Thursday, June 26, 2008

Genesis 12

by Robert Fraire


Recently I was given the privilege of teaching and shepherding the Friendship class at Lakeside. The first subject we are covering is the book of Genesis. It is a huge endeavour, and it will take us a long time to complete it. But the effort will be well worth it. Genesis is God's revelation of how he began everything. All the big questions in life are answered in Genesis.

Before I began teaching, Dr. Deckert taught through the first 11 chapters. This is actually a great place to transition because Chapter 12 is a key transition point in Genesis. At this point, Moses, through the Holy Spirit's guidance narrows the focus from all of humanity to the life of one man: Abram.

Abram (who God will rename Abraham) was called by God out of his home, Ur to go to a foreign country, Canaan. Why is this important? Because at this point in scripture we are introduced to God's sovereign call on a man's life. Remember that in Genesis we have already been introduced to God's sovereignty in creation, His sovereignty over the earth and over mankind as a whole. Now we see God's call of Abraham.

From Genesis 12 verses 1-3 we see the following:

1Now the LORD said to Abram,
"Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father's house,
To the land which I will show you;
2And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

The points to notice here is that Abraham was not a follower of God. He was not rich or powerful, he did not seek after God. God called him, God drew him to himself and then makes a covenant with him.

God's will always comes about. God called Abraham, because He willed that Abraham would follow him. He makes a promise of blessing to Abraham, BEFORE Abraham does anything!

And finally God prophecies the coming of Jesus Christ in the phrase "And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." This truth is revealed more clearly to us in the New Testament book of Galatians 3:8 - The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU."

Abraham then does leave his home and go to Canaan, he does respond to God's sovereign calling and drawing. This chapter therefore lays the foundation of Abraham's relationship with God.

God called him, God made promises to him, God promises blessings to him, and God prophesies that Jesus would come through his line. And it is in response to all this that God does that Abraham obeys. This order is essential and will be seen even more in coming chapters.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Great Video

by Bruce Mills

Some of you have probably already seen it, because I once gave a link to it in one of my posts. But I have now placed a great video featuring John Piper's statements on the prosperity gospel in the right hand column of this blog. If you haven't seen it yet, take a two or three minutes to watch it. It is well worth your time.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Discipline in the Local Church

by Bruce Mills

Many years ago, I wrote a small booklet for our church which outlined the elders’ perspective on the administration of church discipline within our congregation. In this post, I would like to reproduce some of that document, while removing the situation-specific references to my church. Hopefully, this will give readers a better understanding of what the Scriptures teach regarding this important topic.

Introduction

Early church documents identi­fy three cha­racteris­tics by which the true church of God may be known. These marks are the preac­hing of true doc­trine, the adminis­tra­tion of the sacra­ments, and the exer­cise of church disci­pline. Many churches today are in­volved in carry­ing out the first two of these important fea­tures, but neglect the third. The lea­der­ship of a New Testament church which is commit­ted to obey the Scrip­tures and to fulfill its responsibility to shepherd the flock of God in accordance with sound doc­trine will carry out church discipline. This means that the elders of the church will view their responsibility to the flock to include not only the teaching of the Word of God and the administration of the ordi­nances of our Lord, but also fulfilling their obliga­tion to reprove, rebuke, and exhort the members of the body of Christ to obey and follow His Word (2 Tim. 4:2, Titus 2:15).

Because it is essential that believers who are identified with the local church under­stand their role and responsibili­ties to one another and to the church leadership, I would like to explain the doctrinal position and prac­tice of church discipline within the local church.

The Need for Church Discipline

The purpose of church disci­pline is to affect a return to a biblical standard of conduct and doctrine in a member who sins (Matt. 18:15; 2 Cor. 2:5-8; Gal. 6:1), to maintain purity in the lo­cal church (1 Cor. 5:6-7), and to serve as a deter­rent to sin (1 Tim. 5:2­0). Discipline within the lo­cal church is a biblical im­perative, as command­ed by Jesus in Matt. 18:15-17 and by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 5:1-13. A church that ne­glects to lovingly con­front and cor­rect its members is not being kind, forgiv­ing, or gracious. Such a church is really hinder­ing the Lo­rd’s work and the advance of the gospel. The church without discipline is a church without purity (Eph. 5:25-27) and is in seri­ous dan­ger of losing its spiritu­al effec­tiveness. The leader­ship of local evangelical churches which are committed to the principle of obeying Scripture and seeking to maintain a be a pure and effective church until our Lord’s return will exercise church disci­pline within the body in a loving, gentle, and caring fashion for the purpose of restoring sinning bre­thren to fellowship with the Lord and with other believers.

