Where is the true church found?

One of the slogans of the XVI century Protestant Reformation was:

The true church is found where the Word is preached and where the sacraments are correctly administered.

Although the slogan talks about the church, with a further look into it, it only applies to those doing the action of preaching and giving the sacraments. The rest, it seems, are not part of the church. I understand that this was not the original intention of the Reformers, but it is pretty the much outcome of such a slogan.

Some would say that I have misunderstood and therefore find fault with such formulation from the Reformation. That the slogan makes it understood that those who hear the word preached as well as receiving the sacraments -or as a good Baptist that I am would call them, ordinances- do form part of the church. However, I find the slogan at fault for its ambiguity, confusing and inadequate for the following two reasons.

First, as I have mentioned before, it only talks about the action done by one group of the church, in this case, the clergy. From this perspective, the slogan only deals with the members of that group within the church. It is of interest to note that in churches such as the Lutheran (Luther is alleged to have said that slogan in particular), the Reformed, and the Anglican, only those correctly ordained can offer the two sacraments or ordinances, these being baptism and communion. This to me, gives an unintentional turn from what the Reformers where trying to affirm, that was the priesthood of all believers.

Second, the word of God can be preached with orthodoxy, precision, etc., but that doesn't guaranteed that it will have the effect sought for (here, I am reminded of the parable of the sower). An example of this would be the prophets in the Old Testament warning both Israel and Judah to repent or be destroyed, and the people didn't listen. In the New Testament, the highest example of this is Jesus, God incarnate, who people didn't listen to him either, (to my mind comes the doctrine of election, but that's not the point I want to make today). In more recent times, it comes to my mind the sermon by Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners at the hand of an angry God", which he preached to a congregation, that although orthodox, did not show any signs of regeneration in their lives.

Which is then, the mark of a true church? I don't wish to put down the a good, solid biblical preaching, as I don't wish to put down the reception (if one is Lutheran or Calvinist) or the participation (if one is Baptist or something else) of baptism and the Lord's Supper. But I need to be biblical as to what defines a true church. And this brings me to Pentecost, and the Pauline letters.

We find in Acts 2, that the church is empowered by the power of the Holy Spirit. According to my reading of the text, this is what puts them apart from not only the other jews, but with the rest of humanity as well. We see later in the letters of Paul, how the Holy Spirit not only marks the members of the church as different from all other people, but also as making them the church, but also God's temple:

1 Corinthians 3:16 (New International Version)

¹⁶Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

and:

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (New International Version)

¹²The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. ¹³For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

In another passage, Paul refers to the fact that believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit that guarantees the promises to them:

2 Corinthians 1:22 (New International Version)

²²set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

And:

2 Corinthians 5:5 (New International Version)

⁵Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

And:

Ephesians 1:13-14 (New International Version)

¹³And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

We can see then, in this passages, we find that what Paul sees as the sign of the true church, is not what the Reformers saw, rather, is something that in the Reformation was somewhat neglected. Today, this sign of the true church would be a controversial one for many reasons, especially among those that although accepting the Holy Spirit as the third member of the Trinity, don't accept that he is active in today's age as it was in the time of the apostles. Another reason that this sign may be controversial is that is very subjective, and the evangelical fundamentalism, with its roots in the 18th century, rejects all that cannot be examined with an objective view. Nevertheless, as we can see, for Paul, it is the reception of the Holy Spirit that marks out those who are the true church.

Following Paul's argument then, what really sets the church apart is that she has received the gift of the Holy Spirit, the guarantee that all the promises made in Scripture regarding us will come true.

I think this this position does more justice to the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, since it shows that the Holy Spirit empowers all believers to do the work, not only inside the church, but outside as well. This in turn, solves the issue of what is the real work of church, since the believer possesses, or rather, is possessed by the Holy Spirit at all times and at all places, thus, makes the believer act more ethically in the market place.

I believe that this view serves the text better, and shows how the work of the church goes well beyond the confines of the walls within a temple. I have not been meaning to be exhaustive on this issue, but to point a way forward in this continuing conversation.

Luis Alberto Jovel

Our God Reigns The confession of the New Perspective on Paul??

Talking to my best friend, who is a Lutheran, we talked about how his Lutheran Church has the Book of Concord as a guide for a confession. Then, we talked how the Reformed have the Confessions, such as the Helvetic or Canons of Dort.

Then he asked me, what sort of document did I have as a guide.

I paused for a moment, and answered, "What St. Paul Really Said"!!!! We had a laugh, but N. T. Wright's little book is so well crafted that it may end up being a confession of faith. Just as the Confessions mentioned before were, and are still attacked by its opponents, this little book has suffered the same.

Nevertheless, chapter three of the book has really opened my mind as the real meaning of this song, so let us sing!!!!

LARRY HURTADO How did Jesus become a God

Freedom in Christ (Sunday 15-8-2010 Sermon)

Freedom in Christ

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance” Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, said that very soon after his country gained independence. For him, as for the rest of his country, independence was gained at a high price, many lives were lost, and much destruction was seen around the thirteen colonies. Nevertheless, the threat that England may want to take back the country was a clear and ever present threat (they tried to take over again in 1812). With this background, Jefferson calls his fellow Americans to be watchful, that as hard as freedom was won, it could be easily lost.

Paul warned the Galatians along similar lines, although the freedom gained at the Cross did not mainly dealt with mundane realities, but eternal ones. Nevertheless, believers enjoy freedom during their life times, and that freedom that Christ paid with his life is worth fighting for. We can’t just lie back and enjoy our freedom, as nothing will ever pose a threat to it. In Jude 3 we are called to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints”. We are all called to defend the freedom won by Christ.

