For Those Who Grapple with a Difficult Doctrine

Candor is an arm-twister.  Hard as I try, I am obliged to confess that the truth of God's complete sovereignty over completely everything is difficult to wrap my theological arms around.  God's sovereignty gives us confidence, and it answers many questions, to be sure, but it also raises some hard questions, and sometimes these questions amalgamate to cause us to question the very reality of God's sovereignty - how can God be sovereign with evil in the world, and so forth?

Fortunately, the concept of utter sovereignty is not one that is unveiled dramatically in Romans 9.  Paul did not invent it, and neither did John Calvin.  Certainly, that go-to passage in the ninth chapter of Romans speaks very clearly about God's sovereignty, but there are incredible and innumerable pictures of His sovereign hand in action all throughout Scripture.  I would like to touch on one of these - a very well-known story indeed - in order to bolster us in our confidence in this indispensable fact of God.

A word to Moses from his God:  "But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion.  So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles..." (Ex. 3:19-20a) We know the setup here - God's people are enslaved in Egypt, and He commissions Moses to bring them out.  At first, this appears as merely a predictive statement - God need not be sovereign in this declaration, but merely omniscient.  However, after Moses is first rebuffed by Pharaoh, God reassures him in this way:  "But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt." (Ex. 7:3)

Some will say, and indeed have said many times, that God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart is only because Pharaoh first hardened his own heart - a judgment laid down by a loving God whose hand is forced.  We note, though, that God provides His own reason for the hardening - the same in both of the aforementioned verses, actually - it is for the cause of glory, so that God may do more wondrous works in Egypt.  Elsewhere He addresses Pharaoh himself and categorically states the same (Ex. 9:16, Rom. 9:15).  Glory, not judgment, lies behind this divine act, and it was done not in response to Pharaoh's misdeeds, but in accordance with God's own purposes (His intentions were voiced, incidentally, before Moses ever departed for Egypt, back in Ex. 4:21).  God's plans include and require Pharaoh's sins.  God's power is uniquely displayed!

Then comes the miraculous and repeated devastation of Egypt (Ex. 7-10).  God's targets:  vital crops, coveted livestock, and - most importantly - the false, impotent deities that the Egyptians set up as patrons over these economic essentials.  The façade of legitimacy is forcefully torn from the religious system of Egypt, and her economy is utterly unraveled. 

The final plague, of course, comes at the hand of God Himself, who goes throughout Egypt and kills all of the firstborn personally, a tragedy that would burst into every Egyptian household and family.  This proves to be the final straw, and the Israelites take their leave at long last, laden with the treasures of Egypt, which they obtained merely by asking (Ex. 12).  See how God continues to take things away from the rebellious nation, all in the process of exalting His own name!  God's plans include and require the blessing and deliverance of His chosen people.  God's grace and love are powerfully manifested!

When the children of Israel begin to move out of the land, they are led by God very carefully.  He keeps them from some obvious routes that would certainly lead them into warfare, and in so doing, leads them pointedly toward the Red Sea (Ex. 13:17-18).  When they arrive, God gives very interesting instruction:  "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.  For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’  Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." (Ex. 14:2-4a)

Mark this well, friends.  God has been demonstrating absolute control here, and He now expresses the desire to deceive Pharaoh into still greater folly, one that will brutalize the Egyptian military on top of everything else, by drowning their elite chariot battalions in the Red Sea (which the children of Israel had just traversed on dry land).  God's plans include and require the deception of Pharaoh so he is driven to pursue the Israelites, to great ruin.  Behold His conquering power!

Mind you, this is the same God doing all of these things.  He delivers on one hand, and He slaughters on the other.  He plans the obedience of Moses, unto His glory, and also the disobedience of Pharaoh, also unto His glory.  Amazing!  Divine purpose, when joined with divine omnipotence and divine omniscience, leads to assured outcomes.  Let us make two statements, now that we have looked at God's work in Egypt.

