The Folly of Anything but the Cross

Legalists boast in their adherence to the law because they believe that God is happier with them when they keep the law. They've got it all wrong, says Paul (Gal 6.14). Whatever boasting a follower of Christ does must be in the cross because that is the only thing that saves him; therefore, it is the only thing in which to boast. As Prosper of Aquitaine wrote: Grace is the glory of God, not the merit of him who has been freed. This is why we only boast in the cross.

15 Ways to Make Certain You will not Enter the Kingdom of God

Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies. So writes Paul in Galatians 5.20,21. Is he teaching that we get to heaven by what we do? Not at all. The whole point of Galatians is that we cannot get to heaven by what we do. His point is that what we do reflects the state of our heart. If we are doing the works of the flesh (as Paul puts it), then our heart is lashed firmly to the things of this world; we are unregenerate and will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Of course the immediate objection that arises is: But who cannot be charged with one of these sins? If this is the case then we are all guilty (true enough) and none of us will inherit the kingdom of God. John Calvin answers this question: But in this way, we shall be told, all are cut off from the hope of salvation; for who is there that is not chargeable with some of those sins? I reply, Paul does not threaten that all who have sinned, but that all who remain impenitent, shall be excluded from the kingdom of God.

In the Fullness of Time

In Galatians 4.4, this morning where Paul says that God brought forth his Son in the fullness of time. I learned somewhere (can't remember) four aspects of the fullness of time. First, was the Pax Romana, the Roman peace which allowed one to travel from east of Israel, all the way to Britain without crossing any national boundaries. Roads were well constructed and travel was (relatively) easy. Second was Koine Greek and Greek culture had spread from Greece all the way to Egypt and into India, so one could travel and communicate throughout all that territory using one language and have a decent understanding of culture. Third was the decline of belief in "the gods." The rise of Greek philosophy had begun to tear away at the foundations of polytheism, so the world was ready for something else. Fourth was the Jewish dispersion throughout the empire of Rome so that one could travel into any sized village and find a synagogue where there were Jews who were looking for a deliverer.

The point is that God had well prepared the world for the message of Jesus Christ, son of God, Saviour, to spread rapidly.

Begin by Faith, Live by Faith

The Christian faith is no place for legalists; not at the beginning, not in the middle, not at the end. This is Paul's contention in Galatians 3.3. The people who were teaching in opposition to Paul seemed to be arguing that, even if we began life in Christ by faith, we must keep the Mosaic Law as we grow in the faith. Paul's response? Wrong, wrong, wrong.

If we began life in Christ by faith, argues Paul, then how is it that we suddenly transition to being perfected by the flesh? We do not. In a sentence Paul's thesis is this: Begin by faith, live by faith.

We are not inclined to make the argument of the Judaizers these days; however, we are susceptible to the same philosophy. We preach grace, but we subtly live out Law. We are legalists at heart. It is an insidious sin for which we must ever be on the alert.

What Hannah Starts, David Finishes

I'm reading in 2 Samuel 22.2,3, this morning. David lists 9 characteristics of God, describing all that God is in his life. It's a list that would take a lot of meditation time to get through. According to David, the Lord is: my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my shield, my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my savior. At any rate Thomas Constable points out the similarities between David's song and Hannah's song. It's as if the author meant to make Hannah's song the starting point of his great book about God's working through Israel, and David's song as the ending point (ya think?). He writes: This psalm records David’s own expression of the theological message the writer of Samuel expounded historically. Yahweh is King, and He blesses those who submit to His authority in many ways.

It's an important point for interpretation of the book of Samuel (In the original it is all one, large book). The author put the two songs there for a purpose, and undoubtedly to understand the book, we have to understand why he did that. It was not an accident. Certainly, we must start where Hannah and David started: That the Lord is strong; that the Lord is my rock; and that the Lord will deliver his people. Vital words and life-sustaining strength to all of God's people.

