The Gospel according to the Colossians
My wife and I were on a plane travelling down to Santiago de Compostello in northern Spain. A Chinese lady in her twenties sat next to me. I offered her a sweet for take-off. She spoke very good English and explained that she had studied for a Masters degree in England.
“Did you meet many English families then?” I asked.
“No, but I did get involved with a group called ‘International Café’.”
“What did you do with them?”
“We went on excursions and met together to study the Bible.”
“Wonderful. Can you tell me what a Christian is?”
She thought for a bit and then said,
“Isn’t a Christian someone who is kind, generous and honest?”
For the next two hours we discussed what the Bible teaches on this vital subject.
Unfortunately there are now many people who would be unsure how to answer this question about ‘What is a Christian’. When asked why a person hopes to go to heaven, many respond,
“Well, I behave better than most, I am involved in a church.”
Such answers that centre on what I do are not Christian. The Christian will always say,
“Because the Lord Jesus died on my behalf to take away the guilt of my sin.”
In 60AD Paul wrote a letter to a young church in Colossae which was sited in what is now modern day Turkey, inland from Ephesus. He had never been there but he clearly wanted them to be sure what the Christian message really was so that they would not be led astray by false teachers. He longed for them to know that the God who made us really cares for us. The first chapter of Colossians summarises what everyone should know about the Christian message.
The gospel is Christ centred
Many people think of Christians as being morally decent people who are usually church-goers. Paul starts by correcting this view. A Christian is someone who lives under the authority of the Lord Jesus. A person can be a pleasant decent person and even go to church and never have submitted to the rule of Jesus in their personal life. The letter begins,
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus . . . to the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae. . . We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus . . .” Colossians 1:1-4
Any discussion about ‘What is a Christian?’ must centre on the person of Jesus? Paul here describes him as ‘The Christ’, as ‘the Lord’ and as the ‘Son of God’. This is crucial. The Christian story centres on who Jesus is and what he entered this world to do.
The word ‘Christ’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Christos.’ This means the same as the Old Testament word “Messiah.’ The Messiah is a person that keeps being mentioned throughout the Old Testament. He is ‘God’s anointed one’ or ‘God’s chosen King’, who is foreseen as entering this world to rule over all for eternity. He would be recognised by his pedigree, by his birthplace, by his teaching, by the miracles he performs and ultimately by his coming back to life after death. His followers would be welcomed into the Kingdom of God and will be forgiven all their sins against God. Jesus himself claimed to be this Messiah and to have fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies!
When Mark wrote his gospel, using the information Peter gave him, his opening line summarises what he wants to substantiate.
“The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Mark 1:1
Our word ‘gospel’ is derived from the old English word ‘god-speil’ which literally means ‘good news.’ The coming of God into his world as a person is very great news. In order to communicate with mankind God entered his world as a unique human being – that is the claim of the whole Bible.
A headmaster wrote the following in his autobiography,
“I was happy in conversation with boys always to tell them what ideal behaviour was and where selfishness, cruelty and exploitation lay, but unwilling to talk of the very centre of Christianity, the meaning of the cross, because I found it at times repugnant and in part beyond belief. With this semi religion I was able to live with some contentment, but I knew well that it was ‘non-infectious’. That if what I believed was all Christianity amounted to, it would attract few. I knew that our Lord did not walk about Palestine beginning a world revolution, by saying,
“Come along everyone, be nice to everybody, be truthful, be honest. No he spoke of repentance, of salvation from sin, of conversion.”
How right this headmaster is. The Christian message is that God entered this world as a person and now the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of God, is at work. He enables individuals to recognise the rebellion against God that is in us all, and draws us to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of any who turn to him. When we respond, his Spirit enters our life and begins the radical change in our characters. The Holy Spirit wants us to be forgiven, to join God’s kingdom and then begin the process of becoming like Jesus and so enjoying the life he want for us.
This is the message that the churches must pass on. The first words the great Bible teacher, C.H. Spurgeon, gave when he first entered the pulpit of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, in London were very significant,
“I would propose that the subject of the ministry of this house, as long as this platform shall stand, and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshipers, shall be the person of Jesus Christ. I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist; I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist; but if I am asked what is my creed, I reply, "It is Jesus Christ." My venerated predecessor, Dr. Gill, has left a [theological heritage] admirable and excellent in its way. But the [legacy] to which I would pin and bind myself forever, God helping me,...is Jesus Christ, who is the arm and substance of the gospel, who is in Himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth.”
