Shapevine Missional Training And Learning Resources

Over the years, I’ve been asked by people if I knew anything about breaking them. Some of these folks were addicted to cigarettes, others to illegal drugs, others to pornography, and still others to unhealthy eating patterns (e.g., uncontrollable “binge” eating).

I firmly believe what Paul said in Romans 6. Jesus Christ broke the power of the flesh in order that “sin shall not have dominion” over the believer.

Salvation in itself is not a cure all. But it provides you with the graces of Jesus Christ to break any and all fleshly addictions.

Regarding addictions, a believer can position themselves to receive the power of the cross and the resurrection life of Christ in breaking the back of a particular addiction.

My hope is that the following exercise will spread to any and every Christian who is struggling under the power of an addiction. And I trust that the Lord will use it in their lives to “purge themselves” from a stronghold.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Feel free to pass the above link on to anyone who is struggling with an addiction.

Why Organic Church Isn't Exactly a Movement

Frank Viola

January 14, 2010 by Frank Viola Comments (2)

Yesterday, Christianity Today published my response to Mark Galli’s article Long Live Organic Church. For those of you who have been following the dialogue, this article is where I fall out on it. It can also be read as a stand-alone piece. There’s a PDF link at the bottom should you want to pass it along to others.

I hope it clears some of the fog that surrounds this issue.

Why the Organic Church Is Not Exactly a Movement

If the driving force of any movement or phenomenon is not Jesus Christ, we are building castles in the air. A response to “Long Live the Organic Church” by Mark Galli.

Words are funny things. Sometimes a word can get into the drinking water of a subculture and morph into clay. A word becomes clay when it loses its universal meaning and becomes molded and shaped to mean different things to different people.

Enter the phrase organic church.

Organic church, or “organic expression of the church,” or “organic church life” are terms that owe a debt to one man who’s rarely mentioned in these discussions—British author and teacher T. Austin Sparks. As far as I know, he is the first person to use this term, and he used it often.

When T. Austin Sparks employed the word organic to refer to church, he was not speaking of a system, a method, a technique, or even a movement. Instead, he was speaking of the particular expression a church takes when she is living according to her God-given nature as a living organism.

Note his words:

God’s way and law of fullness is that of organic life. In the Divine order, life produces its own organism, whether it be vegetable, animal, human, or spiritual. This means that everything comes from the inside. Function, order, and fruit issue from this law of life within. It was solely on this principle that what we have in the New Testament came into being. Organized Christianity has entirely reversed this order.

Taking my cue from Sparks, I’ve been using the terms organic church and organic expression of the church since 1993.

For Sparks, myself, and many others, organic church refers to a body of believers who are learning to live by the indwelling life of Christ together. And out of that living, the church takes on a certain expression. That expression is marked by some of the following features: the every-member functioning of the body, the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ, consensual decision making, open-participatory gatherings, and passing through seasons (meaning the church is not tied down to ritual, but moves according to the season she finds herself in).

Today the phrase organic church is in vogue, but it has been converted to clay.

Some mold it as a method of church to win souls and change the world for Christ, a sentiment that harkens back to D. L. Moody and J. R. Mott. These advocates see the church as a soul-winning station. Its chief mission is the evangelization of the world.

Others mold it as a synonym for house church. A house church is simply a group of Christians that meets in a home for their corporate worship. That can take countless forms and expressions. House churches can range from institutional services in a living room with pews firmly bolted to the floor, to glorified Bible studies, supper-fests, “bless-me” clubs, healthy Christian communities, or first-rate cults.

As I’ve often said, meeting in a home doesn’t make you a church any more than sitting in a donut shop makes you a police officer (no offense to police officers; the better part of my family is in law enforcement!). There’s nothing magical about meeting in a home. And the living room, while a great place to gather, should never be the Christian’s passion.

Consequently, those who are regarded as voices of what some are calling the organic church movement do not all agree on what the church is, nor how she expresses herself on the earth. Nor do they see eye to eye on God’s ultimate intention.

That said, organic church is not a monolith, and therefore, it cannot rightly be called a movement.

I believe it would be more accurate to say that there is a phenomenon today where countless Christians are leaving institutional forms of church and exploring non-traditional forms of church in pursuit of authentic, shared-life community.

