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Realizing the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

Prepared?

April 13, 2011

Meeting God is something you have to prepare for.

Kids are being encouraged to grow up too soon.

Great Expectations

April 12, 2011

Patrick did not just preach a Gospel promising forgiveness and eternal life.

Supreme Wisdom

April 11, 2011

To be wise we must know Wisdom Himself.

Just who does President Obama think he is, anyway?

To Teach the Generation to Come--Every year, a significant proportion of teenagers, who have been raised in church all their lives, go off to college and begin the process of abandoning their childhood faith.

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (7)

T. M. Moore

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments… Psalm 78.5-7

Every year, a significant proportion of teenagers, who have been raised in church all their lives, go off to college and begin the process of abandoning their childhood faith. And every year this nation, host to a burgeoning “Bible-believing” church population, loses its grip a bit more on whatever remains of the good works of God’s Law.

Meanwhile, the same churches that have failed their youth and the nation are reluctant or negligent when it comes to helping their members learn the Law of God so that they can live lives devoted to good works, motivated by love for God and neighbor.

Asaph, the writer of Psalm 78, understood God’s intention. Each generation is to study, learn, and practice the Law of God, then to teach it to the generation that is to succeed them. They are to teach it so well, that not only will that generation learn to be devoted to good works, but they will teach their children who will, in turn, also grow up to fulfill this purpose of our redemption.

Today’s generation of church leaders cannot read the passage quoted above and say that they have fulfilled what Asaph requires of us. We have not. And the loss of our youth and the continuing corruption of our nation are just the most obvious indicators of our studied ignorance of the Law of God.

God intends that we should use His Law to learn how to do the good works for which we have been redeemed. When we fail to do so, we fail not only ourselves but our children, our nation, and the progress of the Kingdom of God.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.



Mostly Saved?

April 16, 2011

Mostly Saved?--I laugh every time I hear Billy Crystal, in The Princess Bride, explain that Wesley is only “mostly dead.”

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (6)

T. M. Moore

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. James 2.26

I laugh every time I hear Billy Crystal, in The Princess Bride, explain that Wesley is only “mostly dead.” I think a lot of Christians might want to say they’re “mostly saved” but maybe not “completely saved.” They’re mostly saved because they profess to believe in Jesus, feel certain that their sins are forgiven, and are assured that they’re going to heaven when they die.

But they don’t manifest the kind of devotion to good works that Paul says is the reason we have been redeemed and saved. And they aren’t much interested in learning to be so devoted, either, for they just don’t have (read: aren’t willing to devote) the time, interest, or inclination to meditate day and night in God’s Law or to have a regular, daily time of reading and meditating in the Word of God (Ps. 1). They believe the fundamentals, are sure they’ve “tasted” of the Lord, and are faithful at church and Sunday school, sitting under the showers of the Word preached and taught (Heb. 6.1-8). But they’re not really “into” good works as a way of life. So the absence of any real zeal for good works perhaps means that they’re only “mostly” saved, no?

Well, I’m not so sure. “Mostly” saved, according to the writer of Hebrews, could well mean, “still dead in trespasses and sins.” What pertains to salvation, as James, Paul, and John also insist, is the “work of love” that we do each day in living out our faith before others (Heb. 6.9). Truly alive believers understand that they have been saved to do good works, and they get busy learning all they can and being alert to the opportunities around them so that their devotion to good works can come to light as the manifestation of their being “completely saved.” This is the only way to make the most of every opportunity for doing good (Gal. 6.9; Eph. 5.15-17).

Are you completely saved or only “mostly” saved?

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.

Ready for Every Good Work--When I played college football we spent an awful lot of time preparing for contingencies, based on what we understood about the particular opponent we were going to play.

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (5)

T. M. Moore

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work… Titus 3.1

When I played college football we spent an awful lot of time preparing for contingencies, based on what we understood about the particular opponent we were going to play. If your opponent did this, you had to be ready to adjust; if he went that way, or tried this formation, then you had to be able to respond appropriately. So we studied play books and films, had team meetings, and practiced, practiced, practiced.