The gospel is true
What is purported to be good news is not necessarily true but here Paul emphasises that the Christian story is true and dependable, is evidence based, and that the accounts we have about Jesus are really true. Paul stresses,
“. . . that you have already heard about in the word of truth.” Colossians 1:5
“. . . and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” Colossians 1:6
That this message, passed on by the apostles, has all the markings of being true can be discovered by anyone who investigates the evidence. A good place to start is to read through John’s gospel. It is significant that those who are not serious in their search for answers will rarely take this up. Investigators may like to ask for and read the article, ‘Are the Gospels Reliable?’ that looks at some of the evidence that the four gospels we have were really written under the auspices of the apostles and are true accounts of what Jesus said and did. The evidence is very strong that the Christian faith started suddenly and then spread very rapidly, in spite of marked opposition, during the first century AD.
The gospel is spread by people
Jesus described the Christian message as a seed and here Paul takes up this metaphor. The message about Jesus was brought to the people of Colossae by a man called Epaphras, who himself was a native of Colossae. We do not know when he heard the gospel but it may have been when Paul spent over two and a half years teaching in nearby Ephesus. Paul had had daily discussions there in a hall owned by a schoolmaster, appropriately called Tyrannus. Clearly one aspect of the early teaching about Jesus and his kingdom was the need for ordinary people who have become Christians to pass on the good news to others.
“All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant . . .” Colossians 1:6
So the gospel is a true story about what Jesus said and did. It can be investigated and tested – is the story coherent historically and does Christ’s message resonate with all that we instinctively know?
What a tragedy it is that so few people understand the Christian message today., but they have never been told. A recent survey revealed that of the 144 evangelical mission agencies based in the United Kingdom only 56 prioritise the sharing of the gospel about Jesus, 88 do not. The percentage of our local churches and Christians that prioritise evangelism is even smaller.
The gospel is effective
David Hamilton who was deeply involved in the loyalist reaction against the IRA in Northern Ireland. He had murdered, shot, injured and burnt the homes of those he considered to be the enemies of Northern Ireland’s union with Great Britain. He became a Christian when in the Maze prison and became a changed man who spends his time telling people that God can change them too.
I have also just read about a doctor in Italy who has been immersed in caring for people with the Corona virus. He and his fellow doctors were firm atheists but the troubles led them to realise how much we all need God and he, for one, has become a believer. Throughout history a major appeal that the gospel has made has been when people see the changes that occur when people turn to Christ. They now have a higher authority that guides how they behave and they inevitably change to become more like Jesus their Lord.
“All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” Colossians 1:6
“ . . . in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every good way; bearing fruit in every good work. . .” Colossians 1:10
Note again that a Christian is someone who is convinced who Jesus is and is therefore committed to living for him and his glory. Any person who does not have this relationship with Jesus themselves is probably not yet a saved person, not yet a Christian. This relationship, like a good marriage, is permanent and our Lord gives us the power of his Spirit to enable us to keep going on faithfully.
“ . . . being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves . . .” Colossians 1:11
It is the Lord Jesus who has paid the price for us to become members of his kingdom and it is he who empowers his people to change into the likeness of Jesus. It is he who gives us great joy.
The Bible’s message is so powerful. Mahatma Ghandi was speaking to a group of missionaries when he felt compelled to remind them about their priority,
“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilisations apart, to turn our world upside down, to bring peace to this battle-torn planet – but you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.”
Martin Luther recognised the power that the God’s gospel has, a power that could overthrow any human dynasty such as the power of the papacy in Rome.
“I simply taught, preached and wrote God’s word – otherwise I did nothing. And then, while I slept or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor ever inflicted such loses on it. I did nothing. The word did everything.”
Faith in God makes great optimists. Adoniram Judson, one of the earliest missionaries to Burma, was lying in a foul jail with 32 lbs. of chains on his ankles, his feet bound to a bamboo pole. A fellow prisoner said, with a sneer on his face.
“Dr. Judson, what about the prospect of the conversion of the heathen?”
His instant reply was,
"The prospects are just as bright as the promises of God."