1.  God does whatever He likes, for His own reasons, with absolutely everything.  The centuries of enslavement, the sinful and stubborn resistance of Pharaoh, the enticement for Pharaoh to pursue God's people - all of these were indispensable features of God's plan, purposed before time began.  If we wrap our minds around this - that the evil as well as the good was a part of God's plan (not that He sinned or tempted, but it was in His plan nonetheless) - then amazing comfort begins to build in our hearts.  Could God have delivered the Israelites sooner?  Of course.  Could He have helped Pharaoh's heart to be softened?  Certainly.  He did things the way He did them, though, because these constituted the conditions of maximum glory.  He says, in effect, to Moses, "My glory is more important than your objections to My plan."  To the Israelites:  "My glory is more important than your immediate release."  And, yes, to Pharaoh, "My glory is more important than your repentant heart."  The Lord has His reasons, which far supersede our own, and He acts on those reasons.  Bless the Lord for His wonderful reasons!  When we grasp the value of His reasons, immeasurable comfort is ours, for we see that He commands all things according to His perfect designs.

2.  God is loving and fair.  Absolute sovereignty does not negate what we know about God. This same God pronounces Himself as good, just, loving, merciful, and patient, in response to Moses" plea to be shown His glory not so long after the Red Sea excursion (Ex. 34:6-7).  The fact of complete sovereignty does not change our God; amen?  If you struggle with how He could be in control of all things, and yet completely fair as He condemns or saves, you are certain to have plenty of company.  In fact, Paul has words just for you in Romans 9:20-24.  In a nutshell, we are in no position to question the God whom we cannot fully understand; we must accept what His Word reveals about His sovereignty (just as we do with regard to the Trinity, the divine and human authorship of Scripture, and many other such truths). 


This is one case in which we can certainly have our cake and eat it as well.  We have the double reassurance that God is always going to act with holy integrity, and is always working events according to His purposes alone.  We have the blessing of His sinless, just, certain, and glorious work in all things!

Adoption and the Spirit of the Son

We have occasionally noticed the Christian's spiritual adoption on this blog - its strength and its gracious nature.  As the subject of spiritual adoption is a glad one for any follower of Christ, I will beg your indulgence in turning now to one of its chief effects, which is seen in its relation to the Holy Spirit. 

Galatians 4:4-7 is the focus of our attention here.  It says, "But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.   Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'  Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God."

It was the Father's good pleasure for His divine Son to be established in an earthly family, that we in turn might be transplanted into His heavenly family.  We see the chain clearly:  the mission of the Son brought redemption, and then adoption into God's own family.  May our knees bend and touch this hallowed ground!  This work of grace will prostrate us if we let it.  And yet, for all this lustrous wonder, God has fashioned yet another link for this glittering chain - our adoption prompts Him to send us the Spirit of His Son.  Did you notice that in the text?  Look once more:  we have the Holy Spirit because we have been adopted into God's family.

This is marvelously unthinkable to our stunted human sensibilities, but it joins so simply with the rest of Scripture.  God adopts us and sends the Spirit of His perfect Son into our imperfect hearts, that we might learn to act and think more like His Son.  Indeed, we see something like this in earthly adoption, in which a child must learn how to operate in his or her new family.  What behavior is expected?  How does the household operate?  The more this new child can integrate into this new situation, the easier things become.

God's family is holy.  It is righteous behavior that becomes His household, and the perfect paradigm, the exemplary member of this family is our oldest brother, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our loving Father wants us to look like Him, because Jesus' flawless and divine example is the pattern by which the Father is honored, and by which we are satisfied.  Thus He disciplines His children (Heb. 12:6), of course, but His gifts do not stop here.  Mere discipline would simply assure constant discipline, thanks to our sin-filled hearts.  We would never learn or change. 

Thankfully, God's "divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness," according to 2 Peter 1:3b.  These powerful blessings are channeled into our souls by means of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  We would have nothing worth having as Christians, were it not for the continual work of the Holy Spirit in us.  The Spirit of He who sympathizes with us, who immersed Himself in those difficulties that we ourselves must endure (Heb. 4:15), knows how to care for us and to give us exactly what is needed out of this immeasurable treasury of "life and godliness."  And we begin to look like Him, because His Spirit, having breathed life into us, now resides in us and changes us - because the Father desires us to look like His unique and divine Son.

