wordofgod

Friday, July 21, 2023

8 Comforting Things to Remember about Jesus' Benediction

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Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus turned to his disciples, raised his hands, and blessed them.

And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:50-53)

This posture and act of Jesus are very distinct ones that we also find in the lives of the Old Testament saints. This act could only be done by one person at one specific time.

This was the act of the priest in the temple to bless the people after worship. After all the sacrifices were performed, the priest would turn to face the people, raise his hands, and pronounce the Lord’s blessing upon the congregation. In Leviticus 9, on the day when Moses and Aaron inaugurated worship in the tabernacle and Aaron finished all the sacrifices, with smoke rising to heaven he raised his hands and blessed the people. The blessing he pronounced was given in Numbers 6, the Aaronic benediction, as it is called:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Num. 6:22-27)

Thus, for Jesus to bless with raised hands, he was showing himself to be a priest. Just as Melchizedek blessed Abraham, so Christ blessed his people as our high priest.

Blessing can be used in several different ways in Scripture.

We find three kinds of blessings in the Bible:

First, we can bless each other. One person says, “May the Lord bless you,” which is essentially a prayer. As we bless another, we are praying that God would do them good.
Second, we can bless God, which is basically an act of praise and thanksgiving. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! This is praising and glorifying the Lord.
Third, the Lord can bless us, which is not a prayer but a decree. The Lord’s blessing is a performative word where he actually puts his love, grace, and mercy on us. In the Aaronic benediction, the priest wasn’t praying; rather, he was a mere channel or conduit for the Lord’s decree of favor.

As it says in Numbers 6, with the benediction the priest was putting God’s name upon his people, which expresses ownership and care. For the Lord to put his name on you means you belong to him as a precious possession. In fact, the benefits of belonging to the Lord are stated in the blessing.

In the Aaronic benediction, there are three acts of God.

In the Aaronic benediction, which is implied in the one Jesus used, there are three acts of God—and three resulting advantages.

The Lord blesses to keep and protect you.
The Lord makes his face shine to be gracious to you.
And the Lord lifts up his face to give you peace.

These facial expressions of God are full of emotion. In the Old Testament, when God is angry at someone for sin, Scripture states that he hides his face from the person. The Lord turns his face from that person in anger to show him or her the back of his head. Yet, by the smoke and blood of sacrifice, the Lord’s frown is turned upside down. His hidden face turns to shine on that person now with a smile.

Children know all too well the angry face of their mom and dad, as well as their happy faces. In the Aaronic benediction, God’s happy face is gleaming at us, and he will protect us, be gracious and merciful to us, and grant us peace. This is what the risen Jesus says to us in the benediction.

Here are eight comforting things to remember about Jesus’ benediction at the ascension:

1. Jesus was garbed in his resurrected glory when giving his benediction.

As both their high priest and their God, Jesus was garbed in his resurrected glory. His shining face beamed upon his disciples as he gave his benediction. This is amazing!

2. Jesus spoke his blessing loud and clear as he ascended to heaven.

In Luke 1, the mute Zechariah couldn’t finish his service with a benediction. Yet here as our true Priest, Jesus speaks his blessing loud and clear. This is what Jesus Christ does to us after every worship service.

After a week of sinning and being a disappointment to our Lord, you would think Jesus would scowl and frown at us in shame. Yet, after being forgiven in worship, our King Jesus sends us off for another week with the happy face of his love and grace. The gospel in worship is wonderful, and the benediction is even better.

Not only did Jesus bestow this blessing on his disciples, he ascended to heaven as he was speaking it. What an image! As Jesus floated upward, slowing vanishing from sight, his disciples still heard him blessing—and for good reason. Our Lord was ascending from Bethany—the place of triumph.

3. Jesus’ benediction assures you God’s wrath is appeased.

God’s favor could only be put on his sinful people after full atonement had been made—the sacrifices paid for Israel’s sin. They appeased God’s wrath, and they sealed the covenant bond in grace and gratitude. For Jesus to give a priestly benediction means that his priestly work of atonement was finished. In the uplifted hands of Jesus, he pronounced that, in Christ, all our sin was paid for and destroyed in his sacrifice upon the tree. On the altar of the cross, the blood of Christ made our crimson sins white as snow.

No more sacrifice is required. Christ’s one death is more than sufficient for all our sins. Yes, the posture of Jesus gives us the rock-solid assurance that we are forgiven and made righteous by the one atonement of Christ. Moreover, with wrath appeased and sin dealt with, the blessing of God can flow to us.

4. Our proper response to our Lord’s ascending in benediction is worship.

Look what the disciples do—they worship:

And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:53)

The word here for worship is one that Luke only uses for God. Satan tempted Jesus back in chapter 4 of Luke,

“If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:7)

In response, Jesus cited Scripture,

“It is written,

‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’” (Luke 4:8)

This worship, therefore, is the disciples acknowledging clearly for the first time the deity of Jesus.

5. The God-man, Jesus Christ, is one to whom we must bow the knee.

The ascending Jesus is not a godly Enoch who walked with God and was taken by him. Jesus is not merely an amazing prophet like Elijah, whom God swept off to heaven in a chariot of fire. No, this Jesus is one who receives the worship of men and women. This Jesus is God born in the flesh and God raised bodily.

Jesus is equal to the Father and the Spirit in power and glory, and at his exalted name we get the privilege to worship, praise, and adore him. This is our good and perfect response to the ascending benediction of Jesus Christ.

6. Jesus’ benediction reminds us that our worship is filled with great joy.

Our worship is not the terrified subjugation of the world. As we know all too well, there is much to lament in this world and life. Laments are the most common type of psalm in the Psalter. We cry at death, we bow our heads in repentance, we mourn oppression, and we are depressed with loneliness and shame.

These are real and honest human emotions; this sadness is part of our faith that we can express to God in prayer and sing to God in laments. Christianity is not the happiness of the American dream, nor is it the optimism of positive thinking. Christianity is the religion of the broken-hearted walking through a valley of tears.

