Tough Questions

Does the Bible Endorse Slavery?

Rev Charlie (June 2023)

The Bible has a lot to say about slavery, which should not come as a surprise since slavery was a major feature of life in the ancient world.  However, the assertion that the Bible endorses slavery is misleading, to say the least.

When the subject of slavery is broached, we tend to imagine the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.  Men, women and children, kidnapped from villages in West Africa, transported across the ocean in subhuman conditions and forced to work on plantations for cruel masters who treated them worse than animals.  That was certainly a reality in the 17th and 18th centuries, but a far cry from anything described in either the Old or the New Testament.  Exodus 21: 16 defines kidnapping as a capital offence, which precludes outright the kind of practices that characterised the transatlantic slave trade.

So, what kind of slavery do we find in the Bible?  Firstly, in the book of Exodus, we read about the Israelites’ captivity and forced labour in Egypt.  This situation was categorically bad, and Pharaoh, who was largely responsible for it, is depicted as perhaps the most malevolent character in all of scripture.

Secondly, we have the slaves of Hebrew culture, who were in fact bond servants.  These were people who had sold themselves into slavery, for a period of six years, in the case of extreme financial hardship.  From our cultural vista, the situation of a bond servant might seem intolerable, however, the practice existed to prevent a person or family from becoming completely destitute.  Exodus 21 details a number of laws pertaining to the treatment of bond servants and it is clear that the overall thrust of these laws seeks to prevent their mistreatment.  Bond servants had all their basic needs provided for and to be in the employ of a good and kind master (as prescribed by the law), was by far the most secure and comfortable existence for those of meagre means.

Thirdly, the New Testament is set against the backdrop of Greco-Roman culture, of which slavery was a significant element.  Again, the slavery of the Greco-Roman world was very different to that of the transatlantic slave trade.  Slaves were often well educated, they could own property and even buy their freedom.  What is more, slavery was never racialized.  That is to say, a person’s race or skin colour was not indicative of them being ‘slave material’.

Having outlined what is meant by ‘slavery’ in the Bible, let us examine whether it is endorsed.

On page one of the Bible, we find the astonishing statement that human beings are made in the image of God.  That being the case, we are all of equal value to God.  It was this premise, among others, that inspired the abolitionists of the 18th and 19th centuries.  The abolitionist movement, led by devout Christians, eventually caused Britain to become the first nation in history, not only to abolish slavery, but to impose and police its anti-slavery policies internationally.

Many claim that Ephesians 6 is an endorsement of slavery, since it exhorts slaves to obey their masters.  Notwithstanding, it also exhorts masters to reciprocate their slaves’ respect and integrity.  It is not surprising that the New Testament writers did not set about dismantling slavery in a revolutionary way.  After all, their mission was to proclaim eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.  Moreover, slavery was an integral part of ancient culture; to abolish it, as it were, overnight would be like calling time on the internet in the modern era.  It is not something that could have been done rapidly without creating enormous problems for society.

The New Testament creates the vision of a new society based on Jesus’ kingdom values.  The remarkable claim of Christianity is that God stooped down to the level of a slave in order that the lowest could be raised up.  Jesus told his disciples that “the last will be first, and the first will be last” and that the one who wants to be great must be a servant.

The Apostle Paul sent an escaped slave back to his master with a letter beseeching him to receive his slave back, “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.”  And in Galatians 3, Paul makes the following radical claim, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  In other words, society’s divisive barriers become null and void in Christ’s kingdom.

Whilst abolishing slavery may not have been the top priority for the New Testament authors, it was inevitable that the practice would come under critical scrutiny from those who sought to live within the parameters of Jesus’ radical new kingdom.

In the Museum of the Bible, in Washington DC, is a copy of ‘The Slave Bible’.  The Slave Bible was compiled by slave owners in the 1800s and given to slaves as a method of justifying their slavery.  Rather tellingly, The Slave Bible is missing 90% of the Old Testament and 50% of the New.  Or, to put it another way, it comprises just 232 chapters, compared with the 1189 chapters that we find in any other protestant Bible.  This demonstrates that, whilst certain verses taken out of context can appear to justify slavery, the overall witness of the Bible points in the opposite direction.  Far from endorsing slavery, the Bible, as a whole, makes the practice untenable.  It is little wonder that plantation owners went to such lengths to prevent slaves from reading the full canon of scripture and drawing their own conclusions.

Tough Questions

How Do We Control Our Thoughts?

Rev Charlie (May 2023)

I recently received a question, which was prompted by a line in an authorised confession which says, ‘Merciful God, our maker and our judge, we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed...’

The enquirer expressed that he has a good level of control over his words and deeds, but not over his thoughts, which are sometimes ‘less than wholesome’.  The question was essentially, ‘How can one avoid sinning against God in thought, when unsavoury thoughts so often pop into one’s mind, seemingly unannounced and uninvited?’

The first thing to say is that, if a Christian recognizes that his or her thought life is unsatisfactory, it is in fact an encouraging sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in that person.  However, when it comes to our thoughts, we must differentiate between sin and temptation.  Every human being experiences temptation and there is nothing novel or unique about the temptations of any individual.  As it says in 1 Corinthians 10: 13, ‘No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.’

Temptation itself is not sin.  Even Jesus was tempted by the devil for forty days in the wilderness, yet he was without sin.  Temptation is an invitation to sin, which can be accepted or refused.  It is not the unwanted thoughts that cause us to sin, rather it is what we do with them.  Do we reject them immediately, or do we dwell on them?  Martin Luther wrote, ‘You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.’

We could also liken tempting thoughts to passing a room with an open door and witnessing something sordid going on inside.  In that situation, we could either close the door immediately and walk away or stand in the doorway gawping.  Worse still, we could enter the room and get involved, which is the point at which sinful thoughts become deeds.

Admittedly, it is sometimes difficult to determine the exact point at which a tempting thought becomes a sinful one.  I once heard someone ask, ‘What is the difference between noticing a beautiful woman and lusting after her?’  The reply given was, ‘About two seconds.’  As Christians, we should be aware of the thoughts that we are entertaining and invite the Holy Spirit to give us the resolve to keep ‘closing the door.’

