What God Wishes Christians Knew About Christianity/Part 2
By: Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. Bill Gillham; ©2004 |
How are you doing in your walk with Jesus Christ? Are things going the way you thought they would, or are you puzzled because things donāt seem to be working out? Dr. Bill Gillham tells us about the wrong assumptions he had about living the Christian life. |
What God Wishes Christians Knew About ChristianityāPart 2
Dr. John Ankerberg: Would you mind if I ask, āHow are you doing in your walk with Jesus Christ? Are things going the way you thought they would, or are you puzzled because things donāt seem to be working out?ā Well, if thatās true, I think youāll be encouraged by listening to my guest today, who has written a book entitled, āWhat God Wishes Christians Knew About ChrisĀtianity.ā His name is Dr. Bill Gillham and Iād like you to listen as he tells us about the wrong assumptions he had about living the Christian life. Listen:
Dr. Bill Gillham: You know, maybe the Christian life is not working for you, and I understand that. I became a Christian when I was an adult; and as a Christian, I was really a hard charger. I really was doing everything I thought I was supposed to do to be a good Christian. And one time, I woke up and I was chairman or president of 12 different groups in the church simultaĀneously, so you can see how I was just under the pile, you know, burning my candle at both ends. And I thought that I was supposedly to be helping God and little did I know that He wasnāt that hard up that He needed me helping Him. But that was the party line. That was what I was hearing and well meaning people were telling me that I was supposed to get out there and help God do His work.
Little did I know that Christ lived in me to do it all for me and through me. I was to take the same faith I used to get saved with, only instead of trusting Christ just as Savior and Lord, I was to trust Him as Life itself, to express life through me, to live the overcoming Christian life.
Now, the Scriptures say that āGod was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.ā Now, look at this, gang. God Himself was āin Christ reconciling the world to Himself.ā Jesus Christ, as C. S. Lovett said, was God in an earth suit. I think thatās a marvelous description. The Scriptures say, āAll the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in Him.ā Thatās all, gang.
Now, gang, I donāt understand that, that Iāve just explained it to you. How in the world could the Father be in Christ and seated in the heavenly places simultaneously? I donāt know. I donāt have a clue. But itās not so important that I know exactly how it all took place but just believe thatās the way it is and then act like itās true. Just move on with my Christian life.
Okay, now then, the Scriptures do not say that God was in Muhammad reconciling the world to himself. Or God was in Buddha reconciling the world unto himself. God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. And maybe that sounds bigoted to you, but, gang, when youāre God, you get to make the rules. And the way He made the rules is that God was āin Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.ā And Jesus said He is the only way. He said, āI am the way, the truth and the lifeā and thatās it. Itās a closed deal.
Ankerberg: Now, did you hear what Bill just said? He said he never knew that Christ had come to live in him so that He could live the Christian life through him. What does all of that mean? Listen as Bill explains:
Gillham: Now, once you get saved, once you invite Christ to come into you and change you, now then, sure, youāre going to go to heaven when you die, but thereās a tremendous gap beĀtween the time you get saved and the time you go to heaven. And so we come down to the point of, āWhat are you going to do with the gap, man?ā Because thereās Monday morning to look at. Well, God has provided a way to take care of the gap and that is, Christ in you will face the gap for you and through you as you just allow Him to do so, as you cooperate with Him to allow Him to do so.
Now, letās say that the Gospel is kind of like a coin with two sides to it, a heads and a tail, and the head side is Christ in me and Heās in me for many reasons, one of which is to express life through me. The tail side is, āI am in Christ.ā And by being in Christ, thatās where Iām going to get my new identity. The way I got that was by being crucified in Christ and then being resurrected or re-birthed, rather, in Christās resurrection as a new spirit critter in Christ. Formerly, I was a sinner man, but after my salvation I became a saint manāa saint who has the capability of sinning. But I really donāt want to live that way anymore.
Now then, how am I going to overcome the sin temptation that comes to me? Answer: Iām going to trust Christ to do it all for me. Hereās what the Scripture says now about me and you: āFor you have died.ā Now, when did you die? Well, when you got crucified in Christ. Thatās when you died. āAnd your life is hidden with Christ and God.ā Gang, your life is hidden now. Itās a mystery. Youāve got to see it through the eyes of faith. It isnāt so much to be understood as it is to be believed. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Now, letās donāt focus so much on the last part of that verse. My purpose is that we focus on the middle partāthat Christ is our life. Now, I have arms, legs, feet, hands on my body. But all of those things are different. Yet they all have the same life. One life then activates or animates all these different parts that Iāve been mentioning here. Itās this way in the Christian life. The ScripĀtures say you are Christās body now and individually members of it. So letās say, then, that you are a thumb on the body of Christ and Iām a finger on the body of Christ. You and I are different. Weāre completely different. Yet we both have exactly the same lifeāChrist Himself.
