The Lord Sees and Hears

I have written before of how the Lord’s promises to Abram (Genesis 12:1–3; 15:4–6) has far-reaching implications. Not only would Abram be blessed, but so would his offspring and all tribes of the earth. The blessing, though given to one person, was intended to extend to all peoples of the earth. One early reception of this blessing I had completely missed until just recently—the situation of Hagar and Ismael.

Hagar is introduced as Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant (Ge 16:1), presumably an acquisition when Abram and Sarai had gone to Egypt because of a famine and was later forced by Pharaoh to leave (Ge 12:10–20). Nothing much is mentioned of her afterward until Sarai became impatient with God’s promise of a son and hatched a plot of her own to gain the result through her own means: she would have Abram go into Hagar so that the resulting son would be Sarai’s by legal right (Ge 16:2–3). While the plan was an acceptable cultural practice of the day, this was not the Lord’s plan. What He had promised would be delivered in His own terms and timing, not through human machinations. As best laid plans so often do, the result backfired. Hagar indeed became pregnant, but she despised her mistress. A lowly servant was able to accomplish something her mistress could not. Sarai blamed Abram for the newly found discord within the family, so he allowed her to handle the situation however she wished. Taking advantage, she treated Hagar harshly so that the pregnant maid fled. During this trip, she had a remarkable encounter.

Now the Angel of the Lord found her…
The story may be so familiar that we lose sight of the import: the Angel of the Lord, the preincarnate Christ, paid Hagar a visit (Ge 16:7). Take note that this is the first appearance of the Angel found in Scripture. That privilege did not come to Abram or Moses or anyone else of great faith found in Hebrews 11. Rather He saw and visited someone who was no person of position and was completely outside the bloodline of the promise.

Hagar admitted that she was running away, and after her confession, the Angel told her to return to her servitude with a humble heart, but He also offered something unexpected.

Again, the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will surely multiply your seed exceedingly, that it may not be counted because of its multitude.”

The son to be born received the promise of abundant offspring. While the number would not be as overwhelmingly grand as was given to Abram (as sand on the shore and stars in the sky), but he would receive it in similar measure. Hagar recognized that the One before her is the God of Abram and what was being offered and called the name of the Lord “You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees-Me” (Ge 16:13). She knew He saw because He responded and dealt with her attitude, circumstances, and future.

But God heard…
The story of God’s involvement with Hagar and Ishmael continued beyond the initial meeting. Years later, after Isaac was born and tensions once again arose, God told Abraham to follow through with Sarah’s plan to send away Hagar and Ishmael (Ge 21:12–13). While the previous fleeing had presumably been in familiar territory, so that Hagar could stop at springs, now they were in a life-threatening situation, so that she separated herself from Ishmael because she could not bear to watch him die. She had given up hope. Evidently, Ishmael had not, because God heard him and responded.

But God heard the voice of the lad from the place where he was. Then the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven , and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.” (Ge 21:17)

Rather than a face-to-face meeting, this time the Angel of God called from heaven. At this point someone may object that this cannot be Christ because of the change of reference from of the Lord to of God, however, notice what the Angel promised:

“Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” (Ge 21:18)

I will make him a great nation. No angel had the power or authority to make, much less ensure, such a promise. This was the same Person who had appeared to Hagar previously. Certain that God had abandoned her, she could not raise her voice to heaven, but Ishmael would, receiving mercy in their dire straits and reassurance for his mother.

Outside the promise, but still blessed
We can only wonder what would have happened had Ishmael clung to the God of his father, yet we know from history the continual conflict between his family and that of Isaac, through whom the promise continued. Even so, Hagar and Ishmael, having no hope of a future, received that very thing within the family of Abraham. They received what they had not right to receive.

Gentiles—those outside the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—are outside the family, yet we can come under the promise by virtue of like faith.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. (Ro 4:16–25)

We who were formerly outside the promise, now stand within it when we believe the God who promised by His Word what is accomplished for us in Christ. We are accounted as Abraham’s offspring and receive the blessing of righteousness.

Fixing What's Broken

For awhile now, I have noticed the increase in the use of broken or brokenness in discussions on the condition of people’s health, families, relationships, etc. Even with the increased knowledge and insights of various scientific and humanitarian endeavors, the human condition continues on a continual path of disarray, deterioration, and destruction. In recent weeks I have heard a couple sermons rightly describing the multiple examples in John 11. Following the narrative, one is presented with several examples as experienced by those in Bethany—debilitating sickness, earnest longing, dwindling hope, followed by death, grief, lament, and finally resignation—all within the span of a week or so. Those examples and others like them throughout Scripture provide a rich resource from which to draw and describe sin’s devastating effects. That being stated, I have also noticed the increased trend to ignore the cause of brokenness. In other words, an otherwise well-crafted presentation pointing out our dysfunction and need for rescue never gets to the underlying cause.

