A GENTILE WOMAN IS SAVED Keith Underhill

At the beginning of this article we repeat that there continues to be so much confusion about the subject of ‘conversion to Christ’. This is why we are studying Biblical accounts of conversions. So far we have looked at three accounts, those of the 3,000 on the Day of Pentecost, of Saul of Tarsus, and of Cornelius. We have seen the following elements:

• There is a period of preparation for receiving the gospel, shorter or longer, leading to conviction of sin.
  
• Conviction of sin comes through the preaching of the gospel of Christ.
  
• The response to the gospel is one of repentance and faith.
  Conversion to Christ is publicly confessed in baptism.
  In the case of Lydia in Acts 16:11-15 we will see the addition of one element which is most clearly developed in the account of her conversion. It is good there is this example of the conversion of a woman!
  
  1. GOD’S WORK IN THE CONVERSION OF LYDIA
  While everyone believes that God worked in the person of Christ, the conversion of a man is often regarded as the work of man. The account of Lydia, however, will clearly show us that conversion is totally impossible without God’s work. In Lydia it is all the more remarkable as she is another Gentile (like Cornelius) already devoutly attached to the Jewish faith, “a worshipper of God” (vv. 13-14).
  (1) God’s preparatory work of providence in bringing Paul to Lydia. Paul was specifically forbidden to preach in Asia and Bithynia (vv. 6-7), and through a vision was directed to Macedonia in Europe (vv. 9-10). So he arrived in the first great city of Philippi. Lydia was a business woman hundreds of kilometres away from her home in Asia Minor (v. 14). What is the explanation of this meeting in Philippi of two visitors to the town? God had purposed it, directing all events and times, as with Jesus and the Samaritan woman (see John 4). And when they met by the riverside it was the gospel that Paul was preaching.
  (2) God’s powerful work in the heart of Lydia as the gospel was preached. Very simply we read, “the Lord opened her heart” (v. 14). We obviously conclude that, before the Lord did this, her heart was closed, and especially to the message Paul was preaching. The ‘heart’ refers to the inner life of a person, as opposed to the outer life that can be observed (see Matthew 15:8, 1 Samuel 16:7). Lydia’s whole inner life, her thoughts and desires, together with her conscience, could not be penetrated by the truth of God. What do the

Scriptures teach about the inner life of all people before conversion? Their minds are blind (2 Corinthians 4:4), their understanding is darkened (Ephesians 4:18, see Romans 3:11), their hearts are hard, they refuse to come to Christ because they are in love with this world (John 3:19). We are all like a house totally shut up and in darkness, with no godly inhabitants! Many of us can confess with the hymn-writer, ‘Once I was blind but now I see’, but only because the obstacle to seeing was overcome by the Lord Himself. God must ‘open the heart’, or in other words, give ‘a new heart, a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone’ (Ezekiel 36:25-26), give a ‘new birth’ (John 3:3, 5). It is God who does this and it is the only way by which anyone will be able to receive the message of the gospel that is preached.
Do you begin to see how confusing and unbiblical it is to tell people, ‘Open your heart to the word of the Lord’? It would be more reasonable to expect the leopard to change its spots, or the Ethiopian the colour of his skin (see Jeremiah 13:23). Scripture has become twisted because by nature we do not like the thought that we are totally dependent upon God in conversion as we are proud and therefore self-dependent. The fact is that evangelistic practice is based upon what we really believe; in this case upon an unbiblical teaching of the so-called ‘free-will’. This teaching is that anyone can open his heart to the Lord whenever he pleases, because the will is totally free. This lies behind the practice of ‘decisionism’, or the ‘Altar Call’, where people are told to make an outward response to the preaching. Decisionism makes the sinner free, and Christ becomes the beggar pleading for entrance into men’s hearts. You may be familiar with the pathetic picture of Christ outside the door of a person’s heart, desiring to enter, but the door can only be opened from the inside. On the contrary, the Bible makes the sinner the beggar, pleading for God to do what he knows he cannot himself do, and does not deserve, and resting on God’s freedom to what He pleases. Did the apostles Peter and Paul use ‘decisionism’ when they evangelized?
There is no evidence of this as they did not believe in ‘free-will’ (see Acts 13:48). Because decisionism is unbiblical it must have harmful results: it encourages many to think they are converted when they are not, for making a decision is not necessarily conversion; most who make decisions quickly fall away with the frequent result that their hearts are even harder (remember the seed falling on rocky ground in the parable of the sower). Brethren, because we are totally dependent upon the Lord to open the heart, let us pray expectantly and preach and witness vigorously in dependence upon Him (see 1 Corinthians 3:6-7). God employs the truth as a means of opening the heart.

