—Proverbs 20:3

But any fool will quarrel.

One popular opinion says that fighting within a marriage is healthy. Contrary to that, Dan Phillips believes “that this is a lie, and a harmful one at that. A married couple should never fight.” This is why:

1. A husband should never participate in a fight (I choose my words deliberately here) because:
   1. A veritable pile of proverbs praise self-control and condemn giving in to temper, of which this is only a sample: 14:29; 16:32; 17:27; 20:3.
   2. He is to care for his wife as Christ cares for the church—which excludes identifying her as a target or an opponent to be “taken down” (Eph. 5:23).
   3. “She started it,” even if true, simply means that the husband should respond as Christ calls all Christians to respond to attack, as the following small selection may serve to remind:
      • “. . . if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt. 5:39b) Remember that this slap is an insult, as one’s wife might become insulting during a fight. In Matthew 5:38–42 Jesus rules out responding in kind.
      • Cf. also 1 Peter 2:21–23; 3:8–9.
2. A wife should never participate in a fight because:
   1. See “a” above.
   2. The wife is called by God to subordinate herself to her husband (Eph, 5:22, 24, 33; Col. 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1–6), and there simply is no room for fighting, as defined above, from such a position.
   3. See “c” above.
   4. A woman who sees herself free to resist, denigrate and fight her husband is not emulating Proverbs 31:12, and cannot expect the blessing of Proverbs 31:11.

—Dan Phillips, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs (Kress Biblical Resources, 2011), 210.

—Genesis 2:18

It was this lack of a “soul-mate” that God had in mind in saying the first “not good.” Adam needed a helper, and particularly a helper corresponding to him, for assistance and companionship. Adam would be in charge, as Scripture makes clear. But that would not mean that Adam’s wife was of inferior worth, since she would be “corresponding to him.” She alone, of all creation, would share humanity with Adam, would bear the image of God with him.

The stubborn refusal to recognize the possibility of an equality of worth coexisting with inequality of function is simply a perversion of our culture.

Never forget, then, God’s design: God created Adam—as He created all things—for His service. As such, God’s design would never have been to create someone to make it harder or more miserable for Adam to serve Him. Rather, God would create someone to better facilitate Adam’s service to Him.

Since this was the specific reason for which God created the first wife—to be a helper corresponding to him—this means that the woman would really find her greatest happiness in embracing what God created her to be. Unwise women might not think so (Prov. 14:1), but it remains true, nonetheless.

—Dan Phillips, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs (Kress Biblical Resources, 2011), 191.

If you haven’t listened to the audio of the recent Every Thought Captive Conference featuring Tim Challies and Frank Turk, you really should. Sessions include:

• Frank Turk: Better Together: Why Marriage Is Necessary to a Civilized Society.
• Tim Challies: The Exclusive Wisdom and Beauty of God’s Design for Human Sexuality.
• Tim Challies: Why the Church Must Not Compromise God’s Standards for Sexuality.
• Panel discussion with Tim Challies, Frank Turk, Pastor Larry McCall of Christ’s Covenant Church and Pastor Nate Harlan of Trinity Evangelical Church. Moderator: John Mergy of Trinity. Master of ceremonies: Tim Bushong of Trinity.

• What I Did Yesterday
  Packers and Vikings and fans, oh my . . .
• Seppuku
  A sporting report I enjoyed, culminating in schadenfreude.
• Peanuts and Crackerjacks
  Little league moms are idiots.
• An Hypothesis Hyperbolized
  Anyone who thinks my miso-game-y* can be cured should read this.
• Fast Food Foolishness, or Fans Fail Fabulously
  In which I really ticked off some Packers fans. Unfortunately, this post mysteriously disappeared. I found it via Google and reposted it, but could not restore the angry comments.

* Someone help me: what's a scholarly-sounding word for dislike of sports?

Mortification

O divine Lawgiver,

I take shame to myself
for open violations to thy law,
for my secret faults,
my omissions of duty,
my unprofitable attendance
upon means of grace,
my carnality in worshipping thee,
and all the sins of my holy things.

My iniquities are increased over my head:

My trespasses are known in the heavens,
and there Christ is gone also,
my Advocate with the Father,
my propitiation for sins,
and I hear his word of peace.