Why would someone fail to mention the root cause of the problem? Is there no desire to effect real change? Is there no expectation that change can be effected? Perhaps the pastor is tempted to soften the immediacy and severity of the condition in order to appeal to a mixed group, thinking that believers do not need to be reminded of the cause, and believers will not accept the explanation. Or perhaps the pastor simply fears giving offense, which is so easily taken in this culture. Whatever the reason, the net result is that, in spite of any passionate offering of Jesus as Savior, the gospel, as defined in Scripture, is never actually given.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. (1Co 15:3–5)

Christ died for sin, so without conveying that part of the message, there is no gospel. While Jesus may be offered as a savior or the savior, in effect that Jesus merely saves from our circumstances and feelings, but not our sin. We are offered a good therapist, or a moral example to admire and emulate, not One who transfers from death to life and cleanses from all unrighteousness. In an attempt to be relevant, nothing of substance is offered. All are left to wallow in the mire of their sin.

Instead of a veiled or milquetoast presentation offered in a way that salves the conscience, better to be forthright and forceful to all concerning sin, righteousness, judgment, and abounding grace. Friedrich August Crämer, rightly understanding that the force of Law and Gospel is not to be softened or otherwise nuanced based on audience but delivered for full effect, said:

Preach the Word, which is the power of God! Picture in vivid colors the deep misery of sin, so that the hearers become alarmed at their sinful state. Then preach also the Gospel in all its sweetness, pointing the people to Christ crucified, so that they come to a living faith in their Savior.*

This he directed to believers that they be reminded of the depths of misery from sin and be spurred to share Christ as “givers who will not look on their contributions as great sacrifices, but who will thank God that they are considered worthy to help in the spread of the Gospel by which they have been saved.” Yes, all are to have their sin made apparent that repentance and refuge might be sought in Christ. May our pastors be so caring that the message goes forth boldly and clearly to deliver the cure.


*  Quoted in The Lutheran Pioneer, Vol. 31.8, August 1909.

By Grace I'm Saved, Grace Free and Boundless

Because sometimes you just need to relish the abundance of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.

By grace I’m saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Has Scripture ever falsehood taught?
No! Then this word must true remain;
By grace you too will life obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in His love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone,
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace God's Son, our only Savior,
Came down to earth to bear our sin.
Was it because of thine own merit
That Jesus died your soul to win?
No, it was grace, and grace alone,
That brought Him from His heav’nly throne.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
So long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in His Word our God commands,
Our faith in what our God has done
Depends on grace—grace through His Son.

By grace to timid hearts that tremble,
In tribulation’s furnace tried,
By grace, in spite of fear and trouble,
The Father’s heart is open wide.
Where could I help and strength secure
If grace were not my anchor sure?

By grace! On this I’ll rest when dying;
In Jesus’ promise I rejoice;
For though I know my heart’s condition,
I also know my Savior’s voice.
My heart is glad, all grief has flown
Since I am saved by grace alone.

Text: Ephesians 2:8, 9
Author: Christian L. Scheidt, 1742, cento
Titled: “Aus Gnaden soll ich selig werden”
Composer: Kornelius H. Dretzel, 1731
Tune: “O dass ich tausend”

Got Rest?

Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.  And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.  And I said to you, “I am the Lᴏʀᴅ your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.”  But you have not obeyed my voice.  (Judges 6:8-10)

Midianites and Amalekites were having their way raiding Israel.  For seven years bands of invaders swept through the country from east to west and back again, leaving a wasteland via plunder and pillage.  God allowed this because the people of Israel had returned to doing evil: a lesson needed to be given.  After enough time the people of Israel “were brought low” and in the midst of their affliction “cried out for help to the Lᴏʀᴅ.”

We know nothing of the man who came with the message of the Lord.  In fact, I would say we might likely be surprised there were any prophets in Israel considering their spiritual state.  Should we be?  Reading enough of the Bible, especially the sections we call the Major and Minor Prophets, we see that their historical settings are generally when governmental leaders are self-serving, encouraging rapid decline, while spiritual shepherds are leading people astray.  The prophet is sent with the message of condemnation to elicit confession and repentance. 

The prophet gave a blistering message.  Notice the opening sentence: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.”  While the encouragement may be self-evident, the rebuke is scathing as it reminds the people of a time on Sinai when the Lord spoke those same words to Moses to introduce the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:2).  The people would know immediately where the rest of the message was going.  The Lord then uses the prophet to heap more on their heads by reminding them of His work on their behalf in driving out the nations, giving the Promised Land, and assuring them that He was their God with nothing to fear of any other so-called god.  But Israel had not obeyed.  What a stinging rebuke.  The Almighty Creator of heaven and earth delivered a people and fought for them to secure what He had promised, and they neglected Him.

Yet within the biting and stinging rebuke was encouragement the people needed.  God had made promises.  He had delivered them.  He had fought for them.  He was (and is) a God that is close and not far off.  He is still their God, and they are still His people.  What comfort!  Though there is not an explicit word of good news, this has prepared the people for the deliverance to come, as about this time the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon with the most shocking of pronouncements, “The Lᴏʀᴅ is with you, O mighty man of valor.”  A people who had been beaten down and broken to the point of hiding out in caves and other holes in the ground were to be delivered by a man who could only see the circumstance and not the God of grace and promise.  That same God still delivers today.

