Are Babies and Children Saved?

Are Babies and Children Saved?
Spiritual Formation of Children
Text: Mk.10:13-16; Lk. 18:15-17; Matt. 19:13-15


Summary
Children are born into the kingdom of God but as they grow into the age of accountability, they will be required to choose to follow Jesus or not. It is the responsibility of parents, other caretakers and the Church to nurture their spiritual formation to make the right decision.

Introduction
Ron Buckland, former National Director of Scripture Union in Australia wrote in his book, Children and Gospel, that he once conducted a survey, approaching a variety if Christian men and women from different denominations, both clergy and layman. He outlined the following scenario:
“Imagine there are two families, living on either side of you. Each has a two-year-old child. One set of parents are atheists; the other set are committed Christians. Now imagine that in tragic circumstances both children were killed on the same day and you are to visit each home. What would you say to their child’s destiny and on what grounds would you say it?”
All but one person he interviewed said they would want to say to both sets of parents that their children are with God. One person wants to tell the atheist parents that their child is in hell and it was their fault!

Are babies and children saved? If they die now, are they going to hell or to heaven? What we believe influence the way we do children ministry. It will also affect the way we bring up our children.

Let us consider the various possible scenarios:
1.All children start life outside the kingdom of God.
2.The presence of a Christian parent establishes right standing before God.
3.The experience of baptism establishes right standing before God.
4.All children belong to God.
5.All children start life in the kingdom of God until they reach the age of accountability.

1. All children start life outside the kingdom of God.
This assumes that babies and children are in the same category as adults, even though they are too young to be able to exercise repentance and faith. To ‘make a decision for Christ’ means repentance and faith. What does a baby know of repentance? What does a baby have to repent for? Roman 3:23 states ‘that all have sin and fall short of the glory of God.’ Does this means babies and children too?

This comes back to this discussion of the original sin. Because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden, sin has entered the world. And with sin comes death. Now there are two theological way of looking at this original sin:

(i) It is inherent in our nature. It is inherited. This is like a genetic disease where it passes from one generation. In this thinking, we have no choice at all. We are condemned to hell at the moment of conception or whenever the time human life begins.
(ii) It is a change in the makeup of our nature that makes us want to sin, to turn away from God. Until we make a choice, we have not sinned. For this way, there is a choice on whether one want to sin or not.

In this first option, babies have already sinned at birth. Hence there is an urgency to ‘convert’ children as soon as possible. Our entire parenting efforts and children ministry has an urgency to help children make a decision for Christ. Unfortunately, we manipulate children to ‘make decisions for Christ’. Many children do things to please the adults. So many children have made ‘decisions’ for Christ repeatedly until they became confused.

2. The presence of a Christian parent establishes right standing before God.
The basis for this thinking is based on biblical teaching about covenant. The presence of at least one Christian parent covers the child from the consequences of the original sin until he or she comes of age. Covenants like God with Moses (Ge.17), with the people of Israel (Deu.29) and the Christian church (1 Peter 2:9-10) makes participants people of God. Children born into this covenant automatically enjoys the benefits of it. Paul says in 1 Cor. 7:14
14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

3. The experience of baptism establishes right standing before God.
The Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches believe that the sacrament of baptism has the ability to wash away all sins and to claim the forgiveness of the Cross. Hence there is an emphasis on infant baptism. There is also an interesting tradition. During infant baptism, aside from parents, certain older members of the congregation are appointed as sponsors or god parents to help the parents in the spiritual growth of the baby. In the reformed tradition, infant baptism is done more on a basis of the covenant as stated above.

4. All children belong to God.
This is a nice option. Jesus taught about this when he spoke about children and the kingdom of God. Let us look at what the synoptic gospels teach. (The synoptic gospels are Mark, Matthew and Luke).

What Jesus said about children (synoptic gospels)

Mk.10:13-16
MK 10:13 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Lk. 18:15-17. Gk. Babies instead of child.
LK 18:15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Matt. 19:13-15 cf 18:1-5
MT 19:13 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. MT 19:14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

Matt.18:1-5
MT 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" MT 18:2 He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. MT 18:5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to the children. Children are already there where adults may end up if they become like children or by an act of ill become childlike. All three follow Jesus meeting with the children with their version of the rich, young man (Mk.10:17-27; Lk.18:18-27; Matt. 19:16-26). He cannot give up all and be helpless. Utter helplessness is the basis of Jesus speaking about the kingdom of God belonging to children.

