It’s by Grace throughout but…

Last week, I posted on this blog an article entitled, “It’s by Grace Throughout” in which we discussed that we do not only need God’s grace for us to be saved (justified) but also for us to be transformed and become more like Christ (sanctification).

However, although it is true that sanctification also is by grace, there is a need to highlight that we need to cooperate with God for him to make us more and more like Christ. In other words, in justification God, single handedly, declares us righteous basing on the righteousness of Christ while in sanctification, God through the Holy Spirit works hand in hand with us so that we become like Christ.

For instance, one of the things we need to do to be more like Christ is to study God’s Word frequently and live it. So, God will give us the desire to study the Bible but it will take us to really study the Word. God will never open the Bible and force us to read it. We have to play our role of reading.

Now, one might ask that if we are to cooperate with God in sanctification, where is grace then? Philippians 2:12 has the answer: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

For us to obey God, it is God, himself, who enables to do so. God knows that on our own, we can’t obey him hence he works in us that we should obey him. This is grace, is it not?

It’s a Slow Fade Indeed

Casting Crowns which is a Christian singing group from USA did a track entitled ‘Slow Fade.’ It chorus goes:

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

It’s the last part that has inspired this article. People never crumble in a day. There are so many examples that you and I can cite to uphold this statement, but I would like us to turn to Scripture and look at the life of the first king of Israel, Saul. He, too, never crumbled in a day. It was a slow fade.

After being king over Israel for some years, God had this to say about King Saul: “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments,” (1 Samuel 15:10). Later on Samuel blatantly tells King Saul, “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, the LORD has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).

The story that began so well is ending on a sad note. Earlier on when the LORD directed Samuel to anoint Saul as king, Samuel said these words to the people of Israel: “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!” (1 Samuel 10:24). But after some time, the same Samuel tells Saul that God has rejected him as king.

Now, we might wonder as to what happened for the Lord to completely reject Saul as king but if we take a detailed look at his life we will find evidence of ‘slow fade’ in the life of Saul. He who begun so well by trusting the Lord, ended up doing things in his own way and breaking the heart of God in the process. Disobedience, jealousy, murder and idolatry slowly faded away the trust and faith that Saul had in the LORD earlier.

First was the disobedience to the word of God through prophet Samuel who told Saul to go to Gilgal and wait for seven days before Samuel could come to offer burnt offering (1 Samuel 10:8). However, Saul out of panic as the Philistine army approached him, failed to obey the word of God and offered the sacrifice himself instead of waiting for Samuel. Remember that only Samuel was supposed to offer the burnt offering.

Samuel rebuked him for this ‘foolish act” (1 Samuel 13:12) and he told Saul that because he disobeyed the commandment of God, the Lord will not establish Saul’s kingdom over Israel forever (1 Samuel 13, 14). I was expecting to read of Saul’s repentance in the proceeding verses but there was no such thing. No remorse, no repentance from Saul.

What follows this foolish act is another sin of disobedience when Saul directly disobeyed God’s command. The command from the Lord through His prophet Samuel was crystal clear: “Now go and destroy the Amelek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey,” (1 Samuel 15:3). But disobedience reign supreme in the life of Saul and there is a sad report in verse 9: “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened claves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.”

When asked why he defied the Lord’s command Saul shamelessly replied that he spared the best sheep and oxen to sacrifice them to the Lord. Samuel response to this lame excuse was very outstanding: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, to heed is better than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 1:22).

After this story we continue to see the godly life of Saul slowly fading into oblivion. Next you read of his jealousy of David. Jealousy leads to plan of murder. Saul is determined to kill David despite the latter sparing his life a couple of times. Then to crown it all, Saul takes the path of idolatry. Because his relationship with the Lord is not good, he resorts to consulting the souls of the dead to give him guidance. Idolatry finally leads to death and 2 Samuel 1:27 sums it up all: “How the mighty have fallen!”

Indeed it’s a slow fade and people never crumble in a day. After reading this, we might be tempted to shudder in fear and think, if this is the case. Who then can survive without slowly fading away? Christ has the answer in John 15:5, 6:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into fire, and burned.”

The truth of our vulnerability without Christ should continually be borne in our minds hence we should continually lean on Jesus and completely refuse to be deceived by our wicked hearts that we are strong without Christ. The word of God is very lucid on this: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall,” (1 Corinthians 10:12). We can’t stand without Christ otherwise we will surely crumble although it might not be in a day.

Christ our Victory

Sometimes when things are not going on well, we are tempted to question if Christ is really in control. These are the times when all things seem to be falling apart.

However, Christ has a sure word for us in such times. In John 16:33, he tells us: “In this world you will have trouble but take heart I have overcome the world.”

It is assuring that Christ is not hiding the truth from us. He, clearly, tells us that in this world, we will have trouble. As a Christian you are not immune to hard times. Tribulations and difficulties will surely come your way. But “But take heart,” Christ says, “I have overcome the world.”

In these words, we have the assurance of victory. Because Christ has overcome, we will also overcome through him. Victory is ours in Christ Jesus. As a matter of fact, Christ is our victory. Therefore, take heart.

I believe it is out of this realization that Rev. Martin Luther King could say: “And now to Him who is able to keep us from falling and lift us from the valley of despair to the mountain of hope, from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy; to Him be power and authority, forever.”

So, don’t doubt it, Christ is still in control and he alone is our victory.

That statement scared me (Biblical Eldership)

This other evening I was sitting in a forum which I shall leave unnamed. The main discussion of the round-table was the ordination of women to be elders of a church and the main question posed to the meeting was: “Is ordaining women to be elders of a church biblical?