I want to show you some familiar words; read them afresh in the light of this discussion:  "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.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son." (Rom. 8:28-29a; emphasis added)  The Spirit of Jesus within us, then, is certainly not going to spend His time and energies frivolously within us.  He will work with purpose, the Father's good purpose - He will keep us in the faith, and He will begin to conform us to Christ's image.

Adoption gives us the Spirit of Christ, and it delivers certainty about our purpose.  Rest, dear worker of the Kingdom; take heart, dear solder in Christ, in the glad knowledge that the Spirit whose very presence gilds your soul is an abundantly sufficient guide and helper in your every step toward righteousness, because of what He has come into your soul to accomplish!

The Exemplary Savior

The earthly life of Christ is an unprecedented gift to the believer.  Aside from its glorious culmination in satiating the Father’s just wrath for the sins of His children, it also provided a dramatic paradigm of what a life of total obedience looks like.  Our Lord did not hesitate to demonstrate the very life that He expected of His followers, and afforded a truly complete example of a God-centered, righteous life.  We see the effects of this example throughout the New Testament.

Romans 8:29 – we have been “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”  The example of Christ becomes indispensable as we strive to grow in Christ-likeness, or to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 13:14; cf. 1 John 2:6)

Hebrews 4:15-16 – Christ’s earthly perseverance in the face of temptation emboldens us to seek mercy and grace because we understand both that it is effectual and that our Lord is sympathetic! 

1 Peter 2:18-25 – Jesus’ righteous example in an evil world demonstrates that we are obliged to suffer for the reason and cause of righteousness.   If persecution was visited upon Him, then we ourselves ought to anticipate it fearlessly as we grow to be more like Him.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 – the Thessalonians were said to have become imitators of Jesus Christ because they “received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”  Like Christ, they could not be dissuaded from joyfully holding fast to the Word of the Lord in light of earthly suffering.

Ephesians 5:1-2 – the example of Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross should stir us to exhibit a selfless love.  If Christ could love even those who were yet His enemies, surely we should work to free our own love from the fetters of human inclinations.

Romans 15:2-3 – we must work in selflessness (and righteousness) to please others, for, search the gospels though we may, we will never find an example of Christ serving Himself.

Philippians 2:5-11 – Jesus’ humility before the Father, even to the point of horrific death, rises into view here.  Clearly if our divine Lord did not hesitate to humble Himself as profoundly as He did, so too must we humble ourselves.

John 13:14-15 – “For I have given you an example,” Jesus says, “that you also should do just as I have done to you.”  He upholds His life here as an example of how to serve one another with humility.

1 John 3:16 – by Christ’s sacrificial example, we come to understand the extent of selfless love, and seek in turn to love our brothers and sisters in Christ in the same way.

These examples from Scripture are of the most personal importance to believers, because - incredibly - the very power, love, and patience that fueled Jesus Christ in His earthly work are the selfsame ones that are wondrously and abundantly furnished to us through the work of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:12-13; 2 Pet. 1:3-4).  This is a blessing beyond human perception, a gift beyond our paltry understanding!

The Bold and Martial Livery of the Faithful Christian Soldier

A person can go through his or her whole life and not know what a ghillie suit is.  Indeed, you may read this and think to yourself, "Yes, and I would be quite content."  Indulge me but a moment, though, and be assured of a spiritual component directly.

Ghillie suits are wearable coverings intended to closely simulate natural foliage.  They are worn and cherished by military snipers, civilian hunters, and, inexplicably, by ardent proponents of a false and absurd machismo whose experience with foliage consists solely of removing it from their lawns with a rake and plastic bag.

That aside (I write with an admitted chuckle), the ghillie suit represents perhaps the pinnacle of camoflage (if not practicality), which is of course a pressing concern for militaries the world over, which endlessly seek to devise a better way to conceal their soldiers in plain view.  This is why, by and large, one does not see frontline soldiers parading about in bright yellow (although the clamor of decency and basic fashion might factor into this as well) - it does not trick the eye; it is not camoflage.  It will draw attention and thus draw fire (and ridicule). 

