A Great Gospel Calls for a Changed Life

Acts 2:9-11                     1 Peter 1:1-13                        Matthew 5:17-20

A Great Gospel Calls for a Changed Life

When reading someone else’s mail, especially an ancient letter that was written in a different cultural setting, we have to do a bit of homework before trying to unpack what we read. This is equally true of early Christian documents like 1 Peter. So we approach the letter asking a number of questions. Who wrote it, to whom, from where, and finally what was written and why.

So, let’s start with the most obvious…well, obvious at least to those who hold to the canonical text as received. This letter begins by telling us who wrote it. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ or Peter, the one sent by Jesus Christ, depending on how you translate the Greek word “apostle” which can indicate a title or a purpose. 

Also, Early Church documents and traditions tell us that it was Peter who wrote this letter, so we will go with Peter as the answer to our first question. 

Now, it is important to know who wrote the letter because once we know who wrote it we can understand a lot more about the author of the letter and that will help us understand more about what he says and why he says what he does. 

However, as with most ancient documents, our answer here tends to be a little more complex. Some scholars have objected to the authorship of Peter because, they say, the Greek prose is too sophisticated for what they believe would be a level too high for a Galilean fisherman and they cite Acts 4:13 where Peter and John are referred to as “uneducated, common men”. 

No, my answer to this objection is a) the evaluation of their education in Acts 4 was made by men who considered everyone who had not studied as they did as uneducated and, b) didn’t Jesus say that the Holy Spirit would give us the words to speak when we needed them? (Matthew 10:19) And we believe that the Holy Spirit inpired these words, do we not? (1 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21; see also Mark 12:36)

However, there is an even more simple answer to this objection. At the end of his letter, Peter tells us that “by Silvanus (a man whom most scholars believe is Paul’s missionary companion Silas)…I have written briefly to you”…indicating that Peter, like Paul, used a scribe to write what he dictated. 

So, I think we can safely move forward to the second most obvious question and that is, to whom was this letter written. Well, the text says it was written, “to those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bythynia.” The places mentioned here are all located in what is today northern Turkey. 

Historically, the term "of the Dispersion" (or of the Diaspora) referred exclusively to the Jewish people who were forcibly scattered across the globe for various reasons, primarily the invasions of foreign nations such as Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and in Peter’s time, Rome. But before we look at the ethnic identity of the receipients of Peter’s letter, let’s first see if Scripture tells us anything about people from this area. 

There are only two places in Scripture where we find these areas mentioned together…the one is obviously here in 1 Peter 1:2…and the other is in Acts 2:9-11 where we are told that devout Jews and proselytes (Gentiles who had converted to Judasim) who were residents from (amongst other places) “Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Bithynia, and Pamphylia (which prior to AD 74 was part of the province of Galatia) were present in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. 

Early Church tradition holds that the Pentecost converts who had heard Peter preach in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and had accepted the Christian Faith, and who were perhaps initially discipled by Peter and the other Jerusalem Church Leaders, returned to their home provinces in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and established the very churches Peter later wrote to and, I will argue, the very churches he visited on his way to and from Rome.

So it is possible that this word “dispersion” may indicate that the people Peter was writing to were Jewish believers that had been scattered across the globe prior to their conversion to Christianity and who had subsequently returned to their places of residency after Pentecost and had started house churches in their homes.

However, some scholars think that the word “dispersion” may include those Jews who were scattered, not by the past invasions of Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, or Rome, but by the present persecution of Jewish believers by Jewish unbelievers. We must remember that the Early Christians were first persecuted by those in Jerusalem long before they were persecuted by those in Rome. 

Now, we know of at least two references to persecution in Jerusalem that may have led to the scattering of Jewish believers. The first is the great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem that arose on the day Stephen was stoned to death as recorded in Acts 8:1 and Acts 11:19. This persecution ended with the conversion of Saul, the main instigator of hatred against believers. 

The second is the short-lived persecution of the Church by Herod as recorded in Acts 12. However, we do know from Scripture and the writings of the First Century historian, Flavius Josephus, that unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem and elsewhere constantly persecuted believers throughout the Early Church period, at least up until the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

So, it is possible that the recipients of Peter’s letter were Jewish believers that had been displaced by both invasion and persecution. 

Now, when did Peter write this letter to these believers and from where? Well I believe…and I stress, I believe because most scholars believe this letter was written later…I believe the letter was written fairly early, perhaps even before Paul’s first missionary journey. Why do I say that? 

Well, firstly because the content of the letter appears to be what would be written to new believers. It is pretty basic Christianity 101 that could be likened to material for a disciple making group or a confirmation class. This doesn’t sound like something Peter would write to a long established mature church. 

My second reason reason is that  Ancient church traditions, often preserved by early writers such as Hippolytus of Rome and recorded by the Church historian Eusebius, claim that Peter first spent time in Antioch, then journeyed through Asia Minor. It may be his first journey took place before what is recorded about Antioch in Acts 11:19 and following because it is strange that there is no mention of Peter in this passage even though he is front and centre before it and after it. 

Remember it is Barnabas who is sent from Jerusalem to Antioch to investigate the explosive multi-ethnic growth in that city, not Peter, as one might have expected. Or it could be that Peter visited (or revisited) these areas after he had fled Jerusalem following his miraculous escape from prison in Acts 12. 

Either way, according to these traditions, Peter ministered throughout these regions before eventually heading to Rome.

This leads us to our final question. Did Peter write the letter from Rome or from Jerusalem? Does the letter say anything about the geographical location of Peter at the time of writing? 

Well, there is only one cryptic reference to location and that is found in 1 Peter 13. “She who is in Babylon, who is likewise chosen, send you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.” Now, most scholars think that the name “Babylon” here refers to Rome because Rome was the great persecutor and oppressor of the Christian Church. 

