Category: Ramblings

1 Tim 3:1-13 gives the qualification of an overseer or pastor.   The Bible clearly defines the role of a pastor to shepherd, feed, guide and lead the flock to spiritual growth and service to our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Pet 5: 2-3

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; ³ nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

In my recent ministry to Bacolod, Philippines, I noticed these prominent characteristics of pastors in the less developed countries as compared to the more developed countries.

These Filipino pastors prayed earnestly for the spiritual awakening in the church and nation, and they manifest servant-hood service,  respect for all giving more honor to the lowly, exceptional hospitality and persistence in their constant earnest exhortation to the church to trust and obey God.    And I noticed that the acronym of PASTOR describes these characteristics.

Discipleship is never an option for a Christian.  Jesus has to be our personal Savior and Lord as well.   He had laid down the terms of following Him in Luke 14:26, 27 and 33.

²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ³³ So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

On the surface, these 3 terms – surrendering all relationship, self ambition and possessions – seem terribly harsh.  The rich young ruler walked away sadly from our Lord because he could not give up all his possessions.  Luke 18:18-25.  If he could not surrender his possessions to Jesus, Mammon was still his god and entering heaven was hard for such rich people.

But if we see this life as the training period we have to go through under the tutelage of the Spirit of our Lord and surrender all relationship, self ambitions and possessions, we can eventually understand all this discipline, though painful at times, will yield in us the fruit of righteousness.  On the contrary, when we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first, all these things will be added to us.  Matt 6:33.

It is a paradox. When you give up, you have it.  But when you refuse to give up, you lose it.

He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.  Matt 10:39.

Scripture exhorts us to endure trials or suffering as discipline from God to train us in righteousness.  Heb 12: 7-11. NIV.

Scripture further adds that we ought to rejoice in suffering for it produces hope in the end.

Rom 5:3-5

³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

By surrendering to the terms set by our Lord to be His disciples, He is actually protecting us.

If any mishap happens to our family and loved ones and we have truly surrendered them to the sovereignty of God, there will be no devastating hurt as we know eventually all are appointed to die once and after that comes judgment.

If we lose our job or business and we have truly surrendered to the sovereignty of God, there will be no crushing damage to our self esteem as we believe contentment with godliness is great gain and we are content with just food and lodging.

If we lose all our possessions which anyway have belonged to our Lord when we have surrendered,  what other material loss can devastate us ?

Rom 8: 18

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

The coming glory will fulfill every good human aspiration.  That is the Christian hope.

1 Chron 4: 9 -11

Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

Acts 20: 26 – 31

²⁶ Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, ²⁷ for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. ²⁸ Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

Jude 1: 3 – 4

³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

2 Tim 2: 15

¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Eph 4: 14

¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

James 5: 19 – 20

¹⁹ My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, ²⁰ let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

The contention for truth against a different Jesus and a different gospel is of paramount importance because it concerns eternal life and death.  But overbearing contention for any whim and fancy of tradition or matter of conscience is a different matter altogether and it belongs to an unrighteous critical spirit instead.

We are most uncharitable as Christians if we do nothing to bring back brothers who have wandered from the gospel truth and do not do our best to save their souls from death.

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=WL6YPLNX

2 Pet 1:3-11

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. (2 Pet 1:3).   Firstly,  the gospel is the power of God granted for eternal life in Christ Jesus (Rom 1:16) and secondly,  His precious promises are the power of God granted for growing godliness in Christ Jesus. (2 Pet 1:4).   Chief among the precious promises are the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the correction and instruction of the Word of God.

God will not make us holy against our will and without our involvement though He has given us all things necessary for us to become more and more like Christ.  We must want it and we must make every effort through discipline in supplementing our faith in Christ with the following graces of holiness :

1. Virtue. Moral excellence which is also spiritual courage to stand for what is right.
2. Knowledge. Knowledge of spiritual truth which can only come through studying and obeying the Word of God.
3. Self control. We must have discipline in feeding on the Word of God, prayer, curbing our appetites and giving sacrificially.
4. Steadfastness. Patient endurance in the face of persecution and adversity as the world will hate us on the account of our Lord and the gospel.
5. Godliness. Our godly conduct will show others that we are truly children of God.
6. Brotherly affection. When we love one another,  others will know we are the disciples of Christ.
7. Love. Love for the brothers will lead to love for all man.

We must be diligent in practicing these qualities otherwise we will regress.  There is no standstill.  Either we advance or retreat in our path of discipleship in knowing our Lord more and more and be like Him. 2 Pet 1:8.  Retreat will lead to shortsightedness, blindness and forgetfulness.  2 Pet 1:9.

