Why Are We Together?

Posted on 04/06/2008 by Paul Pavao

I’ve been surprised to find out how much we don’t understand the answer to this question.

We are together because the church is the light of the world.

That’s an overly simplified statement, of course, and there’s a lot of similar statements we could make that would be true. But let me explain what this statement means.

We sing “this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” However, God doesn’t want to shine a little light. He wants to shine a great light, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. In Matthew, we are told to let our good works be seen so that our Father can be glorified. The context of that command is the city set on a hill. It’s our good works–ours together, not yours individually–that causes the world to glorify God.

This is because what God wants to show the world is the unity and love of his people. John 13 tells us that the world will know we are Christ’s disciples is because we love one another, not because we love the people of the world. Yes, we are to do good and be charitable even to those of the world. We are to be like our Father, who causes the sun to shine on the unjust as well as the just. However, the proof to the world that we are disciples is by our ability to get along with one another, something that American Christians, for the most part, are proving they cannot do.

Not only does our love for one another prove we are Christ’s disciples, but it also proves that Christ is sent by God. Jesus says several times in his prayer in John 17 that our unity will cause the world to know that the Father sent him.

It is for this reason that the apostle Paul teaches us not only that we should do good, but that we should do good especially to those who are of the household of faith. That seems a strange verse to those who are trying to shine their own little light by doing good works to the world. However, to those who know that the testimony of God is the love for one another that he has put inside his disciples, it is apparent that good works should be done first to one another. We are indeed the household of faith, the family of God, and family takes care of one another.

It is a great miracle for human beings to get along without dividing. Division, factions, and schisms are works of the flesh, and it is typical of our flesh to divide. However, the salvation of God comes with the love of God being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Love is the perfecting bond of unity, and so a spiritual people is a united people.

There is a practical application to all of this. Division in the church is a big deal. Thus, we are not free to simply “go to the church of our choice.” We cannot look at our brother, find some small thing we disagree with, and then move on to find someone who agrees with us.

What indeed are we to do? The promise of God is that he will teach his disciples. 1 John tells us that the anointing will lead us into all things, and that leading will be true and not a lie. Ephesians 4 tells us that as the leaders of the church equip the saints to do the work of ministry and to build the body of Christ, then the “speaking the truth in love” that the saints do with one another will lead to a unity of faith that protects us from varying winds of doctrines and from the deception of false teachers.

Together we can learn. Apart, we have no such promises. Indeed, we are told that if we are not exhorted each and every day, we are likely to have hard hearts, deceived by sin (Heb. 3:13).

There is much more to be said about all of this that could never be said in a short blog. However, we need to know the importance of being together. Being together is no guarantee that we are good or right. The Laodiceans were together, but Jesus was fed up to the point of nausea with them. However, if we are going to go forward and grow, it will be together. If you think that going forward means going off on your own and teaching the great insights that you have had on your own, then you are mistaken. You, too, need the daily exhortation of the saints to avoid being hardened and deceived, no matter how much you believe your faithfulness or Bible reading will be what protects you from deception.

I need to add one more thing to all this because I really want you to understand both the importance and the purpose of being together.

Ephesians says some absolutely amazing things about the church. For example, in Eph. 1:23, we are told that the body of Christ is “the fullness of him that fills all in all.” The fullness of God? Dare the Scriptures say such a thing? They do.

Shortly after, Paul begins describing a mystery that has been hidden for ages. In Eph. 3:2-11, he describes this mystery. The short form is given in Colossians one, where Paul tells us that mystery is “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” Ephesians uses more words, but the mystery is the same. Christ has come to live in people, binding Jew and Gentile into one body, which is the church. The church then makes known to “principalities and powers in the heavenlies” what is the manifold wisdom of God.. This, says Paul, is an eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ.

The church is not a mere building that we attend on Sunday or a club we join. The church is the binding together of disciples into one family, caring and taking care for one another, a body for the Son of God to live in so that he might fulfill the eternal purposes of God, testifying both to the world and to powers in heavenly places that his grace is able to unite human beings in love, producing a people for himself, the church, that is zealous for good works.

In future posts we’ll talk about the practicalities of living this out not only in a corrupt and fallen world, but also in an age where the faith and the church are greatly misunderstood and the saints are scattered throughout pseudo-churches.

Posted in Church | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Your “immortal” soul

Posted on 03/18/2008 by Paul Pavao

Note: all Scripture quotes on this post are from the NASB Updated version.

