No Discipline Seems Enjoyable At The Time

The ancient proverb says, "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." - Pro 27:17 ESV. This is the concept behind discipline. When you come against someone as hardened and strong as you only one of two things follow. You will be changed by that encounter. Either you will be defeated and collapse or you will become sharper and better prepared for the next encounter. Iron does sharpen iron.

Picking up on this, the Hebrews writer speaks about discipline (paideia in Greek). Our heavenly Father loves us and wants us to grow stronger and stronger in our faith convictions. This chapter is devoted to spelling out the Father's understanding of discipline.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. - Hbr 12:6-11 ESV

Notice that our Father both disciplines and scourges us. Jesus was scourged and flogged by the Romans before His crucifixion. Roman scourging was so severe that those crucified often died from it shortly after being crucified. There is another proverb about the LORD treating His children in this manner.

My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. - Pro 3:11-12

 Here we face the harsh reality of how our LORD (the Lord Jesus as well) deals with us who are His disciples. And it is no fun ! Make no mistake about this. You and I are God's children, reborn and adopted into the family by being baptized into Jesus Christ. But follows now the rest of the journey to the Father's house. Our sinful human nature remains. And it fights against the new life we have received in Christ. Consequently we are disciplined, scourged, reproved and rebuked for sin. As we endure such discipline, at times the Lord seems to be the enemy, coming at us with great hostility. It seems as if He wants to destroy us. We are only a moth to be crushed as we flutter about the light of a candle. We are nothing more than a mere breath, a shadow! The whole enterprise of life seems pointless in those moments. We are spent, exhausted, worn out.

Listen to David as he struggles with the LORD's discipline and consider the emotions behind his words.

"O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!    Selah

Surely a man goes about as a shadow! Surely for nothing they are in turmoil; man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather! 

"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you. Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool! I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it. 

Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand. When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath!    Selah 

"Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears! For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers. Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!" - Psa 39:4-13 ESV

And yet . . . this is who we are, children of God. The dark nights will come. For some of us they have, again and again and again. And yet . . . as we look back we see. What? What the writer points to: "the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." The new life in Christ emerges stronger, more vibrant and the old-adam-nature is crushed and destroyed, beaten down even if not completely destroyed.

I can tell you no more than this. Do not throw away your faith. Only darkness and despair await if you do. Struggle, wrestle, scream, cry out, demand, pray, shout, but persist. We are Israelites after all. The story of Jacob's encounter with the LORD is ours. And from that encounter Jacob emerged as a changed man (Gen. 32:24-32). 

Do Not Go Beyond God's Revelation About Jesus

We are discussing the very difficult chapter 7 of Hebrews. Our focus during the past two postings has been upon the writer's comparison of King Melchizedek to Christ.

He (Melchizedek) is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. - Hebrews 7:3 ESV (cf. Gen. 14:18-20)

Melchizedek is not a descendant or child of Abraham. Yet he receives "a tenth of the spoils" from Abraham (Hebrews 7:4). In a sense, you might say that the priestly clan of Levi and his sons were present when Abraham gave Melchizedek those tithes. They were, after all, descendants of Abraham inasmuch as they were one of the 12 tribes descended from Abraham's grandson Israel (Jacob). Consequently it is also proper to say that the priests (Levites) were inferior in rank to Melchizedek since they paid tithes through Abraham (Hebrews 7:6-10).

One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. - Hbr 7:9-10 ESV 

It follows then that Melchizedek who was both priest and king is superior in rank to Levi. This is why Christ is correctly compared to Melchizedek. Christ is also both priest and king, but descended from the tribe of Judah, a tribe about which Moses said nothing having to do with priests. So in King David's words,

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." - Psa 110:4 ESV

Now if you have hung with me this far—and with this letter to the Hebrews—you know that we must settle the question of Jesus' humanity. We've already recognized that He is and was the holy Son of God from all eternity, begotten (not created) before all created things. By Him and from Him all things were created.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. - Jhn 1:1-3 ESV

But He is also true Man, born of the Virgin Mary.  He must be fully and completely human (descended from Adam) if He is to stand under God's judgment upon Adam and his progeny.

For as in Adam all die . . . - 1Cr 15:22 ESV 

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-- - Rom 5:12 ESV

So the huge and seemingly impossible challenge: how can the Christ who is the holy Son of God from all eternity be also the Son of Man who will die our death and not inherit the sinful nature of His human father Adam?

Answer: the Virgin Birth !

And here is where where some attempt to explain Jesus' ancestry by resorting to our current understanding of the creation of a human. They speak about cell mitosis and meiosis, the 23 pairs of chromosomes that are needed for new human life, the development of human blood, etc. They go on to explain that Jesus inherited Adam's nature, but not his sinfulness. This, they say, is because

. . . the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. - Lev 17:11 NIV

But that single Bible verse does not speak about Adam's sinful nature. Any attempt to make it say that is an example of reading things into a text.  I am very leery of this sort of thing and you should be as well, because such a use of God's Word goes far beyond what the Word has revealed about the mystery of the Incarnation. The Apostle teaches us humility as he writes,

Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. - 1Ti 3:16 NIV

The primary points to be remembered:

• In Christ God has appeared in human flesh
• Christ's incarnation was accomplished through the Virgin Mary
• Whether Mary remained a Virgin is an open question, despite the view of the Roman Catholic church and others that she remained a Virgin even in giving birth to Jesus
• Jesus was of Adam's race according to the flesh (see especially his lineage in Luke 3:23-38 and Matt. 1:1-17)
• Though Jesus was born of the "Seed of David according to the flesh" (Rom. 1:3), he did not inherit Adam's sinful nature

Beyond this we must not go. You may harbor private opinions and conclusions, but we must not attempt to make God reveal details about Jesus' birth that He has chosen to keep to Himself. Questions of when Jesus' human spirit or soul were created will also remain a mystery that is not revealed. The question about when or how any human soul is created is another question that has long been argued and tossed about. I'm not going to open it up here either. 

