The Gospel Union: Too good to be true

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Too good to be true

Are you skeptical of those who talk about Christian liberty? To many of us, freedom in Christ seems too good to be true. It just doesn't seem possible that the same God who struck down Uzzah, Nadab, and Abihu for breaking rules and regulations under the Old Law could shake heaven and earth with a new covenant not involving such outward rules and regulations. After all, the God of the Bible is the same yesterday, today, and forever, right?

Ah, but does the unchanging nature of God negate the fact that His relationship with His creation has indeed changed dramatically? For those of us who are parents, take note of the fact that our relationship with our children changes as they mature. It should not be surprising, then, that God's relationship with us, his children, has changed. The Old Law, in fact, was merely a schoolmaster to train an immature mankind until the time its rules, regulations, and holy days would be nailed to the cross. And nailed to the cross they are:

Colossians 2:14 - ...having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (NIV)

Romans 7:6 - But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (NIV)

Under Christ, with His law written in our hearts, we have true liberty, brothers. Don't doubt it. It is the real thing, not just a mirage to look at with hardened heart and skeptical eyes. Our liberty is not to be used for fulfilling sinful desires, of course, but that makes it no less real. I, for one, think we ought to be creative--innovative, in fact--with our liberty to use it in service to our risen savior. Let's take the shackles off our previous thinking, and use our sincere love for God to serve Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and life. Every fiber of our being should reflect our love and passion for serving the God of heaven.

Liberty is such a powerful craving of the human soul given to us by God. America's founding fathers recognized this and set out to infuse our fledgling society with liberty as one of its core values. This God-given longing also draws us to want to be free from rules and regulations. Those who are not living after the Spirit express their desire for freedom by rebelling against the goodness of God. Those who set out to live a life in accordance with the Spirit express it by embracing the goodness of God, which is a powerful motivator in leading men to repentance.

God is good, my friends. A good father, as Jesus said, gives good gifts to his children. And the gift of liberty, granted when we were freed from our sins by Jesus' death on the cross, is one of the greatest gifts we could have. It is enabling, inspiring, and joyous, not binding, confusing, or discouraging.

So is Christian liberty too good to be true? Not according to the scriptures. Granted, it is far better than we deserve. But what should we expect from our Creator who is the ultimate example of goodness?

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Choice scriptures:

Romans 15:1-7 - "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up...May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."
(NIV)

2 Thessalonians 3:1 - "Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you."
(NIV)

Romans 1:16 - "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
(NIV)

John 17:20-21 - "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
(NIV)

Choice quotes:

Alexander Campbell - "We will not hearken to those questions which gender strife, nor discuss them at all. If a person says such is his private opinion, let him have it as his private opinion; but lay no stress upon it; and if it be a wrong private opinion, it will die a natural death much sooner than if you attempt to kill it."

Alexander Campbell - "But men cannot give up their opinions, and therefore, they can never unite, says one. We do not ask them to give up their opinions--we ask them only not to impose them upon others. Let them hold their opinions, but let them hold them as private property. The faith is public property; opinions are, and always have been private property. Men have foolishly attempted to make the deductions of some great minds the common measure of all Christians. Hence the deductions of a Luther, and a Calvin, and a Wesley, have been the rule and measure of all who coalesce under the names of these leaders. It is cruel to excommunicate a man because of the imbecility of his intellect."

Alexander Campbell - "Dear sir, this plan of making our own nest, and fluttering over our own brood; of building our own tent, and of confining all goodness and grace to our noble selves and the "elect few" who are like us, is the quintessence of sublimated pharisaism. The old Pharisees were but babes in comparison to the modern: and the longer I live, and the more I reflect upon God and man--heaven and earth--the Bible and the world--the Redeemer and his church--the more I am assured that all sectarianism is the offspring of hell; and that all differences about words, and names, and opinions, hatched in Egypt, or Rome, or Edinburgh, are like the frolics of drunken men; and that where there is a new creature, or a society of them, with all their imperfections and frailties, and errors in sentiment, in views, and opinions, they ought to receive one another, and the strong to support the weak, and not to please themselves. To lock ourselves up in the bandbox of our own little circle; to associate with a few units, tens, or hundreds, as the pure church, as the elect, is real Protestant monkery, it is evangelical pharisaism."

Alexander Campbell - "I have tried the pharisaic plan, and the monastic. I was once so straight, that, like the Indian's tree, I leaned a little the other way. And however much I may be slandered now as seeking "popularity" or a popular course, I have to rejoice that to my own satisfaction, as well as to others, I proved that truth, and not popularity, was my object; for I was once so strict a Separatist that I would neither pray nor sing praises with any one who was not as perfect as I supposed myself. In this most unpopular course I persisted until I discovered the mistake, and saw that on the principle embraced in my conduct, there never could be a congregation or church upon the earth."

Alexander Campbell - "I have no idea of adding to the catalogue of new sects. I labor to see sectarianism abolished and all Christians of every name united upon the one foundation upon which the apostolic church was founded."

The Gospel Union

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Too good to be true

Miscellany

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