Friday, February 22, 2008
Sovereign God
It's hard to find time to use this - I've actually had to start a list of all the thoughts I'd like to blog about at some point! Tonight everyone is in bed early and I'm still awake, so I thought I'd try to get some thoughts processed through here! So, here's what's been on my mind and heart a lot lately - the sovereignty of God. I've been re-examining a lot of the pat, Christian expressions I've uttered in the past, and realized that a lot of them don't line up with what the Bible really says. And, because of that, they don't show how big and sovereign God really is. Take Romans 8:28, for instance. According to the New American Standard translation (which I am coming to love because it seems to give such a better sense of what the verse actually means), it says: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Usually, when I'm talking to someone, I can't remember the exact words of a verse - so I'll paraphrase! With this verse, I tend to say "God works good things out of all situations." When I say that, I mean (or at least, I used to, before I noticed this point I'm writing about here!) that God will bring something good out of even the worst of situations. And, in a sense, that's true. But what the verse is really saying is that God CAUSES all things to work together for good. He doesn't take the lemons and make lemonade - he makes the lemons AND the lemonade! Think about what that says about God's sovereignty. If you think God sees a bad situation in your life and then finds a way to bring good out of it, you're really saying that God was surprised by the bad situation in your life and had to figure out how to change it so that something good could come out of it. That's not sovereignty. That, in my book, is not God with a capital "G." BUT - if, instead, you look at a bad situation and say God is working good out of even this situation, which He caused, then God is sovereign. Then God is GOD. I used to think that by saying it that way, I was saying something bad about God - afterall, do I really want to worship a God who causes bad things to happen to people? But if you really think about it - really, truly think about it - I, for one, would much rather worship a God who causes both the good AND the bad, rather than a God who is surprised by the bad and has to scramble to somehow make it good again. What kind of God is that?! Now let me be honest - I'm still a little fuzzy about how all that works . . . Does God truly cause children to get cancer, or innocent people to die? I don't know. From what I read in the Bible, though, it sure does seem like it . . . And from what I read in the Bible, it seems like he uses ALL of it for His perfect purposes. That is way more encouraging - and more awe-inspiring - than a God who has nothing to do with the bad things. At least if God is in charge of causing/allowing the bad, too, I can find hope in the fact that there will be a purpose to it, since God is an orderly God . . . But that's another thought for another post!!! My point is - I'd rather follow a God who causes rather than a God who has to figure things out when they come up. Wouldn't you?
Friday, February 8, 2008
Confession
I have something to confess. I've been reading through the book of James and, in several places, he talks about following the "royal law" (he only uses that phrase once, in James 2:8, but he also references it in James 4:11). The "royal law" is from Leviticus 19:18 - ". . . Love your neighbor as yourself . . . " It is also found in Matthew 22:36-40, where Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment. He says it is "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." In Romans 13:8-10, Paul concludes that " . . . love is the fulfillment of the Law." I know this. I've read this before. I'm sure you have too. But for some reason, it really hit me today. My Study Bible, in reference to James 2:8, notes that the command to love your neighbor as yourself is called the royal law because ". . . it is the supreme law that is the source of all other laws governing human relationship. It is the summation of all such laws."
Here's my confession - usually, I kind of skip over that part about loving your neighbor as yourself. The part about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, etc. - that makes me pause. But the loving your neighbor as yourself part? Honestly, I tend to write it off as cliche (ouch -- it's in the Bible, how could I think that?! Now you're seeing the real me!!!). But I've been studying a little lately about what the Bible means when it uses the word "love." Consider 1 Cor. 13 - love is patient, kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, isn't proud, isn't self-seeking or rude, doesn't keep a record of wrong . . . Love is active. It is fruitful. It does not fail. It is the only thing that will remain when all else passes away (referring to 1 Cor. 13:8-13). In the past, I tended to look at the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" as a command to think about how I would treat myself and then treat others that way. At other times, I've thought it meant that I must love myself if I am going to truly love my neighbor (I know, I know - where did I come up with that little gem?!). But it is saying so much more than those selfish things. We are to love other people fruitfully - and the fruit of that love should be patience, kindness, humility, forgiving (hmm, I think I've heard those things before). You truly can sum up all God wants us to do in those words: "LOVE your neighbor as yourself." The emphasis is on the love part.
Again, one of those things that might not be deep for anyone else but me - but I had to confess skimming over these verses up to this point!!!