For now let us concentrate upon the primary facts lifted up by Hebrews 7. Jesus is our permanent and eternal priest. He is holy, blameless and pure, exalted above the heavens. He sacrificed Himself for our sins, once for all mankind. It is finished.We have a Great High Priest who pleads for all of us sinners before the judgment throne of God. In Him we are forgiven and secure. To Him be all glory. 

More on this as we go further into this wondrous letter. 

Jesus Had To Be Born Of The Virgin Mary

When you and I read the following chapter of Hebrews about this strange person, Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, we are left with a long list of questions about who he was and why the writer to the Hebrews speaks about him in the way that he does. Here's how he starts, after declaring that Jesus is a high priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:20).

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! - Hbr 7:1-4 ESV

We've read about Melchizedek earlier in Hebrews 5 when the author pointed out that the heavenly Father begat Jesus as His Son in the eternal today when He said,

"You are my Son, today I have begotten you" (Psalm 2:7). 

And again we read about David's Lord who sits at the right hand of the LORD,

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." - Psa 110:4 ESV

Now, very seriously believing that the Psalms are the revealed Word of the LORD God, the writer begins to explain who this mysterious king of Salem is and why it is so important to realize that Jesus is a priest "after the order of Melchizedek". This priestly king is, after all, only mentioned in Holy Scripture one time. As the writer emphasizes, we know nothing about who he was beyond that. We know nothing about his lineage, his background, who  his parents were, how he came to be the king of Salem (later Jeru-salem)—nothing. We only know that Abraham presented him with a tithe after he returned from the slaughter of the kings (Gen. 14:18-20).

His first point: resembling the Son of God Melchizedek continues a priest forever. Here we encounter the mystery of Jesus as understood and taught by the Christian church. Jesus received His divine nature from His Father in eternity. He was begotten, not made, as our creeds clearly teach. He is not a creature who has had a beginning in time. Indeed, Scripture says of Him,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. - John 1:1-3 ESV

All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing—nothing—came into being! He is God. He is the Word! He is the Creator of all things!

But He is also Man, born of the Virgin Mary. Of this wonder the Scriptures also speak.

Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, "Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test." And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. - Isa 7:10-14 ESV

The Gospel of Matthew has this about Joseph's dream the night after he learned that Mary was pregnant:

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). - Mat 1:20-23 ESV

Two questions:

1. How could a virgin conceive? 
2. How could a virgin bear a son and remain a virgin? 

Humanly speaking, it is impossible for a virgin to conceive. A human is the product of the union of male seed and female egg. And yet Jesus' conception was from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit spoke about this in a later chapter of the prophet Isaiah.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isa 9:6 ESV

A child is born—this refers to Jesus' birth and His humanity. He was the divine Son of God from all eternity. Now the Father sent His Son from heaven. (Jn. 3:16, 6:39, 12:49). Here we come upon the wonder and mystery of Jesus, true God from eternity and also true Man, born of the virgin Mary.

Did Jesus need the virgin birth to be sinless? No, he was already sinless as the eternal Son of God before His birth. The angel pointed this out to Mary when he told her she was to become Jesus' mother.

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 

And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" 

And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. - Luk 1:30-35 ESV

Jesus was and is holy and without sin. He was holy before His conception in Mary's womb. He did not need her to be holy and sinless. She was the vehicle by which He entered this world, but His holiness was and is not dependent upon her holiness. That raises, of course, another question. Did the Holy Spirit use Mary's egg to create Jesus' humanity? I'll come back to that question next time.

Part of the answer to this question rests in another strange Biblical prophecy dating all the way back to the Garden of Eden. After Eve and Adam had fallen for the temptation of the serpent the LORD said to the serpent,

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." - Gen 3:15 NKJV

The Hebrew word for seed is zera, a word that refers both to offspring and to the physical seed that the man passes on. The prophecy is made only of the zera of the woman, as if a woman by herself could have offspring. But this is impossible. No woman can bear a child by herself. She has no zera. She brings rather an egg, not the seed, the zera that fertilizes the egg. No woman ever bore a son alone—until Mary bore Jesus, the Son who destroyed the power of the devil to accuse mankind of sin (2 Cor. 5:18-21; 1 Pet. 2:22).

We need to look at this from the perspective that Adam was

• representative or head of all mankind and 
• bore the physical seed in which mankind's sinful nature is passed on 

Let us start with the representative concept. The Apostle Paul teaches clearly that it was by Adam that sin entered into the world of mankind. As noted, this is the understanding that Adam is the head or representative of the entire human race. He did not reject the temptation of the devil. He ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore when Adam sinned the entire race fell. The Apostle writes about this.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-- - Rom 5:12 ESV

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. - Rom 5:14 ESV 

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. - 1Cr 15:21-22 ESV

There are many examples in the Scriptures of one person who is the head of a family or a people making a decision that touches all. So we read of Noah cursing his grandson Canaan.

When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." - Gen 9:24-25 ESV

Strangely, Canaan wasn't directly involved in what his father Ham had done. Instead of covering Noah's nakedness when he was drunk, Ham went out and told his two brothers, apparently mocking his father. As a result, Noah pronounced a curse on Ham's sons, a curse that fell on Canaan and his descendants.

The same thing happened to Esau when he sold his birthright to Jacob (Gen. 25:31-34). All of his descendants were thus excluded from the blessing of the promise given to Abraham and passed on to Isaac, then Jacob and their descendants (Gen. 28:1-4).

So from this viewpoint no descendant of Adam could possibly rescue mankind from the curse of sin. In Adam all die ! And yet, if mankind is to be rescued it must be that one who is truly a man must bear the  judgment of death for all. But who could do this? And how?

Here we come back to the virgin birth and the necessity of the virgin birth of Jesus. More on this next time.

