MARCH 2020 LAIN · Christ is about following Jesus. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about inspirational seminars designed to make you into a person who enjoys all the fruits of

MARCH 2020 1

itself” without any assistance orintervention from God.

The idea behind “everythinghappens for a reason—God has aplan” is that while we don’t knowwhy we are enduring andexperiencing distress and sorrow,God does—he is right on top ofwhat is going on—“in control.”

It all sounds reasonable, doesn’tit? Reasonable, but not biblical.Makes sense, but it’s not true.

The Bible has nothing to sayabout this far-fetched idea,comforting though it might be. Infact, the Bible contradicts the ideathat “everything happens for areason because God has a plan.”To this you were called, because

Christ suffered for you, leaving youan example that you should follow inhis steps. – 1 Peter 2:211) To this you were called…“To this” refers, in the

immediate context, to unjust

suffering. In the precedingsentence (before he says “tothis”), Peter notes the differencebetween suffering because of“doing wrong”—self-inflictedconsequences—and suffering for“doing good.”

Peter calls suffering eventhough one does not deserve it“commendable before God” andthen tells Christ-followers wewere called “to this.”

There are plenty of people on television who will tell youthat when you suffer you are

“outside” of God’s will. They are also fond of explaining

suffering away by saying theperson in pain doesn’t have“enough” faith. To say that a person who is

suffering is “outside” of God’swill and that they do not have“enough” faith is a denial ofJesus Christ.

Jesus Christ suffered unjustly—he was God in the flesh. Was Jesus,God in the flesh, “outside” ofGod’s will and did he sufferbecause he did not have “enough”faith?2) …because Christ suffered for

you, leaving you an example…You can hear and read many

people who will tell you that JesusChrist suffered for you so youdon’t have to.

You can read and hear plenty ofpeople who will tell you all theways that you should follow in the

PLAIN TRUTH ®

w w w . p t m . o r g

Continued on page 3

inside

Grace Brings Grace Home p2

Walking in the Jesus Way p5

Fences Are for Dogs p7

Quotes & Connections p8

MARCH 2020

Volume 85, Number 2

any religiousprofessionals and thereligions they representare all too willing toexplain why God allows

suffering. • Some insist that God actually

causes suffering. • Many believe that “everything

happens for a reason—God has aplan.”

• Some suggest that God’s planis to let us suffer or even causesuffering in our lives so that faithmight be produced in us.

While there are no easy answersto all of our “why” questionsabout suffering, here are threeChrist-centered truths:

• Suffering is part of what itmeans to be human.

• Suffering is an inevitable partof life—God doesn’t have to“plan” it.

• Suffering happens “all by

CHR I S T I AN I T Y W I THOUT THE R E L IG ION ®

M

By Greg Albrecht

Followingin Jesus’Footsteps

2 PLAIN TRUTH

Once upon a time there was ayoung girl who wasabandoned right after she

was born. This little baby girl wasleft out in the open, exposed to theelements, without any shelter. Shewas despised, vulnerable and verymuch alone.

She was left to die—she wouldnever know what it was like to beloved and comforted and huggedand provided for—she wouldnever grow up and enjoy wearinga new dress, having her hair doneor going to a party. But then a miracle happened.A loving couple came by and

rescued her—they loved her andgave her life, saving her from thecertainty of death she wouldexperience.

In the parable-like story told inthe 16th chapter of Ezekiel, Godrescues and saves a helpless,newborn girl who has beenabandoned. I’m taking the libertyof naming her “Grace.”

Grace grew into a beautiful youngwoman, and then one day adifferent kind of love came into herlife.

Her Prince Charming didn’t carethat Grace had once beenabandoned, he didn’t care thatGrace had no idea who her birthparents were.

This Prince Charming only sawGrace through the eyes of love. Hepromised Grace his love—hepromised Grace all that he had byhis own grace, and they enteredinto a covenant of marriage.

Her husband told Grace she wasabsolutely stunning—he treatedher like a queen and her beautybecame widely known.But then it all went wrong.

Grace forgot where her love,wealth and beauty had come from.Grace, this beautiful bride, whoowed all that she had and all thatshe was to her husband, betrayedhim. Grace, whose life, blessingsand beauty were a gift of God’sgrace, took advantage of God’slove.

