Confident and Careful

In the days of my youth I liked to argue about the Bible. After all, what's more fun than a debate on some abstract theological topic? Now that I am no longer that young and foolish kid I realize that arguing, especially over theology, is a really bad idea. Or at least most of the time I realize that. This morning I am going to re-visit an old theological argument. The two groups arguing have been at it for quite a while. My goal in this is not to tell you who is right and why. My goal is much more significant. I want you to be able to live well. In this context that means to live boldly and cautiously. A critical need of the day is for confident and careful disciples of Jesus, Christians who are neither timid nor reckless. Hopefully, what I have to say this morning will help you toward that goal. Our text is John 6.35-71.

This passage has a few verses that have shown up with some frequency when it comes to that debate I mentioned. One favorite is verse 37.

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

The claim of some is that this verse, particularly that last phrase, gives great comfort. Once someone comes to Jesus, once he believes, there is no way that Jesus will ever let him go. He will never be cast out. His rescue from sin and death is secure. This group loves verses like this one. They stress what we might call the assurance passages.

This is where the other side in the debate raises an objection or two. So, for one thing, this second group will speak about the great danger in adopting such an attitude. They have seen people who have believed in Jesus but then, have lived horrendous lives. These people sin all over the place without a second thought. But when challenged, when someone expresses any doubt that they could be a Christian because of how they live, these people quickly point to this verse. '… whoever comes to me I will never cast out' and claim that they must be Christians.

As a result, this second group points to their own verse from this passage in John, verse 66.

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

This second group stresses what we might call the warning passages. 'See, you can lose your salvation! You can turn away from Jesus. So, we need to take those warnings very seriously.' And the debate begins.

Now, it will get confusing if I continue with 'this group says' and then contrasting it with 'but that other group says'. So, here's what I'm going to do. We have red states and blue states, and that helps keep track of who's who. Let's identify our two groups by some color. So, on the one hand, there is the pink group. They stress the assurance passages. They like Jesus' statement about 'never cast out'. Then, on the other hand, we have the orange group. They stress the warning passages. They quickly remind everyone about those disciples who turned back and no longer followed Jesus. Two groups: pink and orange. I picked those two colors because I wanted things to clash. So, if they don't clash quite enough think 'hot pink' and 'pumpkin orange'.

So, the pink group clings to the 'never cast out' verse here. But that is not the only verse they use. They bolster their position with some others.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

So, says the pink group, once you believe you are safe. No one can snatch you away.

But that only results in the orange group piling up their own verses.

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

Let us strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

One volley leads to another, and the result, all too often, is full scale theological warfare.

In the midst of this shooting back and forth what is too often forgotten is that all those verses come from the same Bible. That means that they are all true. So, the pink group can't just ignore the verses the orange group points to. And likewise, the orange group can't forget about the favorite verses of the pink group. They all must be true, so both groups need to account for all of them.

Now, the pink group thinks that it can do that. So, when they hear a verse from the orange group about someone believing and then not believing, the pinks know what to do. They just say, 'Well, he didn't really believe. If he were a true believer that would never have happened.' They even have a verse as proof.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

At this point the pink group is quite sure that they have saved the day and have obviously triumphed over the orange group.

And that will seem fine to many when they view it in terms of some fairly abstract theological debate. But what if all of this becomes more down to earth, more practical? What if we're not talking about some real or fictional third person? What if we're talking about you or me? With this in mind, someone from the orange group asks a question of someone from the pink group.

Let's say that you are one of the people who really believes. Do you think that it is wise, or even allowed, for you to ignore the warning passages? If someone like you doesn't have to take them seriously, why are they in the Bible?

And that's the kind of question that everyone needs to deal with. How do we put these two different kinds of verses - the assurance verses and the warning verses - together? The pink group and the orange group need to come together to understand the whole Bible. And while the color that results might be odd, (What color would that be?) the single group that results would be more faithful. Both groups would do better as disciples.

We need to put all these sorts of verses together. But how do we do that? Where do we start? I'd like to start with the point of view of the orange group. There is a set of warning passages that can help us in our project. Let's start there.

Most of you know about the seven churches of Asia Minor mentioned at the beginning of the book of Revelation. Jesus has something specific to say to the members of each church. Some were doing well, others weren't, and then there were some that thought they were doing well but they really weren't. And they all faced challenges. For some, there was persecution from the surrounding culture. Others were being tripped up by their own pride. Then there were those who were deceived about how well they were doing. And, of course, there was always the problem of false teaching.

So, there were significant differences between the churches, but there is one thing that Jesus says to all of them. To each of these seven churches Jesus says something about, 'the one who conquers'. And to these conquerors he promises some particular blessing.

