"Changed from glory to glory" (Part III): The Letter that Kills

In the past two entries (part one & part two), I have sufficiently presented from the testimony of Scripture that (1) God demands practical holiness to all His children as necessary outward evidence of their saving relationship with Him and that (2) even after being regenerated and justified we still do not possess the full ability to walk in His righteousness apart from the inner working of His Spirit in our lives. This special influence of the Holy Spirit on the Christian will be further discussed in the next post, but for the meantime, let's briefly examine the role of God's law in our pursuit of being more Christ-like day after day.

III. The Letter that Kills

"When, indeed, [God] by the law discovers to a man

his weakness, it is in order that by faith he may refuge

to His mercy, and be healed" ~ St. Augustine of Hippo

It is basic that every Christian preacher and pastor should be highly ardent in exhorting God's children to "walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul" (Deut. 10:12). This is why every Sunday's preaching and sermon are full of lectures concerning what we should and we shouldn't do in conformity to God's precepts. Do this, do that. Stop doing this, abstain from that. This is law. And in so far as these moral principles were taken from the Word of God, it is God's law.

Now the law is in itself good because it reflects God's holiness and justice. Yet however, it is in itself insufficient to lead us to transformation and holiness. Note I'm not saying that the law is unnecessary for achieving holiness. What I'm trying to say is that the law alone wouldn't effect our Sanctification. In fact, left in our sinful flesh the law wouldn't bring us anything good but only disaster. Paul wrote:

"For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death." (Rom. 7:5)

For some reason, as observed by Paul, whenever the law is presented to us our flesh becomes even more aggravated to do exactly what it says we shouldn't do. When we are prohibited to lust, that's when we lust all the more. Why is that? Is Paul now implying that God's law wasn't somehow really holy and good since it apparently arouses our sinful passions whenever we are exposed to its admonitions? Paul gives us an answer:

"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me." (Rom. 7:7-11)

For sure Paul didn't intend to double-talk when he asserted that the same good law that prohibits covetousness actually "produced in me all kinds of covetousness," (v. 8) and that through it "sin came alive and I died" (v. 9). What he meant is this: The law is spiritual and intrinsically good having God as its direct souce. Strictly speaking, the law has absolutely nothing to do with our being sinful. The problem of Sin is in our sinful flesh, which is in its very nature "hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot" (Rom. 8:7). So the heart of the problem lies not in the law itself, but on our sinful nature which is unable to delight in the spiritual commandments of the law. Paul wrote:

"So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin." (Rom. 7:12-14)

Therefore, the law plus our flesh will not effectuate genuine moral transformation in us. Mere presentation of law, the preaching of God's moral precepts, rebuke against sinful activities, and all kinds of appeal unto godliness will not profit us anything towards Sanctification unless by the aid of another influence powerful enough to overcome the hostility of our flesh. 

Now the reason why many preachers fail to effectively lead Christians to grow more in holiness, though their sermons are filled with invitations to live godly lives and all, is that they focus on law without also emphasizing our inability to fulfill them with our own will-power and might, and that we should be totally dependent on God's power in pursuit of holiness (1 Cor. 2:14; Php. 2:13). Without these essential elements, a preaching or sermon would be simply law - the letter that kills - which would make its hearers to trust in their own strivings and harden their own hearts all the more (Jer. 17:5). Of course they may for a time, out of fear or sense of obligation, do what the law says, but the quality of their labor is superficial and not long-term in the final analysis. There can't be any genuine transformation inside out.

The proper use of God's law

Unlike the popular opinion that God's giving us His commandments indicates that we have the ability to fulfill its righteous demands (or in Pelagius' own words, "If I ought, I can"), the Bible actually states the contrary:

"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." (Rom. 3:20)

God's law doesn't tell us, "You can make it! You are able! You are strong!" On the contrary, it actually mirrors how frail we are as sinners and that every efforts of our flesh won't make us win God's favor. This exposition of sin is the prime purpose of God's law, for by it, we discover how utterly weak we are, in order that by faith we may run to God for mercy and be healed (Gal. 3:24). St. Augustine beautifully states it this way:

"The law was therefore given, in order that grace might be sought; grace was given, in order that the law might be fulfilled. Now it was not through any fault of its own that the law was not fulfilled, but by the fault of the carnal mind; and this fault was to be demonstrated by the law, and healed by grace." (On the Spirit and the Letter, Ch. 34)

We are no longer under the law of works but under grace; the law of faith. In other words, our motivation for walking in righteousness should not be compulsion or legalism, but total dependence and gratitude to the grace of God in Christ which works in us. This "grace" through which we are healed and enticed to fulfill the law refers to none other than the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit without whose influence the law is but "the letter that kills." 