Same-sex Marriage And The ELCA

What follows is a brief review of an article approving same-sex marriage by Dr. Stephen Paul Bouman who currently serves as the Executive Director of the Congregational and Synodical Mission unit of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America: The Child in Our Midst: Reflections on Richard Norris's "Notes".  In the article he begs for compassion and understanding for Christians who have a homosexual orientation. His understanding is that some are born as homosexuals. They have no choice. This is who they are, either gay or lesbian.

"To require celibacy (of them) contradicts Augsburg Confession Article XXIII (requiring monastic vows). To enter into a committed union that is intended to be lifelong may be the best or certainly the least bad alternative for gay and lesbian Christians. And I can find no passage in the Bible that forbids such a committed union" (p.622). 

But what is the Bible to Bouman and others in the ELCA—and denominations with whom that church is in full fellowship (i.e. United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Presbyterian Church—USA, Reformed Church of America and the Episcopal Church)? It is an historical book with a long history, not God's inspired Word. The human authors made many mistakes about historical events, places and people.

Within the essay Dr. Bouman openly rejects the Bible as God's inerrant and inspired Word. The idea of divine inspiration as the basis for the authority of the Bible, he writes, can be traced back to North African Bishop Augustine of Hippo. This is a very strange conclusion, one that we are called to accept simply because Bouman says it is so. It is not based upon what the Biblical authors themselves said about their writings, nor is it based upon what other church fathers believed. Bouman writes,

"Augustine introduced the pagan Greek notion of inspiration: a divine being speaking through a human oracle. It is this view of Scripture that makes appeal to Scripture so problematic for Norris, and which undergirded much of what Augustine and others thought concerning moral issues and national law." (italics added)

To view the Bible as inspired, says Bouman, brings up two problems:

1. A doctrine of inspiration removes the Bible from its place in history and its actual historical development. 
2. When the Bible is located outside of history its authority is no longer the authority of the gospel, the good news of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. . . Only the gospel gives the Bible its proper authority. The gospel of Christ is the Word of God. Everything else, even the "law" as the "word of God," is subordinate to the gospel, having its own subordinate and adaptable authority for Christians. 

Conclusion: the Holy Spirit did not inspire the writers of the Bible. Instead we have documents written by men in which the gospel was somehow preserved. It is strange enough to say that, but the confusion continues as he turns to the writings of the New Testament to discover what the gospel is. Of course, since these writings are not the inspired Word of God, we have no way of knowing whether they are trustworthy. How, for instance, do we even know that Christ rose from the dead? But Bouman does not address that issue. Instead he writes,

"John 1 states that Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh and lived among us, a claim grounded solely in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The writings of the New Testament give us access to this historical event and the resurrection appearances and serve as the standard or norm for their interpretation. The Christian gospel is that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the world, that Jesus is the crucified and risen Savior (Rom. 4:25), that in Jesus' cross and resurrection the reign of God has come. There is no other absolute Word of God, not even the law of God."

But, but, but . . . Was Jesus' birth the creative working of the Holy Spirit? Did the Holy Spirit guide the Apostles to write about Jesus' life, death and resurrection? Is it true that no one can call Jesus LORD without the work of the Spirit? What is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the gospel? After rejecting the Bible as the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), he still turns to the Bible to find the gospel. This time he quotes from Walter Bouman's unpublished monograph on human sexuality.

"The Lutheran approach to the authority of the Bible is thus characterized by two axioms: 

(1) only the gospel gives the Bible its true authority;  

(2) only the Bible gives the gospel its normative content." 

We have the gospel because of the Bible, and we pay attention to the Bible because of the gospel. 

Frankly, I'm confused. Bouman operates with a completely different understanding of inspiration ("a divine being speaking through a human oracle") than most other Christians. No one ever said that the inspired authors were mere amanuenses (secretaries taking notes and then transcribing). The Greek oracles were indeed supposed to be taken over by spirits and used. But Christians have always maintained that “the Bible was both the exclusive work of the Holy Spirit alone and at the same time the work of the biblical writers.”

I could go on and on about this article to talk about how he destroys the Law as the means of revealing sin, even though he likes to use the law/gospel language familiar to Lutherans. Despite what the Formula of Concord may have said, Bouman insists that the Torah, including the Decalogue, according to some unnamed Biblical scholars, did not have this usage in Israel. Instead its singular purpose was to serve as the means by which the Jews gained their identity, an identity that came from obeying the 613 commandments that the scribes found in the Torah. In this view, Israel's keeping of the hundreds of commandments marked them as God's chosen people, adopted by God's act of grace. Consequently, "the keeping of the law is no grudging gesture of submission, but an act of gratitude and loyalty . . . God's love for Israel deserves an answering love." (p. 620)

By thus turning the law into Israel's gospel, he completely and totally ignores the Apostle Paul's statement about Israel's inability to keep the law because of sin (Rom. 3:1-20). He claims that the purpose of the law was not to reveal their failure to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves, but rather to give the Jews a way to express their gratitude for God's gracious choosing of them as His people. The assumption is that they could and did keep the law.

So what happened to sin? And judgment? And of what value is the gospel if we are not all dead in trespasses and sins?

With that upside down statement about the commandments and the law as the groundwork, he goes on to say that the gospel serves the same purpose for Christians. The gospel is the New Testament Torah, the way by which Christians mark themselves a followers of Christ. I don't know what happened to the three solas Lutherans love to talk about: grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone. I think they've gone away along with the teaching about inspiration.

Anyway, according to Bouman, guided by the gospel in a complex world Christians adapt the teachings of Jesus and the apostles to this new context—the rise of the gay movement. Given the alternatives they do the best they can. And for gays or lesbians the best they can do is to marry and commit themselves to a lifelong union.

I conclude by telling you that I am quite exasperated—I can hardly breathe. No more Holy Spirit. No more rebirth by the Spirit. No more sin. Vast confusion about what the gospel is. And from that flows an approval of same-sex marriage, regardless of what the so-called uninspired Scriptures have to say about marriage and about the mystery of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-33).

