Acknowledging Sin's Role in Suffering

After learning from Jeremiah that one way to suffer righteously is to identify with and suffer along with those who are suffering, we come to this next lesson: we are to acknowledge sin to be at the root of suffering.

Just as it is significant that Jeremiah identifies with the suffering of his people even though he had little to no part in bringing it about, it is also significant that in his deep mourning Jeremiah acknowledges Israel’s sin. Unlike Job, Jeremiah’s lamentations in response to suffering contain no protest of innocence. He confesses that this judgment is due to “the multitude of her transgressions” (Lam 1:5) and that she “sinned greatly” (Lam 1:8-9) and “rebelled against His command” (Lam 1:18). He goes on to say that Israel’s iniquity had exceeded even that of Sodom (Lam 4:6), and that even the prophets and the priests worked unrighteousness (Lam 4:13). He makes no excuses for the people, but accepts their responsibility for the suffering they are experiencing.

Now, it’s important that we make the point that not everyone who suffers suffers as a direct result of particular sin. That’s an error that Job’s counselors made, and they were severely rebuked for it when God showed up at the end of the book. It's also an error Paul's opponents made against him in 2 Corinthians, and throughout that letter he presents his suffering as evidence for the authenticity of his apostleship, not as evidence for its falsehood.

However, we do need to acknowledge that on a general level, all suffering is a result of the condition of sin that we find ourselves in as children of Adam. Had we not sinned in Adam, and had the human race never fallen into sin, we would never have known suffering (Gen 3:7-24; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:19-25).

And because of our sin, we all deserve to suffer infinitely and eternally, to a horrifying degree and all the time. The comfort that we do receive when we suffer from the “Father of mercies” (2Cor 1:3) is just that: mercy. And that the comfort is mercy implies that we do not deserve it, for mercy is the withholding of deserved punishment. Part of our problem in responding to suffering righteously is thinking that we are entitled to something other than suffering. Yet really, we deserve much worse than we even experience.

2 Peter 2:4 – …God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.

That we are all not suffering eternally in hell at this very moment is a sheer gift of God. The only difference between our sin and the sin of the angels who were damned without mercy is that our sin was graciously paid for by the perfect sacrifice of Christ (cf. Heb 2:16).

And so when we undergo intense suffering, we should not act surprised as if we deserved something better (cf. 1Pet 4:12). We should acknowledge what Jeremiah says in Lamentations 3:39-40: “Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins? Let us examine and probe our ways, and let us return to Yahweh.” When in our times of suffering we are tempted to complain, we should be reminded that we are but dust, are entitled to nothing good at all, and thus -- because in ourselves we are hopelessly sinful -- even in intense suffering we get better than we deserve.

Jeremiah's Five Lessons

1. He identifies with, and suffers alongside, his people.
2. He acknowledges that sin is at the root of suffering (even though not all suffering is a direct result of personal sin).
3. He acknowledges God’s absolute sovereignty in his suffering.
4. He recognizes that although God is sovereign, He is not the enemy.
5. He sets his hope entirely on, and rests in, God’s character.

Our Wills Not Violated, But Transformed

In chapter three of The Mortification of Sin in Believers, John Owen writes,

[1.] It is no otherwise the work of the Spirit but as all graces and good works which are in us are His. He “works in us to will and to do of his own good pleasure” (Phil 2:13); He works “all our works in us” (Is 26:12), — “the work of faith with power” (2Thess 1:11; Col 2:12); He causes us to pray, and is a “Spirit of supplication” (Rom 8:26; Zech 12:10); and yet we are exhorted, and are to be exhorted, to all these.

See the contrast Owen is driving at here, even if it's veiled in 17th century English. Every bit of progress in grace that we make -- every single good work which we perform -- are most properly said to be the works of the Spirit. They "are His," as Owen says, and then supports his point by quoting passages that assign very active and causative terms to the Spirit's work in the believers' lives.

Yet having said all that, we, the believers, are rightly exhorted to do all the things that the Scriptures say the Spirit does. We are to want things and do things (i.e., to will and to do) according as it pleases God. We are to perform good works. We are to pray. But it's His work. How does this work?

[2.] The Spirit doth not so work our mortification in us as not to keep it still an act of our obedience.

Read that again. The sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in our lives, even in our progressive, step-by-step, process of sanctification, is not such a sovereignty that it absolves us of responsibility. He is sovereign. He works in us. Yet if we fail to will and to work to God's good pleasure, we have disobeyed. He continues:

The Holy Ghost works in us and upon us, as we are fit to be wrought in and upon; that is, so as to preserve our own liberty and free obedience. He works upon our understandings, wills, consciences, and affections, agreeably to their own natures; he works in us and with us, not against us or without us; so that his assistance is an encouragement as to the facilitating of the work, and no occasion of neglect as to the work itself.

In other words, someone who sits passively by, never lifting a finger -- let alone a sword -- in the faithful fight for holiness in the war against indwelling sin, all in the name of God's grace and sovereignty, is sorely mistaken. The Christian who sits and waits to be zapped with holiness, but never engages in the work of mortification (Rom 8:13), of putting off and putting on (Eph 4:17ff; Col 3:5ff), of making no provision for the flesh in regards to its lusts (Rom 13:14), has prostituted the glorious doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty in the service of his fleshly desires.

But at the same time, see in Owen's words the absolutely gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, in all the beautiful luster of His sovereignty, doesn't turn us into unfeeling, mindless robots as He works in us to will and to work according to the good pleasure of the Father (no matter how much mileage that caricature has gotten). He doesn't simply force us against our will to obey God. Rather, in unspeakably miraculous sovereignty, He changes our hearts, our affections, our desires, bit by bit, so that when we obey we obey because we want to, because we delight to, because we love to!

