Overcoming in Love

I John 5:3-5

   All month we have been considering the “Church” due to the teaching of Jesus recorded in Matthew 16:18.  Yet an interesting fact: the word “church” is only mentioned in the Bible on rare occasions.  One exception is in the book of Revelation, chapters two and three.  Chapters one, two, and three involve seven messages from Jesus, which were written down by the apostle John, to seven churches, all seven having been in the region which is the modern day country of Turkey.  Local churches are the focus.

   Then in chapter four, the word “church” ceases to be used until stated one final time in Revelation 22:16 when Jesus is back to speaking of the present time.  Starting in chapter four, the narrative takes a completely different focus, a focus on heaven and the spiritual realm, where you have the consummation of Jesus’s Church.

   Many students of the Bible think the “rapture” will take place between chapter three and chapter four, since there is such a complete shift.  I agree the “rapture” takes place before the period of chapter four, yet the rapture is a whole other subject.

   Regarding one of those seven messages to one of those seven churches, in the message from Jesus to the church in Ephesus, Jesus states: “….You have forsaken your first love” (Revelation 2:4).

   That first love was Jesus.  And by forsaking the love of God, they failed to be loving people.

   Sin blocks love.

   Yet God did not leave the people of that church to be doomed.  They had the opportunity to overcome.

   How?  By saying sorry to God.

   God is Love, and He forgives.

   How about today?

   Since I was called to vocational ministry more than twenty-five years ago, I have seen consistent sin in churches.  And sometimes sincere repentance seems absent.  Sometimes it all seems hopeless to me.

   The beautiful message in the midst of all the church problems in chapters two and three of the book of Revelation is that followers of Jesus can overcome.

   John, the apostle who wrote the book of Revelation on the island of Patmos, wrote in his first epistle how people can overcome.

   John states: “This is love for God: to obey his commands.  And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only she or he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (I John 5:3-5).

   For a person who is a genuine believer in Jesus, he or she will overcome!

   The result of believing in Jesus: He or she is loving.

   Wow!

   Jesus was the One who made atonement on the cross which resulted in the opportunity for you and I to have our sins forgiven, and to gain the righteousness of God.

   And for those of us who genuinely believe in Jesus, He is even able to soften our hearts so that we can say “sorry.”

   Saying sorry from the heart is a gift of true love.

   Jesus is the One who enables a believer to live a life of holiness since the Spirit of Christ lives in the heart of a believer, so that a person can truly love God and truly love people.  Reliance on Jesus is our privilege.

   Going back to the seven messages to the seven churches, there is an amazing fact.  Each one ends with an eternal blessing for the person who “overcomes.”  They are truly incredible, and can be found in the following verses:

Revelation 2:7

Revelation 2:11

Revelation 2:17

Revelation 2:26

Revelation 3:5

Revelation 3:12

Revelation 3:21

   Here, I will simply address the message for those in the church of Ephesus who desired to overcome near the end of the first century, which really is a promise for all overcomers: “…To he or she who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).

   God offered Adam and Eve an opportunity to eat from the tree of life in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 2:16-17).

   Thus a person who believes in Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord has the opportunity which Adam and Eve lost due to their disobedience to God.  Since Jesus was obedient on the cross, dying for anyone, paradise is available for you and me.

   In the meantime, we continue to live in this fallen world full of hurt and suffering.  Jesus was straight forward about our journey in this world.

   Jesus said: “…In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

   If you and I rely on Jesus, who is One with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and who is “Love” (I John 4:16), then you and I can overcome with the true love of God.

   Now it is a process.  One reality is that we “overcomers” still mess up in this rough world.  However, Jesus remains with us, thus we will continue to be “sanctified.”  Keeping growing in the love of Jesus by relying daily on Jesus.

Hunter Irvine

Loving relationships in church

Matthew 16:18

   Before I was a Christian, I was influenced by a loving singles group within in a large church in northern Virginia.  Most of the folks in “Salt and Light” had been Christians for much of their lives.  I had not.  For the first few months I sporadically attended, I might have been the only one there who was not a Christian.  Yet less than one year later, I gave my heart to Jesus!  For several years after that, the community of Salt and Light became an important community of “nurture” for me as a new Christian.

   The leadership team was co-ed, and one man was named Robert.  He and I had rather different personalities.  In fact Robert and I never got close.  Yet I liked Robert.  One morning when we were talking, Robert said: “Christianity is not a religion, rather it is a relationship.”

   All these years later, I agree.  Christianity is a loving relationship with God, made possible by the atonement of Jesus on the cross.

   By certain definitions, “religion” is working to get closer with God, whereas in a relationship, the union is there, and that union simply needs to be fostered.  For a person who believes in Jesus, she or he is forgiven of her or his sins, and she or he enters an eternal loving relationship!  Relationship fits what I have been saying about Jesus’s Church.

   In the past three writings, Jesus’s Church has been the focus.  Now I address the common usage of the term “church,” where it describes a group of people who worship God and fellowship at a certain location.

