God’s promised guidance
God guided his people under the Old Covenant into the inheritance he had prepared for them. Psalm 78:51-55 shows the LORD, after redeeming Israel, leading them into his promised land of Canaan with the loving guidance of a shepherd. But although the LORD destroyed the house of Israel for their sin and exiled Judah from their paradise – the land flowing with milk and honey – the prophets foretold that when the Christ came, bringing salvation, restoration and deliverance, he would have compassion on God's people and once again guide them, leading them into a new paradise (Isaiah 49:8-10). And so Jesus came, declaring “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11-16); “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish...” (John 10:27-28). The new promised paradise into which our Lord guides his people – Christians – is the eternal life of knowing his Father (John 17:3).
Just as Moses led Israel our of Egypt, through the sea and through the desert, until they came into their promised inheritance of Canaan, the New Testament teaches that through Christ in the scriptures God does guide every Christian into the inheritance he has promised them. “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:1-2) God has spoken to us in the person of Jesus, and through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit continues to guide us into God's love, Christ likeness and Heaven's glory. God’s will is to bring all things under Christ’s authority (Ephesians 1:10) and make us more like Christ; this is our destiny; this is God's plan for our lives (Romans 8:29, 2 Peter 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 2 Timothy 3:17, Ephesians 2:10).
Experiences, external and internal
External experiences – circumstances and events – are ambiguous without objective revelation. We cannot know for sure, in advance, what God’s specific will is in external events. External events are dumb; they do not speak to us. An event itself will not tell me God’s will. God gave Satan permission to test Job’s faith (Job 1:6-12). The book gives the reader the actual will of God behind the events, but Job and those present at the time did not have this revealed to them. In Job 1:20 we see that Job trusted God even while he didn’t know what was going on. In Job 8:1-6 we see that Bildad interpreted the events falsely. Without what we have in the Scriptures, they were in the dark. God sent Assyria as a tool for judgement against Israel, in Isaiah 10:5. But in Isaiah 10:7 we see that Assyria had no idea that this was God’s purpose. They were just war mongering. A crowd with Jesus made a false conclusion about a man’s sickness. They thought the reason was sin. But Jesus declares that God’s own purpose was very different (John 9:1-3).
Internal events – inner promptings, urges, convictions, dreams – are also unreliable. It is not doubted that God can speak to us through external and internal experiences. But he does not promise to do so. Therefore, Christians should not expect the voice of the Spirit to come through circumstances, events, inner promptings, urges, convictions or dreams. These things are not normative, but subjective, and as such untrustworthy means of knowing God's will. However, we can trust the Scriptures. The Apostle Peter declared that the word of the prophets is surer than even his own eye witness experience (2 Peter 1:19). The only promise we have is that God has spoken to us through Jesus (Hebrews 1:1-3). We don’t need to wait for this; we can simply read the Bible. Countless Christians have wasted countless hours praying for God to speak to them through other unreliable means, but he has already spoken to us a word that is sure and unchangeable. We should instead be students of the Bible, which is an objective revelation, and his reliable word.
Beyond the subjective
What should we to do with experiences and feelings? We should trust in God’s sovereign goodness, and not the situation. God sovereignly (and invisibly) directs everything behind the scenes for the good of Christians. He uses every situation to steer us towards Christ likeness. We should also learn of God’s moral will as revealed in Scripture. God has given us moral guidance in Scripture. We can consciously cooperate with his will revealed in the Bible. We can take actions that we know God wants us to take. We need to learn from the Scripture what God has already said to us all, and let this interpret our experience, rather than the other way around.
We should enjoy your freedom of choice regarding non-moral decisions. We don’t need to be concerned to discover God’s specific individual will for our lives, through interpreting our external and internal experiences. The first problem with this (apart from its subjectivity and ambiguity) is that it leads to frustration. Everybody will inevitably fail to follow any perceived path perfectly. We will sin and therefore step outside our expected ‘Plan A’. This leads to feelings of guilt and spiritual inadequacy. A second problem is that this understanding diminishes God’s power. Cannot God still accomplish his perfect work in your life despite your failings, bad decisions and sin. The Scriptures indicate that this is in fact what He is always doing. Therefore, regarding non-moral details we have freedom to choose from many options. As long as we make sure to live like Jesus, we don’t have to be scared about missing his plan. We are not pre-planned robots with an exact path to follow at every point. We have the dignity to be able to think and do, as we will in God’s good creation, trusting that the outcome will always be for our good under God’s sovereign providence.
We should therefore focus on the big picture and leave God to order the minute details. This is not being flippant, but enjoying our freedom. God does have a specific will for everything, but he has never promised that we will know this. It’s his secret until it happens. We can’t therefore be sure that we will know his specific will in advance (although you can in hindsight, for whatever happens is his specific will). Although we can step outside his moral will as revealed in Scripture, we can never move outside his sovereign will behind all things. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever!” (Romans 11:36)
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Adapted from a sermon given by Scott Warner to Mars Hill Anglican Church, NSW, 2004.
talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Showing posts with label Guidance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guidance. Show all posts
The guidance of the Spirit: What Pentecostals believe
According to Pentecostalism, God 'calls' every Christian to consciously walk in a God-given 'destiny' for their lives – God's 'plan A' for each of us. Fulfillment of God's plan for our lives depends on our level of cooperation with the specific guidance provided by God. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Pentecostals teach that according to this verse and others, God's destiny for our present lives always involves prosperity and successful living, for his glory. This is generally true for all Christians, but 'destiny-teaching' gets downs to the specifics of our individual 'calling' and God's unique plan for our lives.