Do you see why that's so awesome? It would be easy for God, entirely unfettered by anything in the universe (least of all the will of a mere man), to simply show up and force us to do whatever He wanted. Our hearts and minds would still be corrupt, but we would be "obeying." But that's not how He works. Instead, Christ pours out the Holy Spirit in our hearts, who then opens the eyes of our hearts to see the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2Cor 4:4). And when our hearts behold that beauty, it is won over, wooed out of its corruption, such that it freely and eagerly follows after that beauty, seeking to get more and more and more it, knowing that more of it comes in the path of obedience. The Spirit is so sovereign, and Christ is so glorious, that our hearts are changed agreeably. Our wills are not violated; they are transformed!

The Spirit works in our hearts and affections, not to present us as unwilling slaves to His wonderful Word, but to begin to see the Word as wonderful, Christ as beautiful, God as glorious, and obedience as satisfying. The Spirit illuminates our lives to have us see things as they are. Sin is devalued and Christ is exalted, and so we follow Him with all our hearts!

And so let us fall on our faces before the Lord God and pray that He would daily pour out His Spirit on us so generously that our affections would be changed, that our eyes would be opened, and that we would love the glory of the preeminent Christ more than the temporal gratification of our own sinful flesh.

Another Response to the Overturning of Proposition 8

I say another response, of course, because the blogosphere has been brimming with reactions and sound analysis of the Wednesday ruling. Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional, which decision effectively legalized homosexuals' rights to "marry," at least in the eyes of the state.

Preeminent among those responses is Dr. Albert Mohler's, who is always amazingly adept to comment on the downward-spiraling of American culture from the Biblical perspective. Over at PyroManiacs, Frank Turk also offered a thoughtful, helpful response, linking to a couple other posts he's done on the subject in the past, one of which I found to be excellent. James White offers the exasperated response, and I stand right there with him on that. Dan Phillips comments briefly, but effectively. Fred Butler is as sharp as always. And let's face it: the Christian blogosphere wouldn't be the Christian blogosphere without a post up at Between Two Worlds, even if Justin is on vacation.

So, with all of those giants, why would I bother giving my two cents? Better yet, why should you bother reading it?

Well, my point isn't to try and comment on something that these others have missed. Not at all. Yet at the same time I do indeed want to remind us of what's important in this whole discussion and call us to keep first things first.

It's likely that as you Christians seek to be a good steward of the Truth of God that has been entrusted to you, and a witness of it amongst your unbelieving friends, that you'll enter into the discussion of why the issue even matters to Christians anyway. Why do we care? What's all the fuss about? I mean, why can't we grant the same rights to two consenting adults who want to make a commitment to each other for life?

Not Just Because Homosexuality is a Sin

One answer that you might be ready to give is that we Christians care about preventing the legalization of gay "marriage" because the Bible clearly states that homosexuality is sinful. As the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, and our sole authority for all matters of life and godliness (2Pet 1:3), we must accept its word as binding. Here are some examples:

• Leviticus 18:22 - You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.
• Romans 1:25-27 - For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

So it's clear. Those who say the Bible doesn't forbid homosexuality don't have leg to stand on. It's clear that Scripture condemns homosexuality as sinful, and thus just as all other sins it is worthy of death. It is a mark of rebellion, and those who practice it will not inherit the kingdom of God, but along with the rest of those who persist in their sin "their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death" (Rev 21:8).

And so, as the purpose of the civil government is to promote the general good and well-being of the society and to restrain the evil therein to the best of its ability (Gen 9:6-7), we believe the government should not sanction that which the Lord of the Universe expressly forbids. Violating God's Word is never the best thing for any society, as long as Jesus is Lord.

But having said all that, I'm saying don't give that answer. At least, don't give just that answer.

Not Just Because God Himself Defines Marriage as Heterosexual

Another answer you might be ready to give is that we Christians care about preventing the legalization of gay "marriage" because God Himself is the One who created marriage, who performed the first marriage (Gen 2:18, 21-22), and He Himself defines marriage as being between only one man and one woman. And as God is the Lord of the Universe, we must accept His Word. Here's what He says:

• Genesis 2:18, 21-22 - Then Yahweh God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." ... So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

God purposed to make a companion suitable to Adam when it became apparent that there was no fitting match among the creatures of the earth. And He sovereignly caused Adam to sleep deeply, Himself took one of Adam's ribs and fashioned it into a woman, and then presented the man with his bride. God did not make another man from Adam's rib, but made a woman. In God's mind, only a woman was a "helper suitable for him."

• Matthew 19:3-6 - Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
  

So when a Pharisee asks Jesus about divorce, Jesus, the Lord of all (Ac 10:36), talks about marriage. He declares that God's purpose was to create human beings "male and female." Now, it is not an accident that He said this. In the context of a discussion about marriage, Jesus prefaces His comment on divorce by underscoring that God made humanity as male and female. God did not make us only male, or only female. He intentionally designed that a man shall leave his family and be joined to his wife, and that these two -- this man and wife -- should become one flesh. He does not speak of a man leaving his parents to be joined to his husband, but his wife.

And so the very definition of marriage from the Creator -- and thus, the authority -- on marriage is that it be between one man and one woman. To sit quietly by, then, while our government -- which we have been blessed with the right to participate in as (at least what used to be) a democratic republic -- in rebellious, treasonous fashion seeks to redefine that given definition would itself be an act of treason against our King.

And yet having said all that, I'm saying don't give that answer. At least, don't give just that answer.

Because It's a Matter of the Clarity of the Gospel

If we're going to speak into this situation with any sort of prophetic voice (read: having a Biblical impact), we need to give the reasons why homosexuality is a sin, and why God has defined marriage between one man and one woman.

Marriage is a wonderful, beautiful, and glorious institution. But the truth is that marriage is not those things in and of itself. God has designed marriage to be a symbol, or a picture, that points to something greater than itself. And it is only so wonderful, beautiful, and glorious because of that something greater that it points to. And that is the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is, that after man rebelled against God in the Garden by sinning against Him, their sin separated them from their God and subjected them to spiritual death absent a redeemer. Because no human being could ever atone for his sin, the Father lovingly sent His Son Jesus to live the life we should have lived, to die the death we should have died, so that everyone who trusts in Him alone for their righteousness before God should not suffer eternal punishment, but should be saved. And of all those whom the Father has given to the Son, He will lose none. He will never forsake His bride, but will always live to make intercession for them (Heb 7:25).

