For Christians who strugle with lust, this video is very insightful!...
December 28, 2007
December 24, 2007
Sins of Ignorance from M. Henry
Matthew Henry states in his commentary on Hebrews:
"Sins are errors, and great errors, both in judgment and practice. We greatly err when we sin against God; and who can understand all his errors? They are such errors as leave guilt upon the conscience, not to be washed away but by the blood of Christ."
(Go here for the rest of this series)
"Sins are errors, and great errors, both in judgment and practice. We greatly err when we sin against God; and who can understand all his errors? They are such errors as leave guilt upon the conscience, not to be washed away but by the blood of Christ."
(Go here for the rest of this series)
Calvin on Despair
This puts a new perspective on despair...
"But while the unrighteousness and condemnation of all are attested by the law, it does not follow that we are immediately to give up all hope and rush headlong into despair. No doubt, it has some such effect upon the reprobate, but this is owing to their obstinacy. With the children of God the effect is different. The Apostle testifies that the law pronounces its sentence of condemnation in order that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God (Rom 3:19)...in other words, that divesting themselves of an absurd opinion of their own virtue, they may perceive how they are wholly dependent on the hand of God; that feeling how naked and destitute they are, they may take refuge in his mercy, rely upon it, and cover themselves wholly in it..." (from Calvin's Institutes)
If I understand Calvin correctly, he is saying that despair doesn't necessarily come from how bad we view our sin, but how stubborn we are in our sin, especially when it comes to doubting God's mercy and goodness. This makes sense if we take Cain for example. After God had warned him to gaurd his heart against the dangers of sin Cain carried out the heinous crime of murdering his brother in cold blood. Still, God still came to him in mercy giving him a chance to explain (I know this is arguable, too, but please bear with me!). Cain persisted in his stubbornness and hard-heartedness towards God, ultimately resulting in separation and despair. One of Satan's greatest tactics is telling us that we've sinned so badly God can't possibly forgive such rebellion so we might as well go on in sin. Without a view of God's goodness there is little no hope of true repentance.
We need not add to our sin by despairing, but rather we should look to Christ and cast all our sins upon Him who knew no sin, for it is through Him God is able to forgive sinners!
"But while the unrighteousness and condemnation of all are attested by the law, it does not follow that we are immediately to give up all hope and rush headlong into despair. No doubt, it has some such effect upon the reprobate, but this is owing to their obstinacy. With the children of God the effect is different. The Apostle testifies that the law pronounces its sentence of condemnation in order that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God (Rom 3:19)...in other words, that divesting themselves of an absurd opinion of their own virtue, they may perceive how they are wholly dependent on the hand of God; that feeling how naked and destitute they are, they may take refuge in his mercy, rely upon it, and cover themselves wholly in it..." (from Calvin's Institutes)
If I understand Calvin correctly, he is saying that despair doesn't necessarily come from how bad we view our sin, but how stubborn we are in our sin, especially when it comes to doubting God's mercy and goodness. This makes sense if we take Cain for example. After God had warned him to gaurd his heart against the dangers of sin Cain carried out the heinous crime of murdering his brother in cold blood. Still, God still came to him in mercy giving him a chance to explain (I know this is arguable, too, but please bear with me!). Cain persisted in his stubbornness and hard-heartedness towards God, ultimately resulting in separation and despair. One of Satan's greatest tactics is telling us that we've sinned so badly God can't possibly forgive such rebellion so we might as well go on in sin. Without a view of God's goodness there is little no hope of true repentance.
We need not add to our sin by despairing, but rather we should look to Christ and cast all our sins upon Him who knew no sin, for it is through Him God is able to forgive sinners!
December 20, 2007
They took the bread...
