The Lord Jesus Christ is MY Good Shepherd - Psalm 23 through new covenant eyes!

What remains to be said about probably the most famous and well-known Psalm in the Bible - Psalm 23? And there is no doubt that so many have done the job much better than I ever could. Nevertheless, It is these six verses that have been speaking to my heart recently. The trouble with Scripture which is so well-known and familiar is that we can somehow look past it. The Lord often uses the same parts of his word in new and fresh ways, applying them to our specific circumstances in that wonderful way that His Holy Spirit has of speaking to our hearts. If I had to give this short and inadequate comment a more succinct title, perhaps it could be "A sheep's view of the Good Shepherd".

You see, I have tended to read these wonderful words with a kind of technical and analytical perspective. I am not a shepherd, neither do I have any natural knowledge of that world he would move in. And so I must enquire as to how what is said here works. First, to see it from the point of view of the man in that particular walk of life. Then to see how it reflects God's relationship with me. David, of course, grew up as a shepherd and knew all about it. What I attempt here is to see things from the sheep's view.

It is very special that shepherd David writes about his Shepherd. We know so much more about who He is - we see plainly the One who was promised. We have a fuller picture. So it is no surprise to find the Lord speaking of Himself in such a way, in John ch 10. We must remember that the chapter divisions are artificial. What has just taken place? A healed blind man has just been thrown out of the synagogue for the dreadful offence of having been healed on the Sabbath.  It is to the Pharisees who have brought this about that Jesus begins to speak about shepherds. Oh, and of thieves and robbers and hired hands who care nothing for the sheep.

Think of this poor man, who is disfellowshipped because of his leaders' blindness. In the closing verses of chapter 9, we find Jesus speaking to him again and plainly telling him just who it was who laid His hands on his eyes. The man has been thrown out. But in the place of that flawed community, he has found ... the ultimate One to follow. The Good Shepherd. First, he has heard the Shepherd's voice, when he had no sight. Now, he looks on the One who had spoken to him.

How lost the people of our world are. Such busy lives, filled with all manner of things, all kinds of different voices, giving so many garbled messages - but no solace for the soul. What a lonely busy-ness that is! And what a thrill to discover the Voice of the Shepherd. "My sheep know my voice", He says. And He calls them. And they follow Him. Psalm 23 is all about the results of that discovery. The song of the sheep!

Christ Alone!

- revisiting the Law of Christ debate

I can hear restless sighs and exclamations of 'oh no, not that again'! I understand. It is tedious to revive dispute long after it seems that things have settled - not least the clouds of dust raised by the to-and-fro of ongoing argument. Perhaps (I hope and pray) I have mellowed, at least in my 'passion' over the subject. But I haven't had my view altered. Not one bit.

The question in dispute was "are we as believers in any sense 'under law'?" What is this 'law of Christ' which Paul mentions in Galatians 6 vs 2?

"Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load."

This is the only verse in all of the New Testament where that phrase is used (the 1 Corinthians 9 verse says something totally different, in a completely different context. Not helpful to string two verses together and elaborate them into a whole 'system'). I still contend that in the context of the whole of Galatians, with Paul's considerably strong insistence that believers should not consider themselves as living 'under law', we simply cannot make this one verse reverse (sorry!) his whole argument's direction. 

'Fulfillment Theology

Second, I argue that the word 'fulfill' here is vitally important. We know that Christ has 'fulfilled' the Mosaic law. And thus what has resulted means that that Law is obsolete - redundant. Jesus states that He upholds all of it. It is not a write-off. But it has been exceeded; superceded; transcended by a greater and more glorious principle. A new dynamic by which the believer's life in Him now operates. We no longer live by law-obedience. We live by keeping in step with the Spirit. And in this final section of Galatians, Paul argues that we mirror the sin-bearing aspects of our Saviour in helping our brothers and sisters who are struggling with 'a sin'. Not that we in any way do for them what Christ alone does - has done. - He alone died for sins; we have no need to But we have His heart, His mind, in that we set ourselves to 'seek and to save' our erring brother. We work to 'carry' his burdens, sharing the weight (but not the sinning). So, in the language Paul so ably employs, we do not 'keep' this law of Christ, we 'fulfill' it. This is the action of the loving heart which is created in the child of God. It disposes us to go far far further than any commandment could require us to. When the believer behaves in this way, in every sense he or she completes the new commandment of Jesus that we love one another 'as I have loved you'. Effectively, we are laying down our lives for them.

