Husbands...
"Understand the different tempers of your inferiors (not inferior in value or importance, but subordinate to another's authority), and deal with them as they are and as they can bear, and not with all alike. Some are more intelligent and some less so. Some are tender, and some have more hardened, impudent dispositions. Some will be best wrought upon by love and gentleness; and some have need of sharpness and severity. Prudence must fit your dealings to their dispositions."
"If you do not prudently diversify your rebukes according to their faults, you will harden them and miss your ends..."
"Be a good husband to your wife and a good father to your to your children, and let love have dominion in your governing, that your inferiors may easily find that it is in their interest to obey you."
-Richard Baxter, "The Godly Home"
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
God is...
"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
"For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."
"For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them."
"You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God."
"For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe."
"for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you."
"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you."
"God is my strong fortress; and He sets the blameless in His way."
"...For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him."
"God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day."
"... God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble."
"For God is the king of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm."
"Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul."
"Trust in Him at all times, o people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."
"God is to us a God of deliverances; And to God the Lord belong escapes from death."
"Yet God is my king from of old, who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth."
"But God is the judge; He puts down one and exalts another."
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly."
"But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases."
"Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate."
"Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation."
"Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice."
"A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies."
"The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
"Opening his mouth, Peter said: 'I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality..."
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?"
"Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies;"
"God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
"for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints."
"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;"
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap."
"For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints."
"He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead..."
"for our God is a consuming fire."
"But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, 'God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'"
"You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."
"The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love."
"We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
Saturday, January 28, 2012
#18
"Resolved, to live so at all times as I think is best in my devout frames, and when I have clearest notions of things of the gospel and another world."
-Jonathan Edwards
I love this one. Sometimes, in those moments of spiritual clarity, my "devout frames" as Edwards calls them, by the grace of God I am given holy convictions by which God intends to bring true satisfaction and joy into my life. However, in the midst of ordinary circumstances and my daily routine, I tend to question some of those convictions that seemed so clear and right in my "devout frames." Jonathan Edwards' eighteenth resolution inspires a resolve in me to, in my weaker moments, cling to those things God has shown me.
Many a conviction seem odd and feel a bit ridiculous when taken from the place of devotion and applied in this fallen world. But, dear Christian, you must trust. Trust that what God reveals to you in your devout frames (assuming its continuity with Scripture) will bring true and lasting satisfaction and joy for you, and more importantly, honor and glory to your Father. Let us be the witness to the world that we are designed to be "a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life." (2Cor.2:15-16) One who consistently seeks God's face and clings to His words will be a sweet fragrance to their heavenly Father and rewarded beyond their wildest imagination.
-Jonathan Edwards
I love this one. Sometimes, in those moments of spiritual clarity, my "devout frames" as Edwards calls them, by the grace of God I am given holy convictions by which God intends to bring true satisfaction and joy into my life. However, in the midst of ordinary circumstances and my daily routine, I tend to question some of those convictions that seemed so clear and right in my "devout frames." Jonathan Edwards' eighteenth resolution inspires a resolve in me to, in my weaker moments, cling to those things God has shown me.
Many a conviction seem odd and feel a bit ridiculous when taken from the place of devotion and applied in this fallen world. But, dear Christian, you must trust. Trust that what God reveals to you in your devout frames (assuming its continuity with Scripture) will bring true and lasting satisfaction and joy for you, and more importantly, honor and glory to your Father. Let us be the witness to the world that we are designed to be "a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life." (2Cor.2:15-16) One who consistently seeks God's face and clings to His words will be a sweet fragrance to their heavenly Father and rewarded beyond their wildest imagination.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Democracy.
So, in reading D.A. Carson's "The Gagging of God," I've come to realize a few things I find pretty profound and a bit scary about our current circumstance living in a democracy.
1) A democracy can only function as the current, dominant social ethic allows.
2) The American people are growing more and more diverse in their ethics as formerly accepted ethical standards are deemed "intolerant" in the name of religious and intellectual freedom.
