Pride Comes Before the Fall

It is a parable we say quite often, and not without backing. Over and over we see it happening in our lives – someone experiences something great, glorifies himself for it, then is soon after found eating their share of humble pie.

I have been reading through the book of 2 Chronicles for my personal studies lately, and noticed something absolutely fascinating about what happened to at least two kings of Judah. The first that caught my attention was Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26. This young man was brought into power at just the age of 16! Amazing to think that when we are just getting excited about getting our driver’s licenses, this man is inheriting the throne over Judah! He also held this power for one of the longer periods for the kings – 52 years. Then comes the description of him in verses 4 and 5. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Notice particularly what verse 5 says:

He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.

First, he had a good teacher. Zechariah the prophet had a proper focus on God and was able to convey that to Uzziah. It seems Zechariah was wise enough to point out to this young king that the king’s prosperity was dependant on on his seeking the Lord.

Uzziah seemed to listen, for even again in verse 8 he is noted as growing very strong, in verse 10 he is described as being very wealthy, and his army was continually growing and becoming more and more fortified. Then comes a bad omen in verse 15;

And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

Something is wrong. The focus is off. Rather than focus on the strength of his God, the camera is zeroed in on Uzziah. Verse 16 then describes his downfall;

But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Pride got in the way. He thought he could do anything, even to the point of disregarding the prescriptions in the Law for how sacrifices were to be offered and by whom they were given.

I have to wonder what happened. He did what was right in God’s eyes, until his own pride got the best of him. How can we avoid that? Too often we become proud in our accomplishments, wanting to focus on the many things that we have done. It seems to me Uzziah like other kings did not do something that Scripture repeatedly encourages us to do: remember. In our Bible studies and in our preaching, we want to find the next greatest thing, we want to make new discoveries, plumbing the depths of Scripture. But in doing this we too easily forget the fundamentals. We forget.

So even in this Christmas season, maybe it is important that we take time to remember. Remember the message of the Gospel. Remember the baby born in Bethlehem, that he was born to die. Remember, as Paul states, who we once were and still are.

Remember.

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph. 2:11-13)

Living Out the Gospel: Part 7 – How Now Shall We Live?

First I would like to apologize for my hiatus from this blog over the last number of weeks. I have been in Ireland performing a culture study as well as a missions internship for the last month. To read more on this trip go here.

We now come to a very difficult question. It is in answering this question that we teeter on the brink of reentering a legalistic sort of faith. A friend of mine, Jonathan Erdman, with whom I sometimes agree and sometimes disagree, raises a very interesting and valuable point in regards to this issue. He in fact plans to write a book about it! At one point in his leak blog post he writes;

Protestant Christianity of all stripes carries [reciprocity] into their idea of grace, albeit in a way that I consider to be somewhat disingenuous: God gives you the "free" gift of salvation.....therefore....you should should be grateful and do __________. Where many Christians differ is in the way they fill in the blank. But there always seems to be a blank. The result of this is that most Christians carry forward some brand of guilt--guilt for not being good enough or making enough "spiritual progress," moral failings, etc.

It is true that in nearly all, if not every, form of religion carries into its theology this idea of reciprocity, or as Erdman refers to it, an “economy of reciprocity.” Yet, even as we discussed before, salvation does come by grace. So what is the catch? Is there a catch? It would seem based on our previous discussions about the gospel, there is a catch; a call to holiness and the way of suffering.

Think carefully. Holiness is what was required of the people under the Law and they failed miserably. Christ comes after some time of living under the Law and does perfectly what man could not – fulfill the whole Law perfectly. The Law served as a teacher, showing man he could not do it (Galatians 3:24 – the Greek word translated guardian is the term for pedagogue). So salvation must come to us as a gift, and thus the term grace, because we cannot earn it.

Yet then we are called to live a certain way in light of that freely given, unmerited gracious gift. Has grace become something other than gracious? No. We talked before about the work of the Spirit in a person’s life which results in a radical change of view regarding sin and thus a change in how people live and respond to sin. We live and strive to be holy because he is holy, not because it is commanded only, but also because our love for him automatically results in our desire to obtain that holiness. This is why John is able to say in I John 3:3 “everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” It is the natural reaction of the one who has been redeemed.

