Gentleness and Respect

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Pete

So, it appears I’ll be completing a trilogy of thoughts this morning as I wrap up 1 Peter 3.

A couple of days ago I was challenged by entrusting myself to Him who judges justly (1Pet. 2:23b). About not having to defend myself when I feel like I’m being put on the defensive. About not arguing when I think I have a good argument to make. About being willing to trust God to bring to light what needs to be brought to light — or not. About entrusting myself to “the Shepherd and Overseer” of my soul (1Pet. 2:25b).

Yesterday, it was the reminder that taking such a submissive posture comes with a level of risk. Submitting to someone can work out well when they are “for you”, but if they’re not, well, then it has the potential to go off the rails in some manner. At least your rails. But if placing ourselves under authority is done from the heart (1Pet. 3:4) as unto the Lord (Eph. 5:21), then we gotta believe that in God’s sight it’s “very precious” (1Pet. 3:4b). And that’s really what matters. So, says Peter, do it and do not fear anything that is frightening (1Pet. 3:6b).

In today’s reading, while I’ve been exhorted over the past couple of days to quiet my tongue and submit my spirit, I’m also being exhorted to be prepared to give an answer.

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect . . .

(1Peter 3:14-15 ESV)

Recently I read in Ecclesiastes that “for everything there is a season; a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). Among “everything”, says Solomon, there is a “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Eccl. 3:7b). Peter would seem to concur. While these believers in exile were to not sin with their mouth, following the example of Jesus, and while they were to submit as they should, trusting the way of Jesus, they were also to be ready to “make a defense” for the hope that compelled them to act in such a manner — their hope in Jesus. So, says Peter, be ready to speak when it’s time to speak.

Yet, he says, do it with all gentleness and respect.

Gentleness and reverence, is how the NASB renders it. Meekness and fear, according to the NKJV.

The word translated respect most often has the idea of fear, dread, or terror. So, it could mean that in our giving an answer we are to be gentle towards men out of a reverent fear of God. But, given the full range of how the word is translated in the NT, it also seems within the realm of likely possibility that it is being used to convey a reverence, or respect, towards those before whom one is making their defense.

Bottom line for this guy this morning? When being prepared to make a defense, be prepared to not be defensive. When being prepared to make the argument, be prepared not to argue. Instead, when asked, be prepared to give an answer with gentleness and respect toward those you are addressing out of obedience to the One you are serving.

When asked, make the case, but be prepared to do it with meekness. Relay what’s true, but do it with respect and reverence.

Trust the One who justifies. Submit to others out of reverence for Christ. Be prepared to speak the truth, but with all gentleness and respect. A good set of takeaways from the last three mornings. More than I can muster on my own, I fear. But I’m not on my own. The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20b).

Gentleness and respect.

By His grace. For His glory.

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The Risk of Submitting

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Pete

Chew on it a bit, and you realize what a huge ask Peter was making. Just as were all the believers Peter was writing to, these ladies, by the very nature of their confession of faith and determination to follow Jesus, were becoming increasingly out of step with a prevailing culture that was becoming increasingly hostile toward their faith. Then, put them in a home with an unbelieving husband? It’s not a stretch to imagine the hostility from outside their tents fueled a palpable tension within their tents. So, what’s a wife to do?

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. . . . For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

(1Peter 3:1, 5-6 ESV)

Be subject. Submit. With today’s cultural sensibilities those words are like fingernails on a chalkboard. In an age of expressive individualism, we yield to no one but ourselves.

But for the church, for disciples of Christ, I think there’s something instructive here. Not in a “complementarian” vs. “egalitarian” sense. But in a broader sense. Something for everyone who bears the name of Christ. For, as Paul would instruct the Ephesian believers, all those who follow Jesus are to be “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21).

So, here’s the takeaway I’m taking away this morning. That in order to submit to others as Jesus would have us do; we are not to be afraid of the potential consequences of submitting.

Do not fear anything that is frightening. That, it seems to me, is a key command to get hold of when it comes to submitting as we should.

