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Advent: It’s the Most Wonderful Doctrine of all Time.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.” (Galatians 4:4)

Don’t you just love Christmas? Say what! You may be thinking that just like retailers who begin promoting the Christmas season in October, I may be rushing things just a bit. I mean, we still have Thanksgiving to observe. However, there are several reasons that I am beginning a series concerning the church season known as Advent.

First, anyone who truly knows me knows that I annually begin listening to Christmas music in July. You’ve heard of Christmas in July haven’t you? I have tailored several of my Internet music stations to feature either Classical or Jazz arrangements of familiar carols and contemporary Christmas favorites. I revel in the familiar sounds along with new and exciting arrangements.

Second, my church’s worship director begins preparing practices for the annual Christmas presentation by the adult choir in late August. Works for me. Therefore, I have also been listening to this year’s cantata.

Third, even though the Advent season is normally the four Sunday’s immediately prior to Christmas, I have discovered that there is so much revelation from God’s Word concerning the incarnation of Jesus Christ that it becomes impossible to properly treat all it with the attention it deserves.

I sensed the Lord leading me to examine the Incarnation, or the birth, of Christ in greater detail than could be accomplished in four Sundays, or four blogs. I sensed He wanted me to lead us in revisiting familiar characters, scenes, and situations of which we have grown, if not a least overly familiar, than perhaps a little too casual.

There are so many Old Testament prophecies, biblical characters, symbols and types. There also are the circumstances which occurred immediately prior, and at, Christ’s birth that often are misunderstood.

What exactly does Advent mean? Advent, from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming”, is the Christian ecclesiastical calendar season observed in preparation for Christmas. The earliest authentic record of Advent (ad 581) states that the season starts on the feast of St. Martin, November 11; this period is still observed in the Orthodox Church. About AD 600, Pope Gregory I decreed that the season should start on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, but the longer period was observed in England for some years. The shorter period is now observed in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Episcopal churches. The first Sunday of Advent is regarded as the commencement of the Christian ecclesiastical year. The season is also a preparation for the second coming of Christ at the end of the world.

I suspect for some of you this will be a journey into familiar portions of Scripture which you have known and loved for years. For others of you, it may prove to be the first time you have ever studied God’s incarnation in great detail. For still others, our study will dispel various myths and inaccuracies which often occur in our understanding and perceptions of the Birth of Christ.

For example, how many Magi actually visited the Christ child? Did their visit occur at the manger scene or somewhere else? How may they be connected to the Prophet Daniel?

This excursion is not simply for an intellectual understanding of the facts, but also to savor God’s revelation of Himself to us and this revelation to save us.

As one pastor has written, “Everyone can read the stories of Jesus and ‘see’ the portraits painted by the words of those who knew Him. But not everyone sees truth and beauty and infinite value. Some see only myth. Some see foolishness. Some see offense. ‘Seeing they do not see.’ It is though a child could look at a Michelangelo and prefer a comic strip.”

“Savoring Jesus Christ is the response to this second kind of seeing. When you see something as true and beautiful and valuable, you savor it. That is, you treasure it. You cherish and admire and prize it. Spiritual seeing and spiritual savoring are so closely connected that it would be fair to say that if you don’t savor Christ, you haven’t seen Christ for who he is. If you don’t prize him above all things, you haven’t apprehended His true worth.”

So let us begin. Let us begin to savor the Savior Jesus Christ.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Miscellaneous Thoughts: Anxiety.

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

Remember the popular song by artist Bobby McFerrin from his album Simple Pleasures entitled “Don’t Worry, Be Happy. Released in 1988, it won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year. The Bible many times communicates a similar message to believers which could be summarized this way: “Don’t Worry, Trust God.”

What causes individuals, even Christians, to worry or be anxious? The word anxious, from today’s text, comes from the Greek word μεριμνήσητε (merimnesete) meaning to worry or to be in care about something or someone. It also means to have an apprehension about possible danger or misfortune.

Possible reasons for anxiety or worry could be a new job, the loss of one’s current job, a broken relationship, finances, and the condition of one’s community, county or country. In fact, people can, and do, worry about anything and everything.

