Static and Dynamic Salvation

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation!
Our God is the God of salvation;
And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.
(Psalm 68:19-20)

Static Salvation

Consider a typical inquirer who attends a Billy Graham Crusade. The message strikes several responsive cords in the man's heart. Graham's analysis of life makes sense. The news that all of us are sinners comes as no big surprise really. The offer of God's love and forgiveness sounds too good to be true, but suppose it is all true? What does a man have to lose if all he has to do is to invite Jesus Christ into his heart and life and accept God's free gift? Why not respond to the call.

"The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23).

Many thousands of people of all ages get started in the Christian life by simply responding in faith to an announcement of the good news from God.

"...the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?" (that is, to bring Christ down)or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. The scripture says, 'No one who believes in him will be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and bestows his riches upon all who call upon him For, 'every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news!'" (Romans 10:6-15)

Of course only a fraction of the people who "go forward" at a Billy Graham Crusade actually do become true Christians. Nevertheless there is a true sense that real, Biblical salvation is a package deal which alters a person's entire destiny in a split second of time. The individual's sins are all forgiven and expunged from the record. The sinner undergoes an immediate change of citizenship, he or she is transferred (translated) immediately out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son of God's love. He or she is baptized by the Spirit and made a member of the Body of Christ. Identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, the new believer finds he has been already seated with Christ in the heavenly places--as if he or she were already literally in heaven. New Christians are depicted in the New Testament as having already been justified, sanctified, and glorified all at once, in one fell swoop. Apparently, nothing more needs to be added to one's new life in Christ. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit indwell the new Christian. His body has become the very temple of the living God. Assuming the person is really a Christian and not a fake, heaven awaits him when he dies.

I like to call this whole model of salvation "static salvation." Receiving Christ as Lord means God treats us henceforth as if we had never sinned in the first place. We have been saved from the penalty of sin, which is death. Daily we are being saved from the power of sin, and at death we will be saved from the very presence of sin.

Blessed Assurance (Hymn)

)Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Refrain

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Refrain

So sit back and relax? No. That view is not quite correct. In a previous article, The New Covenant: Entering In, I quoted Professor David Wells, of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, who was asked in an interview, "Have you seen evangelicals restoring their core beliefs, moral vision, and worldview? Why or why not?" Prof. Wells replied, "There are pockets of hope but the larger picture is not encouraging. A recent study by George Barna on boomers illustrates the main problem. In recent years, boomers have been opposed to organized religion but now make up half of the born-again population. What happened? They are consumers, Barna says, and we offered them a deal they could not turn down, For a one-time admission of weakness and failure they got eternal peace with God. That was the deal. They took it and went on with their lives as before. The result is that there is no significant difference between the way born-againers live at an ethical level as compared with those who are nonreligious."

Clearly something is missing in the popular view that a one-time "decision for Christ" (static salvation) is all God asks for us in return for a free ticket to heaven with no strings attached.

Dynamic Salvation

Puritan author John Bunyan's (1628-1688) popular book Pilgrim's Progress, was the believer's bedside companion to the Bible in early American life at least until the frontiers had been settled. Salvation was seen by Bunyan as a perilous journey, but "he who endures to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:13)

The Letter to the Hebrews shows clearly that Christians must respond to God's grace and cooperate fully with God's work in their lives--from start to finish.

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for God is at work in you, both to will and to do according to His own good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)

"Salvation" as used in the Bible means a rescue from grave peril, ultimate healing, health and wholeness, and at last complete deliverance from all danger and evil. The convert at the Billy Graham Crusade soon discovers that the package deal of his salvation may indeed be his present possession, but our whole-hearted and life-long response to God's grace is part of the deal. When one takes into account the relatively large group of people who start out on the Christian journey, only few finish the race.

