A Due Consideration

“There are two things that are suited to humble the soul of men, a due consideration of God, and then of ourselves. Of God, in his greatness, glory, holiness, power, majesty, and authority; of ourselves, in our mean, abject, and sinful condition.”

John Owen, Sin and Temptation, abridged and ed. By James M. Houston (Vancouver, B.C.: Regent, 1995), xvii. 

This due consideration of both God and ourselves is either terrifying or exhilarating. Apart from the gospel, this due consideration is terrifying. Terrifying that because of our sin and rebellion, we stand as objects of God's wrath. With the gospel, this due consideration is exhilarating. The all powerful, majestic, and holy God of the universe, with whom we were once enemies, has died on a cross to reconcile us. This due consideration is a marvelous reality to live in. 

Relationship=Obedience

"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you in holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.' And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."

1 Peter 1: 14-19

In this passage, Peter is calling his readers to godly obedience and holy living. He sets the bar pretty high, calling his readers to a holiness that parallels that of God. This leaves me wondering, "how in the heck could I ever be that obedient and that holy?" If you know yourself, you will know that being obedient to God's perfect standard is more than difficult. 

I love this passage because it sets this radical call to be holy in context. What is the means by which we are able to be holy and obey God? How do we break away from our sinful patterns in which we once lived? Peter starts the passage off by saying, "As obedient children". We obey because we are children. Our identity shift from spiritual orphans to beloved children of God. 

My college football coach used to always say, "Rules without relationship equals rebellion. Rules with relationship equals results."I think there is a lot of truth to that. Without a proper relationship with God, our default will always be rebellion. In the gospel, we are able to obey because of our new relationship with God. We obey, because,as God's children, He loves us. In fact, he couldn't possibly love us, or be more delighted in us that he already is. The reason is because we were ransomed in Christ. Not only did this act of ransom (Jesus dying on the cross as the ransom penalty for our sins) demonstrate God's love towards us, it also connects us and brings us into a relationship with him. It secures our place as his children. We now have the right to adopted as God's children. Further, the same way the Father views the Son (Jesus), he now views us. 

So, this is why Peter starts by saying, "As obedient children." It's as if he is saying, "because you have been made God's children, because you are united to Him, because God is your perfect Father who loves you, because Christ has ransomed you, go and obey. Because you are in God's family, you are now able to resemble the holiness of your Father."

This is good news for someone like me who constantly falls on my face. This is good news for someone who tends to view my obedience before God as a try out to be on God's team. The truth is, I'm already God's child. I already made the team. And me making the team wasn't contingent upon my performance, but because Jesus picked me and ransomed me so that I could be participate. 

Meditating on the Law

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD, 

and on his law he meditates day and night"

Psalm 1:1-2

Why would someone delight in the law of the LORD? And Why would someone meditate on the law day and night? When I first read verses like this, my initial thoughts are usually that this seems like legalism. Good people try really hard to meditate on the law, while the sinners/scoffers are those who don't do the law. The law can't justify me, so why in the world would I meditate on it?

Let me say that I think this is a misunderstanding of the law and why the psalmist would write these things. Here are a few random thoughts on meditating on God's law and what it means for us. 

First, the law was a gift given to Israel. It wasn't originally intended to be a punishment or form of condemnation. Rather, it was given to Israel so that they would know more about the God who brought them out of Egypt. God's law is a written inscription of his character. It gives us a glimpse of his holiness and his character. Therefore, we are able to know more of who God is when we meditate on this law. 

Second, the law was given as a gift that showed Israel how to live life as it was intended to be. The law was given after the Fall, because before the Fall, there was no need for correction. Since the Fall, everything got jacked up. Our relationship with God was shattered, our relationships with each other were broken, and our relationship with creation was marred. The law was an agent to bring things back to the way they were supposed to be. The law was God's instructions and guidelines to live as his holy people. This was not a form of supression intended to hold Israel down with these intense rules. Rather, it was a form of love, showing Israel the best way to live. It was for Israel's good. 

These are a couple reasons why a psalmist might be so excited about the law! He (unlike us) didn't view it as a burdensome legalism. Rather, the law painted a portrait of the awesome God he served. The law was a gracious gift from the Creator. The law shows us what life should be like. Meditating on the law makes sense then, because by meditating on it, we are able to see God and understand him more. 

Lastly, as it relates to us, should be meditate on the law day and night? My only thought here, is that we should meditate on the law as well. We should meditate on God and all his excellencies. Only, for us it may look a little different. Jesus was the perfect fulfillment and embodiment of the law. He was the exact image of God, and the perfect living representation of everything in the law. It is through Jesus that we know God and his character most clearly, and it is through Jesus that we see what life was supposed to be like. 

We were created in the image of God, and were intended to live in that. However, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, that image, like a broken mirror was shattered. What remains is a broken picture. The law gave us an inscription of what it looks like to live as a restored image bearing human. But, as we all know, we fail to do this. Jesus on the other hand, is himself, the perfect image bearer. He not only gives us an example of what it looks like to live in the image of God, he himself has the power to restore us to our image bearing humanity. 

