Guest blogger: The prime directive of all scripture is obedience
I’ve invited people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at alan[at]alanknox[dot]net.)
Today’s post was written by Greg. Greg originally wrote this as a comment on my post “For the obedience of faith (Part 2).” I asked Greg if I could post it here, and he gave me permission. I’ve modified the formatting slightly, but haven’t changed Greg’s original content.
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Since I was saved 40 yrs ago, and probably because of the challenging circumstances that led to my conversion, I’ve been acutely aware of the fact that the NT scriptures were written to a very different kind of people than we all are today. I personally think our relativism and educations have dulled our consciences to the gentle dove of the voice of God. This has caused me to try to think objectively and dig into the historicity of the early church et al, so that I could avoid the perils of subjectively interpreting scripture that the modern church is captive to and has been eviscerated by.
The prime directive of all scripture is obedience, which produces, and without which there can be no faith. Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered, and we must follow Him there. Scripture also declares that faith works by love. Selah.
But we have, by systematic disobedience to the first commandment of Jesus, to love one another as He loves us, corporately changed the meaning of faith from trust and obedience to belief and statements. We now largely listen to our own rhetoric, trying to make scripture fit our experiences and worldviews, which are many, and are at variance with each others.
When I was saved at 17, from a life of crime, addiction and vile sinfulness, I went to many churches, looking for some resonance with my own new found faith, which I was being transformed daily by thru the blood, sweat and tears of obedience to God. I was too addled in my mind at the time to read the bible, and asked the Holy Spirit to lead and guide me, trusting that since He had written the scriptures, He could very well repeat them to me. He did.
Being young and tender hearted as a new convert, I found very little resonance among a dozen or so churches of all stripes, for my desire to find new avenues of loving and trusting God. In retrospect, I probably scared them. In the grand scheme of things, I just couldnt go to church, I told the Lord so and I guess He understood and led me immediately to meet a small group of youth who were very similar to me, and that was the start of a long and wonderful journey. The fundamental foundation though of our fellowship was that trusting God resulted in radical obedience, and deep love for one another.
As the decades have passed, my family and I have witnessed many, many churches and families who might have hurdled their various obstacles, some self inflicted and many sent by satan, but because of their loosey goosey subjectivity to traditions, and their less than radical obedience to the known Word of God, they failed.
Faith, true faith, changes me and us into the likeness of Jesus, as He was in the flesh. Its not often today that observers of our walk with God remark, like they did with the disciples, that we have a remarkable likeness to Jesus. If we truly want to please Father, we will call one another back to radical obedience, which is to trust Him that when He commands us to love one another as He loves us, He will unite our hearts in love, and we will begin to change us corporately into His image.
Our abandonment of the corporate-ness of Christ has left us no other course than to pursue Him individually, and if we are lucky, with a few other faithful ones who wont stab us in the back. Our divisions will not only disappear but they will be seen as poison to the love and unity that we will achieve as a result of radical obedience to the known will and Word of God. This may sound like semantics to some. So be it.
The evidence that someone truly wants what God does, is when he or she gives up anything and if needed, everything to obtain it. This was the message of John the Baptist, before Jesus came the first time. He’s coming again, for His church this time, and at some point we all need to get up off our corporate duffs, trim our lamps and prepare to enter the bridal chamber. He that has an ear to hear, let him understand.
Until our gospel is rooted in our own conversion to true trust and obedience, evidenced by His love binding us all together in everyday ways, against all odds, we will need to explain and discuss these fundamental scriptures you have written about. But we should know this, that the early church, to whom they were written, were very familiar with trust and obedience of the faith, as the foundation of their relationship with God and one another.Paul commended several for clearly demonstrating the acts of trust and obedience.
I notice that very few comment on topics such as these, and I suspect its because intuitively, we all know our faith is not up to the measure of the stature of Christ. That’s what we should be challenging one another on, without fear, judgement or reminders of past sins.
