In Exodus 34, it is written that when Moses heard God proclaiming that He is a God who abounds in mercy, forgiving iniquity, yet also by no means leaving the guilty unpunished, he bowed down and worshiped. These 2 great truths of who God is ought to cause us to worship as well, because they are great gospel truths.
First of all, if God was not merciful, we would all be dead. since Adam and Eve's first act of disobedience, they would've been destroyed for the satisfaction of justice, perhaps God would not even create them in the first place.
But if God was not just, at least the coming age would not be anything good to look forward to, one amazing thing about the new heaven and earth is that all that is wrong and perverse with this world will be made right.
Last but not least, these are the characteristics of God that compelled Him to create, despite knowing Adam and Eve would sin, it is what compelled Him to send Christ, so that both the sinner and God would be justified in reconciliation through the cross, that He would be just in showing mercy to all. This should cause all who believe to marvel and worship.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Numbers 11-14: Bitter pills of unblief
After numbering off the warriors and laying down more laws, the Israelites offer sacrifices to be used in the tabernacle, all seems good until the complaining begins.
People desired to return to Egypt because they were sick of eating mana, so they complained
People did not believe that God would give them the land so they did not obey God to go and fight, but spread fear of their enemies to others and wanted to go back to Egypt.
After their initial disobedience people did not believe that God is no longer giving them the land so they went up to fight and were defeated.
Here's a couple of things I noticed
People desired to return to Egypt because they were sick of eating mana, so they complained
People did not believe that God would give them the land so they did not obey God to go and fight, but spread fear of their enemies to others and wanted to go back to Egypt.
After their initial disobedience people did not believe that God is no longer giving them the land so they went up to fight and were defeated.
Here's a couple of things I noticed
- The root of disobedience is not believing in God's promises
- The result is not acting when you are supposed to and acting when you are not supposed to act, and an exaggeration of the goodness of the former things (they were slaves in Egypt, yet they remembered supposedly the abundance of fish, meat, melons, onions...)
- Even though sins are forgiven, there is still consequences of sin in this life
- Parallel with Lot's wife who longed after Sodom after leaving
- Parallel with the NT's warning of longing after this world and sin after coming to the knowledge of the gospel
- The remedy for unbelief is belief, holding unto God's promises, parallel with NT is believing the things unseen and are to come is better than what is seen now.
- What do I do after sinning? Is it to accept Lord's forgiveness and consequences or is it to try and make things better myself?
Sunday, December 1, 2013
James does not contradict Paul, they did not contradict Jesus
Does James 2:24 and Romans 3:28 seem contradictory? The confusion can come from a misunderstood/badly explained "we are saved by faith alone."
Paul in Romans 3:28 is speaking against a specific type of mentality called works of the law. If a person relies on living up to the standards of the Law to be saved it won't be possible, because sin keeps him from even desiring to do what the Law says, therefore he will fail and lower the standards or give up eventually or live in perpetual misery, so the only option is to trust not in what he can do, but in the works of Christ on his behalf. That is what Paul is saying in Romans 3:28, but James is talking about a different issue, probably something close to cheap grace, where if a person just have a profession of faith he can go to heaven while living like a devil his whole life. James says this type of faith is no good. Even Paul demolishes this type of thinking in the end of Romans 3 when he says we do not demolish the Law through faith but establish the Law instead!
We can see the same mentality as the apostles in Jesus' parable of the good and bad fruit tree, where he says a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit, ending in a warning that those who practice lawlessness will not enter heaven(matt 7:15-23). An indication of true faith is that the person produces good fruit (fruit of the spirit), he loves the law of God and keeps it...
So we see there are 2 ways to be deceived: Trusting in one's ability, and false confidence of salvation with no change of heart. Both are a result of man's own doing. The remedy is justification and regeneration, justification deals with man's guilty legal standing before God with the work Christ did on the cross, regeneration deals with man's sin nature in hating God and his law with the work of the Holy Spirit in making the person a new creature.