Destiny
During the 1990s a strong emphasis on Christian 'destiny' spread from America to Australia and has had widespread influence within Pentecostal and charismatic circles ever since. ‘Destiny’ is God’s specific plan for a Christian now, in this life. ‘Calling’ relates to the specific tasks and gifts that God has ‘placed upon’ our lives. God’s 'will’ encompasses all of his desires for our lives, including the specific details of our destiny, such as what job I should take. For example, God’s destiny on my life might include his will that I marry a certain person, sell a certain property, move to a certain country, and fulfill my calling to become a missionary.
God's ‘general’ will is relevant to all Christians, but it is his ‘special’ will that relates to the destiny of each individual. He has revealed his ‘general' will universally (to all) in the Bible, which primarily concerns our salvation and godliness. But God’s ‘special' will is not found in the Bible because it relates to his specific plans for each individual’s life – not minute details such as what colour socks I should wear on a given day, but the decisions that will effect the 'direction' of my life; that is, that will effect whether or not I am on course to 'achieve' my destiny. God's ‘special will’, like his ‘general will’, is perfect; the destiny that God has on my life is his ‘perfect will’ for my life – it is the very ‘best’ the God has for me.
Guidance
Considerable focus is given within the Pentecostalism and charismatic movements to help Christians find out their ‘calling’ in life. This comes from understanding how the Spirit 'guides' Christians. A whole new school of teaching has emerged aimed at training Christians with the know-how to find their destiny, and of critical importance is the skill of ‘hearing the Spirit’s voice’, discerning ‘God’s will for you’, and understanding the Spirit's guidance. Following the guidance of the Spirit is the way by which Christians should walk in the destiny that God has for them individually. It is by cooperating with the Spirit’s ‘leading’ as we make the specific decisions of our lives that we 'achieve' our destiny. Consequence, according to Pentecostalism, those who do not follow the Spirit’s guidance adequately – whether deliberately or not – miss out on God’s very best for them; they settle for a second rate life and miss out on the ‘perfect will of God’ for their lives.
The voice of the Spirit
God guides Christians by the voice of the Holy Spirit. The methods used by the Spirit to speak to Christians are varied, though his (inner) 'still-small-voice' is the primary means by which he leads willing and listening Christians to make the life critical decisions in the present that ensure that their futures accord with God's will and perfect plan for them.
God’s guidance through the Bible remains foundational, since the basic areas of living that are common to all Christians through the ages have been applied within the teaching and examples found in the New and Old Testaments. Also, since God has given Christians a ‘renewed’ mind, God expects them to use their common sense in matters of basic reasoning.
There are however multiple other ways by which God regularly attempts to guides Christians to make the right specific decisions that are crucial to them fulfilling their destiny. Christians should rely on God to use any set of several methods available to him to guide them, including provision of spiritual experiences, direct 'words’, prophecy, fresh 'revelation', visions or dreams. Christians may hear the inner voice of the Spirit speaking to them while in prayer or while meditating on God’s word. ‘Waiting on God’ while ‘listening’ for the Spirit’s voice is important – his voice coming in the form of internal promptings. He supplies confirmation of what we understand to be his will by giving us a feeling of ‘inner peace’. God also provides 'signs', and Christians should ask God to give them and watch for his direction. Finally, it is always wise that Christians seek ‘godly counsel’, that will confirm what the Spirit has said through his other means.
How it is that God speaks to the Christian is variegated, but that he will speak through the means he uses is certain. Christians need to constantly be attuned to his voice in order to hear the guidance he is always giving. Fulfilling our destiny in God will always depend on our faith; we will always need to ‘step out’ in confidence in the Spirit’s guidance. The aim of the Christian should be to continually depend on and follow the Spirit’s guidance for their lives; we should constantly ‘walk by the Spirit’; ‘live in the Spirit’ and ‘keep in step with the Spirit’. talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Destiny
During the 1990s a strong emphasis on Christian 'destiny' spread from America to Australia and has had widespread influence within Pentecostal and charismatic circles ever since. ‘Destiny’ is God’s specific plan for a Christian now, in this life. ‘Calling’ relates to the specific tasks and gifts that God has ‘placed upon’ our lives. God’s 'will’ encompasses all of his desires for our lives, including the specific details of our destiny, such as what job I should take. For example, God’s destiny on my life might include his will that I marry a certain person, sell a certain property, move to a certain country, and fulfill my calling to become a missionary.
God's ‘general’ will is relevant to all Christians, but it is his ‘special’ will that relates to the destiny of each individual. He has revealed his ‘general' will universally (to all) in the Bible, which primarily concerns our salvation and godliness. But God’s ‘special' will is not found in the Bible because it relates to his specific plans for each individual’s life – not minute details such as what colour socks I should wear on a given day, but the decisions that will effect the 'direction' of my life; that is, that will effect whether or not I am on course to 'achieve' my destiny. God's ‘special will’, like his ‘general will’, is perfect; the destiny that God has on my life is his ‘perfect will’ for my life – it is the very ‘best’ the God has for me.
Guidance
Considerable focus is given within the Pentecostalism and charismatic movements to help Christians find out their ‘calling’ in life. This comes from understanding how the Spirit 'guides' Christians. A whole new school of teaching has emerged aimed at training Christians with the know-how to find their destiny, and of critical importance is the skill of ‘hearing the Spirit’s voice’, discerning ‘God’s will for you’, and understanding the Spirit's guidance. Following the guidance of the Spirit is the way by which Christians should walk in the destiny that God has for them individually. It is by cooperating with the Spirit’s ‘leading’ as we make the specific decisions of our lives that we 'achieve' our destiny. Consequence, according to Pentecostalism, those who do not follow the Spirit’s guidance adequately – whether deliberately or not – miss out on God’s very best for them; they settle for a second rate life and miss out on the ‘perfect will of God’ for their lives.