The disciples hike back to Jerusalem from Bethany filled with a massive joy. This reminds us that our weeping only lasts during the night, but joy comes in the morning. Christ’s mercies are new every morning, and in worship Christ gladdens our hearts with his sweet grace.

7. The Lord’s Day isn’t just about rest; it is also about joy.

Our week may be filled with frowns, but worship is our time to smile. And why? Well, it is not because worship makes all our troubles go away. Our cancer on Saturday is still cancer on Monday. Yet, worship does lift our eyes to heaven where Jesus Christ is seated, and it shows us that our problems aren’t that big after all. Our poverty and stress during the week are puny things compared to the eternal weight of glory won by Christ for us.

Thus, in worship, let us take seriously Paul’s exhortation, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Phil. 4:4) and allow ourselves to be filled with the joy of Christ in worship. Amid our aches, pains, and worries, the joy of the ascension should delight us and make us grin from ear to ear. Finally, there is one more response of the disciples to Christ’s benediction.

8. Jesus’ benediction reminds us that it is good to wait for our Lord.

The disciples are daily in the temple blessing God. That is, they wait. They wait for the coming of the Spirit, and they wait for the return of Christ. So also, the ascension gives us the patience to wait for our Lord, and we wait by worshipping and witnessing. The Spirit makes the church witnesses to Christ’s resurrection to all nations.

The benediction of Christ makes us bless him. With Christ on high, our waiting is not in vain. So then, let us wait upon the Lord, and may we wait by witnessing to the world and blessing Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who continues to put his name and blessing on us, every Lord’s day at the close of worship.

In recent years I have noticed the growing trend of people who leave their local church without any reflection as to whether their departure is a sinful one. To be sure, there are legitimate reasons to leave a local church. That’s what makes this article difficult to write; it’s not an easy task to get to the motivations of why people do what they do.

As a pastor, I have always believed that people should never feel forced to stay in a church where they are struggling. Departures may come for a variety of different reasons. Church leadership has to guard itself from cult-like behavior in seeking to put straight jackets on their members. I cannot imagine a more oppressing church environment than one that makes its members feel forced to stay in membership because the threat of discipline hangs over their head for departure. This creates a bunch of joyless servants in Christ’s kingdom and has a deadening effect on the whole congregation.

It does happen that even though people leave their local church for foolish reasons, they may flourish well elsewhere.

A wise elder once compared a disgruntled churchgoer to a plant that did not grow in his kitchen window. He cared for that plant, watered that plant, faithfully tended to the plant, but it always looked tattered and wilted. One day the next-door neighbor offered to take the plant with the hope that it would do well, and the man, rather reluctantly, offered the plant to the neighbor. After a short time the neighbor celebrated how well the plant was doing—it was vibrant, green, and producing new leaves. I’ve had to submit to this truth of Christian ministry more than a few times, humbling my own pride and recognizing that sometimes, though people leave for foolish reasons, they may flourish well elsewhere. That’s ultimately what we want for the sheep anyway.

Such a reality, however, does not excuse sinful departures from a local church. Pastors know all too well that when people come into their church sinfully running from their former church, it’s just a matter of time before the same problems resurface. The heart of the matter has not been dealt with. Further, it may be that a former church has neglected disciplining a member for unrepentant sin. As that member jumps to another local church—often unreconciled and bitter—and as this member celebrates the new church as the next best thing since sliced bread, the new church will soon realize how damaging the former church’s neglect is upon their own congregation. But that’s for another article.

In my experience, rarely does anyone sit down with their pastor and express their concerns when they want to leave.

With these things in mind, it’s important to think through what unbiblical departure from the local church looks like. Why do people leave the local church today? It would be one thing if a church is failing to preach the Word of God, is compromised on some point of doctrine, worship, or an article of the Christian faith, or there is some significant spiritual abuse by the leadership that is not properly being dealt with. These are legitimate reasons to speak with church leadership and depart the local church to a more faithful church in an honorable, Christ-like manner. But, sadly, doctrinal conviction and spiritual integrity in the truth are not at the top of the list when it comes to church departures in our day.

In my experience, rarely does anyone sit down with their pastor and express their concerns when they want to leave. The days are gone of honorable departures and the leadership is often left with reports from other church members, often family members, that so and so is gone, was unhappy in some general way with the church, and is now attending the church down the street. This has become so common place that we rarely ask any more if such a rogue departure from the local church offends God.

3 Areas of Sinful Departure

Having served as a pastor for almost twenty years, I would categorize three areas of ungodly departure from the local church.

First, family commitments are placed over spiritual commitments to the kingdom of God. Jesus warned about this problem frequently in his earthly ministry. For instance, if the husband and wife are not on the same page spiritually, or are divided themselves over the ministry of the local church, a culture of dissatisfaction and complaining can easily be fostered in the home. Once this critical spirit infiltrates the children’s hearts, the children may end up having little value for the church or the faith altogether. This all hits a breaking point in the teenage years and beyond, especially if the children walk away from the church or attend another church.

Family conflict, strife, and division in the home produce one of the greatest reasons for ungodly church departure. While there may be legitimate reasons for a family to find another church, often, in these scenarios, the church is blamed for failing to minister to the family’s needs and unbiblical departure follows. Family is put first over the kingdom of God.

A second reason has to do with stylistic preference. Many people base their church attendance on questions of music quality, formality, programs, and a rated quality of friendliness among the people. They have approached the church as consumers and forget that the purpose of Christian ministry is reconciliation with God—a place of ministering the righteousness of Christ to the weary. People are willing to sacrifice what is most needful for their spiritual life and depart a faithful church due to stylistic preferences, easily accepting false forms of worship.

A third reason for sinful departure has to do with conflict due to sin in one’s personal life, or with another believer in the church, or with the church itself. Unresolved conflict that results in a lack of forgiveness or bitterness in the heart are common recipes for sinful departure from a church. There is no shortage of scenarios that produce this conflict, but the inability to forgive and sacrificially love hinders one’s ability to receive the means of grace. Sinful departures are common when conflicts remains unresolved, although the true reasoning is rarely made known. Departures like this often come with superficial charges and petty reasoning. The heart of the matter is never really made known and the leadership is left in the dark as to the true reason for the departure.

