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Bible Study

Holiness and Glory

 

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”  Isaiah 6:3

 

“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” Isaiah 42:8 9 (KJV)

 

“Glorify me with the glory I had with Thee before the world was.” John 17:5 (KJV)

 

Nothing do men act for more than their glory.[1]

 

Those that never had a sense of their own vileness, were always destitute of a sense of God’s holiness.[2]

Holiness and glory are summary attributes of the divine person. God’s holiness is the self-defining quality of deity. Glory is the way in which God communicates everywhere—sometimes in creation, sometimes in redemption—the specific qualities of the divine person so that God may be known as God.

Other attributes express aspects of the divine person, speak of the desires within God’s heart, detail his purposes, and display sovereignty. But all the attributes of God are united under the banner of the holiness of God. God twice swears by his holiness (Psalms 89:35; Amos 4:2), once he swears by his power (Isaiah 62:8), and once he swears by his name, which is equivalent to his entire person (Jeremiah 22:5).[3]

Glory is the means by which holiness is made known throughout all creation and finally revealed in ultimate clarity and public display by Jesus Christ. Glory is derived from God’s holiness. There is a morality, a virtue to holiness that directs the divine person to act, to speak, and to show his character and dimensions most gloriously. A glorious God who displays his character and will in what has been made renders sinful men accountable before God’s moral excellencies. A purely rational sinful man will know his sin because God exists. But a sinful man, despite the existence of God, will utterly and foolishly reject what can be known of God by the evidence of all that has been made by him (the argument of Romans 1:18-32). Scripture says men know about God and they know that he is glorious. But they are repelled by God’s holiness revealed through his outshining glory, and they act very foolishly against what they know of God’s moral character.

People are not drawn to God’s glory nor are they attracted by God’s holiness. They are repelled from it by their sin; they are driven by their consciences to deny his indictment or to escape his wrath, and they are separated from God by their disobedience to his holy Law.

Holiness is first of all an aspect of God’s character as he exists in his divinity uniquely distinguished from all else in his creation. Holiness in this sense is an attribute, a characteristic of God—a quality similar in class to wisdom, eternity, grace, or mercy. Holiness and glory are also used in a much grander sense as summative qualities of all the excellencies of God’s nature. These qualities are exalted beyond the individual attributes (qualities such as wisdom, eternality, and, love). Holiness and glory are sublime, summative qualities that display the essential person of God in all he does. There is none else like him in Heaven or on the Earth. The nature of glory and holiness points to the essential being of God as God. He not only possesses holiness; he is the ground and source of all holiness. Not only does God display his glory; glory flows from his entire nature because he is God, and he is therefore the glorious God. Holiness and glory (in the sense we are exploring) are incomprehensible if considered apart from the person of God.

Holiness is essential to God’s simplicity (his unity, purposefulness, will, and sovereignty) expressed by his ultimate and pervasive desire to be glorious in all that he does. Glory is central to the display of God’s character as God, especially in the redemption of the Cross of Christ and in his electing mercies bringing his people to the knowledge of God through grace alone (see Romans 9:23).

Essential holiness

Charnock writes about the essential and necessary nature of the holiness of God:

In particular, this property of the Divine nature is an essential and necessary perfection: he is essentially and necessarily holy. It is the essential glory of his nature: his holiness is as necessary as his being; as necessary as his omniscience: as he cannot but know what is right, so he cannot but do what is just …. He is as necessarily holy, as he is necessarily God; as necessarily without sin, as without change. As he was God from eternity, so he was holy from eternity ….

Charnock leaps to the higher topic of holiness in this summative sense:

[God] is not only holy, but holiness; holiness in the highest degree, is his sole prerogative. As the highest heaven is called the heaven of heavens because it embraces in its circle all the heavens, and contains the magnitude of them, and has a greater vastness all that it encloses, so is God the Holy of holiness; he contains the holiness of all creatures, so is together, and infinitely more.[4]

Some have seen that holiness is “a coordinating relationship between other qualities” within the divine person. In Dutch this is Verhältnissbegriff,[5] the coordination of the divine attributes within the divine person, working together for a common purpose: The glory of God. Each of the attributes of God coordinates with one another, never competing, limiting, or hindering the ultimate outcome of each individual attribute, but each attribute of God propounding and protecting aspects of the divine person relevant to each, accomplishing together and ultimately all that is within the divine will. Holiness is the means by which this coordination of every divine attribute within the attributes of the divine person is established and expressed.

Wrath and love might be first thought to be competing qualities seeking different ends, just as grace might be viewed as waging war against justice. These qualities are coordinated by means of God’s overarching, holy intention to work all things together for his own glory in everything he does and says (cf. Romans 8:28, “we know that God causes everything to work together for the good …” NLT), satisfying the demands that every quality within the divine person be glorified because they are God’s.

This coordination and purposefulness within the divine person, especially seen in his holiness and glory, is most definitively displayed in the Cross of Christ.[6] No quality within the Godhead is usurped. No aspect of God’s nature is diminished. God is wrathful toward sin and yet he loves his elect people. Certainly the most glorious aspect of the Cross is that every attribute of God is displayed without confusion, competition, or diminution; all are displayed gloriously, yet the redemption of Christ fulfilled God’s intention to save the sinful and to punish sin, thus God honored his own nature as the Holy God while magnificently displaying his love and electing grace. God acted as One to redeem (Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29). There is a wondrous singularity in the purpose of God to save. This especially is the display of his holiness.

Holiness may be studied as a particular attribute of God, along with God’s other attributes, e.g. wisdom, eternity, goodness, patience, and the like. Holiness also may be studied as a Verhältnissbegriff, by which God coordinates all his qualities and attributes in the accomplishment of his holy will. But it must be said that there is much about these matters that begin to touch the inner economy of the divine person that is necessarily, rightly, protectively, graciously, and forever hidden from our view. Some things within the divine person are unknown to us, not only because God so values our humility as creatures, but much more because he so greatly prizes within himself the glory of his divinity. He has determined that much of this divine economy has been shielded from our knowledge simply because he is God. We should study what we can and love what God has revealed, but the end of this inquiry of the economy within the divine person must be worship, not philosophy.

But in spite of our limitations regarding these great themes from our perspective, we can assert with confidence that the holiness of God is an essential and overarching, even a “definitional,” quality of God. We can observe how God’s essential simplicity assures his unity of purpose and will, as well as protecting that this unity of will extends across every attribute without confusion or competition. These are qualities of a kind that are preserved solely, uniquely, and eternally for divinity, and thus they make him glorious.

No decision, no action, no communication of his will or purposes, no act of creation or miracle, resides outside of the influence of God’s essential holiness. Lloyd-Jones writes in praise of God’s holy character:

I can say it with reverence that before I begin to think and consider the love of God and the mercy and compassion of God, I must start with the holiness of God. I go further; unless I start with the holiness of God, my whole conception of the love of God is going to be false …. essentially [holiness] is the character of God, and the character of God is His holiness.

I suggest that if you do not start with the holiness of God you will never understand God’s plan of salvation, which is that salvation is only possible to us through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary’s hill … If God is only love and compassion and mercy, then the Cross is surely meaningless: for if God is love alone, then all he needs to do when man sins is to forgive him. But the whole message is that the Cross is at the center, and without that death God … cannot forgive …. But if I start with the holiness of God I see that the incarnation must take place; the Cross is absolutely essential, and the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit and every other part of the great plan as well.[7]  

Charnock celebrates the grandeur of God’s holiness as the “crown of his attributes”:

The nature of God cannot rationally be conceived without [holiness].

Holiness is the crown of all his attributes, the life of all his decrees, the brightness of all his actions: nothing is decreed by him, nothing is acted by him, but what is worthy of the dignity, and becoming the honor, of this attribute.

…[Holiness] seems to challenge an excellence above all other perfections, so it is the glory of all the rest. As it is the glory of the God-head, so it is the glory of every perfection in the Godhead.

Without a due sense of it, we can never exalt God in our hearts; and the more distinct conceptions we have of this, and the rest of his attributes, the more we glorify him.[8]

Holiness stands as the eminent perfection in the divine person. Holiness “has an excellency above his other perfections.”[9] Glory, therefore, must flow out of his holiness. His glory is the display of his holiness. Glory is therefore contentful and completely focused on holiness. If glory is claimed as the subject of some declaration about God but the statement fails to articulate the content, the affirmations, the acts of God, the historic displays of God’s holiness, it fails to be God’s glory at all. Glory must have holiness as its subject, always. Glory is about God, not about what we invent, create, concoct, imagine, or emote in God’s name. Glory is substantive, historic, and displayed in revelation, centered in Christ, and rooted in redemption.

The marriage of glory and holiness

When the holiness of God is revealed, glory must accompany the display. In Exodus 40:34f. the glorious cloud of God’s Presence descended upon the tabernacle. The entrance to that place was blocked by the display of God’s presence; the cloud was the sign of God’s holy splendor. It was the holiness of God that prevented entry, not the outshining of glory. Glory might kill a human being, but it doesn’t create a categorical and unbridgeable barrier between sinful man and a holy God. Holiness drives sinful man away from God’s infinite fury and it makes standing in the presence of God impossible for every sinful man. Holiness protects all of God’s excellencies and it labors eternally to rectify every offense to his purity to the glorious measure and to the infinite fullness of his justice. By unmitigated wrath, every insult to God’s purity and perfections will be judged in acts of holy justice and in the protection and declaration of his holy nature. Holiness protects God’s separateness from his fallen creation and from the insulting, corrupting, self-exalting, idolatrous nature of human sin, and from the alienating effects resulting from offenses against God and his Law. By his holiness, God is at ultimate and infinite enmity with all of sin and with all who commit them.

