It defies all logic, doesn't it?

Over the past week I've seen and read several attempts to answer the question of why evil exists in the world and how God can be good if He allows such tragic things to happen.  If we normally understand God to be loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful, the problem of evil seems to require at least one of those three attributes to be false.  Reason seems to dictate that if God foreknew twenty-eight people, including twenty children, were about to be killed and He had the power to stop it before it occurred then He cannot be loving because He did not stop the murder.  Or He is loving and all-knowing but was not powerful enough to stop it.  Or He is loving and all-powerful but He did not know it was going to happen ahead of time.  Something has to give, right?  Yet God's love, omniscience, and omnipotence are at the heart of his divinity.

It's worth recalling that in the Garden of Eden God created a tree called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil".  "And the Lord God commanded the man [Adam], saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'" (Gen 2:16-17)  Shortly thereafter, the serpent Satan tempted Eve by distorting God's command and making her distrust God's motives: "But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" (Gen 3:4-5)  Yet, as soon as Adam and Eve ate from the tree their eyes were opened and they indeed knew good and evil.  Now we all know evil.

This is a case study in how Satan works.  He tempts us to distrust God.  He sows distrust in our hearts and minds by undermining God's good intentions in order to destroy our faith in God.  We are justified by trusting God (faith) (Romans 5:1) precisely because distrusting God is the root of all sin in the world.  This is the front-lines of spiritual warfare.  Tragedies like what occurred in Newtown, Connecticut are used by Satan to sow distrust in the hearts and minds of people.  They give us all opportunity to distrust God by tempting us to diminish his divinity or deny His divinity altogether by saying He doesn't exist.

So why does God allow such bad and evil things to happen?  I do not offer an answer tritely.  It is a hard and difficult question.  But I feel compelled to grapple with it.  Indeed, we all must deal with it at some point whether consciously or subconsciously.  And though it is a difficult question, I believe the Bible answers it.  So I will offer one reason which I believe is shown over and over again throughout the Bible:  God allows evil things to happen because God's faithfulness is most clearly displayed when his children have faith in him under the worst imaginable circumstances.  God allows suffering because God's faithfulness is most clearly revealed when his children have faith in the midst of their suffering.  This is evident throughout the Bible, but perhaps none more clearly than with Job.  God allowed Satan to inflict Job with immense suffering simply because Satan accused Job of having fake righteousness.  God asked Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" (Job 1:8)  Satan responded, "Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." (Job 1:9-11)  So the Lord told Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life." (Job 2:6)

After Satan brought punishing suffering upon Job and his family, Job's own wife played the role of faith-destroyer.  She said to Job, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." (Job 2:9)  Still, even after God permitted Satan to kill Job's children, steal his possessions, and inflict him with devastating sickness, Job's response was "Though he slay me, I will hope in him;" (Job 13:15a)  I hope you will meditate on those words, at least briefly.  "Though he slay me, I will hope in him."  Job understood the sovereignty of God.  Satan may have been the one inflicting Job, but Job understood that nothing could happen to him unless God's sovereignty permitted it, and so Job attributed his suffering to God's will.  Yet he never cursed God or blamed him of wrong.  Instead, he blessed God. "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)

How do you hope in the one who is slaying you?  How do you praise the one who is taking from you?  It defies all logic, doesn't it?  It does, unless your hope is not in the temporary things, but in the eternal things.  God is so faithful even if he slays us today, he will still fulfill his eternal promises to us.  As Peter encouraged us, "let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good." (1 Peter 4:19)  We may very well be slayed, but that doesn't invalidate the promises, nor the One who promised.  Only God can take a tragedy Satan meant to destroy faith and use it instead to magnify God's faithfulness.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

'For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.'

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)

James, the Lord's brother

I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.  Galatians 1:19

Consider this:  James, the brother of Jesus Christ, was a believer.  After growing up with Jesus, if anyone had reason to doubt his divine nature it was James!  And yet, he didn't.  So why would we?

The benefits of growing in knowledge of Christ

On "Olsen, Piper, tragedy and theodicy"

I'm a believer in God's sovereignty even over the evil and sin in the world.  Not only do I see overwhelming Biblical evidence of this, purely pragmatically I'd rather evil and sin be purposeful in accomplishing ultimate good than pointless--even if that ultimate good must for a time be awaited in faith.  That said, I do sympathize with people who have a difficult time grappling with God's sovereignty over the "bad things" in life.

I very much agree with the perspective of the author found in the blog post "Olsen, Piper, tragedy and theodicy" (http://blog.founders.org/2007/09/olsen-piper-tragedy-and-theodicy.html) and hope you'll take a few minutes to read it.

I want to highlight one comment on that blog post which impacted me immensely for the better.  I hope it will encourage you as well.

How to know if I am a Christian

The only way I know I am a Christian is that I have faith in Christ. The only way I know I have faith in Christ is that I bear good fruit.  Which means, if I look and do not see good fruit in my life I need to take heed that my faith is lacking.  If this scares me, good!  It is a healthy reminder to seek the Lord and ask Him for more faith-building grace.  If this does not scare me, then I have reason to be really scared.

When someone suggested to Dietrich Bonhoeffer that he should join the Nazi-run "German Christians" church to fight the regime from within, he replied, “If you board the wrong train, it’s no use running down the corridor in the opposite direction.”

The sovereignty of God

God works all things according to the counsel of His will.

also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,  Ephesians 1:11

The fall of a sparrow.

Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  Matt 10:29

The rolling of dice.

The lot is cast into the lap,
But its every decision is from the Lord.  Proverbs 16:33

The decisions of kings.

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord;
He turns it wherever He wishes.   Proverbs 21:1

The authority of our leaders.

Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”  John 19:11

The failing of sight.

The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?  Exodus 4:11

The sickness of a child.

So Nathan went to his house. Then the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, so that he was very sick.  2 Samuel 12:15

The loss and gain of money.

“The Lord makes poor and rich;
He brings low, He also exalts.   1 Samuel 2:7

The suffering of the saints.

