Day of Atonement Living

A very appropriate thought for me this morning. From Dial Daily Bread:

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Is it possible that our Enemy, Satan, could be pulling a fast one on us while we are asleep as Christians?

Just as Jeremiah's detractors begged him with the request, "Is there any word from the Lord?" so we would love to get some direct e-mail message from Christ, some fresh, up-to-the-minute "bulletin" from Heaven's media office.

Well, we have it in Luke 21--a message as appropriate now as any could be in this cosmic Day of Atonement: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting [on gourmet food], and drunkenness [literal or on video games], and cares of this life [making payments on the boat or SUV], and so that day [of last opportunity to save our souls] come upon you unawares" (vs. 34).

It is phenomenal how in a time of world terror never so pervasive, our temptations to indulge in a Vanity Fair life are so insistent. The more distressing the news of widespread human misery, the more alluring are the solicitations that appeal to our native-born covetousness. Not only big cities like New York and London have their giant temple-like retail stores, but the "big box" stores like Wal-Mart have come even to our small towns. The malls are our new cathedrals of architectural grandeur and heart-worship. Whether we have Republicans or Democrats to thank, we have money to spend and time to spend window-shopping.

We have metamorphosed into that "certain rich man" whose "ground brought forth plentifully" so that he had to build a "greater barn [to] bestow all .. his goods" (12:16-18). One of America's big businesses now is these huge storage places where all the "stuff" you can't crowd into your garage, you "bestow all [your] goods" there. And we say to ourselves, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry" (vs. 19). That's where we are, and that's who we are.

But wait a moment: we're living in the final period of Christ's ministry in the Most Holy part of the heavenly sanctuary; all heaven is concerned that a people, a corporate body of saints, be prepared for the close of probation; yet never in 6000 years of human history has "the ground of a certain rich man [you and I] brought forth [so] plentifully." Is there a certain clever master intelligence behind this phenomenon? Maybe you can find some missionary work to do in the grand architecture of the mall; but if not, that's no place to spend hours worshipping. Not since Christ began the last phase of His heavenly ministry.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 9, 2004.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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Who Takes the Initiative?

Great stuff from Robert Wieland:

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Dear Mrs. ______________ :

You write that you got up early yesterday morning to spend some "quality time" with the Lord--prayer and Bible study so as to maintain your "relationship" with Him. But then you couldn't help noticing how disheveled the house was and how messy the kitchen, so you felt you had to straighten things up, and voila! the "quality time" was gone and the burdens of the day were upon you again. "So am I losing out with God?"

Let's "walk softly" here, like repentant Ahab. There are times when a wise doctor keeps a patient in a coma on intravenous feeding; but normally a healthy person eats because he's hungry, not because of stern cold duty. Your problem may not be that your 24-hour day is too short (that would be God's fault). Probably good sincere people have pounded into you a wrong idea of God (maybe even from the pulpit). God is not waiting for you to maintain a relationship with Him; He wants you to know He is maintaining a relationship with you. It all begins with His initiative, not yours. He wants you saved more than you want to be.

When Jesus came, He changed our ideas about His Father. The Good Shepherd is not waiting for His lost sheep to find Him; He is seeking the sheep (Luke 15:3-32). The text about "seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near" (Isa. 55:6) needs a clearer translation. The Hebrew verb there for "seek" is not the common one, looking for a lost object; it means "pay attention to Me because I am near! I'm not far away, ever!"

This idea of working hard to maintain our relationship with the Lord is a subtle Old Covenant idea that has crept in. When you begin to grasp His seeking love, His cross, you will "hunger and thirst" for His "truth of the gospel." It will expel your love for amusement; it will heal you of your Bible boredom. But we "walk softly": if you are in a spiritual coma, yes, force yourself to read your Bible and pray. But please ... believe the New Covenant.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 25, 2010.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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It's Not Enough to Say We're Supposed to Love . . .

Human beings are, for the most part, pretty well aware of how we're supposed to live and the way were are supposed to act. This is especially true of Christians, and maybe even especially, especially true of Seventh-day Adventist Christians. We all essentially know that we are supposed to treat one another with respect, that we are not supposed to take someone else's toy, or hit back when we have been hit by someone else.

And we all know that we're supposed to love one another.

