“How do I have a personal relationship with Jesus?”

You’ve heard the question before. You’ve asked the question before, or at least, you’ve had someone ask that to you. The language of “personal relationship” is very prevalent in our modern day evangelical culture. Its on our tracts, its in our books and its in our sermons. If you would just have a personal relationship with Jesus then (fill in the blank). The personal relationship with the second member of the Triune God has been repeatedly communicated as the peak of piety and Christian spirituality, but what does it mean? What does it mean to have a “personal relationship” with someone? Do you know? I haven’t got the foggiest notion what it means either. And while I’m not sure I can answer the question, like a good theologian I can reinterpret the language and offer a suggestion to those who find themselves in the same boat as me.

To answer this question in a sentence: Come to church. Okay that may seem over simplified and perhaps naive, but this is the scriptural and historical answer on how to grow in one’s relationship with Jesus Christ. Of course no pastor is going to discourage you from spending time in the word and prayer at home on your own, but those things are not the ultimate expression of Christian spirituality. It is worship, rather, that allows an individual to grow but there can not be true growth outside the context of the church community. This is why Christians since the beginning of the church have gathered together to hear the Word of God read, to pray for one another, and to break bread in the same manner as Christ did in order to experience the presence of Christ in the gathered body of believers (Acts 2:46-47, 20:7; 1 Cor. 10:16, 12:26; Eph. 2:21-22, 4:15-16; Col 2:1-2)

The act of worship from the very beginning was an experience of sights, smells, tastes, sounds and touch. This is what is to happen in the worship service, we are to experience who God is and what he has done for us through Christ who came in the flesh and ate, breathed and walked among us. The incarnation informs us regarding our interaction with God. As the Son of God physically came to man, we come physically to him and worship demonstrates this. We celebrate the reality of Christ in our lives and expect his return and experience this through worship! Hearing the Word of God, having teaching that explains the Scriptures, hearing and singing songs of joy and sorrow, tasting and feeling the bread and wine and coming together to encourage one another is the essence of Christian worship. And this is how we grow. We come together to experience this one faith and continually learn what it means to be a disciple, in community, with others.

To wrap up this short answer to a big question, here is what God’s word tells us. Paul speaks of our one faith when he says, “There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6 ESV). This one body cannot be experience if the members are not present. Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5 ESV). Of course this verse has individual implications, but where is Christ most readily experienced today? In worship! If we do not abide in the body of Christ, how can we possibly expect to produce fruit. And finally, the writer of Hebrews gives us this familiar encouragement, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV). We can not stir up one another to good works if we are away from the body! We are meant to experience the hope of Christ in the body of Christ. Apart from that, we can not grow in our relationship with him.

So the answer to the question, “How do I have a personal relationship with Jesus,” is to personally experience the body of Christ through worship. We experience the personal nature of the community, we personally express our hearts in prayer and worship, we personally sit under the teaching of the Word, we personally participate in the supper of our Lord and we continue to grow in our personal affections towards the triune God. To have a personal relationship with Jesus one must personally relate themselves to the community in which he inaugurated, the church. Anything less than this and one’s spiritual growth will be severely deficient.

If you truly wish to grow in the faith you proclaim, you will be involved in the body through service and worship. Individualism is not spiritual growth, it’s a indication of our selfish pride and arrogance. One must be in the body of Christ to truly experience the grace of God and to grow in one’s relationship with Christ. Is faith personal? Of course! But it’s only personal in so far as it is fully expressed with other believers in the church. May God encourage our hearts and reveal to us our need to be connected to the body of Christ in order to experience Christ.

The Soul Winner and Easter Sunday

Charles Spurgeon’s The Soul Winner: How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour is a classic text on evangelism and a pillar of Reformed baptist literature. With approaching Holy Week services and outreach activities, Spurgeon’s words regarding evangelism and proclaiming the gospel should be carefully heeded. From chapter one we read the following:

“A sinner has a heart as well as a head; a sinner has emotions as well as thoughts; and we must appeal to both. A sinner will never be converted until his emotions are stirred.”^[1]

His point is that we are to walk equally on the legs of doctrinal purity as well as proper appeal to emotion. We are to compel sinners to come to Christ, but that emotional appeal can never be divorced from the doctrines of God’s grace and sovereignty and regenerating work of the Spirit. Likewise, if we are meticulous in our orthodoxy yet never make the emotional appeal necessary to drive a sinner’s heart to the cross, then we have done the gospel of Christ a disservice. Earlier in the chapter he says,

