Only by grace (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Understanding grace

The hardest thing for a Chinese person to read in this passage is not the bit about sin. It’s not even the part where it talks about the devil leading us into sin. And while I do think that many of the aunties and uncles in church today might be shocked at the mention of death in verse 1 – where it says, “You were dead in your transgressions” – and they will go, “Choi! Choi! How can you talk about death during Chinese New Year?!” Still, that may not be the hardest thing for us to hear today.

No, I think the hardest thing for an Asian person to hear and understand is Chapter 2, verse 8.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8

It’s saying this: Salvation is free. The word Paul uses is “grace”. He calls it “the gift of God.”

A Chinaman hears that something is free and he goes, “Free? Is there something wrong with this ‘free’ gift?” In a culture which puts a premium on hard work, receiving something for nothing – or for free – just sounds lazy. There must be a catch. There must be something wrong with it (Like the expired food section in the supermarket).

Or the other extreme might be that we hear that something is given away for free and we tell our kids, “Take! Take! Ask for some more!” Like the big banquet of Chinese food we are going to have right after this. We see the roast duck and go, “Wah! Take as much as you can!”

As Asians, we have a hard time understanding the value and the purpose of something that is free. Because nothing in life is free. That’s what our tradition, our elders and everything in our own experience teaches us. Either we work hard to earn that good life and we work hard to earn that money. Or we take advantage of every opportunity – get as many red packets while you still can, fill up the plate with as much roast duck and char siu before it all goes – so as not to waste that opportunity. Why? Because our culture teaches us: Nothing is free. If it is free, either there’s a catch or it’s not going to last forever.

But when the bible talks about God’s free gift of salvation, it is describing the most valuable thing we could ever receive from God. This is the most expensive, the most costly and the most precious gift that God offers us in Jesus Christ. And it comes to us for free.

Or to be more exact, the bible says, it comes to us by grace.

Grace means undeserved love. It is giving the best that you have to the worst person you know. That’s what God did for us in Jesus Christ. He gave the best gift to the most undeserving people. And that is how verse 1 begins.

You were dead

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 2:1-2

Who is Paul talking about? You. “You were dead,” he says. Not that guy over there. Not the embarrassing uncle who turns up once a year at reunion dinner. You. You were dead in your transgressions and your sins.

But you might say, “I’m not dead. I came to church. I had cornflakes for breakfast. I updated my Facebook status.” That is, we think that death means lying in a coffin buried in the ground six feet under (and therefore being unable to update your Facebook status). But verse 2 says you used to live (or, literally “walk”) in death. That is you can be physically alive and yet be spiritually dead to God. One of the biggest insults in our Chinese culture is to say, “That person is dead to me.” (In Cantonese we say, “Lei hoi seii ah” – Go and die!) What does that mean? It means that I’m not going to acknowledge you. I’m not going to greet you. When you come to reunion dinner tonight I am not even going to look at you. You are dead to me.

That’s what the bible means by death. We are unresponsive to God. We live this life given to us by God, but we live it as it there is no God. The way we eat our food, the way we go to school, the way we talk to our friends reflects a life that says: God is dead to me.

Now I do apologise for the language. It’s not nice to wish that someone were dead. But isn’t the bible describing something true? Don’t we see this every year at Chinese New Year? Everyone should get along. Everyone should be loving. And yet, everyone gets stressed during Chinese New Year. When the family is gathered, when everyone is together – that’s when the most hurtful words come out; that’s when selfish actions do the most damage. We can’t help ourselves. This condition of spiritual deadness hits home not simply when we are alone at the end of the day and we feel dead tired – that’s not what it’s talking about. It’s when we are most alive and joyful when our hate-filled thoughts and unloving actions are the most obvious. We can’t run away from it. We might put on an act to hide the truth. But all the bible is doing is being honest about who we are and what we do – to one another and to God.

Paul says there are three reasons for this. Three reasons for our spiritual deadness: (1) the world, (2) the devil and (3) the flesh.

“When you followed the ways of this world,” verse 2 reads. You look around you and you say, “That guy’s doing it, why can’t I?” Other people are acting this way, so it’s OK for me to act this way as well.

“When you followed… the ruler of the kingdom of the air.” The devil deceives us into rebellion. That’s why verse 2 goes on to describe him as “the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” The devil has one single purpose: to get men and women to say, “No!” to God. “I will not obey.” He makes us question God’s goodness. He makes us doubt God’s motives. That’s what he did with the first man and woman in the garden of Eden. “Did God really say that?” Hmm, God can’t be serious, right? “God knows that if you eat this fruit you will be like him, knowing good and evil,” meaning God is just being selfish; he doesn’t want to share this knowledge with you. The devil says the exact same thing to us today – he is now at work, it says at the end of verse 2 – in those who are disobedient.