We live in a world beaten down and broken by our own hand.  Since the day Satan tempted Eve and both ate of the forbidden tree, sin ran rampant throughout mankind, and we look upon the devastation millennia later.  Rather than the marauding hordes absconding with physical goods, Satan perpetrated a master stroke through deception and subtlety: the first couple would willingly hand over their very souls.  From that time onward, we have continued on that path, eschewing what satisfies the soul and replacing it with that which can not.  The pursuit to fill the emptiness drives our cravings for that which drains further.  Whether or not we believe the attempts are are a noble goal of reconnecting with the divine—whoever or whatever that might be—each person is trying to fill a void that cannot be filled by human means.

In the aftermath of the Fall, God made a promise to crush the head of the serpent.  There would come a time when this great wrong would be made right.  Choosing a people for His own possession, God entered into a covenant with them, showcasing how He was different from all other gods and bestowing on them the privilege of being His witness to the world.  This covenant contained not just promises and blessings, but also warnings and consequences.   The relationship between the Lord and His people was one based on God’s attributes and character and was therefore entirely holy in nature.  God and His people were set apart for each other, therefore what came between (i.e., sin) had to be put away.  While there were temporary remedies through the shedding of blood, nothing was sufficient for the ultimate task.  God had to give Himself to be the final sacrifice and did so as the Son, second person of the Godhead, came into this world, put on humanity.  In so doing, He crushed the serpent’s head: sin no more had dominion.  What does this mean for today?

We still live in brokenness caused by sin.  We still seek for what cannot satisfy.  One can expect this behavior from the world.  Satan has so deluded them that the pursuit of vain things is considered the purpose of life with wealth or notoriety the pinnacle achievement; or discovering those things to be out of reach, they simply grasp for any fleeting bits of meaning.  Sadly, many in the Church act the same way.  Either they try to continue justifying themselves thinking to add to the work already completed in Christ for their salvation or to work fervently to prove myself as worthy of having received salvation.  They fail to understand that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant just that.  God’s favor is gained by believing on the Son, not engaging in a flurry of “spiritual” activity at home or the local assembly, nor engaging in so-called meditative and contemplative practices masking as Christianity.  Jesus calls us to rest in Him.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  (Matt 11:28-30)

Law and Grace

A few thousand years ago, a nation of people descended from the same person were assembled at the base of a mountain in the Middle East, which was covered with thick, dark, thundering clouds.  In Exodus 20, God gave to Moses His “Ten Commandments” or more properly “Ten Words.”  If I would ask you how God, there at Sinai, began His proclamation, what would be your answer?  I dare say that 90% of you would respond, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”  And you would be wrong.  The first words were, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”  Do you hear what He said?  YHWH introduced Himself as both the God of all power and the God of all grace!  The people were brought out of Egypt, not because of something they had done or merited, but because our God is a promise-keeping God. It was all for His name's sake.  Israel was the beneficiary.

Grace at the beginning of the Law—how can that be?  In giving the Law, God declared Himself to be altogether holy, demanding no less for His people.  The Ten Commandments encapsulate the Law with “You shall …” and “You shall not …”.  I cannot help but wonder if, when the Lord had finished the statements on coveting, the people may have wanted to retract their agreement: “All that the LORD has spoken we will do” (Ex 19:8).  How will they follow through on their end of this?  Perhaps a better question is: How would you?

Because God is Lord of all, He is free to demand things from His people.  He sets stipulations and expectations, and we are obligated to fully follow and obey.  Go through the commandments and compare your life to the list.  How do you compare?

• •  You shall have no other God's before Me – Have you placed something before God?
• •  You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain – Have you scandalized His name?
• •  You shall honor your father and your mother – Have you dishonored your parents?
• •  You shall not steal – Have you taken something that is not yours?
• •  You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor – Have you passed along information about someone that was not true? Or turned out to be not true?

To these questions, you might reply “Yes” or “Too often” or “Sometimes.”  If you said “No” to any, you simply do not understand the problem.  An honest look exposes our inability to keep them.  How, then, would anyone uphold his end of the agreement?  He doesn't—God does.  These were written looking forward to a completion as God promised His active sanctifying work in the one who lived by faith.  But here too mankind failed, and the Law damns both them and us because none can keep it.

The Law is holy, righteous, and good, but was wholly inadequate in that it could never take away the root problem—our sin.  Sacrifices were prescribed to cover sin, one for one, as a constant reminder that none was sufficient to perfect the believer.  A final sacrifice needed to be made—one that could overcome the devastating effects and consequences of sin for all people and all time.  To bring this about, Jesus, the eternal Son of God, took on human nature and willingly went to the cross to die, and not just die, but gloriously rise again, to demonstrate His victory over sin, death, and the Devil.  The Law is fulfilled.  No condemnation remains for those who are in Christ Jesus.

