Paid Subscribing Members | The End Time Chronicles | Dr. Stephen Phinney | Visit DR. JAMES FOWLER: Soul Rest (Part 6)There is no doubt that the future heavenly experience will indeed be restful without any need for personal performance, but this is not the concept of "rest" that predominates in the new covenant.
Dr. James Fowler is one of the leading authors on the believer’s union with Christ. He has written 20+ books on the topic. He is a theologian, Board Member of IOM America, and dear friend of Dr. Stephen Phinney. He is the founder of Christ in You Ministries. We hope you are blessed by his series, “Soul Rest.” CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS OF RESTA survey of Christian thought concerning "rest" reveals that this concept has suffered from various misemphases. Many have relegated "rest" to an expectation of heavenly rest that is longed for, only to be realized in the future. This is the theme of the Puritan classic by Richard Baxter, entitled The Saint's Everlasting Rest: A Treatise of the Blessed State of the Saints in their Enjoyment of God in Heaven.
There is no doubt that the future heavenly experience will indeed be restful without any need for personal performance, but this is not the concept of "rest" that predominates in the new covenant scriptures.
It is questionable whether any of the New Testament references to "rest" refer to heavenly rest. It is a favorite theme of Christian hymnody, however. Another form of future rest sought by many Christians is the paradisiacal repose in an expected earthly millennial kingdom, but this is a doubtful interpretation of Christian "rest." In a similar line of thought, many have pictured "rest" as the reclining repose of "resting on the promises of God." In this case "resting" is similar to "reckoning" that God will faithfully keep His promises. Though not illegitimate, this is primarily an old covenant concept. Jewish eschatology always focused on the future promises, whereas Christian eschatology revels in the fact that the promises of God have been fulfilled and realized in Jesus Christ. "For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes" (II Cor. 1:20). Rather than "resting on the promises," Christians are to "rest" in the ever-present grace of God realized in Jesus Christ. Wait, there’s more… Many Christians think of "rest" in the context of the Sabbath, the "day of rest," either Saturday or Sunday, set aside as a "day of worship." There is no doubt that the biblical concept of "rest" is connected with the Sabbath, for God rested on the seventh day of creation, ceasing from His generative action of creation (Gen. 2:2). This does not mean that God ceased from all action, passively lapsing into inaction. God always acts like the God that He is, and does what He does because He is Who He is. His Being is always in action, and His activity is always expressive of His Being. When the seventh day of the week was established as the Sabbath "day of rest" for the people of Israel (cf. Exod. 20:8), they were to rest from their labors to remember what God had done and was doing. Instead, the Jewish religion focused on the restrictions of labor, and turned the Sabbath day into a labyrinth of legalistic limitations. The "promised land of rest" (Deut. 12:9) did not provide rest (Ps. 95:11) either, for all the pictorial types of "rest" in the old covenant were designed to point to the "rest" that was only to be found in Jesus Christ. Christian rest is not connected to a particular day of the week, nor is it a geographical place in Palestine or heaven. Christian "Sabbath-rest" (Heb. 4:1-11) in the new covenant "day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2) is the continuous opportunity to "rest" from all religious works (Heb. 4:10), by ceasing to try to perform religiously for God, and instead rest in His grace sufficiency through Jesus Christ. That rest from religious performance is the "rest" that we are responsible to diligently enter (Heb. 4:11). When the concept of "rest" has been considered in reference to the Christian life, it has often been referred to as "the rest of faith." J. C. Metcalfe and D. M. McIntyre both have books entitled, The Rest of Faith.6 R. B. Thieme Jr. published a booklet, The Faith-Rest Life,7 regarding this to be a technique or procedure that one employs to live the Christian life, thereby changing "rest" into another form of performance. Wayne Barber has authored a book entitled, The Rest of Grace,8 correctly emphasizing that the Christian can "rest" in God's grace. It is important to note that "faith" is not something the Christian must "do" to get "rest." Faith must not be transformed into a "work" that contradicts the definition of "rest" as "ceasing from performance activity." It is probably better to refer to "grace-rest" or "Christ-rest" than to "faith-rest." Dan Stone and Greg Smith have co-authored a book entitled, The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out,9 using the double entendre of the two meanings of "rest" mentioned above. The "rest" of the gospel is the remainder, the part that many people have not heard in popular Christian teaching, and that remainder pertains to "entering God's rest" (final chapter) by ceasing from the performance activity of religion. The use of the term "soul-rest" in this study finds its