I’ve been gathering in organic expressions of the church (as defined above) for the last 21 years. And from my observations, many of the people who are leaving the institutional form of church presently are leaving because they are following a spiritual instinct. They are saying and thinking, “There has got to be more to Jesus Christ and his body than this.” Or as Reggie McNeal once put it, “A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost their faith. They are leaving the church to preserve their faith.”

Some are calling this a move of God. Others see it as a departure from God’s will (for them, leaving the institutional form of church means leaving church itself). And of course others are calling it a movement.

Nevertheless, here are a few observations regarding the drive to experience organic church life. Note that this is how the terrain looks from my hill. I’m looking at the backs of the rocks while others may see their fronts:

1. The return to more organic forms of church (church as organism rather than church as institution) is nothing new. The U.S. has had two such phenomena already. One occurred in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Many young people in America were coming to Christ and finding authentic community. It was later hijacked by an authoritarian movement that smothered and killed it. The other occurred in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

2. The impulse to return to organic church life has happened historically in other times and places. You can find it among the Radical Reformers, the Anabaptists in particular. It had a beautiful start in Plymouth, England, with what later became known as the Plymouth Brethren, and still later in China among those who were tagged the Little Flock. (Each ended up in a different place from where they began, but that’s another discussion.)

3. All of the above streams of the Christian faith didn’t set out to change the world. That wasn’t their governing motive. They instead consecrated themselves to please the Lord and to make a home for him on this earth. They sought to return to the centrality of Jesus Christ and the living experience of his body. As a result of that, some of them had a profound influence on their surrounding societies. But that wasn’t their goal.

4. Movement mentality always seems to seep into any genuine move of God. I’m defining movement here as the idea that big is better and numbers mean success. Historically, the church of Jesus Christ passes through seasons. Some of those seasons are marked by revivals where many souls are brought into the kingdom of God. At such times, it’s almost effortless to lead people to Christ. But while revivals produce numerical growth, they do not produce depth. We are wise to observe that Paul planted approximately 13 churches in his lifetime. The apostle was far more concerned with building quality—”gold, silver, and precious stone”—than he was with amassing big numbers (see 1 Cor. 3).

5. Historically, movements become monuments (or they go off the rails) when Jesus Christ is not front and center, the beating heart and foundation. When some other thing—even a good thing like trying to change the world, saving souls, or multiplying churches—replaces the pursuit of Christ, we lose our way.

All told: There is a phenomenon going on today. Perhaps a move of God’s Spirit (?). But it’s nothing new. It’s simply a repeat of past currents. What will determine its success, longevity, and quality is not any human technique or method. The cutting-edge must be Jesus Christ as the only foundation, the centrality, and the supremacy. I am keenly aware that virtually every Christian bulbously claims that Jesus is the center of what they’re doing. But listen to the rhetoric carefully, and you’ll discover if it’s Christ or some other thing that’s being pushed and promoted.

So many things can replace our Lord. But God’s eternal purpose—that which has been in his heart since before time—will never be fulfilled if our first rattle out of the box is a new way of doing church, a method for multiplying churches, or a technique to change the world. God’s purpose will only be restored if we blindly and singularly make Christ our pursuit, our life, and our motive. Everything else will flow out of that.

—-

Frank Viola is the author of a series of books on radical church restoration, including Reimagining Church, From Eternity to Here, Finding Organic Church, and Pagan Christianity (co-authored with George Barna).

PDF file of this article

What is an Organic Church? A Plea for Clarity

Frank Viola

January 11, 2010 by Frank Viola Comments (0)

Confusion over the term “organic church” continues.

As I’ve pointed out numerous times in the recent past, I’ve been using the term “organic church” since 1993. In my book “Reimagining Church,” I point out that T. Austin-Sparks is the man who deserves credit for coining this term. Austin-Sparks ministered in the 1920s until his passing in 1971.

When I began using the term “organic church” some 16 years ago, very few people were using it. (The exception would be those who were familiar with the work of T. Austin-Sparks.)

Today, the phrase has become a fad. It’s become a clay word, molded and shaped to mean very different things by many different people.

Consequently, one must now carefully define what they mean by “organic church” when they use the term.

I’ve often said that an organic expression of the church is one in which the members are learning to live by Divine LIFE together. They are learning how to live by the indwelling Christ. And out of that living emerges a particular expression. That expression, because it’s derived from LIFE, is “organic.” When the church is living true to herself … as an organism … her expression is organic. The means and end: Jesus Christ is known deeply by a group of people who are discovering His infinite riches together and are making Him visible on the planet again.

