skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The truth that not all who claim to believe Christ are genuinely believers in Christ is not a popular message. The common assumption is that all who profess Christ possess Christ.
Yet it wasn't that way in the day of Christ, and it isn't that way now.
The people of Galilee were interested in Christ — but only to a point (John 6:60, 66). And the people of Jerusalem likewise were curious, but not enough to make a commitment (John 8:30-31, 44).
In response to curious, half-hearted, unconvinced belief, Jesus offers a number of marks of genuine belief —
- true believers remain (live and abide in) His truth (Bonhoeffer's statement is helpful — "Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.")
- true believers know the truth (and are in fellowship with the Truth)
- true believers are liberated from sin
- true believers progressively grow in Christ
Yet even before making these statements in vv. 31-37, Jesus distinguishes Himself and His fellowship with the Father from those who are following Him —
"He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him" (8:29).
Because of the eternal unity between the Father and the Son as members of the Godhead, the Son lives for the pleasure of the Father. Living for the pleasure of the Father is what honors and glorifies the Father. So it is for all who are sons of God — we live for His pleasure (not our own) —
"Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him" (2 Cor. 5:9)
A mark of a believer in Christ is one who has as his ambition, whether in heaven or absent from heaven (still living on earth), to please God in all things. This is what gives glory to God, and this is a fundamental mark of believing in Christ — we live for His pleasures more than our own.
By saying we treasure Christ above all things, we say that we have no idols or desires above the desire for Him. Conversely, if we say we have any pleasure higher than the pleasure of living for Him, we acknowledge that we are idolaters. We desire a repaired marriage or a drink of beer or an .mp3 player or a $10,000/year raise or approval from others more than we want God.
That is unbelief.
And that is why Christ died — to release us from that sin and to give us a new affection.
See the deplorable condition of all ungodly people! In the other world, they shall have a life that always dies and a death that always lives. [Thomas Watson, The Godly Man's Picture.]
Most people — whether they trust in Christ or not — think too little of hell.
Believers think too little of hell, not because they are afraid of it for themselves, but because 1) it has ceased to be a danger to them so they fail to see its danger for others; or 2) because self-righteous pride provokes them to see sinners with contempt and they fail to consider it a tragedy for anyone to enter the horror of hell.
Unbelievers think too little of hell for a variety of reasons, but most excuses for inattentiveness to hell are rooted in an overestimation of their "righteousness" and underestimati0n of the true righteousness and wrath of God. Even if they believe in hell, they either do not see it as a danger in general (it won't be so bad), or they do not see it as a danger for themselves.
Concerning hell, the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) thought too little until it was too late.
And then he discovered that —
- For all eternity in hell he will comprehend something of what he is missing in heaven — he will be tormented by wanting what he can never have. [Conversely, based on the silence of Lazarus, there does not appear to be comprehension by those in heaven of what they have been spared.]
- For all eternity there is a longing for even tiny expressions of mercy, with no hope they will ever be satisfied.
- For all eternity there is an acknowledgment that while the suffering being endured is great, it is just (there are no justified complaints in hell).
- Hell is eternal. It is a final destiny — there is no escaping it ever.
- There is no repentance in hell. Even in the experience of God's wrath, there is only self-justification, no contrition. There can be no repentance, because there will be nothing good in hell — only the full extent of evil in all its horrid forms.
- There is unrelenting, horrible pain — and it is not only appropriate for the sin committed, but it is just — even in its eternal judgment.
- Those who reject Christ have no excuse — if they reject the Word of God as inconsequential, they will believe nothing else. (Which brings to mind the great tragedy of those who in the name of "Christianity" reject the authority and power of Scripture.)
- What is currently being experienced will only get worse (2 Pt. 2:9).
For years I have said — at funerals and in private conversations — of those who have died and gone to heaven: "if they had an opportunity to leave heaven and come back to earth, they would never choose on their own to leave the presence of God. Never. Not for anything."
This week it struck me that for those in hell the opposite is true: if given the opportunity, they would never choose to stay in hell one moment longer. They would return to earth — even to endure the most horrid kinds of earthly suffering — rather than stay in hell one moment longer.
Three more statements to stimulate us to consider the real horror of hell:
Satan is full of rage against mankind and will show no mercy. As he puts forth all his subtlety in tempting man, so he puts out all his cruelty in tormenting man. This is not all; there are two more things to set out the torments of hell. These agonies and hell-convulsions shall be forever.…They would die but they cannot. The wicked shall be always dying but never dead.…After millions of years, their torments are as far from ending as the first hour they begun. Another aggrevation of hell torment is that the damned in hell have none to pity them. It is some comfort, some ease to have our friends to pity us in our sickness and want, but they have no friends. [Thomas Watson, "The Righteous Man's Weal and the Wicked Man's Woe."]
"A multitude of tears cannot extinguish [hell]; length of time cannot annihilate it…there can be no coming out." [Thomas Watson, "The Crown of Righteousness."]