A lot of traditions have crept in over the last 2,000 years. Some of them have become a basic part of our assumptions that we never question.

One of those is our “immortal” soul. American Christians assume that all souls will live forever. Perhaps this is true. Jesus does say that he will call “all” from the grave (Jn. 5:28). On the other hand, it is not uncommon for the Old Testament Scriptures to say things like, “There is no mention of you in death; In Sheol who will give you thanks?” (Ps. 6:5) and “His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his thoughts perish” (Ps. 146:4). Either way, whether all souls live forever or only some do, we miss much of the impact of the promise of eternal life because we tend not even to think about such things.

Paul begins his letter to Titus with, “…for the faith of those chosen of God…in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago” (Tit. 1:1-2).

Eternal life has always been a pursuit of mankind. I read a book once–the name of which, unfortunately, I cannot remember–that talked about some common themes in religions all over the world. One of those was the attainment of eternal life. In all religions around the world, this book argued, there was some sort of required way to live in order to ascend to the sky and live forever.

This is no surprise. All of us, at some time in our life, see people die. We see their energized and living bodies, and then we see their bodies dead, cold, and devoid of life. Is that the end? Is that all there is? As the Psalmist says, do their thoughts perish in that day? None of us want that, and we would be delighted to hear that there is some way to live forever.

I have to believe that Paul had this in mind when he said “in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.” Look at something else he said. In Romans 2, after telling us that God will render to each person according to his deeds, he writes, “…to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life” (v. 7).

There in Romans 2, he speaks of people who are seeking immortality. He tells them that perseverance in doing good will lead to their obtaining eternal life. (For those whose theology on faith and works is threatened by this, see my page on the Gospel and grace, and see Gal. 6:8,9, which says the same thing from a different perspective.) This is clearly written to people who care whether they will live forever or not.

I believe it would do us good to understand and feel that same hope. Look at Gal. 6:8-9. It promises eternal life, as Rom. 2 does, to those who do not grow weary in doing good, though it adds that this doing good is done by the Spirit of God. However, it also tells us that those who live by the flesh will inherit “corruption.” What does the word “corruption” mean? Well, in Acts 2:27 and following, Peter uses the word “corruption” to refer to the decaying of the body in the grave. (The Greek words in Gal. 6:8 and Acts 2:27 are slightly different. One is diaphthora and the other is just phthora, but the difference is only a prefix, and it appears clear from other uses, such as 1 Cor. 15:42, they are referring to the same thing.)

I do not want to present an argument for “soul-sleep” here, the doctrine that souls sleep in death until the judgment, nor an argument for the destruction of the soul after death. In fact, I don’t want to present any theological arguments. I want to put a thought in your mind that I believe is Christian and important. Paul tells us, “If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:13). We assume everyone will live after they die, so we are not moved by this passage. Where are those who “by perseverance in doing good seek for…immortality”? Paul clearly believes this a good attitude, because we have found three passages now that recommend this attitude. That doing good is done by the Spirit, true; nonetheless it is clearly a recommended attitude of Scripture.

Immortality. What a glorious thought. It is the promise of God to those who will, by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body. Let us not grow weary, then, brothers, in doing good, because in due season we will reap…if we do not lose heart.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Wicked Are Not So…

Posted on 03/15/2008 by Paul Pavao

Amazingly enough, after promising to continue on Psalm 1 yesterday, I’m following through today! Grace is a real thing; I’m getting better!

Yesterday, I talked about thinking on spiritual things, starting in Psalm 1’s exhortation to meditate on the law of the Lord day and night. To me, that’s the “righteousness” part of the Psalm. I want to address the “wickedness” part. It’s fascinating to me, and it carries a warning for all of us.

I want to argue that the wickedness part of this Psalm is not written to the wicked of the world, but to the wicked of the congregation of the Lord. One, the Psalms are songs that were meant for the congregation of Israel. The Psalms were not written for Egyptians or Babylonians, but for Israelites. As the Psalmist says, you can’t sing the songs of Zion in a foreign land (137:3,4). Two, the wicked are said to be “like the chaff which the wind drives away” (Ps. 1:4, NASB). The chaff was part of the wheat at one time. And three, the Psalm says that while the Lord knows the way of the righteous, the way of the wicked will perish (v. 6). This brings to my mind the statement of the Lord in Matthew 7:23, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” These who were not known to the Lord were those who prophesied and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. They were wicked, but they were not the wicked of the world.