“A purely didactic ministry, which should always appeal to the understanding, and should leave the emotions untouched, would certainly be a limping ministry.”^[2]

As ministers of the gospel, we are to engage the heart and mind together and never divorce the two in our evangelism and church worship. And if you think that Spurgeon is advocating emotionalism and revivalism a la Charles Finney or Billy Sunday, he also says:

“Men need to be told that, except divine grace shall bring them out of their enmity to God, they must eternally perish; and they must be reminded of the sovereignty of God, that He is not obliged to bring them out of this state, that He would be right and just if He left them in such a condition, that they have no merit to plead before Him, and no claims upon Him, but that if they are to be saved, it must be by grace, and by grace alone.”^[3]

Again responding the revivalistic tendencies of the inheritors of the Second Great Awakening he states:

“Nor is soul-winning, dear friends, merely to create excitement. Excitement will accompany every great movement….Excitement is as incidental as the dust, but it is not or one moment to be aimed at….It very often happens that the converts that are born in excitement die when the excitement is over.”^[4]

We must carefully balance right doctrine and emotional appeals; both are necessary for proper evangelism and gospel preaching. Spurgeon says, “The best attraction is the gospel in its purity.”^[5] This thought echoes Paul’s word to the Corinthian church when he states,“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV). And as Easter Sunday draws near, may we remember Paul’s assertion when he says,“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14 ESV). The hope of resurrection is the culmination of the good news message.

As we prepare for Holy Week services and outreach activities, may we heed the words of the Apostle Paul and  Spurgeon and prayerfully trust in God’s sovereignty to convert souls while at the same time making the urgent appeal to come to Christ!

---

^[1] Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Soul Winner: How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), 26.

^[2] Ibid., 25.

^[3] Ibid., 24.

^[4] Ibid., 19-20.

^[5] Ibid., 24.

Eucharistic Reflections from Ignatius of Antioch, part 3 of 4

Eucharist is the act of thanksgiving which brings the church together in unity and allows her to feast upon the reality of Christ in the life of the church and of its members. Against those who confess a doctrine contrary to Scripture and the incarnation, it is a sign that they are outside that unity and fellowship. For those who are under discipline, it is a reminder that the unity of the church is a matter of utmost seriousness and to prayerfully seek repentance and reinstatement within the body. For when one member suffers, the whole body suffers. The act of Eucharist in the life of the church is an act which demonstrates this reality.

As we continue looking at Ignatius’s instructions and exhortations regarding the Eucharist, we will see here that it is an act of devotion. This is not an unfamiliar theme to numerous Christians throughout the world. For all believers are called to examine themselves and discern the body (that is the gathered saints) in order that they will not partake of the meal in an unworthy manner, possibly bringing judgment upon themselves (1 Cor. 11:17-34). The Eucharist is an all inclusive act of devotion which includes personal reflection on the sufferings of Christ, the corporate act of worship including prayer and confession and the realization that this supper represents a greater one to come. It is the central spiritual act of the gathered church, and for Ignatius this devotional act is likewise a core theme for the Eucharist. May it always continue to be until the coming of our Lord!

_________________________

Eucharist as Devotion

There exists little doubt regarding Ignatius and devotional language pertaining to the Eucharist. James T. O’Connor rightly identifies this saying, “[The] mystery of the Lord’s Body and Blood was a most significant aspect in his thought and in his own spiritual life.”[1] For Ignatius, Eucharist is more than the reminder of Christ; it is Christ himself. Perhaps for some this language could be confusing at best, and downright offensive to others. What was it that Ignatius saw in the act of Eucharist? Did he see this as the elements of bread and wine becoming the flesh and blood of Christ, or was it a mystery free from the bounds of explanation? Above all, it remains clear that Ignatius viewed this central act of the church as true devotion to the Savior who embodies that same church.

In his appeals to unity, Ignatius sees the act of coming together to give thanks as the supreme act of devotion. Ignatius makes an appeal to come together “more frequently to give thanks and glory to God.”[2] Though the explicit mention of the act of Eucharist is questionable, the Greek text in the least stresses the unique act of “giving thanks” or, eujcaristi÷an. Schoedel in fact takes this to mean the sacred meal while acknowledging that the ideas of “thanksgiving” and “glory” are employed within the context of the Eucharist.[3] He rightly suggests that this mention would most plausibly lead the reader to reflect on the act of Eucharist in the worship. Devotion, in the context of Eph. 13.1, involved a frequency of gathering which is a characteristic mark of any group devoted to a cause. Devotion involves enthusiasm and to this end Ignatius here encourages the Ephesian church. But what is the object of such devotion?