Following up on the post about Jesus and Temptation, I’ve made a list of people in the Bible that fell for temptation and “took the bread” (list not exhaustive):
Adam and Eve and the fruit (Genesis 3:6)
Esau, the bowl of soup and pagan women (Genesis 25:32-34, 26:34-35)
Israel and the comforts of Egypt (Numbers 14:2, and several other places)
King Saul and the spoil (I Samuel 15:9)
King David and Bathsheba (II Samuel 11:2-3)
Judas and money (Matthew 26:14-16)
Ananias and Saphira and money (Acts 5:1)
Demas and the world (II Timothy 4:10)
and more…
This is why we can’t look at ourselves or we will easily despair. We take the bread all the time. We must look to Christ who took on this flesh and all it’s desires and was perfectly obedient…in our place.
Adam and Eve and the fruit (Genesis 3:6)
Esau, the bowl of soup and pagan women (Genesis 25:32-34, 26:34-35)
Israel and the comforts of Egypt (Numbers 14:2, and several other places)
King Saul and the spoil (I Samuel 15:9)
King David and Bathsheba (II Samuel 11:2-3)
Judas and money (Matthew 26:14-16)
Ananias and Saphira and money (Acts 5:1)
Demas and the world (II Timothy 4:10)
and more…
This is why we can’t look at ourselves or we will easily despair. We take the bread all the time. We must look to Christ who took on this flesh and all it’s desires and was perfectly obedient…in our place.
Sins of Ignorance from Owen...
This if from Owen's commentary on Hebrews and he explains more on this subject...
"That which he offered for. It was their “errors,” or their sins. The Socinians, some of them, —not for want of under standing, but out of hatred unto the true sacrifice of Christ, —contend from hence that the anniversary sacrifice on the great day of expiation, the principal representation of it, was only for sins of ignorance, of imbecility and weakness. But it is a fond imagination; at least the argument from these words for it is so. For besides that the Scripture calls all sins by the name of “errors,” Psalm 19:12, 25:7; and the worst, the most provoking of all sins, is expressed by “erring in heart,” Psalm 95:10; and the LXX. frequently render “to sin” by ajgnoei~n, 2 Chronicles 16:9; 1 Samuel 26:21; Hosea 4:16, etc; —besides, I say, this application of the word elsewhere unto all sorts of sins, in the enumeration of those errors of the people which the high priest offered for they are said to be “all their iniquities,” and “all their transgressions in all their sins,” Leviticus 16:21. Wherefore to offer for the “errors” of the people, is to offer for “all their sins,” of what nature soever they were. And they are thus called, because indeed there is no such predomi-nancy of malice in any sin in this world as wherein there is not a mixture of error, either notional or practical, of the mind or of the heart, which is the cause or a great occasion of it."
"That which he offered for. It was their “errors,” or their sins. The Socinians, some of them, —not for want of under standing, but out of hatred unto the true sacrifice of Christ, —contend from hence that the anniversary sacrifice on the great day of expiation, the principal representation of it, was only for sins of ignorance, of imbecility and weakness. But it is a fond imagination; at least the argument from these words for it is so. For besides that the Scripture calls all sins by the name of “errors,” Psalm 19:12, 25:7; and the worst, the most provoking of all sins, is expressed by “erring in heart,” Psalm 95:10; and the LXX. frequently render “to sin” by ajgnoei~n, 2 Chronicles 16:9; 1 Samuel 26:21; Hosea 4:16, etc; —besides, I say, this application of the word elsewhere unto all sorts of sins, in the enumeration of those errors of the people which the high priest offered for they are said to be “all their iniquities,” and “all their transgressions in all their sins,” Leviticus 16:21. Wherefore to offer for the “errors” of the people, is to offer for “all their sins,” of what nature soever they were. And they are thus called, because indeed there is no such predomi-nancy of malice in any sin in this world as wherein there is not a mixture of error, either notional or practical, of the mind or of the heart, which is the cause or a great occasion of it."
December 19, 2007
Follow up...