Marriage is an institution set up by God with a specific purpose: to glorify Him (to make much of Him) by magnifying the relationship of covenant-keeping grace that exists between Christ and His Bride, the Church.

In Ephesians 5, the Apostle Paul gives us the most amazing, breathtaking instruction on marriage in all of Scripture. There, he quotes Genesis 2:24, just like Jesus did in Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:7-8: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." Then, the very next thing he says is, "This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church."

Ponder that. Let that sink in. He is speaking about marriage with reference to Christ and the church. Keep that in mind as we consider other things he's said in the passage.

Earlier, Paul is giving the Ephesian church instruction on how to conduct themselves in their marriages. He basically lays out a plan of loving headship on the husband's part (Eph 5:25-30) and respectful submission on the wife's part (Eph 5:22-24). Now, what is absolutely astounding is the reasons he gives for why a husband must lovingly serve his wife and why a wife must respectfully submit to her husband.

• Ephesians 5:22-23 - Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
• Ephesians 5:24 - But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
• Ephesians 5:25-27 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies.
• Ephesians 5:28-30 - He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.

This is absolutely staggering. Throughout the entirety of Paul's instruction on marriage, the reasoning, the foundation, the basis for his commands is the work of Christ in His relationship with the Church. The Gospel is why husbands must love their wives and wives must submit to their husbands!

What is this all telling us? It's substantiating the claim I made above: that marriage is a picture, or a parable, of Christ and the Church -- of the Gospel of Christ's covenant-keeping grace with a people to whom He has committed Himself, and who have committed themselves to Him. When Paul says that "This mystery is great," and then tells us that he's speaking about Christ and the Church, he's establishing that marriage is designed to point us to the Gospel: that precious Good News that has saved us from sin, wrath, just punishment, fruitlessness, and a wasted life; that precious Good News that has gotten our sin out of the way so that we can enjoy fellowship with our Creator and Redeemer! So that we can spend eternity gazing into the beautifully glorious face of our God, who will dwell among His people in love in the Paradise of the New Creation.

Now this is why Christians should be opposed to the legalizing of gay "marriage": because it mars the picture of that precious Gospel that marriage is designed to be. If marriage is given to us in order to point us to the reality of Christ's covenant-keeping grace with His people, and if the husband pictures Christ and the wife pictures the Church, then any tampering with those participants confuses and obfuscates the Gospel.

And that's what should get our dander up. Not tax breaks. Not nomenclature. Not social agendas. The Gospel. Make sure the people you're having these conversations with leave knowing the difference. And if they don't know why the Gospel is so precious to us, why it's such a treasure, why it's to be so rigorously defended and protected...

Tell them.

Guard,
through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us,
the treasure
which has been entrusted to you.
- 2 Timothy 1:14 -

But we have this treasure
in earthen vessels,
so that the surpassing greatness of the power
will be of God and not from ourselves.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7 -

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Matthew 6:21 -

Around the Table of the King

In our most recent communion service at Grace Church we sang the following song as the elements were being passed out. It's a song co-written by Stuart Townend and Keith and Kristyn Getty entitled "Behold the Lamb (Communion Hymn)." The last line of the chorus, "Around the table of the King," always gets me though, and so wins the title of the blog post.

What a great reality to ponder! We have such sweet, intimate fellowship with our Savior, whom we killed and deserved nothing of, that we can be described as eating Him as the Bread of Life (Jn 6:51) and drinking Him as the Water of Life (Jn 4:10, 13-14; 7:37-38), whose blood is true drink (Jn 6:55-56), in whose blood are all the blessings of the New Covenant (Lk 22:20; cf. Jer 31:31-34; Ezek 36:25-27). And we enjoy such fellowship "around the table of the King." We were rebels -- treasonous, murderous enemies of this King. And now we celebrate our reconciliation with Him around His own lavish table! Praise be to God for His glorious grace!

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away,
Slain for us: and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross.

So we share in this Bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice,
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King.

The body of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
Torn for you: eat and remember
The wounds that heal, the death that brings us life,
Paid the price to make us one.

So we share in this Bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice,
As a sign of our bonds of love
Around the table of the King.

The blood that cleanses every stain of sin,
Shed for you: drink and remember
He drained death’s cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God.

So we share in this Bread of life,
And we drink of His sacrifice,
As a sign of our bonds of grace
Around the table of the King.

And so with thankfulness and faith
We rise to respond: and to remember.
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth.

As we share in His suffering,
We proclaim: Christ will come again!
And we’ll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King!

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks,
He broke it and gave it to them, saying,
"This is My body which is given for you;
do this in remembrance of Me."
And in the same way He took the cup
after they had eaten, saying,
"This cup which is poured out for you
is the new covenant in My blood."
- Luke 22:19-20 -

Counsel to a Sinning Brother

In our series on the doctrine of Biblical repentance, we've discussed a lot of what the Bible has to say concerning the nature of true repentance. Most recently, we distinguished between repentance and penance, and discussed how we might avoid penance and arrive at true repentance.

As we go further, it will be helpful to remove these principles from the realm of the abstract and theoretical and apply them to an actual counseling situation. Such a counseling situation might be a time of formal, pastoral counseling where a church member has come to his or her pastor for guidance. But it may also be a one-on-one, layperson-to-layperson discipleship situation. Ideally, exchanges like these are constantly taking place in the lives of individual Christians within the body of Christ. Though I will make primary application to the formal counseling situation, I'd hasten to say that the following could also take place between a sinning brother and a mature, Bible-saturated brother.

And so let us take for an example a church member, Jim, who has confessed to an immoral affair. How do the principles of Biblical repentance presented in previous posts apply when counseling a man such as this? How can we lead Jim to genuine repentance and away from the dangers of functional penance?