To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Jesus says this sort of thing seven times, once to each church. There will be a blessing to all who conquer. That's a great promise. But understand that there is the other side of the coin. There will be some in these churches who will not conquer. That means that we will end up with two groups. Listen to this from the last pages of Revelation.

The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

There are only two alternatives. Those who conquer will have a great heritage as sons of God. Those who don't conquer will endure the second death. It does appear that the orange group is right to remind the pink group about those warning passages. How else shall we understand Jesus' words here?

But does this mean that we need to become a little concerned, maybe even a little anxious about our future? Do we need to be thinking, 'What if I don't conquer? Could I fall away?' Should we worry about this? We need to conquer, but what if we don't? Good question, no?

In order to get to a good answer, we’ll need to take a closer look at this conquering. What do we have to conquer? What opposes us? The familiar trinity of foes fits here: the world, the flesh and the devil. The world is that way of thinking that stands opposed to God. The flesh is our own fallen nature. And I hope that I don't have to tell you who the devil is. These are our enemies, and we need to conquer them. And that makes sense. If we do not conquer them, they will conquer us. So, consider your enemies. The world is so subtle. We all have attitudes that we have received from the world, ways of thinking that are contrary to God's way of thinking. And we don't even see them. The flesh, our fallen nature, is like a pesky, little dog, always at our heels, nipping at us. It never leaves us alone. It is always trying to trip us up. And it succeeds all too often. Then there is the devil. He has been at his tricks for thousands of years. Think of how good he has gotten at his craft. He knows how to get you. The world, the flesh and the devil. That's what stands against us. And that is what we need to conquer.

What do you think? Does it seem like a fair fight? Only a fool would think that he has a chance against even one of these, let alone all three at the same time. And yet, Jesus is clear: 'To him who conquers...' So, are we doomed? Just holding our own is not good enough. Is there any hope of being able to overcome our enemies?  Oh yes, there is hope. We can conquer.

When Jesus walked on the water, Peter saw him and said, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.' Jesus commanded. So, Peter got out of the boat and walked toward Jesus. But, as you remember, he became afraid and doubted. And he began to sink. In desperation, he cried out to Jesus, 'Lord, save me.' And Jesus graciously did.

Each of you has a fight on your hands. You battle three foes, each of whom alone could make quick work of you. But you must conquer. You cannot flee the battlefield. You must fight. And you must win. But how? The odds are impossible. Your only hope is to cry out to Jesus. 'Lord, save me.' And because he has made promises to you, because he has assured you that there is no way for him to lose his grip on you, he graciously rescues you. He comes and fights the battle. He defeats your enemies. That battle is over. But the war is not. So, you march forward to claim more territory for the Kingdom of God. And, once again, your enemies show up. You fight as valiantly as you know how. And you do that with confidence, but not with confidence in your ability to win. You do that confident in Jesus. He stands ready to make sure you win, to make sure you conquer a little more. And one battle leads to the next and on to another and then another. This continues until the war is over, until the world, the flesh and the devil are completely vanquished, and the Kingdom of God is established over all.

So, you see, if you just look at the pink group and their verses or you just look at the orange group and their verses you will be wrong. You will not see reality clearly enough. And as a result, you will not be able to fight very well. Either you will think that fighting is unnecessary (and possibly be conquered yourself), or you will tire of fighting on your own and being beaten time and again (and maybe giving it all up as hopeless). But when you mix the colors, it all makes sense.

You are a soldier in the army of the Kingdom of God. And there is a war going on. Your life is spent on a battlefield. You must fight. Your enemies confront you, and you must conquer them. If you do not, there will be a curse instead of a blessing.  So, aware of how serious the situation is, you fight. You fight by your words. You fight by your choices. You fight by your prayers. You fight with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And as you fight, you know what the odds are. A million to one. There is no way that you can defeat them. But you are confident. You know that you will win. And you will win because of Jesus. He will bring victory. But that does not mean that you need not fight. You must fight. And this fighting is real. You have the wounds as proof. You must fight - or else. And Jesus will win the battle.

Your life is one battle after another. There will be times of rest, but then it's back to the front lines and more battles. The war will continue even after you are gone. But one day the war will be over. And it will be won because you fought. It will be won because Jesus fought alongside of you.

So, you approach life cautiously, knowing that a battle will come soon enough, if you aren't already in the middle of one. And it will be a real battle. You must fight. There is much at stake. But at the same time, you approach life confidently. Jesus is the Savior - your Savior. He has made promises to you. He assures you of victory. And you believe him. You enter the battle calling on him. You enter the battle trusting him. The ultimate triumph is only a matter of time.