 The holiness of God requires a glorious display of God’s majesty. Glory does not create God’s holiness. It seeks to honor the holiness of God displayed in all cases by the person and work of the Son of God. Whether by his mediating the Father’s character and will through the dispensation of the Law of God, by prophetic word and miracle in establishing the Old Testament covenants and promises, or in foretastes of Messianic appearance in prophetic visions and future grace, Christ displays the holiness of God for all to see. In Christ, both the holiness and love of God are displayed and they are satisfied (cf. Psalms 85:10). This is glorious.

Holiness in conflict with sin

Moses’ request to look upon God’s glory was answered by God with a very limited display of God’s nature and person (“you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen,” Exodus 33:20, 23). This display of God’s glory to Moses was not merely associated with a partial shining forth of his glory for him to see and to be changed by it, but also with the expression of his infinite and his essential and life-threatening holiness.

But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”  (Exodus 33:20)

Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:23)

No one has ever seen God. (John 1:18a)

Holiness and glory also must stand against the charge that they conflict with the presence of sin in the world. They must be able to stand against the heart-wrenching questions raised by great physical or moral suffering, horrific sin, and unspeakable evil—even when those experiences conflict with the presence and the majesty of God, the glory of his person, and the holiness of his Nature. Stephen Charnock argues strenuously that neither glory nor holiness necessitates the elimination of evil or contravenes the exercise of sin. He holds that such evil is permissible by God and does no violence either to glory or to holiness. In a universe in which a glorious and holy God exists, terrible evil can be expressed, woeful sorrows experienced, and catastrophic sins permitted. Charnock calls this the God’s “permission of sin.” Addressing sin and evil as it relates to God’s glory, he says:

Therefore, God did not permit sin, as sin, but as it was an occasion for the manifestation of his own glory.[10]

Regarding God’s holiness and the evil acts of men, Charnock says:

[Though the natural virtue required to commit a sinful action may be given to a person by] God, and supported [“allowed”] by him yet this doth not blemish the holiness of God; while God concurs with them in the act [“permits their occurrence”], he instills no evil into men.[11]

Charnock holds that God allows man to sin and he grants him life and the ability to use this permission against the purposes and will of God (so man may think). But God is not culpable for man’s actions. God did not restrict man to do only that which was God’s declared will. Even in the breaking of the Law of God, his purposes and character are established, his holiness is extolled, his mercy is praised, and he will be given ultimate praise either by establishing an overcoming victory of the faithful believer, though tried as with fire, or in the just judgment of the wicked inflicted upon them for the sake of their actions. No sinful act will escape the ultimate judgment of God. No suffering will escape God’s consolation or restitution. And because God is holy, no sinful act will ever be laid at God’s charge. His glory and his holiness will never be assailed as failing, wanting of power or majesty, or failing to accomplish the ultimate and greater glory of God in defense of his perfect holiness.

Charnock sounded a theme common in the Puritan writers but less commonly spoken today. They did not blush at laying the sin of men, the problem of evil, and the sufferings of the innocent, in tension with the glory and the holiness of God without conflict, confusion, or contradiction. They saw even in great moral evil God’s purposes being worked out, God’s grander plans being fulfilled, and God’s ultimate praise being brought into focus in the midst of true evil, the sinful choices of men, painful sorrows, and the horrors that men inflict upon one another. The Puritans saw the glory and holiness of God as unassailable, undefeatable, and incorruptible. Any challenge the problem of evil brings against God’s benevolent Providence or his loving grace is answered by the holiness of God.

In measuring how holiness is manifested in our fallen world, we have a finite point of view and are very limited as men in our perspective. We do not always see the outcome of an event or the ultimate end of men’s actions. We are not given a vantage point from which we can see the resolution, the corrective justice, or the conclusion of matters from God’s point of view while we are still living on Earth. We have assurance that wherever real evil expresses itself, the Holy God is working to direct the outcome and limit the extent of it, to protect his holiness and defend his moral integrity, to resolve the event toward a grander good, and to cinematically demonstrate by the Cross and Resurrection that this mortal life is not the end and sum of our living. God assures us that the presence of sin and evil and the certainty of death do not corrupt the holiness of God, but rather they establish it.

A full and Biblical doctrine of the glory and holiness of God presents the person of God who not only fully understands the problem of evil, but is actively engaged in making every sinful act and every fearful event result in greater praise to his Name. Even when that praise flows from a sin-filled world when it is rightly judged and a corrupt people justly punished, and out of horrific evil confronted and rectified by holy justice, God worked and is still working for his greater glory. On the Day of Judgment, no one will doubt the holiness of God.

The self-sufficient and the arrogant wage war against a doctrine that permits evil in the presence of holiness and glory. They declare that if God could stop evil, he must stop it now; that suffering is unnecessary if God is powerful; that misery must be avoided if God is to be praised; and that evil must always be conquered if people are wounded under a wicked command. But the God of revelation and redemption looks at evil squarely. Holiness is not defeated by a dark storm of evil expressed through powerful misery. The God of Scripture overcomes every evil, every sin, every sorrow, and is never diminished by the worst design of demons and evil men.

Such doctrine is hard for the arrogant soul. This is the weight of glory, the majesty of God’s true character, the grandeur of God’s providence and power: God’s glory and God’s holiness stand unassailed by every challenge. And we bear these doctrines rejoicing and look upon such monumental truths with wonder and praise to the holy and glorious God whose will cannot be thwarted, diverted, or diminished, and whose purposes are always established even in the worst events of human life.

God’s holiness and glory are most sharply displayed in the ministry and life of the Son of God. When the Son was murdered, the Father was glorified. When wickedness struck the Son, holiness confirmed his perfections and declared him not victim, but Sin-Bearing Sacrifice. In the greatest sin of all, the salvation of God was established, the glory of God was publicly displayed and the holiness of God was enthroned. Out of his victory all future judgment flows.

Seeing God’s glory by the Son

The glory of God finds ultimate, radical, and most startling display in the mediating work of the Son of God. Whether in the Old Testament or the New, it is by the Son that God’s glory is displayed.[12] By the Son alone God’s holy nature and his hidden glory are made known. We speak of the Son who gives all glory to the Father, who in the Old Testament was not yet known by the name of Jesus. But his work was the same—then, in shadows and type—now, in substance and fulfillment. Describing the Son, John writes:

“… the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” (John 1:18b)  

When God displayed his glory to Moses, that outshining of his Shekinah was mediated by the Son to make the Father’s glory known in that display of Light. The Son’s work was always to satisfy and protect the Father’s holiness, which no sinful man can ever approach. Christ’s work as Mediator and Redeemer made the Father’s glory known (see 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 9:15; 12:24). Salvation by Christ in the New Testament is therefore most glorious (see 2 Corinthians 3:10, 18; 4:4 and 6) because it is the most articulate declaration of God’s holiness, seen in the salvation of sinners.[13]

Holiness brings judgment and fierce violence against those who are enemies of God because of their sin against his holy person and his perfect virtues. Glory displays the splendor of God’s person and his works of salvation. God will give his holiness and glory consummate honor for all humanity to see. When we are all gathered at a single point in coming history, at the Final Judgment (see Isaiah 66:15; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 25:31; and compare Revelation 1:7). There holiness and glory will be wed in both the gracious salvation of the righteous and the just and unsparing judgment of the wicked. This pairing of holiness and glory is seen in Ezekiel 28:20–22. 

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Sidon, and prophesy against herand say, Thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, and I will manifest my glory in your midst.
And they shall know that I am the Lord
     when I execute judgments in her and manifest
        my holiness in her;[14]

Future glory

The glory of God is now eclipsed until God’s holiness is fully displayed in salvation of all the elect and in the final judgment. God chooses to manifest, declare, and extol his own glory as God. Glory is the song of God’s holiness. God must praise his own nature and virtues. God delights in his holiness and he protects it to the extreme. We do not now see God’s glory in its fullness. It is “eclipsed” in shadows and withheld from our full view because of the limits of our finitude and, more, because our sin has alloyed our nature, our perceptions, and our reasoning. We see now only “in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12; 2 Timothy 1:12; and 2 Peter 1:7). Jeremiah Burroughs writes of this eclipse and the future fullness of glory, and the tension between the two:

God does not so much stand upon appearing to be a strong God, appearing to be a powerful God, or to be a God of patience and long-suffering. God does not so much stand to be an omniscient God, though these attributes are dear to God, but that he may appear to be a holy God, that it stands upon.

Whatever glory of the name of God that God shall be content to have eclipsed in this world for a while, yet he is resolved that he shall have the glory of his holiness above all things.[15]

Holiness is “the essential glory of his nature.”[16] The Son of God is the singular means by which all of God’s glory that either has been or ever will be communicated from God, whether by creation, redemption, or judgment—whether in eternity past or future or in this current moment of time—is known. The Son displays the glory of the Father. In his work the Father is truly known, his works are clearly seen, his will and Law are perfectly obeyed and fulfilled, and his saving intentions are all accomplished. Christ makes the Father known. Christ makes the holiness of God known and so reveals the nature of the Father by honoring and fulfilling his righteousness (cf. Matthew 3:15). Charnock writes:

In honoring [holiness], which is the soul and spirit of all the [divine attributes], we give a glory to all the perfections which constitute and beautify his nature: and without the glorifying this, we glorify nothing of them, though we should extol every other single attribute a thousand times ….”[17]

This is why God is so rejecting of any glory given to him by men.

 

[1] Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God, Vol. 2, 119.

[2] Ibid, 192.

[3] Ibid, 112.

[4] Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God, Vol. 2, 115, 116.