Here's my confession - usually, I kind of skip over that part about loving your neighbor as yourself. The part about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, etc. - that makes me pause. But the loving your neighbor as yourself part? Honestly, I tend to write it off as cliche (ouch -- it's in the Bible, how could I think that?! Now you're seeing the real me!!!). But I've been studying a little lately about what the Bible means when it uses the word "love." Consider 1 Cor. 13 - love is patient, kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, isn't proud, isn't self-seeking or rude, doesn't keep a record of wrong . . . Love is active. It is fruitful. It does not fail. It is the only thing that will remain when all else passes away (referring to 1 Cor. 13:8-13). In the past, I tended to look at the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" as a command to think about how I would treat myself and then treat others that way. At other times, I've thought it meant that I must love myself if I am going to truly love my neighbor (I know, I know - where did I come up with that little gem?!). But it is saying so much more than those selfish things. We are to love other people fruitfully - and the fruit of that love should be patience, kindness, humility, forgiving (hmm, I think I've heard those things before). You truly can sum up all God wants us to do in those words: "LOVE your neighbor as yourself." The emphasis is on the love part.
Again, one of those things that might not be deep for anyone else but me - but I had to confess skimming over these verses up to this point!!!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Understanding the Bible
Something I've really been seeing lately is how critical it is to interpret the Scriptures in light of the rest of the Bible. I've known that it's dangerous to take verses out of context, but now I'm realizing that, to truly understand what a passage means, you must consider it in light of what the rest of the Bible says. Why? Because the Bible makes sense as a whole - it was all inspired by God, so it's not going to contradict with itself. What specifically made me think about this? I was considering something a friend said - she pointed out that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. And I thought - I've heard that before, but where does it come from. So, I decided to look it up! Turns out the verse is John 10:10 where Jesus says: "IThe thief comes only to steal and kill and destory; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." It's part of Jesus' explanation fo how He is the gate for the sheep. He says all who came before Him were thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. He says that He is the gate and that, by entering "the pasture" throug hHim, the sheep will find full life. According to the notes in my Bible, the "others" that came before Him were "false shepherds," like the Pharisees and Chief priests. How does my Study Bible know this? Not only by the context surrounding the verse, but by other verses that discuss shepherds. Isaiah 56:11 and Ez. 34:2 are two such passages. I won't get into it all here, but by doing this little study it became clear to me that this passage is not about Satan - it's about the former leaders of Israel. Hmm.
My next question, then, is if this could be applied to Satan? Does he "kill and steal and destroy"? Is he referred to as a "thief" anywhere else? The answer to this last question is no - he's most often referred to as a deceiver and an accuser. An even bigger point I found, which I knew but didn't really know (if that makes any sense!) is that, while Satan can and does kill people, it is only when God allows him to do so. My study Bible points out that "Satan wields the power of death only insofar as he induces people to sin and to come under sin's penalty, which is death." Why is this a good thing?! Because - if God is ultimately in charge of everything, if He even uses Satan for His (God's) purposes, then I know that good will come of any bad thing that happens ("And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Rom. 8:28). It's not really right - or encouraging, in my opinion - to say that Satan killed or stole or destroyed something. Instead, I'd say that God is sovereign and His purposes will be fulfilled, even in the darkest of situations. But maybe I'm just a "glass half-full" kind of person . . . ?
My next question, then, is if this could be applied to Satan? Does he "kill and steal and destroy"? Is he referred to as a "thief" anywhere else? The answer to this last question is no - he's most often referred to as a deceiver and an accuser. An even bigger point I found, which I knew but didn't really know (if that makes any sense!) is that, while Satan can and does kill people, it is only when God allows him to do so. My study Bible points out that "Satan wields the power of death only insofar as he induces people to sin and to come under sin's penalty, which is death." Why is this a good thing?! Because - if God is ultimately in charge of everything, if He even uses Satan for His (God's) purposes, then I know that good will come of any bad thing that happens ("And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Rom. 8:28). It's not really right - or encouraging, in my opinion - to say that Satan killed or stole or destroyed something. Instead, I'd say that God is sovereign and His purposes will be fulfilled, even in the darkest of situations. But maybe I'm just a "glass half-full" kind of person . . . ?
Monday, January 28, 2008
Total Depravity
Recently, we (husband and I) have been praying and thinking about our "theology." Some deep things to think over!