It wasn’t the first time nor thelast when a deeply loved humanbeing took advantage of God’s loveand grace.

Grace fell—she hit rock bottom.Ezekiel 16:15 says, “But you trustedin your beauty and used your fameto become a prostitute. Youlavished your favors on anyonewho passed by and your beautybecame his.”

The story of Ezekiel 16 is aboutGod’s forever commitment—evenin the face of betrayal andinfidelity.

Our story—your story and mystory—is that we are the ones whohave been found in a horrible placeof abandonment and in need ofrescue—and God has favored uswith his grace.

We have nothing to offer God,but he is not looking for anythinghe can do for us.

He is looking to lavish us with hislove. He knows that his grace andlove is risky—he knows that ourfallen humanity makes us

incapable of being truly and foreverfaithful to him.But then another miracle

happened. This parable-story inEzekiel 16 is the story of God’sgrace—in spite of infidelity Godsays to his wife, in verse 60, “I willestablish an everlasting covenantwith you.”

Now, lest you misunderstand ourmessage today and the clearmessage of Ezekiel 16, God’s wifewho prostituted herself suffered forher outlandish behavior.

She reaped the whirlwind ofconsequences, but God, her lovingand forever forgiving husband, didnot insist that she pay thesepenalties out of spite andvengeance.

God does not insist that we paypenalties because we offend andshame him or because he hasconditions we must meet before hewill take us back into his home.

His part in his commitment to usis to tell us up front—I will alwaysforgive you. I will never leave you norwill I abandon you—no matter what.

God’s love is never earned ordeserved—and his love, regardlessof how low we sink in life, nevergoes away.

God’s love and grace is strongerthan anything you or I can do toeither deserve it or to cause him toremove it.

Thank God for his grace andlove—faith alone, grace alone andChrist alone! q

—Greg Albrecht

Join us for the complete message of“Grace Brings Grace Home” at theaudio teaching ministry ofChristianity Without the Religion,the week of March 22, 2020.

Grace Brings Grace Home

God’s love is never earned ordeserved…God’s love and grace is stronger than anything you orI can do to either deserve it or to cause him to remove it.

footsteps of Jesus just like theythink they are.

However, they invariably leaveout the part about following him inhis suffering.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is notabout health, wealth andprosperity. The gospel of JesusChrist is about following Jesus.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is notabout inspirational seminarsdesigned to make you into aperson who enjoys all the fruits ofsuccess (defined as excess). Thegospel of Jesus Christ is not abouthaving your best life now. According to 1 Peter 2:21,

the precise way in which Christ-followers follow Jesus is insuffering.

Peter says that Christ sufferedfor us—that’s the emphasis of thispassage. Yes, Christ died for us,but this passage is talking aboutthe life of suffering that Jesusendured. 3) … that you should follow in

his steps.The path of following Jesus on

the Jesus Way is not an easy path.It’s been said that a mark of deepand true humility is to becondemned without cause and tonot answer in kind. That is themind of Christ. That is part ofhow he suffered for us.

Jesus did not revile or slander oraccuse. He did not threaten. Hedidn’t lash out at those whobetrayed him and failed him. Hedid not demean those who did notunderstand him.

As Christ-followers, one of ourgreatest enemies is pride, whileone of our closest friends ishumility. In fact, our perfectFriend Jesus is “gentle and humblein heart…” (Matthew 11:29).

Jesus submitted to suffering.Peter is not saying we must findand devise ways to suffer so thatwe can prove that we arefollowing him. Jesus set us anexample about our response and attitude when we suffer…especially unjustly.

Why Suffering?

There are times when we sufferbecause we are enduring theinevitable consequences of ourown silly, immature, selfishbehavior. God has nothing to dowith it other than to allow andconsent for us to make stupiddecisions and then pay thepenalty. When we pay theconsequences of our behavior, it’snot God’s plan.

There are also times when wesuffer because we are paying theprice of someone else’s self-centeredand even lustful behavior. Someoneelse can cause us to suffer.