After an opening session in which I have had time to listen to Jim’s story and why he decided to come for counseling (Pr 18:13), I would be up front with him that among my goals for counseling would be that (1) he repent of his sins according to the teaching of God’s Word, (2) be prepared to be restored to fellowship with God and in his local church, and (3) ultimately would increase in Christlikeness. This would involve some instruction – both during the sessions and for homework – about the nature of Biblical repentance. I would ask him to look up particular verses about repentance (as presented in the previous posts) and draw conclusions about what Biblical repentance looks like. This way, when he sees me looking for appropriate sorrow, a desire to change, etc., he will understand that I am not the authority, but that I am seeking for both of us to submit to the authority of the Word of God.

First, it is important that Jim admit that he has sinned against God and against his wife and express a desire to confess that sin as sin. I would seek to draw out of him the effect that his sin has had on his soul by presenting to Him the loveliness of Christ. I would hope to lead him to see the repulsiveness of sin in the attractive light of God’s holiness. Thus, I would look for the godly sorrow and the mourning that characterizes Biblical repentance, and would be on guard against excuses that attempt to rationalize his sin. Does he feel genuinely sorry for what he has done? And does that sorrow compel him to confess his sin and ask for forgiveness?

Here, though, we must guard against the pride of false humility. There is a true shame that Jim should feel as a result of his sin. However, “the pain ought to be there, but it ought not to stay there” (John Piper, Future Grace, 137). The sinning woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume felt an appropriate shame for her sin, but when Jesus declares that her sins are forgiven He declares that her shame is over.

He declared that past pardon would now yield future peace. So the issue for her was faith in this future grace rooted in the authority of Jesus’ forgiving work and freeing word. Would she believe the glowering condemnation of the guests? Or would she believe the reassuring words of Jesus that her shame was over—that she is now and in the future forgiven, that she may go in peace and wholeness and freedom? Whom will she trust? With whose promise will satisfy her soul? (Piper, Future Grace, 138)

This will be the issue for Jim as well. Will he wallow in prideful self-condemnation, or will the apprehension of the glory of the grace of Christ compel Him to trust in Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for sin? I must lead Jim through appropriate feelings of shame to faith in the promise that his sins have been forgiven.

Following this, I would encourage him and help him get to a point where his desire is to turn from the sin of immorality. I would want to equip him to purpose, in the Spirit and by God’s grace, to repudiate his sin. I would be looking for a genuine desire in him that wants nothing to do with further immoral relationships.

And corresponding to his turn from sin, I would hope to lead Jim to turn to God in Christ. By exalting the beauty and the sweetness of Christ, I would present to Jim the Lord’s easy yoke and light burden in comparison to the oppressive yoke and terrible burden of his sin (Mt 11:28-30). Here we would study the forgiveness of God and the restored fellowship with Him that comes by turning to Him. This is where I would want Jim to experience a change of functional lordship in his life; that is, that he would consciously seek to be a slave of his Lord Jesus and not of his old slave master: sin. I would labor to show him that the issue is ultimately one of idolatry, and that he must forsake the worship of the idols of sexual pleasure, stimulation, and acceptance, and return to worship the one true God in Christ Jesus. These exhortations must be laced with pleas to behold the objective beauty of Christ, because no change of allegiance will occur unless Jim’s heart delights in Jesus more than he delights in sin.

Finally, with such a foundation, I would lead him through the implications of his repentance. We would study the necessary obedience that accompanies true repentance, and that the Lord expects that repentant sinners bear fruits in keeping with repentance. We would work through the Ephesians 4 paradigm of putting off and putting on, considering the changes in activities, associations, and lifestyle that are necessary to putting off immorality. He would need to confess his sin to his wife, actively seek to be reconciled to her, and be willing to do whatever he could rebuild that broken relationship. He would also need to cut off all ties with his mistress – except maybe to ask her forgiveness – and burn those bridges to prevent later backsliding. It would also be appropriate to set up marriage counseling for Jim and his wife, if she was willing. Finally, I would seek to equip Jim to cultivate the humility and the joy necessary to be restored to his local church. I would look for a willingness to come under the loving rule of his elders, as well as his ability to use his gifts to minister to the body.

Throughout this process it is imperative that Jim know that he is not earning his forgiveness by his efforts. I must be explicit that the many imperatives that we discuss are grounded by the indicatives of what Christ has done objectively in the Gospel. I must labor to show him both the futility of attempting a self-atonement and the freedom of receiving a susbtitutionary atonement. I must constantly pursue Jim’s heart, and not merely his actions. Thus, I will watch out for begrudging obedience on his part, and I will present the sight of Christ’s glory as more satisfying to the soul than the passing faux-pleasures of sin. Thus, by God’s grace, his repentance will produce joyful obedience issuing from the heart, indicating that a true 'change of mind' has taken place. Richard Baxter provides a helpful summary:

If he appear to be truly sensible of the sinfulness of his conduct, and penitent on account of it, we must see that he confess his guilt, and that he promise to fly from such sins for the time to come, to watch more narrowly and to walk more warily, to avoid temptation, to distrust his own strength, and to rely on the grace which is in Christ Jesus. We must assure him of the riches of God’s love, and the sufficiency of Christ’s blood to pardon his sins, if he believe and repent. (Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor [Banner of Truth: PA, 1981], 109)

How to Evaluate Genuine Repentance

The above case study provides a good example for how I would encourage the elders of my church to evaluate the genuine repentance of a repentant member (cf. John Street, “The Danger of Neglecting Repentance,” Journal of Modern Ministry 5 [Spring 2008]: 27-28).

In the intellectual or cognitive domain, it should be evident that Jim understands which specific Biblical principles he has transgressed, acknowledges it as sin, and can articulate changes in his life as well as a plan for dealing with future temptations. In the emotional or affective domain, the elders should look for genuine, godly remorse that has led to his seeking forgiveness from God and other offended parties, a pervading humility as a result of his sinfulness, and a desire to be restored to fellowship with other believers. Finally, in the volitional or behavioral domain, the elders should be able to observe fruits in keeping with repentance. Jim himself, as well as his Christian friends, should be able to testify of a change in his lifestyle, and his wife should be able to testify to his desire to rebuild their relationship. There should be an evident delight in fellowship with Christ as evidenced by his joyful, willing obedience in the context of the local church.