And finally, verse 3: “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts.” We follow the world. We follow the devil. But here it says, we follow the “cravings of our sinful nature.” It’s saying, even if you locked yourself away from every bad influence in the world – which is what a lot of Chinese parents try to do out of sincerity and out of fear as they try to protect their kids from Justin Bieber and rude Channel 4 TV shows like the “Inbetweeners” – It’s saying that even if you did all that, there is still an enemy inside of you. We follow the cravings of our sinful nature. Our natural instincts will always, always lead us in a direction away from God. Sin and death is encoded into our spiritual DNA. It’s who we are.

That’s why verse 3 ends: “Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” It’s just a fancy way of saying: God is angry with us. He has every right to be angry. Now, I guess I could put that in a nicer way and say something like: We have natural destructive tendencies that lead us down the wrong track – but that would be a lie. God is angry when he sees me sin, when he sees you sin. And God has set a day when he will personally punish all who have sinned. “All of us” lived this way. “All of us” were objects of God’s wrath.

This is news for some of you. Maybe no one has ever told you that God is angry with the way you live you life. You think that as long as you try your best God will do the rest. You think that if no one can see God will leave you be. You think that everything is OK now so it will all be OK in the end. The bible says you are dead. Dead in your sins. Dead towards God. Following the world, following the devil, following your sinful nature – following everything and anything except God. God is angry with you and that’s news for some of you.

But the good news of the bible is this: God is also loving.

But God

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2:4-5

Everything changes. Before, we were dead but now God made us alive. Before, we were objects of his wrath but now we are objects of his love. And the turning point of this change is grace. “It is by grace you have been saved.”

And if you remember, I said at the beginning that grace means undeserved love. Grace means giving the very best to the very worst. When God saves, he is showing his love to the worst people on the planet. “Even when we were dead in transgressions.” God is like a dad who adopts the worst kid in the orphanage – the one who always gets into trouble, the one who doesn’t want to be adopted, the one who looks at his new dad and says, “Huh, I don’t need you. I wish you were dead!” – and God says to him you will be my son and I will be your Father and I will love you.

God does this out of his great love. Not because of who we are but in spite of who we are and because of who he is. God is love, the bible tells us in 1 John 4:8. It even tells us, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” God sacrificed his own Son so that we might be adopted as his sons and daughters in his family. That is what it means when the bible says the God loves us.

Another thing I said in the beginning was that this is hard to accept. Change? What change? We Chinese are very practical people. If there’s a change that works, we’ll change. No problem. Whether it’s upgrading to a new phone or changing our favourite brand of soy sauce. If you can show me a better product; if you can show me that it works; I’ll change!

But the hard thing is this, and I wonder if you’ve ever felt this way, you look at the Christians around you and say, “There is no change. I am Chinese, they are Chinese. I rush for the food. They also rush for the food. In fact, I think in some ways I am better than these so-called Christians. I work harder. I am nicer to my mum and dad. Yah, sure they have a nice party once a year and it’s fun to join them for Chinese New Year. But change? Come on. What change is there to see?”

Should Christians change? Yes, they should. Should they be different, more loving, more compassionate, more patient? Absolutely. But you see, that’s not grace. That’s effort. Grace means these Christians here were just as sinful as you – if not more sinful than all of you – when God called them. Grace means that no one deserves to be saved.

And most of all, grace does not mean a changed life. Grace results in new life. It is a life that is lived with Christ. Look at verse 6:

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
Ephesus 2:6

Verse 6 is saying “Look! Look at the change!” But look where? Not here on earth. Not at the Christians. Verse 6 is saying: Look to Jesus. God raised Jesus up from the dead. God appointed Jesus Lord over all things. The bible is saying: If you see Jesus, that’s where you see the real change in happening the Christian – we are made alive with him, we are raised with him, we are seated with him in the heavenly realms.

Look to the Christian and all you should see is a big sign that says “Work in progress”. Some people need whole lot of work! But God is working in the life of the Christian to change him to be more like Jesus. But look to Jesus – that’s perfection. He is the destination. He is the end point.

And the amazing thing is, because Jesus is already died on the cross, because Jesus already rose from death and because Jesus is already seated in heaven at God’s right hand right now, the bible says that’s where the Christian is. We are already in heaven, we are already raised, we are already perfect. If you are in Christ, that’s what God sees when he looks at you – perfection! Why? Because if you are in Christ, God looks at you and he sees Jesus.

Oh, you might still sin. In fact the truth is you will definitely sin. But Jesus paid for that sin. You will make mistakes – big, huge, embarrassing mistakes. But Jesus paid for every single one of those mistakes – past, present and future – when he died on the cross, so that as far as your salvation is concerned, everything is paid for. It’s like turning up at the restaurant and before you order a single thing off the menu the waiter comes to you and says, “It’s all been paid in full.”

And get this: this displays God’s grace even more clearly than if you were perfect right now. If you are a non-Christian here today, you are not meant to look at the Chinese Church and go, “Wow, everyone here is perfect. Perfect people, perfect food, perfect sermon (yeah right!)” But I hope you will look at the Christians here and be amazed, “How on earth did that guy become a Christian? Who let that person into the church? What is that idiot doing preaching up in front?” And then I hope that you hear God’s word speaking clearly to you, saying, “It is by my grace that these men and women have been saved,” and your heart goes, “Whoa!” Not at us, but “Whoa!” at God. You go, “Whoa! Jesus died on the cross to save these guys? Why would he do that?”