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.   1 Peter 4:19

The completion of plans.

Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”  James 4:15

The persecution of Christians.

4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?   Hebrews 12:4-7

The repentance of souls.

24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,  2 Timothy 2:24-25

The gift of faith.

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,   Philippians 1:29

The pursuit of holiness.

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:12

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6

The growth of believers.

1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, if God permits.  Hebrews 6:1-3

The giving in life and taking in death.

The Lord kills and makes alive;
He brings down to Sheol and raises up.  1 Samuel 2:6

The giving and taking away of blessings.

He said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”   Job 1:21

The places we live and the length and time of our lives.

and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,  Acts 17:26

The calamity of people.

If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?
If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?  Amos 3:6

The well-being of people.

The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the Lord who does all these.  Isaiah 45:7

The sanctification and glorification of his children.

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.  Romans 8:28-30

The crucifixion of his Son.

27 For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.  Acts 4:27-28

"For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake" Philippians 1:29

Which is more shocking, that God would grant us to believe in Christ, or that God would grant us to suffer for Christ?

The difference Christ makes

I'm a very opinionated person.  My wife will confirm it.  I am overly inclined to debate or argue with someone about topics I'm interested in.  This is not always a good thing.

There are various reasons to debate and some are noble.  But I've asked myself, why do I need to persuade other people that I am correct?  What is the my underlying motivation?  Theologically we are all in a search for truth.  Some might argue that truth is relative--that there is no absolute truth--but even they will still search for that truth which exists relative to them.

I've found embedded in debating is a search for credibility.  How do we know what is true?  We attain information from credible sources.  This holds whether I'm talking about politics, my health, theology or any other topic.  When a friend recently had a scary health issue they called me and asked what I thought their problem was.  I told them, "I'm not a doctor, why would you ask me?  Go see a doctor."  I didn't tell them what I thought because my opinion on the matter had no credibility.  I've never studied medicine, and I've never had a similar medical experience out of which I could advise.  They should seek the opinion of someone who has knowledge and experience because their opinion would be more credible than mine.

If we are able to persuade someone else we are correct then it lends credibility to our view.  If you think I'm right then I must be right.  If you think I'm wrong, let me try to persuade you that I'm right.  When people agree with us it vindicates us.  When a political party wins an election, even by just a few votes, they feel empowered.  "The people have chosen," they exclaim.  Even if 49% of the population disagreed, the majority view is vindicated.

Here's the rub:  though I am wired to be opinionated and argumentative the gospel through the Holy Spirit frees me from the need to vindicate myself--and therefore frees me from the need to argue and debate.  I no longer need people to agree because I no longer feel threatened by being wrong.  The world is all about attaining power, but the gospel is all about surrendering power to Christ.  The world is all about who's right and who's wrong, but the gospel is all about who's godly.  Being right or wrong has nothing to do with being godly.  I can be right and be in sin and I can be wrong and be godly.

This raises the question, does truth matter then?  Absolutely!  It matters to everything I think and do.  Truth shapes worldview--and I wholeheartedly believe there is absolute truth.  The gospel exclaims I should be willing to die for truth but I should never be willing to kill for truth.

I'm not saying debating or arguing is innately wrong.  But debating and arguing must be motivated by love and not self.  The apostle Paul eagerly debated the Lordship of Christ in synagogue after synagogue because he knew the message had life and death consequences.  Yet people were so outraged at his message at one point he was stoned and dragged outside the city once the people thought he was dead.  His response?  He got up and walked back into the city.  (Acts 14:19-20)  Sharing the truth was that important to him.  Before Paul knew Christ he killed for truth, after Paul knew Christ he was killed for truth.

C.S. Lewis on Progress

"We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive." (C.S. Lewis)

"Let Them Come Home" by Abraham Piper

"If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me."  (Robert Murray M'Cheyne)

Confused about the parable of the wedding feast

I read a blog recently where someone posted their "issues" with the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22.  I'm going to post the parable first, then I'll provide some of the post's responses.  Last, I will try to clear things up by posting my own explanation.

Here's the parable:

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:1-14

Now the responses:

Bart said (to Evelyn):
Evelyn, that passage is a perfect example of why I couldn’t use the bible as a moral compass, or as a path to some sort of salvation. Tossing someone out into the darkness where there is weeping and grinding of teeth, just because they wore the wrong clothes? The murderers should have been caught and punished for killing the servants, but burning the city? Isn’t that a bit harsh? Weren’t there children in that city?
It’s all a bit too crazy for me.

Erick said:
Bart, someone I think is taking the story way too literally.

Jubal said:
From a plain reading it seems the parable is saying that God invites many (not all?) into Heaven, but even if you’re invited you must do certain things. If you ignore the invitation you too will be ignored, if you do evil things you will be punished harshly, and if you do show up but haven’t done all of the things you’re supposed to, you will be punished.  Is there any other reasonable interpretation? That seems to confirm the problem Bart originally pointed out.

My response:
I understand the confusion with this parable but maybe this will help it make sense.  In this parable Jesus is referring to the Jews who were invited to the wedding with Yahweh.  The wedding refers to the covenant between God and His people (made with Abraham in Genesis 17:1-13 and Moses in Exodus 19:5).  "A king" is God the Father; "for his son" refers to Jesus Christ; "sent his servants" is referring to the prophets; "all those invited to the marriage feast" is a reference to the Israelites.  The Jews to whom the law was given did not come to the wedding, instead they rebelled and each went his or her own way (Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25).  "...the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them" refers to how the Jews treated the prophets and would soon treat Christ.  "...he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city" refers to the impending destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by Titus.  "those servants went out into the roads" refers to the disciples.  "and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good" refers to God inviting everyone regardless of their good or bad deeds to the wedding, meaning his invitation is by grace alone and not a works-based invitation.  "he saw there a man who had no wedding garment" refers to a person who is not wearing the garment of salvation (see Isaiah 61:10 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation"). "cast him into the outer darkness" refers to exclusion from eternal life of those not having salvation by grace through faith in Christ.  Hope that clears up the parable for you.