5 Reasons to Stay in Your Local Church

With these things in mind, here are five reasons to encourage churchgoers to be faithful members in their local church:

1. Your church faithfully ministers the Word of God and the gospel to you and your family. The leadership is properly overseeing the ministry and cares to see you reconciled with God and comforted in the glorious salvation of Jesus Christ. Further, the leadership demonstrates sincere love for the sheep—they visit the needy and care for the spiritual life of the congregation. If the ministry of the Word and sacrament and the shepherding care of the congregation is the priority of your church, you have found a rare gem in this present age.

2. Your church cares to see you grow in holiness and is willing to discipline you if you fall into sin. In Protestant churches, discipline has always been the third mark of a true a faithful church. A church that loves you will care for your spiritual well-being by demonstrating shepherding care through the oversight of your soul.

3. God calls you to be sincere in your love for the body of Christ. It’s been commonly said that we don’t chose the people who sit next to us in the pew, but God does. Love requires, in response to the gospel, that we invest in the lives of those who are often most difficult and unattractive to us. It’s one of the saddest things to witness someone throw away their entire local church family for selfish reasons. Is our love sincere and absent of hypocrisy? This is an important question when it comes to church membership.

4. God calls you to be a servant. This means that the sacrificial love that imitates Christ calls me to forgive one another and become servants in the local church where God has placed us. This call alone helps us to check our motivations for involvement in the local church. Are we sacrificially loving our neighbors as Christ has in giving his life for us?

5. God calls you to be his witnesses, especially in the body of Christ. As the body of Christ is full of struggling sinners, each one of us called to encourage one another, and speak of what the Lord has done for us. The ministry is not just about you, it’s also about your neighbor. God chooses to show his love for our neighbor through the very testimonies of his grace in our lives.

Chris Gordon is the radio teacher for Abounding Grace Radio and the preaching pastor at Escondido United Reformed Church in California.

This article is adapted from “Right and Wrong Reasons for Leaving Your Local Church” at agradio.org.

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Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Why Do Christians Pray, “For Thine Is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, For Ever”?

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Editor’s note: This is the ninth and final installment of a series on the Lord’s Prayer, line by line. The Rev. Campbell Markham is a Presbyterian minister in Perth, Australia.

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” — Matthew 6:13 (KJV)

The splintering pain at the core of every human being, and which today is felt more acutely than ever in the West, is precisely the pain of the square peg being bashed into the round hole.

We were designed and crafted to praise Jesus Christ with our bodies and souls. If Jesus is God’s Son, the beautiful Universal King and Savior, then it’s impossible to conceive of a higher, happier, and more expansive purpose. He is worthy of our praise, and it is a delight to give it.

Yet, we insist on battering ourselves into the cramped cavity of self-fulfillment. This leaves us bruised, brittle, and spiritually exhausted.

The doxology after the Lord’s Prayer is a perfectly biblical and correct thing to pray.

The traditional ending of the Lord’s Prayer is not found in the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament.[1] A pious scribe, copying Matthew’s Gospel by hand, perhaps could not help adding the doxology after the Lord’s Prayer. It is generally accepted that it is taken from David’s prayer to God in 1 Chronicles 29 where David says similar words:

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. (1 Chron. 29:11)

While it is not canonical, the doxology is nonetheless a perfectly biblical and correct thing to pray: “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”

The Christian heart yearns to express all of this:

Thine is the Kingdom. We confess our treason and repent of our disobedience. We throw away our petty crowns and bow before Christ alone as King of kings.
Thine is the Power. Christ is the wellspring of life and power, for “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). And, being dead in our sin, only he can grant us a living faith springing from a new heart, reborn and recreated at his command.
Thine is the Glory. We know that “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).

Bowing the knee to Jesus brings a peace that transcends every pain and trial.

Rather than being forced to our knees moaning and scowling, aghast at the blinding truth, Christians willingly, reflexively, and joyfully cry out, like Thomas before the resurrected Christ, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

The moment we bow the knee to Jesus, that ghastly spirit of self-fulfillment, which claws and gnaws at our souls, howling “Mine be the glory!” flees back to the hell from which it came. In its place comes sanity, joy, and a peace that transcends every pain and trial.

What a happy prayer to pray: “Lord Jesus, thine be the glory!”

1. The King James and New King James translations include this phrase in Matthew 6:13; other translations such as the English Standard Version and New International Version do not. According to gotquestions.org, “The phrase “for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever,” as part of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:13), is absent from the early Greek manuscripts like Sinaiticus (א) and Vaticanus (B), both fourth-century manuscripts; Bezae (D) from the fifth century; and Dublinensis (Z) from the sixth century.”

Campbell Markham has been a pastor in the Australian Presbyterian Church for over twenty-two years and lives in Perth, Western Australia. He blogs at Campbell Markham: Thoughts and Letters. This article was originally published at Beautiful Christian Life on August 23, 2021.

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Tuesday, July 18, 2023

“Guilt, Grace & Gratitude”: Part 2 — Grace

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Editor’s note: This is part two of a three-part series on the 3Gs—”Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude.” To read part one, click here. S. M. Baugh is Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Westminster Seminary California.

In the first part of this series on the 3Gs—guilt, grace, and gratitude—we focused on our guilt before a holy God, and that all who are without Christ should be “cut to the quick” like the original audience of Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2. This, in fact, is one of the main purposes of God’s law: “[S]o that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (Rom. 3:19). When faced with the reality of their guilt, Peter’s audience in Acts 2 blurted out in anguished urgency: “Brothers! What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Others who face the holy God in their guilt likewise cry: “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us!” (1 Sam. 4:7-8); “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone! (Num. 17:12); “I am lost!” (Isa. 6:5); “Who will deliver me from this body of death?!” (Rom. 7:24).

The Mosaic sacrifices were shadows of something, or rather, someone to come.

