Loving Proof

Jeremiah 31:33      Ezekiel 36:27      2 Timothy 3:16-17         John 14:15-24

Loving Proof

In 1998, Gerd Lüdemann, a prominent German Theologian and professor of New Testament and director of the Institute of Early Christian Studies at Göttingen university, renounced Christianity, declaring that he no longer described himself as a Christian. 

In his book, What Really Happened to Jesus (written in 1995) he argued that “We can no longer take the statements about the resurrection of Jesus literally.” Lest anyone miss his point, Lüdemann continued, “So let us say quite specifically: the tomb of Jesus was not empty but full, and his body did not disappear, but rotted away.” Later, Lüdemann gave an interview to the German magazine Evangelische Kommentare in which he stated that the Bible’s portrayal of Jesus is a “fairy-tale world which we cannot enter.”

Lüdemann also denied the virgin birth stating that Jesus was a product of rape; he denied the sinlessness of Jesus arguing that if Jesus was fully human then “we must grant that he was neither sinless or without error”; and he sought to discredit the Scriptures as an authoritative source for Christian Theology.

Now, just to put this into perspective, these denials of the basic, essential, and fundamental tenets of the Christian Faith are not new. Heretics down through the ages have denied various, if not all, of these aspects of Christian belief. Neither is it new for those holding high office in the Church to make outrageous claims such as these. 

But what was different about Lüdemann is that he had come face to face with his unbelief and had confessed it as such. He said, “A Christian is someone who prays to Christ and believes in what is promised by Christian doctrine. So, I asked myself: ‘Do I pray to Jesus? Do I pray to the God of the Bible?’ And I don’t do that. Quite the reverse.”  By saying this, Lüdemann exposed the irrational and unreasonable cesspool of liberalism for what it is…totally bankrupt and without logical foundation. He suggested that liberals and revisionists should give up their charade for the sake of honesty…a timely word for those who seek to change Scripture into a wax nose that can be reshaped to suit whatever is currently trendy in society. 

Looking back on the whole project of liberal theology, Lüdemann offered an amazing reflection: “I don’t think Christians know what they mean when they proclaim Jesus as Lord of the world. That is a massive claim. If you took that seriously, you would probably have to be a fundamentalist. If you can’t be a fundamentalist, then you should give up Christianity for the sake of honesty.” (Whole quotations taken from https://albertmohler.com/2009/07/16/in-the-company-of-fellow-nonbelievers-liberal-theology-abandons-the-faith/)

This reflection of Lüdemann brings the faith of every Christian into crystal clear focus. What do we believe concerning the God of the Bible? What do we believe about Jesus? What do we believe about the Holy Spirit? Is this God real? Is Jesus who he claimed to be? Has the Holy Spirit taken up residence within believers? What demand does that place upon who we are as followers of Jesus and what we think, do, and speak? How should we view the material world in the light of the teachings of him who claims to be Lord of the Universe?

I think Jesus’ statement in John 14:15 is a wake-up call for us. “If you love me,” Jesus said, “obey my commandments.” In other words, the proof of our love for our Lord is not merely an oral profession only, but rather a consistent life of obedience to what he commands. In so many ways, very few believers who claim to love God truly honour him properly.

Now, of course, one is immediately faced with the obvious question. Which commandments? Some have been so bothered by this question that they have either embraced all the Old Testament laws, observing the rituals and the rites without question, or they have simply discarded the Old Testament as irrelevant to the Christian period. As with most things, I believe the solution lies somewhere in between. 

So, which commandments are we to keep in order to fulfil this requirement to demonstrate through obedience our love for our Lord? I think Jesus gave us the answer in the verses that follow. For us to fulfil love’s demand, Jesus promised to send to all believers another helper, like himself, who will abide with them and teach them by bringing the word of Jesus to remembrance.

But how does this help us in determining which commandments Jesus was referring to here? Well, to answer that question, we need to turn to some other passages that speak of the role of the helper, or the Holy Spirit, in the life of believers. In reference to the New Covenant, the Lord said in Jeremiah 31:33, “I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people.” However, in Ezekiel 36:27, the Lord combined this promise of the internalising of his law with the indwelling or infilling of the Holy Spirit. “I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues, and you will keep my commandments and do them.” The Apostle John also connected the two internalisations in 1 John 3:24. “Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”

The two Old Testament passages are especially illuminating as they were written at a time when the Law was undisputed as the moral guide for believers. Jesus’ own words regarding the Law is equally instructive. In Matthew 5:17-19 he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” According to our Lord’s own words here, the idea that we can dismiss the Old Testament is not an option. We cannot dismiss the Law because the Law reflects the character of our God. Consequently, if the Law has changed then our God has changed and we know that this is not so because our God remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, the same God who spoke the Law to Moses also said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

But this brings us back to the original question. Which commandments are we to obey? Should we be sacrificing bulls, and goats, and sheep? What about abstaining from certain foods or "intertying" wool and linen together? The answer to the question is rather complicated because there is no one single answer for all the laws. For instance, the laws about wool and linen were originally meant to prevent people from wearing the distinctive garments of the Priests and Levites. The prohibition of certain foods probably had to do with hygiene in an era when there was no refrigeration and so on. The Sabbaths and New Moons served to remind people of their interconnectedness with and dependence on God.