Now, when we picture the Christian soldier, arrayed for battle and attentive to the commands of our divine Captain, we see no camoflage.  This is a curiosity, for the battles that rage in the spiritual realm, and in which all of Christendom must take part, are for far higher stakes than territories or rights.  We fight for the good pleasure of our Lord - our long campaign is a running war to escape temptation, and we make careful forays into strongholds of darkness, seeking only the spoils of lost souls for our Lord's kingdom (Jude 23).

One would suppose, then, that we would desire to employ every advantage close at hand for this, the most important warfare in all the world, but interestingly, on these fields of battle, camoflage is entirely unbecoming.  Think what camoflage is in this case - if we Christians desire to blend into our surroundings, "camoflage" is merely another word for "worldiness," for our surroundings are the world of the unredeemed.

On direct opposition to this, we are exhorted in Ephesians 6:14 to buckle the breastplate of righteousness firmly into place.  We conclude from the defensive nature that Paul attributes to righteousness here that it is meant to protect us, and, of course, a moment's reflection will prove the truth of this.  The arrows of evil will always find their mark unless we strive for righteousness - the righteousness which comes from the power of God and is therefore sufficient to turn aside every treacherous barb of temptation. 

Naturally, the course of righteous living will render us conspicuous and will thus cause us to draw additional fire - just as the soldier who leads the charge or fights more fiercely will attract more attention.  Spurning the temptations that cause unbelievers not a moment of hesitation or consideration will turn us into objects of curiosity,and, many times, derision.  There are those who make it their duty to induce a Christian to commit those acts which are clearly sinful - laughing at the wrong jokes, reacting to verbal stings with anger, and so forth.  We know even that Satan was interested in Job even before God pointed Job out to him. 

It is ironic, then, that the unique characteristic that protects us is the selfsame one that causes us to need that protection all the more.  God has made it thus so that He may prove Himself both the only and the sufficient source of our strength - we will never do on our own what His power in us accomplishes so simply.  And God's strength, sent in righteousness and sent for righteousness, is indifferent to the stir and clamor it causes in realms of evil - if its presence serves to increase the volleys of trial, then so be it! This power turns aside a thousand temptations with no greater effort than it does one, and this so often defines the struggle of the Christian life, does it not?  So often, the biggest obstacle we face is simply getting it into our obstinate hearts that God's strength is sufficient and suited to the temptation of the moment, and letting this belief galvanize us to convicted action.

Apart from God's blessings, we wither under the slightest assault, but with His grace empowering our souls, we can stand firm and stand again, though the attacks against us are doubled, re-doubled, and brought to an ardent boil. 

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

     - Psalm 18:2

The Final Blow of Scriptural Authority - Complete Authority

Yes, I know I had called this little series "The 1-2 Punch of Scripture Authority," but, admittedly, after a snappy 1-2 combination, a boxer likes to have a final, devastating punch (for the record, in spelling the word "boxer," I have just depleted my entire fund of knowledge surrounding boxing).  With this in mind, there is a third sort of authority which the Bible enjoys, according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  Consider it a postscript.

We have looked mainly at verse 16 thus far, but verse 17 brings it all to a close:  "...so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."  The Bible is divinely authoritative, and it is universally authoritative, in order that it may thrust into the hands of all believers any and every spiritual tool needed "for every good work."  It is, therefore, completely authoritative; that is, it is by itself sufficient to guide us in all matters of righteousness.  When we open its timeless pages, we throw wide the doors of the only arsenal we will ever have or will ever need in this struggle for holiness, and every weapon is divinely powerful and eternally sharp.

Consider the lasting comfort that should infuse our souls as we take this in.  All of our righteous needs have been gathered into one definitive source, and are there protected against the incursions of unrighteousness.  We are kept, then, from the ignoble listlessness of pursuing human solutions to problems that our imperfect natures simply cannot surmount.  The world is fully crowded, in every corner and crevice, with methodologies that endeavor to promote righteousness apart from God and His effusive transcendence, which is itself the only way to defeat and overcome sin.  We expect this of the world, but we must throw off these foolish tendencies as God's children.  Should the utter failure of the world to deal with unrighteousness not suffice to cause us, both as individuals and within our churches, to cling with a fearful tenacity to God's Word?  Should it not prove to us a hundred times over that the world's methods can only oppose and mock scripture?