Illustrations

My simple mind looks for ways to see this. 

Here is a caterpillar. A crawling grub, earthbound, mono-coloured. Now consider what it will become. In a few short weeks its being is transformed. One would not easily link it with its former state. Now it is a beautiful, graceful coloured-winged marvel. Now it rides the breezes above the ground to which it was once bound. But look more closely. Examination shows that you can still make out the previous form - of the caterpillar. 

Life in the Spirit - is that in complete ignorance of the righteous requirements God commands in the lives of the former testament?  No, that former law pointed towards what would be the ultimate shape of what would come - it was a shadow. Everything the former scheme was aiming at is now achieved - and exceeded - by what God has brought about in the effusion of His own Spirit - Christ is the substance.  The believer is being transformed daily to become more like the Saviour himself.  The seed - the shape of 'law' has died. What grows from it is vibrant, sun-seeking and vigorous. It bursts into the light - and keeps going upwards. It has the power to crack concrete. But first, the seed must die.

To attempt to restrict the 'style' of the transformed life in Christ to mere law-living is precisely what Jesus himself describes when he refers to the futility of trying to contain new wine in old wineskins. To attempt it will result in disaster. We need new theology to search out and explore new covenant.

Greater Glory

 This is the same comparison Paul makes in comparing the 'glory' (revealed splendour) of the Law to the appearing of the Son in 2 Corinthians 3:

"Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!"

Here is how we are to place 'law-living' by the side of Christ-living'. The former does not have the vocabulary to define toe latter. It is all Christ, and Christ alone. To reduce living in Him to a set of rules, in the place of the freedom of the Spirit detracts from that focus. 

And that, my friends, is why I contend so passionately for the theology of the Christ-covenant.

In wide-eyed wonder ...

Have you ever visited a stunningly awesome and immense and majestic building? Perhaps with the knowledge of all the major historic and current events which it has seen, and the important figures who have walked within it's walls. And as you meander through, taking it all in, the sound of your own footfall seems so small and tentative in the light of the such great, world-changing events it has witnessed.

Sometimes my praying, my feeble effort to walk with Christ feels bit like that. The echo of my own steps being dwarfed by the cosmic nature of what I'm now included in. But then I suddenly realise where I am in Him. That this - all this - is no mere monument. This is my home.

Walking on Water - or Not!

Walking on Water
- or Not!

Mudeford Quay can be a dangerous place. Two rivers, the Stour and the Avon, combine here to flow into the sea just opposite The Needles on the Isle of Wight. The flowrate is scary fast. Cross-currents are treacherous. To navigate takes skill and local knowledge.

So on a recent visit, imagine our surprise at the scene pictured here. A boat is powering from left to right - upriver- to head towards Christchurch. And then there's this. Moving the other way is a very confident fisherman - walking. Miracle? No, sandbank. He evidently knew exactly where it was safe to place his feet.

When Jesus walked on water there was no sandbank. It was the middle of the sea, not near land at all. And his disciples, who had gone ahead of him in boats, were finding the going tough. It was 'choppy', to say the least. Severe enough for seasoned fisherman to have to work hard at the oars to make headway. And then ...