A Thorny Issue No More

Thorns are nasty things.  Varying in size from the small, pinprick type to “nails” multiple inches long able to induce lacerations, we wonder what their purpose is, except to be an annoyance.  And that surmising would not be off target.  The first mention of thorns tells us everything we need to know:

And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”  (Ge 3:17-19)

There you have it.  Thorns were placed on earth to be the fruit of our labors.  Because Adam sinned, he suffered the travail and ignominy of his choice.  By taking matters into his own hands and going his own way, the return was ruined.  Weeds (thorns, thistles, etc.) germinate sooner than useful plants and will choke out seedlings if not addressed.

The ramifications of the Fall are not exclusively physical but have a spiritual component.  When the Word of God goes forth, it may be received well enough, but can be choked out by the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches, producing nothing (Mt 13:7, 22).  Further, the elect will be affected if not guarding themselves concerning intimate association with the unrighteous and wicked:

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.  (Nu 33:55)

Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
    whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.  (Pr 22:5)

As much as thorns need to be removed for good growth, we are incapable of eradicating them.  Sure, measures have been developed to address the problem, but they simply cannot prevent thorns from growing anew.  Cyclically, the battle is engaged as our renewed attempts to weed are met with continued inroads and infiltration.  We simply are unable to prevent the encroachment—and the same goes for our lawns, farms, and gardens.  What we need is an effective panacea to combat all forms of the problem.  There is a remedy, and ironically, thorns were initially part of the solution.

Because thorns were introduced as part of the condemnation for sin, the underlying problem needed to be dealt with: the sin problem had to be rectified.  In order to accomplish this, the Lord Jesus came into this world, took on a human nature, and bore the curse that was rightfully ours (Ga 3:13).  As part of the great work of redemption, He took the very thorns that were part of the curse as a derisive, mocking crown (Mt 27:29; Mr 15:17; Joh 19:2, 5).  He wore on His head the symbol of what He would bear on the cross for you and me.  The One who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Co 5:21).  The clearing work is done.  Our souls are clean by believing that He paid our sin for us.

You might notice that there are still vestiges of the curse about us.  Those thorns still catch us.  Clearing is still needed for good growth.  We go to the Lord daily for the nourishment of His word and promise.  He does that weeding on our behalf, because we continue to live in this world.  We confess our sin before God, expecting absolution from One who is faithful to forgive us.  We feed on our Lord Jesus regularly, being built up in our most holy faith.  We are led by the Holy Spirit according to the preached Word.  We await the final day when the thorns will finally be removed, not just spiritually but physically:

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lᴏʀᴅ,
    an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.  (Is 55:13)

I cannot imagine having a field clear of these pesky plants, but there is the promise.  Indeed, Isaiah records much that God has planned to restore what was ruined through Adam’s sin (Is 54:1-56:8). From the Israelite to the foreigner, God will join us to Himself in everlasting peace.  And what was the cost to do this?  Only the most precious gift that could be given, His Son, who was willing to go and take the blows for us (Is 52:13-53:12).  What is expected of us then?  sing (Is 54:1); cease fear (Is 54:4); rest in comfort (Is 54:11-17); be satisfied (Is 55:1-13); trust (Is 56:1-8).  There is nothing to do but receive the abundant grace of God.

Quieting Fear in the Sinner; Inciting Fear in the Righteous

The Lᴏʀᴅ is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also hears their cry and saves them.
The Lᴏʀᴅ preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.  (Ps 145:18-20)

If [God] frightens the sinner and the person who is remaining in his sins, he carries him into despair and rejection of hope.  But if he blesses the righteous man, he weakens the intensity of his virtue and causes him to be neglectful of zeal as one who has already been blessed.  For this reason he has mercy on the sinner, but frightens the righteous man.  “He is fearful,” [scripture] says, “to all around him,”* and “The Lord is good to all.”†  “He is fearful,” [scripture] says, “to all around him,” and who would these be but the saints?  “For God,” David says, “who is glorified in the counsel of saints, is great and fearful to all around him.”  If he sees someone fallen, he extends a hand of kindness.  If he sees someone standing, he applies fear.  This, too, belongs to righteous judgment.  For he causes the righteous man to stand fast through fear, and raises up the sinner through kindness.  And do you want to learn of his timely goodness and severity that is useful and suited to us?  Pay careful attention in order that the greatness of the thought may not escape your notice.… He says to sinners, “If your sins are like scarlet, I will make [them] white as snow.”‡  And he changes the darkness into light by the change of repentance, and puts an end to so great an abundance of evils by the voice of his goodness.  To the man who walks in righteousness he says, “Whoever says to his brother, ‘Fool!,’ is liable to the hell of fire.”§  He applies such severity to one word, and measures out so much liberality to so many sins.

Severian of Gabala, On Repentance and Contrition, II.13

*  Psalm 89:7
†  Psalm 145:9

‡  Isaiah 1:18
§  Matthew 5:22

It All Points to Him

Psalm 19 is divided into three main sections, each describing an aspect of the divine law being proclaimed.  The psalm can be outlined this way:

Law of Creation (1-6)	The heavens declare the glory of God,     and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech,     and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words,     whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth,     and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,     and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens,     and its circuit to the end of them,     and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Law of Moses (7-11)	The law of the Lᴏʀᴅ is perfect,     reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lᴏʀᴅ is sure,     making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lᴏʀᴅ are right,     rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lᴏʀᴅ is pure,     enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lᴏʀᴅ is clean,     enduring forever; the rules of the Lᴏʀᴅ are true,     and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold,     even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey     and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned;     in keeping them there is great reward.
Law of Grace (12-14)	Who can discern his errors?     Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;     let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless,     and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart     be acceptable in your sight,     O Lᴏʀᴅ, my rock and my redeemer.