"Remember this, grievous is the torment of the damned for the bitterness of the punishments, but most grievous for the eternity of the punishments. For to be tormented without end, this is that which goes beyond the bounds of all desperation. Ah, how do the thoughts of this make the damned to roar and cry out for unquietness of heart, and tear their hair, and gnash their teeth, and rage for madness, that they must dwell in 'everlasting burnings' for ever!" [Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices.]
And one statement to use those considerations to stimulate us to grieve over the lost and give them a reason for the hope that is within us:
When the heart no longer feels the truth of hell, the gospel passes from good news to simply news. The intensity of joy is blunted and the heart-spring of love is dried up. But if I remember these horrible things and do believe them in my heart; if I let every remaining sin and every moment of indifference to spiritual things remind me of the smell of hell lingering in the remnants of my corruption; if I let my knees become weak as on the day when I tottered on the cliff of my doom; if I recall that, apart from absolutely free grace, I would be the most hardened sinner and now in the torments of hell; if all this I remember and believe in my heart, then, oh, what a contrition, what a lowliness, what a meekness will be effected in my heart. [John Piper, "Brothers, We Must Feel the Truth of Hell."]
----------------------------------------------------------------
Two more resources I neglected to include:
The heart of pride is not only the exaltation of self, but even more tragically, it is the diminishing of God. As Thomas Watson has noted, "pride is the greatest sacrilege; it robs God of his glory."
Every prideful act is a defiant gesture of the inadequacy of God, and the self-exaltation of self. This was at the heart of the Pharisees' obstinate rejection of Christ (exemplified by their questions in John 8). But these particular sins of the Pharisees were not the only ones infected by pride. All sin is the manifestation of a desire that seeks satisfaction in something other than God. All sin is an expression of the heart that says, "I have a better understanding of what is good, satisfying, and God-glorifying than God Himself."
And so it is that not only do the Pharisees succumb to pride in their every sin. So do I.
In every sin I commit, I am admitting that my affections for God are weak and that my yearning for the preeminence of me is supreme.
This is evil.
It's not a character flaw. It's not a deficiency. It's not something I will outgrow. It is evil.
According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil is Pride. Unchastity, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea-bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind." [C. S. Lewis]
Pride approaches with its destructive forces every time we question Scripture instead of submit to it with statements like, "I don't think it means that…;" "I know it says ______, but surely that doesn't mean _______;" "I know it says ______, but it only says it one time…;" or "but that is not a sin that is troublesome for me…"
Pride says "I am preeminent in importance and God is subservient to my best interests." One of the better explanations of it ways given by A. W. Tozer a generation ago:
Sin has many manifestations but its essence is one. A moral being, created to worship before the throne of God, sits on the throne of his own selfhood and from that elevated position declares, 'I AM.' That is sin in its concentrated essence." [A Knowledge of the Holy.]
And this is a daily reality for every man everywhere, whether he willingly acknowledges it or not.
I am aware of bloggers who blog with more consistency than me.
Just this morning, I read another blogger who asserted, "I blog every day…"
I don't.
A couple months ago, I went on vacation. While not "secluded," it was far enough away from "civilization" that my cell phone had no signal (Oh happy day!). And there was no DSL, cable, or wireless network nearby (public or private, as far as I knew). I could used my laptop modem and used a dial-up connection. After three or four days of no e-mail, I began to be liberated. Could I make it 11 days without email and internet? I could. And I did.
It was good.
It was good not be enslaved to the tyranny of the urgent. It was good to give undivided attention to my family. It was good for my soul. Every time I "unplug" I feel that way. It happened again a couple weeks ago — a long weekend, numerous "honey-do" tasks, and no email, internet, or blogging. Just my family, my bible, and some good books. It's a good thing.
Josh Harris summarized it well a few weeks ago when he reflected on a short-lived foray into the world of Facebook. He wrote this:
…I don't need another reason for staring at a computer screen. I'm constantly needing to evaluate is how much time I spend emailing, browsing and blogging. Now obviously a lot of that activity is good, useful work. But sometimes it can be a time-waster. I think God's been helping me improve at knowing when to unplug from cyberville and connect with the real, rich world of reality--playing with my kids, talking to my wife, taking a walk. Throwing Facebook in the mix of my online options is just a little too much for me right now.
The other reason I feel right about making my time with Facebook just a visit is a little harder to explain. How do I put this? I found that it encouraged me to think about me even more than I already do--which is admittedly already quite a bit. Does that make any sense? Without any help from the internet I'm inclined to give way too much time to evaluating myself, thinking about myself and wondering what other people think of me. If that egocentrism is a little flame, than Facebook for me is a gasoline IV feeding the fire. I need to grow in self-forgetfulness. I need to worry more about what God is thinking of me. I need to be preoccupied with what he's written in his word, not what somebody just wrote on my "wall."
So I will do my best to post regular thoughts about the Word of God, ministry, and life application of Scripture. But if I'm not here for a few days or more, it's probably better for my soul...
