Dire Consequences

[Preamble: start] I love Fringe. Yet it took me two years to finally bridge season 3 with season 4. Well, bridge my watching of said seasons. Bridges are important to Fringe. And yes, I am fully aware that the series is over and I am remedying my waywardness.

Outside of Anna Torv, no one should take greater acclaim than John Noble, who plays Dr. Walter Bishop. I am tempted to write what makes Fringe an altogether brilliant series, but I shall reserve that for a later time. [Preamble: end]

"Two things cannot occupy the same space without dire consequences." - Dr. Walter Bishop

Sinless, Opportunists or Pharisees?

DISCLAIMER: I was not looking forward to doing a series of posts about sanctification. But to provide more clarity to the first post "Occasional Christianity", I offer a few reasons why the problem persists based on some observations. 

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Strive for... the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Heb. 12:14)

I surveyed in the first post, Occasional Christianity, that the root of inconsistent discipleship to the Lord is a result of false ideas about the doctrine of sanctification. Out of these false notions are borne the occasional Christians, functional atheists, hypocrites, and stunted believers. By way of contrast, I hope to shed some light on true sanctification from these false notions. The following are from my observations:

False Notion 1: The doctrine of "sinless perfection" or "full sanctification".
Now, I am not an expert on theology. But I presume that this doctrine presents that a person who has come to faith in Christ has become perfectly sinless. There is no other way to think about this doctrine. It follows that there is no need for a striving for holiness (Heb. 12:14) or a working out of salvation (for it is God who is working in us, Phil. 2:13). This is troubling if there are those who actually believe this. This doctrine is a license for Christians to live according to what they want. If they are perfect, they can and should do what is right in their own eyes. This is not merely a false notion, but a false teaching and a heresy.

The great Reformer Martin Luther refuted this doctrine with: simul justus et peccator or the true Christian is simultaneously just/righteous and a sinner. In one sense righteous, in another a sinner. This is one of the great confessions of the Reformation. Historically, this refuted the Catholic doctrine that baptism washes away original sin and that only the inclination to sin remains. However, this inclination to sin is also sin. RC Sproul explains that "in one sense, we are just. In another sense, from a different perspective, we are sinners; and how he defines that is simple. In and of ourselves, under the analysis of God’s scrutiny, we still have sin; we’re still sinners. But, by imputation and by faith in Jesus Christ, whose righteousness is now transferred to our account, then we are considered just or righteous. This is the very heart of the gospel."

There's a ton of verses in the New Testament exhorting Christians how to live. We are given also the warning to not live according to the flesh, since we are very much capable of sin. We are called to be transformed by a renewing of our mind. There should be an active resentment of the old sinning nature and an active obedience according to the new nature by grace. If the Spirit is at work within us, if we are truly Christians, we are to do and see and talk and think things differently. (Rom. 12:1-2) We are also to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 3:18)

False Notion 2: Sanctification waits for the opportune moment or event.
I am not particularly sure if the recent fad of some people of"good vibes" applies to this false notion, but I am not discounting that possibility. If it means that people are waiting for "good vibes" before they act Christian, then I have problem with the good vibes fascination. That and teaching that the Christian life is to be all "good vibes".

It is a dangerous idea that Christians should wait for profitable moments to show that they are Christian. Some wait for a specific role or an event in church or specific circumstances to live as Christians should. They seem to think that without a sort of "Christian" stage, they can do what they want. I don't know what they are waiting for but it is safe to say that in their private lives, Christ is not Lord. They have no desire for private meditation on the Word. People call this "quiet time". And if ever they do so, it is for show.

I have been to many Christian camps ever since coming to faith in the Lord. I have been a camper and a camp staff/counselor. We are always given a Quiet Time guide, where we are given a passage of Scripture and some questions to help us reflect. It's a great and necessary discipline in order to grow in grace and knowledge. But there are some who do it only when they are in the confines of the camp site. How do I know? Well, by asking people and observing their lives. It is coherent, but also very sad.

I think they know this Proverb (3:5): Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not in your own understanding... but only during camps or church gatherings.

