Tag: faith

The Golden Rule, the Law and the Prophets


” Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Matthew 7:12

The “Golden Rule” is the synopsis of the commandments that Jesus summed up in the words “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  It is the Lord’s prescription for successful human relationships, a system of thought where the place to start is our very own selves: taking stock of our likes and dislikes in the totality of our lives and activities.  Having performed this appraisal, when we come to interact with each other, we need to realize that the other person is exactly as we are in these matters.  Hence we are to put ourselves constantly in the other person’s position, being careful in our dealings to do or not to do those things that please or displease us ourselves.

It is commonly agreed that man’s great problem in the modern era is the problem of relationships.  If people applied the Golden Rule in their lives, this  problem would be addressed.  But there are those who believe that all that is needed is to hold up a standard  for people to follow, and things will work out fine.  But that is precisely what Jesus came against when he confronted the scribes and the Pharisees, those who upheld rules and regulations for people to follow, to conform to the letter of the law.

Jesus made a resounding proclamation in saying that the golden rule “is the law and the prophets”;  it is their whole object and purpose.  The Lord was concerned about portraying to the people the right and proper view of God’s law.  Problems arise because we do not fully understand the meaning of God’s law, its character and content. Many times we are engulfed in the number of directives and ordinances, that we forget what is the spirit of the law.

It is also perilous to view the law as something negative and prohibitive.  While there are negative aspects of the law, the Lord went to great lengths in the Sermon on the Mount to demonstrate the law as having a positive and spiritual nature.  It was never meant to be mechanical, and it was the fallacy of the scribes and Pharisees that they diminished something that was inherently spiritual into something in the realm of the mechanical, making it an end in and of itself; they failed to see the spiritual intent and character of the law.  Most of all, the scribes and Pharisees neglected to comprehend the great end and purpose for which the law had been given.

Why should we not covet our neighbor’s spouse, goods and possessions, why should we not kill and steal, why should we not commit adultery?  Are these directives designed simply for the sake of following rules and regulations and to keep our lives confined within certain boundaries?  No, the whole purpose and true spirit behind the law is that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, and that we are to love one another.

Love lies at the very heart of the golden rule.  Love is truly the consummate summary of the law and the prophets.

*** Reference: David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount”, Martino Publishing, CT, 2011, pp. 206-210.

The Walk of Liberty

” For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Galatians 5:14

The ability to walk is a significant milestone for any human being, expanding the vista of one’s surroundings and experiences; it is a gateway to physical freedom.

The word “walk” is found throughout the Bible.  I think of Psalm 1 describing the pathways that the righteous avoid, symbolized in terms of the various positions from walking, to standing, to sitting: a retrogression from mobility to immobility.

I think of Jesus commanding the paralytic to rise, take up his bed, and walk.  I think of the apostle Peter, instructing the man crippled from birth to arise and walk in the name of Jesus.

In Galatians 5, the apostle Paul talks about “walking in the Spirit”.  As I read this chapter, I perceive that the Christian walk involves the interdependencies of the virtues of faith, hope and love.  Paul mentions the words “standing”, “waiting” and “walking”.  It is faith that enables us to live in the Spirit, and to stand fast in the liberty given by Christ. It is also faith which builds up the “hope of righteousness.” Hope gives the grace to wait for desired ends. But it is love that makes faith work!  Think of how powerful love is: as faith and  hope enable  the first step, it is love that sustains the walk.

Love is the fulfillment of the law.  Walking in the Spirit, led by the Spirit, is walking in love.  It is living and stepping outside the boundaries of the law, into the realm of total liberty.  Walking in love demolishes the lusts and desires of the flesh and its pertinent bondages, yielding and turning into reality the very fruits of the hope of righteousness through faith.

Love never fails.

* photograph: by Hugo Romano

Steps to Increasing Faith

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  Matthew 6:33

My previous post was on the nature and causes of “little faith” as expounded upon by Dr. Martynn Lloyd-Jones.  I continue on this topic of faith to present Dr. Lloyd-Jones’ prescription on how to make one’s inadequate faith grow.

The three-step process for increasing faith can be found in the verses of Matthew 6:31-33.

Jesus exhorted the multitude to “take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or, what shall we drink? or, how shall we be clothed?”.  The Lord gave two distinct reasons:  First of all, food, drink and clothing are the very things that occupy the minds of Gentiles, and second, the Heavenly Father already knows we have need of these things.

