Hebrews 13:4-6
This part of the author's address is a series of exhortations to the audience. It is almost like the author is including a list of things that don't necessarily fit into the main argument of the address but are so important that they can't be left out. The author focuses on two very important issues in this section: sexual purity and money. It seems like the author uses a bit of hyperbole in these issues, perhaps because the exhortation is so brief.
In regards to marriage and adultery, the author states that the sexually immoral and the adulterer will be judged by God. Ultimately this is because sexual immorality and adultery offends the very character of God, especially the facets of purity, faithfulness and exclusivity. I'm not sure how to reconcile the judgment and the grace of God. I am very sure that the forgiveness of God is enough to cover sexual immorality. I am very sure that God's judgment is reserved for those who are unrepentant. Yet the author, addressing those who have repented, uses judgment as the motivation to avoid sexual immorality. Perhaps the argument is that if you are frequently engaging in sexual immorality is a sign that you may not actually have repented and your identity has not been changed from sexually immoral to child of God. In which case, you would still be under threat of the judgment of God.
This parallels what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount; deal as harshly as necessary with lust because giving in to lust puts you in danger of being cast into hell. Again, the message, I think, is that if you are giving into lust constantly you may not be a true citizen of the kingdom and you (and I) are facing condemnation. This is not the teaching I am used to: I don't like to be motivated by fear and to motivate others by fear. It's not considered polite or politically correct. Yet, the author and Jesus make it clear: giving into sexual immorality endangers my soul.
Showing posts with label God's judgement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's judgement. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
the hands of the living God
Hebrews 10:26-31
The key idea in this paragraph is that a terrible judgment is waiting for those who deliberately treat as unholy the blood of Christ. The connection to the previous paragraph is that Christ offered one sacrifice for sins so those who continue to deliberately sin after receiving knowledge of Christ's sacrifice have no other sacrifice to depend on. If there is no hope of salvation because they have rejected the sacrifice of Christ, then the only hope, or expectation, is judgment.
The author uses very graphic words to describe both the judgment and the sinfulness of those who deliberately turn from God's grace. The judgment is described as raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. The deliberate sinfulness is described in terms of trampling Christ underfoot, treating the blood of the new covenant as unholy and insulting the Spirit.
This helps me to understand the horror of my willful sinfulness. It drives me to repentance. I have not only knowledge of the truth but encounters with the Truth. Yet, I have willfully sinned. According to the author, I have not only sinned by thinking or acting in rebellion against God, I have deepened my sin by cheapening the grace of God and making the blood of Christ common and unholy. What grace that I am still alive! What grace that I still have salvation and the Spirit! What grace that the hands of the living of God have become a place of rest, shelter and protection instead of a place of judgment, wrath and fear!
I am struck by the image of God's hands. By the grace of God and the sacrifice of Christ, I no longer fear being in his hands. In fact, there is no other place I'd rather be. And, by the grace of God and the work of Christ, I can place people in God's hands knowing that he will protect and provide grace and mercy for their time of need. Yes, God's hands are still a dreadful place to be for those who disregard the holiness of the blood of Christ but they are an awesome place to be for those who are covered by the grace of Christ.
The key idea in this paragraph is that a terrible judgment is waiting for those who deliberately treat as unholy the blood of Christ. The connection to the previous paragraph is that Christ offered one sacrifice for sins so those who continue to deliberately sin after receiving knowledge of Christ's sacrifice have no other sacrifice to depend on. If there is no hope of salvation because they have rejected the sacrifice of Christ, then the only hope, or expectation, is judgment.
The author uses very graphic words to describe both the judgment and the sinfulness of those who deliberately turn from God's grace. The judgment is described as raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. The deliberate sinfulness is described in terms of trampling Christ underfoot, treating the blood of the new covenant as unholy and insulting the Spirit.
This helps me to understand the horror of my willful sinfulness. It drives me to repentance. I have not only knowledge of the truth but encounters with the Truth. Yet, I have willfully sinned. According to the author, I have not only sinned by thinking or acting in rebellion against God, I have deepened my sin by cheapening the grace of God and making the blood of Christ common and unholy. What grace that I am still alive! What grace that I still have salvation and the Spirit! What grace that the hands of the living of God have become a place of rest, shelter and protection instead of a place of judgment, wrath and fear!
I am struck by the image of God's hands. By the grace of God and the sacrifice of Christ, I no longer fear being in his hands. In fact, there is no other place I'd rather be. And, by the grace of God and the work of Christ, I can place people in God's hands knowing that he will protect and provide grace and mercy for their time of need. Yes, God's hands are still a dreadful place to be for those who disregard the holiness of the blood of Christ but they are an awesome place to be for those who are covered by the grace of Christ.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
creating a law for themselves...
