Over the last couple of posts I have been seeking to identify a recurring pattern in the New Testament that goes something like this:Christ's coming --> gift of the Spirit --> divinely-enabled love of God and neighbor --> eternal reward.
We saw Jesus answer the scribe's question about the greatest commandment by highlighting the dual command of love, and when the scribe recognized the superiority of love to all the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, Jesus told him that he "is not far from the kingdom of God." We saw next that Paul carried this idea further by insisting that when it comes to justification, it is not circumcision that matters, but "faith working through love." He then cited the command to love one's neighbor and echoed Jesus' assessment that this is what fulfills "the whole law." This love can only be exhibited as a "fruit of the Spirit," and that if we "sow to the Spirit" we will "reap eternal life." As expected, Paul both follows and develops the progression that Jesus taught.
What about the other NT writers? We would expect that if this pattern is indeed given by Christ, it would be found throughout the writings of the apostles. Consider the words of James:
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.... But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing (1:22, 25).
James here is clearly echoing Paul's words in Romans. There Paul says that it is not the "hearers" but the "doers" of the law who will be justified (2:13), and that it was the "law of the Spirit" that had set him free from the "law of sin" (8:2). James continues:
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well.... So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment (2:8, 12-13).
Not surprisingly, we see the exact same pattern here that we discovered previously in Jesus and Paul. All three cite the command to love our neighbor, all three situate the command in a new covenant context, and all three allude to an eternal reward for doing so ("You are not far from the kingdom"; "You will reap eternal life"; "Mercy triumphs over judgment").
Well? Convinced yet? Or do I still have more work to do?
What are you trying to convince us of? Sorry for being dull.
ReplyDeleteHa ha. Just that the progression is indeed there, and that it helps form a thread that ties together and makes sense out of the NT material.
ReplyDeleteAh, ok. In that case I would say that what you are saying makes sense. I agree.
ReplyDeleteI've come to two personal conclusions in my theological pursuits through the years:
ReplyDelete1) Ulitimately, God's using us, and, likely our salvation, depend on the condition of one's heart.
2) Faith isn't enough, and obedience isn't enough... the conflation of the two (i.e. faithful obedience) is what's required.
Seems like your last couple of posts have been some confirmation of that thinking.