So, yes, meditate on the law, but do so in the context that Jesus is the perfect embodiment and fulfillment of the law. Jesus did what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do. Jesus saved us from the condemnation that the law brought, and he gives us power to once again live as true humans made in the image of God. He restores life to what it was meant to be. The law was powerless to do this. So yes, delight in Jesus, the perfect fulfillment of the law!

Clinical Correlation?

I can't help but post this. Nothing like bringing what seems like two very different intellectual worlds together!

....

HT: Kevin DeYoung

The Anatomy of Holiness

What exactly does it mean to be holy? What does it look like?

Here’s one to think about it: consider growth in godliness as the sanctification of your body.

• The mind is filled with the knowledge of God and fixed on what is good.
• The eyes turn away from sensuality and shudder at the sight of evil.
• The mouth tells the truth and refuses to gossip, slander, or speak what is coarse or obscene.
• The spirit is earnest, steadfast, and gentle.
• The soul rests and rejoices in Jesus.
• The muscles toil and strive after Christlike virtue.
• The heart is full of joy instead of hopelessness, patience instead of irritability, kindness instead of anger, and humility instead of pride, thankfulness instead of envy.
• The sexual organs are pure, being reserved for the privacy of marriage between one man and one woman.
• The feet move toward the lowly and away from senseless conflict, divisions, and wild parties.
• The hands are quick to help those in need and ready to fold in prayer.

When I lose track of what holiness is actually about, I try to scan down the body from head to toe and remember what God desires from me. And just as importantly, I need to remember who Christ is and is making me to become.

The Concept of Justification

Over the next 10 days, I will be posting 10 observations from the concept of justification. In large, each of these observations will be taken from Anthony Hoekema's chapter on justification from his book on soteriology, 'Saved By Grace'. While these concepts may be simple in nature, my hope is whether we are visiting these beautiful truths for the first time, or revisiting them, that God would give us a deeper understanding of Christ's justifying work on our behalf, and that as a result, we would love Jesus more, and see Him as exceedingly glorious. I pray God would renew a sense of awe, wonder and joy in us for the doctrine of justification.

In his book, Hoekema defines justification as "that gracious and judicial act of God whereby he declares believing sinners righteous on the basis of the righteousness of Christ which is credited to them, forgives all their sins, adopts them as his children, and gives them the right to eternal life".

Observation # 1:

The Doctrine of Justification presupposes a recognition of the reality of God's wrath. 


The need for justification stems from God's holiness. Inherently, the word holy means to be 'set apart' or 'separate from'. In the biblical sense, it means that God is perfect. He is sinless. He is 'other' from us. He stands alone in His holiness. The Bible is clear in its teaching that because is holy, he cannot tolerate sin. Darkness cannot stain the perfect light. The prophet Habakkuk puts it this way, "Your [God's] eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong" (Hab. 1:13).

In order for the gospel to be good news, we must understand what we are saved from. Our state of sin demands God's wrath. Because He is holy, because He is perfect in all His ways, God cannot simply overlook sin. Rather, Sin deserves God's wrath.

Some observations from verses describing God's wrath:

God's wrath abides on those who reject Jesus (John 3:36)
We are all by nature, objects of God's wrath (Ephesians 2:3)
God's wrath comes upon those who are disobedient (Ephesians 5:6)
Because God's wrath abides on us, we are alienated from God (Colossians 1:21)
Christ saves us from God's wrath (Romans 5:9)

So, the first observation of the doctrine of justification is that it presupposes the reality of God's wrath. Because God is holy, and we have sinned, we deserve His wrath. This fits in line with God's perfect justice. We would not say it is unjust for a judge to give a fair punishment to a criminal. How much more  perfect is God's justice than an earthly judge. Our rebellion against God, our turning away from him rightly and justly demands His wrath. Therefore, in order to have any understanding of justification, we must understand what we are justified from, and why we need to be justified.

Through the Abundance of God's Steadfast Love

"For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

   evil may not dwell with you.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;

   you hate all evildoers.

You destroy those who speak lies;

   the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,

   will enter your house."

Psalm 5:4-7

Only through the steadfast love of God is man able to enter His house. Not by works or good conscious. If evil may not dwell with God, and He destroys those who lie, that leaves every man completely dependent upon an act of God's grace. Because we have all rebelled, we deserve to be outsiders. But this is where it gets interesting. Jesus Christ, the 2nd person of the trinity came to earth, became an outsider, took upon himself the just punishment for all of God's people, for their evil and rebellious hearts, and for every lie spoke. Now, those who trust in Christ may enter His house. Only through the abundance of God's steadfast love can we enter His house. The Apostle John captures how the Cross is the manifestation of this steadfast love. God has ultimately made a way for wrath deserving sinners to come to Him and dwell in His house. 

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

1 John 4:9-10

God's Holiness

I know I am kind of on a youtube posting binge, but this video was brought to my attention last night by Ryan Hoyt. The video includes sermon clips from R.C. Sproul, C.J. Mahaney and John Piper.