This is nice and good. All children are already in the kingdom of God. But what happens when they grew up and did not become Christians? Did they drop out of the kingdom of God? This is the problem with this option that all children are already in the kingdom of God.

5. All children start life in the kingdom of God until they reach the age of accountability.
In this option, children start off in the kingdom but as they grow, their sinful nature (original sin) began to manifest itself. They began to realise that they can choose. There are two biblical texts that mention a period before and a period after which a child can choose.

Deu. 1:39
39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad--they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it.

Isaiah 7:13-16
ISA 7:13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

We call this age the age of accountability. Is this a sudden moment or a slow gradual wakening? It may be both or either. Some children sudden come to a point when they realise their sinfulness and their need for forgiveness. Such children have reached a conversion experience. Others, especially those who grew up in Christian families may gradually grow into this age of accountability and became Christians without them knowing it. Hence some period has a specific time for their ‘conversion’ while others do not.

It is my personal conviction that ‘All children start life in the kingdom of God until they reach the age of accountability’. It makes senses to me in view of what Jesus teaches about children and the kingdom of God and other verses about the ability to make decisions.
W.H.Griffith Thomas, an Anglican theologian argued, ‘all children are included in the great atoning sacrifice, and belong to Jesus Christ until they deliberately refuse him’.
This also means that it is our responsibilities: father, mother, brothers, sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunties that we help in the spiritual formation of the child so that he or she grows into the age of accountability with the ability to make the right choice for Christ. This is where parenting plays a large role. The church complement parenting with the community, mentoring and teachings as these children matures.

The Spiritual Formation of Children
(1) GENIUS parenting.
GENIUS parenting is based on Luke 2:52 in which 14 words covers the whole concept of parenting. GENIUS is an acronym for
Growth
Emotional Quotient (EQ)
Nutrition
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Utmost to Potential (Potential Quotient)
Spiritual Quotient.
It is the duty of all parents to ensure our children grows in all these 6 areas.

(2) Basis of GENIUS parenting.
The basis of GENIUS parenting is a balance between behavior and being. Generally, there are two approaches to parenting which starts from the 18th century. One approach is ‘to break the will of the child’. The child is to be forced, seduced into conformation to acceptable social practices. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism is an advocate for this. This approach emphasis the child’s capacity for evil. The emphasis is on behavior. For most of the late 19th century and all of the 20th century, our parenting has been greatly influenced by the behavioural sciences. Techniques of behavioural modification were introduced into parenting.
The other approach is to emphasis the child’s capacity for good. The advocate for this is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He believed that children are basically good until they were influenced by adult. This ‘romantic’ approach gives more freedom for children believing that in some ways, children are wiser than adults. The emphasis is more on the being.
I think both approach are correct but I believe that they must be balanced. There should be behavioural modification but there should also be inner growth and maturity as a person.

(2) Components of GENIUS parenting.
To achieve this balance, there should be 2 components in GENIUS parenting:
(a) Relationship to maturity.
(b) Empowerment to maturity.
Relationship is important in parenting. Relationship is to each individual child in the 6 areas of development. It is much easier to work with the child when there is a good healthy relationship. But relationship is not enough. There must be empowerment. The child must be allowed to try things out and to fail if necessary.

(3) Objectives of Spiritual Quotient in GENIUS parenting.
(a) Children who are Christians are able to call God ‘Abba/Father’ through the work of the Holy Spirit who dwells in them (Rom.8:15)
(b) Children who are Christians will have assurance of their salvation through the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit (Rom.8:16)
(c) The desires of children to call Jesus ‘Lord’ is the outcome of the work of the Holy Spirit in them (1 Corinthians 12:3)
(d) Children who are Christians are candidates for the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22)
(e) Children who are Christians are candidates for the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4-11)

Closing Remarks
Children are born into the kingdom of God but as they grow into the age of accountability, they will be required to choose to follow Jesus or not. It is the responsibility of parents, other caretakers and the Church to nurture their spiritual formation to make the right decision.

Soli Deo Gloria

Heaven Came Down

Heaven Came Down
Text: John 1:14

Sermon statement (big picture)
Christmas, by tradition is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. Who is this Jesus? What are our different perceptions of him: “Santa Claus’ Jesus; “Buddy” Jesus; “Judgmental” Jesus; “Idealised” Jesus and “Incarnation” Jesus? Our perceptions of who Jesus is, is often defined by what He did rather than who He is.

