The Armor of God - 1

 In the last part of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he warns the church about the schemes of the devil. Our fight is not really against people. Our real fight is against Satan, and his armies. Indeed, if one looks at certain parts of the Bible, it will seem like, at certain times in history, Satan, and his armies, are winning. Sometimes, looking at the news, it seems like he is winning.

But Paul tells use we need to stand. We do not surrender to the discouraging events in the news. We do not surrender to falsehoods being spread. We do not surrender to discouragement. We stand for God, and his kingdom. We stand for the gospel.

And Paul gives us several tools, or weapons, to hold onto, and use, to stand bravely, and skillfully, before Satan, and his effort to bring dishonor to God, to promote lies, and to bring down God's family.

The first tool is the belt of truth. God has revealed truth in Jesus, truth in the Scriptures, and, also, in science. As in all things, it is valuable, and helpful, when held in the right relationship with the Father.

Of  course, Paul is probably not talking about the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. He is talking, in part, about things that we could realize without the Scriptures. God designed, and created, the universe. There are things that are definitely right morally. And there are things that are wrong. God acts in "common grace" to all people. That is, there are things in the world that benefit all people.

It is the first of our tools. Some people say Paul observed the armor of the Roman soldier, and saw that the belt was the foundation. Other pieces of armor connected, and derived strength, from it. So, our grasp, and conviction of truth, becomes our foundation, and our basis, for the other tools God gives us. Our grasp on truth enables us to stand again the schemes of Satan, and what\who he controls in the world.

God's Mission - 2

If the primary focus of God's mission is making disciples, the followers of Jesus, of necessity, need to be disciples.

"Disciple" is a term that is similar to "apprentice." An apprentice gives allegiance to a master, follows, observes, and practices what the master does. Usually, that refers to skills, and practices of a trade. To be a disciple of Jesus, one does need to follow, observe, and practice what Jesus did. One also needs to practice how he lived. And one needs to recognize his teaching, that each person is imperfect in his human core, in his heart. So, one also needs to change his core, his heart, because people live from their heart.

So, to be a disciple of Jesus, one turns away from how normal life is practiced, to how Jesus practices life. One agrees that one's actions, words, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes do not agree with God's design, and each person needs to change in all parts of life. Changes to thought, words, feelings, and actions.

There are some, who say that Christians of today have decided they don't need to be disciples. Being a disciple means one of the Twelve. Or being a pastor. Or a missionary. Or super spiritual.

Jesus commanded his disciples to make disciples. The Twelve began a chain. A disciple makes a disciple. Anyone who believes follows Jesus, and becomes a disciple of Jesus.

A disciple sees Jesus, believes in Jesus, gives him his allegiance, and follows him. Following Jesus means agreeing to submit to a process of heart transformation, which results in a process of life transformation. Which means changes in priorities, changes in goals, and changes in practices. 

God has purposefully designed his family with a huge amount a diversity. Scripture says that people from every tribe, people, and language will be part of his family. So, there will be different nationalities, different genders, and different Myers-Briggs Temperament Indicators. But only one family.

I say this to help people realize that completing God's mission requires the whole family. Each one in the family will be one of Jesus' disciples. We need to be ready to obey all of Jesus' commands. We need to continue to lean into heart transformation, and therefore, action transformation. But none of his family is a stereotype. There is not one path for a member of his family to complete the mission. There are as many paths as there are family members. We may think we are on one path. We need to be alert, and remain connected to the Vine. God may want you to change direction. Or he may want you right where you are. We need to learn to listen to him, to pay attention, and to do what he gives us, with all our hearts.

To use another analogy: Everyone in God's family is part of God's mission, God's army. Some of us are infantry. Some are artillery. Some in the Air Force. Some maintain the chain of supplies. All needed. All valuable.

God's Mission

I have mentioned in this space, a number of times, that God has placed his family in the world to partner with him to complete his mission. What is his mission? Perhaps the most succinct statement of God's mission is found at the end of the gospel of Matthew.

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And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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The main focus of God's mission is making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey.

To make a disciple, God's family connects a person to Jesus by introducing him to the gospel, and demonstrating what life as a disciple is like. The person, then, recognizes that his life does not agree with God's design, and that God condemns people who do not follow his design. But the person, also, recognizes that the Father sent the Son into the world to die for mankind's sin. So, the person accepts, and believes, in Jesus' work to reconcile, to redeem, and to justify, mankind. The person agrees to turn his life, and to live a lifestyle that agrees with God's design. And the person chooses to give his primary allegiance to the Father, Son, and Spirit. 

