Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”
Good cop, bad cop
I'm sure you have watched T.V legal dramas that depict two detectives or two police officers interrogating a suspect in a "downtown" police station. One cop plays "good cop" - trying to "soften" the suspect's defenses to gain the needed information or confession. If "good-cop" doesn't achieve his goal, then he leaves the room and his partner rushes in and plays the role of "bad- cop". Whoever does this second role resorts to more aggressive methods of interrogation. Often threatening means are used to scare the suspect into a confession. The polarized efforts of the "good-cop" and "bad-cop" illustrate different uses of man's law to achieve a given purpose: acknowledgement of the truth. Today's post wants to begin exploring this important concept of "law" as found in the Bible.
The importance of understanding the distinction between "Law" and "Gospel"
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a famous 19th century London minister who has been hailed by many as "the prince of preachers". In his sermon "The Perpetuity Of The Law Of God", Spurgeon notes:
"It has been said that he who understands the two covenants is a theologian, and this is, no doubt, true. I may also say that the man who knows the relative positions of the law and the gospel has the keys of the situation in the matter of doctrine. The relationship of the law to myself, and how it condemns me : the relationship of the gospel to myself, and how if I be a believer it justifies me - these are the two points which every Christian man should understand."
One point of clarification needs to be offered to bring Spurgeon's insights into our 21st century context. When he makes mention of knowing the "two covenants", he is speaking of the so-called "covenant of works" which Adam and Eve broke in the Garden. God had given them a handful of commands, whereupon if they obeyed them would lead into an eternal state of bliss. Once the covenant of works had been broken, God offered a second covenant - a covenant of grace - whereupon man's response of faith to God's overtures of grace as expressed through the shed blood of an innocent substitute would result in reconciliation of God and man.
When Christ came, He came as the New Adam to fulfill the broken covenant of works in his earthly life of active obedience and became a curse on our behalf (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). The first covenant had to be fulfilled by a man since it had been broken by one. Jesus did that by way of His incarnation. The covenant of grace, initiated in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:20-21) and recapitulated or repeated in various forms as the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-7); David Covenant Covenant (2 Samuel 7:13-16) and New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31; Ezekiel 36), was paid for by the Lord Jesus on the cross and validated in His resurrection.
The two covenants described above are embodied in the other two-fold classification which is the focal point of Spurgeon's quote - namely the Law and the Gospel. As Spurgeon further notes:
"To form a mingle-mangle of law and gospel is to teach that which is neither law nor gospel, but the opposite of both. May the Spirit of God be our teacher, and the Word of God be our lesson book, and then we shall not err."
Is the Christian not obligated to God's law?
A very practical issue comes to the forefront when Christian people begin to discuss the relative relationship between Christians and the Law of God. Some people are under the impression that the law is no longer needed when one becomes a Christian. They will cite passages such as Romans 6:14 that states at the end: "you are no longer under law, but under grace". Furthermore, they will also appeal to 1 Timothy 1:9 - "realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers." Now the question is: once a person believes on Christ by grace through faith, are they exempt from the law of God? To answer that question, we need to first of all look at the purposes of God's Law.
The Three uses of God's law in the Bible
Just like man's law, knowing how the law functions in different cases will result in a clearer understanding of the biblical relationship between law and grace. In calling to mind Spurgeon's emphasis on knowing the difference between law and gospel, one of the best approaches throughout the historic discussions on these issues has been to note the law's "various uses". 1 Timothy 1:8 gives us this principle: "But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully".
The Law's First Use: Discourages Human Rebellion
Romans 2:14-15 states - "14For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them." No matter where you go in the world, there is a universal sense of right and wrong. Why is that? Because the law of God, as revealed on the tablets of stone in the ten commandments (Exodus 19-20) were already inscribed upon the conscience of man. Man of course had been made in God's image according to Genesis 1:26. As an image bearer, man had inscribed on his heart the moral law of God. Man fell, marring the image and thus requiring the Law of God to be revealed in written form on Mount Sinai. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, page 675, has this insight regarding how the law of God functions relative to man:
"Humankind is the living, personal image of God; the law is the written, perceptual image of God."
Like we noted already, even after the fall, man's moral nature retained the testimony of God's law on the heart. Whether we are talking about the written law of God (i.e the ten commandments) or the unwritten version of the law operating in the human conscience (Romans 2:14-15) still functions in one sense to curb the tide of social evil. Watch what happens when fast-moving traffic approaches the flashing lights of a police cruiser. The consciences of every driver respond by "easing-off" the accelerator and depressing the brake. Whether they like it or not is irrelevant. The point is that the law of God, the moral intuitions of every human being, are bounded by God's moral precepts and reinforced in the written form of the ten commandments.