Romans 2:12-16
Observe:
The law is a key word in this passage, repeated 10 times. The idea of righteousness and judgement continue to be key. Paul is contrasting the judgement that those who don't have the law (the Gentiles) will receive to what those who do have the law (the Jews) will receive. Paul concludes that the law is not just what is written in the Bible but is the conscience and morality of humans.
A phrase that stands out is "my gospel" (v. 16). Paul identifies so closely to the good news of Jesus Christ that he makes it his own.
Interpret:
Paul is continuing his thought from v. 11 - God does not show favouritism. The proof is that he doesn't use the law to judge people who never had the law. That would mean that the Jews were his favourites since they were the ones that he revealed the law to.
The main argument of this passage picks up on what Paul said in 1:20 - humans are without excuse before God, even if they never had the law, because they can see the attributes of God in creation (chapter 1) and they have a conscience (chapter 2). Paul argues that because we have all done things that have gone against our conscience, we all stand guilty before God. For the Jews, the Law is the standard of holiness but for the Gentiles, the law of God is written in our conscience and our hearts. Even without knowledge of the law, there is knowledge of right and wrong.
This fits into this chapter specifically because it is all about the justice of God: God's judgement is based on the truth (v.2), on our deeds (v 6-11) and on the knowledge of God and his standard we have (v. 12-15).
Apply
This speaks to God's justice. He will do what is right and just in every circumstance. It also speaks of God's patience because, while he is revealing his wrath against wickedness in the present, he is waiting to pour out the full extent of his wrath until the day of judgement. The only reason he is delaying his judgement is to give more of us time to repent. This is incredibly kind and patient of God.
I need the Holy Spirit to make my conscience soft again. I've justified my sinfulness for so long that I've effectively shut off my conscience and silenced the voice of the Spirit in certain areas of my life. Since my conscience is one of the ways that God communicates to me, then I am desperate to open up that channel of communication again.
Observe:
The law is a key word in this passage, repeated 10 times. The idea of righteousness and judgement continue to be key. Paul is contrasting the judgement that those who don't have the law (the Gentiles) will receive to what those who do have the law (the Jews) will receive. Paul concludes that the law is not just what is written in the Bible but is the conscience and morality of humans.
A phrase that stands out is "my gospel" (v. 16). Paul identifies so closely to the good news of Jesus Christ that he makes it his own.
Interpret:
Paul is continuing his thought from v. 11 - God does not show favouritism. The proof is that he doesn't use the law to judge people who never had the law. That would mean that the Jews were his favourites since they were the ones that he revealed the law to.
The main argument of this passage picks up on what Paul said in 1:20 - humans are without excuse before God, even if they never had the law, because they can see the attributes of God in creation (chapter 1) and they have a conscience (chapter 2). Paul argues that because we have all done things that have gone against our conscience, we all stand guilty before God. For the Jews, the Law is the standard of holiness but for the Gentiles, the law of God is written in our conscience and our hearts. Even without knowledge of the law, there is knowledge of right and wrong.
This fits into this chapter specifically because it is all about the justice of God: God's judgement is based on the truth (v.2), on our deeds (v 6-11) and on the knowledge of God and his standard we have (v. 12-15).
Apply
This speaks to God's justice. He will do what is right and just in every circumstance. It also speaks of God's patience because, while he is revealing his wrath against wickedness in the present, he is waiting to pour out the full extent of his wrath until the day of judgement. The only reason he is delaying his judgement is to give more of us time to repent. This is incredibly kind and patient of God.
I need the Holy Spirit to make my conscience soft again. I've justified my sinfulness for so long that I've effectively shut off my conscience and silenced the voice of the Spirit in certain areas of my life. Since my conscience is one of the ways that God communicates to me, then I am desperate to open up that channel of communication again.
Friday, June 8, 2007
judge, jury and executioner
Romans 2:1-4
Observe:
The word that gets repeated here a lot is "judge" or "judgement". Paul contrasts the hypocritical judgement of humans against the righteous judgement of God (v. 2). He also makes some comparison between the quickness of humans to judge and the patience and kindness of God which leads to repentance.
Paul uses the phrase "without excuse" again (1:20 and 2:1) in conjunction with the judgement of God. It seems like this passage is addressed to people who have some knowledge of the law - possibly Jews or Jewish Christians - whereas chapter 1 was addressed to the barbarians who had no knowledge of the law. .
Interpret.