The New Testament knows no other kind of church. This is what ekklesia is.

Some, wrongly, have used the term “organic church” as a synonym for Christians who meet in a house (a “home church”) or a “simple church.” I’ve spent a lot of time discussing the differences between an authentic organic expression of the church and a house church/simple church (see “Reimagining Church,” “A Sober Word to the Simple Church Movement”, “Challenging the Simple Church Movement” – Series of 16 messages – and even my recent interview with Alex McManus.

Several statements:

I wouldn’t give 2 cents for most “house churches” today. Most of them are far from organic. For that reason, I don’t endorse “house church” as a model. And I never have. The living room is not my passion. Most house churches, in my experience, have no concept of how to live by an indwelling Lord, nor are they consumed with Jesus Christ. He’s but a footnote to some other “thing” or “it,” as is the case with much of contemporary Christianity (just count how many times He’s mentioned in the typical sermon or gathering). Few know what it means to pursue the Lord Jesus with one another. I’ve maintained this observation for the last 13 years. Thankfully, more and more Christians outside the institutional church today are beginning to understand that ekklesia is all about discovering and displaying Christ together and that the engine, drive, and motive is to fulfill God’s eternal purpose – which is not centered on human needs.
The impulse to start a “movement” is something I’ve never endorsed. As a student of church history, “movement mentality” is very common. Paul of Tarsus didn’t try to start a movement. He planted between 13 and 14 churches in his entire lifetime. (Read that again, folks.) Paul was interested in quality far more than quantity. (Building with gold, silver and precious stone was his concern – see 1 Cor. 3). I have a lot to say about “movements” and the fruit they produce. I’ve discussed it a good bit in my latest book “Finding Organic Church.” But I plan to address it more extensively in an online article at another time with my friend Milt Rodriguez.
The goal of experiencing organic church life should never be the transformation of the world. Nor should it be world evangelization or church multiplication. The goal is the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose in Christ – a purpose that is by Him, through Him, and to Him. A purpose where “the fullness of Christ” is the warp and woof. God’s purpose is something very different from the above (see “From Eternity to Here” for an unveiling of the eternal purpose of God). Those who would stress the former as goals have adopted the mindset of D.L. Moody and J.R. Mott. I took dead aim at this mindset in my talk at George Fox Seminary last year.
While some are trying to build movements (as many men have in the past), the movements surrounding house church/simple church today by and large are profondly shallow and posses little depth or stability. There is, however, a genuine move of God happening right now containing 8 characteristics. This “move” or “current” is centered on restoring God’s eternal purpose, His grand mission from forever to forever. That which has beat in His own heart from before time.
There is a lot of confusion within the missional church movement right now on the subjects of church, mission, and discipleship as well. As I see it, there are two major streams for each that do not map to each other. This has also has added further confusion to the Body of Christ.

What follows is an article I wrote some time ago answering the question: What is an Organic Church? I hope it adds some clarity in an area where massive confusion abounds. My hope is that this blog post would spread to those who would benefit from hearing it . . . especially those who are using these terms without understanding the history behind them . . . and that it would produce further examination into these matters.

—

Since I left institutional Christianity twenty years ago, I have groped for language to communicate the kind of church experience I have lived in since that time. About fifteen years ago, I began using the term “organic church.” Interesting, this word has recently become somewhat of a clay word, being molded and shaped to mean a variety of different things by a variety of different people.

T. Austin-Sparks is the man who deserves credit for this term. Here’s his definition:

God’s way and law of fullness is that of organic life. In the Divine order, life produces its own organism, whether it be a vegetable, animal, human or spiritual. This means that everything comes from the inside. Function, order and fruit issue from this law of life within. It was solely on this principle that what we have in the New Testament came into being. Organized Christianity has entirely reversed this order.

The phrase, “the organic expression of the church” was a favorite of Sparks’. I’ve yet to find a better phrase to improve upon it.

By “organic church,” I mean a non-traditional church that is born out of spiritual life instead of constructed by human institutions and held together by religious programs. Organic church life is a grass roots experience that is marked by face-to-face community, every-member functioning, open-participatory meetings (opposed to pastor-to-pew services), non-hierarchical leadership, and the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ as the functional Leader and Head of the gathering.

Put another way, organic church life is the “experience” of the Body of Christ. In its purest form, it’s the fellowship of the Triune God brought to earth and experienced by human beings.