Sins of Ignorance
“But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance” – Heb. 9:7
The phrase ‘sins of ignorance’ is one that has been very confusing, and has accomplished everything from sparking debate among commentators to causing tender consciences to be shaken. The phrase has been translated many different ways, such as ‘errors’(ESV), ‘sins of ignorance’(NKJV), and ‘unintentional sins’ (NIV), depending on which translation you have. We can quickly see where the trouble arises when we read in Numbers 15 that sins committed in error can be forgiven, but that there is no sacrifice for sins committed defiantly (with a high hand). It seems at first glance that there is a huge gap between the two. For example, if I sin and didn’t mean to do it, then it’s ok and it can be forgiven because I did it ignorantly. But if I sin on purpose, then it must have been defiant and God can’t forgive me (which can cause a lot of misdirected introspection). If this is true how did God forgive King David and Peter? Could Peter say he didn't mean it after 3 times? I think if we look further into the text we can hopefully clear the fog on this passage (or at least some of it), and more importantly reveal the abundant patience and forgiveness that God offers sinners.
The Greek word here for ignorance is agnoema, which Strong’s Greek concordance defines as “sins committed through error, ignorance, or thoughtlessness”. If we go even further, the root for this phrase comes from the Greek word agnoeo, which simply means to be wrong or make a mistake. With this in mind I think the meaning begins to start becoming clearer already. To sin in this way is simply having bad judgment by leaning on our own understanding instead of believing what God says. Calvin backs this up in his commentary on Hebrews by saying,
“As the verb shagag (Hebrew equivalent to agnoeo), means in Hebrew to err, to mistake, so shgagah, derived from it, properly denotes error, or mistake; but yet it is generally taken for any kind of sin; and doubtless we never sin except when deceived by the allurements of Satan. The Apostle does not understand by it mere ignorance, as they say, but, on the contrary, he includes also voluntary sins; but as I have already said, no sin is free from error or ignorance; for however knowingly and willfully any one may sin, yet it must be that he is blinded by his lust, so that he does not judge rightly, or rather he forgets himself and God; for men never deliberately rush headlong into ruin, but being entangled in the deceptions of Satan, they lose the power of judging rightly.” -(emphasis mine)
So to put it simply, Calvin says sinning ignorantly (whether we “meant to do it” or not) is forgetting what God says and only pursuing what we want. He also mentions that the reason we sin is because we are satisfying our own lusts and desires and that blinds us. We are leaning to our own understanding instead of acting on what God clearly says.
So does it have to do with whether the sin was committed on purpose or not? Doug Wilson makes an interesting comment here on his blog when he says, “The word rendered errors here is agnoema. It is a broad term, encompassing sins generally, and has reference to sins committed in ignorance or thoughtlessly. Sin is defined as such by Scripture, and not by the knowledge or intention of the one committing the sin.” What Wilson is saying here is that God doesn’t necessarily have a file labeled “knew better” and “didn’t know better” which he files our sins under, but rather He defines our sinning against Him as ignorant and thoughtless because that’s what we are when we commit them. We are sinners and that’s what we do…we sin.
Thankfully God has provided a sacrifice to cover our selfish and thoughtless sins…His son Jesus! Have you sinned and then realized it later, repent, confess it to Him and He will forgive you. Have you sinned on purpose and knew better? Do the same, repent and believe! We must be careful though and not use this as a license to “sin so that grace may abound”. There is a point where we can so willfully alienate ourselves from God that we can get hard towards His warnings and then we enter dangerous ground, i.e. Romans 1 & 2 (more on this later).
...“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (Ex. 34:6-7)
The phrase ‘sins of ignorance’ is one that has been very confusing, and has accomplished everything from sparking debate among commentators to causing tender consciences to be shaken. The phrase has been translated many different ways, such as ‘errors’(ESV), ‘sins of ignorance’(NKJV), and ‘unintentional sins’ (NIV), depending on which translation you have. We can quickly see where the trouble arises when we read in Numbers 15 that sins committed in error can be forgiven, but that there is no sacrifice for sins committed defiantly (with a high hand). It seems at first glance that there is a huge gap between the two. For example, if I sin and didn’t mean to do it, then it’s ok and it can be forgiven because I did it ignorantly. But if I sin on purpose, then it must have been defiant and God can’t forgive me (which can cause a lot of misdirected introspection). If this is true how did God forgive King David and Peter? Could Peter say he didn't mean it after 3 times? I think if we look further into the text we can hopefully clear the fog on this passage (or at least some of it), and more importantly reveal the abundant patience and forgiveness that God offers sinners.
