Untangling Romans 7

-->

I have some thoughts to contribute to the interminable discussion of Romans 7:14-25. Of course, I would like to bring it to a satisfactory termination, but that would be naïve. Anyway, here goes. I think many commentators are asking the wrong questions: Is Paul describing a saved man or an unsaved man who is merely convicted by the law? If he is describing a saved man, is this the normal, life-long condition of a Christian, or should Christians experience a second work of grace that moves them out of the struggles of Romans 7 into the freedom of Romans 8? Let’s set those questions aside and look at the text.

The passage is not describing a conflict between the flesh and the Holy Spirit, such as we see in Galatians 5:16-17 or in Romans 8:5-13. In Romans 7:14-25, the conflict is between “my flesh” on the one hand, and the “inner man” or “the law of my mind” on the other. The wretched “I” is caught between these two forces. It is unhelpful to describe these two forces as “two natures” when “nature” is not adequately identified, so I won’t use those terms.

Though Paul uses the term “flesh” in several different ways, here he seems to mean our uncontrolled, but natural human desires, the things people want because of the way God made us—things like food, sex, approval from others, and the enjoyment of beauty. When those desires are not properly controlled, they become demanding. All they can say is “I want! I want! I want!” As Augustine noted, all sin is a twisting or distortion of legitimate desires. The flesh is human desire out of control—coveting things that are good in themselves, but wanting them in the wrong way, in the wrong measure, or in the wrong time.

What is the “law of my mind” or the “inner man”? I suggest that these phrases describe the conscience, the inner law which God has implanted in all men.

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them (Romans 2:14-15).

As Jonathan Edwards clearly demonstrates in The Nature of True Virtue, unsaved people can genuinely approve of the whole law of God. Conscience and a sense of the secondary beauty of justice are sufficient for this. Therefore, an unsaved man can “joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man” (Romans 7:22), as he contemplates how fitting and right God’s law is. However, since the unsaved man does not love God for the beauty of His holiness, his natural approval of the law of God is not truly virtuous. Ultimately, in its rebellion against God, the flesh is hostile to God. The flesh says, “I want! I want! I want!” and God answers, “Thou shalt not.”

   If the unsaved man can approve of God’s law, then, even more can the saved man joyfully concur with it. Therefore, the inner conflict of Romans 7 is heightened for the man whose conscience has been further enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Still, the conflict of Romans 7 is not directly between the flesh and the Spirit, but between the flesh and the more sensitive conscience of the man in Christ.

So, what is Paul saying in Romans 7? He is saying that the inner law, the conscience, is not strong enough to subdue the unruly desires of the flesh. This is true both for the Christian man and for the unsaved man whose conscience approves of God’s law. The unsaved man has no further resources above his conscience. Those who belong to Christ, however, have the indwelling Holy Spirit. By the Spirit they are able progressively to put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13). (The words “putting to death” are a progressive present.)

Perhaps it will help if I paraphrase Romans 7:14-24 in Freudian terms. The flesh is the id with its demanding desires. The “law of my mind” is the super ego. The “I” is the ego caught between the urgent demands of the id and the finger-wagging disapproval of the super-ego. There is no escape from this tension apart from the gospel of Christ. Those who are justified by faith no longer need to fear condemnation (Romans 8:1). In addition, they are now able to obey the law in a new way as the walk according to the Spirit (Romans 8:4). The ego cannot win its battle with the id by strengthening the super-ego, but only by turning to and relying on the Holy Spirit.

What is the bottom line? To the unsaved man who is torn apart by his guilt and his moral weakness, Romans 7 says, “O wretched man, you cannot win this battle on your own. You are trapped between your distorted, sinful desires and the law of God, which you know is right and just. Come to Christ! He will remove your condemnation, and He will give you His Holy Spirit to help and strengthen you.”

To the pastor this passage says, “Do not think you can make your congregation holy by pounding them down with the law, hoping to strengthen their guilty consciences. Most of them already feel guilty enough and a guilty conscience cannot subdue the flesh. Point them to their freedom from guilt in Christ and to the power of the indwelling Spirit. Teach them to walk in the Spirit and you (and they) will do well.”