If only Christians took doing good works as seriously! Paul says we are to be a people who are “devoted” to good works (Titus 3.8) and that we must “learn” to be such people (v. 14). Doing good as a way of life will not come naturally to us; it will not blossom in us simply as a result of spending time in church. If we are going to be ready with whatever good work the people around us might need on any occasion, we’re going to have to prepare well.

That means getting to know people, being a good conversationalist, listening well, and praying faithfully for the people God puts around us day by day. The better we know them – like my opponents in college – the better we will be able to respond to whatever situation might arise in their lives.

But we also need to pore over the “playbook” – the Law of God as given by Moses and interpreted through the Prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles. Hiding the Law of God in our hearts is the only way to ensure that it will be there when we need it in order to show the love of God to our neighbors.

It you’re not a student of God’s Law, you can’t “learn” to do good works. And if you don’t learn to do them, you will not be ready when the opportunity arises. This is not the way for us to be a people who are defined by and devoted to good works. It is, however, a very excellent way for the salt of our faith to lose its savor.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.

Do Not Grow Weary

April 14, 2011

Do Not Grow Weary--We have been redeemed to do good works.

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (4)

T. M. Moore

And let us not grow weary of doing good… Galatians 6.9

We have been redeemed to do good works. The Law of God defines, explains, and illustrates the form those good works should take. God has prepared these good works for us beforehand, that we might walk in them (Eph. 2.10). Walking in good works suggests a way of life, a life devoted to paying attention to others, sensing their needs, and reaching out, according to the Law and Word of God, to show the love of God to others in concrete, specific ways.

It is significant that Jesus, when describing His followers in terms of good works, used a metaphor and not a simile. We are not “like” salt, we “are” salt. The metaphor is much stronger and suggests a manner of being-in-the-world to be attained, rather than an occasional activity to undertake. We might on occasion, as prompted by a particular situation, give an offering above our normal tithes in order to meet some specific need. But we must live for good works and be defined by them from the inside out.

This might sound like a rather wearying way of life. But Paul says we must not grow weary of doing good. If we truly are good, formed in mind, heart, and conscience by the Law and Spirit of God, then we will not be able to help ourselves from doing good. Good works flow from good souls, and good souls are formed in the forge of God’s Law and Word under the steady breath and shaping anvil of the Holy Spirit.

The only way not to grow weary in doing good works is to be ourselves so much of the essence of goodness that doing good is all we can do.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.



Just like Jesus

April 13, 2011

Just like Jesus--Peter pointed to Jesus as the exemplar of good works. Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law (Matt. 5.17-19). So whatever Jesus did that was good – and everything Jesus did was good – was but the embodiment of the commandments of God, the same Law which Jesus and the Apostles commend to us.

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (3)

T. M. Moore

“…you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good…” Acts 10.37, 38

Peter pointed to Jesus as the exemplar of good works. Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law (Matt. 5.17-19). So whatever Jesus did that was good – and everything Jesus did was good – was but the embodiment of the commandments of God, the same Law which Jesus and the Apostles commend to us.

Jesus showed us the essence of good works – the kind of good works which express the love encoded in God’s Law – in the upper room with His disciples (Jn. 13.1-15). First, we see that He was motivated by love, as all true good works must be (v. 1). Second, He set aside His own prerogatives and made Himself the servant of others (vv. 2-4). Third, He paid attention to what was going on around Him, alert to any opportunities for showing love to others. Next, He identified a need that no one was addressing and, even though it was a duty much beneath His dignity, He took up the work without hesitation or grumbling (vv. 5, 6 ff.). Jesus stayed on task in this humble work until He had relieved the problem He identified and ministered to all who were affected by it – even His enemy (Judas). Then He made sure to connect the good work with the love of God (v. 14).

Good works of love, therefore, are such as honor our neighbors by paying attention to their needs, putting their needs above our own, taking the initiative to address particular needs, and doing so in the name and as an example of the love of Jesus Christ (v. 15).