[5] Bavinck, The Doctrine of God, 209–210, citing Diestel [no reference].

[6] Cf. Romans 3:26, “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

 

[7] Lloyd-Jones, Studies in 1 John, Vol. 1, 107–108.

[8] Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God, Vol. 2, 111, 113–114, and 191.

[9] Ibid, 112.

[10] Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God, Vol. 2, 155.

[11] Ibid, 157.

[12] Owen, The Glory of Christ, 69–73. The chapter, “The Glory of Christ under the Old Testament,” and passim. Cf. Edwards, Works, Vol. 1, “The End for Which God Created the World,” 94–121, also in Piper, God’s Passion for His Glory, where  Edwards’ dissertation is reprinted with commentary and notes by Piper. Edwards’ establishes Christ’s role in every display of the Father’s glory in the Old Testament and in the New.

[13] Morris, The Cross in the New Testament, 225.

[14] Italics added. See also Psalms 29:2 and the parallel in 1 Chronicles 16:29.

[15] Burroughs, Gospel Worship, 30.

[16] Charnock, Existence and Attributes of God, 115.

[17] Ibid, 196.

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Bible Study, Philosophy of ministry.

Paul’s testament to Timothy

1. Purity in teaching and doctrine.

The Christian faith is more that relationships. It is also a relationship with the truth and with true doctrine. Doctrine has been confused with sectarian arguments and man’s opinions and we are programmed to give a wince or a groan when the subject of doctrine comes up.

Doctrine ought to be the essential truths of faith, not those matters that create Christian denominations. Doctrine would be the principles about God that would distinguish a true church from a cult, a true follower of Christ from one who was sincere and sincerely wrong on matters that have to do with eternal life and true godliness. Doctrine would distinguish a Mormon from a Christian by means of the doctrinal differences between the two. For example, the Mormons believe that there are many Gods and that there are a multiplicity of universes. They believe that some of those living as human beings will one day become Gods of their own creation. They also believe that they will be co-equal in being and divinity with Jesus Christ. Christian doctrine says there is one God, who lives eternally in three Persons (one in essence, and three in personhood). Christian doctrine teaches that God is eternally different from human beings. People are created, God is uncreated because he existed forever. We worship Jesus Christ, according to Christian doctrine, we do not become equal to him in our essence. He is a member of the Trinity, the Second Person of the Trinity (which makes up the One God) and we can never assume the being of divinity. We may share the personal attributes of God (kindness, love, patience, forgiveness, and the like) but this is mimicry, not consubstantialis with God (“having the same substance as”) which the Mormon’s teach. 

In our day there are many doctrines in the Christian faith that set us apart from other faiths. We believe that only by faith in Jesus Christ our Savior is there forgiveness and new life. We believe that Christ died for our sins and that all who believe in him will be rescued/saved from the wrath to come. We believe that Christ was both a human being and the Second Person of the Trinity, and he died on the Cross, was in the tomb or three days, and rose bodily from the dead. We believe that Christ is alive today and that he prays for us. These and many more doctrines are critical to the Christian faith. 

Some matters of faith are not doctrine in the sense that they define the Christian faith. One such secondary matter, it seems clear, is the matter of baptism. You may stop attending a church is they taught that Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, but you might not break fellowship with a Church of with believers who attend it over the issue of baptism. There are wonderful Christians on all sides of the baptism question. They answer the question as to whom should be baptized very differently. Some baptize children of believers, some only a believer after conversion and a credible testimony. We may disagree about who should be baptized but we would not say that those who practice baptism differently from our church have ceased to be Christians. They have a disagreement on this secondary matter that would not rise to the standard of doctrine (as we are defining the term here). 

1 Timothy 1:3-7, Paul warns Timothy not to teach any other doctrine that what he had been taught. The New Testament is the corpus, the standard of teaching for the Christian Church. Add to that the Old Testament, and there is the corpus for the time before Christ appeared, and the record of God dealing with his Covenant people, Israel, through blessing, provision, Law, prophets, exile, sin, restoration, hope, promise, and fulfillment. 

2. For you. What you believe matters in whether you are forgiven or not. What you believe determines your salvation. What you believe affects your life, your choices, your moral compass, your sense of accountability, how, whether, and where you serve God or not. What you believe determines your view of the church, of other believers in Christ, and your own relationship with God. What you believe affects your friendships, your marriage, your work, how you raising your children (avoiding the word “parenting”), how you live, and, last, how you will die. Pretty important, I’d say. 

Paul warns against speculation in 1:4. Speculation is when you come up with something that is not definitive and you believe it to be true, even though there is no clear and strong basis for it. Many secondary doctrines are not definitive because they are speculative. They have the principle Number 1, plus principle Number 2, and they derive the startling conclusion that there were only two of every kind of animal on the Ark. But they didn’t read carefully that Noah was commanded to bring 7 specimens of the “clean” animals, not just two of them. Not reading the whole story can bring us to make statements that aren’t true, when part of what we say has a connection to the truth, just not all of it. Another kind of speculation is when we come to a question about which the Bible is not clear (evidenced by many faithful interpreters having disparate interpretations of the passage), and we offer our conclusion, which must be our speculation because there is not enough evidence in the text to resolve the matter. 

Do not go beyond what is written (1 Corinthians 4:6). As enticing as it presents itself, we must not speculate where the Bible is silent. That would be going beyond what is written. We must, at points say, “I don’t know.” Richard Pratt noted that we are not able to understand all of Scripture, he suggests, because it teaches us humility when we face the limits of our understanding. Doctrine is one thing, speculation is another. We need to know the difference. When a person teaches with authority something that is merely speculation, we should remind hem of 1 Timothy 1:4. The end should be the teaching of the doctrines of the Christian faith as the stewardship we have received from God, and which he expects us to fulfill.

People can swerve (1 Tim 1:6-7) from the truth. They can teach wrong doctrines about how people should live their lives. The lists of prohibited sins are repeated through Paul’s writings (1 Corinthians 5:11ff.; 6:9ff; Galatians5:19ff; Romans 1:28ff; 13:13; Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5; 2 Timothy 3:2f., and in our section 1 Timothy 1:8-10). 

3. The goal is love, 1 Timothy 1:5. This love is described and with a “pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.”  The goal is not merely to be loving, but to have a love that is tied to other virtues (pure heart, good conscience, and sincere faith.” The Christian faith has bee characterized as the religion of love — that God is love, that we love one another, all we need is love. But the way the love of the Christian faith characterizes itself is far from “love” alone. It is a definitive kind of love, a love of substance and character. 

4. The foremost sinner. Paul describes himself in a couple of places in the later section of 1 Timothy 1 as the foremost of sinners. He had been (ὑβριστήν, from which the word hubris comes, overweening pride. That was Paul. Was Paul the worst sinner in the history of humanity? That is the implication of ὑπερεπλεόνασεν, the only use of this word in the New Testament, meaning that grace “overflowed” for him, it abounded exceedingly to Paul, because he was the foremost, the πρῶτός (the “protos” or prototype (1:15), the worst there was). To emphasize the point, he repeats himself in the next verse (1:16).
The point was that if God could save Paul, the worst sinner, he could show mercy, use him as an example, “to those who were to believe in (Christ) for eternal life” (1:16).

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Bible Study, sovereignty of God

The love that created Christmas

Romans 8:3 “God has  done, what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do; by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the reighteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.”

Christ came to fulfill the requirement of the law of God for us. The bad news: We all stand before the Court of Heaven condemned. Guilty of all charges.

But the law was given from God to display his nature and to communicate with us the matters of his character that are critically important to him. To obey the law (in the terms that they were given) would be to act, in those areas, like God would act. The law was representative of his moral character. The law may appear to us today as arbitrary or capricious, but in fact, the law of God is very purposeful and it accomplished its reason for being given in two ways.

First, the law indicted all of humanity as law breakers. All of were indeed, breakers of the law by our very nature. As sinners from conception, we bore in ourselves a nature that was opposed to God and that stood in opposition to him. But God was pleased to expose in us the ways in which we come into conflict with the moral nature of God. The law declares of us as guilty sinners, justly deserving of the wrath of God. Second, it offers a measure of moral purity that is acceptable to God and is pleasing to him. This use of the law is the measure that was met by Jesus Christ in his perfect obedience to the Father. In every way he obeyed the law, the same law that condemns us all, is the law that Christ Jesus obeyed completely and absolutely. So Christ fulfilled the law and completed all of its demands. He was the only human being to do so.

See 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (ESV); and, Romans 10:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (ESV)

So Christ did not come merely to assume human flesh and blood, to be close to us, or to tell us what God was like. He came much more purposefully. He came to redeem those he would save by living a perfect life according to the standards of the law of God, and dying a sacrificial and substitutionary death for them so that his righteousness could be imputed, given, to those who trust in Christ for their salvation, and they did not trust in their own goodness.

Familiar with our sins.

Christ is familiar with every sin we have committed. He died for each of them. He suffered for them extensively (for all our sins) and intensively (for each sin individually). He died for us personally (“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15 ESV)

When you ran to Jesus for mercy, did you think that you would never wrestle with sins again? Or that you should merely push them aside without reckoning them to the Savior that he might die for them?

Do not underestimate your sin’s impact on Jesus Christ. They killed him. Do not try to save yourself by bring ashamed or guilty combined with a wrenching remorse. Being sorry doesn’t grant you pardon. Only grace does.  Christ took away all you sins. What the law could not do for you, the Son of God did.  See Colossians 2:13-15b, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross ….” (ESV)

Why did God do this for you?