2. THE RESPONSE OF AN OPEN HEART
Here is the great question that will show what we believe about conversion. Does a sinner first believe, and then God opens his heart, or does God first open the heart and then as a result the sinner believes? The answer of the Bible is very clear, as in what happened to Lydia. She only ‘paid attention’ to the gospel message because the Lord opened her heart (see John 1:12-13, 1 John 5:1).
(1) Lydia paid attention to the gospel. When God opens anyone’s heart this is always the response. Some have the excuse that they cannot believe because God has not opened their heart. It is true that God must first open the heart, but nevertheless it is your solemn responsibility to respond to the gospel concerning Christ as the Saviour of sinners with repentance and faith. You may not use your closed heart as an excuse. A closed heart to the great truth of Christ only shows how wicked the heart is. How dependent on the Lord you are! At the same time this is so encouraging, because God is merciful and able to do what you are not able to do. Have you paid attention to the gospel? This is the real test of whether or not the Lord has worked in your heart.
(2) Lydia was baptized. In this way she showed her genuine submission to the Lord and her identification with the Lord’s servants. Have you observed the pattern? First conversion, then baptism (2:38,41, 9:18, 10:47-48). You are not converted by being baptized, but it is not Biblical to profess conversion to Christ and remain unbaptized. The same Lord who commanded you to receive the gospel, and you did, also commands you to be baptized. Do not pick and choose between His commands, obeying some now, but delaying to obey others. Your professed experience of conversion could be doubted if it does not lead you to obey God in everything. If you love your Lord and you are not ashamed of Him, then declare your love in baptism. Then go on further and show that you have paid attention to God’s word by being with His people and receiving more and more of that word (see 2:42). In this, note Lydia’s persistence, her refusal to take ‘No’ for an answer. God’s servants must stay with her so she can hear the word from them. Would that all who profess to be Christians have the same desires. For many once a week on a Sunday morning is sufficient. If this is you, ask yourself if the Lord has actually opened your heart.
Conversion is basically the work of the Lord. Ask yourself what mark is on you that shows without doubt that the Lord has been powerfully active in your life. Do not rest before God until you can answer with assurance. 

THE BLESSING OF REDEMPTION Keith Underhill

EPHESIANS 1:7

Governments are always setting goals. The Kenya Vision for 2030 is a vehicle for the transformation of the country into a rapidly industrialising and globally competitive middle income nation by the year 2030. It is not sufficient to set the goal; steps have been planned to achieve it. We ask, ‘What is the situation in Kenya now? What is needed to attain the goal?’ For example, in north Kenya the basic problem is infrastructure, so one of the first steps must be to build roads to develop trade. Similarly God has made His eternal plans, “before the foundation of the world”, and His goal is to adopt us as His children by making us to be holy and blameless before Him in love (1:4- 5). But it does not just happen because God says so, as one great obstacle must be cleared – sin. This is the blessing of redemption.