To use an illustration, if I try to create an orange in a laboratory by employing human ingenuity and organizational skills, the lab-created orange would not be organic. But if I plant an orange seed into the ground and it produces an orange tree, the tree is organic.

In the same way, whenever we sin-scarred mortals try to create a church the same way we would start a business corporation, we are defying the organic principle of church life. An organic church is one that is naturally produced when a group of people have encountered Jesus Christ in reality (external ecclesiastical props being unnecessary) and the DNA of the church is free to work without hindrance. In short, “organic church” describes a kind of church life that embodies the biblical teaching that the church is a spiritual organism and not an institutional organization.

To put it in sentence, organic church is not a theater with a script. It’s a lifestyle-a spontaneous journey with the Lord Jesus and His disciples in close-knit community.

An organic church can be contrasted with “institutional church.” By “institutional church,” I mean a church that is created by human organization, chain-of-command styled leadership, and institutional programs. It’s marked by a weekly order of worship (or mass) officiated by a pastor or priest. It’s controlled by a top-down hierarchical organization and human social conventions (called “offices”) that people fill. The institutional church has often been called “the traditional church,” “the organized church,” and “the audience church.” Congregants watch a religious performance once or twice a week, and then retreat home to live their individual Christian lives.

Leadership is hierarchical in the institutional church, and Christians are divided into “clergy” and “laity” (or their equivalent-”pastors” and “laymen”). Granted, some institutional churches have small group meetings outside of weekly church services where members get a taste of community life. But this community life is not the driving force of the church. And a hierarchical leadership structure is in place in the small group gatherings. Someone is always “in charge,” and the group is ultimately under the authority and restrictions of the pastor or priest.

We can think of the difference between organic churches and institutional churches this way. When God’s people assemble together on the basis of the organizational principles that run General Motors and Microsoft, we call it an institutional church. But when God’s people assemble together on the basis of the life of God, we call it an organic church.

One of the common mistakes that is made today is to confuse all house churches with organic churches. The reason is simple. Not all house churches are organic. Some are quite institutional.

I have often been asked: “How does a house church operate?” That’s impossible to answer because the term “house church” is about as wide an umbrella as the word “plant.” To my mind, asking how a house church operates is like asking, “What does a plant look like?” There are countless kinds of plants — weeds, shrubs, trees, bushes, vines, etc. In the same way, there are countless kinds of house churches. I’ve seen so many types and varieties over the years that it seems that the only thing they all have in common is that they meet in a home.

“Organic church,” therefore, best describes the kinds of churches that I and many other Christians around the world have experienced, lived in, and enjoyed. And it’s the kind of church that I believe the Lord is raising up in this hour. Add to that, the church that we find in the New Testament was above all things . . . organic. So it seems to me anyway.

Organic Church Described Part 1: Testimonies

Organic Church Described Part 2: Testimonies

Reframing Discipleship

ReChurch Series

McManus Interview on ReChurch & New Jesus Manifesto Page

Frank Viola

January 6, 2010 by Frank Viola Comments (0)

Right before 2009 ended, Alex McManus (brother of Erwin McManus) interviewed me on his program. A few live questions came in at the end.

The interview is 27 minutes total. You can listen to it here.

Feel free to pass it along if you find it of help.

Also: There’s a new “Jesus Manifesto” Facebook page. This one replaces the old Facebook group page.

So whether or not you joined the old page, please consider joining the new one as we have some exciting plans for it for 2010.

Click here to join.

Frank Viola

January 2, 2010 by Frank Viola Comments (0)

These are in no particular order and imply no particular priority.

A Review of Michael Spencer’s “The Coming Evangelical Collapse”

A Lighter Side Post: Gotta Love This Story

The Eternal Purpose of God – Delivered at George Fox Seminary

Interacting with the PostChurch Perspective

Reframing Discipleship

Steve Brown Interview Clip

Kingdom Confusion: Part 1

Kingdom Confusion: Part 2

Deep Ecclesiology

New Podcast

A Jesus Manifesto

Christian Artists = Music Artists

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Complete List of Twitter “Tweets” for 2009

Discography

Frank Viola

December 18, 2009 by Frank Viola Comments (0)

http://frankviola.wordpress.com/2009/12/18/1396/

The Three Gospels

Frank Viola

December 14, 2009 by Frank Viola Comments (0)

The following chapter was removed from the final edit of From Eternity to Here because there wasn't enough room to include it.

