Salvation

Living in the present – The Loss of Eden (Romans 5:12)

Several of my posts lately have been on the theme of living fully in the present. Because God is always in the present (He is the great “I AM”), one of the goals of our sanctification and our discipleship is progressively to spend more and more of our time fully engaged in the present. In this article, I wanted to explore what happened to disrupt our ability to dwell peacefully in the present.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lived fully in the present because their initial environment was ideal. They lived fully in the present because there was no other option. For them, there was obviously no past to regret and so there were no past sins to incite guilt, because sin had not yet entered the world. And there was no future to fear, because the Garden provided everything Adam and Eve needed, and because the LORD God was there in person, and because there was no death to fear, for death had not entered the world. Thus, Adam and Eve lived fully in the present moment, enjoying the LORD, and enjoying His perfect creation, and enjoying each other.

THE LOSS OF EDEN

But all of that was ruined when sin entered the world, and that has affected us down to the present moment. Now unlike Adam and Eve, we have lost Eden and we live in a hostile environment, with monsters from our past and threats in our future. After man’s disobedience admitted sin into the world, the past now holds memories of guilt and shame and loss, the future now holds the promise of our fearful death, and the present is a constant, existential reminder that we are weak, vulnerable creatures in a hostile world that operates outside of our control.

This is our present reality. It is a reality common to every person on earth. Sin has entered the world and thus paradise has been lost and this creation has been ruined. Whether we grasp this or not, sin has entered the world and, as a consequence we all have a past stained with guilt and shame, and we all have a future dominated by our impending death. Sounds bleak, doesn’t it?

EDEN RESTORED BY THE SECOND ADAM

But there is good news that shatters all the losses of our sin-wrought existence, for now the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, has been sent into the world to restore what the first Adam lost. Because Jesus died on the cross on our behalf and has removed the guilt and shame of our sin, we who believe in Jesus are no longer enslaved to our past. And because Jesus has conquered death by rising victoriously from the grave, we who believe in Jesus need no longer dread the future, for through Jesus, eternity in heaven is guaranteed.

Because of Jesus, I have no guilt in my past and I have no death to fear in my future, so I can live fully in the present, experiencing God’s loving presence with me. Because of Jesus, I can live fully in the present, striving to live joyfully and obediently so that God is glorified by my life. Because of Jesus, I can truly live in this fallen world where Eden has been lost, anticipating when I will be in heaven with the Lord forever.

SDG                 rmb                 10/9/2020

A study of the Judgment in Revelation 20:11-15

This originally was going to be a brief blog on this passage from the book of Revelation, but as is often the case with my writing, I ended up being fascinated with the study and so produced a fairly long piece. I hope that you find it instructive and edifying. rmb 9.16.2020

“So, what happens at the Judgment?” My friend had been having a discussion with his wife in preparation for talking to his daughters about the final judgment. He knew that I was working on a book on the end times, so he gave me a call and posed the question.

“Wow, that is a great question! Let me pull together some Scriptures and make some notes and I will call you back.” So, the stage was set.

This post, then, will be an explanation of what happens at the great white throne judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15.

THE TEXT – REVELATION 20:11-15 (NASB)

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

UNDERSTANDING THE PASSAGE

Revelation 20:11

            John sees the great white throne with the LORD seated on the throne. In this awesome scene, all creation flees away, trying to get away from the fury and the wrath of God and of the Lamb (compare to Revelation 6:15-17). There is, however, no place to hide. The business at hand is The Judgment.

Revelation 20:12

            Next, John sees “the dead.” This word “dead” is significant because the meaning goes beyond just those who are not breathing. These are the spiritually dead. John mentions “the dead” four times in two verses to emphasize their spiritual lifelessness. At the great white throne, we see the gathering of all the spiritually dead of all time, awaiting their final judgment. That is the identity of “the dead” whom John sees. Regarding “the dead,” consider these verses from the mouth of Jesus:

  • When our Lord was talking to the Sadducees about the resurrection, Jesus quotes from Exodus when God said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Jesus said, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:31-32).” Jesus is making it clear that these patriarchs, even though physically dead, are spiritually alive.
  • Perhaps more to the point, In Luke 9:60, Jesus calls a man to follow Him, but the man makes the excuse that he needs to bury his father. Jesus said, “Allow the (spiritually) dead to bury their own (physically) dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” It turns out that there are many who, even though physically alive, are spiritually dead.
  • In John 3:18, Jesus says, “He who believes in Him (the Son) is not judged.” That seems straightforward to me.
  • Jesus also taught that those who have believed in Him will not come into judgment. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24).” Two truths are taught by this verse. First, the one who believes in Jesus “does not come into judgment.” That seems pretty easy to understand. But second, those who have eternal life through Jesus are no longer among “the dead,” regardless of their physical state. They “have passed from death to life.”
  • A few verses later, Jesus is teaching about the resurrection and says, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice (the voice of the Son of God), and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, and those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).” So, we can see that, in the resurrection, the ones who will experience the judgment are “those who committed the evil deeds.”

