How To Find Joy - A Call To Rejoice Always

I have a good friend whose brother was driving home late one night. His brother ran a stop light and was broadsided by another car. He died. The family, as families often do at death, gathered together. As a pastor who has done funerals, grief is always hard when death is sudden. It's harder when it is the sudden death of a young person. When the family gathered together, my friend was wondering whether his faith would survive this experience. How do you believe in a God who allows or causes (depending on your theology) a young man to die suddenly and unexpectedly through a collision at an intersection? As they were gathered around in the middle of the night, mourning, the father did something strange - profound if you will. He put on a worship CD, turned the stereo up real loud, placed his hands on the speakers, and started singing praises to God. Just to rejoice in the midst of the sorrow. Rejoicing always.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul wrote:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9 ESV).

 Even during the worst situations, we need to follow Paul's instruction. "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." The path to joy isn't about creating an environment where everything good happens all the time. The path to joy is a battle of perspective. God has done so much. There is so much that is good that we experience. Yet we like being pathetic and we like to wallow in the little bit of bad that's in our lives. Now, you may be saying what I'm going through isn't just a little bit of bad. It's a big bit of bad.

Paul can relate to a big bit of bad. Persecution. Imprisonment. Being stoned (with stones). Going blind. Big, bad troubles. Paul was not a foreigner to big, bad troubles. So his teaching to us to rejoice always comes from a man who knew full well what it is to live through difficult circumstances. If it wasn't difficult, he wouldn't need to teach it. I can't guarantee you much. But one of the things that I can guarantee is that bad things will happen in your life. Big, terrible, tragic things. Like the death of your loved one. Your death. Crises of another sort. Bad things. Great, big, terrible, bad things will happen in your life.

Which makes it even stranger when we go to frivolous things to find a pseudo-joy. The world successfully brainwashes us into the belief that joy is found in the next gadget, the next pleasure, the next this or that. The next website. The next show. The next book. These are all lies. Lies we often buy into. Joy is not found in those things. Happiness is. Sometimes a very fleeting, temporary, destructive happiness.

We may not be happy always, but our state of happiness does not correlate to whether we are right with God or now. We can cry and still be right with God. We can be heartbroken and still be with God. Joy is beyond the momentary feelings of happiness, and we need to learn to rejoice always.

Happiness has the same root word as happening - "happ". We don't have control over our happenings. But we can control whether we will rejoice in all circumstances.

It is easy for us to act like strong Christians when things are good. When we find a great home for a great price. It's easy to act joyful.  When have a new healthy baby. It's easy to be joyful. When you receive an unexpected gift. It's easy to be joyful. Those are all things I have experienced. And I am grateful for them, but the world doesn't need Christians that are just happy when things are good. That's confusing happiness with joy. The world needs Christians who are joyful all the time. When things don't go our way. When friends or family die. When money doesn't quite stretch far enough. When illness  strikes. When things aren't easy.

There is one lie that I think destroys our joy more than anything. A prevalent lie in the church in America. A lie that is spreading. A lie that we, as American Christians, are quick to buy into. We think that God will always make everything good for us. We think that He is our Santa Claus in the sky. That if we are faithful and believe, then we will only experience great presents from our heavenly Father. This is a lie. A lie of the most damaging sorts. And when we buy into this lie, we struggle when things aren't good for us. John Piper shared the following...

This week, I couldn't help but watch the news. We have no shortage of stories that scare us. Stories that make me fear that one day I may not be able to speak my mind without possible repercussions. Then I remembered what I had already written here in this article, what I had already shared with you here today: "The path to joy is a battle of perspective."

I don't want bad things to happen in America, but the news right now seems a little overwhelming in regards to a scary future for America. The NSA spying on us, and the person who informed us about it now being prosecuted as a spy. The IRS targeting people it politically disagrees with. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade treaty that is being written in private, even classified from the eyes of our Congressmen, that makes NAFTA look insignificant. It all frustrates me. It worries me for the America my children will have to live in. But then the word of God pulls me back in.