David gives a three-step description of how he knows who and what God is and what that means for the life of faith.  Theodoret of Cyrus comments on this psalm:

Blessed David in this psalm teaches men the harmony between these [divine laws]: firstly, the one the creator preaches in creation; then the one given through Moses, instilling a greater knowledge of the creator to those willing to attend; after that, the law of grace, perfectly purifying souls and freeing them from the present destruction.

Commentary on the Psalms, 19.1

These sections build from one to another.  As we take in the functioning of creation in its precision and recognizes there is someone or something keeping order.  From there, God’s law revealed through Moses and the prophets supplies details of that someone: there is a Creator, and He wants us to know of Him.  Though the revelation is marvelous to mankind, even this is not sufficient for David.  Beyond all that the Scriptures had within them—those things in which we could delight—still there was an understanding that more must be coming.  The Law is good, but David recognized his own shortcomings.  There was a universal need yet to be met, one which the psalmist longed to have applied to himself and, by extension, all who love the Lord.  We who love the Law know that it only reminds us that we are sinners.  We desire a permanent atoning sacrifice and a firm declaration of God that the guilt and condemnation is removed.

You may be thinking, “That sounds like an outline of Romans,” and you would be correct. Paul uses similar logic:

Law of Creation	For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.  (Rom 1:19-20)
Law of Moses	Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.  For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.  (Rom 3:19-20)
Law of Grace	There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  (Rom 8:1-2)

All that God has made and revealed declares who and what He is and where we stand in relation to Him.  A sufficient guilt-bearer and intermediary were required to reconcile God and man, and only Jesus, incarnate God, could provide a full satisfaction.  There is nothing more than to believe on that saving work and heap adoration on the source of salvation, as Paul put it:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
    For who has known the mind of the Lord,
        or who has been his counselor?
    Or who has given a gift to him
        that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever.  Amen.  (Rom 11:33-36)

I end with Theodoret’s closing comments on Psalm 19:

[David is saying,] “I long to enjoy … presenting my soul to you completely free from blame.  On receipt of pardon from you for my past failings, may I offer to you everlasting hymn singing, giving my unwavering attention to your sayings.”… By way of supplying a finale to the psalm, he called him Lord insofar as he is maker and creator, and redeemer insofar as he frees us by the regeneration of holy baptism* from our former perdition, redeems us from enslavement to the demons, and bestows on us incorruptibility and immortality.  The psalm includes both former and latter subjects: it instructs us firstly on creation and providence; in the middle on the Law; and finally on grace.  Now, the New Testament provides these goods.

Commentary on the Psalms, 19.13-14

* Theodoret was a firm adherent of baptism as a means of grace.

The Great Reversal

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.  (Luke 1:32-33)

God often does things in a way that is completely opposite to human expectations.  We sometimes call this the Great Reversal.  Evident too in the individual lament psalms is the Gospel theme of the Great Reversal.  Psalms 22, 31, and 69 are all psalms of David, and the life of David offers many examples of reversal: the eighth and last don of Jesse became his foremost son; the shepherd boy was anointed by Samuel to shepherd Israel; the lightly armed youth slew the fearsome giant; the young man unjustly hunted by King Saul succeeded him as king; and while King David wanted to build a house for God, instead God established David's house (dynasty) to endure forever through the Son of David who would rule on the throne of David for eternity (Luke 1:32-33; 2 Samuel 7).

Arthur A. Just, Heaven on Earth, 121

The Gift of Grace

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  (Matt 11:28-30)

Do you need to lay your burdens at the feet of the One who gives you help in trouble?  Jesus said, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  The life you crave is under the grace of God.  It is not a life of denial, suppression, or running away.  It is not a life of drowning your sorrows or displacing your anger or punishing yourself.  It is life that has the burden removed, the pain relieved, and the pressure soothed.  The price wasn’t cheap.  Confession of sin is not a “get out of jail free” card that you flip back onto the game board as you go your merry way.  The cost for the removal of our sin was the life of the Son of God.  His brutal death and abandonment by God is the result of casting our cares upon Him.  The gift is grace with great gravity.  It’s serious business that moves our hearts and causes us to fall down in worship and thanksgiving.  At the cost of His Son, God is our help in trouble.

