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Romans 15.4 – Humility and God’s Word

3 September 2010, 5:57 pm

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Therein lies the humility required of anybody who would come to God. The scriptures are there for our learning. The notion of authority comes ill to some today. They think they should be able to make up their own religion as they go along, and God should be more than happy with the result.

Even people with a professional duty to “contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” can sometimes be heard to say, “I don’t believe that because….”, and then follows a statement to the effect they do not believe something because they wouldn’t like that something to be true. Typically, a statement such as that will involve predestination.

But it really does not matter whether we like what we read in the Bible or not. If something is revealed to be true, then we must learn to like it, because we must learn to love God’s will and to desire only what he desires.

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Luke 16.19-31 – Belief & Unbelief

2 September 2010, 5:34 pm

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham…… I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him [Lazarus] to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

The final verse in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus reminds me of the verse in John 6.45. The rich man’s words correspond exactly to what I hear from the new atheists today: “If God wants me to believe in him, why doesn’t he materialise if front of me, and raise somebody from the dead?” or words to that effect. Always it is one more piece of evidence, and then they will believe.

The New Testament bears witness to the fact of it always being the other way around. Those receptive to new revelation are always those who have been receptive to what God has had to say for himself in the past. Conversely, those who have not been receptive to existing revelation are also those who will continue to find excuses for not believing in the future. In the final analysis it all hinges upon what is in the heart, and not upon the amount of evidence available. For those who do not want to believe, no amount of evidence will ever be sufficient. For those who are prepared to believe, because they have been blessed by divine grace, and are God’s children, all the evidence they need is available to them in the Bible.

I do not want those last couple of sentences to sound too harsh. There doubtless are people, growing in faith, for whom the Bible may not seem to be sufficient evidence. I used to be one of them. There are others for whom the biblical evidence, though important, needs to be supplemented. But the key difference is that they are not looking for reasons not to believe.

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Acts 17.16-31 – Repentance and our attitude towards God

1 September 2010, 5:56 pm

“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. ….. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him….. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.”

There is but one God. He is the creator of all things, if there is one theme which runs throughout the Bible it is that this God does not give his glory to another, and he commands all men everywhere to repent.

And yet it is a command we are completely unable to obey. Sold under sin (Romans 7.14) we stand condemned before this holy God. Our only chance of salvation is if the Holy Spirit works in our hearts in such a way as to bring about a receptivity to the message of Jesus. And in some hearts he does work to bring about repentance – but not all. Why not? The Bible is silent on that subject. Perhaps with the intention that we should tremble before this fearful and ineffable God of ours.

How many of today’s Christians are possessed of the same feeling of dread experienced by Moses at Mount Sinai, or the dread the ancient Israelites experienced more generally, when they considered it not possible that any mortal man should see God and live?

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Psalm 111.10, 14.1 – Wisdom

30 August 2010, 7:54 pm

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. (Psalm 111.10)

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. (Psalm 14.1)

Wisdom and cleverness are two different things. It is entirely possible to be both very clever and very foolish. A wise fool, on the other hand, is an oxymoron.

Being clever is a matter of being able to acquire large amounts of information, and being able to manipulate it effectively, so as to draw new conclusions. Such cleverness can just as easily be used to build an atomic bomb as it can to serve God.

Being wise, on the other hand, involves conforming ourselves to the nature of reality, and, as a result, being able to navigate our way through this earthly existence without any major mishaps. For a Christian the fundamental nature of reality lies in its being God’s creation, with ourselves being part of that creation. Conforming ourselves to the nature of reality means seeking to know God’s will, obeying it, and living for his Glory.

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Ezekiel 9.3-6, 11 – Divine Wrath

28 August 2010, 2:11 pm

“And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.”

“And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.”

The first four verses quoted above are an echo of some of the passages to be found in Revelation, and they remind us that the God of love is also a God of wrath. Today it is common for both theologians and preachers to emphasise the God’s love, whilst virtually ignoring his wrath. I suppose that must at least partly be put down to a reaction against the hellfire sermons of yesteryear, when the imbalance was precisely on the other foot.

But when I hear people complain that they don’t much care for the God who judges, and then casts into hell those who are the objects of his wrath, my immediate reaction is that whether or not they like it is not really relevant. The only question which matters is whether or not it is true. The biblical authors (in both testaments) certainly seemed to think it is true, and, given that Christians are supposed to believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God, they might at least give it the benefit of the doubt, when it comes to believing what it has to say about divine retribution.

As for verse 11, it is a reminder that, unlike humans, angels always obey the will of God.

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John 1.1-10, Luke 11.31 – Divinity of Christ

27 August 2010, 4:50 pm

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”

“The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”

One of the resurrected heresies to be heard nowadays involves the denial of Jesus’ divinity. It is most notably to be heard from Jehovah’s Witnesses, but they are far from being alone. Perhaps one of the most dreadful examples of that is John Selby Spong, who is supposed to be an Anglican bishop, but who (for heaven sake) does not even believe in the existence of God.