The voice of the Spirit
God guides Christians by the voice of the Holy Spirit. The methods used by the Spirit to speak to Christians are varied, though his (inner) 'still-small-voice' is the primary means by which he leads willing and listening Christians to make the life critical decisions in the present that ensure that their futures accord with God's will and perfect plan for them.
God’s guidance through the Bible remains foundational, since the basic areas of living that are common to all Christians through the ages have been applied within the teaching and examples found in the New and Old Testaments. Also, since God has given Christians a ‘renewed’ mind, God expects them to use their common sense in matters of basic reasoning.
There are however multiple other ways by which God regularly attempts to guides Christians to make the right specific decisions that are crucial to them fulfilling their destiny. Christians should rely on God to use any set of several methods available to him to guide them, including provision of spiritual experiences, direct 'words’, prophecy, fresh 'revelation', visions or dreams. Christians may hear the inner voice of the Spirit speaking to them while in prayer or while meditating on God’s word. ‘Waiting on God’ while ‘listening’ for the Spirit’s voice is important – his voice coming in the form of internal promptings. He supplies confirmation of what we understand to be his will by giving us a feeling of ‘inner peace’. God also provides 'signs', and Christians should ask God to give them and watch for his direction. Finally, it is always wise that Christians seek ‘godly counsel’, that will confirm what the Spirit has said through his other means.
How it is that God speaks to the Christian is variegated, but that he will speak through the means he uses is certain. Christians need to constantly be attuned to his voice in order to hear the guidance he is always giving. Fulfilling our destiny in God will always depend on our faith; we will always need to ‘step out’ in confidence in the Spirit’s guidance. The aim of the Christian should be to continually depend on and follow the Spirit’s guidance for their lives; we should constantly ‘walk by the Spirit’; ‘live in the Spirit’ and ‘keep in step with the Spirit’. talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Listening to the Spirit: John Woodhouse
Adapted from John Woodhouse, ‘How the Holy Spirit works when the Scriptures are being read or heard' (The Briefing Dec 1999 Issue 248):
Pentecostals speak of the Spirit’s work in ‘revealing’ God’s word or giving ‘revelation’ into God’s word. More often than not this refers to a verse of Scripture ‘standing out’ or affecting us in a special way; we see a new aspect of meaning in a familiar passage, or gain ‘special insight’ into the meaning of a text, or find immediate application into a specific situation.
Theologians speak of the Spirit ‘illuminating’ the Word of God. What does this mean, and how does it happen? Are Pentecostals referring to the 'illuminating' work of the Spirit when they speak of their ‘revelations’ into the Word of God?
Do some read the Bible intellectually, while Pentecostals read spiritually? Are these two different ways of reading the Bible? Is it the work of the Spirit to enable us to discern deeper truths in the Bible that cannot be seen just by the ‘intellectual’ processes of merely ‘reading’? What is the role of the Spirit when the Bible is read or heard?
How to hear God
The proper reading of the Bible is a spiritual activity. But it is wrong to set ‘spiritual’ in opposition to ‘intellectual’ reading. Reading is an activity that always requires the use of the mind. But because Christians believe that the Bible is the very word of God the proper reading of it is always more than an intellectual activity, although it is never less than an intellectual activity.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 makes clear that the words of the Bible are only properly heard or read when the hearer or reader receives the words, not as the words of men only, but also as they actually are, the words of God. If anybody ever receives the words of Scripture merely as the words of men, then they have not understood them. It is this proper reading and hearing of the Scriptures that is only possible by the Holy Spirit. This is ‘illumination’.
Our problem
Since the fall, people are by nature incapable of hearing God’s Word. Our problem is described in the Bible as hardness of heart, eyes that fail to see, ears that fail to hear, minds that forget, minds that fail to understand, minds that misunderstand, hearts that are darkened.
This is not an intellectual problem, such as missing the logic or argument put forward by the Bible. Some of the greatest minds are spiritually blind. It’s also not a moral problem, the inability to see the difference between right and wrong. Some extremely moral people are also spiritually blind.
This inability is an expression of sin. It is the stubborn unrepentant heart, which is hard towards God (Romans 2:5). People refuse to glorify God or thank Him. Our thinking is futile and our foolish hearts are darkened (Romans 1:21). This ‘hardness’ is actually God’s punishment for our sin (Romans 1:28; 11:10; Matthew 13:13-15). He decrees the god of this world to blind the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4).
The result of this judgment is that people by nature do not believe God’s Word. There is all the difference in the world between understanding the meaning of the words, phrases and sentences themselves in the Bible and actually believing them; that is, receiving them as God’s very own words. The evidence of ‘deafness’ to the Spirit is the failure to hear God himself speaking when the Bible is read or heard. This is why the gospel appears to be foolishness to those who are ‘perishing’ (1Corinthians 1:18).
God’s work
There is nothing people can do to themselves fix our inability to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying through the pages of the Bible. Not will power or intellectual persuasion can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
Blindness to sight, deafness to hearing, is the work of God alone. The change is a God-given capacity to believe God. The consequence is that the gospel is no longer foolishness to somebody. God doesn’t increase their IQ or make his or her conscience more sensitive. God himself ‘breathes’ his word into their hearts so that they ‘hear’ it as his voice; they receive it as God’s Word (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
This is a work of the whole Trinity, God the Father, Son and Spirit, but it is especially attributable to the Holy Spirit. As with all his work, the One God is not divided in anything he does. The work of the Holy Spirit is the work of God.