The Three Gospels

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ . . . (Romans 16:25, NIV)

Ever since I’ve been a Christian, I’ve observed that most believers can be divided up into two camps: the libertines and the legalists.

In my experience, libertines are those who go to church, own a Bible, and profess to believe in Jesus. However, they appear to have no vital relationship with the Lord. And they hold to the same values as do non-Christians.

If you were to examine their lifestyle, you would discover that libertines behave scantly different from non-Christians. Their attitude is that God only wants us to be nice to others and try our best to be good. Beyond that, the Almighty doesn’t particularly care how we live. So long as a person mentally assents that God exists and Jesus is Savior, they are worthy to bear the name “Christian.”

The libertine is a product of a certain kind of gospel. Note that I am using the word “gospel” in a very specific sense to describe one’s message about Christ and the Christian life (Rom. 2:16; 16:25; 2 Tim. 2:8). I am not using it in the more general sense to describe the gospel story as it is presented in the New Testament (Mark 1:1).

The gospel of libertinism can be described as follows: Believing in Jesus is intellectual assent to certain faith propositions. God has little interest in the way people live their lives. He simply expects us to do the best we can. Believing in Jesus has little impact on a person’s lifestyle or values. It’s more a privatized intellectual belief system. Here are some statements a libertine may say:

“We are all sinners, and we all sin. God understands my sin.”
“The Bible isn’t completely relevant for us today. We can’t expect to hold to the same values as the people did in Biblical times. We live in a different world with different values.”
“I live the way I want. God loves me, and I am saved, so I can do anything I please.”
“Yes, I’m a Christian. But regarding my sin, that’s just the way I was made. I don’t want to change, I can’t change, and I won’t change.”

The gospel of libertinism is aimed primarily at the flesh. Its message gives the fallen nature free reign to do as it pleases. At the same time, this gospel suppresses the voice of one’s conscience.

Standing contrary to the libertine is the legalist. Like the libertines, legalists are the product of a certain kind of gospel. Legalists have a desire to please God. Their conversion to Christ has produced a change of values and lifestyle. They take God seriously, they take His Word seriously, and they try to honor Him in their conduct.

However, they have added a bundle of man-made rules to the Scriptures and they tend to be judgmental toward those who fail to keep those rules. They also believe that they can fulfill the Christian standard, and they do their best in trying to keep it.

The gospel of legalism can be described as follows: God is holy, and He has made clear demands on the human race. We must warn, exhort, rebuke, and admonish ourselves and others to fulfill those demands. What follows is the language of the legalist.

“You must . . .”
“You need to . . .”
“You have to . . .”
“You had better . . .”
“If you do . . . then God will be happy with you.”
“If you don’t . . . then God will be angry with you.”

The implication of such vocabulary is that if we fail to obey God’s laws, then He will be angry with us. Embedded in the gospel of legalism is the tacit threat that the Lord’s love and acceptance of His children is tied to their conduct. This is rarely stated explicitly, but it comes through loud and clear.

The gospel of legalism is aimed directly at the will. It gives human volition the illusion that it can keep the standards of God. At the same time, it weakens the conscience, causing it to believe that certain practices are sinful when they are not (1 Corinthians 8; 1 Corinthians 10; Romans 14-15.) Theologian Alister McGrath rightly calls legalism “the dark side of evangelicalism.”

There are degrees of legalism, from mild to extreme. And there are degrees of libertinism as well. But the overwhelming majority of Christians can be put into one of these two camps.

Thankfully, there is a third gospel. Unfortunately, however, it’s rarely preached today. This gospel is the one we find dominating the letters of Paul. It is the gospel of the new creation, if you will. It is neither libertine nor legalistic.

Instead of focusing on the demands of God, Paul’s gospel focuses on the spiritual reality of what actually happens to those who have trusted in Christ when He died and rose again. It takes its view—not from the earth, but from the heavenlies—behind the eyes of God.

Paul’s gospel confidently proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth is the earth’s true Lord. It declares the glories of Jesus and unflinchingly proclaims what God has done for all who submit to His Lordship.

In Paul’s gospel, the standards of God are neither ignored nor rationalized into irrelevant oblivion (as in the gospel of the libertine). On the other hand, the standards of God are never presented as demands by which our acceptance by God is tied (as in the gospel of the legalist).

Contrary to the gospel of libertinism, Paul's gospel doesn't reduce faith to intellectual assent. (If you affirm the right propositions, you have "faith.")

