Blog Archives - Grace for Law

Grace for Law

August Ending

8/30/2011

Another month almost gone. It's a 31 day month, so we have one more day.

We have a lot of ways of thinking of time. We have weeks (7 days) and fortnights (14 days) and ten-day periods (common in legal stuff that I do) and months and years and decades and lots of more separations. What are we to do with all this noise about time?

Actually, we don't need to do much with them. They are just things we have made up for our own convenience (like the verse and chapter divisions in scripture). In the end, we still only get one day at a time.

But, it is the passage of another milestone of some kind. It affects how we feel about ourselves and our progress in life and in the things of God. So, again, what do we do?

Well, take a minute and think about how another summer is coming to an end. Summer was always, in earlier times, the time for putting in all the food of the year. Everything had to grow and, in the fall, be harvested and stored. What have you grown this summer? Have you grown enough to keep you going this year?

Has the summer been a waste for you? Sometimes, we just look back and realize that our summer has accomplished nothing. We are not closer to our wives, or closer to our children, or more mature in our faith.

Ultimately, for us, the passage of time makes us rethink what we have done. But there is one more thing.

A new season begins for us, the fall of the year. Everything you wanted to do this summer can be done starting today. Spending time worrying about what you should have done is useless, start doing something today.

August is ending tomorrow. It's time to start something new.

Living with Disappointments

8/25/2011

Okay, so we have learned to deal with "earthquakes" in our life. What about disappointments?

I am thinking of this on this morning because I just learned that the recording of last night's Elisha class failed. We are recording that class on the church's equipment and we had changed rooms. For some reason, the recording failed only a few minutes into the class. So, we lost it.

Now, on the one hand, this is a real bummer. Being able to post a recording of a class is kind of a big deal. People who miss the class can listen, people who live elsewhere can listen, even I can listen. (I listen to my recordings regularly to catch what I am doing wrong.) Losing it is a real bummer. Two things, though.

First, God is sovereign. God knows how to make recording work and if it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. We do all that we can do and when something fails, it just fails. It is foolish to be angry about anything that happens in our lives because we know that God is sovereign and that He always has a plan. So, the recording did not work. I am good with that. I am disappointed, but that is life.

Second, it is really not that important that the world be able to access everything I say. I am a teacher. I teach and sometimes teach well and sometimes teach not so well. I am not so in love with myself as to want everyone to have to be able to hear everything I teach.

So, yes, it is disappointing. But, no, it is not something that ought to get me angry or annoyed or even upset. It just is what it is.

How are you doing with disappointments today? Did someone not do something they were supposed to do? Did someone cut you off in traffic? Did a big job go to a competitor?

Remember that God is sovereign. He loves you and disciplines you and protects you. You may be disappointed, because you had expectations that were not met, but He is not disappointed. He is God.

An Occasional Quake

8/24/2011

The big news this morning is that there was a small earthquake in Virginia, which affected Washington, D.C. By "affected," I mean it made some buildings shake a little. Apparently, no one was hurt, but a few windows broke and some pieces fell off the National Cathedral. Still, it was "big news" and everyone was talking about it.

Speaking as someone who lived 15 years in the Pacific Northwest, I am not really impressed. We had small quakes and big quakes. Our buildings shook and the ground trembled and we moved on with our lives.

It's all about what you expect, isn't it? If you expect quakes (like in the Northwest), then a quake is not a big deal. You just live with it. On the other hand, if you think you are immune from quakes, then even a small quake seems like a very big deal.

The same thing is true in life. Many of us were told, as children, that being a Christian meant our lives would be safe and easy. "God loves you," we were told, "and He will take care of you." Our parents seemed happy and we did not really know what went on in adult life. Likewise, some adults who are now in our churches were brought to church by the same promises. "God will fix your family" or "God will fix your finances" or "God will make you happy," they were told.

What happens when these lies are exposed? Because they are lies and they will be exposed. Yes, God loves us, but He loves as a Father not as a television dad. He is not about giving us lots of things, but about making us better people.

"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by
him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he
receives." Heb. 12:5.