What’s the difference between the righteous and wicked in Psalm 1? The righteous delights in the Law of the Lord. He meditates in it day and night. So the righteous prospers and has a constant supply of the only thing that will produce righteousness: grace. The wicked, obviously, is not meditating on the Law of the Lord; otherwise, like the righteous, he would be bearing fruit.

The Psalmist adds, “The wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous” (v. 5, NASB). Two judgments are mentioned in that verse. Pray to God that you endure only one of them. According to Paul, on the day of judgment we will all stand before God to be judged for our works, “whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Today, Christians don’t like to believe that verse. They either teach that our bad works won’t follow us to the judgment or they teach that the judgment is just for “rewards.” It is indeed for rewards, but Romans 2:5-8 makes it clear that the rewards are either eternal life or indignation and wrath. As I said, Christians today don’t like to believe that, but really, it’s enough for me that Paul believed it (Jesus did, too: Jn. 5:29).

There’s a second judgment in v. 5, though. Sinners will not stand in the assembly of the righteous. Paul spent a whole chapter instructing the Corinthians what to do with one sinner in their midst. He explains the reasons for his decision, and he ends that chapter with, “Put away from yourselves that wicked person” (1 Cor. 5:13).

This is the judgment that you should want to experience. That judgment is “that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5). With this judgment you can be restored, learning from being delivered over to satan  that you must flee to the refuge of Christ.

All of this, of course, can be avoided by delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night. They that belong to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5). My point, however, in writing all of this is so that we might all be warned. Let us take to heart the admonition to love the law of the Lord, because the wicked are not so. Don’t fool yourself. That wicked one is not Hitler nor the Boston strangler. That wicked one is the one who failed to meditate on eternal things, who appears at the judgment claiming to have done many things in the name of the Lord, but who are unknown to him because they were not planted next to the rivers of living water.

The righteous meditate on the law of the Lord. The wicked are not so. Which are you?

Posted in Bible | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Think on These Things

Posted on 03/14/2008 by Paul Pavao

How blessed is the man…[whose] delight is in the law of the LordAnd in his law he meditates  day and night. ~Psalm 1:2, NASB

It is easy to underestimate the importance of what we think about. Look at the promises tied to meditating on the Law of the Lord! You will be like a tree planted by streams of water, you will yield your fruit in season, and your leaf will not wither. Further, the Lord will know your ways (v. 6). Listen, that’s everything! If you will think on the Law of the Lord, Psalm 1 says, you will prosper in whatever you do!

If we’re trying to advance in the Christian walk, you’d think we’d pay some attention to this. How come I’m not going forward? How come I’m not more holy? How come I don’t have more power with God? How come I can’t seem to overcome? If you’re asking any of those questions, you should look at what you’re thinking about. Those who meditate on the Law of the Lord prosper like a tree planted by rivers of water.

This is not just an Old Testament thing. Paul ties being spiritual to the simple idea of thinking about spiritual things (Rom. 5:5-8). Those who set their minds on the Spirit walk in the Spirit and have life and peace. Those who don’t, have death. He also ties our growth as Christians to whether we’re thinking about eternal things. We are being transformed, he says, into the image of Christ, but only as we look at eternal things (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

Paul tells us that we are to run the race to win. I know that if I was a professional runner, looking for that edge over other professional runners, this sort of far-reaching advice would be something I would never miss. Professional runners worry about the health and strength of their big toe, knowing that the final toe off of each stride might add some fraction of an inch to each stride, giving them an advantage over their competitors. They do this for the sake of a bit of money. The race you are running is for the sake of immortality. It’s for the sake of living eternity in the presence of God. You ought to be worried about things that are the equivalent of a runner’s big toe, but you should be worried all the more about the things that are the equivalent of a runner’s whole body!

Meditate on the law of the Lord! Set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Look at eternal things. Set your mind on things above, where Christ is, at the right hand of the Father. Whatever is good, think on these things. Do so, and you will be like a tree planted by streams of water. You will prosper in season. You will bear fruit, and you will have a constantly new supply of living water with which to bear more fruit. The promises of God don’t get any better than this.

Tomorrow, or the next time I remember to blog, I’ll talk about some more parallels between Psalm 1 and the New Testament. It was pretty neat.