The Greek word here for ignorance is agnoema, which Strong’s Greek concordance defines as “sins committed through error, ignorance, or thoughtlessness”. If we go even further, the root for this phrase comes from the Greek word agnoeo, which simply means to be wrong or make a mistake. With this in mind I think the meaning begins to start becoming clearer already. To sin in this way is simply having bad judgment by leaning on our own understanding instead of believing what God says. Calvin backs this up in his commentary on Hebrews by saying,
“As the verb shagag (Hebrew equivalent to agnoeo), means in Hebrew to err, to mistake, so shgagah, derived from it, properly denotes error, or mistake; but yet it is generally taken for any kind of sin; and doubtless we never sin except when deceived by the allurements of Satan. The Apostle does not understand by it mere ignorance, as they say, but, on the contrary, he includes also voluntary sins; but as I have already said, no sin is free from error or ignorance; for however knowingly and willfully any one may sin, yet it must be that he is blinded by his lust, so that he does not judge rightly, or rather he forgets himself and God; for men never deliberately rush headlong into ruin, but being entangled in the deceptions of Satan, they lose the power of judging rightly.” -(emphasis mine)
So to put it simply, Calvin says sinning ignorantly (whether we “meant to do it” or not) is forgetting what God says and only pursuing what we want. He also mentions that the reason we sin is because we are satisfying our own lusts and desires and that blinds us. We are leaning to our own understanding instead of acting on what God clearly says.
So does it have to do with whether the sin was committed on purpose or not? Doug Wilson makes an interesting comment here on his blog when he says, “The word rendered errors here is agnoema. It is a broad term, encompassing sins generally, and has reference to sins committed in ignorance or thoughtlessly. Sin is defined as such by Scripture, and not by the knowledge or intention of the one committing the sin.” What Wilson is saying here is that God doesn’t necessarily have a file labeled “knew better” and “didn’t know better” which he files our sins under, but rather He defines our sinning against Him as ignorant and thoughtless because that’s what we are when we commit them. We are sinners and that’s what we do…we sin.
Thankfully God has provided a sacrifice to cover our selfish and thoughtless sins…His son Jesus! Have you sinned and then realized it later, repent, confess it to Him and He will forgive you. Have you sinned on purpose and knew better? Do the same, repent and believe! We must be careful though and not use this as a license to “sin so that grace may abound”. There is a point where we can so willfully alienate ourselves from God that we can get hard towards His warnings and then we enter dangerous ground, i.e. Romans 1 & 2 (more on this later).
...“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (Ex. 34:6-7)
December 16, 2007
The "really bad sins"...
One reason I created this blog was to work through some of the hard passages on sin mentioned in Scripture. I didn't create it to make a blog that suffered from morbid introspection, but instead one that took an honest look at the text in it's original context. As we all know some of the hardest passages are the ones in Hebrews (6:4, 10:26), I John 5 (sin unto death), and Matthew 12 (unpardonable sin). I will not only be linking to, but also drawing from my favorite sources, such as Calvin, Owen, Wilson, and others who have a lot more experience than I do. My prayer is that I will show the riches of God's mercy to sinners, and also help someone who may be struggling with these things in their Christian walk. As we all know there is nothing new under the sun, but I hope maybe to shed a little different light or turn a light on that has been off for a while on some of these subjects.
In Christ,
T. Huskey
In Christ,
T. Huskey
December 14, 2007
Christmas Concert...
I haven't been able to post anything for the past couple of days because my job requires a week of training, plus all of the Holiday stuff. So if there is anybody out there reading this blog (I hope!), I apologize. I will try to pick back up this weekend.
