after time.

Ephesians 2: 8&9 says it all. It amazes me that there seems to be a discernable movement on the church away from this great topic. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Every word of those famous verses is inspired, and ought to be most carefully analyzed.

“For by grace you have been saved” is the first phrase to look at. Grace has been defined as unmerited favor and it is by unmerited and undeserved favor that we are saved. “And that not of yourselves” is the next phrase to remind us that we have absolutely nothing to do with the saving act of God. It is as far from us as the East is from the West. It remains in the province of God and has nothing whatsoever to do with us. “It is a gift of God” is the next phrase, insisting that we not think that grace has anything at all to do with us, “Not of works”. Paul knows his audience well, and repeats essentially that it is not of ourselves, and not of works in any sense. As men, some who are wonderful works of self-discipline, must learn that before God we are all totally wanting, humbled and in desperate need of rescue.

I suspect the challenges towards grace inevitably come from the type of man that thinks he is okay in most areas. He recognizes that he sins, but he would add the words, “occasionally”, and thinks that he must surely please God most of the time with his life. Contrast the man who looks in the mirror, and knows his desperateness, sees his own wicked heart, and owns his mistakes. That sort of man knows fully well the grace of God, and what it has done for him. I am not sure of that at all with the first man, who thinks that surely God will see that some of his life is not that bad. He has forgotten the scripture that says that everyone goes astray. Everyone turns to his own wicked way. 

(Romans 3:11,12  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.)¹² They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Everyone. No exceptions. Therefore grace has to be completely everything for salvation with nothing added. It is the partially righteous man who fails to see his need; the wicked man knows his desperate need. And that is where I think we miss the mark. The partially righteous man can be a noble example of living, yet his righteousness is still as filthy rags in the sight of God.

For in the same passage, does it not say, “the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all”? What does that mean except that there are no pathways to God except through grace.  Were it not for the perfect sacrifice of Christ, all of us were doomed.

What I would like to do is to write two anecdotal stories drawn from my own experience to try to turn your attention to his wonderful (and complete) grace. I realize the dangers of personal experiences and anecdotes; they are not scripture. But in these two anecdotes, I think, is great truth, that might renew your thinking in the wonderful grace of God.

But first, I think a fresh look at the parable of the sower is in order. It appears in the gospels, and we will use its first appearance, in Matthew 13: 3-9,

“Consider the sower who went out to sow. ⁴ As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered. ⁷ Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them. ⁸ Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop: some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown. ⁹ Anyone who has ears should listen!”

Note that the sower in the parable has only four seeds. One is snatched up by birds, and has no possibility of germination, but all of the other three do germinate. The usual way of looking at this parable may not fully develop its plain meaning. I looked for years at this parable, immediately thinking that I would like to be the last seed. I wanted to become a seed which germinates and produces 30 or 60 times what is sown.

But if we reflect a little bit on the parable, another meaning begins to emerge. We commonly think only one seed germinates, but that is not true. Three seeds germinate. Could the parable be telling us that there are three believers here, and not just one? If so, and I think it likely, there are two outcomes for those who believe that are not good. With that simple thought in mind, let’s go to the next section.

*      *      *

 

Over one hundred years ago, a Christian named Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote a whole book about the subject of grace. His book remains one of the highlights of my life. He presents grace as God meant it to be given, without recompense or future cost. In his day, too, the church was often struggling with basic doctrine, and Chafer sought to close the door forever on the idea of our works gaining merit before God. I surely shall quote extensively from this favorite book of mine, and particularly shall try to close each section with one of his thoughts.

 Chafer's Corner

…the supreme feature of the Christian faith is that supernatural, saving, transforming work of God, which is made possible through the infinite sacrifice of Christ and which, in sovereign grace, is freely bestowed on all who believe.
Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Grace (p. 2). Biblos Project. Kindle Edition.

 

The commands about Jesus’ return.

 I have done an interesting study about the commands the Bible gives concerning the return of Jesus. Over the years, I have befriended many a Christian who does not know what to do with the return of Christ and seems not to want to pay much attention to his return. The Bible, however, paints quite a different picture about what our attitude should be. I do notice the repetition. We are told to watch and be ready a multitude of times. We are to be diligent and careful. We are even to hold fast and overcome.

These are all commands, not an option for the spiritual Christian. We are, in every generation, supposed to be looking for the return of the King of Kings.

In the end, I copied all the verses out, for those who want to verify the Scripture.

