Chapter 14

Clearing the Air: Addressing Key Theological Issues

By this point, I hope you are beginning to feel more sturdy on the theological groundwork I have laid. That being said, I would like to stress how important it is that you are honest with yourself about whether or not you really agree with what I have written. If you are not completely confident about something based on your current understanding of the scriptures, then you shouldn't act like you are. Instead, share your uncertainties and disagreements. Challenge ideas, and let your ideas be challenged. There is no need to fear this process, for it is the necessary fire that we all must go through to come into a shared understanding of the truth.

With that in mind, in this next-to-last chapter, we will look at just a few more concepts that I believe will strengthen our foundation and help bring clarity to some unanswered questions that you may still have.

Dealing With James (Part 1)

There are two passages in James that have caused much confusion in the church. The first is the primary reason that Martin Luther called this letter an "epistle of straw," which stemmed from his belief that James' theology was contrary to Paul's theology regarding justification. On the surface, it is not difficult to see why he thought so.

Paul writes the following:

"[Y]et we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified" (Galatians 2:16).

And yet, in this verse, James seems to say the exact opposite:

"You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24).

What are we to do with this apparent contradiction? Well, it is actually very simple. James does not teach that we are justified by works alone but that works are the product of genuine faith. Hence why he says, "faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17). Although the way he argues it may come across as if one needs faith plus works (i.e., something in addition to faith), his point is simply that faith without works isn't really faith at all, and therefore not salvific (i.e., able to save).

As we now know, Paul actually agreed with this. He, too, was of the mindset that faith and obedience are inextricably linked. While they each say it a little differently, even to the point where it may sound like they're contradicting one another, they are actually saying the same thing: faith produces obedience. We have no need to fear this conclusion, for in it, the gospel of grace remains fully in tact.

Moreover, there is something else we might derive from this passage. Notice that James is correcting how some have misunderstood or misused the gospel (see James 2:14, 18, 20). Some have thought it to mean that one can have faith in Christ without having to do the will of God, thereby reducing the gospel to a ticket to heaven and a license to sin. Isn't this exactly the same issue that Paul dealt with in his ministry — that some thought his gospel was too loose on sin and others used it as an excuse to sin? Surely, wherever the full gospel of grace is preached, it will always be distorted this way by some.

Let us recognize, then, the fact that their messages were similarly mis-understood should clue us in that James and Paul were preaching the same gospel, as am I. It should also cause every Christian to consider a very important question. Does your ministry of the gospel, or your pastor's version of the gospel, ever get misunderstood in this way? After explaining the power of the gospel to live victoriously, has anyone ever responded with something like, "That 'radical grace' thing you're talking about is dangerous?" Or how about, "It sounds like you're saying that we can just do whatever we want?" Or, "Okay, but where's the accountability in that?" If yes, then take comfort in knowing that you are in good company. But if you haven't experienced this yourself or witnessed it in your church, then I can tell you, almost beyond a shadow of a doubt, it is because the gospel isn't being preached the same way that it was preached by these church leaders in the first century. This should be cause for a deep measure of humility in our church today.

Dealing With James (Part 2)

And now, the second "problem" passage in James:

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom." (James 4:8-9)

Throughout the majority of this book, I have been arguing that we (Christians) are one with God, that we are clean, that we are not sinners, that our hearts are pure, and that we ought to rejoice. Yet in this passage, James implies that they are not near to God, that they are dirty, that they are sinners, that their hearts are impure, and that they ought to mourn. What do we do with this?

Well, first of all, I ask us all to remember that it is not just me who makes the claims of our sainthood, purity, holiness, righteousness, newness, etc., but the large majority of New Testament scriptures — some of which are in James, itself (see James 1:23-25 and 3:11-12). I say this because scriptures like these in James, which appear to contradict the other scriptures, can be quite unsettling. In order for you to have your own faith and understanding, you must first cross the threshold of just taking someone else's word for it (in this case, mine) and figure out for yourself if you believe that this is what all the other scriptures are saying. I think everyone should start there, which will provide the foundation they need to rightly handle the word of God.

With that in mind, and in light of what we know about our identity in Christ, here is how I believe we should interpret this passage: James is speaking to an unrepentant group of people. Some suggest he may have been speaking indirectly to an unsaved audience (who might just happen to hear the letter read) or otherwise directly to some Christians, but not necessarily to all the Christians in all the churches who would have been reading the letter. Others think he is speaking directly to all of the readers, which I feel is unlikely, given the high probability that there was a diverse collection of spiritual states among "the twelve tribes in the Dispersion" (see James 1:1) to whom he is writing. Nevertheless, it is quite evident that the intended audience for this particular passage is not in good standing with the Lord. It is not particularly important how they got into this state of unrepentance; what matters is that we understand their state.