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying that it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

The longest months

My wife and I were walking not long ago and I was lamenting that the time change was coming up.  We typically walk after work in the evenings and the looming fall time change meant we would be walking in the dark.  Following this train of thought I made the comment, "I don't mind the winter until Christmas or New Year's, but January and February are the longest months."  Shortly thereafter I began thinking about that comment--"January and February are the longest months"-- and how a comment like that might be interpreted and debated if it were found in the Bible.  Perhaps you can imagine...

The skeptics would read that and say, "See, the Bible is not historically accurate.  January is a long month, sure, but February is actually the shortest month of the year.  The Bible is not true!"

The fundamentalists would say, "January and February must have been the longest months of the year when the text was written.  At some point February must have been shortened because the text is without error!"

At some point hopefully somebody would chime in, "I think we should try to figure out what the author actually meant."  By this they would mean we shouldn't understand the text as word-for-word literal, rather we should seek to understand what the author literally meant when it was written.  And then hopefully someone would suggest the author actually meant January and February feel like the longest months of the year because of how bleak they tend to be.

An update to "The maleness of Christianity"

For background, see my original post "The maleness of Christianity".

Me to blogger:

You said, “I would argue that God did not appoint all priests in the OT to be men; society appointed all priests to be men. The Son of God was a man yes, but he came in the world to be human (there is a significant difference).”

Please be careful not to undermine the reason why God gave the priesthood to Aaron and his sons (all male) (Numbers 3). The priests were to be male because God was sending his Son (who was male) to be the everlasting high priest and all other priests were simply types pointing to Christ (Heb 4:14). Similarly, when God told Moses in Exodus 12:5, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old” He was also creating a pointer to Christ. Christ would be a male without blemish.

As much as people want to make this a male vs female thing, this “male requirement” has absolutely nothing to do with how much God values males or females. It has everything to do with pointing us to Christ. The maleness of the priests and the lambs was important, not trivial, God-dictated, not society-dictated. To say otherwise misses the point in it all.

Blogger:

Thank you for your response!
Your hermeneutic is valid, yet one that I disagree with. Typology removes the human element from scripture, and reduces it to nothing more than divine dictation.

Me:

I never cease to be amazed by the diversity of opinions among Christians. And yours is quite interesting indeed! It seems clear enough you mean for “divine dictation” to be derogatory, as if words from God are somehow less personal and meaningful than words from humans. Yet, “divine dictation” (words that proceed from God’s mouth) is exactly how Paul describes Scripture in 2 Timothy 3:16 and Peter in 2 Peter 1:20-21. Oh that everyone would see the Bible as divine dictation! We’d all take the Bible much more seriously then! Seeing the Bible any other way is what reduces it. I’d embrace truth sourced from God over “truth” sourced from humans any day.

That said, types are used rather explicitly in the Bible, and for good reason:

the flood is a type of baptism (1 Peter 3:20-21)
the tabernacle where the priests served was a type of what is in heaven (Hebrews 8:5, 9:24)
the entrance procedure into the Most Holy Place by the High Priest was a type of the present time (Hebrews 9:8-9)
the veil of the tabernacle is a type of Christ’s body (Hebrews 10:19-20)
the feasts and Sabbath are a type of things to come (Colossians 2:16-17)
the whole sacrificial system is a type (Hebrews 9:19-26)
the Passover lamb is a type of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:7)
Adam is a type of Christ (Romans 5:14)
the bronze serpent, lifted up in the wilderness for physical healing of the people is a type of the lifted-up Christ (Numbers 21:8, John 3:14, John 12:32, Isaiah 53:5)
Melchizedek was a type of Christ….(Hebrews 7)
the rock the Israelites drank from was Christ….(1 Corinthians 10:4)
the bread at communion is a type of Christ’s body (Matthew 26:26)
the wine at communion is a type of Christ’s blood of the covenant (Matthew 26:28)

Is the significance of the wine I drink at communion “reduced” because it is a “type” of Christ’s blood? No, in fact the only reason the wine has significance at all is because it is a “type” of Christ’s blood.

The laws in the Old Testament

I have recently been reading through the first five books of the Bible and am now mid-way through Deuteronomy.  Throughout my reading I've been paying particular attention to reasons for the law and the laws.  When I say "the law" I mean the whole Law in a big-picture sense.  I'm looking at the whole forest.  When I say "the laws" I'm looking at individual trees.  So I'm asking myself, for instance, why did God give the Israelites specific laws dealing with how to handle skin diseases?  The reason, in this particular case, seems obvious to me.  But some other laws are harder to figure out.

The impetus behind my focus is I've found the main critique leveled against the Old Testament is that it alienates people.  Most of the laws are so antiquated and the punishment for law-breaking seems overly harsh.  Even this morning I read a blog post from someone claiming that Jesus himself proved the worthlessness of the Old Testament law.  He was the biggest law-breaker of them all, they argued.  Their evidence was when Jesus refrained from stoning the adulterous woman while the law required it (John 8:1-11)  But then I read Jesus say, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17)  Then Jesus follows that statement up with a series of clarifications:

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. (Matthew 5:33-37)

When Jesus says "you have heard that it was said..." he is referring to statutes in the Old Testament law.  So what he is doing is clarifying the Old Testament for us.  He's not watering down the law, in fact, he's making it more difficult to obey.  Whereas before someone had to physically commit adultery to be guilty, now all someone has to do is look at another person lustfully!

What Jesus is saying here is that the written laws we read and understand with our heads are just the expression of spiritual laws we should have in our hearts.  Where the written law says "do not murder" the spiritual law says "do not harbor anger towards someone".  Where the written law says "do not commit adultery", the spiritual law says "do not lust".  These spiritual laws existed before the written law.  How do we know this?  Paul says sin was in the world before the written law was given to Moses (Romans 5:13) and this means there was lawbreaking before there was a written law to break.  So the law that was broken was the under-girding spiritual law, not the written law.