I write all this to show that it is not for lack of knowledge that we have a hard time treating others with respect, showing kindness, and yes, loving others. It is not because we don't know what we're supposed to do that we fail at achieving these things. I think we are all pretty clear on them.

The reason we fail is not because we don't know where we're supposed to be, but because we aren't clear on how we're supposed to get there; we lack the vehicle by which to arrive at our destination.

In particular, one of the most popular sentiments I hear expressed - be it by church members, administrators, friends, family members - is this important idea that we need to love one another. "If we could all just love each other," some will say, "then our churches would be full." I completely concur. If we somehow learned how to love just as Jesus loved and loves, people would be overwhelmed by an amazing attraction to, not only us, but the God we serve.

But herein lies the problem: it is not enough to say we're supposed to love. This is because by so doing, we are only explaining the destination - which, as I said before, we are all acutely aware of - without explaining the means by which we can arrive at that destination.

And this problem is the root cause of all our challenges within Christianity. It's the difference between living under the Old Covenant or New Covenant, living legalistically or motivated by grace. Just because we exchange "thou shalt not [fill in the blank]" with "love one another," doesn't make it any less legalistic if we do not present the motivating power to achieve whatever command we are admonishing.

Some, of course, do try to come up with ways that love can be achieved. There are all sorts of books one can read, exercises one can perform, or things one can repeat over and over again. But there are a couple of problems with these methods. The first is that learning to love by these means very rarely accomplishes it. This is because all these things deal with the external. I can tell myself 1000 times a day that I am going to love my wife, but telling myself I am going to love her doesn't really make it so. Yes, there may be moments of loving behavior I display, but no lasting change will ever really occur.

At the same time, these methods are man-motivated. That is, I am performing these exercises from my own initiative - trying to tap into some type of inherent love that is supposed to already dwell within me. But if the Bible is clear on anything, it is clear that we human beings are all inherently evil, that nothing good dwells within us, that we are not self-starters, that we are not naturally loving. All of us are self-centered and quite unloving and, if left to ourselves completely, we would never so much as even consider the idea of turning outward and loving others.

So what's the answer?

The same as it always was and ever will be: the Gospel - changing the heart.

A heart that is changed by the Gospel is the only answer, and it is the difference between legalism and true righteous - and loving - living. We need our hearts changed. Our hearts are the problem, not our behavior. (Read 1 Corinthians 13 a few times to catch this reality. I can have the best singing voice, understand everything about the Bible, even give up my life for a greater cause, but if I do not have love, I am simply living a legalistic life.)

How does the Gospel truly make me into a loving person? There are so many different ways, but let me just run through a very simple formula: we are all sinners who, by virtue of our sinful ways, should be dead right now. But God, who loves us and is rich in mercy, went to Calvary and died our death. Thus, because of His death, we have life right now. This is because His love for us is infinite and He is eager to come into full and complete at-one-ment with us. This, despite all my sins, my mistakes, my self-centeredness.

And when I catch even a glimpse of this, then my heart starts changing. But even this change is initiated and performed by an external source - by God, Himself. After all, 2 Corinthians 5:14 tells us that "the love of Christ compels us," that is, it "motivates" us. Similarly, 1 John 4:19 says that "we love, because He first loved us."

This is the only way love can be achieved in our lives! It is simply by beholding Christ's love. Indeed, as Paul also reminds us, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory" (2 Cor 3:18).

It's really quite simple. We don't need to go to seminars to learn how to love other people. We don't need to read books about how we can become more loving. All these things are self-initiated, self-motivated, and will never really work. The only way we can really learn to be loving is simply by "beholding" Christ's love and allowing that image to transform us. As we look at His character of love - of His pursuit of us, of His humility and condescension into human flesh, of His willingness to completely empty self for our sakes, of experiencing complete and total separation from His Father, even going so far as total annihilation - this will supernaturally change our hearts and fashion us into the loving individuals God longs for us to be.

This is the only answer, friends. It is the only answer.

And so here is a challenge: instead of telling people ad nauseum that they should be loving, why not simply preach the love of Christ - both in word, and in actions flowing from a transformed life - and see what happens?

We haven't succeeded thus far with the humanistic way of achieving love - you know, singing songs that say "All you need is love" and other fun methods. So why not allow God to perform His method through you?

How the "Objective Gospel" Becomes the "Subjective Gospel"

From Dial Daily Bread:

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

It's the question many ask, and yes, angels too, as do the entire universe: how does the "objective gospel" ("righteousness by faith") get translated into the "subjective gospel" of righteousness in the life?