3) The American people are therefore less controlled by their own common ethic, driving specific, like-minded groups to press for the passing of more laws to control others and defend themselves, leaving our currently enlisted government officials scrambling to find the "middle ground."
4) Scripture allows no such (and therefore there does not actually exist) "middle ground." The stark reality is that man is driven by autonomy until his eyes are opened to God's glory and He (God) is made King of the heart and mind. All of man's striving for civil peace and freedom is a "striving after the wind" or exercise in futility when led by that autonomy.
5) This leaves us floundering about in a sea of religious and intellectual plurality, causing vast internal conflict, which will eventually make America it's own worse enemy; immeasurably weak compared to its previously glorious strenth, due to it's inability to be the United States (or people) of America.
1) A democracy can only function as the current, dominant social ethic allows.
2) The American people are growing more and more diverse in their ethics as formerly accepted ethical standards are deemed "intolerant" in the name of religious and intellectual freedom.
3) The American people are therefore less controlled by their own common ethic, driving specific, like-minded groups to press for the passing of more laws to control others and defend themselves, leaving our currently enlisted government officials scrambling to find the "middle ground."
4) Scripture allows no such (and therefore there does not actually exist) "middle ground." The stark reality is that man is driven by autonomy until his eyes are opened to God's glory and He (God) is made King of the heart and mind. All of man's striving for civil peace and freedom is a "striving after the wind" or exercise in futility when led by that autonomy.
5) This leaves us floundering about in a sea of religious and intellectual plurality, causing vast internal conflict, which will eventually make America it's own worse enemy; immeasurably weak compared to its previously glorious strenth, due to it's inability to be the United States (or people) of America.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
On the State and Church
"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Colson points out that Lord Acton set forth proposals as to how to avoid a situation where government assumes absolute power: "No country can be free without religion. It [religion] creates and strengthens the notion of duty. If men are not kept straight by duty, they must be by fear. The more they are kept by fear, the less they are free. The greater the strength of duty, the greater the liberty."
-D.A. Carson, "The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism"
Sunday, June 26, 2011
NOTHING!
Nothing but the Blood
What can wash away my sin?Nothing but the blood of Jesus;What can make me whole again?Nothing but the blood of Jesus.- Refrain:Oh! precious is the flowThat makes me white as snow;No other fount I know,Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
- For my pardon, this I see,Nothing but the blood of Jesus;For my cleansing this my plea,Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
- Nothing can for sin atone,Nothing but the blood of Jesus;Naught of good that I have done,Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
- This is all my hope and peace,Nothing but the blood of Jesus;This is all my righteousness,Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
- Now by this I’ll overcome—Nothing but the blood of Jesus;Now by this I’ll reach my home—Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
- Glory! Glory! This I sing—Nothing but the blood of Jesus,All my praise for this I bring—Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Work Ethic
22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25 For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. 1 Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.
18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. 19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;
9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
10 For,
"THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS,
MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.
11 HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD;
HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.
12 FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS,
AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER,
BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL."
13 Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
God never expects from us that which He has no intention of giving us the strength to accomplish. Notice, we are also promised blessing for doing that which is expected. Praise God!!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Ezekiel 16
Read Ezekiel 16
Few chapters of the Bible grab me the way this one does.
God describes Israel as a new-born baby, rejected, helpless, dirty, unwanted, unloved, and left for dead in a field. Then, from verse six to fourteen, we have a beautiful picture of God taking the child as His own, adorning her with love, and gifts, giving her value and life. Every word and action dripping with a pure and passionate love for His new child.
Enter verse fifteen. Something happens. Something ugly. This beloved daughter, the object of God's intensely passionate fatherly love, "trusted in [her] beauty and played the harlot..."
This child of God takes the blessings of a loving Father and turns them into tools of depravity. She sins against her Father's love in some of the most shocking and perverted actions we're capable of as humans.