To display the glory of God’s grace. You see sinful people, you see Jesus’ perfection and God’s spirit opens your eyes so that you see clearly the grace of God.

Grace as the means, and especially, the end of salvation

In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7

Verse 7 says that the purpose of salvation is to display “the incomparable riches of God’s grace” in Jesus Christ. Grace is not simply the means of salvation, it is the endpoint of salvation. I’m guessing that might be something new to many of us today.

We will often hear that Christians are saved by grace. But what the bible is teaching us here is an even greater truth: We were saved for grace. God saved us so that he could clearly display a very awesome thing; a very amazing thing that captures all who God is – his power, his glory, his transcendence, his righteousness – that one thing which God wants to display and God wants us to behold at the end of time is… his grace!

Meaning: this is not an evangelistic sermon – at least not primarily. This is a worship sermon. How do you praise God fully for who he is? How do you worship God such that he will accept your praise? You focus on the grace of God displayed on the cross. “To the praise of his glorious grace” – Chapter 1, verse 6 reads, then adding these words – “which he has freely given us (or literally, ‘graced us’) in the One he loves”. We praise God for his grace in sending Jesus to the cross. Grace is not simply the means of salvation; it is the endpoint of salvation.

Paul is writing these verses to believers. He is not speaking to non-Christians asking: Do you know how to be saved? Rather he is addressing Christians: Do you know what you are saved for? You were saved for the praise of God’s grace. That’s your purpose in life - that others might look at you and give all the credit and all the glory to God. The focus is not on you – on your salvation –the focus is on God – his glory and his grace!

And it’s when we don’t know this that we end up focussing on ourselves. We lose sight of grace, and we boast about our works.

Not by works, only by grace

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

This then, is the opposite of grace. It is the opposite of God’s free gift of salvation, which is works. It is the opposite of worship, which is boasting. And if we’re honest, it sounds completely opposite to our Chinese culture. Why? Because as Chinese we take pride in our hard work. As Chinese, we boast that we are not afraid to put in the hours to get the job done. Salvation is by God’s grace, not by works.

And yet, look to the very next verse, and there we see that work is good! What’s going on?

For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do.
Ephesians 2:10

So, the bible isn’t saying that Christians should run away from work. If anything, it gives us a new motivation to work – and to work hard – because God’s the heavenly boss man. It even says there that God has prepared works for us “in advance” – meaning, there’s always something for us to do! But the bigger picture is that God invests a new meaning into work. For us as Christians, it’s worship. It’s a response to God’s grace shown to us on the cross. It is a fruit of our salvation.

What work isn’t – as verse 9 clarifies – is the means to our salvation. We could never earn our salvation. The one and only basis of our salvation is God’s grace. God did all the work through Jesus’ death on the cross. He conquered death and sin and the devil.

This is important because God hates boasting. Boasting steals the glory away from God. Boasting implies that we earned our way into heaven, that we were worthy to be saved; and that’s completely false. That is completely offensive to God.

It all comes back to our understanding of God’s salvation through God’s grace alone. And as I said right from the beginning, this is hard. For us as Chinese, that’s hard. For us as the Chinese Church, that can be especially hard; because it can be all too easy to start out wanting to serve God in ministry, to start out wanting to help by cooking for today’s Chinese New Year feast, in practising for the performances, in teaching at Sunday School – but to end up boasting of our own works by saying, “Come to my church. The people here are so nice. The food is fantastic. The children in Sunday School are so well-behaved.” These are not bad things, of course, and I am personally looking forward to the siu yok (roast pork) afterwards! I do want our Sunday School kids to grow in obedience and in love. Yet in all this, we may unintentionally be drawing the focus back to ourselves. We end up boasting about our achievements. We end up singing our praises.

Paul brings the focus back to God. He reminds us: We were objects of wrath, we were sinful, we were helpless – but God was merciful, God was loving and God saved us by sending Jesus to die for us on the cross. When the focus is back to God’s grace, only then will we see our sin. When focus is back to God’s grace, only then will we find our assurance in Christ. When the focus is back to God’s grace, only then will God receive all the glory, all the power, and all the praise.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8

Only by grace can we enter
Only by grace can we stand
Not by our human endeavour
But by the blood of the Lamb
Into your presence you call us
You call us to come
Into your presence you draw us
And now by your grace we come.

What if Jesus turned up at the Mid-Autumn Festival? (John 8:12-20)

Harvest in the desert

It is one of the biggest festivals in the Chinese calendar. Back in Malaysia we call it Pesta Tanglung, which is Malay for Lantern Festival. But most know it as the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Mooncake Festival, named after the super-sweet lotus paste dessert called mooncakes, commonly enjoyed this time of the year. It is celebrated not just in China and Hong Kong, but also in Vietnam and the Philippines. In Korea, this weekend just happens to coincide with Chuseok, a major holiday marking the celebration of the autumn harvest.