As I said previously, Peter could have simply steered his audience in the direction of self-help that is so popular today. Or, more understandably, since his sermon takes place in Jerusalem near the temple (Acts 2:14), he could have told them to take animals to the priests and offer sin offerings to the Lord (e.g., Exod. 29:10-14; Lev. 4:13-21). For the high priest bore their guilt on his forehead (Exod. 28:38) just as the people bore his guilt (Lev. 4:3). But these things were shadows of something, or rather, someone to come. “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:4).

Because Peter had seen the reality of Jesus with his own eyes, he knew that things had changed with the coming of the Lord Messiah, whom God had chosen (Acts 2:36) to bear all the sin and guilt of his chosen people on the cross. So Peter said this to his guilt-laden audience:

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38-39)

These people were accessories to the murder of the incarnate Son of God, yet now they are to call upon him (Acts 2:21; Joel 2:32) and be baptized in his name! And in that name alone is forgiveness (Acts 10:43), for “everyone who believes is freed from everything” (Acts 13:38), including all their piled up guilt.

“Grace” refers to God’s favor toward his enemies.

This is obviously grace. “Repent and be baptized” is not the same thing as: “Do good deeds of love and generosity for the forgiveness of your sins.” As we will see in the next part under “gratitude,” we will most certainly be fully occupied with good works, but no works of ours are of any value for our salvation; they are “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6; cf. Zech. 3:3). “[H]e saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” (Titus 3:5).

This brings us to the need to define the word “grace” in this context. It is common to describe it as “God’s unmerited favor,” but this falls short. “Unmerited” makes it sound like we are neutral, like bystanders to a crime. But as we saw last time, we were God’s enemies when Christ died for us. We are the criminals here; we were not just undeserving but those who merited God’s wrath (Rom. 5:9-10). So, “grace” really refers to God’s favor toward his enemies. His justification for the guilt-ridden is where grace is found. “And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness….For the law brings wrath….That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace” (Rom. 4:5, 15-16).

In his substitutionary mediation, Christ took upon himself the guilt of his people and bore their sins on the cursed tree as their ransom.

But herein lies another key thing to say about saving grace. It is based upon Christ Jesus’ “substitutionary mediation.” This gets at the heart of the gospel and is useful as a shorthand phrase to understand the core of our salvation through Christ. He intervened as the one mediator between God and all his people (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 9:15; 12:24), but this mediation was not like that of an arbiter of a dispute but rather it was as a surety (Heb. 9:22) who took upon himself the guilt of his people and bore their sins on the cursed tree as their ransom (Mark 10:45; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18; Rev. 1:5; etc.). “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). This is Luther and Calvin’s “Wonderful Exchange.”

To receive the merit of Christ’s death requires faith. But salvation is all of grace because even faith is a gift from God! This is what Paul says in Eph. 2:8-9. But that’s a different story, which we’ll have to look at another time.

The condition of perfect obedience required of man by God was performed by Christ our mediator, and his righteousness is imputed to believers by God’s grace.

For now, here are two Reformed statements on grace that are classics in their own way. The first is from a theologian and pastor writing in 1677 on the difference between the covenant of works and covenant of grace. While covenant enters in here, the notion of grace and substitutionary mediation is what is so valuable here:

In the covenant of works, the condition of perfect obedience was required, to be performed by man himself, who had consented to it. In that of grace, the same condition is proposed, as to be, or as already performed, by a mediator. And in this substitution of the person, consists the principal and essential difference of the covenants. (Herman Witsius, The Economy of the Covenants Between God and Man: Comprehending A Complete Body of Divinity (1677; reprint Escondido, CA: den Dulk Christian Foundation, 1990), 1.49)

The next is from the Westminster Larger Catechism from 1647. While it addresses justification directly, it is also relevant as another key statement about saving grace:

Q. 71. How is justification an act of God’s free grace?

A. Although Christ, by his obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice in the behalf of them that are justified; yet inasmuch as God accepteth the satisfaction from a surety, which he might have demanded of them, and did provide this surety, his own only Son, imputing his righteousness to them, and requiring nothing of them for their justification but faith, which also is his gift, their justification is to them of free grace.

We’ll conclude this three-part series on “guilt, grace, and gratitude” next time with discussion of the third element, gratitude.

S. M. Baugh is Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary California. He is the author of A New Testament Greek Primer, A First John Reader, Ephesians: Evangelical Exegetical Commentary, and The Majesty on High: Introduction to the Kingdom of God in the New Testament.

Monday, July 17, 2023

How Did Jesus Repeat the Miracle of Elisha and the Widow’s Oil?

Rijksmuseum: Elisha helps a poor widow; Image from Wikimedia Commons

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With God’s wrath hovering over Israel during the ministry of the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 4, we meet a widow:

Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” (2 Kings 4:1)

We are not told her tribe, her hometown or that of her husband, yet we are informed that she was married to one of the sons or disciples of the prophets—they were loyal to Elisha and faithful to the Lord. In a land of apostasy and idolatry, the sons of the prophets were true believers and worshippers of the Lord.

The widow cries to Elisha in her distress.

We know the widow had faith because she cried to Elisha. This crying out meant that she was in trouble. Hard times had fallen upon her, and in her pain and uncertainty she was in desperate need of help. Now in the Old Testament this crying out was ultimately directed to the Lord; it was an urgent prayer for heavenly aid. Yet, these cries went through an agent, an intermediary.

The usual mediator in those times was the king. If you stumbled into desperate need, you petitioned the king; the king was the Lord’s servant to give you relief. The widow, however, bypasses the king and goes directly to the prophet. When the king is wicked, you seek out a true agent of the Lord, and there was none better than Elisha. This is another mark of the widow’s devoted faith.

Elisha is obligated to care and provide for his servants.

Next, we get to listen to this woman’s voice. And the pain of the widow in no way diminishes her eloquence. Her first two words say it all: “your servant, my husband.” The widow and Elisha have a pre-existing relationship. Her husband was his servant. This means both he and she are loyal to Elisha; they are part of the same group with Elisha as the head or leader.