"You also took your beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them." v17
This rebellion and sinfulness goes on and on until her Father can bear no more. This loving Father now turns to discipline His beloved daughter beginning in verse 35. His love provokes a wrath against her that is not meant to destroy, but to reprove. Love and purpose guide His disciplinary actions against His rebellious daughter. Every description of the coming judgments against her are followed immediately with purpose clauses. Every action is designed to teach.
Here comes the best part.
I can identify with the abandoned, unloved, and dirty child. I can identify with being adopted, cleansed, and blessed. These bring immeasurable joy, and I cling to them daily. Unfortunately though, at this point in my life, I can identify most with the rebellious, perverted, and selfish daughter who sins against her Father in spite of the overwhelming love and blessing she's been showered with. So as I see God's reaction to her sin, fear grips my heart as I anxiously anticipate His Fatherly discipline in my own life. I would completely, and utterly collapse under the expectation of His judgment if it wasn't for what follows in verses 60-63. God lovingly plans my discipline, to correct me, and then He forgives. If you, like me, are the rebellious daughter, nothing could possibly be sweeter than hearing the words "...when I have forgiven you for all that you have done." He forgives her!! What she did was so incredibly dirty, sinful, and hateful towards her Father. His reaction? Loving discipline to correct the problem, and forgiveness.
What a great God we serve! What a loving Father we've been adopted by!
Few chapters of the Bible grab me the way this one does.
God describes Israel as a new-born baby, rejected, helpless, dirty, unwanted, unloved, and left for dead in a field. Then, from verse six to fourteen, we have a beautiful picture of God taking the child as His own, adorning her with love, and gifts, giving her value and life. Every word and action dripping with a pure and passionate love for His new child.
Enter verse fifteen. Something happens. Something ugly. This beloved daughter, the object of God's intensely passionate fatherly love, "trusted in [her] beauty and played the harlot..."
This child of God takes the blessings of a loving Father and turns them into tools of depravity. She sins against her Father's love in some of the most shocking and perverted actions we're capable of as humans.
"You also took your beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them." v17
This rebellion and sinfulness goes on and on until her Father can bear no more. This loving Father now turns to discipline His beloved daughter beginning in verse 35. His love provokes a wrath against her that is not meant to destroy, but to reprove. Love and purpose guide His disciplinary actions against His rebellious daughter. Every description of the coming judgments against her are followed immediately with purpose clauses. Every action is designed to teach.
Here comes the best part.
I can identify with the abandoned, unloved, and dirty child. I can identify with being adopted, cleansed, and blessed. These bring immeasurable joy, and I cling to them daily. Unfortunately though, at this point in my life, I can identify most with the rebellious, perverted, and selfish daughter who sins against her Father in spite of the overwhelming love and blessing she's been showered with. So as I see God's reaction to her sin, fear grips my heart as I anxiously anticipate His Fatherly discipline in my own life. I would completely, and utterly collapse under the expectation of His judgment if it wasn't for what follows in verses 60-63. God lovingly plans my discipline, to correct me, and then He forgives. If you, like me, are the rebellious daughter, nothing could possibly be sweeter than hearing the words "...when I have forgiven you for all that you have done." He forgives her!! What she did was so incredibly dirty, sinful, and hateful towards her Father. His reaction? Loving discipline to correct the problem, and forgiveness.
What a great God we serve! What a loving Father we've been adopted by!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
"For His Name's Sake"
"For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself."
-1 Sam. 12:22
"He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake."
-Psalm 23:3
"For You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me."
-Psalm 31:3
"But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name's sake;
Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me..."
-Psalm 109:21
"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake."
-1 John 2:12
"For Your name's sake, O LORD,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great."
-Psalm 25:11
"Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;
And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name's sake."
-Psalm 79:9
"Although our iniquities testify against us,
O LORD, act for Your name's sake!
Truly our apostasies have been many,
We have sinned against You."
-Jeremiah 14:7
"Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name,
That He might make His power known."