But what about the sacrifices? Well, the sacrifices served as illustrations or pictures foreshadowing what Jesus did for us on the cross. As such, they are fulfilled in Jesus. Hebrews 10:1 says, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.” So, we do keep the sacrificial system as we hold to the reality of which they were but shadows. You see, even in the Old Testament, it was understood that the sacrifices, the blood of bulls and goats, could not take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4) Never in the entire Bible are we ever told that salvation could be secured through ritual. If anything, the purpose of the Law was to make us aware of our dilemma with regard to our inability to attain moral perfection and therefore our need for divine forgiveness and intervention! 

But that doesn’t make the law a bad thing, does it? No, indeed, as Paul said, in Romans 7:7, “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” And then later in verse 12, “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

Why? Well, the Law is holy, righteous, and good because it reflects the holdy, righteous, and good character of the giver of the Law. So, we simply cannot dismiss God’s Law without pulling the rug upon which we stand out from under our feet. 

So, to return to the original injunction. If we profess to be followers of Jesus, we are by default committing ourselves to a certain and specific moral lifestyle defined by the whole word of God. This is why Paul could say in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture (and remember what he meant by Scripture at that time) is breathed out by God and (all Scripture) is profitable for teaching, (all Scripture is profitable) for reproof, (all Scripture is profitable) for correction, and (all Scripture is profitable) for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” All Scripture…Old as well as New.

So I don’t believe Jesus was being unreasonable in his statement about us showing our love for him by keeping his law. He said elsewhere that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light…true…but there is a yoke. As I said before, in order to fulfil loves’ demand Jesus promised to send another helper who would, in the words of the prophet Ezekiel, “cause (us) to walk in (his) statutes…(to) keep (his) commandments and do them”. 

The Holy Spirit serves as an indwelling helper…helping us keep the internalised law of God. As such the Holy Spirit can be compared to a guard and a guide, keeping us, convicting us, preventing us from going astray, and leading us in the right way. 

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are both called helpers here, one coming after the other goes. Jesus’ work was to reconcile us to God. The Holy Spirit’s work is to apply that work of Jesus, causing us to share not only in Jesus himself, but in all his blessings, as well as all his purposes.

In verse 18, Jesus made us acutely aware of the enormity of the gift given by presenting us with a contrast. He contrasted believers with the great misfortune of orphans who lack parental protection and direction and who thus become potential prey to every kind of fraud and injustice. In this we are reminded at once of our weakness and vulnerability as well as his greatness and his benevolence. Without him, we are nothing…we are like orphans without hearth or home. Yet here he secured his promise with his perpetual presence. As such, the Christian faith is defined by a relationship between the creature and the Creator who is neither far off nor simply near…no, rather he is within each one of us.

In verse 19, Jesus spoke about the ascension and his subsequent reign though his followers by the power of the Holy Spirit. As his presence would no longer be physical, unbelievers would no longer see him, but those who believed in him would “see” him because of his internal presence. Spiritual realities can only be seen by those who are spiritually alive…and because Jesus lives, we live. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural (or unregenerated) person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” The dead only see what is dead. The living, on the other hand, look beyond the temporal and focus on the eternal…life that comes from the one who is life.

But in verse 20, Jesus moved further still. “In that Day (and I believe he is speaking about the Day of Pentecost here) you will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you.” As Paul said in Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” We know Jesus is in us and we in him by the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. 

And at this point, Jesus returned to the original injunction. “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.” The reality of our relationship is demonstrated by a faithful commitment to the fulfilment of the standards of that relationship. We are to live as Jesus lived. We are to love as Jesus loved. We are to obey as Jesus obeyed. 

But it is Judas (not Iscariot) that brings the connection between love for Jesus and obedience to Jesus in sharp focus. What is the fundamental difference between believers and unbelievers? Why can we see Jesus while they do not? How is it that people like Lüdemann and others like him can read the exact same Scriptures as we do and yet come to radically different conclusions?

Jesus’ answer is simple. Those who love him and keep his commandments have an internalised law and an indwelling divine presence. Because the Holy Spirit dwell in us, we are not only able to believe in Jesus, but we are also able to obey him. Unbelievers cannot see him because such sight is only given to those to whom it has been granted. Those who love him, love him because he first loved them…and we demonstrate our love for him in return by living like him…living according to his divine will revealed in his Word.

So, may I ask you: Do you love Jesus? Lüdemann has said, “I don’t think Christians know what they mean when they proclaim Jesus as Lord of the world. That is a massive claim. If you took that seriously, you would probably have to be a fundamentalist.” By “fundamentalist” Lüdemann means someone who actually believes the Bible to be true and who believes that it is authoritative…that it contains all that is necessary for faith and life.

So, let me ask you once more. Do you love Jesus? Lüdemann’s conclusion is earth-shaking. “If you can’t be a fundamentalist, then you should give up Christianity for the sake of honesty.” This statement turns a spotlight on every believer’s heart. “If you love me,” Jesus said, “you will keep my commandments.” The genuineness of your faith will be displayed in your life, your attitude, your principles, and your behaviour…in what you do as well as in what you fail to do. The measure of your obedience will show the measure of your love.

So, may I ask once more. Do you love Jesus?

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2024