Posted in Bible | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Church’s Power

Posted on 03/03/2008 by Paul Pavao

I got a letter recently with some great quotes in it. Unfortunately, I don’t have it with me as I write this, so I’ll use some almost as good quotes from a book I’ve been looking at called When the Church Was Young. When I got the book, I thought Gene Edwards, who published the book, had written it. It turns out it was written 70 years ago by a man named Ernest Loosley. Here’s the quotes:

The Primitive Church had no New Testament, no thought-out theology, no stereotyped traditions. The men who took Christ to the Gentile world had received no formal or professional training, only a great experience. It was an experience in which “all maxims and philosophies were reduced to the simple task of walking in the light.

and:

It is permissible to hint that the first Christians achieved what they did because the spirit with which they were inspired was one favorable to experiment. Perhaps the line of advance for the church today is not to imitate the forms but to recapture the spirit of the Primitive Church.

It is life that matters. What was a simple truth to the apostolic churches has become a matter that desperately needs recovering if there is to be  the LIFE of the early church in the world today. A hundred years after the apostles, the churches could boast that not only were they united, but their people possessed an unworldly power. Faced with tortures and death, even women and children stood boldly in the face of emperors and governors, proclaiming  the Lordship of Jesus the Christ of God. Faced with ongoing persecution, the church expanded, so much so that Tertullian could boast that the more Christians were mown down by Rome, the more of them there were. These were not carnal believers attending meetings in a suit on  a Sunday morning, but men, women, and children who counted Christ more important than their own lives and trusted him to build his kingdom with the power of heaven. They eschewed violence, and never used a sword.

Paul describes the sound doctrine that produced this power in Titus 2. That sound doctrine did not involve teachings about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, or wrestling about once saved, always saved. Those arguments have proven to be just what Paul said they would be, tools with which learned but carnal and ambitious men use to divide the church. Sound doctrine to Paul involved denying ourselves, living in service to others, showing respect, and loving.

Read Titus 2. It’s doctrine is real power, because Jesus Christ has become the author of eternal salvation not to those who have correct theology, but to those who obey him (Heb. 5:8 or 9).

My commendations to Jason from Mexico, who wrote a comment on my blog that “the letter kills and that a life of sacrificial love is the main goal here.” So it is, Jason, and I’m longing for the day when I can join hands with you among the poor to see the immense power of sacrificial love doing its transforming work where you are.

Posted in Bible, History | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Songs of Zion in a Foreign Land

Posted on 02/22/2008 by Paul Pavao

I don’t know how many people read this blog, and it doesn’t help that there was probably a month between my last two posts. I hope some read it, though, as these things are important. Today, I read a reminder of just how important:

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept…
How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy…
O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, how blessed will be the one who repays you
How blessed will be the one who…dashes your little ones against the rock. (Psalm 137, NASB)

There is much in Scripture that is figurative. It’s important that we understand figurative modes of interpretation. Evangelicals tend to be very literal in their interpretation, and so they miss much that was known in the apostolic churches. On the way to Emmaus, the Lord “expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” What were those things? Way more than we’re aware of. If you want a taste of the sort of things that Jesus taught to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, you ought to read Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew, which can be found free on the net at http://www.ccel.org/fathers.

One of the things he almost surely taught them is that “he washed his clothes in the blood of grapes” from Gen. 49:11 is a reference to his death. Justin adds that it’s “the blood of grapes” because the Messiah’s blood would not come from the seed of man but from the hand of God. He argues, too, that the “clothes” referred to in that verse is a reference to his people, whom he would wash in his blood (Dialogue with Trypho 54).

This sort of figurative interpretation was typical of the early church. You can see it throughout Hebrews, and you can see it in Paul’s letters, too (e.g., Gal. 4:21-31). Dialogue with Trypho recounts an argument with a Jew, and this sort of figurative interpretation was normal to both Justin and Trypho. At one point, Justin tells him, “Not even her should we be at a loss about anything, if we are acquainted even slightly with figurative modes of expression” (ibid., ch. 63).