-Psalm 106:8
"For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
-Isaiah 48:9-10
"'But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight."'"
-Ezekiel 36:21-23
"Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name."
-Acts 15:14
-1 Sam. 12:22
"He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake."
-Psalm 23:3
"For You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me."
-Psalm 31:3
"But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name's sake;
Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me..."
-Psalm 109:21
"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake."
-1 John 2:12
"For Your name's sake, O LORD,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great."
-Psalm 25:11
"Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;
And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name's sake."
-Psalm 79:9
"Although our iniquities testify against us,
O LORD, act for Your name's sake!
Truly our apostasies have been many,
We have sinned against You."
-Jeremiah 14:7
"Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name,
That He might make His power known."
-Psalm 106:8
"For the sake of My name I delay My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain it for you,
In order not to cut you off.
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
-Isaiah 48:9-10
"'But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight."'"
-Ezekiel 36:21-23
"Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name."
-Acts 15:14
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Spiritual Giants
"Edwards describes the person with truly gracious affections like this:
As he has more holy boldness, so he has less of self-confidence ...and more modesty. As he is more sure than others of deliverance from hell, so he has more of a sense of the desert of it. He is less apt than others to be shaken in faith, but more apt than others to be moved with solemn warnings, and with God's frowns, and with the calamities of others. He has the firmest comfort, but the softest heart; richer than others, but poorest of all in spirit; the tallest and strongest saint, but the least and tenderest child among them.
That litany of unusual juxtapositions is what Jonathan Edwards embodied in himself. He kept together so many things that we are prone to separate. This is one of the reasons... he is so important for our day."
"My own judgment is that, from generation to generation, giants like Edwards are needed to inspire us to think about our faith, and to guard us from settling superficially on small ideas about a small God. We need Edwards to waken us from our pragmatic stupor of indifference to doctrine in worship and prayer and evangelism and missions and church planting and social action. We need Edwards to show us again the beauty and the power of truth. Edwards does this so well because he is relentlessly God-besotted and God-exalting. He helps us recover truth because he never loses sight of the unspeakable reality of God, where truth originates, and whom it exists to serve."
- "God's Passion for His Glory" by John Piper
"My own judgment is that, from generation to generation, giants like Edwards are needed to inspire us to think about our faith, and to guard us from settling superficially on small ideas about a small God. We need Edwards to waken us from our pragmatic stupor of indifference to doctrine in worship and prayer and evangelism and missions and church planting and social action. We need Edwards to show us again the beauty and the power of truth. Edwards does this so well because he is relentlessly God-besotted and God-exalting. He helps us recover truth because he never loses sight of the unspeakable reality of God, where truth originates, and whom it exists to serve."
- "God's Passion for His Glory" by John Piper
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
"The Defense of the Faith"
On page126, Cornelius Van Til writes,
"On the assumptions of the natural man logic is a timeless impersonal principle, and facts are controlled by chance. It is by means of universal timeless principles of logic that the natural man must, on his assumptions, seek to make intelligible assertions about the world of reality or chance. But this cannot be done without falling into self-contradiction. About chance no manner of assertion can be made. In its very idea it is the irrational. And how are rational assertions to be made about the irrational? If they are to be made then it must be because the irrational is itself wholly reduced to the rational. That is to say if the natural man is to make an intelligible assertion about the world of "reality" or "fact" which, according to him is what it is for no rational reason at all, then he must make the virtual claim of rationalizing the irrational. To be able to distinguish one fact from another fact he must reduce all time existence, all factuality to immovable timeless being. But when he has done so he has killed all individuality and factuality as conceived of on his basis. Thus the natural man must on the one hand assert that all reality is non-structural in nature and on the other hand that all reality is structural in nature. He must even assert on the one hand that all reality is non-structurable in nature and on the other hand that he himself has virtually structured all of it. Thus all his predication is in the nature of the case self-contradictory."