Why is this important?  Because it means that the written law in the Old Testament must be understood through the lens of Jesus Christ and what He revealed.  Paul says the law acted as our "our guardian until Christ came" but "now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." (Galatians 3:24-26).  Yet Jesus said, "For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." (Matthew 5:18)  What Paul and Jesus meant is while the written law (our guardian) has passed away, the spiritual law is still in place.  Not one iota of it has been removed.  That's why we are told not to be angry with our brother, or lust, or make promises that we will not keep.  The two greatest commandments--love God and love your neighbor--are the spiritual law.  That's why Jesus said "On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:40)

When we read the Old Testament and see the severity of God towards the people for breaking His law it should affect us.  First, we should understand that breaking God's law has serious consequences.  That's why Christ had to come and die to suffer the punishment for our lawbreaking.  Second, we should understand that every law serves a purpose.  Some are practical like the ones intended to prevent the spread of disease, some are intended to protect relationships with other people, and some are intended to protect relationship with God.  Finally, we need to understand that under-girding the entire written law is a spiritual law that God writes on our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.  Romans 2:12-16

The maleness of Christianity

I recently read a blog post that argued Christianity is not supposed to be a "masculine" faith.  To make his point, the blogger said the following:

"I would argue that God did not appoint all priests in the OT to be men; society appointed all priests to be men. The Son of God was a man yes, but he came in the world to be human (there is a significant difference). He did have 12 disciples who were all men, just like other rabbis took men as disciples – another example of society at work, not divinity. Finally, what does it matter who the apostles appointed as overseers of the Church? That is again society, not divinity."

I have no current opinion on the masculinity of the Christian faith (other than that it makes for interesting discussion), but I did take issue with the comment above.  Here is my reply to this comment:

"Please be careful not to undermine the reason why God gave the priesthood to Aaron and his sons (all male) (Numbers 3). The priests were to be male because God was sending his Son (who was male) to be the everlasting high priest and all other priests were simply types pointing to Christ (Heb 4:14). Similarly, when God told Moses in Exodus 12:5, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old” He was also creating a pointer to Christ. Christ would be a male without blemish.

As much as people want to make this a male vs female thing, this “male requirement” has absolutely nothing to do with how much God values males or females. It has everything to do with pointing us to Christ. The maleness of the priests and the lambs was important, not trivial, God-dictated, not society-dictated. To say otherwise misses the point in it all."

Saved not by works but by work?

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

Suppose you agree with me that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works.  Now suppose you make the decision to follow Christ and that decision results in authentic faith that saves you.  Could you not then argue "I was not saved by my works but by my work of deciding"?  In other words, while Christ's death on the cross made you saveable, it was your decision to believe that actually saved you.  (I'm speaking hypothetically)  And if you can claim that, is that not something you could boast about?  How then is salvation "not a result of works, so that no one may boast" as Ephesians 2:9 says it is?

My point being, if our salvation is conditional on a choice (or even God's foreknowledge of a choice we would have made) and not on God's election then we are ultimately saved by our own volition.  However, if our salvation is conditional on God's election irrespective of anything we do or choice we make (though if elected you will respond to the call of the gospel with belief) then we are saved by God alone "and this is not [our] own doing".

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.  John 6:63

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.  1 Corinthians 2:14

"Watching this tree go down makes me want the roots of my life to be deep, not wide. Deep into Christ. http://dsr.gd/VFTWI2"  (John Piper, @JohnPiper)

Lead us not into temptation

And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.  Matthew 6:13

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  James 1:12-15

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  Matthew 4:1

God does not tempt us to sin.  But God does put us in situations where we will be tempted to sin.  The Bible calls these tests.  Notice how James 1:12 says "when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life".  In Genesis 22, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  Genesis 22:1-2

Do you think Abraham was tempted to disobey God when God instructed him to kill his son Isaac?  We can infer it was extremely tempting (the text doesn't say) because the blessing that resulted from passing the test was so massive:

15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”  Genesis 22:15-18

So even though God lead Abraham into a situation where he would be tempted God did not tempt him.  The tempting was done by Abraham's desire to have a son.  As James 1:14 says, "each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire."

Our affections determine our direction.  Jesus said the greatest commandment in all the Bible is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37).  If the desire of my heart tempts me or causes me to sin then it's a sign my desire is for something other than God.  Desire is not inherently sinful, misdirected desire is.  When our desire for Christ and His glory outweighs every other desire of our heart then all other desires will play second-fiddle to Christ.  I need to ask God to grow my affection for him so I can say with the prophet Isaiah "your name and renown are the desire of our hearts" (Isaiah 26:8b).  Many people who find themselves mired in a trial are quick to say, "God did not cause this trial I'm going through."  The assumption is since God does not tempt us he cannot put us in situations where we are tempted, but the Bible teaches otherwise.  Our trials are always purposeful.  When we refuse to believe God intentionally leads us into trials, we risk missing his loving purposes for those trials.

Do you know how to tell the difference between sheep and wolves in sheep’s clothing? Sheep eat grass; wolves eat sheep — it doesn't matter how prettily they are dressed. (Thabiti Anyabwile)

Stop projecting negativity! Think positive...

Hurricane Sandy has done a number on the Northeast.  The latest death toll I'm aware of is 98 people.  Staten Island is completely cut off from help.  Anger is boiling over.  People are getting mad at the Red Cross of all things because it's not helping them quickly enough.  Prior to the hurricane the actress Lindsay Lohan tweeted "WHY is everyone in SUCH a panic about hurricane (I'm calling it Sally) ... ? Stop projecting negativity! Think positive and pray for peace."  Had Sandy blown over like a bad thunderstorm I doubt the tweet would have made news, but due to the path of destruction left in Sandy's wake the tweet seems pretty naive.

There's a deeper problem in the world than hurricane Sandy--but like the hurricane most of the world is in denial about it.  If there's one thing I hope Sandy communicates to people is that the world we live in is fallen.  Who could have imagined New York City or the Jersey Shore would be the target of perhaps the largest storm to ever hit the United States?  And yet, it happened.  The fact that anyone has to keep a death toll is evidence to the broken world we inhabit.