... like a mirage, Jesus approaches, walking towards the boat on the water. The disciples are petrified - who wouldn't be. They think it's a ghost. To allay their fears, Jesus calls out to them to reassure them that it is him. Small wonder that the episode ends with his disciples worshipping him and acclaiming him to be 'truly the Son of God' (Matthew 14 vs 33). That story alone would be worthy of the retelling. But in between, there is the bold account of Peter, who calls to his Lord "If it's you, tell me to come to you - walking on the water". And Jesus does. And Peter does!

Fine Faith

It all starts out so well. Peter clambers down over the side of the boat (not just a rowing boat, this) and steps out boldly towards his Master. Confident that the One who has power to walk the waves also has the authority to enable him to do the same. 

We would love to see ourselves as believers in this role, wouldn't we? Unshakeable, solid faith that trusts Jesus; trusts the promises of God without hesitation, come what may. Faith that is firm. That moves us towards doing great things for God. That displays Christ's power in us over the world, the flesh, the devil. And, at least for a while, by the grace of God, we do experience those strong times. God blesses, and we trust. In the face of trouble and trial, we hold firm, displaying to our brothers and sisters in Christ what it looks like to walk with Him. But ... and so often there is a 'but' ...

Failing Faith

... we falter! As is often observed with this story, when our eyes are off Jesus and we are more aware of the intimidation of our environment - in his case the howling wind and the size of the (gulp!) waves, we lose it. We start to sink. And once you start, you are going down. Next stop, Davey Jones' locker. Jonah - here we come. But here's the thing. God sent the large fish to save Jonah. Peter had something greater - the Son of the living God. And so do we.

The amazing thing about living for Christ is that we have to learn how to fail.

We need to get used to it. We're going to do it more than once. But it doesn't take God off-guard. See what Peter does:-

Now, his eyes are back where they belong - on the Lord. And his prayer is one we find echoed in our own hearts - "LORD, SAVE ME!!!"

The next word is the heartener - see it? IMMEDIATELY! Immediately, Jesus is there, his hand reaching for Peter to raise him - well - back to his feet. When we pray that prayer, there is no time lapse between the prayer and the provision. You are not left to your own devices in your struggle. Your Lord doesn't let you sink a bit lower 'to learn your lesson'. His hand is stretched out to you - take it, take it now. And here is the thing. That is just as much the action of faith as getting out of a boat in the midst of an ocean. Don't let the devil or anyone else say it's a sign of dismal failure. We learn just as much - perhaps more - from episodes like these as when we're on top.

Future Faith

The next bit is not recorded. But I want us to imagine it. How did they get back to the boat? Only one answer - Peter is leaning on Jesus as they walk the walk. It is doubt that started the sinking. But it is faith that brings Peter back. So learn how to fail God's way. Let it end up leaving you leaning. Trusting your Lord to uphold you and bring you through. Teaching you that success isn't about how strong your faith is. It's about how strong your Lord is.

Splinters

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

(1 Jn 1:7)

Saved!

The believer in Christ is in a state, a condition, of having been saved. Saved from what? From the anger and judgement of a holy God whom we have despised, ignored, rebelled against. That was our former condition. Dead in sin and unresponsive to anything of the living God, even though the whole earth - indeed, the whole universe - shouts of His glory. Our ears are deaf to that voice and our eyes blind to His insisted goodness in all He has made. Saved how? By the self-surrender of the perfect, spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ, on a stark cross of shame. In which He took upon Himself the punishment we deserve for our cosmic treason. And by His blood we are 'ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven'. Saved for what? For living to the glory of God and for the love of our Lord. Working acts of righteousness, which He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. Serving His saints with a glad heart. Showing to the world the abundant life that only Christ can bring.

Splinters!

But in order to remain in that state, our persistent God- neglect and failure to be what He now not only intends, but enables, we must have a continuous supply of saving power. Otherwise, every small sin will be like a splinter in God's hand, a persistent irritant which He, in His white-shining righteousness, must judge and deal with. Imagine the accumulation of every act, every thought, which falls short of His love-command to us. Each one as a splinter, demanding attention until it is removed. Each one a shadow in the light of His glorious presence.