Contrary to the gospel of legalism, Paul's gospel doesn't reduce good works to legalistic compliance. (If you perform these prescribed actions, you have "good works.")

Instead, Paul's gospel is rooted in the unconditional acceptance, security, and wealth that those who have trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior enjoy. For this reason, whenever Paul presents a standard of God, he always presents it from this vantage point: It is the conduct that those who are in Christ naturally exhibit.

In his epistles, Paul never teaches the standards of God as universal rules or laws to be obeyed. Rather, he only mentions the Christian standard when he is addressing a highly specific problem wherein God's people are not living according to who they are in Christ.

Paul's gospel is aimed directly at the renewed spirit of humans. Its message strengthens the spirit to take charge of the mind, the will, and the emotions. At the same time, it strengthens the conscience, causing it to be responsive to the Holy Spirit.

A crucial, but little accepted fact is that the New Testament is not a book of rules to regulate human behavior. Instead, the New Testament is a spiritual narrative made up of the following: history books that narrate the life of Jesus and the life of His church (the Gospels and Acts); personal letters to churches and individuals that are in crisis (the Epistles); and a majestic vision of Jesus Christ's triumphant victory over the world (Revelation).

Virtually all of Paul's letters were written in response to a particular crisis that God's people were experiencing. Remarkably, Paul's custom was to address the crisis in this order:

First, he reminds God's people of their true identity in Christ. He also reminds them of the all-sufficiency of Christ who has come to dwell inside of them.

Second, he describes the behavior of those who are new creatures in Christ.

Third, he exhorts the believers to live according to their true identity rather than according to their false identity. That is, he exhorts them to walk in line with who they are in Christ rather than who they used to be.

Paul takes this approach in virtually all of his epistles. It's his custom for addressing problems in the Christian communities within his care. The following statement out of Ephesians is a perfect example of how Paul exhorts God's people to walk in a way that matches their high and holy calling:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. (Ephesians 5:8, NIV)

In other words, you are light in Christ. Now live that way.

The gospel of libertinism, the gospel of legalism, and Paul's gospel represent three very different postures when it comes to matters of sin and morality. For the sake of illustration, let's take the issue of lying, which the New Testament condemns. (Feel free to insert any other sin that the Scriptures clearly address.)

Concerning the practice of lying, the libertine gospel essentially says, "This issue is irrelevant. We live in a different world than the people of the Bible did. Our values are different and more advanced. God loves us all and understands our needs. We all sin. Everybody lies. God loves everyone, so you are judging others if you tell them that they are wrong or immoral for lying."

The legalistic gospel says, "God will judge those who violate His commandments. Christians must not lie or else God will punish them."

In contrast, Paul's gospel exhorts, "Let me remind you that you are part of a new creation. Jesus Christ lives in you, and you are in Christ. As such, your old fallen nature is dead. Christ exterminated it by His cross. Therefore, put off the old lifestyle of lying. Such is the conduct of a fallen creation. It's not your conduct. Live according to who you really are and by the higher life that dwells within you. Jesus Christ is truth and honesty. Live out of what the Lord says you are . . . for that alone is truth and reality."

Paul's gospel is built on the understanding that the key to spiritual transformation is not found in trying to improve oneself. It's found in believing who we Christians are in Christ and who Christ is in us.

For Paul, the Christian life is becoming what you are. Consequently, the common approach he takes in his letters is to remind God's people of who they have become as new creatures in Christ. All of his exhortations flow out of that reminder.

The church of Jesus Christ is called to embody and proclaim the gospel that Paul preached—which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That gospel is the good news that God is becoming ruler of the world He created, and that Jesus, who God the Father raised from the dead, is the world's true Lord. Jesus Christ has defeated the powers of evil, sin, and death and has brought forth a new creation of which we are now a part. And one day, that new creation will fill the whole earth.

This is the full gospel, if you please. Paul's gospel is one of liberty and Lordship—the Lordship of Christ and the liberty of the Spirit. It provides freedom from the fruitless attempt to keep a moral standard. It also provides freedom from the mastering power of the fallen nature.

The Christian life is rooted in liberty . . . the liberty that is in Christ Jesus (Gal. 5:1). This is a liberty that sets us free from trying to be good. It is also a liberty that sets us free from practicing evil. It is a liberty that brings us into a living knowledge of the One who indwells us . . . who happens to be the greatest liberator in the universe as well as the Savior and Lord of the world.