And if we practice these qualities diligently, we will never fall.   2 Pet 1:10.

In contending against false teaching over the years,  I have tried my best to show the whole counsel of the Word of God concerning the true gospel and Christology.  Yet the defenders of the false gospel such as hyper grace gospel usually resorted to the following argument tricks.

I am contending for the gospel and Christology truth because it concerns eternal life and death and I will be most uncharitable not to try to bring back those who have wandered from the truth and will face the second death.  I am always wondering even if the defenders of the false gospel and false Christology are to wear me down with the following argument tricks, what profit is there for them ?

(The definition of the terms are gleaned from various internet sources such as Wikipedia.)

1.  Red Herring.  It is a kind of fallacy that is an irrelevant topic introduced in the argument to divert the attention of readers from the original issue.

2. Argumentum Ad Hominem. It is a logical fallacy in which an argument is rebutted by attacking the character, motive or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.

3. The Straw Man Argument. It deliberately misrepresents and weakens the argument of the opposing side by leaving out key points of an opposing argument, quoting a person’s words out of context, or presenting a particular person’s poor defense as the entire defense of an opposing side.

4. Weak Analogy Argument. It is used to prove or disprove an argument, but the analogy is too dissimilar to be effective, that is, unlike the argument more than it is like the argument.

Mark 9:38-40
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  For the one who is not against us is for us.

Prior to these verses, we saw the immaturity of the disciples in failing to cast out demons and arguing who was the greatest.  And now they possessed a sectarian spirit.

Today, there are some evangelicals who will go around discrediting all charismatics as though they belong to the devil. Some charismatics are merely doing great works in the mighty name of our Lord in casting out demons or prophesying for the good of Christendom. Yet they are discredited like as though they are preaching a false gospel or living in sin.

(Side note :  I say some charismatics and not all because I am also disgusted with pagan-like signs and wonders which may be demonic in nature. Such abuse should not be the reason to discredit all charismatics and all spiritual gifts.)

It seemed to me in the above Scriptural passage that the only qualm was those casting out demons were not a team with the apostles. That was all. Jesus our Lord had clearly said that these people who did mighty works in His name were not damaging His name and would surely not speak ill of Him.

(Side note :  Though I agree that the signs and wonders performed by the apostles were to substantiate their apostleship,  we saw from this Scriptural passage that others, not traveling with Jesus our Lord and the apostles, could also perform mighty works in His name which our Lord did not deny.)

On the contrary, I am wondering today if those, who harbor such critical sectarian spirit, are being influenced by the enemy instead to deprive God of the glory for such works. Matt 5:16.

We must have a good balanced stance. Like for the gift of prophecy, do not despise straightaway. Test all of them and hold fast what is good as exhorted by Scripture. 1 Thess 5:20-21.

Rom 4: 2-5
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.

James 2: 21-23
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

On the cursory reading of these 2 passages, they seem to contradict each other. But if we delve further into the wider context of these 2 passages, we will soon realize that the Works mentioned are different. I will call the Works in Romans as Law-works while that in James as Faith-works.

In Romans, Paul was addressing the Jews who might still be trying to earn their salvation by law-works in keeping the Halakha, the Jewish Law, which includes 613 prohibitions so devised as to comply with the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments. But we read in Phil 3:4-6 that Paul could be blameless in keeping this Jewish Law like many Pharisees at that time and yet he persecuted the church. The Pharisees could keep the Jewish Law meticulously yet their hearts were not repentant – they were lovers of money, mean-spirited and self righteous. They could go through the physical circumcision meticulously but their hearts were not circumcised.

In James, James was not talking about keeping this Jewish Law but about Action or Faith-works which will prove that Faith is legitimate. He quoted 2 examples of legitimate faith in Abraham and Rahab. One was about to perform child sacrifice and the other committed treason – not good works exactly. But their action proved that they believed God and it was counted to them as righteousness.

Luke 21:1-4 NASB
And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.”

This passage clearly reminds us that our offering is only meaningful to God out of a genuine love for Him and not with any other selfish or covetous motive. In Matt 6:1-4, Jesus our Lord already told us that if our giving is to draw and gain recognition from others, our giving will not be acceptable to God. Jesus specifically said that the poor widow gave more than all of the rich that day. Obviously He was not referring literally to the physical absolute amount of money given. Jesus, in His omniscience, even knew the 2 copper coins were all she had to live on.