Go figure! 

The Rod Of Discipline

In my previous blog I wrote about the value and importance of discipline (yacar -Hebr.). The Old Testament is filled with references to the LORD disciplining His people and thus treating them as His children.

And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, - Lev 26:18 ESV 

Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. - Deut 4:36 ESV 

I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, - 2Sa 7:14 ESV 

O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! - Psa 38:1 ESV 

When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely all mankind is a mere breath! Selah - Psa 39:11 ESV

The idea of the LORD disciplining His children in love carries forward into the New Testament

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. - Hebrews 12:5-10 ESV

The Hebrews writer quotes from the Book of Proverbs:

My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. - Prov 3:11-12 ESV 

Following the example of our LORD, Christian parents recognize the critical importance of discipline for our children. This will always involve our helping them to face up to their sins. This may indeed mean they suffer pain and loss for a time, as the writer to the Hebrews says,

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. - Hebrews 12:4 ESV

Such discipline may well involve the rod of discipline (Prov. 22:15), but if it is applied, Christ's love must ever guide us, not anger, frustration or disgust. If any of us approaches the task of discipline in that manner, we ourselves are  in need of discipline. Our task is to discipline for the good of our children and then to forgive them as we ourselves are forgiven in Jesus.

Need more be said? The media is filled with many stories of children and youth driven to hurt, kill and destroy. Where was the discipline?

The Formidable Unity Among Us Christians

In his introduction to the modern translation of an ancient book by St. Athanasius (On The Incarnation), C.S. Lewis wrote, 

"We are all rightly distressed, and ashamed also, at the divisions of Christendom. But those who have always lived within the Christian fold may be too easily dispirited by them. They are bad, but such people do not know what it looks like from without. Seem from there, what is left intact despite all the divisions, still appears (as it truly is) an immensely formidable unity."

The creed named after Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, reflects that "immensely formidable unity" among us Christians. Almost all Christians readily embrace the Athanasian Creed as a carefully crafted summary of what we believe about the tri-unity or trinity of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Outside the pages of the New Testament itself, Athanasius is probably the man to whom we chiefly owe the preservation of that Christian faith. The creed named after Athanasius exposes the false teachings of a popular party that taught Arianism and defends the full divinity of Jesus Christ. The Arian view is seen today most especially in the teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons, who teach that Jesus is not unique from the rest of mankind. Against the Arians the Athanasian Creed emphasizes that Jesus is of one substance with the Father (the Greek word is homo-ousios), leaving the Arians no room to teach that Jesus is merely a god or a high ranking angel then or today.

Father, Son, Holy Spirit = God

Est = is. Non est = is not.

In today's and in upcoming blog postings I intend to emphasize especially that unity we Christians have, most especially around the person and work of Jesus, Son of Mary and Son of God. To do that I invite you to step back to the 4th century to listen to what Athanasius himself taught about Jesus who is "Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood" (Athanasian Creed: 31).

This teaching is of immense importance for several reasons. Let's begin with how we of the 21st century explain the origin of the universe and our own planet. We Christians teach that the universe and our world were carefully designed and crafted by a Mind from outside and beyond our universe. Scientists who espouse Darwinian evolution and natural selection reject such statements. Neo-darwinians stress that it is a grave mistake to mix religion with science, especially since religion is a matter of feelings and blind faith in some supposed revelation whereas modern science depends upon careful observation and rational conclusions that grow out of the scientific method. Here is a chart from Concept Crucible outlining that method:

In response to these modern Darwinians a growing number of scientists stress that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause and design. They point out that intelligent design (ID) is indeed a proper scientific hypothesis or theory.

Intelligent design begins with the observation that intelligent agents produce complex and specified information (CSI). Design theorists hypothesize that if a natural object was designed, it will contain high levels of CSI. Scientists then perform experimental tests upon natural objects to determine if they contain complex and specified information. One easily testable form of CSI is irreducible complexity, which can be discovered by experimentally reverse-engineering biological structures to see if they require all of their parts to function. When ID researchers find irreducible complexity in biology, they conclude that such structures were designed.

ID scientists do not want to be identified as creationists. Their science is science and not religion. They operate with rational thinking and the scientific method. That is all fine and good, I suppose. It keeps open the dialogue. However, we who have been reborn by the power and working of God's Holy Spirit (John 3:5-6) have no choice but to teach openly that our God is not only some god above and outside this creation. We are not Deists. No indeed. The very same God who created the universe by His Word out of nothing is Jesus! Jesus IS that Word of God who became flesh and blood in the Child born of Mary (John 1:1-16). That is what our Christmas celebration is all about.

And He became incarnate flesh and blood for a specific reason, a reason tied to creation and to the universe itself. We emphasize that if our first parents had obeyed the Creator, the life of a paradise without sorrow, suffering, pain and death would still be ours today—and forever. But they threw away their heritage and birthright. They disobeyed His clear command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And so they died (Genesis 2:16-17; Gen 3:1-19). We who are the children of Adam and Eve share in that death, as does creation itself. In Adam we all died, writes the Apostle (1 Cor 15:21-22).

Life here on our planet was created with purpose and meaning. It was never to be meaningless as it so often seems, a mere matter of the undirected and mindless chance taught by the religion known as Darwinism. Everything was created with purpose and order. Note how the order of creation progresses as recorded in Genesis 1-2. At the end of each day the Creator pronounces what He either created or made as good!

But what do we see all around us? Chaos, confusion, suffering and the cessation of life. This is exactly what the Creator said would be the result. Adam, Eve and their children would all die, die  because of their disobedience. That disobedience is called sin. Death is directly related to sin. Death entered creation because of our disconnect with our Creator. And since we who bear the very image of our Creator were to rule over this world (Gen. 1:26-30) there is a disconnect between us and this created world as well. We either do not have dominion over it or we find it warring against us. As the Creator said to Adam, the earth is cursed (Gen. 3:17). Life has now become a struggle. We murder and wage war with one another. We have twisted and perverted our sexual natures. Family life breaks down everywhere. Our bodies are infected by other hostile lifeforms of the creation. We suffer from disasters brought on by the uncontrolled forces of wind and wave. Hurricanes, electrical storms and earthquakes ravish our homes and destroy our children. Everything is in confusion.