The Lord disciplines, which involves suffering. "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant," we are told in Hebrews 12:11. "but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

What quakes have come your way lately? It may be much more than turning over some lawn furniture or breaking a window. It may be the kind of quake you would never have chosen. It may be the kind of quake that shakes you to the foundation of all that you are. But it is what He sends to you in His love.

Do not panic over the quakes you feel in your life. Have faith in God, and the quakes will yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Working It Out

8/23/2011

Have you ever fallen into one of those ruts where you just can't seem to get things done. There is just so much to do and, somehow, your motivation just isn't there. You just have to get it done. There is no real pleasure in what you are doing, it just has to be done.

This is hard for us, in the modern world, because there are so many options. We can find another way to do something (eating out rather than cooking), or we can just leave something undone (so the house is a mess, no one is coming over anyway). We don't take a lot of pleasure or pride in getting things done. Our pleasure and our pride is in doing what we want to do.

This is a very unfortunate reality in our modern world. We really just want to do what we want to do. We want things to be what we want them to be, without actually making them be anything at all. We want what we want. But we don't want to make what we want.

What do you want out of your spiritual life? Too often, we hear people whose wants are all defined by what people can do for them. I remember a man telling me, years ago, that he could not attend a particular church because it was "hard to worship if the music was not really well done." He said it without any sense of how serious a confession of failure he was making. He thought he was complaining about the church, but he was confessing about himself. He cannot worship the God of the Universe, Creator of all things, unless he has professional music. Amazing.

Your spiritual life is your spiritual life. It is not your pastor's life or your music minister's life or your Sunday School teachers's life, it is your life. The word is available on your desk. Prayer is available at all times. Books and videos and recordings abound.

If you want a stronger spiritual life, then get one. Do not wait for someone to hand it to you.

A Scrimmage, a Game Day, and My Life

8/22/2011

On Friday, my wife and I went to a high school football scrimmage. This was not a voluntary activity (my son is in the marching band), but was interesting. The "game" was terrible.

The teams were terrible. At one point, they came out and lined up on the wrong side of the ball after a punt. There were penalties on almost every play. There were fumbles and drops and obvious mistakes. It was, to put it simply, an ugly game.

But, then, it was a scrimmage. It was a practice game (and, boy, did they need practice). It was filled with mistakes and problems. It was a scrimmage.

I wonder how we think about our Christian lives and, especially, how we think about the lives of others. I think most of us think of ourselves as involved in a scrimmage, but we expect everyone else to be on their game.

As for others, we are so harsh in our judgments. When they fail, we are angry. We are so disappointed if they are caught in a lie. We are so angry if they are involved in a fight or take some absurd theological position or go to the wrong movies. We watch them like we are fans at a Super Bowl, expecting top-flight play. We see their sins as being like fumbles by high-paid players.

But our lives are scrimmages. We make lots of mistakes and expect people to understand. We are hurt when someone judges us because we lied or because we cheated or because we said something foolish. "They are too judgmental," we say. "Why should they judge me?" we demand.

I think it is time we turn this around. From my perspective, everyone else is in a scrimmage, doing their best but making mistakes from which they will learn. I am to be patient with them. 1 Thess. 5:14. Their mistakes are supposed to bring my understanding and kindness, not my condemnation.

But, as for me, every day is game day. I expect to do the right things, not the wrong things. I don't want to make mistakes. I want everyone who is watching to see a top-flight performance.

As for me, in other words, I will expect to live at a high level of spiritual life and to grow from what mistakes I make. As for others, I will be patient and kind and understanding.

Even a scrimmage can be a very interesting experience.

Elijah's Mountaintop and Modern "Prophets"

8/19/2011

In 2 Kings 1, we have an amazing story regarding Elijah. It begins with the king of Israel sending messengers to seek advice on his health from a false god. The messengers are met by Elijah, who tells them that the king will die because he has sought advice from a false god rather than from the true God. The messengers tell the king, who sends soldiers to bring Elijah to him.