Why do people worry? Why do you? Why do I? Some respond by saying “It’s just the way I am” or “It’s just the way God made me” in order to justify this paralyzing behavior. Let’s understand that worry can disable a person so much that they cannot sleep, work, or even engage in basic day to day activities. Some may be so crippled by worry that they sit on their couch, or bed, during the middle of the day and just stare off into space.

Jesus spent a significance amount of time during His so-called Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) addressing the behavior of worry. He spoke about the concern for the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter. He compared how God takes care of the little flowers and birds. The analogy being that as God provides for these, He will additionally provide for His people.

One commentator explains that, “Most people in antiquity had little beyond basic necessities—food, clothing and shelter. Because their acquisition of these necessities often depended—especially in rural areas—on seasonal rains or (in Egypt) the flooding of the Nile, they had plenty of cause for stress even about food and clothing. The pagan world did indeed seek after such necessities, but Jesus reminds his hearers that they could trust their Father (v. 32) and should seek the kingdom (v. 33).”

The solution to worry is not about just being happy, but rather trusting God by seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. In other words, Jesus stressed to His disciples that submitting to God’s authority and receiving, and emulating, His righteousness should be our first priority. God will ultimately take care of the rest.

The Apostle Paul wrote a similar command in Philippians 4:6-7 which says, “6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The word for anxious in Philippians 4:6 is the same word which we find in Matthew 6:31. In other words, Scripture interprets Scripture.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” The psalmist is saying that instead of panicking when things go wrong, we are to trust in the sovereignty and providence of God.

I recently read Matthew 6:25-33 during a worship service. The Scripture reading was followed by our worship team leading the congregation in the classic hymn His Eye is on the Sparrow. I leave you with these familiar lyrics today.

Why should I feel discouraged?
And why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart feel lonely
And long for heavenly home?

When Jesus is my portion?
And my constant friend is He
His eye is on the little sparrow
And I know he cares for me
His eye is on the little sparrow
And I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy
I sing because I’m free
For His eye, is on the sparrow
And I know He’s watching me.

 Thank you Lord for your watchful eye.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

 

 

 

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Biblical Heroes. Moses.

“Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.” (Exodus 3:1)

I’m sure we are all familiar with the story of Moses and the Exodus by Israel from their bondage in Egypt under the providential guidance of the LORD. The story is the stuff of legends and a host of Hollywood movies and Broadway like productions at Christian theaters like Sight and Sound in Lancaster, PA.

Moses was a man of privilege who for his forty years of life grew up in the royal court of Egypt and was known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:8-10; Acts 7:23). The final forty years of his 120 years was spent leading the Nation of Israel through the Arabian wilderness to the brink of entering the land the LORD promised to Abraham (Acts 7:30-50; Hebrews 11:23-29).

But what about the forty years Moses spent in the wilderness of Midian. The biblical text doesn’t tell much about those years aside from recording that he was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, a priest of Midian, that he married Zipporah, Jethro’s daughter, and became a father of a son named Gershom (Exodus 2:21-22).

When today’s text says that Moses was keeping the flock, it means that he was driving the flock out to pasture in order to graze. In other words, Moses became a shepherd. His focus was one of providing grazing pasture for the flock and moving the flocks around to the grazing grounds (Genesis 30:29-31). It should be noted that a shepherd not only cares and tends for the sheep, but also has authority or rules a flock as a superior.

Dr. John MacArthur comments that, “Moses worked as a shepherd while living with his father-in-law, a life and occupation quite different from the privilege and prestige associated with his life in Pharaoh’s court.”

I wonder what Moses must have thought during those 40 silent years. I wonder if he thought about what he had been and what he had become. I wonder if he thought about God’s plans for his life and if this was all there was in the mind of God for this divinely protected Hebrew son. Did Moses become bitter or angry at times at his relative obscurity, or did he find happiness with his wife and son. I wonder how long it took for him to become a proficient shepherd.

There are often times in our lives when God leads us, like a shepherd, into pastures in which we never thought we would graze. David referred to one such pasture as the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4). However, it is even in those times of darkness that we need not fear for our Good Shepherd is with us and His rod and staff will comfort us.