The implication/application of these truths are huge. It helps ministers and church leaders to see the congregation and minister to them better(dealing with believers and false converts more accurately), and it helps people in either gaining assurance of salvation or waking them up if they do not have saving faith so that they can have an opportunity to be made right with God.
Paul in Romans 3:28 is speaking against a specific type of mentality called works of the law. If a person relies on living up to the standards of the Law to be saved it won't be possible, because sin keeps him from even desiring to do what the Law says, therefore he will fail and lower the standards or give up eventually or live in perpetual misery, so the only option is to trust not in what he can do, but in the works of Christ on his behalf. That is what Paul is saying in Romans 3:28, but James is talking about a different issue, probably something close to cheap grace, where if a person just have a profession of faith he can go to heaven while living like a devil his whole life. James says this type of faith is no good. Even Paul demolishes this type of thinking in the end of Romans 3 when he says we do not demolish the Law through faith but establish the Law instead!
We can see the same mentality as the apostles in Jesus' parable of the good and bad fruit tree, where he says a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit, ending in a warning that those who practice lawlessness will not enter heaven(matt 7:15-23). An indication of true faith is that the person produces good fruit (fruit of the spirit), he loves the law of God and keeps it...
So we see there are 2 ways to be deceived: Trusting in one's ability, and false confidence of salvation with no change of heart. Both are a result of man's own doing. The remedy is justification and regeneration, justification deals with man's guilty legal standing before God with the work Christ did on the cross, regeneration deals with man's sin nature in hating God and his law with the work of the Holy Spirit in making the person a new creature.
The implication/application of these truths are huge. It helps ministers and church leaders to see the congregation and minister to them better(dealing with believers and false converts more accurately), and it helps people in either gaining assurance of salvation or waking them up if they do not have saving faith so that they can have an opportunity to be made right with God.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Those who walked before us III: Living among the dead - Melito of Sardis
Jesus says in Revelation 3 that the Sardis church is a dead church with a reputation of being alive. But He also says that there are some who were alive among the dead.
Melito of Sardis is one of them.
He was the bishop of the Sardis church shortly after the apostolic period ( around 160-177 ). He was probably martyred during the time of Marcus Aurileus, around 177 AD.
His apologetics in front of the emperor is bold and clear, and his preaching is Christ exalting, explaining the OT with the new, here's an example:
- From the Catena on Genesis.
For the Lord was a lamb, like the ram which Abraham saw caught in the bush Sabec. But this bush represented the cross, and that place Jerusalem, and the lamb the Lord bound for slaughter.
For as a ram was He bound, says he concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and as a lamb was He shorn, and as a sheep was He led to the slaughter, and as a lamb was He crucified; and He carried the cross on His shoulders when He was led up to the hill to be slain, as was Isaac by his father. But Christ suffered, and Isaac did not suffer: for he was but a type of Him who should suffer. Yet, even when serving only for a type of Christ, he smote men with astonishment and fear.
For a new mystery was presented to view,-a son led by his father to a mountain to be slain, whose feet he bound together, and laid him on the wood of the sacrifice, preparing with care whatever was necessary to his immolation. Isaac on his part is silent, bound like a ram, not opening his mouth, nor uttering a sound with his voice. For, not fearing the knife, nor quailing before the fire, nor troubled by the prospect of suffering, he sustained bravely the character of the type of the Lord. Accordingly there lies Isaac before us, with his feet bound like a ram, his father standing by, with the knife all bare in his hand, not shrinking from shedding the blood of his son.
More can be found at http://burondress.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=0bZfk0IBAAA.YrIdhp6YW7EbQWqfKx8NgQ.El5DU_51t6CG4agtkk4mAA&postId=5814525713765785831&type=POST
Indeed, Christ's words will always be found true.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Niblets in Genesis
- God created animals for Adam to name and find a helper(no suitable one was found) - Gen 2:18-20
- We still hide ourselves today like Adam and Eve - Gen 3:8-10
- Methuselah died the same year the flood happened - Calculated from Gen 5
- Terah(Abram's father) left Ur with Abram but never completed the journey - Gen 11:31-32
- Abram knew about the Israelite's future because God told him- Gen 15:12-16
- Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham, Jacob and Esau buried Isaac - Gen 25:9, 35:27-29
- Ephraim and Manasseh are half Egyptian
Those who walked before us II: Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts can be considered the father English hymns. He was among the first to use creative poetry in songs as worship to God. During his time only poetry from the Bible were traditionally used during worship.