More next time....
Matthew 7:24-25 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock."
Introduction:
In our last post we began exploring the Divine title for God: "Rock", as revealed throughout the Old Testament, here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2017/01/p1-exploring-god-as-rock-in-old.html. In today's post we will turn our attention to the New Testament to see how everything we gleaned about God as "The Rock" in the Old Testament can gain insights into Jesus as the "Rock". One of the lessons we saw yesterday that bridges us into today's study concerns how Isaiah and the Old Testament writers used this title "Rock" in connection with God's provision of water in the wilderness for His people.
Intriguingly, Isaiah 48:21 rehearses that familiar scene of God providing water from the rock, just as we saw already in Psalm 78:16,20,35; 105:41; Numbers 9:15; Numbers 20:8 and Exodus 17:6. Whenever we see the same event repeated throughout the Bible and additional theological meaning assigned to it, we can be sure that we are beholding what scholars call "a scripture echo". Such echoes can bridge what we learn about Yahweh in the Old Testament to see how Jesus Christ is God in human flesh in the New Testament.
With those thoughts in mind, let's turn to see how Jesus is "The Rock" in the New Testament.
1. Jesus tells a familiar short parable of the wise man building his house on the rock in Luke 6:48 and as we see it reckoned here in Matthew 7:24-25 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock." Let the reader take note of how Jesus identifies Himself as "The Rock". No guesswork is needed to understand how we connect Jesus Christ to this Divine title of "Rock", since Jesus Himself is the first one to do so! Peter's famous confession of Jesus as the Christ in Matthew 16:18 has Jesus exclaiming how "upon this rock I will build my church". Much ink has been spilled concerning what exactly Jesus meant when He said "upon this rock": a). was it Peter's faith? b). was Peter the rock? c). Was Jesus referring to Himself? it is the latter of these that gives the clearest since of Jesus' intended meaning. Jesus Christ is the "Rock", the foundation stone upon which the church is built and our faith stands (see Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:7-9).
2. We will travel past the Gospels and Acts to enter into Paul's letters before we run across references to this Divine title "Rock" as it connects to the identity of Jesus Christ. Romans 9:33 for example states: "just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Paul undoubtedly was taken by this connection in what we read in another of his letters in 1 Corinthians 10:4 "and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ." We have already seen how various Old Testament passages (see near the beginning of this post) contribute the "dots" needed to draw the appropriate lines to fill in the Divine identity of Jesus in the New Testament. Only the inspiration of the Holy Spirit could connect such dots in the minds of authors such as Paul.
Not only does the Apostle Paul draw such lines of connection between Jesus and this title "The Rock", but we also see the other great Apostle - Peter doing so in 1 Peter 2:7-8 "This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” 8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed." Jesus Christ as our "Rock" is a precious stone to the one who has trusted in Him by God's saving grace. Peter's words are the final words we find with respect to Jesus being the Divine Rock.
Closing thoughts
In today's post and yesterday's post we endeavored to explore every passage in both the Old and New Testaments that deal with God and Christ as "The Rock". My hope is this short study has opened up the richness that this Divine title conveys. More specifically, to see Jesus Christ as "The Rock" adds insight into Who He is and all He has accomplished, is doing and will achieve. What Jesus means to the Christian as "Rock" ought to evoke the same reactions we find David and other Old Testament figures in their worship of God as "Rock". As we close, I leave the reader with the words of the great commentator Joseph Benson in what he writes on Jesus as the Rock:
"A manifest type of him, the Rock of ages, who, being smitten in his death and sufferings, poured forth streams of redemption, grace, and heavenly blessings, which follow his people through all this wilderness, and will end in rivers of pleasure at the right hand of God for ever."
Deuteronomy 32:4 "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He."
1 Corinthians 10:4 "and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ."
Introduction:
Today we want to consider a name of God and Christ that evokes images of strength, immovability and shelter - namely, God as our "Rock". The great 19th century commentator C.J. Ellicott notes about this title "Rock":
"No such combination of all the words for uprightness, sincerity, equity, and reliability is to be found elsewhere in all Scripture. This is the character of the Rock."
Certainly studying any of the names of God overlap considerably with the names we find for Jesus Christ - since Christ is God in human flesh. All three Persons of the God, sharing in the same Divine nature, also share in any title ascribed to the nature and character of God. The title "Rock" is of course assigned to Yahweh in regards to the revelation of His character and being to the Old Testament Jews. It must be understood that any title or name speaks comparatively or metaphorically of God - meaning that the name or title points us to the way in which God's character or activity is pictured by the name. Thus, God is not literally a material, rocky-like Deity, since God by nature is immaterial spirit (see John 4:24).