Text
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (KJV)

14 So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. (NLT)

14Kai; oJ lovgo" sa;rx ejgevneto kai; ejskhvnwsen ejn hJmi`n, kai; ejqeasavmeqa th;n dovxan aujtou`, dovxan wJ" monogenou`" para; patrov", plhvrh" cavrito" kai; ajlhqeiva".(NA25)

14The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. (The Message)

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)


Introduction

It’s the Advent season again. Advent is the time of the year we are reminded of the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Advent ends at Christmas. Christmas Day is the day we traditionally celebrate the birth of Jesus. It does not matter whether He was really born on 25th December or not. What is important that Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph in a manger in Bethlehem.

John the Evangelist describes this event as when the “Word becomes flesh.” What does he mean by that? And why does we Christians, allow Christmas to by hijacked by the world so that
-Christmas is consumerism at its worst- buy, buy, buy
-Christmas is Christmas tree and Christmas log cakes
-Christmas is a holiday. First they remove Christ from Christmas (it is now X-mas) and then they want to remove the Christmas tree from Time Square, New York because they want it to be a secular/non religious holiday.
-Christmas is Christmas card of a baby in a barn with animals and snow outside with shepherds hanging around.

Does our perception of Christmas affect what we believe about Jesus? Christmas is about Jesus. Who is this Jesus and why should we celebrate his birth? I believe that we have allowed Christmas to be hijacked because of our perceptions of Jesus. Our perceptions lead us to behave differently.

The move Hoodwinked illustrates wonderfully how our perceptions can deceive us. It is an animated movie about the children tale of little Red Riding Hood, bringing food to her grandmother. She was stalked by a big bad wolf. The wolf went ahead of her to her grandmother’s house and pretended to be her grandmother. She was saved by a woodcutter. Our perceptions of the tale is that Red Riding Hood-innocent, wolf-bad, grandma-victim, and wood cutter-hero. However the movie gave us a different perspective:
-The wolf is an investigative reporter looking for the Cookie Recipe Bandit
-Red Riding Hood is Kung Fu expert
-Grandma is an extreme sports participant
-The woodcutter is an out of work actor who fell down the slope into grandma’s living room at the right time
-The innocent bunny is the Cookie Recipe Bandit.

So things are really not all they seem. The Word becoming flesh is when heaven came down to earth.


Exposition

(1) The Word became flesh

The Word (Logos v. 1) became flesh. “Flesh” in this verse means a human nature, not sinfulness or weakness. Christ, the eternal Logos, who is God, came to earth as man. Yet in doing so, he did not merely “appear” like a man. Humanity, in other words, was added to Christ’s deity. And yet Christ, in becoming “flesh,” did not change; so perhaps the word “became” (egeneto) should be understood as “took to himself” or “arrived on the scene as.” I like Eugene Peterson’s translation of the passage in The Message, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

John1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

As far back as man can think, in the beginning . . . the Word was existing. The term “Word” is the common Greek word logos, which meant “speaking, a message, or words.” “Logos” was widely used in Greek philosophical teaching as well as in Jewish wisdom literature and philosophy. John chose this term because it was familiar to his readers, but he invested it with his own meaning, which becomes evident in the prologue.

The Word was with God in a special relationship of eternal fellowship in the Trinity. The word “with” translates the Greek pros, which here suggests “in company with” (the same use of pros in 1:2; 1 Thes. 3:4; 1 John 1:2). John then added that the Word was God. Jehovah’s Witnesses translate this clause, “The Word was a god.” This is incorrect and logically is polytheism. Others have translated it “the Word was divine,” but this is ambiguous and could lead to a faulty view of Jesus. If this verse is correctly understood, it helps clarify the doctrine of the Trinity. The Word is eternal; the Word is in relationship to God (the Father); and the Word is God.

1:2. The Word has always been in a relationship with God the Father. Christ did not at some point in time come into existence or begins a relationship with the Father. In eternity past the Father (God) and the Son (the Word) have always been in a loving communion with each other.

(2) made his dwelling among us.

In the Greek the words lived for a while among us recall God’s dwelling with Israel in the Old Testament. The word “lived” is eskeµnoµsen, from skeµneµ (“tabernacle”). Thus, the tabernacle becomes the site of God's localized presence here on earth. Much as God’s presence was in the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34), so Jesus dwelt among people.