Michael W. Newman, The Life You Crave: It’s All About Grace

Wrath and Grace—The Same God Pours Out Both

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.  (Ex 20:5-6)

Although these words relate to all the commandments (as we shall hereafter learn), yet they are joined to this chief commandment because it is of first importance that men have a right head; for where the head is right, the whole life must be right, and vice versa.  Learn, therefore, from these words how angry God is with those who trust in anything but Him, and again, how good and gracious He is to those who trust and believe in Him alone with the whole heart;* so that His anger does not cease until the fourth generation, while, on the other hand, His blessing and goodness extend to many thousands, lest you live in such security and commit yourself to chance, as men of brutal heart, who think that it makes no great difference how they live.  He is a God who will not leave it unavenged if men turn from Him, and will not cease to be angry until the fourth generation, even until they are utterly exterminated.  Therefore He is to be feared, and not to be despised.† … Let every one seriously take this to heart, lest it be regarded as though a man had spoken it.  For to you it is a question either of eternal blessing, happiness, and salvation, or of eternal wrath, misery, and woe.  What more would you have or desire than that He so kindly promises to be yours with every blessing, and to protect and help you in all need?

Martin Luther, Large Catechism: 31-34, 41

*  Deuteronomy 6:5
†  Deuteronomy 10:20

… And He Died

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.  Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.  (Gen 5:21-24)

People often look at chapter 5 of Genesis and are amazed at how long everyone lived. Yet the point of the chapter is not the long lives, but the death which man cannot avoid.  Even though men lived much longer, death reigned over them.  Men still pursue long life but cannot avoid death.  God had created men to live but human rebellion brought only death instead of a better way of life.

Why does death hold us so fast?  We are bound fast by God’s that we are dust and to dust we shall return.  What is to free us from this sentence of death?  Our only hope is in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, who was willing to become one with us to free us from the curse of the Law.  Jesus subjected Himself to the power of death that through Him death might be destroyed.  No descendant of Adam could free himself from the power of death, yet Christ, the Second Adam, came to give us life.

In the midst of all this death, Enoch is born in the seventh generation as a message of hope.  In this “generation of the Sabbath,” God gives rest to a son of Adam who is under the curse.  Enoch, whose name means “one trained up” (like a child in Prov. 22:6) or “dedicated” (like the temple in 1 Kings 8:63), has been taught to trust in  the Promise.  Enoch walked with God, that is, he lived by faith in the righteousness of the coming Savior, as did Noah (6:8-9) and Abram (15:6).  Enoch’s 365 years remind us of the days in each year and how quickly the days of our lives pass away.  Here God promises that the days of our lives are numbered and He will give true rest from all our labors.  God takes Enoch’s body away from the grip of death to testify that our bodies are His temple, set apart in Holy Baptism.  In this one man we see the abundance of the grace of God revealed.  This grace of God is now graciously extended to all men through the one Man, Jesus Christ.  The shortness of the days of Enoch reminds us that real life is only given through faith in this one Man who conquered death by His own death.

Enoch’s son, Methuselah, is not to be envied.  The length of his days only returns him to the burden of sinful existence and death.  Methuselah means “the sent male.”  Enoch had sent his son to proclaim the news of God’s grace, just as Jesus sent out his ministers of the Gospel to proclaim salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone.  The “good news” for Methuselah was not his 969 years but the saving grace of God in Christ for eternity.

Karl Fabrizius, Gottestiendst, Vol. 22.1

Revel in the Greatness of Grace

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.  (Ps 103:11-12)

And not only is this the wonderful thing that He remits our sins, but that He does not reveal them, nor make them open and obvious, nor compel us to come forward into the midst, and to tell out our errors; but He bids us make our defense to Him alone, and to confess ourselves to Him.  And yet among secular judges, if any tell any of the robbers or grave-diggers, when they are arrested, to tell their errors and be cleared of their punishment, they would agree to this with all readiness, despising the shame through desire of safety.  But in this case there is nothing of this kind, but He remits the sins, not compelling us to organize them in array before any spectators.  But one thing alone He seeks, that he who enjoys this remission should learn the greatness of the gift.

John Chrysostom, Second Instruction to Catechumens, 4

Terrible Waste or Extravagant Grace?

When [Jesus] saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they went they were cleansed.  Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.  Now he was a Samaritan.  (Luke 17:14-16)

Jesus is all about grace.  That hits hard in a world wired for results.  But the Kingdom of God is not of the world.  It is in the world.  The success of the Gospel cannot be measured in demonstrable results but in faithfulness.  The nature of God's Kingdom is that it is measured not by outcomes we see but by faith that trusts the Lord to do what He has promised.

While this ought to come as great comfort when we find ourselves without the success stories the world uses to decide things, it cannot be allowed to lull us into complacency as if this means we can afford to do nothing at all.  The world around us judges everything on the basis of a high rate of return.  The Lord judges on the basis of faithfulness.  What He looks for in us are hearts that trust in His Word and Spirit for ourselves and who will faithfully speak that Word so the Spirit may work in the lives of others.

We might well have dismissed the story of the ten lepers as the waste of a good miracle.  Why would anyone heal ten to bring one person to faith?  We find the same question in the work of the Church today.  Is it worth helping nine families who may not be deserving in order to make sure that the one deserving family receives help?