Ankerberg: Now, what Bill was just talking about is hard for many Christians to understand; and yet this is the normal Christian life. Christ has come to live in us so that He can live His life through us. As our Lord Himself said in John 15, āHe is the Vine, we are the branches.ā But understanding this with our mind is one thing, experiencing this in our life is another. I asked Bill to give us another illustration to help us understand that we canāt live the Christian life unless we become totally dependent upon Christ to live it through us. Listen:
Gillham: Now letās switch gears here a little bit and talk about my workshop. I have electric tools in my workshop. Boy, do I have electric tools! I love tools. Iām not very good at them but I love them. So letās say Iāve got a grinder and a drill andāI always want to say āblenderā but thatās a āgirlyā toolāa sander. All right, now, all my tools are different, gang, but they all have the same life. Theyāre all plugged into the outlet which is connected to a huge atomic generator outside Fort Worth, Texas. Now, so long as the life is flowing through my tools, they demonĀstrate their identity. They demonstrate what they really are, what their purpose is here on planet Earth.
You know, youāll hear people say this argument. Theyāll say, āNow, Gillham teaches that Christ is to live through us, but donāt listen to that guy because that would make you a zero. That would make you a nothing and Christ would be flowing through you and youāre just a little Jesus walking around on planet Earth. You lose your identity.ā Donāt listen to that stuff. Thatās not true.
Well, I would agree with that statement that itās not really true that you lose your identity. You gain your identity. Gang, as long as the life, the electricity, is flowing through those tools, they demonstrate their identity. Iāll tell you when they lose their identity, itās when I unplug them. They all become exactly the same. Theyāre paperweights. Now, what did Jesus Christ say about us? He said, used this metaphor: āI am the vine, you guys are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit.ā Now, look at this: āFor apart from me you can do nothing.ā Now look up the word nothing in the dictionary. It means ānothing.ā You can do nothing, āzippo.ā Now, I didnāt say that; God said that.
You see, gang, itās the life of Christ through you by faith that gives you your identity. God never designed you to be an independent, self-reliant person. He put the Spirit of Christ in you so that you could be totally dependent upon Christ to live life for you and through you. And that, my friend, will enable you to ālife outā your true identity as a new creation in Christ.
Ankerberg: Now, to say that we are to be totally dependent upon Christ to live His life through us doesnāt mean we are to sit by passively in the process of our spiritual growth and let God do everything. In Church History, this position is called Quietism. It teaches that Christians must exert no energy or effort in the process of spiritual growth whatsoever. The opposite of Quietism is Pietism, which teaches believers must work hard and practice extreme self-disciĀpline to achieve personal piety. They stress aggressive Bible study, self discipline, holy living through diligent obedience and pursuit of Christian duty. Pietists tend to overemphasize human effort and thereby inflame peopleās pride or lapse into legalism; whereas Quietists totally downplay the believerās efforts and thereby risk promoting spiritual irresponsibility and apathy.
But what is the proper balance? The Apostle Paul shows us in 1 Corinthians 15:10. He says, āBy the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain.ā Here Paul sounds like a Quietist, that God did everything. But he immediately adds, āBut I labored even more than all of them.ā There he sounds like a Pietist who is emphasizing his own human effort. And then Paul immediately closes the verse by saying, āYet not I, but the grace of God within me.ā Again, Quietism. Paulās view was neither solely Quietistic nor Pietistic, but a perfect balĀance of both. God was making Paul what he was and Paul was working hard alongside Him. Yet he acknowledged that all was a work of Godās grace in him. Paul didnāt take credit for Godās work in his life, but neither was he content to sit around idly counting on God to do something in him apart from his active participation.
Look, letās not confuse things. Godās gift of salvation and eternal life is totally based on Christās death on the cross and requires no works of ours to get it. It is Godās gift. But once we receive Godās gift of salvation by faith in Christ alone, from that moment on, we are to cooperate with the Lord Jesus. We are to read Godās Word and obey it; but we are to obey it by being totally dependent upon Christ to live His life through us. We are to abide in Christ. These are Jesusā own words found in John 15:5. What do they mean? How do we abide in Christ moment by moment? Bill explains.
Gillham: Okay, now, John 15:5 says, āI am the vine and you are the branches.ā Let me break this verse down. God says, āHe who abides in meāāJesus said that. Now, what does it mean to āabideā in Christ? Well, it means to live with somebody, to reside there; to bond with this person, to go through thick and thināfor richer, for poorer, in sickness and in healthālike the marriage vows. Thatās what it means to abide with someone. And Christ says that we are to abide with Him and as we do that, we begin to bond with Him.
Now, notice what He says: āHe who abides in meā¦.ā Now, remember the coins illustration we used a minute ago? Thereās your tails side of the coināthat you are in Christ. Now then, comĀing up, youāre going to see the heads side of the coin: āAnd I in him.ā There is āChrist in you, the hope of glory.ā Thatās completely different from you being in Christ. Thatās the heads side of the coin. And He says, āHe bears much fruit.ā
Gang, this is so powerful. A branch cannot produce fruit. A branch can bear the fruit that is produced by the sap, the juice, thatās in the vine. And itās a perfect metaphor that Jesus selected to demonstrate how a Christian must depend on Christ as life through him if heās going to bear the fruits of the Spirit. Gang, these are the fruits of the Spirit, not the fruits of Bill or Sally or Susan. Theyāre the Spiritās fruit and only the Spirit of Christ in us can produce this fruit.