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:17-18, KJV)

In the next entry, we will discuss how the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Triune God, works our transformation into being more like Christ day after day. God bless and stay tuned.

To God be the glory! Amen!

"Changed from glory to glory" (Part II): Are we capable?

(Read the first part here)

II. Are we capable?

"...even the beginning of our faith, as con-

tinence, patience, righteousness, piety, and
the rest... all God's gift, so that he that glo-

ries may not glory in himself, but in the Lord
~ St. Augustine of Hippo

Some Christians have this idea that when God freed us from the power Sin (at the point of Conversion), He thereby made us wholly capable of bringing about the moral transformation He expects us to achieve after being saved. Thus, it now lies in the power of our own will to walk or not to walk in God’s righteousness since He has already done His part by enabling us. Consequently, when we implore God’s help to work into our lives, it is only that we might perform our duties more easier or with less difficulty; but we can nevertheless attain to that Christ-likeness on our own in so far as we have already been freed from the power of Sin.

This idea is very appealing and prominent among many Christians today. However, I honestly believe God’s Word doesn’t support such view.  The Bible gives no indication that God made us wholly capable of sanctifying ourselves when He freed us from Sin. Freedom from the power of Sin does NOT grant us total independence from any spiritual influence so that we may be left on our own. Instead, God freed us from the power of Sin so that we may be under the inspiration and sanctifying influence of His Spirit (Rom. 8:15). To be exact, the Bible equates freedom from Sin [or deadness to Sin] to our incapability of totally going back to our old sinful lifestyle (see Rom. 6:1-2), but never to moral capability. Observe Paul's statement in Philippians 2:12-13:

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Php. 2:13). 

In exhorting the Philippians to "work out" their salvation (that is, to evince their justification by doing good works), Paul immediately added that they must strive do so with complete humbleness and lowliness of heart (i.e. "with fear and trembling"). Why? Paul gives us the reason: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Paul takes way all grounds of human boasting regarding our sanctification by exposing that it is God Himself who gives what He demands us to do according to His will. Note he didn't say, “God has already given you the ability, and the rest is up to you,” but rather “it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Certainly, this divine inner working would be rendered completely superfluous if believers already possess the ability of obeying God’s will on their own.

This is not to say, however, that we cease to have a will under the inspiration of God's grace, or that it is no longer we that act when we do that which pleases God, but that the actual execution of godly virtues is an evidence that God’s grace is at work in our lives. Moreover, when it is asserted that Christians are void of natural ability to reform themselves for the better, it doesn't mean we remain sinners or in bondage to Sin even after we are saved. Rather, it is simply acknowledging that we are in every way dependent on God's grace in our pursuit of holiness, and that whenever when we experience victory from our old sinful habits and lifestyle, it is by God's working and not by our own powers and capabilities that we overcome them (Php. 2:13). As St. Paul puts it:

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." (2 Cor. 3:5)

Christ told His disciples, “without me ye can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5); meaning, we are incapable of moral reformation by our own strength. It is God's gift that we have the ability and desire to change (cf. Gen. 20:6; Deut. 30:6; Eze. 36:26-27; Rom.  5:5; Php. 2:13).

In the next post we will discuss the role of God’s law in our journey to attaining moral Christ-likeness. Stay tuned and God bless!

To God be the glory!

"Changed from glory to glory" (Part I): Called and appointed to be holy

I. Called and appointed to be holy

The moment we put our faith in the Lord Jesus, we have been counted as holy in God’s sight based on the finished work of Christ on the cross (Rom. 3:24-25; 4:5-6). This is to say that judicially, in God’s sight, we are already just, righteous, and perfect. He no longer sees our sins because it has been washed away by the blood of Christ and that we are covered by His righteousness through our faith in Him (Rom. 5:19; 1 Cor. 1:30-31; Rev. 7:14). It is by grace that we are saved.

However, the story doesn’t just end in our being saved / justified. After saving us from the penalty of our Sins, He also expects us to "be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Rom. 12:1-2; cf. Eph. 2:1-10). God didn't just call us unto a saving relationship with Him. He also called us to walk in all holiness to the praise of His glory!

“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Pe. 1:15, KJV) 

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” (1 Pe. 2:9, KJV)

It is an amazing thing that God has counted us righteous in His sight (justified us) not by our own efforts, but He wants us to be practically righteous (i.e. Christ-like) as well.  This isn’t about maintaining our justification, but evincing the justification we had received once and for all. Concerning the difference and connection between justification and sanctification, Dr. Millard J. Erickson observes:

"...Sanctification is a process by which one's moral condition is brought into conformity with one's legal status before God. It is a continuation of what was begun in regeneration, when a newness of life was conferred upon and instilled within the believer. In particular, sanctification is the Holy Spirit's applying to the life of believer the work done by Jesus Christ...  

