New Thoughts (2/16/03-2/19/03)
The gospel of grace, the clear declaration of God's abundant mercy towards man, the glorious news of the salvation He has wrought on our behalf, this is the reason for us to obey all the instructions that have been laid out in previous sections. The abundant love of God which caused Him to move on our behalf is more than enough reason for us to love Him, and our love for Him cannot help but move us to obey Him, to emulate Him, to seek to be like Him who has so loved us. Clearly, what God has done on our behalf was no reward for good behavior! We need but look honestly at the last twenty four hours of our own activities to see this to be true. No, the Gospel of Grace is not about reward for our being such good children, it's about God providing the power to know how to be such good children, and to become such good children!
Look at the order of events presented in these verses. God's grace appeared! What a marvelous statement that is! God's grace appeared! The unmerited favor of God, which not only forgives us our sins, but also brings thankfulness and joy to our being, has become clearly known! And what He has made known to man is a sufficient peace offering for all of mankind, an offering He has made to Himself on behalf of all mankind. That's the first step. What a marvelous step it is, but God, in His infinite goodness, doesn't stop there. He doesn't merely appear in His mercy and leave us to ponder what the significance of this great thing might be. No, God's grace instructs us. Notice the tenses here, God's grace has appeared, and is bringing salvation, and is instructing us. It's no one shot deal being presented here, as though only those present in the first days of the church received this instruction. It's ongoing. God's grace continues to work our salvation day to day, and continues to instruct us day to day. In this moment, in this present challenge, God's grace instructs us as to which way we should go, and what it is we should do.
It doesn't stop there, either! In giving Himself for our need, He not only obtained salvation for us, not only provided for our instruction, but He has empowered us to heed those instructions! Towards the end of this passage, Paul speaks of Christ having purified a people for Himself, a people now zealous to perform good deeds. What is that? He has provided, in that purification, the power to obey! So we see in this passage the proper understanding of the true order of Christian life. First comes grace, the unmerited gift of God's salvation. Then proceeds the process of sanctification, as He instructs us moment to moment in the ways of moderate, sane, sanctified, separated, holy living in the present age! It's IN THE PRESENT AGE! We don't have to wait for the finale to begin knowing this life God calls us to. Indeed, there's no excuse for us to be laboring under our burden of sin any longer, for He has already instructed us in the way we should go. He repeats those instructions as a constant litany in our ears. If we fail to heed, it is not because we lack instruction, it is only because we ignore instruction. But, look! He instructs and He empowers. He provides within us what it takes to comply with the instruction we receive! Philippians 2:13 makes it clear for us: It is God who is at work in you! [No other could suffice to the task!] It is God who is working in you that you may both will to obey, and work to obey, in all things, then, pursuing His good pleasure, in all ways submitted to His perfect will. His is the instruction, and His is the empowering, all that He might make for Himself a people, a people for His own possession, a people marked by His ownership; a people most eagerly desirous, a people vehemently pursuing, a people whose burning passion is to do those good deeds He has prepared beforehand for them to perform (Eph 2:10). What an awesome God! What a wonderful Savior!
Long ago, even from the beginning, God looked upon man and knew that He would have to do something to save them, that we were not capable of saving ourselves. We can see that promise continuing in the words of the prophet Ezekiel. I will deliver them, I will cleanse them, I will take them from the very heart of their sins, and they will no longer defile themselves by such vile acts. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God (Eze 37:23). Notice who is active in all of this; it's God who does and we who receive. That same message echoes in the Psalms, where we see it written that God will redeem Israel from all sin (Ps 130:8). It doesn't say that He'll give us a decent start and then we can work out the rest of it on our own, it says He will take us from the very midst of our sins, redeem us from the bondage we have known to those sins, and make us His own, pure, holy people!