The exciting part of the story is that the soldiers sent to get Elijah are killed. God kills them at the request of Elijah. "If I am a man of God," Elijah says, "let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty [soldiers]." And fire comes down. This happens twice, a total of 102 dead soldiers. Ultimately, the third commander who is sent pleads with Elijah for his life and the lives of his men, God tells Elijah it is okay to go with them, Elijah visits the king, tells him he will die, and the king dies. End of story.

There are lots of questions, but here is one we need to consider. Look at the importance of a prophet of God. Elijah (and Elisha who follows him) have the power of life and death over people. Whether soldiers lived or died depended on their words. Their safety and their thoughts of safety were so important that men died.

When I come across modern Christians who claim the mantle of prophecy, who assert that they are "real prophets" and that "God is still making prophets like in the old days," I cannot help but disagree. Where is an Elijah or Elisha? Nowhere.

These modern prophets have no power like the old prophets. They cannot stop death or raise the dead. They cannot condemn kings and cities and have their condemnations come true. They cannot float axe heads, cleanse the waters of a city, or stop poison from working. All they do is hold large meetings, collect a lot of money, and tell people they are healed. They have no power. No one seeks them out when the nation is at risk. They are not "the horses and chariots" of their nations or of the church, as Elijah (2 Kings 2:12) and Elisha (2 Kings 13:14) were.

These modern prophets have no knowledge like the old prophets. They tell you what they think or suggest and claim that God "talks to" them through vague impressions they receive while praying. The old prophets had better knowledge, because God "made himself known" to them (Numbers 12:6-9) and His word was so clear that if any prophet were ever wrong about any prophecy, that prophet was killed because God's prophets are never wrong. Deu. 18:20-22.

Finally, they have no humility and no suffering like the old prophets. The modern prophet does not live with a widow while the nation around him suffers the drought he has brought about. The modern prophet is not hunted by the government and even foreign governments who send armies to destroy him. The modern prophet is not killed for his faith or dropped into a well or placed into a fiery furnace or dropped into a lion's den.

The old prophets were men of God empowered for lives of significance and service, for courage and knowledge and remarkable service to God. Their day has passed. We are in a New Covenant where such prophets are no longer among us.

We honor them, the old prophets of God, who were truly Men of God!

Life of Elisha

8/18/2011

Today, I have posted the first lesson in a series on the Life of Elisha. This is a series being taught on Wednesday nights at Kiokee Baptist Church.

Elisha is a fascinating person in scripture, because everything in his life is so far removed from anything in our lives. His relationship to God is not like anyone else's relationship. He performs miracles as large as raising the dead and as small as eliminating poison from a pot of soup or making a axe-head float. He gives help to those in need and declares the condemnation of those who doubt him.

Elisha lived in a different world than we live in. In the days of the prophets, God dealt with a physical nation in physical ways. He provided powerful, physical reminders of His greatness and His authority, both to good and evil. His men stood apart from all other men in the culture.

We have people today who will claim to be prophets in some sense, but they are never prophets in the sense that Elisha was a prophet. We often use the term "prophet" to mean someone who is smart or who speaks well or who manifests wisdom, but we do not use it to mean people like Elisha because there are no such people.

The coming of the New Covenant has presented us with a new work of God, as He indwells all His people and changes them from the inside. He works in us to grow us, to cause us to "will and to do" of His good pleasure. We no longer need or want the ways of the Old Testament world.

But, we need to understand them. We need to know what God was teaching all those years ago, in the words, the life, and the miracles of Elisha. What is past, after all, is prologue, and who can understand a play if he misses the prologue?

Riots, People, and the Role of Civilization

8/17/2011

Once again we find ourselves dealing with the problem of riots. For some reason, we periodically become aware of riots (usually because they are in our country or a country we like) and we have a fit of trying to determine who or what to blame. What is the spiritual truth here?

First, we know why people riot, in general. They riot because they are evil. People riot because they are flawed, fallen, evil people. They riot because they are sinners. Riots are, in that sense, simply the natural outcome of their natural condition. It is the same reason people murder, people steal, people lie, and people cheat on their taxes. Sin is at the root of everything. We should not, in that sense, be surprised that anyone ever riots, but only that riots are as infrequent as they are.