...In order to  focus more sharply the nature of sanctification, it will be helpful to contrast it with justification. There are number of significant differences. One pertains to duration. Justification is an instantaneous occurrence, complete in a moment, whereas sanctification is a process requiring an entire lifetime for completion. There is a quantitative distinction as well. One is either justified or not, whereas one may be more or less sanctified. That is, there are degrees of sanctification but not of justification. Justification is a forensic or declarative matter, as we have seen earlier, while sanctification is an actual transformation of the character and condition of the person. Justification is an objective work affecting our standing before God, our relationship to him, while sanctification is a subjective work affecting our inner person." (Christian Theology, Part IV, 46, pp. 968, 969)

"I am the Light of the world,” (Jn. 8:12) says Jesus Christ, and as Christians we must reflect His light which is in us by showing people that we changed! (Mat. 5:16). This has been God’s plan long before He called us; even before the world began:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom. 8:28, KJV) 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10; cf. 1:4-6, KJV) 

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,..” (2 Tim. 1:9, KJV)

You see moral transformation and sanctification isn’t optional.  It is every Christian’s duty and privilege at the same time. Striving to be more Christlike day after day manifests our deep gratitude to all the great things God has done in our lives.

But the question should be asked: Are we capable of doing this? Do we have the natural ability to reform ourselves for the better? This will be discussed in the next entry of this series.

To God be the glory!

Gusto kong bumait pero di ko magawa!

Tukso. Nariyan yan sa halos lahat ng dako. Sa barkada. Sa paaralan. Sa internet. Sa bahay. Kahit saan! Lahat ng kabataang mananampalataya ay humaharap sa samut-saring mga tukso ng sanlibutan. Lahat tayo ay dumarating sa punto na bumibigay tayo sa panggogoyo ng kaaway.

Pero teka lang. Hindi ba sa kaloob-looban ng puso natin eh hindi naman talaga natin gustong gumawa ng kasalanan sa Diyos? Ang ibig kong sabihin, hindi ba lahat naman tayo na tumanggap kay Cristo ay nagnanais magbago at lumayo sa kasalanan? Pero bakit ganun, mas pinipili parin nating magkasala sa tuwing inihahain ng kaaway sa atin ang masasarap niyang putahe?

Ayaw nating magkasala, pero ginugusto nating magkasala. Ang gulo noh? Nalilito ka na ba? Ako rin eh.

Ang phenomena na ito ay ipinaliwanag ni San Pablo sa kanyang sulat sa mga taga-Galacia. Ayon kay San Pablo:

"Sapagka't ang laman ay nagnanasa ng laban sa Espiritu, at ang Espiritu ay laban sa laman; sapagka't ang mga ito ay nagkakalaban; upang huwag ninyong gawin ang bagay na inyong ibigin." (Gal. 5:17)

Kaya pala! Ang pagkakaroon natin ng dalawang magkaibang pagnanais sa puso natin ay repleksyon ng nagaganap na gyera sa pagitan ng Espiritu na nananahan sa atin, at ng ating laman o lumang pagkatao. Taglay natin ang kagustuhang magbago, ngunit dahil nadadaig tayo ng pagnanasa ng ating laman, hindi natin magawa-gawa ang kabutihang nais nating gawin. Sabi nga ulit ni Pablo:

"Ito ay sapagkat ang ginagawa ko ay hindi ko nauunawaan sapagkat ang hindi ko nais gawin ay siya kong ginagawa. Ang kinapopootan ko ang siya kong ginagawa. Ngunit kung ang hindi ko nais ang siyang ginagawa ko, sumasangayon ako na ang kautusan ay mabuti." (Rom. 7:15)

Alam natin ang masama at mabuti. Sumasang-ayon tayo na ang kautusan ng Diyos ay mabuti. Sang-ayon tayo na ang anumang uri ng adiksyon o bisyo na nakasisira sa katawan ay masama at di kalugod-ludog sa paningin ng Diyos. Alam nating masama ang magsinungaling. Alam nating masama ang makipag-away. Alam nating mabuti ang maging masunurin sa ating mga magulang.

Pero bakit ganun, lalo parin nating ginagawa ang kasalanan? Anong problema? Ayon sa Kasulatan, ito ay sapagkat mahina ang ating kalooban o will hinggil sa katuwiran. Ayon nga sa apostol: "...ako sa aking sarili ay naglilingkod sa kautusan ng Diyos sa aking isipan, ngunit sa aking makalamang kalikasan naglilingkod ako sa kautusan ng kasalanan" (Rom. 7:25b).

