True Spirituality - The Fruitful Bride Lecture Notes on Francis Schaeffer's Book True Spirituality A Book Study By Dan Guinn

Transcription

1 True Spirituality - The Fruitful Bride Lecture Notes on Francis Schaeffer's Book True Spirituality A Book Study By Dan Guinn Edited by April Cervinka and Laura Muckerman All Rights Reserved, with the following exception: The Author hereby grants the reader the right to download, distribute and share online, as long as the content herein remains intact and unmodified from its original version. Chapter 7 - The concept of the "Fruitful Bride" combines two significant themes in Scripture: "bearing fruit" and the "bride." Both are rich in symbolism and meaning in the life of a believer. Dr. Schaeffer directs our attention to a passage where these two concepts are unified. "Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God." - Rom 7:4 As the Bride of Christ (Matt. 22:1-14, 25:1-13, Rev. 19:6-10) we are to bear fruit in our relationship with our bridegroom. Bearing fruit embodies imagery utilized in Scripture such as the "vine" and the "fig tree." In essence these symbols are indicative of the product or end result of the Christian life. The Bride's Calling Dr. Schaeffer points out that this is our high calling in life...our high calling, to put ourselves by choice in the arms of our rightful lover, our 1 bridegroom, in order to bring forth fruit in the external world. Faithfulness This commitment involves faithfulness on our part. Dr. Schaeffer uses the illustration of the illegitimate foreign child born through (the fruit of) adultery. While this may sound like something quite blatant. Elsewhere Schaeffer conveys in his works that the concept is actually far more nuanced. In Schaeffer s work The Church Before the Watching World, he labors to show the extent to which the Bible directly associated the sin of apostasy with adultery. In our culture we tend to associate adultery with merely the act of unfaithfulness toward a spouse, but do we realize that there are other levels of complexity? We must ask, Do I fight merely for doctrinal faithfulness? This is like the wife who never sleeps with anybody else, but never shows love to her own husband. Is that a sufficient relationship in marriage? No, 10,000 times no. Yet if I am a Christian who speaks and acts for doctrinal faithfulness but do not show love to my divine Bridegroom, I am in the same place as such a wife. What God wants from us is not only doctrinal faithfulness, 2 but our love day by day. Not in theory, mind you, but in practice. 1 Christian View of Spirituality, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books Schaeffer, A. Francis, The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: Volume Four, A Christian View of the Church, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books. 149.

2 Our call is first to be the bride faithful, but that is not the total call. The call is not only to 3 be the bride faithful, but to be the bride in love. Honoring the Divine Guest The Holy Spirit is the agent of the whole Trinity. He is the agent of the crucified, the raised, the glorified, Christ. If I am bringing forth something other than the fruit of the Spirit, the only reason is that I have grieved the Holy Spirit who is our Divine Guest. Dr. Charles Hodge expresses it like this:'the great distinction of a true Christian is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. How careful should he be, lest anything in his thoughts of feelings would be offensive to this divine Guest!' The Holy Spirit is a Person, but 4 knowing that he is a Person should remind us that he can be grieved... And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. - Eph 4:30 Do not quench the Spirit. - 1 Thess 5:19 The Empty Hand of Faith...For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Rom 14:23b The sin here is not raising the empty hands of faith. Anything that is not brought forth from faith is sin. When I am not allowing this fruit, which has been purchased at such a price, to flow forth through me I am unfaithful, in the deep sense of not believing in 5 God. Reasons Why We May Not Be Bringing Forth the Fruit We Should The following outline is intended as a quick reference to convey the problems and pitfalls that prevent Christians from bearing fruit. Notice that each of these occur when an unbalanced emphasis is placed on one portion of the gospel message. Without applying the whole gospel, to the whole of life we may very well be misdirected and not produce fruit. Fruit that will often provide substantial healing in this life. 1. How We Fail to "possess our possessions" as Christians. Some Common Misconceptions Christians have about their own faith. In the book, Schaeffer goes on to explain many of the misconceptions Christians, or some people who may think they are Christians, had about salvation in his own day. All of these problems are still alive and well in ours, however they may have taken on different terms. Here are a few questions we need to ask about our understanding of the basic considerations of the Christian faith. What is salvation? Redemption, Sanctification, Glorification 3 Schaeffer, A. Francis, The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: Volume Four, A Christian View of the Church, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books Christian View of Spirituality, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books Christian View of Spirituality, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books. 279