With those introductory remarks complete, we will turn our attention today to this title for God and Christ: "The Rock". We will explore this title for God as it is developed in the Old Testament, referencing all the while how the New Testament authors utilize this title to refer to Jesus Christ.
Surveying the Old Testament Biblical record on the Divine title "Rock"
We first find this title "Rock" mentioned in Deuteronomy 32:4. The law of first mention in Bible study tells us that the first mention of a thing in the Bible will contain the seeds of thought that will develop later into the full-orbed truth of that subject. God as "Rock" is perfect, just, upright, without injustice and faithful. Just as a rock itself is immovable, stable and unchanging as far as rocks go - God has these qualities in His moral character.
As one surveys the scriptures on this title "Rock", we can begin climbing the mountain of this truth from Deuteronomy 32:4 and discover the following:
1. In Deuteronomy 32:13,15 & 18 we find God as the Rock that provides salvation and Who is the source of life and existence of the people of God. The people of God, using the analogy of quarrying, ought to comparatively bear the same moral qualities as the God that begat them. This of course is speaking of the people in spiritual terms and corresponds to the time when God called them forth out of Egypt and covenanted with them at Sinai.
2. Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:8. These two verses specify the miracle of water coming from the rock to quench the thirst of the people during their desert wanderings. As we witnessed in the opening verse of today's post, Jesus Christ is described as somehow being included in this miracle of water from the rock - being designated as the "Rock" from when they drank. Whenever God reveals any name or title about Himself, He will often tie it to an event in Israel's history so that they can be reminded of what He did for them.
3. In 1 Samuel 2:4 the prophet Samuel writes concerning God as our "Rock" - "There is no one holy like the Lord, Indeed, there is no one besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God." In 2 Samuel 22 we find David referring to God as the Rock of His salvation in various ways (2 Samuel 22:2,3,32 & 47). It is then in 2 Samuel 23:3 that w read this explicit connection of God being "The Rock" - The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God."
4. Nehemiah 9:15 rounds out the historical books in our survey of this title "The Rock", wherein we read: "You provided bread from heaven for them for their hunger, You brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst, And You told them to enter in order to possess The land which You swore to give them." Nehemiah provides for us the connection between God's provision for the people in the wilderness and His role as their "Rock". Interestingly enough, Nehemiah 9:15 has similarity to what Paul would later write in 1 Corinthians 10:4.
5. Over 20 times in the Book of Psalms we find this Divine title "Rock" referring to God as the source of salvation, shelter and stability. Psalms is where we find the most mention of the title, with a fine example being in Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
Interestingly enough we find a few more allusions to the event where Yahweh had provided water from the rock to quench the people's thirst in the wilderness (Psalm 78:16,20,35; Psalm 105:41). Like what was seen in Nehemiah 9:15, the idea of God as "Rock" is tied very closely to how He provided water for His people to drink, lending to what may had been Paul's thoughts about Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:4. Psalms is the only poetic book that contains any mention of God as Rock and is also the Biblical book containing the most mentions.
6. The prophetic books in the Old Testament give us further rich insights into this title "Rock". Isaiah 44:8 uses this title to point to God's Aseity (i.e self-sufficiency and self-existence) - "Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’ Isaiah elsewhere mentions how God as the "Rock" was a refuge forgotten (Isaiah 17:10); an everlasting Rock (Isaiah 26:4); a mighty mountain (Isaiah 30:29) and a quarry from whence the people of God were hewn (Isaiah 51:1). Intriguingly, Isaiah 48:21 rehearses that familiar scene of God providing water from the rock, just as we saw already in Psalm 78:16,20,35; 105:41; Numbers 9:15; Numbers 20:8 and Exodus 17:6.
Whenever we see the same event repeated throughout the Bible and additional theological meaning assigned to it, we can be sure that we are beholding what scholars call "a scripture echo". Such echoes provide the marvelous insights we find about Jesus in the New Testament (especially 1 Corinthians 10:6).The final mention of the Divine title "Rock" in the prophetic books and the Old Testament is discovered in Habakkuk 1:12 "Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct."
More next time....
Romans 1:18-20 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For 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."
Introduction:
Have you ever been in a crisis? Whether small ones or big ones, crises make us feel trapped, hopeless, helpless and near the prospect of death. Fear too can accompany a crisis. Sometimes we can be in a crisis and not even realize it. Recently I had attempted to travel during the Christmas season. When I had left home, the weather was already severe. The part of the world where we live is known for its harsh and cold winters, and so I figured it was par-for-the-course. When I got on the main thoroughfare, I saw flashing signs with these words: "lake effect snow warning in effect". My instincts told me to drive very slowly.