God's 'Tweezers'!

Great grace provides great measures. This we have also, by the life-force of Christ and His cross. Every time, His presented blood at the altar in the throne-room of the Father speaks that better word, as our Saviour declares "for this, also I died". Out of His pierced heart there flow rivers of living water. And the believer walks in their flow. The shed blood of the precious Saviour washes us clean even as we walk in Him. We continue in the state of 'having been saved', not because of the achieved quality of our new lives in Him, but because of the continued, irretractable supply of His saving power. We are held, thus, in the condition His redemption has brought us into. We live in the gospel.

All of Christ, and His be the glory.

"Did God Say ...?"

"Did God say...?"

This was the beginning of the evil one's deception of Eve, and the thin edge of the devastating wedge driven between man and God. He continues to hammer it with relentless hammer-blows, seeking to drive it's division between a God of unfailing promises and His children. But thanks to the pioneer of our faith, we now have what Eve did not.

1. We have the written word of God.

In our hands and before our eyes, encrypted in the words on paper, we can return again and again to read and re-read what God has said. Won by the faithful work, sacrifice and commitment of faithful men in our past, we have a totally reliable collection of the inspired and infallible record which we can check and meditate on whenever we care or need to.

2. We have the indwelling Spirit of Christ. He has gone away so the Spirit would come. From the throne-room of God, the source of power, grace and holiness, Jesus has poured him forth for the church, his body. He lives in us, and he gives the light behind his written word, bringing his truth forth and pressing it into our hearts. The truth thus sets us free.

3. We have the fellowship of believers. We are not alone in our examining and efforts to get to grips with Scripture. We are set in local gatherings of the saints, structured in a way that his gifts may benefit and bless us. The word is preached and taught by those the Spirit enables to do those tasks. We speak also to one another, uncovering the disciplines and delights of what our Father lays out, in glorious revelation, for our spiritual food. We feed not only ourselves, but also each other.

And thus we see the strong measures the wisdom of Christ has put in place to bring us to maturity and conform us to his likeness. Let us take much advantage of these things. So, when the evil one's haunting question arises we will answer with conviction - "IT IS WRITTEN ..."

On the Nature of Repentance

The Interface of the Covenants

Old covenant to new covenant. We do well to consider how they relate - the continuity and the discontinuity between them. Everything points to and exalts Christ, the living Son. All that went before was a glimpse, a shadowy 'taster' which promised and sketched what God would do, in Him and through Him, at the fullness of time. We understand the old by examining it through the enlightened eyes of the new. Through His own appointed apostle/prophets, Jesus makes known to us, by writing with their hand what they saw and handled and heard, and by expounding in His word,again, by their hand, all that it means for us. We are greatly blessed, greatly privileged, for we have all this in completion, in our hands. And we are endowed with His Spirit to take that living word out of His book and explode it into vital reality in our very beings.

Surpassing Glory

But I want to ask the question 'where and how did these covenants meet?' Where do we observe the transition from one to another? How does this great eclipse occur, the lesser old covenant becoming overtaken and exceeded by the new, which comes, as 2 Corinthians 3 tells us, with 'surpassing glory'? God was evidently active in those Old Testament revelations, in 'many and various ways' revealing Himself (Hebrews 1 vs 1), so that by the time He sends forth His Son, there is a 'backcloth' of reliable and infallible knowledge of God. The Son is born of a woman, is Himself a man, so we can grasp that there is that about Him which we can know because He shares our humanity. And He is born a Jew under the Law, so that we can appreciate that what has already been revealed is not dispensed with and thrown away, but rather gets swept up into and completed by the greater light of His coming and His truth.

