Category Archives: Theology

God Ordains Both the Ends and the Means

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Dan Phillips, at the Pyromaniacs blog site wrote a short article entitled, “A stick, salt water, salvation — and us.”

“God works through means,” we say.

And it’s true. In fact, He usually works through means. That is to say, God uses some portion of His creation to affect some other portion of His creation.

This is maybe better understood if we think of the one occasion in which God used no means: the creation of the universe. Unless you wish to press the thought that God used His word (Ps. 33:6), God did not create the universe by means of anything in the universe. One timeless moment; the triune God alone; the next (first!) moment, a word, and bam! — the universe.

Otherwise, He uses means. Adam must feed himself, must build a shelter. Eve must make clothes. Noah has to cut down a lot of trees. And so on.

Now, sometimes the means are plain and proportionate. Right now, I’m tapping keys, and letters are appearing on the screen. No letter appears without a tap; a tap produces a letter. Or a space. Means, simple and straightforward.

And then there’s this scene:

The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (Exodus 14:15–22)

What obvious causal relationship was there between Moses lifting his staff, and that great body of water cleaving in two? None. Zero. If he’d poked it in the sea, he’d have displaced a bit of water. But holding it out? No relationship whatever. After all, this is a walking stick. It isn’t some wand from Hogwarts.

Yet, would the waters have parted, had Moses not stretched out the staff? No.

So though there was no direct causal relationship between Action A and Action B, the former was necessary for the latter. Why? Because God ordained it to be so. Because God ordained to use the means of Moses raising his staff. When Moses did what God told him to do, God accomplished what Moses was unable to effect.

Now to the abrupt payoff.

Tell me how this relates to Romans 10:8-17, and what effect this truth should have on you and me.

Don’t let me down.

Tom Chantry commented…

The only thing that made holding out a rod over the sea effective was the fact that God had ordained it, and the only reason Moses could have thought to do it was that God told him to.

Similarly, the only reason preaching is ever effective to the saving of souls is that God ordained it to be so, and the only reason it occurs to us to preach is that God told us so.

Having little time to unpack all the implications, I’ll stick to two that jump to mind.

1. As a preacher, I should feel about as much pride of accomplishment when someone is saved as Moses should have felt when the sea parted. I had about as much to do with it as he did.

2. For a preacher / church to decide that preaching isn’t likely to work and we ought to try something else is roughly equivalent to Moses deciding to chuck rocks into the sea instead of holding out his staff.

Lots to ponder here… Selah.

He Loved Us Then: He’ll Love Us Now

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by Dane Ortlund

It is not hard for me to believe God has put away all my old failures that occurred before new birth. What is hard is to believe that God continues to put away all my present failures that occur after new birth.

We tend to view the Father looking down on us with raised eyebrows–‘how are they still such failures after all I have done for them?’ we see him wondering.

A Christian conscience is a re-sensitized conscience. Now that we know God as Father, now that we have become human again, we feel more deeply than ever the ugliness of sin. Failure makes the soul cringe unlike ever before. That’s why Romans 5:1-11 is in the Bible.

Lots to say about 5:1-5 and the present peace believers enjoy because of the past justification that has been secured, but here’s something I’m reflecting on this week from verses 6-11.

No less than three times in these verses Paul says roughly the same thing:

While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (5:6)

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (5:8)

If while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (5:10)

Three times Paul says that God did something to save us when we were hating him. Weak. Sinners. Enemies. We didn’t have to clean ourselves up first. He didn’t meet us halfway. He pulled us out of the moral mud in which we were drowning. That’s great news. But that’s not Paul’s burden in these verses. He’s after something else.

What’s the ultimate point Paul is driving at in Romans 5:6-11? Not God’s past work, mainly. His point is our present security, given that past work. He raises Christ’s past work to drive home this point: If God did that back then, when you were so screwy and had zero interest in him, then what are you worried about now? The whole point of vv. 6-11 is captured in the “since” of v. 9: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him . . .” It is not hard for him to hug you in your mess now that the hard part’s done. This really helps us relax.

He drew near to us when we hated him. Will he remain distant now that we want to please him?

He suffered for us when we were failing, as orphans. Will he cross his arms over our failures now that we are his adopted children?

His heart was “gentle and lowly” toward us when we were lost. Will his heart be anything different toward us now that we are found?

