BACKGROUND:

In 2 Samuel 11, David commits adultery with Bathsheba while her husband Uriah is away doing battle as part of David’s army. When Bathsheba announces that she is pregnant, David calls Uriah back from the battle so that Uriah can go to his home and sleep with his wife and so get David off the hook. Uriah, however, is too loyal and noble to enjoy pleasures with his wife while the army of Israel is waging war in the open field. Even when David gets him drunk, he refuses to go to his house, so David commands Joab to send Uriah into the fiercest battle so that he will be killed. Uriah the warrior obeys his commander and goes into the fray and is killed by the archers from the wall. David marries Bathsheba, the beautiful and grieving widow, and so his tracks appear to be covered. Everything is okay, except that the LORD has seen David’s sins and is not pleased.

In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan the prophet comes to King David and tells him a story about a rich king and a poor man. In the story, the rich man takes the poor man’s only ewe lamb and has it cooked for dinner. David is outraged at the evil of the rich man in the story and demands that the rich man die. “Thou art the man!” These are the famous words that Nathan declares to David. David is the sinner and he deserves to die, just as he himself declared and just as the Law demands. Adultery and murder are both punished by death and David has thus just issued his own death sentence and execution. The Law demands that he die.

But that is not what occurs. The LORD speaks through Nathan and recounts for David all of his sins and David simply replies, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Astonishingly, Nathan then says, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Samuel 12:13)

And at this point the Law cries out, “Treason!” It is unlawful to forgive this adulterer and this murderer when the sins have not been punished. The Law stands in judgment over every sin and demands a just recompense (Hebrews 2:2; Genesis 2:17; Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Romans 6:23a; etc.) and here we have a confessed adulterer and murderer who is being set free! The Law demands death for adultery (Leviticus 20:10) and the Law demands death for murder (Leviticus 24:17; Exodus 21:12), and yet God’s prophet has told David that the LORD has taken away his sin and that he will not die. The LORD is not requiring the punishment that David’s sins deserve. Outrageous! Scandalous! How can the Holy One allow David to go free? How can David’s simple confession be accepted as the only requirement for his forgiveness?

Here we are thrust into one of the great theological difficulties: namely, “How can God forgive any sin without compromising His own justice and without violating His own Law?” For the LORD has given His Law as an expression of His holiness and His righteousness. In the Law the LORD sets forth His demands for righteousness upon every man, and these demands and requirements cannot be set aside and cannot be ignored even by the LORD Himself. To set aside or to ignore even one sin without receiving the just punishment that the Law demands is to transgress the Law. Thus it appears that forgiveness itself is necessarily unlawful, for the Law requires condemnation and punishment for a person’s sin and yet David is forgiven and his sin is taken away without him personally being punished for his sin. By His forgiveness of the sinner, has the LORD become a transgressor?

The huge problems is, in a word, forgiveness. How can our holy God, who has given us His Law as His inflexible standard for holiness and righteousness, ever forgive any sin without Himself becoming a Law-breaker?

What is the answer to this dilemma? The answer is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the gospel we see how God can forgive the sinner and remain perfectly just, for in the gospel, the sins of believers can be legally and justly forgiven because they have been fully punished in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Since Christ has borne the punishment for the believer’s sins, the Lord can justly forgive. The Law’s requirement for punishment of sin has been satisfied in the death of Christ.

How was David justly forgiven? David was forgiven because he was a man of faith and he believed that the LORD would someday reveal a means whereby even his heinous sin could be wiped away. Without knowing the details, David believed that the LORD was merciful and gracious and that the LORD would take his sins away as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Although the details were still wrapped in mystery, David knew that one day the Messiah would be revealed and would bring about justice in the earth.

SDG        rmb       11/29/2017

QUESTION: What does it mean “to use the Law lawfully?”

In 1 Timothy Paul is giving instruction to his true child in the faith, Timothy, and is warning about some dangerous teachers who were leading others astray by placing too much emphasis on keeping the Law and thus giving to the Law salvific power. In response to this, Paul says,

But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully. 1 Tim. 1:8

In this study we will explore what it means to use the Law lawfully. It will be seen that the answer to this question has practical applications for our lives today.