At the proper time, at the best possible moment in all of human history, at the one point in time appointed in His immaculate planning, God gave Himself as the ransom for all (1Ti 2:6). Christ Jesus, having obeyed perfectly, having led a sinless life before heaven, gave what was necessary of His own accord, and in that singular action caused us to be released to His charge. It was the one offering that could and did make all the difference for the fate of man. He once made this perfect sacrifice for the purification of sins, and then took His proper place at the Father's right hand in heaven (Heb 1:3). Now, notice these two marvelous points made in Scripture: You could not buy your way in, you could not pay off your debt of sin such that entry to heaven was yours. No! Peter tells us that worldly riches never obtained the redemption that we needed, only the precious blood of Christ accomplished this thing (1Pe 1:18-19)! Works did not earn the way for us. This becomes clear. Now comes the flip side: The unblemished offering of Christ's blood is able to cleanse our conscience from dead works (Heb 9:14)! No longer do we labor under the false conception that we must somehow earn the love of God, that there was some possibility that we could earn that love. No! Now we serve the living God who loved us so wonderfully, we serve Him with a heart of loving devotion because He has so marvelously first loved us. We still have our works, for He prepared works for us to do, even as He prepared us to do those works. But the works are no longer dead works, they are no longer vain attempts to appease an angry master. Rather, they are the joyful response of thankful hearts, a rejoicing to offer some small return to Him who has given us so much!
Indeed, faith without works is a dead faith. How can one believe that God has done what God has done and not respond by pursuing those things He has prepared for His children to do? How could a lively faith not result in works appropriate to that faith? How can the seeds of righteousness planted in fertile souls not produce fruits of righteousness? It's not possible! If faith is alive in us, it must have its effect. If we have been planted, we must blossom and bear fruit. If we remain fruitless, it is high time we check the true condition of our souls. It's high time we seek out our Deliverer in earnest, for He is still able to deliver, there is still time, but no man knows for how long He will tarry before He returns to judge the living and the dead.
Now, I don't know about you, but as I have been studying this passage, even as I have been writing these last several paragraphs, I have felt a heavy conviction that I am not as I ought to be. While it is well with my soul, it is not at all well with my flesh. I asked back at the top how it was I could possibly continue in the sins that still beset me when I know the things God has accomplished. With the indwelling Holy Spirit instructing, how is it that I still manage to stumble and fall, it seems, almost hourly? Oh, but I praise my God that He has not left me or you to think that we are the only ones who have felt this way! Paul expressed the same agony of soul in his letter to Rome, and what heated debates that passage has raised up among believers ever since! As though they had never felt these same conflicts! As though the continued resistance of our flesh to the process of sanctification somehow meant that true sanctification was not a present activity of the Spirit! No! Every believer that has ever been, and every believer that ever will be on the face of this earth has had to pass through this struggle, has had to live in this struggle every moment of his or her earthly existence. Jesus Himself, in His fleshly life here, knew the struggle. The difference is that He knew total and absolute victory in every moment of that struggle. This was a thing that only He who was God incarnate could do, only He could come to the end of His earthly days having remained pure and undefiled. Only He could qualify as the sacrifice that would be holy and acceptable to God for the remission of our guilt.
Listen up! If it were possible, even a little possible, that even one of us could do as Jesus did, could walk in perfect obedience all our days, there would have been no incarnation, there would be no reason for the Son of God to have taken our place! The whole point of the entire Gospel message is that it wasn't possible! We couldn't do it, and in ourselves, we still can't. And yet… I repeat myself: He instructs us moment to moment in the ways of moderate, sane, sanctified, separated, holy living in the present age! It's IN THE PRESENT AGE! We don't have to wait for the finale to begin knowing this life God calls us to. Indeed, there's no excuse for us to be laboring under our burden of sin any longer.