Many, if not all, of our thoughts are triggered by things that we see and hear.  Thoughts will often be an immediate response to external stimuli; however, our memories enable us to replay and relive just about anything our five senses have taken in over the entire course of our lives.  Naturally, we cannot filter out every sound, image or sensation that may give rise to a tempting thought, either at that moment, or in the future.  However, as Christians it is vitally important that we do not intentionally fill our minds with unwholesome stimuli.  The most obvious example is pornography, and it is clearly a sin to view it.  However, there are other more subtle ways to fuel our temptation, for example: music with explicit lyrics, very graphic films, inappropriate social media and so on.  Being selective about the influences that we expose ourselves to is prudent, not prudish, as some might surmise.  We may not be able to prevent tempting thoughts from entering our minds, but we certainly should not be fuelling them!

Perhaps the best advice is that which the Apostle Paul gives towards the end of his letter to the Philippians:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Tough Questions

Where did Jesus Go When He Died?

Rev Charlie (April 2023)

We are about to enter Holy Week, when we will remember the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion.  Then, on Easter Sunday, we will celebrate the wondrous victory of his resurrection.  Good Friday ends with Jesus in the tomb and Easter Sunday begins with a small group of women discovering that the tomb was empty.  But what actually happened to Jesus between Good Friday and Easter Sunday?

The fact that Jesus’ body was in the tomb is undisputed, but there are various conjectures about what happened to Jesus’ spirit, or soul.  Prior to 1979, the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), included a line in the Apostles Creed which stated, ‘He descended into hell.’  This has caused many to surmise that Jesus went to hell.

However, this view is neither supported by scripture, nor by the original version of the Apostles Creed.  The Apostles Creed was written some time in the second century, but the line, ‘he descended into hell’, does not appear until 390 AD.  Moreover, the word translated ‘hell’ is not intended to mean hell as some understand it.  In the New Testament, the word Gehenna describes a place of final judgement and separation from God.  However, the word that is used in the creed is Sheol or Hades, which are more general terms for the place where dead people go.  The BCP’s current rendering, ‘he descended to the dead’, is therefore more faithful to the original understanding of this phrase.

There are several verses from the New Testament (Eph. 4: 8-10 and 1 Pet. 3: 18-20, in particular), that some have taken to mean that Jesus made an appearance in hell.  Notwithstanding, there are more plausible interpretations of these verses, however, that is beyond the scope of this article.  Similarly, the purpose of this article is not to explore what hell actually is.

When Jesus was on the cross, he said to the criminal hanging next to him, “Today you will be with me in paradise,” which seems to suggest that Jesus’ spirit would pass immediately into the presence of God.  That having been said, one has to question what ‘today’ actually means to someone who has passed through the veil of death and beyond the limitations of time as we know it.

In Luke 23: 46, Jesus cries out “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” which seems to anticipate an immediate end to his suffering.  Even more striking are Jesus’ last words “It is finished,” from Jn. 19: 30.  The work of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world was ‘finished’ on the cross.  To suggest that Jesus subsequently went to hell is tantamount to saying that what he did on the cross was not enough!

The Bible does not tell us what happened to Jesus’ soul whilst his body was in the grave, but the foregoing analysis demonstrates that he was not in hell (whatever, or wherever that may be).  What we can be sure of is that Jesus was under the power of death until the third day.  It is possible that Jesus’ spirit passed immediately into God’s presence and was then reunited with his body at the time of his resurrection.  Another possibility, though harder for us to grasp, is that time as we know it does not exist beyond death.  If that is the case, Jesus might feasibly have passed through the veil of death and straight onto his resurrection.

The truth is, we cannot know these things for sure, it is therefore prudent to focus on what we can be sure of, namely, that Jesus died on a cross and three days later rose from the dead, so that sinful human beings who put their trust in Jesus will be forgiven and reconciled to God forever.

Tough Questions

Why Do We Sing in Church?

Rev Charlie (March 2023)

Anybody who has ever been to church will have noticed that there is quite a lot of singing, but is it essential and could we worship God effectively without it?

When I first came to faith (and for a number of years afterwards), I struggled with sung worship. Singing was not something that I had ever enjoyed or engaged in and I found the cacophonous sound of my voice to be an embarrassing distraction.  Notwithstanding, I now enjoy sung worship and see it as an essential part of our weekly gathering.

Human beings are made in the image of God and so it should not surprise us to learn that God sings.  Zephaniah 3: 17 states that God will rejoice over his people with singing; Jesus sang hymns with his disciples (Matt. 26: 30); and Ephesians 5: 18-19 exhorts believers to be filled with the Spirit, that they might sing to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.  It would seem that all three members of the trinity are given to singing.

God sings and he has created humans to sing, especially as a means of worship.  Many of the psalms are songs of praise that enjoin and even command God’s people to sing.  For example, Psalm 96: 2, which says, ‘Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.’

At the risk of making unsubstantiated generalisations, when it comes to worship, some people lead with their heads and others with their hearts.  Those who lead with their heads tend to engage more readily with the readings and the sermon and those who lead with their hearts are more inclined towards the music and the singing.  Every aspect of a Christian service is a form of worship, and each part enables us to connect with God in different ways.

Worship music has the capacity to awaken our emotions and move us in ways that other forms of worship may not do.  Singing helps us to relax and engage every aspect of our being: mind, body and spirit.  What is more, singing has a unique capacity to lead us into God’s presence in unison with others.  In Revelation 5, we read of a song of praise in God’s throne room, which is sung by all the creatures in heaven and on earth.  Our sung worship points forward to the glorious reality of worshipping God together with the whole of creation.

Finally, singing has the quality of enabling us to remember words.  I think most of us have had the experience of getting a song ‘stuck in our heads.’  Songs are a wonderful way of absorbing and remembering the truth of scripture and God’s promises in particular.  Colossians 3:16 states that we should  ‘teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.’

In conclusion, it is possible to worship God without singing.  Indeed, we have been created to honour, glorify and worship God in every area of our lives.  However, to omit sung worship from our services would greatly impoverish our attempts to draw near to God in the unity of the Spirit and it would prohibit us from engaging in worship with every aspect of our being.

There is singing in heaven of unimaginable beauty.  If we are serious about building God’s kingdom here on earth, we should do our best to mirror the glory of heaven (albeit in a very deficient way):

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.

Tough Questions

What is Lent?

Rev Charlie (February 2023)

Lent is a period of forty days (excluding Sundays), that runs from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.  Whilst you won’t find any mention of Lent or its observation in the Bible, the season of Lent, which has been observed by Christians since the 4th century, was founded on deeply Biblical principles.

Forty is a significant number in the Bible and one that is usually associated with trial, testing, prayer and fasting.  In the book of Genesis, God sent rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.  When Moses received the ten commandments, he stayed with the Lord on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, during which time he fasted.  From Mount Sinai, the Israelites were meant to go directly to the promised land and take possession of it.  However, due to their lack of faith and rebellion against God, they first endured forty years of wilderness wanderings in the Sinai desert.  At the age of about thirty, Jesus was baptised in the Jordan River, after which he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he was tempted (or tested) by the devil for forty days.  During that period Jesus fasted.