Biblical Repentance: Introduction

1. Exegesis
1.1. Nacham: Biblical Repentance Involves the Emotions
1.2. Shuv: The Heart's Obedient Turn from Sin to God
1.3. Metanoeo: A Fundamental Change of the Whole Man

2. Discussion
2.1. Summary and Discussion: Intellectual, Emotional, Volitional
2.2. Repentance for the Christian

3. Application
3.1. Repentance vs. Penance
3.2. Counsel to a Sinning Brother

3.3. Homework for Sinning Brother
3.4. The Effect on My Personal Walk with Christ

Making Friends with Your Brother's Murderer

In my travels around the internet, I came across a sermon by Charles Spurgeon from which the following excerpt is taken. The name of the sermon is Lama Sabacthani? and was preached on the text of Matthew 27:46: Jesus' cry from the Cross. It was preached on March 2, 1890 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. The below excerpt is his final exhortation and conclusion to the sermon.

Nobody says it quite like he does.

Let us abhor the sin which brought such agony upon our beloved Lord. What an accursed thing is sin, which crucified the Lord Jesus! Do you laugh at it? Will you go and spend an evening to see a mimic performance of it? Do you roll sin under your tongue as a sweet morsel, and then come to God's house, on the Lord's-day morning, and think to worship him? Worship him! Worship him, with sin indulged in your breast! Worship him, with sin loved and pampered in your life!

O sirs, if I had a dear brother who had been murdered, what would you think of me if I valued the knife which had been crimsoned with his blood? —if I made a friend of the murderer, and daily consorted with the assassin, who drove the dagger into my brother's heart? Surely I, too, must be an accomplice in the crime! Sin murdered Christ; will you be a friend to it? Sin pierced the heart of the Incarnate God; can you love it? Oh, that there was an abyss as deep as Christ's misery, that I might at once hurl this dagger of sin into its depths, whence it might never be brought to light again!

Begone, O sin! Thou art banished from the heart where Jesus reigns! Begone, for thou hast crucified my Lord, and made him cry, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" O my hearers, if you did but know yourselves, and know the love of Christ, you would each one vow that you would harbour sin no longer. You would be indignant at sin, and cry,

"The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Lord, I will tear it from its throne,
And worship only thee,"

May that be the issue of my morning's discourse, and then I shall be well content. The Lord bless you! May the Christ who suffered for you, bless you, and out of his darkness may your light arise! Amen.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life,
is not from the Father, but is from the world.
The world is passing away, and also its lusts;
but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
- 1 John 2:15-17 -

How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
- Romans 6:2 -

And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness;
for by His wounds you were healed.
- 1 Peter 2:24 -

Help for the Soul Beset with Sin

It's amazing to be constantly confronted with my own depravity. The prideful Pharisee in me expects myself to be "better" by now. But just knowing that I know what it is to receive God's grace and forgiveness, and that I have tasted Christ's sweetness and have proven to my soul that He is good, it makes it difficult to confront the fact that I still sin grievously against so great a Savior, so great a Friend.

The following quote from the Prince of Preachers has ministered to my soul on numerous occasions. I pray it's a benefit to you. To that end, read each paragraph slowly, and pause to meditate after each one.

We have a great Savior, dear friends.

Whenever I feel that I have sinned and desire to overcome that sin for the future, the devil at the same time comes to me and whispers, ‘How can you be a pardoned person and accepted with God while you still sin in this way?’

If I listen to this I drop into despondency. And if I continued in that state I should fall into despair and should commit sin more frequently than before.

But God's grace comes in and says to my soul, ‘Thou hast sinned, but did not Christ come to save sinners? Thou art not saved because thou art righteous, for Christ died for the ungodly.’ And my faith says, ‘Though I have sinned, I have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and though I am guilty, yet by grace I am saved and I am a child of God still.’

And what then? Why, the tears begin to flow and I say, ‘How could I ever sin against my God who has been so good to me? Now I will overcome that sin.’ And I get strong to fight with sin through the conviction that I am God's child.

For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
- Psalm 51:16-17 -

But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
- Romans 5:20, KJV -

A Biblical View of the Affections

In my Pastoral Counseling class, we answered the questions in the exam for the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors as a class assignment. The following is an adapted answer from that assignment, which asked us to define affections Biblically and how they are changed Biblically. Please do mouse over and read the Scripture references as they come up.

In the Scriptures, the God of the universe has revealed that His ultimate purpose in all that He does is to bring glory to Himself (Is 42:8; 43:7, 25; 48:11; Ezek 36:22-23; Eph 1:11-12). That is, God’s will is to be worshiped by all of His creation. To that end, He created human beings to be worshiping creatures so that they might “honor Him as God [and] give thanks” (Rom 1:21). Therefore, all of life – especially the Christian life – is about worship. Progress in sanctification comes when our worship of God increases and matures. Sin is made manifest when we worship anything other than God (cf. Rom 1:20-25).

Having understood that life is about worship, we begin to see the importance of affections in living the Christian life. As worship is at the heart of life, so the affections are at the heart of worship. We worship what we desire, what we love, what we delight in. And that worship shapes our actions. “Our words and actions are shaped by our pursuit of the things our hearts crave. … What we worship determines our responses to all our experiences” (Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, p. 67). Jesus testifies to this reality when He simply says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21; Lk 12:34). You will serve with all your being that which you treasure. When your treasure is not God, you commit idolatry (cf. Ezek 14:1-5), and it is idolatry of the heart – the worship of the creature rather than the Creator – that is the core of all sin (Rom 1:25; cf. Deut 29:2-4; 30:6; Jer 31:33; Ezek 6:9; 36:26).

Therefore, when a Biblical counselor (or any Christian) seeks to aid in another’s sanctification and mortification of sin, the battle must be fought at the level of the affections, or the desires. For example, if a counselee’s sin problem is greed, it is because his desire for money rules his heart rather than the desire to know Christ. Or if his sin problem is lust or sexual immorality, it is because he believes that mental or physical sexual stimulation will satisfy his desires more than will the glory of God in Christ.