A quirk in Greek grammar allows the Jehovah’s witnesses to translate John 1.1 as “The Word was a god.” However, twice in his opening verses (verses 3 and 10) John states that the Word was responsible for bringing Creation into being, which harks back directly to Genesis 1, where God is said to have been responsible for bringing Creation into being.

So far as the verse from Luke is concerned, it has to be said that either Jesus was God Incarnate, or he must have had an ego the size of a mountain. If the latter were to be the case, it is not clear that anybody should be honouring him as their Lord and saviour; whether they be Jehovah’s Witnesses, errant bishops, or otherwise. As C S Lewis once said, you cannot sensibly deny both that Jesus was God Incarnate, and in the very next breath go on to describe him as a great moral and religious teacher.

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2 Peter 2.1-3, 20-21 Modern Heresies (2)

26 August 2010, 4:36 pm

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not….. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

As readers of this blog will doubtless be aware, chapter two of 2 Peter contains much in similar vein. The author of Genesis 3 was certainly correct when he identified pride as the original sin, and here it is on display again. In their pride, and particularly in a culture which revolves around consumer choice, men do not want to accept the authority of the Bible, of the Church, or even of God himself. Perhaps it is unsurprising that atheists and agnostics feel that way, but for Christians it ought to be unthinkable. People are nowadays not much interested in objective truth, but only in what “works” for them. Christianity (and for that matter God) is seen as just one more amongst a range of options available in the spiritual market place. These can aim at a longer life, a happier life, a more “spiritual” life, or simply at greater material success (the “prosperity gospel”).

Unfortunately, as he makes very clear in the Bible, God is interested in objective truth, especially as that relates to what he requires of man, and also as it relates to our only means of salvation. He is unlikely to be impressed by the kind of self absorption which only asks: What feels “right” for me?

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Romans 9.6-13 – Election and Salvation

25 August 2010, 5:32 pm

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

The God of the Bible is preeminently one who elects individuals and nations. As Paul records, that fact is attested to throughout sacred history. First, Abraham was called with the promise that he and his descendants would be the agents through which God’s blessing would eventually extend to the whole of mankind. Next Isaac was called in preference to Ishmael, and then Jacob in preference to Esau. After that a remnant were chosen to return from exile, and now it is those born of the Spirit who are the elect of God. At every point it is the will of God, rather than the will of man, which has been the determinative factor:

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1.12-13)

I sometimes hear it said in internet forums that predestination is not biblical, and I am left wondering whether somebody who says that reads the same Bible as me. We were not created to be masters of our own destiny, but to serve God’s purposes. Whilst we might not like to be dependent upon God’s grace, that is the situation as it is revealed to us in the Bible. If we do not accept what God has to say for himself, then, it seems to me, we must tread one of the many roads to idolatry.

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Romans 7.7-15 – The law, sin and salvation.

24 August 2010, 5:50 pm

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

Although the terminology may not have been current in his day, Paul is here talking about our fallen nature. At least in part, the Mosaic law was given so that we could become aware of our corrupt nature. To some extent the same is true of the Sermon on the Mount. Without exception, every single one of us falls far short of the standard which God sets before us. Therefore, if we are sufficiently self aware, self righteousness ought to be impossible. The same self awareness ought to make us sensible of our utter dependence upon God’s mercy, and upon the salvation offered in Christ. As Paul says a bit further on:

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The reason that, even today, we still feel tempted to effect our own salvation can probably be put down to the same pride which brought about the fall in the first place. (The motive for atheism can sometimes be the desire to assert an illusory self sufficiency, and also desire to insist upon a complete independence of anything beyond ourselves.)

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Luke 7.28-30 – Repentance

23 August 2010, 1:18 pm

For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

That the materially and spiritually poor tend to be open to God, in a way that the secure and self-righteous are not, is a motif which recurs throughout the New Testament. In terms of human psychology, it is not hard to understand why that should be so.

There are two kinds of false security which can separate us from God. One kind of false security is characterised by self righteousness. Here people feel sure that they have led morally impeccable lives. They have read the Bible regularly, attended church every Sunday, and have worked for the welfare of others. That such a lifestyle is laudable is not to be disputed, but it counts for nothing if it leads to the kind of self righteousness which separates us from God, and from any sense that we actually need God in our lives. After all, somebody with the above lifestyle might tell themselves that a just God will have no option, but to grant them entry into the heavenly realms come judgment day. They can have no further need of that God until the time comes for him to grant them their just rewards.

The other kind of false security is characterised by its contemptuous dismissal of anything beyond the material realm. Here people will have had great success in their career, they have two (expensive) cars in their garage, a large house, holidays in the world’s most exotic locations, and more than enough set aside for them to be sure a comfortable retirement. With so much material security, and the accompanying sense of being in control of their own destiny, what need have they of God and the Spirit which bloweth (them) where it will?

Finally, of course, there is the so called “Prosperity Gospel” which manages to combine both of the other two kinds of false security.

The poor, on the other hand, have no such illusions. They certainly have no reason to feel materially secure, and they are also unlikely to be esteemed as pillars of society. For them the news that they are nevertheless loved and by God is really good news, and placing their trust in God provides them with the only security available to them. This leads in the well known paradox that it is those without material wealth, and who are despised by society, who are the most blessed by God.

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