New Testament Christianity by J B Phillips

This book was written some 50 years ago.  I have a particular affinity to Phillips (an Anglican) whose "The New Testament in Modern English" was published in 1958.  He had begun his work of translation in 1941 and received strong encouragement from C S Lewis.  It was in 1947 that "Letters to Young Churches" was published, followed by "The Gospels in Modern English" five years later.  In 1967 his book "Ring of Truth - A Translator's Testimony" was published.  I use other translations of the New Testament but it is Phillips' that I constantly turn to.

The visited planet – God became one of us – followed by the invasion of the Holy Spirit!

The modern church is rarely making any real impact upon the modern pattern of living – it has lost its vision – reduced to a dreary and unattractive duty / performance!  (And this was written some 50 years ago!).

The things that are not seen are eternal – a missing dimension!  Jesus has the words of eternal life!  The coming of the Messiah – then the resurrection!

Faith has degenerated into a rather dogged holding on to something we believe to be true!
If instead we think of the x-faculty as that which enables us to appreciate this extra dimension, we can see how it has deteriorated over the years and in many people has become almost atrophied – hence the loss of spiritual power.  Without faith it is impossible to please God – because we will be out of harmony with God’s plan and purpose.  Jesus was seen as a Master over unseen forces – but if there was unbelief … a challenge to knock, seek, ask … The essential need to be in touch with the essential resources of God.  Jesus taught that we can live without fear and worry if we recognise that Father is in charge – he who hears and believes (a big difference between belief and trust?) has eternal life now – something quite different from a desperate effort to believe!

The burden of preaching in the book of Acts seems to be on grasping the faith faculty (not on man’s depravity).  Repentance – Metanoia – doesn’t necessarily mean being sorry for our sins, but a fundamental change of outlook.  God and his plan were now knowable – people were empowered and transformed by the Spirit.  The Young Church was full of divine energy and wisdom – in line with God’s purpose!  Works as a result of faith!

Faith = grasping a reality – a whole dimension of reality that we cannot see with our fleshly senses.
Justification by faith – belief in the Atonement!  It involves a personal commitment.  Accepting such an action as a fait accompli is only possible by this perceptive faculty of faith (not mere intellectual ascent).  It requires metanoia – a revolution in outlook of both mind and heart – Good News!
Thus justification by faith = acceptance of forgiveness and reconciliation and the total abandonment of efforts at self-justification.
Saved by grace through faith – a gift of God that should result in joy and certainty – if there is wholehearted acceptance of this grace (instead of wavering hopefulness).
The NT doesn’t dwell on man’s sinfulness (even though it was sometimes necessary to remind people of what they were), but an encouraging looking forward to what they might become through the grace and power of God.

Do we allow Jesus to live in us?  In the NT people are sometimes suddenly and sometimes step-by-step transformed.  God is prepared to live within the personalities of those who use their faculty of faith toward Him (Col 1.26-27).  In Paul’s writings we do not read of Jesus as an example who died and must be followed and imitated – but that he is ready to enter and transform those who believe.  And if modern Christians refuse to believe this inward miracle it is not surprising that the Christian life becomes a dreary drudge.  Real faith involves the bold exploration of God’s resources, knowing that we are not in our permanent home.  The need to fight the good fight of faith (any assault by spiritual enemies will be on the faculty of faith) – it will not always be easy to believe.

How do we begin to really use the faculty of faith?

• A neglected capacity to believe, to reach out to appropriate His resources.  Are we really attuned to unseen realities?
• Be still and listen – a minimum of 15 minutes a day – essential for spiritual health – preferably in fellowship
• Study of the NT
• Knock, Seek, Ask – it is up to us to make use of what is made available to us – lay up treasure in heaven
• Walk by faith and not by sight – it won’t always be easy.

Living without hope – many people conditioned by all that goes on around them, live without hope.  This is so different to the optimism around 1900 especially in Britain – that was soon to be shattered.  The realities of life don’t give much hope – beware of wishful thinking – are we prepared to face realities?  Nothing could quench the hope of the Young Church despite the societies in which they lived – they knew that death was a defeated enemy (for Christian martyrs, death was not a disaster).

Only comparatively recently has the centre of our faith become more earthbound – concerned for all the social problems!  Many problems remain unresolved.  There are serious limitations that result from our free will!  What place optimistic humanism?  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable (1Cor 15.19).  [There is no place for corporate Christianity?].
We can’t avoid the painful tension throughout our earthly life.
There seems to be no evidence in the NT that the end of this earthly experiment that we call life, will result in worldwide acceptance of Christ and the universal establishment of His kingdom.
Some use “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2.14) – but is this really a prophecy of the universal acceptance of Christ?
Some use Rev 11.15 – The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord – but what about v18?