Now, He says, āBill, if you try to do it on your own, if you try to get out there and live the Christian life, keep my laws, keep my ways, do it on your own, rely on yourself and call on me for help when you run out of gas, youāre living just like the Old Testament Jew livedāand that is not Christianity. Because, Bill, apart from me you canāt do anything. You cannot produce fruit. You can only bear the fruit that I produce through you.ā
Ankerberg: You may say, āJohn, Iām starting to understand what it means to let Christ live through me and to abide in Him, but I still need some more help. Well, Bill gives two more illustrations that I think will clearly help you to understand whether or not you are trying to live the Christian life in your own strength, or in the power of Christ. Listen:
Gillham: Now letās talk about this thing of Christ living through me. And Iām going to use a real āMickey Mouseā illustration here of picking up a pen. Okay? All right now, then, I can pick up that pen as the Bible says āin the flesh.ā In other words, depending upon myself. I can do it that way. Or I can actually pick up that pen in the Spirit. A Christian has two ways he can operateā either according to the flesh or in the Spirit. Now, āin the Spiritā means trusting Christ through you to do it.
First of all, Iām going to pick this pen up according to the flesh: āOkay, pen, I can pick you up. I donāt need Christ in me to pick up a crazy pen. I can do that!ā My soul! So Iāll just pick that up. I did that myself.
Now, gang, that little action you saw there is going to become part of that great wiener roast in the sky someday where all of our earthly work is going to be burned up that we do on our own. Now then, Iām going to do it the spiritual way. Iām going to trust Christ to do it through me by faith. Thatās walking in the Spirit.
āNow, Jesus, you told me that without you I canāt do anything. So I canāt even pick up a pen and have it amount to anything eternally. So by faith, I believe youāre my life and Iām going to trust you to pick up that pen through me. Good job, Jesus. Thank you for picking up that pen.ā
Now, crazy as it sounds, gang, youāre going to be standing there someday and youāre going to see me get a reward in heaven for doing that little āMickey Mouseā activity there of trusting Christ through me by faith.
Okay now, so letās use this illustration, gang. Now here we see a grape arbor and Jesus Christ is the root system and the vine itself. And all those little curly Qās up there on the top represent various Christians. We Christians, then, are the branches on this grape vine and there you are. Now, you and I have the choice. We can either go it alone. We can think to ourselves, āAh, all that vine and branches stuffāI donāt understand that. Thatās just nonsense. All I need to do is just know Iām on my way to heaven and thatās all I care about.ā
Oh! That is such a foolish, foolish position to take! Because, gang, Jesus wants to express life through you and thatās the only way youāre really going to begin to develop this sweet fellowĀship here on planet Earth that He wants. He craves this with you. He passionately searches for you to get you to let Him be your very life. Wonāt you give up? Wonāt you give up and allow Him to do that today?
Now, letās move to the other side of the coin. What does it mean to be āin Christ Jesusā? Well, this is how your identity got changed. Letās look at your old identity, who you were in the first Adam. The word āadamā, as you probably know, means āman.ā All right, the Scriptures say you were a child of Godās wrath; you were spiritually deader than a hammer; you were Godās enemy, separated from Christ, a sinner man, without God and without hope. Now, gang, you didnāt āperformā to get any of that stuff. All you have to do to get that identity is just show up on planet Earth. Your birth certificate is your ticket to hell, troops. That stuff takes you to hell.
Now, letās see what God didāhow He solved your problem with your sinner man identity. He crucified you with Christ and then He re-birthed you in Christās resurrection. Jesus is spoken of as āthe last man,ā the ālast Adam.ā And so now you are spiritually alive. Youāre not identified by your flesh anymore. Youāre identified by your spirit: āTherefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a retread job.ā No. No. No. Heās āa new creation in Christ.ā The old things are gone; new things have come. Youāre righteous. That means youāre all right; youāre acceptable to God; youāre a child of God; youāre seated in the heavenly places in Christ. Youāre a saint. Over 60 times after the cross God calls you a saint. Never does He address the church as, āTo all the sinners saved by grace at Corinth.ā Itās āto all the saints at Corinth.ā
Birth determines this stuff, gang. Birth determined that you are now a partaker of the divine nature of God. Wow! And you know why thatās important? Because you will ālife outā whatever you believe about yourself to keep from feeling like a phony. Thatās exactly what will control you.
So, gang, weāve talked about two things: that in Christ Jesus God crucified you and then re-birthed you to change your identity from sinner man to a saint; and then He filled you with the Spirit of Christ Himself to live life through you. And as you bring those two things on line and walk with God at that level, youāre going to form an intimate bond with Him that will give you an inner joy that will be incredible.