The gospel offers great privileges
When a person recognises who Jesus is and submits to his rule in their life, he is given, as a free gift, a new status. He is forgiven for all the sin that has marked his life in the past. They are forgotten by God and so he asks us to do the same. He is adopted into God’s own family and becomes a member of God’s kingdom. There can be no greater privilege than this.
“. . . and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14
Doesn’t this thrill you?
Because we are forgiven God promised us admission to heaven. James Packer wrote in his book, ‘The Father Loves You’,
“We know very little about heaven, but I once heard a theologian describe it as ‘an unknown region with a well-known inhabitant,’ and there is not a better way to think of it than that.”
Richard Baxter, a minister in Cromwell’s time, expresses the thought of heaven with these words:
“My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim,
But it's enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with him.”
To those who have learned to love and trust Jesus, the prospect of meeting him face to face and being with him forever is the hope that keeps us going, no matter what life may throw at us.
The gospel is Jesus
Paul now returns to emphasise the centrality of Jesus - everything revolves around Jesus.
Paul writes that Jesus is:
Creator
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” Colossians 1:15-17
This is clearly describing the God who created ‘the heavens and the earth.’ Jesus is one with that being. He is God. When we look at a beautiful person, a beautiful garden, an inspiring landscape, we should be saying, thank you Lord Jesus for all of this. To think like this is to worship him.
Sustainer
Our health and very existence is sustained by Jesus, who existed before the world was formed. Without him everything would collapse.
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17
Ruler
Jesus Christ is the loving ruler of his people. They now live as he wants and he will take them to live with him in eternity. His resurrection proves that this gospel is true. He promises that those who die holding to their faith in the Lord Jesus will be raised to live with him eternally, those who do not belong to him will also be raised but will be separated from every good thing God offers, and that will be hell.
“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.” Colossians 1:18
How foolish it is for people to say that they are Christians when they don’t permit Jesus to reign supremely in their everyday lives.
The God who saves
Paul summarises this brief description of who Jesus is by combining who Jesus is with what he came to achieve.
“God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in him, and though him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:19-20
This is a God who exemplifies love. He wants everything to be unified and working together for God’s ends. If a whole range of musical instruments are accurately tuned to one tuning fork they will all play together harmoniously. When everything in the universe is tuned to our maker, all will again be harmonious. That will be heaven.
There is a problem however. What should a just God do with sin? He cannot just overlook it and say, ‘It doesn’t matter’ because he is righteous and hates sin. His answer was to pay for it himself by entering this world and dying in our place, as our substitute. Such extreme love has never been repeated. He gave his life, knowing that he would return to life, for those who were initially opposed to his rule, so that they could be forgiven. Paul continues:
“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation . . .” Colossians 1:21-23
Those who have turned to Christ, that is those who believe in him, are given the status of being righteous in God’s eyes simply because we belong to his Son.
I had a patient who was terminally ill but who had just become a Christian. She was transferred to the local hospice and I visited her there. I felt it was important for her to be reminded of her standing before God and to be assured of her future with him. I wrote her name in bold writing on a piece of paper and then, lifting up my Bible, said,
“Let this Bible represent the Lord Jesus. You have committed your life to him so you are now ‘in Christ.’
I then placed the piece of paper, with her name on, in between the leaves of the Bible to represent this idea of being ‘in Christ’ and then closed it, saying,
“You are now in Christ, so when God sees you he doesn’t see your sins, he only sees you through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus in whom you stand. Because of what Jesus did on the cross you have been completely forgiven, you have been given the righteousness of Christ. Furthermore, Jesus has gone to heaven to live there with his Father. Because you are in Christ, you also will go to be with him in heaven.”
The response God demands
When a couple get married they have to learn to live in harmony with each other. God has given us everything we need to make our relationship with him work out well. If it doesn’t the fault is not his! He asks us to determine to earnestly live as he wants, living in a close relationship with him for the rest of our lives. The only condition God lays on us is that we must remain in Christ; outside of Christ there is no salvation,
“ . . . if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” Colossians 1:23
No-one becomes a Christian by being brought up in a Christian family, or by participating in church rituals such as baptism, confirmation or communion. These are only valid actions if they reflect a genuine personal commitment to the Lord Jesus as my God and my Saviour and my everyday Lord.
We need Jesus to explain our existence, to forgive us for how we have treated our creator and others, to empower us to live as God wants, to give us a purpose for our lives as well as a hope for after this life. Augustine summarised the place that faith should have in our lives.