precursor in the words of Jesus Himself. "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:28,29). The final phrase, "rest for your souls," appears to be an allusion to the prophecy of Jeremiah (6:16). In a mid-nineteenth century book, A Treatise on Divine Union,10 Thomas Upham has an extended final section on "The Soul's Rest in Union," and it was this work that sparked my thought-processes to pursue the study of "Spirit-union allows for Soul-rest." Explanation of "Soul-rest"The world of fallen humanity runs to and fro at a hectic pace, seeking "rest" on the weekends, in church services, and on vacations and holidays. The humanistic work ethic that drives men to succeed and be significant leaves little time for "rest" and quietude. When identity is determined by performance - who we are based on what we do - then contemporary society thinks those who take time to "rest" will be left on the side of the road as excess baggage or "nobodies." "Rest" is regarded as but a utopian goal at the end of the rainbow of success. Thinking they can generate their own future of "rest" by their self-sufficient performance, fallen man runs on the treadmill that goes nowhere. The contemporary religion of "evangelical humanism" has nothing to offer but a difference of scenery on the treadmill. Suffering from the "Martha complex" of "do-do-do for Jesus," Christian religion seeks to motivate people with the carrot of heavenly rest at the end of the rat-race. Proclaiming that "there is no rest for the wicked," the alternative is alleged to be a goodness achieved by striving performance. To achieve "rest" one must work for it. Meanwhile, God seems to be saying, "Be still (cease striving), and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10). Jesus said, "Observe the lilies of the field, how they do not toil or spin. Do not be anxious then. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt. 6:28-33). Modern Christians find it so difficult to just "be" - to live in the "isness" of the I AM of divine Being, and to allow their "doing" to be an expression of the I AM in action. To reiterate, we note that "soul-rest" is not a super deluxe version of the Christian life. It is not a "higher life" or "deeper life" that only a few super-saints achieve. Soul-rest is not receiving something more than what every Christian receives when he becomes a Christian at regeneration. Soul-rest is not an added extra in the Christian life: Jesus Christ + (something else). In spirit-union with God, we are "complete in Christ," and soul-rest is allowing the indwelling presence of God to experientially permeate our psychological and behavioral function. Soul-rest is God's intended experiential out-living of the Christian life, i.e., of the Christ-life. The God we received within our spirit is the God of rest. He is not a Being who struggles and strives to act and achieve. He is not hurried or harried, hustled or hassled. He always acts out of His own Being, as His Tri-unity functions in perfect peace and harmony. Throughout scripture He is often identified as "the God of peace" (Rom. 15:33; 16:20; II Cor. 13:11; Phil. 4:9; I Thess. 5:23). Soul-rest is allowing the "God of peace to equip us in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ" (Heb. 13:20). We are to "be anxious for nothing, but (allow) the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6,7). Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives (temporary external absence of conflict) do I give to you" (Jn. 14:27). Instead, Jesus is the "Lord of peace who gives us peace in every circumstance" (II Thess. 3:16), for He is the inner and eternal peace, tranquility, serenity of our souls. "He Himself is our peace" (Eph. 2:14), and we are to "let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts" (Col. 3:15). Soul-rest is participation in the peaceful harmony of Triune interaction and sufficiency. Soul-rest is what Watchman Nee called "the normal Christian life." It is God's intent for Christians. Soul-rest is the process of "being saved" (I Cor. 1:18), as we participate in what W. Ian Thomas called "the saving life of Christ"12 (Rom. 5:10). Salvation is so misunderstood in evangelical Christianity today, for it is regarded as a static transaction wherein we acquire the commodity of "eternal life" that delivers and preserves us from future consequences. A dynamic and living understanding of salvation comes in recognizing that we are "made safe" from the dysfunction of abused and misused humanity, in order to experience the dynamic presence and function of the living Savior, Jesus Christ, in our lives. This dynamic understanding avoids the contrived distinction between salvation and sanctification. Sanctification is the ongoing process of salvation whereby we allow ourselves to be "set apart" as the conduits of the manifestation of God's Holy character in the thinking, affections, and decision-making of our psychological and physical behavior. Soul-rest is participating in the "abundant life" (John 10:10) that Jesus came to bring. It is being "filled with the Spirit' (Eph. 5:18), and "growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (II Pet. 3:18). Soul-rest is getting beyond Romans 7 and into Romans 8 - beyond Christian religion and into Christian reality.
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