Next, “books were opened.” What exactly are these books which were opened? It is clear that these books determine the verdict that will come from the throne, for John writes that “the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.” These books, then, are the records of all the sins of each one of the dead who are standing before the throne. They will be judged “according to their deeds.” Their deeds are evil (John 3:19-20’ “their deeds are evil”). Their deeds are their sins, and it is on the basis of these deeds, their “works,” that they will be judged. The time for forgiveness is over. There will be no more mercy or compassion. The offer of the gospel is forever taken away. These have come before the great white throne of the Holy One of Israel with nothing but their unrighteousness and their sins. “There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but only a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries (Hebrews 10:27).”

THE BOOK OF LIFE (OF THE LIVING)

            But wait! “Another book was opened, which is the book of life.” John does not talk about this “book of life” here, because the issue at hand is judgment and eternal death, but we need to understand what this “book of life” is. First, there are the “books of the dead,” which doom people to the lake of fire (20:15), but there is also “the book of life” (“of the living,”) which admits people into eternal life. The book of Revelation has already spoken of this “book of the living” twice, in 13:8 and in 17:8, so we will take a brief detour to find out more about this book.

  • Revelation 13:8 takes place as the beast that comes up out of the sea is in power and is persecuting the saints. “8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” TRUTH: This verse makes clear that the names that are in the book of life were written there in eternity past and that they were written in the book of life by the Lord Himself. The inescapable conclusion is that those who were going to have eternal life and who were going to avoid the lake of fire were chosen by God in eternity past. This necessitates the doctrine of election (Ephesians 1:4; etc.).
  • Revelation 17:8 also involves the beast and talks about “those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.” The group in view in both these verses is the people “whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.” TRUTH: Therefore, the other conclusion from these verses is that, since those in the book of life are known, those who are doomed to the lake of fire are also known from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 20:13

            We find out from this verse where all “the dead” come from. From the previous verse, we know that “the dead, the great and the small,” are standing before the throne, but now we find out that “the dead” come from the sea, and they come from “death and Hades.” This is just another way of saying that all the dead are here. Not one of the dead has been overlooked or has escaped the judgment. Then, once all the dead are gathered, they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. As we have seen earlier, these “deeds” are the sins of the dead who stand before the throne. Their destiny is the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:14

            Death and Hades are irretrievably and inescapably thrown into the lake of fire. Long, long ago, in one of the early scenes of the grand meta-drama, the LORD God had told man that sin would result in death (Genesis 2:17). And so, ever since the fall of man in Genesis 3 death needed to continue to exist because man’s sin continued to exist. Hades is the place where the spiritually dead await the judgment, and so Hades continues to exist until the judgment. But now after the judgment, full payment for all sin has been rendered, either in Christ’s full atonement for all the sins of all true believers in Christ or in the eternal punishment in the lake of fire for all unbelievers. Sin has ceased because there are no longer any sinners. All believers are now glorified and so can no longer sin, and all unbelievers have been thrown into the lake of fire. Death is useless when sin has ceased and Hades has become useless, because all the occupants of Hades have been cast into the lake of fire. Therefore, since they are useless, both death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire.

            The lake of fire is the second death. The first death is when a person dies physically. If that person has believed in Jesus, in the intermediate state they are in the presence of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-8; Philippians 1:23; Revelation 6:9-11; etc.) awaiting  the resurrection of the righteous, when they will receive their glorified, resurrection body. Thus, the believer never experiences the second death. (Confirm with John 11:25-26.) This passage, however, is about the unbeliever. In contrast to the believer, in the intermediate state the unbeliever awaits Christ’s return in Hades, and, at the resurrection, they will “come out to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:29).” Unbelievers will go from their temporary home in Hades to their eternal home of unending conscious punishment in the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:15

            The judgment is made, and the sentence is passed. The book of life, or “the book of the living,” has been examined. This is the book that contains the names of all those who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those whose names are in the book of the living are resurrected to eternal life (John 5:29), but there are many whose names are not there. All those whose names are not found in the book of life are thrown into the lake of fire.