For Ignatius the recipient of devotion in Eucharist is always Christ Jesus. We first witness this in Eph. 20.2, as Ignatius describes the Eucharist being the “medicine of immortality, the antidote we take in order not to die but to live forever in Jesus Christ.” Here the devotion is to Christ as life, and perhaps an allusion to his earlier description of Christ as the “one physician” in Eph. 7.2. The devotion of course is never to be found in the elements themselves, rather, it is to be seen as the true prescription against death as one consecrates their life to Christ. Thus, the common assembly was to partake in the Eucharist and its purpose was to impart life to Christians “smitten by death.”[4] This devotion always includes Christ as its final object and the unity of believers as its ultimate means. Never in Ignatius does one find Eucharist apart from unity, and such unity leads to the devotion witnessed in Eph. 20.2.

Devotion in Eucharist additionally included two realties: the incarnation and submission to authority. Returning to our trophy passage in Eph 20.2, Ignatius clearly identifies Christ as both “Son of Man and Son of God” mentioning that he was “physically a descendant of David.” No Eucharist is true which does not acknowledge such a basic Christian truth, an idea I will return to regarding Ignatius’s language of Eucharist as polemic. We see devotional language employed regarding the incarnation elsewhere in Rom 7.3. Here our bishop, in much more personal language, conveys his desire to forsake real bread for “the bread of God which is the flesh of Christ” and to forgo drink for “his blood which is incorruptible love.” Here again we see clear distinctions regarding the fleshly reality of Christ in the incarnation, most likely referring more to his death at this location. Ignatius’s epistle to the Romans reveals above all others his personal devotional language to Christ in light of his impending martyrdom. Though likely mirroring Christ’s passion with his own, the language of “eat and drink” cannot escape allusions to Eucharist. Though Schoedel regards this as an expression of desire to “authenticate his Christianity in martyrdom,” Eucharistic language is unmistakable and creates for the reader a devotion to Christ both in his passion, and that meal which is taken in identification with that passion.[5]

The other reality in Eucharist as devotion is submission to authority. Ignatius unquestionably relates the role of bishop, presbyters and deacons to a higher authority. To submit to a leader in the church is to submit to God himself. Such submission is thus necessary in partaking of the Eucharist and in doing so, a congregate submits to Christ; the greatest act of devotion. This aspect is best illustrated in Smyr 8.1-2. Here Ignatius implores the body to follow the bishop “as Jesus Christ followed the Father,” that is, in complete submission to the Father. He further instructs obedience towards the remainder of leaders within the church and only then communicates that submission in regards to partaking in the Eucharist. Obedience to leadership is primary and this is illustrated concretely in the Eucharist. In this and only this way is the Eucharist considered valid in the eyes of Ignatius. The devotion due to Christ manifests itself as submission to the bishop within the Eucharist.

This thought presents itself elsewhere within Ignatius regarding devotion, namely, in what has been called the mysterious real presence of Christ. One author makes mention that within Ignatius, practically every view of the Eucharist can be found.[6] However true this may be, for Ignatius, the Eucharist represented the real presence of Christ and that the analogy between the elements and Christ are left unexplained as a mystery.[7] Such a view partners well with the language of devotion used within the Ignatian text. We see this in various places with assorted language. Apostles grasped the fleshly body of Christ and enjoyed a meal with him, as explained in Smyr 3.1-3. Though they enjoyed a physical reality, there was a spiritual component to such an occurrence for though Christ was “like one who is composed of flesh” he was “spiritually united with the Father.”[8] Elsewhere we see language of matter containing more than just a surface understanding. The breaking of bread is the medicine of immortality.[9] The blood of Christ is “incorruptible love.”[10] In response to Docetists, Ignatius regards the Eucharist as “the flesh of our savior Jesus Christ.”[11] The Docetist issue will be addressed momentarily, however, it is clear that Eucharist involves deeply devotional language intimately connected to the presence of Christ. For Ignatius Eucharistic expressions cannot be divorced from devotion to Christ Jesus himself.