To the struggling Christian this passage says, “Do not think of your inner conflict as a struggle between your old nature and your new nature. (Those terms are vague and are not found in the Greek New Testament.) Think of your inner conflict as warfare between your twisted human desires and your conscience, which has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Then turn to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help you put to death the deeds of the body which come from these distorted desires.”

Brittany Maynard

The moral schizophrenia of our society has never been more obvious. As a nation, we agonized over the suicide of Robin Williams in August. Now we are applauding the bravery of Brittany Maynard who intends to kill herself in a few weeks. His suicide was a tragedy; hers will be a triumph.

Many of us who loved Robin Williams’ public persona were shocked and saddened to learn of his private inner torment. If you have watched Brittany’s video and you were not deeply stirred, you must have a heart of stone. We are human beings made in the image of God. Therefore, if God weeps over human suffering (and He does), so ought we.[1]

What ought we to think about suicide? How ought we to react? That word “ought” implies that some answers correspond better to the facts of human existence than others do.

A number of years ago, I stood beside a woman whose husband had suffered a massive heart attack. The attending physician was asking her to make end-of-life decisions for him since at that point he was not capable of making them himself. She asked the doctor for his recommendation, and his reply shocked me: “If he were my dog, I know what I would do.”

“If he were my dog….” That is the crux of the matter. If human beings are dogs, mere animals, then we may, without blame, agonize over one suicide and applaud another, depending on our emotional reaction to the individual circumstances. I cannot give any compelling arguments against suicide to those who think we are dogs.

On the other hand, if human beings are immortal souls, who will one day come face to face with their Creator, then it makes sense to find out how He wants us to respond to horrendous suffering. What is our Creator like, and what does He want of us? There are two basic ways of answering this question. The first is the great American way—to invent a fairy-tale god who conforms to the way you think God ought to act. To those who are satisfied with their own idea of God, I have nothing to say. You can make up a god who likes what you like and hates what you hate, and that’s the end of it.

The second way to discover what our Creator is like is to listen to what He says about Himself and about us. The Bible claims to be the message of God to us. Rather than defending that claim, which I can do, I want simply to draw your attention to some of its basic teachings about suffering.[2]

First, the human being who has suffered more than any other is Jesus Christ. The Son of God became man to suffer and die for the sins of those who believe in Him. His physical and mental suffering on the cross was horrible beyond our capacity to imagine it, but it was not unique because the Romans crucified many people. While Jesus hung on the cross, God poured out the full extent of His wrath against sin on the human soul of His Son. Jesus endured the agonies of hell as if He were all manner of sinners rolled into one agonizing bundle of spiritual pain. No one else has ever felt the wrath of God to such an extent. No sinner in hell will be condemned for such a weight of sins as Jesus bore. Each unredeemed sinner will feel the weight of his own sins. Jesus was weighed down by the sins of multitudes.

Second, because Jesus rose from the grave, He is able to transform the sufferings of His people into the gold of heavenly glory.

If [we are] children, [we are] heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:17-18).

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

In Paul’s case, those “light afflictions” included imprisonment, numerous floggings, being stoned and left for dead, three shipwrecks, and frequent physical deprivations (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation (1 Peter 4:12-13).

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right (1 Peter 4:18-19).

The reasons for suffering are many, but the result of suffering for a patient believer in Jesus Christ is that we shall share His eternal glory. He suffered and rose again to bring us up out of suffering into joy.

We do not belong to ourselves. We do not have a right to do with our bodies as we please. We belong to Another, and it is His right to do with us as He pleases. If we submit to Him, we shall find that the lead of great suffering here is transmuted by the alchemy of the cross into the purest heavenly gold.

So glory in heaven is a reason for bearing suffering, but what about here and now? The apostle Paul suffered from a physical affliction, which the Lord refused to heal.

And He [Christ] has said to me [Paul], "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

The apostle testified that experiencing the presence and power of Christ in a greater measure was worth enduring the pain that humbled and weakened him.

Apart from Christ, there are only a limited number of responses we can give to people contemplating suicide. We can talk about the effect of their decision on their family, on their friends, and on society in general. We can mumble some vague platitudes about God. Sometimes these responses, along with love and compassion, are enough to thwart a planned suicide. I am glad for that, but we really ought to give these poor people more.