Christians are thus to be proactive about doing good, not waiting for others to present themselves and their needs, but willingly and joyfully reaching out to the people around us each day with a desire to touch them in some specific way with a word or work such as Jesus might do were He in our place.

As we devote ourselves to reading and meditating on God’s Law we will discover very practical guidance concerning how we might actually do good to others. The Law will make us sensitive to our neighbors and help us to think of their needs as we think of our own. Then, as we rest in the Spirit of God, we can count on Him to make us willing and able to do that which meets the needs of others and shows love to God as well (Phil. 2:13).

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.

The Greatest Good

April 12, 2011

The Greatest Good--We note here how Jesus combined the teaching of the Law and the Prophets, under the authority of His own Word, to conclude that the essence of what it means to do good is summed up in the two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor.

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (2)

T. M. Moore

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22.37-40

We note here how Jesus combined the teaching of the Law and the Prophets, under the authority of His own Word, to conclude that the essence of what it means to do good is summed up in the two great commandments: love God and love your neighbor. With this the Apostles all concur (cf. 1 Cor. 13; 1 Jn. 5.1-3).

A couple of very important guidelines for doing good emerge from this, and are firmly rooted in the Law of God. First is that doing good is a spiritual obligation and therefore must arise from within us, from the depths of our souls. If we do not love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we will not be able to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Law of God serves us by exposing sin that yet resides in our souls and, in the skillful hands of the Spirit of God, by molding us heart, mind, and conscience to love in a manner consistent with what the Law requires.

Second, since the commandments outline the parameters of good works and of love, they teach us how we may actually put love into practice in concrete, everyday situations. They teach us how to do good toward God and to love Him by worshiping Him exclusively, not taking His name in vain, and honoring His Sabbath. They teach us to do good to our neighbors and to love them by honoring them, looking out for their wellbeing (rather than murdering them), honoring the bounds of human sexuality which God has defined, being content with our own possessions rather than stealing or coveting those of others, and always dealing truthfully with and about our neighbors. The many civil laws which elaborate and illustrate the various commandments of God help us to think in more specific and practical terms about how to practice good works of love each day.

Good works not motivated by love lack something intrinsic to the very idea of “good.” Thus, if we are to allow the Law to guide us in doing good, we must submit to the Spirit’s teaching as He shapes our souls into the image of Christ, and follow the express teaching of God and Jesus Christ as this is declared in God’s Law and explained by the Prophets and Apostles of Scripture.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.



Why We Have Been Redeemed--You cannot be a Christian and be indifferent to doing good. Jesus did good, and He commanded His followers to do good.

Uses of the Law: To Guide Us in Doing Good (1)

T. M. Moore

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2.10

You cannot be a Christian and be indifferent to doing good. Jesus did good, and He commanded His followers to do good. More than that, He redeemed us and gave us His Word and Spirit to enable us unto good works. And in the Law of God we find the blueprint, prepared beforehand by God, for a life of good works.

Paul reminds us that the Law of God is holy and righteous and good (Rom. 7.12). Just because we are not saved by the Law doesn’t mean that we have no relationship to it, as some theologians have taught (Rom. 3.31). In a world in which we don’t have to travel very far to encounter evil, Christians are called to let their good works be seen by all men (Matt. 5.16) so that they might overcome the evil of the world with good works (Rom. 12.21).

The good works we are called to do are defined by the Law of God. The Law defines sin, as we have seen; it also defines the good works for which we have been redeemed. This makes it extremely important that Christians include reading, study, and meditation in the Law of God as part of their daily disciplines in the Word of God. We need to understand what the Law of God contains, for it provides the framework for a life of good works. The Law is the ground for the Christian theory and practice of ethics.

But we need to understand the Law within the whole context of Scripture, because not everything that is written in the Law is to be applied today exactly as God intended ancient Israel to apply it. We live in a different day, in which the Spirit of God is at work within people in ways He was not during the days of ancient Israel. So while the Law of God is still holy and righteous and good, if we are going to be able to use the Law to guide us in doing good, we shall need to make the study of the Law a much more central aspect of the life of faith than it is today.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.



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