Jesus Christ: "He that Committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin"

Jesus Christ: "He that Committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin"

You have heard and no doubt will continue to hear, and perhaps more frequently in the near future, "There is no God" or "No one can know for sure that there is a Biblical God."

Although you will be accused of arrogance or bigotry if you contend, you still feel constrained to defend the Biblical position. It is an old debating device: to accuse your opponent of what you are guilty of yourself.

The arrogance lies on the other other side of the argument. In order to affirm either one of the propositions, it would be necessary to know what everyone knows and to know everything about all reality.

If the God of the Bible exists,then He, being loving and kind but fully willing to utterly overthrow those who in hardness of heart hate Him and defy Him, would have stamped His signature on every fact of creation, including the mind and heart of man.

It would also be true that, being a most wise and holy Spirit, His first judgments upon the ungodly would be spiritual judgments: upon the very hearts, souls, and minds of His enemies. The blackness of their minds would continually increase as they continued in their defiance, for what they think they see in the darkness of their minds would only serve to increase their rebellion and defiance.  "If the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness," Jesus said.

They, in truth, by even doubting the obvious, would have strayed from even the possibility of extricating themselves or escaping the Hound of Heaven. The Scripture would be fulfilled:

10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. --Isaiah 59

1 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. --Isaiah 59

His condition, then, is hopeless, if God Himself does not intervene, to break off his chains, open his eyes, and set him free. Pray earnestly for your unsaved loved ones and friends, and "In meekness instruct those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." 2 Tim. 2

The Shaping of Life

Meditation: 

What has shaped me more than anything in my 78 years? Not my experiences, for they would have destroyed me; not my friends, too many of them were unfaithful, and I would be bitter. Not my extended family, for we lost touch. Not my church experience, for that has been mixed. Not the many good books I read, for I read with a critical eye, but some did me good. Not even my beloved wife of fifty years, but my life would have been very barren without her faithfulness and love.

Looking back, I confess and believe that the most important "shaping" of my life was the Holy Scriptures which I have read every day for most of my life, and have meditated and been energized to love the good and hate the evil, and through which I have learned of the blessed Father, Son, and Holy Spirit whose eternal plan was for me to partake of eternal life and blessedness, through no merit of my own.

Without the Scriptures, I would have been overwhelmed by my experiences. I would have chosen evil companions, brought shame and ruin to my loved ones, read foul and ruinous books, abandoned the church, and destroyed my wife and my marriage, for they would likely have become idols for me. The Holy Writings have been a light for my path; truly a light shining in the darkness, and in a very large way my life, my thoughts, my relationship have been shaped by it and I see the world through the lens of Scripture, I confess. There is very much in me that is contrary to the Scriptures even after all these years, but some day I will be like Christ, for the Scriptures promise that His people will be like Him when we see Him as He is.

Good night on this Sabbath eve. A blessed day of worship and praise comes tomorrow.

Scripture: No Contradiction

Never a Contradiction, Nor a Real Paradox

There are no real contradictions or paradoxes in Scripture.  But because Scripture uses figures of speech there may seem to be such to us.  God is a shepherd; God is a father; God is a rock; God is moved with compassion; God is a judge; God is immutable; God is a flaming fire.  These are just some of the many, many figures of speech in Scripture, but none of them exhaust the meaning or Being of God.  It is when we make one of these figures absolute that we run into apparent contradictions.  So men ask, "How can a father send his children to hell forever?"   The great theologies examine a great many of these apparent contradictions and point to solutions.  But we do not accept the idea that contradiction exists in God's very being, for this is to put God at war with Himself and make truth unknowable.  He cannot lie nor deny Himself [2Ti 2:13 "If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."  Tit 1:2 "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie...."]


For instance, God did not create man with an absolute [totally free] will, for that would be a denial of God's own being, a denial of His providence and rule as Creator.  Man cannot will what God has not decreed.  God's will is absolute; man's is relative.


God does not exist to make man's mind complete, nor did He create the Heavens and the Earth for the purpose of satisfying every abstract idea that rebellious man can invent.  He created it for His own glory.  Man's true relationship to creation and his fellow is found in the Person of Jesus Christ, who loved the Lord with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength and his neighbor as Himself, and hated sin and denounced hypocrites of all kinds, especially those who raise "contradictions."  He lived at peace with God and was content in His human nature not to know everything [Ac 1:7 "And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."  Mr 13:32 "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."]  It is in His light that we see light [Ps 36:9 [For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."]


Man is wise in his own conceits and there is no end to the logical games he plays in his rebellion. Man is like a rebellious child who badgers his weak parents until they give him what he wants.  [Ro 12:16 "Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits."   Pr 26:12 "Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him."]

Most apparent paradoxes or contradictions that men have raised concerning Scripture can be understood in one basic principle:  God is the Creator and we are His creatures.  If the Creator/Creation distinction is cherished we see that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways.  When we do this we will rejoice in the "unsearchable riches of Christ; 9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12  In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.  [Ephesians 4]


This great gulf between Creator and Creature is bridged only by the Word of God, by the Mediator, the eternal Wisdom of God, who appeared on this earth as Jesus of Nazareth.  Amen and Amen.

Some Semi-unconnected Thoughts about Organized Religion.

Some Semi-unconnected Thoughts about Organized Religion.

Question:  What is Disorganized Religion?  Selfish, individualistic religion, self-centered and isolated, thinking only of personal experience?

It is rebellion to Christ not to accept the true authority of those whom He appointed and still does appoint from heaven by His Spirit. Ephesians 4.

The church is the pillar and ground of the truth, and the church that Paul is referencing to Timothy is one with elders and deacons, with powers to receive and to excommunicate; to examine those who claim to be teachers and prophets and hold the power of the keys. The only ones who don't like it are the rebels who want to be led by their own ideas and not subject to anyone. 

Heb 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. {have the rule: or, are the guides}

Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. {have…: or, guide}

Heb 13:24 Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. 

Read all verses with context.
   