Ezekiel has a vision recorded in chapters 43 and 44. This time Ezekiel sees that the temple is going to be restored. At that time, the glory of the Lord will fill the temple; the Lord will dwell with his people; and his people will come and worship him. At this time in the future, the Lord will live among his people forever. I believe that the temple that Ezekiel 44:4 is speaking about is none other than the person and work of our Lord, Jesus Christ! John 1:14 speaks of the fulfillment of Ezekiel's vision of the future temple.

The Lord himself now comes to dwell (to tabernacle) among his people. But he does not come in tabernacles or temples constructed with human hands; rather he comes with our flesh, so that in his work we can behold his glory–the glory of the signs and wonders that he does for the salvation of man.

(3) We have seen his glory,

We have seen most naturally implies that the author was an eyewitness. The greatest testimony is a reliable eyewitness. John was among some of his disciples who beheld the revelation of his glory in a very realistic way when Jesus was transfigured before them. Christ appeared before them with "divine honor, divine splendor, divine power, and as the divine radiance of God himself." Indeed, the glory of God is fully revealed in his Son.

(4) the glory of the One and Only,

His glory refers to the unique splendor and honor seen in Jesus’ life, miracles, death, and resurrection. The one and only Son (monogenous; John 1:18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9) means that Jesus is the Son of God in a sense totally different from a human who believes and becomes a child of God.

(5) who came from the Father,

Jesus’ sonship is unique for He is eternal and is of the same essence as the Father.

(6) full of grace and truth.

The glorious revelation of God which the Logos displayed was full of grace and truth, that is, it was a gracious and truthful revelation (cf. John 1:17).

Lessons for Us
How do we see Jesus Christ? How do we regard Jesus Christ? Especially in this Christmas season when we remember baby Jesus.


1. The “Santa Claus” Jesus

Many of us see God as the giver and Jesus the gift. There is nothing wrong with this. The problem arises when we see ourselves as only the receivers. In seeing ourselves as the receivers of God’s grace only, we fall into the trap of become self centered and demanding. “Give me, give me, give me” becomes our motto. We see God as a giant credit card with no spending limit and no need for repayment. We define Jesus for what he does rather than who he is. Jesus is a giver like Santa Claus. A person bearing presents or gifts free of charge with not strings attached. This leads to a Christmas n which the highpoint is PRESENTS. It’s the gifts. “Gimme, gimme, gimme” is what Christmas has became nowadays.


2. The “Buddy” Jesus

Another perception of Jesus is that he is our buddy. After all we are all children of God and co-heirs of the Kingdom. This means Jesus is our big brother. And a kindly big brother at that, like Santa Claus. Who is afraid of the jolly fat man in red? So we sit on his lap and tell him what we want for Christmas. What’s wrong with this picture?

It bothers me with the “Buddy” Jesus is that he is more than our brother. Yes, he is human. He is also God. And God is not our brother. He is our God. James, half brother of Jesus began his Epistle as “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1).[1] He did not say, “This is my older brother, Jesus, with whom we wrestle and play in the mud together when we were young.” James recognizes Jesus is also God.

The problem with the “Buddy” Christ is that we lost our reverence and awe of God. The Bible teaches about the ‘fear of the Lord’. It also documents that whenever anyone meets an angel of God, they fall on their faces and prostrate themselves. Do we recognize Jesus’ awesomeness? Or do we say, “Hey big brother. What’s happening? Can you get me a new computer, a PDA phone, a PS3 and while you are at it, fix my relationship with my boss so I will get my promotion?”

3. The “Judgmental” Jesus

Some of us make decisions following the formula, What Will Jesus Do (WWJD)? What we do not realize is that this also implies What Will Jesus Not Do (WWJND). Most of us think of Jesus and associate him with grace and forgiveness. Some of us associate Jesus as a judge watching us and waiting for us to make a mistake so that he can pounce on us and condemns us. This Jesus makes us feel guilty. He is like a strict disciplinarian father, demanding strict obedience from us. This is the opposite of the “Buddy” Jesus.


