19 February 2010
Psalm 31; Ezek. 18:1-4,25-32; Phil. 4:1-9; John 17:9-19

No longer will the children be punished for the sins of the parents. By the same token, no one gets credit for the righteousness of another. We all need a savior. Death is not the way of the Lord. It is not His desire that even one would die, but that doesn’t mean everyone will live. There is a condition in that passage that is plain, “repent and turn from your transgressions…get yourself a new heart and a new spirit.” He has provided the means by which we can live if we will simply accept it. We have no right to complain that it is unfair that people must turn to Him, turn from sin, turn to Jesus as the only way to eternal life. If He is creator and then offers to redeem us and give us eternal life as a gift, what right have we to demand alternatives. If we reject the sacrifice of Jesus, does it make sense to give us other choices?

What is the protection of God in this life? It can’t be keeping us safe from bodily or emotional harm, Jesus and all the disciples surely experienced that. It has to relate to keeping us from losing something more precious, eternal life. The key is those last couple of verses of the Gospel passage, sanctifying us in the truth. The protection of God is in order that we may be one in truth. The church is struggling with the idea of oneness and what are the boundaries of oneness. Jesus here is clear that those boundaries are set by truth. We can be as postmodern as we like and question whether there is such a thing as truth, but Jesus spoke of it often as though the category existed. I will, in faith, accept His word that there is truth and it can be known and that He has made it known and it takes in all of the Jewish Scriptures otherwise it makes no sense that the one time He came, He came as a Jewish man, sent to the Jews and affirmed to a Samaritan woman that salvation comes from the Jews. If He had simply wanted to win her He could have and should have left out that bit because it made it much harder for her to accept His offer to swallow her pride and accept that the ones whom she had always believed to have corrupted the pure faith were the ones in possession of truth and the true Israel.

Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Is there any better advice anyone could give us in any realm of life? Paul here is also concerned about the unity of the church, beginning with an admonition to two to agree in the Lord and continuing through this sentence. He begins this with whatever is true and everything else flows out of that one concept. Unity is important but the source of our unity is equally important, it must be our confession of Jesus, not some other bond.

You are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.