For the obedience of faith (Part 2)
In yesterday’s post, “For the obedience of faith,” I pointed to that interesting phrase that is only found in 2 place in Scripture. Both occurrences of the phrase are found in Paul’s letter to the Romans – once at the very beginning and once at the very end: Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26. (Think kind of “bracketing” or “iclusio” is very important in literary analysis, and could indicate a theme for the entire letter.)
But, what does the phrase “for the obedience of faith” mean?
Well, let’s start with the word “faith.” Often, this phrase is translated as “for the obedience of THE faith” while “the faith” stands in the place of a set of religious beliefs and practices. The word “faith” is often used in this way today. People talk about the Christian faith, or the Muslim faith, or the Jewish faith.
It seems that this use of the term “faith” would work well with the term obedience: i.e., “for the obedience of Christian beliefs and practices.”
The problem is, in the book of Romans, the many (almost 40) uses of the term “faith” all seem to point to a different meaning: “trust” (primarily, trust in God). Here are a few examples:
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. (Romans 1:8 ESV)
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. (Romans 3:21-22 ESV)
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness… (Romans 4:4-5 ESV)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2 ESV)
What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. (Romans 9:30-32 ESV)
But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23 ESV)
In the same way, if you were to study Paul’s use of “obedience/disobedience” and “obey/disobey” in the letter of Romans, you’ll find that word group is also extremely important in the letter. I’m not going to list many occurrences of “obedience,” but remember there is a very important section of the letter related specifically to obedience and disobedience:
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16 ESV)
So, it seems that with the phrase “for the obedience of faith,” Paul is talking about living a life of obedience to God that is based on trusting God. While he’s certainly talking about obeying God in many different ways, the first act of obedience is trust (faith). In fact, all other thoughts and actions of obeying God flow from our trust in (faith in) God.
Thus, referring back to Romans 1:5, Paul recognized that he had been given grace and had been sent “for the obedience of faith,” which refers to 1) his trusting (faith) in God which resulted in his obediently going from place to place to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ so that 2) others can respond obediently to God by trusting (faith in) him as well.
For the obedience of faith…
Over the last couple of days, I’ve shared posts related to some of our discussion with the church last Sunday when we studied Romans 1:1-17 together. (See my posts “Amazed at living in the last days” and “That I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you.”)
There was another phrase in that first part of Romans 1 that resulted in a great and encouraging discussion. It was the phrase “the obedience of faith.”
Here is the phrase in the context of Romans 1:
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1-6 ESV)
Isn’t that an interesting phrase: “the obedience of faith.” We don’t often think about obedience in relation to faith like that.
Later, I searched for that phrase and found that it only occurs one other time Scripture… also in the letter to the Romans… and at the very end of the letter. Here is the only other occurrence of the phrase “the obedience of faith” in Scripture:
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith — to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. (Romans 16:25-27 ESV)
The fact that the phrase “the obedience of faith” occurs at the very beginning and very end of this letter (and nowhere else) could be very significant and could indicate a theme for this letter (a literary device called inclusio).
Now, you may have noticed that in both instances the phrase is included with a prepositional phrase that was translated as “to bring about the obedience of faith.” Without getting to technical, the phrase “to bring about” comes from a preposition that often translated “to” or “for.” In this case, I think it would have been better if the translators had left it as “for the obedience of faith,” instead of “to bring about the obedience of faith.”
Here are some other ways the phrase is translated:
… for obedience to the faith… (KJV and NKJV)
… to the obedience that comes from faith… (NIV)
… to bring about the obedience of faith… (NASB, with a note “for obedience of faith”)
Similarly, the HCSB offers a few different possibilities: to bring about (“to” or “for”) the obedience of faith (“the obedience that is faith,” “the faithful obedience,” or “the obedience that comes from faith”).
But, regardless of how we translate the preposition (and it is an important question), the phrase “obedience of faith” remains to be considered. You can see some of the questions raised by looking at the options given by the HCSB translators.
What do you think Paul meant by the phrase “the obedience of faith”?
Amazed at living in the last days
Before you start reading this post, I need to clarify something. When I use the phrase “the last days” in this post, I’m not using it in the manner that it’s often used by those who love to study and discuss eschatology – that is, that time just before the world comes to an end.