In each of the examples above, the challenging period of forty days, or years, served as a time of preparation and spiritual growth.  Noah and his family learned to trust and obey God; Moses was prepared for the task of leading God’s people during their sojourn in the desert; God’s people were brought to a point of obedience (albeit their obedience was short lived); and Jesus was prepared for his time of public ministry, which ultimately led to his sacrificial death on a cross and subsequent resurrection.

It is no coincidence that the season of Lent lasts for forty days.  It has echoes of all the aforementioned events in the story of God’s people, but most of all, it has echoes of the forty days that Jesus spent in the wilderness: praying, fasting and battling the temptations of the devil.

Lent is a time of prayer, fasting, penitence and resolving to follow Christ wholeheartedly, as we prepare to celebrate the victory of his death and resurrection and behold these events with fresh eyes.  It is a time to identify the things that are getting in the way of our relationship with the Lord, in order that we might deal with them.

As we approach the season of Lent, let us not focus on arbitrary sacrifices such as forgoing chocolate, coffee or red meat.  Instead, let us give up, or take up, attitudes and habits that will help us draw nearer to Jesus.  As Jesus battled temptation in the wilderness, let us, through prayer and fasting, battle the sin and apathy in our lives.

Lent should be a time of preparation and spiritual growth; a catalyst for positive and permanent change and transformation, brought about through our cooperation with the Holy Spirit.

Tough Questions

When Will Jesus Return?

Rev Charlie (January 2023)

During the season of Advent we focus on the immanent celebration of Jesus’ birth (his first coming), but also on our sure and certain hope of his return (Jesus’ second coming).  Advent is a season of watching and waiting, as we pray that ancient prayer, ‘Maranatha’ – ‘Come Lord Jesus’.

Another year has passed, 2023 has began and the world is still in a mess; perhaps more so than at any other point in most of our lifetimes.  Undoubtedly, there are Christians all over the world echoing the psalmist’s prayer, ‘How long, O Lord?’

The New Testament is explicit in its claim that Jesus will one day return to judge the living and the dead and to put an end to all that is evil and unwholesome.  From then on, God’s people will live with Jesus in a renewed and restored creation and death will be no more.  Perhaps the best-known passage dealing with eschatology (the end of the world as we know it), is Matthew 24, where in response to the disciples’ question, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”, Jesus talks about various cataclysmic events, such as war, famine, earthquakes and the persecution of Christians.

In response to any sort of global or national upheaval, many Christians will say things like, ‘These are definitely the end times’, by which they usually mean that Jesus’ return is to be expected within a matter of decades, or even less.  However, Jesus did not talk about wars, natural disasters, the hardening of men’s hearts or persecution in order that we might plot them as way markers on some kind of apocalyptic calendar.  Quite the opposite, Jesus stated that these things will happen, but if we find ourselves in the midst of the confusion that such events will inevitably cause, we should not be duped into believing that Jesus has returned or that the future hour of his return has been revealed.

If we think back over the past two-thousand years, there have been innumerable events (or series of events), that may have caused people to surmise that Jesus’ return would occur in their lifetime.  For example, the bubonic plague that swept through Europe in the 14th Century, killing between forty and sixty percent of the entire population.  A more pertinent example is the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70.  The Jewish historian, Josephus, estimated that 1.1 million people died in what was one of the most devastating events in the history of the Jewish people.  Indeed, this event, which occurred within the lifetime of some of Jesus’ disciples, was probably, in part at least, what Jesus was alluding to in Matthew 24.

In one sense, the ‘end times’ began with the birth of Jesus and we are still living in them.  This is the time that the prophets of the Old Testament longed to see.  God’s kingdom has been established here on earth and one day, when Jesus returns, it will be fully established.  However, we have no way of knowing when this will happen.  Jesus told his disciples that not even he was privy to the timing, saying, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”  If Jesus was unable to narrow it down, we can be quite sure that we will not be able to either.

Jesus is going to return and we cannot know when, regardless of what is happening in the world around us.  However, of crucial importance to us is our state of readiness, a subject that Jesus addressed at length and the theme of at least four parables.  Jesus exhorts his followers to live as if he will return at any moment, which of course he could do.  We are to be ‘ready’ by following Jesus’ commands and by living the purposeful, fruitful, kingdom focussed lives that he calls us to.

Our response to the evil, chaos and uncertainty in the world around us is to remain steadfast and faithful to Christ, as we seek to live out his kingdom values, which includes fighting against all that is evil, both within ourselves and in the world. As it says in Romans 12: 21, ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’

So, before we make any new year’s resolutions, let us ask ourselves this question, ‘How can I make myself more ready to meet Jesus when he returns?’

Come Lord Jesus.

Matt. 24: 43; Matt. 24: 45-51; Matt. 25: 1-13; Matt. 25: 14-30

Tough Questions

Why Christmas?

Rev Charlie (December 2022)

People have mixed feelings about Christmas.  For some, it is a magical and exciting time of year, for others it is stressful and draining.  For some it is an opportunity to spend time with loved ones, for others a painful reminder of the brokenness of their family.  Some enjoy shopping for gifts, others are plagued by financial worries.

A huge amount of time and effort goes into Christmas.  Much time is spent shopping, wrapping presents, cooking, eating and drinking, and there are streets in Springfield where almost every house displays an elaborate array of lights and decorations. But what is it all for?  What are we celebrating and why?

In amongst the baubles, reindeer and wrapping paper, many people are vaguely aware of a story about a baby laying in a manger, but all too often that story is devoid of any real meaning.  Christmas is a big deal in our culture, but most fail to realise that the story that stands behind it does in fact lead us to the most remarkable and important sequence of events in human history.

As it says in John 1:14, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word is Jesus, who was and is God, therefore God took on human flesh.  The fact that God entered into his own creation as a vulnerable human child is surprising and wonderful and his reasons for doing so are even more so.