Until the answer is demonstrated, "the bride, the Lamb's wife" won't "make herself ready," and the great controversy between Christ and Satan won't be finished. The unfallen universe have a right to ask, What will enable people who have a fallen, sinful nature to "overcome even as [Christ] overcame"?

To say that "Jesus did it all so I have nothing to do" is a lie. Jesus did it all, yes, so that you and I can "do it all" in lives of total obedience to all His commandments. There's a war going on and we must jump into the fray with both feet.

That doesn't mean an added program of righteousness by works. It means choosing, putting our will on the side of the Savior--a thousand times a day, and on and on until the Lord comes. No end to the warfare with self. Here it is in easy terms:

"The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men [Greek]. It teaches us to say 'No!' to ungodliness and worldly passions ..." (Titus 2:11, NIV). Don't kid yourself; "ungodliness" and "worldly passions" will tempt you again; the closer you come to Christ and the more you are "converted," the more alluring will all those temptations become. Yes, "all," including sex. But temptation is not sin unless you say "Yes!" to it, and "the grace of God" teaches you HOW TO SAY "NO" to it.

But that's not a cheap Babylonian grace, which frankly can't "teach" us. It's a Day of Atonement understanding of what it cost the Son of God to save us--a New Covenant vision of the cross, and of what He has already done and is doing for us. The world waits to see it.

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 31, 2001.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

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The Start of Something Great

Left to right: Ron Nickerson, Jason Disch, Frank Donald, Brenda Johnson, Phil Johnson, Rick Kuntz, Arnet Mathers, Greg Carter, Cornell Preda, Frankie Brownell, Steve Brownell, Shawn Brace

At the risk of overstating things, I just spent the last two days experiencing what I believe is the beginning of something that will change the world. I believe it will have eternal consequences. Along with 11 other people (12 of us total - 10 pastors and two spouses), I sat in a little prayer chapel at idyllic Camp Lawroweld in Weld, Maine, surrounded by the beautiful autumn foliage, and simply studied the Word of God for about 16 hours in a two-day period. It was truly heavenly.

A few months ago, Pastor Greg Carter (who pastors the White Memorial Church in Portland, Maine) and I raised the point to our conference administrators that it would be wonderful if the pastors could get together to simply study the Word. Many times at our "workers' meetings," we discuss a lot of valuable things but hardly get a chance to open the Word for serious study. They kindly obliged and so we invited all of the pastors in the conference to join us for a voluntary two-day Bible Retreat in October.

To my thinking, I am not sure that this has ever been done in any conference in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America - at least not in the last half-century. I might be wrong, but another pastor who is quite familiar with Adventist history also agreed that it has probably been nearly a hundred years since something like this has been done within Adventism. I am quite sure this is at least the case in our conference!

With that being said, I wasn't sure if there would be much interest and I was hoping that we would get five or six to attend. But the response was overwhelming. Just about every pastor indicated they were interested in attending, but not all could attend, due to scheduling conflicts. About 15 pastors (out of the 30 or so full-time pastors) committed to it, but when it was all said and done, a few of the pastors had to bow-out last minute (due to last-minute conflicts) and we ended up with ten pastors and two spouses.

We studied the book of Galatians and our unpacking of this incredible book was truly amazing. We essentially went verse-by-verse and unpacked the Gospel from every inch of the epistle we could. The Spirit was poured out and there was great unity amongst us. This was not to say that we all agreed upon every jot and tittle, but there seemed to be a real desire to not only grapple with the Word in a profound way, but to have it change us.

Simply put, the experience far exceeded my expectations, though I was not really sure what exactly to expect to begin with. From a purely objective point of view, I'm not sure that many of us would have thought that 12 of us could sit in a small chapel (not more than 20 x 20 feet in size) and slowly and deliberately unpack a book for 16 hours without getting bored, annoyed, or frustrated. Not only did we accomplish this, but I got the feeling that many - if not most - of us could have done it for another 16 hours (especially since we only finished five of the six chapters).

Specifically as it relates to the book of Galatians, I would like to try to summarize what we discovered, and reflect upon what we all agreed on - as well as the few things we were not in complete agreement on. Some who attended may have a slightly different view of these things, so this is just one man's perspective.