Instead, when I use the phrase “the last days” in this post, I’m using it in the manner that Peter used it in Acts 2, when he quoted the prophet Joel: “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams…” (Acts 2:17 ESV; Joel 2:28)
This reference to “last days” is often found in the Old Testament (such as that passage in Joel). This was a time that the people of the Old Testament longed for. They looked forward to the time when God would be with his people (“Immanuel”), when God would give them a new heart, and when they would live under a new covenant.
Here’s the thing… if Peter is correct (and I think he is), then he saw himself and those of his generation as living in “the last days,” and I would say that we still live in “the last days.”
The difference is, for the authors of the New Testament, there was an excitement – an amazement – a wonder – at living in “the last days.” I already mentioned what Peter said about “the last days” on the day of Pentecost. Now, consider these passages also:
When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:4-6 ESV)
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12 ESV)
Paul and Peter both recognize that they were living in an exciting time – a time that others wondered about and look forward to. It was in their time (and our time) when God was demonstrating his grace to all peoples – even the Gentiles. Now, they (and we) know how God is with his people.
I started thinking about this recently when we were studying Romans 1 together with the church. There, in the opening address, Paul refers to this same idea of living in “the last days”:
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord… (Romans 1:1-4 ESV)
Paul recognized that he and his readers were living out the promises that God had made generations before. And, he was amazed at this fact.
May we never lose the wonder and amazement at living during a time when God is with his people, indwelling us by his Holy Spirit.
Just smiling and cheering for his dad
For the last few days, I’ve been fighting a cold. So, Sunday morning, when we gathered together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, I tried not to get too close to most people – which was very difficult to do. But, Margaret told me to especially stay away from the babies – which is even harder to do.
I decided to sit across the room from my little friend Will, who just turned 7 months old. He was sitting on a blanket on the floor near his mother and father and some of their family and friends who were spending the weekend with them.
Will’s dad had brought his guitar, and was playing while we sang a few songs. A couple of the songs were about praising God.
Will sat on his blanket staring intently at his dad. Occasionally, Will would break out into a huge grin (ear to ear) and wave his arms around and sway back and forth. Then, he would stare at his dad again. He repeated this several times.
So, while we were singing songs about praising God (among other things), Will was watching his dad, smiling, and waving his arms.
And, of course, it hit me… that’s a picture of praise.
When we keep our eyes on God (our Father), and we cheer and celebrate when we see him doing something wonderful (even – or especially – when we don’t understand it)… that’s praise.
Of course, we also praise God when we submit ourselves to him and live in a manner that honors him. We also praise God with our words and songs.
But, perhaps the start of praise is always being awed and amazed at what God has done (both in the far and near past), what he is doing (close by and far away), and what he will continue to do (both in the near and far future).
I love it when God teaches me through “living parables” like this. To me, a “living parable” is an episode of life (usually simple and common and easily recognizable) in which God teaches a big spiritual lesson.
How about you? Has God ever taught you something through some kind of “living parable”? Care to share it with us?
I thank God for these Very Important People among the church
There are people among the church who travel around the world, following the leading of the Holy Spirit, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, and serving others in God’s name. They work tirelessly for the kingdom of God, pouring themselves out like an offering, trusting God alone for their strength and for the outcome of any of their service. I thank God for these brothers and sisters in Christ. They are important and necessary for the body of Christ to build itself up in love.
There are people among the church who never travel more than a few miles from their home. They follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, and serve others in God’s name. They work tirelessly for the kingdom of God, pouring themselves out like an offering, trusting God alone for their strength and for the outcome of any of their service. I thank God for these brothers and sisters in Christ. They are important and necessary for the body of Christ to build itself up in love.
There are people among the church who can speak or write eloquently, putting together a logical argument that can encourage others toward faith and unity and maturity in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit uses their words to teach and admonish and correct and exhort their brothers and sisters in Christ in a way that honors God and builds up their hearers or readers. I thank God for these brothers and sisters in Christ. They are important and necessary for the body of Christ to build itself up in love.