The Bible presents proper Christian behavior in all sorts of situation. The Apostle Paul calls for submission to authorities (Rom. 13), the proper use of spiritual gifts to edify the church (1 Cor. 12-14), bearing with the burdened (Gal. 6), being warriors for God every moment as we are in spiritual warfare (Eph. 6), contentment whether in need or in abundance (Phil. 4), discerning all the time against empty deceit and hollow philosophy. The Apostle Peter calls for standing firm despite persecution and suffering (1 and 2 Peter). These are mere samples. There is no suitable excuse to not live according to the gospel. Christianity is a daily faith. Daily we should draw from the deep wells of the Bible. We are given the Word, for instruction. We are given the Spirit, as our Instructor. The only people excused--allow me this foolishness--in living according to Christianity are unbelievers.

False Notion 3: Fear of being labeled or viewed as a Legalist/Pharisee.
I am most familiar with being labeled as a legalistic person. At times, I deserved it. Those were the times when I was not living according to what I adhere to or teach. In a shared setting, people generally have a sort of resentment against people who do better than they. The character of a "know-it-all" or a moral compass in movies usually get humiliated. It is easier to criticize someone else than acknowledge your own shortcomings. The easiest way of bringing them down to your level is to have some dirt on them. They can't be all to perfect, right?

It is no fun being called names. People who regard the biblical call to living according to its principles of holiness can be called legalists or worse, Pharisees. They are the antagonists in the gospel accounts. They are rebuked harshly by Jesus, and they deserved it. They preach wise principles but they do not live according to it. Christians are not to be like them. But that does not mean we should not speak out against plain wickedness and persuading people of doing the right thing, especially to our brethren. Problem is, you might be labeled as a nit-picker. The Bible never nit-picks. When something is called a sin against God, it is indeed sin. We should stay away from such things. We should also do our part of calling out sin, for it is always destructive. It destroys people. It destroys fellowship with God. Healthy rebuke should be done in a spirit of truth and love.

To end, an unsanctified person (the occasional Christian) may for a time be excited about Christian ideas but like seed growing on the stony ground, it flourishes quickly then dies for it has no root. In time, his true nature will be visibly discerned. He may be friendly to truth at present, but eventually he will come to despise it when a season of testing and trouble arrives. The excitement he felt for Christianity was superficial; the truth never pierced his heart, mind and will. He desired Christianity when the spiritual climate was suitable, and quickly fades when it is not. He never came to believing the truth that he knew. He never applied it for he never believed the Truth. After the taste of Christianity has become bitter to his liking he will fall back to his old ways, to his true love: sin.

Occasional Christianity

The fool says in his heart "There is no God" (Psalm 14:1)

This is the opening to Psalm 14. This reality applies to all mankind. It is a divine assessment on man. The Apostle Paul uses the rest of the Psalm in Romans 3, discoursing the universal sinfulness of man. "There is no God" is the principle of a life devoid of God’s saving work. It is the old principle, since there is a new principle of grace, in the Christian’s life. It is what we practically adhere to without Christ. When we have come to faith in Christ, every single struggle goes back to this underlying principle: "There is no God. He does not exist. I am the god of my life. I will and enjoy what is right in my own eyes."

But of course no Christian will say "There is no God". Not outright or verbally, anyway. Speaking about God is probably the most usual thing among Christian conversations. "God did this for me, God did that. Praise be to God!" There is nothing wrong about extolling God for the work that He is doing in our daily circumstances. There is something wrong if we are not doing so.


Anyhow, the point is, other people (non-Christians) sometimes enjoy more things than Christians. Job wrestled with this problem, and also the writer of Psalm 73. Even the early Christians struggled with the hardships that came in with the new life they received from God. They thought that the road was clear and everything was to be peachy. We, too, are tempted to think that way. It is the struggle of every moment: to believe, obey and trust God. But non-Christians work on a worldview that is basically without God, and their lifestyles admit this. They go the way of worldly wisdom. To illustrate worldly wisdom, here is the worldly counterpart to The Beatitudes c/o the late James Montgomery Boice:

“Blessed are the rich, for they can have all they want;
Blessed are the powerful, for they can control others;
Blessed are the sexually liberated, for they can fully satisfy themselves;
Blessed are the famous, because they are envied”

The concern is this: how come there are Christians who live this way when they are outside their Christian circles? Or worse: (1) even in their Christian circles, and (2) when they are alone, in secret, the most opportune time for sincere, personal devotion to their Lord?

