Steadfast Elijah

"Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing" (1 Kings 18:21).

The problem in Elijah’s day was religious syncretism. Syncretism means a mixture of principles, occurring when there are two religions existing in the same society. At first, these two religions will be in conflict, but then there will be those who try to work out a compromise position between the two.

Christians are naturally peace-loving, but the Christian cannot compromise his faith without betraying God. Thus, the Christian must stand against all forms of religious syncretism. This is what we see in the life of Elijah. The people of his day mixed true religion with Canaanite idolatry. They wanted to “worship the Lord but serve the Baals.”

Elijah was termed a “troublemaker” who refused to go along with this syncretism. He demanded that the people worship the Lord alone. “How long will you waver between these two views?” he asked. “Make up your minds.” I think much of the church today is like this. Too many Christians don’t know whether they want to get serious about the Lord or live comfortably in the world.

Elijah set up a confrontation at Mount Carmel. The priests of Baal built an altar to Baal, and Elijah built one to the Lord. There were 450 prophets of Baal, but Elijah was all alone. The prophets of Baal danced around their altar all day long and cried for Baal to send fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice. Yet, there was no answer. Then Elijah came forward, and quietly prayed once for God to send fire and consume His sacrifice on His altar, and the fire fell immediately. The people responded, “The LORD, He is God!” (1 Kings 18:39). Sadly, however, it was not very long before they forgot Him again.

Elijah is a man we can live by. He was not confused, nor was he paralyzed. He steadfastly resisted wavering in the face of conflict because of his confidence in God.

What area of life most consistently challenges you to compromise with society? Is it entertainment, materialism, self-centeredness, or some other issue? Consider how Elijah might react to such issues today. List two ways your reactions must conform to the biblical model.

David, A Renaissance Man

"Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one” (1 Samuel 16:12).

In our day the demands of our society tend to squeeze us into such narrow areas of specialization that we become virtually one-dimensional people. Actually, each of us has many talents, but few of us get to develop many of them. The individual we are considering today was anything but a one-dimensional person. He had many talents, and we call this kind of person a “renaissance man.”

Long before he had become famous in Israel as her king, he had taken on Goliath, the archenemy of Israel, and utterly defeated him. At the time he did this great deed he was but a youth, shepherding a flock outside Jerusalem.

For several years at the start of his career this man was a bandit chief, a guerilla mercenary leader. He led a band of several hundred outlaws who were fugitives from the government. They fought for whoever would hire them. As a result of these and later military exploits he became known as the greatest military strategist in all of Israel’s history. He increased Israel’s boundaries to the greatest extent it ever embraced.

This same man, however, was noted as the most gifted musician in Israel’s history, a man who actually invented musical instruments. Additionally, he became the poet laureate of Israel, and is universally regarded as the finest poet in Israel’s history.

He unified the nation of Israel, against great opposition. He also came to be distinguished internationally as a lawyer and statesman.

Regretable, not every aspect of his life was commendable. He was a compulsive man whose success and desires lead him to commit murder and adultery. He was a failure with his sons and indecisive in his family responsibilities.

But in spite of this, the Scripture has this to say about David: He was a man after God’s own heart. It is the greatest thing that can be said about anybody.

David, whose life exhibits tremendous extremes in both righteousness and evil, is a study in contrasts. Even in his repentance, his sorrow showed he was a man after God’s own heart. Strive to emulate David in this way.

Deborah the Judge

"Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time" (Judges 4:4).

During the time of the Judges, each tribe in Israel had its own government and its own judge. In a time of emergency, however, God would select a national judge to lead in the crisis, generally to drive out an invader after the people had repented of their sins. Deborah was one of the most remarkable of these.

It is in the Song of Deborah, Judges 5, that we find the most interesting information about this period. After a few introductory verses, Deborah states in verse 8: “When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel.” Who had chosen new gods? Israel. Israel had forsaken the Lord and begun to worship false gods, so the Lord brought in enemies against them to humble them. So intimidated were the Israelites that they hid their weapons. None of them would lift a finger to resist the terrorism and oppression of the invaders.

This was true until Deborah arose. She functioned as a “mother” for Israel (v. 7). She built up her children and led them against the enemy. God miraculously delivered Israel by means of a rainstorm, and the enemy commander fled to the tent of Jael, whose husband was in league with him. Jael welcomed the commander, gave him milk to drink, and put him to sleep. Then she took a tent peg and drove it through his temple into the ground. Deborah had prophesied that it would be a woman who would destroy the enemy, and so it came to pass.

The story of Deborah shows us that even when the leading people of the land fail to take action for God, the humble people can still do so, and God will bless their efforts.

Victory is not determined by might or numbers. Rather, it is dependent upon God’s providence as He uses obedient believers. God can raise up unexpected leaders among those least likely to exercise leadership skills. Read today of God using ordinary people like Ruth and Naomi to accomplish extraordinary results.

What's the Most Important Thing We Can Learn from Billy Graham's Death?

What’s the most important thing we can learn from Billy Graham’s passing? “Billy Graham tackled the topic of death often and with surprising frankness”. This is how the Washington Post began one of the more unusual reflections on his passing. Quite an unusual theme for a secular newspaper. “When Graham preached, he said that death was, of course, inevitable”. How do we prepare for the inevitable? First, he said, “accept the fact that you will die.” Second, “make arrangements.” Third, “make provision for those you are leaving behind”. And finally, “make an appointment with God.” Whatever else might be said about Billy Graham nothing was more important than how he approached this. He faced this reality with all seriousness. To do so depends on treating life itself with all seriousness too. “Each of us is given the exact same amount of seconds, minutes and hours per day as anyone else. The difference is how we redeem [them]”.

Graham got this from the Westminster Shorter Catechism that he memorized perfectly as a boy. It begins “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever”. “My mother did just that”, he wrote. While Graham may not have held onto the whole of the Catechism, he certainly held onto this amongst other points. We can expand much further on these thoughts in relation to preparing for the inevitable. James Durham has some vital considerations in relation to what it means to prepare for eternity.

Three Essentials

(a) Flee to Christ.

Flee to Christ by faith and make peace with God through Him;

(b) Make your Calling and Election Sure

We must endeavor to make our calling and election sure by good works. Although our justification before God does not depend on this, much of our comfort and confidence does depend on it.  It is no doubt our duty to labor to make it sure.

(c) Live in Holiness

There must be a holy walk. we may have a good conscience at Christ’s appearing through this. There can never be boldness and confidence where there is a stinging conscience within and accusations of sinning against the light.