At present it is a day of small things with me,
I have light enough to see my darkness,
sensibility enough to feel the hardness of my heart,
spirituality enough to mourn my want of a
heavenly mind;
but I might have had more,
I ought to have had more,
I have never been straitened in thee,
thou hast always placed before me an
infinite fullness,
and I have not taken it.

I confess and bewail my deficiencies
and backslidings:

I mourn my numberless failures,
my incorrigibility under rebukes,
my want of profiting under ordinances of mercy,
my neglect of opportunities for usefulness.

It is not with me as in months past;

O recall me to thyself, and enable me to feel
my first love.

May my improvements correspond with my
privileges,

May my will accept the decisions of my judgement,
my choice be that which conscience approves,
and may I never condemn myself
in the things I allow!

—The Valley of Vision, Arthur Bennett, editor (Banner of Truth Trust, 2002).

22 For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave.

—1 Corinthians 7

The Servant And The Freeman Of Christ.

A Christian is one who is “called,” not by self or man, but by God. The voice that calls him is almighty, irresistible. He must needs obey. He is born “of the will of God.”

He is called “in the Lord.” This refers not so much to his being called by the Lord, as to his being called to be “in the Lord.” Christ in him and he in Christ, this is his standing. As once he was “in the world,” and in himself, so now he is “in the Lord.”

He is not of any one nation. According to the flesh, he may be a Jew or a Gentile, a Greek or a Roman, a barbarian, a Scythian, an African, an Indian, or a Briton. According to the Spirit, his nationality is not of earth; his citizenship is in heaven.

He is not of any special condition or rank. He may be a servant or a master, a peasant or a monarch, a merchant or a ploughman, a man of learning or a half-witted beggar.

Yet these two things are common to each,—he is called, and he is in the Lord. The other things connected with him are unessential and unenduring. These two only are important and abiding.

Keeping this in mind, the apostle takes up the two great conditions of society in his day,—master and slave,—in order to bring out the true and high bearing of Christianity on these. If you be a servant, what then? If a master, what then? These are the two questions he answers.

The answers to these two questions are contained in these two statements. A Christian is the Lord’s freeman; a Christian is Christ’s servant.

I. A Christian is the Lord’s freeman. This expression means the following things:—

(1.) He was once a slave. He was not born free. He did not free himself. Like Israel in Egypt, he was “delivered.”

(2.) He was set free by the Lord. The name of his liberator is a glorious one; one betokening power and authority. His former masters were sin, the flesh, the devil. From these this mighty Lord hath set him free.

(3.) As a free man he still belongs to Christ. Nay, he belongs more to Him than ever; more to Him than to his former masters. A new tie has been formed between him and the Lord; the tie of liberty; the tie of love; the tie of gratitude.

(4.) His life is one of liberty. There is no return to bondage. All is the joy of freedom, Christ’s own freedom; true, heavenly liberty; liberty in every part; perfect throughout; yet not the liberty of self-will.

(5.) His is liberty which earthly service cannot affect. He may be a slave or a prisoner, he is still the Lord’s freeman. Hands, and feet, and body may be in chains, he is as free as ever. No earthly bondage can intermeddle with or neutralize this liberty.

But how and when does all this begin? In what way is it carried on?

(1.) Ye are bought with a price. A ransom has been paid for our liberation; and the spring of all our liberty comes from this ransom. Christ hath redeemed us. We are redeemed not with corruptible things, but ‘with the precious blood of Christ.

(2.) If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Our liberty is the direct work of the Son of God. He unbinds us and disimprisons us. He became a bondman for us. He took our chains and prison that we might have his liberty.

(3.) The truth shall make you free. The truth revealed in Christ contains in it all liberating elements and ingredients. It neutralizes and undoes all that made us slaves. And from the moment that we know it we are free! Our belief of this liberating truth sets us at full liberty.

II. A Christian is Christ’s servant. Freed from one service which is bondage, he enters another which is liberty. Though free, he is a servant! Free because a servant! A servant because free! Such is the wonderful yet happy contradiction. As Messiah is the Father’s servant, come to do His will, so are we Messiah’s servants, engaged to do His will.