Areas of Agreement
1. The Galatian problem was that they were reverting back to the old covenant way of salvation by their own efforts. Circumcision was not the problem, per se. Their problem was their motivation in getting circumcised (ie., trying to merit salvation and the favor of God).

2. A corollary to this problem was that the Galatians were taking the issue of circumcision and using it as a litmus test to determine who was really a part of God's people. They displayed a judgmental attitude towards others and "persecuted" them who were "born according to the Spirit" (4:29). We recognized this mentality is still alive and well within our churches, and even in our own thinking at times.

3. A lot of it boils down to control and pride. As human beings, we have this natural (and sinful) desire to control others and to control God. We want to be able to point to ourselves as contributing to our salvation.

4. Contrary to all this, Paul made it clear that there is absolutely nothing that human beings can do to earn, merit, or deserve salvation. It is completely a gift from God, purchased solely by the death of Christ.

5. The purpose of the law is to point out our sin and thus the need for a Savior (3:24). It cannot save us; it can simply reveal to us our desperate need for Christ's righteousness and His power to transform our lives.

6. Christ is 100% our righteousness. He places His righteousness upon us and, because of this, we stand pardoned and forgiven before God.

7. Thus, we experience justification by faith - which is a response of the heart (5:6). This heart-response is based upon an appreciation for God's initiative, sacrifice, and love. And such a response energizes our lives, pushing us forward to live by the Spirit.

8. This appreciation can only be accomplished as we dwell upon the cross, contemplating Christ and Him crucified.

9. Seventh-day Adventists have been blessed with a fuller understanding of the cross, because of our understanding of the nature of man (being naturally mortal) and the nature of hell. When we see Christ's tremendous struggle in Gethsemane, where He was becoming a "curse for us" (3:13) and experiencing the separating of His father from Himself, it gives us a much richer and deeper gratitude for just how far Christ went in redeeming us.

10. Christ has "redeemed" all of us (3:13), and the beautiful reality is that we have all been "crucified with Christ" (2:20). This was done without any request from us. Indeed, it was done even before we were born.

11. In order for Christ to have redeemed us, it was necessary for Him to come to the very point where we were/are, and thus He was "born of a woman, born under the law" (4:4-5). Thus, He took upon Himself our humanity it its weakened condition. This means that He has so closely identified with us that we can draw close to Him, recognizing that He has a heart of compassion for us.

12. In taking upon Himself our humanity in its weakened condition, Christ still retained His divine nature and His will was ever connected to His Father, even from birth. Thus, the human and divine natures were connected, and this can be our experience if we are born again and live by the Spirit.

13. God desires for all of us to be delivered from "the present evil age," (1:4) and to experience true freedom and liberty. He wants us to live by the Spirit.

14. When we live by the Spirit, we do not fulfill the "lusts of the flesh," (5:16) and the fruit of the Spirit is evident in our lives.

15. God wants us to live in a new covenant experience rather than an old covenant experience (4:21-31). These two experiences have always been present and are not speaking of the historical periods that the Bible also identifies (the Old and New Testament).

16. Someone who is living in a new covenant experience is taking God at His word, believing His promises, and cooperating with Him. Someone who is living in an old covenant experience is making promises to God and trying to "help" Him fulfill what He has promised. The actions and behavior of both the old covenant and new covenant experiences may be the same; the difference is the motivation of the heart.

17. As a part of the salvation process, God gives us grace to overcome sin and enjoy a victorious life.

18. Recognizing all these realities extinguishes human pride and results in man, laying his glory in the dust.

19. There was a fairly unified agreement that God has wanted to do more in the Seventh-day Adventist Church and pour out His Spirit in much more abundant measure, but we have resisted the true Gospel. The results of this have driven most within our church to the opposite extremes of legalism and antinomianism (lawlessness). Only a rediscovering, accepting, and embracing of the true Gospel can accomplish a balance of the law and grace, and usher in great revival among our people.

Areas of Disagreement
1. What it truly means to be "justified by faith." Some understand the word to be used in the New Testament in a strictly forensic/legal sense, while others maintain that when God declares someone to be righteous, He also "makes" them righteous.

This single area brought about the most disagreement and discussion. Though we all proceeded in Christian love and grace, it did heat up quite a bit. By God's grace, we all maintained our composure and allowed God to help us treat each other with brotherly and sisterly love.