APPLICATION

            All you who are now reading this article on the final judgment are still physically alive. You still have time to contemplate the question, “Is my name written in the book of life, or am I headed for the lake of fire?” Hopefully, after reading this article, you are clear on the two, and only two, options.

  • If you have already placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then you will never experience the second death (Revelation 2:11; 20:6), and you can be sure that your name is in the book of life. In that case, the application would be to rejoice in the faithfulness of our Savior Jesus Christ.
  • If, however, you have not placed your faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; if you have not confessed with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9); if you have never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ so as to be saved (Acts 16:31), then your current destiny is the lake of fire. Your application is to change your destiny! This minute you can change your eternal destiny. This minute you can believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him as your personal Lord and Savior. If you do that, “Truly, truly, I (Jesus) say to you, you will not come into judgment, but you have passed from death to life (John 5:24).”

SDG                 rmb                 9/16/2020

How will they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14-15)

BRITTON BUSINESS SCHOOL CASE STUDY

The sales manager was at a loss as to what to do next. Sales had been flat to slightly declining for almost five years now, despite having a clearly superior product at a more competitive price. True, the product had not been changed or been upgraded for a while, but the existing features and benefits already so far exceeded all the competition that an upgrade should have been unnecessary. That, in combination with a sales price much less than the competing products, made it hard to explain why sales were not steadily increasing.

“Far superior product at a lower price; Why can’t we move the needle on sales?”

He considered the company’s decision to cut marketing. Could that be it? Yes, they spent less than 25% of what the competition spent on marketing, but that could not be the full explanation.

He thought about sales training as a possible answer. “Maybe our salespeople need more training.” But that didn’t make sense, because both his salespeople had been selling the product for at least twenty years. Both knew how to prospect, how to make and convert cold calls, how to show the superior features and benefits of the product. As far as skill at one-on-one sales, the sales manager would put both his salespeople up against anyone in the business.

Then he wondered whether it was the competition. While it was a fact that the competition was well-established in the market, it was also a fact that almost all of their existing customers had at one point in time been using the competitive product and had switched when they heard about our product and what it had to offer. “No, it’s not the competition. It must be something else that I can’t put my finger on. There has to be some reason why we can’t get more market share, especially with more than 50 million potential customers in our territory.” The sales manager decided to call his two salespeople into his office and see if they could brainstorm and come up with an answer.

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

            As business consultants, how would you explain the lack of anticipated sales at this company? What would be your recommendation for the sales manager as to how to increase sales?

            Okay, time’s up. What is your answer? I hope that you said something like, “Get more salespeople out there! If you have a market of 50 million people and TWO SALESPEOPLE, you are desperately understaffed and need to figure out how to let more people know that there is a far superior product available at a lower price. People will not buy the best product in the world, even if it is free, if they don’t know that the product exists.

THE GOSPEL ANALOGY

            In Romans 10:14-15, the apostle Paul lays out four essential steps for any person anywhere to be saved. After declaring that, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13),” Paul then tells how that blessing of salvation takes place, starting with the end and working backwards. So, he asks how they will call on the Lord if they have not believed in the Lord. (Implied answer: They won’t!) Backing up one more step, he asks how they will believe in Jesus if they have never heard the gospel about Jesus. (Implied answer: They won’t!) Finally, he asks the critical question, “And how will they hear without a preacher?” (Implied answer: They won’t!) All these steps are necessary for salvation. No step can be omitted. Therefore, it is necessary for salvation for there to be “a preacher” (see below for a description of what it means to be “a preacher”) to proclaim the gospel message so that an unsaved person will hear the gospel. And it is necessary for salvation for the person who hears the gospel message to believe that message. And it is necessary for salvation for the person who believes the gospel message to call on the name of the Lord in repentance and faith as a response to their believing the gospel message that was preached and heard. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth (a verbal call on the name of the Lord) Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” That means that if there is true belief in your heart, it will issue forth in verbal confession from your mouth and then in life and behavior change as sanctification occurs.

WHO IS A PREACHER?

            So, from Scripture we see that a preacher is necessary for salvation because the gospel message must be heralded to the unsaved. But now the question comes up, “Well, who is a preacher?” Various pictures may be conjured up in your mind in answer to this question. The caricature seems to be of some man sweating profusely as he shouts at his hapless congregation. The popularity of this image would suggest that the picture was designed in hell and has resulted in the perishing of many souls as they laughed off “the preacher.” But the biblical word that is used in Romans 10:14-15 is that of a herald, of a person who had been entrusted with a critically important message and was sent out to proclaim exactly that message, even if the herald was killed in carrying out the task. This is the biblical picture. In the Bible, Paul was a preacher (2 Timothy 1:11). John the Baptist was a preacher. Solomon was a Preacher (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Noah was a preacher (2 Peter 2:5). Most significant of all, the Lord Jesus Himself was a Preacher. There is no reason to shrink back from being a preacher based on reputation.