1. Live with Faith in Eternal Realities

Seek to establish yourselves in believing the general truths that concern your death. Be established and confirmed in faith concerning death, judgment and eternity – for your eternal good or ill. Do not have a mere general conviction that these things are true. Apply them specifically to yourself by meditation. You will die and after death, you will come to the Judgement and be eternally happy or miserable.

One of the great evils that encourage Atheism is people living as if they were never to die. Solid belief about death, judgment and eternity is thus a foundation for living well. Those who do not lay this foundation can never live well. They must consider how conscience will accuse them at death and how they can deal with this now. They need to see what trials and temptations they will have then and how to guard against them.

Endeavour to draw death and judgment near to you,, meditate closely upon them. Suppose death were approaching you this very night. Consider whether you would be ready to appear before God’s tribunal to be judged. Thinking more about this would help us, through God’s blessing, to put sin to death and have little to do when death comes.

But the truth is, most never think about death seriously. They do not desire any other life than the present, they shun thoughts of death. How few hours are taken to think of it? Suppose you were to come before a human court with a matter that greatly concerned you in the world. Would you not think about it again and again beforehand? Yet even the most momentous of such matters are but trifles compared to this great matter of how you will die and appear before the great God and His Judgement seat.

2. Live in Gospel Duties

There are particular du∣ties that have a special influence on preparing for death:

(a) Self-examination

Do you think it possible to die with comfort if you are not acquainted with the state of your spiritual affairs? If you do not endeavor to have your accounts with God reckoned up? Neglect of this is a great plague. That which makes death so terrible to many is having lived thirty, forty, fifty, sixty years without having ever endeavored to reckon their accounts with God, let alone have them cleared.

(b) Repentance

Repentance is a rare thing even among Christians in these days. It is a special duty related to dying in Christ. When we see ourselves wrong in anything (many may be easily found in self-examination) we must not leave it there. We must be earnest with God until are conscious of forgiveness, this cannot be had until repentance is exercised. Repentance and faith always go together.

Repentance makes the heart tender and removes the accusations that make death terrifying. It is also a great enemy to complacency, presumption, and pride. It keeps the heart melting and pouring itself out before God. The lack of repentance in our day is obvious in the coldness of our worship and in the worldliness of our walk. Those who desire to die in the Lord must exercise this grace and duty. There is nothing more requisite than a penitent heart when we are to meet with Christ at death.

(c) Putting Sin to Death.

This is a painful but profitable duty. Be crucified to the world, die to your lusts and carnal delights. Pull up the roots of sin and kill its activities. Weed it out of the heart. Put to death envy, anger, pride,  inordinate desires etc.  Seek to have your affections heavenly which prepares us for dying in the Lord.

(d) Moderation

“Let your moderation be known to all men” (Philippians 4:5). Many are so glued to the things of this world and delights and pleasures which are lawful in themselves, that they are entangled and fettered with them and made unfit for dying. They do not use them in moderation. Inordinate love for children, friends, lands, houses, farms and the married wife unfits them for dying. We must gird up the loins of our mind and be sober (1 Peter 1:13). Those who do not use lawful pleasures in moderation are like those with long garments which trip them up and impede them in walking and work. When our affections hang loose and drag on the earth and the things that are in it and the mind wanders after these things, the man cannot be busy with his main work. He cannot make progress in his journey to heaven.

Moderation fits a man for his work and makes the way easy. It makes him content with his house and whatever is his condition and lot in the world. It does not allow his affections to be entangled with them, it makes him use this world as not abusing it (1 Corinthians 7). Our blessed Lord Jesus powerfully dissuades us from giving ourselves too much to the things of this life (Luke 21:34). This makes us as indisposed for death and judgment as overeating or drunkenness make us indisposed in general.

3. Live with Thoughts of Death

Those who desire to die in the Lord should carry the thoughts of death along with them. They should be as if every day and moment were their last. They should be as if they were just now to appear before God and as if they were indifferent (in a holy way) what hour or moment He would call them.  God has not let us know the precise time of our life here. Some have observed that in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 that there is a time for everything, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to laugh and a time to weep but there is none for living. No one can say I must or I shall live until tomorrow. Do now what you would be found doing when death comes.

Some may ask if it is possible always to have these things in mind. But it is like doing everything to the glory of God, it is not to be understood as if we could actually keep it in mind in everything we do. Our minds are only finite and are therefore unable to keep many things in mind or different things at the same time.

4. Live with Adversity

Those who desire to die in the Lord should not seek after a pampered life but learn to submit to difficulties and troubles. We should neither go out of our way to seek such things nor to avoid them. Solomon says that it is better to be in the house of mourning than in the house of feasting (Ecclesiastes 7:2). This is because few living in prosperity are content and disposed to die and adversity works best to loosen our grips from the world. It is hard to be glutted with the things of the world and live in a prosperous and plentiful condition and not be drawn away from spiritual things.

5. Live but Die Daily

Paul could say “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).  This is not just to do with his daily dangers but his seeking to anticipate death, in dying while he was living and before death came. This involves:

(a) a conviction that death is certain

(b) considering the continual potential for dying;

(c) preparing for and being in continual readiness to die; and

(d) anticipating what it will be like to die before death comes.

We must consider how we will answer death’s call. Every day we should be doing what we would want to be found doing when death comes. We should endeavor to have all things in order. When praying in the morning we should be ready as if we were never again to go out into the world. When we lie down at night it should be as if we might not rise again in the morning. When we speak or act we should speak and act like those who do not have a long time to live.

6. Live According to Conscience Echoing Scripture

Put into practice what your own conscience according to the Scriptures show is necessary for making and keeping your peace with God. Ordinarily, this is one of the main accusations of conscience that meets people at death, that they have not put into many things they were convinced of. They have evaded, delayed and put off opportunities for duties. They have not reformed the faults they were convinced of.

Do whatever your hand finds to do with all your might (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Be serious and diligent in doing without delay what you know to be right.  Do not neglect this as a thing of little concern. Death is the door to heaven and death is at the door. Living well is the way to dying well. If you would live and die in the Lord, give weight to these directions and practice them in the strength of God’s own grace.

Joshua the Leader

“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them” (Joshua 1:6).

After Moses’ death, Joshua ascended to be supreme judge and military commander in Israel. The Lord gave him a series of commands in Joshua 1:6–9. First God said, “Be strong and courageous” (v. 6). Next God said, “Be strong and very courageous” (v. 7). Finally God said, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified” (v. 9).

It takes tremendous strength to lead men, especially in God’s work. How would Joshua find this strength? In the midst of these commands, God gave him one other order: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (v. 8). This is the secret of inner strength.

So Joshua told the people to get ready for the conquest of Canaan. How did they respond? They said that they would do whatever he commanded, and told him: “Only be strong and courageous!”

