The Mathematical Formula
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself; but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Psalm 50:21
The universe has structure and order because a rational, orderly God created it. In a mathematics course, one aspect of the order of the real world is studied and indirectly the student begins to know more about the God who has given them the world to live in. This was God’s original will, unfortunately modern public educational institutions have elected to leave God completely out of the educational process. In the mathematical processes, students are not creating truth but learning ruth; they should be, in a sense, thinking God’s thoughts after Him. The students will find exactness, preciseness, and completeness in the subject matter of mathematics, just as would be expected in God’s world.
Only from a Christian perspective can the study of mathematics be seen and appreciated in its true rationale. A study of mathematics will not succeed unless it is taught with the conviction that something more than arbitrary principles are at issue. C.T. Studd, missionary to Africa, understood the importance of the exactness of mathematics while educating some people who had just risen from the depths of cannibalism. “Every pole had to be exactly the right length, placed at the right angle, etc. and he had a purpose in it, for the natives must be taught that good Christianity and lazy or bad workmanship are an utter contradiction. He believed that one of the best ways to teach a native that righteousness is the foundation of God’s Throne was by making him see that absolute straighmess and accuracy is the only law of success in material things.” C.T. Studd, By Norman Gnibb, Mathematics is a very exact truth. There is only one correct answer to a mathematical formula and by thinking logically, the answer can be easily obtained. 2+2=4. This will never change.
THE MATHEMATICAL PROCESS IN SALVATION
How does the mathematical process fit into our Spiritual life? Is there a formula for salvation? The mathematical process teaches us the exactness of God; the order that God has set up in the universe. It teaches us that we serve a perfect God who is looking for perfection in His followers. Some have become lazy in their Christian experience. If we compare this spiritual laziness with the mam process we can ask the lazy ones what 2+2 equals and they will tell you it doesn’t really matter. While 4 may be the correct answer, 3 and 5 are close enough to be acceptable answers also. It is not important to know the exact truth.
“Experience is knowledge derived from experiment.
Experimental religion is what is needed now. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.’ Some – yes, a large number – have theoretical knowledge of religious truth, but have never felt the renewing power of divine grace upon their own hearts. These persons are slow to heed the testimonies of warning, reproof, and instruction indited by the Holy Spirit. They believe in the wrath of God, but put forth no earnest efforts to escape it. They believe in heaven, but make no sacrifice to obtain it. They believe in the value of the soul and that erelong its redemption ceaseth forever. Yet they neglect the most precious opportunities to make their peace with God.” T5, p. 221
“They may read the Bible, but its threatenings do not alarm or its promises win them. They approve things that are excellent, yet they follow the way in which God has forbidden them to go. They know a refuge, but do not avail themselves of it. They know a remedy for sin, but do not use it. They know the right, but have no relish for it. All their knowledge will but increase their condemnation. They have never tasted and learned by experience that the Lord is good.” Ibid, p. 221,222.
THE MATHEMATICAL FORMULA
There is another aspect to consider in this spiritual mathematical process. It is the mathematical formula. While math is exact and God is exact in His requirements, there is no set formula for salvation, although some have tried to make one.
There is a difference between the mathematical process and the mathematical formula. The word process itself signifies a sequence of events over time. Understanding mathematical processes means you understand how math works. A formula on the other hand is a quick shortcut to finding a simplified solution. Spiritual life is a process called sanctification. It takes time. It can never be a formula – a quick shortcut to heaven in the simplest manner possible.
Children are often taught the difference between acceptable behaviour and unacceptable behaviour in the Christian life. This is taught from infancy upwards. The Bible counsels us to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Prov.22:6 This method has proven successful and produced many fine Christian young men and women. If we study how the Waldenses trained their children, we can gain valuable lessons on successful education.