It was not because you were worth saving. You were not better than others. You did not qualify for salvation. You were saved because God chose to save you. He made a decision to be merciful to you and to forgive your sins and to adopt you as a son or daughter of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

There was no comparison of us against the rest of humanity. We were not chose because we passed some test. There was no comparison with other persons. The only comparison was between you and God. How would you fare in that comparison? That is the standard. The problem of saving you is that God not only wants to save you, but he wants to love and know and live with you forever. You must be brought up to the moral standards of divine perfection if this is to occur. But you are not perfect. This is way Christ came. Not that you become like God in his divinity, but that you are given the moral perfection of Jesus Christ, his righteousness, is given to you.  “But put on (be clothed with) the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:14 ESV)

The standard that we must meet is the standard of perfection. The only way to achieve this, is to have the righteousness of Christ imputed, given to our account before God, where his righteousness is applied to our lives, and God now sees us as though we were as morally perfect as the Son of God. We still sin, of course. But sin should not master us. We should experience growth in grace and know through our personal sanctification the process of becoming more holy as time passes. These gifts come to us through the love of God.

Not like Santa.

The modern view of Santa is that he finds “good boys and girls and gives them gifts.” Boys and girls are challenged to be “good” so Santa can give them presents. But this is not the Christian ideal of God in any way. God doesn’t give gifts to good boys and girls, but to sinners who would most certainly have perished in Hell had God not acted in such a powerful way through Christ’s death and resurrection. “And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.’” (Mark 10:18 ESV)

Romans 8:3, the law cannot make sinful people holy. It can only condemn sinful people for their failure. But Christ fulfilled the requirements of the law – he never sinned, not in word, nor actions, not in thought nor in disposition or attitude.  He was without sin, but strong – powerful – wise – he was goodness in human flesh. He mind did not war within him so as to defeat him and capture him in sin. No. He sought always, always, to do the Father’s will. That was he chief and highest, his thoroughgoing commitment of every decision he made. He came to do the Father’s will. And he did it.

And what Christ accomplished we could not do. His “alien righteousness” was perfect. Unlike any good deed we might do which is still stained with sin and inferior motives. Not Christ. His righteousness was alien to all of our goodness utterly and completely different from what we had. He was and is perfectly obedient to the Father, and therefore he never sinned.

When we come to God we must repudiate our righteousness. We must lay aside any idea of entitlement or desert in our claim on God’s love and mercy. We simply do not and cannot deserve his love and mercy. They come from God. And they come only from God.

But the Christian life is not merely running to God for mercy. People run to God hoping that they might not experience Hell. But they scarcely know or love God at all. The test of a true and saving faith is simple. Do you love God?

A bold claim of his love for you is not enough. This can be little more than using God to get what you want from him. You know the calculus of Heaven versus Hell. You choose Heaven. But this isn’t the bargain. It is to know and love God, or not. That is the choice.

Loving God is very different from claiming a gift you didn’t deserve. Loving him is about affection, values, building precious ties to God, and growing at the deepest place in your heart and mind to create decisions the are in accord with the love that God has for you and that you have for God.

So say the truth.

We resist confessing our sins. It is embarrassing. But we must understand that every sin is tied to a lie. If you persist in the lie, you will not be free from the sin. Confession is facing sin, speaking to God honestly about it, and saying the truth.

If you are forgiven of a sin you committed long ago and you continue in the lie that moved you to sin, you will miss the freedom God gives to the children of God. You cannot hold on to the lie and be free of the sin. Jesus died for each sin specifically. He is familiar with the sin. He knows them all by name. He could describe the time at which you committed them. Because he died for them all. He knows them. So when you come to confess, it is time to tell the truth, and then to claim the complete pardon he gives to those who trust him and his work.

Do not be so shamed that you do not come to freedom and cleansing, and pardon and joy. Speak the truth that Christ died for your sins and he has taken them all away. And do not let a sin that Christ has died for separate you from the God who loved you so much that he would send his Son to die for them all.

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John 5 Outline: The Confrontational Character of Christ

Outline of John 5

Introduction. Until now the Gospel of John has shown Jesus in relationship with individual people, or with his disciples or family (his mother). But now the scene broadens. Jesus begins to be in conflict with a group of people, the Jews, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law (Scribes).

The time. The chapter begins with the information that this was the time of a “feast.” But no specific feast is mentioned. The alternative reading “the” feast, is doubtful and does not settle the question. John gives us some details, but not all that we would, perhaps like. Nonetheless, it is all we need.

Jerusalem seems to be standing at the time of writing (dating the Gospel before 70 AD), see 5:2, “Now there is in Jerusalem the Sheep Gate . . .” (Leon Morris, John, ad loc).

The chapter breaks into two sections. The healing of the paralytic by the Pool of Bethesda, and the conflict with the Jews over the Sabbath.

Part 1 — The healing at Bethesda.

  1. The man who was healed by the pool of Bethesda had been ill a long time. For 38 years he had been  coming to the pool waiting for the waters to be stirred so that he might receive healing. The myth or legend of the stirring of the waters was well-known, and it is a point of pity toward the man so-long-ill. The language used to describe the man may infer or imagine that he was injured and became a paralytic as a result of the injury. But the text is notably absent on the cause of his paralysis, just the length of it, pointing to the protracted time of his malady. The age of the man is not given, only the length of the time of his suffering.
    1. It is to be noted that the man did not express any faith in Christ, nor knowledge of him other miracles or his competency to effect healing of his organic disease. The man seemed not to know anything about Jesus in terms of his name or family, or spiritually as one who was a worker of miracles. It is most amazing that the man didn’t stay with or follow Jesus after he was restored.

i.      It could be that the healing put new responsibility on him.

ii.      It could be that he had learned to be passive and a beggar and that he was not able to function as one who was able to provide for himself.

iii.      It appears that his lack of faith was profound (see 5:16, his betrayal of Jesus).

  1. The absence of faith in the paralytic is all the more interesting because it was Jesus who came to the man, not the other way around. Jesus came and asked the man if he wanted to be healed.
  2. Faith was not the cause of his healing. He did not seek healing, but pity from Jesus, “there is no one to help me get into the water.”

i.      Many are healed of terrible diseases, they call upon God to heal them, and they are restored, yet they do not believe.

ii.      His belief in the “stirring of the waters” myth (hope) seemed to have been his only hope for healing. When Jesus comes to him and heals him, he doesn’t have any way to interpret what Jesus did for him. Jesus didn’t stir the waters. Jesus didn’t carry him first into the pool. Jesus didn’t do any of the things the man believed would bring him healing. Jesus simply healed him.

  1. The healing of the paralytic set in motion the totality of events that resulted in the death of Jesus.

i.      The conflict with the Jews about carrying a load on the Sabbath, and the ensuing defense that Jesus gives to them of his work, his person, of his relationship to the Temple, to God the Father and to the Father’s work, all created the set of charges that would follow Jesus until he is formally charged and then executed for blasphemy.

ii.      The references to the murderous inclinations of the Jews toward Jesus found in John’s Gospel:  5:18; 7:19, 25; 8:37, 59.

iii.      The greatest irony of Jesus’ death is that he is executed for the sin of blasphemy because he claimed “he was equal with God,” which he was.

  1. The distinction that Jesus made of his relationship with the Father was that he was “my Father.”  The Jews spoke of God with very careful language, as “Our Father,” — the same name by which he taught the disciples to pray to God in the Lord’s Prayer.
  2. The claim that Jesus was in a special relationship to his Father in Heaven was a claim of equality with God, of being of the same family and origins as God. It was most offensive for the Jew to address God in this manner.
  3. Jesus, at the end of John, employs the same language of intimacy with the Father, and with God.
    1. He joins those who have faith in Jesus in that circle of intimate relationship with God as a personal and familial connection.
    2. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17 ESV)
    3. Addressing God
  4.  The paralytic proved himself to be “the worst sort of character.” Immediately after being found by Jesus after he spoke with the Jews about why he was carrying his bed around on the Sabbath, he immediately returned to the Jews and told them it was Jesus who had healed him.

i.      There was no appreciation for the healing expressed. There was no sense of loyalty or desire to protect Jesus from the religious authorities; he was immediately and continuously loyal to the Jews and their leaders.

ii.      This even though Jesus warned him (5:15) about worse things  happening to him, Jesus said to him, “Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

  1. The Jews are directly addressed from 5:19–47. The teaching Jesus gives them about himself is clear, challenging, confrontational, and glorious.
  2. Notes on John 5:19-47
    1. 5:19  Jesus declares that he is only “doing what the Father is doing.” This is the way in which Jesus decided what he would do. If he saw the Father working, he would work there. If not, he would not. This is associated with Jesus’ prayer, “Not my will, but yours be done” see Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42.

i.      The revelation to the Jews is quite stunning. These men have been rising in their opposition to Jesus even in these early days of his ministry and yet he addresses them with many doctrines and teachings about himself, his relationship with God the Father, and his own Person and work.

ii.      Because he is doing what the Father is doing, any complaint about his work becomes a complaint about the Father’s work and a criticism of the Father.

  1. 5:20  The love of the Father for the Son and the work of the Son to reveal all the works of the Father to those who have eyes to see it.

i.      And there is promise of far greater miracles that will be seen in the future. Scholars often see this as  a cryptic  reference to the resurrection, though it is impossible to know exactly what miracles Jesus had in mind at this early point.

ii.      The end of these miracles is that they may “marvel” at what he has done.

  1. 5:21  The work of resurrection (spiritually and physically) is both the work of the Father and the work of the Son of God.

i.      The sovereignty of the Son is laid out in that the Son gives life “to whom he will” and to them alone.

ii.      This would appear to be both an allusion to the electing mercies of God and to the sovereignty of the Son to heal (like the paralytic) or not to heal as he wills, remembering that he has said that he only does what the Father is doing, so even the electing graces of Christ are consistent with and flow from the Father. Trinitarian theology is richer than gold.