Paul also wrote the church in Philippi, "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20 ESV).

Our citizenship is in heaven. This doesn't mean that we don't work for the oppressed, the disenfranchised, the hurting people that surround us. This isn't an idea whose purpose is to give us an off switch where we can say, "This world is crap, and we don't have to do anything about it." Just the opposite is intended. We need  to bring about justice, righteousness, and mercy. This idea should spur our passion because we believe in a better reality and bringing about that reality from the home of our true citizenship into this one. So when we struggle, fear, and worry about our future, we need to reset our thinking. This place is not our home. Our citizenship is beyond our current, temporal reality. We can find comfort in those truths and find motivation to carry on.

Elsi meeting Avett for the first time.

On Wednesday, I drove Lindsay and Avett to the doctor in Defiance. We were halfway there when I asked, "Did you bring the paperwork that we need the doctor to fill out?" Because with a homebirth, we have extra paperwork that we need our doctor to fill out and mail in to the health department. Paperwork that a hospital usually takes care of behind the scenes.

Lindsay told me that she forgot. I became immediately frustrated. Here we were, more than halfway to Defiance without the paperwork that we needed our doctor to fill out. We could turn around and be a half hour late for our appointment or we could continue driving without the paperwork needed. Neither option was good. We decided, since we were close to the doctor and didn't want to be late for our appointment, that we would just finish the trip. I would drop her off then run back to town to get the paperwork. A wasted hour driving. Unnecessary wear and tear on our car. I calculated the cost. AHHHHH! Anyway, I was working on this piece that morning before leaving for the doctor, and this story that I am going to share with you right now helped me through the situation.

Another pastor shares the story.

"One day my wife, Cindy, refueled our car at a filling station in a Texas town. Instead of driving up to the self-service pump, she accidentally pulled up to full-service. She didn’t realize the luxury service cost an extra fifty cents per gallon until she paid for the gas. Later she told me how the station had hiked the prices on full-service.

That extra fifty cents per gallon surely has to be a violation of some federal law, I thought. I quickly calculated that the extra seven dollars she spent on full-service would have taken our vehicle 128.33 miles farther down the road if she had bought self-service gas. The “full-service gas station robbery” had me fuming for several hours.

As I was mulling over this terrible injustice, God showed me what I had done. I had sold my joy for seven dollars! I never realized how cheaply I would surrender something so valuable. Just as Esau exchanged his birthright for a bowl of soup, I exchanged my joy for seven dollars’ worth of gas.

At what price are you willing to sell your joy? (I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, 40-41)

So back to my story about our trip to the doctor and Lindsay forgetting the paperwork. I said to myself that I would not let having to drive for an extra hour ruin my day. My joy isn't worth giving up for an hour. And it worked. Strangely, it worked. And Lindsay says that it made her life better too when I decided to have joy rather than fume about the situation.

And then, as I drove back to Defiance after having dropped her off and picked up the paperwork, I began to think about all of the things that we give up our joy for. I get overly frustrated with life when our money doesn't stretch far enough. I have been upset when Lindsay buys something that I don't think we can afford. I've been upset when I found out I had cancer. I've been upset when our twins died. I've been upset when my mower won't start (Now I have a new electric mower and haven't had that problem). I've been upset when my wife didn't get a job she applied for. When another kid has hurt my kid. I've been upset over so many things. Things that weren't worth selling my joy for.

I'm sure you have had similar situations. Things we think are worth being upset over, yet it doesn't benefit us when we allow ourselves to fume. Fuming just takes away our joy. Which brings me back to the wisdom of Paul in teaching us to rejoice...always. We can have joy in every situation. It doesn't mean the lies of the prosperity gospel. It doesn't mean that we will always get what we want. It means that when we don't get what we want, we will choose to be content.

Joy. It's a choice. And I want to choose joy. Joy in Jesus. Because He is the source of our contentment. True joy.  