It is obvious that using the Law correctly (“lawfully”) is important to Paul and should therefore be important to every minister of the gospel. This implies that there is a “lawful” way to use the Law and an unlawful way. (In this context, “Law” is to be understood as the commandments and ordinances and statutes given by the LORD at Mt. Sinai. The Law would include all the LORD’s moral imperatives, which are timeless and are never obsolete, and would not include the ceremonial law concerning the priesthood and concerning clean and unclean things and so on, since this portion of the Law has been obsoleted by the coming of Christ.)

Here in 1 Timothy Paul repeats what he has said elsewhere in his writings, that “the Law is good.” And in Paul’s mind the Law is, in fact, good. It is the Law that brings the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).It is the Law that showed Paul his own sin of coveting (Romans 7:7-10) and thus led him to repentance and faith. Paul states that “the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12).” And again Paul says, “I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good (7:16).” For Paul the Law is good, because it is most often the instrument which God uses to convict a person of their own wretchedness (Romans 7:24) and so lead them to repentance and faith.

From these texts it is crystal clear that the Law is good. What does it mean, then, for Paul to say that we must use the Law lawfully? We must understand that, while the Law is holy and righteous and good, the Law is also limited, for the Law is not salvific. As we think about human laws we see that this is true. Obedience is required and assumed; it is disobedience and violation that brings response and recompense. In the same way, the Law is the expression of God’s holiness and so violation condemns every man by presenting to man God’s holy requirements for righteousness. When used lawfully, the Law inflexibly demands absolute obedience from fallen and sinful people and thus shows man his dreadful peril before the Holy One. When used lawfully, the Law drives condemned sinners to seek for an alien righteousness, the perfect righteousness of the crucified King Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18). When used lawfully the Law reveals the glory of Christ as the one who fulfilled God’s righteous demands and who also atoned for sin by His sacrificial death on the cross.

But when used unlawfully, the Law is presented as an instrument of salvation. When used unlawfully, instead of being a means of condemnation and conviction, the Law is a ladder of works up which the sinner climbs to salvation. When used unlawfully, the Law acts as a goad to demand of us more and more effort to achieve an external performance, which mere men deem to be righteous. When used unlawfully, the Law is the end of righteousness rather than the means of crying out for Christ’s righteousness (Romans 10:3-4). Thus when used unlawfully, the Law never leads the guilty to the cross where cleansing and forgiveness may be found, but instead leaves the guilty mired in their guilt while they endlessly seek to work themselves into righteousness.

And so let us use the Law lawfully.

1. Let us proclaim the demands of the Law as inflexible and absolute and as impossible as they appear to convict the unbeliever of their sin and to drive the unbeliever to the cross of Christ for salvation.
2. Let us use the Law to reveal remaining sin in the life of the believer to bring about confession and repentance and cleansing, so that the believer will grow in sanctification.
3. Let us understand the absolute demands of the Law so that we see the glory of Christ, that He perfectly kept the entire Law and all the Law’s requirements. He is thus perfectly righteous and has earned righteousness for all those who place their faith in Him. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

SDG      rmb      11/12/2017

This is the first study in a series that focuses on what I am calling “the necessity of the gospel.” The idea is that, although the gospel was not revealed until the Lord Jesus Christ was incarnate and then went to the cross and was gloriously resurrected, the gospel is necessary to understand many of the passages of the Old Testament. What I mean by this will become apparent as we proceed in our studies. The first illustration will be from Isaiah 12.

The prophecy of Isaiah contains more foreshadows of the Messiah than perhaps any other book in the Old Testament. In the pages of Isaiah are many vivid and explicit prophecies of Jesus that are clearly fulfilled when He finally appears in the flesh. These are some of the most well-known of the passages in the entire Old Testament.

But there are also passages in Isaiah which describe events that are impossible to explain or understand except through the lens of the gospel. Isaiah 12:1-3 is such a passage, which requires the gospel to make sense of what occurs. In this way, Isaiah 12:1-3 shows the necessity of the gospel.

