The Naked Gospel: Truth You May Never Hear in Church (14 page)

If you will but trust Christ, not only for the death he died in
order to redeem you, but also for the life that he lives and
waits to live through you, the very next step you take will be
a step taken in the very energy and power of God himself.

Major W. Ian Thomas (1914-2007)

I
’M A CAREFUL SHOPPER.
O
NE OF THE THINGS
I
HATE THE MOST IS
buying a “lemon.” I’ll often spend dozens of hours researching brands and models before I make a purchase. Whether it’s audiovisual equipment, golf clubs, or automobiles, I usually examine a detailed set of specifications, product tests, and consumer ratings to determine performance and reliability. It’s gotten to the point that friends and family members will call me before they buy for themselves. My wife jokes that I should open a consulting business for everyday shoppers, but
Consumer Reports
has already beaten me to the punch.

The Scriptures work hard at communicating that the life offered to us is both reliable and guaranteed. In short, it’s no lemon. It’s top-rated, with the best warranty in the business.

The word
eternal
is often used to express the endurance of the life we have in Jesus. Many equate eternal life with everlasting life, but these two phrases don’t carry the same meaning. The term
eternal life
is curious, because it means life with no end
and no beginning.
Keep this in mind as you read these thoughts on eternal life:

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and
this life is in his Son.
Whoever
has the Son has life;
whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 J
OHN
5:11-13, italics added

Who is the only person whose life had
no beginning?
Then if you have eternal life,
whose
life do you possess? Eternal life doesn’t primarily involve heaven, church services, or even the Bible. Eternal life is not merely a better life or a better purpose for life. It’s an altogether different life. It’s
God’s life.
Here we don’t reference religious notions. Instead, we’re discussing Eden matters.

If there were no church buildings, no Bible studies, and no other saints on the planet, you’d still need eternal life. If you were stranded on a deserted island, you’d still need eternal life. The essence of the gospel meets that basic need. The fundamental promise within the New is divine life restored within humanity.

In order to grasp what it means to possess life, it’s helpful to divorce it from what we typically term
church.
For example, one hindrance to understanding the real gospel as life restoration is an obsession with “book knowledge.”

Don’t get me wrong—I love the Word of God. And this book is centered on highlighting spiritual truths from the Bible. But we must be careful that we don’t master the Book without getting
to know the Author. What does it really matter if we’re expert scholars in biblical studies and know nothing of displaying true life? Jesus warns us not to get puffed up with book knowledge about spiritual matters:

You study the Scriptures diligently
because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

J
OHN
5:39-40, italics added

Jesus’ statement allows us to see an important truth laid bare: the life of Jesus in us is what matters most. We shouldn’t assume that someone who studies the Bible for a living is a new creation. In addition, we shouldn’t equate “Bible smarts” with spiritual maturity. They’re certainly
not
one and the same. In fact, far from it! As in Jesus’ day, it’s often those who are puffed up about their good handle on what the Scriptures
say
(not what they mean!) who resist the counsel of the Holy Spirit.

“I don’t know what I’m going to say!” my father whispered as he stood up to address the church crowd. “You’ll think of something, ” my mother answered. My mother had only been a Christian a short time, but my father was not yet in Christ. Nevertheless, the pastor of the church they attended had invited my father to present his testimony on a Sunday morning.

My father was an attorney, businessman, and politician. He carried some weight in the northern Virginia area where my family lived. Perhaps for this reason, the pastor had selected him to address the crowd and give his testimony. Really, my dad had nothing to say. He wasn’t in Christ and didn’t even understand the path to salvation.

As my dad concluded his testimony, the audience clapped and cheered. After the service, many came forward to shake his hand and congratulate him on a fine testimony.

So what did my father say? In short, his testimony was about the importance of faith, church life, and raising children in a Christian environment. He told the people how important they were to him because of their love for and support of our family. This brought the applause and the compliments. There was no mention of the work of Jesus Christ. Nothing about accepting Jesus’ life. Just rhetoric about the importance of church, faith, and Christian values. It wasn’t until a year later that my father became a new creation in Christ.

I share this true story with you to illustrate how Christians are sometimes unable to discern the difference between spiritual truth and fine-sounding religious talk. I think this story also shows how some can fully believe, as my dad did, that they’re in the church when they’re not really
in
Christ.

Though some may be active in church activities, volunteering left and right, and even giving eloquent teachings on the importance of faith and Christian living, it doesn’t mean a new birth has taken place. We shouldn’t lose sight of the importance of heart surgery. Without God’s internal surgery, any outward expression of churchiness is a waste of time and energy. After all, there are more interesting things to do with our time than to play church!

It’s sobering to realize that approximately 80 to 90 percent of the early church couldn’t read or write. This means they didn’t do personal Bible study or keep up with the most recent Christian literature. Despite their illiteracy, these believers were used to spread the gospel rapidly throughout the world. They were tortured, stoned, and killed for their faith, and they willingly submitted their testimonies to those who sought to crush them.

How did they manage to become such strong Christians without a daily “quiet time” in the Word? Sure, we’re fortunate to have God’s Word at our fingertips today. But studying the Bible alone is no substitute for possessing and displaying life—the same life that members of the early church possessed.