The story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53 - 8:11) is fundamentally not about the woman, not about her sin, and not about the scribes or Pharisees. It's not even really about judgmentalism. It is about Jesus Christ. And specifically, it is about how Christ is the bridge between the Law (He is the fulfillment of it), and grace (and His abundant offer of it, 1:16).
Misconceptions of grace abound — even after reading texts like this (or maybe, because texts like this are not read carefully). What can be said about grace from this passage? At least nine principles can be stated. [I said these all on Sunday, but was too rushed…]
1. The offer of grace does not preclude justice.- Jesus was not saying Moses was wrong. There is justice and wrath, but the Pharisees had rigorously applied one part of the Law and missed the intent of it.
- There is wrath and justice, and it would be experienced.
- Grace does not preclude justice and that also means Jesus was not absolving the woman of guilt.
2. The offer of grace does not minimize sin — it doesn’t say we don’t need to address all sin.
- Many NT passages make it clear that dealing with sin is our privileged duty as believers (e.g., Mt. 18:15ff; 2 Tim. 2:24-25; Acts 5:1-11; Rom. 12:9; 15:4; Gal. 6:1; Tt. 3:10-11).
- Grace looks directly at sin, calls it what it is, and says to the sinner, “do you want to pay for that yourself, or do you want Christ to pay for it?” That’s grace. Grace doesn’t overlook sin; grace makes the cross of Christ the provision for the horridness of sin.
3. It is not ungracious to confront sin; it is ungracious to confront sin without self-examination (cf. Mt. 7:1ff; Gal. 6:1) and without desiring repentance (Js. 5:19-20). Self-examination will keep us from approaching a sinner with pride and haughty self-exaltation, and the quest for repentance will keep us attentive to the purpose of confrontation — restoration, not wrath.
4. Sin begets sin and sin hardens hearts. That is evidenced in part with the woman (she engaged in multiple adulteries); it is clear with the religious leaders — they were uncompassionate toward the woman, they hated Christ, and they were hardened against seeing their own sin. The problem with sin is not the individual sin itself, but what happens to our hearts when we continue in sin unrepentant, with eyes unwilling to examine the heart. We become hypocrites (like the Pharisees — whose very name became a synonym for hypocrisy). Cf. 1 Tim. 4:1-2.
5. The offer of grace and forgiveness is broad.
- Jesus brought the woman to a point of conviction and offered forgiveness and freedom. He did the same with the scribes and Pharisees. They too could have repented. But they walked away.
- It may be that you have been convicted recently of your sinfulness. Jesus Christ patiently awaits your response as well. Whatever your sin: adultery, spiritual hypocrisy, or even hatred of God and Christ — He will forgive it if you confess it and ask.
6. A genuine acceptance of grace comes with "requirements.”
- This is the point of Romans 6:1. When offering or accepting grace, don’t misconstrue it to mean, “I can keep doing what I want.”
- Christ died to liberate you from that sin, not to enable you to continue to do it without guilt.
- Note that Jesus does not say “sin no more and I will not condemn” — forgiveness is offered, and then obedience is commanded on the basis of that forgiveness.
7. Beware of three temptations (all learned at the expense of the Pharisees) —
- the temptation to delight in the sins of others.
- the temptation to minimize your own sins — unwillingness to engage in self-examination will produce this.
- the temptation to manipulate God and Scripture for your own purposes — the only reason the Jewish leaders read the Law was to affirm what they wanted to do. Never approach the Word of the living God in that way (cf. 1 Thess. 2:13).
8. Just because grace is offered does not mean it will be accepted.
- We know the Pharisees rejected Christ’s offer of forgiveness.
- Like Jonah, we don’t know about the woman — her response is unrecorded. He extended the offer of mercy and grace; she may have taken it, she may not have.
- The word spoken to Nicodemus is relevant here: "you must be born again" (3:3, 7). There is no life, no hope, no joy, nothing except death and condemnation apart from being given life by God.
9. The grace of Jesus' statement, "I do not condemn you" (v. 11) is rooted in his acceptance of condemnation for us.
- The reason Jesus can say “no condemnation” is not because He overlooked sin. He can’t overlook sin. When God sees sin, His holy, righteous character must condemn it.
- So how can Jesus say “I don’t condemn?” Because He would take the condemnation for her. When Jesus uttered those words, He was anticipating the day approximately six months later when He would absorb the wrath of God for all those who would believe in Him.
- And not only did He absorb the horrific wrath of God, but now He stands as intercessor for those who believe in Him (Rom. 8:3-4; 33-34).
- This is what grace is about — not that sin is overlooked, but that sin is acknowledged, repented, and Christ is embraced. This is our message — that the impediment to our fellowship with God is removed by God because God's wrath was absorbed by the second person of the Godhead!
--------------------------------------------
This morning I came across a series of articles that relate to the general subject of the authenticity and historicity of the Gospels. Given the consideration we made of this passage and that it was likely not written by John or part of his gospel, these may also be worth reading.
