Poythress The Lordship of Christ

Serving Our Savior All of the Time, in All of Life, with All of Our Heart
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4335-4956-4
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 224 Seiten

Jesus Christ was not merely a human being. He was not merely a famous religious teacher. Jesus Christ is Lord of all. This radical claim from the Bible has profound implications for every area of life-for every person and every facet of society. Drawing on key biblical texts, Vern Poythress explores what acknowledging the authority of Christ means for the way we should think and act. Unpacking how this authority affects spheres of life such as religion, politics, science, art, education, and the future, Poythress helps us pursue obedience to Christ as an expression of our gratitude and devotion-and our anticipation of the joy promised to us when we serve him with all of our heart.

Vern S. Poythress (PhD, Harvard University; ThD, University of Stellenbosch) is Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Biblical Interpretation, and Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has taught for four decades. In addition to earning six academic degrees, he is the author of numerous books and articles on biblical interpretation, language, and science.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Poythress, Vern S.

Leseproben

1

Being Radically Christian

The Bible has a radical, earthshaking message about Jesus Christ. It says that Jesus Christ is not merely a human being, not merely a famous religious teacher, but the Lord of the universe. Matthew 28:18 includes this claim: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me [Jesus].” Similarly, Ephesians 1:22 says, “He [God] put all things under his [Christ’s] feet.”

That message has profound implications for everyone living on the face of the earth. It has implications especially for what we think—for the life of the mind. It has implications not only for individuals but also for society. This book concentrates especially on these two points—implications for the mind and for society.

Implications for Society

How does the lordship of Christ have implications for society? In the modern West, many cultural leaders wish to keep religion private. They say, “Keep it to yourself,” or “Keep it inside your family.” Cultural leaders want most of life to be “secular,” a realm where religion makes no difference. They say, in effect, “Keep your Jesus out of business, work, education, science, technology, government, politics, entertainment, media, and the arts.” But if Jesus is in fact Lord of all, he is Lord of all these areas of life. He is already there in his divine authority and power and presence. You cannot “keep him out.” And trying to keep him out is already a violation of his claims to lordship.

Implications for Non-Christians and for Christians

The message of the Bible has implications for all non-Christians, because Christ is Lord over each of their lives. Christ makes a claim on each human life. If he is Lord, he demands allegiance. He is not just someone you call in or consider if you think you need him. Nor is he someone who makes a claim only on Christians. His claim extends to everyone.

The lordship of Jesus Christ also has implications for everyone who is already a Christian believer. Many a person who claims to be a Christian drifts along without concerted attention to what it means to say that Jesus is Lord. A Christian may feel some kind of attachment to Jesus Christ but still not take seriously the radical changes that should take place with those who follow Christ.

Who Is a Christian?

Here we should observe that the word Christian in our day can be used quite loosely. There are people who consider themselves Christian because they live in the United States, and they suppose that the United States is a Christian nation (after all, it is not really Buddhist or Jewish or Muslim; only a small minority of US residents have these other religious commitments). Or they think they are Christian because their parents were Christian, or because they were once baptized, though they no longer believe much regarding the person of Christ. Then there are people who have some respect for Jesus Christ and who may read the Bible and go to church. But they still have not put their trust in Christ for salvation, and they do not have a personal relationship with God the Father and Christ his Son, established by the Holy Spirit.

In contrast to all these people, I have in mind born-again Christians, those who actually believe in Christ and follow him. But even the term born-again has its problems. People may think they are born again merely because they had an experience of religious excitement at some point, and they seemed for a while to feel differently about God and the world. Or they professed to make a commitment to Christ at some point, but their commitment was superficial and they did not really change.

That is not what the Bible means by being born again. Being born again is a radical change brought about by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:5–7)

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4–5)

We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he [Jesus] who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. (1 John 5:18)

Being born again involves being delivered from the power of evil and experiencing salvation.

Radical Change

What happens when we acknowledge the lordship of Christ? Taking seriously the lordship of Christ involves radical change. Radical change can sound hard and unappealing. In some respects it is not only hard but impossible. At a fundamental level, we cannot change ourselves by our own power. But the good news of Christ includes the promise of his presence and his transforming power. “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). God delivers us from the invisible chains in life from which we could never deliver ourselves: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13–14).

The fundamental problem is the problem of sin and guilt. “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked” (Eph. 2:1–2). Only as we begin to see the magnitude of the problem do we give up following our own ways and making up our own rules and following our own desires.

One fundamental change is in our status before God. We change from being guilty to being forgiven. God is holy, and our sins have made us guilty before him. He created us and we owe everything to him. But we have broken his law and dishonored his name. We deserve death: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Through Christ God promises to forgive our sins: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Christ bore the penalty for our sins, and we are counted righteous because of the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).

The changes that God brings about include changes in the whole person: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). The fundamental change is as radical an event as being born, as we saw from John 3:3 and 3:5 above.

The changes include not only new beliefs but also new standards of judgment that we bring to the table when we are considering claims about truth. The changes include different behavior: we no longer try to make up our own moral standards but instead submit to the law of Christ our King. We receive power through the Spirit of Christ to begin to walk in the ways of Christ: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:5).

The changes include transformed attitudes and motives. We grow in loving Christ and in experiencing his love for us. Out of that love, we grow in loving others: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We cast off hatred, jealousy, envy, selfish ambition (Gal. 5:19–21; Col. 3:5; James 3:14).

Change in the Mind

We also change in our thinking, in our minds: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). This change in the mind takes place because the mercy of God has come to us, and we respond by devoting our whole selves to God: Thus, the apostle Paul writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1). The change in our minds takes place as one aspect of a larger change, the transformation of the whole person. The Bible calls us to give complete submission to God in every aspect of life: we “present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1).

There are many good books providing Christians with resources for growing in their faith.1 We need to start at the beginning, by hearing the good news of what Christ has achieved in his death and resurrection. We not only need to hear but also need to believe in Christ. God works in us through the Holy Spirit so that we trust in Christ and in the salvation that he has accomplished.

We continue in the same way we have begun, by trusting in Christ. The most fundamental way of growing is through the means that God himself has provided, sometimes called “the means of grace.” The means include reading and studying the Bible, listening to the Word of God preached, praying, participating in the...