Salvation
The work of ‘illumination’ is also not detached from salvation. ‘Illumination’ is not additional to salvation; it is an aspect of God’s saving work. Our eyes are opened, not to a general religious truth like the existence of God, but specifically to the reality of God’s grace towards us personally in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Actually God’s ‘elect’ are those specifically to whom the gospel comes with the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing full assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). God chose them before time began to be saved, and when the time came his salvation comes to them by the Spirit’s work of bringing their hearts to belief in the truth about Christ Jesus as Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:13). ‘Illumination’ is, therefore, the experience of all Christians. It is part of being born again. We all have this work of the Spirit.
The Spirit and the Word
God’s Word accomplishes the work of God’s Spirit, which changes blind human beings into believers. The Spirit of God is God’s breath. ‘Spirit’ literally means ‘breath’ or ‘wind’ (Cf. John 3:8). When the word of Scripture comes not just as human words, but with the Holy Spirit and power, then the words come with the power of God’s own breath (Compare 1Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:13) (Cf. 1 Peter 1:12). The One, who brought creation into being by his powerful word, saying ‘let there be light,’ now illumes the darkness of unbelieving hearts by speaking the word of the gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-6). Scripture is effective only as God himself addresses hearers, to do his work in them by his Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).
Conclusion
People simply cannot believe the Bible, God’s word, unless God graciously speaks it to them himself. When God speaks, he acts; that is, his Word works – it is active and powerful by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s work when the Bible is read or heard is to bring the words to us in such a way that our deaf ears and our blind eyes are opened to receive them as God’s word. This is a sovereign work of God.
Pentecostals need to revisit the doctrine of ‘illumination’ and ‘revelation’. ‘Illumination’ does not amount to certain texts ‘standing out’ or new insights being gained. It is about hard hearts being made responsive to God, and unbelief turned into faith, and sinners turning toward obedience. It is not the word of God that is illumed. It is our darkness that is illumined by the God-breathed Word (the ‘Spirit’s’ Word).
The Holy Spirit is not a substitute for our minds. God’s Word must be understood by careful reading. We must always guard against misunderstanding the Bible by thinking as we read it. But the intellect alone will not make us believe God when we read the Bible. We must always pray that God himself will breathe his word into our hearts and minds, producing faith and repentance, hope and service, love and obedience.
---
John Woodhouse, Matthias Media: The Briefing Dec 1999 Issue 248, ‘How the Holy Spirit works when the Scriptures are being read or heard.’ talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecostals speak of the Spirit’s work in ‘revealing’ God’s word or giving ‘revelation’ into God’s word. More often than not this refers to a verse of Scripture ‘standing out’ or affecting us in a special way; we see a new aspect of meaning in a familiar passage, or gain ‘special insight’ into the meaning of a text, or find immediate application into a specific situation.
Theologians speak of the Spirit ‘illuminating’ the Word of God. What does this mean, and how does it happen? Are Pentecostals referring to the 'illuminating' work of the Spirit when they speak of their ‘revelations’ into the Word of God?
Do some read the Bible intellectually, while Pentecostals read spiritually? Are these two different ways of reading the Bible? Is it the work of the Spirit to enable us to discern deeper truths in the Bible that cannot be seen just by the ‘intellectual’ processes of merely ‘reading’? What is the role of the Spirit when the Bible is read or heard?
How to hear God
The proper reading of the Bible is a spiritual activity. But it is wrong to set ‘spiritual’ in opposition to ‘intellectual’ reading. Reading is an activity that always requires the use of the mind. But because Christians believe that the Bible is the very word of God the proper reading of it is always more than an intellectual activity, although it is never less than an intellectual activity.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 makes clear that the words of the Bible are only properly heard or read when the hearer or reader receives the words, not as the words of men only, but also as they actually are, the words of God. If anybody ever receives the words of Scripture merely as the words of men, then they have not understood them. It is this proper reading and hearing of the Scriptures that is only possible by the Holy Spirit. This is ‘illumination’.
Our problem
Since the fall, people are by nature incapable of hearing God’s Word. Our problem is described in the Bible as hardness of heart, eyes that fail to see, ears that fail to hear, minds that forget, minds that fail to understand, minds that misunderstand, hearts that are darkened.
This is not an intellectual problem, such as missing the logic or argument put forward by the Bible. Some of the greatest minds are spiritually blind. It’s also not a moral problem, the inability to see the difference between right and wrong. Some extremely moral people are also spiritually blind.
This inability is an expression of sin. It is the stubborn unrepentant heart, which is hard towards God (Romans 2:5). People refuse to glorify God or thank Him. Our thinking is futile and our foolish hearts are darkened (Romans 1:21). This ‘hardness’ is actually God’s punishment for our sin (Romans 1:28; 11:10; Matthew 13:13-15). He decrees the god of this world to blind the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4).
The result of this judgment is that people by nature do not believe God’s Word. There is all the difference in the world between understanding the meaning of the words, phrases and sentences themselves in the Bible and actually believing them; that is, receiving them as God’s very own words. The evidence of ‘deafness’ to the Spirit is the failure to hear God himself speaking when the Bible is read or heard. This is why the gospel appears to be foolishness to those who are ‘perishing’ (1Corinthians 1:18).