"On the assumptions of the natural man logic is a timeless impersonal principle, and facts are controlled by chance. It is by means of universal timeless principles of logic that the natural man must, on his assumptions, seek to make intelligible assertions about the world of reality or chance. But this cannot be done without falling into self-contradiction. About chance no manner of assertion can be made. In its very idea it is the irrational. And how are rational assertions to be made about the irrational? If they are to be made then it must be because the irrational is itself wholly reduced to the rational. That is to say if the natural man is to make an intelligible assertion about the world of "reality" or "fact" which, according to him is what it is for no rational reason at all, then he must make the virtual claim of rationalizing the irrational. To be able to distinguish one fact from another fact he must reduce all time existence, all factuality to immovable timeless being. But when he has done so he has killed all individuality and factuality as conceived of on his basis. Thus the natural man must on the one hand assert that all reality is non-structural in nature and on the other hand that all reality is structural in nature. He must even assert on the one hand that all reality is non-structurable in nature and on the other hand that he himself has virtually structured all of it. Thus all his predication is in the nature of the case self-contradictory."
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Law
"I shall give thanks to Thee with uprightness of heart, When I learn Thy righteous judgments."
"I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, As much as in all riches."
"My soul is crushed with longing After Thine ordinances at all times."
"Even though princes sit and talk against me, Thy servant meditates on Thy statutes."
"Thy testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors."
"Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Thy law."
"Behold, I long for Thy precepts; Revive me through Thy righteousness."
"And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Thy precepts."
Ps. 119:7, 14, 20, 23-24, 29, 40, 45
"I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, As much as in all riches."
"My soul is crushed with longing After Thine ordinances at all times."
"Even though princes sit and talk against me, Thy servant meditates on Thy statutes."
"Thy testimonies also are my delight; They are my counselors."
"Remove the false way from me, and graciously grant me Thy law."
"Behold, I long for Thy precepts; Revive me through Thy righteousness."
"And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Thy precepts."
Ps. 119:7, 14, 20, 23-24, 29, 40, 45
By the first fifty verses of the 119th Psalm King David has already expressed a love for the Law that far exceeds anything I've been capable of in my twenty-eight years of life. When I read this particular Psalm, my heart aches to have the passion of, reverence for, faith in, and the blessings of God's Law that David demonstrates. Alongside that desire however, comes a barrage of questions; a tsunami of embittered inquiry. In all my years of dedicated Church attendance, why haven't I been taught to have a similar love like this for the Law? Why do modern-day Christians seem so happy to be divorced from such an obviously powerful source of blessing and joy? How exactly do I even relate to the Law? What blessings come from the Law? How am I supposed to obey a law my desires seem so strongly opposed to? David's love for and understanding of the Law, as well as his evident blessedness through it, should have the Christian begging to be in David's position.
Compare David to the Pharisees. There is a use and understanding of God's law that brings vibrant, passion-filled, joyous life and an abusive, joy-killing, passionless use that made the Pharisees, with their proselytes, "sons of hell" (Matt.23). I'll give a hearty "Amen!!" to anyone who cries out against the Pharisaical use and understanding of the Law that, like the wolf in sheep's clothing, bites and devours all who ignorantly subject themselves to it. But we throw the baby out with the bathwater when we consider God's law a thing of the past, as though it is of no use to the modern-day Christian's vibrant, joy-filled life, because of its past abuse or perceived irrelevance.
The Christian today is in such an incredible position. We have God's law, we have an already perfected position in Christ, and the Spirit indwelling us to give the ability to live a life that practically mirrors our spiritual position. Knowing that we have an alien righteousness that guarantees our final destination and glorification, and the empowering Spirit to live the Law, should bring a love and desire for the blessedness of God's law similar to (or perhaps beyond) David's. Yet there seems to be a permeating distaste among modern day Christianity for the Law.