“God does not expect us to submit our faith in him without reason, but the very limits of our reason make faith a necessity.”
We all need to return to the God who created us and entered this world to save us, to do so rescues us from a life rebelling against God to a life spent enjoyably living for him instead of for ourselves. What great news we have to share!
BVP
Matthew 7:13-14. “Life is a Journey to Somewhere”
We are all on a journey through life.
The Large Gate and the Broad Road
Imagine a large gate at the start of a broad thoroughfare. The entrance is so easy to find. It is so easy to travel along this road. There are lots of people on it. Any baggage you want can come with you. You don’t have to leave anything behind. Indeed it seems the natural thing to enter this gate and travel this road. You can just ‘go with the crowd’. It costs nothing. However there is a problem. That faded signpost says, ‘To destruction – to hell.’
On the wide road you can keep doing your own thing and follow whatever foibles you enjoy. You can gossip, cheat, enjoy pornography, be lazy and even lie. On this road there is plenty of room for everyone so long as you don’t say one thing is right and another is wrong. On this road it is acceptable for everyone to have their own opinions about what is right and wrong.
The wide road imposes few boundaries on our thinking or conduct. On this road all you must do is accept that moral issues are controlled by consensus, the majority view, and not by God. It is no coincidence that when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, the one thing they were forbidden to do was to ‘eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. The lesson is that only God has the right to decide what is right and what is wrong.
But, as many have experienced, journeying on this road is consistently unsatisfying. The adverts of Satan are lies. All immorality carries a heavy price later. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said,
“For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ” Matthew 7:13
Most people, in practice, have chosen to travel this road. You’ll be with friends who think the same as you. But do take note of what Jesus says, this road comes to an abrupt end, to an abyss and there is no way back from there. This is the road that ends in destruction.
The Narrow Gate and the Narrow Road
“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 5:14
How significant this little word ‘but’ is. The contrast is with the road the majority are on. The gate is tiny. You can see it as a turning off the broad road. The road beyond this gate is narrow too. The gate is so narrow that you cannot take any baggage through, you, and you alone, can pass.
The Sermon of the Mount started with what we call the ‘Beatitudes’. They start,
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit.”
I must accept that I am spiritually bankrupt in God’s eyes. I have nothing of worth to offer God. The second beatitude is about the sense of sin.
“Blessed are those who mourn.”
We mourn because we are not behaving in the way God has intended us to live.
A friend has sometimes taken me to watch Spurs play at their old White Hart Lane stadium. To enter you have to show your ticket and then pass through a very tight turnstile that you have to squeeze through. It is a picture of entering God’s kingdom. We have to have a ticket that comes through turning to Christ and we cannot take any baggage with us.
It is hard to have to admit how selfish and rebellious we are and that we have nothing to offer God to make us acceptable to him. Yet we must accept this about ourselves as this is the only way into God’s kingdom.
The narrow road ahead remains narrow, it doesn’t broaden out. However we still do naturally like to wander along the edges of the path and not stick to the centre. Yet Jesus says,
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
The Tripartite Gospel
The world’s religions tend to be a means of controlling societies by giving them both an ethic to live by and a reason for living that way. It is often taught that it is man’s responsibility to live such a good life that God will be satisfied with him. It is true that the ethics taught in most religious societies overlap; most teach the need for honesty, family values and hard work. The Bible is unique in that it teaches that man, on his own, can never satisfy the holy God who created us, it teaches that salvation must be won for him and then accepted as a gift.
The Bible says that mankind’s essential problem is sin. We need to be forgiven for this, our innate rebellion against God, and we need to be empowered to live in a way that pleases him. Neither of these can we do for ourselves. We need a Saviour who can achieve these for us. These three facts are precisely what the Christian gospel gives us, and that other religions do not, as the following passages confirm.
John the Baptist’s tripartite message
One of the reasons many people today find it hard to talk about Jesus is that they do not know what to say. Many preachers could learn from the emphasis of John the Baptist. Everything he said centred on Jesus. It is Jesus that mattered to him. But note who John says that Jesus is and what he wants to do for people. It is difficult to find three better sentences to summarise the gospel than the three that John the Baptist uses.
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
“He is the one who will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.” John 1:32
“This is the Son of God.” John 1:34
This is the Christian gospel in a nutshell. Jesus, who was sent to this earth by his heavenly Father, came to forgive our sin and to empower us to live a new, godly life.