Today, the thought of "total depravity" was on my mind. Total Depravity means that, apart from God, we are completely sinful. John Piper (ck out http://www.desiringgod.org/ for things by him) talks about how there are two types of sin referred to in the Bible (my wording, not his). There are sins, and then there is sin. The first type is what you normally think of as sin - going against the will of God. Sins are things we continue to commit even after we are saved. "Sin," in contrast, is everything we do apart from God. Piper points out the following verses to make this point:
Romans 14:23 - Whatever is not from faith is sin.
Hebrews 11:6 -And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Romans 7:18 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is
present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
What he is saying is, before we are saved, nothing we do can truly be "good," even if it looks good in the eyes of the world. Why is this? As Paul says, ". . . nothing good dwells in me . . . " so, connecting the dots, nothing good can come out of us in our flesh. As Piper says, even building a hospital or doing some other great philanthropic deed, if done apart from faith in God, is sin because it does not please God for us to do seemingly good things apart from Him. This doesn't make sense from a worldly perspective - how can doing something good be sin regardless of whether or not God is involved. Perhaps it's because God's ultimate goal is not to make "good people" who do "good deeds," but to make humble people who know Him and have a relationship with Him. What is the ultimate goal of life - to be good? According to the Westminster Confession, "The chief end of man [is] to glorify God and enjoy His presence forever." Challenging!
I was reading James 3:13-15 today. Here it is: "Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. " It's interesting to consider how negatively James portrays a life lived without true faith. He really makes clear how much of a stench all our "good works" are without the true, saving faith of God at work in our lives. Verse 13 implies that, witout wisdom (that comes from faith in God), we cannot live a good life, we cannot perform deeds in humility. We will have bitter envy and selfish ambition in our hearts because they are simply characteristics of "good deeds" performed without the wisdom of God. Think about it - why can't you do anything good without God's wisdom? Because your wisdom, which governs what you do, will - by nature - be sinful. It is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. I was a "good" person before I was saved. But I wasn't "good" in God's eyes because the wisdom that directed everything I did was evil! Even if it looked good from the outside, it wasn't because my heart was wrong. Understanding that makes it all that much more clear how precious God's grace truly is, how amazing it is. He saved a wretch like me because His grace is amazing - not because of anything I did right. I was the worst of sinners, as Paul says (1 Tim. 1:16), but God showed me mercy so that " . . . Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.." Wow.
Today, the thought of "total depravity" was on my mind. Total Depravity means that, apart from God, we are completely sinful. John Piper (ck out http://www.desiringgod.org/ for things by him) talks about how there are two types of sin referred to in the Bible (my wording, not his). There are sins, and then there is sin. The first type is what you normally think of as sin - going against the will of God. Sins are things we continue to commit even after we are saved. "Sin," in contrast, is everything we do apart from God. Piper points out the following verses to make this point:
Romans 14:23 - Whatever is not from faith is sin.
Hebrews 11:6 -And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Romans 7:18 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is
present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
What he is saying is, before we are saved, nothing we do can truly be "good," even if it looks good in the eyes of the world. Why is this? As Paul says, ". . . nothing good dwells in me . . . " so, connecting the dots, nothing good can come out of us in our flesh. As Piper says, even building a hospital or doing some other great philanthropic deed, if done apart from faith in God, is sin because it does not please God for us to do seemingly good things apart from Him. This doesn't make sense from a worldly perspective - how can doing something good be sin regardless of whether or not God is involved. Perhaps it's because God's ultimate goal is not to make "good people" who do "good deeds," but to make humble people who know Him and have a relationship with Him. What is the ultimate goal of life - to be good? According to the Westminster Confession, "The chief end of man [is] to glorify God and enjoy His presence forever." Challenging!