Living the Law is living love. The Law is little more than love practically defined. Consider Galatians 5:13-15,
Compare David to the Pharisees. There is a use and understanding of God's law that brings vibrant, passion-filled, joyous life and an abusive, joy-killing, passionless use that made the Pharisees, with their proselytes, "sons of hell" (Matt.23). I'll give a hearty "Amen!!" to anyone who cries out against the Pharisaical use and understanding of the Law that, like the wolf in sheep's clothing, bites and devours all who ignorantly subject themselves to it. But we throw the baby out with the bathwater when we consider God's law a thing of the past, as though it is of no use to the modern-day Christian's vibrant, joy-filled life, because of its past abuse or perceived irrelevance.
The Christian today is in such an incredible position. We have God's law, we have an already perfected position in Christ, and the Spirit indwelling us to give the ability to live a life that practically mirrors our spiritual position. Knowing that we have an alien righteousness that guarantees our final destination and glorification, and the empowering Spirit to live the Law, should bring a love and desire for the blessedness of God's law similar to (or perhaps beyond) David's. Yet there seems to be a permeating distaste among modern day Christianity for the Law.
Living the Law is living love. The Law is little more than love practically defined. Consider Galatians 5:13-15,
"For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another."
If you live the Law, you live out the love that makes this life pleasurable. The Christian, unlike every other person on earth, is empowered by God himself to live according to this law after completely erasing the Law's condemnation against them. If the Law and its blessedness is understood this way, and the believer reads David's psalm within this context, he or she may comprehend David's exaltation of God's law. It's no longer weird to hear a man praise God for rules and regulations. We get to live the temporal and eternal blessedness of love applied, without the eternal consequences of love denied. How praise-worthy is Christ for that? Christian, we need to learn to love God's law like David did. We need to have a passion for understanding God's law, and our relationship to it. We need to commit ourselves to learning, loving, and living it without inhibition. Then, and only then, will we be able to sing the praises of David.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Small Distinctions Matter.
Read Matt. 5:17-20
"While the smallest items of the law are significant for the kingdom of God and its righteousness, the righteousness of the scribes is said to have absolutely no affinity whatsoever with the kingdom (v.20). This is an important distinction to make. The mistake of the Pharisees was not concern for detail; it was externalism, humanistic traditionalism, and hypocrisy. Their kind of concern for detail led them to miss the whole genius of kingdom righteousness; hence they made God's law void by their own traditions."
-Greg Bahnsen in "Theonomy in Christian Ethics"
"While the smallest items of the law are significant for the kingdom of God and its righteousness, the righteousness of the scribes is said to have absolutely no affinity whatsoever with the kingdom (v.20). This is an important distinction to make. The mistake of the Pharisees was not concern for detail; it was externalism, humanistic traditionalism, and hypocrisy. Their kind of concern for detail led them to miss the whole genius of kingdom righteousness; hence they made God's law void by their own traditions."
-Greg Bahnsen in "Theonomy in Christian Ethics"
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Deceit: Legitimate Christian Armament?
I used to work with a guy named Eric who was, at that time, working his way through the philosophy program at Talbot. One of our favorite topics of debate (for there were many areas of disagreement between us) was Biblical ethics. Especially, whether or not lying could be used to God's glory.
Our test case was the story of Rahab, the harlot, and her defense of the Israelite spies (Joshua 2:1-14). While Eric asserted that Rahab's deceit, being beneficial to the Israelite spies by preserving their lives, was the morally right thing to do, I asserted that Rahab's protection of the spies was God glorifying, but the means she used in doing so, lying, was still immoral.
Eric attempted to strengthen his case by defining "lying" as an "immoral" use of deceit. So that lying was therefore always wrong, but being deceitful was not necessarily so. I held to a bit more simplistic definition of lying as verbal deceit, or simple, purposeful falsification; which I believe to be the more widely accepted definition. In my case, Rahab obeyed one law, Exodus 20:13, the preservation of innocent life, while breaking another, Exodus 20:16 with Hebrews 6:18, John 8:44, and 1 Corinthians 13:6. I asserted that lying was not her only option, and the laws God has given us will never be set against each other so that we must decide which action in any given situation is the "lesser evil."