It also ignites Elisha’s duty. If the widow and her husband served Elisha with fealty, then as a master, Elisha is obligated to care and provide for his servants. She reminds Elisha of his duty and then pulls at his heart strings. He is dead; your servant, my husband is dead.

In ancient times, widowhood wasn’t just sad; it was also dangerous. It exposed women to vulnerability, need, and loneliness. Next, she underscores the piety of her husband. You know, Elisha, how he feared the Lord. Her husband had no eyes for idols, but his heart was wholly devoted in reverence to the Lord alone. Finally, the widow states her problem: “The creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves” (2 Kings 4:1).

The creditor had the legal right to seize the widow’s children for repayment.

Before he died, the husband had taken out a loan, probably fairly sizable. And for collateral or as a pledge, he put up his two children. This means that if he defaulted on the loan the creditor had the legal right, by contract, to seize his kids, and they would become the creditor’s debt-slaves until they pay off the loan. The word here for slave or servant means debt-slave. And this financial arrangement was fully legal under Mosaic Law, and it was common. Thus, there is nothing unjust or oppressive about this setup. When the husband died, the loan defaulted.

And the creditor has the legal right to seize the children for repayment. This is just one of those hard times. The family was struggling to get by, so the husband took out a loan. He unexpectedly died, and the loan fell to his wife and she defaulted. And now the creditor has no choice but to foreclose on her two children.

In the widow’s situation we observe the painful mystery of the suffering of the obedient.

Her kids were the widow’s life insurance policy; if she loses them, she has nothing left. She is the faithful saint who is suffering. This is the devoted missionary who gets cancer; the excellent parent who loses their child in a tragic accident. Her family did everything right. They feared the Lord; they kept his commandments.

They were loyal to Elisha, the Lord’s true prophet. They never bowed the knee to Baal or visited one of those golden calves. Their piety was pristine, but all they have known is difficulty. The widow lost her money, had her hubby taken, and now will she lose her kids too? She prayed for bread, but all she got was a rock. This is the painful mystery of the suffering of the obedient.

Elisha responds with words of refreshment, not blame.

And then Elisha responds, and with such words of refreshment! He doesn’t roll his eyes. He doesn’t brush her off as unimportant. And most significantly, he doesn’t blame her. He doesn’t say,

You are the one who took out the loan. Sorry, but you are reaping what you sowed.

He doesn’t even turn it into a lesson on sin:

Something must be lacking in your faith. This will teach you the importance of budgeting, of financial stewardship. Tell me what you have learned from your mistakes.

No, Elisha does none of this. Rather, without a hint of guilt, he offers to help. He gives her privileged access:

And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? (2 Kings 4:2)

Elisha’s first instinct is not to criticize, judge, or be suspicious. He erupts with charity, generosity, and willingness.

The widow’s faith grants her the privilege of prophetic intercession.

For a prophet who was supposed to bring the sword, this is certainly merciful. The widow has the benefit of prophetic mediation and aid, which was denied Jehoram in the previous chapter. Elisha told Jehoram, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother” (2 Kings 3:13).

The widow’s faith and devotion to the Lord didn’t shield her from suffering and hardship, but it did grant her the privilege of prophetic intercession. This is huge! Yet, Elisha’s second question is a bit curious:

“Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” (2 Kings 4:2)

The only thing left in the widow’s cupboard is a jar of oil. She is worse than dirt poor; she is death poor. The flask represents her utter poverty and desperation. Nevertheless, Elisha takes the object of her destitution and turns it into the source of her relief.

Note what Elisha tells the widow:

Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. (2 Kings 4:3)

The word for “vessels” here is the most general term for containers. In today’s terms, it would include anything from a 5-gallon bucket or a Tupperware bowl to a wine bottle or a perfume jar.

Elisha employs the community in his miracle to help the widow.

Elisha tells her to get as many empty containers as she can from her neighbors. Note how he employs the community in his miracle to help the widow. The neighbors’ charity to lend out their containers is essential to how she will find relief. Next, Elisha strangely orders her to shut the doors behind her and her kids. What is the point of this direction?

This step is an allusion to a law in Deuteronomy 24:10-11. It says that a creditor cannot enter your house to seize the pledge; instead, you have to bring the pledge outside to the creditor. Remember, the creditor is on his way, and the pledge of this loan is the widow’s children. If he finds them outside, he can legally confiscate the children.

But, inside they are safe. Elisha makes her shut the doors to follow this law and to protect her kids:

“Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” (2 Kings 4:4)

With the door shut, this buys her time to save them. And time is precisely what the widow is going to need as Elisha then tells her to take the flask and start filling up each borrowed container, one at a time.

This is a slow miracle taking place.

And the widow of course obeys. Her children bring her a vessel. She fills it, and then it is pulled to the side and replaced with an empty one. If you think about it, this has to be the slowest miracle ever! She is pouring from a flask. Surely, the output is not that fast.

Maybe she gets a gallon per minute, maybe less. She collected some 50, 100, or more containers. With this slow dribble, the widow is filling buckets, canning jars, tubs, and gallon jugs. This could have taken days. Nevertheless, with the last container up to the brim, the oil stops flowing. We can just picture the widow and her kids, exhausted and oily, sitting in a house crammed with vessels of oil with spills all over the place:

So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. (2 Kings 4:5-6)

And after a report to Elisha, he completes his charity to the woman:

She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” (2 Kings 4:7)

Elisha provided the miracle of oil, so that the widow would pay off her loan and not lose her children. And there is enough oil to pay the loan and then to live off of! The widow can live off the surplus oil until her children find jobs and start getting a paycheck.

Elisha follows the law and satisfies justice.

The flask of oil, which represented the widow’s utter poverty, has become the very source of becoming debt-free and living daily life. Elisha really did help out this poor widow and her children. This only adds to the uniqueness of this miracle, since typically prophetic help forgives sin, erases debt, and corrects abusive oppression.

Here though, Elisha follows the law and satisfies justice. He doesn’t forgive the debt, but he produces income to pay the loan off. The rights of the creditor are fully upheld and granted. Remember, this creditor is not some massive Wall Street bank; he is a neighbor, a friend, or a family member. If the creditor didn’t get paid, he might end up in the poor house. There is no hint that the creditor was corrupt or abusive, but Elisha stepped in to pay off the loan.