People in despair need more than a reason not to die. They need a reason to live. That is what Jesus Christ offers. For those who, by trusting in Him, endure great pain, He offers great glory in heaven, and He offers the power of His own presence in the midst of their trial.

Let us, therefore, bear with patience and trust the measure of pain that is our lot. The Great Sufferer, will lend us His strength in order that, as we suffer in imitation of Him, so with Him, we shall rise again.

---

[1] For God’s tears see Isaiah 15:5; 16:9, 11; Jeremiah 9:10; 48:31-32; Luke 19:41; John 11:33-35. In all of these examples except the last, the Lord weeps over nations that He is judging for their sins.

[2] For a more complete discussion of suffering, see my book, The Beauty of God for a Broken World: Reflections on the Goodness of the God of the Bible.

Women in the Bible

The Apostles Creed, begins, “I believe in God the Father Almighty.” Over thirty years ago, I read a book that suggested updating the creed to, “I believe in God the Mother Almighty,” or better yet to “I believe in God the Parent Almighty.”

Our biblically illiterate and sexually confused age needs to be reminded that the Bible teaches God’s children to regard Him as their Father. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” “My Father” is the way Jesus regularly spoke of God.

This does not mean, as some have charged, that the Bible is patriarchal, misogynistic, and indifferent to the abilities and needs of women. Quite the contrary. Even in the passages modern people find most distasteful, we can see God’s deep concern for women.

When God chose the nation of Israel to be His Covenant people, He began to lift them out of a surrounding paganism that was horrible in the extreme. Against some forms injustice, such as child sacrifice, He spoke with fierce condemnation. Other kinds of injustice He softened and moderated. He moderated but did not abolish slavery; He waited until Jesus had come before He taught us that slaves and free men, men and women, are all one in Christ.

In ancient Babylonia, a woman who had become a slave-wife of her master could be sold to another man if her master was displeased with her. In ancient Israel, she had to be set free. The Lord was compassionate toward these poor, abused women.

The Bible honors and exalts women. Men and women are equally made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Because women are in God’s image, the Lord occasionally uses feminine imagery to describe Himself: “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:13).

Mothers share equally with fathers in the instruction of their children: “My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother” (Proverbs 6:20). Scripture praises godly wives and mothers: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22). “House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord” (Proverbs 19:14).

The last chapter of Proverbs describes the “excellent wife” whose “worth is far above jewels.” She is a strong woman who rules her extensive household well. She is a diligent and astute businesswoman, who invests her money wisely. Martha Stewart would have to hurry to catch up to her. She is such an impressive woman that her reputation enhances her husband’s standing in the community (v. 23). “She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (v. 26). “Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: ‘Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all’” (vv. 28-29).

The New Testament also honors godly women. The rabbis frowned on teaching women, but Jesus praised Mary for sitting at His feet to listen instead of fussing over an elaborate dinner (Luke 10:38-42). Jesus’ first appearance after His resurrection was to a different Mary (John 20:11-18). The first convert to Christ in Europe was a businesswoman named Lydia (Acts 16:14-15). Paul’s young helper, Timothy, learned the Scripture from his mother and grandmother.

On this Mother’s Day, if you were raised by a godly mother, rise up and call her blessed. If you are a woman, I encourage you to center your life around the Lord Jesus Christ so that those around you may see Him shining out of your life and be drawn to Him. And if you are looking for a wife to be the mother of your children, seek a woman who loves Jesus.

(This post is an article I published in the Allentown Morning Call on May 10, 2014.)

Stupid Stevie and Saintly Sally: A Parable

Sally and Stevie attend the same church, but they are not part of the same set. They greet one another in church and occasionally exchange a few pleasantries about some banal subject—the weather, the church picnic, or the general depravity of the nation. That’s about it.

Sally’s set is the Bible-reading, long-praying, bold-witnessing set. She teaches Sunday School, memorizes Scripture, and shows up with her family every time the doors of the church are open. She has a smile for everyone, never becomes angry, and runs her family efficiently. Her children and her husband rise up and call her blessed. Though she pretends not to know it, her friends call her Saintly Sally.