Jesus’ tripartite message
Jesus and subsequently his apostles taught the same message.
a. Sin is our greatest problem
The greatest work of God was to send his son to repair the broken relationship between us and himself, a relationship that has been broken because of our natural rebellion against him, our sin. This rebellion, called sin, results in many different symptoms called sins. These include selfishness, pride, lying, stealing, promiscuity and the like. In the Old Testament this rupture was symbolically repaired by the offering of animal sacrifices. A lamb would take responsibility for the sin of a people or family and would then be killed as their substitute. These sacrifices had to be repeated again and again, so indicating their symbolism. This reminded people that sin, rebellion against the one true God, was the most serious of all their failings but that a final remedy was coming in the form of God’s Messiah. This is a problem that we are all born with.
“There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands, no-one seeks God.” Romans 3:10-11
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2
b. The only remedy is Jesus the Christ
John the Baptist introduces Jesus as God’s own son who has come as the remedy for the problem of our sin. John the Baptist concluded,
“I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” John 1:34
When saying how he was to be the remedy, he is surely alluding to the great prophecy in Isaiah that depicts what the Messiah, God’s suffering servant, would enter this world to do.
4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Isaiah 53:4-9
If Jesus is not part of the God who created us and has entered his world in the flesh, then his death cannot atone for our sin. Only the person sinned against can forgive.
Jesus said to a paralysed man, just before healing him,
“Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:5
The teachers of the law who were present recognised the significance of what Jesus had said, saying,
“Why does this fellow talk like that. He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone.” Mark 2:7
The greatest need we all have is to be forgiven before it is too late, before we come face to face with our maker in judgment. Jesus alone has the authority to forgive us because of who he is. It is vital therefore to know for certain whether the penalty for our sin has been taken from us. To say, ‘I hope so,” suggests that a person is unsure and therefore at great risk. However, if Jesus has become the focus of our life and has taken control, he has given us the promise that we have been forgiven because he has already paid the price for our sin on his cross. John the apostle wants us all to be certain. At the end of his gospel John explained why he had written his gospel, he wants people to be certain they have been forgiven and reminds us how this comes about,
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:31
Jesus came ‘to take away the sin of the world’. Yet how many today pass by Jesus and his cross although this is their only hope.
c. Jesus empowers his people
The same divine Jesus, who takes responsibility for our sin, then drenches us in the life of God, he baptises us with the Holy Spirit. It is important to note that the two works of God in us come simultaneously. The ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’ is not a second blessing. The work of Christ is both to forgive our sins and to baptise us with the Holy Spirit. When I come to Christ to be forgiven my sin, he gives me the gift of the Holy Spirit as evidence that I have been forgiven. No-one is yet forgiven if the life of the Holy Spirit is not developing in them. The apostle Paul wrote emphatically,
“If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:9
Forgiveness and empowerment go together. Although we call John, the cousin of Jesus, ‘John the Baptist’, it is in reality Jesus who is The Baptist. John only baptised symbolically with water, whereas Jesus gives us the reality, the power of God to live new godly lives for him.
d. Jesus is for all
The apostle John has already made it clear who the message about Jesus is for,
“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” John 1:9
It is clear throughout the Bible that this message about Jesus being the ‘Saviour of the World’ is for people of all nations and for all classes of society.
How do people receive these gifts of forgiveness and empowering? The answer is simple, by entering into a personal relationship with Jesus, asking him to be both your Saviour and Lord. His empowering then enables us to live this new life with him in control. The apostle explains this,
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed on his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
This new life as a member of God’s kingdom begins with an individual coming to Christ, recognising his sin.
The tragedy is that most people do not know of this because we have not shared it with them.
People may have received water baptism, perhaps as a baby, but are uncertain whether they have been forgiven and are not being changed by the Holy Spirit into becoming like Jesus, with his character and ambitions. It is irrelevant whether we carry an Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist or other label, these groups cannot save us, only a personal relationship with Jesus can do that.
God has given us his Holy Spirit so that our lives will be on fire for him. Isn’t this why, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down on the whole church as ‘tongues of fire’?