The Steps of Discipline

Church discipline is generally to follow an established set of four steps as out­lined by Jesus in Matt. 18:15-17. Howev­er, in certain situations, these steps may be reduced in number as taught by Paul in 1 Cor. 5:3-5 and Titus 3:10.

Step One. The first step of discipline is a private one-on-one corrective summons. Jesus sta­ted, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private” (Matt. 18:15). This means that whenev­er one believer sins against another, the believer who has been sinned against must first go to the sin­ning bro­ther and deal with the matter pri­vately. The purpose behind the reproof at this point is to point out the sin, to set the matter right, and to affect the repen­tance of the offender toward God and the offend­ed believer. There is nothing in Scrip­ture which indicates that the church lead­ership is to be involved in the matter at this point. The first step involves only the two parties to the sin: the of­fender and the offended.

However, it should be understood that Je­sus did not mean that when a believer ob­serves sin in the life of another believ­er, that just because the sin is not against him per­son­ally, there is no obliga­tion to con­front the sinner. That, too, is taught in this passage. Believers are accountable for one another (Phil. 2:4) and are to demonstrate their love for the spiritual growth and development of their fellow believers by confronting them about their sin.

The attitude which characterizes this step, and every other step of discipline, is one of gentleness (Gal. 6:1) along with a firm commit­ment to the standards of God’s Word.

Step Two. The second step of church dis­cipline is a group corrective summons. Jesus said that if the private one-on-one corrective summons failed to gain the re­pentance and restora­tion of the sinning believer, then “Take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed” (Matt. 18:16). Again, the sin­ning believer is given another opportunity to turn from his sinful behavior.

The presence of these one or two witnesses is to serve two purposes: (1) they are first counselors who seek to reunite the two estranged parties, and (2) if the sin­ner refuses to repent and be restored, they serve as witnesses for the church leader­ship to the call for restoration and repentance, and the subse­quent refusal. There is no requirement that these indi­viduals be actual witnesses to the sin of the believer being confronted, but rather they are witnesses to what transpired in the group corrective summons.

Step Three. After the sinning believer has been dealt with both privately and by the small group, if no repentance and res­toration takes place, then Jesus said, “Tell it to the church” (Matt. 18:17). The purpose in bringing the mat­ter before the local assembly is so that it may do its part in bring­ing the sinning brother to repentance. The full details of the sin will not be explained, but only such commentary as may be neces­sary to inform the church family of the general nature of the matter.

When such an an­nouncement is made, other believers have a responsibility to pray for the sin­ner, to avoid a critical or pride­ful spir­it, and to call the sinner to re­pentance. Paul instructs the church in 1 Cor. 5:11 and 2 Thess. 3:14 that believ­ers are to avoid any planned social fel­lowship which would in­dicate accep­tance of the sinning broth­er, such as eating meals to­gether. Rather, the church’s obliga­tion is to use every opportu­nity to bring to the sinner’s attention the need to re­pent of the sin and be restored to fellow­ship.

The sin­ning believer is forbidden to shar­e ­in the Lord’s Table within the fel­low­ship of the church and may not participate in any ministry of the church. However, he is not pro­hib­ited from attend­ing church services hoping that the min­istry of the Word will serve to bring about repen­tance and res­toration.

Step Four. If the sinning believer still does not turn from his sin after a period of corrective summons by the entire church, then he is to be excluded from the church. Jesus’ instruction on this matter states, “If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17). At this point, the individual who refuses to repent at every step of the process is an individual whose heart is hard toward God and His people. He is to be put out of the church, thereby removing him from the protection that Christ provides to His church, and turned over to the realm of Satan (1 Cor. 5:5). Thus, he is no longer to be considered as a believer, but is to be treated exactly as one would treat an unbeliever. This means that, while making no final judgment about his actual heart condition, the church is to treat him as if he were an unbeliever. He gives no evidence of being a believer since he re­fuses to heed the authority of Christ ves­ted in the leaders of His church. Therefore, the other believers within the church are to seek to evangelize this individual whenever an opportu­nity occurs.

Thus, like any other unbeliever, this per­son would be permitted to attend the church services with the hope that the ministry of the Word and the work of the Holy Spir­it will bring about the ef­fect of repen­tance from sin and a profes­sion of Christ as Lord and Savior.