It was never to be this way. God did not want it this way, but what could He do about it? That's a topic for tomorrow.

We Work With Him To Heal

This discussion about sickness got started because I invited you to look with me at the story in John 9 about the man born blind and Jesus' disciples asking him whose sin brought on that particular disability. Jesus' answer is very helpful.

As (Jesus) passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. - Jhn 9:1-7 ESV

Some babies are born blind or with severe vision loss. This can be caused by many different things, including defects in the eye itself, problems with the part of the brain responsible for vision, or by infections. Some of the factors placing an infant, toddler, or child at significant risk for visual impairment include:

• Prematurity, low birth weight, oxygen at birth, or bleeding in the brain
• Family history of retinoblastoma, congenital cataracts, or metabolic or genetic disease
• Infection of mother during pregnancy such as rubella, toxoplasmosis, venereal disease, herpes, cytomegalovirus or AIDS
• Problems with the central nervous system such as developmental delay, cerebral palsy, seizures, or hydrocephalus.

As you can see, there are many biological, genetic and developmental causes of vision loss. Some cause more severe loss than others. Regardless of what modern medical diagnosis one may offer for the blindness of the man referenced in John's Gospel it is critical that we hear Jesus' answer.

"It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. - Jhn 9:3 ESV

Whatever was Jesus getting at? The man had been born blind. From childhood to maturity he'd groped about in darkness. God had permitted it. Further, we know nothing about the man's faith. Neither he nor his parents approached Jesus, pleading for him to cast out some demon of blindness or to release him from the supposed bondage of Satan. In fact, we hear nothing from the man nor his parents before Jesus healed him. From what we read later the blind man was not even aware of who Jesus was (John 9:24-33). And yet Jesus made a paste of mud to put on his eyes and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. He did and came back seeing. Quite amazing.

Back to Jesus' answer. This man's sins and the sins of his parents did not cause the blindness. His blindness was not the direct result of anyone's specific disobedience to the will and commands of God. There is no direct correlation between some particular sins and a specific disability like this man's blindness. Jesus pointed out that the eighteen Galileans who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them were no worse sinners that all the other Galileans (Luke 13:1-5). Paul teaches the same thing. All are equally guilty of sin and have earned death.

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, - Rom 3:22-24 ESV

Because of the sin of Adam we are all sinners, born into a world of sinful mankind (1 Cor 15:22). We who were to rule the earth have now pulled it down into suffering and death along with us. The whole earth is under God's curse (Gen. 3:17-19), a curse that will remain until Christ returns to make all things new (2 Peter 3:13; Romans 8:19). Yet in Christ we are set free from that curse. In Christ our sins are forgiven.

Yet sin remains with us who have been reborn in Christ in this present age and will until we receive new bodies in the promised resurrection (1 Cor 15:50-55). Meanwhile we struggle with our sinful nature and the temptations of satan throughout our lives. Even after his conversion the Apostle Paul had to acknowledge this.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. - Rom 7:18-23 ESV

So back to the man born blind. Note that Jesus does not lay out some general abstract answer to the question of sickness. He simply emphasizes that this particular man's blindness was not a result of some particular sin by him or his parents. However, here was an opportunity. This poor man needed help, whether he asked for it or not, and Jesus would not pass by without reaching out to him. That was why he made the mud poultice for his eyes and tested him by asking him to wash in the pool.

Further, it seems clear that Jesus was using this as an opportunity to teach his disciples how to do the work of God, the work of compassion and love for all caught in the suffering, pain and death of this world. Joined with Jesus as disciples, yes as members of his body, we reach out to heal and bind up those suffering in darkness and pain. And in this manner we make visible the love revealed in Jesus Christ: God loves the world and sent Jesus to set us all free.

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." - Jhn 9:4-5 ESV

Some translations have Jesus saying, "I must work the works . . ." Indeed he did and does. But an even better reading of the original text has him inviting us all to work with him, even as he works in and through us: "We must work the works of him who sent Jesus." We are God's fellow workers (1 Cor. 3:9). We work with him in this world to bring God's mercy and forgiveness and healing and wholeness for heart, mind and body. This has long been the motivating power behind medical missions, hospitals, hospice care, Christian counseling and millions upon millions of other works of mercy by Christians throughout the world. Through this work of God the light of Jesus, the light of the world is being
displayed for all to see.

This beautiful chapter of John has so much more to teach us. We will continue our study in my next posts.

Judging According To The Flesh

Yesterday as I wrote about the rapidly changing views on marriage and sexual license here in the United States I was painfully aware of how different my views are from those self-styled enlightened voices calling for such changes. To most of us who follow Jesus, it seems so very obvious. The definition of marriage is clear : one man and one woman for life! Period, end of discussion. This is what Jesus teaches clearly in his Word. This is how he, our Creator, Master and Lord designed human life. We have no choice but to follow his way of life. He is LORD. He brings light. He is the Light of the world. And when we follow this Light our personal, family and community lives are blessed.

But my conclusions are not at all obvious to those outside Christ's Kingdom, to those who do not accept his authority nor that of the Scriptures as God's Word. You can see this clearly as we pick up the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees. Jesus has just declared himself to be the light of the world.

So the Pharisees said to him, "You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true." Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. - Jhn 8:13-16 ESV

"You judge according to the flesh!"

Like the talking heads who decided which candidate won the recent series of televised presidential debates here in the United States, the Pharisees brought their own personal agendas into this conflict between themselves and Jesus. They judged him, says Jesus, "according to the flesh!" And as a result they did not accept him nor the light he brought into the world.