            But who is a preacher? Think about the preacher’s task. The preacher is a herald sent out to proclaim a message. Now consider Matthew 28:19-20, when Jesus told us to “Go, therefore” in the Great Commission. Jesus was sending every member of His church out to proclaim the gospel to the nations. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says to His first disciples, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Those are herald words. In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul says, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Again, herald words. Jesus told the parable in Matthew 13, “The sower went out to sow.” We find out that “the sower” sows the Word of God, and it doesn’t take a leap of imagination to see that every believer could be described as a sower. Again, more herald words.

            Who is a preacher? Who is a herald? Who has been sent out by the Lord Jesus Christ to herald His message to perishing men and women so that they might be saved? That is the privileged calling of the preacher. Who wouldn’t want to be called to that task? And what Paul is saying in Romans 10:14 is that you and I have been called as preachers (“heralds”) of the good news so that people will hear and believe and call on the name of the Lord.

            So, whether your audience is few or many, you are the one who has been called by your Lord and Savior to let others know about Jesus and about how they can be delivered from the wrath to come.

            In Matthew 9:38, after seeing the misery of the people who were like sheep without a shepherd, He said, “Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Just as the company in the case study needed more salespeople, so the Lord Jesus is seeking more heralds who will be active in His harvest.

SDG                 rmb                 9.8.2020

Why are you doing that? (Romans 10:2-3)

SCENE 1

The squirrels had been in my attic for a while now. I could hear them overhead, running the length of the attic as they played in my insulation. It was driving me crazy. I hated those squirrels. “How are they getting into my attic?” Then one day I was standing in the front yard and saw a squirrel cross the street and head directly toward my house. It climbed up the trunk of a small tree near the house, jumped onto a branch of the tree, which bent under the weight and then sprung back up, catapulting the squirrel onto the roof of my house. “Oh ho! That’s how they are getting onto my roof and into my attic!” So, the next Saturday I was out with my tree saw and started to cut down the tree that the squirrels were using as a catapult. My neighbor wandered over to me and asked,

“Why are you doing that?”

“What do you mean, ‘Why am I doing that?’ I am cutting down this tree because I don’t want squirrels in my attic!” He shook his head and smiled and said, “Cutting down that tree won’t stop squirrels. You know, squirrels can just climb up the brick on the outside of your house and get onto your roof.”

            I began to feel just a tiny bit stupid, realizing that he might be right, but I continued cutting down the tree anyway. “There,” I said, as the small tree sunk to the ground. “That will stop them!” My victory was short-lived, however. About two hours later, I felt chagrined and outmatched as I watched that same squirrel scamper up the corner of my house, using the brick as you or I would use a sidewalk, pop over onto the roof and then disappear into my attic.

            What had just happened? Because of my ignorance of the real nature of the problem, I had employed a strategy that could never get me the results I wanted. I wanted to get rid of the squirrels in my attic, so I cut down the tree. No good. Waste of time. Bad idea.

            Now, other than a little bit of humiliation in the eyes of my neighbor, my blunder had no real consequences. No big deal. Lost a tree and kept the squirrels. Oh, well.

SCENE 2       

For the next scene, we turn to the Bible as Paul is applying the truths of the gospel to his Jewish countrymen in Romans 10. Paul presents a troubling scenario. Paul writes, “For I testify about them (his Jewish brethren), that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge (10:2). For not knowing about God’s righteousness (that is, not knowing about salvation by grace through faith in Jesus the Messiah), and seeking to establish their own (by religious works), they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God (10:3).”

            So, what I want to do is frame this scenario in terms of the incident with the squirrels in my attic, because these scenes are similar. Let’s say that an observer was talking to one of Paul’s friends, who was a Pharisee.

“I see that you are really zealous about doing religious things. You fast twice a week. You tithe from all that you get. You pray long prayers on the street corners. You always wash your hands before you eat, and you never do any work on the Sabbath. Everyone knows that you give to the poor. I’ve heard you even cast out demons and occasionally do a miracle! But . . . “

“Why are you doing that?”

            The Pharisee replied, “Because I want to be righteous, of course!” The observer sadly shook his head and said, “Doing all these religious works does not make you righteous. In fact, no amount of religious works can EVER make you righteous. Do all your works, but your sin will remain.”

            The Pharisee said, “That’s nonsense! Anyone can see that I am more righteous than you! I know that my religious works please God.”