  1. 5:22  All judgment is given to the Son. This is remarkable for the Father to relegate all Judicial action to the Son of God alone.
  2. 5:23  The giving of judgment to the Son was so that all may honor him.

i.      The connection between honor to the Son and honor to the Father is established. Just as no one can be received by the Son unless the Father give him (and many statements of similar point).

ii.      5:24  This is the giving of Eternal Life by the Son, to those who hear his voice and believe him (the Father) who sent the Son.

  1. They are delivered from death unto life. The physical resurrections are a down-payment of the spiritual life-giving of the Son.
  2. 5:25  The promise of resurrection by “the Son of God.”

i.      The “Son of God” is rarely used in the John. But here Christ speaks of himself in this language.

ii.      Belief in the Son of God gives eternal life. Those who hear the voice of the Son of God will live.

  1. 5:26   The Father has life in himself, he gives his same self-generating life, to the Son. The Son is not dependent on the Father for his life, but the Father have given the Son the authority to have life in himself, just as the Father has life in himself. Again, difficult, wonderful, Trinitarian doctrine given by Christ as he describes his own life with the Father and how this life is sustained from eternity and to eternity.
  2. 5:27  The authority to execute judgment is the Father’s but he gives this authority to the Son.
  3. 5:28  Resurrection of life and resurrection of judgment.
  4. 5:30 –36 The witnesses to Jesus, from John the Baptist (the last and greatest prophet, whom the Jews rejected) and from God the Father.

i.      The conflict and the confrontation are set up in this section.

ii.      Notice the many uses of “witness” through this section.

iii.      This leads to Jesus turning to the Jews and charging them that they do not believe 5:37ff.

  1. Confrontation with the Jews about Jesus’work and Person.
    1. 5:37  The Father has borne testimony to the Son but the Jews have not understood (remember the prologue of the Gospel, John 1:11, “he came to his own, but his own did not receive him.”
    2.  5:38  “and you do not have this word abiding in you.”
    3. 5:39 – 45 The Jews thought that through the Scriptures they would have eternal life, but it was the Scriptures (Moses) who condemned them.

i.      They did not have the “love of God within” them (5:42) .

ii.      He has come in his Father’s name, yet they do not receive him (5:43).

iii.      They receive glory from one another, not from God (5:44).

iv.      Jesus doesn’t have to accuse them, Moses is the one who indicts them (5:45).

  1. The prophetic words of Moses predicted the coming of Messiah, the Christ, and Moses wrote about Jesus (5:46).
  2. They are beyond believing in Christ because they did not believe Moses’ writing, therefore they could not receive him (4:47).


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Bible Study

Study in John 4:1-45

Summary of Context: John 3:22-36

3:22–23 John baptizing at Aenon.

3:24 John not yet imprisoned.

3:25 Dispute over “purification” – one of the implications of John’s baptism, and understood as purification by John’s critics.

3:27 Nothing received except as given from Heaven.

3:28 “I am not the Christ.” “I have been sent before him.”

3:29  The friend of the bridegroom is not the one getting married.  He rejoices with his friend.

3:31–36 Appears to be John the Evangelist’s (the writer of the Gospel) commentary on these events.

He who comes from above is over all. No one receives his testimony. He whom God has sent utters the words of God. For he gives the Spirit without measure.

General outline of Chapter 4 (from D.A. Carson John)

Narrative verses 1–26

Exposition verses 31–38

Demonstration 28:30, 39–42

John 4 has “great cohesion.” What was the source of this account? What is most interesting is that the disciples, the eyewitnesses, were not present. This account could have come to the disciples through the report of Jesus himself, or it could have come from the woman, or those with whom she spoke when she told them about the things Jesus had said to her.

Notice the appearance of water in the account. See John 2:6; 3:5; 4:10.

Jesus reveals that he is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises regarding the Messiah.

John’s disciples and Jesus’ disciples both practiced water baptism. The overlap of the two groups may explain why it was that Jesus departed Judea and returned to Galilee. He left the work of preparation with John, and he began the work of fulfillment.

John was at great danger in the southern region. He would soon be arrested and executed.

John’s doubts. The strong testimony of John the Baptist in the end of Chapter 3 must be compared with the Synoptic report of John’s doubts and request for assurance that Jesus was the Coming One. See Luke 7:18–36. He sends his disciples to Jesus to confirm his identity. Jesus tells them to report to John what he has seen Jesus do.

John 4:4 the Trip to Samaria. Many contemporary  sermons have emphasized that Jesus would not have gone through Samaria because it was the land of the sect of Judaism that was rejected by the Jews, spoken against in the Mishnah, and vilified by most of the Temple-attending Jews of the day. But the fact is that a journey from Judea to Galilee would have almost always taken the Samaritan route. It was the shortest route and many ancient authorities have made note of the common and accepted practice of traveling to the north and to Galilee through the land of the Samaritans.

Often it is cited that Jesus needed to go this way because of his encounter with the woman at the well. But taking an established and common route is not exclusive of also wanting to proclaim the message of redemption and “living water” to the Samaritans. It is to be noted that this mission to the Samaritans was soon closed off (see Matthew 10:6), and that the disciples wanted to call down fire on Samaria (Luke 9:52ff). It must be added that Samaria was the focus of Philip’s evangelism after Pentecost. He traveled there (Acts 8:4-8) and experienced a great reception of the Gospel message. In the encounter in John 4, Jesus was asked to stay for a few days and many were said to have believed in him as a result. The testimony of the Woman at the Well was confirmed by Jesus’ own words. The cities of Samaria, at this time were receptive and directly impacted by the ministry and miracles of Jesus. Then Jesus turned to the Jews again, then after the Cross/Resurrection, he turned again to these people in evangelism. The promises to Jacob (Israel) may have been fulfilled (to some great extent) in his mission to Samaria. Jacob’s well located about 1/4 mile South of the town, and Joseph’s tomb (just a few hundred yards north of the well), remind us of the promises of God to these patriarchs.

Promise to Jacob (and his offspring):

“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

(Genesis 26:3-5 ESV)

Walkthrough of John 4

Verse 5 Sychar is the modern ‘Askar near Mounts Ebal and Gerizim near the Jordan River, on the eastern part of Samaria, at about the mid-point of the region. Sychar stands just between the two mountains.

Verse 6. Jacob’s Well is clearly known and one of the few places in ancient Israel that there is no confusion or lack of clarity about its identity and location. The Greek text uses two words, (pege) Spring – see verse 6, and (phrear) Cistern/ well– see verses 11 and 12. This was a well with a stream and with a dug-out cistern to contain the water. Jacob’s well has these features today.

Verses 7-8  The woman came alone. This is another case where sermons may contribute to misunderstanding. One sermon being preached and published and it repeated in a thousand ways. The commonly repeated assumption is that that Woman at the Well is a repeatedly immoral woman. The notion is commonly repeated that she was immoral, having had five “husbands” perhaps none of them legitimate, and that she continued that practice up to the point of her conversation with Jesus.

The text reports that she had five husbands. It is conceivable that she was married five times and that each of her husbands died. The Jewish Mishnah, forbade a widow to marry more than three times (perhaps to give other widows an opportunity for numbers two or three). She could have been divorced five times, or some combination of divorce or widowhood. We do not know.

It is often assumed that her coming alone to the well was because of her shame or the mistreatment she was receiving from the other women who would come to the well with her. Her coming alone was seen to be a protection from the gossip or a relief from reminders of past failures. But none of it can be proven.

Her testimony to the town seemed to be spontaneous. She appears to have wanted her friends and relatives to come and see the Messiah. They were not resistant in any way. They even praised her to her face for her testimony (apparently in the presence of Jesus, see 4:32). She did not seem to be a pariah to her people, indeed, far from it.

It is good not to repeat the inventiveness of others. Some of the details of the accounts are sparse and it is well not to go beyond what is written.

It is clear that her current arrangement with her lover was not permitted. She was living with someone who was married to another. “The one you have now, is not your husband” (4:18) may be implying that he was someone else’s husband. Certainly, she was not married to the man she was living with. That was the chief objection of Jesus, not her five previous marriages. He was telling her, that he was aware of her life and that he knew it in detail. There was no need to lie about it (see Exodus 20:16, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”)

Verse 10 – “for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” The suggestion of D.A. Carson is “For Jews do not use dishes the Samaritans have used.” (See NIV footnote). Samaritans were so despised by the religious leaders in Judea that the Mishnah forbade any contact with thee Samaritans (see Mishnah, Niddah, 4:1). This explains a bit more of the surprise of the Woman at Jesus’ request for water. He would have to share a driving vessel with her.

Living water. See Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV):

“for my people have committed two evils:

they have forsaken me,

the fountain of living waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Verses 11–12 “Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well?”

From the Samaritan Pentateuch: The Messiah (whom they called Taheb), “water shall flow from his buckets,” which is an adaptation of Numbers 24:7. See F.F. Bruce (John, 105).

Carson (John,  221) Jesus spoke to her “deepest needs, greatest sin, hopelessness, guilt, despair, need.”

The Old Testament background for the water and the well.

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and streams on the dry ground;

I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,

and my blessing on your descendants. (Isaiah 44:3 ESV)

… they shall not hunger or thirst,

neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them,

for he who has pity on them will lead them,

and by springs of water will guide them. (Isaiah 49:10 ESV)

“Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

come, buy and eat! (Isaiah 55:1 ESV)

Verse 15. The Woman in thinking purely of natural, material water, not spiritual water, living water. But though she didn’t understand, she was willing to play along with what may have seemed to her as a bit of a “game.” “Sure, I’ll bite,” we’d say.