Flesh in Jesus' usage refers not to the soft substance that covers the bodies of men and beasts. Rather, it refers to that sensuous, sinful nature of a man or woman with a self-centered agenda. To "judge according to the flesh" is decide on the basis of "what's in it for me." The apostle Paul puts it this way:

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. - Rom 8:7-8 ESV

In the minds of the Pharisees, Jesus was nothing more than some self-promoting carpenter from the nothing-town of Nazareth. "You are bearing witness about yourself," they shouted. "The claims you make are empty and meaningless."

Jesus countered, "Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me." 

They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?" 

Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." - Jhn 8:16-19 ESV

Earlier in the Gospel of John we hear Jesus equating the Scriptures to the voice of his Father.

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. - Jhn 5:37-40 ESV

The Pharisees and learned Scribes rejected the witness of the very Scriptures they so highly treasured. Driven by their flesh, they persisted in the belief that they could earn the blessings of God by their righteous lives. In this belief they were blind to what these same Scriptures say about sin and about Jesus as the only Savior from God's judgment upon sin. They continued to "judge according to the flesh!"

Bottom line: when we Christians despair about how the morals of this world are changing, let us remember that that this is the world of men and women who "judge according to the flesh!" It has always been so. It will always be so until Christ returns. Until and unless they are reborn by the power and working of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-6), there will be no changing of their minds. We must ever be conscious of this truth. Jesus' kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).

Go Now And Sin No More

"Jesus was left alone with the woman the woman standing before him." So we come to the conclusion of the story John told.

Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." - Jhn 8:10-11 ESV

Some say this story was never in John's Gospel. Some say it always was in one form or another. In any event it teaches us something very strange and wondrous about Jesus.

How could he not condemn her? Had she not trampled upon the very plan of God established when Adam was introduced to Eve? Is not the union of a man and woman for life? Is there ever any reason why adultery could be condoned? Had not Jesus himself taught that adultery begins in the very act of gazing upon a woman with lustful desire (Matt. 5:28)? The answers are obvious.

And yet Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you." Did he mean to say she had not committed adultery? Oh no. She had been caught red handed, in the very act—or at least so went the story (John 8:4). What then did he say? That he, like the other men, was not without sin and so not fit to pass judgment? Surely not, for Jesus was without sin, holy, blameless and pure (Heb. 7:26-27). What gave him the right to say to this woman that her sins were forgiven, that God no longer held her guilty?

Here is John's answer, the answer to which all sinners must cling:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1Jo 2:1-2 ESV

This strange word propitiation (hilasmos in Greek) has a deep and profound meaning. It hearkens back to the great Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The root for the word Kippur is kafar, a Hebrew word that comes from a word meaning "ranson." To ransom means to atone by offering a substitute. In the Old Covenant the blood of the sacrificial animals was required in exchange for the blood or lives of the worshippers who had broken covenant with the LORD by their sins and so deserved death. This was clarified particularly on the Day of Atonement when the High Priest, on behalf of all Israel, laid both of his hands upon the scapegoat and confessed all their transgressions, all their sins and all their iniquities before the LORD (Lev. 16:15-22). The same was true for the sacrifice of all the many animals killed during the days of the Old Covenant (Lev. 1:4-5).

Christ came as the final sinless sacrifice, the Lamb of God (John 1:29,36), to be sacrificed for the sins of all mankind from Adam to the end of this age. All the sacrifices before that were but parables or symbols pointing forward to the coming of this Lamb (Heb. 9:9). He himself was the High Priest who offered this sacrifice. Thus he became the mediator of a new covenant, because his death, his blood, is the Kippur, the all-atoning sacrifice, the propitiation, offered as the one, final substitute for all men.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. - Heb 9:11-15 ESV

Because Jesus was the Lamb of God, because he was to make atonement for this woman's sins upon the altar of Calvary, because he was the High Priest who was to offer the all-atoning sacrifice, he could say to her, "Neither do I condemn you!"

Cleansed and purified, he then gave her the power to change her life. With his Word and his mercy planted firmly in her heart, he could also say, "Go and from now on sin no more." In this Good News all sinners now find refuge and the power to change their lives.

Read The Signs Or Die

We're still talking about discipleship and the work of the church. In earlier posts we took a look at Jesus' feeding thousands in the wilderness along the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee or, as the
Romans called it, the Sea of Tiberias. As a result, the crowd wanted to make him their king, their Bread King. With him in charge the problem of food would be settled. But Jesus would have none of it. He hid himself back in the hills. We pick up the narrative in John 6.

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.
But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. - Jhn 6:16-21 ESV

In Matthew's account Peter boldly asks Jesus for permission to join him on the water. But then Peter loses his faith and has to be rescued from drowning. When they step into the boat Jesus remonstrates Peter, saying, "O you of little faith. Why did you doubt?"

Once in the boat, the wind ceased and shortly after that they made it safely to land. All this made a deep impression on the disciples. They knelt before him and said, "Truly you are the Son of God!"(Matt. 14:24-32)

Later Peter repeated his conviction that Jesus was God's Son. On the Mountain Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured and shining as bright as newly fallen snow. They heard the Father proclaim Jesus His Son (Matt.17:5). When the Sanhedrin tried Jesus they pronounced him guilty of blasphemy for declaring himself to be God's Son. This was a crime worthy of death (Matt. 16:63-66).

What has all this to do with the primary questions of Bread and healing raised by the crowd? Just this. Jesus is indeed the Son of God. As John wrote in the beginning of his Gospel,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. - Jhn 1:1-3 ESV

Jesus gave them plain and obvious signs of this fact. He fed thousands with a five barley loaves and two fish. He walked on water amidst a raging storm and calmed the sea. Once again the LORD God had come among His people to feed them in the wilderness and take them safely through the fearsome waters of the sea, just as He did in the days of their Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land. Truly He is the Son of God, Immanuel, God with us! The psalmist pulls this history together as he invites praise.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name." Selah

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations-- let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. - Psa 66:1-12 ESV

Jesus is indeed the Son of God, King above all kings, Maker of heaven and earth, Master of wind and seas. All the signs pointed to this fact. But Jesus would not allow the crowd to declare him king. Why not?