Repentance and Restoration

As previously stated, the purpose of church discipline is to affect the repen­tance from sin and restoration to fellow­ship of the sinning believer. At any step along the process, if repen­tance and res­toration to fellowship takes place, the rest of the body of Christ is to receive the penitent believer back into full fel­lowship within the church. This process involves forgive­ness, assistance, and love (2 Cor. 2:7-8).

At any time in which there is public sin which is or will be known throughout the church and the sinner has repented, he should appear before the elders and explain to them about his repentance and his de­sire for forgiveness and restoration. If such oc­curs and there is indication of the gen­uineness of such repentance, the elders should then inform the individual of his restora­tion. The pastor or another elder should announce this to the church family with the exhortation that all are to re­ceive the person back into the full fel­lowship of the church, reaffirm their love for him, and treat him in the same manner as any other broth­er in Christ.

Every believer within the church should also be ex­horted that persistence in failing to for­give a repentant believer is to place oneself in danger of church discipline.

What Sins May Result In Discipline?

Scripture presents four major categories of sin that call for church discipline. These perimeters embrace both the spirit (flexibility) and law (rigidity) essential for the purity of the church. They cover all Christian behavior, both public and private, dealing with sin as it relates to Christian love, unity, standards, and truth.

The categories are:

1. Private and personal offenses that violate Christian love (Gal. 5:19-21).

2. Divisiveness and factions that destroy Christian unity (Rom. 16:­17, 1 Cor. 5:11, 3 John 9-10).

3. Moral and ethical deviations that break Christian standards (Eph. 5:11, 2 Thess. 3:6).

4. Teaching false doctrine (Titus 1:9-11, 3:10; 1 Tim. 1:19-20, 6:3-5; 2 John 7-11).

Conclusion

Fear of disunity, conflict, and criticism has caused many Chris­tians, chur­ches, and church leaders to avoid con­fronting Chris­tians who are in sin. But a care­ful study of the New Testament indicates that such loving confronta­tion is a Chris­tian duty. Church discipline is God’s loving plan for restoring believers to fellowship with Himself and with the body of Christ. Christ desires that the church be “holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:27). Car­ing church discipline may be the means God will use in these days to purify the church so that Christ’s bride will have “no spot or wrinkle” at His coming.

Friday, June 6, 2008

So Where Do We Go From Here?

by Bruce Mills

Well, the nomination process is over. The Democrats and the Republicans both know who their respective party’s candidate will be in November. Now begins the long, brutal, bruising political campaign as each group seeks to have its candidate elected. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent, and just as many words will be written, over the next several months as Americans determine who their nation’s president will be for the next four years.

As I thought about that prospect, my thoughts returned to the need for Christians to reject the world’s view, which places its hope for change and a better life in the achievements of men. Over the next several months, campaign commercials will descend upon us like Niagara Falls, promising more jobs, a safer nation, improved health care, an end to the war in Iraq, and a better way of life--provided, of course, that the candidate of the political party that paid for the commercial is elected. And Americans—notorious for voting with their pocketbook—will rush like lemmings to the sea to vote for the individual whom they perceive to help them achieve those goals.

But the truth is that all the achievements that any president, congress, or government can ever attain are temporary. No matter how wealthy, safe, healthy, and enjoyable a particular society may become because of their efforts, in the end it will all pass away. Nations and kingdoms rise and fall, and have done so since the dawn of civilization. Some of those nations were great empires, controlling far more world power within the context of their day and age than the United States has ever possessed. Yes, the United States is currently the most powerful nation that has ever existed, but those who think it will always be so are very short-sighted in their thinking. In fact, a survey of the Bible’s teaching on future world events has no references whatsoever that would indicate that the United States will play any kind of significant role in those events.

So am I saying that we should ignore the political process and be unconcerned about who is elected as our nation’s highest leader? I’m not saying that at all. I believe Christians should participate in the political process by voting for the candidate whose beliefs best represent biblical moral standards and who will uphold our privilege as believers to worship and evangelize as we desire. Issues such as protecting our nation from external and internal attacks and making decisions which improve our economy are important, but secondary issues.