It is also true that the churches have responsibility to each other; the leaders of the church met in Jerusalem in Acts 15 to discuss doctrinal matters and sent their decisions to all the churches. You can hang too much on this meeting, but you can also dismiss it too lightly. That's why I am Presbyterian in government--contraction of the apostolic office, expansion of the pastoral office.

From Acts 15:

• vs 6: The Apostles and elders came together [had a meeting] to consider this matter.
• vs. 19 Wherefore my sentence is.... 
• vs 20 We write to them.... 
• vs. 22,3 It pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send....
• vs. 23 The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto....
• vs. 25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send....
• vs. 28 To lay no greater burden upon you.... [four things....] 

It was more than a friendly chat that they had, and their letters was a bit more than exhortation "lay burden..."

How did they know it "pleased the whole church and the apostles and elders"? How did they know they had "one accord" after all the disputes in verse 7, etc. How did they know it was the truth revealed by the Holy Ghost? Who decided that? Some never did accept it and troubled Paul until he died. Who was in one accord? Paul and Barnabas had a dispute over personnel, not the doctrine of the church or its organization.

Acts 16:4 "They went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily." Sounds like more than suggestions, for Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the apostles, elders, and brethren to take this letter to the churches [15:25 etc.]

‎"decree" greek is dogma. Used of the laws of the Roman Senate, also of the Law of Moses.
"keep" guard, take care of, take care not to violate.

Hence: Heb 13:17 "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."

Eph. 5:21: "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

God gathers His people into flocks and sets shepherds over them; their rule and authority is real.

There is peace with no divisions and strife in independent churches? Are you saying that the scripture is irrelevant and there are no real churches today; or that there were no problems in the churches of Ephesus, Colosse, Philippi, Rome, or Thyatira? The Spirit doesn't "legislate" in the Scripture? or does everyone just follow his own "leading." That idea has produced wonderful unity, hasn't it? Or maybe Christ is head only over those who let Him be head.

The choice is not between organized or disorganized. The choice is obedience to scripture or not. Unless God has abandoned His people and left us in the wilderness, there is a church near you that is biblical. He does not leave his sheep in the wilderness. We are accountable to one another and ministers are accountable to other ministers and elders.

We know that knowledge puffs up; but does that mean that ignorance is humble?

We are accountable to Christ when we are accountable to those whom He has placed over His church. Christ is in heaven and has commissioned His officers to lead His church. Eph. 4.

1 Timothy 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;  4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,


The order of Aaron has ceased [Hebrews 7:11,12 with context], for Christ is our priest after the order of Melchizedek, and His sacrifice was not offered in Moses' camp, but outside the camp. Heb. 13:9ff. The new order is described in Ephesians 4 and Hebrews 10:19-25 with context. Christ's sacrifice was offered once for all, but we signify our participation in His sacrifice through the sacraments, which is the New Testament in His blood, through the bread and the wine of the Lord's Supper--which is not a physical sacrifice of Christ's blood and body, for Christ is in heaven, not on the earth. The Lord's Supper is neither simply a memorial feast, nor is it a physical sacrifice, but it is a true spiritual participation by faith in the Gospel that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, according to the Scriptures. His words are spirit and life, the true bread from heaven.

The church is more than a group of adults sharing their "experience." It is the pillar and ground of the truth, a holy temple where spiritual sacrifices are offered to God through the blood of Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is more than consenting adults, but a people, a holy nation, organized, ordered, disciplined, called, a holy temple whose head is in heaven. The Lord Jesus administers His people and His nation through the gifts of ministry described in Ephesians 4. Without them, we remain children, tossed about with every wind of doctrine, turned aside after folly by the sleight of men who with cunning craftiness lie in wait to turn the children out of the way by deception and false doctrine.

This has already happened to the church in America, splintered into a thousand pieces of people who fancy they are led by the "spirit' who follow their own desires and emotions and shallow opinions [it is dangerous to read the Bible only once], who despise dominion and speak evil of dignities [Jude 7 and context].

How can you say you love God whom you have not seen, when you despise men whom you have seen. I John 4:20,21. In like manner, how can you say you obey Christ, whom you haven't seen, when you despise His lawful ministers whom you have seen? Hebrews 13: "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

Words Have Meaning

Words have Meaning.

The word "rock" may be considered concretely, and its meaning would be "the hard solid substance that forms part of the Earth’s surface" or similar meaning. Used as: "He threw a rock at the rat."  This meaning of words is the foundation of all language.  The world is made up of created things that stimulate the imagination and make communication between people possible.

The imagination is a great gift from God and makes speech possible.  The word "rock" may be considered figuratively, meaning "like a rock." Used as "The man is a rock." This requires the use of the imagination which is developed more in some people than others, but does require intelligence. An animal and a man run concretely, using legs and feet.  A clock runs figuratively; hence, time also runs.  A river runs also.  The concrete acts of running can be used as a figure for almost any kind of action, as sand running out of an hour glass.

The word "rock" may be considered spiritually, as in the Scripture, meaning "like a rock," but at a deeper level of trust and commitment. Used, "God is my rock" speaks of covenant reliance upon God as a place of rest and security, and would be an expression of faith.   The ability of man's imagination enables him to make a connection between concrete things and events and figurative ones.  His ability to connect the figurative to the spiritual requires the work of the Holy Spirit; otherwise a man is deaf, blind, dead--without spiritual understanding.

When life comes from the Spirit the child of God sees even in the fall of a sparrow reason to trust in the goodness of God, for a man is of much greater value than a sparrow.   This is the reason that each of the senses in the Bible is used as a figure for faith as in the Scriptures "Open mine eyes..." "Hear my voice...."  "Taste and See that the Lord is good"  etc.

The first two uses require intelligence and involves cognitive reasoning, which may be present without faith. The third requires faith as a work of the Holy Spirit.

When you think about it, the liberal "War on Women" is really a War on America.  Right?  Click here

Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand is a powerful diagnostic for the evil of socialism, but she is NOT a cure.  Self love is not a cure for communal love for both are idolatry.  In both cases men fall upon the double-edged sword, for God damns all kinds of idolatry.  Mr 12:30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength...."  We cannot love our neighbor as ourselves if we begin by cutting the head off the body, separating man from God.