Then you will say on that day,

“I will give thanks to You, O LORD;

For although You were angry with me,

Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me.”                 Isaiah 12:1

For the one who is carefully considering the words before him, the mysteries and the questions leap off the page and they spring from the text.

• What is this day called “that day,” the day in which the LORD’s anger is turned away and is replaced by the LORD’s comfort?
• Why was the LORD angry in the first place?
• Most importantly, how is it possible for the LORD’s wrath, which is always holy and righteous and just, to ever be turned away? Once the LORD’s wrath has been kindled, how can it ever be quenched?

We will leave these questions unanswered for now as we move on to verse two.

“Behold, God is my salvation! I will trust and not be afraid.

For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2

Although it is not explicitly stated or clearly explained here, the second verse offers some clues to the answers to the questions posed in the first verse.

Isaiah boldly proclaims, “God is my salvation!” Now if God has indeed become Isaiah’s “salvation,” then that would explain why God’s anger is turned away, but immediately other questions rise up to take their place.

• How did God become his “salvation” rather than his Judge?
• How is it possible to trust the LORD as your Savior rather than be afraid of the LORD’s judgment?

How do we answer these questions? If we search in religion or philosophy for these answers, we search in vain. Only the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ answers all the questions about our salvation. These few verses in Isaiah 12 show the necessity of the gospel, the gospel that proclaims that, through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross and through faith in Him, the Lord’s just and righteous anger against the sinner is completely and forever quenched and in place of the wrath of God is instead the love and comfort of God, a love that is as the love of a perfect father for his beloved child. It is the gospel alone that accomplishes such a radical reversal in which the sinner is justly forgiven of all his sin and is instead declared righteous.

Notice how the gospel answers the questions that were raised by our text.

• What is “that day” (V. 1,4)? In this context, “that day” is the day of salvation, the day when a person first places their faith in the Lord and trusts Jesus for salvation. It is the day they are “born again” (John 3:3-8). It is the day they first repent of their sins.
• Why was the LORD angry? The Lord is holy and is perfectly pure and righteous. The LORD’s wrath is His settled response to all sin and unrighteousness and evil. All sin will be judged and all who sin are under God’s wrath and condemnation. It is from this terrifying situation that every person must be rescued.
• How is it possible for the Lord’s wrath to ever be turned away? Once the Lord’s wrath has been kindled, how can it ever be quenched? The Bible declares, “The soul that sins will die (Ezekiel 18:4).” Also, “The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).” All are therefore justly under God’s awful wrath. But when any sinner trusts in Jesus, the wrath of God toward that sinner is wholly quenched and God’s wrath instead is fully expended on Christ on the cross and His wrath is thus justly satisfied. For the one who trusts in Jesus, the Lord’s wrath is turned away and the sinner is brought into the family of God as an adopted child.
• By placing my faith and trust in Jesus, God ceases to be my Judge and immediately becomes my Savior. My dread of God’s judgment is replaced by a trust that He will accept Jesus’ death on the cross as the death that I deserved to die for my sin and that God will impute Christ’s perfect righteousness to my account. (Romans 3:21-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18)

Then Isaiah 12:3 says: “Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.” Because of the gospel, my joy is made full and my salvation is secured.

Thus we see the necessity of the gospel. It is only the saving gospel of Jesus Christ that allows us to make sense of the startling transformation described in Isaiah 12:1-3.

SDG                 rmb                 10/23/2017

Next: 2 Samuel 12:13

As I drink more deeply of the riches of the Old Testament and as I pay greater heed to what the authors of the Scripture reveal through the veil of their words, the more I see the absolute necessity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the Lord Jesus and the good news that He brings to ruined sinners overshadows all of the Old Testament, but the gospel breaks through with special power in those passages where forgiveness or transformation or redemption or salvation are mentioned. What takes place in these passages or what is described in them is so dramatic that it demands an explanation, and yet in all of human experience there is no way to explain what occurs except by the grace of God displayed in the gospel of our Lord Jesus. In this series of blogs (studies). I want to look at Old Testament passages that require the gospel to explain them. Therefore this series will be called “The Necessity of the Gospel.” I think that you will see more clearly the beauty of our Savior and the power of His finished work as He is revealed in these verses.