Kay Warren, the wife of Pastor Rick Warren, describes joy:

Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.

There's a story I read:

Do you remember when your mother used to say, "Don't eat candy before meals?" Why did she say that? Because she knew it would ruin your next meal. The trouble with eating candy is that it gives you a sugar buzz, and then you don't feel hungry. Candy masks the fact that your body needs proteins and vitamins. The sugar buzz from candy masks your hunger for the real nutrients that you need.
Things like sex, power, money, and success—as well as favorable circumstances—act like spiritual sugar. Christians who have these spiritual candies may say, "Sure, I believe in God and I know I'm going to heaven," but they're actually basing their day-to-day joy on favorable circumstances. When the circumstances change, it drives us to God, because when the sugar disappears, when the candy gets taken away, we're forced to pursue the feast that our souls really crave. We'll hunger for the spiritual nutrients we really need.

Joy isn't found at the end of the rainbow of fame and money. Or even in the good things like family, friends, your job, or even in the smile of a newborn baby. That's happiness. Those things can pass. Tragically pass. Joy isn't found in your child getting a hit, winning a game, reading a good book, watching a good show, or taking a good vacation. Again, those things are happiness. Don't confuse joy and happiness. Happiness, although appreciated, is fleeting. There is only one source of unfleeting joy.

Let's reread Paul's passage to the church in Phillipi:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9 ESV).

We want joy. But focusing on joy is not how we get joy. Here are four tips from Paul from the section above on how to get joy.

Joy is like a cake. If you're missing ingredients, you don't have cake. No flour, no cake. No sugar, no cake. No egg, no cake. Oh, you may be able to make a fake substitute. But that's not cake. Don't fool yourself. The same is true with joy. If you're missing the ingredients to joy, you don't have joy.

Paul points out four things that bring joy/peace.

Be Gracious. "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone," Paul wrote. "Reasonableness." What is reasonableness?  The original word (epieikés) means "sense of [being] truly fair by relaxing overly strict standards." It's gentleness. It's the idea of mercy and grace. It's giving people the benefit of the doubt. Being more gracious than fair. Being more loving than just.

Do you see others the way God sees them? People will fail you. They will disappoint you. But even with all their faults, they're still beautiful. Just like God views you with all of your faults. Joy is found in viewing others the way God views them, even when they fail you. Especially when they fail you. Being gracious in all situations.

Be prayerful. Paul wrote, "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Are you keeping in mind that God is in control? Are you more worried about yourself more than you are about His will and Him receiving glory?

It's easy to panic in a situation. It's easy to worry that maybe God doesn't want the same thing that we want. But it doesn't do us any good to be anxious. Give it up to God. Express your desire to Him. "Supplication" means "heart-felt petition, arising out of deep personal need." It's more than just checking off our prayer list. It's expressing our deep-felt desires. But after the prayer is said, we trust in Him for the future outcome. Joy is never found in worry. Joy is found in expressing our desires to the Lord and trusting in Him.

Be Positive. Paul said, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." 

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who was imprisoned for helping Jews escape the Nazis during World War II. In her book, The Hiding Place, she writes about an incident that taught her the principle of choosing a positive outlook in all situations.

Corrie and her sister, Betsy, were imprisoned at Ravensbruck Camp. As a prisoner she faced horrible living conditions and found herself very bothered by the intense fleas in her barracks. She wrote: 

“The barracks were extremely crowded and infested with fleas. One morning they read, in their tattered Bible, from 1 Thessalonians the reminder to rejoice in all things. Betsy said, 'Corrie, we've got to give thanks for this barracks and even for these fleas.' Corrie replied, 'No way am I going to thank God for fleas.'"

But Betsy was persuasive, and they did thank God even for the fleas.

During the months that followed, they found that their barrack was left relatively unsupervised, and they could have a Bible study, talk openly, pray together, and not worry about being interrupted or experiencing something even worse from the guards. Their barrack was their only place of refuge. Several months later, they learned that the reason the guards never entered their barracks was because of those blasted fleas.

