Sunday Leftovers (12/23/07)

It is well-known and well-recited that the theme of the gospel of John is belief. The word occurs 98 times in the gospel, always as a verb, and more than 50% of the time as a present tense verb, indicating that genuine, saving faith is not a one-time act only, but an ongoing, continual act of belief and faith in Christ as Savior.

What has surprised me in preaching these first 12 chapters of John is the emphasis not only on belief, but on unbelief.

In John 1-12 (there is a significant shift in emphasis beginning in chapter 13, as the ministry of Christ is private with the disciples in the upper room and garden in chs. 13-17, followed by the culmination of Christ's ministry with the crucifixion and resurrection) unbelief in Christ is alluded to in 121 verses! The case can actually be made that the theme of the book is also unbelief — "what does unbelief in Christ look and act like?"

The theme begins in 1:11 ("He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him"), and runs throughout each of the next 12 chapters (1:11; 2:18, 24-25; 3:4, 9, 12, 19-20; 4:1, 43-44, 48; 5:9-10, 15-16, 18, 42-47; 6:26-27, 36, 41-43, 52, 60-61, 64, 66, 70-71; 7:1, 5, 7, 11-12, 15, 19-20, 23, 26, 30, 32, 34, 36, 43-44, 45-48; 8:13, 19-20, 21-25, 33, 37, 40-41, 44-49, 52-53, 55, 59; 9:16, 18-22, 24, 27-34, 40-41; 10:6, 19-20, 24-26. 31-33, 37-39; 11:46, 47-50, 53, 57; 12:4-6, 10-11, 19, 37-40, 42-43, 48).

So when the opposition to Christ is particularly strong and evident just prior to the crucifixion, the reader should not be surprised. He was opposed at the beginning of His ministry, He was opposed all throughout His ministry, He was opposed at the end of His ministry, and He is opposed today.

He said it would be that way — "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you" (15:18).

The problem is not that there are self-proclaimed atheists. The problem is that there are people who are a-Christological. It is not that they are fundamentally opposed to God, but that they are fundamentally opposed to Christ (note that atheism consistently opposes all forms of the Judeo-Christian faith, but rarely attacks the ideas of God rooted in other faiths such as Hinduism or Islam). The dividing point for all men is Jesus Christ — they do not want to acknowledge faith in the one who demands allegiance and conformity to His desires (cf. Mt. 6:24).

And that means that if you believe in the power of the gospel message, we must pray for people to become aware of their lostness and hostility to Christ — and act and teach and proclaim accordingly. For a man cannot believe in Christ ("saved") until he acknowledges His willful unbelief ("lostness").

Sunday Leftovers (9/30/07)

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.