So when I was choosing a passage for this Sunday, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be cool if the bible said something about the autumn festival?”

And you know what? It does.

Way back in Exodus 23 God gives a command to the Israelites that they are to celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when they gathered in the crops from their fields. The reason was thanksgiving. The people of God were to remember all that God had blessed them with in terms of land, food, blessing, wealth and life. It was the time of the year when grapes and olives would be harvested and the Israelites gathered to celebrate and give thanks to God. So there we have it: God actually commands us to celebrate the Autumn Festival!

The thing is: it was a pretty strange thing that God had commanded the Israelites to do - to celebrate this Autumn harvest. You see, back in Exodus 23, the Israelites were in the desert. They had just been rescued from slavery in Egypt and lived in tents. They kept moving from place to place. These guys didn’t have any land. They couldn’t grow any crops. How could they be expected to celebrate a harvest in a desert?

The point was: they couldn’t celebrate this festival. Or at least, not yet. Embedded in this command was a promise. God was going to give them a land where they could grow their crops and where they could build their homes. And when they finally received this blessing from God, they were to remember to be thankful.

But we’re not looking at Exodus today, because what I want to do is fast forward 1,500 years to the temple in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Because here we see the celebration as it’s meant to be. The people are in the land. They are gathering in the crops. They are worshipping God and giving thanks to him for the bountiful harvest.

And also because here in John’s Gospel, we see Jesus turning up at the height of the Autumn Harvest Celebrations.

John 7 refers to this as the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2). It’s the same celebration with a different name, because a tabernacle is basically a fancy word for a tent. And what the Israelites would do was construct a temporary hut out of wood and bamboo; and during the duration of this festival they would live in this hut and eat in this hut and sleep in this hut. Why? To remember the time when the people of God lived in tabernacles, or tents as they wandered through the desert. In fact, Sukkot (the Jewish word for Tabernacle) is still celebrated today.

You see the reverse is now happening. Now that they have plenty, the Israelites remember the time when they had little. When they didn’t have land. When there was no harvest.

Being thankful in plenty and in want

Perhaps it is a helpful reminder for us today as we gather at the Chinese Church for our Mid-Autumn Festival. What are you thankful for? How has God blessed you this year? With that job, or that university place, or that new relationship, or that new baby? Today is an opportunity to recognise God’s goodness in blessing you abundantly and graciously. Maybe like these Israelites you might need to think back to the time when you hadn’t yet received these blessings; when times were lean and tough. Maybe it might be helpful for you to remember how far God has brought you in your walk with him.

Conversely you might not have very much to be thankful for. For you, times are tough right now. Well, like the Israelites in the desert, you are meant to hear God’s promise in these words - he will guide you, he is leading you and he will be true to his promises in Christ.

I am the light of the world

Like us today, the Israelites would have gathered together to give thanks to God. Verse 20 gives us a clue where this happened. It says there that Jesus was teaching “in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put”, and this would have been in what was called the “Women’s Court”. This was one of the largest assembly areas in the temple. The reason why it’s called the Women’s Court is not because only women were allowed in, but that this was the furthest bit in the temple that women could advance in approaching God. Beyond this, only men were allowed; after that, only the priests; and after that, only the High Priest. The Women’s Court was this huge (about 71 squared meters) and up to six thousand men and women would pack the court on a day like this, especially on the night of the Festival of Tabernacles.

Now one further and important reason why they gathered in this court was because situated at each of the four corners of the square were four huge, ginormous lampstands that stretched up 86 feet into the air. That’s almost as high as King’s College Chapel. So you need to imagine six thousand people packed into King’s College Chapel, looking up at the four corners to these tall pillars where there would be four gigantic bowls. And as the sun set in the distance, and darkness began to creep in, these large lamps would then be lit and the night sky would suddenly be ablaze with light!

And it was then, as the thousands of worshippers were watching this spectacle, that they would have heard a voice cry out among them, saying, “I am the light of the world!”

The light of life

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

What did Jesus mean? Why did he choose this moment to draw attention to himself?

Remember: the festival was a commemoration of the Exodus, when God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt. And the Israelites could visibly see God’s presence manifested in the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. Wherever God led them, they followed. For those forty years, he guided them in safety, he provided for them daily, until he brought them to the Promised Land.

Jesus says, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” At one level, he is using the same imagery. Following Jesus means having that same experience of God’s presence and guidance. He is their light in the midst of darkness.

But Jesus actually says more. Whoever follows him will have the light of life. The contrast between light and darkness is that of life and death. To know Jesus is know life. No Jesus means no life.

It might be worth pointing out what Jesus is not saying. He is not saying that he is author of all life on earth - though that is true (John 1:3). He is not saying that we all owe our life to God - though that too, is true.