Eric, it seems, was working from a love-guided situational ethic. Basically, whatever action serves love is morally right because it serves love. Rahab's lie preserved the lives of the Israelite spies, serving love, and was therefore glorifying to God. I believe, with qualification, in the same love-guided situational ethic. That qualification being this; there exist, in Scripture, God-given maxims that define what love is and does, ie., the Ten Commandments, or 1 Cor. 13:1-8. These maxims do not leave the loving action entirely up to our discretion in any given situation, but guide us in understanding what that loving action will be in a general way. In Eric's situational ethic, love demanded that Rahab preserve life, and since lying was a means to that end, lying was justified. While in my situational ethic, love demanded that Rahab preserve life AND do so through some means other than lying since scripture teaches that love is truthful (1Cor.13:6).
Luke 6:35 in the NASB reads, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." Here we see Christ teaching that even those we consider enemies are to be loved, and our actions towards them are to be governed by love as well. So, from my side of the argument, Scripture teaches us what love is, and that our actions are to be guided by love, which is to be extended to our enemies as well as everyone else, leaving the easy, convenient option of lying outside the boundaries of God-honoring action.
All of this has been running through my mind lately, and I've begun to think that there was something both Eric and I were missing. Eric's Love-guided ethic leaves too much in the hands of the agent, using the cloak of love to disguise any desired action as justified. My ethic corrects that problem to a significant degree with love-defining maxims found in Scripture that guide our understanding of righteousness, yet even this ethic seems awkward when applied to Rahab’s situation. Maybe you’ve noticed that I have yet to say anything relating to the title of this blog. This is where my recent thoughts come in to play, and where I’d love some feedback on the question I've been pondering.
Is deceit, like a gun, sword, or spear, a legitimate war-time weapon? The sword is a weapon that can be used in a righteous or unrighteous manner. Cutting off my neighbor's head would be murder and an immoral act, worthy of punishment. A man found guilty of multiple murders in a court of law and sentenced to death having his head cut off by the executioner, would be a just act, and therefore righteous. The God-given law of equality, life for life, justifies the use of the sword in this manner, when the man has been found guilty in a court of law. However, in wartime, there is no court of law on the battle field and yet the soldier can be justified in his use of the sword. Is it possible, that, like the sword, lying could be a justified weapon given the specific context of war? In the battle, a man is friend or foe, and worthy of life or death, aid or violence, based on his allegiance. We owe the truth to all whom we owe love. Though we owe love to the enemy, war seems justified by Scripture as long as it is prompted by righteous convictions, and it seems that within this context, the only act of love to be given (and yet not required) would be the chance to repent. So once again, my question to which I have yet to answer satisfactorily in my own mind, is, does the context of war legitimize lying, or deceit, as a weapon?
p.s. I'm not too happy with the way this came out, not sure why, so forgive me if its not worded very well, or unclear. I just needed to get it out, lol.
Our test case was the story of Rahab, the harlot, and her defense of the Israelite spies (Joshua 2:1-14). While Eric asserted that Rahab's deceit, being beneficial to the Israelite spies by preserving their lives, was the morally right thing to do, I asserted that Rahab's protection of the spies was God glorifying, but the means she used in doing so, lying, was still immoral.
Eric attempted to strengthen his case by defining "lying" as an "immoral" use of deceit. So that lying was therefore always wrong, but being deceitful was not necessarily so. I held to a bit more simplistic definition of lying as verbal deceit, or simple, purposeful falsification; which I believe to be the more widely accepted definition. In my case, Rahab obeyed one law, Exodus 20:13, the preservation of innocent life, while breaking another, Exodus 20:16 with Hebrews 6:18, John 8:44, and 1 Corinthians 13:6. I asserted that lying was not her only option, and the laws God has given us will never be set against each other so that we must decide which action in any given situation is the "lesser evil."