My favorite story about Joshua begins in Joshua 5:13. Joshua was out taking a look at Jericho, and he encountered an armed man he did not recognize. This was a very impressive soldier, and Joshua asked him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” The man replied, “Neither.”

What an answer! But the man went on to say, “Rather, as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” This “man” was the Angel of the Lord, the Captain of the Lord’s host. “No Joshua, it’s not a matter of whether I’m for you or for your adversaries. The question is: Who are you for? Because I’m the new Commander in Chief.”

How did Joshua respond? “Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, ‘What message does my Lord have for this servant?’ ” What does it take to be strong and courageous? It takes meditation on God’s Word, and total submission to God Himself in worship.

Do you need strength to do your job? Do you find your job difficult, frightening, disagreeable, or depressing? Consider for a few minutes the two things we see about Joshua here. Meditation and worship were the strengths behind his strength. Make them your secrets as well.

Moses the Mediator

"The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was" (Exodus 20:21).

Romans 16 contains a list of heroic people in the Roman church, people who were standing for Christ in a hostile world. For the next couple of weeks let us consider some of the great heroes of the Bible, so that we can be encouraged by their lives.

A mediator is someone who stands between two parties who are at odds with one another. Christ is the final Mediator, who stands between us and the Father to reconcile us. Moses was the mediator of the old covenant. Moses stood before God and received the law, and then passed it on to the people. Similarly, Moses represented the people before God, offering their sacrifices for them. He then instituted the priesthood of Aaron to continue that mediatorial work.

When we look at Moses’ life we can see that from his earliest years God prepared him to be a mediator. He was reared in Pharaoh’s household as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. In this way, he became prepared to be a mediator between the Egyptians and the Israelites, even though his mediatorial labors did not succeed and the Egyptians did not repent. Another aspect of being a mediator is seen when Moses slew the Egyptian who was torturing a Hebrew slave. Moses sided with the underdog, and slew the Egyptian taskmaster. A couple of months later, when he had fled to Midian, Moses again stood up for the underdog when he defended Jethro’s daughters against the intruders at the well (Exodus 2:11–18). Another aspect of Moses’ character was his meekness. It requires great strength to be meek, because one has to be strong enough to temper one’s own strength with humility. Moses was strong enough to be a mediator, but meek enough to submit to God’s requirements without rebelling.

Moses is an example of God’s redemptive activity in the events of our lives. In everything Moses experienced, nothing was wasted in God’s plan. It is the same with us today. Think of an event the meaning of which you do not understand. Thank God that He will use everything you experience for your growth and sanctification.

Preserving Unity in Truth

"I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them" (Romans 16:17).

Paul wrote 15 verses of greetings to various members of the church at Rome, people he has known in the past. This catalog of people is not only an interesting picture of life in the early church, it also serves to illustrate the unity of believers. Paul climaxes the list by calling on them to express their unity by greeting each other “with a holy kiss,” and states that “all the churches of Christ send greetings” (v. 16).

After this marvelous expression of spiritual unity in the body of Christ, he immediately turns to the negative side of the matter and urges them to put out of the assembly those who reject the apostolic doctrine and thereby destroy unity in the truth.

Paul does not mean that every time someone protests an action of the church or disagrees with a point of teaching, he is to be silenced with the accusation that he is being divisive. But Paul does mean that those who cause divisions are those who are attacking the fundamentals of the faith and that such people must be dealt with.

He goes on to describe such divisive people. They “are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.” In other words, they are ambitious. Moreover, “by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the minds of naive people” (v. 18). So, for the protection of the weaker brethren and of new believers, such people must be dealt with.

Paul reminds them that “everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you.” At the same time he wants them to realize that trouble does come in the church and that they have to deal properly with it: “but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil” (v. 19). The leaders of the church are shepherds, and they must protect the sheep from wolves.

Many believers accept vows to preserve the peace and purity of the church. Unity and peace are often difficult to maintain since people are instinctively critical. Decide beforehand that when strife or error occurs in your church that your concern will be the unity and preservation of the church tempered also by the need for purity and truth.

God's Providences

"But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain" (Romans 15:23–24).

In the second part of Romans 15, Paul begins to express his desire to visit the church in Rome. He says in verse 23 that for many years he has wanted to visit them, but that he has been prevented from doing so because of all the work God has given him to do elsewhere. Now that this work was finished, however, he hoped to be able to go.

It is interesting to reflect on Paul’s experience because it is a lot like our own and can be a comfort to us. For years Paul had had a perfectly proper and spiritual desire to visit the church in Rome. Yet, though God had given him this hope, God frustrated it repeatedly. Has this kind of thing ever happened to you? In fact, Paul did finally get to Rome, but when he got there, it was in chains.

He states that he intends to visit them on his way to Spain, but he cannot come right away. The reason is he is being compelled to go in the opposite direction: to Jerusalem. Great poverty had come upon the saints there as a result of persecution. The saints in Macedonia and Achaia, however, were sending relief funds to them, and Paul was to be the messenger. The trip to Spain would have to be delayed.

“So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way” (v. 28). That was Paul’s plan. That was the burden God had put on his heart. But there is no evidence in history that Paul ever got to Spain. We don’t know for sure that he didn’t, but we have no evidence that he did, either. We see here not only that God delayed some of the dreams He gave Paul, but also that God may never have granted some of the ambitions He put in the apostle’s mind. If Paul did not get to Spain, somebody else did, and that somebody caught the vision from Paul.

What value do you see in the lesson that God sometimes gives us legitimate desires but then fills our lives with other tasks so that we cannot pursue them? In your further study today, read of King David’s similar experience. Consider how you already have, or would hope to respond if this happened to you.

Benefits of Bible Study

"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

When Paul speaks of “everything that was written in the past” he is referring to the Old Testament. All of it, he says, was written to teach us.

Sometimes we struggle over whether a deep study of the Scriptures is really important. Every believer knows that he should study the Bible, but often we hear people say, “I’m not interested in studying all this doctrine. I want to study practical things. I want news I can use. I don’t want a bunch of ‘head knowledge.’ ”

The good news is that everything in the Bible was written to teach us practical wisdom. When we are studying the Bible, we may not get quick solutions to immediate problems, but in fact, we are acquiring deep wisdom that deals with abiding realities and that will carry us through crises. Paul states that this teaching is “so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scripture we might have hope.” Do you ever feel hopeless? Do you ever feel your courage eroding? Do you feel cast down and discouraged? When we are discouraged we tend to become impatient and to be threatened and tempted by despair. On the other hand, hope gives us patience and encouragement. These go together. Paul says that it is the prayerful study of Scripture that can restore our hearts.