"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."  Put on the attitude of Jesus. Joy is found in having a positive attitude, even with the fleas.

Be Practicing or Practice These Things. "What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Joy is found in actually living the right life. Not just knowing it.

Peace is a byproduct. A byproduct of our right relationship with Jesus. Joy leads to peace. Joy is found through being gracious to others, being prayerful, thinking positively, and living the life Jesus wants you to live.

Elton Trueblood, one of my favorite Christian writers of the 20th century, said, "I don't trust the theology of any person who doesn't laugh."

The other week, I was asked by an atheist why I became a Christian.

Much to the displeasure of the atheist, I became a Christian, not because of intellectual arguments, but because I fell in love with the view of the world that some Christians shared with me through their words and living it. I went to college and fell in with the wrong crowd, a group of Christians. This group of Christians was filled with joy and seemed to have a different dream of the world. Now I believe that their different dream for the world is the way that God wants this world. I want that world. I want the world that Jesus teaches us to strive toward. I want His kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven. It may sound crazy, especially to an atheist, but encountering Christians filled with joy and living in hope is what brought me to Jesus. A group of joyful Christians who were living differently in the world.

I may have logically went backward, starting at a different place. I started at the point of action and experience and wanted the thoughts that brought about that action and experience. My logic went, "These people are living the life I want. This is the life I want. I want what they have. What brings people to this life? What beliefs? What actions? What habits?" This led me to Jesus and the church. Maybe if I would have found a sacrificially loving group of atheists, my life would be different. But I didn't. And I still haven't.

Discussions with atheists always come back to a scientific argument. They want to argue creation or the reliability of Scripture or something else. Those discussions have their place, but that isn't what changes lives.

So when an atheist asks why we should assume God if they believe physics and evolution can explain the world without Him. I would say that it is because the God I believe in teaches us to love our neighbors, love our enemies, and live sacrificially for others. Following God brings joy. I find that beautiful. For an atheist, it may be irrational. For me, it may just be irrational beauty. And those things can't be discovered through evolution and physics.

Now, here is the dilemma. You may be feeling guilty for being mopey. For not being as filled with joy as you should be. And then you think, "I'm going to stop being mopey and start being joyful." Well, first, don't beat yourself up so much. That's bad for your joy. Remember, when the wet blanket of joy sucking despair or depression begins to overwhelm to say, "Stop it. I choose Jesus. I choose joy."

Remember to view yourself the way that God views you. And remember that joy is not something that we can just wish into existence. It's not found by us just listening to motivational speakers and willing it into our lives. It's a byproduct. It's found by being gracious to others, through trusting God in all situations, and putting on Jesus. Grow more into Jesus, and you will find that you are inhabited by the Holy Spirit that brings joy as one of its fruits.

Choose joy. Choose Jesus.

Make A Difference - Andy Stanley, Mark Driscoll, and President Obama

President Obama was inaugurated last week, and some Christians took to Twitter to once again remind the world that Christians can be arrogant jerks.

For example, Mark Driscoll, at 8:17 AM on January 21, 2013, tweeted, "Praying for our president, who today will place his hands on a Bible he does not believe to take an oath to a God he likely does not know."

While Andy Stanley, one of my favorite preachers, shows why he deserves that title. Stanley had the privilege to preach a sermon at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington D.C. This was inauguration Sunday and President Obama and his staff were in the congregation.

Stanley decided to preach from the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. When Jesus came to earth, He was God in the flesh. The most powerful person in any room. And He washed feet. He spent time with the undesirables. He came to serve rather than be served.

Stanley said to the congregation filled with Obama, his cabinet, and other churchgoers, "So what do you do when it dawns on you that you're the most powerful person in the room? You're the most powerful person, in this case, in the world?" Then he shared with them what Jesus did. Jesus "laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him" (John 13:4-5 ESV). Jesus, God in the flesh, humbled Himself, went around the room, and washed his followers' feet. The followers had just been arguing about which one of them would be the greatest. And Jesus showed them what the Greatest should do. Serve. Not be served.