The counselor must seek, then, to transform the counselee’s heart, his affections. He must be shown that the desires and the affections that he seeks to satisfy with sin are actually most fully satisfied by knowing Jesus Christ. This is how Jesus Himself instructs us to battle covetousness. He commands that we “make [ourselves] money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven” (Lk 12:33). He does not simply command us to stop desiring possessions; He redirects our desire to something greater, to something that will fully satisfy us, to treasure in heaven, to Himself. The Apostle Paul is strengthened to press on in the Christian life in this very same way. He counts all idols – all substitute pleasures – as loss that He may gain Christ and know Him (Phil 3:7-11). David’s righteousness came from his singularity of focus; that is, he desired and sought one thing: to behold the beauty of Yahweh and to meditate in His temple (Ps 27:4). Moses fled from the idolatry of Egypt because he considered “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (Heb 11:26). And so it is throughout Scripture.

Therefore, emotions and affections (and thus actions) are changed Biblically when the worthiness and delightfulness of the beauty of Christ is exalted in the heart of the Christian. Affections are changed when the eyes of our hearts are enlightened to know the riches of the glory of the inheritance of God (Eph 1:18). When that happens, the promise of pleasure from sin looks so paltry in comparison to the treasure chest of holy joy found in Christ. Affections are set right, God is worshiped in Christ, and that life of worship controls all we do (Mk 7:18-23) and say (Lk 6:44-45).

God's Glory in His Temple: And We Saw His Glory

As we are seeking to be properly affected by the truth that John 1:14 teaches us about Christmas, we are considering three key words in that verse which give us a depth of insight into the significance of the incarnation. The first key word was dwelt.

The second key word that gives us worship-inspiring insight into the significance of the incarnation is glory. After John writes that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, he says, “And we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

And so having seen how the glory of God was such a big part of His dwelling with His people in the tabernacle (Ex 40:34-38), we now see how “and He dwelt among us,” fits with “and we saw His glory.” There is an inseparable connection between the (1) dwelling place of God, and (2) His glory that fills that place.

In fact, you remember that I mentioned that the Hebrew word for "to dwell" is shākan. Well does that sound like any other popular Hebrew word you might know? How about shekinah? That's the old Jewish word for the glory of God. Shākan and shekinah also have those same consonants. They come from the same root.

And what that teaches us is the same thing John is teaching us by adding on the rest of this verse: that the dwelling of God is absolutely inseparable from the glory of God. In Exodus 40 when the tabernacle is completed, Yahweh’s glory descends and fills the tabernacle to signify that He will dwell there.

The Journey of the Glory of Yahweh in the Tabernacle

And so the glory of Yahweh was with Israel in the tabernacle – a cloud by day and a fire by night (Ex 40:38). And it led them in all their journeys through the wilderness and into the land of Canaan, the Promised Land which He swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give to their descendants. And whenever they would move, they would take down the Tabernacle, and then when they would settle in another place they would set up the Tabernacle (Ex 40:37).

And that’s the way it went for over 450 years, even after they entered the land of Canaan. And so if we fast-forward about 450 years from Exodus 40 and the journey of the glory of God with Israel in the wilderness, we arrive at 1 Kings 8.

The Glory Fills the Temple

By this time the construction of Solomon’s temple has been completed. And the temple is just magnificent. It was twice the size of the tabernacle, which itself was impressive. Not including the court, the temple itself was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. And on the inside everything in it was overlaid with gold. And so as construction is finished, the priests and the Levites bring the Ark of the Covenant into the holy of holies, verses 4 through 6, and station the ark under the wings of two massive 15-foot golden cherubim.

Then, 1 Kings 8:9-11 says, “There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb [about 500 years earlier], where Yahweh made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of Yahweh, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of Yahweh.”

Sound familiar?

This is exactly what happened in Exodus 40 at the completion of the tabernacle. Yahweh is now declaring that He will no longer dwell in the tabernacle, but He will be with His people in this temple. And His glory descends and takes up residence. The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 7:3 adds, “All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to Yahweh, saying, ‘Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindess is everlasting.’”

Yahweh’s glory settles in His temple. He dwells there among His people.

The Glory Departs from the Temple

Until the tragedy of the Babylonian exile.

Between the time of the completion of Solomon’s temple and the final king of Judah, over 350 years had passed. The glorious united monarchy of Israel had been divided into two kingdoms: Israel the northern, and Judah the southern. And because of the idolatry and apostasy of the northern kingdom Yahweh had given them into the hands of the Assyrians in 721 BC.

And in 592 BC Judah was facing the same fate at the hands of the Babylonians, because of their great wickedness. 2 Chronicles 36 sets the context. Judah is under their final king, Zedekiah. They are only six years away from the Babylonian captivity.

2 Chronicles 36:11-14 – Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of Yahweh his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for Yahweh. He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear allegiance by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh God of Israel. Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of Yahweh which He had sanctified in Jerusalem.

Take notice of that. They defiled the temple of Yahweh, where His name dwelt, where His glory dwelt. And then, listen to the sadness in the next two verses:

2 Chronicles 36:15-16 – Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of Yahweh arose against His people, until there was no remedy.

He did everything He could! But the people just preferred their idols.

The prophet Ezekiel prophesies during this time. And it is his vision that gives most interesting insight into what’s happening at the time of the exile. In Ezekiel 8 [click here], we see the great and wicked abominations of the sons of Israel (Ezek 8:6, 9, 13, 15, 17):

• The idol of jealousy in the inner court (Ezek 8:3, 5)
• Graven images (cf. Ex 20:4-5) of every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things (Ezek 8:10, 12)
• The offering of strange incense (Ezek 8:11; cf. Ex 30:9)
• Women weeping for Tammuz, a god of the Phoenicians (Ezek 8:14)
• Men with their backs to the temple, worshiping the sun (Ezek 8:16)
  

These abominations, this mass idolatry, is happening in the dwelling place of Yahweh! In the place where His glory dwells! In the place where He condescends and meets Israel and provides atonement for their sin!

