It is holy week leading up to Easter Sunday as I write these rambling thoughts, triggered by many things. I will mention two of them here.
First, the death and resurrection of Jesus from the grave are the center and focal point of Christianity. Without them, there is no Christian religion. Paul made that clear when he wrote to the church in Corinth:
“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Cor 15:14-17)
I’ve believed and accepted this for so long that I forget that it’s not easy for some to swallow. It wasn’t easy for me—until it was. It reminds me that humility is the proper response to the gospel, along with wonder and gratitude. It is never right to sneer at those who don’t believe, or who doubt, or are disillusioned. Instead, we should always be prepared to give the reason for the hope that we have, but to do so with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). After all, faith is a divine gift initiated by God’s grace (John 6:44; Eph 2:8-9; Phil 1:29; 2 Peter 1:1). And to pray for everyone, which “pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:1-4).
The second thing is connected to the first. Faith is a gift. However, I used to think that my clever analysis of the evidence of the resurrection led to my belief in God and Jesus. Certainly, I can trace a process of progression from unbelief to faith over a period of time as objections fell away and were replaced with plausible explanations. But was that me, or was I just following divine bread crumbs dropped by the hand of God? Of course, this inevitably leads to a popular discussion among Christians regarding the doctrine of predestination. In fact, it came up four times in as many months in separate conversations and Bible studies.
Some years ago, I gradually gravitated to the conviction that it was 100 percent God and zero percent my intelligent analysis of the evidence. I mean, when I came around to believe in 1989, I wasn’t exactly a fount of wisdom. Life was mainly pointless, I was clueless, penniless, and pretty much friendless. I was reduced to sitting in a circle of alcoholics and drug addicts, spouting slogans from the Big Book. In hindsight, as I tell it, that was the beginning of wisdom for me because my eyes were opened to a higher power, which I now know as the Triune Christian God of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
One of the many reasons I’m more persuaded that God sovereignly chooses people for adoption into his family is that faith is a gift. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:8-9) I rarely see anyone use this verse to support the doctrine of divine election. But here’s the thing. If I have any part in choosing, then I have something to boast about. Even if only a tiny bit. Which I used to do. At the very least I thought I’d figured something out. Sure, it was mostly God, but I helped. I followed the bread crumbs and made a decision. In other words, I was smart enough to see and believe. I could always give myself some smidgen of credit. But this verse (and many others), say it was all God’s grace. I had no part and there is nothing I can take credit for. My salvation, therefore, “…does not depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Rom 9:16). Then as now, the result of God’s mercy and grace is, “…all who were appointed for eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:48) Jonathan Edwards put it like this: “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
So what does this have to do with Easter? Not as much as I thought. And I skipped some pretty important elements of God’s glorious plan of redemption. For instance, “…the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). This sobering truth makes me all the more grateful and happy. God gets all the credit and glory. I am totally beholden to his divine mercy and grace. I don’t have all the answers and can’t explain many things. And that’s okay. After all, it is also written, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deut 29:29). Amen. Jesus is risen! Hallelujah!