So the Bible has much to say, then, about avoiding evil and embracing good.  What of those deeds, though, that are neither good nor evil?  What has our Lord to say about morally neutral works?  Interestingly, this is a concept that is entirely foreign to the pages of the Word.  Paul demonstrates this truth in 1 Corinthians 10:31 - "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."  In other words, there is a moral component of every act, because God can be remembered or forgotten, acknowledged or scorned, blessed or cursed, in everything we do.

Thus God's Word diffuses its brilliance to every last circumstance and choice that confronts us, and that brilliance comprehends every decision we must make.  Praise be to our Father, who would lavish us not with an unbroken chain of events in which we might both praise Him and grow to trust and love Him, but with His own book, which will never fail to steer us from the rocks of moral folly!

Perfect Patience

Our infinitely holy God, by sheer virtue of His infinite holiness, is possessing of an infinite hatred of sin.  He cannot help but be so.  Holiness cannot choose but to oppose sin, or it is not holiness at all.  God removed of holiness is an impossibility, a horrible bit of paradoxical double-talk, so we conclude that He hates sin as steadily and as comprehensively as a thing could ever be hated (cf. Prov. 6:16-19). 

The utter repugnance of sin which resides within the Divine leads us to conclude that the barest shadow of patience within God in the face of sin must also be of infinite weight.  As God has righteously and immutably chosen to be the omniscient, incorruptible Judge of all the world (Acts 17:31), He cannot merely turn His back on sin.  He thus has every reason to hate sin and every motive to punish it, as well.

What happens, then, when infinite and holy justice collide with infinite and holy grace?  A window of incredible value is opened up:  a window of divine patience.  It is only this window that affords us any sort of chance at all to be saved by His grace.  The sword remains in its sheath; the Rider has not mounted His war horse, and we are incredibly extended the offer of salvation.  "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9) Dear, divine patience!

There are those who would reckon this patience as weakness in our avenging Lord, or as proof of His fictitious origins (2 Pet. 3:3-4), but we know and rejoice that "He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed." (Acts 17:31b) So God's patience with sinners, my friends, is of infinite quality, but not of eternal quality (an interesting combination in our Lord).  It will reach its end on the day that God chose long ages ago.

Mark this well, brothers and sisters.  There is immeasurable glory in God's patience, just as there is incredible glory in His grace.  This divine forbearance floods the humble soul with a very tangible proof of God's incredible love, does it not?  However, there is no glory whatsoever for God to display through an eternal patience.  An eternity in which hell stands empty and unused demonstrates not patience, but apathy.  We see no justice here; only accommodation for sinners at the expense of God's holiness and biblical assertions.  Similarly, an incredibly long patience as God waits until all sinners repent reveals not a sovereign, loving God, but a weak sort of god who is enslaved to his own creation, who cannot move until they have, and whose words of warning are fodder for the scorn of depravity.  See how Christ's teaching about the narrow way (Matt. 7:13-14) is thus turned on its head. 

No, there lies in store for the unrepentant a fixed day in which the vast ocean of God's just wrath will confound its present bounds and break loose upon the world of God's enemies, roller upon everlasting roller.  The unsaved will by eternally drowned in the fury of the great Judge, immovably secured to an existence in which darkness, anguish, and loneliness are their only and just lot.  This is true because God's holiness and righteousness require it, but note too how well it shows us the strength of His present forbearance.  Let our lifelong brush with the immense patience of God prompt us to honor Him by making the greatest use of it - by obtaining so great a salvation, by growing in that salvation, and by proclaiming that salvation to others!

Awash in the Sea of Compromise

At one point in the film Anatomy of a Murder, a lawyer expresses disdain for the idea of attempting to fabricate a viable but artificial excuse for a murder, even though this would be the muderer's only chance for escape from a murder conviction.  A friend of his replies quite simply, "Maybe you're too pure, Paul. Too pure for the natural impurities of the law."  In other words, one must not scruple to operate with a tinge of immorality while in an immoral system; so doing can bring about desirable, or even moral, results.