There were about seventy of us discussing and only two of us including myself argued basing on Scripture that it is unbiblical for women to be ordained elders or even pastors. But I should confess, it was not easy to courageously stand for the biblical truth in an environment where many were against this view. For first time, I understood better how Jesus felt with the great opposition he faced, especially from the Pharisees and other teachers of the law, when he taught the truth. By this I don’t mean to compare myself to my beautiful Savior; rather, what I want to put across is that: Friends, it is more challenging to stand up for the truth when the majority opposes it, but thank God he grants the grace.

Any way, back to the story. As I stood to present the biblical view on the issue, I began quoting Scripture, then, one church leader cut me and said, “Don’t quote Scripture. Everyone understands Scripture in their own way and if you do that we won’t reach any agreement.”

Men! That statement scared me. I could feel the hair on my head rising in fear. I could not believe it, especially, coming from a leader of a church. I responded, “If, we don’t use the Scripture to discuss this issue what authority are we going to ascribe to. The authority of man? Our views and ideas? Lord, have mercy!

“As Christians, don’t we have the Bible as our final rule of faith and life?” I thought to myself. Doesn’t God’s Word tell us: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Any way, I have already highlighted that I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that Scripture teaches that only Christian men should be elders of a church. You, definitely, are asking me to back up my stand with Scripture and I will definitely do that. So, here we go.

First, let’s look at the qualification of an elder as given by God himself in his Word in 1Timothy 3:1-4 and Titus 1:5-9. In these two passages an elder is being referred to using the pronoun “He.” Is this by accident? I don’t believe so. In the same passages, an elder is supposed to be “A husband of one wife.” Again, is this phrase accidental? Why is God not telling us “A husband of one wife or a wife of one husband?” Have you ever though about it?

So, an elder is being referred to with a pronoun “He” and is supposed to be a “A husband of one wife.” Now, if I say that basing on this pronoun and phrase, God is telling us that an elder must be a man will I be reading too much into the passage? Certainly not!

Secondly, if I open my Bible which is God’s inerrant and holy Word, I don’t find a single woman who held the position of an elder. Is this just by chance? I choose to not to believe it that way.

Thirdly, when we talk about an elder, we are talking about the leadership of the church. Now, I would love us to learn from the early Church and see if women were given leadership roles like being an elder in the church. Let’s begin with the Founder of the New Testament Church, Jesus Christ who is also the Head of the Church (all believers come together).

When Christ assembled the first ever leadership of His Church, he chose the twelve apostles (all men) and he ( a man as well) was the main leader. Did Jesus communicate any message by this? I believe so. He was establishing the norm for the Church to follow when it comes to the leadership of the church. And you can see this throughout the New Testament. The Apostles got the message of Christ right.

But someone may object and say: “Jesus being a Jew and also because of his Jewish culture, he was forced to choose only men because his culture valued men more than women.” You must be kidding. That’s not the Jesus I know and read in Scripture. Do you really believe that Jesus (fully man and fully God) could be forced to do ‘a wrong’ thing because of desiring to please his culture? Sincerely, is that the picture of Jesus you get when you read your Bible?

Jesus challenged his culture in so many ways and he was not afraid to look different when it came to truth. For instance, Rabbis (teachers of law) could not speak to women in public but Jesus could speak to women in public (John 4:1-45) and he even had Mary Magdalene as on of his followers. Jesus could also boldly rebuke the Pharisees and teachers of the law for misleading people and he once called them “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16) and “children of the devil” (John 8:44).

With this clear manifestation of boldness, do you really believe that Jesus chose only men to be leaders of the Church because he wanted to please his culture? Allow me to borrow the words of Alexander Strauch to emphasize my point.

“Some…say that Jesus’ maleness and choice of male apostles doesn’t mean anything theologically. They say that such choices were necessary because the first-century Jewish culture didn’t allow women to preach and lead. So Jesus had to concede to the standards of society.

What an insult to Jesus! The Jesus of the Gospels was absolutely courageous. He was unafraid to give new, radical teaching to His tradition-bound culture. Jesus didn’t give in to sinful culture or let women down at this critical moment in history…Jesus gave His Church male leadership. His male gender and his deliberate choice of twelve male apostles was based on Genesis 2, God’s original creation design for the sexes” (Men and Women Equal Yet Different, Lewis and Roth Publishers ©1999, page 29).

I can go on and on to present the backing for my stand; however, let me stop here for now. I am open and ready for further discussion on the topic if you, my dear reader, would love so.

But before I wrap up let me highlight this important truth. The fact that God’s will for his Church is that it should be led by Christian men does not mean that women are unequal to men. Neither does it mean that women are of second class. Anyone who advocates this teaching is not biblical in their view.

According to Scripture, men and women are equal (Genesis 1:27; Galatians 3:28); nevertheless, men and women have different roles. God in his sovereignty and wisdom has chosen to give the leadership role of the home and Church to Christian men. Again, this does not imply that men are better than women. God forbid!

It’s Only One Life

God in Ezekiel 18:23 asks: “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”

This is a rhetorical question and the answer is obviously: “No, the Lord does not take pleasure in the death of unbeliever.”

My heart breaks when I hear of death of people who experienced the love of God in their lives but did not submit themselves to the Lordship of Jesus. I am talking about people who heard the Gospel many times in their lives. They also participated in godly activities in their home, at church or any other Christian set-up and yet they did not yield to the Lordship of Christ. It is heart-breaking, is it not?

Friends, we should realize that this life will not last forever. One day the Lord will call us before his judgment seat. Are we ready for the day? This reminds me about a quote I saw in John Piper’s book, ‘Don’t Waste Your Life’ and it goes:

Only one life

‘Twill soon be past:

Only what’s done

For Christ will last

Indeed it’s only one life and it is very short. May God help us to live this life meaningfully by seeking to honor and glorify Him in everything we do. By his grace, we will be able to do this.