Cain, the Whining Murderer.

Genesis 4:13  And Cain said unto the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear."

Loosely translated, "Well, you don't have to have a cow."

Cain knew he was a murderer. Cain knew that he could not escape the punishment for his wickedness.  So the only recourse left to him was to charge God with injustice.

The last resort of every ungodly person is to whine against God.  Cain began by feeling sorry for himself because Abel's sacrifice was accepted and his rejected.  He didn't have to offer a bad sacrifice, for we know from Abel's offering that God had given instructions to men on what to offer: the first of the flock with the fat thereof.  Those who believed in the promise of mercy brought that sacrifice in faith [Heb. 11:4].  Cain had no faith, and therefore thought that anything he wanted to do would be all right.  So his countenance fell and he moped around.   God, seeing his bitchy attitude, told him that he could be accepted if he would shape up.

Instead, he went out to the field with Abel, quarreled with him, and murdered him.  When God asked where Abel was [not to get information, but to call Cain to account], Cain responded with another whine: "Am I my brother's keeper," which was likely a sneer at Abel's occupation as a keeper of sheep.  God did not deign to answer to whining question, because Cain had not been assigned to "keep" Abel.  Cain was again making a whining charge against the injustice of God, as if he was assigned to the task of following Abel around to see that nothing bad would happen to him.  There was probably history behind this whine, for Cain was the older brother and sometimes older brothers resent their younger brothers, especially if the younger one is more favored of God.  No Cain, you are not your brother's keeper, but that doesn't mean you get to kill him.

So God, knowing the wickedness of Cain murderous heart, proceeded at once to the sentence: "What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground."  Cain was deprived of all the blessings of the earth and sentenced to be a vagabond and a fugitive, unable to farm the field as he had before.  God, having compassion, put a mark on Cain so no one would kill him.

But whiners, feeling sorry for themselves, never quit whining.  The man with one talent, hid it in the ground and complained about God's injustice [Matt. 25:24].  In the same way, Cain continued to complain about God, about how unfair He is:  "My punishment is greater than I can bear.  Poor me, poor, poor Cain.  God is so cruel."  Still not a shred of sympathy for the man he murdered.  Not a shred of feeling for his family, his mother, his father, and what very likely was a large family by then.  Just poor, poor me.

Don't feel sorry for Cain.  He didn't get nearly what he deserved.  None of us do--in this life.

A Much Better Way

When I was in junior high, I came across Ralph Waldo Emerson, and was briefly fascinated by him, especially, "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."  I tried it for awhile, and then realized that I was a fool, because I was ignorant, self-willed, and prone to evil. Trusting yourself is like a cat chasing its tail.  It may bring a great deal of fun, but it profits nothing and the cat gets tired and becomes tiresome.  But the cat does cause some amusement for a while; history is full of such diversions.    Emerson was not a wise man.

Later, I found a much better path: Proverbs 3:
5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

There are many things that I do not know about the ways of God.  I do not presume to understand the "manifold" wisdom of God.  I do know that He is not to be trifled with, for He is not only a faithful and loving Father, but He is a burning fire of wrath against those who hate Him.  I know this is right and good for there are very evil things, including the Prince and Power of the Air, who hates God and man, and would be equal to God.  Satan has nothing of his own, for God is the creator of all things; so Satan is a Deceiver, Liar, Murderer, and most of all, Apollyon [Destroyer], for he takes the things and people that God has created and corrupts them to destroy them.

It is good for God to reveal Himself as the Father and Judge of all the earth.  It is good that we learn to fear Him and keep His commandments, and that is the rub.  Sinful men will do anything to escape the judgment of God and adjust their own moral sense to fit their own desires.  But this does not change the fundamental moral truth of the universe, Ps 119:142  "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth."


Ps 37:22  For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
Ps 37:28  For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

Lu 16:15  And he said unto them, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."

As I grew in my knowledge of the Scriptures, I realized how vain and unprofitable are the risings of the flesh and the vanity of turning away from the word of God.  I came to despise all such pretensions and I have not been wrong.  I have lived long enough to have seen the ruin of those who think like this.  "Trust thyself," is horrible advice to give to young people; we find wisdom and grace in the face of Jesus Christ, whom we see as in a glass as we read the Holy Scriptures. 2Cor. 3.

21  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
22  Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
23  Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Those who trust in the Lord have the certain promise of God that He will vindicate them in heaven and in earth.  Psalm 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Amen and Amen.

Stretch Out Your Souls to God!

Stretch out Your Souls to God!

Matthew 4:4 "4  But he [Jesus] answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."  From the mouth of God proceed both His precepts and His decrees.  You will have a choice whether or not you will obey His precepts, which are found in the Scriptures.  His decrees will certainly take place, but you and I are responsible to believe that He rules all things and trust Him without fretting or seeking other gods.

Often we do not know WHAT we should do; at these times we must trust in His wise providence even more and walk uprightly, for He has promised:  Psalm 37:30-31 'The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.  The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.'

As with Esau, [Genesis 25] the most important tests to your faith come when you least expect them. The choices you make at these times reveal what is in your heart, what your value system is. No one can escape. Ecclesiastes 8:6 "Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him."  Esau could not escape the consequences.  Hebrews 12:16, 17

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When a person encounters the Scripture, because it is the Word of God it goes to the heart and changes him, either for better or for worse. It is life unto life and death unto death. This is why Jesus said, "Take heed how you hear," for it will make your soul very, very poor; or very, very rich. See Luke 818. We must stretch out our ears and hearts to eagerly hear and receive the Scriptures as God's word. Joshua 24:23 "Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel."

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Master of your own fate?  God laughs at that joke: "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing." --Jeremiah 10:23 "A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." -Proverbs 16:9   

But Sin is Sin, Ain't It?

What people say give them away to people who think [Matthew 12:36,27].  One of the phrases of perfectionism and those who are righteous in themselves and despise others is this, "Well, but sin is sin."