The destiny of that defenceless baby laid in a manger was to suffer Roman crucifixion.  God took on flesh, so that that flesh could be scourged and pierced by thorns and nails.  God took on flesh in order that he might die.  On the cross, Jesus bore all the world’s sin and wrongdoing, including yours and mine.  Therefore, if we put our trust in Jesus, God will look at us as if we had never sinned and begin to transform our lives and character by the power of his Holy Spirit.  Those who belong to Jesus, even though they die, will be raised to new and everlasting life, just as Jesus was.  As it says in Romans 8: 11:

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

In the middle of the popular Christmas Carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, we find these words, ‘Born that man no more may die.’  Which is perhaps the simplest and most accurate way to answer the question, ‘Why Christmas?’  The story of Christmas cannot be divorced from the purpose of Jesus and so we must look beyond the stable to the cross on a hill.

Christmas is so much more than the story of God being born (remarkable enough in itself), it is the story of a loving God, who came to save his most beloved creatures.  John 3:16 summarises it perfectly:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The full implications of Christmas, properly understood, are not just potentially life changing, they are eternity changing.  The wonderful news of Jesus’ birth should evoke a response of unsurpassed gratitude, praise, adoration and love.  In the words of another well-known carol, ‘Come let us adore him.’

Tough Questions

Who Created God?

Rev Charlie (November 2022)

If God created everything, then who created God?  This question was asked by the ten-year-old grandson of a couple in our congregation, but it should not be dismissed as a childish question.  Indeed, the world’s best-known atheist, Richard Dawkins, uses this question as a central pillar for his argument against the existence of God in his popular book, ‘The God Delusion.’

However, the question itself reveals that the person asking it has misunderstood an important facet of God’s nature, namely aseity; that is to say he was not created.  The God Christians worship is eternal.  Created gods are a delusion, which is why the Bible warns so strongly against all forms of idolatry.  The very definition of idolatry is worshipping that which has been created, instead of worshipping the creator himself.

The Bible makes clear that there are two categories of ‘thing’ in existence, there is God and there is everything else.  God has always existed and everything else has been created by God.  As a Christian I believe that God created everything from nothing.  Admittedly, that is not an easy concept, but it is, I think, more plausible than the materialistic view that nothing created everything from nothing.

Of course, it is not easy for us to get our heads around an omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (everywhere at once), being who has always existed.  The human mind struggles to grasp that which is eternal (let alone God’s other attributes).

When we think about God being eternal, we tend to place him on some kind of time scale and then attempt to conceptualise what ‘forever’ might look like on that timescale.  As far back as the 4th century, St. Augustine postulated that God is outside of time and many contemporary physicists and philosophers question the existence of time itself.  If either or both are correct it would suggest that trying to imagine an infinite period of time before creation is a deeply flawed way to think about the eternal nature of God.

Another misconception, which for the sake of clarity I will caricature, is the assumption that at some point in eternity, God got really bored and so created the universe and with it sentient life.  The uniquely Christian doctrine of the Trinity is an attempt to understand God as an eternal fellowship or relationship.  If I, as a human being, want to have a relationship I need at least one other being to interact with.  That is not the case with God, who is three equally divine persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), making, in total, one God.  Therefore, God did not create human beings because he lacked relationship, indeed the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit has always existed and will always exist.

In Conclusion, the question, ‘Who Created God?’ doesn’t apply to the one true God because he has always existed.  This may be difficult to comprehend, but when we start trying to understand God, we should expect to find something new.

Tough Questions

What Does it Mean to Fear the Lord?

Rev Charlie (October 2022)

Often, when the question is asked, ‘What does it mean to fear the Lord?’ the response goes something like this, ‘Oh, it doesn’t really mean fear, it just means that we should approach God with a sense of reverence and awe.’  Whilst this response is partially true, it is also inadequate, especially when we consider the pervasiveness of this theme throughout scripture.

Proverbs 1: 7 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Given its context in the book of Proverbs, it most likely means that the wisest approach to life is to live according to the premise that there is a just God who will ultimately hold us accountable for our actions.  As one well known psychologist put it, “You can’t twist the fabric of reality without it snapping back at you sooner or later.”  Our conduct, good or bad, carries real consequences, both for this life and the life to come.  Those who have rejected God’s love and forgiveness have good reason to fear God because they will face his righteous judgement without the ‘clean slate’ afforded by Jesus. It is this ‘fear of the Lord’ that compels many to put their hope and trust in Jesus.

1 John 4: 18 says this, ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.’  When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we no longer fear punishment because Jesus has taken our sin and wrongdoing upon himself.  That is to say, he has stood in our place and taken the punishment that we deserve.

For believers, ‘fear of the Lord’ does not mean cowering like slaves.  That would make no sense, since we have been adopted into the family of a loving, compassionate and perfect heavenly Father.  Indeed, fear of the Lord is something that we can delight in (Neh. 1: 11).  When confronted with the glory, beauty, power and holiness of God it is natural to experience a sense of awe, reverence and, if I can put it this way, a delightful fear.  As it says in Philippians 2: 12-13, ‘continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.’  In our fear of the Lord we must never lose sight of the fact that God’s purposes are entirely good.

Romans 11: 11-24 (and 19-21 in particular), would seem to indicate that fearing God deters us from running away from him.  Not in the sense of an abused person, who fears to flee their tormentor, but in the sense of a beloved child who fears the consequences of running away from a stable and loving home.  All good parents discipline their children and God rightly disciplines us from time to time.  As it says in Hebrews 12: 6, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” It is not trivial or inconsequential to knowingly rebel against the God of the universe. Those of us who have, at some point, turned away from God or have knowingly disobeyed his will for our lives, will likely have experienced a sense of uneasiness, foreboding and, yes, even fear.

So, the fear of the Lord is not just a sense of reverence and awe.  Although it does include that, there are other facets too.  However, none of this will trouble us provided we continue to trust in the absolute goodness and unfailing love of God, who only wants the very best for us.

Why Small Groups?

Why Small Groups?

Rev Charlie (September 2022)

Many churches, St. Andrew’s included, struggle to get a high percentage of their members meeting together in small groups during the week, for fellowship and Bible study.  It is not hard to understand the reasons for this.  The busyness of life takes over and it becomes difficult to carve out the time.  Moreover, many are unable to leave their homes in the evenings due to childcare commitments.  There is also the matter of finding people who are willing to lead such groups.  However, I suspect the main reason that home groups, life groups, hubs, or whatever it is you call them, do not always flourish is that their value is largely underrated.  So why is it important for Christians to meet in smaller groups during the week?