Stevie’s set? Well, Stevie doesn’t really have a set. Though he always hopes to be included, he is socially ungifted. When he manages to back a conversation partner into a corner, his victim typically glances frantically around, looking for a kind soul who will sacrifice himself by distracting Stevie’s attention. It is a vain hope.

Sally has gotten into the habit of mentally referring to him as Stupid Stevie. His lack of social grace carries over into the workplace, which has cost him several jobs. Stupid Stevie. When he gets a little money, he spends it because he deserves a vacation or a new toy. Therefore, his family is always dangling over the brink of insolvency. No one at church can understand how they manage to hang on. Stupid Stevie.

At home, Stevie insists on being the center of attention. Fortunately, he is not a violent man, but he exercises his power in other ways. He says “no” to his wife and children at every opportunity because it feeds his ego. He has never learned the power of “yes.” Stevie complains endlessly that he doesn’t receive the respect he deserves. If he would listen, the folk at church would like to tell him that he has not earned the respect of his family. Stupid Stevie.

Sally sometimes wonders what kind of place Stevie could ever fill in heaven. “Maybe the Lord will assign him the task of cleaning the toilets,” she says to herself with a chuckle. “I think he might manage that if the toilets in heaven never get dirty.”

How does Stevie see his relationship to God? His connection to the Lord feels like a greased grapevine. He swings through the jungle of life always just a few feet above the hungry lions. Hand over hand, hand over hand—Stevie tries to climb up to Jesus. He believes in Jesus. He wants to be near Jesus, but whenever he makes a bit of progress, fate squirts a little more grease on the grapevine and down he slides. His great fear is that he will reach the end of the vine, his faith will fail, and the prowling beasts below will tear him limb from limb. He does not know that underneath him are the everlasting arms. He does not recognize the many times those arms have lifted him up, and His Father has whispered, “Your faith shall not fail.”

One day, the angel of death came calling, first at Sally’s house, and then at Stevie’s.

Sally lay on a clean white sheet under a flowered coverlet. Her family were ringed around her bedside absorbing her final blessings—a word of hope and confidence for each one. At last she said, “I think I’ll be going now,” and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, it seemed that her bed had become an open boat garlanded with blossoms and guided by a shining being across the wide river of death. On the other shore glorious angels greeted her with shouts of joy and conducted her to the throne room of the King of kings.

“Welcome to My home. It is good to have you here, my child,” He said. Awestruck by His beauty, Sally said nothing.

“You have served me long and diligently, Sally. My angels will conduct you to a changing room. There you will find your new garments and the accessories, which are your reward. Do not tarry long because someone you know will be arriving shortly.”

A few minutes later, Sally reappeared, robed in white with a golden circlet around her forehead. Jewels sparkled in her in her hair and on her crown. Her robe was trimmed with golden braid. Sapphire earrings and a matching sapphire necklace set off her blue eyes to perfection. She was very pretty. She knew it, and she was very pleased.

As she stepped out of the changing room, she followed the watching eyes of the assembled heavenly beings. There, up in the air, a long way off flew a shining angel carrying a wriggling, flopping bundle. What was it?

The bundle was Stevie. On the last day of his earthly life, Stevie felt himself inexorably slipping down his grapevine. The hungry beasts were growling below, but he no longer had the strength to struggle back up out of their reach. He wailed. He cried. He begged for mercy, “Pease, Lord, just one more day, just one more hour.” Then he came to the end, and he fell. The lion looked up and opened his mouth in greedy anticipation, but just then a strong hand latched on to the back of Stevie’s nightshirt and bore him off into the heavens.

After a few seconds, Stevie gathered up enough breath and enough courage to look back over his shoulder. The shining face of the angel was too bright for him to bear, so he looked away, back down toward the rapidly receding earth. “Who are you?” he managed to croak.

“I am the angel of death.”

“I thought you were supposed to be dark, ugly, and holding a sharp sickle,” said Stevie.

“I appear in that guise to some people, but never to the beloved ones. Here we are. You are home.”

With that, the angel swooped past the gates, towers, and walls and deposited Stevie on the floor in front of the King’s throne. He landed on his hands and knees with an awkward thump. “Stupid Stevie,” thought Sally. “He can’t even enter heaven in a proper fashion.”

After Stevie had managed to scramble to his feet, the King said, “Welcome. It is very good to have you here, my child.”