However on the other side, there are also those children who have rebelled from this method. I have heard young people complain that there are simply too many rules – “my parents are too strict, they don’t give me enough freedom to make my own experiences.” Then they go on to say that because their parents made too many rules, now they don’t want to keep any rules. The blame is all on the parents. Even as sonic youth grow into adults, excuses are sometimes made for their misbehavior today because of a faulty example and training that their parents had provided many years earlier. They refuse to break out of this mold. Those that rebel against the “rules” use the excuse that they were simply stifled as children and therefore have been driven away. Who is at fault here? The children or the parents? We will find a solution to this question further on in the article.
IN THE TIME OF CHRIST
In the time of Christ the Pharisees felt that they had salvation figured out. They had added many extra rules to the Lord’s original commandments making the road to salvation a heavy burden. They had a mathematical formula for salvation all figured out. If you kept the rules explicitly, you would be saved. If you faltered in even one minor point, you were cursed of God.
Years ago I studied the Bible with a good friend named Mary. Mary was attending the Pentecostal church but had a desire to obtain more knowledge. One day as we were studying about Christ our Righteousness, she told me that the Pharisees kept the law down to the final letter so well, that God had no choice but to save them and bring them to heaven. I then asked her why had Jesus called them “hypocrites”, and “whited sepulchers, full of dead mens’ bones”, if they were fit for heaven? I went on to explain to her that the spirit of the law, the connection with Jesus Christ, was not there. They had rejected Jesus and crucified Him and therefore they had cut off their connection with Jesus. Yet, we cannot blame the Pharisees alone for the death of Jesus, for each one of us crucified Jesus by our sin. We all are guilty – “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. There is a difference though. The mathematical formula that the Pharisees had come up with was not enough. Jesus told His followers that, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:20. What the Scribes and Pharisees had was not enough. They needed something more and that something was Jesus Christ.
SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST ALONE
“There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing.
“When Christ dwells in the heart, the soul will be so filled with His love, with the joy of communion with Him, that it will cleave to Him; and in the contemplation of Him, self will be forgotten. Love to Christ will be the spring of action. Those who feel the constraining love of God do not ask how little may be given to meet the requirements of God; they do not ask for the lowest standard, but aim at perfect conformity to the will of their Redeemer. With earnest desire they yield all, and manifest an interest proportionate to the value of the object, which they seek. A profession of Christ without this deep love, is mere talk, dry formality, and heavy drudgery.” SC p.44.
I now want to address the question mentioned above, as to whose fault it is when children complain about the rules.
If children are taught this above principle, most will never complain at the rules that are placed upon them. They will find joy in serving the Lord. If the child has only been taught the rules for salvation, a mathematical formula, – and not the necessity of a relationship with Jesus Christ – then the fault lies with the parents. When the rules become a burden, Christ has been left out. Unless the parents have Christ in their hearts, they will not be able to impart this precious gift to their children. If the parents are living a legal religion, it will be more than likely that this is what they are teaching their children -a math formula for salvation, if we see that our children have failed it is not time to start to coming down harder — with an iron fist — in enforcing the various rules that constitute acceptable Christian behaviour, but rather it is time to start teaching the child about Christ, letting the Holy Spirit guide and direct. When the child has learned of Christ, he/she will be led to ask, “What must I do to be saved?” Then we have succeeded in giving (hem the right education. They will want to do more for Jesus of their own volition. Nothing is forced upon them; it is completely willing service.
“If there is in the family one child who is unconscious of his sinful state, parents should not rest. Let the candle be lighted. Search the word of God, and by its light let everything in the home be diligently examined, to see why this child is lost. Let parents search their own hearts, examine their habits and practices.” COL, p. 195. I find it interesting to see in this paragraph that should a child seem to be straying from what must be done, the parents are to diligently examine the home and their own habits and practices. It had nothing to say about searching the children’s lives. First the parents are to search the home and their own hearts and see if perhaps they have made some mistake along the way. Should the mistake be found and it be on the part of the parents, there is no need to despair. We serve a loving Father who is not willing to see anyone perish. He will direct and guide all sincere souls back onto the straight and narrow way. Just that the Lord is that He has shown you where the problem lies – now work with Him in fixing it up.