So the next time you hear someone preach, ask yourself, "What gospel am I hearing? Am I being exhorted to feel comfortable in my sin and justify it (libertinism)? Am I being exhorted to try harder and be a better Christian (legalism)? Or am I being presented with Jesus Christ and reminded of the high place that He has caused me to stand in Him (the gospel)?"

Embracing the gospel of libertinism or the gospel of legalism will put you in the flesh. The fruit of libertinism is the defiling acts of the flesh. The fruit of legalism is the self righteousness of the flesh.

Both gospels produce carnal activity and generate death rather than life. As a result, both clash with the new creation.

Only Paul's gospel . . . the glorious gospel of grace . . . the gospel of Jesus Christ . . . has the capacity to bring you and me into the full liberty that is ours in Christ. And the end of that gospel is the ageless purpose for which our Lord burns.

Appendix

THE PATTERN IN GALATIANS

The facts . . .

He has rescued you from this present evil age (1:4).

You have been justified by faith apart from the works of the Law (2:16).

You have died to the Law so that you may live to God. You have been crucified with Christ. You no longer live, but Christ lives in you. He loved you and gave Himself for you (2:19-20).

You received the Holy Spirit by believing (3:2).

You are children of Abraham (3:7).

Christ redeemed you from the curse of the Law (3:13).

Since faith has come, you are no longer under the supervision of the Law (3:25).

You are sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. You were baptized in Christ and you are clothed with Christ. You belong to Christ and you are heirs to God's promise (3:26-29).

You are sons of God, and you have the full rights of sonship. Because you are sons, God has given you His Spirit. And that Spirit testifies that God is your Father. You are not slaves, but sons and heirs of God (4:4-7).

The heavenly Jerusalem is your mother (4:26).

You are children of promise (4:28).

You are called to be free (5:13).

You belong to Jesus Christ and you have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires (5:24).

What counts is a new creation, of which you are a part (6:15).

Because of these facts . . .

Stand fast in the liberty that Christ has given you and don't be burdened by the yoke of slavery to the Law (5:1).

Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, but rather, serve one another in love (5:13).

Live by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the sinful nature (5:16).

Since you live by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit. Do not be conceited, provoking and envying one another (5:25-26).

Carry one another's burdens (6:2).

Do not become weary in well doing. Do good to all people, especially your fellow brethren in Christ (6:9-10).

THE PATTERN IN 1 CORINTHIANS

The facts . . .

You are holy in Christ and you are called "holy ones" (1:2).

God's grace has been given to you in Christ. In Him, you have been enriched in every way. You do not lack any spiritual gift. He will keep you strong until the end so that you will be blameless on the day of Jesus Christ (1:4-8).

Because of God, you are in Christ Jesus who has become your wisdom, your righteousness, your holiness, and your redemption (1:30).

You have received the Spirit of God, not the spirit of the world, that you might know what God has freely given you (2:12).

You are God's temple and God's Spirit lives in you (3:16).

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you. You are not your own. You were bought with a price (6:19-20).

Because of these facts . . .

Be of the same mind and have no divisions among you (1:10).

Since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like "natural men," contrary to who you really are? (3:3-4).

Do not deceive yourselves (3:18).

Judge nothing before the appointed time (4:5).

I urge you to imitate me (4:16).

Get rid of the old yeast among you . . . expel the wicked man from among you (5:7, 12).

Flee from sexual immorality . . . honor God with your body (6:18, 20).

THE PATTERN IN COLOSSIANS

The facts . . .

You are holy and faithful in Christ (1:2).

The Father has qualified you to share in His inheritance. He has rescued you from the dominion of darkness. He has transferred you into the Kingdom of Christ. In Christ, you have redemption and the forgiveness of sins (1:12-14).

He is the Head of His Body, the church, of which you are a part (1:18).

Once you were enemies alienated from God. Now He has reconciled you by Christ's death to present you holy and blameless in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation (1:21-22).

Christ is in you, the hope of glory (1:27).

You have received Christ Jesus as your Lord (2:6).

You have been given fullness in Christ. In Him, you were spiritually circumcised and have put off the sinful nature. You were buried with Christ by baptism and have been raised with Him through faith in the power of God who raised Him from the dead (2:10-12).

God made you alive with Christ. He forgave you of your sins. He canceled the written code that was against you and opposed you. He nailed that code to His cross (2:13-14).

You have died with Christ to the basic elements of this world (2:20).