Duh.  and BS is BS.  [BS is an acronym for bovine excrement, for those who have not taught in high school, or have forgotten high school].  As Hamlet's friend said, "There needs no ghost to rise from the dead to tell us that, m'lord."

BS is always BS, and it never changes its character until aged sufficiently to become an wholesome additive to the soil that grows the food you and I eat. [Imagine that, Alice!]    The overly nice might wonder if they approve of BS while they are eating their forkful of salad at an elegant restaurant, but they probably do not smell it unless their sense of smell is overly acute.

The Jews had such a refined spiritual sense.  Edersheim sells us the reason that the Jews washed so often during their meals [baptizing their hands and napkins and tables and cushions etc, by sprinkling water on them--hence the large jugs of water at the marriage feast of Cana]  They reasoned thus, an idol is unclean and if you worship an idol you are unclean and unfit for worship and must be purified;  if an idol is in a grove of trees, then the trees are unclean and anyone passing through that grove of trees is unclean and must be purified.

The wood from any of those trees is unclean and anything made from it is unclean and must be purified.  If wood from one of those trees is made into a shuttle for a loom, the loom is unclean and any cloth woven on the loom is unclean. Therefore any garment made from such cloth is unclean and makes the wearer unclean.  If the garment is hung in a closet all the other clothes in the closet are unclean because they hung next to a garment that was made from cloth woven on a loom that had a shuttle made from wood from a tree that grew in a grove where there was an idol.   See how easy it is?

This hypocrisy knows no end, and the Pharisees set aside Jesus because He and His disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate--not that they ate with grubby hands, but because they thought that sin could be avoided by maintaining your distance.

The problem is that we are not contaminated by our external proximity to sinfulness, but by the rebellion and hypocrisy in our own hearts that causes us to sniff at others and transfer our hostility to God to the Godly.  Hence, professing a very high degree of "holiness," we find sin everywhere and sniff openly or secretly at most everyone we know, except those who flatter us because they are as phony as we are.

These people give themselves away over and over again, because they are always apologizing for some very minute action that no body would have thought about if they hadn't brought it up to draw attention.


Years ago I was traveling with one who was then a friend, and we stopped at a store to buy gas.  He went into the store and came out with a two packages of peanuts.  "This one is for my wife," he said.  "I don't feel right eating one without getting one for her."  I was very young, but thought, "What a phony."  I was right, and he was later guilty of molesting his teenage daughter.  I have always wondered if he ate the peanuts in secret, also.

I also remember the minister who apologized to me when he was moving because some of his possessions were in whiskey and beer boxes.  "We couldn't find any others.  I don't want you to think that we drank all this."  Later on when I knew him better, I thought "He would have been a better man, perhaps, if he had drunk it all."

But, but, but, you say: "Doesn't the Bible say that we are to abstain from every appearance of evil."  Yep, it certainly does, and that does not mean not to do good because someone sniffs at you.  It means to not pretend to be doing good because you have masked your evil with a cloak of purity.  It doesn't mean not to do good just because someone thinks it evil; but abstain from every evil no matter how good you make it look or in what form it appears.


Yes, sin is sin.  And you have enough major things to deal with in your life without becoming a nit-picker and fault-finder, -looking with microscopic glasses to see if you can ferret out some in your neighbor.  I repent my sins every day, and there are many of them, but if you come around with some odor about you, you might get hit with a brickbat.  I will repent of the brickbat later, maybe, but probably I will pray that it will bring some light to you, when your head stops hurting.

By the way. Facebook is not the church.  De-friending is not excommunication and it takes no actions of elders to remove you from my friend list.  Just a click of the mouse.  I don't know whether you are a Christian are not, for you are probably just an icon on my screen.  You may say you are and mouth a lot of pretty words, which are shadows on your screen.  The friends that mean the most to me are you that I know in the flesh and have had an opportunity to know something of your character.  Those I will "grapple to my soul with hoops of steel" as Polonius said.  He was one of Shakespeare's rascals but said some pretty things.

Things have changed a lot since I was a boy, for good or bad, as manners always do.  My mother would not approve of me using BS in this post.  But that was a day when people asked for white meat, because saying "breast" might get the young men too excited.  I was not allowed to say "guts," "belch" and some other things, but I said them with glee and guilt out of earshot.

I knew a teacher who reprimanded a kid for saying "crud' -- in fact she did more than that, washing his mouth with soap.  People confused morality with manners.  We could use the word "bitch" only very carefully in carefully circumscribed conditions involving kennels and canines.   The things that we boys said, even us Sunday School boys, would have peeled the paint if said at home, but many of them have become commonplace nowadays.  Nowadays when a teenager says, "It sucks," most of them probably do not know the origin of the expression, they just mean that "it" is bad.  Some of the colorful expressions that people use every day have found their way into our common language by a trip through the seamier side of life.  But you have to have a refined sense of smell to know it.

Boys were supposed to talk in pretty little language that pleased their mommies.  We got even when we were alone with each other.   I know what sin is, but I do not think that Rush Limbaugh sinned when he said that a certain fornicator was a "slut."   According to Merriam Webster online the word means "a promiscuous woman."  Just as I often say, people don't mind being trashy, they just don't like it named.  This woman said it took some $3000 a year to pay for her addiction and she expected the government to require that insurance pay it.  Personally, I don't think Rush needed to apologize, but he did most exquisitely, saying that he was sorry that he had descended to the level of liberals. 

I have never used the word that Rush used, except in private, but it was funny when he used it.  People who got their shorts in a twist over it were not annoyed that he used it, because they are used to liberals using far worse language than that; they got annoyed because they do not like Rush for other reasons.  May God forgive all us poor sinners.  Especially the hypocrites.

"We be not born of fornication," the pharisees sneered.  John 8:41.

The Threat of Lawless Liberty

"And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts." --Psalm 119:45
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." --2 Corinthians 3:17
"If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." --John 8:36
"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." --2 Peter 2:19

There is no question that liberty and freedom are among the greatest blessings of God and is one of the passions of the human heart. The heart longs to be free to express its religious sentiments, to make choices that it thinks will bring him happiness, and to be "at large" [the meaning of "liberty" in Ps. 119:45], to go and come he chooses.