Thus we are both freemen and servants, truly both. And we begin our liberty and our service at the same time and in the same way. That truth which sets us free, introduces us into service. The two, so far from being incompatible, are harmonious and helpful to each other. If we are Christ’s servants, then we wear His livery; we dwell in His house; we do His work; we fix our eye on Him; we merge our wills in His; we get His wages, His reward,—”Well done good and faithful servant.” Let us then realize and act out both our freemanship and our service faithfully and fully; at all times; all places; all conditions. Freemen, yet servants always! Servants, yet freemen always.

Let us close with the apostolic use of this truth. Are we masters? Let us remember we are Christ’s servants, and only masters under Him; let this keep us humble and kind. We have a good, kind Master; let us be good and kind. Are we servants? Let not this trouble us or make us fretful. We are the Lord’s freemen! That makes up for all. Though we were chained, imprisoned, exiled, like Paul at Rome, or John at Patmos, we are free! Nothing on earth can interfere with this privilege, or rob us of this honour; we are free indeed. Ours is glorious liberty.

—Horatius Bonar, Light & Truth: Bible Thoughts & Themes

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

—Isaiah 53:3–6

Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
For man the creature’s sin.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away—
’Tis all that I can do.

—Great Hymns of the Faith (Zondervan, 1968).

Here’s a nice arrangement I hadn’t heard before:

Solomon analyzes in [Proverbs] 17:14 why strife in a relationship is such a disaster—

The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
So quit before the quarrel breaks out.

Here he envisions a situation such as a breach in a dam. First, a little water gets out. But then this flow causes further erosion of the dam, and the flow increases. If nothing is done, the dam eventually breaks down entirely and a flood results.

Let us transfer the simile back to human relations. Let us say that we have been wronged in some minor way (i.e., a cross word in a marriage, as opposed to adultery). We know that it is best to “love it over.” However, we find ourselves obsessing on the offense, with all our feelings of injured pride clamoring at us. So what do we do? Do we keep bringing it up until a fight starts? Solomon counsels wisdom and self-control. He observes that a quarrel is easier to start than it is to resolve, and less difficult to prevent than to stop. “Opening such a sluice lets loose more than one can predict, control or retrieve.”

Accordingly, Solomon’s advice is to forsake, abandon, leave the quarrel before it even starts. Perhaps second thought will drive one back to the first solution: love it over.

—Dan Phillips, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs (Kress Biblical Resources, 2011), 179.

Why did I move from Lutheranism to Reformed theology?

That’s a long story. First, I should say that I am not Truly Reformed®. I subscribe to the “Five Solas” (salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone), and am soteriologically Calvinistic, but I am not necessarily Reformed-kosher on the covenants or eschatology, and I am credobaptist.

I didn’t move directly from Lutheranism to Reformed theology. That theological journey began with difficulties I had with a couple of areas of Lutheran doctrine. One of those was Lutheran sacramentalism—consubstantiation in the Lord’s Supper, and paedobaptism, especially baptismal regeneration. The other was soteriological—I became increasingly Arminian as (I think) a result of contradictory practices in my church. While Lutheran soteriology is essentially monergistic (though a bit muddled on that count), the evangelistic methods of my church were distinctly revivalist. I was pretty confused, and became a devout synergist.

Sometime in the mid-eighties, I began listening to John MacArthur on the radio. I didn’t know he was a Calvinist at first, or I probably wouldn’t have listened long. By the time I caught on to his Calvinism, I was already hooked on his expository preaching, something I had never heard before. Through his ministry, my mind was opened to at least consider the claims of Reformed theology. As my synergistic and legalistic prejudices fell away, and as I learned to study the Bible without those presuppositions, the doctrines of grace became clear and undeniable.

I wasn’t particularly happy about this. I suppose it was my pride that struggled against it. Accepting the fact that I had played no part in my conversion was difficult, but worse still was the embarrassment of having argued loudly and at great length against Calvinist heretics for several years—and now I was one.

But, by the grace of God, I got over it, and now rejoice in the assurance that can only come through knowing that salvation is all—really all—by the sovereign will of God, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and that nothing—truly nothing—can ever separate me from the love of God.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

—Romans 8:28–30

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.

—John 6:37–40

Solomon highly values the quality of honesty, of frank (but gracious) truthfulness. Let me single out two reasons such a friend is so important.