This is a general description of the process. Not everyone follows this process exactly. I know of people, who realized God is the primary, and absolute, authority over all creation. Therefore, people should bow, and give their primary allegiance to the Father, Son, and Spirit. They, initially, did not understand their sin, and their need for forgiveness. They chose to follow Jesus based on an understanding of authority. They learned soon afterward about sin, and Jesus' act to bring forgiveness.

Baptism does not have any effect on a person's life, and relationship with God. It is a symbol, and a proclamation, of a person going through the process we just explained, and making a choice to stand with Christ. The person is announcing his intention to follow Christ. 

Teaching to obey is the continuing process. Once, the decision process, that baptism symbolizes, is complete, a person needs to move down the path of completion, and realization, of God's design. Jesus, as a person, is a picture of what God's design is supposed to be like, and what each person is to make progress towards. We, all, as followers of Jesus, need to continue in the process of agreeing with him, and continuing to make choices, and changes, so that we all end up obeying all that Jesus commanded.

One author organized all of Jesus' commands into seven groups, or seven general commands. If we focus on the seven, we can spend a lifetime trying to master them. There is a balance between exerting our own energy, and relying on God's grace. Maybe not a balance, but a simultaneous exerting, and resting in grace.

We cannot exert ourselves, and earn saving grace. But we can exert ourselves to live in agreement with God's standards, and design. We can position ourselves to receive grace from God for transformation.

I admit I do not totally understand how this agreement between exertion, and rest, works. I can think of activities that will put us in the correct position to receive grace: reading and meditating on God's word, prayer, and worship. I know of some who would encourage silence, solitude, and fasting. And probably others.

The aim is to get into position to receive grace, to change our hearts, and, as a result, change our actions, and practices. And, then, to complete Jesus' commands more completely, and purely, without ceasing, until he returns.

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Jesus' Seven Commands

• Repent and believe
• Be baptized
• Share in the Lord's Supper
• Love
• Pray
• Give
• Make disciples

God's Family

The church -- meaning the people, and family, of God -- have a few particular roles.

They are first to be disciples of Jesus. The concept of a disciple is similar to an apprentice. Apprentices learn from a master tradesman, for a particular trade by being with him, learning, and practicing, the skills of the trade. Jesus' disciples followed him, watched, and listened to him. And they were given assignments to go, and do, as he did. The church should be continuing this mission.

Second, they should be producing new disciples. This is done by proclaiming, discussing, and talking about the gospel, Jesus' message, in a reasonable, gentle, loving, way.

And in support of this presentation, the church should demonstrate God's character. Jesus did not just travel, and give sermons. He acted. He fed people. He healed people. He loved people. The life of the church needs to be a mixture of proclamation, service, and mercy. Many christian organizations argue for one over the other. In Jesus' life, they were one package. In God's family, they need to be the same.

The church needs to also mix deciding, and acting, in obedience to God's word, but also to listen, heed, and rely on God's Spirit. The Spirit is the leader, and the power source, for God's family. We must complete what we know. We must also allow him to work with us, adding his power to our actions. We must also listen as he directs.

Scripture describes the church using the human body as a metaphor. The body is a combination of many parts, formed into one unit, to complete his mission. God has enabled, and directs, different people in his family to do different things. We can see talents, and gifts, in people. So, God's people in God's family will do different things. But the different parts need to remember, they belong to the whole. They are part of the family. And when the world looks at the family, they need to see Jesus. Fulfilling his mission. One heart. One mind. One purpose.

Everyone Has A Part

Paul continues his theme of unity in Corinthians, by discussing the design of God's family.

The word for church in the original language (ekklesia) literally means "the called-out ones". It was generally used to refer to a group of people, assembled to perform a particular task. A town's city council was referred to as an ekklesia.

God's people are called out to complete his mission in the world. To proclaim the gospel, and bring into his family, people from every nation, every tribe, every people group, and every language. To complete this mission, there are numerous jobs, assignments, and responsibilities.   New ground, without the gospel, needs to be identified, and reached out to. Areas need to be saturated with the gospel. Areas need to be saturated with prayer to alter the spiritual climate. New ones need to be grounded in God's Truth, and introduced to a new way of life. Lifestyle changes, corrections, and adjustments, need to be identified, and implemented. People's spirits need to be encouraged, loved, consoled, and comforted. And there are physical services: household repairs, meals, medical care, and rescue from disasters.