He was born in 1674 in Southampton, England. As a child he displayed a talent for making rhymes, one time he had to explain why his eyes were open during prayers, and he responded:
A little mouse for want of stairs
ran up a rope to say its prayers.
ran up a rope to say its prayers.
Receiving corporal punishment for this, he cried:
O father, father, pity take
And I will no more verses make.
And I will no more verses make.
He also made some contributions to the study of logic, having written a book called Logic, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard Against Error in the Affairs of Religion and Human Life, as well as in the Sciences. but that's less well known compared to his hymns.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Things I've learned, and am still learning
The gospel is a light shining in darkness
This is probably one of the hardest truths to accept about humanity. Because no one likes to admit they're as terrible and evil as the bible makes them out to be. But it's true, and the implications ought to drive me to pray, because my desire for respect and praise from others is a huge obstacle to being bold for the gospel, and contrary to a lot of evangelism methods, we ought to make it clear to people why Christ mattered, and that's because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
There's an illustration that goes something like this: the light of the gospel is only seen against the backdrops of the darkness of the human heart, just as the stars are only seen against the night sky.
Being honest with God about my sins and screw ups and keep falling into the arms of Christ
This is related to the 1st point, but more personal. I am not special, just like everyone else I've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, was enslaved to sin, satan, and his dominion, was a hater of God and righteousness.
The thing is, even though God saved me I cannot go on living in my own efforts. I've learned this the hard way. The most miserable times come when I don't take 1 John 1:9-10 seriously, then I will pretend I've never sinned, or even worse justifying my sins in my mind, which leads to further sinning. The only way is to admit my sins in prayer and ask for forgiveness, trusting in what God said in the bible about his promise to forgive.
Labouring is a pleasure/Ephesians 2:1-10 is true
I'm a lazy person who doesn't enjoy work, when I was lost I despised the thought of being a slave/servant of God, I would think "who in their right mind would call themselves a slave or a servant? Isn't it shameful?" neither did I find a purpose in all my works in school.
But now I think it's a pleasure to labour for Christ's kingdom, sharing the gospel/doing bible study with others and seeing them enlightened to the things of God is the most joyful thing.
This is probably one of the hardest truths to accept about humanity. Because no one likes to admit they're as terrible and evil as the bible makes them out to be. But it's true, and the implications ought to drive me to pray, because my desire for respect and praise from others is a huge obstacle to being bold for the gospel, and contrary to a lot of evangelism methods, we ought to make it clear to people why Christ mattered, and that's because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
There's an illustration that goes something like this: the light of the gospel is only seen against the backdrops of the darkness of the human heart, just as the stars are only seen against the night sky.
Being honest with God about my sins and screw ups and keep falling into the arms of Christ
This is related to the 1st point, but more personal. I am not special, just like everyone else I've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, was enslaved to sin, satan, and his dominion, was a hater of God and righteousness.
The thing is, even though God saved me I cannot go on living in my own efforts. I've learned this the hard way. The most miserable times come when I don't take 1 John 1:9-10 seriously, then I will pretend I've never sinned, or even worse justifying my sins in my mind, which leads to further sinning. The only way is to admit my sins in prayer and ask for forgiveness, trusting in what God said in the bible about his promise to forgive.
Labouring is a pleasure/Ephesians 2:1-10 is true
I'm a lazy person who doesn't enjoy work, when I was lost I despised the thought of being a slave/servant of God, I would think "who in their right mind would call themselves a slave or a servant? Isn't it shameful?" neither did I find a purpose in all my works in school.
But now I think it's a pleasure to labour for Christ's kingdom, sharing the gospel/doing bible study with others and seeing them enlightened to the things of God is the most joyful thing.
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