Wisdom and Pride

There is, according to Ezekiel 28.17, no intersection between wisdom and pride. You cannot have both. The passage is speaking of the King of Tyre. It says of him, you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. In other words, your desire to see yourself lifted up affected your wisdom, and that desire won out. Therefore, what wisdom you had was null and void.

This is why it is so important to be on guard against pride. God gives us wisdom, but if we allow our pride to get in the way, the gift that he gives us will be of no help in understanding how to live in the world in a God-honoring way.

As Jonathan Edwards put it: Remember that pride is the worst viper that is in the heart, the greatest disturber of the soul's peace and sweet communion with Christ; it was the first sin that ever was, and lies lowest in the foundation of Satan's whole building, and is the most difficultly rooted out, and is the most hidden, secret and deceitful of all lusts, and often creeps in, insensibly, into the midst of religion and sometimes under the disguise of humility.

• Jonathan Edwards, To Deborah Hatheway, Letters and Personal Writings (Works of Jonathan Edwards Online Vol. 16) , Ed. George S. Claghorn

Crucified in Weakness; Living in Power

So writes Paul in 2 Cor 13.4. The Corinthians—or some of them anyway—appeared to have questioned Paul's authority to "tell them what to do." Paul says that the demonstration of his authority is in the power with which he speaks and writes. It is a power that he firmly establishes in Christ.

His argument goes in this manner. Christ was crucified in weakness, but he lives by the power of God (who raised him from the dead—how is that, O Corinthians, for a demonstration of power?). In the same way, Paul was weak in Christ, and yet the same power that raised Christ from the dead, was available to Paul. Paul lived, preached, and wrote, by that power.

We, also, are weak in Christ, we are no different than Paul. However, the power that raised Christ from the dead and that sustained Paul in his ministry—God's power—is available for us as we do the work that God has called us to do.

Savoring the Sobering News...

...of Psalms 73.26, this morning. My heart and my flesh may (read "will") fail. If there is one thing certain about life, it's that if I live long enough my heart and flesh (Hebrew euphemisms for "body" and "soul") are going to fail. I'll be taken down by old age, illness, or incapacitation. Anyone can see that this is the course of life. Indeed, one might say that old age is one of God's ways of demonstrating to us that we are not God.

However, there is good news. While my body and soul may fail, there is hope for those who follow Christ because God is the strength of my life and my portion forever. John Calvin makes this comment about what it means that God is my portion:

The portion of an individual is a figurative expression, employed in Scripture to denote the condition or lot with which every man is contented. Accordingly, the reason why God is represented as a portion is, because he alone is abundantly sufficient for us, and because in him the perfection of our happiness consists.

I gladly join the Psalmist in claiming that God is my portion, that he is the lot with which I am most completely contended. He is sufficient for me. He is sufficient for you.

Is he sufficient for you?

If You Think that the Lord is Fickle...

...you may want to sit down and think about Ezekiel 24.14 for awhile. It is perhaps the clearest and most exhaustive verse in the Scriptures in which God lays out his character in regards to his word. I am the Lord. I have spoken. It shall come to pass. I will do it. I will not go back. I will not spare. I will not relent. The fact that the Lord tarries when it comes to judgment is not an indication that he is waffling in regards to doing what he has spoken. It is a demonstration of his grace and mercy. John Piper posted the following tweet that bears on the subject in the past week: 40,399 citizens of Japan are over 100 years old. Twenty more years of grace beyond 4 score and 10 to find life in Christ. This is just the way we ought to look at God's word. It will come to pass, the fact that he tarries in regards to what he has said is not an indication that he won't act, it is an act of grace!

Reality Check

We are all going to die and there is nothing that we can do to stop it. This world will come to an end for us, or, as Paul puts it in 2 Cor 4.16, our outer self is wasting away. The gospel (and Paul!) gives us hope despite this harsh fact. Paul doesn't leave us with the fact that the outer self is wasting away. He writes that, if we have come to faith in Christ, then the inner self is being renewed day by day. Where the one version of life on this earth is temporal, for Christians, eternal life not only awaits, but we are being prepared for it day-by-day now! Wrap your brain around that fact!

