Denison Forum

California Wildfires and the Faith That Can’t Be Burned

At least twenty-four people, including child actor Rory Sykes, have died so far in California’s devastating wildfires. Sixteen more remain missing. More than twelve thousand structures have burned, including many houses of worship. One was Altadena Community Church, built in the 1940s and known for its colorful stained glass. It was destroyed last week. “It’s shocking,” said their pastor. “It’s a reminder to us all of the fragility of life.”

The congregation’s Facebook page showed images of the building engulfed in flames. But another showed parishioners singing outdoors. The caption read, “WE are the church! We can worship anywhere.”

They’re right: “The God who made the world . . . does not live in temples made by man” (Acts 17:24). His transforming presence is as close as your next prayer.

But there’s a catch.

“The Shadows Fade and Truth Becomes Present”

I recently read a sermon by the French bishop Faustus of Riez (c. 400–490) on the time Jesus turned water into wine (John 2:1–12). He interpreted this miracle as symbolizing the work of Christ by which we are saved, not by the Old Testament law but by his atoning grace:

By Christ’s action in Galilee, then, wine is made, that is, the law withdraws and grace takes its place; the shadows fade and truth becomes present; fleshly realities are coupled with spiritual, and the old covenant with its outward discipline is transformed into the new. For, as the Apostle says: “The old order has passed away; now all is new!” The water in the jars is not less than it was before, but now begins to be what it had not been; so too the law is not destroyed by Christ’s coming, but is made better than it was.
When the wine fails, new wine is served: the wine of the old covenant was good, but the wine of the new is better. The old covenant, which Jews follow, is exhausted by its letter; the new covenant, which belongs to us, has the savor of life and is filled with grace.

I’m not as sure as Faustus was that the biblical narrative intends such a symbolic interpretation. But I agree with his application: “The law is not destroyed by Christ’s coming, but is made better than it was.” Jesus testified: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).

When we trust in Christ as our Lord, his Spirit comes to dwell in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). When we submit fully to the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), he produces his “fruit” (Galatians 5:22–23) that manifest the character of Christ in and through us (Romans 8:29). We then fulfill the law as it was intended—we love our Lord and our neighbor unconditionally (Matthew 22:37–39) and our “righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees” (Matthew 5:20).

All this to say, New Testament grace empowers us to fulfill the Old Testament law in a way that glorifies God and advances his kingdom in our lives and our world. Jesus wants us to experience his transforming reality in every dimension of our lives and thus manifest the holiness that the law required but could never produce through human effort.

Drinking Water When I Could Have Had Wine

Here’s why this brief reflection is meaningful for me: I am tempted every day to reverse the sequence, to live by God’s law so as to deserve his grace. I am tempted to live by religious rules and disciplines as though this constitutes the Christian life.

After my conversion at the age of fifteen, I lived for many years with the popular but erroneous dictum, “What you are is God’s gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God.” I came to believe that going to church, reading the Bible, praying, witnessing, and otherwise trying to live a “good” life constituted the Christian life.

I missed the concept that “Christ in you” is the “hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27), that the living Lord Jesus wants to be as real in my life today as he was in his body during his earthly ministry (1 Corinthians 12:27) and that the Christian life consists in walking with Christ before it is anything else (John 15:5).

Said differently, I lived for many years in a type of Old Testament Christianity, drinking water when I could have had wine.

Does any of this resonate with you?

Strapping Laws Onto Our Backs

Even knowing what I do about the “new wine” of grace, I still sometimes prefer the “old wine” of legalism. Why is this?

I would rather be self-reliant than depend on the Spirit who is not subject to my will but to the will of God (John 3:8; Romans 8:27). And I would rather work in my efforts so I can take the credit for my accomplishments than live by the power of God and thus owe him the glory for what he does in and through me (Romans 11:36).

The irony is that my sinless Savior can sanctify me so much more completely than my legalistic efforts can sanctify myself. And he can give me a so much more “abundant” life than I can create for myself (John 10:10).

One of our longtime tour guides in Israel explains his Jewish worldview by saying, “Every morning we strap onto our backs the 613 laws of our religion and try to carry them through the day.” I may not be carrying 613 laws today, but I am tempted nonetheless by the same legalism as my Jewish friend.

So are you.

“Unfailing Sympathy, Undying Love”

Annie Johnson Flint (1866–1932) grew up an orphan. Her childhood dream of becoming a concert pianist was shattered when she developed rheumatoid arthritis. Her hands were disfigured, her body was twisted, and she struggled to sleep because of severe pain in her joints.

Nonetheless, she became a prolific writer and poet. Her work was unfailingly realistic regarding life’s trials, but it always pointed to the hope found in Christ. For example, she wrote:

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep
Never a river turbid and deep.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

For what trials do you need such grace today?