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NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY #2

I NEED JESUS AND A Ph.D

We had a great story come in over the Internet maybe two years ago now. This is from the wonderful Presbyterian minister, Lloyd Ogilvie, who currently serves here in the United States Senate as the chaplain. And according to the story, he was being introduced in the town of Darian, Connecticut, at a women’s luncheon. Well, the lady in charge, the emcee, got up and began to wax rather poetic in her introduction.

“We have someone with us,” she began, “who is going to change our lives! He is going to give you hope, self-esteem, and a vision of the future, and authentic power.”

And Pastor Ogilvie, sitting there waiting for his turn, began to get nervous. I mean, he WAS a successful pastor, but this was laying it on just a bit thick. And the woman continued in this high-flying vein.

“As a matter of fact,” she went on, “it will be as if the rivers of your life were flowing in one direction and stopped and went in the opposite direction.”

And Ogilvie said to himself, “Oh no!” Now, it’s very true that he is a marvelous preacher and has been for 45 years; in fact, back in ‘96, Baylor University named him “One of the Twelve Most Effective Preachers in the English-speaking World.” He has something like 10 doctoral degrees from prestigious schools; he used to have a wonderful television ministry just down the freeway from us at First Presbyterian Church in nearby Hollywood. But this woman was talking like he, and he alone, could make the world spin in the other direction, that he could leap tall buildings in a single bound. I mean, “The rivers of your life will start flowing in the other direction”? Get real.

And Ogilvie personally confesses:

“Panic seized my heart and my palms began to sweat. I wanted to crawl under the table because of what seemed to be a very egregious introduction. Who could live up to THAT?”

Just as he was about to bolt for the door and freedom, the gushing lady finished with this:

“This person’s name . . . is Jesus Christ, and here’s Lloyd Ogilvie to tell you about Him!”

And we all say, “Whew! That was close!” But isn’t that a great introduction? It reminds me of the story where a pastoral couple and their son visited a strange church were the father was going to be the guest speaker. And a local deacon got up and introduced the morning’s special guest as an incredible man who had done this and that and the other. He was visionary; he was accomplished; he was a leader among leaders. He had done all of these wonderful things. And finally the boy nudged his mom and said in confusion, “I thought DAD was preaching!”

Well, you know, if you and I had to live up to all the expectations people have of us, we might want to dash for the nearest exit too. But I’m thankful for that introduction of Pastor Ogilvie: “Our special guest of honor is Jesus, and here’s Lloyd to tell us more about Him!”

In a way, that fits right into our topic for this week. We began yesterday with a ringing proclamation of the great Christian doctrine of righteousness by faith, or what we often call “justification.” And our tag line for the week is this:

“Justification through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY.”

Those four words, NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY, are so huge. I imagine when Lloyd Ogilvie got up to speak, perspiring in relief, he wasn’t hugely thankful that he had ten doctoral degrees, or that he’d been a TV celebrity, or that he was the Chaplain of the Senate. No, he was thankful that none of those things were necessary, that it was only necessary that he have Jesus Christ as his subject that day.

But friend, what do you and I do with those four words? NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY? Because not only does the Buddhist faith talk about obedience and good deeds, and the Hindu faith, and the Muslim faith . . . but the Christian faith does too.

Philip Yancey’s book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, makes this wonderful proposal:

“Ask people what they must do to get to heaven and most reply, ‘Be good.’ Jesus’ stories contradict that answer. All we must do is cry, ‘Help!’”

And you know, we like the sound of that. But . . . truth be told, Christians talk about the Ten Commandments just as much as anyone else. There’s an awful lot of “be good” in the Christian faith, even in the most Protestant church you can find. The Sermon on the Mount is absolutely FILLED — Jesus talking — with “Do this, do that, DON’T do this or that or the other thing.” Jesus really leans into people and tells them, “You thought murder was against the rules? Guess what? So is hatred. And you folks thought adultery was just an illicit rendezvous act committed in a motel? Guess again. I’ve come to EXPAND the Law; even lustful thoughts are a violation.”

How about John 14:15? It’s just seven words long:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Or in the NIV: “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.”

I mentioned yesterday that faithful Catholics around the world are just finishing up a Year of the Jubilee, essentially the Year 2000, but they do have until this Saturday, April 5, 2003, to earn indulgences, or some merit points for less time in purgatory, if they quit smoking or drinking for a day, or if they visit the sick or imprisoned. And frankly, when we read some of what we’re told in the Bible to do, it sounds like they’re on the right track, that these words, NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY, are code words for “LOTS OF OTHER THINGS BEING NECESSARY” . . . starting with the ten rules found in Exodus 20 and then going from there.

So many theologians are debating right now something out there called the “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification,” which was a signed document between the Roman Catholic Church and the LWF, the Lutheran World Federation, back on October 31, 1999 — the anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. Now, here is the key paragraph from that document:

“By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and NOT because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and CALLING us to good works.”

Notice that we have, in just one sentence here, both the concept of NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY . . . AND also a mention of good works. Did you catch that? The Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts, also equips us and calls us to good works. And the question has to be asked immediately: Are those good works necessary? Because if they’re necessary, if they can undo the earlier phrase, “accepted by God,” then Catholics and Protestants alike are back to a works religion, and grace is destroyed.

Friend, it’s the trickiest of issues, the thorniest of theologies, and it’s exactly and precisely why there was a Reformation 500 years ago. Where does good work come in? Where does obedience fit into the equation. Is there any way where we contribute to the salvation process? Many leading theologians accept this Joint Declaration and say that Protestants and Catholics have now come to agreement on this huge issue, and that both worldwide bodies are now on the same side of the question of NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY.

Other denominations — and admittedly, my own is among them — are pointing to the creeds and the policies and practices and saying, “Not so fast.” In the book we mentioned yesterday, entitled Protestants & Catholics: Do They Now Agree?, John Ankerberg and John Weldon continue to say a very determined NO to that question. That we are not yet in agreement on this pivotal issue of obedience and grace.

Friend, let me say again: this is not a week where we want to dissect the differences between Catholic and Protestant thought. We’re certainly not smart enough, and our friends in the Catholic faith ought to be permitted to make their own defense. What we want to do here is to earnestly study for ourselves this question: where does obedience fit into the chart? Is it a requirement of the faith? Are we lost if we fail to obey? Do we receive “Justification through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, nothing else being necessary” . . . or is there some level of goodness on our part that IS necessary?

Putting it this way, was “Jesus Christ” enough of a qualification for Lloyd Ogilvie in that sermon, or was it a good thing he also had those ten doctoral degrees?

Let’s close with these two very interesting verses, both found in Romans 3:

“A person can stand in the Judgment,” Paul writes, “ONLY because he has put his faith in God and NOT in himself or in keeping the law.”

So far so good. Shades of NOTHING ELSE BEING NECESSARY. But . . . just three verses later, almost in the same breath, Paul adds:

“Does this then give us license to live without regard to the written law? Can we IGNORE God’s law because we trust in what He has done for us? Certainly NOT! The opposite is true. As never before, we live by what is written.”

And we’re back to the starting gate. Stay tuned.