Miracles of mercy typically are kindness to the undeserving. The person is a sinner; they deserve wrath, but the Lord graciously saves them. Here, though, the widow’s family feared the Lord. They fell on hard times. And Elisha provides oil to satisfy the law and to give them a daily income. This is not your usual miracle, but it is one that surely shows the Lord’s compassion on his people—in this case, a nameless and poor widow. Yet, this miracle sticks out for another reason.

Most of the miracles in the Old Testament were repeated by Jesus in some way or another.

This is a miracle that Jesus didn’t really imitate. Most of the miracles in the Old Testament were repeated by Jesus in some way or another. The sea was split; Jesus calmed the sea. Elijah raised the dead; so did Jesus. Manna fell from heaven; Jesus fed the 5,000. Yet, Jesus never really performed a miracle like paying someone’s financial debt.

Jesus made the crippled walk; he restored eyesight and hearing. He banished demons. He purified lepers and a bleeding woman. He touched the dead to make them alive. He spoke words and diseases were erased. But Jesus’ miracles avoided money. He didn’t cancel anyone’s debt. He didn’t get anyone hired at a new and better job.

Jesus didn’t produce wealth for anyone.

There was the one time when he told Peter to grab a shekel out of the mouth of a fish to pay a toll-tax. He preached that people should sell their possessions and give to the poor. We know that Jesus and his disciples had a purse to pay for expenses and to give alms. Jesus did multiply wine, but this wasn’t a relief for hardship—it was to let the people celebrate and drink more.

Yet, Jesus didn’t produce wealth for anyone. Sure, the healings made the people able to work, which is big, no doubt. Jesus didn’t pay off anyone’s loan though; he didn’t supply them with a daily stipend to live off of. From all appearances, this seems to be a miracle that was not fulfilled in Christ. Have we found a passage that is not Christ centered?

Well, it is true that Jesus did not fulfill this miracle in his life. Rather, he saved this miracle for the last. He fulfilled it in his death—a miraculous source of wealth to pay off the widow’s debts and to satisfy the law.

By his death Jesus paid off the debt that stood against us, the wages of all our sin.

When did Jesus do this? On the cross. And he didn’t use oil, but his own blood. Yes, by his death Jesus paid off the debt that stood against us, the wages of all our sin. The Father is just. His rights as the creditor had to be upheld. God loaned us life, but we rebelled in depravity and idolatry. His justice had to be satisfied; the terms of the law must be met.

And just as a flask of oil appeared impossible for the task, how could the life of one man pay for our sins? Yet, Jesus was righteous—he was the God-man. His shed blood paid for all our sins, past, present, and future. In Jesus Christ, we get no more bills in the mail from justice. It is God who justifies—who can condemn? There is no condemnation for us in Christ.

Such a miracle could not be wasted on earthly dollars and cents. It had to be saved for an eternal redemption—to pay off our corruptions, to purchase us for Christ himself, and to pay our way into heaven. Indeed, as the oil paid off the loan and provided for the life of the widow’s family, so by Christ’s blood we are forgiven and have life—even resurrection life! The merit of Jesus is the grace and favor by which we live, every day here and now and forevermore. Moreover, once we see this miracle reach its fulfillment in Christ’s death for us, we can also detect the privileges we have in Jesus.

By faith in Christ, we have the privilege of Christ’s intercession for us.

First, while Jehoram was cut off from intercession, the widow had access to Elisha’s prayers and helps. So also, for us, by faith in Christ, we have the privilege of Christ’s intercession for us. Like the widow, the Lord has told us that we are not immune to the losses and tragedies in life. Our faith and fear of the Lord doesn’t mean constant ease.

Loved ones will die. We will struggle with financial debt. Betrayal, heartache, and desperation are on the menus of life. Yet, amid the loss and pain, Christ prays for us. We have access to the Father through Jesus, with the help of the Spirit. And Christ’s intercession is more precious than diamonds, for it means we can cast our cares upon him.

It means our Father in heaven is listening to us. We may not know how he will answer; but God is listening and he cares, because Jesus died for us and is praying for us.

May we be a family that is rich in charity and lavish in compassion and generosity.

Secondly, the widow was granted charity, a charity that all the neighbors helped with. In answer to our prayers, God has not promised us a miracle, but he has assured us of the charity of the saints. Being part of the family of God, we have a right to helped by the saints. And as saints, we have the duty to show love and charity to one another, especially when hard times strike. The generous giving of the saints and the work of the deacons is how God often answers our prayers in times of need.

So, may we be a family that is rich in charity and lavish in compassion and generosity. For in this way we glorify God, we spread the grace of Christ, and we wait until all our cares and needs will be gone forever in the resurrection.

Zach Keele is the pastor of Escondido Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Escondido, California. He is the author of The Unfolding Word: The Story of the Bible from Creation to New Creation and co-author with Michael G. Brown of Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored.

Sunday, July 16, 2023

One Word That Explains Why Your Salvation in Christ Is Secure

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Do you struggle with guilt? Do you sometimes wonder how God could possibly love such a wretched sinner as you? Do you ever get depressed because you feel as though you don’t “measure up”?

Many Christians wrestle with these feelings, even though they started their spiritual journey by acknowledging that all their sins are forgiven through Jesus’ sacrificial death. We learn this key truth from such passages as 1 Peter 2:24 (“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree”) and from Isaiah 53:

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:5)

While these verses explain how can we be reconciled to God even though we are sinners who fail to keep his law, how does God remove the burden of depressing guilt over our sin?

**Believers are declared righteous in Christ.**

The answer is that rather than making us holy and sinless persons, God declares us righteous based not on our works but instead on what Christ did for us. In other words, it is not our works that remove our guilt and save us. Instead, it is what Christ did—that is, the work he did for us in both his life and death. Our receiving and benefiting from the work of Jesus for our salvation is often referred to by the term “imputation,” a word that describes the act of assigning or attributing something to someone else.