Firstly, to know and be known.  Our weekly gatherings are indispensable, but on their own they are not sufficient to foster solid, mutually supportive and trusting relationships.  These kinds of relationships can only be built by incrementally allowing a person (or people), to see who we really are; chiefly by sharing our joys, struggles, hopes and doubts and then offering them to God in prayer together.  This takes time, commitment and a certain amount of privacy.  However, the rewards are great!  Having a group of trustworthy friends with whom we can be completely open and honest is essential to our mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Secondly, to hear from God.  The main way that God speaks to us is through his word, the Bible.  However, God speaks to us in other ways too, particularly through fellow Christians.  Prayerfully reading the Bible with others can be particularly exciting because, as a group, we tend to discern God’s voice with greater accuracy.  Having a range of perspectives and life experiences to draw on can also help us to apply God’s word to our lives.

Thirdly, to discover and exercise our spiritual gifts.  The New Testament contains various lists of spiritual gifts, none of which are exhaustive.  Spiritual gifts are special abilities that God gives to his people, for the building up of the church, such as: serving, leading, teaching, faith, prophecy, words of knowledge, gifts of healing, administration, etc.  Small groups provide an environment where these gifts can be discerned and used.  For example, in a small group setting, someone might say, ‘I’m not sure, but I think God may be saying…’  This could be the first step towards exercising the gift of words of knowledge.  It is much easier to make that step in the context of a small, intimate group of friends.

Fourthly, to mobilise for mission.  Christians are called to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world and the ways of fulfilling this calling are virtually limitless.  A church is only as weak as its imagination!  Small groups can be a place where ideas are formed and tested and can provide the basis of a team for any given mission project.  Decentralising the mission of the church is key to multiplying it.

In short, any Christian who desires to grow in their faith, deepen their relationship with God and reach their kingdom building potential should get plugged into a small group of Jesus’ followers.  It is no coincidence that Jesus led a small group of 12 disciples.  It really is Christianity 101!

Tough Questions

If there is going to be a ‘new heaven and a new earth’, why care for the environment?

Rev Charlie (August 2022)

  The Bible begins with two beautifully crafted Hebrew poems about creation.  The first poem expresses God’s delight in his creation, culminating in the statement, ‘God saw all that he had made and it was very good.’ As the pinnacle of God’s creation, human beings were made in God’s image and given the task of ruling over creation on God’s behalf.  This does not mean that they were given carte blanche to exploit creation, rather it is a mandate to rule over it responsibly and compassionately as representatives of a loving and benevolent Creator God.  In Genesis 2, we see that God placed the first humans in a garden to ‘work it and take care of it’. This is a wonderful image that captures our responsibility to nurture creation, live in harmony with it, and, in a sense, even improve on it.

The Old Testament repeatedly emphasises that the earth belongs to the Lord; it is not ours to do whatever we like with.  For example, Deuteronomy 10: 14 says, ‘To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.’  Some will be surprised to learn that the Torah (the first five books of the Bible, containing the Law), includes a great many laws that are designed to protect the integrity of God’s creation and our relationship with it.  For example, by commanding that the land be left fallow every seventh year, the Sabbath laws promote sustainable agriculture and prevent surplus production.  Wanton acts of environmental vandalism are prohibited, particularly the destruction of trees.  There is an intriguing law in the book of Deuteronomy which states,  ‘If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.’ This indicates that we are not to act in a way that could hinder a species from thriving, in this case by preventing the mother from producing eggs to replace the ones that were taken.

The Old Testament makes it clear that we are to be good stewards of God’s creation, but what, if anything, does the New Testament have to say on the subject?

Jesus summarised the Old Testament law in these terms, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” […] and “Love your neighbour as yourself.” We understand from the parable of the good Samaritan that the whole of humanity is, in a sense, our neighbour. There is a significant body of scientific evidence pointing to the reality of climate change as a result of human activity.  Further, it is well documented that climate change is having a much greater adverse effect on the populations of developing countries.  If we are to love our neighbours on a global scale we must, I believe, take action to mitigate the effects of climate change.

An alarming number of Christians hold to the erroneous belief that when we die, our souls will be whisked away to a place called Heaven, where they will float about in disembodied ecstasy (albeit that is a bit of a caricature).  However, that is far removed from what the Bible actually has to say on the matter.  Many religious adherents believe in some kind of afterlife, but only Christians believe in resurrection life.  Following the pattern of Jesus, believers will be raised with real physical bodies to inhabit a real physical world.  God has already created a real physical world and it is ‘good’, albeit marred and corrupted by human sin.  Romans 8 tells us that creation itself is waiting to be liberated from its present state of decay. Therefore, when we read of a ‘new heaven and a new earth’ in Revelation 21, we should in fact imagine a renewed and restored creation that is permanently conjoined with heaven.  God is not  planning to destroy this world, as that would signify the failure of God’s great creation project, rather, the intention is to perfect it.

Christians are called to be heralds of the new creation, by pointing forward to the future hope that we have in Jesus.  This means living today as we will live in a renewed and restored creation, where heaven and earth are one.  We look forward to the day when God’s people will live in harmony with God, one another, and creation itself.  Our interactions with creation in the present should point forward to this future reality.

Tough Questions

What Does it Mean to Grieve the Holy Spirit?

Rev Charlie (July 2022)

Paul urges the Ephesians not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4: 30), but what does he mean by that?

To answer this question, we need to understand that the Holy Spirit is God’s personal presence and the third person of the Trinity.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all, in a very real sense, God.  The Holy Spirit is therefore a person whose identity is God.

God is not aloof and impassionate, rather he is emotionally involved with his creation and with human beings especially.  Indeed, the scriptures describe God displaying a wide range of emotions.  We are emotional beings because we are made in the image of God and our emotions come from God.  However, whilst human emotions are tainted by sin, God’s emotions are pure, perfect and come from a place of love.

Grief is a powerful emotion which is usually associated with death, however, it can mean intense sorrow of any kind.  When we express sorrow (grief) for another human being, it is closely connected with love.  We grieve when we love and the depth of our grief is proportional to the depth of our love.

All three persons of the Trinity are said to grieve in scripture: the Father (Gen. 6: 6), the Son (Jn. 11: 35) and the Holy Spirit (Eph 4: 30).  When God grieves for us, it is an expression of his love.

The Holy Spirit dwells within all those who know and love Jesus, thus animating the body of Christ (the Church).  In Ephesians 4, just before the part about ‘not grieving the Holy Spirit’, Paul writes the following:

[…] When you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Entering into a relationship with Jesus changes us for the better, as Paul says, we are to, ‘put on the new self’.  However, becoming ‘like God in true righteousness and holiness’ is a process that will not be completed this side of the grave.  It is our cooperation with God’s Spirit living within us that speeds this process along, leading to our spiritual improvement.