But until then, my wife and I went to a Jim Brickman concert which was very good. He had a guy there by the name of David Klinkenberg that played violin who was awesome. When I got home I looked up his website and he is a Christan and has a pretty cool testimony about how God led him into his music career. He has a link on his sight where you can listen to his CD which is made up of worship songs, and they are awesome. Enjoy!
But until then, my wife and I went to a Jim Brickman concert which was very good. He had a guy there by the name of David Klinkenberg that played violin who was awesome. When I got home I looked up his website and he is a Christan and has a pretty cool testimony about how God led him into his music career. He has a link on his sight where you can listen to his CD which is made up of worship songs, and they are awesome. Enjoy!
December 10, 2007
December 9, 2007
Jesus and Temptation
"Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." - (Hebrews 2:18)
Martin Luther wrote on the subject of Jesus understanding our temptations. Someone argued with him that Jesus didn’t understand how it felt to be tempted like we are because He never gave in. Luther replies, "What’s harder, giving in to temptation, or resisting to give in?" Luther's point being that it's much harder to resist something our flesh desires (lusts for), which is why we need God's grace.
Let's go back to Jesus being tempted by Satan. Jesus hadn't eaten for forty days. Sometimes we can't go four hours. Satan told Jesus to turn the rocks around him into bread so as to relieve his needs, which he could have easily done. Jesus replied “Man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Was Jesus just gritting his teeth and denying his hunger! No! He knew that the bread was just bread. Satan was trying to get Jesus to satisfy his needs with something that couldn’t satisfy…bread. In essence, Satan was telling Jesus, “If you could get some bread then you would know God loves you.” Satan reasoned with Jesus that life consists in having the things that satisfy, and this is the proof of God’s favor. It sounds a lot like the prosperity gospel we hear today, especially when people are told that if God would just get them out of debt, give them a better car or a better life then they would know God loved them, as if God’s favor were wrapped up in only these things. We see this illustrated best with Israel in the desert when they cried and complained to God for something that would satisfy what they wanted, bread. They then complained that if they didn’t get it they would just die. This is eventually what caused Israel’s final rejection of God and His covenant in the desert in Numbers 14. They decided to go back to Egypt because there they had everything they wanted to live the good life (they thought). They thought that God had forsaken them after all he had done for them (deliverance from Egypt, crossing the Nile). Why, because he didn't give them bread (although he gave them something better)!
Satan here uses the same logic on Jesus. The meaning of what he was saying translates into something like, “since God has obviously forsaken you and left you hungry, then you need to do whatever you have to to get what you need instead of trusting Him to provide for you (like He always has).”
Instead of doing the easy thing and falling into temptation, Jesus does the hard thing and trusts God to take care of him. What happens next? God supplies his needs like just like He promised!
Prayer: "God forgive us for trying to fulfill our own needs and help us be more like Christ who completely trusted in you for everything all the time. In Jesus' name."
Martin Luther wrote on the subject of Jesus understanding our temptations. Someone argued with him that Jesus didn’t understand how it felt to be tempted like we are because He never gave in. Luther replies, "What’s harder, giving in to temptation, or resisting to give in?" Luther's point being that it's much harder to resist something our flesh desires (lusts for), which is why we need God's grace.
Let's go back to Jesus being tempted by Satan. Jesus hadn't eaten for forty days. Sometimes we can't go four hours. Satan told Jesus to turn the rocks around him into bread so as to relieve his needs, which he could have easily done. Jesus replied “Man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Was Jesus just gritting his teeth and denying his hunger! No! He knew that the bread was just bread. Satan was trying to get Jesus to satisfy his needs with something that couldn’t satisfy…bread. In essence, Satan was telling Jesus, “If you could get some bread then you would know God loves you.” Satan reasoned with Jesus that life consists in having the things that satisfy, and this is the proof of God’s favor. It sounds a lot like the prosperity gospel we hear today, especially when people are told that if God would just get them out of debt, give them a better car or a better life then they would know God loved them, as if God’s favor were wrapped up in only these things. We see this illustrated best with Israel in the desert when they cried and complained to God for something that would satisfy what they wanted, bread. They then complained that if they didn’t get it they would just die. This is eventually what caused Israel’s final rejection of God and His covenant in the desert in Numbers 14. They decided to go back to Egypt because there they had everything they wanted to live the good life (they thought). They thought that God had forsaken them after all he had done for them (deliverance from Egypt, crossing the Nile). Why, because he didn't give them bread (although he gave them something better)!