In Peter’s context, I think it’s about first century wives doing what first century wives ought to do as they display the beauty of “the hidden person of the heart” with a gentle and quiet spirit (1Pet. 3:4) in the hope that their unbelieving husband might be “won without a word” by their conduct. It’s about taking the risk of submitting to an unbelieving husband amidst a hostile culture for the sake of the gospel. Thus, with eternity-impacting goals in mind, not fearing anything that is frightening.

Same for me. Submission is risky business. Aligning myself under the will of another can go south pretty quickly if the “another” is other than in a similar posture of willing submission to me. Christian subjection isn’t about putting myself under someone’s control because they deserve it but because my Lord desires it. In fact, if they’re battling the flesh as much as I am, chances are at some point they could take advantage of someone else’s submissive spirit. So, for me too, it’s risky business to submit to another. But I too am commanded, do not fear anything that is frightening.

How can we not fear anything that is frightening? By submitting to others because we submit to Christ. For the love of Christ casts out all fear (1Jn. 4:18).

As I learned years ago through the Love and Respect seminars, my submission to another is possible when I look over their shoulder and I see Jesus standing behind them and purpose, by His enabling, to submit to Him. My subjection to another is motivated by my subjection to Jesus. I place myself under another because I’ve put my trust in Jesus. I take the risk because I believe in the Redeemer who loved me and gave Himself for me. So, I act without fearing anything that is frightening.

Easier said than done? Yeah, I’m thinking. But I can do all things through Him who strengthens me (Php. 4:13) by the power of Him who lives in me (Gal. 2:20).

Willing to take the risk of submitting because it’s a way of responding to the love of the Savior.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Entrusting Myself to Him Who Judges Justly

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Pete

I am wired to be a justifier. Not necessarily a justifier of all things to all people, just a justifier of myself.

I don’t think I have to be right all the time–I think I know enough about people in general, and me in particular, that nobody is right all the time. But if I’m honest with myself, when I am right I’m inclined to want others to know I’m right. I don’t know that I’m argumentative, but I am up for a good argument. Don’t like to think I’m defensive, but more than able to defend myself. This isn’t sounding good is it?

This look in the mirror this morning comes courtesy of Peter’s exhortation to turn my eyes toward the example of Jesus.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.

(2Peter 2:21-23 ESV)

Context? Peter has just commanded Christian servants to be subject to their masters “with all respect.” Not just those masters who were “good and gentle” but also to those who weren’t. Do it, says Peter, not because they deserve it but because you are “mindful of God.” These brothers, free before a holy God but in servitude to unjust mere men, were to believe that when they endured sorrow while “suffering unjustly” that it would be seen as a “grace thing” in the sight of God (2:18-20).

Their precedent for believing such a thing? Their example for how to live out such a thing? Cue Sunday School Answer 101: Jesus!

If ever there was one who was right, it was Jesus. If ever there was one who others should know He was right, it was Jesus. If ever there was one who could justly make His case at the highest court over creation . . . well, you know who that was. But “mindful of God”, submitted to the Father’s purposes, He remained silent entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.

He “kept on delivering all into the keeping of the One who judges righteously” (Wuest). “He simply committed His cause to the One who judges fairly” (Philips). He was “content to let God set things right” (Peterson). The example of Jesus is to let the God who alone is just be the justifier. The way of Him who is “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29) is to believe that the Father will bring to light what is right — for He in His essence is righteousness.

I don’t need to justify myself; I only need to entrust myself to Him who is the Justifier. I don’t need to be right and win the argument, I need to rest in the One who is righteous and who will ultimately win the day.

I’m wired to be a justifier, but I have been rewired to rely on the One who is just. By the power of the Spirit in me, I need to wage war with the old man who wants to live according to the old wiring — entrusting myself to Him who judges justly.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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Why Ask?

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Pete

It’s got to be one of the weirdest questions in all of Scripture. But, chew on it a bit, and it’s also has to be one of the most penetrating.

