Charity: Living in the Real World

1Cor 13:13 (KJS) And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

I come to the wrap-up of my mini-series: Faith, Hope and Charity: Living in the Real World.  My goal has been to contrast the way naturalists think about these three things and what the Bible says about them. The series started with the recognition that faith in God, creator of the universe and ultimate author of the Bible, is a choice. Naturalists choose to reject this unseen God. They place their faith in science alone, and science is simply a finely tuned method for gaining knowledge by sight – observation and experiment. Anyone who has received God’s revelation of himself through both creation and scripture is not limited by sight, and this knowledge by revelation given by the creator and redeemer of the world does not contradict that which comes by sight but includes and makes sense of it. This Divine source of wisdom, knowledge and depth of insight, when received by faith enables us to be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, while the one who does not have this Divine source has only laws and theories that are more or less highly probable.

I come now to charity. You are probably asking, “Why have you switched to the King James version to talk about the greatest of these three things you have been writing about? Why not just talk about ‘love’?”  I did so because the word ‘charity’ captures the essence of biblical love, especially at this time of year, when we are all thinking about giving ‘for which no goods or services were exchanged in return for these gifts.’ John 3:16 says it all: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just as Jesus provides the model of faith that is sure of what we hope for, so also He and the Father provide the model of love that is given, not in exchange for services or goods received, but that is all grace – unearned and undeserved favor. When God the Father gave his Son, so that you and I might have eternal life he revealed his very essence: God is love. He exists forever in three persons united by love, and he created us so that we too might live for all eternity within his circle of eternal love. When we become his children he puts his Spirit in us to remind us of his promises given in scripture, and to lead us and teach us as we grow in faith, hope, and charity, living successfully in the real world of 21^st century America.

Hope: Living in the Real World

Faith, hope and charity are the defining characteristics that set apart a life lived in the presence of God.  Jesus of Nazareth was the only man ever to live this “set apart” life perfectly from the moment of his conception in Mary’s womb until his dying breath on the cross.   He was the God-man, we are not; but because of who he was and what he did, you and I who know him as Savior and Lord have hope that, “just as we have born the likeness of the earthly man, so also we will bear the likeness of the man from heaven.  (1 Cor.15: 49).  That is a promise. The Word also tells us that: “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Eph. 1:3,4). One day we will be completely healed of the brokenness of our lives caused by sin. We do not yet see what we as individuals will be, but we know we will all bear the image of Christ.

This Biblical hope is what our faith looks like, as the writer of Hebrews tells us: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Heb. 11:1). Unlike the hope of the one who lives exclusively by sight, we who live by faith in the unseen God can be sure of what we hope for.  If our hope is that we will be changed into the likeness of Christ, the lamb without blemish, then we can be sure of being healed from the physical, emotional, and spiritual brokenness of this world… if not here on earth, then in heaven. We too will be without blemish, and this hope impacts our life right now, here in this body.  Paul said “…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”(Gal. 2:20 KJS). Christ is our model for living successfully in the real world here on earth, and that new life starts with faith that is sure of what we hope for – faith like Christ’s.

How can faith in the unseen be certain while belief that is restricted to what is seen is only more or less probable? The author of Hebrews tells us that, “…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb. 11:6). Naturalists do not believe that God exists and they do not believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  They believe the only source of knowledge is the physical senses and scientific instruments. We may summarize their belief about living in the real world by the phrase, “they walk by sight.”  We who have faith in the unseen God have a source of knowledge that they do not have. It is revelation from God, the Bible, and this knowledge does not contradict that which comes by sight, but includes and makes sense of it.  God rewards us with knowledge and depth of insight so we may be able to discern what is best for our own lives and for those we love as we live in the real world, trusting him with all our heart to direct our paths and to heal all our brokenness.

Faith: Living in the Real World

Faith, hope and charity, that’s the way to live successfully. How do I know? The Bible tells me so. Those words from a children’s Sunday school song that got lodged into the deep recesses of my mind a long time ago are now surfacing as I think about my next series of meditations on living in the real world.  That song expresses the simple truth that the first requirement for living successfully in the real world is to have Biblical faith.   So I will start by looking at what the Bible says about “faith.”

Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “…without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (NKJ)  Having faith means that we come to the unseen God believing that he is real and that, as we diligently seek him, we are doing what pleases him, and he will reward our search by showing himself to us. That is, he will give us more faith. The writer of the book of Proverbs puts it this way,  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Prov. 3:5)  That is a promise.  When we put our faith in God our Creator, He will show us the way to live successfully in the real world he created. Biblical faith is living confidently, looking to the future, which we do not yet see, with a hope that is sure. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Heb.11:1).

I now contrast this Biblical faith in the unseen God with the faith of the naturalist who lives by sight and says that everything we observe must have a naturalistic explanation – one that can be formulated as a law of nature and verified by careful observation with the physical senses and scientific instruments. This philosophy governing scientific method worked very well when the things being observed were physical phenomena studied by physics and chemistry. The laws formulated had great certainty.  Yet, as science has evolved probability has replaced certainty so that today no scientific law is said to be absolutely certain, just more or less highly probable.  Laws and theories, once considered highly probable, can also loose that status, as exemplified by “the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature” which, according to the well-know naturalist philosopher Thomas Nagel, is “almost certainly false.” Many have chosen to live according to the philosophy of naturalism because they were deceived into thinking that Darwin’s theory did away with the need for God. For them, the theory of evolution explaining how all life, including human life, evolved from inanimate matter made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. They put their faith in the philosophy of naturalism rather than the unseen God who has revealed himself in scripture, and in these last days by his Son. My next meditation will be on Hope: Living in the real world.

It's a Choice

Naturalism is the philosophy that says that everything we observe must have a naturalistic explanation – one that can be formulated as a law of nature and verified by careful observation with the physical senses and scientific instruments. It is the philosophy governing scientific method, and has worked very well when the things being observed are physical phenomena such as those studied by physics and chemistry. In fact it has worked so well that some scientists, having been carefully trained to accept only naturalistic explanations in their area of expertise, have chosen to believe that everything that is must have a naturalistic explanation. If it can’t be explained in this way, even in principle, it does not exist. Atheist Carl Sagan summed it up with his famous statement, “ The Cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be,” no God, therefore no miracles, no objective morality, no evil, no goodness, no truth, no souls, no human consciousness, no forgiveness of sin, and no healing for the brokenness of this world caused by sin.

There are probably other things all of us encounter in our everyday lives which must be explained away by the naturalist, but this is a good beginning for my next series of meditations. But wait a minute!  There is one more thing! The existence of the Cosmos itself is a problem for the naturalists.  They do have the Big Bang theory.  It all started with the Big Bang, but they can’t explain what caused the Big Bang. When that theory was first unveiled, many scientists did not like it because it sounded too much like Genesis.  It says there was a beginning.  Dumb matter – particles in motion – did not always exist, so their origin must now be explained.  Most scientists have learned to live with the unanswered question, but naturalists must take every thought captive and make it obedient to the restrictions of their worldview.  “Have faith.” they say, “Everything that is must have a naturalistic explanation at least in principle, so just wait awhile, one will come along eventually. Remember the joy we knew back in 1859 when Darwin published The Origin of Species. We could finally explain how life emerged out of inanimate matter.” So says the naturalist. 

Naturalism has become well established as the worldview of academia, but recently atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel stunned the establishment with his book, “Mind and Cosmos – Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False.”  We must now choose our worldview. Do we want a naturalistic “Conception of Nature, which is almost certainly false,” or do we want the real world?  I choose the real world in which there really is objective morality, real good as well as real evil, real truth not just “true for you but not for me,” real human consciousness, real forgiveness of sin, and most importantly, healing for the brokenness of this world caused by sin. My next series of meditations will be on Faith, Hope, and Charity:  Living in the real world.

Creator

Something truly life-changing happened to me when I chose to believe the very first verse in the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I repented from the dead work of trying to prove that, since we now have science and the theory of evolution to explain everything, we no longer need God. By faith I had come to “see” with the eyes of my heart that there are things in nature, the material realm studied by science, that cannot be explained even in principle by science operating from the visible. For example the fact of objective morality that is true for all people everywhere cannot be explained by scientific studies of how people do behave and the rules for living actually practiced in various cultures.  Such studies can only give us moral relativism, “true for you but not for me.” I had come to realize the truth of Romans 1:20, “…since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Creation was the very first miracle. The unseen God preceded and is superior to the visible realm because He created it.  So much for my former atheism!