Satan here uses the same logic on Jesus. The meaning of what he was saying translates into something like, “since God has obviously forsaken you and left you hungry, then you need to do whatever you have to to get what you need instead of trusting Him to provide for you (like He always has).”
Instead of doing the easy thing and falling into temptation, Jesus does the hard thing and trusts God to take care of him. What happens next? God supplies his needs like just like He promised!
Prayer: "God forgive us for trying to fulfill our own needs and help us be more like Christ who completely trusted in you for everything all the time. In Jesus' name."
Commentaries
December 7, 2007
Peace
"See in the meantime that your faith brings forth obedience, and God in due time will cause it to bring forth peace." -John Owen
Coming from a Baptistic (Independent) background this passage didn't mean a whole lot to me personally a few years ago. "Peace" was something that came with "getting saved". Preachers would say "Do you remember the day and time you were saved, then you have peace.", or "Did you ask God to save you, then you have peace." The object of faith was not Christ, but experience. I can remember looking at my experience of faith and comparing it to others whose experience was a lot more impressive than mine. Needless to say I was plagued with my fair share of doubts. I would walk down to the altar time after time trying to get that "perfect experience" so I could stand up and tell the world about it and finally feel saved. Looking back now I can see the internal tug of war this kind of teaching can cause.
I think Owen nails it on the head when he says having true peace is more like a process, not an experience. It should look something like this: we hear Christ's words from Scripture, then we follow (obey) them by faith. In doing this we are assured because of the object of that faith which is Christ, and not a subjective experience. In Him comes true peace, although it may be gradual.
Peace is as real as He is!
Coming from a Baptistic (Independent) background this passage didn't mean a whole lot to me personally a few years ago. "Peace" was something that came with "getting saved". Preachers would say "Do you remember the day and time you were saved, then you have peace.", or "Did you ask God to save you, then you have peace." The object of faith was not Christ, but experience. I can remember looking at my experience of faith and comparing it to others whose experience was a lot more impressive than mine. Needless to say I was plagued with my fair share of doubts. I would walk down to the altar time after time trying to get that "perfect experience" so I could stand up and tell the world about it and finally feel saved. Looking back now I can see the internal tug of war this kind of teaching can cause.
I think Owen nails it on the head when he says having true peace is more like a process, not an experience. It should look something like this: we hear Christ's words from Scripture, then we follow (obey) them by faith. In doing this we are assured because of the object of that faith which is Christ, and not a subjective experience. In Him comes true peace, although it may be gradual.
Peace is as real as He is!
Blasphemy against the Son of Man.
“…Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
This is one of the hardest passages in Scripture to understand or interpret. Piper has an excellent sermon here and Doug Wilson has an excellent post here on this subject. Although I don’t I have the enormous gift of wisdom that God has given these men, I hope to try deal with this passage in more detail later. But for now I want to concentrate on one segment of Christ’s statement:
“…Anyone who speaks a word against (blasphemes) the Son of Man will be forgiven.”
This part of the passage blows my mind. Vine’s Expository dictionary defines blaspheme as “to rail against, to injure, to revile, or to speak slanderously of”. The Pharisees spoke against Christ calling him a glutton and a drunkard (Luke 7:34), and worse (John 8:41)! Jesus even had one of his closest friends, Peter, speak against him calling down curses from heaven in front of everybody on the day of his Master’s crucifixion! On the same day all of his disciples deserted him.