While we live in a broken, fallen world where the only certainties are "death and taxes" I am grieved by the number of Christian pastors whose message is the same as Lindsay Lohan's.  They are effectively tweeting "WHY is everyone in SUCH a panic about SIN (I'm calling it Silly) ... ? Stop projecting negativity! Think positive and pray for peace."  Rather than leveling with people about their desperate need for the only Solution to our fallen nature they pad their church attendance with positivity, entertainment, and self-help band-aids to cover our mortal wound.  Is there a place for positive thinking?  Absolutely.  But only when positive thinking doesn't ignore or hide the underlying problem.  As C.S. Lewis said in The Great Divorce, "Every disease that submits to a cure shall be cured: but we will not call blue yellow to please those who insist on still having jaundice".

There is a Solution to sin.  His name is Christ, and when we embrace reality we will run to Him.  Paul embraced reality, and he said, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25a)

The 3-2-1 Gospel

One of the best presentations of the gospel I've ever seen:

http://321.revivalmedia.org/

A tale of two errors

23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” Matthew 22:23-29

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection even though they knew what the Scriptures said.  Because of their unbelief Jesus faulted the Sadducees for 2 things:

a) not knowing, or rather, acknowledging (they knew what Moses said) the truth of the Scriptures

b) not believing the power of God

As a Christian I must ask myself, "Can Jesus fault me for these?"  Of course the answer is yes.  So I must always be asking God to help me know what is in the Scriptures, acknowledge that it is truth, and believe in His power as it is described.

“Post Tenebras Lux”—“After Darkness... Light.”

http://vimeo.com/50857619#at=0

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.  Matthew 27:45-50

I used to think when Jesus quoted Psalm 22 on the cross and said, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" that he was giving voice to his own uncertainty.  That thought comforted me because I felt Jesus empathized with our questions and doubts.  He could relate.  Even Jesus asked "Why?".

I think Jesus chose his final words carefully.  His whole life up to that point had been lived for one purpose.  As Christ himself said in John 12,

"27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”  John 12:27-28

In spite of this, Jesus' words on the cross made me wonder if in his last moments Jesus perhaps wasn't so sure about this plan.  That is until I read the Psalm he was pointing to:  Psalm 22.

You see, Psalm 22 is an explanation of why Jesus had to die on that cross.  By quoting its opening words Jesus was pointing us to the problem of our separation from God ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"; vs 1), the solution ("you lay me [Christ] in the dust of death"; vs 15), and the ultimate glorious resolution ("The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied...All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord."; vs 26, 27).  Why can we trust him?  Because "he has done it" (vs 31).  His plan will not be thwarted.  It will succeed.

By quoting Psalm 22 it's as if Jesus in his final moments was pointing to the Psalm with all of his remaining strength and saying "Look here!  This is why I'm on this cross!  This is what I'm accomplishing!"

If my former understanding was comforting it was because in his empathetic uncertainty Jesus provided a shoulder to cry on.  But after following him to Psalm 22 he picks up my head and turns my tears into joy.

Psalm 22
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
    and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,
    enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
    they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
    they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
    let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
    you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
    and from my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Be not far from me,
    for trouble is near,
    and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;
    strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
    like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
    it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;
    a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
    and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
    O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dog!
21     Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;
    in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
    and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
    the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
    but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
    my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
    May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
    and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
    and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
    before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
    even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
    it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
    that he has done it.  Psalm 22

32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you.’

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.  (Acts 13:32-39)

Universalism is impractical

Christian Universalism is the belief that when Christ died on the cross he paid the price for everyone's sins right then and there.  In effect, his atonement removed God's wrath for sin from every person throughout history regardless of whether they know it or not.  In the Universalist view, faith does not matter for salvation.

Now, Universalism is not a Biblical view, and to believe in Universalism you have to overlook and ignore broad swaths of the Bible.  But even from a purely practical point-of-view it is farcical.  Most of the twelve disciples were martyred.  The apostle Paul was beheaded in Rome.  Peter was crucified upside down.  It makes no sense that these individuals would gives their lives to spread the news that everyone was going to be saved.  If everyone would have been saved whether they knew it or not, why die to tell them?

Would you devote your life and your death to telling people information that didn't matter?

Excerpt from Is Faith Meritorious?

What faith involves and whether it “merits” salvation may be shown by two illustrations. First, picture yourself as a murderer condemned to death and awaiting execution. You are guilty and everyone knows it. You deserve to die. Then you get a letter from the President of the United States which says that he has, by his sovereign power, decided to remit your sentence and let you go free.

The reason he gives for this decision is not that any new evidence has turned up, but rather he simply wants to demonstrate to everyone his power in this declaration of mercy and to transform your disregard for his laws into humble adoration of his merciful sovereignty. He calls your attention to his seal on the letter and instructs you to simply show it to the warden, who will then let you go free—no questions asked.

So you call the guard, show him the letter and get a hearing with the warden. As you enter the warden’s office, you smell the fresh air of life and liberty blowing in his window and you see the tops of trees and a kite flying beyond the wall. You hand him the letter and he reads it. Without a query he orders the guard to get your things. As you leave the gates you turn to look at the massive prison and the row of windows where you had been an hour before. Then you start running and jumping and shouting and laughing and telling everyone, “The President let me out! The President let me out!”

In the second illustration, picture yourself as a poor unskilled laborer who barely can scrape enough together to feed your wife and three children. One day you get in the mail a letter from a famous wealthy philanthropist. The letter says that if you will bring it to his lawyer, the lawyer will pay you a hundred thousand dollars—no strings attached. The reason he gives is simply that he enjoys giving to the poor.

There is no indication why he sent the letter to you and not to another. You need only go pick up the money with the letter. So you follow his instructions and go. Entering the lawyer’s office, you hand him the letter. He says he has been expecting you, writes the check and bids you farewell.