**Understanding the word imputation is essential to resting in Christ.**

We find three areas of imputation in the Bible, and understanding each of them helps us not to worry about whether we have enough righteousness for God to be pleased with us or whether we are truly saved.

Imputation #1: Adam’s first sin is imputed (credited or counted) to all his posterity—as described at length in Romans 5: We “all sinned” when Adam did, and thus, “by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (vv. 12-19). The theologian John Murray is helpful here, explaining how the Greek word for "made" (kathestemi) is better translated as “constituted,” meaning that we “were placed in the category of sinners.” [1]
Imputation #2: In this case, our sins are imputed to Christ, and he suffers the penalty due for sin in our place. Thus, the apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,” fulfilling Isaiah’s earlier words: “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). Since Christ has been “offered once to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:28), we no longer need to fear God’s wrath for our failures and transgressions.
Imputation #3: Jesus’ perfect obedience and righteousness are imputed to all believers in Christ, so that we stand before the Father, not merely forgiven for our sins, but also bearing the spotless perfection of Christ’s lifelong obedience—as though we ourselves had also lived that flawless and exemplary life (Rom. 5:17-19; 3:21-24; 10:5-13).

This crucial third imputation listed above regarding Christ’s righteousness is stressed in several passages of Scripture. In Romans 5:19, right after indicating that we were “made sinners” in Adam, Paul concludes that in the same way, “many will be made righteous" (now placed in the category of the righteous) by “the one man’s obedience.” Similarly, Isaiah 53:11 declares, “By his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous.” And 2 Corinthians 5:21 links the two imputations in one glorious verse: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Imputation is an important core doctrine of the historical church.

The Westminster Confession of Faith, a summary of Christian doctrine written in the seventeenth-century, stressed the importance of the doctrine of imputation in its chapter on justification:

Those whom God effectually calls he justifies, pardons their sins and accepts them as righteous, “not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness, by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.” (WCF 11.1)

Notice how the above quote teaches that two aspects of Christ’s work are imputed to believers: obedience and satisfaction. Obedience refers to Christ Jesus’ entire sinless life—his righteousness. Satisfaction refers to Christ Jesus having paid the penalty for our sins—his atonement (satisfaction) for the just penalty of sin, which is death (Rom. 6:23).

Thus, both Jesus’ obedience and satisfaction are imputed to those who rest by faith on his finished work in both his life and on the cross. This is sometimes referred to as “double imputation,” a phrase embracing both the life and death of Christ. To put it simply: Christ not only died for us—he also lived on our behalf!

As the Reformation Study Bible puts it,

In His active obedience, Christ fulfilled the positive commandments of God on behalf of his people, serving God and doing good. This positive righteousness is granted as a gift through faith to believers, securing for them a righteous standing before God. (p. 1679)

We need more than a zero balance for salvation.

It is vital to grasp and embrace both imputations—for if all we have is the sacrifice of Christ to cancel our sins, that merely brings us back to zero, with no more righteousness or merit than a sinless rock or tree.

In his helpful book Side by Side, Ed Welch points out that this would be like erasing a massive debt but not giving the person any actual money to live on. The Father has not left us mere “debt-free beggars.” Yes, Christ has canceled our debt to God—but he has also made us rich beyond measure (p. 151).

Believers wear pure vestments in Christ.

Scripture provides a beautiful picture of double imputation in Zechariah 3 where Satan comes to accuse Joshua the high priest as he stands before God in “filthy garments.” The accuser has not even opened his mouth when God commands that the soiled robes be removed. God tells Joshua, “I have taken your iniquity away from you.” This is the cancellation of debt, but does God then leave Joshua naked? Of course not!

At the same time, God assures the high priest, “I will clothe you with pure vestments.” He then commands, “Let them put a clean turban upon his head” (vv. 1-5). As some commentators have observed, these garments would be “suitable for the heavenly court,” particularly since the priestly turban—going back to Exodus 28:36-37—bore the inscription, “Holy to the Lord.” [2]

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This idea of being clothed by a gracious God permeates much of the Bible, starting with the new garments he fashioned for Adam and Eve right after their sin (Gen. 3:21; note that these were made from “skins,” and thus, like our clothing from Christ, they required a sacrificial death!). Or consider Isaiah 61:10: “He has clothed me with garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”

We might also recall the prodigal son’s father, who rushed to get his long-lost child a pair of new shoes and “the best robe” (Luke 15:22). And Scripture’s final book offers several passages about new garments, highlighted by a description of redeemed saints who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14; see also 3:5; 3:18; 7:9; 7:13; 22:14).

“He will rejoice over you.”

Not only do we sometimes feel accused and filthy, like Joshua the high priest, but we also sense that even “our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isa. 64:6). We need to be reminded that we no longer wear these befouled robes (our works), but rather we are clothed with the glorious righteousness of Christ. As the sixteenth-century Heidelberg Catechism puts it in Question 60:

How are you righteous before God? Answer: Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ; so that, though my conscience accuse me that I have grossly transgressed all the commandments of God, and kept none of them, and am still inclined to all evil; notwithstanding, God, without any merit of mine, but only of mere grace, grants and imputes to me, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ; even so, as if I never had had, nor committed any sin: yea, as if I had fully accomplished all that obedience which Christ has accomplished for me; inasmuch as I embrace such benefit with a believing heart. (HC 60)

In his book Death in Adam, Life in Christ: The Doctrine of Imputation, theologian J. V. Fesko sums up imputation’s necessary role to restoring the relationship between God and humans:

Only the imputed obedience and satisfaction of Christ received by faith alone by God’s grace alone grant right and title to eternal life and restore fallen sinners into a new covenantal relationship with the triune God. (p. 276)

Because of these priceless truths, God does not condemn or accuse us, as our own hearts do; nor does he merely tolerate us as debt-free servants with no special rights. Rather, we are eagerly welcomed into the household of God like the impoverished prodigal on his return—precious children with all the privileges of the sinless Son whose spotless robes we now wear.