“Am I... am I actually in heaven? Are you going to let me stay?”

“Yes, indeed. You belong to Me. This is My home, and where I am, there you are to stay for all eternity.”

“But I have been so bad. I’ve made a mess of my life. I haven’t done anything for You, as Sally has. She deserves to be here, but I don’t.”

“No one deserves to be here, My child. I have forgiven all your past because you believed that I died for sinners and rose again. I was your only hope and you clung to me. Many times when you were about to fall into the lion’s mouth I lifted you up. I kept you, and I have brought you home.”

Stevie’s eyes shone with adoration and wonder. “You are amazing, Lord! I love You. I love You. I love You.”

At that moment, there was such an explosion of light that Sally had to close her eyes. When she opened them again she saw Stevie, but what a change had come over him! He was robed in a white so brilliant that she could hardly bear to look at him. He had not a single reward of gold or gem, but he was standing much nearer the throne than she. Sally looked down at her own gown. It was still white, but his shone like the sun.

She looked up at her Lord, and He answered the question in her face that she dared not utter.

“Did you not know that closeness to Me in heaven depends not on what you have accomplished, but on how much you love Me? Some have done great deeds out of a small love, and they shall receive a small reward. Others have done small deeds, according to their ability, out of a great love, and they shall receive a great reward.

“The great deed of some exceedingly weak ones is that they kept clinging with their feeble faith to Me. When at last they come into My presence and see how I have upheld them, their hearts fairly burst with love. He who is forgiven little loves little. He who is forgiven much loves much. So Stevie is here close to Me.”

“Oh, my Lord,” cried Sally. “In my heart I have despised this one that you love, and with my mouth I have made many a snide remark to my friends about this glorious son of Yours. I even called him ‘Stupid Stevie’ when the angel dropped him down before Your throne. I never saw the wickedness of my heart as I see it now. Can you ever forgive me? Can Stevie ever forgive me?”

Sally bowed her head and tears began to fall in a little pool at her feet. God’s shining son, Stevie, turned around, came toward Sally, and put an arm around her shoulders. “Of course, I forgive you Sally. I have always admired you. I used to think you were wonderful, and I still do.”

Suddenly, a blinding light flashed out from Him who sat on the throne. Sally closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, she and Stevie were standing side by side close to the throne. She looked down at her gown and saw that it was gleaming white, as bright as the sun.

And so the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.

Hand in Glove

Did you ever stop to think what made it possible for the Son of God to become a human baby? He is infinite and almighty. We are frail and finite. He is larger than the universe; we are very much smaller than the planet on which we live. His ways are higher than our ways—so far higher as to be virtually incomprehensible to us much of the time. How could it be suitable for God to become a man?

Let’s take an easier question. Most of us in the northern states are wearing gloves at this season of the year. What part of your body are your gloves designed to fit?—your elbow? your ear? your foot? Gloves are made to fit hands and nothing else.

The Son of God is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:13-15). He is the “exact representation” of God’s nature (Hebrews 1:1-3). He did not become God’s image. The Son has always been the exact image of the Father. This is an eternal relationship.

Adam and Eve (and the rest of us) were made in God’s image, according to God’s likeness (Genesis 1:26). Notice the prepositions, in and according to. We are not little images of God. Rather, we are shaped to be like the Image of God, who is Christ. We are images of the Image.

As the glove is the right shape for the hand, so human nature was created to be the right shape for the Son of God to enter. He fit perfectly into the human body and soul growing in Mary’s womb. The shape was just right, and because the Son of God is eternal spirit, He was able to compress Himself into that tiny body without diminishing His presence throughout the vast regions of space.

Here is another thing. You and I were created in the right shape to be dwellings for the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. His task is to conform us to the image of Christ. We are gloves for the hand of God, but the gloves are misshapen and unclean.

Would you like to put your hand into a glove that had a couple of fingers chewed off by rats and that was occupied by a black widow spider (and the debris of her feastings)? Neither, because of our sin, are we fit for God to enter us. Nevertheless, Jesus died to provide cleansing blood and rose to send His cleansing Spirit into the hearts of His people.