4. The “Idealised” Jesus

The “idealized” Jesus is the most dangerous wrong perception of Jesus. We have always seen pictures of Jesus- a handsome bearded white man with clean cut features, calm, serene and wearing a white robe. Isaiah tells us that the Messiah will be a man of sorrows and ugly to look at. I guess it will not do to have an ugly looking saviour. So we have a beautiful picture. The danger of this idealized Jesus is a form of idolatry. We are creating a Jesus in our own image. Instead of looking for the historical Jesus in the Gospels- a carpenter’s son, a peasant from the rural areas, itinerant preachers, strong enough to drive out the money changers from the Temple outer courtyards, we have an effeminate portrait to which some of us pray to!

5. The “Incarnation” Jesus

In the exegesis of John 1:14, we seen the real “incarnation” Jesus. He is the Logos, the word made flesh. He is fully human, yet fully God. He is God, of the Trinity and became human. Conceived in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit, he grew as we did and was delivered into the world, the normal way- natural childbirth. John wrote that he was full of grace and truth.

The Magi knew who Jesus is. They traveled a long way from Persia to pay their respects.
Gifts by the three Magi
i. Gold (for the King)
ii. Incense (for the God)
iii. Myrrh (for his death on the Cross)
They knew what his coming is all about. It is to fulfil God’s mission of redemption. It is also to show us who God is in a way we can understand.

Philip Yancey in his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, gives an illustration in his taking care of his aquarium. Even though he feeds and takes care of his fishes, they are afraid of him. The only way, he concludes, to make his fishes trust him and assure them of his good intention is that he himself becomes one of them. Jesus is God incarnate. We cannot see God who is spirit. We only see his handiwork. God loves us so much that he literally gave up all to become one of us. The most powerful Being in existence, because of love, became the most powerless being on earth - a human baby.

Eugene Peterson in translating John 1:14 wrote,
The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. (The Message)

Conclusion

Our perceptions of who Jesus is, is very important. Perceptions can change us and dictate our actions.

The leadership guru, Stephen Covey, illustrates how acquaintance with people’s pain, often provides the catalyst for service. He was travelling on a train one Sunday morning in New York. People were sitting quietly and it was calm when suddenly a man and his children got on board. The children were loud and they instantly shattered the peace. The man sat down next to Covey and closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation. Covey could not believe the man could be so insensitive as to let his children run wild so finally he lent across and said: “Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn't control them a little more?” The man lifted his gaze and said: “Oh you are right. I guess I should do something about it. We have just come from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don't know what to think and I guess they don't know how to handle it either.” Covey suddenly saw things differently, he thought differently, he felt differently and he behaved differently. His irritation vanished and his heart was filled with the man's pain. “Your wife's just died?” he said, “Oh I'm sorry. Can you tell me about it? What can I do to help?” Understanding the man’s pain resulted in a desire to come to his aid.[2]

Christmas, by tradition is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. Who is this Jesus? What are our different perceptions of him: “Santa Claus’ Jesus; “Buddy” Jesus; “Judgmental” Jesus; “Idealised” Jesus and “Incarnation” Jesus? Often our perceptions of who Jesus is, is defined by what He did rather than who He is.

What actually happened during Christmas day, 2000 years ago was Heaven came down.


Heaven came down[3]

O what a wonderful, wonderful day, day I will never forget;
After I'd wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Savior I met.
O what a tender, compassionate friend, He met the need of my heart;
Shadows dispelling, with joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart.

Chorus
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, (filled my soul)
When at the cross the Savior made me whole; (made me whole)
My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul! (filled my soul)

Born of the Spirit with life from above into God's family divine,
Justified fully thru Calvary's love, O what a standing is mine!
And the transaction so quickly was made, when as a sinner I came,
Took of the offer, of grace He did proffer, He saved me, O praise His dear name!

Chorus
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, (filled my soul)
When at the cross the Savior made me whole; (made me whole)
My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul! (filled my soul)

Now I've a hope that will surely endure after the passing of time;
I have a future in heaven for sure there in those mansions sublime.
And it's because of that wonderful day, when at the cross I believed;
Riches eternal and blessings supernal, from His precious hand I received.