This writer thinks that in the next few decades the idea of "liberty" will gain a new intensity in the world. The idea of liberty is under attack by Islamic fundamentalism, for this is one of the major complaints that Islamists have with the West. In fact, they call the United States the "Great Satan" because the liberty in United States is a temptation to good Muslims to relax in his/her keeping of Sharia law, which they insist on imposing on the whole world. There is no question that Sharia law would have a dramatic effect in the view of the United States for what we believe are fundamental rights: for women, for speech, for the press, for the practice of religion, for sexual practices, for immigration, for the right to be armed, for ownership of property, and in hundreds of ways not foreseen.

The United States may be our own worst enemy with regard for these things, for along with the erosion of the doctrine of the Bible has come a shift in our view of what "liberty" itself is. The Biblical view of liberty emphatically does not mean that each man is free to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants.

Liberty has become an abstraction in the United States, for it is abstracted from the Christian idea of God, the Creator. Our fathers said that men was "endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Our father's emphatically did not mean that any individual had the right to "alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to him shall seem most likely to effect his Safety and Happiness." The individualist expression of rebellion and revolution was strongly opposed by the Framers, for they feared radical democracy as much as they feared monarchy and tribal elitism.

The Framers recognized that men are sinners ["If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary," James Madison wrote in Federalist 51.] Of course, Madison thoroughly educated in the Reformed Faith, and knew the difference between the holy angels and those that followed Satan in his rebellion. He was NOT referring to the latter.

Because of this, the Framers made it very difficult to radically change and alter the government of the United States, to protect the gift of liberty, given by the Creator, from the phony liberty promised by the godless and rebellion, the spirit of lawlessness and rebellion that sweep over peoples from time to time whipped up by demagogues seeking their own power and wealth, promising liberty while they themselves are in bondage to sins and lawlessness.


In granting men the wonderful gift of liberty, God most emphatically did not free men from Himself, from His rule, or from His righteousness. Jesus said that he that commits sin is the servant of sin, because no man would stupidly sin if he were not in some respect deceived and bound by it.  But Jesus promised, "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed."  John 8

Benjamin Franklin, when asked if the people refused to be ruled by God, is supposed to have replied, "Then, by God, they will be ruled!" 

Paradox?

Unbelief has always been irrational, for it is the fool that says in his heart that there is no God.  The fact that he has a spiritual heart means that there is a God, so the fact that the fool speaks in his heart at all means that he lies when he says there is no God. 

Some unbelievers go to great length to give a rational defense of their irrationality.  They are very clever in this.  Instead of denying his own irrationality he tries to contend that truth is only found by irrationality.  So they speak of the paradoxes of Scripture, and by that they mean contradiction.  Because they maintain that the Bible is full of contradictions, they deny that truth can be found by close attention to the words of Scripture.  Instead of the words of Scripture, they would set the Holy Spirit against His very words and try to find truth by locating the Spirit's revelation some other place, usually in intuition or emotion.  Sometimes they locate it in rationality or in volition, thinking that what seems sensible or what they choose to do is the "leading of the Spirit."  But most common in modern day is emotion or intuition: the leading of the Spirit is what "feels right" no matter what the words of Scripture say, for they contradict themselves.

Probably the Roman Church represents this departure from Scripture in it most developed form. In Rome the words of Scripture can only be interpreted by the "magisterium" or the teachers of the church.  But this is paradoxical itself, for the teachers disagree with themselves over and over again, as Abelard displayed in Sic et Non many centuries ago.  So the historical will of the church [tradition], or the emotions stirred by icon or relic, or the logical exercises by men like Aquinas are looked to for "guidance."  So every adherent is basically left to himself, but he is safe in this, because the principle of "probabilism" means that if even one teacher supports his own personal conviction, the individual cannot be faulted.

Immanuel Kant made much of paradox, or logical contradiction, and tried to build an ethic upon the Christian's subjective state.  Hegel found truth at the end of a series of contradictions and syntheses.  Karl Barth and the neo-orthodox did not find truth in the words of Scripture but in the response of the Christian soul to the words, if there were such a response.   A wordless Jesus was the end of faith, but the writings of the apostles and prophets, though filled with errors and contradiction, may help you feel this Jesus and so be the word of God to you.  The Bible is not the word of God, so it goes, but the Bible may be a means of you finding the word of God.

John Calvin confessed the faith of the Reformation and believers of all ages when he wrote in the Institutes: "Let this be a firm principle: No other word is to be held as the Word of God, and given place in the church, than what is contained first in the Law and the Prophets, then in the writings of the apostles; and the only authorized way of teaching in the church, is by the prescription and standard of the Word." [IV.8.8]

 The faithful do not therefore admit logical paradox or contradiction in the Bible.  Such is the doctrine of antichrist, such as to deny that the Messiah came in the flesh.  He either did or He didn't.  The faithful say He did, antichrist says He didn't [1John 4:1-4]   "A" cannot be "non-A," because God cannot lie or deny Himself. [Titus 1:2 and 2 Tim. 2:13].  There are, however, other kinds of paradoxes.

We do admit that there are rhetorical paradoxes in the Bible.  These are used for effect and emphasis and do not involve contradiction.  Jesus said that we must hate our mother and father to follow Him.  He is not speaking of actual hate, nor even of "loving less" but of actions that might appear like hate to the mother or the father.  Many a believer has had to leave his father's house because of his faith; this does not mean that his love for his family was damaged, but that obedience called for action that mom and dad would not understand because they are not believers.

Another example is Christ's answer to the Rich Young Ruler, "Why do you call Me good; there is one good, and that is God."  It appears that Christ is denying to be God, and the statement, therefore, appears to be paradoxical.  It isn't at all.  The emphasis is on the "Why."  "WHY do you call Me good?  If you do not think that I am God, then you have no right to call me good."