            Once more, the other man tried to get through. “Actually, in Isaiah 64:6 the prophet says, ‘All our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.’ The only way to be righteous is to believe in Jesus the Messiah.”

            For a brief moment it seemed that the Pharisee was considering what had just been said. Did Isaiah really say that thing about the filthy garment? And if he did say that what might that mean for me? Could my Rabbi be wrong? Could I be wrong? Could this guy be right? Then the mental window slammed shut. “I don’t need to be taught by you!” he said. “I will continue to work my works!”

            What had just happened? Because of the Pharisee’s ignorance of the real nature of righteousness, he was employing a strategy that could never get him the results he wanted. He wanted righteousness, but he is trying to obtain his righteousness by his own works. No good. Waste of time. Bad idea.

            But it is right at this point that things radically change. For while my blunder with the squirrels cost me a small tree and a little bit of embarrassment, the Pharisee’s error will cost him an eternity in hell. You see, “Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness for all who believe (Romans 10:4).” The only possible way to obtain righteousness before the Holy One, the God of heaven, is to believe in Jesus the Messiah. This is not a preference issue. This is not a question of semantics. This is not an issue where you go at your way and I go at it my way and then we will probably both get there eventually. If the Pharisee does not change his mind and repent and bow the knee to Jesus the Messiah, he will never obtain any righteousness. In fact, he will miss righteousness by an eternity.

SCENE 3

            The final scene is a lunch discussion between me and Jack. Jack is a business associate of mine. We have developed a bit of a friendship and know a little bit about each other. I know that Jack is a Catholic, and we have had a couple of discussions about each other’s religious views. On this occasion, I have steered the conversation in the religious direction again.

            “So, as a Catholic, what sorts of things do you do? In other words, what religious things do Catholics do?”

            “We have talked about this before, Roy, but anyway. We do confession and we do the Mass every Sunday with the Eucharist. We do some ‘our Fathers’ and some ‘hail Marys.’ Some people do the rosary. We pray to various saints. Like that.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“What do you mean, ‘Why am I doing that?’ I am doing these things because I don’t want to go to hell!”

At that moment, I felt like the neighbor who was telling me the truth about squirrels or like the “other guy” who was telling the Pharisee the truth about righteousness. Jack said that he wanted to avoid hell, but he was pursuing a strategy that guaranteed that he would arrive there. He had adopted the Catholic plan which promises that good Catholics will avoid God’s wrath by doing religious things. For Catholics, trying to do your best and obeying the Catholic Church will at least get you into Purgatory. These are the inventions of the Catholic Church that keep people from hearing the truth.

So, I tried to explain to Jack that this was not a preference issue. I tried to tell him that there was no such thing as Purgatory (“Jack, I think you have a hole in your parachute.”) I told him that Jesus died to atone for sin, so there is no longer an ongoing sacrifice needed through the Mass. The priest has no authority to forgive sins or to give you any sort of penance that you can do to remove your sin. But my words fell on hard ground and we basically left the restaurant a tiny bit incensed with one another and probably a little more polarized.

The lesson from this is that we must be clear about what is wisdom and what is absolute truth. With regard to salvation, we must insist that there is no room for compromise or personal preference. When the fireman crashes your door down with an axe, it is not so he can debate with you whether your house is on fire. For everyone of us, our house is on fire, and there is only one way to safety. His name is Jesus.

For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness for all who believe.

Romans 10:4

SDG                 rmb                  9/4/2020

What if I am unaware of the disease? (Leviticus 5:17)

                I want to start out this article with a medical question:

MEDICAL QUESTION

            Is it possible for a person who does not know that they have terminal cancer to still die of that cancer?

            Many people in our society today have enough medical knowledge to answer this question. From our common medical knowledge, we know that, unless cured, terminal cancer ends in death. So, the answer to the medical question above is, yes, a person who does not know that they have terminal cancer can still die of that cancer. In fact, if the cancer is not both detected and cured, the person certainly will die of the terminal cancer, whether they know they have it or not.

            That answer was pretty easy. Let’s move into a different field and see if we can answer a similar question. So, let me ask a theological question:

THEOLOGICAL QUESTION

          Is it possible for someone who has sinned against the Law of God without knowing it to still be guilty and condemned by that sin?

            This theological question will probably be more difficult to answer than the medical question because relatively few people in our society have a great deal of theological knowledge. God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness in His book, the Bible, and yet few people take the Bible seriously. In the Bible is all the theological knowledge necessary for a person to spend eternity in heaven in loving fellowship with the living God, the Creator of the universe, and all the theological knowledge needed to avoid condemnation and an eternity in hell. Yet, again, few people can be bothered.