At the present hour the Spirit is renewing God’s elect according to the image of our Maker (Colossians 3:10), but at the last hour “we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). Then we will be fit to enter heaven, and the Lord of heaven will fit perfectly into us. We will be fitted for and filled with the Creator in the measure that is proper for us as redeemed creatures.

Perfectionism

The life of a perfectionist is hard. I speak from experience.

The perfectionist is frequently frustrated by other people. He winces when he hears a public school teacher say, “The gift is from Bob and I,” and he wonders why educators are not taught to speak English. If the perfectionist is of the confrontational type, he rapidly alienates the people he is constantly correcting. If he isn’t, he must resign himself to a sour stomach when co-workers do a sloppy job.

The perfectionist is also a nuisance to himself. He spends so long getting tiny details of a project just right that he doesn’t accomplish as much as he should. Granted, there is a place for that kind of attention to detail. As Michelangelo said, “Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle.” However, most perfectionists are not creating masterpieces; they are just fiddling and fussing.

I think I am less neurotic than I used to be. I can be happy with some jobs that are well done, even if they aren’t perfect. I have also become more selective about which things deserve my best effort. Learning these lessons has been a matter of survival because no matter how hard I try, I don’t have time to do everything well, and I can do nothing perfectly. I am an imperfect perfectionist.

The more serious problems with perfectionism are not interpersonal or psychological. They are spiritual, and they come, roughly speaking, in three varieties. The first variety is represented by the Pharisees of Jesus’ day who thought they were so righteous that they needed no repentance. They thought that they kept the law of God perfectly, but they were only deceiving themselves.

The second (and opposite) problem with perfectionism is that it tends to crush the sensitive conscience. Unlike the Pharisee, the sensitive soul believes he must be perfect to earn God’s favor, but he knows that he can never measure up. He sees (correctly) that his best good deeds are tainted by sin, and he concludes (incorrectly) that there is no hope for him.

The third problem related to perfectionism is the placid acceptance of mediocrity: “It’s good enough for God. He should be happy with anything I do for Him. After all, I’m not a bad person.” God’s command, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16), has become “You shall be nice most of the time.”

There isn’t much hope for the Pharisee or for the lover of mediocrity. They are pretty much headed straight for the pit. The gospel of Jesus Christ is specifically designed by God to reach down to those who are crushed by a sense of their sinfulness and unworthiness, as we see in this parable of Jesus.

‘‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:10-14).

Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for sins; He rose from the grave to grant forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent of their evil deeds and who trust in Him to save them, “for whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:9-10, 13).

(Note: I published this post first in the Allentown Morning Call for Nov. 5, 2013).

Sports for Children

It is a risky thing to criticize another man’s religion, but that is my intent today. Actually, my target is not the religion of one man, but perhaps the closest thing we have to a national religion—SPORTS—and particularly the effect of this religion on children.

When I was young (shortly after the dinosaurs died off), league games for children were not held on Sunday. In our town, many churches had Wednesday evening classes for the whole family, so schools and sports leagues avoided games and practice sessions on that day as well. I know it is not realistic for me to hope that I can roll back the clock, but the professionalization of children’s sports is screaming out for a return to sanity.

 By the professionalization of children’s sports, I mean an attitude that places the success of the team above the welfare of the child. Every child must be at every practice session, or that child will not be allowed to play. The schedule of practice and games is intense because the level of competition requires total dedication.

The resulting pressure on family life can be severe, especially when two or three children are involved. Sally is dropped off at a practice field on one side of town by her mother who is planning to attend Willie’s game on the other side of town. Dad can hardly ever watch either Willie or Sally because he is busy coaching Jimmy’s team. And this goes on night after night, Saturday after Saturday, and Sunday after Sunday. If the children are involved in more than one sport, it goes on month after month.

Another problem with the professionalization of sports for children is the damage it does to their religious education. If children are required to be at all games and practices, and if these are held on Sundays or at other times of religious instruction, parents must choose between teaching faithfulness to God and faithfulness to the team.

The issue is not that children may miss twelve out of fifty-two weeks of lessons. My concern is the implicit message we are giving: “What’s the problem? You can worship God whenever you want, but you can only play baseball a few weeks a year. Don’t be such a legalist!” In other words, “The true God won’t mind if you split your worship between Him and the religion of sports.”