God's mission is not one thing. It is the creation of a community, a family, in tune with Him, and one another. As a result, there are a multitude of needs to meet. And God has developed his body to meet those needs. He gives his Spirit to each new family member. And the Spirit empowers each member with a gift. And each gift is the ability to complete one of the functions, one of the assignments, in God's family. And without that function working, God's family will not work as God intended.

So, we can look around at all the people in our local family of God. Each one has a place in the family. Each one has a role in the family. Each one has an assignment, that when completed, makes God's family function better, brings God's mission closer to completion, and demonstrates God's character to the world, because it expresses the love, and unity, of God's family.

It may not be the same as our role, and assignment. But that does not mean it is not needed, or valuable. If it is needed by the body of Christ, then we all need it, for our good, and our growth, and the growth of God's Kingdom.

It may not take place on Sunday morning. It may not take place in the Sunday meeting. It is still necessary for God's mission.

Not one person is the same. Not one gift is given to all -- except the gift of the Spirit, who gives all gifts. If they are in God's family, we need them, the church needs them, and the world needs them.

Lord's Supper

Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians, because they had gotten off track in a number of ways. Paul brought the gospel to the city, and it was received with joy. But then cultural practices got mixed in with the gospel.

Now, God created culture. So, expressing allegiance to Jesus through cultural expression is not necessarily wrong. Scripture can be translated into a people group's heart language. Praise, and worship, can be offered using a particular cultures art forms, music, dance, or poetry.

Jesus translated the Lord's Supper from the Passover. The Passover is celebration of deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The Lord's Supper is a celebration of deliverance from slavery to sin. Jesus took the symbols of Passover -- bread and wine -- and applied them to the context of the new covenant. Unleavened bread, eaten in haste, to his body. Blood on the doorposts and lintels to his blood.

The problem came when the Corinthians connected the Christian celebration with the celebrations done before Christ, and the gospel, came to them. They would have celebrations for the other gods. They have to be the same, right?

Of course, they were not the same. The pagan feasts focused on me having a good time. The Lord's Supper focused on everyone's need, because of sin in everyone's life. The Lord's Supper focused on Christ's work of redemption, which we all need, and which we all received.

So, if someone is more concerned about how much food is piled on his plate, while others have none, then we have one more symptom of division. If we are all part of God's family, then it should matter than some of the children are provided for, and some are not.

A prominent theme in this letter is unity. How meetings, and other practices, are handled, demonstrates how all people are viewed. And we need to look at ourselves, make sure our hearts are right before God, so we act, and respond, rightly, with love, and unity, toward others. 

No Division

Paul urges agreement, and no divisions, in the Corinthian church. The people are quarreling about who to follow. Paul, Apollos, Peter? Is it any different today? Luther, Wesley, Calvin? (Or IV, Cru or Navs?)

I think we should be grateful for these individuals, and groups. They have reminded us of truths, principles, attitudes, and practices that were forgotten. God's family is better for all of them. But they did not die for our sins. We are not save by agreeing with their teachings, and putting faith, and trust, in them.

It is Christ, and the gospel, that saves, and transforms, us. It is holding onto one truth as the most important, that divides God's family, and dishonors Christ, and the gospel, before the world.

Jesus says that if we love one another, we demonstrate to the world that we follow him. How we live in community, and how we live our lives individually, testifies to the reality of Christ, the cross, the resurrection, and salvation by faith, as much as preaching the gospel. (Which we should be doing also.) Hypocrisy is one of the charges hurled at God's family. And it is the main reason, many people reject the gospel.

This is especially tricky nowadays. Not only are there groups of Christians, who stress different parts of God's truth, but there are different groups of Christians, who reject different parts of God's truth. And there are groups, who call themselves Christian, but reject the cross, the resurrection, the grace of the gospel, and the divinity of Christ. 

I am certain that God wants his family to love, and be united, with his family. All parts of it. I am not sure how that works with quasi Christian groups, or pseudo Christian groups. But doing a good job of loving, and demonstrating unity, across lines of genuine Christins would at least be a good place to start.