A brief summary
and some further reflections
From
Meditation 76 onwards, we have looked into a third characteristic of a church
that loves our
triune God wholeheartedly:“To love
God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ wholeheartedly as a
church means to pursue Christlike
holiness in preparation for Jesus’ return in glory.”
Although God’s Word mentions many
more possible courses of action for a church to pursue
Christlike holiness than we covered
in our previous meditations, we contemplated the following
issues:
· God’s view on Christ’s Church:
The Church as the salt of the earth, the light of the world and as
a community on pilgrimage in this
world; the Church as a pure, blameless and holy community;
the Church as a Spirit-guided
community. (See Meditation 76)
· How did God’s Spirit implement
God’s plan for Christ’s Church in New Testament times?
The gift of God’s Spirit to
Christ’s Church. The Church as a community guided by God’s
Spirit to be the light of the world
and the salt of the earth. (See Meditation 77)
· How did God deal in New Testament
times with churches that did not obey God’s Spirit and
God’s Word and did not live up to
God’s view on Christ’s Church? 1. Ananias and Sapphira.
2. The church in Corinth:
controversy because of leadership preferences. The arrogance of some
church members. Licentiousness
within the church. Prostitution. Legal disputes amongst church
members. Idolatry and the Lord’s
Supper in the church of Corinth. Dissension at the Lord’s
Supper. Lack of discernment
regarding false teaching. Paul’s summary of sins allowed in the
Corinthian church. 3. The church in
Galatia: their lack of discernment regarding false teaching. 4.
The church of Thessalonica: warning
against idleness. 5. The churches in the book of Revelation:
the powerful church of Ephesus; the
permissive church in Pergamum; the compromising church
of Thyatira; the ‘contaminated’
church of Sardis; the wealthy, materialistic and self-sufficient
church of Laodicea. (See Meditations
78-81)
· How might God speak to our
churches through His dealings with those New Testament
churches that did not obey His
Spirit and His Word and did not pursue Christlike holiness?
1. Ananias and Sapphira: Satan and
our sinful actions. Sinning against each other is sinning
against God. God’s judgment is
certain. 2. The church in Corinth: controversy because of
leadership preferences. The
arrogance of some church members. Licentiousness. Incest and other
related issues. Carnal and
spiritual prostitution. Divorce. Carnal and spiritual adultery. 'Porneia'
and same-sex issues. (See
Meditations 82-94)
· Quarreling and strife in the New
Testament churches: God’s solution to quarreling and strife
in New Testament churches. (See
Meditations 95-96)
· Discrimination in New Testament
churches: 1. Discrimination against Jewish-Christian
widows from abroad. 2.
Discrimination against ‘weaker’ Christians: in the matter of keeping
the Mosaic food laws; in the matter
of food dedicated to idols. 3. Discrimination against poor
Christians. 4. Discrimination
because of gender, nationality, social rank, level of education, or
professional position. (See
Meditations 97-98)
God’s Word shows everywhere an
‘inner link’ between the way we treat our fellow men and the way
we treat God. Here are some
examples:
-- “Those who oppress the poor
insult their Maker, but those who help the poor honor Him.” (
Proverbs 14:31*)
-- “Those who mock the poor insult
their Maker...” (Proverbs 17:5*)
-- “If you help the poor, you are
lending to the LORD-- and he will repay you!” (Proverbs 19:17*)
-- “The King will tell them, 'I
assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and
sisters, you were doing it to me!'”
(Matthew 25:40.45*)
-- “He fell to the ground and heard
a voice saying to him, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting
me?’ ‘Who are you, sir?’ Saul
asked. And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are
persecuting!’” ( Acts 9:4-5*)
-- “If anyone has enough money to
live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help--
how can God's love be in that
person?” (1 John 3:17*)
-- “If someone says, "I love
God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for
if
we don't love people we can see,
how can we love God, whom we have not seen?” (1 John 4:20)
Therefore, if our church pursues
Christlike holiness so that God’s Spirit can freely empower us to
love God wholeheartedly, we
consequently will grow in love and service for our brothers and sisters
in church and for our fellow men.
I think that the apostle Peter well
summarises the meditations on pursuing Christlike holiness when
he says: “Therefore, prepare your
minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the
grace to be given you when Jesus
Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil
desires you had when you lived in
ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all
you do; for it is written: ‘Be
holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:13-15**)
Translations: * New Living
Translation; ** New International Version
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