What an agony this brings! We know we can't do it. We know from our own experience that we are still entirely too subject to failure. We know from every example of Scripture that even the greatest heroes of God have remained entirely too subject to failure. And yet, in this present age, as we continue this walk, we have been given every possible bit of instruction, we have been freed from our bonds of sinful slavery, we have been empowered to walk in true freedom as we serve God instead of sin. There's no excuse! Oh, but there never was! Never has there been an excuse that would suffice to alleviate our guilt. But God…
Oh, Holy Father! Even knowing all this, even knowing that Your forgiveness is my inheritance, it is an agony to me that my walk is so uncertain, that my steps falter so often. To know, My Lord, that You have provided for a sanctified life in me right here and right now, and yet to find myself incapable of laying hold of it and hanging on! God, how can this be? You have taught me, You have empowered me to obey. You, my God, are powerful above every power that was or is. Your word is not such as to go forth to no avail. You have spoken my sanctification. Why then does sin remain? Why this war raging between my spirit and my flesh? Oh God, You know. You have walked the paths of this earth with Your own feet, You have seen all its distractions with Your own eyes, You have heard all its deceptions with Your ears. You have known all the many disguises that death puts on to entice its victims. You have whispered warnings, You have shouted warnings, and yet it so often seems I cannot stop myself. How much more could I possibly identify with Paul's agonized cry? Oh! Wretched man that I am, wholly unworthy to be the son You have declared me to be! But I ask not Who will set me free, for that answer is clear as the noonday sun. Oh, My Lord Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed Son of God and Son of Man, how could I ever be thankful enough to express my gratitude for the things You have done for me? How can I ever be thankful enough for the knowledge that You, my Master, are the answer to that agony of spirit? No, I ask not who, but when, my God? How long? How long must I know that freedom is mine, and yet remain bound by my own actions? How long must I continue to stumble in the way, knowing the right thing and yet doing the wrong? Come, Lord. Work Your purifying work in me. Make of me the child You have called me to become. Make of me the man You want me to be. Purify me, my Lord, that I may indeed be Your own possession, that I may indeed be fired with a passion to do Your will in all things, to do those things You have for me to do.
Here is perhaps the most exciting thought of this passage, perhaps the most exciting thought of this life: The chabad will return to the sight of godly men! How often do we look back on the record of the Bible; on Moses and the burning bush, Israel and the pillar of fire, the angels and the shepherds outside Jerusalem, and wonder at what it must have been like? How about the possibility of having been present with Jesus during His transfiguration on the mountain, or Moses on the mountaintop watching the glory of God pass by? These are awesome privileges given to very few to see. And yet, we are in possession of a wonderful hope: the hope of sharing that very privilege, for we know that His glory will return to be seen by godly men! We will see Him as He is! We will see His glory in more fullness than any of these heroes of Scripture ever saw. He has been working His wonderful, life-changing work in us to prepare us for this very thing, so that we can come into the full presence of His glory and, having died to the flesh already, not die from the exposure. There is a blessed hope, indeed, to accompany our blessed assurance! As we wait for Him, we can and should declare His glory to the world around us.
Psalm 29 tells us to ascribe glory to the Lord. What does this mean? It means that we declare Him to be the cause, the source of glory, the author of glory. As we say God is love, we must also declare that God is glory. How do we declare this great truth? Thayer's dictionary has given us a glimpse of the answer. There, we are told that we ascribe glory to God by declaring our gratitude, trusting His promises, celebrating His praises, and giving Him the honor He is due. How do these things declare His glory? How do they tell the world around us that He is glory?
When we declare our gratitude to God, if we are earnest in the gratitude we give, surely our thankfulness must encompass all we have and all we are. A true heart of gratitude will understand God as the source of every good thing. A true heart of gratitude will recognize God's hand even in the 'bad' things, and, knowing that He works in all things for the good of those who love Him, will be no less thankful nonetheless. A true heart of gratitude cannot help but thank God for every moment of every day. This is the answer to pride! Pride seeks to put self as the source of what is glorious. Thankfulness acknowledges that any good in us is only by His giving. All that is glorious finds its source in Him, because He is the source of glory, He is glory!
