Thursday, March 8, 2012

A "Holy Trinity" of Bible Texts

     Over the years, I have been guided by three New Testament verses that I might call "a holy trinity" (not to be confused with THE Holy Trinity). Together, they form a basic theology of humility that should guide our living and our witness as believers in  Jesus Christ. They are holy because they are set apart, they stand out as prime examples of what our continual posture ought to be as we live coram deo (in His presence).
     First, in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, after Paul lays out plainly what the gospel is and how Jesus appeared to many following His resurrection, last of all to Paul, as to (literally) "an abortion," he writes these words under the Holy Spirit's inspiration: "For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." Paul said, "I am nothing without the grace of God. I deserve only punishment without it." The gospel is what changed it all, the fact that Christ died according to the Scriptures (fact) and was buried (proof), and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures (fact) and appeared to many (proof). The gospel is not something we live or do, it is news of something that has happened, something upon which we stake our very lives and destinies. God's grace gives me my gifts, my personality, produces the fruit of character within me, molds me through joy and pain and continually reminds me how loved I really am.
     The second verse is found in 1 Corinthians 4:7: "For what makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" One danger of being a Christian in the United States is that we can get sucked into this "American" philosophy of "rugged individualism," the self-made man or woman, the one who pulled themselves up by their own bootsraps. I have heard this philosophy repeated in the church way too often over the years (not in those exact words, of course). Do we really think we earned what we have? I am reminded of Deuteronomy 8:10 and 17-18: "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God ..... You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth..." Yes, even your paycheck comes, ultimately, from the Lord's grace and not from your hard work, although without the work, there is no check. Do we thank God regularly for our blessings, no matter how great or small they may be - or do we reserve that for Thanksgiving Day once a year, when we give our "nod to God" before heading into the other room to watch football? I'm just sayin'.
     Here's the third verse: Jesus was speaking to His disciples in the upper room hours before His sacrficial death, and He reminds them in John 15:5: "I am the Vine; you are the branches, If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." I guess we have a choice  - to be like Samson, who went about as normal, but not knowing that the strength was gone from him, because it was in the LORD, not in his hair (Judges 16:20) or like David, who, in spite of his sling and five smooth stones, knew that his real strength was in the name of the LORD Almighty. (1 Samuel 17:45). Whose strength, whose energy, whose wisdom, whose love are we depending on today as we go about our tasks? Our own? That will be like an electric car - about 40 miles before it poops out. When we trust the Lord and obey His call and press forward, we will find that all of the capacity we need will be there - like a V-8 engine purring under the hood of our car - the car won't move until we shift into drive and press on the gas pedal (obey), but once we do, all that power under the hood is at our disposal to get us where we need to go. If we don't turn the engine on or let it sit idling, we won't be going anywhere.
     So there it is, my "holy trinity" of verses to inform my daily life. Without Christ and His grace, I AM nothing; without Christ and His grace, I HAVE nothing; without Christ and his grace, I CAN DO nothing.
     My story is simple. I grew up in the church, participated in its life from my earliest recollection: Sunday School, children's choir, youth choir, youth group, adult choir, etc. And I was relying pretty much on that. I was a "good" boy, not like so many of my friends who hung out on Saurday nights to see who could get drunk the fastest. I did not "smoke, drink, chew or go with girls who do!" But about a year out of high school, I came to the understanding, by seeing one or two former "bad boys" who had come to Jesus Christ and had been radically changed, that I needed to be saved from my own goodness, my own self-sufficiency, my own sense of accomplishment. And before long into my growth as a believer, I came upon these verses. They have been a steady guide over the years. Not that I have followed them perfectly, far from it, but they keep bringing me back, as needed, to the realization that my life, my hope, my strength are only in Christ. To Him be all the glory!
     "And He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy, For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him ... in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 1:18-19, 2:3) So let's depend on Him like this was true.