            In my current Bible study, I am reading through the book of Leviticus, a book that gives careful instruction about the various sacrifices that the ancient Hebrews were to give to the LORD to atone for their sins. Leviticus is a fascinating book, and in Leviticus 5:17 it says this:

“Now if a person sins and does any of the things that the LORD has commanded not to be done, though he was unaware, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.”

            Here in this one verse, in Leviticus 5:17, we find the answer to the theological question that was posed above. From this verse, it is clear that any person who sins and breaks any of the LORD’s commandments is guilty and is under condemnation, whether they know about their sin or not.

            Now, because our sin is against the living God, there is no more dangerous place to be than to be guilty of sin and under condemnation. Just as it is the nature of terminal cancer, unless detected and cured, to end in physical death, so it is the nature of sin, unless detected and removed, to end in eternal death. And because the situation of our sin against the living God is so perilous, the Bible is full of warnings about our sinful condition. Here in Leviticus 5:17 we read one such warning, which tells us that we are guilty of all our sins and liable to punishment, whether we know it or not. Just as the MRI and the CAT scan detect and warn us about our terminal cancer so that we can remove it and live longer physically, so the Bible detects and warns us about our sin so that we can remove it and live eternally in heaven.

            We know, from our medical knowledge, that there are some cures for cancer, but what is the cure for our sin against the living God? If the Bible is full of warnings about our sin, which will lead to eternal death, surely there must also be some instruction somewhere in the Bible about how we can remove our sin. If the Bible graciously tells me about my sin and warns me about my condemnation, doesn’t it also graciously tell me how I can escape from my condemnation? Having revealed to me my disease of sin, doesn’t it also tell me of the cure?

            The Bible does indeed provide the cure for the disease of sin. Having revealed to us the ugliness of our sin and condemnation, the Bible also reveals to us the beauty of our salvation. Or rather the beauty of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. As condemned sinners, we need a Savior who will rescue us, and so God sent Jesus Christ from heaven to earth on a rescue mission. After living a sinless life filled with miracles, teaching and healing, the Lord Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross as an atoning sacrifice for sinners. He died on that cross and was buried. On the third day Jesus rose from the dead, proving that He had conquered sin and death, and ascended into heaven. Now the good news of the gospel is that any person who has sinned and has done many things that the LORD has commanded not to be done, will be forgiven of his sins through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

the apostle Paul to the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31

SDG                 rmb                 8/9/2020

A Transformational Event

Without a transformational event in our lives; without an occurrence that fundamentally changes us and redefines us, all of us remain chained to our past and remain defined by the mistakes and failures of our past. But if in our lives there has been a transformational event of such power that it changes who we are and how we define ourselves, we will be freed from our past and will have a new point of reference.

In nature, this is pictured in the caterpillar and the butterfly. The caterpillar’s life is chained to it origin and is therefore defined by crawling on the ground, a worm gnawing on leaves. The caterpillar has a physical birth, but it lacks a transformational event. But now contrast this with the butterfly. The butterfly has gone through a metamorphosis, a transformational event, and now the days as a caterpillar are gone and forgotten. Now the same creature is defined by the results of the transformational event. Life is defined not by physical birth, but by the new transformed creature. Now there is the dazzling beauty of glorious wings, the drinking of nectar for food and the journeys of effortless flight going from flower to flower.

The analogy should be clear, for just as a caterpillar needs to be transformed to experience the life of freedom and beauty displayed in the butterfly, so every human needs to experience a great transformational event to rise above their ugly and sinful natural state. But where is such an event to be found? How am I ever to be transformed and rise from my natural misery and wretchedness?

The Bible gives the answer to this question in multiple places expressed in various ways:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus Christ in John 3:3

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My words and believes Him who sent Me . . . has passed from death to life.” Jesus Christ in John 5:24

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  2 Cor. 5:17

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, and raised us up with Him.   Ephesians 2:4-5

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” Ezekiel 36:26

In these verses and more, the gospel message is clear: Encountering Jesus Christ and being transformed by Him is the only event that has transformational power. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be transformed. Other events may change your circumstances, but those changes will leave you a caterpillar. Trust Christ and you will be born again and your new transformed life as a butterfly will begin.

SDG      rmb       7/19/2017

Jeremiah 26:2. Do not omit a word!

In the early days of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet telling the LORD’s appointed messenger to speak “all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. DO NOT OMIT A WORD!”

Here Jeremiah is to proclaim a message that is so important that the LORD dictates the very words that must be used. This message from the LORD cannot be modified or shortened or embellished. No parts of the message can be left out and no other parts can be inserted. The messenger must communicate the LORD’s message and no other. “Do not omit a word!”

