Tag Archives: humility

Signs of Life

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“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
2 Pe 3:18

Scientists search the universe for signs of life, any evidence of life that might exist on other planets. I’ll admit, the notion is captivating, and certainly one that has gripped the imagination of writers and movie makers for years now. There’s no reason why we cannot hold to the Biblical account of creation, and still entertain the possibility that there are other creatures “out there,” still a part of God’s creation.

Most likely, though, when and if we do discover life, it will be small, simple, microbial life; not the little green men from Mars. 

Still, the search continues for signs of life.

When I was a college freshman I was part of a group of students who were interview by a PhD candidate, who was researching Spiritual Development among High School and College Students. I don’t know that I ever saw the results of his study, but I remember the interview vividly. During the interview I mentioned that I really wanted a “stronger faith,” and the interviewer stopped me and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Silence.

I honestly didn’t know what I meant by “a stronger faith.” Looking back now, I’d tell my younger self that a stronger faith would mean being more consistent in your walk with God, struggling less with sin and doubt, and perhaps being someone people looked to as an example of Christian maturity. That’s what I’d say now. But I couldn’t articulate that back then.

But if I’m honest, I still have the same desire. I long to have a faith that continues to grow stronger, a maturing walk with the Lord, and a deepening love for God. I continue to look for signs of life (see – I had a point in talking about that stuff at the beginning), life in the Spirit, life in the Vine.

I must remember that I am a man in the midst of transformation. God isn’t done with me, not while I’m still alive. He continues to prune, feed, and nurture growth, that a harvest of righteousness will be produced in me. One day I’ll be raised in perfection, until then I must continue to tend to my growth in grace.

What are the signs of life? In biological terms, the signs of life are:

  1. Responsiveness to the environment;
  2. Growth and change;
  3. Ability to reproduce;
  4. Have a metabolism and/or ability to breathe;
  5. Maintain homeostasis;
  6. Being made of cells;
  7. Passing traits onto offspring.

In spiritual terms, the signs of life, according to J.C. Ryle, are:

  1. Increased humility – The nearer a man draws to God and the more he sees of God’s holiness and perfections, the more thoroughly is he sensible of his own countless imperfections…
  2. Increased faith and love towards our Lord Jesus Christ – But as a man grows in grace, he sees a thousand things in Christ of which at first he never dreamed. His love and power, His heart and His intentions, His offices as Substitute, Intercessor, Priest, Advocate, Physician, Shepherd and Friend, unfold themselves to a growing soul in an unspeakable manner. 
  3. Increased holiness of life – The man whose soul is growing strives more to be conformed to the image of Christ in all things and to follow Him as his example, as well as to trust in Him as his Savior.
  4. Increased spirituality of taste and mind – The man whose soul is growing takes more interest in spiritual things every year; spiritual companions, spiritual occupations, spiritual conversation appear of ever-increasing value to him.
  5. Increase of charity – The man whose soul is growing is more full of love every year – of love to all men, but especially of love towards the brethren.
  6. Increased zeal and diligence in trying to do good to souls – The man who is really growing will take greater interest in the salvation of sinners every year.

Take a second and consider your own life. Do you see signs of genuine spiritual life? Is there a sincere humility, a growing love for Christ, a passion for holiness, a taste for the spiritual, a heartfelt affection for the church, and a desire to see the lost come to Christ. Look for signs of life, and lean hard on those things that God has promised to help this life grow, the means of grace. Be reading daily in God’s Word. Spend time communing with God in prayer. Attend worship regularly, to be renewed in the grace of communion and fellowship with Christ and other believers.

Look for, and work for signs of life in the Spirit. But I leave you with this caution from Ryle:

Let us never measure our religion by that of others and think we are doing enough if we have gone beyond our neighbors. This is a snare of the devil. Let us mind our own business… Let us follow on, remembering daily that at our best we are miserable sinners. Let us follow on, and never forget that it signifies nothing whether we are better than others or not. At our very best we are far worse than we ought to be. There will always be room for improvement in us. We shall be debtors to Christ’s mercy and grace to the very last. Then let us leave off looking at others and comparing ourselves with others. We shall find enough to do if we look at our own hearts.