When we, deliberately or inadvertently, behave in a way that is inimical to our spiritual improvement it grieves the Holy Spirit; in the same way that a loving parent is grieved when his or her child behaves in a self-destructive manner.

In Ephesians 4: 31-32, Paul lists a number of behaviours that are destructive within the church, including: bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander and every form of malice.  On this occasion, Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit, who seeks to bring unity within the church, is grieved by all such behaviour.

There is no doubt that we all grieve the Holy Spirit in various ways because we are all sinful.  The good news is that we can repent (turn away) from our sin and towards Christ, in the knowledge that God will always forgive those who truly repent.

Tough Questions

Who Wrote the Bible and Which Translation Should We Use?

Rev Charlie (June 2022)

Although the Bible is one continuous story, it is not so much a book as a small library of sixty-six books, (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament).  It was written over a period of approximately 1,500 years, by at least forty different authors and it contains many different genres of literature, including: history, ancient biography, love poetry, law, wise sayings, songs, letters, lists (lots of them), genealogies, parables and apocalyptic literature (which to our modern, Western way of thinking can seem quite weird and difficult to interpret).  It is also worth knowing that many of the Bible’s books contain multiple genres.

Problems of interpretation often occur when the Bible is read one dimensionally, in other words, when it is all taken to be more or less the same genre.  Confusion will always arise if we misunderstand the genre of a text that we are reading.  For example, if I were to read a cookbook or a bus timetable under the misapprehension that I was reading a novel, it would not be long before I exclaimed, “This novel is rubbish, it doesn’t make any sense!”  Reading the Bible is a much richer experience when we understand the different genres and what they are meant to convey.

The Bible is unique and stands out from all the world’s literature, in that it was written over such a long period, by so many different people.  Its authors include prophets, kings, scholars, fishermen, poor people and at least one doctor.  It is often assumed that other well-known religious texts were compiled in a similar way, however, this is not the case.  The Qurʾān, for example, was essentially written by one man, over the course of one lifetime.  There is no other work of literature like the Bible.

Not surprisingly, the Bible is an extremely popular book, in fact, it is the world’s bestselling book, currently selling more than one-hundred-million copies each year.  Given that it is also the most influential book of all time, it is surely a ‘must read’ for anyone who wishes to acquire a comprehensive education.

Most importantly, the Bible is the inspired word of God, as it says in 2 Timothy 3: 16-17:

‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’

The Bible was written by human hands, however, its authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit (God-breathed).  That is not to say that the words were dictated or ‘downloaded’ into their minds, rather, God has worked in, through and with human beings to reveal the spiritual realities of this world.  It would be wrong to say that God ‘wrote’ the Bible, but given that ‘all scripture is God-breathed’, we can be confident that it contains that which God wants us to know.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek.  We must bear in mind that our English versions are a translation.  Whilst translations can be highly accurate, no translation can be exact because different languages have different structures, vocabulary, verb conjugations and so on.  If you were to read the same passage in a number of English translations, you would observe a great deal of synergy.  That is to say, they would all have essentially the same meaning, but with obvious nuances.

Studying the Bible in its original languages of Hebrew and Greek is of course the most accurate method, however, most people do not have the language skills to do so.  The next best thing is to find a well recognised translation that you find easy to follow and perhaps also refer to some other translations as and when you seek further insight.

Finally and most importantly, God speaks to every generation through the Bible; approach it prayerfully, with the expectation that the Holy Spirit will reveal God’s heart to you as you read and study it.

For further information, I recommend the following two videos from The Bible Project:

What is the Bible?

The Story of the Bible?

Tough Questions

Why do some Christian Dominations not Baptise Infants?

Rev Charlie (May 2022)

On Sunday 1st May, we baptised two children; nine year old Isla, who has a good understanding of baptism and six month old George who does not.  Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism: Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans and Methodists, to name but a few.  However, some denominations do not practice infant baptism, Pentecostal denominations for example.  These denominations believe that baptism must follow an individual’s personal choice to follow Christ.

So, is there a precedent for infant baptism in the New Testament?  Not expressly, however, there are various examples of whole households being baptised, for example, the households of Cornelius (Acts 10), Lydia (Acts 16), the Jailer (Acts 16) and Stephanus (1 Cor. 1).  It is important to note that households consisting of nuclear families are a relatively modern phenomenon.  In 1st century Palestine a household would have included extended family and even slaves.  It is hard to imagine that none of the households mentioned above included small children and infants.  When the New Testament speaks of a household being baptised, it almost certainly indicates everyone who belonged to that household.

Moreover, baptising infants would have come very naturally to first century Jews, who had converted to Christianity. For Jews, circumcision was (and is) the sign of the covenant and all males were (and are) circumcised on the eighth day, including Jesus himself (Matt. 2: 21).  The sign of the new covenant is Baptism.  Jewish Christians would have assumed that this sign was to be received by infants and children belonging to believing families.  In our highly individualised culture, we tend to place an emphasis on personal choice, however, it is important to understand that people in the first century did not see themselves as individuals in the same way that we do.  Personal identity was inseparable from, and more closely connected with, familial, tribal and national identity.  The forgoing observations infer that when a household was baptised it included male and female, young and old, slave and free.

When a believing parent has their infant child baptised, they are effectively taking that child by the hand and leading them on the path that Christ has set before them.  They are opting their child into the Christian faith and nurturing their child in the way of Christ, in the hope that they will one-day lay hold of that faith for themselves.  In other words, we assume our children are Christian, until such time as they decide otherwise, rather than assuming that our children are not Christian until they make a firm decision later on in life.

That having been said, it is important to point out that baptism, in and of itself, does not guarantee entry into God’s kingdom, rather it is one of three important marks of being a Christian.  Christians believe (in the sense that they put their trust in Jesus), they are baptised and they are filled with the Holy Spirit, though not necessarily in that order.  All baptised Christians should, when they are able, make an informed decision and proclaim their own faith in Christ, which is the purpose of Confirmation.

Finally, infant baptism points to the fact that God is at work in our lives long before we know it and amongst people who will never know it (at least not in this life).  Many people cannot say a definite ‘yes’ to Christ because of severe mental impairment.  However, we believe that they can and will be included in God’s kingdom and should therefore be baptised as a sign of that.

From an Anglican perspective, if a person has been baptised as an infant, they do not need to be re-baptised as an adult, instead, through confirmation, they should affirm the fact of their baptism and their resolve to continue in the way of Christ.

Tough Questions

Why does God allow Polygamy in the Old Testament?