Soon, Isaiah 12:1-3 reveals the necessity of the gospel.

This evening I completed a fairly lengthy meditation on Psalm 143, a psalm from David when he was in despair. In the early part of the psalm, David recognizes his sin and his unworthiness to approach the LORD, but he nevertheless praises the LORD and then appeals to God to deliver him from his distress. A careful consideration of 143:5-6 shows that David has a strategy for escaping from his enemies and from his despair, a strategy that any believer can use to be likewise delivered from despair.

Use the following URL to read more.

https://roybritton.wordpress.com/psalm-1435-6-emerging-from-despair/

As the Lord Jesus has begun His journey to Jerusalem and has set His face like flint to achieve His crucifixion there, He has also been spelling out the cost of following Him to those who would be His disciples. For following Jesus has a cost, then and now, and the would-be disciple needs to carefully count that cost.

In Like 9:57-62 we meet three men who think they want to follow Jesus. The first seems to be willing to do anything. “I will follow You wherever You go (57).” But the Lord is not so impressed with the man’s enthusiasm and eagerness. Instead of embracing the new disciple, Jesus issues a test that is implied in His words, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head (58).” It is as if Jesus is saying, ”Are you sure you want to follow Me? For you must realize that My followers are not going to have an easy path. If you think that you will find glory in following Me in this life, you are mistaken. I do not even have the benefit of a place to call home; how much less will My disciples be at home in this world. Instead of a palace and position, I offer you a humble cross. You must understand what it means to follow Me before you enlist. Consider these things before you rush to follow Me.”

Jesus next commands a potential disciple to follow Him (59), but instead of obeying, the man asks permission to go bury his father. While this may seem like an innocent request, the cultural context indicates that the man actually was stalling and looking to delay any commitment to Jesus until his father died. So Jesus Christ has called the man into His service and the man has refused to follow, waiting until he gets his inheritance. His treasure and his hopes and dreams are firmly grounded in this life and on this earth, and he doesn’t want much to do with preaching the good news or in healing sick people. He has no hunger for heaven and no desire to see Jesus glorified.

Jesus’ reply to the man is immediate and direct: “Allow the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God (60).” The disciple of Jesus is called to a life of obedience committed to the proclaiming of the kingdom of God and being a witness for Jesus. “Set your mind on the things above, not the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2).” Things that were gain are counted as loss (Phil. 3:7). The disciple is called to forsake all for the sake of following Christ, and the Lord has no patience with those who value earthly treasures above the true riches of the kingdom of God. Let the dead bury their own dead, but let the true disciple abandon all for Jesus’ glory.

The third person seems to make a similar excuse the second man, but there is a subtle difference. “I will follow You, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home (61).” Again, this seems like a reasonable request, but Jesus replies to him with words that point out the high cost of following Him. Jesus measures not only the words, but also the attitude of the heart. Where do your loyalties lie? If you have been truly called by the Lord, then your life is no longer your own (1 Cor. 6:20) and you are to obey the Lord.

Jesus again highlights the cost: “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (62).” There is no option to look back, because if you look back it indicates that you are not fully committed. Lot’s wife looked back to Sodom and the LORD judged her on the spot (Gen. 19:26; Luke 17:32). Just so, the disciple who looks back has revealed a lack of commitment. Of course, we must understand what our Lord means when He says, “looking back.” He does not mean that the true disciple never remembers his past and never looks back to people he knew and to things that he did before he was a follower of Jesus. Rather, Jesus is talking about looking back with a fondness that tempts a return to the past situation. If you have come to Christ, the past is gone and there is no return. (2 Cor. 5:17) If you have come to Christ, the gaze is fervently forward to press on toward the goal for the prize (Phil. 3:13), and there must be no looking back with longing for the former things. The ease and luxury of the past will dull the effort and the discomfort of pressing forward. The pleasurable sins and lusts of the past will lure you away from righteousness and the call to suffer and bear your cross. Looking back is not helpful, and our Lord warns that this can reveal that you are not fit for the kingdom of God.

