There's FIRE in the house (995 part IV)

Whoa. Finally. After 2 days of not being able to blog, feeling cao sianz.

Here's a devotional I did 2 days ago. This is a long article, so I recommend you chew on it bit by bit. =) Don’t get indigestion.

*tests mic* ahem...testing 1, 2 3. =D Let us turn our Bibles to 1 Peter 1, and we'll be reading from verse 1 to verse 12.

1 Peter 1
¹This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I'm writing to God's chosen people (NIV:elect) who are living as foreigners (NIV: strangers in the world) in the lands of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia. ²God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood.

May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace.

³All honor to...[God], for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. ⁴For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children, ... pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. ⁵And God, [being powerful], will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him... ⁶So be truly glad!^[a] There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.

A simple greeting like this by Peter reminds me of the many things God has been teaching me during these past few months through apostle Paul. Can't remember all the references, but will put them in if I remember:

i. God's people live as foreigners, people who live differently from those around them. People find them strange, people make fun of them as well. They act differently, talk differently, behave and react differently. They are foreigners, people of heaven who are still walking on this earth; an inherent ironical state, a state of perpetual tension, if you will. And it is no wonder! For they don't belong to this world, yet are physically present in it.

ii. These foreigners have something that sets them aside from the 'locals' of the world. They have HOPE (cf 1 Cor 13, 'the 3 things that remain'). Peter's summary is brilliant:

1) This hope is based on the resurrection of Christ;
2) There is an inheritance which will be given us, the children of God;
3) Will we ever reach there? I mean, isn't there a chance I might backslide? We will, because God is able to protect our salvation (interesting! I have always been perplexed by this, yet Paul concurs as well in Romans. Which means instead of worrying that in the future you might backslide, the only concern of yours is not to get complacent over your faith and think you yourself can sustain your faith in Christ.)
4) God protects our salvation as we trust him with it (yes, cf Romans too for Paul's own similar conclusion.)
5) This ETERNAL hope is much greater than our TEMPORARY suffering. (This is where I say, "And all God's pple say? Amen.")

And Paul concurs as well with all the above pts elsewhere (which has always struck me how amazing it is how the Spirit of God brings agreement in the body, despite them not meeting for umpteen years to discuss these issues). Check out 1 Thess, esp the part where he says that we who are in Christ should not grieve over those who 'fall asleep', as if we had no hope (like the people of the world are). Let's go on with the reading of Scripture.

And verse 7: "⁷These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. ⁸You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. ⁹Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰This salvation was something the prophets wanted to know more about...[they prophesied about it, questioned about it, wondered about it, especially Christ's suffering and glorification, but all they knew was that these things would not happen during their lifetime, but many years later, during yours, and would benefit you (my paraphrase)]. And now this Good News has been announced by those who preached to you in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.”

So that brings me to pt 3, a development of what God has initially been teaching me from Paul's writings.

iii. This pilgrimage, as being a foreigner on earth, is not a useless thing. It is to groom up our faith. It is both a test and a training. It is a test because passing a test has rewards. (You get A for a History essay, as I did (with lots of God's GRACE, I must add =PpP), and you get a reward-- a higher chance of bringing up your CAP score, and more motivation to study.) And the reward for passing God's tests of faith is salvation (note the plural *wink*).

That is a significant conclusion. It means salvation, in all senses of the word, is not free, in the "pricing" sense of the word. It is freely given, meaning that it is unrestricted, but in terms of PRICE, it cost the Son of God his comfort, status, time, and ultimately life, and it will cost us our comfort, our time, our faith, and our lives as well. Which is a good chance to review a hard theological qtn: can salvation be earned, since it costs us something to get it?

Let me explain why I think this deserves treatment as a hard theological question, especially to those of you in my fan club who dismiss this as a foregone conclusion.

Martin Luther was right. He said salvation was by faith, and not by works— e.g. indulgences, penance—and therefore purgatory is nonsensical as well (someone should give him an F for plagarism. The essence of what he said was said at least 400 yrs before his time by a certain someone we know.) Now he's right, assuming he sticks to the reference he started from. Salvation isn't earned by works (that comes from Paul's understanding in Romans), it is given by faith. That means you can't demand salvation from God as if it were some salary, in the same way that Abraham, believing God, had no basis to demand any sense of 'righteousness' from God; rather, God threw it in like some bonus brownie points for him. And the good news is that these brownie pts are not just for Abraham, but for anyone who follows his footsteps.

Good, that's all from Paul. But the Petrine perspective?

The Petrine perspective is that tests of faith are literally that, tests. You fail or you pass. The good thing about these tests are that they are not unsolvable, e.g. a Maths test which you dunno the formula; but rather, so long you WANT to pass, you will pass (because it is a test of being willing to suffer for Christ). And that, like tests always are, there's a punishment for failing (not explicit but implied, because that’s not the emphasis), a reward for passing (v9), and a super-dooper reward for passing with flying colours (e.g. v7, if your faith remains strong, you get a public commendation on top of tasting heaven).

Now, let me clarify something. Failing, as understood here, means to deny Christ because the fella is unwilling to go through suffering (now, Peter should know what it's like to FAIL before). And let's get this right by saying that such a failure IS a failure. There is no justification for it, and one must come to terms with it. Its punishment is obvious. And that failure is not necessarily permanent. There is still a chance for restoration.

Right, I digressed. Back to the topic. Now if salvation is naturally linked with tests of faith, what does that imply? It implies that salvation is earned. But STILL, not earned by works. Earned by faith. Which is subtly different from the Pauline conclusion ("given, so that you wouldn't boast about yourself"), and vastly different from the Lutheran conclusion ("given, foolstop").