The question that these two stories raise is whether you, in either situation, could properly speak of “meriting” freedom or wealth? You did have to meet a condition: The sine qua non of freedom and wealth was to present the letters from the President and the philanthropist. But to use our definition of merit, was your presenting of the letters an act so valuable to the President or to the philanthropist that they were thus obligated to reward you?

I think the answer is clearly no. Only one thing obligated the President and the philanthropist—their own honor. Insofar as they were committed to maintaining their own honor, it was morally impossible for them to refuse the favor they had promised. In other words, there was something so valuable to them that they were obligated to “reward” it, namely, their own good name.
...

Faith is the one human act which morally obligates another person without calling attention to the other person’s honor. Faith in God’s promise obligates him to save the believer not because the quality of faith is meritorious, but because faith is the one human act which calls attention alone to God’s merit, honor and glory and his unswerving commitment to maintain that glory.

From "Is Faith Meritorious?" by John Piper.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Isaiah 55:2

Do you see the waterfall?

There are many Christians today who believe in justification by decency.  What I mean is they believe if they are civil with their neighbor and don't do anything (or at least, not a lot of things) that are indecent they are "okay" with God.  If asked to provide some way to measure civility they will usually say, "The Golden Rule".  And by that they are referring to the second greatest commandment given by Jesus (though they may not know they are):  Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)  If asked to define what is decent or indecent they'll say it is based upon whatever is culturally acceptable.

One pastor I spoke to recently told me that he's often posed the question to people, "If you were to stand before Jesus today and He were to ask you, 'Why should I allow you into my kingdom?', what would you say?"  The typical response is, "Because I believe Jesus died for me on the cross and I've been a pretty good person."  The response begs the question, if you've been a pretty good person then why did Jesus have to die for you on the cross?

There's an inconsistency with that response which tells me that person does not understand their true condition.  They don't understand how desperately in need they are.

Let me illustrate.  A man went paddling down a river in a canoe.  All of a sudden another man ran up to the edge of the river in a life vest and yelled, "I'll save you!" and jumped into the river.  He swam over to the canoe, pulled the man out of the boat and pulled him back to shore.  The paddler, soaking wet, screamed, "What did you do that for?!"

Another man went down a river in a canoe.  He was paddling for his life upstream while his canoe was sucked along by a raging current towards a towering waterfall just ahead.  All of a sudden another man ran up to the edge of the river with a rope tied to a tree and yelled, "I'll save you!" and jumped into the river.  He swam over to the canoe, threw the paddler the rope that saved him, and went over the waterfall himself.

Which paddler do you think was more thankful for their rescuer?  Probably the paddler who saw the waterfall ahead and knew there was nothing he could do to rescue himself.

Our sinfulness puts us each in a canoe on a river aiming straight for certain death.  When we overlook or minimize our sin we fail to recognize our precarious situation. We fail to see our desperate need for rescue.

The Bible tells many stories about people who minimized their sin.  Consider this story found in the book of Mark:

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Mark 2:15-17

The Pharisees hated that Jesus ate with the "sinners" and outcasts of society.  Jesus responded that he "came not to call the righteous, but sinners."  The problem with the Pharisees wasn't that they were too religious.  It wasn't that they were too conservative either.  Their problem was that they did not recognize their own sin.  They were blind to it.  They thought they were righteous and didn't need help.  Jesus ministry was to those who needed rescue, not those who thought they were alright.  Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-9).

All Christians minimize their sin to some degree.  Nobody wants to face the reality of their sin.  Yet we are called to face our sin head-on with an attitude of repentance.  I'm reminded of the story of King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered.  The prophet Nathan went to him and exposed David's sin.  When David realized what he had done he faced his sin and its consequences head-on.  He minimized his sin until Nathan tore down the walls David had built up to protect himself (2 Samuel 11-12).

Here's the danger:  when we minimize our sin, we also minimize our perceived need for Christ.  If we do not believe we need the atonement Christ provides we cannot believe in what his atonement accomplished.  And without faith in his blood that cleanses us of our sin we are not justified before God (Romans 3:25).  This is why the apostle John wrote, "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:10) but if we "walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).  The light exposes sin so if we don't see our sin it's an indication there's no light shining.

Pascal's Wager

I would rather die duped than damned.  (Pascal's Wager)

"God Is Most Glorified in Us When We Are Most Satisfied in Him"

This excerpt was transcribed from John Piper's sermon, "God Is Most Glorified in Us When We Are Most Satisfied in Him."

"God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the highest virtue.  If you try to exalt yourself you're not loving anybody.  Why?  Because you are distracting them from what will make them happy:  God!  You won't make them happy.  You're quite unsatisfactory.  God will make them happy.  If you say, "Look at me!  Look at me!  Look at me!" You distract them from what will save them.  Give them life, give them joy.  But, if God exalts himself He's not distracting you, He's loving you.  "Come to me, come to me.  I'm everything you've ever wanted.  Come to me.  Be satisfied in Me.  Enjoy Me.  Treasure Me."  If you say that you're an egomaniac.  If God says it He's love." (John Piper)

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

New City Catechism

www.newcitycatechism.com

If you are not familiar with "catechisms" they are basically a series of questions and answers intended to be simple but Biblically rich and useful for both adults and children.

They are updated periodically to respond Biblically to the issues of the day.

This one contains 52 question and answers, each with accompanying scripture, commentary, video commentary, and prayer.  Each answer has an adult version and a child version.  52 makes it easy to do one per week.

It would be especially helpful in instructing your children.

All about faith

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval.  Hebrews 11:1-2 NASB

What is faith?  What is its purpose?  Hebrews 11:1-2 answers these questions for us.

What is faith?

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.  The Greek word for "assurance" here is ὑπόστασις (pronounced hypostasis).  It means "a setting or placing under", "foundation", and "that which has foundation, is firm".  One reading is that faith is our firm confidence, our foundation, that the things we hope for will occur.

Faith is also the conviction of things not seen.  The Greek word for "conviction" here is ἔλεγχος (pronounced elegchos).  It means "a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested".  The King James Version translates the word as "evidence".  So faith is proof.  It is evidence of something.