Verse 16. The Woman does not yet grasp who Jesus is. He asks her a question.

Verse 17. She is evasive — “I have no husband.” Jesus is not very polite when he confronts her. He does speak the truth. He plays no games with people.

She replies with objection about the place of worship. F.F. Bruce comments, “There are some people who cannot engage in a religious conversation with a person of a different persuasion without bringing up the points on which they differ” (Bruce, 108, cited in Carson, 222).

Verse 21. Jesus replies in three points.

  1. The coming destruction of worship in both Jerusalem and Mt. Gerazin, is upon them.
  2. Salvation comes from the Jews, not from the Samaritans.
  3. The nature of true and acceptable worship is by means of the Spirit and truth.

Verse 21, “Believe me …” is not an invitation to faith, but a declaration of the truthfulness of Jesus’ statement.

Verse 26, “I who speak to you am he.” Jesus removes any question about his claim to be the Messiah of God.

Verse 27. The return of the disciples concludes the interview. She leaves her water-pot and goes and immediately tells the people of her town about Jesus.

Verses 39 and 41 The faith of the Samaritans came in two stages. First they believed because of the testimony of the Woman at the Well. But then, subsequently, they believed because of their interaction with Jesus. They believed in him.

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Bible Study, Worship

Notes on John 3:1-21

Introduction to John 3.

There is continuation of the issues presented in 2:23-25 into 3:1. Jesus was said to “not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, and needed to one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Now there was a man of the Pharisees …” The word “man” (anthropos) occurs three times in 2 verses. The connection seems unmistakable.

The man who came to Jesus was identified as a Pharisee. This was the group that was most strongly opposed to the Person and Work of Jesus. They were his chief persecutors and they prosecuted him with charges that led to his death.

C.K. Barrett (John) notes that there was “minimal dialogue” between the man and Jesus. There was no purpose given for his visit to see the Lord. But the purpose was known to Jesus. Remember 2:25, “he knew all men” and “he knew what was in man.” And so he does in this conversation with Nicodemus.

Summary Outline of John 3

John 3: 1-15 – discourse / questions between Nicodemus and Jesus

John 3:16-21 – the meditation by John the Evangelist (the writer of the Gospel)

John 3:22-36 – more on John the Baptist. After being introduced, John is sidelined almost immediately when Christ appears on the scene. His testimony is recounted, and the fact that he would be imprisoned and killed is anticipated (3:24).

Nicodemus’s timeline through John

Nicodemus is introduced in John 3 but he appears in John in two other sections. In this first encounter, nothing is said about his faith or his response in any way. He responds almost in a dismissive way to the claim that “you must be born again,” but when Jesus gives a more detailed description of the new birth, there is nothing recorded of Nicodemus’s response.

John 7:50 – in the rising tide of Pharisaical hatred of Jesus, Nicodemus rises in the defense of Jesus inasmuch as the charges brought should be tried carefully and there should not be a rush to judgment without “giving him a hearing and learning what he does.”

Nicodemus had, in fact, done these very actions. He interviewed Jesus and he was aware of his miracles, having either seen them or come to believe they had been done through his own research and information-gathering. In this conflict in Chapter 7, Nicodemus is appealing for the leaders and Pharisees to be careful not to rush to judgment.

John 19:39 – After the crucifixion of Christ, Nicodemus, along with Joseph of Arimathea, tended to the burial of Jesus. Joseph by providing the tomb. Nicodemus by bringing the spices required for the if they saw someone raised from the deadpreparation of the body for interment.

His name only appears five times in the whole of the New Testament — John 3:1, 4, 9; 7:50; and 19:39.

The power of the miracles and their danger.

The miracles of Jesus were powerful testimony to his authority over nature, his ability to heal diseases demonstrated his compassion for the hurting and his healing power was certainly miraculous, outside the realm of our normal experiences. His miracles are called signs. They point to the one who does them.

The signs to Grand Canyon can be impressive, but if you merely stopped your car and took all your pictures standing beside the sign that said, “Grand Canyon” you would miss the point. The signs and miracles can be of that sort. They can be so powerful that they command the attention and admiration of the viewer, but they can hide the purpose of the miracle. The miracles themselves were not the stuff out of which faith is made. Faith comes from knowing the One who creates the miracle.

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31 ESV)

He came to him at night.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. One might think this to be an unimportant detail, but something that an eye-witness might think to include. But when you look at the others references to night in John, and the introduction that wrote about the darkness and the light, then perhaps there is something more.

Night and darkness referenced:

Night:

  • John 3:2

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

  • John 9:4

We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.

  • John 11:10

But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

  • John 13:30

So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

  • John 19:39

Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

  • John 21:3

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Darkness:

·         John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

·         John 3:19

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

·         John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

·         John 12:35

So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

·         John 12:46

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

The passage present the dark, the night as having a moral component. Nicodemus came to Christ at night, because he was in the dark. There were forces of spiritual darkness at work. The darkness is being engaged in conflict with the Light of the World.

These concepts are important to the message of Jesus and they appear quite remarkably in the account of the Gospel.

Water and spirit.

John 3:5 has been given many different interpretations, from believer’s baptism, to physical human birth, to a hundred other options. But it seems that perhaps the best understand must come from the Old Testament. Jesus points Nicodemus the Old Testament, he was “The Teacher of Israel” an important post, and he would have been teaching the content of (what we now call) the Old Testament. Certainly it must be said that Ezekiel 36:25-27 is one of the most  important of the prophetic proclamations. And in that important declaration, Ezekiel speaks about the cleansing of water (implying the forgiveness of sins) and the giving a new heart by an act of the Spirit. There could not be a clearer picture of the new birth that this section.

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”  (Ezekiel 36:25-27 ESV)

But it was eternal life that Nicodemus did not understand. He should have had some understanding of the promise of sprinkled water and the new heart of flesh. So many in Israel knew something about the life of faith, but they had missed the central point. Faith is knowing God. Believing in God is more than obeying the Law.  Loving God is much more than justifying yourself. Nicodemus was at this point woefully lost and incapable of understanding eternal life. He asked, “How can these things be?”

“You must be born again,” Jesus told him.

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Bible Study, Worship

Glory in a Sign

Overview of Chapter Two

2:1–11 The miracle at Cana of Galilee
2:7-10 Wine made from water
2:11 the declaration about the First Sign
2:11 down to Capernaum
2:12 up to Jerusalem during the Passover
2:14-17 Cleansing of the Temple
2:18 the Jews demand a sign
2:19–22 The Temple and his body
2:22 the sign of the resurrection
2:23 Jesus at the Passover
2:24 Jesus’ caution about the “faith” of men
2:25 His independence from and knowledge of men (preparation for 3:1, There was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemas ….”)

1. After the Hymn to the Logos 1:1-18, the Evangelist turns to the ministry of John the Baptist.

a. John the Baptist boldly announced Christ as the Messiah, the Lamb of God, at this time in his ministry, but in Matthew 11:1ff (and parallels) he asks for another confirmation that Jesus is indeed the Coming One. When John was in prison, about to die, he seemed to need further assurance from Christ. Christ gave him great words of confirmation.

b. Some of the Baptizer’s disciples left him and followed Jesus. This seemed to spark the selection of his disciples. Jesus welcomed the disciples of John – one of whom was Andrew – who found Peter, his brother …. and John, whom Jesus accepted. Then Jesus found Phillip, who found Nathanael (1:45–48).

c. Jesus promised greater glory in the future to those who followed him (1:51).

2. The time of the sign is given: “Three days later.” The site of the wedding was about 60 miles away from the place of John’s ministry. In this place, Cana, there was a wedding and Jesus’ mother was there.

a. Jesus does not address Mary as his mother, or by name in the whole of the Gospel.

b. He is careful to address her as “Woman,” though he identifies her as John’s mother when he committed her care to John when he was on the cross,

i. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:26-27 ESV)

ii. This may bring to mind the call of Jesus regarding physical parents, children, and kin, that “whoever follows me … must hate father, mother, …” See Luke 14:26.

c. The wedding was not a completely public event. The people there were invited.

d. The hour.

i. Jesus’ reply to his mother is centered on his “hour.” “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)

1. His hour has “not yet come” in 2:4; 7:30; and 8:20.

2. His hour has arrived in 12:23, 27; 13:1; and 17:1.

ii. The condition of the miracle was not to rest on the desire of his mother, but on the fulfillment of his ministry, and of the will of the Father (see John 5:19, ‘So Jesus said to them,

1. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” (John 5:19 ESV)

iii. There is a tension between the rebuff of Mary and his immediate willingness to help resolve the dilemma at the wedding celebration, “They have run out of wine.”

1. Mary is now powerless to compel him to act. But she is hopeful that he will answer the need she identified. She is not rebuffed. She immediately prepares for his reply and answer by telling the servants to “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5)

2. This is the life of faith in a Sovereign God. He does what he wants/ He loves his children and delights to answer their prayers/ But he does only what he chooses to do for his glory / And he delights in our faith and worship and he acts for our good and blessing.

iv. The principle seems to be that Jesus, at this point in his life and ministry is not directed by or engaged in ministry solely on the direction of his mother. That time had passed. His role as her son was replaced by his identity as the Son of the Father, the Son of God, Messiah, Lamb of God. So everything he did was to be focused on his new and expanding ministry leading to the Cross in every choice and word.

v. The miracle was limited in scope. Few people at the wedding knew, at the time, what had happened.

1. It would seem that only the servants who filled the water jugs and drew out the new wine were aware. His disciples knew, also. But beyond that, the chief steward didn’t give credit to Jesus for the miracle, he praised the Groom (see 2:9).