   And I state the nature of “churches” should be on the same line as Robert’s statement.  In fact you could say Christianity involves relationships, plural, starting with a relationship with Jesus, because you also enter a relationship with members of the family of God.  And local churches are opportunities for people in a loving relationship with Jesus to worship God and to develop loving relationships with one another.  God wants local “churches” to reflect Jesus’s Church.

   Thus the leaders of a church need to keep telling the Gospel of Jesus Christ to continually give all people an invitation to be in a relationship with Jesus.  Secondly, the leaders of a church need to keep teaching about Jesus in order to foster the growth of the worshipers in the love of Jesus, so they can also love others.

   At this time, I am looking for a church.  Having searched for a church one too many times during my Christian journey, I know what I am looking for.  I give five general principles here:

I am looking for a church where Scripture, which reveals Jesus, is trusted and advocated.

I am looking for a church which generally fits my doctrinal convictions.

I am looking for a church where people love Jesus.

I am looking for a church where people love other people.

I am looking for a church where I can be myself.

   If you were, (or are), looking for a church, what would you be looking for?

   Now the core of Christianity is God, not a church.  Times when I have put much hope in a “church,” (or a Christian ministry), or when I have become extremely dependent on a “church,” (or a Christian ministry), disappointment, or even despair, has resulted.  Our hope needs to be in Jesus.  Our dependency needs to be on Jesus.

   Churches are not even the core of worship for me.  Personally, I worship God every morning in my room, seven days a week.  I grow in a loving relationship with God right in my home with the presence of Jesus in my heart and with my Bible before me.  I would not trade that time for anything.

   Yet growth would be quite stifled if I only worshiped in my room all of the time.  And I sure would not be supporting my sisters and brothers-in-Christ.  On the flip side, churches can be a safe place where a Christian can worship, learn, fellowship, and be blessed along with brothers and sisters-in-Christ.  In doing all this, loving relationships develop.

   And churches should be a place where Christians can serve!  My favorite thing to do is preach.

   What is your favorite thing to do in a church?

   Regarding serving in a church, sadly in America, people in leadership of a number of churches suppress the involvement of people by allowing only a few privileged individuals and a few musicians to carry out all the fun stuff.  This is un-biblical.  People in churches should be serving in their local church according to their spiritual gifts and training.  (Yes, I think churches need to do more training.)

   Back to my search for a church, I know from experience there are many problems in a number of churches.  I have learned to rely on God for guidance, encouragement, and patience to find a loving church.  And I have learned to rely on God for guidance and encouragement to know when to move on from worshiping with a particular church. (This is hard for me, yet I know when I leave a particular church, that my love for the people remains!)  Yes, in every church community, and in every “season,” our purpose is the same: Love God, and love people!

   The moment any person believes in Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord, that person is adopted into the family of God.  From that moment, he or she is going to have brothers and sisters for the rest of his or her days.  Jesus wants you and me to love those brothers and sisters, and church communities are a prime place for doing so.

   The more you and I love people as Jesus loves His Church, the more fruit there will be in our families, in our work places, and in our “churches,” even in this day and age.

   We people were created to be in the loving family of God.  Churches, which have the commitment of genuine loving people, have an important role in the loving family of God.

   Hunter Irvine

A loving Church

Matthew 16:18

   In review of the past two pieces, the word "church" is a noun, thus it must be a person, place, or thing.  The Bible reveals that Jesus’s Church is not a place or a thing, rather it is people, people who believe in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

   Now, I want to make a key statement about the nature of Jesus’s Church: Jesus’s Church is loving.

   First, some of you may have this response: “Hunter, how can this be the nature of Jesus’s Church when I have been hurt really bad by a Christian?”  Good question.

   Honestly, I have numerous personal stories about being hurt by Christians.  And I have been told by other people about hurts they experienced from other Christians.

   Just a unique suggestion: Write down on paper the name of a Christian who hurt you, and maybe even write down what that person did.  Then pray to forgive that person, asking for help from Jesus.  Then rip up that paper to shreds.  (I just did this myself.)

(And note I am better about keeping certain boundaries with people who are prone to hurt others on a continuing basis.)

   Back to this serious question: How can the nature of Jesus’s Church be loving when so many of us have been hurt really bad by Christians?

   In order to recognize Jesus’s Church as loving, we need to start with the head of the Church, who is Jesus.  Jesus is always loving.

   Jesus loves you and me so much that Jesus died on a cross as the substitute for our sins.

Let us ponder a few Scripture verses which tell of the nature of Jesus.

“…God is love…” (I John 4:16).

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us…” (I John 3:16).

“We love because he first loved us” (I John 4:19).

   To be personal, when it seems like I have been hurt one too many times by a plethora of Christians, I work to focus on the fact that Jesus loves me.  The reason I have salvation is because Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death in hell.  I was in need of forgiveness, and Jesus forgave me.

Continuing on with this fact:

“[Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (I John 2:2).