Because they had no faith in him and his promises. They were not ready to be his disciples. Yes, they were concerned about their fundamental needs. As I pointed out in earlier postings, Maslow is correct. There is a hierarchy of needs and, as in the case of the hungry crowd and the frightened disciples on the sea, the need for food and safety are fundamental. Nothing wrong with that. But there is so much more.

The crowd was concerned only about themselves, their needs for healing, for food and drink and for personal safety. But that was all they thought about. As in the case of the Israelites in the wilderness, God was testing them again, trying them as silver is tried. As the proverb says,

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts. - Pro 17:3 ESV (see also Isaiah 48:10)

He tested them and they all failed the test. They did not give God the glory. They did not bless and praise Him. All they thought about was themselves. What's in this for me? You give us bread. You calm the storms. Great. We are well fed, healed and safe. Now that's the kind of king we want.

And that is the very nature of sin. Instead of keeping first things first, the focus is always and only upon me, my wants and my needs. The first and greatest of all God's commandments is this:

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. - Deu 6:4-5 ESV

Here, right here in the wilderness near the Sea of Galilee, here was the LORD. All the signs all pointed to Him. But they would not see them. Their hearts were hardened. They worshipped only themselves. Peter and the disciples saw Him for who He is. They worshipped Him and acknowledged Him to be the Son of God. Weak as their faith was, it was still faith. They were his disciples, but the rest failed the test.

John continues. The crowd Jesus fed followed him and His disciples to the other side of the sea. Puzzled at how he got there they approached him.

They said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." - Jhn 6:25-27 ESV

We must take a very careful look at this statement. As disciples of Jesus we are concerned about the whole person, about the needs of the body, but our central and primary task is to lead men to Christ. Fail to do that and we have failed to be the church. More on this next time as we learn more about Jesus' two kingdoms, those often called the kingdoms of his right and left hands.

Building On The Right Foundation.

What happens if you don't build properly? Here's a cartoon by Ed Stein I found in the December 12, 2008 issue of Rocky Mountain News that illustrates my point. Stein is illustrating the failures of the American auto industry and their desire to receive bailout money from Washington. In their case it seems they needed to rebuild and restructure their business practices in the light of the ever-changing world economy. Failing to do that, they faced collapse. Views on this issue abound.

Here's what Jesus says,

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." - Mat 7:24-27 ESV

This is what the church has always taught. We must both hear and do the Word of our Lord Christ. Any individual, any church, any church body that fails to do that sets himself/herself up for failure. And the ultimate failure will come when the foundation is tested at the end of this age. In the verses just prior to those quoted, Jesus says,

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' - Mat 7:21-23 ESV

Who is a worker of lawlessness? And what is Jesus getting at? Just this. Everyone knows, in some sense, right from wrong. We come packaged that way. It is in our hearts. We know we are to love and worship God alone. We know we are to love and care for those around us.

But what is also in our hearts is the overwhelming desire to do it my way! and ignore our obligations to love and serve the Lord with all our heart, mind and will. Our natural focus is upon ME! That's called sin. When we hear God's Law revealed in Holy Scripture that sense of sin is deepened and sharpened even more. The primary purpose of God's Law is to reveal our hopeless condition. We are sinners and under judgment. There is no way out.

It is at that point that Jesus comes to us to tell us that He has carried the full weight of our sin in His body on the cross. "Give up on yourself!" He says. "I've already laid a new foundation for your life. Put your faith and your entire trust on Me! And then you will never need to be afraid and guilty again. From this point on, your life is built upon the Rock!"

This is why we are so very, very concerned about the correct teaching of God's Word. Anything taught, said or done that draws us away from that foundation must be rejected and denounced. This is why we will tell you not to commune at the Lord's Supper when we serve it in our public worship services. We insist that you hear us out first. We need to explain in detail why this central, vital, and overwhelmingly important teaching about Jesus Christ is critical. When you hear us out and agree, then we all know we are building together on the one and only foundation. Then we hold hands and kneel before our Lord and Master together. And we rejoice together as we hear Him say,

"Take and eat. Take and drink. This is My body and My Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. Go in peace and serve Me!" 

No Forgiveness Without Blood

A couple of weeks after hearing a sermon on Psalms 51:2-4, a man wrote the following letter to the IRS.

"I have been unable to sleep, knowing that I have cheated on my income tax. I understated my taxable income, and am enclosing a check for $2,500.00. If I still can't sleep, I will send the rest."

King David had the same problem. His guilt about his adultery with Bathsheba and the arranged murder of her husband kept him from sleeping.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. - Psa 51:2-4 ESV

David had sinned against Bathsheba's husband and against his own family. He had sinned against his nation and failed to provide the moral and spiritual leadership required of his office as king. But his sin ran even deeper and he knew it. He had sinned against the LORD God. Whatever happened now, the LORD would indeed be justified in doing it.

As he pondered his failings, David spoke of yet another troubling reality. This sin, this iniquity, was in him from the moment of his conception.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. - Psa 51:5 ESV

 Breaking God's commands, iniquity, transgression, depravity, sin, and the accompanying guilt—this theme  pervades and saturates the Biblical account from the Garden of Eden onward. It is an inner soul-sickness that passes on from one generation to the next. David saw it in his own miserable life. He had flaunted the commandments of the LORD to honor marriage and protect human life. Not only was he guilty, but so also was his family, his siblings and his parents. He had been conceived in sin and guilt! Inwardly he felt like all his bones were broken, so intense was his pain. Was there no way out of this misery and pain? He pleads with the LORD God to wash him and make him clean.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. - Psa 51:6-9 ESV

He must not hide from the truth. He must admit his guilt and be prepared to accept punishment for what he had done and for what he had failed to do. This was the chokmah, the wisdom he pleaded for. This is the basic, practical skill that every sinner must learn. Each must face up to his/her personal failings and sins. No more secrets. Every layer of this perversity must be uncovered. Only then is purging and washing possible.