And so Yahweh visits them in His wrath and destroys so many Israelites that Ezekiel thinks He’s going to wipe out the whole nation (Ezek 9:8). And as that's happening, the glory of Yahweh begins to stir.

Ezekiel 10:1 - Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them.

He sees heaven opened over the cherubim that protect the Ark of the Covenant! And He sees the throne of God Himself breaking into His earthly dwelling!

“Now,” verse 3, “the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court.” This is His glory now. This is the cloud of glory that had been with them since Exodus 13. “Then the glory of Yahweh went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh.” And so the glory of Yahweh has gone from the Ark, it moved to hovering over the cherub, and now it goes to the threshold of the temple, to the exit, and it stays there.

Skip down to verse 18: “Then the glory of Yahweh departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.” Now these are different cherubim. These are actual cherubim; they’re not the golden ones. These are the real cherubim from Ezekiel's vision. Verse 19: “When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of Yahweh’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.” So now the glory is with His angels, at the last exit of the temple.

And finally, in Ezekiel 11:22, the prophet tells us: “Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. The glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.” The glory of Yahweh departs from the temple, it hovers over the Mount of Olives, and then ascends with the cherubim back into heaven.

And what is amazing, and also heartbreaking, is that the glory seems to be departing reluctantly. It goes from the ark to the cherub wings (Ezek 10:3-4), and it hovers in one place. Then it goes from the cherub wings to the threshold with the real cherubim (Ezek 10:18-19), and it hovers there. And finally it leaves the Temple and goes east over the Mount of Olives (Ezek 11:22-23). It’s as if Yahweh is saying, “Won’t any of My people worship Me? Won’t anyone listen to My Word? Won’t any of you turn from your idols? From your Baals and your Asherim and your golden calves?

“And from your television and your computer, from your pornography and your fornication, from your love of money and your preoccupations with your Christmas presents and your possessions and having more stuff? Won’t any of you turn from your impatience, your anger, your fear, your anxiety, your complaining? Oh My dear people, won’t you put away all your idols that you have erected before Me, and open your eyes to see my glory which has been with you always, and has satisfied you, and now love Me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?! Am I not worthy of that?”

And no one did.

And so God's glory left the temple. For the first time in Israel's history, for the first time in 850 years, Israel was without the presence of their God. Yahweh is no longer dwelling with His people. This is the last time the glory of Yahweh is seen on the earth.

The Glory Returns with the True Temple

“Until,” says the Apostle John, “Until now! Until the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory.”

Luke 2:8-14 - In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And suddenly, there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.’”

The next time the glory of Yahweh is seen it comes to the shepherds to proclaim the birth of Jesus. The angels’ message is that, “The glory of the Lord has returned to Israel in the city of David; it is the Savior! It is Christ the Lord.”

These words… these are huge words in Hebrew. “It is ‘Mashiyach ha Adonai!’ This is Messiah! The Anointed One of Yahweh! The Coming One! And “the Lord,” there isn’t functioning simply as a title, it’s functioning as LORD (in all capitals). The angel is saying, with the glory of Yahweh that no one has seen for 600 years shining around him, he’s announcing: “Yahweh is here!!!” In Jesus, God is declaring the fulfillment of that great New Covenant promise that so many hoped in for thousands of years: “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people” (Ezek 37:27)!

This is the baby Jesus! This is the Word become flesh! This is your Savior, Christian!

And so John tells us that the Eternal Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory.

And by using this language in John 1:14, he is proclaiming to his audience that this Jesus is Yahweh’s divine self-expression in the same way that the glory of the Tabernacle and Temple were.

In fact, he goes beyond that. But that's for next time.

Better Christmas Stuff

Frank Turk, over at Evangel, has been doing a great series on Christmas. Specifically, he's talking about how the coming of Christ points us to the coming of God's wrath. That is, the reason Christ came into the world is that there was a problem: humanity was under the wrath of God and had no hope of escape. It's a good, sobering reminder to us all that in the midst of the decorations, shopping, Christmas trees, egg nog, and even nativity scenes on your lawn, Christmas is about the birth of a Savior. He came to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21).

Anyway, I appreciated Frank's most recent post, and wanted to post it here as well. If any of you are tempted to think of Christmas as simply a quaint holiday that's mostly about family and friends and presents with an occasional hat-tip to Jesus, you're in danger of wasting your Christmas this year, and for the rest of your life. Frank exhorts us not to waste our Christmas. Enjoy.

My point, so far, is that God’s wrath is coming, and Jesus — whose birth we celebrate at Christmas — is the savior from that wrath. It’s a point a lot of people got because that’s what a savior is — and it’s a point I have made here before, so you were probably with me on it by way of preparation, one way or the other.

Now, the question is: is that enough? That is, if we understand that what we deserve is God’s wrath and what we get is God’s savior, can we now have some ham and some applesauce and some casserole and maybe (in presbyterian and Lutheran homes, of course) a glass of wine, a decent night’s sleep, and then open the presents on Christmas morn after an appropriately-solemn reading of Luke 2? I mean, seriously: enough’s enough.

Listen: Christmas is not about a logical argument, an intellectual affirmation, and then a secular session of either greed or idolatry (or maybe both). Christmas is about God with us.

When the Jews had the Temple, God’s wasn’t “with us”: He was nearby, to be sure, but He was separated ritually and physically from the people. He had a covenant with the Jews, and He gave them the means to sort of “pay up” or “make up” the ways in which they broke the covenant, but here’s what He says about that:

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

Two little lines in the book of Hosea — a book in which God says that the right way to see the relationship between Israel (the chosen nation) and God is that God is a faithful husband and Israel is a wife who prefers the life of a prostitute to the life of fidelity. But Hosea has to go and buy his wife back out of prostitution to make himself like God in this object lesson prophecy.