The Creator did give mankind the ability to do science. He gave us the kind of sense organs and mind that can discover the basic laws of physics, chemistry and biology that He put in place when He created all things in the visible realm. Newton’s laws of gravity and Einstein’s laws of relativity are examples of such basic laws. When Einstein said, “The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible,” he was expressing his awe at the fact that the mind of man can comprehend the way the material realm works. That fact seemed incomprehensible to Einstein, but is not so hard to understand when we realize that we were made for a purpose. God created us in his own likeness because He was preparing us to rule over the works of his hand, in obedience to his divine authority and lordship.

Then came the fall. Adam and Eve disobeyed. They and their descendants started to think they could get along just fine without God. (I was not the first to make that mistake). But God did not abandon us. He "spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” (Heb. 1:1-2) His message is a call to all who would repent and receive Him, to join Him in an adventure of truly majestic proportion … to save the world He created.  To God be the Glory!

...Not by Sight

We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. (2 Cor 5:7-9)

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. (1 Cor 15:49)

When Paul wrote “We live by faith, not by sight,” the unseen God and His kingdom were more real to him than the visible world, which is only a temporary home in which we live for as long as we are in the body.  Paul preferred to be “at home with the Lord.” He looked forward to spending eternity with Jesus “the man from heaven.” Yet he was not looking to escape from this world. On the contrary, he was living confidently filled with the Spirit, doing His will, and encouraging all believers to do the same.

What a contrast with today’s “earthly man,” who tries to live entirely by sight. He says he has no need for the unseen God.  Science and its offspring technology are his gods.  Science has given him knowledge of the visible world, and technology gives him some degree of control over it. To him, the only source of knowledge is observation and experiment.  “What you see is what you get,” so he tries to get more and more of the “stuff” technology offers. He strives to make life in this world, in this body, more exciting, more beautiful, more comfortable, more free from stress. But “more” is never enough and bad things happen, so he heads for the local bar or pops a pill to calm down, and goes on striving until the next bad thing happens. He is leaning on his own understanding as it has been molded by science and technology.  He is living by sight.

Faith in the unseen God makes all the difference between the Christian way of living and the earthly way, and this faith is not pie-in-the sky wishful thinking.  We can be confident as we live by faith because there is another source of knowledge.  The Creator of heaven and earth has made himself known in two ways. First he gave all mankind the kind of eyes and ears and mind that can live in the world He created and enjoy – for a time – all the beauty, excitement, and comfort this world has to offer. But God did not stop there. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son...”(Heb. 1:1-2). Theologians call this “special revelation.” It is the second source of knowledge that God has given to all who will open their hearts to receive his Son. When we do, we gain confidence for living, not only here on this earth in the 21^st century, but for all eternity, because we know the God of the universe who causes all things, even bad things, to work together for our good while in the body and for our glory and His for evermore.

We Live by Faih

We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. (2 Cor 5:7-9)

When Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,” (Gal. 2:20) it was Saul of Tarsus persecutor of Christians that Paul was talking about. He considered that his old self, trying to live without the true and living God of the universe, was dead, and the new life he was living in the body he lived by faith in Christ. He goes on to say that this new life in Christ is the desire of all God’s children, “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ,” (Gal. 3:27) and we want to be “…further clothed…” (2 Cor. 5:4 (NKJV)).  That will happen when we get to heaven, for “it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor. 5:5(NIV)). Our new self – our true self in Christ – is being formed in us.

The promise to those who put their faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross is that, “ … just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the man from heaven” (1 Cor.15:49). When we are away from our bodies, the image of Christ in us will be fully restored.  Our faith in that promise changes our lives here in our bodies so we live as if we had already received the promise. We live as if we already bear the image of Christ. As the Spirit leads us, our love abounds more and more in knowledge and depth of insight and we rejoice in doing the works God prepared in advance for each of us to do. We want nothing more than to do the very things our Creator and Redeemer designed us to do.  We want to be the very thing we were made for. Paul became the great missionary, church planter, and writer he was because of his faith in the promise. You and I become whatever Christ wants each of us to be in the same way.“So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it” because that is what gives us the most joy. Rejoice!

