Archive for October, 2009

We all know that grace means getting something we don’t deserve; something we haven’t earned. On the other hand, wages are something we have earned and we do deserve.

That’s why Paul says that the “wages” of sin are death (Rom 6:23). By sinning we have earned and deserved our wages. But the eternal life we are given is described as a “free gift”, meaning that we have done absolutely nothing to earn or deserve it.

But where do rewards fit into this? Many Christians seem to assume that for God to reward us would somehow violate the principle of grace. Isn’t a reward something you deserve? And therefore if God could reward us for behaving in a certain way, wouldn’t that mean he was dealing with us on the basis of law, not grace?

The trouble is, throughout the Bible we find promises of rewards to those who honour and obey God. And they are not just limited to the Old Testament. Jesus didn’t seem to have a problem with holding up “rewards” as incentives to his followers. Here’s just a few examples where the word “reward” itself is used (and many others could be given where the concept of reward is clearly found):

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honour and life (Prov 22:4 ESV)

And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (Matt 10:42 ESV)

If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (1 Cor 3:14 ESV)

I have heard some people try to wriggle out of the implications of these verses by suggesting that God completely ignores everything the Christian does in life, and looks instead and only at what Jesus did. That way every Christian will receive an identical reward (whether now or at judgment day).

However, I do not think that does justice to the Biblical texts, which really do seem to indicate that what we do does matter to God, that we can bring him pleasure or displeasure (for example see Eph 5:10).

The solution is to recognise that rewards operate on the basis of grace, just as as gifts do. God is never obligated to give us a reward, just as an employer is not obligated to give a bonus to his employees. Yes, a reward may be given in response to something that has been done, but it is always given on the basis of grace. It was not “deserved”, nor can it be presumed upon.

Suppose one of my children is very helpful in tidying up after dinner, and I decide to reward them with an ice cream. Did they earn or deserve the ice cream? No. Can they expect another the next day by doing the same thing? Not necessarily. Rewards are not our right.

So if a person decides to honour God by tithing their income, then he might bless them financially as a reward. But he might bless them in a completely different way. He is not obligated to reward them in any particular way (after all, all the money is God’s in the first place).

So don’t be afraid that you are being legalistic by seeking to please the Lord. We cannot earn his love, or our salvation, but we can bring him pleasure, and in his grace he may “reward” us for our feeble attempts at honouring him.

This year, I had been planning to read my way through the new ESV Study Bible I was hoping to get for Christmas. But sadly, due to the supply shortage, it didn’t arrive (I’m getting it this Christmas instead), so I came up with a change of plan. I have been listening my way through the entire ESV Bible in MP3, in a version called “The Listener’s Bible” read by Max McLean.

First Impressions

Max McLean has a rather strange accent, which took some time to get used to. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any British accent reading of the ESV available. The guy is a reading machine though, having completed three versions of the Bible, plus numerous other audio books.

Reading Plan

I decided to go with a similar approach to Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s reading plan. I listen to four or five chapters a day, which is just about enough to cover the entire Bible plus the New Testament and Psalms twice.

It typically takes around 15 minutes, as most chapters of the Bible can be read in around 3 minutes, with some books such as the gospels or historical books averaging more like 5 minutes per chapter.

Getting set up is a bit of a pain. I don’t have an MP3 player that would be usable for navigating the whole Bible, so I use my laptop PC. I keep track of what I’ve listened to in OneNote, and set up a playlist for each day in Windows Media Player. The search feature makes it quick to find the chapter to play, and most media players keep track of your play count for each file, so you can see easily where you are up to if you have lost track.

Holidays are a bit problematic. I have taken my laptop with me on some, while on others (camping!) I have had to catch up on my listening after getting back.

Concentration

Losing concentration can always be a problem with daily Bible reading. I wondered whether listening would make it easier or harder. My first problem is the simple fact that I have my laptop on, which tempts me greatly to start looking at Twitter, or email or facebook or news.

My second problem is that if your mind wanders, even to think about what you have just heard, the narration just continues. It is especially hard not to let your mind wander, as the spoken word comes at you much slower than reading.

The technique I have settled upon is using the online ESV Study Bible website. This allows me to read along, and highlight bits that stand out. You can add your own notes, and if you own an ESV Study Bible, you have full access to the study notes. Again, it is possible for me to start reading ahead and not really be listening to the narration, but at least its the Bible I’m looking at.

Another issue I found was that having a playlist meant that I quickly moved from a chapter in one book of the Bible to another part of the Bible with barely a moment for reflection, making it seem quite disjointed. I am now tending to listen to at least three consecutive chapters from the same book, which gives a good sense of flow.

And my final concentration issue is children. It’s amazing what mischief they get up to the minute you open your Bible!

Benefits

I think one of the main benefits though of listening to the Bible is to hear things more in their context (hence the move to consecutive chapters). Probably the most beneficial way I found of listening, when I could discipline myself to do it, was to simply close my eyes and let the story be narrated at its own pace. This is especially useful in narrative parts of the Bible, which I tend to read through really fast with almost no pause for thought.

Another benefit is that, unlike if you attempt to read the Bible in a year, you can (if you are at all like me), sometimes find yourself racing through four chapters in five minutes flat, reading so fast that you can’t possibly have taken anything in. Listening does force you to slow down and take 15-20 minutes over it.

Conclusion

I’m glad I embarked upon this year of listening to the Bible, after going a few years without covering the entire Bible in a year. While I wish more of it had sunk in, I think any way we can find to let the words of Scripture hit us in a fresh way is worth trying.

I’d love to hear from anyone else who has practical suggestions on they keep their mind focused during Bible reading.

I’ve had a quiet month on the blogging front, so I thought I’d post a few links to some stuff worth taking a look at elsewhere:

• Tim Keller has started blogging, and his first one is very about the different “prophetic, priestly and kingly” emphases churches can have. Very insightful, which is no surprise, and looking forward to more from him.
• Jared Wilson calls out Rob Bell on his definition of the gospel. Gospel – Jesus = nothing.
• Neil Bennetts calls us to remember our primary purpose, and to linger there a while before moving on to other things.
• A thought provoking piece from Michael Patton on anti-depressants. Make sure you read down to the bit where he ponders what Luther would have been diagnosed with.
• And this has been a good month for new commentaries. A few that caught my eye were BEC James by Dan McCartney, PNTC Philippians by Walter Hansen and AOTC 1 & 2 Samuel by David Firth.