Where? At a pool called Bethesda, in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate. Who? A multitude of individuals–blind, lame, and paralyzed. In particular, one man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Why? According to the margin (not in my ESV’s main text), they were waiting for an angel to stir the water and whoever was the first person in would be healed. What? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Never had the man made it into the water first. Still lame after 38 years. Why? For an encounter of the divine kind. Cue Jesus.

Jesus sees the man. Jesus knows he has been there a long time. And, Jesus engages the man. Here comes the weird question.

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

(John 5:6 ESV)

“Do you want to be healed?” Do you wish to be made well? Are you wanting to become whole?

What kind of question is that?

Lame for 38 years. Trying to get into the pool first for a long time. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Of course he wants to be healed. Why ask?

But that’s exactly what we should be chewing on. Why would Jesus–the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the One who knew this man better than the man knew himself–why would He ask such a question? That’s the question we should be asking.

For 38 years this man had been unable to walk. For 38 years no one expected him to get a job. For 38 years others provided for his needs. For 38 years there was no expectation that he’d stand on his own two feet because he had no power to stand on his own two feet. Being healed would change all that.

If he were made well he’d be expected to live as well people should live. To carry his own mat and, maybe, take flack for doing so (Jn. 5:9-10). He would be responsible to steward his regenerated body in a manner consistent with his body now being a whole body. He might have to say good-bye to the camaraderie of living as did the other invalids around the pool, and say hello to interacting with the world at large. To think about serving those around the pool rather than being served. If he were made whole, his whole way of living would change.

Are you up for that? Are you ready to no longer be the center of attention? Are you ready to no longer be the object of low expectations. Do you want to be healed?

Being healed would be a step of faith. Believing that the One who could give him legs to walk would also be there to direct his steps. That the power to heal would be the same power that could sustain. That the divine determination to make him well would come with the divine direction as to how to live well. Even if it meant that taking up your mat would also mean taking up your cross.

Do you want to be healed?

Lots of reasons for the man to tap out. To decide that new life might be too hard a life. That staying with the familiar might just be easier. To say, “Nah, I’m good. I’ll settle for this.”

But for those who say, “Yes, Lord. I want to be whole.” Let the adventure begin! Walking is the way to go. Walking with Jesus is the way to be made whole.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Satisfied

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Pete

Hovering over Jeremiah 31 this morning. Big idea? “There is hope for your future” (Jer. 31:17a).

A disciplined people would eventually find grace in the wilderness (31:2). The God who called them on their sin, and sent them packing to Babylon, was the same God who loved them “with an everlasting love” (31:3) and promised that a great company would return to the land of promise (31:8). He who scattered His people would be He who gathers His people and He who keeps His people “as a shepherd keeps his flock” (31:10). They would be known as the ransomed and the redeemed (31:11) and their mourning would turn into joy. Gladness would displace their sorrow (31:13).

But here’s what I’m chewing on, in particular — His people would be satisfied.

“I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, declares the LORD. . . For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

(Jeremiah 31:14, 25 ESV)

Satisfied. Who doesn’t want to be satisfied? Satiated? Filled up?

Too much of life, it seems, can be done running on empty. Just enough gas in the tank to accomplish whatever the next task is that needs to get done. Then, a quick fuel stop, just enough to get the needle off empty, and off again to whatever’s next. Cruise control, too often, permanently engaged.

But the promise of God for His people is that they would be satisfied. And that, with His goodness. Their weary and languishing souls would be replenished. And that, with Himself.

In our now but not yet reality of the kingdom, we can experience foretastes of such provision. We know times of being full. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). And so, we long for the day of when being full to the brim becomes our default reality. The Lord’s goodness so permeating every facet of life that nothing else more is needed or wanted.

But in the meantime, as Paul did, we learn to be content in whatever situation (Php. 4:11). Not expecting satisfaction to be found in our circumstance but in abiding with the Savior. “Come to Me,” He says, “and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). His abiding presence our all-sufficient portion. Respite found in Him amidst the rigors of day-to-day life in the world.

And it’s in these quiet moments in the morning, when a few minutes are taken to refuel in the word and recalibrate through meditation, that a realization dawns that even in this now but not yet time, I am satisfied. And that, with Him.

