November 20, 2018
THE SIN OF OMISSION
There are sins of commission and sins of omission. The first is to commit a sin by breaking a law, and the second is to omit to do the good thing that was within your power to do. The word “know” has serious implications. For although ignorance of the law is no excuse, there might be some leniency for the one without knowledge. Yet, for the one who “knows,” there is greater condemnation. For to whom much is given, much is required.
There is the sin of doing what you ought not to do. And there is the sin of not doing what you ought to do. Both are sin. Although most of the commands are “thou shalt not,” some are “thou shalt.” In the case of the latter, such examples being, “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” and “Honor thy father and mother,” they have at least equal, if not greater weight than the former.
I suppose we always know more than we do. This is the problem of the heart bent by the Fall. Yet, to the one who would know and believe in Christ, the righteousness of God is imputed unto him.
November 19, 2018
WORKS EVIDENCE NOT PRECEDENCE OF SAVING FAITH
At first glance, this statement about faith seems to contradict Paul’s letters to the Romans and the Galatians, which clearly uphold that faith alone pleases God. Yet, James and Paul are not in conflict. Paul is concerned that some would make works and law-keeping the means for justification. He rightly proclaims that faith in Christ’s finished work is the only means for our justification. While James is concerned that those who claim to be followers of Jesus, might bear the fruit of salvation, which is good works.
Salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is Paul’s clear teaching. But if Paul corrects those who think that good works will be sufficient for salvation, James corrects those who would offer mere lip service to their faith without any fruit verifying its authenticity. Paul is concerned with what true faith believes, while James is concerned with what true faith does after it believes. Good works are the evidence, not the the precedence of saving faith.
November 18, 2018
HALLELUJAH FOR GOD’S GREAT LOVE!
God’s unfailing love does not quit. It is not based on our condition, but on His own character. In our rebellion and sin we spurned His love, yet God’s love did not waver. It is unfailing. Even unrequited, God’s love for us burns bright. The darker the hateful night, the brighter His powerful love shines. Overcoming sin, death, hell and Satan to reach us, God’s love is powerful. Sending Christ, His only Son, the power of God’s love is demonstrated in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. His chesed-love is faithful, making promises and always keeping them. Willingly entering into covenantal-love with us, so that He never lets us go, even though we are prone to wander.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord for God’s great unfailing, powerful and faithful love!
November 16, 2018
A BENEDICTION OF SANCTIFICATION
This prayer for our equipping and sanctification reveals God’s method for making us “pleasing to him.” It is none other than the power of Christ in us. We can pray this prayer too. Praying it for ourselves, we yield our wills to His, and acknowledge our dependence on Christ’s power. Praying it for others, we focus on Christ-at-work in others, rather than their shortcomings.
November 15, 2018
THE GOD OF THE OLD IS THE GOD OF THE NEW
The apostle quoted Moses, “For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deut. 4:24), clearly showing that the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The image of God as a devouring ( KJV “consuming”) fire is one that seeks to reveal the strictness of his justice, the purity of his holiness and the passion of his love for us. We may boldly approach him through Christ, our Great High Priest, yet we do so reminded of how Moses approached the mountain of God with fear and trembling.
November 14, 2018
PREACHING FOR GOD’S APPROVAL ALONE
Ezekiel, like many of God’s prophets, was not respected by his contemporaries. He was tasked with making known God’s future plans for men and nations that would soon come to pass. Yet, no generation wants its comfort disturbed. They would rather risk the warnings of an approaching hurricane than leave their beach vacation early. Today, Ezekiel is respected. His prophecies have been borne out. But people have not changed. God’s Word is still warning us to get ready, while much of humanity continues in its deafness to His voice. This does not excuse us from being like Ezekiel and warning them anyway. We do this for God’s approval, not theirs.
November 13, 2018
A FUNERAL DIRGE FOR A FALLEN KING
The Lord gave the prophet Ezekiel the words for a dirge to be sung for the king of Tyre. Yet, the words to the funeral song seem to at times describe the state of Satan before he was cast down. The lyrics might be seen as portraying Satan assigning divine attributes and honors to himself through his influence over the earthly king of Tyre. In some ways, this description of the king of Tyre foreshadows the beast spoken of in Daniel and Revelation.
So, who is this lament for? As the Scripture says, it is for the king of Tyre. Yet, it pulls back the curtain on the spiritual world, revealing both the influences and dark forces at work behind the scenes and the sovereign power of God over such realms.
November 12, 2018
GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH
There is only one way to be right with God. And that is to receive the righteousness of God through faith. Noah’s faith was in contrast to the rest of the world, which thought they could earn God’s favor. Noah received God’s justification by grace as a gift through faith. Whereas the world sought to earn God’s favor through self-effort, earning sin’s wages, which is death. Noah did not have the full light of the gospel, yet he had sufficient light to trust not in the ark, but in the God who told him to build it. It was not Noah’s faith that saved him, but the object of his faith. Noah believed God.
Today, we live in the full light of the gospel, seeing that the righteousness of God has appeared. For the righteousness of God is a Person, not a philosophy, a Savior, not a standard, a Lamb, not a law. For the righteousness of God is Jesus Christ. His coming fulfilled Noah’s forward-looking faith, as well as our faith that looks back to the cross, so that God “might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).
November 11, 2018
DON’T THROW AWAY YOUR SHIELD OF FAITH
After a season of suffering we are tempted to timidity and cowardice. We fear persecution and pain, so we hide from the fight. We lose a battle, so we retreat from the war. Yet, the Word teaches us not to “throw away” our “confident trust,” which is the boldness of faith.
There is a metaphoric reference here that compares losing one’s boldness to a soldier who throws away his shield. It is said that certain Greek mothers, when they gave shields to their sons, would say, “Either bring this back, or be brought back upon it.” Thus urging their sons to be bold in battle and in protecting their family and tribe. The captains of armies often urged their soldiers to beat their swords against their shields and shout in preparation for an assault. Thus building up their own confidence, while striking fear in the enemy.
Faithful soldiers do not throw away their shields. Nor do faithful believers cast aside their boldness. Faithful believers persevere, remembering the great reward that the Captain of our faith brings with Him at His coming.
November 10, 2018
UNTIL THE ONE APPEARS
The Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy destruction over the kingdom of Judah because of their sin. This prophecy in the Hebrew repeats the word “avah” three times (עַוָּה עַוָּה עַוָּה), which adds to both the finality and the certainty of it. “Avah! Avah! Avah!” (“Destruction! Destruction! Destruction!”) says the Lord. Some suggest that the three-time repetition points to the three conquests of Jerusalem, in which the last Davidic kings, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, were overthrown.
Yet, more significant than the certainty of Judah’s destruction, is the prophecy concerning its future restoration by “the one” who is to appear. This “one” is identified by four features. (1) He will restore David’s kingdom. (2) By implication this means that he is from the line of David. (3) He has the “right to judge.” And (4) the Lord Himself will “hand it over to him.”
Who is this “one?” Was it Zerubbabel? No, although Zerubbabel was in the line of David and led the returning exiles to rebuild the Temple, he was never king. Was it one of the Herods? No, although the Herods carried the title of king, they were just political puppets under Rome and certainly not from the line of David.
So, who is this “one?” When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask Jesus this question: “Are you the one?” (Matt. 11:3). Jesus told them to go back to John and tell him what they had seen and heard, that the “the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor” (Matt. 11:5). Jesus is “the One!”
Someday Christ will return to completely fulfill Ezekiel’s prophecy. And so we wait “until the One appears.”