However, as I said earlier, persecution from Rome came much later. In fact Acts seems to indicate that the Roman State was more interested in keeping the peace than in persecuting anyone. 

Secondly, in this letter, Peter seems to have a favourable view of the Roman government and of its emperor. In 1 Peter 2:13 and following Peter instructs these believers to “be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good”. In fact he tells them to “honour the emperor”! 

Add to this the fact that the earliest extant Jewish text that clearly uses “Babylon” as a symbolic name for Rome, is the Sibylline Oracles, Book V, generally dated to roughly 80-125 AD, long after Peter’s lifetime. “Wretched city,” that author writes, “Latin land… Babylon, you alone shall fall…”

This is generally regarded as the earliest Jewish work in which the identification of Rome as Babylon is explicit.  Prior to that, 70 AD and earlier, Jewish texts overwhelmingly identified Rome with Edom/Esau, Kittim, or the fourth kingdom of Daniel, but never Babylon.

This has caused some scholars to connect the name “Babylon” not to Rome but to Jerusalem because, as we have already seen in Acts, Jerusalem and the unbelieveing Jews are the main source of oppression and persecution of Jewish believers. Also, John in Revelation 11:8 identifies the “Great City”, that he later calls Babylon, as the place “where (our) Lord was crucified” (Revelation 11:8) and the place where “the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth” was  found, which is a direct quotation of Jesus’ prophecy about Jerusalem in Matthew 23:34-35. “Therefore,” Jesus said, “I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.”

So, personally, I think the Idea that Peter was writing from Jerusalem and not from Rome fits better with the time frame if we believe that Peter wrote this letter prior to the Great persecution of Nero that resulted in his martyrdom in the mid AD 60’s.

However, you will be grateful to know that the geographical location for the writing of this letter does not change what we can learn from the text…so I think we can safely move on to the text itself.

But before we do, I want you to imagine being forced to leave your home and your country because following Jesus had made you unwelcome. Some of your family, friends, and neighbours no longer trusted you. Some even regarded you as a traitor. You could no longer conduct business in the marketplace because no one would buy or trade with you. And then, suddenly, you were told that you either had to deny Jesus or you would be impisoned and put to death.  Where would you look for hope?

As we’ve already seen, Peter is writing to Jewish Christians scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. They lived in these areas either because of past invasions or present persecutions and so Peter's point is unmistakable: God's people now live as exiles in a hostile world.

But before Peter tells them what they must do and how they must live, he reminds them not only of what God has already done, but also who they are because of what God has already done. Everything begins with identity. In verses 1-2 Peter describes the recipients of this letter as the elect, as exiles, and as those who have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 

So, firstly, their indentity is founded upon God's initiative. He elected them and he chose them. We must never lose sight of the basic fact that Christianity begins with grace. They are the elect of God.

Secondly he calls them exiles. Now it may be that Peter was not just referring to their physical displacement, but also to the fact that as citizens of Heaven we should always consider ourselves as a people who belong somewhere else. Not that we are homeless or abandoned, but rather that we are living temporarily in a foreign culture…we are in the world, but we are not of it. We are exiles.

Thirdly, Peter said that they had been sanctified by the Holy Spirit for obedience to Jesus. I do want you to notice the Trinitarian formula used here by Peter. They had been chosen by the Father, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, for obedience to Jesus as they had been sprinkled with His blood. 

This imagery of blood sprinkling no doubt comes from Exodus 24 where Moses sprinkles the people with the blood of the sacrifice after they had promised to obey God. The blood of the sacrifice sealed the Old Covenant then and likewise the sacrificial blood of Jesus seals the New Covenant now.

Which tells us that salvation is not merely about forgiveness, but it includes obedient allegiance. We belong to King Jesus and identity comes before behaviour. Peter never says, "Behave like Christians so that God will choose you." Rather he says, "Because God chose you, you belong to him therefore live accordingly."

Then in verses 3-12 Peter reminds them of what God has given them. These verses are one long explosion of praise. Peter piles blessing upon blessing. Perhaps we can organise what he says around seven things that God gives to his children.

First, he gives us a living hope that is grounded on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Because Jesus lives... hope lives. Not wishful thinking. 

Second, God gives us a secure inheritance, which is unlike anything the world can give. Our inheritance cannot perish, cannot spoil, and it cannot fade. And I think it is important for us to take note of the possible contrast here. 

Those whom Peter is writing to have lost homes, their livelihood, and perhaps even family members and friends. What comfort then to hear that God has given them something nothing and no one can ever take away.

Third, God gives us an assurance of his protecting power. Not only has he given us an inheritance that is kept safe. We are kept safe. We are guarded through faith for salvation by God’s power. That is a wonderful statement of reassurance, don’t you think?

Fourth, God grants us joy in suffering. Note that, Peter does not minimise suffering. He acknowledges grief. “You have been grieved,” he says, “by various trials”. Yet neither trials nor grief have the final word. Through these trials their faith has been refined like gold and in that they can rejoice with a joy that Peter describes as inexpressible and filled with glory. And through that faith – faith in one they have not seen and yet one in whom they have believed – they are assured of the salvation of their souls. 

And finally, Peter reminds them of the privilege that is theirs of living in the time after Jesus’ earthly ministry. Before the incarnation the prophets searched and longed to know what has now been made known to us. They predicted the things we now see as fulfilled…things that even the angels who live in the presence of God longed to comprehend. 

So, in summary, in these first twelve verses of his letter, Peter has reminded his recipients of what God has done. Only now, does he give the first command.

Therefore…because of what God has done for you, set you hope fully on grace. Verse 13 serves as a hinge on which the passage turns. 