As the miles dragged on with a creeping pace, I began to see further warnings, flashing their urgent messages. I knew then I might need to think about turning back. Soon the traffic I was traveling with gradually came to a halt. There we were in a "white-out". It didn't take long before I witnessed tow-trucks and even big snow plows in ditches along the berms of the road. These combined warnings prompted me to turn about and head back home. I would find out later that they had shut down that stretch of highway for the night. Warnings are there for a reason.
When we come to Romans 1:18, we find a Heavenly warning: "For the wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven". Today’s post will feature the beginning part of Paul’s explanation in Romans 1:18-3:20 about mankind’s threefold crisis before God: spiritual, moral and relational. The only remedy adequate to deal with all three is the Gospel. We find in the first leg of Paul's exposition on the Gospel the "bad news" (1:18-3:20): that mankind is in spiritual crisis (1:18-2:4); moral crisis (2:5-16) and a relational crisis (2:17-3:20). The spiritual crisis that we will be exploring in Romans 1:18-2:4 is of the most severe sort. What then is the magnitude of this spiritual crisis? How bad off is mankind? Truly before we can appreciate the good news of the Gospel, we must first understand the bad news.
1. God's Warning From Heaven. Romans 1:18
What is God's wrath? One writer has identified God's wrath as His standing opposition against sin. New Testament scholar Douglass Moo writes the following about God's wrath:
"As long as God is God, He cannot behold with indifference that His creation is destroyed and His holy will trodden underfoot. Therefore He meets sin with His mighty and annihilating reaction."
The Old Testament prophets mention the wrath of God in their pronouncements. Nahum 1:3-4 states: "A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet." Or again, Habakkuk 1:12-13 "Are You not from everlasting,
O Lord, my God, my Holy One?
We will not die. You, O Lord, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.
13 Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?"
To not warn people of a flooded out bridge or blizzard warnings would be tantamount to a moral defect in the messenger. God's warning of coming wrath is not Him being a mean and over-bearing God, but rather a God of grace who extends the opportunity for people to believe, repent and be saved from such wrath. In the context of both these verses, God's wrath functions like a black cloth to accentuate the precious jewels of His other moral attributes such as mercy (Nahum 1:7) and glory (Habakkuk 2:14) and grace (see Habakkuk 3). The wrath of God is essential in understanding how God's holiness against sin functions in perfect balance with His holiness for righteousness in perfect love.
The Old Testament is not the only part of the Bible that communicates about God's wrath. When we see Jesus for example cleansing the temple in John 2, we see Him expressing wrath over the injustice and profane actions going on in the temple. Undoubtedly Paul's opening lines in the main body of His exposition on the Gospel features this attribute of God. Sadly, God's wrath has gotten so much bad press in both the culture and the church. As always, the bad press is due to misunderstanding and failure on the part of those who criticize Christianity in not reading the context of places we find God's wrath. It could be also said that the blame falls equally on preachers and the church for neglecting this important attribute of God.
We must subject our preconceived notions of God to the text of scripture and not the other way around. I could say more, but, the reader is invited to read further on God's wrath here:
https://biblicalexegete.wordpress.com/2017/01/20/taking-a-closer-look-at-the-meaning-of-gods-wrath-in-romans-118/ .
With this warning about God's wrath from heaven, we need to then inquire what it is that God's is expressing His wrath about. It is in Romans 1:19-20 that we find the root of man's spiritual crisis.
2. General Truths Everyone Knows. Romans 1:19-20
What if I told you that the external world about us is not a mirage but real - would you be surprised? Or, what if I told you that your memories of the past and the breakfast in your stomach was not a series of false memories planted with the appearance of age - what would you say? Such statements are patently obvious to the rationally thinking person. As a matter of fact, we can accept such statements on the face of things without appealing to long draw-out arguments due to them being "properly basic". In other words, all people know this stuff.
Paul's argument here in Romans 1:19-20 is that everyone know that there is a God to whom they are accountable. Everyone knows that God exists. Romans 1:19-20 classify this knowledge of God in two respects: we know God is all powerful and we know He is all good. All human beings not only possess this "general revelation" in knowing about God, they apparently possess this knowledge on the inside. This is knowledge we are born with and possess from birth. All of our moral intuitions (the sense of right and wrong, good and bad) stem not from biological evolution but from the Creator Who embedded morality into the fabric of reality and humanity. This is what everyone knows, and yet, this is knowledge that all humanity, apart from grace - soundly rejects. Hence we find the root of mankind's spiritual crisis.
3. Great Spiritual Crisis. Romans 1:21-2:3
So is mankind inherently good or bad? Is mankind the beacon of hope or the burnt-out ember lost and adrift in a sea of darkness?