When we trust in His promises, how does this declare His glory, how does this show Him to be the author of glory? That He is faithful and true is certainly a part of the glory that is God. All of His attributes must remain, and must remain in perfection, else God is not. But, then, look at the content of those promises! We already mentioned one: that He works all for our good. Consider, also, the many promises of blessing that have come along the covenant trail. Consider the promise of salvation, of an eternity in the very presence of His essence! His promises are glorious in themselves, they reflect His glory in what they hold out to fallen man. For us to trust in His promises, for us to declare His promises true and certain, is for us to declare that His glory is also true and certain. He has promised us glory. Only He who is glory can promise that with certainty!
When we praise Him, when we celebrate His praises, what are we doing? It's more than singing and shouting. It's more than jumping and dancing. It's a rejoicing in all that He is, all that He has done, all that He has promised. True praise is a recognition of those very attributes of God which make Him who He is. Glory is one of those attributes. It is part and parcel of the essence of God. Clearly, then, when we are celebrating the wonders of His essence, of His character, we cannot help but declare His glory!
Finally, we are told that in giving Him His due honor, we declare His glory. Indeed. Pride in us requires recognition, demands recognition. As I mentioned earlier, pride is a seeking to be seen as the source of glory. The recognition that pride demands is a seeking to be acknowledged as that source. When we give God the honor He is due, it will include any form of recognition that comes our way. Again, we are those who know that all that is good in us has come to us from the Father of Lights, the Ancient of Days. Such praises as come our way we will cheerfully and readily deflect towards the true source of those good things. As we point everything towards God, we declare that He is the source, He is the reason, all that is glorious and good is to be found in Him and Him alone.
Truly, inasmuch as God has been so much at work to prepare us for that day, He has shown a superlative interest in us! Truly, as we have been selected by God for this privilege, we are a people beyond the usual! Strong's dictionary tells us that this word which we have translated as 'His own possession' comes from a present participle, an indication of continuous and repeated action or state. It comes from a word meaning through, all over, and a word meaning existence. Think about this! He paid the ransom for us, bringing us to Himself, to deliver us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people in a continuous state of existence, a people His existence permeates! You have the Holy Spirit in you! You are the living temple of the one, almighty, eternal God! He is in constant residence within your soul. He permeates your existence with His existence. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. In us, He has in some measure placed His being! Oh, we are a peculiar people indeed! Truly, He has shown in incredible degree of interest in us!
Lord, I am overawed this morning to consider these things! You, who are the very source and author of glory have chosen to dwell in these fallen husks of flesh. You have chosen to impart of Your essence into the lives of men, so that we can be freed from all our fallen and sinful ways. We can be free! You have made the way! How shall I not shout out my gratitude?! How shall I not participate joyfully in full agreement with all You are doing!?! What an awesome God! You will not share Your glory with another, and yet You have, in Your glory, promised glory to us. You have indwelt us, imparted to us in some measure, in some fashion, a portion of who and what You are! I am humbled, Lord, to consider the honor You have done to such a one as I. Who am I, Lord, that You should do such things for me? Who am I, Lord, that You should choose to rescue me from my sins? Who am I, that You should look upon me with compassion, that You should turn Your anger from me and bless me instead? God! I'm overawed! There has been such a building joy in my spirit these last few mornings, as You have unfolded this passage to me! I fear I could continue contemplating this simple message for weeks, months, and not fully savor the whole of it!
Oh, God, may I find it within me to ascribe to You the glory that You are today. May I be found seeking nothing to assuage my pride, but in all things, remaining Your humble servant. I thank You for all You have shown me in this passage. I thank You that You have empowered me to accomplish so many things at work. I thank You, Lord, that You have provided me with a job, a hope, and a future. So much You have given, my Lord. May I be found giving You something in return. Somehow, my God, I would express my thankfulness for all You do, though I can never express it to my satisfaction. May my words and my ways today be pleasing to You. In this, if nothing else, I will seek to bless You.