Now you would say, the Abrahamic example seems to support Paul rather than Peter. But let me (for the time being) support the ultra-Petrine stance by bringing you to the major test of Abraham's faith, which would give Peter an A-plus too, assuming he were to use it in his essay. It is the whole issue of Abraham having an heir. It is an issue of contention between him and God as early as Gen 15, in which Abraham essentially complains that the promises made to him earlier have no significance without him having an heir. God is quick to point out that the promise includes his heir. Now it is this promise, a promise which is too good to be true, which Abraham believes, and therefore it is something God credits Abraham for (point made by Paul earlier already).

Now interestingly, this issue was to be a lasting issue of faith between God and Abraham. Tracing from Ishmael's birth (Gen 16) until it's so-called fulfillment in Gen 21, the sheer number of repetitions, in which God had to reassure Abraham time and time again about his promise, seem to indicate that this is a long-lasting test of faith. In fact, in Gen 17, God rejects Abraham's proposal that THE promise should go to Ishmael; but instead confers it upon Isaac (which we must remember had not even been conceived as yet).

So what's the point of saying all of that? The point is that for about 30 years, Abraham had to wait for that promise without abandoning it, rejecting it, or opting for a substitute (like Ishmael). Now that has many parallels with the Christian wait on this earth, which is a long-drawn test of faith. We, and all creation, are waiting for the day when the sons of God will be made manifest throughout the earth (that came from Paul). Right, not much contention there.

The incidental test, however, can be seen in the sacrifice of Isaac. (Definitely worth mentioning to support Peter's case.) Having trusted God with "providing the sacrifice", he then goes all the way, binds the young fella up, puts him there, and raises the knife. Don't forget that prior to this God had given a promise, "It is thru Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned". So it all boggles the mind. How can God give contradictory orders (as it seems to the human mind)? Still Abraham obeyed anyway.

And BECAUSE (note the lang of Scripture) he passed the test, giving his most precious possession away, God's promise of the many descendants through Isaac was restated and affirmed.

So it is perfectly possible to argue that passing the test of faith is crucial, fundamental even, to enjoying the promise of God, namely, that of salvation; and even to argue it from the Abrahamic standpoint, as Paul does. So what to do with 2 subtly different perspectives?

A quick answer (by no means conclusive and exhaustive, but a launch-pad for your thinking and learning): these 2 perspectives are essential in viewing our Christian faith. They work together, and though seem contradictory, are actually complimentary. for e.g., in Abraham's case,

a. Who offered the promise? God did. Voluntarily.
b. Who offered the righteousness? God did. Voluntarily and in response to Abraham's faith.
c. Who took the promise? Abraham did. By believing God, and continuing to believe God, and passing the test through believing God.
d. Conclusion: did Abraham earn it? No and yes: no, because Abraham was right with God by believing him (i.e. undeserved), and yes, because the promise was affirmed as a reward for passing the test.

Now, the argument is already very complex, so I don't want to insert too fine a distinction between being right with God and having the promised Land. For the Christian, the 2 come together, through the work of Jesus Christ. But what is important to note is that salvation, as such, is both received and earned. It is not earned and received, it is received, then earned (and even while earning, it is still received. It's not very complex. =P think about it.) And both terms "receiving" and "earning" have NOTHING to do with good works. They have everything to do with faith. Faith enables you to be right with God and to receive God's promise, and passing the test earns you God's promise-- and there is only one way to pass the test, and that is by FAITH IN GOD.

That, then, is the reason for pt 4:

iv. This pilgrimage on earth is not just a test, but also a training -- a training of our faith. A training which should lead us to having more capacity in trusting God. If the above argument runs as it's supposed to be, then this will be no wonder-- if passing the test is so crucial, then God himself wants to prepare us for those inevitable tests. Why must a Christian mature in faith? Because it isn't optional. It's absolutely necessary. Our faith, which is so precious to God, must be made more precious. The tests, like fire, sort out the dross and hidden gaps in our faith, forcing a crisis that enables faith to be molded, to be purified, to be sorted out, and ultimately hardened up and 'STEADY', as the hokkien peng would say. The trainings are crucial for passing the tests. Both the training and the tests are on earth.

To be honest, this whole issue of facing tests is there regardless of what we want. It's really his way or the highway (bet you knew that, being a Christian already). Try living a life of supposed faith in Jesus Christ, in which you refuse to be molded or to go through trials. Hey, guess what: the tests will come ANYWAY. Sorry to sound mean, but there's a divine timetable which demands attention and priority. And which means that this training of our faith is something to be embraced; it’s hard stuff, but good stuff. God is a pretty nice guy, he'll give you the best welfare a soldier needs: good training. But if you lag simply because of pure disobedience, and miss a lot of training sessions, drills, mock exercises, by SIAM-ing and taking the easy route, e.g. by not exercising faith in God in your circumstances; reacting to hardship by murmuring against God rather than a cry of trust; God asks you to trust him and do something out of your comfort zone, and you blatantly say "no"; …when the real test comes, it’ll be like Triple-H VS 1-2-3 Kid: you’ll be comatose before you know it (and have to spend a lot of time in sick bay, if you’re not already spiritually gone).

But that’s not Peter’s emphasis. Heh. Peter is actually looking forward to the situation where you and I go through these hardships and remain strong in faith in Christ. (Go into competition, get a gold medal, come out, and give press conference with no sweat. Something like that.) And such a situation is not just possible, it’s intended by God. =)

Praise the Lord! Hope you guys find this helpful.

P.S. There’s a pt 5 which I have not covered, so that those of you who are very VERY full will not get stuffed up and vomit. =) But if you want pt 5, let me know. Very interesting that it’s mentioned by Peter, yet brought home to me by my Maths teacher.