I say all this to tell you that Psalm 137 is written figuratively as well as literally. Most who are following God wholeheartedly today already know that God has been saying, “Come out of her, my people.” For many years it has been almost impossible to experience the Life described in Acts. God’s people have been stuck in institutions, meeting separately based on doctrines, centered on twice a week meetings and focused mainly on witnessing to the world. They have not experienced the blessed fellowship of sharing their lives, being family, and growing together (Eph 4:11-16). Disciples who have forsaken all for Christ are mixed with “believers,” who believe, just as devils do, that Jesus is real and died for sins, but who are not taking up their cross, denying themselves, or following him.

God allowed that for a long time, but many of us were like the writer of Psalm 137. We could not forget Zion. We could not forget the fellowship of the church that belonged to all the saints for at least two centuries after the time of Christ. We wept and mourned, and we threatened ourselves with curses if we ever forgot or ignored the longing in our hearts for the true fellowship of the saints. We knew that only in such a life would we be able to say with Paul, “I am confident that he who has begun a good work in [all of ] you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Thankfully, just as happened with Nehemiah at the end of the 70 years in Babylon, the voice of God is calling us to return to the heavenly fellowship of Jerusalem. Following the road to Zion that is in our hearts, we have entered into the fellowship of the saints. Psalm 137 is an encouraging reminder that it is normal and appropriate that the rebuilding of the Lord’s house is so important to us. It is so important that the Psalm writer exalts even over the destruction of Babylon.

Babylon is coming down. Come out of her, my people. The pitiful and weak world of the traditions of men can and must be left. Rejoice! For the saints can return to Zion. We no longer need to languish in the denominations that have imprisoned us for so long. We no longer need to feign fellowship with those who are not his disciples. We can restore the walls and repair the streets for the citizens of Jerusalem, who follow the new law and new wine of Christ–the love of the Spirit and wholehearted service to our God.

It is time, o holy ones, to sing again the songs of Zion. It is time to gather up again our harps and play the songs of the Lord. We thank God for those who have not forgotten Jerusalem. 

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Fascinating Bits of Information

Posted on 02/21/2008 by Paul Pavao

I don’t normally write about politics or the war in Iraq, but I couldn’t pass this one up. At least one person knew, with the accuracy of a prophet, what would happen if we entered Iraq to overthrow Sadam Hussein. Listen to these words, which were spoken before we went in:

I think that the proposition of going to Baghdad is also fallacious. I think if we were going to remove Saddam Hussein we would have to go all the way to Baghdad, we would have to commit a lot of force because I do not believe he would wait in the Presidential Palace for us to arrive. I think we’d have to hunt him down. and once we’d done that, and we’d gotten rid of Saddam Hussein and his government, then we’d have to put another government in its place. What kind of government? Should it be a Sunni government or Shi’i governtment or a Kurdish government or Ba’athist regime?…How long would we have to stay in Baghdad to keep that government in place? What would happen to the government once U.S. forces withdrew? How many casualties should the United States accept in that effor to try to create clarity and stability in a situation that is inherently unstable?…It’s my view…that it would be a mistake for us to get bogged down in the quagmire inside Iraq. (reference at end of post)

Do you wonder who was so brilliantly insightful about what would happen in Iraq? Would you believe Vice-President Dick Cheney?

Of course, he wasn’t vice-president when he said this. He said this after we drove Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991. It was Dick Cheney’s explanation of why the first President Bush didn’t go into Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein. Obviously, his insight into what would have happened was incredibly accurate.

 I just thought you might like to know. I’m one of those people who likes to hear the truth, but who is aware that often it’s not the truth that’s being told to me. So when I find spots where folks aren’t being honest, I like to point it out. I rather wish that Dick Cheney, so insightful in 1991, would have been equally honest in 2001.

 By the way, the quote came from a book I can’t recommend. Cheney made that comment at the Washington Institute’s Soref Symposium on April 29, 1991, but I got it from Al Franken’s The Truth: with jokes, pp. 43-44 (footnote). After an online discussion with someone, I had read his book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, which I found to be rated R and unsuitable for children, but incredibly informative. Lies was full of well-referenced information, much of which I looked up myself, and it taught me how to check up on the success of a president’s economic policy. Of course, it was also full of complaints about Bill O’Reilly and Fox News, which I’m sure would mean a lot more to someone who owns a TV than to me. The Truth, however, has more venting and complaints so far than research and facts. It also continues Al Franken’s unreferenced and unproven claim that George W. Bush stole the 2000 election that he began in Lies. It wasn’t referenced much better in that book, either, which stood out because so much else was well-referenced.