2. It could be that few knew about the miracle except the disciples and the servants. Perhaps after the festivities settled down, word would spread about the miracle.

vi. The result was that his disciples believed. An overview of faith in John’s Gospel:

1. John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

2. John 1:50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

3. John 20:8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

4. John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

5. John 20:31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.)

3. Cleansing of the Temple.

a. Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.”

b. Lightfoot notes (in John):

i. He condemned Jewish Worship.

ii. He destroyed the Old Order.

iii. He brings his Work and Ministry into focus.

c. Three uses of Temple.  Matthew 12:6, “I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here.

i.The Temple in Jerusalem

ii. The Temple of Jesus’ physical body (which would be resurrected).

1. It was the promise of Jesus that he “would destroy the temple and in three days it would rise again,” that was one of the chief charges against Jesus by the Pharisees. It was a charge of treason against the Temple and was punishable by death. (see Matthew 26:61; 27:40)

iii. The Temple of our bodies as Christians, in whom God resides today. (See 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17; 6:19)

d. Jesus drives out those selling and changing money for the pilgrims who traveled great distances to come and worship at the Temple.

i. He drives them out. See 2:14-17.

ii. The prophecy about the Temple of his body: “Destroy this temple and, in three days, I will raise it up.” (John 2:18)

4. Jesus’ refusal to trust people (2:23-25).

a. The report is that many people believed because of the signs he performed.

i. He continued his healing ministry in Jerusalem, having begun the signs in Cana.

ii. But they though they believed in Jesus, Jesus didn’t believe in them. The same Greek word is used in both places – they believed, but Jesus didn’t believe “did not entrust himself to them” – same word (see John 2:23–24).

5. Applications from John 2

a. Jesus is the Lord of every event, every occasion, every interview, every contact, everything.

b. Jesus, even today, only does what he sees the Father doing.

c. Jesus is not subject to human relationships and loyalties.

d. He is Sovereign over matters of faith and salvation.

e. He is able to create anything (wine) out of anything (water). (He turns water into wine every day, through natural means.)

f. He is not limited or constrained by anything or anyone, when he does the will of his Father.

g. His miracles do not cause faith – they confirm the faith that is there. People do not believe solely because of the miracle, they believe in Christ who performs the miracles. Christ gave the signs and wonders to strengthen our faith in him. But he didn’t need them if our faith had been stronger.

h. Christ is completely unmoved by people. He is guarded about peoples’ promises and enthusiasm.

i. Jesus is questioning of our requests, but willing to take them all to the Father.

j. Like Mary, we should leave our requests, more as stating a fact or a need, and then wait to see what Jesus will do to meet it.

k. He is able to refuse every request, but willing to grant them, for his glory and for our good, as he sees fit.

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Bible Study

Colossians 4:2. Praying for the worth of it.

Praying as privilege and partnership with God.

Colossians 4:2ff. Paul’s conclusion to the Colossian letter is driven by the principle that Christ is dwelling within the physical body of Christian people, and that to pray is to communicate with God, and it is to be involved directly in the work of God in the world. Prayer seems to be an annoyance to many, a drudgery to some, and a waste of time. Many Christians think that God is going to do what God wants to do, and that prayer has nothing to do with it. That is a view of the fatalist not the Christian. God loves our prayers and he is intent on listening to them and answering them according to his purposes. God has an intimate connection with the life of the believer in Christ and there is a leading of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:18), and there is communication from the Christian to God, by means of prayer. Prayer is described in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, as “without ceasing.” It seems to be pretty important.

Colossians 4:2 – “Devote yourselves to prayer”(NIV), or “Continue steadfastly in prayer” (Colossians 4:2 ESV). There is in this direction, the exhortation to be serious about the content and the preparation of prayer. Prayer can be spontaneous and emotional, when called for. There is no prohibition on the panicked prayer offered up in an emergency, but prayer driven by our devotion to God and expressed in continued steadfastness, are here addressed. This is about a more regular and sustainable — a long-term — kind of prayer.

Preparing to pray.

To pray with devotion and steadfastness would require ordering our prayers and organizing them in some way. Concerted effort is not just in the offering of the prayer with physical engagement and emotional energy, there is work to prepare, time to think through what should be prayer about, and commitment to keep at the “work of prayer.” There is not only the continued habit of prayer, but the desire to pray well, with dignity, and thoroughly in our address to our Heavenly Father.

The Greek term translated “be devoted to” in the NIV, means, “continue in, keep close company with, be ready (as in preparing to embark on a boat-trip), to prepare for an event prior to it.” As applied to prayer, it means that there is serious consideration as to the content of the prayer, and the preparation of the one who is praying. This means that there is taking into account (a list perhaps) those things that need prayer, those individuals and events that merit prayer, and those matters of communion with God that are desired and necessary (confession, praise, thanksgiving, and the rest).

Practically, this would indicate a season of confession of sins, removing of offenses before God. It would certainly direct us to forgive others of their transgressions, as we have been forgiven ours. There is also a taking into account the long-term nature of the relationship with God, the encouraging truth that in our requests God always hears but he may delay or deny our petition. But the long-term nature of our relationship with God extends through the rest of our natural life and then continues forever with God in his home in Heaven. We see the eternal aspect to prayer that should keep us at it, not of weeks, or months, but for decades and then for eternity.

The preparation of prayer may be as simple as finding a place and a time in which you can pray. Many young Christian mothers, rise early before the family wakes, to have time alone and quiet with God. Busy people pray in the car, or while walking. If you put ear-buds in your ears while walking, people think you are listening to music, but you may just be praying in the silence afforded by the buds plugged into nothing, except God through Jesus Christ, by the Spirit’s help and his tender encouragement. Wonderful silence.

Be watchful in prayer.

The NIV omits the phrase, “in prayer” [lit. in it], and Colossians 4:2 reads like a list of three separate items, as if to say, “Be devoted to prayer; be watchful; be thankful.” But the grammar clearly points to three aspects of prayer. Devotion, watchfulness, and thanksgiving. The NET has Col. 4:2 this way: “Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving,” all referring to prayer. This is a solid rendering.

Preemptive praying is watching people, paying attention to how people act, what they say, and noticing what they do. Watchful prayer looks for danger signs, for changes in attitudes, for weaknesses, for character flaws, and it makes those matters of prayer. Now, we don’t always understand what is driving a reaction, an expression of frustration, a poor attitude in another person, and we can and often get these things wrong. But watchfulness pays attention, and if there is an opportunity to ask, you may learn what is going on. But without being presumptuous, you can still pray for a friend who looks distressed, who is short in her replys and course in her language, who is pulling back from a friendship. You don’t know what the issue is until she tells you (even then, it may not be all of it), but you can still identify and pray for a need that is unknown to you but is known completely to your Father in Heaven. Be watchful of others and pray for them.

Be watchful of yourself, of course. The watchfulness is the same word as the guard on the city wall. You see the danger approaching as a distance – it may be a huge dust storm that would devastate a city, or a powerful tornado that would ravage a city’s people, or it could be a marauding army coming to pillage your town. But the watchman (watchwoman) stands guard and is paying attention. Watchful prayer is being aware of what is going on around you, in other people, and in the distance as far as you can see. Be watchful, not presumptuous and pray like mad.

With thanksgiving.

It has been said thousands of time that the best way to train a child to pray is to teach them to thank God for his gifts. A 4 year old can thank God earnestly for her new toy and describe it to the God of Heaven in tender details, explaining to him how much she loves it and how glad she is that God let her have it. Such expressions are very much in line with our thankfulness as mature believers as we pray to the God of Heaven. We make a listing of the things that God has provide. We give him praise for his gifts and we understand that the gift, as does every good and perfect gift, comes from God (see James 1:17).

Thanksgiving is simple and child-like prayer but it is the kind of prayer that should last our whole life long. When should you cease to be thankful? Thanksgiving is on the lips of God’s people in glory (see Revelation 7:12). All of eternity will be offering thanks to God for his salvation and in praise of his glory, forever.

Start with thanksgiving in your first prayer to the Father and keep praying that way forever.

Summary of Colossians 4:2.

Learn to pray by praying. Prayer is not learned by reading a book on prayer. Almost all books on prayer are dismal (O. Hallesby’s, Prayer, is an exception, and there may be a few others, but most are dreadfully dull or completely useless).

Learning to pray by praying means that every believer doesn’t need to learn to pray, they need to be disciplined enough in their day to take time for praying. Prayer is never difficult for the child of God. It is excruciating when we are locked in sin, or frustrated that God didn’t meet some want of our wants. But prayer is never more than a second from our hearts, and he gives us all we need as children of the Living God (Matthew 6:33).

It is right to think of this practical section in Colossians 4 as the outworking of the great mystery of the Christian faith, “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” see Colossians 1:26, 27; 2:2. The presence of Christ indwelling the Christian’s physical body should be inducement enough to pray and to seek fellowship with our God-within.

The Holy Spirit of God, of course, dwells within us as well.

John 14:17, “even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Romans 8:9, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”

2 Timothy 1:14, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” (ESV)

So prayer is not a matter of sending a trans-Universe message beyond the stars to a God, far, far, away. It is speaking to the God who lives within, close, inner-personal (and interpersonal). Prayer is not hard. It is our life with God.

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Bible Study

Redeeming submission.

Colossians 3:17ff. Submission, Love, Obedience, and Service

Working through the “submission” and “obey” sections in Colossians 3:17ff., it is interesting that every command — wives to submit, husbands to love, children to obey, slaves to serve — all point to Christ as the model of submission, love, obedience, and service. Christ is also a restraint against any abuse of the principles taught. Marriage is to be a mirror of the relationship between Christ and the Father and between Christ and his Church. Christ demonstrates submission to the Father. He shows his great love for the Father in submission to his will (“not my will, but yours be done”), and his redeeming love for the Church. Submission, love, obedience, and service can only be understood by seeing how Christ did them all.