Be True to Yourself

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ…For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight…” (Ephe 1:3-4)

“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephe 2:10)  

In these two passages, the apostle Paul makes it clear that my identity and yours, my Christian brother/sister, is to be found in Christ Jesus. We are God’s workmanship, both before and after we are born again. Before our spiritual birth, whatever natural talents, whatever natural strengths and weaknesses we had came from God, because “…It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves….” (Psal 100:3). But the natural man was choosing to conform to the pattern of this world. We had rejected the identity our Creator had given us, and were not doing the good works God had prepared in advance for us to do. On the contrary we were fleeing from God and were misusing whatever natural talents He had given us to please ourselves and win the approval of this world. That is why Paul, writing to Christians said, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Roma 12:2).

How does this work? How can our minds be renewed? It will happen as we yield to the Spirit within as He speaks to us through His Word, teaching us how the general principles and promises we find there apply to us in our unique situation.  He teaches us to test and approve what God’s will is for us, and He empowers us to do the works He prepared in advance for us to do. We are putting on our true self, our spirit united with the Spirit of God, controlled by His love, freed from slavery to the world, the flesh and the devil. Just as being born again is by faith, so also this process of putting on our true self is carried out by faith as we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. The life we now live in the body we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.

Your True Self

You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4: 22-24) 

Before I believed and received Christ into my heart I considered ideas such as Jesus’ resurrection from the dead to be foolishness. I thought that sense perception and the reasoning we do from what we perceive is the only source of knowledge. I did not consider revelation from God to be a viable alternative. I did not have the Spirit and “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor.2: 14-15). This left me with a problem.

It was fashionable back in the ‘60's to try to “find your identity” or “be true to yourself,” and that meant there really is a “true you” to be found. But even with the help of a secular psychologist who was no better than I at discerning spiritual things, I could not find my true self. All I could find was behavior patterns that were the product of my heredity and environment. I learned that I was “codependent,” which means that I was so busy trying to be accepted by others and get their approval I had no idea who I was! I was allowing other people to be my judge!

All that changed when I received Christ into my heart and He gave me spiritual life. I began to accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, and the sweetest thing I learned was that I was created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Without Christ in my heart I was being corrupted by deceitful desires; I was trying to be conformed to what others thought I should be. But now I know that I am God’s workmanship and He has a unique purpose for my life. I am no longer subject to any person’s judgment because the Spirit is my teacher; He knows what I was created for, other people do not. “For ‘who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2: 16). As I take captive the thoughts and attitudes of my mind and make them obedient to Christ, I am putting on my true self. I have found my identity…it is in Christ!

The Mind of Christ

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:  "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1Cor 2:14-16) 

As I continued to meditate on “taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ” … not only thinking about it but doing it … the Spirit led me to the verses I have quoted above, and the realization swept over me that this passage is about our freedom in Christ!  I have been transformed by the renewing of my mind. I am no longer subject to any man’s judgment because I have the mind of Christ!  How did I get it? By yielding to the Holy Spirit as He speaks to me about the thoughts and attitudes of my heart. Moment by moment He has been forming in me the mind of Christ!  What awesome freedom that gives me!

 I am free to be what God created me to be. I don’t have to strive to be something my culture tells me I should be. I don’t have to follow the formalities of any religion. I don’t have to climb the ladder of success as prescribed by my secular culture. I don’t have to submit to the rules and traditions of my family of origin that have been passed down from generation to generation. I don’t listen to the judgments of the world. God is my judge! I have learned to discern and hold onto the thoughts and attitudes that glorify God and cast out those that do not.   When we can do this for ourselves we do not need anyone to tell us how to behave.  The Spirit is our teacher, “…the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. (1Joh 2:27). We have grown up into Christ the Head. We have not only the imputed righteousness of Christ that became ours at the foot of the cross, but we have the wisdom of Christ who is drawing each of us into our very own unique destiny. “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephe 2:10). To be continued...