Even with the best Christian education, there will still be children that stray, as we see exemplified in the story of the Prodigal Son. Yet, when the younger son reached the end of his resources, where did he turn? He knew the only logical and safe place in this world was in his father’s house, where he had been taught correct Christian principles. He thinks not of the rules in his father’s house but rather he remembers the love that his father had towards him and this draws him back home. His father had taught him about the love of Christ and had shown it to his sons in raising them. The son understands that his father was right after all. The older brother is compared to the Scribes and Pharisees. While he was given tiie same type of upbringing, we see that he keeps the rules of the household, not through any love for his family, but through his desire for gain. He knows that should he prove faithful, someday all his father’s wealth will be his. He puts 2 + 2 together. He acts in a certain correct manner and the final results will be “4” his father’s possessions.
This was also Esau’s motive in repenting of the fact that he sold his birthright to his brother, Jacob. It was not from a sense of his duty as the spiritual leader of the household; it was not love for his Heavenly Father and those souls who would be entrusted to his care for spiritual guidance after his father passed into the grave. No, he lamented the wealth that he lost. “Esau had no love for devotion, no inclination to a religious life. The requirements that accompanied the spiritual birthright were an unwelcome and even hateful restraint to him. The law of God, which was the condition of the divine covenant with Abraham, was regarded by Esau as a yoke of bondage.” PP, p. 178.
This also is a very real motive for some people who worship God today. They don’t really love God, but they covet the reward of eternal life, and the riches in the mansions that Jesus has gone to prepare for them. They often find the commandments a heavy burden; the Christian life a galling yoke. Yet they continue in this type of living because they see that they must do so, in order to be saved. They will be found wanting in the end. Their motive was all wrong. Sometimes parents make a serious mistake in telling their children, “You must do this or that, in order to get to heaven.” The ehild then thinks of salvation as a mathematical formula. Obedience – Eternal life. But this is not true at all. Yes, perfection in Christ is our goal, but children need to be taught, ”You must do this lo please Jesus, because Jesus has done so much for us.” The real issue is Jesus Christ in us – Salvation.
Then where is our part, we may ask? God’s church is called the bride of Christ, and this is a very fitting comparison. If we look at a marriage on this earth: Two young people love each other very much and decide to get married. What attracted the young man to the young woman? Was it the fact that she is a good cook, she is willing to wash his clothing, iron his shirts, and keep the house relatively clean? Did the woman have to prove herself in all these skills before the man consented to marriage? No, in most cases this does not happen. Yet, when they get married, and the young woman sits on the couch all day watching TV, not doing any of these duties for her husband, but still tells him every evening that she loves him very much, does he believe her? He married her without her doing any of these things, but after marriage if she does not do them he doesn’t believe her words when she says she loves him. On the other side, if the woman really does love him as she says she does she will most gladly perform these duties for the one she loves and these duties are not grievous because they are done for that special person with whom she has united her life. This is a fit comparison to the individual Christian as well as to the church. Many Christians today say they love Jesus, but show something completely different in their actions. They don’t want to keep the commandments, they don’t want to do any missionary work, they don’t want to help the poor, sick and needy. They just want to sit at home, on the couch and watch TV and tell Jesus that they love Him. Will Jesus believe them? I don’t think so.
I hope this is not true of the members in God’s church, however there is always the danger that we will get tired of missionary work, of helping the needy and taking part in church duties and responsibilities. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Gal. 6:9.
Jesus did not redeem us because of any virtue on our part. In fact. He died for us while we were yet sinners. However after we are justified and if we truly love Jesus as we say we do, it will be seen in our actions. We are not saved because we keep the Ten Commandments, however if we don’t keep them and we tell Jesus we love Him, He won’t believe us. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15.
