The newest term I’ve heard bandied about by men whose titles, accolades, and diplomas far exceed their intellect, knowledge, or, let’s be honest, even their aptitude or potential, is that what the church needs today is a holistic restoration rather than repentance and rebirth. Not to be Nancy Nitpicker here, but what exactly are we restoring when we speak of this ethereal, ever-elusive, holistic restoration?
Salvation isn’t a cleaner, fancier-dressed, less grimy
version of your old self; it’s the death of the old self and the rebirth of a
new creation in Christ, through Christ, by Christ, and for Christ. There is
nothing to restore, or anything worth restoring for that matter.
We’re not talking about an abandoned mansion that’s been
sitting empty for fifty years that just needs some tender, loving care to
return to its former glory. We’re talking about an overflowing outhouse.
There’s nothing there to restore!
Ezekiel 36:26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in
My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
God did not say He’d slather a new coat of paint on your old
heart, put in some new flooring, and patch up the roof. There was no mention of
restoration, rather transformation—the removal of the heart of stone, and the
replacement of it with a heart of flesh.
With the new heart comes a new mind, a new purpose, new
desires, a new man, a new creation, not an old creation that was retreaded and
spruced up. You know you’ve been born again, because you’ve been born again.
You don’t think you have been, hope you have been, or are looking forward to
being reborn at some point in the future. You know that you know that you’ve
been buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so you. There is certainty in
the knowledge of one’s rebirth, just as there is certainty in the knowledge
that, come the next morning, the sun will rise in the east.
It’s because we resist the death of the flesh, and the
surrender of the old man that he may be made a new one, that men are overcome
with doubt as to where they stand in reference to their salvation and eternal
destination. Our refusal to break ties with the world, turn our back on sin,
and surrender to Christ compels us to inject new terminology and faux theology
in the hermeneutics of Biblical doxology.
Yes, Mikey knows big words, too, and if the purpose of what I
do was self-serving, self-aggrandizing narcissism veiled in a thin cloak of
spirituality, that’s all you’d ever get. But it’s not, so here we are, using
simple words to explain a complex issue. Anything that shifts the focus from
the risen Christ and what He did on the cross is a lie serving as a distraction
and an alternative to true repentance and lifelong fellowship with Him.
The question of what one must do to be saved has been asked
and answered by Christ’s own lips. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He said nothing of five steps,
ten steps, loving yourself, seeing the good in you, or repeating positive affirmations
while clenching your teeth so hard that your molars crack. Everything men do to
substitute true repentance and rebirth falls short, is for naught, and only
serves to numb the reality that with each breath they are that much closer to
eternity.
2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
The Great Commission is no longer the North Star, the purpose
for which we labor, or the goal to which we aspire, but reductionist in its
scope, and something that needs to be paired with all manner of trivialities
for it to remain sustainable, viable, and relevant. It seems to have worked
just fine for two thousand years, but no more, not today. We need to change it
all for change’s sake, because our dreams and aspirations grow and expand
daily, and with each passing day, it’s less about the Kingdom and more about our
own comfort. It’s less about eternity and more about the moment, the now, what
we can amass in the short term, and what vainglory we can siphon to make ourselves
feel important and relevant.
Thankfully, we will stand before God not as a collective but
as individuals on that day of days. I will not answer for another’s choices, absence
of wisdom, unwillingness to redeem the time they were given, or ignorance of
God’s Word. I am neither responsible nor accountable for my neighbors, my
friends, or my brothers. I am responsible for my actions and no one else’s. I
will be held accountable for my choices as an individual, not for the actions
of the congregation I attend as a whole, or for the hypocrisy of the bishop,
pastor, elder board, or choir director. Whether the time I set aside to pray,
the choices I make, the words I speak, and the object of my daily focus are in
line with Scripture is what I will have to answer for before an omniscient God,
and you will too.
Giving up would be easy if giving up were an option. Even
when it seems God is silent, press in. Even when it seems He tarries, keep
praying. His timing is not our own, and the knowledge that He hears and will
avenge His own elect is what fuels our faith to take one more step, pray one
more prayer, and shed one more tear.
Luke 18:6-8, “Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge
said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him,
though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless,
when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”’
The question isn’t whether God will avenge His elect, or
answer their prayers; the question is whether we will stand on faith until He
does. When the Son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? That
is the vital question, and one that we must answer on an individual basis.
The question of whether or not God hears our prayers has been settled. The question of whether or not God answers prayer has been settled. These are not issues that warrant endless debate because the Word of God is declarative and unambiguous in its promise. The only question that remains unanswered is whether we as individuals have the faith to persevere and endure until the answers to our long-uttered prayers come.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
1 comment:
Excellent teaching.
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