C-section Christians

by Rev. J. Patrick Bowman The Holy Spirit quickened a new phrase to my heart this morning as I was waiting upon Him. He said, My church is full of C-section Christians. Of course He was not referring to natural birthing and medical C-sections, but as an illustration of what is happening in the church today. He then invited me to ponder with Him the meaning of those words and expound on it. A C-section birth avoids the restriction and fight through the birth canal to the fuller life outside of the womb. We have teachers today that are eager to usher people into new life without the exchange of the old life. Repentance is the birth canal and its never without pain or struggle, but it is the way. And its God grace that leads us through it. Many are teaching that Gods grace leads us around all obstacles, all restrictions, all pain and all suffering and therefore when those things manifest in the Christian life, they are not of God. Yet, to the contrary, the Bible shows us that grace carries us through things. Only God can make all things work together for our good (Rom 8:28). I am going to take the time here to build up a case for repentance as the gate, the birth canal, to salvation and the new birth. As we compare what John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostles preached to what is being taught in some circles today, we will see a stark contrast in the practice and application of repentance. Lets start with the prophet John the Baptist. Johns message was one of repentance. Matthew 3:1-12 says: Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Now John himself had a garment of camels hair, and a leather belt about his waist; and his food was locusts and honey. Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea, and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And as for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His thrashing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (NASB) Mark 1:1-8, says it this way: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send My messenger before your face, who will prepare your way: the voice of one

crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. And John was clothed with camels hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching and saying, After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptize you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Luke 3: 1-18 states: Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilot was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Every ravine shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough roads smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. He therefore began saying to the multitudes who were going out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father, for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And also the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And the multitudes were questioning him, saying, What then shall we do? And he would answer and say to them, Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise. And some tax-gatherers also came to be baptized, and they said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than what you have been ordered to. And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, And what about us, what shall we do? And he said to them, Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages. Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he might be the Christ, John answered and said to them all, As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. So with many other exhortations also he preached the gospel to the people. John in his gospel intertwines the testimony of John the Baptist with his own revelation of Jesus. How could he not, as they are inseparable. Specifically about John the Baptist, we are introduced to his ministry in John 1:6-8, 15, 19-27:

There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. (Jn 1:6-8) John bore witness of Him, and cried out, saying, This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me. (Jn 1:15) And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you. And he confessed and did not deny, and he confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you the Prophet? And he answered, No. They said then to him, Who are you then, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself? He said, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said. Now they had been sent by the Pharisees. And they asked him, and said to him, Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet? John answered them saying, I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. (Jn 1:19-27) We see that at no time did Jesus refute Johns call to the people for repentance. In fact, in both Matthew and Mark we see that after Jesus was tempted in the wilderness His first words recorded in His public ministry were words of repentance. Mark 1:14-15 says, Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. Jesus message of repentance was the foundational message of His ministry. It was a seamless move from the announcer to the announced, from the herald to the heralded. The change of command had come and Gods orders remained the same. Id like to make several observations regarding the above scriptures, as well as references to Jesus ministry and the ministry of the apostles, and the contrast I see today in many ministers, ministries, and churches. I had one home church leader tell me that worship now replaced preaching as the way God spoke to people and how glad he was not to have to carry that burden any longer. Ive known of other groups where anything above a conversational tone was considered too preachy for their church culture. So, is preaching necessary? The prophets thought so. Jesus thought so. The apostles thought so. The book of Acts is a chronicle of the preaching of the Gospel and the demonstration of the kingdom. First of all, John came as a preacher; in the Greek, to proclaim as a herald (Strongs G2784). Im not saying a sermon (oops, another bad word) has to be yelled, but the true anointing to preach carries enough unction with it to get a persons attention rather than put them to sleep. The Bible shows countless examples of servants of God proclaiming Gods word either prophetically or in the ministry of preaching. It is primary for salvation. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (1 Cor 1:18-21) We read in Matthew 10 as Jesus sent out the twelve in service to the lost sheep of Israel, the first thing he told them, in verse 7, was, And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Verse 8 continues their commission, Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. They were to go and do as Jesus proclaimed was His own mission as He took the scroll in the synagogue of Nazareth: And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD. And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:17-21) Notice the preaching of the Gospel was first in the order. Paul, also, classified himself in both First and Second Timothy (1Tim 2:7 and 2 Tim 1:11) as first of all a preacher to the Gentiles. Preaching came first before his apostleship and teaching ministry. Why? Paul tells us in Romans that men come to believe by the preaching of the word. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS! (Rom 10:14-15) Paul also charged Timothy with the ministry of preaching the word to the church, as well as an evangelist to the unsaved. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their

ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Tim 4:1-5)

John did not preach a watered down gospel. He wasnt politically correct (In fact, he lost his head for rebuking a politician) nor did he preach a non-specific message to tickle the ears and not offend. He didnt dress or preach to impress. He didnt offer multiple ways, programs, and methods to get right with God. He didnt attempt to paint man with a coat of high-gloss human potentialism. John wasnt preaching success, he was preaching obedience. The Jews had a long history with their prophets. They knew, by the scriptures, what repentance meant and what happened when they didnt. They knew it was a turning from sin back to God. It was their history. But they only knew it in their heads. John came on the scene to convict their hearts. Jesus followed after Him and when the cities in which most of His miracles occurred refused to repent, we see Jesus rebuke to them in Matthew. Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you. (Matt 11:20-24) In todays mire of relativity, repentance has once again become a concept instead of a practice. Those who call for true repentance are labeled as judgmental, legalistic, unloving, religious bigots, etc. And this comes largely from those who profess Christ. Repentance does not come by osmosis; it is a definite act of the will instituted by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. For those who would say, Then just shut up and let the Holy Spirit do it! I remind you the preaching of Gods word most always preceded or accompanied the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and still does. Lets look at Acts 2:37-40. Peter, after having been filled with the Holy Spirit, had just preached to the multitudes in Jerusalem. And what was their response? Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? Peter said to them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself. And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation! John saw this same response to his preaching as recorded in Luke 3:7-14.

So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father, for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And the crowds were questioning him, saying, Then what shall we do? And he would answer and say to them, The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise. And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than what you have been ordered to. Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, And what about us, what shall we do? And he said to them, Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages. In both examples we see the same response, What shall we do? True conviction of the Holy Spirit will always elicit the same response. Yes, Johns ministry was pre-Pentecost, but John had the Spirit and his words convicted by the Spirit. Notice the Baptists response to their questions was both general; give to those in need, and specific; do the opposite of what youve been doing. Repentance is turning away from sin, first by the renewing of your mind; they asked the right question. But then action, fruit of repentance, was called for. But they came to it by the conviction of the Holy Spirit by the preaching of the word. It was in this same vein that Jesus, the prophets before Him, and His apostles after Him, preached. One has only to look at the other writings of the New Testament to see that warnings against sin in the church and the call to repentance are recurrent themes. The original apostles were much closer chronologically to the reality of the cross than we are; eye witnesses of both the crucifixion and the resurrection. The apostolic understanding and application of repentance reflected a confession to God of sin and a turning away from sin as the accessing of forgiveness. Paul, although not numbered with the twelve, preached and taught out of this same understanding through divine revelation and in accordance with the other apostles. I know of those who dont see repentance as a turning away from sin, but only a mere looking over their shoulder. They say, Jesus took care of sin at the cross. Therefore, as they teach, there is no longer need for repentance for the believer, since all our sins past, present, and future, are forgiven. Yes, Jesus did pay the price for our sins. He not only put enough in our accounts for our current debt at the moment we received him, but also added enough to cover every debt of sin we would ever incur. But repentance is the passbook to our account. We must apply that work of the cross in our lives relationally through repentance. Only redemption itself is a greater act of grace than the way of repentance to access it. Dont trample Gods grace underfoot. Dont suppose His grace as a license to sin (Rom 6:1). Dont be fooled by false teachings promoting that sin is inconsequential and that dismiss repentance as unnecessary, or an option in the Christian walk. Repentance is the way in and the way to stay in. C-sections are sometimes necessary in the natural realm of child bearing, but spiritual new birth requires the birth canal of repentance.