A favorite of the irrational is this: Tit 1:12  "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies."   They say, if the Cretians are always liars then this Cretian lied when he said that Cretians are always liars.  Hence, Cretians must not be liars.  Hence, he did not lie when he said that all Cretians are liars; hence, Cretians must be liars.  So they think they have proved their contention that there are "contradictions in the Bible."  Not so.



"All" is a word that is syncategorematic: it can never be used alone in a logical expression.  The trick is in the word "always."  In the same way, when Paul said that "all have sinned," all must be defined.  Does he mean all men without exception;  no, for Jesus was a man who never sinned.  Does all include the angels and other rational beings including God and the Holy Spirit?  No.   So when the Cretian prophet said, "Cretians are always liars," he certainly did not included every Cretian in the history of the world, or even himself.


In the same way, God is called a father of men and a burning fire that will destroy the ungodly.  "Father" and "fire" are figures of speech, each of which represents some aspect of God's attributes.  Both are true, but true in different ways.  There are many names for God in the Bible, and none of the exhaust the meaning of His being, for He is the only One like Him [Isaiah 40].  The statements are paradoxical but not contradictory, for even the word "father" means different things: it means creator with respect to all men, for God is the source [father] of all men.  It means that God is the fountain of grace and mercy to those who believe in Christ, the Son of God.  God is not the father of grace and mercy to all men; nor is He a consuming fire to those who believe.

The Bible does not contain nonsense, except to those who enthrone nonsense in their hearts.

Religion, or Professed Lack Thereof

From Herman Bavinck:

"Religion as the relation to God indicates the place in which human beings stand in relation to all other creatures.  It embraces dogma, law, and cult and is therefore closely connected with science, morality, and art.  It encompasses the whole person in his or her thinking, feeling, and action, in the whole of his or her life, everywhere and at all times.  Nothings falls outside of its scope.

"Religion extends its power over the whole person, or all of humanity, over family and society and state.  It isthe foundation of the true, the good, and the beautiful.  It introduces unity, coherence, and life into the world and its history.  From it science, morality, and art derive their origin; to it they return and find rest.  'All the higher elements of human life first surfaced in alliance with religion.' It is the beginning and the end, the soul of everything, that which is highest and deepest in life.  What God is to the world, religion is to humanity.

"Nevertheless, religion is distinguished from all the forces of culture and maintains its independence from them all.  Religion is central; science, morality, and art are partial.  While religion embraces the whole person, science, morality, and art are respectively rooted in the intellect, the will, and the emotions.  Religion aims at nothing less than eternal blessedness in fellowship with God; science, morality, and art are limited to creatures and seek to enrich this life with the true, the good, and the beautiful.

"Religion, accordingly, cannot be equated with anything else.  In the life and history of humankind, it occupies an independent place of its own, playing a unique and all-controlling role.  Its indispensability can even be demonstrated from the fact that at the very moment people reject religion as an illusion they again turn some creature into their god, thus seeking to compensate for their religious need in some other way."

-from Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. I.  p.268,9.    Paragraph divisions have been altered.

 Faith and Works

Pr 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Pr 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
 
This means that love is rooted in faith, not the other way around.  Dead works cannot be made alive in order to make faith living; the cure for dead works is to abandon dead Gods for the Living God in Jesus Christ.  Faith is not rooted in love; love is rooted in faith. 

Paul said that, being justified by faith we have peace with God, for it is by faith that we have access into God's grace [Rom. 5].  The Holy Spirit is graciously given to us so we can will and do of His good pleasure.  By the Spirit, love is shed abroad in our hearts, the result of faith.

Hence, the human act is rooted in the divine act, not the other way around, for faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, and it is rooted in the attributes of God, not our affections toward men.  Love for God is the First and Great commandment, and takes precedence over the Second Great Commandment which requires love for the image of God.  Without this work of God in the heart by faith, man is left only with the painted face and caricature of a "love" that has no foundation, used only to snare the foolish. Proverbs 5:3-5.

Fools despise wisdom and instruction.  You must be godly before you can do godly. The tree is an apple tree before it bears apples.

Isa 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men....

How Ministers Break the Sabbath.  Huh?

A few years ago, someone was curious as to how, with my view of the Sabbath, what anyone could do to break the 4th commandment.  I wondered for a minute why he wanted to know, unless he was making a list, checking it twice, to feed his own transgression of Colossians 2:16, 17, not seeing the Fourth Commandment ceremonies are no more binding on Christians than bloody sacrifices were.  The body is Christ.

Seeing as it is never the weak who are offended by how someone keeps or doesn’t keep the Sabbath, I decided that it would be good to address the consciences of those strong Christians who are very super careful lest the weak be turned out of the way and stop at McDonalds on their way home from church, I thought of the many, many ways that Sabbath breakers disrupt the peace of the Lord’s Day.  Because I think that worship trumps physical rest on the Sabbath [for we rest to worship, not worship to rest], I thought that the sin of corrupting worship would be worse than those who disturbed somebody’s sleep.

I thought I would start with preachers, for they can do very much to set the tone.   Because the Heidelberg Catechism is very clear that the purpose for our Sabbath gatherings concerns the ministry of the word of God:

Q103:  What does God require in the fourth Commandment?
 A103:  In the first place, God wills that the ministry of the Gospel and schools be maintained,[1] and that I, especially on the day of rest, diligently attend church [2] to learn the Word of God,[3] to use the holy sacraments,[4] to call publicly upon the Lord,[5] and to give Christian alms.[6] In the second place, that all the days of my life I rest from my evil works, allow the Lord to work in me by His Spirit, and thus begin in this life the everlasting sabbath.[7]

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the rest that God has given to His people   Hence, the day of worship is the day of rest because it is there that we learn of our rest and learn how to know the Lord who calls us to come to Him and He will give us rest.  Hence, the minister must be very careful not to disrupt the message of Gospel of Christ, lest the people of God be turned aside to ceremonies and fleshly things that cannot give rest.