“Therefore, (because of what God has done for you and) preparing your minds for action, and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” In other words, you have been born to a livng hope, now live in that hope…live out your calling…live out your identity.

But it is important to note that in order to be able to do this, we must prepare our minds (or gird up the loins of our minds) and be sober minded (or be self-disciplined). In the context I believe this means that we must be careful to base our lives, our thoughts and our words and our behaviour, on the revelation we have received through the Gospel. 

This calls for a diligent study of the Scriptures…to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them…if we are to live as people that have received grace upon grace.

In Matthew 5 Jesus repeatedly said, "You have heard that it was said..." Note that he didn’t say “you have read that it was written”, but rather “you have heard that it was said”, no doubt a referrence to Jewish scholarly commentary on the Scriptural texts, in other words what the Scribes and Phariesses were teaching the people. “You have heard that it was said, but,” Jesus added, “but I say..." In other words, do not follow their teaching…follow mine. Or in Paul’s words, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is…his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

All visible sin is simply a manifestation of internal sin. Murder begins with anger. Adultery begins with lust. And therefore obedient living must begin in a changed heart and Christian holiness must begin with a prepared or a renewed mind.

So, because of what God has done for you you must learn to think Christianly. Fill your mind with truth. Reject lies. You must be sober-minded, self-controlled, and spiritually alert. Not intoxicated by the world's values. And you must set your hope fully on grace. Christian hope is not optimism…it is confidence in God's promised future based squarely on what God has done in the past and what he is doing in the present.

The world often thinks Christianity is mainly about rules, but Peter says otherwise. He spends twelve verses talking about God and what he has done before saying a single thing about what we must do.

He reminds us that we are chosen, that we are born again to a living hope. That we are recipients of an eternal inheritance that is guarded by God's power.

He tells us that lasting joy comes through suffering. That our salvation was foretold by prophets and admired by angelic beings.

And only then does he say, "Therefore..."

The Christian life is never an attempt to earn God's favour. It is a grateful response to grace already given. The greater our appreciation of the gospel, the greater our desire to obey. Peter tells us that obedience begins internally…he says it begins in the renewed mind…the same humble mind of Jesus. (Philippians 2:5)

This means that if we would live differently, we must first learn to think differently.

So every morning we need to remind ourselves who we are. We are God's chosen people. We also need to remember what he has done for us. He has given us a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. And then, because of that great and grace-filled gospel, we must prepare our minds for action, because a great and grace-filled gospel will always produce a changed life.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

His Workmanship – A Sonnet

His Workmanship – A Sonnet

Commentary on Ephesians 2:10

May I become what only I can be,

so that my days may ripple with a rhyme

that flows along to where my heart is free

to cultivate an echo that is mine.

My leanest years were seldom born of need,

but of the masks I only wore for show.

I starved my soul each time I failed to heed

the truth I had already come to know.

So I’ll not choose a path for vain applause,

but search his will to find where I might breathe

and bud and bloom beside his certain cause

where I may learn to live what I believe

about the person I was born to be,

the only one who truly can be me.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

Jesus – our Source and our Goal: Part One

Psalm 24                           2 Chronicles 7:13-14                         1 Corinthians 10:1–11:1                 

Jesus – our Source and our Goal: Part One

There is a little village on the Isle of Lewis called Barvas. It is a place of windswept moors, stone cottages, and long winters. In 1949, the church had become quiet and sleepy. The pews were filled with memories rather than expectation. If you had visited a church in Barvas at that time, you would probably have concluded that it was simply another congregation slowly fading into history.

Yet in one small cottage, two elderly sisters refused to accept that verdict.

Christine Smith was eighty-four years old and blind. Her sister Peggy was eighty-two, bent almost double with arthritis. Neither of them possessed influence or position. They could not organise events. They could not preach. They could not visit homes across the island. Their usefulness, many might have assumed, had long since passed.

But they could still pray.

One evening, as Pete Greig recounts in his book Dirty Glory, these two sisters sat by the peat fire burdened by the spiritual condition of their village. But their grief was not for themselves…it was for the absence of a generation. They longed to see young people filling the church once again. As they prayed, one of the sisters received a vision of the church crowded with young people. The next morning they summoned the minister.

"Revival is coming," they told him.

"What should I do?" the minister asked.

Peggy's reply has become famous. "What should you do? You should pray, man!"

They proposed an agreement. If the minister and the council members would gather twice a week in a barn on the opposite end of town to pray, they would spend those same nights praying in their cottage on their side of town from ten o'clock until three in the morning.

And so they began. Week after week. Month after month. Five hours at a time.

But nothing happened. No crowds of young people…in fact, no crowds at all. No conversions. No excitement. 

Only prayer. 

Now, we'll come back to that story later, because I suspect Paul would have understood those long months of apparent silence far better than we might imagine.

Last week, as we concluded chapter nine, Paul left us standing beside an athletic track. We watched runners straining every muscle toward the finish line. We watched boxers disciplining their bodies through relentless training. Their eyes were fixed on a wreath that would fade in time, and yet they willingly denied themselves every unnecessary indulgence because the prize mattered more than their comfort.

Then Paul said something extraordinary. "I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." Those words ought to stop every one of us in our tracks.

If any believer could be considered spiritually secure, surely it was the Apostle Paul. If anyone possessed theological knowledge, missionary experience, spiritual gifts, and sacrificial devotion, surely it was Paul. Yet he refuses to presume upon God's grace. He refuses to believe that yesterday's faithfulness guarantees tomorrow's perseverance.

As we have seen so far in our series on 1 Corinthians, Paul has one central argument running from 8:1 all the way to 11:1, and it is remarkably simple. The greatest threat to the church is not doctrinal ignorance, but self-centred confidence. 