You have been raised with Christ (3:1).

You died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Christ is your life. When He appears, you will appear with Him (3:3-4).

You used to walk in the sinful nature. You have taken off the old self with its practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of your Creator (3:7-10).

You are God's chosen people, holy, and dearly loved (3:12).

You are members of one Body and are called to peace (3:15).

Because of these facts . . .

Continue to walk in Christ, just as you received Him (2:6).

See to it that no one takes you captive by deceptive philosophy that is not according to Christ (2:8).

Do not let anyone judge you in what you eat or drink, or in regard to keeping a religious festival, a new moon celebration, or a Sabbath day (2:16).

Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things (3:1-2).

Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature (3:5).

Rid yourselves of such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language. Do not lie to each other (3:8-9).

Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Put on love. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. Be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God (3:12-17).

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful (4:2).

Let your conversation be always full of grace (4:6).

THE PATTERN IN EPHESIANS

The facts . . .

God has blessed you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. He chose you in Christ before the creation of the world so that you would be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined you to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ. He has freely given you His grace and you are accepted in His Beloved Son. In Him you have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He has lavished the riches of His grace upon you with all wisdom and understanding (1:3-8).

In Christ, you were chosen and predestined according to His eternal plan. You have been given an inheritance in Him (1:11).

You were included in Christ. You were marked in Him with a seal of the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance. You are God's possession (1:13-14).

You used to be dead in your trespasses and sins. You used to follow the way of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of darkness (2:1-2).

God who has a great love for you and who is rich in mercy, made you alive in Christ, even when you were dead in transgressions. You have been saved by grace. God raised you up with Christ and seated you with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to you in Christ Jesus. You have been saved by grace, through faith. It is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God. Not by works, lest any person should boast. You are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do (2:4-10).

You are now in Christ Jesus. You were once far away, but you have been brought near by the blood of Christ (2:13).

He Himself is your peace (2:14).

Through Christ you have access to the Father by one Spirit (2:18).

You are fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household (2:19).

You are being built together to become a dwelling place in which God lives by His Spirit (2:20).

You are members of one Body (4:25).

You are dearly loved children (5:1).

Christ loved you and gave Himself up for you as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (5:2).

You are God's holy people (5:3).

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord (5:8).

Because of these facts . . .

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (4:1-3).

You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking . . . you didn't come to learn Christ that way. You were taught to put away your old self . . . to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor. In your anger do not sin. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work. Do not let any unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for the building up of others according to their needs. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ has forgiven you (4:17, 20-32).

Be imitators of God and live a life of love (5:1-2).

There must not be sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse jesting among you which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving (5:3-4).

Do not be partners with those who practice these things (5:7).

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them (5:11).

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. Always giving thanks to God. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (5:17-21).

Dan Kimball Gets Interviewed on the Blog Today

Frank Viola

November 30, 2009 by Frank Viola Comments (0)

Today on the blog, I interview my friend Dan Kimball. Kimball and I first met in person at George Fox Seminary, where we both spoke together. We had a great time. Before that, we got to know each other online and he graciously interviewed me on the book “Pagan Christianity.”

Here’s my interview with Dan (“the man”). I recommend his book They Like Jesus, But Not the Church.

1. How and when did you come to Christ?

I was approached by a Christian who was witnessing to people in a shopping mall when I was in junior high school. He wasn’t street preaching, but he was walking up to strangers and he came up to me and my friend Ralph and began asking us questions. I don’t remember too much of what he said but it rang true and I prayed with him to trust in Jesus as Savior. After I prayed with this guy, he gave me a “I’m Saved” button or sticker and then went off to evangelize others. I don’t know if I was saved at that moment, but it was the first time I ever heard that Jesus was Savior and He died on the cross for sin. I had no church I was part of, so not too much changed in my life after that. I did find that I became sensitive to Christian things after that. Watching Billy Graham on television. Reading Christian tracts when I would be given one. But it wasn’t until I met Stuart Allen, a pastor in England after I graduated from college when I began to understand what it means to follow Jesus more. So it was more like when I was in my 20’s when I began realizing Jesus is Lord and what that meant for my life to follow Him.

2. Your book, THEY LOVE JESUS, BUT NOT THE CHURCH, has done really well. Why did you write it, what’s the main point, and what has been the most common response to it from readers?

Click here to read the rest of the interview:http://frankviola.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/dan-kimball-gets-interviewed/

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