Rev Charlie (April 2022)

Polygamy is the practice of having more than one wife or husband at the same time and there are many examples in the Old Testament of men who had multiple wives and concubines; not least King Solomon who had seven-hundred wives and three-hundred concubines!  

One of the amazing things about the Bible is that it brings us face to face with the flaws and failings of its heroes (with the exception of Jesus who was and is perfect).  Often when we read about the exploits of Biblical characters, we are left to discern whether their actions were morally upright and we have all of Scripture to help us with that.  

We see God’s intention for marriage in Genesis 2: 24, ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh’, a verse quoted by Jesus himself.  By definition, marriage is a lifelong, monogamous union between a man and a woman.

The first case of polygamy in the Bible comes in Genesis 4: 19, ‘Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.’  Lamech was a singularly evil character, who boasted of his vengeful violence.  His violent nature and polygamy are described, but not prescribed.  That is to say, Lamech’s deeds are not given as an example to follow.

If we look at other examples of polygamy in the Bible, we see that it invariably leads to discord, pain and broken relationships.  Abraham was persuaded by his wife Sarah to take her slave girl as a concubine in order to produce an heir.  This arrangement led to jealousy, resentment and a divided family.  Jacob married Leah and her sister Rachel, but this was, at least in part, the result of their father’s deceit and it led to a bitter rivalry between the two sisters.  King David had multiple wives, but as his story unfolds, it emerges that lust was his Achilles heel and his extended family was dysfunctional to say the least!  We also have the example given above, King Solomon, whose wives led him astray (1 Kings 11: 3).  

In many ways the Bible invites us into a conversation and gives us the tools to critique the behaviour of the characters we encounter.  Whenever polygamy is mentioned, it is the result of and the catalyst for sinful behaviour, which leads to all manner of problems, thus enabling us to further understand why this is not God’s design for human relationships.

Some have argued that the Law of Moses makes provisions for polygamy and therefore sanctions it.  For example, Deuteronomy 21: 15-17 rules that a man with two wives cannot show preferential treatment to the son of his favourite wife.  However, it is important to understand that much of the Law in Deuteronomy is case law.  In this instance, it is not legislating in favour of polygamy, rather it is directing Israel’s leaders how to respond to the kind of situation that they might encounter in a deeply broken and sinful society.

We do not have any words from Jesus about polygamy, however, there are three injunctions in the New Testament that require a church leader to be faithful to his wife (1 Timothy 3: 2, 12; Titus 1: 6).  

I recently met (online), with a group of Christian leaders in Indonesia.  After giving their names, the men in the group all added, ‘husband to just one wife.’  In their Muslim context, they were keen to distance themselves from the normative (or at least acceptable) practices of the surrounding culture.  Given the current trajectory of Western culture, it is likely that governments will come under mounting pressure to legalise polygamy.  The state of Utah has already decriminalised it, showing that these conversations are in fact already taking place. It is therefore important to understand what we can learn about this subject from the Bible.

Prayer

Prayer

Rev Charlie (March 2021)

How you can help with the flood crisis in Queensland and NSW

There have been distressing scenes as Queensland and New South Wales are ravaged by catastrophic floods, with hundreds of rescues amid life-threatening situations.
Lives have been lost, tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes and many thousands of homes and buildings have been severely damaged.
Here is how Australians watching the crisis unfold can contribute to the mammoth recovery effort that lies ahead, whether that be through donating money, items or labour.

CLICK HERE

Brisbane City Council is calling on volunteers to sign up to the Mud Army 2.0 and help clean up Brisbane from the devastating floods.

This clean-up will focus on locations across the city, helping residents and businesses inundated with flood water.

Council will partner with Volunteering Queensland to coordinate Mud Army 2.0.

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Anglicare North Coast (NSW) Flood Appeal
Please click here to read a letter from The Archbishop of Brisbane The Most Reverend Dr Phillip Aspinall AC

Click here for details about how to donate

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After weeks of speculation, Russia has launched an invasion of Ukraine, leaving millions of people fearing for their lives. At dawn on Thursday 24 February, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation" in Ukraine; minutes later, explosions were heard near major Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv.

Let us join the rest of the world in prayer for Ukraine

Click here to read prayer

Tough Questions

Why does God allow evil and suffering?

Rev Charlie (February 2021)

There is an old argument against Christianity and against theism in general that goes something like this: if God is all-powerful yet allows suffering, he cannot be good - and if God is good yet allows suffering, he cannot be all-powerful.  This seems to make logical sense, unless of course God has morally sufficient reasons for allowing evil and suffering.  

Since I believe in a God who is both good and all-powerful I have to believe that God does have morally sufficient reasons for allowing evil and suffering.  This is clearly a very complex subject, so I will attempt to delineate just one possible reason among many.

According to the book of Genesis (right at the beginning of the Bible), God created a good world that was corrupted by human sin and rebellion against God.  One might ask the question, ‘Could God not have created a world in which there was no chance of there ever being any evil?’ and the answer is, ‘Yes, he could have, but we wouldn’t exist in such a world.’  God created human beings with freewill and the ability to make moral choices, without which there could be no love because love is a choice.  God could have created robotic like beings who would always obey him, but that would preclude the possibility of genuinely loving relationships.

The story of the Bible from Genesis 2 onwards is all about what God is doing to put the whole of creation right and especially the broken relationship that exists between human beings and himself.  Contrary to popular belief, God’s aim is not to make us as happy as possible in this life, but rather to draw us into relationship with himself so that we can live forever with him in a renewed and restored creation, where there is no pain, suffering or evil of any kind.

We cannot possibly know what kind of world would be most conducive to drawing the maximum number of people into God’s kingdom, but since we know this to be God’s aim we must conclude that it is just the kind of world that we live in, suffering and all.

We are quick to blame God for evil and suffering, but what part do we have to play in all this?  Generally speaking, there are two kinds of evil, moral and natural.  Moral evil is the result of human choices, for example a terrorist attack such as 9/11.  Natural evil is essentially events that are beyond human control, for example, a tsunami.  However, you cannot always separate these two kinds of evil.  For example, studies have shown that Tsunami’s are far more devastating in poor regions where people live in flimsy homes and areas 

that are prone to flooding.  In many cases, moral evil compounds the impact of  natural evil. In this case, the moral evil would be an uneven distribution of wealth and disregard for the poor.  Another example is medical science.  Imagine if all the time, money and resources that have been invested in warfare and the development of weapons was invested in medical research instead.  This could have prevented an incalculable amount of human suffering and it is easy to think of innumerable examples like that one.  So, before we blame God for evil and suffering, we should remember that human beings have the potential to alleviate the vast majority of evil, both moral and natural.