Sufficient? Me? Nope.

Sometimes when Paul writes (actually when any of those who penned the Scriptures write) they construct things so well, so clearly, so obviously parallel to my own experience that I can feel the truth without even thinking about it. Thus 2 Corinthians 3.5. Am I sufficient to do the things God has called me to do? Am I competent to reach teens for Christ? To love my wife? To help my kids grow in Christ? Answer: (Resoundingly—No). I used to think that I was, but life and experience disabused me of that notion.

This is why it is so comforting to hear Paul say that neither he, nor anyone else, is sufficient (competent) to claim that any of his work spreading the gospel comes from his own sufficiency. It does not. Bingo! I have the exact same testimony. What work for the gospel that gets done in my own life, comes from and is attributable to, God and God alone.

Adam Clarke, commenting on the passage, writes: We do not arrogate to ourselves any power to enlighten the mind or change the heart, we are only instruments in the hand of God.

Just so. Thank you, Lord, that I do not have to be sufficient, or competent, or wise, or smart, or impressive, or perfect. I am content to allow you to be all that, and use me as you see fit.

Fragrance of Life/Fragrance of Death

Enjoying thinking through the implications of 2 Corinthians 2.15,16, this morning (SEA). When the good news of Jesus Christ is preached or lived out for all to see, we are either a sweet fragrance or a death odor. To those who are being saved, we are the fragrance of life, sweet and attractive. To those who are perishing we are the fragrance of death, horrible and ghastly. We cannot choose which it will be, this is a function of the one who hears the gospel.

What to do? Preach (and live) the gospel and pray that the Holy Spirit will turn some so that they receive a fragrance of life.

Vain Faith?

Thinking through 1 Corinthians 15.13,14, this morning. Paul lays out a clear path to vain faith here. Some people are saying that there is no resurrection from the dead? Let's ponder the implications of that. No resurrection = Christ has not been raised = My (read all) preaching is vain = Your faith is vain. The path to vain faith begins with Christ not being raised from the dead and ends up squarely in my own lap. Everything, and I do mean E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, rests upon Christ's resurrection, or, as one commentator put it: Take out the resurrection of Jesus, and there is nothing left on which to rest faith—only the decomposing corpse of an itinerant Jewish carpenter-turned-rabbi.

Fortunately, since Christ did rise from the dead, we do not have vain faith.

Thank you, Lord God, for raising Christ from the dead so that our faith is not in vain; we are not still in our sins; and we have vibrant hope for eternity.

God Will Do What He Says

In Ezekiel 12.25, this morning. God tells his own people that the word that he speaks will be performed. In other words, he is saying that what he has prophesied will come to pass. It will not be good for Judah. The problem was that prophets had prophesied before of the coming destruction and exile of Judah, but nothing had happened. Why should it happen now? Thus the people's reasoning. They turned out to be wrong. God's judgment fell on their generation, as he said it would. This brings to mind Hudson Taylor's words: “There is a living God, he has spoken in the Bible. He means what he says, and will do all that he is promised”. Taylor was speaking in a different context, but the principal applies. God speaks. He will do what he has promised, whether it be for good or for evil.

The question for us that arises from this passage is: "Do we truly believe that what God has spoken will come to pass?" If we do it is going to radically alter our thinking and behavior. Is Christ going to return? If he is, then that shapes our life, actions, and philosophy. We will not live for today. We will not waste our life. We will work, and leave the rest and recreation for heaven (cognizant of the fact that rest and recreation are God-ordained, we just do not enslave ourselves to them).

Lord God, may we believe your word, and with Hudson Taylor believe that you mean what you say, and that you will do all that you have promised.