1. WE NEED TO BE REDEEMED FROM TRESPASSES
We cannot receive the full blessing of heavenly glory while we remain in our trespasses. Remember the wedding guest who did not have proper garment, and who was thrown out (Matthew 22:11-13). To ‘trespass’ literally means to fall from the proper path, God’s path. All are guilty and conscience testifies to this fact. That you are a trespasser may not be a big thing to you. You say you do not feel guilty, but nor does a driver over-speeding feel guilty until he sees a policeman! Peter did not feel guilty until he came face to face with Christ in the boat and the great catch of fish (Luke 5:8). Perhaps you say that none are free from trespasses... ‘but you do not do the really big evils like murder, and you do much good!’ Could you use these defences in court if you were accused of over-speeding? Could you defend yourself by claiming that most drivers over-speed, that you try to be courteous and that you have never been a drunk driver?
A trespass is not just something you do and perhaps regret, for it has serious consequences. You become guilty of breaking the law, you are liable to prosecution, then to condemnation, and finally to imprisonment. Now think of a terrorist who realizes he is doing wrong, and wants to change, and even is willing to surrender. But he will almost certainly be arrested and condemned, unless there is an assurance of pardon. God has said as the Judge, “the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). So how will you escape? We are like Israel as slaves in Egypt; how could they possibly release themselves? But what if God promises pardon...?

2. CHRIST REDEEMS US THROUGH HIS BLOOD ALONE
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses”
‘Redemption’ is to set free from bondage, usually by the payment of a ransom price. Like Israel, we are set free to belong to God and serve Him as a firstborn son (Exodus 4:22- 23). It is a very big idea involving all that happens to us to deal with our sins until we reach glory (1:14, 4:30). Here, just one aspect is brought forward, “the forgiveness of our trespasses”. To be redeemed means there is not condemnation, but release! A condemned traitor is pardoned from a life sentence; what a blessing! God Himself pardons us and says He has nothing at all against us to convict us (see Psalm 103:12, Isaiah 44:22, Micah 7:19).

How is this possible? The only answer is “in the Beloved” (v. 6), “through His blood” (v. 7, see Hebrews 9:22). There is no other way; it is the only way that actually redeems us. What if an Israelite, on the night of the Passover in Egypt, had laid out money, or signed a declaration to keep the law, but had not smeared the blood of the sacrificed lamb? The firstborn would have been slain as in all the dwellings of the Egyptians. It was only by the blood. On the Day of Atonement, one goat was offered as a sacrifice (Leviticus 16:15ff.), and another had the sin of the people of Israel confessed over it and was then sent away into wilderness never to return (vv. 20ff.). These two goats together beautifully illustrate that through the blood (death as a sacrifice) of Christ we are forever set free from our sins. What a cost! It shows how determined God was to redeem us from our sins!

Question: How do you know you are forgiven by God? There are many false answers to this question.
Answer 1 – ‘Because God is merciful’, some claim. God is truly merciful, and this mercy is seen above all in the giving of His Son. However, a problem remains: how can God forgive and remain just? The answer is in Romans 3:24-26.
Answer 2 – ‘Because I have repented’, others claim. Again, it is true that there is no forgiveness without repentance. But repentance by itself only opens you to judgment as you are confessing your sin which deserves to be punished.
Answer 3 – ‘The blood of Jesus Christ’- this is the only true answer. The song asks, ‘What can wash away my stain?’ and it gives the answer, ‘Nothing but the blood of Jesus’ (see also Hebrews 9:14, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, Revelation 5:9).

3. GOD REDEEMS US BY HIS GRACE ALONE
“According to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us”
Once again the grace of God is magnified as the only reason why such a blessing comes to anyone. Redemption, the forgiveness of our trespasses, is such a great blessing that it shows God’s grace is ‘rich’ and ‘lavish’ (or abounding).
Let us meditate on this blessing that it might cause us to rejoice.

• What did we deserve? Nothing good, only judgment from God, because God sees us as trespassers against His holy law. Are we better than Noah’s contemporaries? Or the Canaanites? If there is one thing God hates it is formal religion, hypocrisy, words without corresponding actions. Paul could never get over the fact that God had redeemed him (1 Timothy 1:12-16). Surely, all of us who are redeemed must ask, ‘Why me?’
  
• Who decided to send Christ for us? It was not any man who thought of this great plan but God. Remember it was the one and only Beloved Son whom God gave, whom He did not spare (Romans 8:32). As the plan of God, He gave freely out of pure love, and we cannot claim any merit. Christ was sent to do everything for us that we could not begin to do for ourselves.