His grace sufficient. His mercies new every morning.

Continuing to learn to be content in all situations. Because God is good. All the time.

By His grace. For His glory.

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A Perpetual Spring

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Pete

It was quite the claim. Intriguing, in fact. To never be thirsty again would be wonderful. But to never have to come to the well to draw water again? That would be amazing!

No more the daily burden of carrying heavy buckets which bowed the back. No more long treks to replenish what had only yesterday been full. And, as some suggest, no more trying to avoid the crowds and their judging glances and gossip because she seemed to go through men like Kleenex during a cold. If she was picking up what Jesus was laying down (and she wasn’t quite yet), He had water to give that would satisfy every thirst because it would source within her a perpetual spring of water.

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

(John 4:13-14 ESV)

In him a spring of water welling up. As the CSB puts it, a well of water springing up within him. The picture of self-perpetuating water sourced from within is what captures my attention this morning.

Had Jesus just said there was living water to be accessed leading to eternal life and shown us where to get it every day, I’m thinking most of us would be up for putting in the effort to go retrieve some. Instead, He says, I’m going to source the water internally. Drink of it, and the reason you’ll never thirst again is because it will be a forever fountain within you.

No more trying to bear the heavy burden of vessels which can never contain enough. No more the walks of futility to only fill up what will soon be empty. No more the fear of shame for failures we are unable to keep from racking up. No more burden, futility, and shame because no more thirst.

No more thirst because of a perpetual spring of living water welling up. The parched soul with the potential to be a thing of the past, because of a self-regenerating well of water springing up. That’s the promise. How’s it possible? Because the Source of living water takes up residence within those who so desperately need to drink of it.

“Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive . . .

(John 7:38-39a ESV)

No thirst because I’m supernaturally piped into an eternal flow of water. The only effort required on my part? To drink of it. To commune by the Spirit given to me with the Source who has said He will always have living water for me.

A perpetual spring. Rivers of living water ever flowing.

In me. Through Him.

What grace. To Him be all the glory.

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Lord Willing (2012 Rerun)

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Pete

This morning I’m hovering over the first part of Ecclesiastes 7 and the last verses of James 4. God has made “the day of prosperity”, says the Preacher, so be joyful. But then immediately Solomon reminds us that God is also the author of “the day of adversity”, and in that day we should “consider.” And of the many things we can be reminded of in the day of adversity, the foremost may be that we don’t know what tomorrow will bring (Eccl. 7:14). Cue James 4 and the warning against the boastful arrogance of talking about tomorrow as if it’s ours to command and direct. Went back 10 years ago in my journal and found these thoughts to chew on again.

Two words. Two words that can be the difference between presumption and proper perspective . . . two words that can ground our earthly lives in the context of heavenly realities . . . two words that can serve to remind us that we are not captains of our own ships but are, in fact, sojourners whose steps are directed by a Sovereign. Two words . . . Lord willing.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”–yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

(James 4:13-15 ESV)

I should be mindful to finish more sentences with the two words, Lord willing. Not to exhibit some mindless piety . . . but to remind myself that I have been created by a God who has already recorded all the days He formed for me (Psalm 139:16) . . . to ground myself in the reality that, though I may plan my way, it is the LORD who directs my steps (Prov. 16:9) . . . to sincerely acknowledge that I have been bought with a price and that I am not my own (1Cor. 6:19-20). If spoken mindfully, there’s a lot of foundation setting with “Lord willing.”

Life’s unpredictable . . . amen? Who doesn’t know that? You can go to bed one night and before morning your life is turned upside down . . . the absolutely unimaginable is now your reality . . . the unplanned is now what you have to plan around. So what folly is it to think we are masters of our own destiny? What arrogance to think we can power our way to where we want to go?

Not to say that we don’t set goals . . . or make plans . . . or embark on paths . . . but, as James reminds me this morning, we do so in the context of a sincere, humble “Lord willing.”