How fitting is it that as Moses learned to be shepherd of sheep, God would soon use him to be a shepherd of a nation. In many ways, the Israelites Moses would lead from bondage into freedom tended to be very much like the lambs from Jethro’s flock. They were unruly, complaining, disobedient and often rebellious. What a training ground God provided Moses during the middle forty years of his life to prepare him for the final forty.

Training in the courts of Pharaoh and in the wilderness of Midian as a shepherd prepared Moses for the ultimate task God had prepared for him. Such may be the case with the Lord’s work in your own life. You never know, but He certainly does.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!

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Biblical Heroes. Daniel.

When the subject of integrity is addressed, the Prophet Daniel is often cited as an example of moral and biblical integrity. There is nothing negative said about Daniel in the Scriptures. True, he wasn’t perfect. No sinner this side of heaven is. However, he was consistent.

Daniel 1:1-7 provides the reader with the historical of the Book of Daniel. “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. 3 Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, 4 youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. 5 The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. 6 Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. 7 And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.”

Daniel’s life wonderfully balances the providence of God with the responsibility of His children. While God is certainly in control of everything that happened in Daniel’s life, the prophet was not exempt from exercising his biblical responsibility in obeying the Lord when faced with potential compromising situations (Daniel 1; 3; 6). Through everything that happened to Daniel, he remained faithful because God is faithful.

As one commentator explains, “God is the sovereign Lord of history who causes kingdoms to rise and fall according to His decree. Nothing happens apart from His having ordained it in eternity past, and this is a comforting truth. It tells us that everything in history has a purpose even if we cannot now discern what that purpose happens to be. All events great and small are being used of the Lord to advance His glory and our good, and His control over all things is the only way we can be confident of that precious truth.”

May each of us dare to be like Daniel in our trust and reliance upon God and our determination to serve and obey the Lord in all that we do.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

 

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Biblical Heroes. Job.

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” (Job 1:1)

Who are some of your biblical heroes? They may be found in the Old Testament or the New Testament. They are those who have made a profound impact upon your life and testimony for Jesus Christ. One of my heroes is Job.

We should recognize that the Book of Job is not an autobiography. Several authors have been suggested. These include Moses, Solomon along with other Old Testament characters including Elihu, Isaiah, Hezekiah, Jeremiah and Ezra.

The historical setting of the book takes place in the patriarchal period. Job refers to Adam (31:33) and the Noahic Flood (12:15). This gives us a likely historical context for the life of Job occurring after the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) but prior to the life and odyssey of Abraham (Genesis 11:27).

The Bible sets forth Job as a real person, and not a fictional character. The Apostle Paul referred to Job twice (Romans 11:35; I Corinthians 3:19). He is also mentioned in the Book of James (5:11) and by the Prophet Ezekiel (14:14-20).

What we also know about Job, aside from the profound suffering he experienced, is the testimony about him at the beginning of the Old Testament book which bears his name. This testimony is contained in today’s text.

Job lived in the land of Uz. The word land is synonymous with country, territory and people. The country in question is called Uz. Uz’s exact location geographically is uncertain. Once commentator explains that, “Though often identified with Edom, southeast of the Dead Sea, Uz was distinguished from it in Jeremiah’s time, if not before (Jer. 25:20–21). Uz was then a “daughter” of Edom, that is, a possession or neighbor of Edom (Lam. 4:21). Some scholars suggest that Uz was in Bashan, south of Damascus; others say Uz lay east of Edom, in northern Arabia. The customs, vocabulary, and references to geography and natural history relate to northern Arabia. Whatever Uz’s location, it was near a desert (Job 1:19), it was fertile for agriculture and livestock-raising (1:3, 14; 42:12), and it was probably outside Palestine.”

It was in this territory that there lived a man named Job. There are those who suggest that Job’s name means persecution, persecuted one, or one who repents. This probable and suggested meanings would certainly be appropriate for this individual.

Job is characterized by four distinct qualities. These characteristics remain timeless for all of God’s children at all times.