The Young Church (Paul in particular) expected the Second Coming in his lifetime – the hope may have been deferred but was always implicit in their thinking.
The world is a temporary stage … life as a preparation … (something we understand when we are aligned with the purpose of life – at one with the timeless life of the universe).  But even the Christian for all this satisfying and hopeful conviction does not know the meaning of the mystery of life – and if he is wise he doesn’t pretend to.  There are many gaps – one day we will understand!
In the NT the coming of Christ is a blessed hope of intervention, not a personal appearance at a Utopian celebration.
Beware of putting God back in the past – life has moved on – the journey continues …
We have moved beyond the monastic quiet and the simplicity of a pastoral generation.  God is either a present help or He is not much help at all.

Love – God is love – a concept that was unknown before the coming of the gospel.  The love of God in the OT was usually conditional.  Jesus gave love a new and deeper meaning.  For the Young Church nothing could separate them from the love of God.  Some theology will not allow us to enjoy this beautiful simplicity – a love that is both universal and vulnerable – open hearted – generous self-giving – without conditions!  [Fear = a lack of love?].
[How often do evangelists arouse feelings of guilt and fear – then having got them miserable about their sins, point them to the Saviour using texts from the OT taken out of context?].
The Young Church proclaimed Good News – that reconciliation had been completed – the conquest of death – the possibility of becoming God’s sons and daughters!
It is when we love, even a little, that we sense a kinship with the nature of things.
Consider those who love the almost unlovable!
The bitterest enemies of Jesus were the respectably religious whose god was their own righteousness – and who never learned to love.
The touching of reality, accidentally as it were by the normal giving of the human heart, can remain no more than a passing feeling – it’s significance can be easily missed.
Unless a man is prepared to use the faculty of faith and grasp the fact that God is love, he will never rise above the level of being an ‘unconscious Christian’ – the garbled version of evangelism prevents them from associating that love with God!

• Beware of imitating love for those we really don’t like – those who get on our nerves or rub us up the wrong way – the need for prayer to change the situation.
• The need to give ourselves despite the risk of being hurt or misunderstood.
• Beware of the temptation to hate self (this hate is so easily projected onto others).  We have been called to love our neighbours as ourselves – the need to make allowances for each other – voluntary self-giving, but not self-contempt!
• God doesn’t wait for our perfection before He can use us – growth and transformation take a lifetime.
• Better to laugh at ourselves as self-important little idiots, than despise ourselves as sinners.
• Beware of separating love of God from the love of people (who are often difficult to love).
• The final judgment (Matt 25.31-46) – the way we treat others is a reflection of the way we treat Christ.
• The parable of the two debtors (Matt 18.23-35) – makes it very clear that God will not forgive us our sins unless we are prepared to forgive others (see Mark 11.26; Matt 6.14-15).
• The love of God must go hand in hand with the love of fellow men.
• Beware of thinking that people are not worth loving – are we worth loving?  Do we have a sense of first being loved and then being willing to give ourselves in love?  How many are willing to go into the messy places of human life to bring the light and order of Christ?

The love deficiency – love casts out fear but fear casts out love – so much goodwill has been driven out.  The best of human schemes fails through sheer lack of love to implement them.  The need for real fellowship!  People can only be loved into the kingdom of God.
Without love there can be no worthwhile success and certainly no real security.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you – an inner tranquillity and stability – not just the absence of strife or conflict, nor a lack of sensitivity or complacent self-satisfaction – but life now is so much more of a rush!  Peace as a positive gift – not something we can achieve – but we do need some self-examination.

• Beware of selfishness and self-centredness – it’s something we only learn gradually as a result of willing cooperation
• God’s concern is harmony and inner healing
• Do we allow the love of God to penetrate every corner of our being
• Accept our own limitations and look out for the resources that God supplies – and don’t look too far ahead
• Remember that being aligned to God’s plan is part of a dynamic process – are we doing what Father wants us to do?

Christian maintenance 24/7
Be still and listen – daily!  Remember that Father loves us
Forgiveness … worship … prayer … Creation is incredible … don’t forget to show appreciation … be positive!  What place intercession?  What can I do for others?
The church as a fellowship of those who are being transformed.

Christian service – the early Christians were pioneers of a new way of life – there was nothing inward looking or any sense of self-satisfaction.  Where is the sense of vocation – instruments of God’s purpose – as ambassadors of a different way of life?
Busyness in church affairs is not the answer!

Some conclusions
There is a willingness among young people to give themselves sacrificially.
A refreshed fellowship would be an effective witness to a largely despairing world.
A divided Christendom is a major barrier.
The modern evangelistic technique of arousing sin and guilt … leads to many problems – it’s like another religion!
The need to be saved from materialism and hopelessness rather than from the sins the evangelists denounce.  Most people are not so much sinful as bewildered.  They need to be shown Christ as He really is.  If they attempt to follow they will soon realise that there is much in their lives that needs to be forgiven and that without the Spirit the new life remains an unattainable ideal i.e. they will find that they are sinners!
But I am quite certain that it is a profound mistake psychologically, spiritually and in every other sort of way to begin by telling people about their sins …
What a difference it would make if all those who are called to caring professions could be aware that they were doing this work, not merely in obedience to a vague ideal, but for the love of Christ and in the fellowship of his church.
Perhaps the time is not too far distant when the bankruptcy of scientific achievement to solve human problems will become increasingly obvious.