God's Self-Identification and His Love

“Then God spoke all these words, saying,

‘I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments’” (Exodus 20:1-6).

We’ve been in Heidelberg Catechism, questions 92-95, these last two weeks in our family devotion. Q.95 in particular has had my attention because of a conversation I had this week:

“95. Q. What is idolatry? A. Idolatry is having or inventing something in which to put our trust instead of, or in addition to, the only true God Who has revealed Himself in His Word.”

A church member asked me what Scripture I’d read to an unbeliever if I had a chance. My initial response was John 3 (verse 16 in particular). Her husband had suggested the same verse, but she was concerned that there was no clear call to repentance in the verse (repentance being the command of the Gospel, Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15; 6:12; Luke 13:3,5; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20). Further, she had an unbelieving co-worker who used the first phrase of the verse (“God so loved the world”) to claim she was loved of God and was good enough to go to heaven because of her works.

I advised her to ask one question about John 3:16. We must ask why God had to give His Son. The scriptural answer is, of course, because there had to be a sacrifice in our place so that those who believe could inherit eternal life. Quite the opposite of affirming our worth or goodness, John 3:16 logically requires we realize just how sinful we are – it took God the Father punishing His willing Son in our place to save us. Only the most extreme, radical act could save us. That’s how dire our situation is outside of repentant trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation.

The first two commandments and Heidelberg Catechism Q.95 identify the problem: authority. This unbeliever’s misuse of John 3:16 makes her guilty of violating the first two commandments. It’s ironic that, in this age where individuals all think themselves gods who speak reality into being, we ignore God’s own self-revelation. We think God is as we imagine and speak Him to be, regardless of what He has said about Himself. Our society would not tolerate that in any other context. Only God loses His right to self-identify.

Heidelberg Catechism Q.95 ends with the all-important phrase “the only true God Who has revealed Himself in His Word.” It doesn’t matter what you think or imagine Him to be. He has explicitly told us Who He is “to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways [the Old Testament], in these last days has spoken to us in His Son [revealed in the apostolic witness of the New Testament], Whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:1-3).

We imagine a god who looks just like us, thinks just like us, and is in whatever image we speak him to be. We make ourselves authority over his being. This is a violation of the first commandments, and this transgression is enough to make us guilty forever.

Unbelievers know this to be true, and I can prove they know it. A twisting of this reality is manifesting itself in a culture where the greatest sin is to not accept what someone says about themselves in their self-identifying. Unbelievers, as part of creation, inherently have knowledge of the Creator. In their sin and rebellion, however, they take this knowledge and twist it, replacing God with their own fantasy: “…since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures” (Romans 1:20-23). It doesn’t matter how “good” a person is, they are violating the first two commandments. It is impossible to have a right relationship with God (or to enter into His eternal presence of bliss) if you are ignoring His self-identification and have replaced Him with a god of your own imagination. He has identified Himself, His character, His works, and His will clearly in His Word. What gives you the right to ignore Him and reimagine Him in your own image?

In this day, it is a cultural sin to deny someone’s self-identification – you become rejected, labelled, and often unemployable. The first commands, given by God concerning Himself, have been reallocated by our society to its preferred god: the absolute individual.

“…You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes” (Psalm 50:21).

Repent of this, dear friends. His mercy is unending and free to those who turn from their rebellion against His Word and come to Him through faith in His Son. Yes, “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). Why did this necessitate Him giving “His only-begotten Son”? I suggested to the church member that she share from Romans 5 with this unbeliever if she got the chance: “…while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:6-11). Of course, there are a lot of other places to further explain the love of God rightly (I’m always stunned by the title “Him Who justifies the ungodly,” Romans 4:5); each passage about God’s love, when read in context, requires us to see our own unloveliness. His love toward us is all of grace, grace, God’s sweet grace. A view of the love of God that ignores your sins and centrally posits your beauty or worth will always ignore God’s revelation of Himself and ultimately be a religion whereby you cheat Him of the glory and thanks He alone deserves.