Secondly, riots shine a light on the efforts of civilization to overcome (or at least limit) the sinful acts of people. The reason people do not always riot is because, through civilization, God has so acted upon wicked men that their wickedness is not always on full display. By the nature of things, people's sinfulness is channeled such that they do not always do all the evil they would otherwise do. All of our laws are based on this truth, that people are evil and must be prevented from acting out their evil tendencies. Without the governments God has created to restrain evil, the riots would be our daily lives.

The Bible makes clear that law is not made for the righteous, but for sinners.

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the
law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly
and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and
mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality,
enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in
accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been
entrusted.

1 Timothy 1:8-11. When we see laws broken by large groups of people, we know that something has gone wrong in the system. The law is intended to control the sinfulness of people and, where the law fails, that sinfulness can have full reign.

As Christians, our primary goal is the proclamation of the gospel of salvation. However, it is proper and fitting that we should, while recognizing sin as the basis of rioting, also ask what may be done to prevent such things going forward. The laws, and the systems we use for law, must adjust to cope with the evil that is within us all. When we see that the systems are failing, then we must be ready to adjust those systems.

Why do they riot? Because they are evil, certainly, but also because, for whatever reason, that which restrains their evil has failed. Something has been allowed to fester and become uncontrollable, something which should have been foreseen and prevented.

Riots call us to realize again not only that people are wicked, but that we must be ever vigilant in governance. We are to pray for our leaders, that we may live quiet lives. 1 Timothy 2:1. We are to live lives of simplicity that honor God. We are to love our neighbors and obey the laws we are given. We are to help the government perform its function of deterring evil.

The riots also remind me of when I was as they are: lost and without hope. I was once as they are: criminal and evil, with a heart that was deceitful. I should not let my fear and anger at their rioting prevent me from obeying the command to love them.

Pray for our leaders. Pray that they will, again, restrain the evil. Pray that we may have quiet lives.

The Golden Rule and the Socialist Rule

8/16/2011

The question has been asked as to whether the Socialist Rule of society ("From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs") was, in essence, a vision that is equivalent to the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.). The answer is "no." It is, however, a very good question that requires some thought.

There is a fundamental difference between the two Rules which is evident immediately. The Golden Rule is a direction to individuals on how to live. The Golden Rule is a requirement for me to obey, not for me to impose on anyone else. The Golden Rule has no government context at all. It is a direction to free agents to act in a manner consistent with the commands of God. Under the Golden Rule, I must do for others as I would have them do for me. I must live under the Golden Rule without any expectations being placed on anyone else. I have no right, under the Golden Rule, to expect anyone else to do anything for me, I only have a duty to do for them. I cannot, under the Golden Rule, ever take what is someone else's unless I would allow (and actually desire) them to take from me whatever they want to take from me. I must be generous without ever being demanding. I must share with all and demand from none.

The Socialist Rule, by contrast, is entirely a statement of what to expect from others. It is a directive to government (or the state or society) as to how people ought to give to the government or receive from the government. The Socialist Rule begins as a demand from someone to give. "From each according to his abilities." In the Socialist Rule system, we begin not as free agents serving in love, but as servants being commanded. For example, "from each according to his abilities" means that someone must decide what my abilities are and that they would have the right to require me to work in whatever would match my abilities. If the state thinks I would be best as a lawyer, then I must be a lawyer. If the state believes my abilities are best used as a ditch digger, then I must be a ditch digger. My abilities are to be determined by them and I must live by that determination. I have no free agency in this case. It is not "from each according to his love" or "from each according to his desire," but "from each according to his abilities." If the state decides my ability is to be a great tennis player, then I must be a tennis player, even if I hate tennis and would prefer to work among the sick. I cannot choose to do something else, something that is less than my abilities allows in the mind of the authority, without violating the rule.