This passage, then, is about the cost of following Jesus. The disciple is to endure hardship and suffering and to accept that are part of bearing a cross daily (9:23). The disciple has entered that relationship with Christ that makes all other human relationships inferior. Jesus will be preeminent or He will not be your Lord at all. Jesus will allow no rivals. If you love others more than you love Jesus, you are not a disciple. If you love earthly treasure more than you love Jesus, you are probably among the dead. If you claim to follow Jesus, but long for the former days and look back to them, you are not fit for the Kingdom. Rather, let all true disciples “leave our nets” forever behind and steadfastly fix our eyes on Jesus and let us endure whatever suffering and hardship the Lord has prepared for us with joy as we proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.

SDG       rmb       9/10/2017

The paragraphs that follow are a collection of musings that I had as I was reading the fascinating story of Jesus’ encounter with Bartimaeus, which is told in detail in Mark and in Luke. So this post is really a Bible study on this meeting.

The context of the story is that Jesus is leaving Jericho to head up the hill to Jerusalem with His apostles and a large crowd behind Him, and here is Bartimaeus, a complete nobody, now forever a character in the most important biography in the history of the world.

What do we know about Bartimaeus? We know that he is the son of Timaeus. Who is Timaeus? We have no idea. Both father and son are forever obscured from us. They are faceless people in the flow of humanity. But Bartimaeus encountered Jesus Christ and his history was forever changed.

We also know that Bartimaeus was blind. He could not see and was therefore aware of his helplessness (Romans 5:6). He was dependent upon others to help him and to lead him.

We know that Bartimaeus was a beggar. His only possible means of support and of survival was begging that others would show him pity and give him something. He was a helpless nobody, but he was ready to cry out to Jesus for mercy and salvation. This is so very different from most of us. Most of us have too much pride to call out to anyone for help. But while calling out for help is one thing, calling out for salvation is another. There is only One who can grant salvation and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our need for salvation must demolish our pride and cause us to cry out for mercy from Jesus.

In this way, Bartimaeus is an example to us of what it means to receive the salvation that Jesus offers.

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13; Joel 2:32) And Bartimaeus called on the Lord and thus he was saved.

Bartimaeus was the only person in the gospels who called Jesus “the Son of David.” Son of David was a Messianic term. The Messiah would be the Son of David, a great warrior king who would restore Israel once again to their place of prominence. The crowd spoke of Jesus as the Nazarene (47), but Bartimaeus knew Him as the Son of David, the promised Messiah and the One he should seek.

(2 Corinthians 4:4) Bartimaeus, though blind, saw Jesus for who He was, but those walking with Jesus who had their sight did not see Him for who He was. (See John 9:35-39 for other verses that support this theme.)

Are you blind? Are you more like the crowd which was excited to be around Jesus, but never committed themselves to follow Jesus and never called out to Him for mercy and rescue? Or are you like Bartimaeus, aware of your wretchedness and your sin and eager to cry out to Jesus for mercy? Are you like Bartimaeus in that you will “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near (Isaiah 55:6)”?

Because of his encounter with Jesus, Bartimaeus will never experience the wrath of God, but will instead forever be in front of the throne praising the Lord Jesus (Revelation 7:9), the Lamb of God, who is the One who rescued him. Bartimaeus encountered Jesus in the flesh and Jesus gave him back his sight. But Jesus also saved him for eternity and declared him saved because of his faith. (“Go; your faith has made you well.” 10:52)

Jesus gives Bartimaeus a complete blank check. “What do you want Me to do for you?” WHAT THIS REVEALS ABOUT BARTIMAEUS Here the Lord of the universe asks a wretched blind beggar what he want s Him to do for him. How amazing that the Lord will serve the beggar! Jesus gives Bartimaeus the opportunity to ask for whatever he wants and the size of the request will display the size of his faith. What does Bartimaeus believe about Jesus? By asking for his sight, something that only God can give him, Bartimaeus reveals that he believes that Jesus is God in the flesh and that He can give him the things that only God can give. Application: What do you believe about Jesus? Have you ever trusted Jesus to give you what only God can give you? What do your requests reveal about the size of your faith in Jesus?