Today we will see how this freedom can be attacked by two fronts, from those from within, and those from without. Paul deals with such issues during this ministry in Galatia, and everywhere else, and we continue facing those challenges today.

Those who oppose freedom from within

It is very easy to be deceived by others who are calling us to show more spirituality, or invite us to have a better way of achieving a victorious Christian life. Sometimes they may be very good friends of us, and may be sincere in their search for a more solid Christian life. But the problem is that they are adding to Christianity something that may at the end delude it. Putting more water to milk, may make it seem that there’s more of it, but in actual fact, it’s taking from it its pureness. The same happens when we try to add something else to the Gospel of Christ.

The “false brothers”, cf. II Cor. 11:13-15, want to make the Gentiles to practice the ritual of circumcision, in order to make them fully followers of Christ. From their point of view, they needed to fully identify with the Jewish nation in order to be in a proper relationship with God, and with the Jewish believers. Paul sees in such an act an imposition that far from helping the Gentile believers makes them conform to the version of Christianity held by the false brothers.

Anything, or anyone who says that we must do something else in order to fully live the Christian life, is just deluding the Gospel. Pauls calls us not to be slaves of men, I Cor. 7:²³You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”

Let’s stand firm in our freedom against those who lack better judgement, and think they can offer something better than Christ. But the problem does not stop there. There are also dangers from those outside who threaten our freedom in Christ.

Those who oppose freedom from without.

Paul’s battle for the freedom of believers did not only take place in Galatia, but in many places as well. And the battle was not only against those from the inside, but those from the outside as well. He gives this warning to believers in Romans “12:2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

This is a challenge that we face as a church as much today as they did in Paul’s time. What is world telling us to do that we know Scripture does not allow us to do?? This weekend, the campaign for equality for marriage was held in Australia. All are called to accept marriage as a union of two persons who love each other. Churches are called to take up this mission, since churches are said to be places where love is preached, therefore, should be at the forefront of denouncing inequality and injustice. The argument is subtle, as in the case of the false brothers, who want to add to the gospel, but in this case, the world wants to take away from the gospel, our obedience to the Scriptures.

What should we do? We should not give into them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain in us, cf. Gal. 2:5. And this is what sets us apart from everybody else. We are not fighting for our truth, the truth of our church, or the truth of our denomination. Some denominations have fallen and changed “their truth” for something else. We are fighting to stand firm in the truth of the Gospel, which is that Jesus is Lord and that he was resurrected from the dead, cf. Romans 10:9-10, and that because of that, we are justified by faith in him, and are called to follow him, I Cor. 15:1-3. The Gospel does not change although circumstances and times change. Evangelical fads come and go, and the world always wants to influence the people of God, but we should not give into them for a moment.

Conclusion

Do you enjoy your freedom in Christ? Freedom from sin, freedom from fear of death, freedom from eternal judgment. Don’t let false brothers take away from you, won at Calvary, and ratified 3 days later in the resurrection. There’s nothing you or me can do to reassure our selves of our salvation in Christ Jesus. All it’s left is just, as the hymn says, Trust and Obey.

Luis Alberto Jovel

The NPP's contribution to Chinese Christianity from the Lutheran Captivity of the Church

On my Twitter feed, I got a link that discusses what the New Perspective on Paul, NPP, contributes and shares with the Chinese culture. These are only abstracts of the articles, but they are very helpful to understand the Chinese Perspective, or the beginnings of it, of the NPP.

Of special interest to me was the abstract by Lung-kwong LO, where he gives us three points of interest as to contribution of the NPP to Chinese Christianity.

Based on this new perspective of Judaism, James D. G. Dunn and N. T. Wright have advocated a New Perspective on Paul (NPP hereafter), which has been very influential in Pauline studies in the last three decades. Nevertheless, Chinese scholars have paid very little attention to NPP. In this paper, NPP, its criticism and defense, as well as its contributions to Pauline studies are introduced. Its significance for Chinese Christians can be summarized in three points: (1) the old perspective on Paul's gospel of justification by faith was introduced to China by western missionaries and the acceptance of this gospel owed much to Chinese culture, which mainly emphasized individual morality rather than social justice. Studies of NPP could correct the imbalance by leading Chinese Christians to interpret Paul's gospel in terms of social and cultural contexts; (2) the old perspective on Paul dichotomizes faith and works, which not only makes good works incompatible with faith on the issue of salvation but also plays down the importance of good works in eschatological judgment. This stands in sharp contrast to Chinese traditions and aroused strong reactions among Chinese in an incident that happened in Taiwan in 1997. NPP corrects this imbalance and affirms the importance of both faith and good works; (3) one of the most important emphases of NPP is to highlight the fact that Paul's gospel was for both Jews and Gentiles, that Gentiles could become a people of God by faith, without having to become Jews. This understanding is essential for Chinese who are pressurized by the teachings of missionaries to denounce Chinese cultures and customs, the identity markers of being Chinese, in order to become Christians. NPP provides a new understanding on this important issue.

I think that similar contributions can be applied to a Latin American Perspective of the NPP, and as in the case with the Chinese theological community, little has been written from a truly academic position, although even when it comes criticism, they fall short and ultimately misrepresent it.

This really encourages me to continue in my quest to study the NPP, and to apply to a Latin American view of Scripture.

The Protestant church has been held captive by the Lutheran way of reading Scripture and understanding christianity. This has not been limited to doctrine, but also to ethical practice, as well as the christian worship that takes place in lands where the European heritage must take precedence from the indigenous representations of christian worship, which are ultimately considered unchristian and inappropriate to worship God. Hymns, as it looks for some, are the only way to worship God.

Christianity is not dying, but thriving in other lands. Let's hope that the errors that took place during the Reformation, both doctrinal as well as ethical, can be learned by this new generation of Christians.

Luis A. Jovel