• How can we measure His grace? Do not measure it by your own character, but by God’s. There were two bothers, John & Richard: Richard the ‘lion-heart’ was away fighting but on his victorious return he found the treachery of his brother. Richard forgave John as was his practice, but John himself would never have done that. To redeem sinners by forgiving their trespasses is what you would expect God to do. Do not measure grace by your ideas of forgiveness for perhaps you say that there are certain things that you could never forgive. And do not say that how much you are forgiven depends on how much faith you have. That also limits God’s grace.
Has God freely and fully forgiven you? How then can you live as if you are still in a prison cell awaiting execution! You do not expect a prisoner to be happy who is only waiting for the noose to be tightened around his neck. But if the prison door is opened and he is set free, no words will be able to express his joy! Have you come as ‘miserable sinner’ under condemnation or as one knowing the grace of God in Jesus Christ? If there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, ought not the sinner himself to be joyful?
To you who have never asked for forgiveness, what are you waiting for?

• ü  Is it because you do not greatly feel your need? If not it makes your situation worse, as many go to doctor too late because their disease is too far advanced.
  
• ü  Is it because you are not sure if God will forgive you? If God forgave the criminal in his dying moments, if the prodigal son was forgiven, if Saul as chief of sinners was forgiven, if most wicked Manasseh was forgiven...; if God sent His only Son, that is proof enough of His absolute willingness to save any and all who come to Him.
  
• ü  Is it because you do not know what to tell God? Tell Him you know you are a trespasser, you deserve condemnation, but you are putting your trust in the blood of Christ. If you were pleading before an earthly judge you would know what to say. Forgiveness is a blessing you may have now in Christ. God is rich in grace. 
  

DEVOLUTION AND CHURCH GOVERNANCE John Muketha

On 4th March 2013, Kenya ushered in devolved governments created under the 2010 Constitution. One objective of devolution of government is to give powers of self – governance to the people and enhance their participation in the exercise of the powers of state and decision making. Devolution recognizes the right of the communities to manage their own affairs and to further their development. We may ask: what kind of governance is appropriate for the church? Church governance is about who should make decisions, what procedures should be followed, the kind of authority that characterizes those decisions or procedures, etc.

The church belongs to Christ as He declares in Matthew 16:18 – “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Christ as the Head of the Church (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18) has delegated the governance of His church to the “Local Church” as the decision-making entity. Each local church is to be governed by a plurality of Elders who are charged with the responsibility of taking care of God’s church. (1 Timothy 3:5). Christ’s intention is for each church to be independent and be able to decide on all matters affecting its operation.

The idea of ‘denominations’ or a group of churches under one bishop (or archbishop) is foreign to the New Testament. Paul in Acts 20 addressed the elders of the Ephesian church - charging them to ‘pay careful attention to themselves and the flock in which the Holy Spirit had made them overseers and also to care for the church of God which He obtained with His own blood. John the Apostle was instructed by Christ to write to the Seven churches (Revelation1:4) and not to a denomination but to individual churches with their own unique differences.

Church leaders are variously referred in the New Testament as Elders, Overseers, Bishops, Pastors/Shepherds depicting the nature of their work as assigned to them by the Head of the Church, who is the Chief Shepherd. These Biblical elders/pastors are to protect, feed and lead the flock even as they desire to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:28). Elders lead, direct, manage, and care for the flock of God in addition to helping in meeting the practical diverse needs of the flock. The overall function of the elders is the pastoral oversight of the local church.

The New Testament presents a consistent pattern regarding the local church government as a plurality of elders ruling the church as Christ’s under-shepherds. This was the pattern followed by Paul in Acts 14:23 – ‘And when they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. It is quite evident that Christ the Head of the church rules His church through His under-shepherds – the elders-bishops-pastors whom He gives authority, and to them honour, submission and obedience is due. This authority does not imply superior standing before God since all Christians have equal access to God.

Hebrews 13:17 gives clear instructions regarding governance in the local church: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. God requires His people to willingly place themselves under the leadership, authority and accountability of Biblical elders and that with an attitude of great love and gratitude and honour for them. If your elders-pastors are faithful in their oversight, providing Scriptural counsel and responsible leadership, then God expects you to submit to them.