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away. Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear

When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:1-9, 19-23, 36-43)

Actually many misunderstand the free gift of salvation. They will arrive at the end of their lives discovering too late that they are not in God's family after all. Jesus warned of this quite plainly at the close of the Sermon on the Mount,

"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few." Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. "Not every one who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'" Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:13-27)

The letter to the Hebrews calls the Christian to run a race, a marathon, to embark on a long journey--the goal of which is the heavenly city of New Jerusalem. The race is not to be run alone, but in company of other Christians. The individual must take active concern along the way for the others in the race, especially for the weak, the elderly, the stragglers.

"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:8-16)

Five great warnings in the Epistle to the Hebrews explain the fact that the journey of faith is dangerous from the start. The first warning (2:1-3) alerts us to the ease with which we can drift away from the faith little by little, eventually ending up back where we started without realizing what happened. The second great warning (3:12-19) urges us to make certain we have entered into God's true Sabbath rest, and that we stay there. We are to cease from our own efforts in all areas of life and do everything by faith, relying on the indwelling life of Christ, 24/7/365. Powerful warning #3 (6:1-6) let's us know that God is seeking fruit from our lives. The person who claims to be a follower of Christ but whose life never changes has not gotten the message.

And Jesus told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, `Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?' And he answered him, `Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'" (Luke 13:6-9)

Warning #4 (10:26-31) calls us to persevere in a church where apostasy is all too real. There is grave danger for those who claim to be Christians but who persist in sinning or compromising with the world. Warning #5 (12:25-29) speaks of life-long obedience and persistence in following Christ in every circumstance in life. Ray Stedman says, "Truth understood is never acceptable in and of itself, it is truth done that counts."

"Dynamic salvation" is more robust than mere "static salvation" obviously. We'll do better as Christians if we see that our response to God's grace and mercy, our obedience and our faith make all the difference in the world. There is an old saying about being a Christian: "Believe that everything depends upon God, but live as if everything depends on you."

All the great truths described above under "static salvation" are true about the Christian because God declares them to be true. But truth about God and about ourselves is ours experientially only by faith. Doubt, disobedience, and unbelief throw us back to square one where we may again think we could not possibly be children of God after all. We've sinned one time too many, or stopped trying to please God, or drifted far away with a long road ahead of us when we do decide we should come back.

Clearly, "static salvation" is too easily misunderstood as "cheap grace" and "easy believism." As Prof. Wells points out "The result is that there is no significant difference between the way born-againers live at an ethical level as compared with those who are nonreligious."

Teaching through the Book of Hebrews this summer was very refreshing for me, and I hope for my class as well. In addition a number of good evangelical commentaries are now available. But even without recourse to any commentary, Hebrews is eloquent and persuasively written. The writer speaks as though he means what he says an this is actually the message of the rest of the Bible as well. Hearing the truth about God, as we have in this country for generations means we must respond vigorously to God's call--or else we perish. Many Americans today are in the same state Israel found herselfd after long years of not taking God seriously,

"For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.' But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." (Matthew 13:15-17)

There are of course people for whom "static salvation" is their only option. The thief on the cross next to Jesus is an example. In a matter of hours he would be in heaven with no chance to live out a Christian pilgrimage in the life. None of us knows when our time to die will come, so we all must take one day at a time.

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised. 'For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and keep their souls." (Hebrews 10:35-39)

Shrinking in Shame

by Ray Stedman

This is the last message in the section of John's epistle on Maintaining Truth. In this section, which began in Chapter 2, Verse 18, the whole problem John has been facing here is how to live as a Christian in the midst of a confused and confusing world -- a world no different in his day than it is in ours; no different in ours than it was in his. In this section we learned many things: We learned that error appears in cycles of deceit throughout history. That is why, proverbially, history repeats itself. We learned that error arises first within the church, through church leaders, and then moves out to infect the world. It is most interesting to trace this fact through history. Religious error never originates with worldly, secular thinkers, but within the church.