The first key to increasing faith is understanding what type of people the “Gentiles” are,  as described by Jesus. The word “Gentile” is synonymous with the heathen.  Jesus was preaching to the Jews, God’s chosen people, who had the oracles of God, and had special knowledge of Who God is.  As Christians, we can lay hold of and apply this teaching to our lives because we have become privy to the revelation of God’s Kingdom through Jesus Christ. The heathen, on the other hand, have no knowledge of God, and live their lives limited in their own thoughts and “without God in the world”.  (p. 136)

Jesus asserts that the Christian view of life is to be different from the heathen’s mindset.  What are the world views of the heathen?  At one end of the spectrum, there is the belief that everything that happens is accidental: the theory of contingency.  Dr. Julian Huxley and others who hold this viewpoint allege that there is no purpose whatsoever in life, there is no design or order, and that everything happens by chance.  The other end of the spectrum is the fatalistic view that a person can do nothing about life because everything has already been predetermined by some higher power. Both contingency and fatalism lead to worry because one is never certain what is going to happen next. (p. 137)

The Christian view can be described as the “doctrine of certainty”.  Life is not controlled by “blind necessity”, but certain things are definite and well-grounded because we are in the hands of the living God.  So as Christians, we are to put this certainty over against the pagan doctrines of contingency and fatalism.  A person’s beliefs are evident by the way one behaves when the crises of life come.  According to Jesus, we are to be different in our thinking, not to adapt the heathen philosophy of worry over food, drink and clothing.  If we think that way, then we are but spiritual worldlings.  One way to increase our faith, therefore, is to see that children of God are to live the life of faith, not to face the difficulties of life as the heathen do, but live in the light of that faith that they profess. (pp. 137-138)

The next key lies in the second reason put forth by Jesus about not worrying about material necessities: “For your heavenly Father knows you have need of these things”. Hence the second principle by which one can increase and enlarge one’s faith is implicit faith in and reliance upon God as our heavenly Father. We are not alone, God is always with us.  Earthly fathers care about their children: multiply that by infinity and that is how God cares and thinks about us, whatever our circumstance. (pp. 141-142)

The third key is found in verse 33: to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.  In other words, “we are to concentrate upon perfecting our relationship to God as our heavenly Father”.  Jesus implicitly says, “if you want to seek anything, if you want to be anxious about anything, be anxious about your spiritual condition, your nearness to God, and your relationship to Him.” The Gentiles are seeking the worldly things. Seek ye rather, seek ye first and foremost and above everything else, the Kingdom of God.  This should be top priority. Jesus added that we also need to seek God’s righteousness.  This essentially means we are to seek righteousness and holiness.  Hence this is the way to increase faith: “The more holy we are, the nearer we shall be to God. The more holy we are, the greater will be our faith and our assurance and therefore our claims and our reliance upon God.” And this comes with a promise that if we truly seek God first, then “all the other things will be thrown in the bargain”.  (p. 145)

In conclusion, these are the ways to increase faith:  Do not be like the heathen in their views about life, remember that God is your heavenly Father and knows everything about you, and seek to be more like your Father, and live your life to be closer to Him each day. (p. 145)

*** Reference: David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount”, Martino Publishing, CT, 2011, pp. 135-145.

*** Photograph by Artemis 

Philosophers, Temples and the “Unknown God”

“…the world through wisdom did not know God…” I Corinthians 1:21

Epicurean and Stoic philosophers brought Paul to Areopagus so he can expound on this “new doctrine” that he was preaching to the people of Athens. Along the way, Paul’s spirit was provoked within him when he saw the city teeming with temples, where people were worshipping idols.

From his observations of the city, Paul found a springboard from which to launch the Gospel Message:  “Men of Athens, I perceive in all things that you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD”.  Acts 17:22-23. Paul explained to the people that this Unknown God was in reality the eternal and true God.

“The Unknown God” was the God the Greeks could not quite comprehend.  There were many other gods to worship: Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Poseidon, to name a few,  yet  these gods were not sufficient for them.  There was this Other Being that needed to be worshipped, but they could not fathom or characterize this “Unknown God” the way they conceived the other gods.

Here was the paradox of it all.  Athens, the great seat of learning, where minds were directed and trained by reason and logic.  Athens, the mother of Socrates and Plato and Aristotle and a host of other magnificent minds, the birthing place of diverse philosophies where reason and logic were to reign supreme, was teeming with temples and idols.

Philosophy failed.  It only brought the Greeks to the place where they felt there was still an emptiness,  something lacking that cannot be explained by past nor prevailing philosophies:  there was this “Unknown God” that they felt they needed to worship. But who is this Being, and what is His nature?