It is very important that the church and the ministry provide a rich opportunity for people to learn the word of God, that children be catechized, and the families gather to worship the Lord.  This must always be the focus of the Fourth Commandment.  The peace and rest that the soul finds in Christ must remain for all ages, even when the Commandment is stripped of Jewish ceremonies.

Hence, I would suggest that any minister guilty of any of the following practices is in violation of the Fourth Commandment and guilty of profaning the Rest of the Lord.   There may be a book end to this article, indicated those sins that are common to the people of God with respect to the Fourth Commandment.

This is the short list.  You may expand it as your conscience tweaks you:

By loafing all week, not visiting the flock, not doing careful study and being boring in the pulpit, delivering up dead homilies on gnats.

By not weeping with those that weep nor rejoicing with those that rejoice. Unconcern and   indifference to the real needs of the flock. Worrying more about your legacy and reputation than the good of the church. Bullying the weak.

By seeking first of all to preserve your station. Selling the gospel for salary, security, and position. By ancestor worship rather than the Lord Jesus. By tribal attitudes that downgrade other ethnic groups.   [See my article on Tribal Christianity] By Bible whipping those who don't agree with you.  By preaching yourselves and your own wisdom; By showing off;

By preaching to advance a private agenda.  Using the Bible to support your own ambition and desires.  By Bible-whipping those who disagree with you.

By cruelty to the poor and needy and weak in the faith;   By  thinking that laying down the law will reform the life; By binding the church to your own private interpretations of Scripture.

By incessant meddling in other peoples' affairs.

By adding to the Scriptures;  By taking away from the Scriptures.  By preaching the dreams of your own heart.

By misinterpretation of Scripture to fit your preconceived conclusions.  By indulging private sins and lusts; by covetousness; by agitation of soul.

By drunkenness anytime. By prayerlessness. By not praying for the Holy Spirit. By trusting in your  own wisdom, experience, reason.

By bullying. By striving. By railing. By insult and name-calling. By self-indulgence and self-vindication. By making excuses for your own profanation of the sabbath in any of these things by your own carelessness in the Gospel

By playing fast and loose with the constitutions and creeds of the church, which are foundational for the peace of rest of the church.   By claiming legitimacy for de facto and self-affirmed positions which have never been legally adopting as part of the creeds or constitutions, thus attacking the foundations of the peace of the church.
.
By seeking your own. By not suffering long. By not being kind.  By railing [did I already say that?]. By having no mercy.  By mistreating your wives or children. By failure in any of the nine other commandments, but pretending otherwise, then whipping people with the law.

By being a  workaholic, not spending time for games and recreation with your family,   By not taking your responsibility as a husband and establishing the peace of Christ in your home.  By being a truant and not dealing with bullies and strife in the church to the destruction of your wife and family and permanent damage to their view of the Gospel and the church as a battleground rather than a place of rest in Christ.

By putting people to sleep because you haven't prepared a new sermon since the first five years after seminary. By choosing where you will minister because of personal desire rather than the  need of the church; or because of the salary; or because you have family there; or because the weather is nice; or because there are rich people there; or a thousand other unworthy motives.

By pretending you believe the Bible, but have reservations and do not tend to your own personal devotions and prayer. By mental and spiritual and physical laziness and the internal unrest that comes with it.

By being bigoted and incessantly critical of other denominations and ministers. By coddling the
rich and arrogant.  Holding grudges and slandering other ministers.

By not defending slandered ministers. By not squelching slander, the very work of the devil, and the chief reason for strife and unrest in churches.

By indulging your children. By indulging your wife and relatives. By forming or abetting factions in the church or denomination. By not praying for enemies. For not turning the other cheek.   For showing partiality to your friends and supporters and turning your back on those who dare to disagree with you.

By not preaching Christ crucified or people will accuse you of pietism.  By not preaching and practicing faith, hope, and charity, lest people think you are a mystic.

By bring arid, dry, intellectual sermons that suck the sap out of the soul lest people think you are a Pentecostal, or worse, a Baptist.  By making much ado about candles lest people think you are a Lutheran, or worse, a Catholic.

By preaching against those who do not keep the day as you deem proper, in direct violation of Colossians 2:16,17 which makes it a matter of liberty.

By not telling the people that a man must be born again to see the kingdom of God; that they are secure if ceremonies have been performed, rituals observed, and creeds affirmed even though nothing is known of their content or life, lest people think you are “puritan,” or worse, an enthusiast or Methodist.

By not preaching that people should live holy lives, lest people think you are a perfectionist.

By bringing your gift to the altar knowing that you are estranged from a brother.

By bringing your gift to the altar knowing you have done wrong to a brother.

By holding grudges.

By these things and a thousand others like them, the peace of the church--the true sabbath day is destroyed and the worship is profaned.

The hands of the minister that should be raised in blessing become raised in cursing according to    Malachi:

"And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to  heart.  Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces."

Of Course You Cannot See It.

The Doesn't Mean It Isn't So!

Kisses from Brother

The man with his eyes closed and thinking only of his own thinking will find no evidence for the sun shining.  So those who find no evidence for infant baptism.  Of course you don't see it; you are not looking.  Here is a start: 

Menu for sermons and short articles on Infant Baptism

Sermons on Sermanaudio for infant baptism: C. W. Powell

The Blind Leading the Blind

It was over one hundred years ago.  Professor Emil Heinrich Du Bois-Reymond, founder of the science of electrophysiology, addressed the Berlin Academy of Sciences.  He said there were seven riddles that neither science nor philosophy will ever explain.  They are:

1. the ultimate nature of matter and force,
2. the origin of motion,
3. the origin of life,
4. the "apparently teleological arrangements of nature," not an "absolutely transcendent riddle,"
5. the origin of simple sensations, "a quite transcendent" question,
6. the origin of intelligent thought and language, which might be known if the origin of sensations could be known, and
7. the question of freewill.

I suspect that science and philosophy are no further along in "solving" these riddles than they were in 1880.  I also suspect that these seven "riddles" are of great importance if man is to see the meaning of his own existence, the nature and effects of religion, and the purpose for intelligent thought and language.