In Chapter 8, he tells us that while knowledge puffs up, other-person-centred love builds up. In Chapter 9 he said that he would willingly give up anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the Gospel of Jesus…that he became all things to all people so that he might save some…and that his focus in running the spiritual race was disciplined and determined so that he might himself not be disqualified. 

But this closing statement leaves us with an obvious question. What does Paul mean by being disqualified? Well, I think Paul seeks to answer this question in chapter 10. 

Now, I find it interesting that Paul does not answer with a definition, but rather he answers with a story and not just any story. The story. The Exodus. Because if we want to understand the danger of spiritual complacency, Paul says the best biblical example we can find is one that takes place during Israel's wilderness wanderings.

In Chapter 10 he recounts the story of post-Exodus Israel…a people that had every privilege imaginable and yet who still failed to obtain the promised prize.

But it is also here in Chapter 10 that Paul delivers his climactic clincher as he reveals the source of unity in diversity…the one single focus that helps us run the race together as one team despite our many differences…and that one focus is Jesus. 

“You are one body,” he says, “because you all have the same thoughts on the mode of baptism or the way Jesus is present during Holy Communion.” No, wait, that’s not what he says. “You are one body because you all hold to the exact same millennial view.” No…Paul says, “You are one body because you share in one bread." That’s what makes us one body…we share in one bread. And because our participation in Jesus makes us one, we should never seek our own good but always seek the good of the others in that one body. 

And then in Chapter 11:1 Paul wraps up his discourse by providing us with the method of how we should live as one body despite our many differences and that is each participant’s personal perseverance in their own pursuit of imitating Jesus. 

If each one concerns themselves with their own quest to be more like Jesus…to be conformed to his image…to have his humble mind in themselves…then together, as members of the same team, united in the one loaf that is Jesus, we will cross the finish line and win the imperishable crown of life in him.

So, Paul begins. "I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters...that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all were baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink."

Now, did you notice that there is one word that echoes through these opening verses like the steady beat of a drum.

All.

All were under the cloud.

All passed through the sea.

All were baptised into Moses.

All ate the same spiritual food.

All drank the same spiritual drink.

Paul repeats it deliberately because he wants the Corinthians to understand something before he warns them of anything. Every single person who left Egypt stood on exactly the same footing before God.

Men. Women. Children. The elderly. The young. The strong. The weak. Even the mixed multitude that had joined Israel when they left Egypt.

Not one person was excluded from God's miraculous deliverance. The cloud shadowed them all. The sea opened before them all. The manna fed them all. The water sustained them all. Grace made no distinctions even though there were many differences among them.

And that is where Paul begins. With grace…and what a magnificent grace it was.

Imagine standing on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. Behind you lies slavery. Before you lies a new life of freedom. The sea that moments before seemed to be a barrier to freedom has now become the boundary between your old life and your new one. Egypt can no longer reach you. You are free.

I think this is what Paul wants to impress upon us when he says that they were "baptised into Moses”.

Well, just as our Christian baptism symbolically marks our passing from the kingdom of darkness and slavery to sin and Satan into the kingdom of light and freedom to serve Jesus…so too their baptism in the Sea marked their passing from the kingdom of Egypt and slavery into the kingdom of God and freedom to serve him. 

And just as our Christian baptism marks our union with Jesus and our inclusion as members of his covenant people, placing us squarely under his leadership and his sovereignty, so passing through the sea united Israel under the leadership of Moses and the sovereignty of God. They emerged not merely as escaped slaves but as one covenant community, one redeemed people, journeying together under God's appointed servant.

Now notice that Paul does not focus on individuals here. He focuses on a people. Divine salvation created a community. Divine deliverance created unity. God did not redeem isolated believers. He redeemed a people for himself.

So, already, perhaps, we begin to see why Paul has brought the Corinthians to this point.

Their arguments about things that divided them…food, freedom, and rights…those things caused them to think almost entirely as individuals. But individualism leads to disunity because it focusses on what I think and what I want.

So Paul gently yet firmly reminds them that redemption has never been about isolated individuals. It has always been about forming one people who belong to one God.

But then Paul says something even more astonishing. "They all drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ."

Those words have puzzled Christians for centuries. Was Christ really present in the wilderness? Now in my simplistic and perhaps naïve mind, I think Paul's answer is wonderfully simple. Yes.

You see, Jesus did not appear for the first time in Bethlehem. It is not as if God's Son suddenly entered history at Christmas. No, the eternal Son has been an active member of the Trinity since before time began…through him all things came into existence…he has always been the saviour of his people from eternity to eternity.

So, when Israel drank water from the rock in the wilderness, they experienced not merely a miracle but the gracious foreshadowing of the one who would provide spiritual water that will quench our thirst for eternity (John 4:10-14)…the one from whom God’s River of living water would flow (John 7:37-39)…and the one from whose pierced side blood and water flowed as he died for our salvation.

I think Paul is saying that the same one who feeds his Church today sustained Israel then. The same faithful Lord who invites us to his table today, journeyed with his people through the wilderness.

The Corinthians, therefore, cannot imagine themselves to possess privileges greater than Israel's. And nor can we.

We are all are baptised. We are all fed with bread from heaven. We all drink from the Rock that is Christ.  All of them…all of us. God was gracious in ages past…God is gracious still today…and God will be gracious into all eternity.

However, having repeated the word "all" five times, Paul suddenly changes direction with words that must have fallen upon the Corinthians like a thunderclap.

"Nevertheless..."

"Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness."

That sentence is almost unbearable. All received grace…and yet. All experienced God's mighty deliverance…and yet. All belonged to the covenant community…and yet…most never entered the Promised Land…in fact, only three members of the original adult company that left Egypt crossed over the River Jordan into the Promised Land.