Take Every Thought Captive

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor 10:5)

One thing I’ve noticed about my thought life is that I cannot always control what thoughts pop into my mind, but I am in control of what I do with the thoughts that are there. Here’s an example: When a pesky “what if” thought comes to mind, stirring up anxiety, I can ask God to take care of it, whatever “it” may be, and I can receive by faith the peace of mind He has promised. If I do this I have taken that thought captive and made it obedient to Christ. I have cast that care upon Him who cares for me. Here’s another example: The writer of Psalm 42 is experiencing some depressing thoughts and asks himself, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” He then tells himself, “ Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:5) The Psalmist is taking every thought captive and making it obedient to the Savior who cares for him.

In these examples, the “I” who is acting, petitioning God, trusting and praising Him, is the spiritual part of the self and it is in control of the soul (intellect and emotions).  My spirit yielded to the Holy Spirit within me is what takes captive every thought.  This only became possible as I immersed myself in the Bible because “… the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, … it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebr 4:12).  It is actually the Holy Spirit within me speaking through His Word that “judges the thoughts and attitudes of my heart.”  As I live in accordance with the Spirit, my mind set on what the Spirit desires, then I am fully alive and I know the peace of God that passes all understanding. Oh, would that I would always listen to Him as He speaks to me! I would save myself so much trouble and heartache. I thank you Lord that “… by one offering (You have) perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebr 10:14 (NKJV))

The Father's Love

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

Valentine’s Day has come and gone.  For a whole day love was in the air. It filled carts at ShopRite with beautiful floral bouquets and heart-shaped boxes of candy.  But now it’s February 18^th.  There are lots of empty heart-shaped boxes in trash cans, and the beautiful flowers are starting to droop.

The love that John speaks of in the quotation above does not end like that. God lavished His love on us when He sent his Son into the world so we could become His children and live forever in relationship with Him, the perfect Father. That option became a reality when we believed and received Christ into our hearts. So now, not even death can separate us from the love of the Father that is in Christ Jesus. We have been born into the eternal family of God, and Christ the first-born is the head of the family.

We all love the Father, and "everyone who loves the father loves his child as well." (I John 5:3). That means that we now live as brothers and sisters, loving one another as the Father loves each of us.  We have no need to be taught of this love by earthly fathers because we have received the anointing of the Spirit who lives in us and teaches us by bringing to mind all that Jesus taught as He walked the dusty roads of Palestine. We are perfected vessels for living together with our brothers and sisters, displaying the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” (Hebr 10:14 (NKJV)). We are being sanctified as perfected vessels for our assignment to bring the love of God to a lost and dying world, to those who do not yet know the love of God. We have been perfectly designed, our gifts complementing one another, to show the world that the love of God is far better than the love that comes with floral bouquets and heart-shaped boxes of candy on Valentine’s day.

The Prayer of Faith

" 'Have faith in God.' Jesus answered.  'I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, `Go,throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.' " (Mark 11:22-24}.

When I first started to read the Bible and came across passages such as this one I had to set them aside.  Even after I took out the part about a mountain throwing itself into the sea, the passage was still too incredible to be taken seriously… Whatever I ask for? Come on!  But I do want to believe Jesus.  I can’t put it off any longer. I must go to Him with my oft-repeated request, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”(Mark 9:24).

The first thing I see is that the incredible promise Jesus made here is preceded by a simple command, “Have faith in God.” OK, I do have faith in God. He drew me out of my former atheism by His irresistible grace. I chose to believe in Him because He first chose me. I know He exists and rewards those who seek Him. I sought Him earnestly and He rewarded me by opening the eyes and ears of my heart so I can ‘see’ and ‘hear’ Him as He speaks to me through His Word the Bible. God replaced my stony rejecting heart with a heart warm with desire for Him. He enlarged my heart and I received his Son. His Spirit lives within me in union with my spirit, and He keeps on revealing to me more of himself and His purposes for my life.

Now I see! The key lies in my asking according to His purposes for my life. The only way I can ask for anything without doubting in my heart is by knowing God and knowing myself in Christ as I trust and obey him in all that I do. The prayer of faith is the request God will honor because that is what He wants, with all His heart, for me.

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