Under the rules of engagement that science and philosophy have so fruitlessly bound themselves, the "solution" to even one of the riddles seems to get farther and farther away against the far horizon.  Under total materialist assumptions of physical cause and effect, how can there be a solution to the manufactured riddles mentioned above?  They are riddles only to those who do not like to regain God in their knowledge.

Maybe the words of Jesus Christ need to be given some respect:  "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit."  [John 3]  How can life and spirit arise from dead matter?  Is the very presence of life an indication that there must be more than atoms, force, energy, gravity, chemical bonds and such?

What is the definition from chemistry or physics that can define why a joke is funny, or a story is sad, or why Billy has hope for Christmas? or America's constitution guarantees freedom for her citizens?

How can you talk about liberty, science, and progress if you know nothing about morality, religion, the human heart and conscience?  What is the chemical formula for conscience? or what do we give God, when we give Him our heart?  Many a kindergarten girl knows more of these things than the materialistic scientist or philosopher with many prestigious degrees.

What a vast, complex, and fascinating world is hidden from those who only know what they learn from their five physical senses!  They have eyes to see, but cannot see; ears to hear, but cannot hear.  They are dead to God, shut up in their narrow, cold, and miserable cocoon.

God in His mercy and kindness, has brought the modern world to a crisis.  We face problems of a spiritual, religious, and moral nature, with real choices before us.  The problems in the Middle East, in Europe, in the Far East, and at home will not be solved by materialistic science, for that science cannot even know what the questions are.  "Why don't the other children like me?" cannot be answered by gifts of lolly-pops.   Questions concerning racism, sexism, abortion, involve deep spiritual issues that the modern man and women are ill-equipped to face, let alone understand. Even deeper questions like "How much of a person's earnings is it moral for him to keep?" have no mathematical solution.  The different philosophical questions concerning wealth held by the widow who gave her mite and Ananias who kept back half his fortune have no mathematical definition.

These questions are pale beside the major question of all: what is the importance of living at all?  Why is living better than being dead?

Dead men, with dead faith, worshiping dead gods, with dead works and ceremonies will not bring life to the world.  Someone who has life in Himself and can give life and come forth from the dead can do so.  But leaving Him outside the door of church, family, state, and experience will not secure the future.

Pr 21:16 "The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead."

Nothing of His Own

Ho 2:8 "For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal."

Satan comes as an angel of light, and his ministers as ministers of "righteousness."  2Corinthians 11:14,15. To use Christ's expression, "as wolves in sheep's clothing."

There is no question that the sincere Christian desires to set high standards for himself and longs to be without sin.  That is a given, for he came to Christ as a sinner and  believes the promise that in Christ is everlasting righteousness.   Thus the snare of idolatry, which is trusting the gifts of God and being caught in the "deceitfulness of sin." Heb. 3:13.  The deceitfulness of sin snares people on both sides of the path of righteousness.  Eph. 4:14.  On one side, Satan would snare us into contentment and ease, perverting faith and turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, committing wickedness, thinking that they are "delivered to so such abominations" Jeremiah 7:9.  On the other side, Satan would snare us into a different kind of ease and contentment, deceiving us into thinking that we have already obtained sinlessness and that the struggle against our sin is over, perverting faith in a different way, thinking that God makes us righteous in ourselves, turning our eyes away from the garments of  Christ's perfect righteousness, and we wrap the filthy garments of our own righteousness around us.

The effect of both errors is the destruction of the soul, for both seek the gifts of God rather than God Himself.  Ge 15:1 "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."  Not the land of Canaan, not a multitude of nations, not wealth and plenty, not even integrity of heart and mind--no gift of God can take the place of God, Himself, who is found in Christ alone.  The Pharisee stood and prayed within Himself and boasted of the gifts of God,  Lu 18:11,12 "I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess."



He was a Pharisee precisely because He thought he was righteous because of God's righteous gifts, trusting that he was righteous in himself. The publican was justified because he looked to the mercy and grace of God alone.  As Paul put it, Romans 5;"6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

"7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him".

The righteousness that justifies is not found within the sinner, but is alien to him, the perfection of Christ alone.

Christ died for the ungodly! while we were yet sinners! "This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." Is. 54:17  This is the imputation of a righteousness other than my own, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, secured by the Mediator for all His people.  Romans 3:"20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God..."


Because the sinner has been justified by faith, counted righteous because of Christ--not because of his own works, but because of the free gift of God--he is granted the gift of the Holy Spirit, who begins to work in the sinner the fruit of the Spirit, "love, joy...etc.," which are described in Gal. 5.   But this does not destroy the flesh, which has its own fruit, "wrath, strife, etc." also described in Gal.5 as warring with the Spirit in the soul of the believer. 

We are not in heaven yet, and every Christian wars against the sin of Adam's nature, from which he is not free until the resurrection.   Hope is a necessary ingredient of faith, as Paul also says, "We are saved by hope," Romans 8:24 and context.  Justification is a one time declaration of God that sins are not imputed to the sinner, but salvation includes more than justification; it also includes adoption, sanctification, resurrection, glorification.  These are all promised and guaranteed by the blood of Christ, but we do not see them yet in their perfection [except justification], Pr 4:18 "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

But ought we not to strive for perfection?  Of course, for we must never be content with our sins.  As Paul says again, "We groan within ourselves waiting for the redemption of our body."   But our joy is in the perfection of Christ and our joy is in Him and we look to Him.  We trust in Him, not his gifts.

Phil. 3: "8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9   And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith...." [context].

This matter is a very old issue in the church and there was a very important difference between the Reformers and Rome.  "Are we justified according to the measure of our sanctification, being justified because God has made us good?" as Rome said.  Or "Are we justified by the perfection of Christ imputed to us, and then given the gift of the Holy Spirit to take us by the hand and lead us through adoption, sanctification, resurrection, glorification, to perfection in glory, fully conformed to the image of Christ, to which we are predestined."  The Reformed, following the Bible, confessed the latter, hating the former as a snare to the soul.

Do you trust the creation, more than the Creator?