   This is one of a number of verses which proclaim the fact that anyone has the opportunity to be saved.  There is no elite group of human beings who were predestined to be saved while all other people were predestined to be doomed in hell.

   God made all people in His image!  God loves all people!  Jesus died for all people!

   On the other hand, the Bible teaches that not all people will be saved.  (See Matthew 26:28 for example.)  Each person has the opportunity to receive the gift of salvation from Jesus, or reject the gift.  Each of us has a decision to make.

   But what about those people who have received Jesus, and who are grafted into Jesus’s Church?  Should we expect they will keep hurting us?

   Back around the turn of the century, (yes I am getting old), I read several books over a period of a few years by Dwight Moody, and from one of those paperbacks I learned the principle of “justification” and “sanctification.”  Putting those big terms in my own words as a young Christian, I defined justification as “being forgiven by God,” and I defined sanctification as “the process of being made holy by God.”  I add now that justification involves gaining God’s righteousness from Him, and the definition of sanctification which I latched onto when I took two spiritual formation classes at a seminary, is to grow in the love and knowledge of Jesus, to be made more like Jesus in our heart.

   I sometimes still make mistakes which hurt people.  I still need to grow more in the love and knowledge of Jesus.  I still need the help of the Holy Spirit to become more like Jesus in my soul.  I still need the help of the Holy Spirit to be a truly loving person.

   The great news is that after following Jesus for over 32 years, my heart is incredibly more loving than I was 33 years ago.  I have genuinely loved people for years.

   Right now I think of one specific expression of my true love, which is a personal story of which I will refrain from details.  The bottom line is simple: I gave a backpack to a teenager.  Please know, I am convinced the gift was given out of true love.

   Regarding others, I sometimes lament the lack of love in Christian communities I was a part of.  Yet when I start thinking of the true love which was expressed by a number of people in Christian communities I was a part of, I even remember more and more love expressed by brothers and sisters.

   For example, a memory comes to me of a time a woman in my church gave a Christmas gift to a child from an impoverished family.  That woman in my church loved Jesus, and I could tell she was so grateful to have an opportunity to give that big gift to a child who lived in poverty.  It was an expression of true love.

   From a number of sisters and brothers-in-Christ, I have known true love!

   Jesus’s Church is a body full of true love, because Jesus is Love, and as we followers of Jesus live by His love, true love will be known.  May we plead with God for help to be more like Jesus in our hearts.

Hunter Irvine

What is the Church?

Matthew 16:18

What is the Church?   It is people who believe in Jesus, who is God the Son of our triune God.

   Jesus calls it “my church” in this verse.  Paul states the church is the body of Christ, and that Christ is the head (Ephesians 5:23).  The church is sustained by Christ.

   So, if you believe in Jesus, you are a member of Jesus’s Church!

   Sadly, there is much disagreement and confusion regarding this simple term church, since it has amassed a number of definitions.  Thus I offer a biblical clarification.

First, Jesus’s Church is not a building.

   There is a “church” in Virginia which I started attending the summer after I graduated from college.  That church had an influence on me for Christ, and less than nine months after I started sporadically worshiping there, I gave my heart to Jesus.

   That church had been in existence since the 1760’s, and the city was even named after that church.  Years later, that church lost their building.  What did they do?  They started worshiping on Sundays in a high school auditorium.  They remained a “church” even though their building was taken.  However….

Second, Jesus’s Church is not an incorporated organization in this world.  That “church” in Virginia will always be special to me.  It was my first church.  Yet that “incorporated” church will not be in heaven, rather the believers of that church will be in heaven.  Earth is full of countless “churches,” yet heaven has one Church, a body of people under Christ, with no other divisions.

   Once I taught at a small Christian school deep in Appalachia.  It was one of the hardest jobs I have ever had, and I was only making $350 a month since I was considered a “missionary.”  Yet I loved the students, and I enjoy teaching about the Bible.

   Now the school had students from many denominations, and even students who did not attend church, yet the school was supported by Brethren “churches.”  There was a super cool teacher there who was the favorite of many students.  He was a member in that denomination.  Once when a few teachers went out to dinner on a Sunday night, we were asking him the specifics about his denomination, since that denomination has several sects.  He stated, “I am Brethren.  I don’t do subtitles.”

   Jesus’s Church ultimately does not have “subtitles,” since all believers have one Savior!  And all believers have one heavenly Father!

   When a person believes in Jesus, he or she is forgiven of sins.  He or she is justified before God.  He or she is baptized with the Holy Spirit.  And she or he is adopted into the family of God.  And she or he is on a path of sanctification as a child of God.

   Thus a believer is saved by Jesus, the head of the Church, and she or he becomes part of Jesus’s Church.

   And being adopted into the family of God, believers in Jesus are brothers and sisters-in-Christ who have been adopted by the heavenly Father.

   Both Jesus’s Church and the family of our triune God are the same body!

   Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NIV).

   You can trust Jesus that He stated the truth!

In conclusion: If you believe in Jesus, you are a part of Jesus’s Church!  The Church is us!

Hunter Irvine