No, what Jesus is pointing out is this: We live our lives in darkness. We walk in darkness. By that, Jesus is saying that we are essentially walking in death. But Jesus has come to bring us true life. He has come as a light shining in the darkness.

But as this passage goes on to show, our first instinct is to reject this light.

The light of truth

The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

John 8:13

The religious leaders reject Jesus’ statement. You could argue that they had a point: Jesus was making a rather wild claim. Here we are gathered for a nice celebration. We’ve brought our friends from out of town. Everyone is looking forward to the big buffet at the end of the day. We are honouring God as we are meant to. Jesus, what’s your problem? Why do you have to spoil things by stirring up trouble yet again? And what does it even mean that you’re the light of the world?

Yet notice, none of this form the basis of the Pharisees’ challenge to Jesus. They claim that his testimony isn’t true. Why? Because Jesus is appearing as his own witness. Meaning: they need more proof. Meaning: there needs to be something in addition to what Jesus has just said about himself - another witness, another voice, another perspective.

You know what? I think this is one of the most common objections I’ve heard in recent years here in Cambridge. “How can you seriously believe the bible?” And the objection is not just the bible is unreliable, but rather that the bible by itself, is insufficient for anyone to come to any conclusion about who God is or whether Jesus really existed. It is such an ancient document.

Christians are thought of as simpletons for taking the bible as truth: to consider the words written in this book as actually being inspired by God.

When what we really need to do is test it. With science. With reasoning. Perhaps even with personal insight and experience. We need to supplement the claims of the bible - perhaps even challenge them - with other sources of knowledge.

After all, don’t we have talks organised by the Christian Union of the historicity of the bible? Isn’t there important archeological evidence that supports the detailed events, dates and places recorded in books like Acts in the New Testament. Aren’t we inviting one of the foremost apologists in the world, Dr William Lane Craig next month to engage with Professor Hawking’s book, “The Grand Design”?

And yet...

And yet, as Christians we need to be clear that what we are doing is not supplementing the truth of the bible. Rather having confidence in the authenticity and sufficiency of the claims of scripture, we are able to - and even, eager to - engage with every aspect of these claims on the world. That includes science. That includes philosophy. That includes history.

But the source of that certainty and knowledge is God himself. The bible is God’s word. It is God’s self-revealing and self-authenticating word. That means to say: the only reason we can know anything about God is that he has revealed himself to us. And the bible says he has done that supremely in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

What this means practically is: the bible is complete. That’s the doctrine of the sufficiency of scripture. Everything that God has to say about salvation is here. Everything that we need to know about Jesus for God to effect saving trust in him is here in this book.

And that’s what Jesus says in verse 14.

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.”

John 8:14

The religious leaders object that Jesus is making statements about himself which cannot be verified and therefore cannot be true. But Jesus says, “Actually, I can.” In a few verses, he will appeal to their reasoning. In verse 17, Jesus will cite the Law which the Pharisees are familiar with to back his claims up. Yet it is so important for us to see that Jesus’ claims are self-authenticating; they are self-sufficient. “My testimony is valid,” Jesus says, “for I know where I came from and where I am going.” By that, Jesus isn’t simply hinting at his origins - where he came from - but pointing forward to the cross. He knows where he is headed - towards his own death. “But you have no idea,” Jesus adds. The religious leaders are clueless as to Jesus’ identity and purpose.

Yet notice how the sentence begins. “Even if,” Jesus says. He doesn’t just make a statement about himself, which in itself would have been true and valid. “Even if,” means: Jesus gives them more. More to go on. He is helping them in their unbelief to see who he truly is. Friends, that ought to amaze us.

And friends, what Jesus says next ought to humble us..

The light of judgement

“You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

John 8:15-18

The picture is that of a law court. Words like “testimony”, “witness”, “judgement”, “truth” and “law” come together to paint a picture of judge, defendant, accuser and witnesses in a law court.

What is happening is this: Jesus is helping the religious leaders and the crowds listening to him to work out and reason through who he is and what he is really saying. He even uses their own arguments and objections to clarify their doubts.

“In your own Law,” Jesus says, referring to the Old Testament which these religious professors would have been experts in, “it is written that the testimony of two men is valid”. You guys know this is what is needed to establish authenticity and truth.

And Jesus goes on to say that he is Witness Number One. But then he calls in another witness to the stand. Jesus calls in God. “My other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

Get this: here we are picturing a scene in a law court and Jesus is the accused. God himself steps in as the witness for the accused. Who is missing? The accuser and the judge.

Verse 15 reads: “You judge by human standards; I pass judgement on no-one”. In this scenario, Jesus’ hearers are acting as judge over him and over God.

Friends, I think Jesus would say of us today: “You are making judgements on who I am when you make a judgement what I have said. You are standing in judgement over God using human standards.”

I spoke to a university student recently over the summer break. She wasn’t a stranger to church. She had been coming Sunday after Sunday since she was a little girl. Heard many sermons. Even helped out with children’s church. But God didn’t seem a priority at the moment. Not with the workload. Not with tutorials. Not with job applications after finals.