First, Job was blameless. This means that Job was well-behaved or a man of integrity. In other words, he possessed no moral blemish or flaw and was morally whole. He was consistently godly.

Second, Job was upright. He was a “straight as an arrow” kind of guy. To put it another way, he wasn’t crooked in his dealings with other people. He did not deviate from God’s standards.

Third, Job was an individual who feared God. He reverenced and worshiped God with a reverential fear. He submitted to God’s holiness and majesty. He knew that he was responsible to God and responsible before people to consistently live for God.

Fourth, Job turned away from evil. He shunned evil. He turned away from it at every opportunity. He rejected anything which was contrary to God’s character.

Dr. John MacArthur writes, “Job was not perfect or without sin (cf. 6:24; 7:21; 9:20) However, it appears from the language that he had put his trust in God for redemption and faithfully lived a God-honoring, sincere life of integrity and consistency: personally, maritally (2:10), and parentally (1:4–5).”

Isn’t it amazing how much we can learn from just one verse from God’s Word. Let me ask you a question that I have often asked myself. Would the people who know you at home, work, school, or in the community have the same thing to say about you as the author said about Job? Think about it.

What does your life, and mine, communicate to the people with whom we most often come into contact? Do you and I reflect the character of God as reflected in the man named Job? Remember, it was not the perfection of his life but rather the direction of his life that mattered. The same is true for you and me.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!   

 

 

 

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I John: Confident Love.

17 “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.” (I John 4:17)

Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The Greek verb translated “began” is used only here and in Galatians 3:3. In both instances it refers to salvation. When God begins a work of salvation in an individual, He finishes and perfects the work that He started. Additionally, the verb “bring it to completion” (ἐπιτελέσει; epitelesei) points to the eternal security of the Christian (John 6:40, 44; Rom. 5:10; 8:29–39; Eph. 1:13–14; Heb.7:25l 12:1-2). With respect to the phrase “the day of Jesus Christ,” this refers to the final salvation, reward and glorification of the believer (1 Cor. 3:10–15; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:9–10).

Philippians 1:6 parallels today’s text from I John 4:17. The Apostle John, much like the Apostle Paul, addresses the subject of God’s perfecting work in the believer. The word perfected (τετελείωται; teteleiotai) means to complete. It is a work of God upon the believer. It is a past completed action with ongoing results. Our salvation in Christ, while a past event, has a continuing impact in our daily lives.

The purpose of such a work of God is so that the believer in Christ may have confidence for the Day of Judgment. The confidence (παρρησίαν; parresian) means boldness while in the midst of intimidating situations. Imagine how intimidating it will be to face the Lord on the Day of Judgment. This is the Bema Seat Judgment the Apostle Paul spoke of in I Corinthians 3:10-15 and 2 Corinthians 5:9-10. It is also what he made reference to in Philippians 1:6.

This Day of Judgment will be when God evaluates the believer’s life. Dr. John MacArthur writes, “He (the Apostle John) is not suggesting sinless perfection, but rather mature love marked by confidence in the face of judgment. Confidence is a sign that love is mature.”

The reason why we may have confidence in facing God’s judgment is because each believer is clothed, so to speak, with the righteousness of Christ. This is vividly portrayed in Zechariah 3 and clearly explained in Romans 4.

The Apostle Paul also personally testified of it in Philippians 3:3-9 which says, “3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

Is your confidence in facing God in eternity based upon the righteousness of Christ? If so, you possess a confident love when considering the Day of Judgment.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!  

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I John: The Good Confession.

15 “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (I John 4:15-16)

Agape love, which is a self-sacrificial love of the will, is one of many evidences that believers in Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In fact, it may be the greatest evidence believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures indicate that this type of love supersedes all other activities of the believer (I Corinthians 13:1-8).

The apostle John sets forth the principle that whoever declares as truth that Jesus is the Son of God, this evidences that God abides in him and that he abides in God. Remember, we cannot truthfully confess that Jesus is the Son of God unless the Holy Spirit indwells us (Romans 10:1-9; I John 4:1-3).