Once again, that’s not God’srecipe—he didn’t cook up theresults we are going through. It’snot God’s plan when a child isabused, a rape occurs or a soldierbleeds out on the battlefield.

There are times when we sufferbecause we are the victim of timeand chance. When we are victimsof a crime or of an accident—we

were in the wrong place at thewrong time—when a hurricane ora flood or an earthquake tookplace, or when a bridge collapsed,or when some other naturaldisaster occurred.

When religion suggests or insiststhat suffering is a penalty Godinflicts on us, it transforms God,who is love, into a divinitysomewhat like a Shakespeareanwitch. God is not brewing up“Double, double, toil and trouble”to inflict on humanity.

We suffer, no doubt, for manyreasons. Of all forms of suffering,the most spiritually transcendentis when Christ-followersvoluntarily do so as a consequenceof their faith and truth in Jesus.

God’s Promise… In Christ, and because of Christ,who is Immanuel (God with us),God suffers with us and as he isnear and dear to us, close to usand with us, we come to know thefullness of his love.

Continued from page 1

MARCH 2020 3

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not about health,wealth and prosperity…it’s about following Jesus.According to 1 Peter 2:21, the precise way in which

Christ-followers follow Jesus is in suffering.

honest, vulnerable and humble. Istopped pretending to be perfectsome years ago. It was obvious Ihad failed in the perfectiondepartment.

“At the beginning of my ministryI was concerned that people mightnot look up to me becaue of myfailures and flaws—was I everwrong! Thank God he shifted myfocus—I realized that my job wasto direct people to Jesus Christ, andlook up to him and follow him!

“Next week will be my lastsermon I give as a full-time pastor.I was given the assignment andtopic for this sermon many yearsago.

“As a young pastor I gave asermon about suffering. After thesermon a gentleman about the ageI am now thanked me for thesermon, but he said it couldbecome a much better sermon if Iwould wait about 40 years and giveit again.”

Our prayer: Dear Lord, Thank you for suffering for me.

Thank you for allowing me to followyou in your suffering. Thank you foralways being with me as I follow you.Thank you for comforting me with theassurance that nothing is going tohappen to me today that you and Ican’t handle together. q

Neither Jesus nor any of theNew Testament authors try toexplain suffering—the gospel ofJesus Christ never tries to makesense of suffering in a way thatwould satisfy all our questions.

Jesus doesn’t deny the fact ofsuffering, he doesn’t ignore it, hedoesn’t gloss over it—nor does hetry to act like it doesn’t exist inthe life of a Christ-follower.

God doesn’t shield us from allsuffering. He doesn’t providespecial immunities and vaccinesagainst suffering for those whofollow Jesus Christ.

Jesus faced the reality of sufferingand he invariably promises toalways be with us in our suffering.The gospel of Jesus Christ speaks ofGod, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,who hurts with us—of God who isalways there, always forgiving,never condemning—alwaysembracing, never rejecting—always with us, never apart ordistant.

God pours his love into ourhearts even in the middle of oursufferings.

• Nothing in the Bible leads usto conclude that sufferingindicates the absence of God.

• Nothing in the Bible leads usto conclude that God directlycauses suffering.

• God doesn’t cause suffering

and there are no easy answersabout why suffering happens.

• In the midst of our suffering,we rest in Christ, who is ourdivine Hope.

Reflections of a Christ-centered PastorA pastor, whose face was plowedwith deep furrows of characterthat witnessed to decades of bothstress and joy, as he prepared toretire, spoke of lessons learned—specifically about suffering.

“You know, when I first becamea minister, I never gave muchthought to my personalsuffering—some I served weresuffering but for some reason Ididn’t think I ever would. In fact,I thought that anything in my lifeless than perfect would havecaused those in my congregationto stop looking up to me.

“But as the years and decadespassed, I discovered that pickingup my cross and following Jesusinvolved pain, hurting andhardships. I found out that beinga Christ-follower meansexperiencing and enduringdifficulties most people associatewith loss and defeat.

“I have come to see thatsuffering and pain is part of beingin Christ. I learned that self-sacrificial service is about being

John the Beloved distilled theJesus Way to this: “And this is love: that we walk inobedience to his commands.