God’s work
There is nothing people can do to themselves fix our inability to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying through the pages of the Bible. Not will power or intellectual persuasion can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
Blindness to sight, deafness to hearing, is the work of God alone. The change is a God-given capacity to believe God. The consequence is that the gospel is no longer foolishness to somebody. God doesn’t increase their IQ or make his or her conscience more sensitive. God himself ‘breathes’ his word into their hearts so that they ‘hear’ it as his voice; they receive it as God’s Word (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
This is a work of the whole Trinity, God the Father, Son and Spirit, but it is especially attributable to the Holy Spirit. As with all his work, the One God is not divided in anything he does. The work of the Holy Spirit is the work of God.
Salvation
The work of ‘illumination’ is also not detached from salvation. ‘Illumination’ is not additional to salvation; it is an aspect of God’s saving work. Our eyes are opened, not to a general religious truth like the existence of God, but specifically to the reality of God’s grace towards us personally in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Actually God’s ‘elect’ are those specifically to whom the gospel comes with the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing full assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). God chose them before time began to be saved, and when the time came his salvation comes to them by the Spirit’s work of bringing their hearts to belief in the truth about Christ Jesus as Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:13). ‘Illumination’ is, therefore, the experience of all Christians. It is part of being born again. We all have this work of the Spirit.
The Spirit and the Word
God’s Word accomplishes the work of God’s Spirit, which changes blind human beings into believers. The Spirit of God is God’s breath. ‘Spirit’ literally means ‘breath’ or ‘wind’ (Cf. John 3:8). When the word of Scripture comes not just as human words, but with the Holy Spirit and power, then the words come with the power of God’s own breath (Compare 1Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:13) (Cf. 1 Peter 1:12). The One, who brought creation into being by his powerful word, saying ‘let there be light,’ now illumes the darkness of unbelieving hearts by speaking the word of the gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-6). Scripture is effective only as God himself addresses hearers, to do his work in them by his Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).
Conclusion
People simply cannot believe the Bible, God’s word, unless God graciously speaks it to them himself. When God speaks, he acts; that is, his Word works – it is active and powerful by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s work when the Bible is read or heard is to bring the words to us in such a way that our deaf ears and our blind eyes are opened to receive them as God’s word. This is a sovereign work of God.
Pentecostals need to revisit the doctrine of ‘illumination’ and ‘revelation’. ‘Illumination’ does not amount to certain texts ‘standing out’ or new insights being gained. It is about hard hearts being made responsive to God, and unbelief turned into faith, and sinners turning toward obedience. It is not the word of God that is illumed. It is our darkness that is illumined by the God-breathed Word (the ‘Spirit’s’ Word).
The Holy Spirit is not a substitute for our minds. God’s Word must be understood by careful reading. We must always guard against misunderstanding the Bible by thinking as we read it. But the intellect alone will not make us believe God when we read the Bible. We must always pray that God himself will breathe his word into our hearts and minds, producing faith and repentance, hope and service, love and obedience.
---
John Woodhouse, Matthias Media: The Briefing Dec 1999 Issue 248, ‘How the Holy Spirit works when the Scriptures are being read or heard.’ talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
The Purpose Driven Life - Part II: A Corrective
What is the centre of the Christian life? What gives us purpose and drive? What message do we have to share with the world around us? These are some of the questions that Rick Warren's incredibly popular The Purpose-Driven Life sets out to answer.
In Part I of this article I reviewed The Purpose-Driven Life and concluded that because Warren identifies our basic need as meaninglessness, his gospel offers at its core the knowledge of God's plans and purposes. The problem with this is that it does not go far enough. Our basic problem, according to God's word is rebellion against God and so our greatest need is forgiveness and transformation, not just information. The failure of The Purpose-Driven Life is that it doesn't recognise that the gospel of Jesus' work of salvation is at the centre of God's purposes for the world.
Part II of this article aims to provide a corrective. I want to convince you that the Christian life should be gospel-driven, because the gospel alone can and should control the Christian life. In order to do this I want to ask two important questions.
A QUESTION OF POWER
What is it that enables a Christian to live as a Christian? It's a question of power. By insisting that the Christian life must be 'purpose-driven', Rick Warren assumes that living according to a set of purposes (derived from Scripture) will give power to drive the Christian life. However simply knowing certain rules and living a certain way will not empower Christians. For God's power is not located within us, as if it depended upon ourselves.
From the very beginning God's purposes were accomplished by his powerful word. Throughout the Bible there is a strong relationship between the purposes of God and the word of God that accomplishes it. A classic example is found in Isaiah 55:11:
If Christians try to just run 'purpose-driven' lives, in the sense Warren uses 'purpose', they will inevitably bind themselves up in a powerless straight-jacket and rob themselves of the enabling influence of the Spirit. Without depending solely on the power of God in the gospel, 'purposefulness' will ultimately degrade into 'sinfulness'. For the purpose of every human heart is only sinful all of the time. Only the gospel can drive the Christian life, because it alone is God's power over human sin.
A QUESTION OF CONTROL
There is a second question needing to be raised: What controls the Christian life? If the gospel contains the 'driving-power' behind the Christian life, what turns the 'driving-wheel' in the Christian life? According to Rick Warren there is nothing more fundamental that ought to control you than 'God's purposes for your life' (p. 30).
It is definitely right to teach that Christian activity should be guided, controlled, and directed. But should it be by a list of purposes? One immediate problem with conformity like this is that it tilts the focus towards thinking in terms of 'what' we do. But it's just as important to consider 'how' we do it - even more so is 'why' we do it. The question is what should be controlling how and why we do what we do as Christians.