What an amazing thing it is to be instructed by God Himself! Look at the fees we are willing to pay at universities and at seminars in order to get information we think we need—and yet God Himself offers to be our Instructor free of charge! When it is God who is willing to teach us, immediately our hopes are encouraged and we are given new patience and joy, in spite of the defeats and difficulties we encounter in our daily lives.

God’s Word is invested with a sense of timelessness. Just as God spoke to and encouraged Paul in his study, so He will with us today. In your reading, begin to compile or highlight those passages which you have found most heartening.

Astonishing Evidence for God All Around Us

Even Richard Dawkins admits that when we consider the intricate complexity of the natural world around us it reveals design. The difference, of course, is that he says that our eyes are deceiving us. It is only the appearance or illusion of design. In other words, he extols a triumph of blind faith over common sense. We see design all around us in terms of technology and media and we never dream of questioning if there was a designer. Faith and God’s Word, however, confirm what our senses and common sense tell us, there is design in nature and there must be a Designer, which is God.

Nature reveals an astonishing intricacy in terms of design. Wherever we look, near or far, we see design –  the galaxies, the earth’s ecosystem, the living cell, bacteria, DNA, bird flight and the human body. The inescapable conclusion is that there is a Designer. Many organisms have a beauty and sophistication far beyond what is needed to make them merely fittest to survive.

Hugh Binning (1627–1653) taught philosophy at the University of Glasgow and later a minister in the same city. A prolific author, he had a formidable intellect and knowledge of theology and philosophy. Yet he was able to explain things in a clear and concise way. Here he dwells on the way that the glory of God revealed in His Creation should fill us with wonder.

The Evidence for a Designer

God is that self-being who gave all things a being, who made the heavens and the earth. This is the most glorious manifestation of an invisible and eternal Being. The things that are made show Him forth. Suppose a man was traveling into a far country and wandered into a wilderness where he could see no inhabitants but only houses, villages and built up cities. He would immediately conclude that some workmen had done this; this had not been done casually but by the skill of some rational creatures.

How much more may we conclude the same when we look at the fabric of this world. We see how the heavens are stretched out for a tent to cover those that dwell on the earth. The earth is settled and established as a firm foundation for men and living creatures to live on. All things have been done in wisdom. We cannot but immediately imagine that there must be some skillful and wise designer and mighty creator of these things.

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed” (Hebrews 11:3). Indeed only faith in the word of God gives a true and distinct understanding of it. There have been innumerable wanderings and mistakes of the wise of the world about this matter because they lack this lamp and light of the word of God, which alone gives a true and perfect account of it. They have fallen into many strange imaginations. There is so much of the glory of God engraved on the creatures without and so much reason imprinted on the souls of men within that it is certain no-one could seriously and soberly consider the visible world without being constrained to conceive of an invisible God. This would be so were it not for the judgment of a darkened understanding in those who do not glorify Him in as far as they know Him.

Would everyone not think within themselves that all these things, which are so excellent, cannot come by chance or make themselves? They clearly owe their being to something besides themselves. It is certain that that to which they owe their being cannot itself originate from any other thing otherwise it would be endless. There must, therefore, be some Supreme Being, derived from nothing else and from which all things have come.

The Wise Goodness of the Designer

God made all these things “very good” (Genesis 1:31) to declare His goodness and wisdom. Creation may be called a large book extended and spread out before the eyes of all men, to be seen and read of all. It is certain that if these things in their order and harmony, being and qualities were considered in relation to God’s majesty, they would teach and instruct both the fool and the wise man in the knowledge of God. How many engravings He has made on creation to reflect to any seeing eye the very image of God!

Consider the vast and huge dimensions of the heavens and the earth, yet they are merely one throne to His majesty and earth (in which many palaces are constructed by men) His footstool. Consider the sheer multitude of creatures, the variety of birds in the sky and the multiplicity of animals on the earth. They are hosts as Moses speaks (Genesis 2:1). Yet none of all these are useless, all of them have some special purposes that they serve. There is no discord or disorder, nothing superfluous or lacking in this whole kingdom. All declare the wisdom of Him who “made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Everything is most fit for the use for which it was created so that the whole earth is full of His goodness. He makes every creature good one for another to supply one another’s needs. The elements and the things made from them have so many different natures and compositions yet all these opposites are so moderated by supreme skill that together they make up one excellent and sweet harmony or beautiful proportion in the world. O how wise must He be who alone contrived it all! We can do nothing unless we have some design or pattern before us. But when God stretched out the heaven and laid the foundation of the earth was instructed or counseled Him. Certainly, none of all these things would have entered into the heart of man to consider or contrive (Isaiah 40:12-13).

There are wonders which faith can contemplate in the smallest and most inconsiderable of the creatures. O the ingenuity and skill of the finger of God in the composition of flies, bees, flowers etc. People ordinarily admire extraordinary things more, but the truth is that the whole course of nature is one continued wonder.

Wonder at the Designer

You say that God made heaven and earth but how often do you think on that God? How often do you think on Him with admiration? Do you ever wonder at the glory of God when you gaze on His works? This volume is always observable before your eyes — everything showing and declaring this glorious Creator. Yet who takes any more notice of Him in this than if He were not at all? Such is the general dullness that many never ponder and digest these things in their heart. They should do this until their soul receives the stamp of the glory and greatness of the invisible God which shines most brightly in those things that are visible. By this they ought to be in some measure transformed in their minds and conformed to these glorious manifestations of God engraved in large letters in everything that can be seen.

Faith in the Designer

The apostle says “through faith we understand that the worlds were framed”. This is the same faith spoken of in the end of Hebrews 10 by which the “just shall live”. To believe with the heart in God, the Creator and Father Almighty is an aspect of saving faith. Faith should view God’s almighty power, and sufficient goodness and infinite wisdom, shining in the fabric of the world with delight and admiration at such a glorious fountain-being. Faith should climb up to view His majesty by considering it in His creation. The saints in the Old Testament did this to a greater extent than we do. They had more excellent and becoming thoughts of God than we. It should make Christians ashamed that heathens who had no other book opened to them but that of nature, read it more diligently than we do. The saints of old who did not have such a clear testimony of God as we now have, learned more from the book of Creation than we do both out of it and the Scriptures.

We look on all things with such a careless eye and do not observe what may be found of God in them. Truly, I think there are many Christians and ministers of the gospel, who do not ascend into those high and ravishing thoughts of God in His being and works as would be fitting even mere scientists. How little can they speak of His majesty or think as befits His transcendent glory! There is very little in sermons that contains wonder or unique thoughts of a Deity but in all these we are as careless as if He were an idol.