Then we saw error always aims at one definitive point, made clear by John in this section. It is an attack, ultimately, upon the person of Jesus Christ; upon the deity of the Son of God. As Joe Blinco put it so forcefully, "The devil is no pimple-squeezer." He does not waste time with trivialities, he is always striking for the jugular vein. Trace this through history and you will see this is always true. The full impact of heresy always comes out at that point, an attempt to destroy the real fundamental teaching of the deity of Jesus Christ. We also learned in this section that no lie is of the truth, i.e., there is no such thing as gray areas in moral or doctrinal truth. No lie is of the truth. Relativity in these areas does not exist. Finally, we saw that the believer's defense against the deceitfulness of the age in which we live lies in two special things:

In his obedience to the word of truth, the apostolic word, the word which we have "heard from the beginning," and, that word as taught to the heart by an abiding Spirit. The Word and the Spirit -- these are always the defenses of the Christian. Not legislation; no forming action groups, not creating voting blocs, but by the Word and in the Spirit. These are our defenses, always have been, and always will be. But these must be held in balance. The Word without the Spirit is dead orthodoxy, lifeless, unappealing, completely repulsive to most people. The Spirit without the Word is wildfire, fanaticism, mysticism. But the two held in balance keeps us to the central truth of God as revealed in his Son. These are the things John has set before us here. We close this section with a verse that looks on to the end, when each Christian stands at last face to face with Jesus Christ.

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. (1 John 2:28 RSV)

I should like to begin our examination of this verse by asking this question: "What is it that lies ahead for each believer?" The answer clearly is, a face-to-face encounter with the Lord Jesus. John uses two phrases to describe this, "when he appears," and "at his coming." "Appears" is the word for "manifestation," when he is manifest, when he is openly evident. The word he uses for "coming" is the word, parousia, which is Greek for "presence," the presence of the Lord Jesus.

Perhaps you have recognized in reading your Bible that this is the most frequently mentioned truth in all of the New Testament. This great hope of the appearing again of Jesus Christ underlies every other truth in the New Testament. It is found on almost every page of our New Testament. In the face of that, it is passingly strange that it is one of the neglected doctrines of our day. There are people who are totally unaware that the Bible teaches that Christ is to return to this earth for his church, and of the various aspects of this. Yet this has been the hope of believers in every age, and has sustained Christians in the darkest hours of the persecution of the church.

The truth appears in various ways in Scripture, and I cannot take time to go into it in any detail. I will give only the briefest survey of this because I want to move on to the point John is making. In certain passages, the coming of our Lord appears as an event yet to come, occurring in a moment of time, when Christ shall once again enter into open manifestation in the history of men. We read such a passage in First Thessalonians 4:16-18:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Th 4:16-18 RSV)

Wonderful comfort is here in these words, especially when you stand at the edge of a grave where you have laid away the body of a loved one. I have used these verses many times on such occasions, and found they speak wonderful comfort to the heart. But there are other passages that view this encounter with Christ from the standpoint of the experience of the believer who steps out of time into eternity, at death. For instance, in Second Corinthians, Paul speaks of being "absent from the body, present with the Lord," 2 Corinthians 5:8 KJV). Compare that with the message in First Thessalonians, "so we shall always be with the Lord," (1 Th 4:17 RSV). Paul says this occurs in the experience of the believer at death, "absent from the body, present with the Lord." In writing to Timothy, he speaks of his own death in this way, "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day ["Day" here is not used in reference to a point of time but as a characterization of an event], and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing," (2 Timothy 4:8 RSV). Here he uses the same term that John uses, "when he appears."

If I may just summarize this: In the experience of the believer, this encounter with Jesus Christ occurs at death; in the calendars of men, in time, it is yet an unknown point in the future when the eternal One shall step again into time and reassert himself, manifest himself openly, in the affairs of men. That event may occur today, it may occur this week, it may be next year, it may be fifty or a hundred years from now, who knows? It may be while most of us are yet alive, it may be before this service is over. But at any rate, this meeting with Christ, from the standpoint of every believer in Jesus Christ, is no further away from any of us than the day of our death -- and it may be even closer than that!