Eric, it seems, was working from a love-guided situational ethic. Basically, whatever action serves love is morally right because it serves love. Rahab's lie preserved the lives of the Israelite spies, serving love, and was therefore glorifying to God. I believe, with qualification, in the same love-guided situational ethic. That qualification being this; there exist, in Scripture, God-given maxims that define what love is and does, ie., the Ten Commandments, or 1 Cor. 13:1-8. These maxims do not leave the loving action entirely up to our discretion in any given situation, but guide us in understanding what that loving action will be in a general way. In Eric's situational ethic, love demanded that Rahab preserve life, and since lying was a means to that end, lying was justified. While in my situational ethic, love demanded that Rahab preserve life AND do so through some means other than lying since scripture teaches that love is truthful (1Cor.13:6).
Luke 6:35 in the NASB reads, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." Here we see Christ teaching that even those we consider enemies are to be loved, and our actions towards them are to be governed by love as well. So, from my side of the argument, Scripture teaches us what love is, and that our actions are to be guided by love, which is to be extended to our enemies as well as everyone else, leaving the easy, convenient option of lying outside the boundaries of God-honoring action.
All of this has been running through my mind lately, and I've begun to think that there was something both Eric and I were missing. Eric's Love-guided ethic leaves too much in the hands of the agent, using the cloak of love to disguise any desired action as justified. My ethic corrects that problem to a significant degree with love-defining maxims found in Scripture that guide our understanding of righteousness, yet even this ethic seems awkward when applied to Rahab’s situation. Maybe you’ve noticed that I have yet to say anything relating to the title of this blog. This is where my recent thoughts come in to play, and where I’d love some feedback on the question I've been pondering.
Is deceit, like a gun, sword, or spear, a legitimate war-time weapon? The sword is a weapon that can be used in a righteous or unrighteous manner. Cutting off my neighbor's head would be murder and an immoral act, worthy of punishment. A man found guilty of multiple murders in a court of law and sentenced to death having his head cut off by the executioner, would be a just act, and therefore righteous. The God-given law of equality, life for life, justifies the use of the sword in this manner, when the man has been found guilty in a court of law. However, in wartime, there is no court of law on the battle field and yet the soldier can be justified in his use of the sword. Is it possible, that, like the sword, lying could be a justified weapon given the specific context of war? In the battle, a man is friend or foe, and worthy of life or death, aid or violence, based on his allegiance. We owe the truth to all whom we owe love. Though we owe love to the enemy, war seems justified by Scripture as long as it is prompted by righteous convictions, and it seems that within this context, the only act of love to be given (and yet not required) would be the chance to repent. So once again, my question to which I have yet to answer satisfactorily in my own mind, is, does the context of war legitimize lying, or deceit, as a weapon?
p.s. I'm not too happy with the way this came out, not sure why, so forgive me if its not worded very well, or unclear. I just needed to get it out, lol.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
My Move
"'...The Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.'"
-1Sam.14:6
Jonathan, speaking to the young man who was carrying his armor, as they were about to approach a large Philistine camp, has a pretty intense faith in God's power to deliver. It's such a powerful reminder of what God is capable of. When He presses us to move forward in any direction, we must go with the faith Jonathan voices here. It doesn't matter how far we must must go, or the task in front of us, God himself will do what He wants done. So simple, yet incredibly motivating and faith-strengthening. Do yourself a favor; meditate on the story in 1 Sam. 14:1-15 keeping this particular statement in mind.
-1Sam.14:6
Jonathan, speaking to the young man who was carrying his armor, as they were about to approach a large Philistine camp, has a pretty intense faith in God's power to deliver. It's such a powerful reminder of what God is capable of. When He presses us to move forward in any direction, we must go with the faith Jonathan voices here. It doesn't matter how far we must must go, or the task in front of us, God himself will do what He wants done. So simple, yet incredibly motivating and faith-strengthening. Do yourself a favor; meditate on the story in 1 Sam. 14:1-15 keeping this particular statement in mind.
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