I said to her, “Every time we hear the bible read; each time the gospel is preached, we are making a judgement. Even when we walk out of the meeting and say to ourselves, ‘Oh how nice for them as Christians, but that’s not for me,’ that too, is a judgement. We are saying to God, ‘You don’t really matter to me that much. I don’t think Jesus is all that important.’”

The Pharisees had made a decision about Jesus. In their minds, he was a liar. Jesus responds by saying their verdict is not just about him. It revealed their judgement on God himself.

In verse 16, Jesus says again, “But if”. “I pass judgement on no-one. But if I do judge, me decisions are right, because I am not alone”. One day, Jesus will return to judge; he will be the Supreme Judge of all the living and the dead; that is, God will hand over all judgements to be carried out by Jesus.

But for now, Jesus stands as the true witness. He is the light of the world. He offers the light of life. He bears the evidence to the truth of his testimony. The Greek word for witness is “martur”, where we get the word “martyr”. God has sent Jesus to bear the sins of the world on the cross. It is on the cross that Jesus bears witness as the true light of salvation.

And the question is: Who do you think Jesus is? Who is he in relation to you - the light of God’s presence and salvation whom you follow wholeheartedly? Or the accused over whom you stand as judge and accuser?

The key to answering that question is to see who Jesus is in relation to God.

The light of salvation

Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

John 8:19

The question the Pharisees pose to Jesus is “Where”. Jesus answers, “Who”.

“Where is the Father, Jesus? Where is this second witness you have been raving about? We don’t see him here, do we?”

It wasn’t really a question, was it? More of an insult actually. They might have even meant to refer to Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, who would have been dead and buried by now.

Still, I wonder if they meant it as a challenge. “Show us your Father, Jesus. Then we will believe.” I don’t think they were talking about Joseph at all. They knew Jesus was referring to God as his heavenly Father. I say this because verse 20 implies they wanted to arrest him on the spot. Something Jesus said caused them so much anger; sounded so much like blasphemy; that John says in verse 20, it was surprising that no-one crucified him then and there!

What was it Jesus said that stirred up so much hate in the religious leaders towards him? Jesus gives a two-fold answer: First, he says they are clueless about who Jesus is or who God is. That’s bad enough.

But secondly, Jesus says: If you knew me, you would know my Father also. What is he saying? To know Jesus is to know God.

Remember where he is standing. It’s the Feast of the Tabernacles. They are in the temple courts. Ask anyone “Where is God?” and they will answer, “Why, God is there, of course - beyond the altar of sacrifice, behind the walls of the Holy Place, behind the curtain.” God is in his temple.

But Jesus didn’t point towards the temple. He pointed to himself. If you knew me, Jesus says, you would know God!

Isn’t that why they wanted to arrest him; why they wanted to kill him? And they eventually did kill him: Wasn’t it because Jesus clearly claimed to be God?

So, when Jesus stands and proclaims, “I am the light of the world!” What is he saying? This celebration of thanksgiving is about me! The pillar of fire in the Exodus - that is me! The light of God’s first act of creation in Genesis when God spoke and said, “Let there be light!” - that’s me! The light of the glory of God which Moses saw on the mountain in Sinai - that’s me! The light of God’s salvation - that’s me! The light of God’s word - that’s me!

If you knew me, Jesus says, you would know the Father; you would know God!
Now if Jesus does that at the Feast of Tabernacles in the temple two thousand years ago, wouldn’t you think he might do that here today? Why have we gathered for this big celebration at the Chinese Church? To eat mooncakes? (Sorry there aren’t any this year!) Might Jesus say to us: this Mid-Autumn Festival should remind us of his light of salvation?

Or might Jesus even dare to say: September 11th is not simply a reminder of the horrors that happened a decade ago - but stands as a reminder of the horrors of humanity two thousand years ago, when the Son of God bore the anger and hatred of our sins on the cross?

Jesus says, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also”. “If,” meaning: we are meant to ask the question - Do you know Jesus? If you did, you would know God.

Light of the world

You stepped down into darkness.

Opened my eyes, let me see.

Beauty that made this heart adore You

Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship,

Here I am to bow down,

Here I am to say that You're my God

(“Light of the world”, Chris Tomlin)

Can we lose our salvation?

This is a quick Facebook response I gave to a good buddy in Christ who messaged me yesterday with the following query "Got a deep question to ask. In our small group today we had a little debate. Can we lose our salvation? once you are saved you are saved? or can we still go to hell if we drift away even though we commited our life to God years back?"

Hi .......,
That is indeed a very "deep" question. And I'm glad you have friends with whom to think deeply about salvation and Jesus.

Q1: Can we lose salvation?
A: Salvation is not something we have gained by our efforts nor we have to be lost. God saves us through the cross, it is his work in redeeming us. And God sustains us through the cross, it is his grace that keeps us faithful and walking with Jesus.