3 Is believing in Christ necessary for salvation? Christ Plus Nothing Can you get salvation by leading a good life, or joining a church? No Can anyone be saved no matter what faith they are? Christ Plus Nothing, Christianity claims exclusivity. Do you need to do anything after you have salvation? Yes, you need to raise the empty hands of faith and respond to the model of Christ. Rejected, Slain, Raised. Examples in our day to consider: Accepting Christ as a notion without Biblical truth content and implications. Embrace the emotion and experience of conversion, but not the deeper discipline of discipleship. Grasp a level of devotion, but do not strive to know more deeply. Get excited about new spiritual insights but dislike Biblical doctrine that should inform them. We fail to "possess our possessions" as Christians. 2. Avoiding Mere Intellectual Ascent To bring forth truth in our lives, we have to have love in our hearts. We must avoid a meter intellectual ascent. Later Schaeffer goes on to mention this phrase "mere intellectual ascent." Simply stated, mere intellectual ascent is believing in something, but not making it as an inward reality. Many people never progress beyond simply believing in the Gospel. There must be a move toward applying the truths of the gospel, what we have discussed as sanctification. We cannot begin the process of sanctification without going beyond the intellect, there must be a heart change. That heart change then transforms the intellect as well as the rest of the person's life. All Christians can probably identify a time when we were in one state or another in our understanding. We must be careful not to merely rest on our knowledge of our current state of spirituality as we all have much further to go before we are conformed to the likeness of Christ. We need to be constantly moving and learning so that we may mature. The moment we stop growing is the moment we falter. "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 10:12 Dr. Schaeffer, unlike some teachers, does not merely teach Revival, nor does he merely teach Reformation. In his thought, both are needed! 3. Doctrine Appropriated So, it is not enough merely to believe something, we must apply the truth that we believe. In the last analysis it is never doctrine alone that is important. It is always 6 doctrine appropriated that counts. 4. Justification/Sanctification Parallel 6 Christian View of Spirituality, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books. 279

4 In justification we must see, acknowledge and act upon the fact that we cannot save ourselves. In sanctification we must see, acknowledge, and act upon the fact that we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength, or in our own 7 goodness. An important distinction between justification and sanctification: Justification - takes away the guilt and legal penalty of my sin. Sanctification - takes away the power of the results of sin in my life. This is how we get freedom NOW, in this present life! We cannot truly grasp the gospel until we understand the difference between justification and sanctification and begin to live them out in victory. Moment-by-Moment Relationship Finally, as the Bride of Christ, we are to live a life in moment-by-moment relationship with God. Unlike human relationships in which separation or failure of devotion can transpire, the Spirit of God is there in moment-by-moment relationship with us. His love is steadfast and unmoved. While it is possible to offend Him, He is gentle and long-suffering with us, ever teaching, ever guiding. This is the conclusion of the first section, "Freedom Now From the Bonds of Sin." Schaeffer ends with this section with many remarks that help to summarize this relationship. When we say 'moment-by-moment' we are dealing in practice with a succession of 8 single historical moments. No one lives his whole life at a time. This morning's faith will never do for this noon. The faith of this noon will never do for supper time. The faith of suppertime will never do for the time of going to bed. The faith of midnight will never do for the next morning. Thank God for the reality for 9 which we were created, a moment-by-moment communication with God himself.... the Christian life, true spirituality, can never have a mechanical solution. The real solution is being cast up into the moment-by-moment communion, personal communion, with God himself, and letting Christ's truth flow through me through the 10 agency of the Holy Spirit. We live in a personal universe, and not in an impersonal one. God exists, God is personal; we are personal, as we have been made in the image of God, and our relationship to God is to be personal, not mechanical... When we were created, we were created for a purpose. And the purpose of our creation, in which all our subsidiary purposes fit, is to be in a personal relationship to God, in communion with 7 Christian View of Spirituality, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books Christian View of Spirituality, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books

5 11 him, in love, by choice, the creature before the Creator. Modern man is struggling properly when he is struggling with this basic question, as to the problem of personality and communication... The Bible's answer to the problem is that central communication, which makes all the other communications meaningful, 12 is the communication of the Creator and the creature personality (identity) ----> Christ communication (meaning/truth) ----> Word creature ----> Creator... mankind in revolt doubts God. To believe him, not just when I accept Christ as Savior, but every moment, one moment at a time: this is the Christian life, and this 13 is true spirituality Christian View of Spirituality, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books Christian View of Spirituality, Westchester, IL, Crossway Books. 285