What is faith's purpose?

Verse 2 says it was by faith "the men of old gained approval."  The Greek word for "approval" is μαρτυρέω (pronounced martyreō).  If you notice the pronunciation looks a lot like the word "martyr".  In fact, the Greek word for "martyr" is its root.  The word translated as "approval" here means "to be a witness, to bear witness" and "to utter honorable testimony, give a good report".  The King James Version translates this verse to say "For by it the elders obtained a good report."  So the purpose of faith is to bear witness to something and in so doing provide a good report for us.

The rest of Hebrews 11 lists several instances where heroes did good works "by faith".  Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain, Noah prepared the ark, Abraham went out to obtain his God-given inheritance even though he didn't know where he was going.  The list is remarkable but the point is that their good deeds were evidence of the authenticity of their faith and their faith was the evidence (proof) that they were God's people.

Let's say I sit down to take a math final exam.  The teacher has been teaching me math for months and now has to determine how much I understand and whether I belong in the next-level class.  She passes out the test and says, "You may begin."  With several strokes of my pencil I try to solve equation after equation.  I finally get to the end and I give her my test to be graded.  The next day she gives it back and I see some red Xs on the questions I got wrong.  You see, the teacher needs me to submit evidence proving I belong and so I take an exam.  The pencil marks on my exam are the outward expression of my understanding and provide proof to the teacher I belong in the next class.

I want to be careful here because by using an academic reference I may unintentionally give the impression that faith is an achievement which deserves reward.  Our faith is not something meritorious we do that God rewards.  It is not the reason we are part of God's family.  We belong in God's family because God purchased us through his Son's death on the cross.  Our faith is the evidence (proof) that God purchased us (1 Corinthians 6:20).  Consider what the apostle John says,

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.  1 John 5:1

A few verses later, John says,

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.  1 John 5:13

So John wants us to know that our faith is proof that we are born of God and that proof gives us assurance that we have eternal life.  This takes us back to the first point, which is that faith is the assurance of things hoped for.  Our hope is that we belong in God's family and so will be benefactors of his promises.  Our faith is our assurance that this is so.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." (C.S. Lewis, Is Theology Poetry?)

"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect."  (John Owen)

Free books by John Piper

John Piper has made most, if not all, of his books available for free as PDFs on the Desiring God website.  You can view the list of books here.

"Through" or "for"?

39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, Hebrews 11:39 NASB

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, Hebrews 11:39 NIV

In the first translation mentioned above, the heroes listed in Hebrews 11 gained approval (were commended) through their faith.  In the second translation, they were commended for their faith.

The Greek word translated as "for" and "through" is διά (pronounced dia).  It actually forms the root of the English word "diameter", which is the line that stretches from one side of a circle through to the opposite side, hence why it's translated as "through" in the NASB.  Its meaning is "A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act" (for more information, go here).  So you could say the word "dia" specifies the means by which something is accomplished.

The wording is important because using the word "for" gives the impression that faith is something we do that deserves merit.  But our faith does not deserve merit because whatever faith we exercise is given by God.  That is why the disciples pleaded with Jesus, saying "Increase our faith!" (Luke 17:5) and Paul wrote to fellow Christians,

29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,  Philippians 1:29 (emphasis mine)

And again he wrote in Romans,

3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.  Romans 12:3 (emphasis mine)

Faith is like a muscle.  I can go to the gym to workout and gradually my muscles will increase in strength.  But I had to be given some amount of muscle to start!  Thank God for the faith that you have and if you find yourself in a time of little faith, ask God to increase it.

The "original" sin

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  Genesis 3:1-6

The first sin made by Adam--and the one all other sins flow from--is the desire to be like God.  That's the root of all disobedience.  That's why the serpent said, "when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)  That's the whole reason Adam and Eve ate the fruit.  In our desire to become like God we actually replace God in our hearts and put ourselves in his place.  In effect we make ourselves our own idol.  As Paul says in Romans 1, we "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25; italics mine).

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.  Romans 1:22-25

Whenever we tell God--through our decisions, mindset, and behaviors--"I'm going to do this my way" we put ourselves in the place of God.  And when we take this to the extreme, God gives us up to our desires.  God intends to protect us from ourselves but there is a point in our kicking and screaming "Let go!" where God says, "Okay, do what you want to do."

A rose bush becomes most beautiful if the gardener prunes it regularly by cutting it back and removing all the dead blossoms.  Right after the pruning the bush looks terrible but given a couple months it will be full of beautiful flowers.  God prunes us through the discipline of trials and hardship.  This process is called "sanctification"and through it we gradually do become more like God.  As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18,

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

When God stops pruning us and "gives us up" due to our persistent stubbornness He withdrawals his shears and let's us go wild--and the outcome is never good.  Our desire to be God-like is not the problem.  The problem is in our effort to be God-like we take God out of our hearts and replace him with ourselves.  As C.S. Lewis said in his book The Great Divorce,"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done.""

What wonderful timing!

How often are we grateful for the timing of our lives?  Be grateful you exist today!  It is a blessing to be alive after Christ.  The Bible says being alive today is much better than being before Christ because now the mystery of Christ has been revealed.  Peter says in 1 Peter 1 the prophets of old yearned to see the coming of the Christ for they knew of his sufferings and the glory he would usher in.  He says,

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.  1 Peter 1:10-12

Peter says the prophets sought after the timing and the person of Christ because the Spirit of Christ was in them and preached to them about his coming.  In Matthew 13, Jesus tells his disciples,

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.  Matthew 13:16-17

Astonishingly there was one who did see the Christ.  In John 8 Jesus describes how Abraham longed to see the Christ and actually did (to the Jews' disbelief)!

56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”  John 8:56-58

Jesus may have been referring to meeting Abraham in Genesis 18, an amazing story in and of itself.

Whatever else is going on in your life, be glad and thank God that Christ is known to you.  There were many who came before you who longed to know Him and yearned to see His coming but weren't able to.  Now we, along with them, can yearn to see His second coming!