I was reading James 3:13-15 today. Here it is: "Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. " It's interesting to consider how negatively James portrays a life lived without true faith. He really makes clear how much of a stench all our "good works" are without the true, saving faith of God at work in our lives. Verse 13 implies that, witout wisdom (that comes from faith in God), we cannot live a good life, we cannot perform deeds in humility. We will have bitter envy and selfish ambition in our hearts because they are simply characteristics of "good deeds" performed without the wisdom of God. Think about it - why can't you do anything good without God's wisdom? Because your wisdom, which governs what you do, will - by nature - be sinful. It is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. I was a "good" person before I was saved. But I wasn't "good" in God's eyes because the wisdom that directed everything I did was evil! Even if it looked good from the outside, it wasn't because my heart was wrong. Understanding that makes it all that much more clear how precious God's grace truly is, how amazing it is. He saved a wretch like me because His grace is amazing - not because of anything I did right. I was the worst of sinners, as Paul says (1 Tim. 1:16), but God showed me mercy so that " . . . Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.." Wow.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Faith
I decided to break-up these two thoughts because they're really two different trails. "Faith" is a word you hear bantied around a lot in Christian circles. So, in my undying devotion to the true meaning of all things, I decided to look it up! Faith, according to the dictionary, means: "belief that is not based on proof; the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved; belief, trust and loyalty to a person or thing." Faith is to be contrasted with "blind faith," which is "belief without true understanding, perception, or discrimination." Indeed, as my previous post suggests, if one has blind faith in God then his or her actions won't illustrate it. And so, such faith cannot and will not save. Another definition I found that I thought helpful was in Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (I know, a "biased" source! But, I figure it may actually give more of the meaning of a word in the Biblical sense, since the meaning of a word is influenced by its context). It says ". . . 'Faith is a spiritual attitude involving activity.' It is the actions that follow a declaration of faith which determine whether or not it is true." Faith might be something you can't see, and it might be based on something that can't be objectively proven, but it can be proven to be true by the resultant actions. It's almost like a backwards way at getting at "proving" God exists. If He is real and if He truly does change a person as He says in His Word, then a person who puts his/her faith in God should be changed. If you don't see a change, either the faith isn't real or the thing that a person has faith in is not real. I, for one, have seen the proof of real faith in my life - I am a different person, I do different things, than I did before I had faith in God. These changes are not things I could manufacture on my own, apart from God. How do I know this? I tried! Therefore, from what I can see, I know God is real.
The Proof Is In the Pudding
First, let me just say - if anyone is actually looking at this (!) - that I'm sorry for not being consistent. I guess that's just how it will be. So, if you are reading this - I apologize, but at least it makes it easy to stay caught up! And, if no one is, then it works great as an outlet for me! So it's a win-win all around!
For some reason, random idioms like to float through my mind when I'm reading or thinking abou things! Sometimes it's song lyrics (usually kid's songs, so not very helpful!). Occassionally, it's something spiritual like a Bible verse! But most of the time it's something seemingly useless - like this. Today, however, I decided to look it up to see if it applied to what I was reading - and, amazingly, it did. The even cooler part (is that a word?!) is that it made some of what I was reading click even more! Apparently, the phrase comes from Don Quixote and is actually "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." It means, according to Ask Yahoo, ". . . the true value or quality of something can only be judged when it's put to use." So what was I reading when this little gem popped into my mind?! James 2:17 - "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." Often, I've heard this verse and related it to "being good." I figured it meant that I had to act in a certain way in order to be truly saved. I think a lot of people tend to thing it means that. But, in reality, what James is saying is that, if you are truly saved, you will act a certain way. You can't earn your salvation through your actions. Romans 3:28 says "For we maintain tht a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." We are justified - declared righteous by God - through our faith in God's promises and His Word, not through anything we do or say. So James says, simply, that if we are truly saved, our deeds should reflect that. The way we behave should reflect that we have been changed on the inside. The proverbial proof - the quality or value - of our faith will be found in the pudding - when it's put to use. Cool!