Older Bible teachers refer to mankind's spiritual condition in terms of depravity. This doesn't mean people are as bad as they could be. Rather, sin has effected every nook and cranny of humanity as a whole and on the individual level. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 notes about mankind's sinful condition:
"By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God."
Mankind, though capable of noble achievements in art, literature, architecture, human thought, athleticism and exploration - lacks two abilities: the inability to solve their sin problem and the inability to do anything toward their own salvation with respect to God. Paul's following description of man's spiritual crisis matches Jesus' assessment in Mark 7:21-22 - "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” Fallen man is not a sick person on a sick-bed in need of medicine, rather mankind is like a corpse in need of a resurrection. If we were to summarize Paul's explanation of the spiritual crisis of humanity, we could do so in terms of how human beings "prefer" aspects of the creation over the Creator:
A. Preference of things over God. 1:21-24
B. Preference of lies to truth. 1:25-26a
C. Preference of man's plans to God's purpose. 1:26b-28
D. Preference of their own destruction to God's best. 1:29-2:3
If the reader is a Christian, how then are you to deal with this crisis? Although Christians by definition have been rescued and "saved" from God's wrath and the spiritual crisis described here by Paul, we nonetheless still deal with the left-over remnants of the old life residing in our bodies and souls. Paul writes in Colossians 3:5-11 "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all."
So we find then that God is warning from heaven concerning the fact that even though everyone knows about Him, nonetheless sinful man prefers the creation over the Creator. Apart from grace, sinful man will vote against God 100% of the time. This crisis is poignantly captured by Jesus responding to the disciples' shock over the failure of the rich young ruler to respond to Jesus in Matthew 19:25-26 - "When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Hence let's consider one last thought for today...
4. God's remedy you must receive. Romans 2:4
We read in Romans 2:4 "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" As Paul closes out this particular exposition on the spiritual crisis of humanity, we find the hope of the Gospel. Romans 2:1-4 in particular reminds the Christian reader that before they point the long wagging finger of condemnation against unbelievers, they need to be sure to consider their own spiritual condition. Were it not for the grace of God, the Christian would be no better. The Apostle Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 4:16-18 "but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?"
Christians need the remedy of the Gospel for continuance in sanctification. Undoubtedly Paul's insistence upon this remedy of the Gospel is to hold out hope to the sinner who is otherwise in a state of spiritual crisis. It is God who leads people to repentance. It is God who reveals Himself in the general revelation of nature and the special revelation of the Bible and Jesus so as to bridge the gulf of fallen man unto Himself.
Closing thought for today
Wherever there is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-12); a heart prepared by Him and open to the truth, ready to respond, believe, repent and thus be saved (Acts 16:14-15, 31; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:24-26); and God's Word (James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23) - expect change. Expect salvation. Pray for such things. For only in the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ can the remedy for our spiritual crisis be found.
John 7:1-5 "After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. 3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him."
Introduction and review:
In our last post we began reflecting on the distinctions between doubt and unbelief with respect to how our mind and will relates to or rejects truth, evidences for Christianity and the Lord Jesus Christ. We had reflected on the specific episode of Jesus' brothers not believing in Him during the course of His earthly ministry. We also considered other passages of scripture that compared people like Peter and Judas Iscariot as respective representatives of doubt (Peter) and unbelief (Judas Iscariot). As we closed out the last post, we had noted the following:
1. Doubt wrestles with the truth about Jesus; whereas unbelief wrestles against the truth about Jesus
2. Doubt seeks for better reasons to hold to faith while unbelief seeks after more excuses to reject the faith
Doubt will wrestle and, along with faith, attain greater conviction about the truth of God's Word. Unbelief on the other hand will look for greater excuses and justify why it should not nor cannot accept the truth.
So we've seen that the distinction between doubt and faith involves matters of the will and matters associated with the mind. With those distinctions made thus far, we want to close out this series by considering how both can be distinguished in the realm of one's moral character development. In other words, doubt or unbelief is not only an issue of the mind and the will but also a matter of one's character.
3. Doubts are temporary and desired to be overcome whereas Unbelief is chronic and prefers to dismiss matters of faith and truth.
Here we deal with doubt and faith as issues of one's moral character. In the quote we considered in the last post post, J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig included the functions of both doubt and unbelief to indicate the character of a person. They note in their book: "Philosophical Foundations For A Christian Worldview", page 94:
"If doubt, understood as a character trait, helps one avoid naivete, then it is an intellectual virtue. If it produces cynicism and a loss of faith, then it is an intellectual vice. Wisdom requires a balanced perspective."
Whether we are talking about doubt or unbelief - it must be observed that either one never develops in a vacuum. There is always a context in which doubt or unbelief can be present. Whichever we speak about, doubt or unbelief, both derive from within a person. In situations where people are doubting or operating in full-fledged unbelief - the issue has to do with how they perceive certain evidences, truth, the Lord and His Word.