As you have heard from thebeginning, his command is that youwalk in love” (2 John 1:6).

By the end of the first century, theDidache, a very early Christiancatechism / manual, summarizedthe Jesus Way as walking in love. Itopens this way, recalling the wordsof Christ:

*******There are two ways, one of life and

one of death, but a great differencebetween the two ways. The way oflife, then, is this: First, you shall loveGod who made you; second, loveyour neighbor as yourself, and donot do to another what you wouldnot want done to you.

The teaching is this: Bless thosewho curse you, pray for yourenemies, and fast for those whopersecute you. For what reward isthere for loving those who loveyou? Do not the Gentiles do that?But love those who hate you, andyou shall not have an enemy…

If someone strikes your rightcheek, turn to him the other also,and you shall be perfect.

If someone forces you to go onemile, go with him two.

MARCH 2020 5

If someone takes your cloak, givehim also your coat.

If someone takes from you what isyours, ask it not back, for indeedyou are not able.

Give to everyone who asks youand ask it not back; for the Fatherwills that to all should be given ofour own blessings (free gifts).

*******See how difficult walking in love

can become? It sounds impossible—like “take up your cross.” Exactly.But Jesus meant it—walking in hisfootsteps of love is a real way of life.In his own words, “This is mycommand: love one another, in thesame way that I loved you”(John15:12).

A “command”? Yes. A tall order,yes, but it is, after all, the Jesus Way.Would you rather hack your owntrail through the jungle of life witha machete of self-effort? No thanks.Rather, to walk the Jesus Way is tofollow the Christ—the divinehuman—by the Grace of Abbathrough the power of the Spirit.

The Jesus Walk is a faithpilgrimage in the company and inthe strength of triune Love. As thecarol says, “their law is love andtheir gospel is peace.” Yes, sign meup for that, please.

THE WAY OF THE CROSS On second thought…“Love eachother as Christ loved us”? Give me amoment, please…But Christ laiddown his life for us. Is John sayinghis followers will also lay down theirlives?

“This is my command: love oneanother, in the same way that Iloved you. No one has a love greaterthan this, to lay down your life foryour friends.”—John 15:12-13

I get it now: the Jesus Wayconjoins the way of love with theway of the Cross. The Jesus Walk isthe Way of sacrificial love—cruciform(cross-like love) and kenotic (self-giving love), just like him.

But the Cross? That’s supposed tobe a done deal. Why does Christsay, “If any of you want to comeafter me, you must say no toyourselves, and pick up your crossevery day, and follow me” (Luke9:23)?

Are Christians called to becrucified? Literally, hardly ever.Okay, we talk about “dying to self,”which means something like lettinggo of self-centeredness and ego. Butit’s more than that.

I believe Christ intends thecruciform love of Abba revealedthrough him to become flesh inthose who follow him on the Jesus

Walkingin the

Jesus Way

By Brad Jersak

Way. Remember, cruciform loverefers to God’s self-giving, radicallyforgiving, co-suffering love. Thosewho’ve read A More Christlike God orarticles I’ve posted about the Crosswill recognize that three-foldrefrain. It is typically how Isummarize the nature and way oftriune Love.

But now we add to that this truth:Christ-followers who truly follow—who walk the Jesus Way—will alsomanifest his love in our lives, “onthe ground,” so to speak. Christclaimed his disciples would beknown and recognized by this love(John 13:35). They are identifiedwith Christ as they exhibit hiscruciform love in this world…

By the Grace (transformingenergies) of the indwelling Spirit,love becomes a law of nature—ournew nature. We must not reduce thisto an abstract righteousness declaredin some hypothetical heavenlyverdict. The love-righteousness ofChrist-in-us must and will “showup” as the way we walk—the JesusWalk.

THE WAY OF LOVE John, the apostle of love, is utterlyinsistent on this point. His logic isunequivocal:

First, God is love because that lovedid not hunker down in God’s heartin the comfort of Paradise. TriuneLove is a divine verb Who entered

space-time history through the Incarnation.

Divine Love necessarily appearsand acts or it is not love at all. Thatact of love is Jesus Christ—theeternal Word enfleshed as perfect,cruciform (cross-like) Love.