For some reason, random idioms like to float through my mind when I'm reading or thinking abou things! Sometimes it's song lyrics (usually kid's songs, so not very helpful!). Occassionally, it's something spiritual like a Bible verse! But most of the time it's something seemingly useless - like this. Today, however, I decided to look it up to see if it applied to what I was reading - and, amazingly, it did. The even cooler part (is that a word?!) is that it made some of what I was reading click even more! Apparently, the phrase comes from Don Quixote and is actually "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." It means, according to Ask Yahoo, ". . . the true value or quality of something can only be judged when it's put to use." So what was I reading when this little gem popped into my mind?! James 2:17 - "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." Often, I've heard this verse and related it to "being good." I figured it meant that I had to act in a certain way in order to be truly saved. I think a lot of people tend to thing it means that. But, in reality, what James is saying is that, if you are truly saved, you will act a certain way. You can't earn your salvation through your actions. Romans 3:28 says "For we maintain tht a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." We are justified - declared righteous by God - through our faith in God's promises and His Word, not through anything we do or say. So James says, simply, that if we are truly saved, our deeds should reflect that. The way we behave should reflect that we have been changed on the inside. The proverbial proof - the quality or value - of our faith will be found in the pudding - when it's put to use. Cool!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Works vs. Fruit
Ok, so I said I was going to get back to some of my favorite definitions - but that will have to wait for another day, when I don't have anything else I've been thinking about! I just finished some time in Galatians, and I wanted to share something that is just starting to make sense to me. I was reading Gal. 5:16-26, and was looking specifically at verse 19 and verse 22. Here's what they say:
Vs. 19-21 - "Now, the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Vs. 22 - 23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Here's the thing that hit me - notice how, in verse 19, the word "deeds" is used, and it is plural. In verse 22, the word "fruit" is used, and it is singular. As I mentioned previously, I love words - and think God intended to use the exact words He used in the exact places He used them, in conjunction with each other (so, in other words, context is also key!). So why did Paul use a these two words? The word "deeds" refers to things we do (according to the concordance, the word used means "an act, deed, thing done - the idea of working is ephasised in opposition to that which is less than work"). The list which follows is not meant to be exhaustive, but simply an example of what we do in the flesh - what we do when we try to do things on our own. The same word is used when referring to "works" vs. faith. Left to our own devices, these are the types of things we do. We might do all of them, but we do some of them! However, in verse 22, the word fruit is used in the singular sense because, when the Holy Spirit works in you, you become someone new. You don't just do better things - you ARE better.
So, here's a summary of what I got - God doesn't want us to be simply good rule-followers. If that's all He wanted, He would have just given us the law and left us to our own devices. Instead, He wants us to be new people. And the only way that can happen is by the grace of God: Eph 2:8-9 says "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of WORKS (there's that same word as in Gal. 5:19), so that no one may boast." For years, I thought that if I did everything I thought God wanted me to do (not by following Old Testament Law, but by "being a good person" and not stealing or cheating, reading my Bible, praying, etc.), I would be saved. I was wrong - not only was I not "saved," I was miserable! Why was I miserable? Because the law only serves to condemn and bring about death. It only points out what I was doing wrong because, ultimately, that's all the law can do. But when I gave myself to God and asked Him to live inside of me, that's when I became truly free - and that's when I was no longer miserable! Because, when you give yourself to God, when the Holy Spirit lives inside of you and when you listen to that still, small voice, you are changed. You become a different person. And it is through no act of your own, so you can't boast about it in the least! So that's my insight for today . . .
Vs. 19-21 - "Now, the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Vs. 22 - 23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Here's the thing that hit me - notice how, in verse 19, the word "deeds" is used, and it is plural. In verse 22, the word "fruit" is used, and it is singular. As I mentioned previously, I love words - and think God intended to use the exact words He used in the exact places He used them, in conjunction with each other (so, in other words, context is also key!). So why did Paul use a these two words? The word "deeds" refers to things we do (according to the concordance, the word used means "an act, deed, thing done - the idea of working is ephasised in opposition to that which is less than work"). The list which follows is not meant to be exhaustive, but simply an example of what we do in the flesh - what we do when we try to do things on our own. The same word is used when referring to "works" vs. faith. Left to our own devices, these are the types of things we do. We might do all of them, but we do some of them! However, in verse 22, the word fruit is used in the singular sense because, when the Holy Spirit works in you, you become someone new. You don't just do better things - you ARE better.
So, here's a summary of what I got - God doesn't want us to be simply good rule-followers. If that's all He wanted, He would have just given us the law and left us to our own devices. Instead, He wants us to be new people. And the only way that can happen is by the grace of God: Eph 2:8-9 says "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of WORKS (there's that same word as in Gal. 5:19), so that no one may boast." For years, I thought that if I did everything I thought God wanted me to do (not by following Old Testament Law, but by "being a good person" and not stealing or cheating, reading my Bible, praying, etc.), I would be saved. I was wrong - not only was I not "saved," I was miserable! Why was I miserable? Because the law only serves to condemn and bring about death. It only points out what I was doing wrong because, ultimately, that's all the law can do. But when I gave myself to God and asked Him to live inside of me, that's when I became truly free - and that's when I was no longer miserable! Because, when you give yourself to God, when the Holy Spirit lives inside of you and when you listen to that still, small voice, you are changed. You become a different person. And it is through no act of your own, so you can't boast about it in the least! So that's my insight for today . . .
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