There is no justification for a husband to be cruel or domineering to his wife because of the command that she must submit to him. It is like saying that icecream is a murder weapon — because someone was hit over the head with a block of ice. Icecream and the murder weapon have nothing in common except the temperature of the ice. The principle of submission, as it is presented in Scripture, is at the center of the relationship of Christ for his Father. Submission becomes foundational for the way the Church relates to God. Submission is irreplaceable in the manner in which every Christian relates to God by faith. Submission appears in the way each Christian relates to every other Christian. Submission, when understood in Christ and applied by faith, becomes the way wives relate to their husbands — children to parents, slaves to masters. Our difficult with submission rests in our difficulty being submissive.

Scriptures denunciate any notion that the wife’s submission gives the husband the right to be harsh with her. It specifically forbids any unkindness or unloving act of the husband toward his wife, as Christ loved the Church and loved her redemptively, sacrifically, and completely. Even so, that is how husbands are to love their wives, see Ephesians 5:25. They are commanded in Scripture, in the context of submission, “do not be harsh with (your wives),” see Colossians 3:18. Who could object to that kind of treatment — hubands loving their wives, not being harsh with them, as Christ loved the Church? Where is the seed for mistreatment there? There is none. Just practical instruction on how to be kind and loving in marriage. The seed for mistreatment comes not in submission but in sin.

The objection to submission, as it is rejected in our day generally and in principle today, must rest in our difficulty submitting to God. That is the great stumbling block that many cannot overcome when the subject of submission comes up. Some people hate the word. But rejecting the word out of hand it to reject the center of Christ’s relationship with his Father, and the chief principle by which the Church relates to God, and how husbands and wives relate to one another, and how children relate to their parents, and slaves to masters (and by extension, workers to their bosses).

By refusing to submit to God, husbands treat their wives unkindly, abusively, harsely. But by refusing to submit to their godly husbands, wives become separated from the love of their husband and his protection. They cannot submit to God, because they will not submit to anyone. The issue is not that their husband is cruel, it is that they must do what another person wants them to do. It is here where our sin cries “foul” and we kick against submission as a great evil, when it is the greatest gift of life.

Submitting to God is the way to peace with him. A godly woman’s submission to her godly husband, is the surest way to happiness and peace. But not in our day. Submission is evil, an invitation to abuse, and Medieval. But it is none of those things. It is freedom and joy and safety, when lived in the way that Scripture presents it. It is the greatest freedom to give up our rights to One who loves us the most and who has nothing but our best interest and our supreme happiness in his heart (husband or Savior in mind here).

There is nothing in the Bible that can permit, tolerate, or endorse any mistreatment of a Christian wife by her Christian husband. Submission of a wife to a husband assumes a husband truly loves her, and he loves her like Christ loves the Church. There is redemption in that relationship, not hatred and abuse, nor is their unkindness and harshness. There is, to the contrary, love and mercy, forgiveness and sacrifice of the husband toward the wife he loves more than his own life. And there is found the submission and love from the wife toward her husband. There is discovered, as a beautiful diamond, respect and deferrence, trust and love.

The snarls and grimmaces are viceral when submission comes up. In current day discussions (especially around marriage vows, “I won’t say ‘submit'”) hatred of submission is categorical. But that rage is simply not justified by the teaching of Paul. He defends and gives protection for women against abusive husband domination. He celebrates submission of all Christians, one to the other. As Christ to the Father, even so we to each other, especially wives to husbands. In each case of obedience, submission, obedience, and love, submission mirrors the relationship of Christ to the Father.

It turns the Scriptures upside down to castigate Paul for teaching submission as an unfair and sub-human condition resulted every time the word “submit” is uttered. As though this wonderful and essential word has become a “dirty” word. If submission is good for all Christians, it is good for wives. If it is good for all Christians, is good for husbands, too. But submission isn’t horrible because some men are jerks or because some women don’t want to submit either to God or their husbands. In the same way it would be a grotesque reading of Scripture to say that Paul encouraged slavery when he was simply and wisely encouraging faithful service from slaves to their masters. Paul called himself a “slave of Jesus Christ” as he identified himself in the greeting of most of his letters. Neither does Paul endorse the horror of slavery when he tells slaves to obey their masters. But there is something in that slave-master relationship that is part of the Christian life and the experience of everyone who is a believer living in submission and obedience to God. We relate to God as Christians as though we were his slaves serving our loving Lord (“Master”). Being a slave of Jesus Christ is an incredible honor for us. His Mastery and Lordship can be trusted and our service to him freely given. Slaves can serve their earthly masters, rendering service “as to the Lord.” It was not Paul’s agenda to end slavery in the Roman world. But neither does Paul celebrate or agree with slavery. He is living in a world in which slavery exists. But he sees in the slave/master relationship something that rings true of the relationship we have with our Lord. Slavery can be horrible, but not if your Master is wonderful. Submission to Christ is wonderful, but neither does he endorse submission to a cruel and abusive husband.

The New Testament is not a civil rights manual. It is not a marriage manual. It is a “Christ is enough in every circumstance” manual.

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Bible Study

Colossians 3:12-17. Virtues that begin with love.

Colossians 3:12-17

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (ESV)

The chosen ones have their confidence in God not on the basis of their faith (“con fide” with faith) but on the basis of their having been chosen by God. The putting on of qualities is not a “front” or a false representation of who we are and what we aspire to. Putting on these qualities is like those in the military who are preparing themselves for conflict, not as in donning a costume to act the part like one may perform in a play.

The qualities that we are to put on:

Compassionate hearts (bowels of mercy, literally) referring to the center of our emotions and the tender connection we have with others. We feel it in our “gut.”

Kindness. The principle “by which we make ourselves amiable.” This quality makes us easy to live with. This is the inner principle, that describes our inner motivations in what we do, rather than the outward manifestations of our actions (see Calvin, ad loc., Colossians 3:12-13). Kindness comes from deep within us and is not concerned about how it looks or who is impressed with how we react.

Humility. To have a thought about yourselves that is small, not grand. “Small thinking” of one’s self it to consider yourself as one who could serve everyone in your fellowship. Great thinking would be the opposition of humility and it would make us unteachable, and incapable of serving others.

Meekness. The gentle spirit of the redeemed, presents itself with unassuming sweetness. The outward manifestation of the quality of the Christ-like heart. Kindness in appearance and in speech. Calvin, “as, however, it frequently happens, that we come in contact with wicked and ungrateful men, there is need of patience that it may cherish mildness in us” (Calvin, Commentaries, Colossians 3:13, 213).

Patience. The long-way-to-anger. Not the short way. Not the explosive way to anger. The long, slow, thoughtful, reflective, enduring way to anger. To be like Christ in our anger.

Forgiving one another. The verbal for of the word “grace” is used. “Gracing one another” means that the motive and power, the force and essence of forgiveness, is in the grace that we have received from God. If God has been gracious with us, we, therefore, must be gracious with others, especially those who share the experience of the grace of God infusing our life with the life of Christ, as Christians in the Body of Christ.

Love. Christ’s love.

“As, however it is a thing that is hard and difficult, he confirms this doctrine by the example of Christ, and teaches, that the same thing is required for us, that as we, who have so frequently and so grievously offended, have nevertheless been received into favor, we should manifest the same kindness toward our neighbors, by forgiving whatever offences they have committed against us” (Calvin, Commentaries, Colossians 3:13, Colossians, 213).

These qualities come into reality in the day-to-day relationship that we have with one another. We may think we are kind, until it is necessary to endure an insult or a shun, or a lie, or an outburst from someone. Then your kindness may be short and your anger quick. An untested kindness may think Biblical kindness is easy, when it is, in fact, miraculous. Most marriage fights could be stopped immediately if kindness were used by one of the two. If both possessed and used this kindness, the fight would never have started in the first place.

Love before all.

These values (vss 12-13) are chosen. We value others and treat one another with honor. We value everyone because we have been forgiven. Paul saw that he was indebted to all because of the grace he received from God. He wrote, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish” (Romans 1:14 ESV). Regardless of their reaction to you, your reaction to them should be filled with love, no matter what the circumstance.

Vs. 14 tells us that this kindness (and all the virtues described are driven not by duty, but by love. The translations generally have, “Above all these things,” but it is more “Before all these things, put on love.” Love is first in line and importance over all these virtues. The love we put on prepares the heart and mind for all the other qualities that flow out of the heart of love. Calvin says that all that is not regulated by love is “faulty” (on Colossians 3:14). He states is a complicated way that if we don’t love first, all that follows will be a failure. Here are Calvin’s words, “nothing in our life that is not well regulated [by love] if it is not directed toward it, but everything that we attempt [apart from love] is mere waste.”

Every relationship is to bring honor and glory to God and, especially in the Body of Christ, they are to express the character of Christ that is being formed in everyone who is touched by the Infinite grace of God. When infinite grace pours through your life, you have infinite grace to give to others, infinite forgiveness, infinite forebearance, kindness, gentleness, and the rest. The love that God has poured into your heart (Romans 5:5) now pours love out of your heart to others, especially those who share the experience of the love and grace of God in their lives, but not just to them.

In the Body of Christ we learn what true kindness is. We see true gentleness lived out. We watch with amazement true, wonderful, perfect patience. Because people are living the lives of redeemed people, filled with the love of Jesus Christ, and then he adds himself, living in them. Christ is in them.

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