He has revealed Himself to us; believe this revelation for His glory and your eternal joy. He alone is worthy.

Balance in the Offices of the Church

“Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:1,2).

In this post, I’m not out to defend the plurality of overseers/elders/pastors in the local church (these different New Testament titles describing a singular office). I’m writing assuming you’re with me on the need for an office of men who lead, model, and meet the spiritual needs of the membership of the local congregation (overseers/elders/pastors); similarly, if you keep with this post past this sentence, I assume you’re with me on the biblical mandate for an office of men who lead, model, and meet the physical needs of the membership of the local congregation (deacons, a title that means “servant”). Presupposing these principles, I want to make an appeal for balance in the relationship between these offices and how that balance is a witness to the biblical calling on all believers.

First, there is no exclusivity to the actions carried out by the offices. “Overseers” can (and should) serve others. Why? Because service is a call for all believers, and holding an office exempts you from no requirements given to all believers (Matthew 25:41-46; James 2:15-17; 1 John 3:16,17). Yes, the focus of the office should be on “prayer and to the ministry [τῇ διακονίᾳ] of the Word” (Acts 6:4), and working “hard at preaching and teaching” (1 Timothy 5:17) – I would add that mentoring other teachers is a primary activity, as well (2 Timothy 2:2). This emphasis, however, doesn’t mean that an elder can’t mow a widow’s lawn or help wash dishes after the potluck. “Deacons” can (and should) be involved in the ministry of the Word when appropriate. Of the “seven” in Acts 6, two go on to dominate the next chapters with their preaching (Stephen in chapter 7 and Philip in chapter 8). Further, all believers have a responsibility to devotion “to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42), that is, the New Testament and its interpretive authority over the Old Testament. “Deacons” are no exception. All believers are filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit speaks Jesus through all believers. Read Acts 2:16-18. On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter proclaims that the promise of Joel 2:28,29 (and the desire of Moses in Numbers 11:29) has been fulfilled in the Church. All of God’s people in Christ have His Spirit, and are called upon to speak a Christ-centered Scripture to all situations (a fulfillment of Deuteronomy 6:6-9). Office, to repeat, is not an exemption from normal Christian experience and calling.

Second, the offices display the two key elements to Christian life. True faith bears the fruit of good works (Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12,13; Hebrews 13:20,21; James 2:14-26). In the offices we see these elements represented. “Overseers” lead and serve as examples to a dedication to the truth of the faith, as revealed in the Scriptures and witnessed to by the Church through history. “Deacons” lead and serve as examples to the living out of that truth in loving service to those who have needs (especially and primarily within the local congregation). Faith and works cannot exist apart from each other. Faith without works is dead. Works without faith is legalism that cannot save; or, to put it another way, works without faith in Jesus Christ alone is the model of every non-biblical religion/philosophy in the world. It is an effort to achieve a goal (be it spiritual or physical, temporal or eternal) apart from faith in Jesus’ all-sufficient saving work. The offices of the Church display both faith in Jesus Christ alone (and the body of truth that is part of that faith) and Spirit-wrought works as the fruit of that faith, and both are indispensable.

Third, in the single body of the local congregation, the offices serve as a model of balance that is to be lived out by the individual members. While Paul doesn’t single out the “overseers and deacons” in the rest of the letter, Philippians does have unity and mutual submission within the local congregation as a significant theme (1:27; 2:1-18; 4:2). The offices, since they witness to required elements of a true Christian life, must complement and balance each other. In a congregationalist (democratic) polity, individual office holders have one vote – just as the non-officer holder (as a Southern Baptist, I confess that “each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes,” Baptist Faith & Message [2000], VI). They do not wield any greater decision-making power. “Overseers” lead by modeling a life dedicated to the truth of Scripture, teaching, equipping, correcting, and encouraging themselves and the congregation to greater understanding, knowledge, and faithfulness to the Bible. “Deacons” lead by modeling a life living that truth out in loving service to the congregation and by organizing efforts in the whole faith community to serve members in need. Neither office has greater power; the idea of power, in fact, is antithetical to the offices as Jesus embodied them. It is together that they display a biblically-balanced Christian life. If they are not displaying that balance in their harmony and mutual submission, they are giving witness to a twisted and imbalanced Christianity – which is no Christianity at all.