So back to Erdman’s statement. Many churches do say we “should be grateful and do __________.” But indeed this is the wrong emphasis and salvation is no longer truly received by grace through faith alone. Forcing holiness and creating this expectation on people can create a false sense of duty in the Christian life. We should be able to expect to see a life change in people’s lives, but if we have to ask for it or even worse, demand it, then we have indeed lost sight of the grace that brings salvation. It is a difficult position to maintain, but nevertheless does seem to be what Scripture teaches.

HT: Jonathan Erdman

Living out the Gospel: Part 5 – The Commands of the Message

You are my disciples, if you do what I command.

Curious isn’t it that the New Testament which is so focused on grace and not living under the law would include commands that are often more difficult to obey than the ones given in the Old Testament Law? This is important to realize when understanding the balance the Gospel creates between man’s and God’s responsibility. God is the one who saves as we stated before, but it does not leave man to do as he wishes. Man also has a responsibility.

Christ demanded obedience. Extreme obedience. On the one hand we must believe and it is God who grants us the faith to believe, so it is God’s responsibility to save man. But man is also expected to obey the calling of Christ. To follow him. To emulate him. To serve as his ambassadors. This is a high calling. Consider this; Peter writes in his letter to the churches; “Be holy in all manner of conversation.” Think deeply on this command. Is it even possible to be holy in every interaction we have with other people; Christian and non-Christian alike? No. Not on our own. But with Christ, because of the Gospel being lived out daily in our lives it is possible.

Another famed passage is Romans 12:1-2:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This passage is a command colored with the language of “appeal.” The word carries the idea of a strong urging, begging, imploring someone to do the action stated afterward. Paul urges them, but then states that this action is not just a nice thing to do, but IS our worship. thus this is a command given in the language of an appeal.

Afterward is another command, first given negatively and then positively. First we are to not conform. Paul typically uses the term “world” to refer to the evil aspects of the world, the idea of conforming to a sinful condition. Instead, we are to “be transformed.” True, this is in the passive tense, which many think takes the emphasis off of what we must do. Thus, we can focus on not conforming, then let go and let God do the transforming. I think this is a faulty interpretation. Given all the other commands scattered frequently throughout the New Testament, we are not passive receptors of transformation, but active participants in the process. We transform ourselves and God transforms us. It is a dual relationship.

A reading through Paul’s letters will note the regularity which Paul attaches his commands to the Gospel. That is the beauty of the transformation. We participate with God in transforming ourselves. We work together with God. God does not do it all nor do we do it all. We do it together with him who gives us the power. But the point is we must still work towards being holy. We must still participate in the transformation process. We must obey.

Part 6 of this series will bring out another aspect of this Gospel calling: the way of suffering. Part 7 will answer the obedience question: What does God require of us to live out the Gospel?

Grace Be With You

What a nice way to close a letter! Warm fuzzies spread through the body as we close out conversations and letters with the simple phrase (or maybe a slightly more developed form) “grace be with you.” Paul liked to use this, giving some form of it in every one of his letters. But is that all this is? Some trite statement that sounds like a simple, nice way to open and close a letter? I do not believe so.

Consider the nature of Paul’s letters. Typically, his purpose in writing is to address a spiritual or theological issue plaguing the church. The letters usually consist of two parts, the first doctrine, and the second action. We could label them as the first the Orthodoxy section, and the second as the Orthopraxy section The second is always rooted in the first as if to say; “this is what we believe, now here is what we should do as a result of that belief.” Yet, with a careful reading of the orthopraxy, it seems as though his desires of what the church should do is unattainable. These are high and lofty demands!

Rooted throughout his demands though is one thing we can never forget. Paul’s writings are loaded with the centrality of the Gospel. He knows that in everything, orthodoxy and orthopraxy, the Gospel is what gives it power, what makes both possible. Without Christ, doctrine is useless and practice is hopeless. It is this fact, this Gospel, that makes “grace be with you” more than just a trite statement to give the readers warm fuzzies. The grace of Christ is what makes anything Paul writes about possible, without his grace we are powerless to live a life that is pleasing to him.

Think for example; Timothy, a young man is placed in charge of a troubled church and Paul gives him this list of things he wants Timothy to do to make the church become strong again. The charge is immense, almost impossible. But Paul closes out the letter with a very simple statement, three words in the Greek; “grace be with you.” I can hear Timothy now, reading those words; “ahhh.” Timothy may have been overwhelmed, but that simple reminder let him know God is with him, God’s grace is upon him, and because God’s grace is there for him, he can do what he has been charged to do.

So as we face the tasks of life, seeking to live according to the holy will of God, just remember this statement and all its implications:

GRACE BE WITH YOU.