For those of us who, by God’s grace, have received the gift of eternal life by faith . . . who have recognized the depth of our need because of sin’s bondage and have seen the redemption and reconciliation offered through Jesus who, on Calvary’s cruel cross, paid the full price for our transgressions . . . for us, we own Jesus not just as Savior . . . not just as Shepherd . . . but as Lord and Master. And while a master might give his bondservant a range of responsibilities and the freedom to steward those responsibilities, at the end of the day it is the master’s prerogative to direct his servant. Thus, whatever plans we make for tomorrow, we do well to remember they are as “the Lord wills.”

Our freedom is not license to go rogue. Our freedom is not to fuel presumption. God forbid that our freedom would allow seeds of pride to germinate which cause us to think that it’s about “our will be done.”

And so, “Lord willing” just becomes smart thinking. “Lord willing” becomes a real-time temperature check on our priorities and planning. “Lord willing” has a way of keeping our eye to the sky as we are reminded that things could change in the twinkling of an eye.

Ok . . . done. Time to walk . . . time to get ready . . . time to go to work . . . Lord willing.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Greatest Passion, Greatest Pleasure

Posted on October 6, 2022 by Pete

There’s no way you read this and it shouldn’t give pause. No way you encounter James’ emphatic statement and subsequent warning and, for a moment at least, do a quick heart check. Better yet, when it comes to discerning friendship with the world, it seems to me that praying the psalmist’s pray might be a prudent course of action,

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me”

(Psalm 139:23-24a ESV).

James diagnoses a problem within the band of believers he is addressing. Are there quarrel and fights among you, he asks? Then, at its core, it’s about the “passions” at war within you. Want a second opinion? Check out your prayer life. Your asking for the wrong stuff so that you can “spend it on your passions” (Ja. 4:1-2).

Passions, that’s how the ESV renders it. The NKJV is a bit more literal with desires for pleasure. The original word is hedone from which we get our modern word hedonistic. We’re wired for pleasure. But that wiring can get short-circuited when we live for the pursuit of pleasure. When the cravings of what the flesh wants becomes our driving force in life, it’s going to fracture relationships — both horizontal and vertical.

It’s in that context that James bluntly calls out some of his readers.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

(James 4:4 ESV)

It’s an either/or thing. It’s not a both/and thing. You can’t embrace the world and be faithful to God. To be a BFF with the world is to cheat on God. Worse yet, James says to be a friend with the world actually makes us an enemy of God. Whoa! And at the root of friendship with the world is our natural propensity to pursue our passions and desires for pleasure. Hmm . . .

Search me, O God.

I know I like pleasure. I also know that the world has a lot to offer when it comes to pleasure. So, I also need to know that, as long as the flesh continues to war against the Spirit (Gal. 5:17), these passions are gonna vie for top spot on my pursuit chart. They’ll want the biggest piece of my time pie. And so, unchecked, unbridled, and undirected they’re gonna lead me to friendship with the world, aka enmity with God. Hmm, again . . .

Search me, O God, and know my heart.

I want to be the friend of Him who said He has called me His friend (Jn. 15:14-15) and gave His life so that we could commune together. And I want to be a faithful friend.

Oh, that being His friend would be my greatest passion because I believe it is the way of knowing the greatest pleasure.

Only by God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

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Taming the Untamable

Posted on October 4, 2022 by Pete

Oh, if ever there were an area of my life in which I needed to know the functional reality of “it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20), it’s the area of what comes out of my mouth. Scripture says so. Too often, I show so.

“A small member,” writes James, “yet it boasts of great things” (Ja. 3:5). A fire; a world of unrighteousness; staining the whole body; setting on fire the entire course of life; itself fueled from the depths of Gehenna itself (3:6). A restless evil, full of deadly poison, schizophrenic in nature as it blesses our Lord and Father in one breath and then curses people who are made in His likeness in the next (3:8-9). Heavy sigh!

But here’s what’s grabbed me this morning, in particular. James’ conclusion and James’ command.

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. . . . From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

(James 3:7-8a, 10 ESV)

No human being can tame the tongue. It is untamable. Yet, these things ought not to be so. Or, as Peterson puts it, “My friends, this can’t go on” (MSG). Tame it, James says.