This is the Day in which, as John says, he will be "manifested." In Chapter 3, John says, "When he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is," (1 John 3:2b RSV). He will be no longer hidden behind the scenes, no longer invisible to our physical eyes, no longer forcing us to live, as Peter describes it, "whom having not seen, we love" 1 Peter 1:8), but now openly evident, manifest, visible, face to face. We will stand in his presence, John says. As the disciples in the Upper Room after the resurrection found that suddenly the Lord Jesus was with them, so, suddenly we will be with him. As then, so with us, with the marks of crucifixion yet upon his body, perhaps he will invite us to touch him, as he did with Thomas, to feel and to see that this is the very one who once was crucified upon a cross outside Jerusalem, and rose again from the dead. With the marks of crucifixion yet upon him he will be readily identifiable to us. Sometimes we sing in that hymn of Fanny Crosby's, "I shall know him, I shall know him, when redeemed by his side I shall stand. I shall know him, I shall know him, by the prints of the nails in his hand." What a day that will be, what a wonderful day.

But let us move on to ask another question about the verse John sets before us. What are the alternatives awaiting Christians on that day? Well, clearly there are two, and only two. It is possible for us to have "confidence before him," or "to shrink in shame from him," one or the other. There is a false teaching that has arisen within Christian circles that suggests that the day of our appearing before the Lord will be a day only of the giving of rewards. There are to be no regrets, no shame, no negative notes at all; it is all sweetness and light. It is hard to understand how such teaching arises in the face of a Scripture like this where John warns that it is all too possible to shrink in shame before him at his coming.

Paul says in Second Corinthians 5, speaking of the same event, "we must all appear at the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body," (2 Corinthians 5:8 RSV). Two possibilities -- good or evil -- one producing boldness and confidence and one producing a sense of shame. If you look at the Scriptures you will see the reason why it is necessary that there should be these two alternatives. We learn from the Scriptures that this is to be the day when reality is made evident, when things will be seen as they really are. We are aware that illusion blinds our understanding as we view things today. Even looking back in our lives we can see that events were not quite what we thought they were when we were living through them. But there is coming a day, the Lord Jesus says, when that which is hidden shall be revealed, where everything covered will be uncovered, and that which has been spoken in secret will be shouted from the housetops. It is the day of reality, the day when the secrets of men are judged by the Lord Jesus. See how Paul describes this in First Corinthians, Chapter 3: Speaking of the foundation which is Jesus Christ himself, Paul says in Verse 12,

Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones; wood, hay, stubble [two classifications of activity] -- each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15 RSV)

And then in Chapter 4 of that same book, he says in Verse 5,

Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5 RSV)

As someone has well put it, "What we weave in time, we shall wear through eternity." Every motive is to be revealed, every secret thought to be uncovered before all, every activity laid bare. In the light of that fact, what will you be? Will you be bold and confident, or will you shrink in shame before him? That is the question John sets before us.

Perhaps some of you are saying, "I hope it will be some of both; there will be some boldness, and some shame." But think about that for a moment and you will see that it is impossible for it to be both. There is nothing in Scripture that suggests that there will be both; it is either one or the other, as John implies here. It is characteristic of us that one element of shame looms up before our eyes and overpowers all the areas of confidence.

Haven't you noticed that in your own experience? You have a gravy spot on your tie, and it does not make any difference how impeccable the rest of your dress is, you know that every eye is fastened on that gravy spot and you cannot be comfortable in society because you are so aware of that spot on your tie. Or, with you ladies, it is a run in your stocking. It does not make any difference how beautiful your hair styling is, there is that ugly run that you know is drawing every eye, and you feel a sense of shame. You feel unfit to be with others because of one spot, regardless of the rest. Then, if we are going to be bold and confident before our Lord at his coming, it must be that we should be absolutely without shame. If there is one thing wrong, we will shrink in shame at his coming.