To illustrate, author Tim Keller notes how doubt can function like a vaccination in the Christian life. A vaccine of course is a weakened version of the full-fledged illness. The point of vaccinations are to inoculate the patient so that their immune system can fight off the full-version of a given virus. Per Keller's illustration, doubts act like vaccinations. We hear certain objections or perhaps experience life's challenges and disappointments. We question God and wrestle with what we know by faith versus what we are experiencing.
In so far as we have given ourselves to regular Bible-reading, prayer, time with God's people and other spiritual disciplines will determine how well our faith weathers the storms. The Bible indicates that God uses both testings and spiritual disciplines to develop our moral virtue as Christians (see Romans 8:28; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-8; 2 Peter 1:3-11).
When we compare this to unbelief, no matter how much evidence is presented - the unbeliever will always look for an excuse to "argue" and "bat-away" the evidence. In the instance of Jesus' brothers, they had a front row seat to behold miracles, acts of kindness and to even hear Jesus' sermons. Nevertheless, their unbelieving state issued forth excuses and refused to allow faith a place at the table of their heart.
Such situations can be unsettling. We may wonder how anyone can even become a Christian - since the Bible indicates that all people are born into this state of chronic unbelief due to inheriting sin from Adam (see Ephesians 2:1-4; Romans 5:11-21). The answer can only be found in the working of the Holy Spirit, the hearing of God's Word and the relative state of the human heart to the truth of the Gospel. Wherever there is the Holy Spirit, God's Word and a willing heart - expect change.
Doubts too are overcome in much the same manner. The Christian must ever be exposed to the hearing of the Word, open to the Spirit's illuminating work in their heart and resolve to remain open to the truths of faith while working through their doubts (see Romans 10:17). We know that Jesus' brothers did go from unbelief to robust faith as seen for example in James (see 1 Corinthians 15:7). We also know too that, like Peter, when doubts arise, they can be overcome in proportion to how much one gives themselves to the hearing of the Word, openness of heart and the Spirit's working.
Final thoughts
Today and last post we explored the important distinctions between doubt and unbelief. We also noted how unbelief can be overcome and how doubts can be defeated. We have witnessed the following distinctions between doubt and unbelief:
1. Doubt wrestles with the truth about Jesus; whereas unbelief wrestles against the truth about Jesus
2. Doubt seeks for better reasons to hold to faith while unbelief seeks after more excuses to reject the faith
3. Doubts are temporary and desired to be overcome whereas Unbelief is chronic and prefers to dismiss matters of faith and truth.
John 7:1-5 "After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. 3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him."
Introduction:
Today's post will explore the distinction between doubt and unbelief. The above passage features Jesus in a conversation with his brothers who are related to him touching His human nature (Jesus, remember, had been virgin born of Mary, with her having His siblings born quite naturally after His birth - see Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:35; Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). In what is perhaps the most stunning detail of these verses - the Apostle John records that Jesus' brothers "were not believing in Him." What makes this detail even more shocking is the fact that Jesus' half-brothers acknowledge His miracle working power - however they failed to believe in the ultimate meaning of those works. How could this be? As jarring as John 7:5 is in the text, the detail certifies the historicity of the event, since truth history records "warts-and-all". The tension in this text concerning the unbelief of Jesus' half-brothers is explained quite clearly by theologian Dr. R.C Sproul in his St. Andrew's Expositional Commentary on John's Gospel, page 130:
"Let me tell you why I find this text so troubling. These were the people who had been with Jesus during His earthly ministry, watching Him day after day. In fact, they were His blood brothers and they had grown up with Him. They thought they knew Him. They thought they were on His team. However, they had their own agenda for Him. They were rooting for Him to go to Jereusalem to manifest His power. This tells us they were still unbelievers, outside the Kingdom of God."
In meditating on the above verses, I got to thinking on what distinctions there are between "unbelief" and "doubt". As a Christian, I wrestle from time-to-time with doubt - whether it be in matters of faith, practice, calling or God's purposes - as I'm sure any Christian reading this post does.
In the opening picture of today's post, we see a conversation where a man asks Jesus to help Him in His unbelief. Though doubt and unbelief can overlap, the man in Mark 9:23-24 is having a crisis of doubt, since He is at least still reaching out to Jesus. Surely the moment one doubts cannot necessarily mean that one was never "in saving faith" nor possessing genuine faith at that moment. Doubt, when wrestled with and overcome, will validate the presence of genuine faith. Unbelief, as we will see below, when persistently entertained, may indicate the lack of genuine saving faith.