There are some who have asked Jesus into their life but have not noticed a great change. Many years ago, a short man called Mr Falconer was working as a missionary to the sailors at Port Chalmers in New Zealand. He had just finished a short service for the seamen, which was held in a large loft used to store the ship’s sails. A young sailor, Frank Bullen, stayed behind to talk. Frank explained that he did believe and had prayed a prayer of commitment to Jesus as his Saviour and Lord, but no obvious change had occurred. He felt no assurance that he had been accepted by God. Mr Falconer read him one of the important sayings of Jesus:
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
‘Ah, I see how it is,’ exclaimed Mr Falconer, ‘you are waiting for the witness of your feelings to the truth of him who is himself the Truth. You dare not take him at his word unless your feelings, which are subject to a thousand changes a day, corroborate it. You must believe him in spite of your feelings and act accordingly.’
Frank Bullen recorded many years later:
’In a moment the hidden mystery was made clear to me, and I said quietly, “I see, sir; it is the credibility of God against the witness of my feelings. Then I believe God!”
’Let us thank God,’ answered the little missionary and they knelt down and prayed. Little more was said. There was no extravagant joy, or effervescent enthusiasm, but just a quiet satisfaction of having ‘found one’s way after a long groping in darkness and misery’.
The real proof that the Holy Spirit is active is the presence of a new priority—a desire to live for and with Jesus! If anyone is unsure about how they stand with God, start again and open or reopen your life to God. He wants you to know that your sin has been forgiven, that you have been obviously given the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that you can go out confidently into God’s world to live for him.
The tripartite gospel
This tripartite gospel that the Son of God, the Messiah would enter this world, would die as the ultimate sacrifice for sin and would empower his people by baptising them in the Holy Spirit of God can be found throughout the Bible
John 3
Nicodemus was an eminent Jewish scholar who sat on the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews. He knew all about the need for an animal sacrifice to take responsibility for people’s sin. Yet his religious status and understanding were not sufficient to admit him into the kingdom of God. He did not understand that Jesus was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” or that Jesus was the person who will baptise his people with the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus talked to Nicodemus he explained how a person can enter the Kingdom of God. A kingdom requires a king. The whole Old Testament is about the coming of the Messiah, God’s chosen king, into his world.
“Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3
Jesus repeats this three times to make the point absolutely clear.
“I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” John 3:5
“You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again’. John 3:7
Notice the emphasis Jesus gives. ‘I tell you the truth’ is a phrase Jesus used when he wanted to emphasise something strongly. ‘Must’ leaves no room for doubt - even good religious people ‘must’ be born again to enter God’s kingdom.
What is this ‘kingdom of God’? It is a phrase commonly used by the writers of the first three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke but seldom by John. John usually speaks more of ‘eternal life’. A kingdom speaks of the rule of a king. It is a dynamic relationship. God’s kingdom is entered when we become subjects of King Jesus, but will be fully experienced later when the king returns. Matthew, Mark and Luke look forward to this fulfilment a lot. John emphasises what God gives to his people now – eternal life when they become followers of the King.
Here Jesus speaks to Nicodemus in terms of God’s kingdom. If he wants to see the kingdom of God – then he must be born again and accept the king, yes, even a man such as Nicodemus must submit. The king has arrived, his kingdom has now begun, and he is still not a member of it.
Nicodemus is puzzled even though Jesus is using Old Testament language that is clearly found in Ezekiel’s prophecy.
Ezekiel 36
In Ezekiel, God describes the new beginning that God will give to his people.
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” Ezekiel 36:25
Ezekiel is saying that God himself will wash away peoples’ sin and give them a new spirit that will enable them to live as he wants.
In John chapter 3, Jesus is repeating Ezekiel’s message. In the Kingdom of God, God will cleanse his people from all their sin and furthermore, he will give us his Spirit so that we will want to live for God. Ezekiel is also talking of the tripartite gospel.
I recently attended a conference of a missionary society. One of its striking features was the way many of these missionaries were so content and satisfied, even though they were working in very tough areas with little or no public recognition. Their ambitions were different to those of many religious people, they really wanted to live for God and not themselves.
A minister asked a young boy in his church this profound question,
“What do you have to do to go to heaven?”
He thought for a moment before replying,
“You’ve got to die.”
How true this reply was. Clearly no-one can experience heaven until we have died physically. However to be admitted to God’s kingdom we have to die to self now. Paul understood this,
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God (Jesus) who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20
Nicodemus, for you to be admitted to God’s Kingdom you must die to self and be born again.
It is a popular misconception that if we are pleasant, moral, religious people then God will look favourably on us when the judgment comes. This is not true. Nicodemus had to learn this, just as all religious people today must understand this.