Keep in mind that we must not trust that whoever is elected can or will guarantee such benefits and privileges to us. Scripture tells us, Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation” (Psalm 146:3). Those who place their hopes in political leaders to save them from the difficulties and concerns of life are shortsighted and doomed to disappointment. Our economy may become worse than it already is, Islamic terrorists may (read “will”) attack us again, healthcare may continue to increasingly become a benefit of the wealthy, and Christians who stand for the truths contained in God’s Word will continue to be increasingly rejected and persecuted by our society because of their positions on certain moral and theological issues; specifically, homosexuality, abortion, and the wrath of God toward sinful, self-righteous mankind.

But Christians live every day in nations where the privileges we enjoy in this nation are non-existent; places such as Myanmar, Viet Nam, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and North Korea. They are forbidden to openly worship, to evangelize, or even hold certain jobs. But we must not forget that Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18). He is actively building and maintaining His church in places which seek to devour and destroy it; where the political leadership is violently opposed to the gospel and Christians do not have the benefits of jobs, healthcare, and safety.

So please exercise the privileges God has graciously granted to you as a citizen of this nation. Vote in the upcoming election. But do not vote based on what the candidate claims he will do for you financially. That’s a very greedy, and thus sinful, viewpoint. Rather, vote for the candidate whose positions on moral issues best reflect the standards of God’s Word. Of course you should be concerned about all those other issues like financial soundness and national security, but ultimately you must rest and trust in our Lord’s sovereign control over those matters and submit to the government regardless of which political party is in control. We need to value what is important to God above our own self-interests. As the psalmist said, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes” (Psalm 118:9).

Monday, June 2, 2008

The Problem of Legalism - Part 3

by Bruce Mills

Due to a busy schedule, I have failed to get part 3 of this series on legalism posted, but it’s finally here. I hope that things will settle down enough now that I can get back to being a little more consistent about posting articles for your reading pleasure (or irritation). As I stated before, this series is based on an article by Truman Dollar, originally published back in the 1960’s.

The Victims of Legalism

Although there is a sense in which all believers are victimized by legalism, some special groups seem particularly vulnerable.

Pastors’ children often suffer from legalism. Church members expect them to act right, but what is right? Frequently that means that they are to keep a set of rules that will not offend the “weakest” brother or sister in the church.

The truth is, the rules are often kept by pastors’ children in order not to embarrass the pastor-father. Frequently the children have no personal convictions about the rules. Their motives are wrong in keeping them. In effect the child is told, “Yours is not to question why; yours is but to do or die.” That approach wrongs the child and denies the Christian faith. Consequently, pastors’ and missionaries’ children often become rebellious. As soon as they leave home they reject the system because the Christian faith has never been internalized.

The truth is, pastors’ kids should live correctly because they have been saved and are directed by the Holy Spirit. They, too, must be allowed to make errors. They must be encouraged to live by godly principles and allowed to make personal choices.

Christian schools and colleges have also been victimized by legalism. It is generally believed that high moral behavior, as well as Christian philosophy, must be the product of a Christian school education. In fact, some would say that the survival of the Christian school movement depends upon evidence that the school has affected the child morally.

This moral result is so important to the image and financing of Christian schools that many schools believe they cannot leave a child’s behavior to chance. If necessary, they must force their students to behave nicely because bad behavior reflects on the whole system of Christian education. It is considered too risky to let students exercise their Christian responsibility to obey God. After all, they might do wrong.

In many cases, fear causes school administrators to resort to stringent rules. There are rules about everything: dress, hair length, language, permissible and impermissible after-school activities, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Now, I strongly believe that a Christian institution is both within its rights and wise to have scriptural and reasonable rules for conduct and appearance. But rules without reason do not motivate students to right behavior, and they do not teach them how to make right moral decisions. It is tragic that many students who have not been taught how to make moral decisions for themselves reject the rules as soon as they are out from under the threat of expulsion or bad grades.

Churches are also victimized by legalism. Church leaders will tell members, “Do not give the church a bad name,” and certainly, all believers must be concerned about the reputation of the local church. However, little or nothing is said about obeying Scripture because it is right and pleasing to God. The goal too often is to protect the church and its reputation rather than to glorify God.

There is a basic flaw in the logic. It is presumed that under a system of law, it doesn’t really matter why you do right. Well, it does matter. Morally correct behavior because of fear of the system will end when the system has no more control. Right behavior as a result of voluntary decisions based on a knowledge of Scripture and a response to the Holy Spirit will continue. This type of behavior builds the individual in the image of Christ.

The Attraction of Legalism

If legalism is so disastrous to personal Christianity, why does it have such a hold on some churches and Christian schools? There are some logical and fairly obvious reasons.