The type of person being addressed here is not your typical struggling Christian who is peacefully living amongst his church members, trying to obey God, frequently repenting, grieving over their sin, and so forth (which, I think, describes a lot of my readers). No, these people are quarreling, fighting, coveting, seeking all their own interests (4:1-3), and justifying it all. They are laughing in the face of their sin (4:9). They are choosing "friendship with the world" and failing to recognize that it is "enmity with God" (4:4). By definition, they are unrepentant, in the very simple way of not intending from their hearts to do the will of God.

For this reason, they need a stern correction, a harsh rebuke, a grave warning, to see that whatever faith they may claim to have is full of pride and deceit, emptied of its power, devoid of substance due to their lack of current agreement with the grace of God, by which we are freed from sin and enslaved to righteousness.

This type of warning, or call to repentance, is not unique to James, either. We see, for example, a similar theme in Paul's two letters to the Corinthians. Regarding a man who is sexually immoral in their midst, Paul declares to the church, "And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn?… Your boasting is not good…" (1 Corinthians 5:2-6). This sounds very similar, doesn't it? The Christians in Corinth, as evidenced by many of Paul's corrections throughout the letter, had become comfortable with sin in their midst, to the point where they had forgotten altogether the need for continual repentance.

Again, in Paul's other letter to Corinth, he writes the following: "I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish… that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced… I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now… that if I come again I will not spare them… Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!" (2 Corinthians 12:20-13:5, my italics)

So, at a very practical level, the response that passages like these should elicit in us is to discern our current standing with the Lord. With regard to the passage in James, one might ask, Does this apply to me? Is God not near to me? Am I a dirty sinner? I thought I had to put off that old identity. But however this passage may cause one to speculate or doubt, it also provides the template for the discernment that we need.

Regardless of what you have been up to the past hour, day, month, or year, there is one way that James says to have confidence that God is near to you — draw near to him right now (4:8). If you become aware of sin you haven't repented from, then allow yourself to mourn (4:9), letting this godly grief lead you into repentance, at which point your mourning has come to completion. Don't fall into the trap of trying to analyze yourself or your past to figure out where you stand. Instead, right this very moment, just come to him. Turn your heart to him. Set your mind on him. Humble yourself before him (4:10), recognizing your need for his grace. And then know that you have met the one condition — that is, repentance — of being joined with Christ. He cannot be any more near than this, and if there is something else you must do to be joined to him, then grace is null and void.

If you have any doubt about whether you are cleansed of your sins or your heart is pure, there is only one thing you must do. Believe the truth right now, for double-mindedness is the root of impurity (James 4:8). Confess your sins to the Lord and walk in the light before him right now, and know that you are clean (see 1 John 1:7-9). At this point, you may rightly discern that Christ is in you and that this passage in James is not for you anymore, for through faith/repentance you have been cleansed, sanctified, joined with Christ Jesus, and exalted with him in heaven, using the very means that James and the rest of the scriptures have instructed you to use.

I hope you see, then, that my encouragement for Christians to believe that God has purified their hearts does not mean that Christians should blindly assume their hearts are pure without ever discerning whether it's actually true, whether they've met the condition of faith/repentance. It is possible for our hearts, after being made pure, to be "hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13). Thus, all should "[t]ake care… lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12). But this doesn't detract from anything that I teach. For, in the case that our hearts have been hardened, the way to keep them soft and make them pure again is still the same. By faith, put on Christ, and don't look back.

A Finished Work or a Process?

Regarding the way I speak about the finished work of Jesus Christ, a common concern some people have is that they hear me claiming that believers are already perfect and sanctification is not a process. Hopefully, you have already seen that this is not what I teach. But if you are still uneasy, I will attempt to address your concerns here.

At the root of the issue is not whether there is a process but what is the process. We just need to define it. Thus far in the book, I have not argued against a process, but I have argued that the church’s general understanding of the process has been wrong.

Perhaps the easiest way to explain it is to use the language of the “mind” and “heart.” Before receiving Jesus into one’s life, the heart needs renewal, no doubt. For “[t]he heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick…” (Jeremiah 17:9). But as we discussed, God has fixed this problem by giving us new, clean, and pure hearts, upon which God has written his law, and in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Therefore, contrary to popular teaching, believers no longer need renewed hearts. They need renewed minds.