Now look at this matter of shame for a moment with me. What will make us ashamed? Well, what makes you ashamed now? In thinking this through this week, I took a piece of paper and headed it, "Things Which Make Me Ashamed." Then I began to think through my own experience, my own life. The first thing I put down was, "Indecent Actions." Someone has said, "Everyone knows that of himself which he would not dare tell his dearest friend." Indecent things, shameful things, hidden things, cruel deeds, vengeful, spiteful actions. As we think back on them they make us ashamed. Then I wrote down, "Hurtful Attitudes." How many times have I been ashamed at the attitude I have had toward another. Even though I did not express it in words, I felt it. How many times have I been ashamed of my pride, of my jealous, hateful thoughts, of my loveless, callous unconcern for another who was obviously in need of help from me. How many times has my thankless ingratitude made my face flush with shame. I thought back upon how I have taken things from man and from God and never had a thought of gratitude for them. Then I wrote down, "Neglected Opportunities." Who of us does not feel this? Who has not had, at one time or another, a bad case of the If Only's. "If only I had done this." "If only I had said that." "If only ..." This week Decision Magazine printed the story of the world champion weight lifter, Paul Anderson, a Christian. He told of winning the world's heavy weight lifting championship, and in his testimony he said these words:

"We go through life looking back and thinking, boy what I could have done. This is the way I remember Russia. I became one of the most popular men in the Soviet Union. I couldn't go out in public without being mobbed. Radio announcers trailed me when I appeared on the streets. I caught the empty stares of the young people and reflect now that I could have told them about the One who puts a sparkle in the eye, but I failed to lift up our Lord. Not once did I mention the name of Jesus Christ because at that time I was not living for him. A once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness behind the Iron Curtain was lost."

What is shame! Is it not a sense of unfitness, a sense of defilement, a sense of self-dislike, even contempt, because we feel we are not worthy? Therefore, its manifestation is a desire to hide. John suggests this in the Greek word he uses, which is rightly translated "shrink in shame," to hide. Do you remember the first manifestation of this in the Scriptures? In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, after the Fall, hid from the Lord God as he walked in the Garden in the coolness of the day. God called out "Adam, where are you?" (see, Genesis 3:9 ff). Adam at last acknowledged the call, and the Lord said, "Why did you hide?" And Adam said, "Because we found we were naked." That is symbolic, suggestive. They were naked, i.e., they had nothing besides themselves, nothing to show for being alive, just them, we they were, that's all. Unfruitful, unproductive, no purpose beyond themselves, waste. That's why they hid.

As I thought back through the things that make me ashamed, I realized that this is the common element in all of these factors, a sense of waste, no purpose in them, no good thing coming from them. That is why I am ashamed of my indecent actions. That is why I am ashamed of my hurtful attitudes. That is why I am ashamed of my neglected opportunities. Nothing fruitful, nothing productive ever comes from them. The thing that John makes us face up to in this passage is the terrible possibility that if we do not learn the right basis for living, it is horribly possible for us to fill every day with activity, to achieve what passes for success, but in the only accounting that has any value at all, that accounting before God, to come to the end of our lives and find it all fruitless, wasted, without purpose.

Is that not the charge the Lord makes against one of the churches in the letters to the seven churches of Revelation? In Chapter 3, he says to the church at Laodicea, "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth," (Revelation 3:15-16 RSV). What was the cause of this condition? "... you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see," (Revelation 3:17-18 RSV).

It is nakedness that causes shame, and that possibility is set before each of us. The one thing that is absolutely certain about your existence and mine, as a believer, without any doubt whatsoever, is that one of these days we will stand before the presence of the Lord Jesus. But I do not want to close on that note, for this verse is not intended to be negative. It is given to show us how to avoid this condition. Its whole purpose is to declare the clear possibility of standing in his presence unashamed, to have boldness, to have confidence before him. Well, then, what can make us bold? What gives boldness now in your life? To answer that for myself, I took another sheet and headed it, "Things That Make Me Bold." What do you think I put down on that?

First, I am bold or confident when I know what I am doing, when I have complete familiarity with a process: When I first began to shave I was not very skilled with a razor (electric razors were not very much in vogue at that time) and I used to cut myself so frequently that I looked like a sieve. I leaked at half a dozen points after every shave. But the longer I shaved the more familiar I became with the process until, finally, I was bold and confident. I could shave quickly without cutting myself. Watch a driver who is just learning to drive -- how cautious they are. They grip the wheel tightly and do everything very deliberately. But watch a driver that has become accustomed to driving -- how bold he is. We have a skyrocketing accident rate to prove how bold such drivers can get! But there is a feeling of confidence that comes when you know the process. You are familiar with that. Then I discovered that I am bold and confident when I know that the results are guaranteed, some factor gives me confidence that it is going to work out all right. Such confidence in an end result makes anyone bold.