The world through its wisdom cannot know God.

The mind of man is inadequate to know God.  As John Stott remarks, “Man is an insatiably inquisitive creature. His mind is so made that it cannot rest. It is always prying into the unknown. He pursues knowledge with restless energy. When man’s mind begins to concern itself with God, however, it is baffled. It gropes in the dark.”

This is not surprising, according to Stott, because God is infinite, while we are finite creatures. But God took the first step to reveal Himself to us.   Stott portrays the first four words of the Bible, “In the beginning God”, as a key to understanding the Bible as a whole: everything starts with God;  God  takes the first step.

God in His infinite love took the initiative of creation, of bringing forth light out of the darkness: “Let there be light” Genesis 1:3. He took the initiative of revelation, by revealing His Word through the prophets, and ultimately, through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world.  Finally He took the initiative of providing a way of salvation through Jesus Christ, to free us from our sins and to give us everlasting life.  (John Stott, Basic Christianity pp. 11-12)

What is this everlasting life?  In the words of Jesus, it is to know God:  “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. ” John 17:3

It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we can know the only true God, to enter into a loving relationship with Him, to know Him as our very own Father.

*** photo: Temple of Poseidon by Chris Kotsiopoulus

Unbelief’s Heart of Stone

26 Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”  27 He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”  28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”  John 9:26-29 NIV      

        

A  blind man healed by Jesus was cast out of the temple because he attested to the fact that Jesus healed him. These very words riled the religious leaders:   ” Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind” (John 9:32).   

The Pharisees would not accept the miracle even though he was staring them in their faces with eyes that were blind from birth but now are able to see.  They had hearts of stone, fixed, immovable, unpersuadable; they had hearts of unbelief.

What is unbelief?  Dr. Lloyd-Jones expounds upon it as a power that controls and manipulates men, a state and a condition that leads to wrath.  The Pharisees were so filled with indignation at the testimony of the man who was healed by Jesus that they cast him out.  There were other accounts of this consuming animosity, including one time when the Pharisees were so enraged at Jesus that they took Him to the brow of the hill in order to throw him down the cliff.

Unbelief  is a power based on prejudice.  Here was the undeniable evidence of the miracle healing power of Jesus, but the Pharisees would not acknowledge it.  They came up with reasons, from saying that Jesus was “merely” the son of Joseph the carpenter,  to the accusation  that Jesus healed the blind man on the Sabbath.

It can be argued by persons who reject the message of the Gospel, that it is a matter of intellect; they would say that they cannot believe in the Lord Jesus Christ because their understanding won’t allow them to do so, that they would be committing intellectual suicide if they did.  Not so, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones.  It is not a matter of intellect, it’s a matter of prejudice.  This is his argument:

” If the possession of intellect and understanding and the capacity for reason makes it impossible for men to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, well then I can say that no man of intellect has ever been a Christian. But the fact is of course that some of the mightiest intellects that the world has ever known have been great Christians and saints adorning the life of the church.”

“Christ and the Gospel and the way of salvation that were able to satisfy the intellect of Paul and Augustine, of Luther, Calvin, Knox, Whitfield and a whole lot of other intellectual giants is at least worthy of your careful and serious consideration”.

The other element of unbelief is pride.  What is holding people back from believing the Gospel message is that they are concerned about themselves, their standing and reputation.  It is intellectual pride and fear that the rest of the unbelieving world would call them fanatical, that they have “lost their capacity for reason”.

Pride and prejudice are the pillars of unbelief.  Dr. Lloyd-Jones concludes that unbelief is a tragedy.  It blinds us to God’s most glorious blessings in time and eternity: His gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ Who came into this world to preach the gospel to the poor:  the poor in spirit, the down and out and the broken, the lost whom nobody else could help because they have made such a mess of their lives; He came to bind the broken-hearted, to give them beauty for ashes, to open prison doors, to deliver people from their sins and the many things that ruin people’s lives.

Unbelief makes one hate and revile the Son of God, much like the Pharisees when, face to face with Jesus, they had so much loathing and abhorrence for Him,  that they were blind to His glory and majesty and they rejected Him, accused Him wrongfully, and put Him to death on the cross.

The good news is that hearts of stone can be transformed to hearts of flesh, as in the conversion of the apostle Paul’s stony heart to a heart of love; from breathing out murderous threats against Christ’s followers, to preaching the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.