We know that it is valid to distinguish between doubt and unbelief by how the New Testament portrays Peter and Judas
When Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus later restored Peter and reinforced Peter in His faith in a wonderful post-resurrection conversation with Peter in John 21. Jesus had predicted Peter's doubt in Luke 22:31-32 and attributed such to what Jesus called "the sifting by Satan". Jesus knew Peter would doubt while indicating that He prayed for Peter's faith to be strengthened so that he could later encourage the other disciples. So we know Peter wrestled with doubt - but it was not the final, chronic unbelief like what we find here in John 7:5.
Interestingly enough, while Peter had ended up denying Jesus three times, another disciple of Jesus - Judas Iscariot - ended up denying Jesus too. Judas' denial was not just a matter of doubt - but full fledged unbelief (see John 6:70-71). His unbelief and the ultimate preference of money and safety over Jesus demonstrated that He never possessed genuine faith. Both Judas and Peter on the outside-looking-in appeared to do identical responses to Jesus with respect to their denials. However, in the final analysis, Judas' denial was chronic unbelief - like the brothers in John 17:5, whilst Peter's instance was a lapse in doubt.
Beginning to make sense of the distinctions between doubt and unbelief
How do we make sense of this distinction between doubt and unbelief? In today's post we will deal with these distinctions as they operate in the realm of the choices we make and the thoughts we entertain concerning faith, evidence and truth about Jesus. Below we will offer the following distinctions to aid us in better understanding what can be a difficult subject when talking about matters of faith, doubt and the spiritual condition of people.
1. Doubt wrestles with the truth about Jesus; whereas unbelief wrestles against the truth about Jesus
Anytime we are dealing with doubt or unbelief, it first and foremost is a matter of the will. Both wrestle. Both are responding with respect to the truth of God's word, salvation and the Lord Jesus Christ. However, doubt wrestles "with" the truth in an attempt to attain clarity. Unbelief continues to wrestle "against" the truth despite what may be sometimes in the face of full clarity. Once a skeptical Mark Twain remarked of how it wasn't the things he didn't understand in the Bible that disturbed him in as much as it were those details which he did understand that troubled him the most. So doubt wrestles with the truth to attain clarity while doubt wrestles against the truth despite what may or may not be possession of clarity on the truth. Now notice a second distinction between doubt and unbelief....
2. Doubt seeks for better reasons to hold to faith while unbelief seeks after more excuses to reject the faith
If the first distinction has to do with matters of the will, this second distinction deals with matters of the mind. The linkage between the will and the mind can be described as the relationship between a follower (the will) and a leader (the mind). The mind of a person and the will of a person are linked together by the four-lane superhighway of the human conscience. Whenever you and I consider and weigh various options in our mind, those options and their conclusions travel from the mind to the will. We could say that the combined efforts of the mind, conscience and will roughly correspond to what the Bible refers to as the "heart of a man".
In the process of "making-up our mind" to the point where we act on our thinking, the conscience will contribute - resulting in our actions being based upon either mere opinion or true conviction. I say all this to underscore the fact that the mind is just as much involved in our faith in the Lord as it is in situations where we see doubt or unbelief.
Whenever we have doubts, the process of "weighing the options" is occurring. Hebrews 11:1 reminds us that "faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen." Whenever we are dealing with doubt as a Christian, we are in a search for better reasons for holding onto the faith we already possess. James P. Moreland and William Lane Craig spell out this distinction between doubt and unbelief in their volume: "Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview", page 96, as it pertains to the relationship of the mind to evidences and truth:
"But one must be careful here to distinguish between doubt as a method and doubt as a habitual character trait (this second category corresponds to our use of "unbelief" in this post). "The former (doubt) employs the use of doubt to develop knowledge. The latter (unbelief) is rooted in a skeptical character of the heart and is not completely desirable from a Christian perspective because, as Christians, we are to cultivate faith and knowledge while at the same time not being gullible or naive. If doubt, understood as a character trait, helps one avoid naivete, then it is an intellectual virtue. If it produces cynicism and a loss of faith, then it is an intellectual vice. Wisdom requires a balanced perspective."
Doubt then wrestles with evidence, information or truth to attain better reasons for holding to them. However, as the above quote indicates, doubt left unchecked and mishandled can lapse into chronic unbelief. Therefore we have seen the distinctions between doubt and unbelief in matters of the will and mind.
Closing thoughts for today
In the next post will look at a third important area of consideration: how doubt and unbelief are distinguished in the realm of moral character development. For now, we will conclude with what we learned today:
1. Doubt wrestles with the truth about Jesus; whereas unbelief wrestles against the truth about Jesus
2. Doubt seeks for better reasons to hold to faith while unbelief seeks after more excuses to reject the faith
More next time...