Both groups are without excuse - the barbarians because they can see the attributes of God in creation and the Jews because they know the requirements of the law, the consequences of breaking the law but continue to sin anyway (1:32) while passing judgement on everyone else. This was very typical of the Pharisees and Paul's words echo the words of Jesus.
Paul (echoing Jesus again) is not saying that we should not judge other people's actions but that we should not do so from a hypocritical place. Our judgement must be based on truth, like God's is. In fact, in other passages, Paul tells us to judge others.
Paul is saying that those who are quick to judge are impatient with God. God's slowness is not because he is hesitant or weak but because he is kind and patient and wants to give people every chance to repent before he judges them.
Application:
I am too quick to be judge, jury and executioner. I am too quick to pass judgement and condemnation. I need the Spirit to change my attitude to make me more merciful and patient - content to let God judge. I still have the responsibility to point out sin but my goal should not be making people feel shame but to bring them to repentance and back on the right path.
I am a hypocritical judge - often condemning people for the very same things that I do. I think that this is a function of my guilty conscience: if I can point it out in others, I don't have to attend to it in my own life.
This passage shows me that God's judgement will be based on truth. It won't be based on whether or not he got enough sleep that day, whether someone cut him off in traffic or anything like that. God is just and his judgement will be just.
God is also patient which is a very good thing. Sometimes when I look around at all the injustice and sinfulness in the world, I get impatient with God. So many people are suffering and God could step in at any time. The truth is that I want him to step in quickly to cut off others but I want him to be patient with me. I can't have it both ways.
I am glad that God is rich in kindness and I am sorry for showing contempt for that.
Observe:
The word that gets repeated here a lot is "judge" or "judgement". Paul contrasts the hypocritical judgement of humans against the righteous judgement of God (v. 2). He also makes some comparison between the quickness of humans to judge and the patience and kindness of God which leads to repentance.
Paul uses the phrase "without excuse" again (1:20 and 2:1) in conjunction with the judgement of God. It seems like this passage is addressed to people who have some knowledge of the law - possibly Jews or Jewish Christians - whereas chapter 1 was addressed to the barbarians who had no knowledge of the law. .
Interpret.
Both groups are without excuse - the barbarians because they can see the attributes of God in creation and the Jews because they know the requirements of the law, the consequences of breaking the law but continue to sin anyway (1:32) while passing judgement on everyone else. This was very typical of the Pharisees and Paul's words echo the words of Jesus.
Paul (echoing Jesus again) is not saying that we should not judge other people's actions but that we should not do so from a hypocritical place. Our judgement must be based on truth, like God's is. In fact, in other passages, Paul tells us to judge others.
Paul is saying that those who are quick to judge are impatient with God. God's slowness is not because he is hesitant or weak but because he is kind and patient and wants to give people every chance to repent before he judges them.
Application:
I am too quick to be judge, jury and executioner. I am too quick to pass judgement and condemnation. I need the Spirit to change my attitude to make me more merciful and patient - content to let God judge. I still have the responsibility to point out sin but my goal should not be making people feel shame but to bring them to repentance and back on the right path.
I am a hypocritical judge - often condemning people for the very same things that I do. I think that this is a function of my guilty conscience: if I can point it out in others, I don't have to attend to it in my own life.
This passage shows me that God's judgement will be based on truth. It won't be based on whether or not he got enough sleep that day, whether someone cut him off in traffic or anything like that. God is just and his judgement will be just.
God is also patient which is a very good thing. Sometimes when I look around at all the injustice and sinfulness in the world, I get impatient with God. So many people are suffering and God could step in at any time. The truth is that I want him to step in quickly to cut off others but I want him to be patient with me. I can't have it both ways.
I am glad that God is rich in kindness and I am sorry for showing contempt for that.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
A Standing Ovation for Sin
Romans 1:24-32
Observe:
The connects back to the wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness. There is a connecting word (therefore) that indicates that what happens next is the result of humans wisdom for foolishness and God's glory for the lesser glory of created things. The main punishment seems to be that God has given humans over to sexual impurity and perversion.
Paul uses the language of exchange or trading again - this time humans traded the truth of God for a lie and the worship of God for the worship and service of created things. The phrase "served created things" struck me - we don't just elevate their importance but we become enslaved to them when we do so.
God also abandoned humans to a sinful way of thinking (a depraved mind). Basically, because we preferred the lesser glory of created things to the greater glory of God, He surrendered us completely to that kind of thinking so that we can't help but prefer those things (apart from his intervention - Paul gets to that later) and suffer all the consequences of that preference.