How can that be? Well, that is precisely the question Paul wants the Corinthians (and us) to wrestle with.

Because if the astonishing privileges poured out on Israel did not make them immune from judgment, well then neither baptism, nor communion, nor years spent in church, nor theological knowledge, nor faithful service can ever become grounds for spiritual presumption.

Grace is never a licence for complacency. It is always an invitation to humble perseverance.

And perhaps, without yet realising it, we are beginning to understand why nothing happened for so many weeks in that little village of Barvas, for the greatest obstacle to the work of God is seldom a lack of activity.

It is far more often the quiet assumption that because we have known God's blessings, we no longer need God's searching.

As Pete Grieg says in his book, despite the fact that there “were no instant answers, no further visions, and certainly no teenagers miraculously turning up at church…the Smith sisters kept praying in their cottage and the (church council) kept praying in their barn for many weeks, until…until a particular night when one of the council members stood to read Psalm 24: 

“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” (ESV) 

“Brethren,” (the council member) said, “it is just so much humbug to be waiting thus, night after night, month after month, if we ourselves are not right with God.” They nodded and he continued, “I must ask myself, ‘is my heart pure? Are my hands clean?” He lifted his head and emitted a strange cry, then he fell to his knees and crumpled to the floor. The barn was suddenly filled with the presence of God. It was a moment that would later be identified as ‘the catalyst that let loose a power that shook the Hebrides’.”

What Paul tells us about the Israelites serves as an example to us all. “These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” 

And so, I must ask myself, is my heart pure? I must ask myself, are my hands clean?

There is something deeply unsettling about what Paul says here about Israel in the wilderness.

Surely God would not rescue an entire nation from slavery, sustain them through the wilderness, reveal his glory in the pillar of cloud, feed them daily with bread from heaven, give them water from the rock and then say that he was "not pleased with most of them."

And yet that is exactly what Paul says.

But the tragedy was not that God had failed them. The tragedy was that, having received such extraordinary grace, they gradually lost sight of the God who had given it.

But isn't that the story of the human heart?

How easily we become more fascinated with God's gifts than with God himself.

How easily yesterday's miracle becomes today's expectation.

How quickly gratitude gives way to entitlement.

The wilderness generation did not wake up one morning and decide to abandon the Lord. Their downfall was far more subtle than that. It happened one small compromise at a time, one act of distrust at a time, one complaint at a time. Their hearts slowly drifted from the God who had redeemed them.

And that is precisely why Paul says, "These things happened as examples for us."

But we need to take notice of that word ‘example’. Paul is not inviting us to sit in judgment over Israel. He is inviting us to use Israel as a mirror.

The temptation when we read the Old Testament is always to think, How could they have been so blind? But Paul wants us to ask a far more uncomfortable question.

How much of Israel do I find in myself?

And the answer to that question changes everything, because now the wilderness is no longer ancient history…it has become a spiritual diagnostic tool.

Paul names four particular sins. Idolatry, sexual immorality, putting God to the test, and grumbling.

At first glance they seem unrelated, but beneath them lies one common root.

Each one is, in its own way, a refusal to trust that God is enough.

Think about them for a moment. Why do people turn to idols? Well, because they want a predictable god they can control.

Why does sexual immorality become so attractive? Because immediate gratification seems preferable to patient obedience.

Why do people test the Lord? Because they demand that God prove himself on their terms.

Why do people grumble? Because they quietly accuse God of failing to provide what is best.

All different sins yet one single disease.

The problem with Israel was that they were no longer satisfied with the God of Scripture. They wanted a god that was more like them.

That is why these stories matter. Paul is not giving the Corinthians a catalogue of ancient failures. He is exposing the anatomy of every temptation that is common to humanity, because sin begins long before the outward act. It begins when our confidence in God's goodness begins to erode.

So Paul’s advice to the Corinthians and to us is simple: "…if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall."

Now, I don’t know about you, but I find that warning intensely personal. It is as if Paul has stopped talking about Israel…that he has stopped talking about Corinth…that he is now he is talking to me.

You know, pride is astonishingly difficult to detect in ourselves. It can even disguise itself as spiritual maturity. That, after all, had been the problem in Corinth from the beginning.

But to return to the story we began with…for weeks those council members gathered in a barn. They prayed faithfully…earnestly…expectantly. And yet...nothing happened.

Until one evening a council member stood to read Psalm 24.

"Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart..."

I believe that in this passage Paul quietly places a mirror before us all.

"If you think you are standing..."

Yet, and this is so characteristic of Paul, he refuses to leave us beneath the crushing weight of self-examination. If the passage ended there, we might despair, because who among us can honestly say, "My heart is completely pure." Or "My hands are entirely clean."

So, instead of leaving us in front of the mirror of post-Exodus Israel’s disqualification, Paul immediately lifts our eyes away from ourselves and fixes them once again upon God. "There is no temptation that has overtaken you except what is common to humanity." What a wonderfully realistic sentence. Paul demolishes one of Satan's oldest lies. The lie that whispers, "No one struggles like you." "No one understands." "No one has ever faced this temptation." “It is just nasty, icky, sticky little you.”

Paul says, "That simply isn't true." Every believer throughout history has discovered the same battlefield. While our temptations differ in form, they do not differ in essence. They are the common inheritance of fallen humanity. Which means none of us fights alone. None of us is uniquely broken. None of us is beyond God's help.

But then comes one of the most hope-filled declarations in Scripture.

"But God is faithful." And in this declaration, Paul has subtly reversed the emphasis. Yes, Israel was unfaithful. Yes, Corinth was becoming unfaithful. Yes, we are often unfaithful. But God's covenant faithfulness never wavers. Our perseverance ultimately rests not upon the strength of our grip on him, but upon the unwavering certainty of his grip on us.