Jeremiah 31
Jeremiah also looked forward to the time when a new covenant would be established by the Lord with his people. This also describes the Tripartite Gospel but in the reverse order.
“‘This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the LORD. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” Jeremiah 31:33
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Jeremiah 31:34
When will this new covenant be introduced and who will introduce it? Jeremiah has already explained that this will happen when God’s Messiah enters his world. This Messiah will be called ‘The LORD’. Whenever the word Jehovah is translated into English the four letters are all in capitals – LORD.
“The days are coming,’ declares the LORD ‘when I will rise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD our righteousness.” Jeremiah 23:5-6
The Lord has promised that he will always have a people to represent him, they will be the descendants of Abraham because they share his faith.
Luke 24
After Jesus’ resurrection, when he appeared to his disciples in the upper room, he showed them how everything that had happened to him had been prophesied about in the Jewish Scriptures. He emphasised the essentail threefold core of the Christian message. The Bible’s message centres on why he, God’s chosen king, the Messiah or Christ, the Son of God would treated in the way he was.
“This is what is written, ‘The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.’ “ Luke 24:46
The significance of this for those who accept his rule is clear,
“ . . . and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations.” Luke 24:48
God knows that for anyone to continue living for Christ they will need God’s power and this is what Jesus emphasises next,
“I am going to send you what my Father promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49
This power, to live Godly lives for Christ, comes from the gift of the Holy Spirit whom all Christians are given.
Acts 2
When Peter gave his first sermon seven weeks after the death and resurrection of Jesus he explained to the crowds gathered in Jerusalem that when they heard the disciples explaining the gospel in their own languages they were witnessing an extraordinary miracle caused by the Holy Spirit being poured out on Jesus’ followers. The Holy Spirit always points people to Jesus and this is what Peter proceeds to do. He describes Jesus as God’s Messiah. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiah.
“God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:36
When the people heard this they were ‘cut to the heart’ and asked the apostles, ‘What shall we do?’ Peter responds using the same tripartite good news, Jesus is the Lord God, he forgives our sin and he baptises us in the Holy Spirit.
“Repent and be baptised every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all the Lord our God will call.” Acts 2:38-39
Galatians
When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he begins by stressing the first two points of the tripartite gospel,
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age. Galatians 1:3-4
Later in the book Paul emphasises the work of the Holy Spirit.
“Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or believing what you heard. After beginning with the Spirit, are you trying to obtain your goal by human effort.” Galatians 3:2-3
Again an apostle stresses the tripartite gospel. Jesus is Lord, who gave himself for our sins and gives us the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians
Paul again emphasises the tripartite gospel starting with an emphasis on the divinity of Jesus,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:3
He then emphasises the forgiveness of our sin that Jesus has won for us,
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins . . .” Ephesians 1:7
Paul then moves on to the empowerment and guarantee that Christians are given,
“Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14
Titus
Paul again links all three aspects of the gospel,
“But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, who he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” Titus 3:3-6
Peter
In his second letter, Peter also emphasises the tripartite aspects of the gospel. Firstly he stresses that Jesus is divine.
“To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.” 2 Peter 1:1
He continues,
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him.” 2 Peter 1:3
These gifts are given so that,
“. . . through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
The gospel is that the divine Son of God entered this world to die for our sin and to empower his people to become like him.
In the past there have been movements that have emphasised ‘The Full Gospel’. These movements wanted to emphasise the three aspects of the Christian gospel that the Bible so clearly emphasises but then they want to add something. This addition is about how the Holy Spirit will be experienced, and they stress such gifts as supernatural healing, tongues of angels, words of knowledge, and the like. The Bible stresses that God is a supernatural God who can break the laws of nature if he wants but he does not do this at man’s beck and call. The Bible does urge us to ‘test the spirits’, we must not be gullible.
“Dear Friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1
“Test everything.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21
It is apparent that many who claim to have supernatural ‘gifts of the Spirit’ do so for their own ends.
We must be careful however to emphasise that God is just as alive today as he has ever been and his Holy Spirit is changing people’s lives today as he has always done. In the gospel, because of the coming the Lord Jesus Christ, his followers are forgiven, have been washed of their sins and simultaneously have been baptised in the Holy Spirit to enable us to live new lives that honour our God and redeemer.
BVP