The Bible, however, says we should teach our children to put God first. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).

I encourage parents to share this article with other parents. Go as a group to organizational meetings with this message: I believe the physical activity and the team spirit of this sport are good for my child. Therefore, I will do my part to help the team. I will help with fundraisers or coaching or transportation. I will not allow my child to quit in the middle of the season. I will bring my child to games and practices that do not compete with needed family time or with the worship of God. But you may not take control of the life of my family, and I will not give the soul of my child to the team.

If enough parents band together, you can make a difference, at least on the local level. Oh, and by the way, you need to protect children of different faiths. The leeway you want for your child must be granted others also.

(I wrote this for the December 1, 2012 Allentown Morning Call.)

The Tears of Jesus

Jesus was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3) who wept over Jerusalem and at the tomb of Lazarus (Luke 19:41; John 11:35). Yet we worship the “blessed God,” the eternally and supremely happy God (1 Timothy 1:11; 6:15). He has anointed Jesus with “the oil of gladness above [His] companions” (Hebrews 1:9). Other passages speak of God’s grief over sin and the judgment it entails while insisting with greater frequency that God rejoices over His people. What do these things mean?

God’s emotional life is not one-dimensional. We must not imagine that His happiness goes up and down like a thermometer. Yesterday He was happy; today He is sad or angry; tomorrow—who knows? He is unalterably, unchangeably happy within Himself, but because He created a world outside Himself and then entered it to feel our pain and to bear our sins, He has chosen to make sorrow a permanent part of His experience. It is permanent because God’s knowledge is infinite and unchangeable. Though, in a figurative sense, He forgets our sins when He forgives them, in the most literal sense, He can never forget anything—especially not the sorrows of His Son. (By the way, we do not cause God to suffer. We cannot do anything to affect God; He afflicts Himself with our pains.)

God’s grief is, in some sense, limited because it is not an essential part of His nature. God’s joy, however, is unlimited because it its first of all in Himself and only secondarily in His creatures. His limited grief is swallowed up in His infinite joy.

As the tears of the sky wash over the land and into the ocean, making it salty, so the tears of Jesus have washed down into the infinite ocean of God’s joy. His tears, however, are not so dispersed as to be indiscernible. Rather, they impart a certain flavoring to that ocean, a salty tang that God’s joy could not acquire in any other way.

I was born near the ocean, and when I breathe in its salty fragrance, something deep within me cries out, “Home!” I think that will be the spontaneous response of my heart when I breathe in the tear-salted, joyful air of the celestial city—“Home! Home at last!”

The New Birth

Martin Luther

“Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates.” That is how Martin Luther described his conversion.

What does “born again” mean? The phrase occurs in 1 Peter 1:23 and twice in John 3 (where it may also be translated, “born from above”). John 3 describes a conversation between Jesus and a religious teacher named Nicodemus. Nicodemus objects that a man cannot enter into his mother’s womb and be born a second time, so Jesus clarifies “born again” as “born of the Spirit.”

In subsequent verses, we read that Nicodemus does not “understand these things”; he does not “accept” Christ’s testimony; and he does not “believe.” If he believes, he will have eternal life (John 3:16), but at the time of the interview, he does not. Since he has not been born again, these things make no sense to him.

Several conclusions flow from Jesus’ interview with Nicodemus.

First, the new birth is something God does. In the natural realm, we do not produce our own birth. Likewise, those who have been born into God’s family “were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).

Second, when Jesus said, “You must be born again,” He was not giving Nicodemus a command. He was telling him what his problem was. The reason he didn’t believe was that he had never been born again.

Third, the new birth must precede believing in Christ. You do not receive the new birth after you believe. To the contrary, you cannot believe until God works the miracle of the new birth in your heart. Then you necessarily believe.

This raises a problem in the minds of many people: Why does God command us to believe in Christ if we cannot believe until He changes our hearts in the miracle of the new birth? What use was it to tell Nicodemus that he was not born again if there was nothing Nicodemus could do to produce the new birth? The answer lies in the possible responses Nicodemus might have had to Jesus’ words.

For example, Nicodemus might have become angry at Jesus: “Jesus, why do you bother to tell me what’s wrong with me if you are not going to tell me how to change! That is either cruel or stupid. I think you must be off your rocker! I’m outta here!”