This excites no astonishment in us; the shelves of literature and cinema are saturated with this very idea:  Robin Hood's clever thievery feed the grateful poor, and Harry Callahan kills the Scorpio Killer, then wordlessly discards his badge.  Sadly, however, this travels deep beyond fiction into the very fabric of our world, the very stuff of human life, and perhaps the greatest, most tragic example of this is the final hours of Jesus before the crucifixion.

The Pharisees tried the Savior with a stunning and flagrant disregard for their own laws:  demanding that He testify against Himself, trying Him at night, trying Him before Annas, who was not the high priest that year, trying Him without the Sanhedrin present, even striking Him during His questioning (John 18:12-24).  This they did because they judged it necessary to stop the Christ by any means possible.

Later, Pontius Pilate, who never gave the slightest inkling that he supposed the Savior guilty of anything, nevertheless ordered Him to be unspeakably torn and mutilated.  He so decreed in hopes that the Pharisees would be quieted and ultimately relent in their desire to kill Him (John 19:1-4).  Were I an acquaitance of Pilate, I would ask him to not do me any favors. 

But a moment later, the chief priests would achieve the very apogee of their ecstatic blasphemy in this austere declaration:  "We have no king but Caesar." (John 19:15b) In other words, "Forget this Man, Pilate - He is not our king.  Caesar, the very one whom we hate and chafe against and seek to throw off, is our only king.  Forget even the God of Israel - we are under no rule but that of Caesar.  So do we deny the very God we claim to serve, if only it means we may be rid of this troublesome carpenter whose claims we cannot dispute."  And in doing so, they spoke far better than they knew about their own allegiances.

This is the world of sin, my friends.  Without the regenerating work and righteous wisdom of the Holy Spirit, we possess no spiritual equilibrium - we suppose that we can usher in good ends through unsavory means.  We tilt a quart of motor oil to our lips and expect it will turn to honey in our stomachs.  It is not a matter of desiring this sort of compromise, but rather, of supposing that it is the only recourse available to us. 

Praise be to God, though, that this sort of moral compromise is utterly foreign to the Christian world.  It is never called for.  We may be fraught with confusion or reluctance in our pursuit of righteousness, but we will never find ourselves needing to harness sinful means to accomplish a righteous purpose.  So Peter, in speaking to those enslaved to unkind masters, can simply tell them to bear up submissively and righteously under such treatment (1 Peter 2:18-20).  This answer from Peter is not out of touch or obtuse; he simply declares that righteousness and endurance are that which please the Lord.  There is no circumstance in which the temporal consequences of righteousness render the relinquishment of that righteousness a valid option.

Furthermore,God will never lead us into a situation demanding moral compromise.  His righteousness, His omniscience, His sovereignty, and His omnisapience (complete wisdom) all stand as insurmountable fortresses that oppose the incursions of moral compromise:  there will never come a need for us to equivocate, in either word or deed, on our dearly-held, divinely-imparted righteous principles.  More directly, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." (James 1:13)

There are certainly times when we can feel as though compromise could help the Kingdom - perhaps to grow God's church or to establish a relational context with the unsaved.  These feelings are not from the Lord.  When Christians sinfully forgo a righteous act in hopes of accomplishing a righteous end, they have forgotten that the righteous act they spurned was itself the righteous end that God desired!  Our righteous response to our circumstances is the Lord's prescription, and it is His prerogative to work through our righteous deeds as He sees fit.  Consider Jeremiah and Paul, for instance - both godly men, obedient and righteous, and yet the results of their ministries were dramatically different. 

Our righteous deeds, then, become as humble offerings to the Lord, for His own use.  To deny this by sinful compromise is to judge that the Lord does not have His own best interests at heart.  Furthermore, it assumes that a situation can have but one outcome if a righteous prescription is followed - such a mockery to God in His sovereignty!  In a word, it demonstrates our opinion of God as a weak, foolish, very human sort of deity.  May these things never be.