Isn't that the pattern of the whole gospel? When we finally discover that we cannot save ourselves...God points us to his provision…ultimately, to Jesus himself. For every temptation that would draw us away from God finds its answer, not in greater willpower, but in a greater vision of Jesus.

When the council member asked those very personal questions in that barn in Barvas…when he stood before the mirror of God’s Word and was willing to let the Holy Spirit examine him…God was faithful to meet him in his honest questioning and revival was the result. 

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

Running to Win: Discipline and Perseverance

1 Corinthians 9:24–27                            Matthew 7:24-27

Running to Win: Discipline and Perseverance

Three weeks ago we examined, in 1 Corinthians 8, Paul’s approach to the question of theological precision that had manifested itself in the church of God in Corinth as an attitude of moral superiority that harmed other brothers and sisters in their community. Those who were not quite as assured in their new identity in Jesus were being spiritually wounded by those who considered themselves mature. 

If you remember, Paul’s solution to this dilemma was a self-sacrificial love that always seeks to build up others…a love that would even deny certain legitimate rights of believers if exercising that right would harm another believer…in their case eating meat that had been offered to idols.

Then the following week, in chapter 9:1-18, we saw that Paul speaks about things that at first seems like an interruption. Whereas in the former chapters, Paul is addressing issues in the church of God in Corinth, here he suddenly begins to speak about his own apostleship, financial support for ministers of the Gospel, and his own personal rights.

But in conclusion we saw that in these two passages, Paul is making a statement about two very different approaches to the Christian life. One which is self-centred and the other which is other-person-centred. We also noted that it is important to grasp that the self-centred person may be perfectly right…and consequently they justify their actions even though the upholding of their rights damages or destroys other believers.

But in stark contrast, Paul deliberately chooses to live an other-person-centred life by forfeiting his legitimate rights for the sake of others. 

And then last week, we saw Paul move on from a surrender of perceived rights for the sake of loving others to a spiritual flexibility for the sake of serving others. “Though I am free from all,” he said, “I have made myself a servant to all” an attitude he summarises later in his statement: “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”

We saw that Paul refuses to allow his personal preferences, his freedoms, customs, or his rights to become barriers that prevent others from hearing the Gospel…or indeed that prevent others from holding non-essential views that may differ from his own. And I said that this requires immense humility. It requires the death of pride. It requires the surrender of entitlement. It requires patience with people who are weaker, slower, less informed, or culturally different. It requires an ability to hold inessential or peripheral theological positions loosely. 

And at the centre of it all stands love…a Christ-like love that is able to focus entirely upon the good of others.

Now, this week, Paul shifts his imagery once again, moving from slavery and servanthood to athletics and competition.

The Corinthians would have immediately understood the imagery. The famous Isthmian Games, second only to the Olympic Games in prestige throughout the Greek world, were held every two years near Corinth. Athletes trained rigorously between these two years, often denying themselves pleasures, comforts, and distractions in pursuit of victory.

And Paul now seizes upon this familiar cultural image to make a point.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run as that one who yearns to obtain it.” Now, I have paraphrased the statement in this way lest you may think that Paul is suggesting that only one Christian will be saved. Rather he is trying to emphasize the wholehearted commitment required for each one running the race of faith.

Athletes do not compete casually. They compete intentionally. They compete with discipline. They compete with singular focus.

The Christian life likewise requires endurance, perseverance, and determination.

Paul continues: “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.” Now, this word translated here as “self-control” implies rigorous discipline. Athletes submitted their whole lives… their schedules, their desires, and their habits to the demands of training because above all else they wanted to receive the victor’s wreath (or crown)…a wreath Paul says is perishable purposefully contrasting that image with the wreath believers receive which is imperishable.

The victor’s wreath in the ancient games was typically made from pine, celery, or laurel. It symbolized honour and public recognition, but it eventually withered. Paul compares this temporary reward with the eternal reward of faithful perseverance in Jesus demonstrating that while the world pursues a glory that fades, the Christian pursues what endures forever.

Paul therefore applies the image personally: “So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air.” In other words, his life and his ministry is not directionless…both his life and ministry possesses purpose. His words and actions are governed by eternal priorities.

At this point, Paul delivers the climactic statement: “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

This statement has often troubled readers. What does Paul mean by disqualified? Does he mean that salvation depends upon flawless perfection? Is he saying that it is possible that Jesus may abandon us if we fail to perform?

No, in my humble opinion, I believe Paul is warning the Corinthians and us against presumption. The Corinthians believed themselves spiritually secure because they possessed knowledge, gifts, experiences, and confidence. Yet Paul insists that genuine spirituality perseveres in disciplined faithfulness.

The word “disqualified” comes from the world of athletic contests and testing. It refers to one who fails the test or is rejected after examination…but that did not necessarily imply finality. Just a wake-up call, if you will. 

Here Paul recognizes something profoundly important: No Christian is above the need for vigilance. Not even the best among us are beyond temptation. No believer is immune to spiritual disaster if they become careless, arrogant, or self-indulgent.

This warning for vigilance prepares us for chapter 10 where Paul will point to Israel in the wilderness as an example of people who possessed extraordinary spiritual privileges and yet nevertheless fell into idolatry and judgment and failed to obtain the promise or the prize.

Paul’s Gospel concern throughout these chapters is therefore consistent: Do not presume upon theological precision…you may be right, you may be wrong, but, as Paul will tell us later in chapter 13, theology divorced from other-person-centred love is merely discordant noise. Do not use your perceived freedom carelessly as you do not want to wound a weaker believer for whom Jesus died. Do not mistake knowledge for maturity as maturity is able to humbly descend the lofty ladder should love for the less fortunate demand it.