When Warren uses the word 'purposes', he seems to use it in a very narrow sense. He appears to mean God's end-point goals for our individual lives. This definition is far too narrow. God's purposes for us include his purposes for all things. We cannot talk about his will for our lives individually without referring to his plans to glorify himself in Christ.
It's not 'God's purposes for us' that ought to control Christians. For this is little different to being driven by God's law - which was the expression of his desires for Israel. This is why The Purpose-Driven Life is inescapably emphasising a works-driven lifestyle. But it was God's mercy in saving Israel that was to motivate them to keep God's law (Ex 20:2). Similarly, the New Testament emphasises that the gospel itself should be the controlling agent in our lives. Christian are to:
THE GOSPEL-DRIVEN LIFE
In answering the question, "What on earth am I hear for?", to a secular audience as well as Christian, The Purpose-Driven Life uses over 1,200 scriptural quotes and references. Yet it fails to even begin outlining the gospel revealed by these Scriptures. Jesus' words to the Jews comes to mind: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me..." (John 5:39). How is it that a 300-plus page book on the subject of 'God's purpose' forgets to explain God's "eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Eph 3:11)? Could it be that the writting of this book was not gospel-driven?
This book certainly has some good things to teach us. Some of its challenge comes directly within its broader message. But the big lesson to be learnt from The Purpose-Driven Life is indirect. The moral of this story is that anything that displaces the primacy of the gospel in the Christian life is actually sub-Christian. This includes the notion of 'purpose' if it has been separated from its real meaning in the Christian life, which is the gospel of salvation from sin.
The book begins with a challenge to enter a covenant, committing to a 40-day spiritual journey of discovery. Compacts such as this are appealing to those looking for relatively quick and easy change, because they inadvertantly promise greater power: the power of new commitment; of new wisdom; of new experiences. But they fail to realise that the 'pact' of faith in Christ is the only covenant that promises any real life-transforming power. There is nothing new about it. The danger of any gimmick (and the modern Christian world is full of them) is that they take Christians away from the age old power of the gospel of Christ crucified.
CONCLUSION
It should always be clear that the gospel alone provides what is essential for sinful humanity: God's power for salvation. We should never fudge over this, because the whole Christian life is gospel-driven. Christians are still being saved by God and it's the gospel that is doing it. It alone enables us to live for God's glory. It directs us, controlling how and why we do live for God's glory, as well as the activities that this involves. So the Christian life really should be purpose-driven in the truest sense of that word, not at all meaning that we are driven by God's purposes for our own lives, but rather by God's purpose for himself as revealed in the gospel, in which we have been included.
More on this topic
The Purpose Driven Life - Part I: A Review
talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
In Part I of this article I reviewed The Purpose-Driven Life and concluded that because Warren identifies our basic need as meaninglessness, his gospel offers at its core the knowledge of God's plans and purposes. The problem with this is that it does not go far enough. Our basic problem, according to God's word is rebellion against God and so our greatest need is forgiveness and transformation, not just information. The failure of The Purpose-Driven Life is that it doesn't recognise that the gospel of Jesus' work of salvation is at the centre of God's purposes for the world.
Part II of this article aims to provide a corrective. I want to convince you that the Christian life should be gospel-driven, because the gospel alone can and should control the Christian life. In order to do this I want to ask two important questions.
A QUESTION OF POWER
What is it that enables a Christian to live as a Christian? It's a question of power. By insisting that the Christian life must be 'purpose-driven', Rick Warren assumes that living according to a set of purposes (derived from Scripture) will give power to drive the Christian life. However simply knowing certain rules and living a certain way will not empower Christians. For God's power is not located within us, as if it depended upon ourselves.
From the very beginning God's purposes were accomplished by his powerful word. Throughout the Bible there is a strong relationship between the purposes of God and the word of God that accomplishes it. A classic example is found in Isaiah 55:11:
"...So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."In the New Testament the same active power attributed to the word of God in the Old Testament is applied to the gospel itself. (Acts 20:32; Rom 1:16; 1Cor 1:18; Col 1:5-6; 1Thes 2:13; Heb 4:6,12; Jas 1:18; 1Pet 1:23). The gospel is living and active by judging the thoughts and attitudes of its hearers. It bears fruit and grows all over the world by powerfully saving unbelievers. And for Christians who are being saved it continues to be the power of God by working in them to building them up and give them an inheritance. So it is actually the word of God in the gospel that enables our participation in the purposes of God. It is the gospel that drives the Christian life, because it alone can.
If Christians try to just run 'purpose-driven' lives, in the sense Warren uses 'purpose', they will inevitably bind themselves up in a powerless straight-jacket and rob themselves of the enabling influence of the Spirit. Without depending solely on the power of God in the gospel, 'purposefulness' will ultimately degrade into 'sinfulness'. For the purpose of every human heart is only sinful all of the time. Only the gospel can drive the Christian life, because it alone is God's power over human sin.
A QUESTION OF CONTROL
There is a second question needing to be raised: What controls the Christian life? If the gospel contains the 'driving-power' behind the Christian life, what turns the 'driving-wheel' in the Christian life? According to Rick Warren there is nothing more fundamental that ought to control you than 'God's purposes for your life' (p. 30).
It is definitely right to teach that Christian activity should be guided, controlled, and directed. But should it be by a list of purposes? One immediate problem with conformity like this is that it tilts the focus towards thinking in terms of 'what' we do. But it's just as important to consider 'how' we do it - even more so is 'why' we do it. The question is what should be controlling how and why we do what we do as Christians.
When Warren uses the word 'purposes', he seems to use it in a very narrow sense. He appears to mean God's end-point goals for our individual lives. This definition is far too narrow. God's purposes for us include his purposes for all things. We cannot talk about his will for our lives individually without referring to his plans to glorify himself in Christ.