Please bear with me, hopefully I can flush this out. How is it possible that Jesus can forgive such great sin against Him? Thankfully God graciously allows for our weakness and ignorance that comes from a rotten sinful heart. Some of the Pharisees could have been caught up in their zeal for the law or the temple (like Saul was in Acts). Peter was caught up in fear of being identified with a man that was being executed. How quickly our sinful hearts are to desert Christ for any reason! This should show us that were it not for God’s grace we would all be separated from Him forever because that’s where sin leads…away from Him!
Have you blasphemed Christ in a moment of weakness? Have you blasphemed him in a season of ignorance (leaning on your own understanding)? Confess it to Him, repent and believe. Some commentaries have said that forgiveness only applies if the person comitting it isn't "thinking about it". I have a hard time with that, first because that's not in the verse, and secondly, how many sins does a person commit that they don't think about or give in to some degree or another. Was Peter thinking about it by the third time he denied Christ?
A word of caution, though. If you are currently blaspheming Him and know it and are blinded by your own sense of security, repent! Don’t presume upon His grace in order to keep sinning against Him, for you may approach the point of no return that some of the Pharisees did. Rather use His grace as an opportunity to stop where you are, confess your sin, and turn to Him for mercy which He will gladly give.
“Amazing love, how can it be...?”
This is one of the hardest passages in Scripture to understand or interpret. Piper has an excellent sermon here and Doug Wilson has an excellent post here on this subject. Although I don’t I have the enormous gift of wisdom that God has given these men, I hope to try deal with this passage in more detail later. But for now I want to concentrate on one segment of Christ’s statement:
“…Anyone who speaks a word against (blasphemes) the Son of Man will be forgiven.”
This part of the passage blows my mind. Vine’s Expository dictionary defines blaspheme as “to rail against, to injure, to revile, or to speak slanderously of”. The Pharisees spoke against Christ calling him a glutton and a drunkard (Luke 7:34), and worse (John 8:41)! Jesus even had one of his closest friends, Peter, speak against him calling down curses from heaven in front of everybody on the day of his Master’s crucifixion! On the same day all of his disciples deserted him.
Please bear with me, hopefully I can flush this out. How is it possible that Jesus can forgive such great sin against Him? Thankfully God graciously allows for our weakness and ignorance that comes from a rotten sinful heart. Some of the Pharisees could have been caught up in their zeal for the law or the temple (like Saul was in Acts). Peter was caught up in fear of being identified with a man that was being executed. How quickly our sinful hearts are to desert Christ for any reason! This should show us that were it not for God’s grace we would all be separated from Him forever because that’s where sin leads…away from Him!
Have you blasphemed Christ in a moment of weakness? Have you blasphemed him in a season of ignorance (leaning on your own understanding)? Confess it to Him, repent and believe. Some commentaries have said that forgiveness only applies if the person comitting it isn't "thinking about it". I have a hard time with that, first because that's not in the verse, and secondly, how many sins does a person commit that they don't think about or give in to some degree or another. Was Peter thinking about it by the third time he denied Christ?
A word of caution, though. If you are currently blaspheming Him and know it and are blinded by your own sense of security, repent! Don’t presume upon His grace in order to keep sinning against Him, for you may approach the point of no return that some of the Pharisees did. Rather use His grace as an opportunity to stop where you are, confess your sin, and turn to Him for mercy which He will gladly give.
“Amazing love, how can it be...?”
December 6, 2007
Do not pray for them?
In I John 5:16 we read this serious passage:
"...There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. (ESV)"
This is one of the warnings John uses to conclude his first book after giving believers several tests with which to "check" their faith with. The tests he give us include following Christ's commands and not loving the world (ch. 2), not practicing sin and loving one another (ch. 3).
Earlier in the book he gives us some very encouraging promises about God's patience and forgiveness in Christ:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)"
"But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins (I John 2:1,2a)."