Chorus
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, (filled my soul)
When at the cross the Savior made me whole; (made me whole)
My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul! (filled my soul)

endnotes
[1] There is still some dispute on who is this James. It may be (1) James, son of Zebedee (Mk.1:19), (2) James, son of Alphaeus or James the younger (Mk 15:40; Mt. 27:56), (3) James the father of Judas, not Judas Iscariot (Lk.6;16) and (4) James, “the Lord’s brother” (Gal.1:19). Douglas Moo believed that it is James, the Lord’s brother who wrote the epistle. Moo, Douglas (1985), James, Grand rapids. MI: Eerdmans. p.19
[2] Stephen R Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, London: Simon & Schuster, 1989; this edition Pocket Books 2004, an imprint of Simon and Schuster UK Ltd; London, 30-31.

[3] Heaven Came Down, Words and music by John W. Peterson © 1961

The SPIRIT in SPIRITual Gifts

The SPIRIT in SPIRITual Gifts
Text: 1 Cor.12:1-11


Sermon statement (big idea)

The Holy Spirit is builder of the church. He is the giver of spiritual gifts and he gives them to whom he chooses. The spiritual gifts are for the building up of the church and not for personal gain. Most teaching on spiritual gifts place more emphasis on the spiritual gifts rather than the giver. We must not miss the SPIRIT in SPIRITual gifts.

Text (1 Corinthians 12:1-11)

1CO 12:1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

1CO 12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

1CO 12:7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Introduction

The World Soccer Cup is becoming exciting as the various teams via for supremacy and to enter into the finals in 2008. Arsenal currently leads Manchester United in the United Kingdom division. The other divisions are Italy, Germany and Spain.

Football or soccer is a game with 11 players on each side (including the goalkeeper). The idea is to score as many goals as possible within two halves of 45 minutes each of play. Different players have different positions. Basically they can be divided into goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and forward/strikers.

Defenders or backs play behind the midfielders and their primary responsibility is to provide support to the goalkeeper, and to prevent the opposition from scoring a goal. They usually remain in the half of the field that contains the goal they are defending.

Midfielders are players whose position of play is midway between the attacking strikers and the defenders. Their main duties are to maintain possession of the ball, taking the ball from defenders and feeding it to the strikers, as well as taking the ball from opposing players.

Strikers or forwards are the players on a team in the row nearest to the opposing team's goal (note: the term attacker is also sometimes used to describe strikers/forwards but is now more commonly used to describe any player on the team currently in possession of the ball). The primary responsibility of strikers/forwards is to score goals.

Basically a good team depends on team work and the individual player’s football skills. A goalkeeper’s skill is different from a striker’s skills. Because the strikers score more goals than other players, forwards are often among the best-known and most expensive players on their teams. Yet in the team, not everybody can be a striker. You will get confusion when that happens.

Football skills are like spiritual gifts. Each spiritual gift is for a specific position or function in the church. Confusion will occurs if everyone wants to be prominent or a ‘striker.’ That’s what happens in the church in Corinth. In the area of spiritual gifts, there were selfishness and disunity (12:7, 25; 14:4) and apparent chaos in the assembly (14:23, 33, 40). Paul dealt with the problem by describing the nature and purpose of gifts (12:1-30), the superiority of love (12:31-13:13), and the regulating of the exercise of gifts by love (chap. 14). As in other areas, so in using gifts in the church, believers should promote the glory of God and the good of others instead of self-satisfaction.


Exposition

1. The Spirit and false teachings (12:1-3)
v.1 Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.
v.2 You know that when you were pagans,
somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
v.3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God
says, "Jesus be cursed," and
no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," [The Greek word for “Lord” here is used in the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT (the Septuagint) to translate the Hebrew name Yahweh (“the LORD”)].
except by the Holy Spirit.

Paul apparently believed that some of the Corinthians’ problems were due not entirely to their worldly attitudes (3:3) but also to the presence of false teachers who preyed on their spiritual immaturity and exacerbated the problems. The pagan background out of which many had come did not help them ascertain the presence of false prophets. When they were pagans, they had been influenced and led astray to dumb idols (12:2). Certainly lifeless idols are totally helpless in such matters!

Paul therefore laid down a simple test related to the person of Christ. The false teachers obviously claimed that their visions, revelations, and messages were from God, but they apparently denied the humanity of Christ, as expressed by the words Jesus be cursed. This may have been a factor in the Corinthians’ aversion to Paul’s “message of the Cross” (1 Cor. 1:10-4:13). It may be surprising today to realize that the earliest Christological heresy (Docetism) denied Jesus’ humanity, not His deity.


