Take up your cross

It seems the biblical idea of cross-bearing has been misunderstood.  Typically we think of the crosses we must bear as the various trials, temptations and hardships we inevitably undergo in this life.  Each of us endures difficulties in which we as Christians are called to exercise patience and through which we may trust in the wise fatherly care of our God.  Many today view these hardships as “crosses” to bear.  But this misses the mark of what Jesus means when He says, “Take up your cross.”  First, unsaved people endure the same hardships.  They suffer afflictions, experience hardships, lose loved ones and eventually die.  Yet we would not say they are “bearing crosses.”  Second, the command to take up the cross indicates that the disciple is active not passive in this duty.  While most of life’s difficulties are “laid upon” us, the Christian is to “take up” his cross.  Third, the instrument itself, the cross, is an instrument of torture and death.  It suggests a hostile activity, not a patient passivity.  We are to use this instrument of death to kill something, namely, our sin.  Fourth and finally, Luke’s rendition of our Lord’s command includes the word “daily”:  Let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Lk 9:23).  Cross-bearing is something disciples must do every day through the scope of their entire lives.  While ordinary hardships are often temporary and of limited duration, cross-bearing is to be daily, every day, on all days, from now until we draw our last breath.  A man does not carry his own cross for two blocks and pass it off to another.  He bears it all the way to his death!  For these reasons, cross-bearing must not refer to the personal disappointments, physical handicaps or difficult hardships we experience with the rest of mankind.  Afflictions will be as diverse as the number of afflicted.  But the cross will be the same.  Regardless of what we suffer, we are all to take up our cross.  So what is the duty of cross-bearing that is incumbent upon every disciple of Christ?

It begins with a sincere faith in the Lord Jesus and a humble reliance upon the Holy Spirit.  Whatever cross-bearing is, one cannot perform it without trusting in Christ and being empowered by His Spirit.  It also involves at the very least the daily and diligent use of God’s appointed means for killing sin.  To deny oneself is the negative aspect of the disciple’s duty.  One must abstain from indulging his sin and starve it to death.  To bear one’s cross is the positive aspect of the disciple’s duty.  One actively crucifies his sin with God-given means of grace, especially the word, sacraments and prayer.  The word is a sword with which the disciple identifies sin, lacerates lust and cuts out selfish ambition, evil desires, sinful sloth, ungodly materialism, etc.  It is a powerful instrument for putting to death self-interest, self-esteem, self-centeredness and self-importance.  Indeed, it is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12).  The sacraments are potent means of strengthening and equipping the disciple to fight this spiritual battle.  Luther often defended himself against the devil by saying, “I am baptized!”  The same can be said with regard to one’s own flesh.  “Flesh, would you indulge your sinful lusts?  I am baptized!  I am a communicant!  You will not prevail”  Interestingly, the disciple’s initial duties of self-denial and cross-bearing are matched by the disciple’s initial privilege of baptism (Mt 28:19).  The link between these discipleship firsts is noteworthy.  Specifically, without baptism (and the Lord’s Supper) these initial duties would be far more difficult to fulfill.  Prayer is indispensable in this battle with sin.  One cannot prevail without it.  Cross-bearing requires prayer.  No wonder the early church devoted itself to this discipline (Acts 2:42).  In fact, the whole panoply of spiritual armor enumerated by Paul concludes with an exhortation to be praying at all times in the Spirit (Eph 6:18).  This is how the disciple acknowledges his utter dependence on Christ to receive help in time of need.  We need His power and grace to mortify our sins.  Prayer seeks from the Lord that which only He can supply through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  To those who seem to lack power in overcoming sin and who find themselves flailing and floundering in their struggle with lust, perhaps it needs to be said, You do not have, because you do not ask (Jas 4:2).  Jesus assures us that the heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Lk 11:13).

There is far more to it than this.  Owen’s classic treatise on the mortification of sin is a masterful treatment of this topic.  But a sincere, Spirit-filled believer’s use of the means of grace is certainly a large part of this duty.  While we share in this life’s miseries with all of Adam’s children, as Christians we must be diligent in actively crucifying those sins that threaten our spiritual fruitfulness and well-being.  As Owen wisely advises, Be killing sin, or it will be killing you!  So attend the word.  Participate in the sacraments.  Engage in prayer.  Mortify sin.  Glorify and enjoy Christ.

The Father's Cup

It may be difficult for some to believe in the Father’s love. After all, as the One whose thunderous voice shook Mount Sinai He threatens wrath against sinners whom He hates (Ps 5:5; 11:5). With good reason do sinners fear the strict, severe and unyielding justice of God. The Bible is rich with examples illustrating this point. But we must not fail to appreciate the equally strong and eternally significant teaching about our heavenly Father’s compassion toward His beloved children.