It is possible to put away some bad habits without the help of Christ. A person can give up smoking or drinking without giving any honour and glory to God. A person can come lo church, read his Bible, pray and pay his tithe, but that person may be a Stranger to Christ. Jesus will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” it is also possible to go to church and pray without having Christ in your heart. When probation closes, “The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God is finally withdrawn,” GC, p. 615.
1 Corinthians 13 says it better than anywhere else in the Bible. All these wonderful things can be done without the love of Christ in a person’s heart. Miracles can be done, the sick can be healed, great sermons can be preached, the person may even have great faith, and die a martyr’s death, but in the end they will be seen to be “as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal” because they did not do it from love for Christ. They only did it from obligation — a necessity for salvation – a mathematical formula.
“The true, joyous life of the souls is to have Christ formed within, the hope of glory.” SC 46.
FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST
While mathematics has a very real place in God’s universe and salvation there is no set formula for the salvation of mankind. Although there is absolute truth in the Bible, and in Jesus Christ, you can’t put a formula on friendships. Jesus wants to be our best friend, and just like in any friendship on earth, you don’t do things for your friends simply because they did something for you. That would be the wrong motive, although some friendships end up on this level and you see it happen in a very real way at Christmas time. I have heard many exasperated shoppers, saying, “I have to buy this person something simply because they bought me something.” And again it has happened at some birthdays, “I must get them something because they got me something on my birthday.” I spoke with one friend many years ago who had the right idea. She told me that she doesn’t value so much the gifts that are given at Christmas or birthday time as those are often given due to obligation. Gifts given randomly at another time in the year have more meaning because they are given simply Tor the .sake of doing something nice for a friend. That is true friendship. You do it, because the person is your friend. That is the friendship that Jesus wants since He does the same for you. Me gives you gifts, not because He is returning a favour, but becatise He loves you. He would like to have you serve Him simply becatise you love Him. Then He would really like it if you would tell everyone that you possibly can what a wonderful friend He has been to you. I le wants to be their friend too. “None arc further from the kingdom of heaven than self-righteous formalists, filled with pride at their own attainments, while they are wholly destitute of the spirit of Christ; while envy, jealousy, or love of praise and popularity controls them. They belong to the same class that John addressed as a generation of vipers, children of the wicked one. Such persons are among us, unseen, unsuspected. They serve the cause of Satan more effectively than the vilest profligate; for the latter does not disguise his true character; he appears what he is.” T5, p. 226.
“There is a wide difference between a pretended union and a real connection with Christ by faith. A profession of the truth places men in the church, but this does not prove thai they have a vital connection with the living Vine. A rule is given by which the true disciple may be distinguished from those who claim to follow Christ but have not faith in Him. The one class are fruit bearing, the other fruitless. The one are often subjected to the pruning knife of God that they may bring forth more fruit; the other, as withered branches, are erelong to be severed from the living Vine.” T5, p. 229.
There is no mathematical formula for salvation. It is not simply living a perfect life, as you understand perfection from a human standpoint, and you will automatically be saved. The Pharisees tried this and failed, and you will too if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. True perfection in the eyes of God goes much further than obedience to a certain set of rules. This is one of the reasons why Jesus came to this earth – He came to set the matter straight. He came to teach the spirit of the law, which went much deeper than the letter of the law.
The ten virgins also knew all the rules and looked like they were outwardly keeping the commandments – and they were according to the eyes of man. Yet, some of them were lacking one thing – the oil of the Holy Spirit. They had the outward forms but they didn’t know Jesus and when they came to the marriage later, the door was shut on them, Jesus said, “I know you not.”
“No outward forms can make tis clean; no ordinance, administered by the satntliest of men, can take the place of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God must do its work upon the heart. All who have not experienced its regenerating power arc chaff among the wheat. Our Lord has His fan in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor. In the coming day He will discern ‘between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.”1 T5, p. 227.
May God help us to make Jesus our best friend today and He will show us the way of salvation.
AMliN.