Jesus gives Bartimaeus a complete blank check. “What do you want Me to do for you?” WHAT THIS REVEALS ABOUT JESUS In typical fashion, Jesus responds to the situation with all the authority of God. Who would ask a blind man, “What do you want Me to do for you?” What is the blind man likely to request? Of course the blind man is going to ask for his sight. And Jesus must surely have anticipated this request. He must have known that this would be the request, and yet He still gives the blind man the open invitation to ask for anything. Now, this again reveals Jesus’ deity, for no one but God could fulfill this request and likewise no one but a Man who knew Himself to have divine power and authority would issue such a statement to the blind man. This encounter reveals that Jesus is, indeed, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the One who has all the authority and power of God.

At the call of Bartimaeus, Jesus stopped (10:49). This surely is an amazing thought! At the pathetic cry of a dirty, blind beggar in the dusty streets of Jericho, amid the din of the crowd and the noise and in the throng of faces, Jesus hears Bartimaeus’ cry of faith and STOPS. How can it be! The Son of God, on His way up to Jerusalem to accept His crucifixion and to embrace His suffering; the Son of Man on His way to give His life as a ransom for many (10:45), hears the pathetic cry of this forgotten man and STOPS. God STOPS. O surely this tells us of the power of faith! Jesus Christ was alert for the call of faith. And Jesus Christ is still alert for the call of faith. Has He ever heard your cry? Have you ever cried out to Him? Has Jesus ever heard your cry begging for His mercy? (Romans 9:15-24; 10:13) Are you sure that there was one day when the Lord Jesus Christ heard your cry for mercy and STOPPED?

The crowd tells Bartimaeus to be quiet (48). This is what the crowd always does. The crowd is always there to make sure you feel the full weight of peer pressure and make sure that you do not call out to Jesus for mercy and salvation. Have you let the crowd prevent you from getting to Jesus? If so, you have allowed the crowd to keep you from salvation. Let those who are perishing perish Let the dead bury their own dead (Luke 9:60), but don’t let the crowd keep you from your worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

SDG       rmb       9/1/2017

 

The book of Titus has several themes running through its three short chapters, but perhaps the most remarkable theme is the idea that Cretans, who are by nature “always liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons (1:12),” can be transformed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, in Christ even these immoral pagans can be sanctified to live righteous and godly lives. Titus 3:3 is a verse that reminds us that it is not just the Cretans who need to be transformed and redeemed.

“For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” – Titus 3:3  (Other passages to consider: Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:17-19; Romans 6; 1 Peter 4:3)

The first thing we must observe is this: It is a THEOLOGICAL FACT that ALL believers, before coming to faith in Christ:

• were once enslaved to lusts and pleasures (in a word, sin; John 8:32-36);
• were once deceived by the devil about our sinful state and about our terrifying fate;
• were once foolish and either intentionally or unwittingly made unwise choices;
• were once disobedient and willfully opposed to the commands of Scripture;
• malice, envy and hatred marked our lives.

Whether openly and shamelessly manifested or disguised under a layer of respectability and joviality, all men without Christ are helplessly sinful and live in a constant state of rebellion against God and against His holiness. Indeed, all their thoughts are marked by sin (Genesis 6:5; Hebrews 4:13), whether those sins are manifested or not. Because of Adam’s sin, we are all born into the kingdom of rebellion and darkness, and the only way to change kingdoms is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

So it is a theological fact that all men and women without Christ are slaves of sin (Romans 6) and are helpless (Romans 5:6) within themselves to change. Of course, sinners love the darkness (John 3:19-20) and so have no desire to forsake their sin, but if there was somehow some spark of a desire for holiness, there would be absolutely no ability to ever take the smallest step in a righteous direction.