The obvious application is that God is coming back for us when we don’t deserve it — you’ve all heard that one, I am sure. But look: when God is spelling it out for Israel in Hosea 6:6, God is saying, “You know: I don’t want you just to think about what I have done this for you, I want you to acknowledge that I have done this for you and act like I am real to you.”

I think that’s a little dazzling, frankly. God doesn’t want to just save us: God wants us to act like a wife bought out of prostitution.

We don’t have to be people who are in it for the money anymore — because the price for us has been paid forever. We don’t have to work off our debt. Now, that sounds like standard christianese, I am sure — and the best way to overcome that is to describe for you in detail what the life of a prostitute is like. However, homeschool moms are reading this, and they would probably find that a little much — and they might be right. I’ll sum it up in a sentence: imagine a life in which your own body is not safe from the demands and impulses of others who care nothing about you. If you were stuck in a life where you don’t even own your own body, or have a right to your own flesh, how would you act toward the person who paid the price for your body and set you free from that kind of slavery?

That’s the razor’s edge at Christmas: it’s the place where mental assent doesn’t cut it. We can’t just agree that these things are true for us in some religious metaphor, or maybe in some metaphysical transaction. We have to be in love with the one who has actually done this for us. We have to live as if God is with us. God doesn’t want us to go and offer a dove or a lamb or a bull in the temple: God wants us to love Him above all things because He deserves to be loved above all things. And He should get it right now because He is worthy of it right now — in the same way you love your own spouse right now personally, passionately, and somewhat impulsively.

This Christmas thing — it shouldn’t be about an idea of God: It should be about God. In person. Here with us.

When we prepare for Christmas, we ought to be loving God in a real way — because He is saving us in a real way, and He is here with us. Welcome Him into your family and life as if He was your beloved husband and deliverer from slavery.

Examine Yourselves

This short video clip is absolutely amazing. The intended audience is people who profess to be Christians.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith;
examine yourselves!
Or do you not recognize this about yourselves,
that Jesus Christ is in you--
unless indeed you fail the test?
- 2 Corinthians 13:5 -

Why Physical Punishment for Spiritual Offenses?

Last Monday, October 26th, John Piper wrote an amazingly helpful post on the Desiring God Blog on the relationship between our spiritual sin and its physical consequences. Now, it's extremely unlikely that many of you reading my blog aren't reading the Desiring God Blog, but on the off-chance that's true, I wanted to re-post it. Also, I just don't want to forget what Piper said, and I'm more likely to remember it if I post it on my own blog. ;o)

The name of the original post is "Why was Zedekiah Roasted in the Fire?" and can be read in its original context here. The full contents of the post are below. I pray it is a great benefit to you all, as it was to me.

The horrors of physical suffering correspond to the horrors of moral and spiritual outrage. Sometimes this means that people’s suffering is directly correlated with their immorality and belittling of God. This will be the case, for example, with the eternal suffering of hell. It will correspond in perfectly just measure with the outrage of an individual’s sin.

But often the correlation is indirect. Everyone suffers physically because of the outrage of Adam’s sin, and because of God’s subjecting all of creation to futility (Romans 8:20). But these sufferings do not all correspond to an individual’s particular sins. All physical suffering corresponds to moral and spiritual outrage, but not all suffering corresponds directly to individual sins.

What is stunning and essential to see is that physical horrors correspond to spiritual horrors. God knows that we do not feel horrible about the spiritual horror of our sin. We take it lightly. But we get very angry and very agitated and very indignant about the horrors of our physical suffering. So God correlates the two in order to make plain to us how horrible sin is. Belittling God feels like a light thing to us. Being burned feels huge.

So hell will be physical, not just spiritual, even though the greatest outrages of life are not physical. The greatest outrages of life are spiritual—the demeaning of God by unbelief and indifference and rebellion is the greatest outrage in the universe. It may produce the holocaust or it may produce self-exalting philanthropy. But the magnitude of the moral horror in both cases is mainly Godward. Belittling God’s infinite worth is the ultimate outrage.

Here is a picture of what I mean.

God says to the exiles in Babylon concerning the false prophets, Ahab and Zedekiah:

Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. (Jeremiah 29:22-23).

I am shocked by the term “roasted.” Why such a description? It actually happened, that’s why. Nebuchadnezzar roasted them. And why did it happen? Why such an outrageous physical horror and why such an outrageous physical word used to describe it?

Because speaking false things about God and committing adultery does not feel outrageous to us. But roasting someone in the fire does. So God correlates the two so we would learn what is really outrageous in the world. Demeaning God and breaking covenants.

The physical suffering of this age is God’s warning: This is how horrible and outrageous sin is. Flee it while there is time. Turn to Christ for forgiveness.

The physical suffering of eternity is God’s judgment: This is how horrible and outrageous sin was. Now there is no fleeing. It is too late.

Leviticus at a Glance

In the book of Leviticus, Yahweh reveals His character and mind to the sons of Israel in the form of His holy Law.

He reveals Himself to Israel to impress upon them the standard of His holiness to which, as His people, they are held (Lev 10:3; 11:44-45; 20:7, 25-26; 22:32).

He reveals Himself to Israel to impress upon them the severity, seriousness, and pervasiveness of their sin before a holy God through very particular and arduous means of atonement.

• Leviticus 1-7: The offerings for atonement (burnt, grain, peace, sin, and guilt offerings).
• Leviticus 8-10: The priests' role in the offerings and in the atonement.
• Leviticus 16: The laws for atonement in general and the holy Day of Atonement are instituted.
• Leviticus 17: Yahweh requires that whatever sacrifices for atonement that are made must be made at the tent of meeting and nowhere else.
• Leviticus 22: The animals that are sacrificed must be without defect.
  

And He reveals Himself to Israel to point them to a coming Great High Priest (Heb 2:17; 4:14; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1; 10:21) who would make a perfect and final atonement for them (Heb 7:25; 8:6; 9:23-24 10:12-14; John 19:30) something neither they nor their priests could ever do themselves (Heb 9:9-10; 10:1-4, 11).

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
- Hebrews 10:19-23 -