Okay, that’s my justification of myself for reading Al Franken’s books, the second of which I found at Sam’s Club in hardback for $4.27. It’s also my explanation of what you’ll find if you try to read him, too. Al Franken’s not an evangelical Christian. The first earns its R rating from me, and I’ve only read about a quarter of the second.

Posted in news | Tagged , | Leave a comment

New Wineskins

Posted on 01/25/2008 by Paul Pavao

My last post, unfortunately, is going to stand at the top of the list for only a few minutes, while I write this one. If you have not seen the post I wrote just minutes before this on Martin Luther’s “new wine,” you should read that one first, then come back to this one.

Frank Viola commented in Pagan Christianity that Martin Luther was ignorant that new wine could not be repackaged in old wineskins. We discussed in the last post whether Martin Luther really had any new wine to put in old wineskins. If the Lutheran church is an old wineskin, as Frank Viola asserts and as I believe as well, then Luther’s gospel is not new wine, because it has not burst the wineskin or been lost in the bursting. Luther’s gospel is still around and still well-contained in the Lutheran church. In fact, it’s been passed merrily around into virtually every other old wineskin in existence.

The real Gospel of Paul, which I spoke about in my last post, is, however, new wine, and it can only be contained in a new wineskin. It will go bursting out of old wineskins in mere moments. Those who embrace it will never thrive in institutional churches. Longing for the will of God, believing truly in Christ and in all Christ commanded them to do, their hearts are filled to overflowing with the love of God, and they must be with other disciples. They experience no satisfaction sitting in a pew on Sunday morning. The first few times may excite them as they listen to discussions of the Scriptures, but eventually they will cry out, “I can’t just sit here! I have to BE with my brothers and sisters!”

One day a week, or even two or three, will never be enough for them. That love, shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, will send them pursuing the unity that they are commanded to give all diligence to maintain (Eph. 4:3). Going often into their neighbor’s house, they will soon be a nuisance to any that do not possess the same overflowing love of God in their hearts. Typically in America, such saints soon give up, become disappointed, or are simply cold-shouldered out of the fellowship of those whose sainthood is merely imputed and not imparted.

Friends, know that you can never preach the Gospel of utter commitment to Christ in the old wineskin of institutional churches. House churches are not much better, though they do more easily burst to allow the flow of the new wine. And if house churches manage to gather real saints, the wine may be caught when it bursts even out of house church restraints.

The new wineskin is not a system or method of meeting. The new wineskin can contain a traditional Sunday morning church service as easily as it can contain a house church meeting. It can contain a preaching session as easily as it can contain an all-member participation church meeting. The new wineskin is people, bound together by Christ, having become a true family in Christ, sharing in all things, and they can easily endure a Sunday morning service, because they know they will walk out of it into one another’s arms, one another’s fellowship, and one another’s life.

Have you experienced house churches that become dead or fail? Most of us who had to leave the institutional church have experienced that. Why do so many house churches stop growing? Why do they seem to become as old and stale as the institutional churches we came out of? It is because they are still serving Luther’s old wine! Friends, it’s not just the wineskin that has to change. The wine must change as well. Nothing you found in the old wineskin was new wine! Remember, that old wineskin was unable to contain it!

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

New Wine?

Posted on 01/25/2008 by Paul Pavao

Today I read, “Tragically, [Martin] Luther did not realize that new wine cannot be repackaged into old wineskins.”

Let me add, even more tragically, Luther did not have any new wine.

A simple glance at history will confirm that Luther’s “wine” (his gospel) was packaged quite nicely into the Lutheran wineskin. The wineskin did not burst, and there was no loss of Luther’s wine. While I agree with the author (of Pagan Christianity, the book from which came the quote above) that Luther’s weekly services were simply a reworking of Roman Catholic rituals of pagan origin, I cannot agree that Luther had any new wine to put into that old wineskin.

Tertullian, a famous Christian of the 2nd century, said, “Custom without truth is simply error grown old.” Somehow, the aging of Luther’s errors have turned them into custom, but they have not become truth.

Luther believed that there was no way to reconcile Romans and James. He scoffed at his friend, Philip Malencthon, for trying. He called James an epistle of straw. (Defenders of Luther have regularly told me I’m misquoting him, because he really said “a right strawy epistle.” Sigh…)  His introduction to the NT suggests that neither Hebrews nor James are really worth reading, because they won’t teach you the Gospel, which is found best in Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians.