Jesus says "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." (John 6:30) Jesus loses none, He raises all given him on the last day.

Another verse often quoted is Romans 8:30 "And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." This is called the golden chain - none of the links in the chain are broken. Calling (When you become a Christian), Justification (Forgiveness through the cross), Glorification (Final redemption when Jesus returns).

Q2: Can we drift away? Do we go to hell?
The phrase "drift away" is from Hebrews 2:1, and the bit in Hebrews that causes the most difficulty and debate is Chapter 6 verses 4 to 6. There he describes someone who has been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, tasted the goodness of God's word, powers of the coming age... yet falls away. He then says it is impossible (referring to God) to bring back to repentance, with the reason "they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace".

2 big questions that usually arises in this passage. (1) Who is it talking about? (2) Why is it impossible for this person to be brought back to repentance?

(1) Who is is talking about? We need to be sensitive when answering this. Sometimes your friends will be thinking of someone they know, whom they love. This friend was a keen Christian at one time, but now they don't come to church, they don't pray or read their bibles, they may even be in some situation of worrying sin. If so, they are asking out of concern and love.

I would first of all say who this passage is not talking about. It's not someone who has committed suicide. It's not even talking about some particularly gross sin.

It does describe about someone who has been exposed to an amazing experience and blessing, unmistakeably from God. Who has come to benefit from learning about the bible. In this, the author is actually referring to an example he has already given in Chapters 3 and 4. There he talks about the Israelites who were rescued in the Exodus event from slavery in Egypt. Yet every single one of that generation fell in the desert. And then comes the warning in verse 12 - See to it brothers that none of YOU has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

The point is the passage is talking to you. Not your friend. Not that guy. The author talks about them - the Israelites in the desert, but he is addressing you, his hearers. And he says, you make sure, you don't fall away.

So in "debating" this passage, you shouldn't be coming up with hypothetical situations (this guy saved, but then sinned). You need to confess your own sins. You need to reflect on all God's blessings on yourself. If you don't, you aren't listening to the warning the bible is giving to us - whatever position you have taken in this debate.

It is worth pointing out verse 9 - Even though we speak like this, we are confident of better things in your case - things that accompany salvation. The author is confident they are saved through Jesus' blood. The warning is real, but so is the assurance.

(2) Why is it impossible for this person to repent?
People usually concentrate on the last bit of verse 6 where it says "crucifying the Son of God... subjecting him to public disgrace". How horrible, they say. No wonder this person will be judged.

To which I reply, that's what every single one of us as sinners do. If you are a Christian, don't you confess that Jesus took your pain and shame on the cross? Isn't this what all of us - as believers in Christ - have done? We have given him our sin and received his forgiveness and life?

No, the force of the argument is the one little word "again". This person is crucifying Jesus "again". In fact, the phrase "brought back to repentance" is actually brought "again" to repentance.

And this word "again" contrasts the word "once" in verse 4. Once enlightened+tasted the gift+Holy Spirit+goodness of God's word+powers of coming age. Salvation is a once for all, unrepeateable, complete event. The cross happened once in history. There is only one Saviour.

And what this person is saying is... Jesus get back up on the cross and die again. I don't care about what you did for me through your sacrifice. A good summary of this is in Chapter 9. "Nor did he enter heaven again and again.... then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself."

It is talking about the preciousness of the cross and the power of the cross.

Q: You didn't ask this, but such a debate must always talk about sin in the Christian's life.
A: As Christians, we should not sin. We are no longer slaves to sin. But in this world, we are still living in a struggle with our sinful nature and Christians will sin. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8)

As Christians - saved by the cross - we must always come back again and again to the cross. Jesus is our faithful high priest, our advocate who pleads for our forgiveness of sin before our heavenly Father.

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

I say this because 1 John was written to Christians who might be unsure about their salvation. And we need to understand, that genuine believers do go through times of difficulty and doubt. That's why he ends his letter by saying, "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."

If you or any of your friends come away from such a debate feeling worried about your salvation, 1 John would be a fantastic book to read. It was written just for you, to assure you that God's love in Jesus is secure, and forgiveness is certain through the cross.

Hope that helps!
God bless,
Calvin

See the salvation of the LORD (Exodus 14)

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.”
Exodus 14:13

Moses is about to lead the Israelites across the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his army are in hot pursuit of this nation of slaves – and indeed, have overtaken them with the aid of advanced military weaponry – horses and chariots (14:9). Victory looks certain for the mighty Eqyptian forces. The Israelites appear to be lost in the wilderness (14:3) and now find themselves caught between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea.

Yet it is at this very moment of danger and despair that Moses says to the people, they will “see the salvation of the Lord”. What follows is the miraculous parting of the Red Sea. This is a major turning point in Exodus story. Indeed, it is a major turning point in the entire bible. For this is not simply another display of God’s power. Exodus Chapter 14 is a picture of what it means to be saved. The bible invites us to see in these verses, the salvation of the Lord.