The arguments above are quite philosophical, but our reaction to evil and suffering is usually an emotional one.  We must therefore remember that the cross of Christ is central to the Christian faith.  We do not worship a distant and aloof God, who looks on his creation with indifference.  We worship a God who entered into creation in the person of Jesus Christ to suffer and die on our behalves.  In short, we worship a God who understands our pain and suffering from firsthand experience and stands alongside us in it.

Finally, it is helpful to understand that even our suffering can have meaning and purpose when we turn it over to God and say, ‘Lord, use this.’  That is not to say that God causes our suffering, rather he can use anything to his good purposes if we will allow him to.

This is clearly a huge subject and very difficult to summarise in one short article.  If you would like to explore this subject further, I recommend the following publications:

• Walking with God through Pain and Suffering – Timothy Keller

• The Problem of Pain – C.S. Lewis

Happy New Year

Tough Questions

Who should I pray to - the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit?

Rev Charlie (December 2021)

This question is raised surprisingly often and it’s a very good question.  

To answer it we should seek guidance from the person who had the most intimate and powerful prayer life in the whole of human history; that person is of course Jesus.

When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray he said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven…” 

(Lk. 11:2) Jesus prayed to the Father and he encourages his followers to do the same. Most praying people are familiar with this approach.  It is also very common to finish a prayer with, ‘In Jesus’ name, Amen’ or words to that effect.  This too has biblical warrant; in John 14: 13-14, Jesus promises to do whatever we ask in his name.  This way of closing a prayer reminds us that we only have access to the God the Father, through God the Son.  In other words, it is by Jesus’ authority, access and relationship that we come to the Father.

So where does God the Holy Spirit fit into all this?  Well, Ephesians 6: 18 says, ‘And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.’  This means that our prayers are offered in the power of the Holy Spirit, without whom we would have no inclination to pray in the first place.

We therefore have a solid foundation for praying to the Father, through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit. This should probably be our normative pattern of prayer, however, there is no reason why we can’t offer prayers directly to Jesus or the Holy Spirit and there are sometimes very good reasons for doing so.

The Holy Spirit is a person to whom particular roles are attributed, for example, convicting the world of sin (Jn. 16: 7-8), bringing unity (Eph. 4: 3) and giving spiritual gifts to God’s children (1 Cor. 12:4).  It would therefore be reasonable to pray to the Holy Spirit if, for example, there were disunity in your church or family.  You might pray, ‘Holy Spirit, please bring love, peace and unity to our fractured family.’

There is also a precedent for praying to Jesus and let’s face it, it would not have made sense for Jesus to pray to himself.  One of the oldest prayers of the church is Maranatha, or ‘Come Lord [Jesus]’ (1 Cor. 16: 22).  When Steven was being stoned to death he cried, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7: 59) Crying out to Jesus is an instinctive reaction in times of extreme stress or anguish.  Moreover, it makes sense to thank Jesus directly for loving us, even to the point of death on a cross.

In conclusion, it is perfectly acceptable to address our prayers to God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit.  Although distinct persons, they are all equally God.  However, as a guiding principle (not a rule), it is good to have a pattern of prayer which accords with Jesus’ explicit teaching on the subject.  That is to pray to God the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Tough Questions

Why do we still follow some Old Testament laws and not others? Is the Old Testament still relevant today?

Rev Charlie (November 2021)

The Bible is divided into two main sections, the Old Testament (everything before Jesus) and the New Testament (everything from Jesus onwards).  The word ‘Testament’ is synonymous with the word ‘Covenant’, which means an agreement or contract.  So, the Bible contains God’s old agreement with his people (The Old Testament) and God’s new agreement with his people (The New Testament).

The New Testament itself claims to have superseded the Old Testament, for example, Hebrews 8: 13 ‘By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete.’  In light of this, some have asked why we still bother to read the Old Testament at all.

The author of 2 Timothy asserts that ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.’  This statement includes both the Old Testament and the New (‘All scripture’), we therefore take the whole of the Bible seriously, recognising that it contains that which God wants us to know.

The Old Testament is primarily the story of God’s dealings with humanity and it points forward to Jesus.  However, most questions about the utility of the Old Testament relate to the law.  Some question why we still follow some Old Testament laws but not others.  For example, we don’t obey Leviticus 19:19 which says, ‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material’, but we do obey Exodus 20: 14, ‘ You shall not commit adultery.’  How do we select the laws that still apply?  To answer this we need to consider the overarching narrative of the Old Testament.

The story of the Old Testament includes a recurring theme relating to God’s law.  Namely, every time God gave his people laws, they rebelled against them.  As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Israel is incapable of living in accordance with God’s law because their hearts are hard and lifeless.

The Old Testament prophets looked forward to a time when a Messiah figure would come to lead God’s people in obedience to the law.  They spoke of God replacing their hearts of stone with hearts of flesh and of the law being written on their hearts.  For example, Ezekiel 36:33:

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.

Jesus is the fulfilment of these prophesies and the fulfilment of the law.  That is to say, Jesus’ followers are not bound by Old Testament law and are instead subject to the law of Christ (1 Cor. 9: 20-21; Gal. 6: 2).

An expert in the law tested Jesus by asking “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”  In response Jesus summed up the law of Christ that would now be written on the hearts of his followers, saying:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The law of Christ is a law of love and it supersedes the Old Testament law.  The question is therefore not, ‘Why do we follow some Old Testament laws and not others?’ but rather, ‘Why do we still follow any Old Testament laws at all?’

Well, as we might expect, many Old Testament laws have to do with loving God and loving neighbour.  These laws are affirmed in the life of Christ and in the writings of the New Testament.  In other words, some of the Old Testament commands carry over because they are, implicitly or explicitly, part of the law of Christ.

The Old Testament is part of God’s story and whilst it is not our primary source of moral guidance, there is much to be gained from reading it.  Not least, a revelation of God’s nature, his character and his plan for the whole of creation.  We also gain an understanding of the world we inhabit and why things are the way they are.  

As we read the Old Testament we witness God’s wonderful plan of redemption unfolding, starting with one man, Abraham, and culminating in the nation of Israel, out of which the Messiah would emerge.  Without the Old Testament we cannot fully comprehend what God is doing in the world.

God speaks today through his word, the Bible.  We must read it prayerfully and diligently and with each new passage ask ourselves, ‘Is there a lesson to learn, a command to obey, an example to follow, or a promise to lay hold of?  We must read the Old Testament along with the New and allow it to shape our understanding of God and humanity.