On the other hand, Nicodemus might have gone away with a heavy burden of guilt and sorrow. He might have said, “I am sure that Jesus was sent by God, so He must be giving it to me straight. My situation is hopeless. If God does not intervene, I will never believe and be saved. Woe is me!”

This second response is often the first step in God’s producing a repentant, believing heart. “For thus says the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15).

A man must know he is sick before he will submit to a treatment that will change his whole life. A sinner must know he is helpless before he is low enough to receive the help that will reorient all his attitudes and priorities.

Apparently, Jesus’ stern message to Nicodemus had the effect of lowering his pride and bringing him to faith because in the dark hour after the crucifixion he came bringing spices for Jesus’ burial. If you do not yet trust in Christ, you cannot make yourself believe. Maybe you need to echo the prayer of a distressed man who said to Jesus, “I do believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

[I first published this in the Allentown Morning Call a few weeks ago.]

Beauty

What kind of God are You, my Lord?

Those who know You least say You are ugly,

a moral monster, an insufferable tyrant.

Those who know You best long to dwell in Your house

to behold Your beauty all the days of their lives.

Who is fit to teach me—

Those who know You least or

Those who know You best?

Who is fit to teach me?

You are, O Lord, for who knows You better

than You know Yourself?

You who are worshiped for Your beauty,

show me Your beauty that I may worship You better.

       

Is Your beauty

A snow-capped mountain—distant, cold, and severe?

A flower—fading and easily crushed?

A haunting aria—filling the soul with longing it cannot quite satisfy?

Surely these are but faint echoes of Your beauty,

The sound of a song heard dimly in the distance,

Or shadows cast by Your great light down into our darkened world.

An earthly melody may move a heart of flesh,

But Your beauty turns a heart of stone into living flesh.

So what is Your beauty, Lord?

What is more beautiful than Love?

Love that plans to surprise the ugly beloved with love

Love that sacrifices its life for the beloved

Love that gives the whole self to the beloved.

The love of the Father; the love of the Son; the love of the Spirit—

The eternal Love of the Triune God.

If You are a moral monster, O my God,

Why does meditating on Your beauty fill my heart with warmth

And fit me for loving my neighbor?

Humility

How long has it been since you heard someone say, “My goal in life is to be humble?” We encourage our young people to be athletic, popular, smart, assertive and sexy, but not humble. Not only is humility seldom sought; it has sometimes even been spurned. The German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, despised humility as a form of weakness.

Yet in Christian teaching, humility is prized as one of the highest virtues because it is opposed to pride, one of the seven deadly sins. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3-5).

Why is humility so important for the Christian?

1) Humility fosters community. While there is a proper pride in doing our work well, egotistical self-assertion leads to competitiveness that undermines our relationships. So Scripture says, “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:2-4).

2) God is great and we are small. The God who spoke the universe into being is infinite in power and wisdom. It is only common sense to echo the wonder of the psalmist: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him” (Psalm 8:3-4)?

3) God is holy and we are sinful. God’s indictment of ancient Israel applies to each one of us. “Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him” (Isaiah 1:4). It is folly to pretend that we will be able to hold our heads up in pride before Him who “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16) and “from whose presence earth and heaven fled away” (Revelation 20:11).

4) Humility is necessary to receive divine forgiveness. God will not forgive people who refuse humbly to acknowledge their sins. As long as we hold on to our supposed goodness and worthiness, our hands are too full to accept the gift of mercy and grace God wants to give us. “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time (1 Peter 5:5-6).

What kind of humility pleases God? We must—

·         Acknowledge to Him that we have sinned and that we cannot save ourselves (Luke 18:10-14).

·         Trust in Jesus Christ who died for sinners and rose again to lift them up to God (Romans 4:22-5:2).

·         Forgive others “just as God in Christ also has forgiven” us (Ephesians 4:32).

·         Reject envy and be glad for the success or good fortune of others (James 4:1-2, 7-10; Romans 12:15-16; 1 Corinthians 12:26).

·         Serve others rather than demanding that they serve us (Mark 10:42-45).

This is the kind of life that is truly beautiful. May God grant us humble hearts.