Now that's some powerful stuff. Some real powerful stuff when spoken to the powers that be in this world. Stanley ended his sermon with these words, " Mr. President, you have a very big room. It's as big as the nation. It's as big as our world. And my prayer for you is that you continue to leverage this stewardship of power for the sake of our nation and the world."

Back to my initial thought. What approach do you think had a chance to influence the President? Driscoll who attacked him on Twitter? Or Andy Stanley who proclaimed the tough teachings of the Gospel with him? The sad thing about the whole situation is that Christianity gets another self-inflicted and deserved black eye. But we're not all that way. Look at Andy Stanley. Who I propose was actually acting like Jesus would in the situation.

You may be thinking that a pastor shouldn't associate with a person like Obama. And if that is your view, then you don't understand the Jesus that pastors are professing. Jesus wasn't scared of associating with those who held opposing views. He didn't hole himself up in a monastery and expect believers to come to Him. Him was out among the people, teaching and preaching a way of life that would change lives if adopted. A way of life that we would all be better off to follow today.

So when we're faced with the option to quickly lash out against someone on Facebook or on Twitter, we should think again. It won't do any good. It will actually make us look foolish and hurt whatever cause we are fighting for. Instead we should spend time investing in the person who has wronged us. We should forgive them. Now, it won't always change them. That's not why we do it. Investment in another doesn't mean magic. Everyone is given the ability to choose. But investment in another is always the better option when contrasted with tearing them down. We invest in them because we have the example of a leader who humbled Himself and washed His followers feet.

This isn't to say that there isn't a time to confront someone about a destructive problem in their life. But the place for that confrontation is not in the public arena. It's in private, within the context of an already existing relationship. We must always keep in mind a teaching that Stanley professes, " Make a difference. Don't be satisfied with making a point."

Jesus taught, "Go and sin no more." But He was with a sinner after He had earned her love when He taught that. May we do the same.

Jesus vs. Paul - The Debate Over the Gospel

Scot McKnight wrote an article trying to take a new approach to bridge the divide in the Christian community between those who teach Jesus' gospel of the kingdom versus the Paul's gospel of justification: Jesus vs. Paul.  For those who are Pauline, the focus is completely on justification.  For the other camp, the gospel is about the kingdom of God.

Paul's teachings on justification are often pitted against Jesus' teachings of the kingdom.  This does an injustice to Paul's writings.  Paul directly mentions the kingdom fourteen times, but for some that is not substantial enough.  Along with the direct references, the kingdom is alluded to through other imagery.  When Paul mentions "Christ", he is indirectly referencing the kingdom.  Jesus, in being called the Christ, is being proclaimed the messiah and ruler of the Old Testament kingdom of Israel.  He is the ruler who will reign forever. So Paul might not mention "kingdom" explicitly enough for the Paulinites, but why should he?  He is writing to churches filled with people already in the kingdom who should be able to pick up the kingdom imagery, especially after having been taught the Gospels.  Paul's letters were not written to tell people who Jesus was; they were written to specific churches for specific purposes.  

McKnight makes this debate between the teachings of Jesus and Paul more complicated than it needs to be.  Although he is not alone in that.  He attempts to reconcile John Piper's view of justification against N.T. Wright's view, of whom he does not mention.  These two have been going at it for a while now.  In 2007, Piper wrote an entire book directly attacking the thoughts of N.T. Wright:  The Future of Justification: A Response to N. T. Wright.  Wright responded in 2009 with Justification: God's Plan & Paul's Vision.  

Paul's and Jesus' teachings don't have to be at odds with one another.  How do we enter the kingdom? Through justification. What is the purpose of justification? To bring about God's kingdom here on earth. They don't conflict. You cannot have one without the other.  Nor do we have to shoehorn justification into kingdom theology; it naturally fits.   But we must be careful, because Jesus' teachings of the kingdom do not easily fit into an individualized justification theology.