This humility, mutual submission, and balance has to be purposefully pursued. In our sin and pride we will tend toward exerting our will and elevating our status within and between the offices. Office-holders must continually remind each other of the true nature of the offices. They must pray for each other, and pray together (1 Timothy 2:8). They must speak well of each other, publicly and privately giving thanks for the wisdom of Christ and work of the Spirit in and through these offices. They must seek out ways of helping one another. “Overseers” must participate in the service of “deacons,” submitting to them and following their lead in service projects or individual acts of mercy. “Deacons” must participate in the teaching opportunities offered within the congregational schedule, especially when they are led by “overseers.” “Deacons,” pursue growth in the truth under the leadership of the “overseers.” “Overseers,” live out that truth under the servant-leadership of the “deacons.”

In the mutual submission and balance of the offices, these two groups offer even more to the congregation than they ever could apart from each other or – God forbid – in competition with each other. Officers living in biblical balance show a rich and whole Christian community and life to the congregation as a whole and as individuals. This is the will and plan of Christ, the only Lord of His Church.

Jesus Prays Psalm 6

In the Gospels we often read about Jesus’ prayer life – passages that describe His all-night prayers (Luke 6:12) catch our attention, especially in a time when our attention spans are decreasing at an exponential rate. How did He pray? Remember that the Psalms (the Bible’s prayer/song book) are about Jesus (Luke 24:44). Let me suggest that the Psalms are an insight into Jesus’ extensive prayer life on earth and as He intercedes for us in heaven (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). Reading Psalm 6 this morning, let’s briefly explore how this is a Jesus-prayer.

“O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your wrath.
Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away;
Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed.
And my soul is greatly dismayed;
But You, O Lord—how long?

Return, O Lord, rescue my soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.
For there is no mention of You in death;
In Sheol who will give You thanks?

I am weary with my sighing;
Every night I make my bed swim,
I dissolve my couch with my tears.
My eye has wasted away with grief;
It has become old because of all my adversaries.

Depart from me, all you who do iniquity,
For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.
The Lord has heard my supplication,
The Lord receives my prayer.
All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed;
They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed” (Psalm 6:1-10).

How is this Jesus’ prayer? The Lord Himself gives us the interpretive key to understanding this plea in His context.

He quotes verse 8a in Matthew 7 when He speaks of false confessors/teachers: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?  So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:15-23).

 They may fool many people, but they do not fool Jesus the Judge. Jesus, in quoting Psalm 6:8a in this Sermon on the Mount teaching, reveals to us the greater context of His judgment of false confessors/teachers. In Psalm 6, we see that the damage they do within the covenant family (the Church) is taken personally by the Lord of the Jesus. What these liars and hypocrites do to the Church, they do to Him. Before Paul was apostle, he was Saul of Tarsus, chief among the persecutors of the Church. When Jesus knocked the man off his horse, the glorified Lord of the Church asked this question: “Why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4; 22:7,8; 26:14). To hurt the Church is to attack the Lord of the Church. He prays on behalf of His Church to His Father (even now).

The answer to the prayer is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Psalm 6, the Lord points out that God’s wrath and death itself must be conquered by God Himself before the adversaries of God’s beloved can truly be conquered. We often associate Jesus' prayer concerning His death with the Garden of Gethsemane alone. This is not necessarily true: “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety” (Hebrews 5:7). Psalm 6 was one of those prayers, prayed long before the Garden. The prayer was "heard," and answered. This, of course, happened in the saving work of Jesus on the cross, in His resurrection, and in His coronation seating at the right hand of the Father in heaven. The enemies were placed into the judging hand of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:25). Prayer answered.

Yes, false confessors/teachers are a deadly threat to the Church in every age. They sneak in to the Church from the outside, and rise up from the inside. Unless we are diligent, we step into that role ourselves.