Instead, we joyfully hold to the truth that God sees all ends and has ordained all ends, and we may therefore rest in our resolve to tenaciously pursue His righteous principles at every turn. Moral compromise is neither a requirement nor an option for the saint whose eyes are fixed on Christ, no matter what the circumstance.  Praise Him for this beautifully rigid certainty!

Simple Truth Revisited: The Response of Believers (Part 2 of 5)

Simple Truth Revisited:  The Response of Believers

Clearly, gospel truth seeks a response from the unbeliever, but what of the believer?  There are those, who, after (evident) conversion, revisit the gospel but rarely; these may, I think, be sorted into two groups.  The first group, after making a profession of faith and repentance, make no move to grow or to obey.  If their cars leave the driveway on Sunday, it is to avert a culinary crisis, not a spiritual one.  And the next year, when the spring cleaning unearths their Bibles, they find a place for them on that shelf of books which they fully intend to read someday when life has considerably slowed (perhaps by Shakespeare, next to which the Bible seems to them no more important, and no easier to fathom).  To these, we say – read on, friend.  There are words in here for you. 

The second group is more careful to study and to enjoy fellowship, in accordance with scripture, but they consider that the gospel, having saved them, can impart but little further consequence into their spiritual life.   This is, in their thinking, the difference between the milk and the meat, as the author of Hebrews says, and they conclude it, then, a mark of immaturity to be shackled to the gospel.  Again, read on, friend. 

Four reasons come readily to mind as to why the believer benefits from returning to the true gospel time and again. 

1.  Adoration and Humility.  “Consider your calling, brethren,” Paul urges in 1 Cor. 1:26.  “…and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Cor. 1:28-31; emphasis added)  In other words, we are called to consider our own consummate weakness, and the complete life that God Himself has bestowed upon us, in direct opposition to that weakness.  Does this not stir our hearts to remember the indomitable force of God’s grace in our lives?  What place, then, has pride in our hearts? 

When we transfer to our God the esteem that we would otherwise squander on ourselves, we see God magnified, as He should be, and ourselves humbled, as we must be.   If we dare to suppose that this sort of attitude is fit only for infant believers just starting out, we simply guarantee that we will always be infant believers ourselves.  The Holy Spirit does not grow those who are insensible to the grace by which He always works.  Our humility before God communicates our acknowledgement of the insurmountable spiritual and moral failings which we possess, and our adoration of God recognizes the presence of His manifold spiritual and moral perfections.  The gospel rests at the very center of this understanding, and, as such, resides at the very center of life in Christ. 

2.  Righteousness.  The gospel, like salvation, extends beyond simple redemption.  Our Lord Jesus “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (Titus 2:14b)  Redemption was not the end of Christ’s aims; He sought to create a people who would pursue righteousness and grow in it.  Remember Ephesians 2:8-10:  His grace has made us, making boasting impossible, and His grace has indeed made us for specific good works.  The will of God is our sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3a). 

God’s call to righteousness is therefore traced back to His desire for righteousness, which is expressed, and indeed made apparent, in the gospel.  When we return to the gospel, the clarion call to righteousness sounds with divine urgency.  Are the wages of sin not death?  Was it not unrighteousness that earned this fate for humanity?  Survey the vast cost of salvation, won by a perfect obedience before the Father, the last Adam sustaining the utter righteousness that the first Adam could not!

It is obvious, then, that the gospel is not morally ambiguous, and it makes no provision for those who seek to maintain moral ambiguity.  In other words, it is an offense to the gospel to seek salvation from damnable sin without any desire to be removed from the mire of that very sin.  Be assured that any appeals for salvation made in this spirit will be spurned by the Father.

The gospel exists because of unrighteousness.  It counts an unmerited, perfect righteousness to the credit of those who repent, in order to surmount this human unrighteousness, and it sets people upon a lifelong pursuit of righteousness.  Thankfully for sinful humanity, within this calling resides powerful hope:  the grace of God that accompanies us in our righteous endeavors (Titus 2:11-12) has already been proven in our very redemption.  If His grace was able to draw us powerfully out of hopeless darkness, then surely we may trust in its ability to guide us in light!