We see that Jesus interacts with the old covenant in various ways, uses it to demonstrate that it is all about Him, none other. So do we best see this 'interface' where old becomes new, perhaps, in His "you have heard that it was said ... but I say to you ... " teachings in the Sermon on the Mount? Or is it in His ascerbic exchanges with the scribes and Pharisees? No, it cannot be there, because there He is dealing with their hypocritical twisting of the Law and its practice, not the old covenant as it really was.

The Last Law Prophet

I have come to see that the moving from old to new covenant happens in the relationship and development that occurs between Jesus and His forerunner, John the Baptist. I hope to provide a more extensive look at this in a book I'm working on, which I will call "The Last Law Prophet and the Grace-bringer". Or something a little more catchy, less cumbersome, if I can find it. But the essence of it is that in the relatively short period of overlap between the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus the Son, we do, indeed, see the change occur. And I want to point out that in this period, something unique and never to be repeated is going on. But is this just my fanciful thinking? Or are there grounds - good Biblical grounds - for believing that this is what takes place. Well, in fact, Jesus Himself points up this clearly delimited time slot, and has some interesting things to say about it.

When John is in prison, he sends a delegation to Jesus to ask Him the question,

"Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Matthew 11 vs 3)

Now, I know that some have suggested that John, languishing in jail, was having doubts and wanted to check he had not made some dreadful mistake. But I really find it hard to swallow that the man who had heard from God how this Messiah could be identified, then baptised Jesus and saw the Spirit descend on Him to remain was going to second guess all that had happened. No, I think John is doing something quite deliberate here for the sake of his - John's - disciples. But look at what Jesus says after having sent the delegation back to John with His answer. He now addresses the crowd, challenging them as to what they expected John to be. Then He goes on, in verse 12:

"From the days of John the Baptist until now ... "

That is a very carefully defined time slot:-

• 'From' - the first day of public ministry of John, proclaiming that the kingdom is coming,
• 'Until' - now, when John's ministry is complete, God takes him off the scene, and ... the Son of God is proclaiming that the kingdom of God is here.

In other words, the period in which the last law prophet is succeeded by the Son Himself. And when John is confined, and his public ministry is at an end, we read:

"After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1 vs 14)

Do you see that there is something quite deliberate about the timing of these respective ministries? The old covenant is giving way to the new. John - and with him, the covenant he represents - is to decrease, as Jesus - and the covenant He is instigating - will increase.

Let me take one aspect of that here - John's message of repentance.

"Repent ... for ..."

"In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”" (Matthew 3 vs 1)

“I baptize you with water for repentance." (Matthew 3 vs 11)

"Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”" (Acts 19 vs 4)

 Realistically, all the Law - all of it - could ever do was to lead Israel to this end, the confession of their sins. It had been given to 'lock them up'; the Law was their custodian. All through the period of time in which it ruled, the old covenant era, its task had been to consign them until God's promised one would come. And once He appeared the wait time would be over, and God-fearers would be brought to explicit faith. Galatians makes this plain. John's preached repentance is preparatory repentance. It paves the way for the coming Lord. So that when God's Son is revealed, the hearts of many are already set to receive Him, even though the majority rejected Him.

Repent ... and ...

But John does not advocate mere lip service. How rife with that plague Israel's history has been! Repentance must be accompanied by life change:

"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance"

he flings at the Pharisees. And there is practical advice as to what this fruit would look like:

"What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”" (Luke 3 vs 10 - 14)

This is no less than the old covenant teaching applied - all of the prophets were preachers of the Law of Moses. And this is really my point.

The repentance John the Baptist commands is - was - repentance under Law, something which would never be required again once Jesus had come, had died, and had risen. This is NOT to say that there is no repentance required when sinners turn to Christ - that is the gospel. But there is a difference.

• John's message was - 'repent and wait'
• The gospel message is - 'repent and believe'

Believers in Christ, under the new covenant are never exhorted to show the 'fruit of repentance'. They are told to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. But of course, at the time of the Baptist, the Spirit had not been given.