Secondly, it requires that I be given only what I need. "To each according to his needs" requires that a decision be made about what are my "needs." The person to whom the Socialist Rule is given is to decide what I need and to give me only what I need. The Golden Rule, by contrast, requires its hearer to give me not what he thinks I need, but what he himself would prefer in my place. He is to love me, not just feed me. The Socialist Rule may decide that I "need" only a small apartment and that my neighbor needs a dacha in the woods. In such a case, it must give him a dacha in the woods and give me a small apartment. Under the Golden Rule, I may receive great kindnesses far beyond my needs, but under the Socialist Rule, any such kindness would be deemed to be sin, as someone else would be giving me what is his own "need" and therefore violating the Rule.

The Socialist Rule presupposes a government (or some authority) which has the right to demand from others (from each according to his abilities) and apportion to others (to each according to his needs). The Golden Rule supposes an individual making daily determinations of love for those around him. He will often do something that is not within his best abilities or keep less than is within his needs, both of which would be sin under the Socialist Rule.

The Golden Rule is a rule for individuals who live freely under the God of all things, serving Him by serving others. They do what is best for others, not themselves. They give what is best for others, not based on need but on love.

The Socialist Rule is a rule for government, under which freedom is replaced by "ability determinations" and under which rewards are neither from God nor from man, but based purely on needs.

The Golden Rule is a glorious standard for a relationship of love. The Socialist Rule is a mechanistic standard for imposition of duties and restrictions on possessions.

And, of course, I would note that the two cannot coexist. A man who is limited to working according to his "abilities" cannot choose to act in love if it requires him to do other than his abilities. A man who has only what he needs will be hard-pressed to provide to others any gift of love.

Finally, of course, we have seen that the Socialist Rule, where it is embraced, is a failure. The result, as we who hold to Christianity would expect, is that many do not act "according to their abilities" but according to their natural loves (for their children and family and friends) and assign tasks and jobs based on relationships, not abilities. We also see that they obtain goods not because of needs, but because of their desires (dachas, cars, servants). A mechanistic test applied in a manner not driven by love, but by abilities and needs, cannot work in a world of fallen man.

It is conceivable that a society built on the Golden Rule might, in many ways, be similar to a society built on the Socialist Rule, if the Socialist Rule is applied in a truly Communistic (scientific socialism) basis, where there is no government at all to make decisions about abilities and needs. But it is difficult to imagine how a society built on the Socialist Rule can be anything but an authoritarian society, given its command to "take" and to "give" from and to each individual. A society built on the Golden Rule can never be an authoritarian society because it denies that anyone has any authority over an individual's act of love.

Under the Golden Rule, my only authority is God. I give not according to my abilities (however we define it), but according to my love. I receive, from others, not according to my needs, but according to their love.

And God receives the glory.

Facing the Piles

8/15/2011

Have you ever gotten to a stage in your life where you had to deal with piles of stuff? I think some people avoid piles through diligent and patience daily efforts, but I don't know anyone like that. Some days, you just face a lot of piles of stuff.

I hate piles of stuff. Mostly, I hate dealing with them. They are always things that I would already have dealt with if they were either important or interesting, but they are neither. They are necessary and dull. They are the usual daily accumulation of junk in my life. Bills, of course, are a major part of the piles, but so are magazines I don't really want to read and calls I don't want to return and stuff I just don't want to file or throw away.

Our lives are filled with these necessary and dull things. We avoid them at our own risk. If I do not pay the bills quickly, they will accumulate late fees. If I do not read the magazine now, soon I will have two of them piled up. If I do not get through with filing or throwing away, the piles will get larger. But I would still rather do something else. Anything else. I can always do this pile tomorrow.

But, I know this is not really true nor really wise. "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." Prov. 27:1. I am not to say to myself that I can put something off until tomorrow, because I do not know what will happen tomorrow. I need to get it done today.

So, I end up in the midst of a problem. I know what I ought to do and I do not want to do it. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? It pretty well describes the struggle we all have with what God tells us and what we want. We know He is right, but we have our own desires as well.

So, my pile, in that sense, is a parable. It is a reminder that I am still not who I ought to be. It is a reminder that God expects much more of me than I expect of myself. It reminds me of so many things that I, too often, prefer to forget.

It's Monday and I am looking at the pile on my desk. And thinking.