It's not 'God's purposes for us' that ought to control Christians. For this is little different to being driven by God's law - which was the expression of his desires for Israel. This is why The Purpose-Driven Life is inescapably emphasising a works-driven lifestyle. But it was God's mercy in saving Israel that was to motivate them to keep God's law (Ex 20:2). Similarly, the New Testament emphasises that the gospel itself should be the controlling agent in our lives. Christian are to:
* Walk worthily of the calling we've received in the gospel (Eph 4:1) * Walk in love just as Christ loved us in the gospel (5:1-2)We always fix our eyes on God's purposes for all things as we live our lives. We cannot simply focus on a narrow list of God's end-point goals for our lives individually. The gospel must drive our worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. If not, it will be all the more likely that someone modeling the purpose-driven life may not even be a Christian! They may be actively involved in 'worship services', attending the 'fellowship', participating in the 'discipleship program', using their gifts in a church 'ministry', and even enthusiastically 'evangelising' others with their story, and yet the gospel may never have taken root below their externals, bringing them to genuine repentance and faith from the heart. That's why only the gospel should drive the Christian life.
* Walk as children of the light because the gospel has taken us from darkness to light (Eph 5:8)
* Work out the salvation we have in the gospel (Php 2:12-13)
* Live up to what we've already obtained in the gospel (Php 3:16)
* Walk with Christ Jesus as Lord, just as we received him as Lord (Col 2:6-7)
THE GOSPEL-DRIVEN LIFE
In answering the question, "What on earth am I hear for?", to a secular audience as well as Christian, The Purpose-Driven Life uses over 1,200 scriptural quotes and references. Yet it fails to even begin outlining the gospel revealed by these Scriptures. Jesus' words to the Jews comes to mind: "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me..." (John 5:39). How is it that a 300-plus page book on the subject of 'God's purpose' forgets to explain God's "eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Eph 3:11)? Could it be that the writting of this book was not gospel-driven?
This book certainly has some good things to teach us. Some of its challenge comes directly within its broader message. But the big lesson to be learnt from The Purpose-Driven Life is indirect. The moral of this story is that anything that displaces the primacy of the gospel in the Christian life is actually sub-Christian. This includes the notion of 'purpose' if it has been separated from its real meaning in the Christian life, which is the gospel of salvation from sin.
The book begins with a challenge to enter a covenant, committing to a 40-day spiritual journey of discovery. Compacts such as this are appealing to those looking for relatively quick and easy change, because they inadvertantly promise greater power: the power of new commitment; of new wisdom; of new experiences. But they fail to realise that the 'pact' of faith in Christ is the only covenant that promises any real life-transforming power. There is nothing new about it. The danger of any gimmick (and the modern Christian world is full of them) is that they take Christians away from the age old power of the gospel of Christ crucified.
CONCLUSION
It should always be clear that the gospel alone provides what is essential for sinful humanity: God's power for salvation. We should never fudge over this, because the whole Christian life is gospel-driven. Christians are still being saved by God and it's the gospel that is doing it. It alone enables us to live for God's glory. It directs us, controlling how and why we do live for God's glory, as well as the activities that this involves. So the Christian life really should be purpose-driven in the truest sense of that word, not at all meaning that we are driven by God's purposes for our own lives, but rather by God's purpose for himself as revealed in the gospel, in which we have been included.
The Purpose Driven Life - Part I: A Review
talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
The Purpose Driven Life - Part I: A Review
The Purpose-Driven Life (Rick Warren, 2002) has become a phenomenonally popular book in recent times. Heading the blurb is an endorsement by Billy and Franklin Graham: "Read this book!" - and plenty have. Over 20 million copies were sold in less than 3 years - that's more than the The Da Vinci Code. Pastors all over the globe are giving the book their unreserved recommendations. The book is even creating a movement of its own. A quick brouse of www.purposedrivenlife.com, and you may find yourself ordering The Purpose-Driven Life Video Curriculum, or any number of other resources to help you during your 40 Days of Purpose. And its appeal has gone beyond the Christian scene. It rose to become #1 New York Times Bestseller. What are we to make of The Purpose Driven Life?
A LIFE DRIVEN BY PURPOSE
In Rick Warren's own words, "This is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey that will enable you to discover...God's purpose for your life".The promise is to know the answer to life's most important question, "What on earth am I here for?" And knowing this will "reduce your stress, focus your energy, simplify your decisions, give meaning to your life, and most important, prepare you for eternity" (p. 9).
The central emphasis of the book is that the Christian life should be purpose-driven. By purpose Warren means God's purposes for your life, as he has defined them. By driven he means "guided, controlled and directed" (p. 30). In specifics, 'purpose-driven' life is one guided, controlled and directed by worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism (p. 55-57).
The Purpose-Driven Life contains a lot of darn good calls. The clear way that Warren appeals to Christians to devote themselves wholeheartedly to the purpose of glorifying God is very challenging. In this regard the book is spot on. Purpose is the right place to start, and the purpose of glorifying God is the right point to arrive at. However, the book contains at least two significant problems.
THE PROBLEM OF PURPOSE
The first problem with The Purpose Driven Life is that its central message is not that of Scripture. This becomes clear when people are invited to become Christians at the end of the first section:
As a result, the book leaves us with a gospel that is trying to fix the problem of ignorance. This comes through in the book's essentials list for Christians. The central cry is that the absolute driving force in anyone's life should be the purposes of God for our lives, as it outlines them:
THE GOSPEL OF GOD'S PURPOSE
The second problem with The Purpose-Driven Life follows from the first: the central message of Scripture has been omitted. Jesus makes it explicit that the central message of the Bible it is the gospel about himself:
According to Rick Warren,
There is another aspect to Paul's gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 worth picking up on: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The gospel involves an explanation that the Scriptures are fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection. That is, they happened according to the eternal purpose of God.