SDG

Ryle, J. C. Holiness: It’s Nature, Hinderances, Difficulties and Roots. electronic ed. based on the Evangelical Press reprinting, with new forward, 1995. Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation, 1999. Print.

Wrestling with the pigs

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But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil,
was disputing about the body of Moses,
he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment,
but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” Jude 9

There’s an old adage that says, “Never wrestle with a pig, you’ll both get dirty and the pig enjoys it.” If you listen to the political rancor today, or watch the videos of the protests and riots, and you find this adage to be proven true.  Talking heads, or masked masses, scream and yell at each other, attacking not just the ideas but the people behind them, and seemingly getting a thrill out of the spectacle that they’re making. I watch and listen, trying to understand what’s happening in the world around me, and all I see and hear is arrogance, pride, a blatant disregard for the lives and dignity of others; ultimately, a flat out rejection of the imago dei. 

This is the cantancorous spirit of the false teachers that Jude is rebuking, those who had crept into the church and were twisting the grace of God into sensuality and denying the Lord and Master Jesus Christ (Jude 4). Verse 8 ends with the charge that these false teachers “blaspheme the glorious ones,” a phrase that needs further explanation, and thankfully, Jude gives it.

In verse 9, Jude refers to an apocryphal story about the burial of Moses. We’re told in Deuteronomy 34:5-6 “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.” Illustrating the attitude of the false teachers, Jude shares the story of Michael the archangel contending with the devil, disputing about the body of Moses.  It is likely that Jude is drawing from the aprocryphal work called The Assumption of Moses, which included this story of Michael the archangel contending with the Devil over Moses’ body. The Reformation Study Bible notes that this was “likely a historical event that was preserved in Jewish memory, which was then picked up and written down in the Assumption of Moses, from which Jude may have drawn,” or it was simply a story of legend that all the young Jewish children would have known.

One can imagine that the Devil was arguing that Moses shouldn’t belong to the Lord because he was a sinner. Or, as Calvin suggests, it was possible that the Devil wanted to take Moses’ body and create a shrine.  “Satan almost in all ages has been endeavoring to make the bodies of God’s saints idols to foolish men” (Calvin).  What we know for certain is Michael’s response. Here’s the archangel, the chief of the angels, contending with the devil himself, and he refuses to get into the details, to go back and forth in debate. He simply declares, “the Lord rebuke you!”

The New Covenant Commentary summarizes this well:

Ultimately, the point is that the arrogance of the infiltrators is placed in stark contrast from the meekness of the powerful heavenly being who, though he could be justified in claiming a greater sense of authority than mortals, nevertheless approaches delicate matters with a decided sense of humility. Even while representing God, Michael the archangel never presumes the role of Judge; that role belongs to God. Rather, by appealing to God’s authority, he is able to invoke God’s judgment without undermining God’s position. By implication, those infiltrators making judgments of others are in essence playing God, by virtue of which they put themselves in danger of divine judgment. 

Mbuvi, Andrew M. Jude and 2 Peter: A New Covenant Commentary. Ed. Michael F. Bird and Craig Keener. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2015.

The church could and should learn a lot from Jude today. How often do we put ourselves in the place of judge, jury, and executioner?  We are certainly called to discern the truth from lies, to hold fast to, and even contend for, the faith. We must point out errors, according to the word of God, in order to correct and train in righteousness. 

But through all of this we must resist the temptation to put ourselves in the place of God in pronouncing judgment on one another. We tend to use worldly means to fight spiritual battles, plotting out well-devised debates, looking for a mud-pit to roll around in for a while.  Even Michael, the archangel, with all of his authority, knew better.  He engaged the devil with humility, and in respect for the authority of Christ, so that he refused to even pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but entrusted the matter to the Lord.  If the greatest of the good angels refused to speak evil of the greatest of the evil angels, surely we should refrain from speaking evil of one another.

Along with this teaching from Jude, Psalm 44 offers a great reminder:

For not in my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
But you have saved us from our foes
and have put to shame those who hate us.
In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever.

As we seek to contend for the truth of the gospel, let us do so always trusting that the Lord will fight the battles for us. It is the Lord who saves, the Lord who preserves. Let us, in humility and faith, look to Christ and walk with Him.

SDG