The point of this blog post is to consider the message that Jeremiah preached to the people of Jerusalem in the days before the Chaldeans destroyed that city and see that, in Jeremiah’s message, there are foreshadows and parallels with the gospel of Jesus Christ that we are called to proclaim to the nations.

The essential message that the LORD’s appointed prophet was to herald to Jerusalem is contained in 26:2-6 and 26:12-13. Consider, then, the message that Jeremiah proclaimed.

  • It was a message of warning, declaring to the people that their destruction was approaching. Whether they believed it or not, they would soon be destroyed;
  • Jeremiah’s message told that this destruction was a judgment on them from the LORD because of their sins and because of the evil of their deeds;
  • This was also a message of mercy, for Jeremiah had been sent by the LORD to these people who were doomed to destruction for the express purpose of announcing how the LORD would stop the calamity He was planning to bring on the city. The LORD was willing to be merciful;
  • If the people would listen to the LORD’s voice and would repent of their evil deeds and return to the LORD, then the LORD would spare the city;
  • If the people did not heed the message and did not repent and return to the LORD, then destruction and judgment were certain.

Does this message sound familiar? It should! This outline of Jeremiah’s message is a foreshadow of the essential gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ that believers proclaim today. Let me show you the parallels:

  • In our gospel, we proclaim a warning, telling sinners that God’s judgment is coming soon. Whether they believe they are sinners or not and whether or not they believe that our holy God will judge sin, our gospel warns all sinners that they are under God’s condemnation and wrath and will be judged;
  • Our gospel message declares that God’s judgment and wrath are the result of sins and the result of the evil of their deeds;
  • Like Jeremiah, we proclaim a message of God’s mercy, for we have been sent out by the Lord Himself (Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 2:9; Acts 2:38-39; Luke 24:46-49; 1 Timothy 1:15-16; 2 Corinthians 5:20) to a people doomed to judgment for the express purpose of announcing to them that Christ is a great Savior and that God will forgive all those who place their faith in Him;
  • If our hearers listen to  the message and repent of their evil deeds and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), God will remove His wrath and condemnation from them and will forgive their sin and will give them eternal life;
  • If our hearers reject the Lord’s message of salvation and do not repent of their sins and do not believe in the Lord Jesus, then God’s destruction and judgment are certain (Hebrews 9:27).

So in this passage in Jeremiah we have seen the gospel clearly foreshadowed. But I wanted to think for a second about the sentence in which the LORD tells Jeremiah, “Do not omit a word!”

In the case of Jeremiah’s message, the prophet was speaking to a relatively small group of people in a single city about a temporal destruction and a temporal deliverance. The Chaldeans were threatening Jerusalem with destruction, but if Judah repented, the LORD would deliver them from physical death and destruction. And yet in this situation, the LORD gives Jeremiah the command, “Do not omit a word!” The message must be exactly the LORD’s message.

But if the LORD is that serious about the accuracy of this word spoken concerning temporal salvation to a small group of people, and declares that the message must be exactly what He intends, how much more serious would He be about the accuracy of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only means of salvation available for all of mankind for all time, a message that delivers anyone who believes from the eternal condemnation of God and brings them into eternal life. In other words, if the LORD wanted strict faithfulness to His message of temporal salvation (Jeremiah 26), how much more important is it that the gospel message be accurately proclaimed (Acts 2).

The lesson, then, is that we must faithfully proclaim the whole council of God’s gospel with accuracy and boldness. “Do not omit a word!” When we are faithful with the message that God has called us to proclaim, we will see God glorified and will see God bring people to Himself.

SDG       rmb       7/10/2017

Matthew 12:30 That Big Group in the Middle

As Jesus was ministering among the multitudes and also dealing with His opponents, the Pharisees, He said to the crowd, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” In so saying, Jesus answers one of the questions that many people subconsciously hold in their mind: “What about that big group in the middle?”

I want to do a series of posts that talk about the subject of “that big group in the middle.” This idea holds that, on one end of the spiritual spectrum there is a relatively small group of those who seriously follow Jesus. These are the righteous. Then on the other extreme end there is another relatively small group of those called “the wicked” or “the ungodly.” These are the bad people who need to be saved. But then in between these two extreme groups there is “the big group in the middle” who have not yet made up their minds. They are still on the fence and have time to think about which way they will eventually vote. So in this series of posts I want to talk about what the Bible has to say about this “big group in the middle.”