Interpret:
The main argument of the passage is that because of humanity's choice (specifically Gentiles) to exchange the glory and wisdom of God as seen in creation for the lesser glory of created things (Paul actually says we traded God's glory for the glory of reptiles - good job humans!), God has "honoured" that choice and abandoned us to the consequences of that decision.
Paul's main point in Romans is that the just will live by faith. We are made righteous as a gift from God. He is proving here that we couldn't achieve this righteousness on our own because we have become such victims of our own choices that we have become totally depraved - we can't help but prefer the lesser glory of created things to the glory of God.
Paul is also saying that the pleasures of sin have actually become our punishment. This might not make sense at first glance (God punishes me by giving me over to sexual impurity? Wahoo!) but you don't have to look very far to see the emptiness and destruction that sexual impurity and perversion brings to people, families and society.
Apply:
First, I think that this passage actually settles the debate on homosexuality. It may have been a choice at one point but Paul makes it clear that God has given people over to it. I don't think most people would choose homosexuality - it almost always means secrecy, hardship and loss of relationship.
Second, I can find myself on the list of characteristics of someone who has a depraved mind: greed, envy, deceit, gossip, boastful, disobedient, etc. The words that jump out to me specifically are "they invent ways of doing evil." This is a huge inditement on our society and on me. We are not just content to do evil, we find ways of doing it differently, more and "better".
Third, the people that Paul is talking about know better and know that they deserve punishment but continue in sin anyway. He could be talking about me. How many times have I done something I knew was wrong or not done something I knew was right, regardless of the consequences? Too many to count.
Finally, the ultimate sin according to Paul is applauding the sinfulness of others. This stands as a huge condemnation on our society, on our churches and on myself. We hold up as heroes those who break speed limits - the faster the better! We honour those who find inventive ways of cheating the system or on the test. We listen with rapt attention to those stories about sexual conquest and applaud the conqueror. We applaud, rather than regret, sin.
Lord, have mercy...
Observe:
The connects back to the wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness. There is a connecting word (therefore) that indicates that what happens next is the result of humans wisdom for foolishness and God's glory for the lesser glory of created things. The main punishment seems to be that God has given humans over to sexual impurity and perversion.
Paul uses the language of exchange or trading again - this time humans traded the truth of God for a lie and the worship of God for the worship and service of created things. The phrase "served created things" struck me - we don't just elevate their importance but we become enslaved to them when we do so.
God also abandoned humans to a sinful way of thinking (a depraved mind). Basically, because we preferred the lesser glory of created things to the greater glory of God, He surrendered us completely to that kind of thinking so that we can't help but prefer those things (apart from his intervention - Paul gets to that later) and suffer all the consequences of that preference.
Interpret:
The main argument of the passage is that because of humanity's choice (specifically Gentiles) to exchange the glory and wisdom of God as seen in creation for the lesser glory of created things (Paul actually says we traded God's glory for the glory of reptiles - good job humans!), God has "honoured" that choice and abandoned us to the consequences of that decision.
Paul's main point in Romans is that the just will live by faith. We are made righteous as a gift from God. He is proving here that we couldn't achieve this righteousness on our own because we have become such victims of our own choices that we have become totally depraved - we can't help but prefer the lesser glory of created things to the glory of God.
Paul is also saying that the pleasures of sin have actually become our punishment. This might not make sense at first glance (God punishes me by giving me over to sexual impurity? Wahoo!) but you don't have to look very far to see the emptiness and destruction that sexual impurity and perversion brings to people, families and society.
Apply:
First, I think that this passage actually settles the debate on homosexuality. It may have been a choice at one point but Paul makes it clear that God has given people over to it. I don't think most people would choose homosexuality - it almost always means secrecy, hardship and loss of relationship.
Second, I can find myself on the list of characteristics of someone who has a depraved mind: greed, envy, deceit, gossip, boastful, disobedient, etc. The words that jump out to me specifically are "they invent ways of doing evil." This is a huge inditement on our society and on me. We are not just content to do evil, we find ways of doing it differently, more and "better".
Third, the people that Paul is talking about know better and know that they deserve punishment but continue in sin anyway. He could be talking about me. How many times have I done something I knew was wrong or not done something I knew was right, regardless of the consequences? Too many to count.
Finally, the ultimate sin according to Paul is applauding the sinfulness of others. This stands as a huge condemnation on our society, on our churches and on myself. We hold up as heroes those who break speed limits - the faster the better! We honour those who find inventive ways of cheating the system or on the test. We listen with rapt attention to those stories about sexual conquest and applaud the conqueror. We applaud, rather than regret, sin.
Lord, have mercy...
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