For this reason, God can say to us, as the smitten groom tells his bride in the Song of Solomon,

"Behold, you are beautiful!...You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." (Song of Sol. 4:1, 7)

So don’t worry—instead, be joyful in Christ!

Next time you are plagued by feelings of guilt, fear of God’s anger, or a sense that you don’t measure up to his standards, recall that Christ has already met those standards on your behalf—“irrevocably, immutably and indefectibly” (Fesko, p. 278). And remember this verse, whose truths flow from this perfect imputation of Christ’s perfect life:

“He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zeph. 3:17)

The salvation Christ has won for you cannot be taken away. Be at peace, and take joy in your Savior.

Joseph W. Smith III is a writer, speaker, teacher and long-time church officer in Central PA. The Best Movies You Never Saw is not written specifically for Christians; unsavory content in R and PG-13 films is carefully noted in specific entries. It is Smith’s fourth book.

Friday, July 14, 2023

The Biggest Obstacle to Your Sanctification

U.S. Army Sgt. Timothy Collins, 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, goes across the rope bridge at the obstacle course during United States Army Europe's Best Warrior Competition in Grafenwoehr, Germany, July 30, 2012. Image from Wikimedia Commons (U.S. Army photo by Visual Information Specialist Markus Rauchenberger/Released).

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As a pastor I regularly listened to people give all sorts of reasons and excuses for their sinful conduct. As a parent I have listened to my children blame everyone else for their sin. In one sense, this is nothing new.

Blame shifting goes back to the garden of Eden.

Blame shifting first appeared in the garden of Eden on the heels of Adam and Eve’s sin. Adam blamed God for giving him Eve:

“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Gen. 3:12)

And Eve blamed the serpent:

“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Gen. 3:13)

When it comes to owning our sins, we are quick to look everywhere else except at the person staring back at us in the mirror.

We have only ourselves to blame.

While others can certainly contribute to our sin, at the end of the day, we only have ourselves to blame. James explains the anatomy of sin in the following manner:

Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” (James 1:13)

James quickly dismisses the attempt to blame God for our sins. Where does he locate the origin of our sin? James writes:

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15, emphasis added)

James locates the origins of sin within our own hearts, not outside of us. We cannot blame anyone but ourselves for our sin, period. So what’s a person to do?

We need to acknowledge our sinful desires in order to grow in grace.

I’m serious when I say that the biggest threat to my sanctification is the person who stares back at me in the mirror. I regularly pray, “Oh Lord, please protect me from myself. Please sanctify my desires so they conform to your will, not my own.” Recognize that you are your own worst enemy. If you can acknowledge this truth, you’ll make greater progress in your growth in grace.

This article by J. V. Fesko is adapted from “A Pastor’s Reflections: The Face in the Mirror.” For more helpful content by Dr. Fesko, please visit jvfesko.com.

J. V. Fesko is the Harriet Barbour Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi. He has written numerous books on the Christian faith, including Word, Water, and Spirit: A Reformed Perspective on Baptism, Justification: Understanding the Classic Reformed Doctrine, The Theology of the Westminster Standards: Historical Context and Theological Insights, and The Need for Creeds Today.

Friday, July 21, 2023

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Blessing can be used in several different ways in Scripture.

In the Aaronic benediction, there are three acts of God.

1. Jesus was garbed in his resurrected glory when giving his benediction.

2. Jesus spoke his blessing loud and clear as he ascended to heaven.

3. Jesus’ benediction assures you God’s wrath is appeased.

4. Our proper response to our Lord’s ascending in benediction is worship.

5. The God-man, Jesus Christ, is one to whom we must bow the knee.

6. Jesus’ benediction reminds us that our worship is filled with great joy.

7. The Lord’s Day isn’t just about rest; it is also about joy.

8. Jesus’ benediction reminds us that it is good to wait for our Lord.

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It does happen that even though people leave their local church for foolish reasons, they may flourish well elsewhere.

In my experience, rarely does anyone sit down with their pastor and express their concerns when they want to leave.

3 Areas of Sinful Departure

5 Reasons to Stay in Your Local Church

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Wednesday, July 19, 2023

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The doxology after the Lord’s Prayer is a perfectly biblical and correct thing to pray.

Bowing the knee to Jesus brings a peace that transcends every pain and trial.

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Tuesday, July 18, 2023

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The Mosaic sacrifices were shadows of something, or rather, someone to come.

“Grace” refers to God’s favor toward his enemies.

In his substitutionary mediation, Christ took upon himself the guilt of his people and bore their sins on the cursed tree as their ransom.

The condition of perfect obedience required of man by God was performed by Christ our mediator, and his righteousness is imputed to believers by God’s grace.

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Monday, July 17, 2023

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The widow cries to Elisha in her distress.

Elisha is obligated to care and provide for his servants.

The creditor had the legal right to seize the widow’s children for repayment.

In the widow’s situation we observe the painful mystery of the suffering of the obedient.

Elisha responds with words of refreshment, not blame.

The widow’s faith grants her the privilege of prophetic intercession.

Elisha employs the community in his miracle to help the widow.

This is a slow miracle taking place.

Elisha follows the law and satisfies justice.

Most of the miracles in the Old Testament were repeated by Jesus in some way or another.

Jesus didn’t produce wealth for anyone.

By his death Jesus paid off the debt that stood against us, the wages of all our sin.

By faith in Christ, we have the privilege of Christ’s intercession for us.

May we be a family that is rich in charity and lavish in compassion and generosity.

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Sunday, July 16, 2023

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Believers are declared righteous in Christ.

Understanding the word imputation is essential to resting in Christ.

Imputation is an important core doctrine of the historical church.

We need more than a zero balance for salvation.

Believers wear pure vestments in Christ.

“He will rejoice over you.”

So don’t worry—instead, be joyful in Christ!

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Friday, July 14, 2023

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Blame shifting goes back to the garden of Eden.

We have only ourselves to blame.

We need to acknowledge our sinful desires in order to grow in grace.

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**Believers are declared righteous in Christ.**

**Understanding the word imputation is essential to resting in Christ.**