Not surprisingly, this “gospel,” based on only portions of the NT, was extremely ineffective. Menno Symons, founder of the Mennonites, observed that the Lutherans were lived more godless lives than the invading, pagan Turks. Christian History magazine noted once that if a man didn’t cuss, drink, or kick his dog, he could be persecuted as an Anabaptist, obviously suggesting that it was typical for Reformation Protestants to do all those things.

To this day, young converts struggle with what to do with Luther’s partial gospel. Even if they stick to Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and the Gospel of John, as Luther suggests, many questions arise. If works have nothing to do with salvation, why does Paul say (in Galatians and Ephesians) that those who practice immorality won’t inherit God’s kingdom? If works have nothing to do with salvation, then why does Paul say (in Romans) that those who live according to the flesh will die? If works have nothing to do with salvation, then why does Jesus say (in John) that only those who do good will be raised to a resurrection of life?

One does not need to go to James 2:24 (the only occurrence of “faith only” in the Bible) in order to find a contradiction–not of Paul–but of Luther’s message.  Rom. 2:6,7 says that eternal life can be obtained by “patient continuance in doing good.” Gal. 6:9 says the same, “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap [eternal life], if we do not faint.”

All these things may seem to contradict Paul’s words against justification by works. That’s not because they do contradict him; it’s because Luther’s error grown old has become custom, though not truth.  Paul’s justification by faith was a description of our entrance into Christ, our deliverance from our past sins, and, through grace, experiencing the breaking of sin’s power over us. Paul never says that eternal life or entering God’s kingdom is by faith. Jesus did not die to change God. God’s judgment was always just and good, and God was always merciful. Jesus died to change us. We were not good, and we had no way of repenting and living in the righteousness that God required in order to experience his mercy (Ez. 33). Jesus’ death, however, provided that means (Rom. 8:3,4). Delivered from our unrighteousness by faith, we are able to experience the mercies of God that were new every morning long before Christ died. Again, Jesus didn’t die to change God; he died to change us.

Never let anyone tell you that God requires perfection to pass his judgment. It’s not true, and he has never been unmerciful. Nor let anyone tell you that God requires nothing to pass his judgment if you are a follower of Christ. There is no partiality with God, and thus you, like all others, will be judged by your works by a merciful and kind God (2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Pet. 1:17), who offers the power of his grace and his Spirit to deliver you from the evil works that used to hold you in bondage.

Posted in Bible, History | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Our Approach to the Bible

Posted on 01/13/2008 by Paul Pavao

This is a letter to a friend in Mexico. It talks about evolution. If you come to Rose Creek Village, it is entirely possible that you will hear us talk about evolution. Not everyone here believes in evolution, but many do. What we most definitely teach are the things stated below about how to find God’s will. It is important to follow God. If you have any questions or want any clarifications on the things below, please feel free to email us from the main page of our web site. You’ll see the link near the bottom of the left column.

 I looked at the web site on community of goods (http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/symposiums/4th/papers/Taylor99.html). It was very complicated. Our approach to following God is a bit more simple than the approach of that page. I suppose if they found something conclusive and clear and offered it to us, I’d be a lot more interested. However, it doesn’t take that approach. It just sort of gives us information to work with.

We are not becoming theology students, however; we’re learning to live life. We have to make choices about how we are going to do things. We have settled on our current method of community of goods by watching what God blesses and what he doesn’t bless. Even now we are in the midst of making changes, because God spoke some things to us about teaching people responsibility over the last few months.

As far as the two articles on evolution and perpetual motion (http://english.pravda.ru/science/mysteries/27-12-2007/103189-races-0 and http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/11-01-2008/103363-perpetual_engine-0), if I may be blunt, they’re simply not very scientific, neither of them. For example, the car being described in the perpetual motion article is not a perpetual motion machine. A perpetual motion machine doesn’t need fuel, even if the fuel is air. This is an air-powered car, which is theoretically possible, whether or not this young man has succeeded in making one. Even if it refills its own air tank, it’s still running off air, and it’s still pulling air in. That’s not perpetual motion, that’s air-fueling.

It also says that scientists are open to questioning the laws of physics that say perpetual motion is impossible. I don’t believe that for a second. They’re going to have to produce one real scientist who really is open to that before I believe it. I occasionally discuss things with scientists on a message board, and I can assure you that they would blow off anyone who suggested that a perpetual motion machine might be possible. It violates laws on the conservation of energy, and those are not at question.