First, you and I want a truthful friend. Note Proverbs 14:5—

A faithful witness does not lie,
But a false witness breaths out lies.

A friend is not necessarily someone who will tell us what we want to hear. But a friend certainly is someone who will tell us what is true—and what we need to hear.

Second, you and I need a truthful friend (Prov. 27:5-6):

Better is open rebuke
Than hidden love.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
Profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Actually, when you consider all the grief that one can catch for administering needed rebuke, we realize that someone who is willing to take the risk is likely to be a true friend. Remember: the only person who does not need a friend who willing to rebuke him is the man who has no sin or error to rebuke—which, at present, is a phonebook with no names in it.

As a postscript, we must not neglect our part in this. If we want friends who feel free to correct us or reprove us, we should make it easy for them. Remember, Solomon wrote “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning” (Prov. 9:9). Where did Solomon learn this attitude? Perhaps from his father, who sang “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it” (Psa. 141:5).

Ask yourself: Do my friends find rebuking me to be a low-stress experience, or even a rewarding experience? Or would they rather wrestle a wild boar?

—Dan Phillips, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs (Kress Biblical Resources, 2011), 171–172.

What I meant — and I think most readers got this — is that we don’t need any how-to books. There is an opinion floating around that Christians just don’t know enough about sex. After all, people are doing things now that were previously unheard of or unthinkable, and we need to keep up; we need to be educated. It’s reminiscent of the fears of the Detroit auto industry thirty years ago: the Japanese are doing it faster, cheaper, and better, and we’d better get with the program, or get left behind. Or, how embarrassing: not a single Christian even placed in the Kama Sutra Olympics. Can’t we at least get a bronze? Don’t laugh; if that sounds absurd, it’s only because it’s ridiculous.

Adam and Eve had no books, no illustrations, nothing.* Bear in mind that this was paradise. You can bet their intimacy was perfect and utterly satisfying.

There is a point to be taken, however. The world has changed, and depending on our degree of immersion in the world, our thinking about sex has been affected. The more we are immersed in a hyper-sexualized, pornified culture, the more distorted will be our thoughts and expectations. The cure for that, however, is not more sex talk, but less. Again, when I say less sex talk, I mean less how-to sex talk. We may well be in need of more theology of sex talk. We may need to think more about what it’s for and what it means.

Which means we’ll be thinking more about Jesus. I know, that sounds like the joke in which the kid thinks every answer in Sunday School is supposed to be “Jesus,” but it’s true. When we think about sex, we’re thinking about marriage. The Creator allows no category of sex outside that paradigm. Marriage is an allegory of Christ and the church, his bride (Ephesians 5:22–32), and the act of lovemaking is the quintessential expression of their union and the reciprocal love between them. And it all serves one purpose: to display the glory of God. But that would make a very long post all by itself.†

The bottom line is, if we get our theology right, love our spouses, and keep our focus on fulfilling God’s purpose for our marriages, the natural inclinations the Creator has placed within us will do their job — and “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”

* I’m willing to acknowledge that God might have taken Adam aside and given him “the talk.”

†  John Piper’s This Momentary Marriage is an excellent source. Also, and especially for those affected by pornography, see Sexual Detox by Tim Challies.

There is another word I’d like to see banished: “hater.” I hate it, misused as it is. Let me begin with the least important reason to do away with it: it is grammatically stupid. The word “hater” cannot stand by itself; it must be preceded by its object (dog hater, cat hater) or followed by a prepositional phrase, as we see it in Scripture: “haters of the Lord” (Psalm 81:15 KJV), “haters of God” (Romans 1:30 KJV/NASB/ESV), “haters of good” (2 Timothy 3:3 NASB). To simply call someone a hater is to accuse them of misomania (hatred of everything), or at least misanthropy (hatred of mankind), which would be an absurd interpretation of the current popular use of the word. The writers — if I may compliment them with such an unearned title — clearly mean hatred of something specific, yet they are too lazy or stupid to say what. Or maybe they are not too lazy or stupid, but, knowing what they mean, leave the specific charge unexpressed in hopes of avoiding a direct challenge to that specific charge. Either way, it’s contemptible.