2. At the heart of this disagreement is whether God is going to have a people who have fully matured in their faith - and learned to completely walk by the Spirit - before His Second Coming. Some felt that this necessarily implied there was a different way of salvation for those who will be translated, maintaining that these people would be earning or contributing to their salvation. Those on the opposite side did not agree that it necessarily follows that simply because God would have a people who come to full maturity and learn how to completely overcome sin by His grace, that it means they would be "earning" their salvation or that they would be living by their own righteousness.

3. The latter group proposed that this "fully mature" people would constantly be living by the merits and blood of Christ, while the former group did not see how these two concepts (reaching full maturity and yet still living by God's grace and merits) could be reconciled.

4. A corollary to this concept was a disagreement over the definition of sin and what it means to be a "sinner."

Conclusion

All in all, there was a great Spirit. God truly led. All seemed to be in agreement that this was the best pastors' meetings they had ever attended, and that we needed more of this. A few said they felt extremely energized by the power of God and encountering the Word. All would like to see these types of meetings happen more often, and rather than waiting for a whole year to do it again, perhaps we could meet again in the winter or early spring - maybe even before, and more regularly.

What was appreciated by all, as well, was the way in which we could disagree with one another yet maintain Christian love and humble spirits. Many shy away from digging deeply into the Word in a corporate setting like this, fearing that studying the Bible is divisive and will cause ill feelings towards one another. As one pastor said, however, doing so is only divisive if we "allow it to be."

I also came to some wonderful realizations. Firstly, it is abundantly clear that the Bible is meant to be studied, wrestled and grappled with, in community. It is not meant to be studied in isolation. I came to a much fuller and deeper understanding of Galatians by studying it with others, than I ever would be able to by studying alone. We need one another. We need everyone's perspective and understanding.

With that being said, I was also really excited about the fact that our study of Galatians did not turn into a "this is what I think, and this is how it applies to me," exercise. Too many times, when I study the Bible in a group setting, people are quick to offer their opinion on what the text is saying, and they are equally as quick to apply it to their lives. Very little wrestling with the text itself is done.

Simply put, this was not the case with our retreat. Yes, there was application and yes, of course, there were biases and opinions, but, most of all, they were was an honest unpacking of the Word of God and figuring out what the text meant, before trying to apply it to our current context.

Most significantly, perhaps, the whole two days were bathed in prayer and true Christian fellowship. We were also blessed with wonderful cooking by Lorraine Mathers, wife of Pastor Arnet Mathers.

I truly feel that God's Spirit was poured out in incredible measure, and that this small, humble gathering was the beginning of a soft voice that will crescendo into a loud cry.

Dialin' Up the Daily Bread Again

This, from Robert Wieland:

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

What motivates good, sincere people to persecute others who differ from them in religious conviction? The opposition can take cruel forms. Wars have been fought over religion. The United States was "conceived" by a desire to escape religious persecution (said Lincoln).

Thank God we don't now throw theological opponents into prison or burn them at the stake, but we malign them, seek to destroy reputations, slam doors against them, misrepresent them. What's back of this strange phenomenon of unrighteous indignation that blazes forth against someone who differs from us in biblical interpretation?

The answer is--our obsession with the Old Covenant. History is clear: those who love the New Covenant NEVER persecute others! Paul himself was a fanatical follower of the Old Covenant who couldn't stand to watch the New Covenant apostles proclaim gospel Good News. He thought their message destroyed his keep-the-law theology. He misunderstood them--their gospel was the only way anyone truly could become a "doer of the law," but he felt he had to "punish them oft in every synagogue, ... and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities" (Acts 26:11). His zeal for the Old Covenant even led to murder. All, supposedly "righteous"! (And highly popular.)

When finally he discovered the New Covenant, he saw something he had never seen before: Ishmael, the son of the Old Covenant Hagar, "persecuted him that was born after the Spirit," that is, Isaac. "Even so it is now," he added (Gal. 4:29). That brought him to his knees--in his frenzy against the apostles he saw he was acting out the role of Ishmael!

"Even so it is now"! Old Covenant obsession is spiritual poison. If it doesn't outright kill your devotion to Jesus and His church, it weakens it so it becomes "lukewarm." Many Christian youth lose their way because they have been taught Old Covenant concepts under the guise of "Christian education" in church or school. Lord, please help our blindness!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: November 9, 2002.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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