 

The commands for us about his return:

1.      Be patient and careful with your life. (James 5:8)

2.      Be sober and hope to the end. (1 Peter 1:13)

3.        Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. (2 Peter 1:10, 11)

4.      Be diligent to be blameless. (2 Peter 3:11-14)

5.      Be careful to follow his commands. (Revelation 22:12-14)

6.        Repent (Matthew 4:17)

7.        Work for your reward (Matthew 16:27)

8.      Watch and be ready for his coming. (Matthew 24:42-44)

9.        Be doing your duty. (Matthew 24:45-46)

10.   Watch. (Matthew 25:13)

11.   Be good and be faithful. (Matthew 25:20-23)

12.   Do not hide your talent. (Matthew 25:25)

13.   Treat others as Jesus that you may inherit. (Matthew 25:34-41)

14.   Be not ashamed. (Mark 8:38)

15.   Watch and pray. (Mark 13: 33-37)

16.   Watch and be ready. (Luke 12:36-38)

17.   Be ready. (Luke 12:42)

18.   Be diligent with what you have been given. (Luke 19:15-24)

19.   Watch for your redemption is near. (Luke 21:27,28)

20.   Read and hear for the time is at hand. (Revelation 1:3)

21.   Repent. (Revelation 2:16)

22.   Keep my works to the end. (Revelation 2:26)

23.   Hold fast, repent, and watch. (Revelation 3:3)

24.   Hold fast. (Revelation 3:11)

25.   Overcome. (Revelation 3:12)

26.   Overcome. (Revelation 3:21)

I note that there are lots of repetitions. It was not my design to consolidate the repetitions, but rather let them speak for themselves. Watch is the most common theme, followed by be diligent or be careful. It is interesting to note that there is even one command to read. Of course, that command is to read Revelation, the very book concerned much with his coming back.  We are to repent, to overcome, and to hold fast. It does appear that every Christian should be concerned and watching for his return. Are you watching today?

Here is the list of commands again, with the Bible verses copied so you might see the actual commands.

 

1.      James 5:8
⁸ Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Be patient and careful with your life.

2.      1 Peter 1:13
¹³ Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Be sober and hope to the end.

3.      2 Peter 1: 10,11
¹⁰ Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:¹¹ For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.

4.      2 Peter 3:11-14
¹¹ Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,¹² Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?¹³ Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.¹⁴ Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Be diligent to be blameless.

5.      Revelation 22:12-14
¹² And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.¹³ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.¹⁴ Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Be careful to follow his commands.

6.      Matthew 4: 17
¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Repent

7.      Matthew 16:27
²⁷ For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

 

Work for your reward.

 

8.      Matthew 24:42-44
⁴² Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.⁴³ But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.⁴⁴ Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 

Watch and be ready for his coming.

9.      Matthew 24:45,46
⁴⁵ Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

 Be doing your duty.

10.   Matthew 25:13
¹³ Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Watch.

11.   Matthew 25:20- 23
²⁰ And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.²¹ His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.²² He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.²³ His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Be good and faithful.

12.   Matthew 25:25
²⁵ And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

Do not hide thy talent.

13.   Matthew 25:34,40,41, 45
³⁴ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ⁴⁰ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. ⁴¹ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: ⁴⁵ Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Treat others as Jesus that you may inherit.

14.   Mark 8:38
³⁸ Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Be not ashamed.

15.   Mark 13: 33-37
³³ Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.³⁴ For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.³⁵ Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:³⁶ Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.³⁷ And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Watch and pray.

16.   Luke 12:36-38
³⁶ And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.³⁷ Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.³⁸ And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.

Watch and be ready.

17.   Luke 12:40
⁴⁰ Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Be ready.

18.   Luke 19:15-24
¹⁵ And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.¹⁶ Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.¹⁷ And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.¹⁸ And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.¹⁹ And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.²⁰ And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:²¹ For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.²² And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:²³ Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?²⁴ And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.

Be diligent with what you have been given.

19.   Luke 21:27,28
²⁷ And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.²⁸ And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Watch for your redemption is near.

20.   Revelation 1:3
³ Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Read and hear for the time is at hand

21.   Revelation 2:16
¹⁶ Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Repent

22.   Revelation 2:26
²⁶ And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Keep my works to the end

23.   Revelation 3:3
³ Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Hold fast, repent, and watch

24.   Revelation 3:11
¹¹ Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Hold fast.

25.   Revelation 3:12
¹² Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
He that overcomes will be a pillar in the temple, and he will write upon him the name of God, the name of his city, and a new name

26.   Revelation 3:21
²¹ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
He that overcometh will sit with him in the throne