Sadly we are literally killing the Church by focusing on understanding the process or predicting the outcomes—none of which are our business—instead of focusing on the witnessing, service, and works of mercy that our the business of the Church and all of God’s baptized people.  We market the Gospel as if it were a product and put our confidence in marketing schemes instead of speaking and showing that Word and trusting the Lord to do what He promises.  The Kingdom of God is not about charts or business strategies or success ratios.  It is about grace and mercy, faithfully believed and faithfully spoken and shown to the world.

The Lord is so generous that He is wasteful as the world counts things—but this is not a problem.  This is our glory and our hope.  The Lord forgives the sins of sinners.  Not the nice sinners who inadvertently screw up but deliberate and calculating sinners.  The sins He forgives are not the little ones we all understand but the heavy hitters of a people so caught in sin that they cannot free themselves.

The Lord bestows life to the dying and does not reward the worthy but reaches into death to save those the world calls lost causes.  We are literally a church of lost causes whom the world has consigned to failure but upon whom God shows extravagant mercy and grace.  The Lord has taken our death upon His shoulders and placed upon us the life that is so far beyond our merit it is a shock and scandal of great proportion.  It is not justice; Jesus calls it grace.  The Lord bestows His mercy upon those in need without regard to their merit.  It is an extravagant mercy that goes beyond all reason or justice.  God is not merciful to the nice or the deserving but to the wretched sinners who have nothing to offer Him but faith in Christ.

God does not act based upon successful results—God acts and the consequences are forgiveness, life, and salvation for all the lost causes and unworthy.  That would be you and me.

Larry Peters, extract from sermon for October 13, 2013

Our Works Cannot Overcome Our Sin

We believe and teach that good works must necessarily be done…, nevertheless we give to Christ His own honor.  We believe and teach that by faith, for Christ's sake, we are accounted righteous before God, that we are not accounted righteous because of works without Christ as Mediator, that by works we do not merit the remission of sins, grace, and righteousness, that we cannot set our works against the wrath and justice of God, that works cannot overcome the terrors of sin, but that the terrors of sin are overcome by faith alone, that only Christ the Mediator is to be presented by faith against the wrath and judgment of God.  If any one think differently, he does not give Christ due honor, who has been set forth that He might be a Propitiator, that through Him we might have access to the Father.

Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article V: Of Love and Fulfilling of the Law, 93-94

And Such Were Some of You

Yesterday, our pastor completed a series on Judges entitled Scandalous Grace looking at how God's grace overrules in our lives for our good and his purposes, and also pointing out that four of those judges are mentioned in the faith chapter of the New Testament, Hebrews 11.

And what more shall I say?  For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.  (Heb 11:32-34)

These men were deeply flawed, yet the Lord used each of them and had them specifically called out by the writer of Hebrews.  This is both marvelous and confusing.

God has no limits to his grace.  If we have been believers for any length of time, there should be little difficulty appreciating the length and breadth of that grace extending to sinful men and women.  Before believing the gospel, we Christians were living in open opposition to the Lord (1 Cor 6:9-11a; Eph 2:1-3) and went through a change of position effected in us by virtue of Jesus' atoning sacrifice (1 Cor 6:11b; Eph 2:4-9).  We are God's elect (Eph 1:4; Col 3:12; 1 Thess 1:4; Titus 1:1).  Thus far there are no surprises.

A confusion comes when the elect do not act like the elect.  Whether old covenant or new, there is an expectation that God's work will manifest itself in good works (Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18; 1 Cor 6:12-20; Eph 2:10), yet selfish cowards, mercenaries, and scoundrels have their purported faith highlighted.  What gives?  How did they get in?

The bewilderment stems from a misconception or misunderstanding of life as one of God's elect.  I was in attendance during an informal gathering of Christians.  After some discussion, one mature, God-fearing gentleman said that it was too bad there were no good examples of fathers or husbands in the Bible.  That statement is simply not true—just the opposite.  Those people revealed to us by the Lord are the best examples for us.  We need them, not just because God can work through the weak and sinful, but because we are the weak and sinful.  Those negative examples illuminate the problem Christians bring to scripture.  We tend to think

Because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, I will overcome faults and understand divine mysteries.  Those Old Testament characters were weak because they do not have what I have.

What arrogance!—I had.  And my attitude was not unique.  I ran around with immature Christians that felt the same way.  I now regularly meet Christians of every walk who feel this way.  Again, what arrogance that we think we are somehow more spiritual.  We are not immune.  The church in Corinth firmly believed they were better and could do as they pleased.  Compare Paul's first letter to Corinth (and Clement of Rome's later letter) alongside the book of Judges.  The similarities would be remarkable.  One could easily rewrite Judges 21:25 and place it at the end of 1 Corinthians.

In those days there was no king in Corinth.  Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

I do not wish to say that the church is wholly destitute or corrupt by virtue of pride.  True, some individuals and groups have gone off the rails: Jesus is still the head of the church.  Rather we recognize that we are no better than those on whom we look down at, and daily come before Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in all humility remembering that "there but for the grace of God go I."

I Hope So, Because I Know So

[God] saved us … by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7)

Thus we need the Spirit abundantly … again by grace and not by debt.  At the same time there is an incitement to humility, and a hope for the future.  For if when we were so abandoned, as to require to be born again, to be saved by grace, to have no good in us, if then He saved us, much more will He save us in the world to come.