Jesus is watching intently on our motives for giving our offering today as well. Let’s be sure on this first fact that Jesus our Lord uses a different criterion to weigh our giving – on our hearts and on not our gifts – unlike the tangible criterion the world uses.

Similarly, Jesus weighs on our repentance and not on our works, or on the circumcision of our hearts and not physical circumcision pertaining to our response to the gospel.

What the poor widow put into the treasury was considered more than all the rich Jews put. So let’s be sure that it is not the physical amount Jesus weigh on but the right motive or attitude in giving. The poor widow gave out of poverty while the rich Jews gave out of surplus – contrasting extremes which our Lord always loved to use to illustrate His teachings. The only qualm I can see about the rich giving out of surplus in this incident is probably a nonchalant performance of duty and not an act of devotion, unlike the poor widow. Then consider this : how contemptible it will be if the rich actually give with a covetous heart that God will reward him or her with even more when he or she is already very well off !

Let’s look at the first fallacy.

Jesus would be wrong to commend that the poor widow gave more if this false teaching of the growth formula (growth of multiple fold to what one gives) is to be believed because the poor widow would gain the least among all who gave that day. The real motivation behind such call to sow miracle seed is to raise as much funds as possible for the church and this objective can only be achieved by stoking the greed in the members to give more in physical amount and be rewarded in kind by God. Pittance giving will be considered a nuisance to the fund raising exercise.

On the second fallacy, this false teaching promises deliverance from poverty for sacrificial giving to the church. If it is true, the poor widow should not remain poor all this while till Jesus saw her. If she was giving for the first time, it would be a first time jackpot hit and Jesus was not really omniscient to know. Definitely not the first time because she was a Jew and not young since she was a widow. And if she had been giving with such commendable attitude all this while, then why was she still poor ? Do you follow ?

When the rich gave, the gifts would not hurt them a bit for it would be a pittance of their surplus. But when the poor widow gave, she probably had to go hungry that day for that was all she had to live on. Hallelujah ! The poor widow was really wise to see that storing treasure in Heaven, and not on earth, would last. Her physical hunger was nothing compared to her hunger for God. That was an excellent act of devotion to God. Besides she had survived all this while on little showing she had no lack by the grace of God though she was poor.

Let’s emulate the poor widow in giving out of love for God instead of covetous motive.

When we believe in Christ, His righteousness is imputed on us. Legally, God sees us as righteous in Christ because of His perfect atonement for our sins.  And He will continue His workmanship in us in training us to conform to Christ.

Rom 8:30.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

There are two kinds of response to this training of putting on Christ or dressing up as Christ.  One is the sincere response of a true believer while the other is the insincere response which will put justification in Christ in doubt in the first place.

One is the hyper grace way. It is simply a wolf putting on the sheepskin of the Lamb of God and pretending to be a sheep. The wolf does not want to change his wolf ways and yet he enjoys pretending to be a sheep.

The other is the true grace way. One day, the wolf seriously want to be a sheep giving up his wolf ways. (This response to turn from its wicked ways is Repentance.) Yet it is a tough journey for he is still a wolf after all. But he can be a transformed wolf one day becoming truly a sheep in every sense and loving the sheep. The good kind of pretense is that the wolf starts by acting like a sheep living among sheep.

CS Lewis said this about pretense, “There are two kinds of pretending. There is a bad kind, where the pretense is there instead of the real thing; as when a man pretends he is going to help you instead of really helping you. But there is also a good kind, where the pretense leads up to the real thing. When you are not feeling particularly friendly but know you ought to be, the best thing you can do, very often, is to put on a friendly manner and behave as if you were a nicer person than you actually are. And in a few minutes, as we have all noticed, you will be really feeling friendlier than you were…”

But the wolf will realize very soon that he is not alone in this journey of the good pretense.

The Christ Himself, the Son of God who is man just like you and me, will actually be his side to turn his pretense into a reality.

You may suspect it is the conscience of the wolf helping him. If it is conscience, very soon, the wolf will realize he will get back to old comfortable ways he is familiar. And many “wrong” things the wolf does, his conscience will actually tell him it is perfectly okay because he is a wolf after all.

CS Lewis said this about the good pretense turning into reality with Christ at our side, “For you are no longer thinking simply about right and wrong; you are trying to catch the good infection from a Person. It is more like painting a portrait than like obeying a set of rules. And the odd thing is that while in one way, it is harder than keeping rules, in another way it is far easier. He is turning us into the same kind of thing as Himself.”

He is ‘injecting’ His kind of life and thought into us, turning us from real wolves into real sheep at the end of the day.