A Matter of Conscience

"The requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them" (Romans 2:15).

What is the biblical view of conscience? The New Testament uses the word 31 times, and there are two general ideas for which conscience is used. First, when we sin the conscience is troubled. It is the tool the Holy Spirit uses to bring us to conviction, to drive us to repentance.

Second, the conscience simply reinforces what we think is right and wrong. The inner voice of conscience can tell us what is right, and for this reason we can tend to lean on it for guidance. But the conscience is not the final authority for human conduct because the conscience is capable of change. Yet God’s principles do not change.

There are several kinds of changes that our consciences can undergo. It is possible for us to grow accustomed to sin and for our consciences to become warped so that we no longer approve what is good. We can come to think something is right when in fact it is horribly wrong. An example of that today is the number of people who think abortion is right and even good, when in fact it is murder.

Another distortion of the conscience occurs when it becomes sensitized in a distorted way through wrong information. In Christianity there are subcultures in which the test of sanctification consists of such matters as whether one wears lipstick. If a young woman from such a group wears lipstick, she will be afflicted with guilt.

What about such a situation? It is always a sin to act against conscience, because that which is not of faith is sin. The young woman who wears lipstick, thinking it is wrong, has sinned by doing what she thinks God does not want her to do. So, in counseling her, we first of all have to deal with her sin. It is not a sin, however, to re-educate one’s conscience to the standards of the Word of God. This is the proper way to change the conscience, and we do it by study of the Bible and prayer.

When was the last time you were concerned that your conscience was either active enough or had been dulled by cultural influences? Today ask God to hone your conscience to a razor’s edge through Bible study and Christian education. Determine to make it a more willing tool of the Holy Spirit in producing personal righteousness.

The Creation Ordinances

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).

Genesis 2:24 is an example of a creation ordinance, one of the principles God made clear to humanity at the beginning of creation. It is a mistake to restrict God’s laws only to Israel in the Old Testament or to the church in the New Testament. It is true that Israel was a particular covenantal community under God, with special laws, and it is also true that the New Testament church has special duties to perform as well. However, the fact is that all humanity stands in covenant with God in Adam, and they are still responsible to the terms of that covenantal arrangement.

Thus, there are moral requirements—creation ordinances—that apply to all men because they are principles that applied in the Garden of Eden. Among these are the sanctity of life, the sanctity of marriage, and the sanctity of labor. Cain knew not to murder Abel, and when we see God judge Cain, we see that the sanctity of life was a creation ordinance.

The sanctity of marriage is safeguarded in principle by the verse cited above. And the sanctity of work can be seen in two dimensions: first in God’s command that men should dress and till the garden, and second in God’s establishing the Sabbath as a day of rest, guaranteeing that men would not have to work continuously.

Since the creation ordinances transcend the limits of the church, this means that it is proper for Christian people to work to bring secular society in line with them. We should not seek to impose the special laws of the church, such as the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, on all citizens, but it is proper to call civil society back to the general creation ordinances. A cliche we often hear in our society is that “you can’t legislate morality.” Obviously law is always “legislated morality.” The only question is whose ethical standards will it be? Man’s or God’s?

There is a sense in which we cannot legislate morality. However, the church must call all men, including civil magistrates, to obey God’s fundamental principles of life. What is the church in your area doing to restore the sanctity of life, marriage, and labor? What are you doing to help your church?

Should We Observe Lent?

This is a longstanding historical and theological issue. By the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church had instituted a great number of practices that lacked any biblical warrant or precedent. Many of them became established, even conscience-binding practices. As the Reformers began to plea for a purification of the church, the issue of authority became central. The question was: does the church have the authority to bind the conscience of the believer beyond what Scripture indicates? The Roman Catholic Church said yes, and the Reformers essentially said no. Some Reformers took a really strong stance on this. In time, the Reformation would give birth to different denominational branches, i.e., Lutheran, Anglican, and Reformed. In the area of worship, the former two have adopted a more conciliatory approach and will allow the church to practice things (whether in worship or holidays), as long as the Bible does not explicitly or implicitly forbid them. This is often called the "normative principle" of worship. Those inheriting a Reformed theology have adopted the stance that the church is only to practice in worship what the Bible actually establishes, often called the "regulative principle of worship." Many in the Reformed tradition would exclude the practice of Lent on this basis—it lacks scriptural warrant.

Furthermore, the Bible's liturgical calendar is remarkably simple—it is the Lord's Day. While the Old Testament had a very complex system of days, all foreshadowing the redemptive work of Christ to come, the New Testament celebrates the accomplishment of that event with profound clarity and simplicity (Heb. 3-4). Our Confession echoes an appreciation for the simplicity of New Covenant worship regarding the sacraments (WCF 7:6), worship (WCF 21:1), and the Sabbath day (WCF 21:8-9). I believe this concern for a biblical simplicity is why we don't follow the liturgical calendar of Roman Catholic Church. The conscience is a frail thing, and only God has the right to exercise lordship over it.

Not to be missed, Carl Trueman's article, "Ash Wednesday: Picking and Choosing our Piety"

The Degrees of Sin

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8).

In the Middle Ages, Roman Catholic theologians formulated a distinction between venial and mortal sins. Venial sins are relatively slight, being committed without full reflection. Mortal sins, they said, are sins that are so wicked that they destroy the justifying grace of God in the soul. If you die in a state of unconfessed mortal sin, you will not be saved.

The Protestant Reformers rejected that distinction, and because of this, some Christians have come to believe that all sins are equally bad in God’s eyes. In one sense that is true, because every sin is an act of rebellion against God, and in terms of justice every sin deserves eternal damnation. The Reformers went on, however, to state that God does not always deal with us in terms of justice, but that He offers us salvation in the Gospel. Thus, Calvin concluded that all sins are mortal in the sense that we deserve death from them, but no sin is mortal in the sense that it can destroy saving grace.

Beyond this, the Reformers clearly taught that there is a difference between petty sins and gross, heinous sins. The Bible clearly teaches that such sins as adultery and murder are not to be overlooked, but are to be subjects of church censure and/or civil action. At the same time, Christian love covers over a multitude of minor sins.

The Bible teaches us that there are degrees in hell, and that some sins are punished more severely by God than others (John 19:11; Luke 12:47–48). Why is this important? Because if we don’t make this distinction, we will be drawn into worse sins. If a man is having trouble with lust, he may think, “Well, I might as well go ahead and commit adultery, since I’m already guilty.” We must keep in mind that the punishment for adultery will be far more severe than the punishment for lust.

Even our “private” sins affect others since they affect us and our relationship with God. Be honest with yourself today and this week to face those areas in your life where you may be guilty of yielding to a greater sin by erroneously thinking all sins are equally bad in God’s eyes.