Here are four critical verses that speak to this reality:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Romans 12:2, my italics).

“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day… as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (2 Corinthians 4:16, 18; my italics).

“[P]ut off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and… be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and… put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24, my italics).

“[Y]ou have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:9–10, my italics).

These passages share a consistent message that there is a continual need for renewal in the Christian life. Clearly, the intended readers (ourselves included) are not perfect. Yet, there is another consistent message regarding the kind of renewal that needs to occur. Once again, it is not a matter of the heart or the will. Instead, it is a matter of the mind and the way we think. We need to grow in faith and knowledge, learning to walk according to a spiritual reality that we cannot yet see fully. In doing so, the Spirit who has already sanctified our hearts will increasingly sanctify our thoughts and actions, manifesting the righteousness of God, which has been there all along.

To put it simply, the more clearly we “see” — with the eyes of faith — the more we mature into who we truly are. Therefore, the reason we are not yet perfect, despite having clean hearts, is that we cannot see into this spiritual reality perfectly yet. In other words, we lack revelation. Or the revelation we do have hasn't become our habitual way of thinking yet.

One of my favorite verses that alludes to this fact is this:

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, my italics).

Notice the reason that we will be like Jesus — because we shall see him as he is. It sounds to me like John is saying that, upon seeing Jesus, we will spontaneously combust into our new and glorified forms! How awesome! But even more interesting to me is the insinuation that the only thing keeping us from being just like Jesus now is that we do not yet see him clearly. My takeaway: whatever degree of his glory we currently behold is the degree of his glory that we are capable of sharing (see 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Here is yet another example of the same profound biblical truth:

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away… For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:9–10, 12; my italics).

Remember the mirror analogy that James uses in James 1:23-25? In the verse above, Paul employs the same analogy (which I am inclined to think was a widely used teaching in the early Church). One day, we will see Jesus face to face, lacking no knowledge, and we will thereby be made perfect. But in the meantime, we see him in the mirror by faith, and the reflection is comparatively dim. Thus, we still press onward to perfection — not by striving to look more like Jesus, but by striving to see how we already do.

I also believe it is helpful to make a distinction between perfection and purity. The Greek word that is most often translated as “perfect” in the Bible is teleios. The root of this word is telos, which means “end.” Therefore, teleios means something like “mature,” “adult,” “finished,” or “complete,” indicating that an end goal has been reached. “Pure,” on the other hand, means something like “unadulterated” or “undefiled.” Therefore, a pure heart describes a heart with unstained innocence or the absence of evil desire.

Using these definitions, we might describe an infant as being pure but never as perfect. Biblically speaking, perfection is the opposite of infancy or immaturity, not impurity. Therefore, in our own spiritual infancy, we can just as rightly claim to have pure hearts without claiming to be perfect/mature. Despite having an entirely clean conscience, we still need to grow into our new identity by developing the mind, without which we remain vulnerable to deception and error, just as a small child.

It is worth noting that even Jesus was made “perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10; see also Hebrews 5:8-9), yet his heart was pure his entire life on earth. He was holy and righteous in all his affections and desires. In other words, he was without sin. Yet he still had to grow — through the testing of his faith — before reaching perfection, which describes a fully mature human. If this was true for Christ, then why not also for the Christian? While purity describes a heart untainted by sin, perfection describes the full-grown product of someone with a pure heart.

Think of it this way. A tomato plant is a tomato plant, whether it has fruit yet or not. From the moment the seed is planted and begins to grow, it is a pure tomato plant in that its nature and identity do not vary one bit. Even when the plant is just a couple of inches above the ground, months away from bearing any fruit at all, it is still as much a tomato plant as it was on its first day of life and as it will be on the last. But it does not become mature or perfect until it is fully grown and bears its best fruit.

So it is with the Christian life. From the moment of belief and conception, Christ is our life, our nature, our full identity — whether or not we have begun to bear fruit. If we are abiding in Christ, then there is no sin in our hearts. If there is sin in our hearts, then we are not abiding in Christ nor abiding in truth. And in this case, we are not able to bear any good fruit. As Jesus said himself, “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:17–18). We cannot bear the fruit of righteousness if we are not already righteous in a real sense. Therefore, “let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as [Jesus] is righteous” (1 John 3:7). We cannot obey God if we have not actually become obedient from the heart. “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart…” (Romans 6:17). The work is finished in this sense. Now, we must learn to walk by faith in the finished work, and as a result, we will progressively mature into the full-grown image of Christ.