And because of this Gospel concern, Paul says that the Christian life requires endurance and endurance requires discipline…not legalism…not self-elevation. But disciplined devotion flowing from the humble mind of Jesus.

Paul’s entire argument throughout chapters 8–9 therefore reaches its climax here. The Corinthians wanted spirituality detached from unity in community, but Paul teaches that authentic spirituality always involves self-denial for the sake of others…because that’s exactly what Jesus did.

The Corinthians wanted to exercise their freedom without restraint, but Paul teaches that Christian freedom is disciplined and tempered by love.

While the Corinthians pursue status and recognition, Paul pursues faithfulness regardless of personal consequence. While the Corinthians celebrate triumph, Paul celebrates surrender and servanthood.

So where does this leave us?

Paul is not calling us to admire spiritual discipline in theory, nor to respect spiritual athletes from a distance while remaining spiritually untrained ourselves. He is calling us to examine the shape of our own discipleship…our own walk with the Lord…the manner in which we run our own race.

Because the question these two chapters press upon us is not simply do you understand the Gospel or are you theologically precise, but rather are you ordering your life so that you will faithfully mirror the person of Jesus even ten, twenty, thirty years from now? These chapters do not so much address the correctness of your convictions, but rather whether you are becoming more like Jesus in how you hold them, use them, and apply them.

You see, it is possible to be doctrinally accurate like the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, and yet be spiritually careless and arrogant and harmful. It is possible to win arguments and yet to lose people whom Jesus died for. It is possible to exercise freedom and still wound the very people Jesus seeks to gather to himself. Paul will not let us confuse knowledge with maturity.

So we must ask more searching questions.

What is forming and shaping you as a believer?

Where have you become undisciplined because you assume grace will cover what you refuse to surrender?

Where has comfort and self-confidence replaced training, and entitlement replaced obedient servanthood? 

And perhaps most piercing of all: what is currently shaping your pace in the race…the humble call of the Gospel, or your own puffed-up claim to be right? Are you running at all, or have you stepped out onto the sidelines?

Paul’s warning is not meant to produce fear, but vigilance. Not anxiety, but seriousness. The danger is not that Jesus is unwilling to keep us, but that we become careless about being kept.

So the call today is simple, but it is not easy.

Run as an athlete who is determined to win…not for applause, not for comparison, not for identity…but for faithfulness. Lay aside what slows you down or trips you up…or indeed what trips up others. Refuse what dulls your love. And refuse to assume that yesterday’s discipline is enough for today’s battle.

Because the Christian life is not merely a moment of decision; it is a lifelong race of devotion. And those who endure are those who have learned, quietly and repeatedly, to say no to themselves so that they may say a deeper yes to the love of God demonstrated through the cross.

And when love governs that discipline…love for God and love for others…and other-person-centred-love…then even the hardest restraints become joyful obedience, and the race itself becomes worship.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

Becoming All Things to All People

Philippians 2:3-7                 1 Corinthians 9:19–23                    Luke 5:29-32

Becoming All Things to All People

Two weeks ago we examined, in 1 Corinthians 8, Paul’s approach to the question of theological precision that had manifested itself in the church of God in Corinth as an attitude of moral superiority that harmed other brothers and sisters in their community. Those who were not quite as assured in their new identity in Jesus were being spiritually wounded by those who considered themselves mature. 

Now, if you remember, Paul’s solution to this dilemma was a self-sacrificial love that always seeks to build up others…a love that would even deny certain legitimate rights of believers if exercising that right would harm another believer…in their case eating meat that had been offered to idols.

Then in chapter 9:1-18, we saw that Paul speaks about things that at first seems like an interruption. Whereas in the former chapters, Paul is addressing issues in the church of God in Corinth, here he suddenly begins to speak about his own apostleship, financial support for ministers of the Gospel, and his own personal rights.

But in conclusion we saw that in these two passages, Paul is making a statement about two very different approaches to the Christian life. One which is self-centred and the other which is other-person-centred. We also noted that it is important to grasp that the self-centred person may be perfectly right…and consequently they justify their actions even though the upholding of their rights damages or destroys other believers.

But in stark contrast, Paul deliberately chooses to live an other-person-centred life by forfeiting his legitimate rights for the sake of others. 

Now, Paul moves on from a surrender of perceived rights for the sake of loving others to a spiritual flexibility for the sake of serving others. “Though I am free from all,” he says, “I have made myself a servant to all.”

And this statement captures the entire logic of Christian mission.

Paul is free. Yet he voluntarily embraces servanthood. The language here is deeply significant. Paul does not say he was forced into servitude. He deliberately chooses it. His slavery is voluntary, shaped by love for God and others and governed by the gospel of Jesus.

This stands in stark contrast to the Corinthian culture and dare I say modern evangelical culture.

Corinth prized individuality…they prized social advancement, public honour, rhetorical brilliance, and visible status. Those who were free sought recognition. Patrons sought influence. Philosophers sought to make pupils in their own image. Public life revolved around prestige and social positioning and therefore the urge to exercise freedom regardless of its effect on others was viewed as normal.

Yet Paul, though truly free, deliberately descends the social ladder.

Why? Well, his answer is simple. “To win as many as possible.” This language of “winning” is important. Paul does not speak as a leader gathering admirers or clients. He speaks as a servant seeking the salvation and restoration of others.

Thus he adapts himself to different socio-economic groups and different ethnic and cultural groups. “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.” Now of course, Paul does not mean that he abandoned his identity whenever convenient. Nor is he pretending to be something he is not. Rather, he willingly accommodates himself to the customs and sensitivities of those among whom he ministers.