Rule-keeping is easily measured. It is mistakenly believed that an individual’s faith can be quantified. It is presumed that by simply looking at one’s hair, dress, music preference, and so forth, you can always tell what is going on inside. The problem is that such an approach often leads to great surprise, particularly on the part of parents in dealing with their children. The child may look great on the outside, but be ungodly on the inside. It is the child’s heart that really counts. We must major on the inner man.

Legalism eliminates agonizing decisions. To practice your faith, you must learn God’s principles and apply them daily to life’s changing circumstances. This is often painful and stretches your faith, but it is the only Christianity with substance. Ask Daniel how he made it in Babylon. He will tell you how he applied his faith. His faith was internal, and when the test came, he voluntarily made decisions about his lifestyle. He rested in the strength of his personal convictions.

Christian leaders often confuse conformity with spirituality. Conformity is a social pressure and may well have nothing to do with Christianity. Many cults, such as the fundamentalist Mormon sect, which recently made the national news because of their polygamous beliefs and marriage of under aged girls, get their people to conform, but they are not Christian.

Legalism, it should be noted, is the easy way out for insecure Christian leaders. It makes them feel safe, but it is harmful to believers.

It seems clear that the essential difference between legalism and freedom in Christ is the believer’s responsibility for choice. This does not mean freedom to indulge the flesh, ignore your brother’s needs, or ignore the law. Christian liberty is the freedom to choose to do right without a system of rules or an ever-present authority forcing you to do right. Galatians 5:13 states, For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

I am concerned that some believers, even some evangelical Christians, have let their basic belief in total depravity keep them from understanding the moral victory we have in Christ. Some, like the scribes, believe we must hedge Christians in with layers of rules or they will chase wildly after sin. We must recognize that this system of legalism denies the power and victory of the Christian faith. We have totally ignored the practical aspects of both Romans and Galatians (Gal. 2:4, 5:1).

The Response to Legalism

What should our response be to legalism? If rules are not a sure-fire shortcut to spirituality, and ignore the inner man, what can we do? If young people are often driven to rebellion and deprived of responsibility to make right choices by lengthy lists of unreasonable rules, what constructive approach should we take?

First, we need to teach that God makes it clear that some things are wrong, absolutely wrong: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, strife, jealousy, anger, drunkenness, and so forth (Gal. 5:19-21). We must explain and condemn these without hesitancy.

Second, there are some things which are “gray areas” about which Christians disagree. We must admit that. It’s okay to have differences of opinion. But we must remember that license is not an alternative to legalism. In reaction to legalism, we must not flaunt our freedom. We must voluntarily restrict our liberties out of love for others (Rom. 14:3-4).

Third, we must teach the principles of Scripture. They are vital. God wants us to honor Him, dress modestly, and improve the inner man (1 Peter 3:1-4). We must teach people that they are responsible to God personally in these matters. We must teach them about the power of the Holy Spirit and how to use His indwelling strength to achieve victory over sin.

Finally, we must be honest with each other and with young people. We must say, “Rules don’t make you spiritual.” We should admit that rules are based on personal preferences and can sometimes be helpful because they promote safety or enable us to function more easily in our culture. We may even use them in the future, but we will not make keeping them a gauge of spirituality.

We need to challenge young people with honesty and the truth and do it openly. Let’s not be afraid of our critics. This will take great courage and wisdom, but it needs to be done.

Why can’t Christian school administrators say, “The length, style, and color of your hair has nothing to do with your relationship to God, but we would like you to dress modestly because it helps the image of our school. Even the unsaved world associates certain types of dress and hair styles with rebellious attitudes, and we don’t want to promote that image.”

Why can’t we say, “Your mind is important to your spiritual growth, so don’t expose it to filth.”

Why can’t we say, “Music is a gift of God. Study it to learn about its nobility and purpose,” rather than providing a list of unacceptable music and a sledge hammer?

I’ll tell you why. We are afraid that the system of grace and the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people will not really work, and they will embarrass us and our church or educational institution. We are afraid, so we make all the decisions for people by reducing the Christian life to a set of rules. We really believe they will never choose to do right. Well, the truth is that some will choose to do right—if there is any reality in what we profess to believe. If men and women cannot be taught to voluntarily restrain their liberty, the system has failed and Christianity is powerless.

We need to develop honesty and courage when we deal with legalism. We need to give God’s Holy Spirit time to work in the heart of His children, and the result will be that it will amaze us to learn how believers respond to honesty—and compassion.