Warren's view of the purposes of God is too narrow. For if by God's 'purposes' we mean, as Warren does, God's end-goal for our lives then we need to look behind good things such as worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. The reality is that God's glory shown in the gospel of salvation is the great overall purpose of God. And this is not different to his purposes for our lives. That is the remarkable thing: God's purposes for us are to be found within his gospel purpose for himself from all eternity.
In part 2 of this article, we will go on to explore how the gospel actually can and should drive, control and dictate our lives, for God's glory.
More on this topic
The Purpose Driven Life - Part II: A Corrective
talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
A LIFE DRIVEN BY PURPOSE
In Rick Warren's own words, "This is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey that will enable you to discover...God's purpose for your life".The promise is to know the answer to life's most important question, "What on earth am I here for?" And knowing this will "reduce your stress, focus your energy, simplify your decisions, give meaning to your life, and most important, prepare you for eternity" (p. 9).
The central emphasis of the book is that the Christian life should be purpose-driven. By purpose Warren means God's purposes for your life, as he has defined them. By driven he means "guided, controlled and directed" (p. 30). In specifics, 'purpose-driven' life is one guided, controlled and directed by worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism (p. 55-57).
The Purpose-Driven Life contains a lot of darn good calls. The clear way that Warren appeals to Christians to devote themselves wholeheartedly to the purpose of glorifying God is very challenging. In this regard the book is spot on. Purpose is the right place to start, and the purpose of glorifying God is the right point to arrive at. However, the book contains at least two significant problems.
THE PROBLEM OF PURPOSE
The first problem with The Purpose Driven Life is that its central message is not that of Scripture. This becomes clear when people are invited to become Christians at the end of the first section:
"First, believe. Believe God loves you and made you for his purposes. Believe you're not an accident. Believe you were made to last forever. Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, who died on the cross for you. Believe that no matter what you've done, God wants to forgive you." (p. 58)These brief mentions are the first we've heard of Jesus' death. Sin has certainly not been explained adequately and judgement has certainly not been explained. And this is as close as the book takes us. Notice the repetition of the word 'you' in this formula. Notice also that Jesus' death is mentioned in passing only as a way of identifying who he is. Notice the use of the word 'believe' to mean giving assent to a list of facts about us and what God wants for us, rather than placing our trust in God and his mercy. Warren has not brought us to God's revelation of himself in the gospel, instead, he has brought us straight to ourselves and our lives. The purpose-driven gospel is not primarily concerned about God and what he has done for himself. Yet, as we'll see, it is only when we focus on God's goals for his own glory that we can really understand our own lives properly.
As a result, the book leaves us with a gospel that is trying to fix the problem of ignorance. This comes through in the book's essentials list for Christians. The central cry is that the absolute driving force in anyone's life should be the purposes of God for our lives, as it outlines them:
"Nothing matters more than knowing God's purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them...The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose." (p. 30)Since human ignorance is assumed to be the problem, it is not surprising that knowledge is puported as the solution. That's why, after outlining 'God's five purposes for your life', Warren thinks you're ready to be converted. But our problem is not a lack of purpose, but having the wrong purpose. It's what the Bible calls 'sin': willfully glorifying ourselves rather than God. Since the fall of mankind, the solution for humanity has never been mere information but salvation; people need rescue.
THE GOSPEL OF GOD'S PURPOSE
The second problem with The Purpose-Driven Life follows from the first: the central message of Scripture has been omitted. Jesus makes it explicit that the central message of the Bible it is the gospel about himself:
"'Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." (Luke 24:25-27)Once again, the Apostle Paul, wanting to remind the Corinthians of the gospel he preached to them, summarised it this way:
"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-5)This shows that the gospel does involve a list - but it's not the five things God wants for your life. Rather it's the past events concerning Christ and what they mean. As well being history, the gospel is God's explanation of history. The gospel is a declaration that Christ's death was for our sins. It necessitates an explanation of sins and of Christ's death as substitution.
According to Rick Warren,
"Jesus modeled a purpose-driven life, and taught others how to live it, too. That was the 'work' that brought glory to God. Today God calls each of us to the same work." (p. 310)That's what Jesus must be on about if you believe that "life without purpose" is the heart of the problem that Jesus fixed. But the heart of the gospel is not Jesus' 'life modeled to us', but his 'death offered for us'. It's sad that RickWarren can write with confidence, "Welcome to the family of God!" (p. 59), to a worldwide audience who have read nothing of Christ's death for their sins.
There is another aspect to Paul's gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 worth picking up on: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. The gospel involves an explanation that the Scriptures are fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection. That is, they happened according to the eternal purpose of God.
Warren's view of the purposes of God is too narrow. For if by God's 'purposes' we mean, as Warren does, God's end-goal for our lives then we need to look behind good things such as worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. The reality is that God's glory shown in the gospel of salvation is the great overall purpose of God. And this is not different to his purposes for our lives. That is the remarkable thing: God's purposes for us are to be found within his gospel purpose for himself from all eternity.
In part 2 of this article, we will go on to explore how the gospel actually can and should drive, control and dictate our lives, for God's glory.
The Purpose Driven Life - Part II: A Corrective
talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
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