We should read this Psalm as the answered prayer of Jesus to the Father on behalf of His Church, which in His Body – in union with Him by faith, sealed by the Spirit. To hurt His Church with lies (in practice or doctrine) is to attack Him. Judgment is assured.

This is how Jesus prayed Psalm 6.

Modeling the Truth

I recently wrote this: “Purposefully showing the relationship of Christ and Church in the worship gathering on the Lord’s Day should be a regular part of that disciplined pursuit of each other. This isn’t hypocrisy; this is disciplining yourselves to show the ideal of the Gospel. Again, if there are problems, get help. Modeling the goal of Christian marriage (the Gospel relationship between Christ and the Church) in the gathering of the Church is appropriate and a good reminder to you and the rest of the congregation.”

Today I’d like to say a little more about the principle behind this statement. This is advice I’ve given to a lot of people in many different contexts over the years.

We should purposefully discipline ourselves to think, speak, and live out the truth of the Bible, even when we don’t feel like it.

If I wait until I feel like praying, I won’t pray. If I wait until I feel like telling others about Jesus, fear will win. If I wait until I feel like showing my brothers and sisters in Christ the love commanded by Scripture, I will choose being “authentic” over obeying God’s commands.

There it is. The popular buzzword among believers today: “authentic.”

I suspect it’s a barely-Christianized version of the world’s advice to “follow your heart.” But I should not be led by how I feel. I don’t have that option as a believer, for I have been bought with a price, and I am not my own (I am only speaking to those who are believers – non-believers should not imitate the behavior of believers). The command to love (to use one example) is not conditional on whether I feel like loving or not.

I am not to follow my heart, but to lead it in the truth: “Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way…he who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered” (Proverbs 23:19; 28:26). Truth and wisdom come to the heart from the outside – from Scripture alone. It must be actively applied to the heart, which resists in its sin and selfishness.

The Psalmist often commands his soul into action; this command is usually accompanied by a proclamation of truth to self.

“Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence.
O my God, my soul is in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life…

…why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God…

…why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God” (Psalm 42:5-8,11; 43:5).

“My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God” (Psalm 62:5-7).

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle…

…bless the Lord, O my soul…

…bless the Lord, O my soul…

…bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 103:1-5,22c; 104:1,35b).

“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you” (Psalm 116:5-7).

“Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!” (Psalm 146:1).

The Psalmist commands himself to praise, shepherding his own heart with truth.

As believers, we are called to obey, whether we feel like it or not.

We are called to keep the commandments of God, whether we are in a good place in our Christian walk or not.

We are called to apostolic imitation (1 Corinthians 11:1; Hebrews 13:7), even when we want to do something else.

God in Christ is not worthy of our love, praise, and obedience only when it’s “real” for us.

The Father purposes for us to be conformed to the image of His Son. In faith-union with the Son we are growing into His likeness, righteousness, and obedience. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are to die to the “authentic” self (which is a sin-loving idolater) and live unto God in obedience to His commands.

This is not hypocrisy, saints. This is discipleship. Hypocrisy would be someone outside of Christ pretending to be in Christ; what I'm advocating is a believer in Christ disciplining herself to be as the Scripture describes she is in Christ.

Live individually and corporately in the truth of the Word. Remind yourself of this truth constantly.

“I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1,2).

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

“…be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 5:23,24).

Crisis moments in our minds, character, and discipleship are usually built not on the sudden, but on the habitual neglect of being saturated in the truth in the gathering of the Church and the self-discipline of being in the Word.

When we don’t feel like it,

Lord, hold us in the truth

That we may preach it to ourselves

And live out our self-sermons

Until they become eternal life,

And not just a struggling self-discipline.

Help us to rest not the earthly

Under the excuse of “authentic” or “honest,”

But, Holy Spirit,

remind us of the truth of Scripture

As it is in Jesus.

Take us to what we are in Him,

Away from what we are as sinners.

Help us to think rightly and stand faithfully

By Your grace in Christ.

Without it we have nothing.

Amen and amen.