John the Beloved extrapolates:divine Love—Christ in us—is onlyreal when it actualizes—when itappears and acts in the tangibleworld of our relationships.

Love shows up or it isn’t love.John leaves no room for aheaven/earth, heart/hand,feeling/action dualism. As myfirstborn once said to his youngestbrother, “At some level, you arewhat you do.” Your identity andyour walk—your faith and yourlove—are indivisible.

At the same time, John is no naïveperfectionist who believes we’vealready arrived. John knows this is away, a walk, a journey. The“finished work” of the Cross has notfinished working on me. For Johnand for Christ, the Jesus Way is apath we’re walking one day at atime in fits and starts, stumbles andrecoveries. Perhaps at best we’restaggering forward, but as weimperfectly hear and follow—imitate—Christ’s faithful footfalls,life is the venue where we’relearning to love.

According to John, those who livethis way—the Jesus Way of love—

know God. Here he is verbatim: “Beloved, let us love one another,

because love is from God, and allwho love are fathered by God and knowGod. The one who does not love hasnot known God, because God islove.”—1 John 4:7-8 (NTE)

The next verse doesn’t start with“but” or “if.” No caveats orflinching. John sets aside thequestion of whether we identifyourselves as Christians or not. Hedoesn’t care who we presume toinclude as “saved” or exclude as“lost.”

For John, those who love know God.Those who do not love, do not. Period.To be blunt—and John is veryblunt—you may be a confessing“Christian,” but without love, youdon’t know God, because God isLove. Confessions and claims to thecontrary are lies.

He says, “If someone says, ‘I loveGod’, but hates their brother orsister, that person is a liar. Someonewho doesn’t love a brother or sisterwhom they have seen, how can theylove God, whom they haven’t seen?”(1 John 4:20).

Why so harsh, John? Practicallycondemning! Probably because weneed some sharp rhetoric wheneverthe name of Christ gets co-optedand associated with unChristlikeways, especially religious hate.

It’s as if John foresaw our day,when Christian faithfulness isfrequently associated more withbeing against rather than standingwith, self-righteousness rather thanhumility, condemnation rather thancompassion, and hate rather thanlove.

John must have been up againstthe same serious missteps thatplague Christianity on a grand scaletoday. For John, any so-called“faithfulness” that divorces love andtruth or love and faith is ablasphemous perversion and proofthat we simply don’t know God.

Conversely, John is entirelygenerous to those who live in theLight and on the Way of Love. ForJohn, anyone who loves knows God—anyone? Anyone who loves! q

Adapted from A More Christlike Way(pp. 56-59), by Brad Jersak.

Divine Love necessarily appears and acts or it isnot love at all. That act of love is Jesus Christ—

the eternal Word enfleshed as perfect, cruciform (cross-like) Love.

MARCH 2020 7

Ijust finished putting up a couple ofsections of five-foot chain-link fence tocontain a new puppy—and improve the

security of our home. At first, I got a heftyestimate from a fence contractor—but forabout 20 percent of that amount, our localmega-hardware store had all the materials andinstructions. So I built the fence myself, alittle at a time, sustaining only minor injuries.

I’m told our new dog (a Decker Rat Terrier)will probably be able to scale the fence by thetime he matures. Until then, the yard issecure. We didn’t have much trouble with ourlate dogs. As they were both aging, withfailing eyesight and arthritis, they had littledesire to run off. Most days they moseyed inand out through the doggie door to our livingroom without incident. A few times theyfollowed their noses down the street, but theyalways came back or were easy to find.

I expect our new puppy will be much morerambunctious. Terriers were originally bred tokeep homes and farms vermin free. Verminhunting requires hyper-alertness, agility andindependent thinking, so in general it takesmore effort to train terriers than their moredocile cousins. Because of their doggedness,you can be sure they will find ways to escapeand do their own thing, which is why weneed a good fence.

Actually, I’d rather not have a fence. It’s alot of work. I would much prefer to have anice talk with my dog, after which he wouldunderstand and agree with my intentions,remain in the yard and stay out of trouble.But he’s an animal. Animals, kids and evensome adults who pose a danger to themselvesand others need fences.