"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (I John 2:12)"
With all of John's assurance for the forgiveness of sins, how are we supposed to view the sin in which we are not supposed to pray for, especially after he says in 5:16 "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin...he shall ask, and God will give him life." Here is where we need to apply the principle of letting scripture interpret scripture and not reading our own views into the passage. If we look back into the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, we will see a similar phrase:
"As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. (Jer. 7:16)"
Let's look at the situation Israel was in for a moment: They had forsaken God and His commands (1:16,6:19), they were not loving their brother or neighbor (7:5-6), they were trusting in the things of this world (2:13; 5:12), and they were unrepentant (continuing) in thier sin (2:20a,2:25;5:3).
Israel had drifted so far away from God and become so hard-hearted that instead of taking God up on His generous offer of repentance and restoration, they went as far to say "I have not sinned (Jer. 2:35)", which makes God a liar (I John 1:10).
Israel had fallen away from the Living God, all of His commandments, and had become completely apostate.
How does this tie in with the sin in I John 5:16? I think it has alot to do with I John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us." I believe the people John is referring to had totally alienated themselves from the Church and what they were being taught from Scripture. John Calvin states that there is no forgiveness outside the Church, and these covenant members (because they had at been part of the Church or they couldn't have left) had cut themselves off from all hope of repentance and forgiveness. What led them away from the Church? Calvin in his commentaries also states that alienation from God is a slow gradual process. It could have started with drifting in the areas John gives us (obedience, loving one another, not loving the world, not practicing sin), and grew from there into full blown apostasy (leaving the Church).
What's John's message to us today? "Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us eternal life (I John 2:24-25)." Don't drift, abide in Christ.
"...There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. (ESV)"
This is one of the warnings John uses to conclude his first book after giving believers several tests with which to "check" their faith with. The tests he give us include following Christ's commands and not loving the world (ch. 2), not practicing sin and loving one another (ch. 3).
Earlier in the book he gives us some very encouraging promises about God's patience and forgiveness in Christ:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)"
"But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins (I John 2:1,2a)."
"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (I John 2:12)"
With all of John's assurance for the forgiveness of sins, how are we supposed to view the sin in which we are not supposed to pray for, especially after he says in 5:16 "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin...he shall ask, and God will give him life." Here is where we need to apply the principle of letting scripture interpret scripture and not reading our own views into the passage. If we look back into the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, we will see a similar phrase:
"As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. (Jer. 7:16)"
Let's look at the situation Israel was in for a moment: They had forsaken God and His commands (1:16,6:19), they were not loving their brother or neighbor (7:5-6), they were trusting in the things of this world (2:13; 5:12), and they were unrepentant (continuing) in thier sin (2:20a,2:25;5:3).
Israel had drifted so far away from God and become so hard-hearted that instead of taking God up on His generous offer of repentance and restoration, they went as far to say "I have not sinned (Jer. 2:35)", which makes God a liar (I John 1:10).
Israel had fallen away from the Living God, all of His commandments, and had become completely apostate.
How does this tie in with the sin in I John 5:16? I think it has alot to do with I John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us." I believe the people John is referring to had totally alienated themselves from the Church and what they were being taught from Scripture. John Calvin states that there is no forgiveness outside the Church, and these covenant members (because they had at been part of the Church or they couldn't have left) had cut themselves off from all hope of repentance and forgiveness. What led them away from the Church? Calvin in his commentaries also states that alienation from God is a slow gradual process. It could have started with drifting in the areas John gives us (obedience, loving one another, not loving the world, not practicing sin), and grew from there into full blown apostasy (leaving the Church).
What's John's message to us today? "Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us eternal life (I John 2:24-25)." Don't drift, abide in Christ.
December 4, 2007
This Blog...
With this blog I plan first of all to glorify Christ and his completed work on the Cross, mostly from a Reformed perspective. Secondly I hope to struggle with passages that have to do with the Christian walk, Reformed Theology (from a newcomer's perspective), alot about sin, and a couple of things about current issues. Some days it may be a journal of personal struggles, who knows. This blog may not be as scholarly as most of the Reformed ones that I enjoy (alot!), but hopefully it will benefit someone on thier journey...
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