Ang ugat ng problema ay nasa disposisyon ng ating mga puso. Ayon nga kay Jesus, gawin mo munang mabuti ang puno at tsaka ito makapagbubunga ng mabuti (Mat. 12:33). Ngunit sino ang may kapangyarihang baguhin ang kalikasan ng isang puno? May kakayahan ba ang puno na gawin yun sa sarili nya? Syempre wala.

Kung gayon, sino ang makapagliligtas sa atin mula sa miserableng kalagayang ito? Pakinggan ang wika ng apostol:

"O anong saklap ng aking kalagayan! Sino kaya ang magliligtas sa akin sa kalagayang ito na nagpapahamak sa akin? Wala nang iba pa kundi ang Diyos sa pamamagitan ni Jesu-Cristo na ating Panginoon! Salamat sa kanya!" (Rom. 7:24-25a) 

"Ito ay sapagkat ang Diyos ang kumikilos sa inyo upang inyong loobin at gawin ang kanyang mabuting kaluguran." (Php. 2:13)

Sa madaling salita, hindi natin ito kayang pagtagumpayan kung sarili lang natin. Sa katunayan pa nga ay wala tayong magagawa kung hiwalay tayo kay Cristo (Jn. 15:6). Ang Diyos lamang ang may kakayahang baguhin ang disposisyon ng ating puso upang ibigin natin siya.

Ayon sa Panginoon,

• "At tutuliin ng Panginoon mong Dios ang iyong puso, at ang puso ng iyong binhi, upang ibigin mo ang Panginoon mong Dios ng iyong buong puso, at ng iyong buong kaluluwa, upang ikaw ay mabuhay." (Deut. 30:6)

Sa mga taong may pagibig sa Diyos, ang mga utos ng Panginoon ay hindi mabigat o mahirap sundin (1 Jn. 5:3). Gayunpaman, ang pagibig na ito'y hindi bunga ng pagsisikap ng tao, kundi produkto lamang ng biyaya ng Diyos na binili ni Cristo para sa atin sa pamamagitan ng kanyang dugo (Rom. 5:5-6, 8:32). 

Kapatid ko kay Cristo, may mga kahinaan ka bang hindi mo mabitaw-bitawan at inaakala mong wala ka nang pagasa sapagkat hindi mo ito mabago? Gusto mo bang bumait pero di mo magawa? Tatapatin kita. Hindi mo talaga kaya! Hangga't hindi mo inaamin sa iyong puso na hindi mo kayang magbago at tanging Diyos lamang ang may kakayahang ipagkaloob ito sa iyo, paulit-ulit kang mabibigo - at hinding-hindi ka magtatagumpay. Sabi nga ng Kasulatan,

"Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon: Sumpain ang tao na tumitiwala sa tao, at ginagawang sandigan ng lakas ang kanyang sariling bisig, na ang puso'y walang pagtitiwala sa Panginoon." (Jer. 17:5)

O ano pang hinihintay mo? Babasahin mo ba ito at kakalimutan na lang? Bumalik ka sa krus ni Cristo NGAYON! Isuko mo ang lahat-lahat ng mga kahinaan mo sa paanan ng ating Panginoon! Kay Cristo lamang matatagpuan ang TUNAY at TIYAK na pagbabago!

Maraming salamat sa Diyos! Sa kanya ang buong kapurihan!

Amen!

A sad reality

A picture's worth a thousand words:

Pastor John Piper On Whether Christians Should Celebrate Xmas

"I sympathize with those who want to be rigorously and distinctly Christian, who want to be disentangled from the world and any pagan roots that might lie beneath our celebration of Christmas, but I don't go that route on this matter because I think there comes a point where the roots are so far gone that the present meaning doesn't carry the pagan connotation anymore. I'm more concerned about a new paganism that gets layered on top of Christian holidays.

Here's the example I use: All language has roots somewhere. Most of our days of the week—if not all—grew out of pagan names too. So should we stop using the word "Sunday" because it may have related to the worship of the sun once upon a time? In modern English "Sunday" doesn't carry that connotation, and that's the very nature of language. In a sense, holidays are like chronological language.

Christmas now means that we mark, in Christian ways, the birth of Jesus Christ. I think the birth, death and resurrection of Christ are the most important events in human history. Not to mark them in some way, by way of special celebration, would be folly it seems to me.

I remember I lived next door to somebody back in seminary who didn't celebrate birthdays for their kid. The idea was, partly, that all days were special for their kid. But if all days are special then it probably means that there are no special days. Yet some things are so good and precious—like anniversaries, birthdays, and even deaths—that they are worthy of being marked. How much more the birth and death of Jesus Christ!

It's really worth the risk, even if the date of December 25 was chosen because of its proximity to some kind of pagan festival. Let's just take it, sanctify it, and make the most of it, because Christ is worthy of being celebrated in his birth.

There is no point in choosing any other date. It won't work."

~ Pastor John Piper (Source)