How to Ensure You Gain Nothing

Thinking about 1 Cor 13.3 this morning where Paul lays out a clear path for us to ensure that we gain nothing. It's quite easy. Whatever else one does, be it helping our fellow man, having great faith, being filled up with knowledge; if we want to gain nothing we just need to do the opposite of what Mother Teresa said. I believe she said, "We can do no great things, just little things with great love."

Do you want to gain nothing? Do ginormous things without love.

"Death is Your Shepherd"

This is the message (Psalms 49.14) from the Sons of Korah to those who live their lives for themselves and reject God. It is a harsh message and it is necessary. Men do not normally evaluate their lives and contemplate their end—they are appointed for Sheol—without being forced to do so. The writer of this Psalm tells them what they do not want to here: You are going to die; in fact, death is your shepherd (notice the stark contrast between these people and David: The Lord is my shepherd. Psalms 23.1); in the grave your form will be consumed; you will have no place to go (which is the essence of the grave).

May we take from this Psalm the stark message of the brevity of life, the certainty of the grave, and the absolute necessity of living for our God and not for ourselves.

Do A Walkabout

Reading in Ezekiel 48.12,13 this morning where the Psalmist tells us to do a walkabout. God's people were to walk about Jerusalem as a way of sparking their imagination about all that God is for his people. The citadels and ramparts ought to evoke memories of entering the land and taking it; of the many times Jerusalem was delivered from her enemies; and of faithful King David, type of the deliverer to come. They were to pass the lesson learned from this on to the next generation: This is our God.

I would have to say that our walkabout these days ought probably to be done in the Scriptures since we are not living in Jerusalem. The Scriptures contain the clear message: This is our God.

Run to Win

In Vestaburg, MI, on day 2 of DALMAC contemplating 1 Cor 9.24. Paul tells us to run (the Christian life) in such a way that we win the prize. He doesn't really use the word "win," he uses the word "obtain" or "grasp.". I just like the word "win," here.

What Paul means is that we should give diligence to how we live the Christian life so that we are not disqualified from the race. So many of us work hard at jobs or education or relationships but when it comes to the faith we are content to be mediocre. Don't settle for mediocre faith!

God Accepting More Responsibility

Ezekiel 6.10 (actually all of chapter 6) is another example of God taking responsibility for evil. He brought judgment, destruction, and exile on his own people because they turned away from him to worship other idols. He states three times in this chapter that he brings all of the difficulties so that his people would know that he is the Lord.

One of the reasons that we might find ourselves in difficulty is if we stray from the Lord. He brings us back to himself by reason of putting us in places that cause us to cry out to him. For some of us it takes a little prodding, for others it takes a lot. God will do whatever it takes.

God's Timing and Patience

How easy it would have been for David to claim the kingdom from Saul as recounted in 1 Samuel 26.10. Spear him in his sleep and what God had promised would come about. Quite a temptation. David fortunately resists the temptation, indeed, from the text it hardly seems like it was a temptation at all. David firmly rejects Abishai's suggestion because he does not want to put out his hand against the Lord's anointed.

It is often difficult to wait for the Holy Spirit to move—the salvation of an unbelieving spouse, a child who is in rebellion, illness, we want to force God's hand and get him to do what we want him to do now! God's timing is the best, but it often requires more patience than we would like. Lord, give us the heart of David to willingly accept your timing and plan.

God and Responsibility for "Bad Stuff"

There is a somewhat stunning acceptance of responsibility on the part of God in Ezekiel 5.16,17. He will bring about a lack of food and water for his own people! They will rot away because of their punishment. God brings this upon his people for their unwillingness to follow him and his commands.

This is a sobering truth, but one that we find again and again in the Scriptures. Like a good shepherd, God will keep his people close to him, even if that means he must humble them through difficulty to do so. Staying close to God does not mean that our lives will escape difficulty; it does, however, mean that our difficulties will not come because of our disobedience, and that is a good thing.