The result of this confession is a life set apart to reflect the holiness of God. This reflection is best seen by agape love. When sinners are converted and become believers in Christ, the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, gives them an understanding and knowledge about God’s love. Not only that, but they also trust in, commit to, depend upon and honor and worship the God of love and the love God has for believers.

John again makes the definitive statement, as in I John 4:7-11, that God continually exists as the source of and the originator of agape love. Who remains and continues in this type of love remains in God and God in them.

Dr. John Walvoord writes, “Under the circumstances just described, confession (cf. 1:9; 2:23; 4:3) that Jesus is the Son of God is a sign that the confessor enjoys a mutual abiding relationship with God. The section is rounded off by the assertion, We know and rely on (lit., “have come to believe”) the love God has for us. Living in the atmosphere of mutual Christian love produces a personal knowledge of God’s love and fresh experience of faith in that love. Since God is love (cf. v. 8), one who lives in love lives (menei, “abides”) in God and has God abiding with him. The last part of verse 16 ought to be taken as the conclusion of the paragraph, rather than the start of a new one. John again affirmed the reality of the abiding experience enjoyed by all Christians who love”

How may you display the Love of God today? Ask God to give you insight in how you may love others today with a self-sacrificial love of the will.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria

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I John: The Spirit’s Work in the Believer’s Life.

13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.” (I John 4:13-14)

One of the ways believers in Christ know that they are believers in Christ and that their faith is genuine is the Holy Spirit’s work in and through their lives. For example, loving a fellow believer self-sacrificially does not come naturally for anyone, including a Christian. Rather, it is the Spirit’s work in and through the believer wherein self-sacrificial love is displayed.

Since God has given us His Spirit to indwell us (Romans 8:9), it is a foregone conclusion that the Spirit is going to display His holy character through us. The result is that God receives all the glory.

I Peter 4:10-11 says, 10 “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

 Dr. Roy Zuck comments that, “The statement in verse 13 is intimately related to the ideas just expressed (See I John 4:7-12). We know that we live (menomen, “we abide”) in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. The mutual abiding of a believer in God and God in that believer (cf. John 15:4–7) is indicated by that believer’s experience of the Spirit. The Greek for “of His Spirit” (ek tou pneumatos) suggests participation in the Spirit of God, literally, “He has given us out of His Spirit.” The same construction occurs in 1 John 3:24. When a believer loves, he is drawing that love from God’s Spirit (cf. Rom. 5:5).”

One of the most significant ways God communicates through us by the Holy Spirit is through the preaching, teaching and living out the Gospel of Jesus Christ. John again directs the church to the exclusive person and work of Jesus Christ, as he has throughout this epistle. In Jesus Christ, God the Father…

  • Revealed the Word of Life (1:1).
  • Brought eternal life (1:2).
  • Cleansed us from all sin (1:7).
  • Gave believers an Advocate (2:1).
  • Expiates and Propitiates our sin (2:2; 4:10).
  • Gives us an example to follow (2:6).
  • Sen the Messiah (2:22-23).
  • Makes the new birth possible (2:29).
  • Sent the righteous and sinless One (2″29; 3:4).
  • Took away our sin (3:5).
  •  Destroys the work of the devil (3:8).
  • Sacrificed His son (3:16).
  • Gave us life (4:9).

Always remember that God is working through you by the Holy Spirit who is within you (Philippians 2:13). Ultimately, God is to receive all the glory for what we do in His name.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!

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I John: We Ought to Love One Another.

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (I John 4:11-12)

The Apostle John continues to display the heart of a pastor. He once again refers to his readers as “beloved.” He conveys a tenderness, but also a firmness to being committed to right teaching and also right living.

In reference to what the apostle previously said in I John 4:7-10, since God has loved the church with a self-sacrificial love of the will, believers ought to show the same love towards fellow believers.

John then declares that no one has ever seen God. This must be the apostle’s reference to God the Father because John certainly saw God in the person of Jesus Christ: the God/Man or Emmanuel.

However, as believers in Christ love one another with a self-sacrificial love of the will, God divine nature is seen in their behavior. The word “perfected” means complete or genuine.