Grammatical pedantry aside, there is a much more serious offense involved. There is a time to hate (Ecclesiastes 3:8), but that hatred for which there is a time is hatred of sin (e.g. Proverbs 3:15). But we know that’s not what’s in mind here. All other hatred is sin. John’s first epistle has something to say about this:

The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. —2:9–11

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. —3:14–15

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. —4:20

• is blind, walking in darkness, not knowing where he is going
• is spiritually dead
• is a murderer
• does not have eternal life
• cannot love God

Tell me, then: if you really believe those who irritate you so are unsaved, what is the correct response? Is it the defiant sarcasm of a snotty teenager, or would an evangelist’s compassion be more in order? But you don’t really care, do you? Because your charge of hating wasn’t spoken in love; it didn’t come out of a heart for truth. It was just an expression of annoyance to someone who challenged you, who had the gall to suggest that you were wrong, who made the audacious claim that there is right and wrong, and found you in the wrong. “Hater” is just your way of saying “you’re not the boss of me!” and “shut up and leave me alone!”

It’s really all about you, isn’t it?

Leaf from Leaf
Christina Rossetti (1830–1894)

Leaf from leaf Christ knows;
Himself the Lily and the Rose:

Sheep from sheep Christ tells;
Himself the Shepherd, no one else:

Star and star He names,
Himself outblazing all their flames:

Dove by dove, He calls
To set each on the golden walls:

Drop by drop, He counts
The flood of ocean as it mounts:

Grain by grain, His hand
Numbers the innumerable sand.

Lord, I lift to Thee
In peace what is and what shall be:

Lord in peace I trust
To Thee all spirits and all dust.

—Christina Rossetti, Poems (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993).

11Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

—1 Corinthians 6

The Past, Present, And Future Of A Christian Man.

These words describe a Christian’s past, his present, and his future. In the past he was all unrighteousness. In the present he is washed, sanctified, justified. In the future he possesses the kingdom.

I. His past. It is one of sin, utter sin. It may, or it may not be marked by those horrid sins which the ninth verse describes; but it is all unrighteousness; from beginning to end, unrighteousness. The past of these Corinthians had been fearful. In outward sin among the worst of heathendom; the chief of sinners; scarlet and crimson sins; overflowing with abominable crimes. We may not have reached the same pitch of daring wickedness; but we have been “unrighteous,” and that is enough; transgressors of the law. The rest is simply a question of degrees; a little more or a little less. One might say, I was not an idolater, or a fornicator, or a drunkard. Be it so. You were an “unrighteous” man, and that is enough. You may have done good deeds, spoken good words, borne a good character, lived a good life, yet you were an “unrighteous” man; and if you do not know this, you are no Christian, You know nothing of yourself.

II. His present. It is the complete reversal of the past. Not reformation merely, but transformation; such a transformation as God only could accomplish; so complete, that he who has undergone it could hardly know himself again. It is God’s work; it is through the name of Jesus; it is by the Spirit of God. And he who describes the change was one who knew it by experience; one who had been a blasphemer, a persecutor, a murderer, but who can now tell of his washing, his sanctifying, his justifying; and who can say, “our God.” The transformation is threefold:

(1.) Ye are washed. Or it may be, “Ye washed off these.” The figure here is not that of baptism, but of the ritual washings, the Levitical purgations, which David referred to when he said, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than the snow”; to which Ezekiel referred when he said, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you”; to which Zechariah referred when he spoke of “the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness.” The man is turned from an unclean into a clean thing. His filthy garments are taken off. “Now ye are clean through the word that I have spoken unto you.” This is the “cleansing with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26).

(2.) Ye are sanctified. This is more than the washing. It is something to which the washing is preliminary. It refers specially to consecration or setting apart for the service of God. As the vessels of the sanctuary were first washed, and then set apart with blood,—the blood of consecration,—so is it with us. We are first washed, and then the blood is sprinkled on us for consecration or sanctifying. With this setting apart for God begins the inward work of sanctification; for the two things are inseparable. Formerly we were vessels dedicated to the world’s service, or Satan’s service; now to the service of the living and holy Lord God.