Undeniably, Ignatius finds devotion to Christ within the sacrament of the Eucharist. This view is best expressed as a mysterious real presence for the following two reasons. Against a transubstantiated view, Ignatius nowhere chooses to explain a process of change in the elements, rather his phrasing is analogical and definitive. In opposition to a memorial view, the expression Ignatius gives us simply does not allow for this. For our bishop, the Eucharist is the central act wrought from the unity within the church and indicative of its unity to Christ himself. More than remembering, Eucharist signifies the connection of the church to her Lord and the grace he imparts to it. Roman Catholic sacramental theology can claim Ignatius as an early champion yet they would be hard pressed to prove the Aristotelian understanding of transubstantiation as later made dogma by the church. For those wishing to retroactively seek a memorial view, they too would struggle to demonstrate their case using Ignatius as a test subject. In Ignatius we have an early Christian devoted to his Lord and views the act of Eucharist as the fundamental expression of Christ’s presence in the unified church. Our bishop yet views Eucharist in one additional fashion, that is, as a polemic against Docetism.

---

[1] James T. O’Connor, The Hidden Manna: A Theology of the Eucharist (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2005), 12.

[2] Eph. 13.1

[3]  William R. Shoedel, Ignatius of Antioch: A Commentary on the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985), 74.

[4] Eugene LaVerdiere, The Eucharist in the New Testament and the Early Church (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1996), 159.

[5] Shoedel, Ignatius of Antioch, 186.

[6] O’Connor, The Hidden Manna, 17.

[7] I refer the reader to a recent student thesis regarding the Eucharist of Ignatius in which the text has been analyzed and synthesized to show his view of Eucharist as the mysterious real presence of Christ. Please see Matthew Shackelford, The Eucharist of Ignatius of Antioch, Dallas Theological Seminary, December 2009.

[8] Smyr 3.3.

[9] Eph 20.2.

[10] Rom 7.3.

[11] Smyr 6.2

Reflections on the Incarnation: A 2011 Christmas Message

As we draw to an end of this year, I want us to reflect on the incarnation of our Lord and it’s implications for our life. The act of God becoming man and identifying with his creation is the greatest event in the history of our world. St Athanasius, the 4th century bishop of Alexandria and defender of Nicene orthodoxy, said this in his pivotal work On the Incarnation, “For He alone, being Word of the Father and above all, was in consequence both able to recreate all, and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to be an ambassador for all with the Father. For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God entered our world” (On the Incarnation, 2.7-8). Athanasius understood that God becoming man had major implications for our lives. First and foremost was our redemption. Only God can redeem sinful man, therefore, Jesus as God in the flesh through his propitiation is the only one able to fully redeem man. Jesus must be more than a man, because a man cannot redeem another man, only God can perform such venture. Second, the incarnation means we can know God. He is not distant, but intimately identifies with his creation. The writer of Hebrews says ”For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 ESV). Athanasius again says, “The Savior of us all, the Word of God, in His great love took to Himself a body and moved as Man among men, meeting their senses, so to speak, half way. He became Himself an object for the senses, so that those who were seeking God in sensible things might apprehend the Father through the works which He, the Word of God, did in the body” (3.15). The final implication of the incarnation I wish to highlight is our worship. We are now compelled to worship God together for the wonderful gift of his Son in order that we may be redeemed. Once again Athanasius says, “Worship, then, the Savior “Who is above all” and mighty, even God the Word, and condemn those who are being defeated and made to disappear by Him. When the sun has come, darkness prevails no longer; any of it that may be left anywhere is driven away” (8.55). We should not forsake intimate fellowship with one another and regular worship in the body so that we may continually feed on the spiritual nourishment provided by our Lord for our growth and his glory. Our communion should always properly reflect the glories of the incarnation, both in Christ’s humanity and deity. We should never devalue one for the sake of the other and vice versa. Because Christ came and brought with him grace, forgiveness and love, these are the things are to share with one another. Let us continually confess our sins to one another and enjoy the intimate fellowship at the Lord’s table and the proclamation of his gospel. The incarnation, once again, is the most substantial act to ever occur in the history of mankind. May we never tire of dwelling upon it’s profundity and implications for our lives and those whom have yet to come to faith. May we praise our God for his grace and truth. And may we commit to continue abiding in the body of Christ through intimate fellowship and worship, especially around the table of our Lord with his bread and his cup. May we eagerly await the return of our Lord and the hope of resurrection. As our brother Athanasius said, “Now, therefore, when we die we no longer do so as men condemned to death, but as those who are even now in process of rising we await the general resurrection of all, “which in its own times He shall show,” even God Who wrought it and bestowed it on us” (2.10). May you have peace and joy this holiday season as you ponder the sweet grace of our God, through Christ Jesus our Lord. To download a PDF copy of St. Athanasius’s On the Incarnation, click here.