Notice David's strange prayer: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. What in all the world does a flower (hyssop) have to do with being purged and cleansed? Hyssop is an aromatic plant of the mint family. It has a strong wiry stem with bunches of flowers and leaves able to absorb liquids like water and blood in the same way as the natural and manufactured sponges we commonly use today. So hyssop was used in various rituals such as sprinkling blood on the doorposts at Passover (Ex. 12:22), blood and water on lepers (Lev. 14:4-7), on an infected house (Lev. 14:33-57), on a person who had touched a dead body (Num. 19:11-22).

These strange—at least to us—rituals were critical to the lives of these people. They were God's way of speaking to them through symbolical, ritual acts. And what was He saying? Death and disease is what you deserve. Separation from your family and homes is what you deserve. You deserve to be cut off from Me, your God, forever. You deserve death. But I forgive you and the blood of these animals who must die in your place, their blood sprinkled upon you with the hyssop, this blood is My word of grace and mercy to you. You are clean, you are washed.

The writer of the NT book Hebrews helps us to understand the significance of this cleansing. These symbolical rites and rituals were metaphors and parables that pointed to a deep reality: God does not desire the death of the sinner. He is a just God who demands that each and every command He has given must be obeyed, but He is also a God of mercy and forgiveness. How can these two contrasting realities come together? How can God be both just and merciful? All the OT sacrifices, with their accompanying rituals, point to the manner. Blood must be shed. Life for life. The animals—sheep, goats, cattle, birds— died instead of the people (Hebrews 9:9-10).

But were the deaths of animals truly sufficient to purify and cleanse the consciences of the sinner? For the moment it may have seemed so. But then sin came back and more sacrifices, more sprinkling and washing had to follow. Blood, blood, blood. Again and again. Sacrifices, rituals, sprinklings, washings. What did they all point to? What were these rites all about? The book of Hebrews interprets and clarifies it all for us. All the sacrifices and rituals were but copies of a greater heavenly plan. They pointed to that one, final and eternal sacrifice made by Christ. He is the world's High Priest who entered into the very inner Presence of God. There He has offered the final sacrifice, His life for ours, His death in our stead.

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. - Hbr 9:18-28 ESV

Because of Christ the sinner may now be forgiven. I shall return to David and Psalm 51 in my next post.

Marriage Is No Garden Of Eden

So far we have examined how Christians view marriage in the light of Holy Scripture. Two purposes have emerged: 1) Mutual Love and 2) Procreation, in that order. The second is both a command and a blessing, but not the primary purpose. The Apostle Paul speaks of a third. He sees marriage as a restraint of sin. That purpose needs an explanation.


First let us emphasize again that our sexuality is not sinful. It is not sinful to be a man or a woman and to have sexual desires and appetites. The problem lies with our sinfulness and with living in a world of sinners under the control of the prince  of this dark world (Ephesians 2:1-3). These inner and outer influences distort our God-given sexual appetites. Sex, as it is called, becomes a god pursued at all costs, even at the price of breaking promises and being unfaithful to those to whom we have committed ourselves. The daily news is permeated by stories of this nature.


This is why our Creator also uses marriage to preserve our lives and to discipline us. Paul writes of this. 

"Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: "It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman." But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion"(1 Cor. 7:1-9)

Corrupted by our inherited sinful nature our sexual appetites are wild things that long to roam and ravage without restraint. They need to be domesticated, controlled and channelled in ways that bring them in line with the Creator's ordered plan. That plan, as outlined above, is that within the bonds of marriage one man and one woman remain committed and faithful to one another until parted by death. But times come when such commitments are not very attractive. In those moments the sexual passions leap against the fences that control them. They demand to be free to range without controls. They scream that we need some one to love us, because our marital partner no longer does or can. They demand to be fed and tell us that this can only be done by breaking free from the barriers. This leads to what we call adultery (ad-alter, to another), feeding the wildling in another pasture.


Marriage, as we have seen, was instituted by God. His original plan was that within the limits of a beautiful garden one man and one woman commit themselves in mutual love to one another again and again. Marriage was always to be a becoming, never a completed journey (Gen. 2:24). In that garden the two were to learn what mutual love is. They were to learn day by day and week by week what it means to be committed. Sadly we no longer live in Eden and marriage is not always the beautiful garden we sing about. It is rather a land often filled with weeds, thorns and pain, even as the Lord predicted (Genesis 3:14-19). And outside the garden we are continually pulling up those weeds, chopping down thorns and working through pain. Marriage is often not pleasant at all. We are forced to put up with that partner to whom we once made a lifelong commitment. And the drudgery and grief of caring for children seems never to end.


In those moments it is vital that we listen carefully to the Apostle's counsel in 1 Corinthians 7:17—

"Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him." 

Your partner is the Lord's gift to you. He or she is the Lord's answer to your prayers. You were called by Him into this marriage. Remember again the words, "What God has joined together let not man put asunder" (Matthew 19:6). Even as He brought the two of you together, so He also promises never to forsake you. He will ever remain the unseen partner in your marriage, teaching you again and again that He forgives you and loves you. Empowered by His love you learn also to forgive, even as you are forgiven.


In that sense marriage is not merely a place to restrain wild sexual passions. It is also a place of healing and growth. In this place, despite all the thorns and pain, our Lord is teaching us how to love. Within these boundaries we discover that we are supported and encouraged, even as our sexual appetites are fed. In this earthly garden—even though it is not Eden—we become more than we ever could have been alone. We are being led toward that fullness and completion that only marriage can bring. By God's good grace we are ever discovering how to love and finding that we are loved in return.


There is more to say about this third purpose, especially as it relates to children and family, but that must wait until next time.