The more I have been reading and teaching Paul writings, the more I am falling in love with them. His writings do not conflict with the good news of the kingdom; they elaborate how to live out the life one should live as a citizen of the kingdom. The problem with most teaching on Paul occurs when people take a single verse or section and go nuts on it rather than take the whole book and focus on its larger point.

Even in Galatians, one of the Paul's books on justification, he wrote that people who live by the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:21).

1 Corinthians 15, the section that McKnight references in his article as Paul's gospel, does mention the "kingdom" in 15:24. McKnight just stopped his discussion of Paul's teaching of the gospel before getting there.  I guess Paul is expected to be concise. 

It appears that Paul wrote his letters to the Galatians and the Romans to explain justification. Justification is not a thought that pervades his other letters. It baffles me why having a few letters explaining justification somehow pits Paul against Jesus.  There should be nothing wrong with explaining how we are justified. That's good to know, but that does not counteract all of the teachings of Jesus on the kingdom.

McKnight chose to go to Paul's definition of the gospel, but I prefer to start with Jesus' gospel. The good news, according to Jesus, was the kingdom. It seems simple. I guess I might just oversimplify it. But the purpose of our justification is to be the kingdom.

N.T. Wright wrote in Justification: God's Plan & Paul's Vision:

Yes, say the scoffers, ethnic divisions are broken down, we know that, but why make such a fuss about it? The answer is that the church, thus united through the grace of God in the death of Jesus, is the sign to the principalities and powers that their time is up. Ephesians is not about the ordering of the church by the gospel for its own sake. "Ecclesiology" may sound secondary and irrelevant to some ardent enthusiasts for the old perspective, but that could just be because they are unwilling to face the consequences of Paul's ecclesiology. For him, the church is constituted, and lives its life in public, in such a way as to confront the rulers of the world with the news that there is "another king named Jesus" (Acts 17:7). Paul says it again: this was the grace given to me, this was the mystery revealed which I became a servant, the mystery lodged since all eternity in the creator's single plan: "that now the many-splendored wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, through the church, according to the eternal purpose which he has accomplished int he Messiah, Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:10-11). How can "ecclesiology" be a secondary topic, unworthy to be associated with the great doctrine of justification, when Scripture itself gives this high a place? Why should not the point of justification itself be precisely this, that, in constituting the church as the single family who are a sign to the powers that Jesus is Lord and the they are not, it servers directly the mission of the kingdom of God in the world? It cannot be, can it, that part of the old perspective's reaction to the new is the tacit sense that once we associate ecclesiology with the very center of the gospel we will have to go all the way and rethink the political role and task of the church? Surely the wonderful "objective" scholarship of so many old perspective exponents would not allow such a motive to affect exegesis! And yet: Luther's "two kingdoms" theology may have more bearing on this than we might like to think. Not to mention the deep resistance, in some of the same circles where the old perspective still flourishes, to any attempt to articulate a gospel-based "kingdom" theology to complement and illuminate Paul's soteriology." (173-174)

Wright went on:

There seems to be something about the joining together of resurrection and justification which some of our Western traditions have failed to grasp. Justification is more than simply the remitting and forgiving of sins, vital and wonderful though that is. It is the declaration that those who believe in Jesus are part of the resurrection-based single family of the one Creator God. Any preaching of justification which focuses solely or even mainly on Jesus' death and its results is only doing half the job. Justification is not just about "how I get my sins forgiven." It is about how God creates, in the Messiah Jesus and in the power of his Spirit, a single family, celebrating their once-for-all forgiveness and their assured "no condemnation" in Christ, through whom his purposes can now be extended into the wider world. All this, of course, might have been clear from a reading of the Gospels, but, alas, the same Western tradition that has highlighted the cross at the expense of Paul's full theology of resurrection has also highlighted a supposed Pauline soteriology at the expense of the Gospels' theology of the kingdom of God." (248)