The evolution article makes a number of assertions that it doesn’t back up and that there’s no reason to believe. For example, it states that the only evolution that occurs in nature is microevolution. Oh, really? Says who? Evolutionists repeatedly ask anti-evolutionists what prevents microevolution from becoming macroevolution. For example, there are very good reasons to believe that  lungs evolved from fishes’ swim bladders. The steps from swim bladder to lung are almost all still found in nature. Charles Darwin talked about doves, all bred from Rock Pigeons a couple thousand years ago, that have been bred with differing number of vertebrae and numerous other very different characteristics that would cause him to classify them as not only a different species but as a different genus, if he had not known they all came from rock pigeons. It is this sort of thing that made him say, “Where does it stop?” and come up with his theory of natural selection (descent with modification).

The evolution article says, “The genetic ability for microevolution exists in Nature but not the ability for macroevolution.” Unfortunately, it then goes on to describe the very mechanism that allows macroevolution to be possible. It even describes it somewhat accurately. Since a pine tree’s cells and our cells use the very same genetic coding, what is to prevent positive mutations–something most anti-evolutionists deny, but this article admits–from accumulating over millions of years enough to turn a pine tree into an animal? There is no known mechanism that would prevent this. In fact, we are regularly in the habit of inserting mammal insulin-making genes into bacteria so that they will make insulin for injection into humans. Viruses are dangerous because they are able to hijack the whole protein-producing mechanism of a cell and use it to reproduce their own DNA rather than the cell following its own DNA instructions. The DNA code is consistent across all species of all kingdoms, whether plant, animal, or single-celled organisms.

Sorry, but science is a fascination of mine. I love it almost as much as I love theology. I am careful–or at least I think I am–to stick to theology and science that has a practical purpose. Science and evolution are tools I use to obtain a specific response from people. I am wanting to teach them to trust God, and to know the Scriptures for what they are, not the superstitious magic book that so many fundamentalists believe them to be. The Scriptures are God-breathed, but they are not a science book. The current, popular method of Bible-believing among fundamentalists causes people to look at it like some sort of book of spells or something. God wants us to see a collection of writings by apostles, prophets, poets, and historians, each of whom we should know something about so we can understand them better. John doesn’t write like Paul, and Paul doesn’t write like Peter. James and Paul are made to contradict by everyone since Martin Luther because they understand justification to mean the same thing when written by each, because they think they are reading a magic book. No, they are reading inspired writings by Paul and James, who use different wording just like any two modern prophets, raised in two different cities and cultures, would use different wording. Paul has a carefully designed theology, the product of Greek influence and much arguing with Judaizers. James was not so specialized. Thus, one can say a man is justified by faith apart from works, because he means one specific issue and time, while the other can say a man is justified by works and not faith only, because he is speaking more generally.

However, no one can see such things while they believe in their magic book. Thus, they honor, speak well of, and practically worship the Bible, while they neither believe it nor follow its teachings. You don’t get much more deceived than that.

Let me add, John and Paul use eternal life completely differently. John speaks of it as a present possession, but Paul never does. The early church tells us as well that John’s Greek was impeccable (maybe he used a good scribe?), while Paul’s was terrible (amazing, huh?). We need to trust them, because they were Greek speakers. All of these things are hidden from those who think God wrote the book all by himself. God has never wanted to do such a thing, and he has never wanted us to follow a book! He wants us to trust him, and fundamentalists do not. They trust their own minds by trusting their own interpretations of Scripture. When God shows up and tries to lead them, they do not follow, just like the Pharisees who did not follow Christ, because they thought they knew the Scriptures. Thus, Y’shua said to them, “You search the Scriptures because you think you have life in them, but these are they which testify of me; yet your refuse to come to me that you might have life” (Jn. 5:38).

Amen, it is still so today. Why can’t churches be built? Because once they get started, no one will follow God! They trust their interpretations of the Bible, but they do not trust what God says to them and leads them in. They don’t even hear it or pay attention to it, because it’s outside their box. Yet the Scriptures tell us, “As many as are led by the Spirit, these are the sons of God.” Too many seek to be led by the Bible, ignoring God’s Spirit and trusting their own minds instead.

They will perish.

Grace be with you, my friend,

Shammah

Posted in Bible | Tagged , , | 1 Comment