Life

Further on, Further on

After I wrote last week's blog, I went back to bed fired up and wondering if I was right. Could it really be that in some mysterious way, God the Holy Spirit birthed in me a spiritual progeny of Himself? “Spirit gives birth to spirit,” but was I taking the analogy too far? Was that what Jesus meant when He said those words?

I lay in bed thinking about the DNA language of the last blog and wondering if I had taken it too far. My mind went to the greek word “sperma” translated “seed” in I John 3:10. “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed (sperma) abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

My wonder was magnified and last weeks blog went from, “I think,” to “thus says the Lord!”

I John 3:1-10 is one of the starkest passages in the NT. It carries the tension between what is now for us and what is yet to come. “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (vs2) We are already like Him, because His seed abides in us, but by then His seed will grow to full maturity and we will see Him face to face. Already now, we do not practice sin because of the new spirit born within us, but by then we won't sin at all. 

So the journey that we are on is from “not practicing sin,” to being righteous just as He is righteous. Just as a child looks forward to becoming an adult, so we who have within us a brand new spirit, have had birthed within our hearts a longing for the glorious nobility that the Son already possesses. We are then pushed from within and from without towards glory.

I hate legalism. 

Legalism is an imposition of a righteous facade. Its me or you, thinking will power is sufficient from the inside and law adequate from the outside to live godly. I have repeatedly seen the slumped and tired shoulders the church produces when it preaches law – even New Testament law. In my journey I have preached it, even a radical -- take up your cross-- law, and watched people wilt. Since then, I have been used of God repeatedly to set people free from law. Shoulders have lifted, eyes have burned bright again as people have been given permission to live from their hearts. It has been good. But I am not sure that it has been good enough.

“Good enough”. Those are terrible words. The legalist lives under the task master of “good enough.” Never sure he is “good enough,” he/she is ever trying harder and never quite succeeding. Or worse, he thinks he does succeed and puffs up with pride in his own righteousness and contempt for all who don't measure up.

When I say, “good enough,” I am not talking about that. If we think of “good” as a gift of God, and life is not “good enough,” we mean that there is more of God available than we are experiencing. That the new spirit birthed within us wants wings to rise up and soar into the heavenlies even while our bodies remain tethered to the ground.

Freedom from legalism wrought by God doesn't move us into license... or maybe it does... but if so, only for a time. Maybe we need to give people who have lived all their lives under “have to,” some time to live under “don't have to!” But eventually, maybe even very quickly, we need to move to “want to,” and then to “want to very badly,” until our righteousness – a profound inside out upside down righteousness – exceeds that of the scribes and the pharisees. (cf Mt. 5:20)

And so I John 3:4 says, “Sin is lawlessness.” No one in whom the sperm of God lives practices that.

This whole line of questioning is for me a quest to experience the life of the Spirit... profoundly, beautifully, and as much as possible this side of glory. I want it for me, and for my children, and for all those who are in my care. Beyond that, I want it for all those who connect with us. I want it to expose the lie of religion, and renew the hope of those who long for more.

Now this has gotten wordy.

Think of it! Spirit gives birth to spirit. My spirit, created by His sperm, expressing itself in the quality of my life. Integrity between who I am within and how I live. Language fails!

Further On

"Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (Jn 3:3)

I have spent most of my life thinking about these words, and yet this weeks sermon and SS discussion have led me to a fresh and surprising thought. It actually seems obvious to me, so a tad embarrassing that it is fresh.

First what's not fresh. 

A long time ago, I came to the conclusion, that new birth implies new baby. Any attempt to squish new birth into the -- forgiven, but still the same old sinner -- paradigm is misguided and bound to create confusion or worse. Obviously, there is something profoundly new in this thing called being "born again."

Also a long time ago, it became frustratingly obvious that new birth takes the initiative off of the birthed and puts it onto the birther. Jesus states this explicitly in, "who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (Jn 1:13) This was frustrating to me, because now when asked, "What must I do to be born again," I need to stutter and say, "Uh, well it's actually not up to you, it's up to the heavenly Father." Not that we're not involved, but it doesn't start with us.

Now to what's new or at least feels new to me.

"That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (Jn 3:6) That means that the new baby is a new spirit. That by itself answers all kinds of questions for me, (puts an end to the rule of law) but far more exciting is the fact that my new spirit gets his/her DNA from the Holy Spirit.

I think this is a familial metaphor. It's not like God creating trees or insects, it's God creating children who carry His character into their lives and their relationships. As one born again, my new spirit owes it existence and its character to the Spirit of God.

That's just breathtaking!