Talk about your no-win situation. Talk about repeated failure. Talk about frustration. Talk about “the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing”; about “wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:19, 24). If I’m picking up what James is laying down, I’m no match for the tongue, yet James says, match it! Tame the untamable.

How? Cue my union with Christ.

The question isn’t, “How am I going to tame my tongue?” Rather, in Christ and Christ in me, it’s, “How are we?” For it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.

No human being can tame the tongue, except for the perfect human being, the Man who is Lord of the tongue, for He is the One in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9). In Christ, I am no longer a slave to my tongue. Christ in me means I have the power to live into that reality.

As I abide in Him and He in me (Jn. 15:4), as He increases and I decrease (Jn. 3:30), as I am conformed to the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29), as I’m transformed by the renewal of my mind (Rom. 12:2), I should be experiencing other-worldly victories over this world’s realities. Even those involving the tongue.

In those victories, I know the reality of the abiding Jesus. I know what it is to be yoked with Him, our communion together bearing the fruit of a controlled tongue.

But even in those times when the old man, the old world, or the old devil trip me up, and the tongue goes where I really don’t want it to because of a heart that is not tuned as I wish it were, then too I can know sweet communion with the Christ who lives in me as He meets me at the foot of the cross. I confess my wayward words, I repent of an unbridled tongue, and I trust that “we” will know increasing mastery of this miserable little member.

So, whether in taming or in turning and trying again, I know His amazing grace. And in some way, He says it will bring Him glory.

Taming the untamable. All because it is not longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

Amen?

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Listen and Do

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Pete

“Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be My people, and I will be your God, that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.”

(Jeremiah 11:4b-5a ESV)

Ears to hear and a willingness to obey. Those are the “franchise requirements” for the people of God. Was under the Old Covenant. So it is with the New.

Can’t help but read this morning within the context of our class last night. We’ve been wading into what Kevin DeYoung has said “may be the most important doctrine you’ve never heard of”, our union with Christ. To be “in Christ” and for Christ to be “in us” is mind-stretching, awe-inspiring, and worship-invoking. To think of the practical implications of what it means that, because I have been crucified with Christ, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20) is to enter into the contemplation of a God-ordained, Son-enabled, Spirit-empowered venture into living out who I am “in Christ.” And a big part of that is being saved by grace through faith so that I might walk in obedience.

It was the Jeremiah passage which first grabbed my attention, this morning. God’s people are those people who listen to His voice and do all that He commands. Sounds pretty “Old Testament.” But the Old Testament isn’t portraying a different God or different economy for being the people of God than does the New Testament. It actually sets us up for the good news of the power revealed in the New Testament to practically live out being the people of God.

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”

(John 1:43 ESV)

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

(James 2:18 ESV)

Jesus says to Philip, “Follow Me!” Listen and obey. To follow Jesus, we know, is to deny yourself and take up your cross (Mt. 16:24).

James says that to follow by faith will manifest itself in a walk characterized by works. Obedience being the fruit of faith. Duty being born out of grace.

And, while we might view grace and duty as in holy tension, not so with Jesus. The Son is “full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14), “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17). And yet, the Son who is grace in essence, would say, “I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me” (Jn. 5:30). In the garden He would pray, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done” (Lk. 22:42). So that as a Son “He learned obedience through what He suffered” (Heb. 5:8).

The perfect Man, representing all those who are “in Him”, brings together grace and duty. He brings to all those who have been saved by grace alone through faith alone, the rest found in His finished work (Jn. 19:3) while enabling all those who obey the call to follow Him with the resources to accomplish the good works prepared in advance by God for them to do (Eph. 2:10). This because of our union with Christ.

Grace and obedience. Not an either/or thing, but a both/and thing. As Rankin Wilbourne puts it in his book, Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God, “Because of your union with Christ, these songs of ‘Extravagant Grace’ and ‘Radical Discipleship’ can no more be separated in your life than Christ himself can be torn in two.”

“Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be My people, and I will be your God . . .”

Listen and do. Only as we are in Christ.

His ever-patient grace in us. His perfect obedience living through us.

For our good. For God’s glory.

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