Eternal life is Jesus’ life. Jesus declared himself to be “the resurrection and the life” and “the way and the truth and the life” (John 11:25; 14:6). He also stated, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). Clearly, our eternal life is tied up in him. Our new spiritual life is actually his life.

So we don’t have a spiritual gift package awaiting us in heaven. We have Jesus Christ in us right now. In fact, it’s his life that
saves
us. We recognize the importance of Jesus’ blood for our forgiveness. But Jesus’ death
alone
isn’t sufficient to save us! His death on the cross doesn’t provide the life we need. It is actually Jesus’ resurrection that saves us:

If, while we were God’s enemies, we were
reconciled to him through the death
of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be
saved through his life!

R
OMANS
5:10, italics added

I don’t believe we should separate the work of Jesus into individual events and treat them as though they occurred independently of one other. After all, there would be no resurrection without his death. But there’s an important point here: Jesus’ blood doesn’t bring us new life. Blood brings forgiveness of sins, nothing more. Therefore, we shouldn’t be satisfied with understanding the meaning of the cross alone. We should insist that there’s more than
forgiveness alone. And we find what we seek through an understanding of the
resurrection
and what it means for us personally.

Many Christians struggle to articulate what the resurrection means to them personally. I’ve asked groups of Christians what the resurrection means to them and usually don’t get a response beyond the statement that it demonstrated God’s power over death. Is this all there is? Paul stated that if there is no resurrection, then his whole message is meaningless and we’re to be pitied for our beliefs (1 Corinthians 15:12-19)! There has to be more to the resurrection than God’s showing off his power. God has already shown off through creation, the flood, fulfilled prophecies, miracles, and even the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead.

Fortunately, there
is
more to the resurrection. The life we possess within us is not Jesus the Man who lived, taught, and died after thirty-three years on earth. Sure, that’s part of his track record. But the life housed within us is the risen Christ, who now sits right beside God. Hence, we’re not being asked to imitate the recorded actions of Jesus of Nazareth. Instead, we’re invited to allow Jesus to do what he has always done—be himself. The risen Christ wants to do this through our unique personalities in every moment of every day.

Imagine billions of unique canvases throughout history—different sizes, shapes, and textures. The Master Painter wants to paint expressions of himself on your life. You might say, “Who am I to display God’s life?” But God wants to make his mark on your life with beautiful brushstrokes that only he can fashion together to create a masterpiece. Although God has painted his heart out countless times throughout history, he jealously desires to do it all over again on
your
canvas and my canvas.

Somehow it is quality art in a different style every time.

L
ET ME TELL YOU A STORY.
C
ONSIDER
S
TEVE AND
A
NDREA, WHO
dated throughout college and had recently become engaged. When they invited their pastor to conduct their marriage ceremony, he was honored to be a part of their special day. They were so perfect for each other, and everyone knew it.

But then, just one day before the wedding, Steve fell to the ground and died instantly of a heart attack. He had no history of heart trouble and had showed no signs leading up to his shocking death. The most difficult aspect of the whole event was not his passing but how Andrea sought to cope with it.

Although Steve already seemed to be dead, the medical team rushed him to the hospital. Andrea rode along in the ambulance, but by the time they reached the hospital, it was obvious there was no hope. Their pastor met up with Andrea in the emergency room, and the first words that left her mouth were, “I still want to marry him! I don’t care if he’s gone. I still love him. And we’re going to go through with this.” At that point, their pastor didn’t know what to say.

Twenty-four hours later, the time for the wedding had arrived, and Andrea still hadn’t changed her mind. She insisted that everything should continue as scheduled. What was to be a wedding would now become a combination funeral-wedding. For the first
time ever, the pastor was conducting two ceremonies simultaneously. His instructions were to officially commit Steve’s body to burial and then to announce Steve and Andrea as husband and wife. Out of concern for Andrea, he agreed to do both.

As the ceremony began, half of the audience was saddened by Steve’s passing. At the same time, Andrea’s side of the church shed tears of joy over her union with Steve. And the pastor was caught in the middle, not knowing how to feel. And the most awkward moment of all was when Andrea leaned into the coffin to kiss her groom and then fell inside!

Every bit of this story is pure fiction. But by telling it, I want to illustrate an important point: we don’t marry dead people. To do so would be quite strange. But aren’t we the bride of Jesus Christ? And he lived two thousand years ago. Are we
spiritually
married to a dead person? Obviously, the answer is no. It’s important to understand that we’re joined to the risen Christ, not to a dead religious teacher.

Some Christians mistakenly obsess over everything that the historical Jesus did in the four gospels. We memorize his words and actions and try to imitate them the best we can. When we think of being the bride of Christ, we may imagine ourselves to only be married to Jesus of Nazareth—the God-man who lived a “good” life for thirty-three years. But the Scriptures indicate that we’re married to an eternal, risen Christ.

Although we were once married to the law, we obtained a “divorce” through our death. Now we’re reborn and remarried to a heavenly husband. And our union with him will last forever:

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might
belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead,
in order that we might bear fruit for God.