Genesis 14:17-21 "Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.”
Introduction:
One of the greatest mysteries in the Bible surrounds the identity and connection of Melchizedek with the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Out of the 1189 chapters of our English Bibles, only four mention Melchizedek (Genesis 14; Psalm 110; Hebrews 5 and Hebrews 7). Three of the four indicate that this mysterious figure was far more than a priestly king who showed kindness to Abraham. In today's post we want to briefly explore the four main places we find reference to Melchizedek, and understand how this figure illuminates the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
1. Melchizedek shows that Christ meets with His people. Genesis 14
In this first mention we find Melchizedek the historic figure meeting with Abram following a major battle between Abram and five pagan kings. God granted Abram victory and so Abram was wanting to express his thanksgiving to God. The text states that there were two kings interested in talking to Abram following the victory. One of those kings, the king of Sodom, was desiring to make an alliance with Abram to secure some supposed benefit. Abram would reject the alliance. Abram's rejection of the king of Sodom pictures for us the rejection of the enticements of the world. Abram was at this point in his walk with God focusing on things above, rather than things below (Colossians 3:1-5).
The second king was Melchizedek. We are told in Genesis 14:19-20 "He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand. He gave him a tenth of all. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.” We see in this text that emphasis of Melchizedek meeting with Abram.
Now to cut to the chase, the other three chapters (Psalm 110; Hebrews 5 and 7) indicate that this is Jesus Christ in disguise. Whether the pre-incarnate Son temporarily somehow assumed a human form or somehow worked in and through the man Melchizedek, it is hard to tell. All we know is that scripture indicates that it was ultimately Christ meeting with the patriarch, picturing for us how Christ meets with His people. But now notice a second truth that Melchizedek teaches us about the Lord Jesus Christ...
2. Melchizedek shows Christ as Majestic King over His people. Psalm 110
Over 1,000 years would pass in redemptive history until Melchizedek would be mentioned again. In Psalm 110:4 "The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” Again to cut to the chase, the celestial figure mentioned by David in Psalm 110 is named Melchizedek, however the name is pointing to the Divine figure whom Yahweh, the LORD, is addressing. In other words, this is the preincarnate Christ being spoken to by the Heavenly Father, with the both of them together being One, Holy God (the Holy Spirit, though not mentioned, is assumed at this point).
Now how do we know that David is referring to the pre-incarnate Christ? Psalm 110 stands as the most quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament. The Book of Hebrews is believed by some to be an inspired sermon based almost exclusively on explaining Melchizedek as the Heavenly Divine High Priest. The pre-incarnate Christ in Psalm 110 is the Majestic King Whom is the ultimate King. David, the author of Psalm 110, was promised by God in 2 Samuel 7:13-16 that through his bloodline would come the redeemer, the King, the Messiah. Interestingly enough, the vision seen by David in Psalm 110 would be none other than the very One who would have united to His Person the DNA of a descended virgin girl in David's lineage (Mary) some 1,000 years later.
When Jesus raised from the dead and ascended into heaven, the early church and the Apostles saw in Christ's ascension the fulfillment of Psalm 110. For example, we see Peter proclaiming in Acts 2:34-36 "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand, 35 Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’ 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
The fulfillment of Psalm 110 by Jesus in the New Testament includes this growing assessment of Him as the majestic priest-king. Jesus Christ, as illuminated by Melchizedek, is the Lord who meets with His people and majestically rules over them as their King. Now lets consider one final observation..
3. Melchizedek shows Jesus as the Mediator for His people. Hebrews 5 and 7
The final two chapters in the Bible mentioning Melchizedek and his connection to Jesus Christ are Hebrews 5 and 7. Hebrews 5:5-10 states - So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”; 6 just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 7 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. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek." Without offering further exposition, we can understand why our observations of Genesis 14 and Psalm 110 link to the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
With Hebrews 5 expounding on connecting Melchizedek to Jesus, Hebrews 7:1-10 is even more explicit:
"For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. 3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually. 4 Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. 5 And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. 6 But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. 7 But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. 9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him."
Again, not much exposition is required to see the linkage between Melchizedek and Christ.
Closing thoughts:
It is suggested by this writer that Melchizedek was a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus. To draw this post to a close, we can note three observations and applications:
1. Christ meets with His people. Melchizedek is first mentioned as doing this with Abram in Genesis 14. Abram represents believers of every age. Christ ever aims to meet with His people today (Hebrews 4:14-16).
2. Christ majestically reigns over His church. He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, worthy of our worship (Acts 2:34-36).
3. Christ mediates for the people. We have One God and Mediator between the Father and the people of God, the God man, Christ Jesus (see 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1-2).