There are people among the church who cannot speak or write eloquently, but they live in a manner that encourages others toward faith and unity and maturity in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit uses their actions to teach and admonish and correct and exhort their brothers and sisters in Christ in a way that honors God and builds up those who observe their example. I thank God for these brothers and sisters in Christ. They are important and necessary for the body of Christ to build itself up in love.
There are people among the church who have been given a large amount of money and other resources. They allow the Holy Spirit complete use of their enormous finances to provide for the needs of others – to help the homeless and hungry and prisoners and sick in Jesus’ name. They often give in God’s name even when the have to go without themselves. I thank God for these brothers and sisters in Christ. They are important and necessary for the body of Christ to build itself up in love.
There are people among the church who have very little money or other resources. They allow the Holy Spirit complete use of their meager finances to provide for the needs of others – to help the homeless and hungry and prisoners and sick in Jesus’ name. They often give in God’s name even when the have to go without themselves. I thank God for these brothers and sisters in Christ. They are important and necessary for the body of Christ to build itself up in love.
Perhaps you see yourself in one of the descriptions above. I thank God for you. You are important and necessary for the growth of the body. Without you and what God can do through you, the body of Christ would not be able to grow in love and faith and maturity as God desires.
Perhaps you do not see yourself in one of the descriptions above. I thank God for you. You are important and necessary for the growth of the body. Without you and what God can do through you, the body of Christ would not be able to grow in love and faith and maturity as God desires.
You are important to God. You are important to the church of Jesus Christ. And, you are important to me.
How has your understanding of the church changed?
A few years ago, I wrote a post called “I used to believe… Now I believe.” In that post, I explained several ways that my understanding of the church has changed over the last few years.
Last week, Joe at “More than Cake” wrote a response called “I used to believe, but now…” In his post, Joe shared some of his own experiences with the church by comparing and contrasting with some of mine. Also, he explained how some of his understanding of the church has changed as well.
Here are some of my favorite explanations from Joe’s post:
I have never been one to make an idol of leaders. But at one point in my life I did see leadership as something reserved for a certain few. Now I see leadership as a mark of maturity in every believer. I also agree with Alan that serving is the ultimate kind of leadership. Finally, I have moved away from the “Senior Pastor” model of leadership. Now, within the diversity of Christian-leadership, I see a place for the kind of leadership that gathers together the saints under the guidance of Elders…
I don’t regret any of the discipleship classes I took, but I am glad there is so much more to the Christian faith beyond the classroom. I agree with Alan, classes can be good, but the way we structure our training should more about developing relationship and accountability and intimacy. I have put these principles into practice while writing my own Bible-study materials and I would love to see this kind of approach from more publishers…
There were several periods in my life, in total about 12 years, where I got NOTHING from the sermons I was hearing. I used to feel guilty, but then I realized that the Sunday sermon was not about me or for me. The sermon is for the church and there are some people who need to hear the sermon. When I listen to a sermon, I look for ways to build on what the speaker is teaching and pray the Spirit will help me find discipleship opportunities…
What about you? When you look back over your own experiences with your brothers and sisters in Christ, how has your understanding of the church changed? What triggered that change of understanding? Have you put that new understanding in practice?
Our Sunday morning church worship service
Yes, I know. If you’re a regular reader here, you don’t expect me to write the words “Sunday morning church worship service.” But, that’s what happened yesterday morning. Let me explain…
Last week, as I recounted in my post “Yes, the church really is the people,” we changed meeting locations for our regular weekly church gathering on Sunday, February 3. Instead of meeting in the normal place for our weekly gathering, we got together at the home of a friend who is still recovering from back surgery. Since she was not able to meet with us at our normal meeting place, we all came to her home.
(Of course, during the week we also get together at many different times and places: homes, restaurants, coffee shops, parks, even running tracks.)
A few weeks ago, some of our friends moved to another state. They’re currently trying to get their house ready to sell long distance – with some help of course.
So, at the end of last week, another round of emails went out: Would we all be interested in getting together at our friends’ house Sunday morning to paint? With only a day or two notice, we all jumped at the opportunity to meet together as the church in a real act of service – not just calling our meeting a “service,” but actually serving others.