The fear of death

Moses goes on to say:

For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
Exodus 14:13b-14

What needs to be made clear is that Moses is actually rebuking the Israelites with these words. The Israelites were panicking about their dire circumstances. Pharaoh and his army would soon slaughter the entire nation. So his own people begin to accuse Moses of leading them to their death (14:12). They should have just stayed where they were – as slaves in Eqypt. Instead there dead bodies will soon lie in the wilderness.

The nation had forgotten that it was God, not Moses, who saved them from Pharaoh. It was God who heard their cries in slavery and God who sent Moses to deliver them. It was God who displayed his power in the ten plagues upon Pharaoh and all Egypt – the last plague being the death of all every firstborn in the land – while sparing the Israelites through the Passover meal just two chapters before.

So here, Moses reminds them. They will see God’s salvation. Because all Israel saw at that moment was their fear of death.

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.
Exodus 14:10

For the Israelites, their fear of Pharaoh blinded them to the salvation of God. It cast doubt on God’s ability to save them in the present by blinding them to God’s faithfulness in the past.

Or put it a different way: Fear of man leads to forgetfulness of God. We forget that God is able to save and faithful to his promises to save.

The power of death

All throughout the narrative, the military might of Pharaoh’s army is repeatedly emphasized – the six hundred chosen chariots (in addition to all the other chariots) and the officers, the horsemen, the army (verses 4, 6, 7, 9, 18, 23, 25 and 28). This military superpower in pursuit against a nation of slaves would be today like the United States of America, with their array of stealth bombers and nuclear missiles waging all out war on Milton Keynes. In short, they wouldn’t last very long.

Still, the whole purpose of these events leading up to the confrontation at the Red Sea was orchestrated and ordained by God to draw out the forces of Pharaoh. God wanted the Egyptians to come at him with everything they had.

“And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
Exodus 14:17-18

Yes, God’s glory is spoken of in the bible often in terms of the glory of creation. The heavens declare the glory of God – Psalm 19. Yet the bible also speaks clearly of God’s glory firmly established through the destruction of all opposition to his authority. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? He who sits in heaven laughs; the LORD holds them in derision” (Psalm 2:1,4).

The New Testament believers saw the fulfillment of this confrontation, not in a physical war waged against the nation of Israel, nor a campaign launched against the city of Jerusalem – but in the murder of one innocent man. The early church understood that Psalm 2 was fulfilled through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Acts 4:25-28

God had ordained the cross by sending Jesus, by promising the coming of the Messiah through his word – but also by allowing Jesus to suffer at the hands of men and murdered on a cross in fulfillment of this same word. In his wisdom, God would bring salvation to men, by using even the wickedness and sinfulness of man, to bring about his purposes for his glory.

The destruction of death

Still the question remains – what did the Israelites see? Moses promised that they would behold God’s salvation – but what did it look like? Was it the Red Sea? The pillar of cloud and fire that guided them through the night and protected them from the raiding forces of Pharaoh’s chariots? I think the answer is given us clearly in the closing words of the chapter.

Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.
Exodus 14:30-31

What did they see? Dead bodies – that’s what they saw. Their pursuers with their armaments, the horses and chariots all lying on the seashore. Every single one of them (14:28) Do you remember what Moses said earlier in verse 13?

For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
Exodus 14:13b

It is a gruesome picture, yet a powerful image the bible uses to help us understand the magnitude of salvation.

Salvation is rescue from death. That morning you either stood alive, and free, an Israelite; or dead, an Egyptian soldier on the shores of the Red Sea.

But salvation is also rescue through death. The waters of the sea held back to give safe passage to Israel as they crossed on dry ground, were the same waters that drowned the Egyptian armies. The same event meant salvation for one and judgement for the other. In rescuing Israel from slavery, God had not merely removed them from the situation of harm; he put to death the forces of harm.

The ten plagues – the water turned to blood, the frogs, the gnats, the flies, the death of the livestock, the boils, the hail, the locusts, the darkness and finally the death of the firstborn. These were symbols of God’s anger over Egypt’s opposition, and God’s punishment for their oppression of Israel. Yet, these symbols of death of and destruction were the very means of the salvation of Israel.

In these events, God was showing the Israelites: the salvation of their lives was through the death of another. It was the death of their enemies. It was the death of their oppressors. But in God’s wisdom – all this would supremely come about through the death of his Son.

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he (Jesus) himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Hebrews 2:14-15

Here in Hebrews, the bible speaks of the defeat of the devil. It explains how God has destroyed the power of death. It even describes how Christians a delivered from our slavery to our fear of death. But the way God achieves all this in salvation, is through the death of Jesus Christ.

This is the power of God to save. Through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. At the cross we see the destruction of Satan and all his forces. At the cross, we see our sin laid on Jesus, taking our death upon himself. From the cross we receive forgiveness and new life. Through the cross we have access to God as our Heavenly Father.

When we see the cross of Jesus Christ we fear not, we stand firm, and we see the salvation of the Lord which he works in us today.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.