So let’s see what Jesus has to say about this topic in this verse that we cited from Matthew 12:30: “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” The interpretation of the verse is fairly simple. The verse is divided into two parts and both parts talk about two, and only two, groups of people. The first part of the verse says that the person who is not with Jesus is against Jesus. Thus in this first part there are only two groups; those who are with Jesus and those who are against Jesus. It is apparent that there is not a big group in the middle. There is no middle group at all. There are only two groups and you are either in the one or the other. Also the two groups are exclusive of one another. You are either with Jesus or you are against Jesus, and you can’t be both. It is also striking that a person can think they are not against Jesus, but Jesus knows that they are against Him. A person can say, “I am not against Jesus and I am not against Christians. I am sure that Jesus was a nice guy and a wise teacher and a sincere religious man. I admire Jesus for what he did and said. So I am definitely not against him. Now, am I a ‘born-again’ follower and am I some kind of religious nut? No. My religion is a personal thing. But I am definitely not against Jesus. I am part of that middle, moderate group.” But Jesus Himself says you are wrong. Jesus says that if you are not 100% sold out to Him and are not willing to follow Him to death, then you are against Him. “He who is not with Me is against Me.” So if you are not a committed and zealous follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus says you are against Him and you have Him as your adversary, whatever you personally may believe. You are definitely NOT in “that big middle group.”

Let me give a brief piece of theology before we look at the second half of this verse. Every person is born as a sinner and therefore is also born as an enemy of God. We may believe that we come out of the womb as innocent babies in a neutral spiritual position and then we take our place in “that big group in the middle,” but the Bible declares that we are born as sinners, that our default position is ‘unrighteous,’ that we are enemies of God and are against the Lord Jesus. Unless we have been rescued from that spiritual place, we remain sinners and are therefore under the condemnation and wrath of our thrice holy God (Isaiah 6:3).

Taking a look at the second part of this verse, we read, “. . . and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” In the first part of the verse we found there were two groups (and only two groups) of people, those with Jesus and those against Jesus. Now we read again that there are two (and only two) groups of people, those who gather with Jesus and those who scatter. Everyone who does not actively gather with Jesus is one who scatters. As in the first part of the verse where the default was being against Jesus, so here in the second part the default is to be one who scatters. The one who is not actively, intentionally gathering souls or worshipers or disciples for the Lord Jesus is scattering people from Him. Again our Lord is saying that if you are not intentionally doing His will, then you are disobeying His will. But in any case, there is no “big group in the middle.” When it comes to your spiritual condition, the Bible speaks of two and only two groups. There are those who have been saved and there are those who remain condemned. There are those who are for Jesus and there are those who are against Jesus. There are those who gather with Jesus and there are those who scatter.

But it is crystal clear that there is no big group in the middle. There is no middle group at all. There is righteous or there is unrighteous. There is saved or there is lost. There is heaven and there is hell. There is life and there is death. There are two groups: Those who know Jesus and those who will be judged by Jesus. Which are you? SDG rmb 12/12/2015

The Day the Ark Closes (Genesis 7:16)

One of the most fascinating stories in the entire Bible is the story of Noah and of the ark that he built and of the flood that God sent as a judgment on all mankind for their wickedness and violence (Genesis 6-7). Since Noah was righteous, God rescued him in the ark, but all those outside the ark perished.

Now as fascinating as this story is, the real point of the story must be understood from the perspective of salvation. This story of Noah and the flood is really about an offer of refuge and rescue in the face of coming judgment. As such, this story is not only for Noah and for those of his generation, but is for our generation as well. Jesus Christ Himself said that “as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:38-39). What Jesus is saying is that, as in the days of Noah when there was coming the judgment of a flood on the wicked world, so now there is also coming a final terrifying day of God’s judgment on this wicked generation. As in the days before the flood when there was an ark that provided the only means of rescue from the flood, so now there is “the ark” of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only refuge for sinners, the only one who will save them from the coming wrath and judgment of God. Will you enter while the door of the ark stands open or will you despise the only means of salvation and perish in the judgment?

Today the door of salvation stands open, inviting those who are outside to flee to safety in Jesus and to flee from the coming judgment. All who will repent of their sins and bow their knee to Jesus Christ may enter into the refuge and be saved from God’s wrath. But there will certainly come a day, a terrifying day when God will slam shut the door of salvation forever and the day of finding refuge will be forever gone. Then the wrath of God will be poured out on all those who have not placed their faith in Jesus.

Today the door of the ark stands open, but one day the Lord will close the door forever. Where will you be on that day? Will you be in the ark of the Lord Jesus Christ, or will you perish in the judgment? SDG rmb 11/29/2015