Here in Titus 3:3 Paul is once again emphasizing the absolute nature of salvation and is making clear that you are only and fully in either one camp or in the other. You are either a saint who now loves righteousness and obedience and holiness or you are still lost and so still love sin and disobedience and rebellion. All people are in one group or the other and there is an infinite chasm between the two that can only be bridged by the cross. And we were ALL once foolish ourselves.

The question is, “Have you been rescued? Have you received Christ and His salvation? Or are you still foolish and enslaved to various lusts? Have you surrendered yourself fully to the Lord Jesus Christ or are you still a defiant rebel? There is no middle ground. If you have not willfully passed over from death to life (John 5:24), then you are still lost, no matter how genteel and proper and upright you may appear to be. Repent, therefore, and come to Christ.

SDG       rmb       8/9/2017

“The LORD has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all.” Psalm 103:19

The central and essential truth contained in this verse is that THE LORD’S SOVEREIGNTY RULES OVER ALL. The LORD is the King of the universe and all that occurs or exists in His universe does so by His sovereign decree. He rules and reigns and is in control of all that takes place. His sovereignty rules over all, and because His sovereignty rules over all, then . . .

APPLICATION  2 – I will pray to the Lord. The logic behind this statement is straightforward.

First, the sovereign LORD has granted me access to His throne room through His Son, Jesus Christ. In Ephesians, Paul declares that all believers, both from Jews and from Gentiles, have access to the Father through the Spirit. In 3:12 Paul says we have boldness and confident access through faith in Christ. Believers have access to all of heaven’s treasures because heaven’s King has chosen me and called me into His presence forever. I can enter His presence confidently, even boldly.

Next, the sovereign King commands me to pray to Him, so the blessings of prayer come to me as the blessings of obedience. The LORD commands me to pray to Him so that He can glorify Himself by answering.

Finally, the sovereign Lord does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3). There is nothing that the Lord desires to do or to accomplish or to create that is limited by His ability, so there is no prayer that I could pray and no request that I could make that would not come to pass because God desired to do it but lacked the ability. He is able to do anything that He desires or wills. There is nothing that is too difficult for the Lord. (Jeremiah 32:17, 27). The Lord is unlimited in His ability to answer my prayers. He has the power.

So because His sovereignty rules over all, I will pray to Him and expectantly wait for His answer.

SDG      rmb       8/8/2017

I begin a series of meditations on Psalm 103:19 in which I will explore this verse and find application to our lives.

“The LORD has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all.” Psalm 103:19

The central and essential truth contained in this verse is that THE LORD’S SOVEREIGNTY RULES OVER ALL. The LORD is the King of the universe. From the spinning of the largest galaxy to the function of every atom, all move and exist at His command. He rules and reigns and all circumstances are ordained and orchestrated by His holy and righteous decree. Even all my circumstances have been ordained by the glorious, Holy One. His sovereignty rules over all.

APPLICATION 1: I will trust in the Lord

From Psalm 131, I will not involve myself in great matters or in things too wonderful or difficult for me. Since the LORD is sovereign over the universe, I will let God be God and not try to over-manage the events of my life. The LORD is the one with all wisdom and all power. Therefore, I will trust Him to rule.

From John 18:11 – As the Lord Jesus drank the cup the Father had given Him to drink, so I will drink the cup that the Father has given me to drink. The cup He gives me is lovingly prepared to help me grow in sanctification and usefulness. I will drink and trust Him.

I will cease striving and know that the Lord is God. (Psalm 46:10). Striving implies an anxiety and a restlessness, but when I see that God is sovereign, my striving ceases and I rest instead. I rest in His power and His protection.

I will trust when I am frightened by this hostile universe (Psalm 56:3; Isaiah 12:2; Jeremiah 20:11), knowing that the Lord my God is in sovereign control. I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD is with me like a dread champion and He is able to defend me and protect me.

Because His sovereignty rules over all, my response to fear is to trust the Lord. I will cry aloud to Him (Psalm 142:1-2). I will remind myself of His power and of His sovereignty and remind myself that He is for me (Romans 8:31-39). I will remember that the God who rules the universe is my Lord and I will trust the LORD.

SDG       rmb       8/3/2017