I was riding in a plane not long ago, and a mother and her five-year-old boy sat in the seat opposite me. She informed the stewardess this was their first flight, and this was very evident because she was very nervous. She kept looking out the window, adjusting her seat belt, biting her fingernails, and was very nervous the whole time. But not the little lad. He was relaxed and confident, utterly untroubled. Why? Because he trusted adults. His mother had brought him into his situation and he knew that she would not have done it if there had been any danger, so he was trustful and utterly bold. He knew it would all work out -- and it did. They arrived safely, and the mother could have saved herself all the worry. Now I discovered that I am also bold when I have an undisclosed resource, what is called familiarity, an ace up the sleeve. When I have something I can count on that the other fellow does not know about, it makes me bold. It does the same for you too, does it not? Now look at what John proposes as the way to avoid shame and to give confidence in the day of the Lord Jesus, when we meet him face to face:

And now, little children, abide in him [there it is in three words] so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. (1 John 2:28 RSV)

It is all in those three words: "Abide in him." That sums up all that he has previously said about hearing the word, believing it, obeying it, and trusting it; that word as taught to us by the anointing Spirit, etc. This is to "abide in him." It is the same thing exactly as what is called in other places "the walk in the Spirit," or "fellowship with Christ," or "the fullness of the Holy Spirit," or "the victorious life." Do not be confused by these various terms. This truth is so magnificent, so broad, so wide, it takes many terms to describe the full sweep of it, but they are all referring to the same thing.

"Abide in him," he says. Basically that means to give up all confidence in yourself and step out each moment in full dependence on him who dwells within you for everything you do or say, anywhere, anytime. Abide in him, so that your actions are no longer a result of you, mobilizing all your resources to do something for him; but it is him, utilizing all his abundant resources to do everything through you. That is abiding in him, and it involves three specific things:

It means that you accept his evaluation of the past. You prepare to change the ideas that you learned from your childhood through tradition or secular education and have accepted as true, but are contradicted by what the Scriptures say. You are prepared to change those ideas, not cling to them. This is the problem with most of us. We take it for granted that what we were taught as we grew up is the truth, and we judge everything by what we learned, even the Word of God. We cling to these ideas. We refuse to set them aside. What we have picked up, when challenged by the Scriptures, we choose to believe rather than to believe what God has revealed to be the truth. As a result we go on clinging to the past and to these ideas from the past, and thus refuse the cleansing and forgiveness of Christ. This results in wide areas of weakness and ineffectiveness, and these we must someday face in all their waste and unproductiveness, in the presence of Jesus Christ. It is these that will make us shrink in shame before him at his coming. But if we face his evaluation of the past, and change our ideas, then the thing is over with now. There is a wonderful verse in First Corinthians 11, Verse 31, "But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged." It can all be over, be settled now.

Then, abiding in him means we are to accept his provision for the present. In writing to the Philippians, Paul says "Work out your own salvation," (Philippians 2:12 RSV). That means, work out the solutions to your problems. He is not talking about redemption, but about the every-day problems of life. Work them out "with fear and trembling," i.e., with a consciousness that the deceitfulness of the enemy is so subtle that it can slip up on you without notice, and you need to be very careful not to start relying upon yourself again. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you, both to will [he is in the choosing, in the making of decisions, in the choices] and to work, for his good pleasure [to do what is pleasing to him]," (Philippians 2:12-13 RSV). That is the process, and it is said again and again in Scripture. Now, accept that. Operate in that manner, for God knows what he is doing. Well, Jesus Christ knows exactly what he is doing in you. He was never at a loss for what to do in any situation, and he never will be at a loss for what to do in any situation he puts you into. He does not always tell us in advance what he is going to do. We just have to say, "Lord, here you are. You put me into this, now you have some purpose in it -- work it out. I'm confident that you know what you are doing."