R
OMANS
7:4, italics added

Everything we need is found in our spiritual husband, Jesus Christ. Once we are married to him, we no longer have to wait or hope or even ask for spiritual resources. We already have everything we need for planet Earth right here and now.

So we’re not merely married to a part of Christ or to his teachings. We’re spiritually united with
all
of him. He doesn’t swoop down out of heaven at special times to give us counsel. Instead, the entirety of Christ himself is joined to us twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, without interruption.

In Colossians, Paul reveals the amazing truth that we possess
all
of Christ within us: “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ
you have been brought to fullness.
He is the head over every power and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10, italics added).

Fullness means that we’re not missing any part of the person of Christ. In Christ we have what we need for
life
and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). This doesn’t mean we merely have what we need to understand the Bible or what’s required to conduct a church service. God has given us much more. In Christ we find everything we need for normal, everyday life. God knows the resources needed for life here on earth, and it’s all included in the life we possess through Christ:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

2 P
ETER
1:3

The realization that we already have
everything
in Christ Jesus impacts our approach to daily living. If we merely had a ticket to heaven, there’d be no power to live in the present.

Sometimes we attempt to live a godly life in the hope of earning rewards in heaven. But it’s very difficult, if not totally unrealistic, to live for something far off in the future. Although the idea of living to earn future rewards might sound practical from a natural perspective, it’s simply not rooted in God’s Word. The motivation for daily living within the New Testament centers around acting like the person you truly are and benefiting from Christ’s life in the here and now.

Paul urges believers to walk in a manner worthy of their calling (Ephesians 4:1). In Romans, he highlights the teaching that there’s no benefit to sin and that the outcome of those things is death (Romans 6:21-23). At no time are we told to live an upright life in order to garner a more righteous standing or to collect prizes in heaven. Quite the opposite! We’re urged to grasp an important spiritual truth: when we come to Jesus Christ, we receive his life. Through our expression of him, we find fulfillment.

It’s possible to hear something so often that you grow numb to the words and the significance behind them. The term
born again
has been used and at times abused to the point that many have become callous to its real meaning. Yet there’s a valuable truth to be discovered in it. After all, these are Jesus’ own words!

Here’s an ancient conversation between Jesus and a local expert in the law:

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again.”

“How can anyone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

J
OHN
3:3-6

First, let’s do away with a commonly held notion about this passage. This conversation has nothing to do with baptism in H
₂
O. Here Jesus is talking about two births that are necessary in order to enter the kingdom. The first is a natural birth, meaning a person is born as an infant from a human mother. The second is a spiritual birth. The natural birth is described in two ways: “born of water” and “flesh gives birth to flesh.” The spiritual birth is also described in two ways: “born of…the Spirit” and “the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

Some have used this passage to support the idea of “no salvation without water baptism,” but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus is saying that an infant is naturally housed in water within the womb of his mother. On his 0
^th
birthday, he’s born of water. After placing his faith in Jesus Christ, he’s literally born a second time spiritually. God issues to him a new human spirit, and God’s own Spirit comes to reside in him. The claim that one must be dunked in the local swimming hole in order to obtain spiritual rebirth is not supported by the context of the passage.

Childbirth is an amazing event. I’ll never forget the day I witnessed the birth of our son, Gavin. What was so amazing was that something appeared to come from nothing. A human being with
all of his complexity was formed from a sperm and an egg inside a sphere of water over a period of nine months.

I remember all that my wife went through—the morning sickness, the labor pains, and the joy that broke forth at the birth. Experiencing this firsthand gave me new insight into the Holy Spirit’s “giving birth” to us spiritually. There’s something remarkable to be learned from Jesus’ description of salvation as being born of the Spirit. If God literally birthed us through his Spirit, what does that say about our spiritual “genetics”?

At the turn of the century, physicists were researching light to determine its nature. Some published evidence that light was a
particle,
while others experimented with light and determined it was a
wave.
When light is shone through narrow slits, for example, it produces wavelike patterns similar to what we see in ocean water. But when light is shone at protons or electrons, it collides with these particles and bounces off like a billiard ball. Thus, it behaves like a particle.

Despite these conflicting findings, I’m happy to enlighten you about the nature of light. Is light a particle or a wave? The answer, quite definitively, is
yes.
Yes, light is a particle
and
a wave. Somehow it’s both at the same time. From one perspective, it appears to be a particle. At the same time, further examination reveals that it’s a wave.

Like the mystery of light, the outworking of our spiritual life can be equally perplexing. Is it supposed to be
Christ
in me working through me? Or is it
me
—who I am in Christ—working out my daily life? The answer, again, is
yes.

Just as light is both a particle and a wave, it’s both Christ in us
and
our own selves who live the Christian life. It’s inaccurate to say that it’s all Christ and that we act as hollow tubes. It’s also inaccurate to envision the Christian life as a focus on identity alone—that we work things out on our own. Instead, it’s a spiritual union—a mystery that was hidden and has now been revealed. We’re united together with Christ. He’s our source of strength, and we’re new, righteous, and compatible with him as our resource.

Is it him, or is it us?
Yes,
it’s both.