Holy Spirit ------à Jesus is Lord/Yahweh


2. The Spiritual Gifts and the Trinity (12:4-6)
v.4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. [Gifts of grace produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit].
v.5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. [The Greek word in its various forms is used to indicate service to the Christian community, such as serving tables (Ac 6:2–3); it is also the word used in the early church for the office of deacon (Phil 1:1)].
v.6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God [The Greek word indicates power in operation that produces obvious results].
works all of them in all men.

Spirit/Lord/God

many spiritual gifts -----à service ----àworking/power


3. The Spirit in Spiritual Gifts (12:7-11)
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
To one there is given through the Spirit
the message of wisdom,
to another the message of knowledge
by means of the same Spirit,
to another faith
by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing
by that one Spirit,
to another miraculous powers,
to another prophecy,
to another distinguishing between spirits,
to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and
to still another the interpretation of tongues.
All these are the work of one and the same Spirit,
and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

(1) Message of wisdom
A Word refers to "a supernaturally imparted fragment," while wisdom, which generally means prudence, decision making.

(2) Message of knowledge
A supernaturally inspired utterance of facts.

(3) Faith
A supernatural impartation of assurance in God.

(4) Gifts of healing
Supernaturally ministering health to the sick.

(5) Miraculous powers
A supernatural intervention of natural laws. The Greek describes it as "works of power" and implies instantaneous results.

(6) Prophecy
A supernaturally inspired utterance from God. A genuine prophetic utterance never contradicts, neither is equal to, the written Word of God. To forthtell or foretell. To speak from the mind of God. Prophecies are to be judged (1 Cor. 14:29, 1 Thes. 5:20-21).

(7) Distinguishing between spirits
This is a supernatural ability to discern a person's spiritual character and the source of his actions and messages, such as from the Holy Spirit, demon spirits, the human spirit or from the flesh.

(8) Different kinds of tongues
A supernaturally imparted utterance in an unlearned language which is interpreted as a prophecy to the body for their edification. (This is distinguished from "praying" in tongues, which is intended to edify one's own spirit -- 1 Cor. 14:14.) A message in tongues to the body is always to be interpreted (by another gift), and is limited to three within a gathering (1 Cor. 14:27).

(9) Interpretation of tongues
This is the supernatural interpretation of a message in tongues into the understandable language of the hearers. It is not a "translation" but an interpretation.

This list is not comprehensive. Other gifts are given in 1 Corinthians 12:28-31; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11

Diagram: Four groupings of spiritual gifts[1]

Diversity and unity of spiritual gifts
Giver of spiritual gifts: The Holy Spirit
Aim of spiritual gifts: common good
Distributors of spiritual gifts: gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Lessons for us

(1) The Holy Spirit is the builder of the Church
(2) The Church is the body of Christ which to carry out the mission of God, the Father
(3) Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit (He decides who gets what)
(4) Spiritual gifts are to be used to build the church
(5) All spiritual gifts have the same status
(6) Spiritual gifts are different from Fruit of the Spirit

There is a difference between spiritual gifts and fruit. Gifts are the Spirit's manifestation through a person, but fruit is the product of one's spiritual character. Spirituality cannot be measured by gifts, but by fruit (Gal. 5:22-24). Love is the predominate feature of spirituality (1 Cor. 13:13), without which, charismatic gifts cannot function effectively (1 Cor. 13:1-2). Paul expressed that the church should have a desire for spiritual gifts, but it should follow the foremost pursuit of love. "Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts," (1 Cor. 14:1).

(7) What is your spiritual gift?
a. Ask the Holy Spirit
b. What is your passion?
c. What do you do well?
d. What produces lasting fruits?

Recommended reading: Wagner, Peter.1979. Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow. Ventura, CA: Regal. Lists 27 different types of gifts. Also includes a Spiritual Gifts Questionaire.

Websites offering online spiritual gifts questionnaires
http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi?intro=1 (Church Growth Institute)
http://www.elmertowns.com/spiritual_gifts_test/ (Elmer Towns’ Questionaires)
http://www.elca.org/evangelism/assessments/spiritgifts.html (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is builder of the church. He is the giver of spiritual gifts and he gives them to whom he chooses. The spiritual gifts are for the building up of the church and not for personal gain. Most teaching on spiritual gifts place more emphasis on the spiritual gifts rather than the giver. We must not miss the SPIRIT in SPIRITual gifts.

soli deo gloria

[1] House, H. Wayne.1992. Charts of Christian Theology & Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. P.70