Also, you and I are bold when we know that the results are guaranteed. Have you not noticed that this is exactly what the Word of God promises? Paul says in Second Corinthians, "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph," (2 Corinthians 2:14a RSV). He never fails. He guarantees the results. You are fighting a battle that is already won when you rest upon the activity, the wisdom, the responsibility of an indwelling God. It is done -- the battle is won. It still must be fought and you are to fight it, but the results are guaranteed, they will come out as God has said they will. He always leads us in triumph in Christ.

Furthermore, we are bold when we have an undisclosed resource, an ace up our sleeve. And is that not exactly what is provided for every Christian who understands the programming of God? We do not rely on our own human weakness, "we have no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3b RSV), Paul says, we do not think we have the intellectual acumen to figure out all the problems, we are not trying to mobilize all the resources of our powerful personalities to put over something. But we step into every situation, no matter what it may be, at home, at work, or wherever, in the quiet realization that the Son of God indwells us to do this thing through us. Others, looking at us, say "what a self-assured individual; how well he gets things done, how poised, how calm he (she) is in a situation." They do not know the secret we know, that it is not us, it is Christ. "I am crucified with Christ," says Paul, "nevertheless I live (Oh how fully he lived); yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live I live by faith in that indwelling Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me," Galatians 2:20). That is to accept his provision for the present.

Then, abiding in him means to trust his assessment of the future. What is the result going to be? Perfectly acceptable to God! Well-pleasing in his sight! The record of the Gospels is that Jesus Christ never did a thing that displeased the Father. For thirty-three and a half years on earth, not once did he ever do anything that displeased God. How could it be, since it was the Father in him, who did everything? The miracles occupy only a tiny portion of those thirty-three and a half years; the rest of them were filled with the ordinary events of life, such as you and I have to go through -- getting up in the morning, living with people, eating, preparing food, sweeping, cleaning, all the multitudinous details of life -- but not once did he ever do one thing that was displeasing to the Father.

That is still true of what he does today -- what he does in you. His activity in you is already acceptable to the Father. Not once will he ever do in you that which is displeasing to the Father, not once. Therefore, if you are facing those times in your life which are not lived out of his activity, and these are cleansed and put away, the only possible conclusion to this is that we can stand at last in his presence without shame. All the wastefulness of the past and present is judged and everything else is fulfilled by Christ; therefore, all is pleasing to God. There will be pains. He makes clear that his desire is to live a life that has no waste moments in it, no times when he is reckoning on himself, no seasons when he is acting out of the energy of his own brilliant personality, or from the background of his training as a Hebrew leader, not a single moment. He says, "I am constantly pressing on, pushing on, for the prize -- that wonderful prize -- then I shall stand in his presence and shall realize that everything worthwhile that has been done in my life since I have come to know him has been done in the activity of his life in me, and everything else has already been settled before I get there." That is what he is saying. Have you ever noticed how Jude closes his letter? Look at his last verse:

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, (Jude 1:24 RSV)

Is that not it? John says, "abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming." It may be that some of you need to settle certain things with the Lord right this moment. Think of the things that make you ashamed; the attitudes you harbor toward someone else, the habits you cling to that are unsightly, unseemly, unwholesome, the long-standing disagreements that you have had with another which makes you avoid them. These are the things that need to be settled now. Abide in him now, so that you will not have to shrink in shame before him at his coming.

Prayer

Our Father, we confess our lovelessness, we confess our unconcern, we confess our foulness before thee. We confess our failure to live together in peace and sweetness and harmony. We confess to you, Lord, any aspect of our life that has been displeasing, and receive from you now that wholesome cleansing of the blood of the Lord Jesus, that we might be what we are intended to be, men and women, so possessed by an indwelling Lord that all that we do or say is a reflection of his image, and not of ours. Thank you for this.

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ The our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time now and forever, Amen. (Jude 1:24-25 RSV)

The Coming Day.

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August 11, 2002. December 5, 2023.