Read Romans 3:21-28 when you have the time.
Most of the time when we think of the Gospel we think of God's love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Indeed, the scriptures continually remind us that the Gospel demonstrates a love that is higher, deeper, and wider than any love we could fathom. However, in Romans 3 Paul emphasizes a different word..."righteousness." Paul says that the reason Jesus died on the Cross "...was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who as faith in Jesus." So it is not only because God is love that Jesus died on the Cross, but it is also because God is righteous.
My question is, "What does it mean to be righteous?" or "What is righteousness?" In the previous verse we are given a clue. Paul says that God wanted to display his righteousness"...so that he might be just and the justifier..." So righteousness and justice are closely linked. However, it doesn't seem that they are the same thing. From what Paul says, it seems that it is only in the display of His righteousness that He is called just and the justifier. So I would say that justice is the display, outworking, or execution of righteousness. Righteousness is a state of being, and justice is its visible manifestation. Or another way to say it is that justice is the fruit that grows on the tree of righteousness. God didn't just want to be righteous in His own being. He wanted to display His righteousness and share His righteousness so that He would be called the justifier of the ungodly and He would receive glory. And Paul says that this is the reason that Jesus died on the Cross.
So righteousness is a state of being or a quality of God that only God has (Is. 64:6). And His righteousness is displayed through the Cross so that He is called just and the justifier of the ungodly.
Now, we are getting closer, but we still haven't answered the question, "What is righteousness?" John Piper's definition might be the best I've heard. He says, "God is supremely and unimpeachably righteous because He never shrinks back from a right assessment of His ultimate value, a just regard for His infinite worth, or an unswerving commitment to honor and display His glory in everything He does." ("Brother's We Are Not Professionals" pg. 14). In other words, righteousness is a state of being that honors God as the supreme value. To not honor God as the supreme value is to be unrighteous. Now the Bible says that there are no righteous people and that all have sinned (Ecc. 7:20). So because of the Fall there is not a single man or woman who values God supremely. We are all unrighteous.
Now, here is where the Gospel (Good News) shines brightly for us. The Bible says that there has only been one righteous man. There has only been one man who honored God as the supreme value. And it pleased God that the punishment that was due to the unrighteous would rest on the shoulders of the Righteous, so that the unrighteous could have new eyes to see God's worth and now be called righteous. Jesus died on the Cross so that we could have new hearts, new lives, new eyes to see the infinite value of God...so that we could be called righteous. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor. 5:21 ESV) Praise the Lord!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
All for His Glory
"For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another." (Isaiah 48:11 ESV)
"God loves His glory more than He loves us, and this is the foundation of His love for us." John Piper
Sometimes I think about American Christianity. If the Biblical saints could see our worship, our fellowship, our evangelism, and our theology, I wonder if they would recognize the faith that they bled and died for. We seem to have so many "Christians" who sing the song, hear the message, possibly even pay the tithe, but as Jonathan Edwards said a few hundred years ago, "they first rejoice . . . that they are made so much of by God; and then on that ground, he seems in a sort, lovely to them." The Religious Affections, ed. by John Smith, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959), pp.250. Edwards was describing church goers who seemed to do and say all of the right things. But there was a problem with their faith. The problem was that their foundational delight was in themselves. When they looked at the Gospel it seemed to them that God had made much of them. So their attraction to God was rooted in their own self-centeredness. They had transformed the Gospel into a formula for supporting their own self-esteem. Obviously they must be important if God would send Jesus to die for them. God was not glorious to them simply because of His own worth. He was glorious to them, in a sense, because they believed that God was centered on them rather than centered on Himself. Edwards had a name for these people. He called them hypocrites. And for Edwards a hypocrite was not a straying believer; a hypocrite was no true believer at all.
When I first read Edwards' quote, it horrifically reminded me of American Christianity. We need to be reminded in America that God is God-centered. We tend to ignore passages like Isaiah 48:9-11, where God explicitly tells His own people Israel that He is showing patience to them for His own name's sake. In Ezekiel 36:22 God even goes further by saying bluntly that "...It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came." How many times have we presented the Gospel as a means to make much of ourselves, rather than making much of Jesus? How many times have we attended a worship service with our own benefit in mind rather than the Glory of God? Yes, the Gospel demonstrates God's love for us (Romans 5:8), and yes we do benefit greatly from it (John 3:16), but the primary goal of the Gospel is for God to be glorified. In Ephesians 1 Paul recounts the blessings of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With each proclamation Paul gives the purpose for God's blessing toward us..."to the praise of his glorious grace..." God is God-centered. He acts and works for His own name's sake. And His name is praised supremely through the redemption of sinners by the blood of His own Son. Let us not be hypocrites. Let us not think God is lovely, in a sort, because we believe that He makes much of us. Let us not do Christian things for our own benefit. Instead, let our goal in all of our Christian activity be the same as God's goal...for His name to be glorified.