The Role of Suffering

I would be remiss to write a book about spiritual growth without at least touching on the role that suffering plays in this process. Some may be surprised to hear that it is one of the most consistent themes in all the New Testament. Why is it such a prevalent topic? Because, it is an inescapable reality of life (even more so the Christian life) and a necessary ingredient to our being conformed to the image of Christ. As Jesus said, "the way is easy that leads to destruction… and the way is hard that leads to life" (Matthew 7:13-14, my italics).

I used to think that suffering was one way (among many) to spiritual growth, that it was useful but not necessary. For there are plenty of other ways to grow, right? Right? Well, no, actually, there are none. I have now come to believe that without suffering, we cannot grow one bit.

If we think of faith as a muscle — which, being a weightlifter myself, I have found to be a profoundly helpful analogy — then this truth should be obvious. For we know that when it comes to growing muscle, if you do not subject the muscle to a certain level of suffering, demanding something of it that it finds challenging, it literally will never grow. Do we also need good nutrition and rest? Yes (hint, hint). But even with those, the muscle still needs the stimulus that pushes it to its limits and tells it to grow so that what was difficult this time will be easier next time. If the muscle doesn't find the task difficult, then it will simply just stay the same or even atrophy (shrink).

As a starting point for any day, this revelation is actually quite helpful. Instead of wasting our energy figuring out how to avoid suffering, we should learn to prepare ourselves for it, embrace it, even rejoice in it. In my opinion, the two scriptures that most obviously speak to this are Romans 5:3-5 and James 1:2-4, which I encourage you to read now if you do not know them. They are worth committing to memory. Quite plainly, we can see that we are not to rejoice despite our suffering but actually in it, for it, or because of it. Why? Because the thing that we were made for and that we desire more than anything — that is, to be conformed into the image of Christ, to bear fruit, to share in his glory, etc. — is accomplished through the testing of our faith.

Even Jesus was made perfect through suffering (see Hebrews 2:10) and "learned obedience through what he suffered" (Hebrews 5:8). So, rest assured, there is no escaping this process. And the sooner we learn to see it for what it is, the sooner that suffering will become a productive force in our lives, as opposed to something that happens to us in vain. It is no different than how I have learned to enjoy going to the gym and subjecting my muscles to suffering because I am eager for the result that comes from it — strength.

One of my favorite verses regarding suffering is the following:

"For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:8-9, my italics)

The same man who wrote about the fruit of the Spirit being joy and peace was, at one point, so weighed down by suffering that he wanted to die. But looking back on that season, he admits that this was because he still had something to learn — that is, to rely on God — for he was still, to some extent, relying on his own strength. Thus, the suffering he experienced was ordained by God to teach him this lesson and help him grow.

It is safe to say that the point of all suffering is to put us in a position where we realize our need for God. The idea that God will not give you more than you can handle is an absolute lie. He will, and he does so that you will come to the end of your own strength and learn to rely on him — his wisdom, his ways, his strength, his faithfulness, his Spirit, his grace, etc. This is the discipline of our Father, which he administers to us in love. It is not punishment but training. And if we are trained by it, it is guaranteed to bear fruit in our lives (see Hebrews 12:7-11).

The times of our ignorance are gone. Why, God? Why must I suffer like this? Why did this happen to me? Why is this happening to me? We now have our answer. It is to fulfill our destiny, which is to "be conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29). If you do not agree that this is to be desired above all things, then you will never be able to rejoice in suffering. And frankly, you are unrepentant. But any one of us, right now, can simply remember this high calling, position our hearts to agree with God that it is best, and rejoice in knowing "that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Take heart, brothers and sisters: "[A]fter you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:10-11, my italics)

So, although I have said this already, I will say it again. Regarding the solutions that I put forth in this book for life transformation, I do not argue that they should be easy. I argue that they are the way. I argue that there is no other way, and to the extent that we think there is, we will continue seeking other ways (which do not yield fruit), never giving ourselves entirely to the way — because it is hard. My hope, then, is that you become as fully convinced as I am that there is no other way to realize the amazing promises of the gospel in your life than to learn the way that God has provided — that is, renewing your mind in Christ, who is the Way (see John 14:6) — and then, together, we learn it.

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