This explains why Paul could participate in Jewish customs when among Jews. For example, he circumcised Timothy for pastoral reasons. Remember Timothy’s mother was Jewish and therefore if he was circumcised so as not to be a stumbling block to the Jews to whom he ministered. Paul shaved his head after fulfilling a vow and he participated in purification rites in Jerusalem. He attended synagogue gatherings and reasoned from the Jewish Scriptures…the Old Testament.

Why would Paul do this if he believed justification came through Jesus rather than the Law? Because Paul distinguished between observing the Law as cultural obligation and participating in Jewish customs for the sake of mission and fellowship.

Paul was no longer “under the Law” as the defining basis of covenant membership before God. His relationship with God was mediated through Jesus. Yet this freedom allowed him voluntarily to participate in Jewish life when love and mission required it.

This is why he continues: “To those under the law I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law.”

Notice the careful balance in what he says. Paul neither rejects Jewish practice entirely nor allows it to define righteousness before God.

And then Paul turns to Gentiles: “To those outside the law I became as one outside the law.” Again, Paul immediately adds an important qualification: “Not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ.”

It is important to note at this point, that Paul is not morally lawless. He is not antinomian. His point is that his identity is no longer governed by the Mosaic covenant as an ethnic boundary marker. Instead, he lives under the lordship of Jesus…a lordship that embraces both Jew and Gentile alike.

Now, this gave Paul remarkable missionary flexibility. Among Gentiles he could eat foods not prepared according to Jewish custom. He could participate in table fellowship across ethnic boundaries. He could adapt his communication to Greek audiences, quoting Greek poets and using forms of Greek rhetoric familiar to them. But in every context the gospel itself remained unchanged.

This is an important lesson for the Church. Faithfulness to Jesus does not require rigid cultural uniformity. The gospel may be communicated through different cultural forms provided…and this is important…provided the truth itself is not compromised.

Then Paul says something especially important in the context of chapters 8–9: “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.”

The weak here are more than likely the vulnerable believers Paul discussed earlier in chapter 8…those with fragile consciences, fragile self-awareness, or unstable spiritual confidence.

And please notice that Paul does not despise them, ridicule them, nor reproach them. Whereas the Corinthians viewed the weak as obstacles to enlightened freedom, Paul sees them as precious people to be won, protected, strengthened, and preserved as they were people for whom Jesus died. This reveals the pastoral heart of Christian maturity.

The strong should not bully the weak. The mature should not mock the vulnerable. The knowledgeable should not humiliate the insecure. Rather, true maturity willingly and humbly limits itself for the good of others.

Paul therefore summarizes: “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”

This statement has sometimes been misunderstood. Paul is not saying that truth is relative. He is not advocating compromise. He is not adjusting the gospel to please audiences. Rather, he is removing unnecessary obstacles to the gospel.

Paul refuses to allow his personal preferences, his freedoms, customs, or his rights to become barriers that prevent others from hearing the Gospel…or indeed that prevent others from holding non-essential views that may differ from his own. This requires immense humility. It requires the death of pride. It requires the surrender of entitlement. It requires patience with people who are weaker, slower, less informed, or culturally different. It requires an ability to hold inessential or peripheral theological positions loosely. 

And at the centre of it all stands love.

Modern Christianity often asks: What are my rights? What freedoms may I exercise? What preferences should others accommodate to suit me?

But Paul asks an entirely different question: “How may I patiently and tenderly help others come to Jesus so that they might grow to stand firm in him?”

This is missionary spirituality. This is cruciform spirituality. This is Christlike spirituality.

And then, finally, Paul concludes this section with a remarkable statement: “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”

The gospel is not merely Paul’s message. It is the atmosphere in which he lives. It is the very air that he breathes. The gospel governs his decisions, his freedoms, his relationships, his ministry, and even his identity. Like Jesus, Paul knew that he was not called to minister to people who believed they were morally perfect and therefore had no need for God's help or forgiveness. Like Jesus, he knew he was called to minister to people who were broken, weak, and spiritually bankrupt. 

And so, like Jesus, he too took on the form of a servant, becoming all things to all people, so that he might win the more for the Kingdom.

And this presents us with a challenge. 

Alongside the biblical lists of behaviours and lifestyles that disqualify people from entrance to the kingdom of God, in the Creeds, the Early Church gave us a list of theological essentials…truths on which we can never compromise. 

So, the question we must ask ourselves is are we willing and are we able…are we humble enough and are we spiritually mature enough to fellowship with another brother or sister in Jesus who is living according to clear biblical principles and who firmly believes every statement of faith outlined in the Creeds and yet who holds to a different theological point of view regarding nonessentials to our faith? 

Are we spiritually mature enough to become all things to all people so that by all means we might save some?

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

Certainty

Though passioned prayers may storm the gates of heaven

for those who linger long in sinking shade

though shattered lives may yearn for resurrection

yet see all hope for mercy fail and fade

though those who sit and wait at vacant tables 

with empty arms that ache through passing years

through many anxious nights remain unable

to dream while grief returns to harvest tears

I know because of him who grants me value

that even if there is no convalescence  

faith moves away from certainty of rescue 

to certainty of his persistent presence

for all that in this life seems so ambiguous

his lasting love will always be continuous

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026

The Hardest Part – A Sonnet

The hardest part is not that you are gone 

but how to breathe when half my shadow stays

where you abide – my grief is more than songs

of absence – it is all the vanished ways

of how I found myself within your light

and how we grew together through the days

where words unspoken in our darkest nights

became what braided two uncertain ways

into one – yes what’s gone cannot return

nor can the self that bloomed beneath your gaze –

yet what is lost remains to be discerned

in what is left of you in me that stays

and moves and grows beyond the searing pain

to bloom anew until we meet again

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026