We can call this occasional Christianity, and I mean this to be derogatory. There is nothing Christian about it. Usually, this is the Sunday-only Christian. He is only Christian when it is time for church, the regular fellowship or a Bible study perhaps. This is the mere mental and emotional assent to God, without any effort to actually reform their lives according to what they know. Regardless of the intensity of the assent, which is measured by how much they know or how much they feel His presence, this is an ugly reality. It is not Christianity at all. It is functional atheism: you live as if God does not exist. Take note that I said know. Occasional Christians know what to do. The difference with their genuine counterpart is that they don't believe what they know. The most common Christian creed, "God is good", is so far away from their minds when they are harassed, when Christianity seems to be out of fashion or under attack. It is even far from their minds when they are alone, outside of any Christian environment. The Christianity that they have is based on the climate. If the heavy rain is pouring, they fear and live as if the sun is never to rise again. They do not believe that God is good. They do not believe that He exists. As the Psalmist says, it is the way of a fool, not of a saint.

Now why is this? It has everything to do with a false view of the Christian doctrines of justification, regeneration, and, most especially, sanctification. I hope to cover the mentioned topics and possibly elaborate more on what I believe to be causes for this occasional Christianity which is prevalent today. But for my present purposes, I will refer to this great and aptly titled chapter “Sanctification” from English theologian J. C. Ryle from his book “Holiness.” It’s a lengthy read but I promise that considering his biblical clarifications and proposals regarding the doctrine of sanctification is time well spent. It is, I hope, for your sanctification. It continues to be for my own. As a teaser of that chapter, here are the 12 propositions (and some quotes to illustrate) he provides about the nature of sanctification:

1. Sanctification is the invariable result of that vital union with Christ which true faith gives to a Christian. “Where there is no sanctification, there is no real faith in Christ. True faith works by love.”

2. Sanctification is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration (being born again). “The lack of sanctification is a sign of non-regeneration.Where there is no holy life, there is no holy birth.”

3. Sanctification is the only certain evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is essential to salvation. “We may depend on it as a positive certainty that, where there is no holy living, there is no Holy Spirit.”

4. Sanctification is the only sure mark of God’s election. “If there is one thing clearly and plainly laid down about election, it is this—that elect men and women may be known and distinguised by holy lives.”

5. Sanctification is a reality that will always be seen. “A ‘saint’, in whom nothing can be seen but worldliness or sin, is a kind of monster not recognized in the Bible!”

6. Sanctification is a reality for which every believer is responsible. “The Word of God always addresses its precepts to believers as accountable and responsible beings. If the Savior of sinners gives us renewing grace and calls us by His Spirit, we may be sure that He expects us to use [His] grace and not to go to sleep.”

7. Sanctification is a thing which admits of growth and degrees. “If there is any point on which God’s holiest saints agree, it is this: that they see more and know more and feel more and do more and repent more and believe more as they get on in spiritual life… In short ‘they grow in grace’ (2 Pet. 3:18).”

8. Sanctification depends greatly on a diligent use of scriptural means. “The ‘means of grace’ are such as Bible reading, private prayer, and regualrly worshipping God in church, wherein one hear the Word taught and participates in the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification.”

9. Sanctification is a thing which does no prevent a man having a great deal of inward spiritual conflict. “The heart of the best Christian, even at his best, is a field occupied by two rival camps (the old nature of the flesh and new nature of the Spirit)”.

10. Sanctification is a thing which cannot justify a man, and yet it pleases God.

11. Sanctification is a thing which will be found absolutely necessary as a witness to our character in the great Day of Judgment. “The question will not be how we talked and what we professed, but how we lived and what we did.”

12. Sanctification is absolutely necessary in order to train and prepare us for heaven. “Most men hope to go to heaven when they die; but a few, it may be feared, take the trouble to consider whether they would enjoy heaven if they got there.”

It is a ugly to be an occasional Christian. It is thinking you're a Christian but in reality, you are living as an atheist. It is horrible since it reeks of a vain hope, calling out "Lord, Lord" but will amount to nothing less than the fury of the wrath of God (Rev. 19:15). To end I offer this ever sharp reminder: “But prove yourselves to be doers of the word, not merely hearers who delude themselves.” (James 1:22)