Eucharistic Reflections from Ignatius of Antioch, part 2 of 4

Ignatius has been the subject of much abuse. He has been mined for treasures regarding the practice and theology of the early church, with various conclusions throughout the ages. Though objective history is impossible to achieve in my opinion, it is still a worthwhile endeavor for us to reflect on Ignatius’s writings and discover the points of development within early church theology and analyze how our own practice as Christians may benefit. In regards to the Eucharist, evangelical Christians have much to gain from this endeavor and can still find jewels within the mines of early church writings. Our challenge, however, is to not focus solely upon these jewels and make them the treasure we die for but rather add these jewels to the golden crown of Christ, his church and the faithful teaching of the apostles.

In this second part of my reflection upon Ignatius in regards to the Eucharist, I will show how the Eucharist is seen as an act of unity within the church. A church without Eucharist is without unity. The dispenser of the Eucharist is the bishop (or one approved by him) and this, being the guarantee of proper Christology within the church, unifies the church as they gather together. For the next segment, I will consider the devotional aspects of Eucharist as yet another facet within the writings of Ignatius. For now, I wish to show here in this entry that not only was unity for Ignatius and the early church an important facet of their worship, but it should be just as vitally important for us today. As we continue to mine Ignatius, may we consider the jewels we find and may we put our treasures in the right places.

_________________________

Eucharist as Unity

A cursory reading of Ignatius’s epistles will reveal a heavy emphasis on the unity of the church. In Eph. 4.2, as if describing a symphony of harmonious instruments, he explains such a picture as “perfect unity” with the purpose to “always have a share in God.” He continues to build upon this notion in 5.2 stating, “If anyone is not within the sanctuary, he lacks the bread of God.” Those who do not meet together, therefore, are “arrogant” thinking perhaps that the unity of the body is not important compared to the desires of self. In 5.2, the context is not specifically Eucharistic yet the idea of nourishment, the prayer of the bishop and the unity of the congregation are present. It is difficult to see this as anything other than the Eucharistic act taking place. Those in the body, led by the prayers of the bishop, do in fact have the bread of God.

Later in Ephesians, Ignatius makes an appeal for the body to “make every effort to come together more frequently to give thanks.” Here we do see explicit use of eucharistian. In this frequent unity “the powers of Satan are overthrown” and conceivably Ignatius would have considered the Docetic heresy such a power of Satan. The point to be made regarding such a statement is that unity should be desired above all and such unification of the body is capable of great power. The language of Eucharist as unity becomes explicit in Eph. 20.2. Here the church is called upon to yield to the bishop and council of presbyters with an “undisturbed mind” while “breaking one bread” which he tells us is the “medicine of immortality.” Unity is the means in which the bread is partaken and seen as the “antidote….in order not to die but to live forever in Jesus Christ.” Schismatics can not enjoy this one bread as they have disassociated themselves from such submission to leadership and unity.

In similar fashion to Paul in Eph. 4.4-6, Ignatius uses the language of “one” to further advance his call for unity under Eucharist. To the Magnesians, he implores the church to do everything in “godly harmony” and united under the leadership of God.[1] It is through this harmony that the people have the same hope, mind, prayer and petition which allows the church to look to one altar and one Jesus Christ, with the idea of the altar undoubtedly symbolizing the idea of the Eucharist meal. The church is one, united under one savior who is celebrated at one altar, that is, the Eucharist. Ignatius continues the image of oneness is Phil. 4, making clear mention that one Eucharist, the celebration of the flesh and blood of Christ, “leads to unity.” In this context, he juxtaposes this unifying act to “evil plants” who “hold to alien views.” In this case, practicing the one Eucharist (mia eucharistia) is the means to achieving unity under the leadership of the bishop and the presbyters.  Christ’s blood clearly unites, echoing Paul in Eph. 2.13-15, and for Ignatius unity indicates being in accordance with God.

Clearly Ignatius appeals to unity, not just within the various exhortations, but also specifically when referring to the Eucharistic meal. Using the language of “one,” “harmony,” and “unity” Ignatius refuses to allow his readers to assume anything less being represented within the act of Eucharist. Only under the leadership of the bishop and presbyters can the Eucharist be seen as legitimate; anything else is disharmonious and therefore, not the true Eucharist. Eucharist begins as an act of oneness and from there takes on a character of devotion, a facet to which I will direct my attention in the following segment. Take care and come back soon!

- Coleman

---

[1] Mag, 6.1.