"God loves His glory more than He loves us, and this is the foundation of His love for us." John Piper
Sometimes I think about American Christianity. If the Biblical saints could see our worship, our fellowship, our evangelism, and our theology, I wonder if they would recognize the faith that they bled and died for. We seem to have so many "Christians" who sing the song, hear the message, possibly even pay the tithe, but as Jonathan Edwards said a few hundred years ago, "they first rejoice . . . that they are made so much of by God; and then on that ground, he seems in a sort, lovely to them." The Religious Affections, ed. by John Smith, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 2 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959), pp.250. Edwards was describing church goers who seemed to do and say all of the right things. But there was a problem with their faith. The problem was that their foundational delight was in themselves. When they looked at the Gospel it seemed to them that God had made much of them. So their attraction to God was rooted in their own self-centeredness. They had transformed the Gospel into a formula for supporting their own self-esteem. Obviously they must be important if God would send Jesus to die for them. God was not glorious to them simply because of His own worth. He was glorious to them, in a sense, because they believed that God was centered on them rather than centered on Himself. Edwards had a name for these people. He called them hypocrites. And for Edwards a hypocrite was not a straying believer; a hypocrite was no true believer at all.
When I first read Edwards' quote, it horrifically reminded me of American Christianity. We need to be reminded in America that God is God-centered. We tend to ignore passages like Isaiah 48:9-11, where God explicitly tells His own people Israel that He is showing patience to them for His own name's sake. In Ezekiel 36:22 God even goes further by saying bluntly that "...It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came." How many times have we presented the Gospel as a means to make much of ourselves, rather than making much of Jesus? How many times have we attended a worship service with our own benefit in mind rather than the Glory of God? Yes, the Gospel demonstrates God's love for us (Romans 5:8), and yes we do benefit greatly from it (John 3:16), but the primary goal of the Gospel is for God to be glorified. In Ephesians 1 Paul recounts the blessings of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With each proclamation Paul gives the purpose for God's blessing toward us..."to the praise of his glorious grace..." God is God-centered. He acts and works for His own name's sake. And His name is praised supremely through the redemption of sinners by the blood of His own Son. Let us not be hypocrites. Let us not think God is lovely, in a sort, because we believe that He makes much of us. Let us not do Christian things for our own benefit. Instead, let our goal in all of our Christian activity be the same as God's goal...for His name to be glorified.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Render to Caesar
And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's." Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at him. (Mark 12:13-17 ESV)
I have heard many sermons and read many commentaries that approach this passage with "paying taxes" in mind. Many people read it as if "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's" is the emphasis of the passage. No doubt, Jesus acknowledged the earthly authorities that were established by His Father in Heaven. And no doubt, in this sentence He affirmed that taxes should be paid. But this is not the emphasis of Jesus' teaching. Consider for a moment the last sentence in this text. "And they marveled at him." Why did they marvel? Was it simply because Jesus said "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's"? No, anyone could have said that. They marveled because he said, "...and to God the things that are God's." Now why was this a statement that deserved awe from Jesus' hearers? It goes back to the question He asked them,"Whose likeness and inscription is this?" Caesar's image was on the coin, and this was reason Jesus told the people that they should render the coin to Caesar. In other words, Caesar had placed his image on the coin to signify that it came from him and ultimately belonged to him. Then, Jesus tied this line of thinking to the second part of His sentence, "...and to God the things that are God's." Caesar's image was the proof that the coin ultimately belonged to him. So Jesus beckoned the crowd to ask a question: where has God stamped His own image? Because just as Caesar owns the coin that bears his image, so God owns whatever bears His image. Let us render to God the things that are God's.
I have heard many sermons and read many commentaries that approach this passage with "paying taxes" in mind. Many people read it as if "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's" is the emphasis of the passage. No doubt, Jesus acknowledged the earthly authorities that were established by His Father in Heaven. And no doubt, in this sentence He affirmed that taxes should be paid. But this is not the emphasis of Jesus' teaching. Consider for a moment the last sentence in this text. "And they marveled at him." Why did they marvel? Was it simply because Jesus said "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's"? No, anyone could have said that. They marveled because he said, "...and to God the things that are God's." Now why was this a statement that deserved awe from Jesus' hearers? It goes back to the question He asked them,"Whose likeness and inscription is this?" Caesar's image was on the coin, and this was reason Jesus told the people that they should render the coin to Caesar. In other words, Caesar had placed his image on the coin to signify that it came from him and ultimately belonged to him. Then, Jesus tied this line of thinking to the second part of His sentence, "...and to God the things that are God's." Caesar's image was the proof that the coin ultimately belonged to him. So Jesus beckoned the crowd to ask a question: where has God stamped His own image? Because just as Caesar owns the coin that bears his image, so God owns whatever bears His image. Let us render to God the things that are God's.
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