Teenagers and adults grabbed rollers and brushes, cleaning supplies, drop cloths, and we all went to work. Around noon, one of our brothers ran out for some more supplies, and also picked up some food for everyone. We were not able to finish painting the whole house, but we did get a big chunk of the work done.
By the way, while we were painting and cleaning, we also talked and shared, sang some songs, and even shared prayer requests.
Gathering together as brothers and sisters in Christ in order to serve someone else… this is a real church worship service!
Replay (for Black History Month): I am not black
Five years ago, during Black History Month (February), I wrote a post that revealed something very personal about myself: “I am not black.” I know what you’re thinking: “Alan isn’t usually that personal on his blog…” Well, this time, I had to get very personal and tell my readers the truth. I’m a caucasian. I’m also male and a citizen of the United States. I know… that surprises you. But, it’s true.
Now that that’s out of the way… I hope you enjoy this post anyway.
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I am not black
Since February is Black History Month, I thought I would take this opportunity to make a confession: I am not black. I realize that this comes as no surprise to those of you who know me, or to those of you who can see my picture at the top of this page. However, for the remainder of my readers, I thought that I should make this point clear. I am not black.
I have a very good friend who is black (I miss you, by the way). I learn alot about what it means to be a black man in the United States by listening to him. I do not become black by listening to him, but I do gain a different perspective than I would have otherwise. And, as I have learned more about what it means to be a black man in the United States, I have also learned more about how to love and serve people who are different from me.
In the spirit of the post, I will continue the confessions: I am not a woman. God did not make me a woman. I have never been a woman. However, my wife is a woman. She has taught me alot about what it means to be a woman. Sometimes, I listen to her and I learn. I learn about the struggles of being a woman and about the difficulties of being a mother. I also learn about many of the joys. Even though I’ve learned from her, this does not make me a woman, but it does help give me a different perspective and, hopefully, to understand women a little more.
Also, I was not born in another country. Even though some people suggest that Alabama is another country, it is not – I checked. However, I have some good friends who were not born in the United States. They struggle with many things because they are in a foreign country. They face many difficulties. I’ve learned about some of these struggles and difficulties by listening to them. This does not make me a foreigner, but it does help me understand their perspective, and it helps me to know how to love and serve others who are not from this country.
By the way, I’ve never been a foster child or an orphan. Never. I was raised in a loving home with my birth mother and my birth father and a younger brother who was my full sibling. I knew that my parents cared about me, and I think my brother liked me most of the time. I do not know what its like to be an orphan or a foster child. But, I have recently met a man who was raised in several foster families. I’ve already started listening to him, and I think he has much to teach me. I’m looking forward to hearing his perspective and learning more about God and life and love from him.
I am not black. I am not a woman. I am not a foreigner. I am not a foster child. But, God has shown me that I can learn from a black man, a woman, my foreign friends, and even a person who grew up in foster families. I can learn about God. I can learn about people. I can learn about life. I can learn about love and acceptance and redemption and hope. I can learn what it means to live together in community in the Spirit with those who are different from me. And, I can learn that I need to hear and grow from their perspectives, just as they can learn and grow from mine.
Do you know what God is doing in your life right now?
Several years ago, a friend of mine (Mael) started asking his friends this simple question: “What has God been doing in your life lately?”
Perhaps because we spent so much time with Mael and his wife Cindy over about 6 years… perhaps because they showed that they really did care about people… perhaps because they so easily shared what God was doing in their lives… perhaps because the question focused on the present activity of God and not only on the past activity of God… perhaps because of Mael’s accent… for whatever reason, that question stuck with me.
I still think about it from time to time, and I still like to ask others what God is doing in their lives. In fact, I still enjoy looking into my own life and asking myself what God is doing in my life.
So, a few years ago, I started asking this question on my blog. Every year or so, I publish a post like this asking my readers this question: “What has God been doing in your life lately?”
I think it’s very encouraging for us to share our lives with one another – even online. And, it’s always encouraging to hear about what God is doing in and through his children around the world.
So, would you share part of your life with us? What has God been doing in your life lately?