REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Pastor Barry Kang who heads Symphony Church in Boston, was first posted on March 2, 2014. He is a graduate of Stanford University (BA), Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (D.Min.).
Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend
“The Relationship Between Theology and Ethics”
1 John 2:6
“Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
Even now, one of the most important questions we wrestle within the Church is how our ethics (how we live our life) interacts with our theology (what we believe). As many already know, the apostle John’s primary message was “love one another” (Jn. 13:35). But what does it mean if we don’t actually love one another? Since we are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8), does that imply that loving others is not required in order to be saved? Is doing what God commands necessary for salvation?
The first letter of John was likely written to the church in Ephesus, a church with an outstanding pedigree. Planted by the apostle Paul, pastored by Timothy and later by the apostle John, the church had a solid foundation of pastoral and theological leadership. Yet, as Jesus had prophesied (Matt. 7), false teachers had begun to influence the church (Acts 20:29-31); and much of their teachings had to do with this interplay between theology and ethics.
In time, from their false teachings would arise a non-Christ centered system of philosophy known as “Gnosticism,” which taught that only those who had received the secret knowledge (i.e., gnosis) would become enlightened and saved. An essential component to Gnosticism was dualism, which taught that the soul was good while flesh was evil. Interestingly, this led to two vastly different ethical applications. Some dualists preached a severe form of asceticism (i.e., a strict lifestyle that avoids physical pleasure) under the premise that wicked flesh needed to be disciplined. Many others promoted licentiousness under the pretext that since the soul will be saved in the end, what was done in the flesh didn’t matter.
In contrast, the gospel writers taught that God did the work of salvation. We play no role in obtaining our salvation because God’s redemptive work is affected neither by our righteousness nor our lack of it; we simply receive this grace through faith. Knowledge (knowing what Jesus did) has a role, but salvation is more than intellectually assenting to that knowledge. For John, faith cannot be separated from one’s ethics, any more than Christ’s humanity can be separated from his divinity. If you believe in Jesus, then you would want to live like him and you can, since the Spirit (a.k.a., the helper) lives in us. Yes, “whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”
Evidently, the errors of Gnosticism still affect many of us today. How? We are inclined to listen to the voices that preach knowledge (resulting in accumulating information) over faith. Some emphasize grace so much that all efforts toward holiness are dismissed. For others, imbalanced focus on faithfulness has turned good works into a means to justify ourselves and to judge others. As we read through 1 John, let us ask that God would help us to find the radical middle of grace and faith.
Prayer: Father, thank You for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus! Now, despite our imperfections, we can have fellowship with You and even fellowship with other imperfect people. Help me to become a person who proclaims Christ inside and outside the Church, that our joy would become complete! Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Obadiah 1
Many years ago, I met a university professor at his home— quite drunken at the time— at the urge of his student who attended my church; she was concerned about his mental health.
Jesus once taught that a man cannot serve two masters. While he was referring to God and money, the principle is relevant here as well. Paul was facing great opposition from false teachers who taught things contrary to what Paul had taught, spreading their message by discrediting Paul. Because Paul’s gospel message did not require Gentiles to convert to Judaism (a religion enmeshed in ethnic identity), only to believe in the person and work of Christ (a spiritual identity), some Jewish Christians charged him with people-pleasing (that is, telling the Gentiles only what they wanted to hear to be more popular among them).
Over the years, I have found that there are two kinds of faith. The first is an active faith that responds obediently to the Lord’s commands.
One of the constant challenges of doing ministry in an urban setting is discerning those who genuinely have a need, from those who are just lazy and are trying to take advantage of the church. Our church leadership had a policy of not handing out money, especially to strangers who would ask for assistance, but we would invariably offer to buy groceries; some people gladly take them, while others suddenly no longer feel very hungry.
Do you ever feel like an endangered species?
Have you ever pleaded desperately with the Lord? 
Peter, astounded that his master Jesus was about to wash his dirty feet, said to him, “
Hunger and desire Biblical wisdom.
Recently, my mother was cheated out of some money. She signed up for a tour group, which was very cheap and provided good hotel accommodations and food. In the process of traveling, the guide took her to a shopping mall which sold some luxury goods at a discounted price, so she quickly bought the luxury goods. However, when she got home, she found out that she bought fake goods. When I heard my mother complain to me, I realized how easy it was for us to be deceived when we relax our awareness.