Fences are a little like laws and rules. In aperfect world we would all behave sensiblyand we wouldn’t need any restrictions. But ifyou’ve driven in traffic recently, it’s clear thatwe do NOT live in a perfect world and weabsolutely need regulations—not just fortraffic but for nearly every other aspect ofsociety.

And then there are religious fences. It’sinstructive that God gave one nation a highlyregulated system of commandments,ordinances and rituals, along with blessingsfor obedience and curses for disobedience—religious fences to keep folks out of trouble.Yet the system never really worked.

The people found ways to dig under, climbover and cut through the fences. At the sametime their religious leaders were building extrafences and barriers to make sure theirfollowers couldn’t escape. That didn’t workeither, resulting in a religiously enslavedpopulation.

About that time Jesus entered the picture—inside the fence. He revealed God to us.Religious fences were rendered obsolete. We

no longer need them. Humans are free to livein accord with God’s grace and to followJesus. He offers us as much freedom as we canhandle (2 Corinthians 3:17; Galatians 5;1).

It all seems so simple—and graceful—yet twomillennia later, institutional religionists arestill complicating the matter by throwing up amaze of unnecessary fences and barriers(allegedly to protect the people, but actuallyto protect the religious institutions!).

Unfortunately, a lot of folks like beingconfined by religious fences. It just feels sosafe and comfortable in there.

What can we do about it? 1) we can stopbuilding our own religious fences, 2) we canboldly walk out of religious fences others havecreated for us and 3) we can help our fenced-in friends find freedom. The last one may get alittle dicey, and it isn’t for everybody. But wecan drop a gentle hint when the time is right.

Meanwhile, back in our yard, I fully expectour new dog will try to get around my fenceone way or the other. Those will be teachablemoments, as much for me as for the dog! q

—Monte Wolverton

A lot of folks like being confined byreligious fences. It just feels so safe

and comfortable in there.

Fences Are for Dogs

MISSION STATEMENTPlain Truth Ministries proclaims Christianitywithout the religion. We express our Christ-centered ministry as faith alone, grace alone andChrist alone.

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EDITORIAL STAFFEDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Greg Albrecht

EDITOR/ART DIRECTOR: Laura UristaEDITOR: Brad Jersak

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ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Monte Wolverton

COPYRIGHT & POSTAL INFOThe Plain Truth is published six times a year byPlain Truth Ministries, Pasadena, CA 91129.Copyright © 2020 Plain Truth Ministries.Printed in U.S.A. All rights reserved. Volume85, Number 2: March 2020. Unless notedotherwise, scriptures are quoted from the HolyBible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 International BibleSociety. Used by permission of ZondervanBible Publishers. The Plain Truth® is a U.S.trademark.

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Quotes &Connections

“Those Christians who are verystrict in their observances think agood deal more of the Sabbaththan of man, a great deal more ofthe Bible than of the truth, andten times more of their own creedthan of the will of God. Of course,if they heard anyone utter suchwords as I have just written, theywould say he was and is anatheist.”—George MacDonald

“Freedom ends when Jesushimself is lost to view, when hecannot get a hearing through theecclesiastical setup, when he isignored in favor of the legalizing,moralizing, philosophizing, so weerect new temples to an unknowngod.”—Brennan Manning

“I think good preachers should be like bad kids. They ought to benaughty enough to tiptoe up on their dozing congregation, stealtheir bottles of religious pills…and flush them all down the drain. The church, by and large, has drugged itself into thinking that properhuman behavior is the key to its relationship with God. Whatpreachers need to do is force it to go cold turkey with nothing but theword of the cross—and then be brave enough to stick around while[the congregation] goes through the inevitable withdrawalsymptoms.”—Robert Farrar Capon, The Foolishness of Preaching

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A MORE CHRISTLIKE WAY“A More Christlike Way sets forth a visionfor following Jesus that is in keeping withthe kind of faith that first turned the worldupside down two thousand years ago.” —Brian Zahnd, Word of Life Church

The CWRpress sequel to BradJersak’s award-winning book,

A More Christlike God“I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that made

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