The Lie of Lawlessness

"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God" (1 Peter 2:16).

Yesterday we looked at legalism, and today we want to look at the opposite error: antinomianism. Antinomian means “against the law,” and antinomianism is an approach to righteousness that repudiates the law of God. Just as there are different kinds of legalism, so there are also various kinds of antinomianism.

The first is called “libertinism.” This is the idea that since we are justified by faith alone, and since our sanctification is by grace, we are now entirely liberated from the law, and so it is called libertinism. It assumes that redemption has given us license to sin.

The second kind of antinomianism we can call “gnostic spiritualism.” Gnosticism was one of the earliest of all heresies to invade the church. Gnosis means “knowledge,” and the Gnostics believed that they had special insight into hidden knowledge. They were a “higher class” of believers, and they held that they were exempt from some of the biblical rules that bound “ordinary” believers.

Of course, there is no special group of gnostics in the church today, but the same tendency is often present. When people say, “The Spirit led me to do such and such,” they may be making a gnostic claim without even realizing it. The Spirit, however, never leads us apart from the Word, and He never leads us to disobey.

The third form of antinomianism is “situational ethics.” Situational ethics says that there is only one law for the believer, which is to do what love seems to demand in any given situation; all other laws of Scripture are negotiable. But how can we know what love demands, if we don’t take biblical laws seriously? If we do what it seems to us that love demands, we are left without standards. This is just another cloak for lawlessness.

Obedience is not simply a Christian duty, it is a delightful virtue that greatly pleases God. Believers are free from the curse of the law, but never free from obeying it. Today ask God to increase your heart’s capacity to love Him, so that your obedience never becomes cold and legalistic, but remains warm and affectionate.

The Problem of Legalism

“If you love Me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).

There are two errors into which a Christian can fall when it comes to ethics. One is legalism, and the other is antinomianism. Today we will consider the first of these two forms of error. Often Christians are accused of being legalists because they are trying to live in obedience to God’s holy law. This is an unfair and false charge.

What is the error of legalism? Basically, it is a misuse of God’s law, but this can take several forms. The first is to abstract the law of God from its original context. We are supposed to obey God because we love Him because He is the one who has given these laws. It is possible, however, to turn God’s law into nothing but a series of rules, and forget the Person who lies behind them. A second kind of legalism happens when we add legislation to God’s law and treat the addition as if it were divine law. This is a perilous danger that has afflicted the church from the time of Cain and Abel. Jesus was in constant conflict with the Pharisees over just this issue because they were teaching human traditions as if they were the Word of God (Mark 7:1–13). When this happens, men presumptuously and arrogantly usurp the authority of God Himself.

Obviously, the church has the right to set up policies, but when man-made rules are set up on the same level as God’s law and are made the test of Christianity, then a serious distortion has come upon the Gospel of Christ. Because of this sinful legalism, many unbelievers think that we define a Christian as someone who doesn’t dance, smoke, drink, wear lipstick, go to movies, or play cards.

We come perilously close to blasphemy when we project this distorted view of Christianity because it draws our eyes to a set of rules and away from Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross.

Where in your life do you see the effects of legalism? Has the legalism been imposed from other authorities or from within your own conscience? List two areas where your freedom in Christ has been wrongly curtailed because of a legalistic approach.

What is the Regulative Principle of Worship?

Put simply, the regulative principle of worship states that the corporate worship of God is to be founded upon specific directions of Scripture. On the surface, it is difficult to see why anyone who values the authority of Scripture would find such a principle objectionable. Is not the whole of life itself to be lived according to the rule of Scripture? This is a principle dear to the hearts of all who call themselves biblical Christians. To suggest otherwise is to open the door to antinomianism and license.

But things are rarely so simple. After all, the Bible does not tell me whether I may or may not listen with profit to a Mahler symphony, find stamp-collecting rewarding, or enjoy ferret-breeding as a useful occupation even though there are well-meaning but misguided Bible-believing Christians who assert with dogmatic confidence that any or all of these violate God’s will. Knowing God’s will in any circumstance is an important function of every Christian’s life, and fundamental to knowing it is a willingness to submit to Scripture as God’s authoritative Word for all ages and circumstances. But what exactly does biblical authority mean in such circumstances?

Well, Scripture lays down certain specific requirements: for example, we are to worship with God’s people on the Lord’s Day, and we should engage in useful work and earn our daily bread. In addition, covering every possible circumstance, Scripture lays down a general principle: “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:1–2). Clearly, all of life is to be regulated by Scripture, whether by express commandment or prohibition or by general principle. There is, therefore, in one sense, a regulative principle for all of life. In everything we do, and in some form or another, we are to be obedient to Scripture.

However, the Reformers (John Calvin especially) and the Westminster Divines (as representative of seventeenth-century puritanism) viewed the matter of corporate worship differently. In this instance, a general principle of obedience to Scripture is insufficient; there must be (and is) a specific prescription governing how God is to be worshiped corporately. In the public worship of God, specific requirements are made, and we are not free either to ignore them or to add to them. Typical by way of formulation are the words of Calvin: “God disapproves of all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by his Word” (“The Necessity of Reforming the Church”); and the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689: “The acceptable way of worshiping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures” (22.1).

Where does the Bible teach this? In more places than is commonly imagined, including the constant stipulation of the book of Exodus with respect to the building of the tabernacle that everything be done “after the pattern … shown you” (Ex. 25:40); the judgment pronounced upon Cain’s offering, suggestive as it is that his offering (or his heart) was deficient according to God’s requirement (Gen. 4:3–8); the first and second commandments showing God’s particular care with regard to worship (Ex. 20:2–6); the incident of the golden calf, teaching as it does that worship cannot be offered merely in accord with our own values and tastes; the story of Nadab and Abihu and the offering of “strange fire” (Lev. 10); God’s rejection of Saul’s non-prescribed worship—God said, “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22); and Jesus’ rejection of Pharisaical worship according to the “tradition of the elders” (Matt. 15:1–14). All of these indicate a rejection of worship offered according to values and directions other than those specified in Scripture.

Of particular significance are Paul’s responses to errant public worship at Colossae and Corinth. At one point, Paul characterizes the public worship in Colossae as ethelothreskia (Col. 2:23), variously translated as “will worship” (KJV) or “self-made religion” (ESV). The Colossians had introduced elements that were clearly unacceptable (even if they were claiming an angelic source for their actions—one possible interpretation of Col. 2:18, the “worship of angels”). Perhaps it is in the Corinthian use (abuse) of tongues and prophecy that we find the clearest indication of the apostle’s willingness to “regulate” corporate worship. He regulates both the number and order of the use of spiritual gifts in a way that does not apply to “all of life”: no tongue is to be employed without an interpreter (1 Cor. 14:27–28) and only two or three prophets may speak, in turn (vv. 29–32). At the very least, Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians underlines that corporate worship is to be regulated and in a manner that applies differently from that which is to be true for all of life.