“While we were still.” He loved us in our mess then. He’ll love us in our mess now. Our very agony in sinning is the fruit of our adoption. A cold heart would not be bothered. We are not who we were.

Spurgeon:

Christ loved you before all worlds; long ere the day star flung his ray across the darkness, before the wing of angel had flapped the unnavigated ether, before aught of creation had struggled from the womb of nothingness, God, even our God, had set his heart upon all his children.

Since that time, has he once swerved, has he once turned aside, once changed? No; ye who have tasted of his love and know his grace, will bear me witness, that he has been a certain friend in uncertain circumstances. . . .

You have often left him; has he ever left you? You have had many trials and troubles; has he ever deserted you? Has he ever turned away his heart, and shut up his bowels of compassion? No, children of God, it is your solemn duty to say ‘No,’ and bear witness to his faithfulness.

–Charles Spurgeon, ‘A Faithful Friend,’ in Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon (New York: Sheldon, Blakeman & Co., 1857), 13-14

Degrees of Sin

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It is not uncommon to hear Christians suggesting that every sin is equal in God’s sight. Perhaps you have heard someone say something such as, “sin is sin – whether you hate someone or murder someone, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire…. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” – Matthew 5:21, 22, 27-30 ESV

Dr. R. C. Sproul in his book “The Holiness of God” explains why the concept that all sins are equal in God’s sight, is actually incorrect. He writes:

“The sins listed (in Galatians 5:19-21) may be described as gross and heinous sins. The New Testament recognizes degrees of sins. Some sins are worse than others. This important point is often overlooked by Christians. Protestants particularly struggle with the concept of gradations or degrees of sin. . . we tend to think that sin is sin and that no sin is greater than any other. We think of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that to lust after a woman is to be guilty of adultery. We are aware that the Bible teaches if we sin against one point of the Law, we sin against the whole Law. These two biblical teachings can easily confuse us about the degrees of sin.

When Jesus said that to lust is to violate the Law against adultery, He did not say or imply that lust is as bad as the full act of adultery. His point was that the full measure of the Law prohibited more than the actual act of adultery. The Law has a broader application.

The Pharisees thought that because they never committed the actual act of adultery, they were free of sin against the Law. They assumed that if they actually refrained from killing people, they were keeping the Law against killing. They failed to see that unjust anger and hatred were also included in the wider meaning of the Law against killing.

Jesus taught that hate is a sin against another person’s life. Hatred violates people. It is not as severe as actual murder, but is nevertheless a sin. The smallest sin involves a sin against the whole law. The Law is the standard of holiness for us. In our slightest transgression we sin against that standard; we violate the call to holiness. Again, that does not imply that every sin is as wicked as every other sin. Jesus repeatedly spoke of degrees of punishment in hell as well as those whose guilt was greater than others.

The idea of gradations of sins is important for us to keep in mind so we understand the difference between sin and gross sin. Again, all of our sins require forgiveness. All of our sins are acts of treason against God. We need a Savior for our “little” ones as well as the “major” ones. But some sins are more significant than others, and we need to identify which these are, lest we fall into the pharisaical trap of majoring in the minors.”

If someone hates someone, he has no right to then say “well seeing I hate the man, I might as well go and kill him too.” No, a thousand times, no! To act on the evil intention of his heart would be to compound his sin many times over. Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount meant that the commandment against murder was not to be viewed as merely the abstinence of the outward action, but was intended to extend to the heart. Our Lord did not imply that hating is equal to murder, but rather that even hatred (a sin of the heart) violates God’s intention when He gave the commandment not to murder. Similarly, the same principle would hold true with adultery of the heart. It is indeed a grievous sin even as it is not the exact same thing as adultery in its outward form. There is a distinction.

All sins involve high treason against an infinitely holy God. All sins deserve God’s wrath and the punishment of hell. Yet not all sins are equal. As Dr. Sproul made clear, some sins are worse than others. What is certainly true is that we desperately need a Savior for all of the sins we commit. Thankfully, God sent His Son Jesus into the world to die an atoning death for sinners. All who put their trust in Christ as Savior and Lord are forgiven of their sins, no matter what the degree.

*** Justice demands that the punishment fits the crime. Just as there are different degrees of sin, there are differing degrees of punishment:

Mark 14:21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.

Luke 10:10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

Luke 12:46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Mark 12:38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.