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!  Revelation 22:20

Why I appreciate my church

The longer I go to my church the more I profoundly appreciate the teaching I receive there.  The three doctrinal truths that have impacted me the most over my eight years there are:

1. That the power of the gospel (what Christ accomplished for us on the cross) isn't confined to its ability to save souls.  It also has the ability to restore and redefine relationships in the here and now.
2. That perseverance in the faith and the good works done over a lifetime are evidence of being in Christ not the cause.
3. That God is sovereignly active in sanctifying His children through our highs and lows not in spite of them.

"Every disease that submits to a cure shall be cured: but we will not call blue yellow to please those who insist on still having jaundice, nor make a midden of the world's garden for the sake of some who cannot abide the smell of roses."  (C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce)

God did not create us because He needed to

"Tis no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain that it is inclined to overflow" (Jonathan Edwards, Yale: Works, Vol. 8, 448)

Sweet justice

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.  Jonah 1:1-3

10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.  Jonah 3:10

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” Jonah 4:1-10

Jonah and God had different understandings of what justice was.  When God told Jonah to warn Ninevah, Jonah ran away.  It's not until we read chapter 4 that we understand why Jonah ran.  The reason was he felt Ninevah deserved destruction and knew if they repented God would not destroy them.  So Jonah wanted to prevent Ninevah from receiving any warning.  To Jonah, Ninevah's destruction would be justice.  God clearly disagreed or He would have leveled the city despite their repentance.

What is justice?  If you think you know what it is how did you come to that conclusion?

I am going to make one definitive absolute statement.  God is just.  There is nothing that can take away from his "justness" nor is there anything that can add to it.  Consider what God tells Moses in Exodus 33:18-19.  Moses asks God, "Please show me your glory." (vs 18)  God's response is "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." (vs 19)  What this means is that God can do whatever He wants to do.  He does not answer to anyone and there is no one He is accountable to.  He will be gracious to whomever He wants to and He will show mercy to whomever He wants to.  This means He will also decline mercy to whomever He wants to.  And in all of this God is just.  For Him there is no gradient of justice.  There is no sort-of just or injustice.  Anything He does or decrees is just.

So often people tell me, "If God does that then He's not just."  That's a false statement regardless of what the person was referring to.  If God does that then He's absolutely just regardless of what that is.  This is because God is just.  It is only because of Him that we have any understanding of what justice is.

It was this very concept that lead C.S. Lewis to become a Christian.  Here is what Lewis says in his book Mere Christianity:

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying that it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too--for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist--in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless--I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality--namely my idea of justice--was full of sense. Consequently atheism turns out to be too simple. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

What Lewis is saying is that if you have any sense of injustice in the world it is because there is a God who is just.  We only understand injustice because we have justice to compare it to.  So you can rightly say the world is an unjust place but one thing you cannot do is say God is not just for He is the only one who actually is just.

Does God cause sin?

Does God cause sin?  Arminians say no, God permits sin.  Calvinists say no, God ordains sin.  What do you think?

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.   Exodus 4:21

2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”  Exodus 7:2-5

Let's proceed inductively.

Did God harden Pharaoh's heart?

Was it because of Pharaoh’s hardened heart that he refused to obey God and sinned by not letting the Israelites go?

So we could say God did not cause Pharaoh to sin but rather Pharaoh’s hardened heart caused him to sin.  But then we have to ask did God cause Pharaoh’s hardened heart? Obviously based on Exodus 4:21, God says, "I will harden his heart".  So God did in fact cause the hardened heart.

Why did God cause the hardened heart?  Exodus 4:21 says "so he will not let the people go."  Exodus 7:5 adds, "The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord."  Paul says in Romans 9:17,

"17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

So if God caused the hardened heart which caused the sin then perhaps we would be correct to say that sin can occur as a result of something God causes. So God does not cause the sin but rather causes the circumstances which He in his omniscience and perfect wisdom knows will cause sin through which his purposes will be accomplished.

John Piper's sermon "Does James Contradict Paul?"

I highly recommend you read or listen to John Piper's sermon Does James Contradict Paul?

Thanks for the comment, Jose

I saw an article today on the New York Times website about a piece of papyrus that says Jesus had a wife.  You can read it here.  The piece of papyrus is 4 by 8 centimeters in size and says things like "Jesus said to them, 'My wife ...' ".  Needless to say many books will probably be written about this little piece of papyrus.  As usual I spent most of my time in the comment section beneath the article reading what other people were saying about the article.  Most of the comments dismissed the find as insignificant because the Bible is very clear that the Church is Christ's bride.  But the comment that struck me as funny, true, and touching all at the same time was this one:

I wish I could tell Jose how much his comment meant to me.  Maybe we'll meet up in the Kingdom.

Happiness in heaven

I recently read a blog post that posed the question, "How will I possibly be happy in heaven if I know my friends and family are in hell?  How can heaven be heaven if that's the case?"

Here is my response to that:

The gift of eternal life as described in the Bible is about spending an eternity with Jesus Christ.  That is why Paul says in Philippians 3:8,

"I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him."

Paul said everything is loss compared to knowing Christ and when we leave the perishable and put on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:54) we will be able to know Christ fully and everything you have lost in this life along with every worry, concern, stress, disability, fear, pain you have felt will not be remembered for the joy you will be enveloped in.  Paul called this "an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison" (2 Corinthians 4:17).  As Isaiah 65:17 says,

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind."

In his essay Transposition C.S. Lewis observes that for most people "our notion of Heaven involves perpetual negations: no food, no drink, no sex, no movement, no mirth, no events, no time, no art.  Against all these, to be sure, we set one positive: the vision and enjoyment of God.  And since this is an infinite good, we hold (rightly) that it outweighs them all." 

I should also mention that the disciples were not eager to go to heaven--at least that wasn't their ultimate goal--they were eager to be resurrected in glorified bodies when Christ returns.  That's why Paul continues in Philippians 3:10-11 and says his motivation in life is "that I may know him [Christ] and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."