The result? Particular elements of worship are highlighted: reading the Bible (1 Tim. 4:13); preaching the Bible (2 Tim. 4:2); singing the Bible (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)—the Psalms as well as Scripture songs that reflect the development of redemptive history in the birth-life-death-resurrection-ascension of Jesus; praying the Bible—the Father’s house is “a house of prayer” (Matt. 21:13); and seeing the Bible in the two sacraments of the church, baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38–39; 1 Cor. 11:23–26; Col. 2:11–12). In addition, occasional elements such as oaths, vows, solemn fasts and thanksgivings have also been recognized and highlighted (see Westminster Confession of Faith 21:5).

It is important to realize that the regulative principle as applied to public worship frees the church from acts of impropriety and idiocy—we are not free, for example, to advertise that performing clowns will mime the Bible lesson at next week’s Sunday service. Yet it does not commit the church to a “cookie-cutter,” liturgical sameness. Within an adherence to the principle, there is enormous room for variation—in matters that Scripture has not specifically addressed (adiaphora). Thus, the regulative principle as such may not be invoked to determine whether contemporary or traditional songs are employed, whether three verses or three chapters of Scripture are read, whether one long prayer or several short prayers are made, or whether a single cup or individual cups with real wine or grape juice are utilized at the Lord’s Supper. 

To all of these issues, the principle “all things should be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40) must be applied. However, if someone suggests dancing or drama is a valid aspect of public worship, the question must be asked—where is the biblical justification for it? (To suggest that a preacher moving about in the pulpit or employing “dramatic” voices is “drama” in the sense above is to trivialize the debate.) The fact that both may be (to employ the colloquialism) “neat” is debatable and beside the point; there’s no shred of biblical evidence, let alone mandate, for either. So it is superfluous to argue from the poetry of the Psalms or the example of David dancing before the ark (naked, to be sure) unless we are willing to abandon all the received rules of biblical interpretation. It is a salutary fact that no office of “choreographer” or “producer/director” existed in the temple. The fact that both dance and drama are valid Christian pursuits is also beside the point.

What is sometimes forgotten in these discussions is the important role of conscience. Without the regulative principle, we are at the mercy of “worship leaders” and bullying pastors who charge noncompliant worshipers with displeasing God unless they participate according to a certain pattern and manner. To the victims of such bullies, the sweetest sentences ever penned by men are, “God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to His Word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship. So that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience: and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also” (WCF 20:2). To obey when it is a matter of God’s express prescription is true liberty; anything else is bondage and legalism.

Rachel Denhollander and How Forgiveness Does Not Trivialize Sin

Rachael Denhollander’s courageous courtroom statement needs to go on reverberating. It was heart-wrenching and harrowing yet God-glorifying. It was a testimony to God’s justice and grace in the face of horrifying evil. A pedophile and predator was forced to hear something of the destruction wreaked by his actions. This young woman went further and spoke of the eternal realities that lay behind all that was brought out in that Michigan courtroom. Her trust in God meant that she could speak of justice and absolute distinctions of good and evil. She could also speak of grace and forgiveness without in any way trivializing what sin is and what it deserves.

She spoke to the judge of the need for the courtroom to hear a sentence that would “the greatest measure of justice available.” Yet she also spoke of “final judgment where all of God’s wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you…Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you.”

“I pray you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me…though I extend that to you as well.”

Justice and Forgiveness

Rachael’s subsequent interview with Christianity Today also needs to reverberate. She makes it clear that justice must never be minimized in emphasizing forgiveness. “I have found it very interesting, to be honest, that every single Christian publication or speaker that has mentioned my statement has only ever focused on the aspect of forgiveness. Very few, if any of them, have recognized what else came with that statement, which was a swift and intentional pursuit of God’s justice. Both of those are biblical concepts. Both of those represent Christ. We do not do well when we focus on only one of them.” She points out disturbingly that the Church in her experience does not handle cases of abuse at all well.

Repentance and Forgiveness

Rachael makes it clear that repentance is not a mere sorry but “a full and complete acknowledgment of the depravity of what someone has done in comparison with God’s holy standard. And I do believe that entails an acknowledgment of that, and a going in the opposite direction. It means you have repented to those you have harmed and seek to restore those you have hurt”. She explains what she meant by the call to repentance in her courtroom statement:

It means that I trust in God’s justice and I release bitterness and anger and a desire for personal vengeance. It does not mean that I minimize or mitigate or excuse what he has done. It does not mean that I pursue justice on earth any less zealously. It simply means that I release personal vengeance against him, and I trust God’s justice, whether he chooses to mete that out purely, eternally, or both in heaven and on earth.

What does it mean to forgive others? When Christ teaches us to pray “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12) it includes these elements of repentance and forgiveness. As we have a proper sense of what it means to be forgiven we will David Dickson briefly but helpfully draws out some of these points.

1. Christians Need Repentance

None of Christ’s disciples are so fully sanctified in this life that sin will not be found in them. We are under a necessity to acknowledge our sins.

2. Christians Need Daily Repentance

That every day in many things we all offend and must confess not only sin but sins.

3. Christians Need Daily Forgiveness Even Though They are Forgiven

Although we may have a right to forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus, yet we must seek to apply this right to our daily faults. We must beg the use of this right in seeking forgiveness.

4. Christians Know that Sin Deserves to be Punished

Our sins deserve due punishment (indeed death is what sin naturally deserves) and this makes us liable us to the penalty. This is why sins are called debts here.

5. Christians Know that Forgiveness Removes Punishment

When sin is forgiven, the avenging punishment is also forgiven. This is part of the meaning of what we are directed to say “forgive us our debts and forgive us our sins”. Sin cannot be forgiven and avenging punishment retained at the same time. Both the guilt and this sort of punishment are forgiven and taken away together.

6. Christians Must Not Trivialize Wrongs Done by Others

Wrongs done to us by others oblige those who have injured us to repair the wrong. Such wrongs make them not only debtors to God but also to us. Therefore our Lord calls such as have done wrong to us “our debtors”.

7. Christians are Not Wrong to Seek Justice in the Right Way

Public considerations may move us to seek redress wrongs by means of justice. We must not only, however, renounce private revenge for wrongs done to us but also forgive them, especially when the offender calls for it from us. Christ presupposes that those who seek forgiveness from God also themselves give forgiveness to others.

