Author: jwm

What does a politician’s word mean? What does your word mean? In Matthew 5:33–37, Jesus tells you what your word should mean, and he goes beyond that as he points you to the character of the Father in heaven.

Don’t take God’s name lightly. Do not swear falsely. Jesus paraphrases and summarizes passages that regulate oath-taking (Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21). He opposed the practice, common in his day, of outward conformity, while considering all oaths in another name non-binding, Matthew 23:16–22. Our Lord is affirming the principle behind the Third Commandment, which requires keeping God’s name holy. Oaths and vows are taken (increasingly?) lightly in our culture as oaths of office, sworn testimony, and marriage vows are disregarded. Profanity is prohibited. This treats God’s name, or his prerogatives, in a light and inappropriate way. “O, my God,” is used, not to begin a prayer, but as an exclamation of surprise. “God Almighty” or “Jesus Christ,” are not used to invoke God’s name, but to add emotion to what they are saying. The misuse of God’s name is so common that we sometimes tend to fail to hear and fail to be shocked by the profane use of the name of our Creator and Savior in entertainment. God takes blasphemy seriously, Leviticus 24. When we instinctively cringe at the judgment, we are really putting ourselves on the throne and judging God, rather than allowing God to display his justice.

Continue reading “The Name”

In Exodus 34:5–7, the God you cannot see invites Moses (and you) to see him, not with your eyes, but with your ears, heart, and mind. He invites you to know him and to trust him.

Your God is the Lord. You cannot see God’s face and live. God is Spirit, as Jesus told the Samaritan woman. Don’t try to picture or represent God. God is a person. He is not just an influence or an idea. He is distinct from creation, contrary to pantheistic notions. Language that refers to God’s face and hands is anthropomorphic and figurative, but it does communicate, because you are made in God’s image. The perfection and glory of God precludes anything sinful or imperfect in his presence. God is unique. There is none like him. Recognize the glory and greatness of your God!

The Lord has revealed himself to you. The Lord did proclaim his name to Moses. The proclamation of the name reveals the character, the nature of the person. The context is Moses pleading for God’s mercy on Israel who had just violated the Second Commandment. Your God is the Lord. That name means “I am,” Exodus 3:13,14. God is who he is. He is not defined by anything or anyone else. Yet his very name reflects his covenantal faithfulness. He is the God who has redeemed his people and has entered into a covenant with them. He is the God who graciously sends his Presence with his people, even after the idolatry of the golden calf. As God he is beyond any limitation. He is perfect in all that he is. Although you can never know God exhaustively, you can know him truly.

Continue reading “The God You Cannot See”

The Parable of the Banquet speaks of grace. And God’s grace is pictured in the parables of Luke 15. But grace, though free, is not cheap, as Jesus points out in Luke 14:15–35. It is costly to God, who provides it in his Son, and it is costly for you, who walk by faith in the Son of God. God calls you to put him first, regardless of the consequences.

Count the cost of discipleship. Jesus demands priority. Hatred of parents may be seen as relatively normal in our culture, but it was (and still is) shocking in the Middle East. Jesus is not abrogating the 5th and 6th Commandments. He is not suggesting rebellion or suicide. Rather, Jesus requires that he be first in your life, so unquestioningly that relationships with others is compared to hatred, see Matthew 10:37, 38. Because Jesus is God incarnate, the commitment required by the First Commandment is a commitment we owe to him.

“[T]he ‘love’ which Jesus demands in the gospel is based on a radical choice. Properly speaking, it is another word for ‘conversion.’ It consists in the complete surrender of the will, in being at the disposal of the Lord in the same way as is a slave.

Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom, p. 316

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We begin our worship service with words of welcome. But now for some words of exclusion — if you are not a sinner, you are welcome to leave. Why? Because Colossians 3:5–11 calls sinners to repent, and Paul’s letter is addressed not to agnostics and atheists (though if anyone listening is struggling with those concepts, you are welcome to keep listening), but to the holy and faithful ones at Colosse. Before you get up and leave, remember that Paul has just told you some pretty heady stuff in Colossians 3:1–4. Since you are united with your Savior, your life really belongs in heaven with him. Don’t forget that there are some very practical implications! You need to put your sin to death.

Out with the old! Get rid of what belongs to the earth, to the old self.You have been raised with Christ. Recognize that sinful activities contradict that relationship with him. Note Paul’s pastoral approach: he does not say, I hear that there are certain serious sins among you, I’m wondering if you are really regenerated? Instead he tells you who and where you are as you are untied to Christ by faith, and then points out what follows from that. These things must be removed from your life. Spot these sins for what they are. Don’t minimize or justify them. We recognize some of these sins as very evil. But we tend to overlook “minor” things like greed and lying. These sinful activities bring the wrath of God down upon those who practice them. God’s people are not free from sin. Look at David’s terrible sin! Temptation in his heart led to horrendous abuse of his royal power, exploitation, and then to murder. Luke 18 records Jesus telling the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, both of whom went to the temple to pray. The tax collector confessed his sins — and was forgiven, while the Pharisee, who saw no need for repentance, was not justified. You need to be busy about the business of the slaughterhouse. The struggle against sin is not easy. (That is one of the reasons Christ gave you the sacraments—to assure you of his sustaining grace.)

“Paul is saying in ef­fect, do not practise those sins which are after the pattern of the old man but be­have as new men, as indeed you are.”

John Murray, Princi­ples of Conduct, p. 214

Continue reading “Out with the Old!”

What does it take to see the Lord? Especially, what is essential to seeing him in the last day? What does it take to see him, not as the Judge condemning you, but as your Shepherd, as your Redeemer, welcoming you into his eternal presence?

Strive for holiness. Holiness is essential for seeing God. Were I to suggest that essential for seeing the Lord is holiness, the reaction might be, “that sounds like basing salvation on works.” The response to “ How good do I have to be to get into heaven?” is “better than you can be — 100% obedient. We very properly recoil from the suggestion that our works have any meritorious role in our salvation .That was something learned afresh at the time of the Protestant Reformation. And yet Hebrews 12:14 tells you: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Sanctification is sometimes reduced to simply being fruit and evidence of justification. Scripture treats sanctification as something distinct from, something in addition to, and thus decidedly more than just fruit and evidence of justification. Parallel to repentance, sanctification is never the ground or basis for your justification, but it is something that is an essential part of belonging to Christ. The author of Hebrews is no less clear than Paul that our salvation rests on nothing that we do or are, but only on Christ himself: “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself” Heb. 7:27. The Holy Spirit, through Hebrews, is calling you to turn from self-righteousness and to trust in Christ alone for salvation.

“Sanctification has es­pecial regard to God. Even though the whole world blazes with war, we must not let go of sanctification because it is the chain which binds us in union with God…. No one can see God without sancti­fication since we shall only see God with eyes that have been re­newed according to his image.”

John Calvin, Com­mentary on Hebrews, at 12:14

Continue reading “Seeing the Lord”