John Chrysostom, Homilies on Titus 5

Beyond Comprehension, yet Every Bit True

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  (1 Tim 1:15)

The favors of God so far exceed human hope and expectation, that often they are not believed.  For God has bestowed upon us such things as the mind of man never looked for, never thought of.  It is for this reason that the apostles spend much discourse in securing a belief of the gifts that are granted us of God.  For as men, upon receiving some great good, ask themselves if it is not a dream, as not believing it; so it is with respect to the gifts of God.  What then was it that was thought incredible?  That those who were enemies, and sinners, neither justified by the law, nor by works, should immediately through faith alone be advanced to the highest favor.  Upon this head accordingly Paul has discoursed at length in his epistle to the Romans, and here again at length.  "This saying is trustworthy," he says, "and deserving of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Timothy

Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse

Ignorantia juris non excusat is a legal principle holding that a person is liable whether or not the offender knows that law exists.  Mankind does not like a strict, disciplinarian, all-or-nothing approach to governance.  Guilt remains, though a judge may be lenient in the administration of judgment because of ignorance or in cases of mental deficiency or incapacity.  Martin Luther noticed this when he wrote: "In the affairs of government there is room for invincible ignorance, as when someone is at fault because he is encumbered by sickness or is insane" (Lectures on Genesis, Gen 12:17).  Where leniency goes awry is in the application.  Attempting to mitigate the effects of our wrongful actions to our fellow man, we excuse ourselves by claiming ignorance or diminished mental capacity in hopes of escaping the due penalty for willful actions.  What is meant to administer mercy in justice becomes a weapon to allow unbridled expression of our innate depravity.

The same principle of inexcusable culpability is in effect before God.  He has established a law consistent with his character against which all offenses are capital.  The first statute imposed on humanity was simple and clear: do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:17).  Obedience is required; disobedience carries the death penalty.  As the Lord continued to reveal more of himself through his commands, the norm never changed.  Man responded by excusing himself rather than acknowledging the problem.  Luther continued:

But these ideas [of invincible ignorance] should not be carried over into religion and matters of conscience.  We are born with the blindness of original sin.  That evil is invincible in the sense that it holds even the regenerate captive; but this does not make it excusable, the way the scholastics have declared invincible ignorance excusable, so that it directly excuses…, that is, does away with sin entirely.)

Ibid, Lectures on Genesis

The reasoning went like this: if the nature of the offense and its penalty could be sufficiently ignored, it never existed at all.  But while people and nations have done this to one another on a regular basis, "God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Gal 6:7).  You and I are guilty, without excuse.

To deal with both the demands of the law and our inability and unwillingness to abide by it, God the Son took on our human nature, fulfilled all the righteous requirements, and freely accepted in himself the full penalty due to us (Rom 3:21-26;1 Pet 3:18).  This he did, not because we deserved any of it, but because he loves us (John 3:16; Rom 5:8).

Adding to Grace Is Falling from Grace

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.  I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.  You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.  For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.  (Galatians 5:2-6)

Judaizers had been working overtime to nullify the effects of the gospel in the lives of the Galatian believers.  Promoting obligatory external manifestation of God's working in these Gentile believers, they had been successful in turning hearts by adding to what God had accomplished in the cross of Jesus.  No longer was the atoning sacrifice sufficient.  These believers were being taught that, though baptism was a public repudiation of the past life and a declaration of faith in the Lord Jesus, it no longer buried someone with Christ to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-4).  Circumcision was now the required addition to complete the work of salvation.

According to the Galatians passage, the reverse is true.  When we add to grace, we actually fall from grace.  When we attempt to complete a finished work, Christ is no longer the all-sufficient sacrifice.  He is not the offering who removes our sin from us.  Much as the recipients of the epistle to the Hebrews were former Jews tempted to return to their sacrifices, the Galatians were pushed to confirm that Jesus' suffering and death was not able to cover their sin and take the same Old Covenant path.

This is no small matter.  Above, Paul speaks of those who take would circumcision as "severed from Christ" and "fallen away from grace."  These are serious words.  A. T. Robertson (Word Pictures in the New Testament) writes that these have made their identification with Christ "null and void" and "left the sphere of grace in Christ" to took a stand "in the sphere of law as your hope of salvation."  He goes on to say:

Paul does not mince words and carries the logic to the end of the course.  He is not, of course, speaking of occasional sins, but he has in mind a far more serious matter, that of substituting law for Christ as the agent in salvation.

Clearly, Paul marks those who now want to take circumcision—not stating that any had already taken this step but is warning against this act of apostasy—as fully turning their backs on the grace of God found in Christ Jesus and as those of whom "it is impossible to restore again to repentance … since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt" (Heb 6:4-6).  They have no further recourse for salvation after abandoning the redemption and reconciliation won by Jesus.

Conversely, those who live by grace through faith are "eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness" through the Holy Spirit.  They live in full assurance that what Christ promised and won on the cross is waiting for them in the final resurrection.  Let us then hold fast our confession of faith (Heb 4:14).