Dr. John Walvoord writes that, “In His divine nature and essence, God has never been seen by any living man (cf. John’s similar statement, John 1:18). Yet in the experience of mutual love among believers, this invisible God actually lives in us and His love is made complete in us. The term “lives” once again renders John’s characteristic word (menō) for the abiding life. As in 1 John 2:5, the idea of God’s love reaching completeness in a believer may suggest a deep and full experience of that love (cf. 4:17).”

Dr. John MacArthur writes, “Love is the heart of Christian witness. Nobody can see God loving since his love is invisible. Jesus no longer is in the world to manifest the love of God. The only demonstration of God’s love in this age is the church. That testimony is critical (John 13:35; 2 Cor. 5:18–20). John’s argument in 1 John 4:7–12can be summed up as: love originated in God, was manifested in his Son, and demonstrated in his people.”

How may you self-sacrificially love someone today? By phoning them to wish them well and to pray for them during the call. By helping someone who is in need. By wishing someone you know a Happy Birthday when they might not expect hearing from you.

May the Lord’s truth and grace be seen here.

Soli deo Gloria!

  

 

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I John: Expiation and Propitiation.

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (I John 4:10)

The Apostle John uses another example for God’s love. With the phase “in this is love” John is saying that here is another way in which we may understand God’s self-sacrificial love of the will.

John says that God’s love is not based on our love of God. God’s love is not His response due to our love for Him. Rather, God loved us even when we did not love Him (Romans 5:8-10). With His love in view, He sent His Son, with a particular purpose and a particular message. That message and purpose was that Jesus Christ would be the propitiation for our sins.

As with I John 2:1-2, which we examined in June of this year, the Apostle John reminds his readers of God’s ministry of propitiation. This is my favorite word in the Scriptures. It is often joined with another word: expiation. What do these two words mean and what do they have to do with us and our relationship with God and with the person and work of Jesus Christ?

Dr. R. C. Sproul explains that, “Let’s think about what these words mean, beginning with the word expiation. The prefix ex means “out of” or “from,” so expiation has to do with removing something or taking something away. In biblical terms, it has to do with taking away guilt through the payment of a penalty or the offering of an atonement. By contrast, propitiation has to do with the object of the expiation. The prefix pro means “for,” so propitiation brings about a change in God’s attitude, so that He moves from being at enmity with us to being for us. Through the process of propitiation, we are restored into fellowship and favor with Him.”

We observe that the same Greek word (ἱλασμὸν; hilasmon) is often translated by both the English words: expiation and propitiation. However, there is a slight distinction in the words. Expiation is the “act” that results in the change of God’s disposition toward sinners. Expiation is what Christ did on the cross, and the “result” of Christ’s work of expiation is propitiation—God’s anger is turned away. The distinction is the same as that between the ransom that is paid and the attitude of the one who receives the ransom.

Dr. Sproul states that, “When we talk about salvation biblically, we have to be careful to state that from which we ultimately are saved. The apostle Paul does just that for us in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, where he says Jesus “delivers us from the wrath to come.” Ultimately, Jesus died to save us from the wrath of God. We simply cannot understand the teaching and the preaching of Jesus of Nazareth apart from this, for He constantly warned people that the whole world someday would come under divine judgment.”

In speaking of Jesus Christ’s ministry of expiation and propitiation, the writer of Hebrews explains it this way. “14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:14-18)

Dr. Sproul concludes by saying, “Therefore, Christ’s supreme achievement on the cross is that He placated the wrath of God, which would burn against us were we not covered by the sacrifice of Christ. So if somebody argues against placation or the idea of Christ satisfying the wrath of God, be alert, because the gospel is at stake. This is about the essence of salvation—that as people who are covered by the atonement, we are redeemed from the supreme danger to which any person is exposed. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of a holy God who’s wrathful. But there is no wrath for those whose sins have been paid. That is what salvation is all about.”

Thank you Lord that through the person and work of Jesus Christ, I am no longer under your righteous wrath. Rather, I am now your adopted child. Hallelujah! \

May the Lord’s truth and grace be found here.

Soli deo Gloria!