(3.) Ye are justified. This is yet another step. It is the stamping of these consecrated vessels with a far higher value than they possessed. We are not only consecrated to God’s service, but made righteous with the righteousness of God,—justified, raised up to a higher level, because of our oneness with the righteous One. First of all, we are clean as He is clean; then, we are set apart as He is set apart; then, we are righteous as He is righteous. Cleansed, sanctified, justified, these are the three conditions or privileges into which a believing man is brought. All this in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. The name washes, sanctifies, justifies. It is a name of power, containing everything in it that a sinner needs. He who consents to use it gets all that it contains or can procure! The Spirit washes, sanctifies, justifies. He has His part to do in all these; and He does it as the Spirit of Omnipotence! Oh the transformation which that name and that Spirit can accomplish!

III. His future. It is the possession of a kingdom. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God; but they who are washed, sanctified, and justified shall! They are kings and priests, and shall sit upon the throne of Christ, and inherit the kingdom that cannot be moved. It is

(1.) The kingdom of God. His in every sense and aspect; God’s kingdom; Christ’s kingdom; the kingdom of heaven.

(2.) An eternal kingdom. It cannot be moved, but shall stand for ever,—unchangeable, incorruptible.

(3.) A holy kingdom. Into it nothing that defileth shall enter. No sin, no imperfection, no death, no evil thing pertaining either to soul or body.

(4.) A glorious kingdom. There the glory dwells, illuminating it in all its circuit. No night there; no darkness; no shadow. All glorious; the King, his princes, his subjects, his palace, his dominions everywhere. Glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land!

—Horatius Bonar, Light & Truth: Bible Thoughts & Themes

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

—Psalm 149:2

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

—Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice—the Lord Is King!

Rejoice—the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore!
Rejoice, give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore:

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Savior, reigns, the God of truth and love;
When He had purged our stains He took His seat above;

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His kingdom cannot fail—He rules o’er earth and Heav’n,
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n;

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope! Our Lord the Judge shall come
And take His servants up to their eternal home.

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

—Great Hymns of the Faith (Zondervan, 1968).

John concludes his letter with a short verse over which commentators have spilled gallons of ink: “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (5:21). That is the final line. There is no benediction; no prayer for God’s grace to be upon us. No, he just says, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols,” even though idolatry has not been mentioned once in the letter. People wonder, why on earth does he introduce idolatry now?

We have already seen that for John, faith isbelieving, obeying, and loving. Any faith that does not contain all three elements, John says, is false. And then he concludes with the exhortation, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” What he is saying is simple: keep yourselves from a false and distorted Jesus. And you know you have a false and distorted Jesus in one of three ways. First, you might have the wrong doctrine. You might conceive of Christ as an impersonal principle or a spiritual force. Alternatively, you might think he was just a great, human teacher. No, God became incarnate. Keep yourselves from such imposter Christs. Those are just idols to suit your desires.

Second, you might think God is indifferent to sin. No, God incarnate died for our sins. He is deeply concerned for how we live! If you are worshiping a God who is indifferent to sin, you are not worshiping the true God; you are worshiping an idol of your own making.

Third, you might think God is unconcerned with love. Get your doctrine right; don’t do anything grossly immoral; go to church. That’s enough, right? No, the God incarnate died for our sins because of his love for us. He leads his children to love one another with the same love. If you miss this, you have missed the real God and are worshiping some idol.

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” If you keep yourself from those idols, you can know you have gotten hold of the real thing.

—Mark Dever, The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept (Crossway, 2005), 484.

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tag:www.thirstytheologian.com,2012://1.2021 2012-01-26T15:52:47Z 2012-01-26T16:57:59Z

The first epistle of John is written “to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (5:13). In order “that you may know,” the apostle presents three...

David http://thirstytheologian.com The first epistle of John is written “to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (5:13). In order “that you may know,” the apostle presents three tests: the doctrinal test, the moral test, and the love test. On the place and importance of love for God’s people, Mark Dever writes,

Do we love one another as God has loved us? John writes, “And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother” (4:21). If you have gotten hold of the real thing, not only will you believe Jesus is the son of God; and not only will you obey the commands of God; you will also love the people of God. John is not commanding his readers to love the people of God. He is simply saying, anyone who has gotten hold of the real thing will love the people of God.

. . .

Jesus is our greatest example of the love of God. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).

—Mark Dever, The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept (Crossway, 2005), 481.

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