To illustrate I refer to the night of Christ’s betrayal, when Jesus prayed Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? (Jn 18:11). It was the Father’s cup! It was described by Isaiah as the cup of staggering, the bowl of wrath (Is 51:22). During the fiercest struggle of His life, as He bled agonizingly through strained pores, the Son prayed fervently to have this cup withdrawn (Mt 26:39). The thought of enduring the infinite weight of divine wrath so overwhelmed Him that His body started breaking down under the stress. He found His humanity engulfed by thick darkness and confronted with rank and robust evil. Could He not be spared this ghastly substitution?

But the Father was resolute. In love He predestined us and out of love He sent Christ. That great love with which the Father loved us compelled Him to place that appalling cup of wrath into the innocent hands of His own Son, His only Son, the Son whom He loves. What’s more, this pleased Him! (Is 53:10) Apparently the same joy set before Christ that sustained Him (Heb 12:2) was what brought pleasure to the Father who sent Him. Both Father and Son shared a common desire for our eternal salvation.

Can God do anything more to demonstrate His love for us? Rather than question His love we should simply admire its breadth and length and height and depth (Eph 3:18). Love moved the Father to place the cup, and the Spirit to fill the cup, and the Son willingly to drink that awful cup to its dregs. Who cannot marvel at the immeasurable love of the triune God? Who among us will fail to adore the love of our heavenly Father who willingly crushed His Son for our salvation? Who among us will refuse to marvel at the love of our crucified Savior who willingly endured such infinite suffering for our redemption? Who among us will decline to wonder at the love of our heavenly Comforter who willingly drove Christ into the wilderness, led Christ to Jerusalem and directed Christ to the cross?

It was God’s infinite reservoir of holy love that motivated salvation’s decree, accomplishment and application. The same just God who threatens wrath against our sin is the loving God who took the cup from our hands and placed it in His Son’s. It is the same God who in the Person of Christ fully imbibed the dregs of that cup which we as sinners so richly deserve. It is the same God who is pleased to breathe upon dead sinners quickening them so they can receive and rest upon the Redeemer. God’s love is deep, broad and eternal. It is a boundless ocean in which we will forever joyfully swim, an inexhaustible river of delights from which we will eternally partake (Ps 36:8), a perpetual fountain of living waters because of which we will never thirst (Jer 2:13). So let us not doubt the Father’s love. Against the backdrop of thunderous threats, let us rejoice in limitless love! Our immutable God always has and always will care deeply for His children.

Handed Over To Satan

Paul mentions almost in passing the regrettable condition of Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom he had handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme (1Tim 1:20). It is a mysterious and spine tingling phrase that is relatively obscure as far as disciplinary measures go. What does it mean to hand over someone to the devil? Is Paul talking about church discipline? Or is he referring to an apostolic prerogative? Or perhaps could he be alluding to some uniquely Pauline measure that consisted in part of chanting imprecatory psalms or offering maledictory prayers? We are left wondering what exactly was involved in this severe measure.

Paul employs the same phrase in the case of the incestuous Corinthian who took his father’s wife, something even the pagans refuse to tolerate. Having already pronounced judgment himself, Paul directs the congregation to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord (1Cor 5:5). This suggests that the measure was not a uniquely apostolic or Pauline privilege. The church herself utilized it with success. The man eventually repented and was readmitted to full fellowship (2Cor 2:6-8). Interestingly, God Himself employed this measure or something like it when He said to Satan, Behold, Job is in your hand; only spare his life (Job 2:6). Of course the rest of the story describes in painful detail the severe physical, mental and emotional assaults endured by Job at the hands of the evil adversary. It was not Job’s sin that demanded suffering but God’s sovereignty that ordained it even though the measure itself seems to have been commensurate with if not identical to the handing over to Satan mentioned by Paul to Timothy.

The precise nature of this spiritual extradition to the powers of evil is obscure. But one thing we may safely conclude is it involved pain and suffering, perhaps physical, certainly spiritual. Hymenaeus and Alexander received a severe censure of church discipline designed to prevent further sin from infecting the church and to reclaim if possible these professing but erring Christians. They must learn not to blaspheme. God would honor this disciplinary measure by lowering His hedge of protection and exposing them to danger. What a terrifying chastisement! Satan is pure evil and a malicious murderer. His nature knows not one ounce of pity. Therefore to be placed under his authority, if even temporarily, would be a frightening and dreadful sentence.

But as Scripture reveals true change in a sinner only comes by way of the cross. It is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1Cor 1:18). The cross was the instrument employed at one and the same time by God’s love and Satan’s malice. Though Satan meant it for evil, God overruled it for good. In like manner, every cross appointed for us is ordained by our heavenly Father who knows what is best and will use whatever means necessary to preserve us from perdition.

Although we may not know exactly what constituted being surrendered to Satan, we do know that like all other disciplinary measures God utilizes it for good – for the good of Christians individually and the church corporately. Let us thank our Lord for His infinite wisdom and steadfast love from which nothing in heaven or on earth can ever separate us.