8. Christians Forgive as Well as Being Forgiven

When we forgive men their wrongs done against us it is an argument to persuade us of forgiveness from God for our own wrongs. Christ wills those who say “forgive us our trespasses” to say also “as we forgive those that trespass against us”.

Ethics and Morality

"In my dismay I said, “All men are liars” (Psalm 116:11).

The issue of the weaker brother in Romans 14 (discussed yesterday) demands that we focus some attention on the subject of conscience. 

Most people use the words ethics and morality interchangeably. There is, however, an important difference between the two. The word 'ethics' comes from the Greek word ethos, while morality comes from mores. The ethos or ethics of a society concerns its underlying philosophy and its concept of values. Mores or morality, by way of contrast, has to do with customs and habits, the normal forms of behavior that are found in a given society.

Ethics is concerned with norms and standards, while morality is merely descriptive. Ethics tells us what “ought” to be, while morality simply tells us what “is.” Thus, morality tells us what people actually do, while ethics tells us what they ought to do. People tend to use the two words interchangeably, and in a subtle way, many think that what is customary is the same as what is right.

Out of this confusion has come what we can call “statistical morality.” We take a poll and find out what people are thinking and doing. Let’s say we find out that most people are using marijuana from time to time. Thus, the conclusion is that it is normal in our society for people to smoke marijuana occasionally. Then, because of this confusion, we move on to think because most people do it, it must be all right. What is "normal" is seen as normative. Right and wrong are determined by majority practice. This way of thinking is obviously wrong from the Christian standpoint. The Bible tells us all men are liars, and very often the multitude is engaged in evil. We must be very careful to resist the modern trend toward statistical morality, and firmly maintain the difference between ethical standards, and fallen human behavior.

People begin to think that what is customary is the same as what is right. Such statistical morality once embraced threatens to pervade the church and believers. Where in your life have you determined your ethics in this manner? What is another area in which you are thus tempted?

Weak and Strong Christians

"One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables" (Romans 14:2).

Romans 14 deals with an important issue in community among Christians. There are always some differences of understanding between Christians, and Paul here tells us we are to bear with one another on such matters.

Beyond this, Paul writes that some believers are “weak.” The weak believer is the one who fears to make use of some good gift that God has given to mankind and to the church. In Paul’s day the weak believer was afraid to eat meat and drink wine sacrificed to idols. In our day many believers are afraid to drink wine at all.

If a man believes that it is a sin to eat meat, and then goes ahead and eats it, he has sinned. He has sinned not because he has eaten meat, but because he has done something he thinks God has forbidden. Because of this, Paul says that strong Christians are to be careful not to lead weak Christians into sin by encouraging them to go against their consciences.

Paul admonishes us “not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.… It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall” (Romans 14:13, 21). How can I cause my weaker brother to fall? By flaunting my liberty and encouraging him to act against his conscience.

If, on the other hand, I eat or drink in private without violating my conscience, I have offered no offense. The weaker brother may not like my doing it, and he may even be shocked, but I have not encouraged him to sin. Moreover, Paul makes it very clear that the weak believer is not to tyrannize the church. When the weak Judaizers wanted Paul to eat separately from the Gentiles, Paul adamantly refused (Galatians 2). The strong believer must oppose the weak believer when he tries to make his scruples a law for the whole community.

Some believers think no Christian should do anything that other Christians forbid. Think through this issue carefully and be able to articulate your position. Where would you draw the line between leading others to stumble and exercising your liberty?

Living in the Last Days

"And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed" (Romans 13:11).

Romans 13:11 is more true today than when Paul wrote it, because we are closer to Christ’s return then he was. The New Testament frequently repeats the theme of a call to diligence because we are living “in the last days.” What makes this hard for us to understand is that these last days have been going on for nearly 2,000 years. To understand this properly we have to think in terms of the biblical view of redemptive history.

With the advent of Jesus, the first century saw the hour of the breakthrough of the kingdom of God. It was a moment in time that the Jews had awaited for millennia. When Christ came into the world. He brought crisis to the world. This was the pivotal moment in history and all later time is conditioned by it. The interval between the beginning of this crisis and the return of Jesus is called the “end times.” The first stage of history is over and the last stage has come.

What does it mean that our salvation is nearer? Weren’t the Roman Christians already saved? We have to remember that when the Bible speaks of salvation, it speaks of it in different increments. When Jesus returns and consummates His kingdom, that will be a greater measure of salvation than we have previously experienced.

Thus, we live between the old times and the new times. “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here” (Romans 13:12a). For that reason, though there is still some night, we need to live in terms of the coming day. “So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12b). Knowing that we live in the last times should encourage us to righteousness.

Christians sometimes use the study of prophecy as escapism. Some people read prophecy books the way others read romances or fantasy. Not the apostle Paul. For him, living in the last times had the practical effect of an encouragement to holiness. don’t be guilty of idly waiting for the Lord’s return. Look over these verses again, and consider how you would explain Paul’s logic to a friend.

Christians in Debt

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8).

Based on this verse, especially its reading in the King James Version (“Owe no man any thing”), some Christians have decided that the New Testament forbids all debt. They refuse to use a mortgage to buy a house, will only pay cash for an automobile and do not carry credit cards. What about this?

First of all, although the Bible discourages debt, it does not prohibit all debt. The Mosaic law made provision for a person who is suddenly impoverished to get a charity loan from his neighbor (Deuteronomy 15:7). In addition, the Bible makes it clear that lending money as an investment in business is perfectly all right (Matthew 25:27). Beyond this, though, we have to take Romans 13:8 in context. Paul has been speaking about paying taxes, and now he says, “Let no debt remain outstanding.” In other words, he is saying that if we do go into debt, we are to pay our debts.

Practically what does this mean? For one thing, it means that Christians should pay their bills. It means we should be exemplary in the marketplace. Sadly, this is very often not the case. In general, the business community regards the church as a very poor financial risk, because so often churches do not pay their debts. In a slightly different arena, but still in the area of paying what is owed, the music publishing world has found that the worst offenders against music copyrights are churches.

It also means that if I borrow money, I pay it back according to the terms of the contract. If I buy a house, I am renting money from the bank at a mutually agreeable interest rate, and as long as I am making my payments and fulfilling the contract, I am not violating Romans 13:8.

Most Christians too readily get into debt. Are you conforming to the world in this area by living beyond your means? One reason to avoid debt is because we do not know the future. If we get into trouble and cannot service our debts, Christ’s witness suffers. Take stock of your spending habits. Commit yourself to getting your affairs under control. If you are unable to resolve your situation, find a prudent Christian investment counselor to help you.