Martin Luther on the Christian Life

Martin Luther's short treatise on Christian freedom, "The Freedom of a Christian," is probably one of the best and clearest treatises on the Christian life that I have read. In an easy to understand and persuasive prose, Luther sets forth the whole of the Christian life in two seemingly contradictory propositions: first, he says that a Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none; and second, he points out that a Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

Luther draws from Pauline letters to show that these two theses are actually like two sides of a coin. In 1 Corinthians 9:19 Paul says, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all.” Luther also quotes Paul's words in his letter to the Romans saying, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another” (Rom. 13:8).

From these two passages and his understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ, Luther argues that the foundational truth of the Christian life is that in Christ's death and resurrection we are justified and freed to serve God and others. We have been set free from the bondage and slavery of the law, sin, and Satan and we are now chained in freedom to obedience toward Christ. Freedom for the Christian is escape from the bondage of sin and submission to the yoke of Christ. It is only in submission and service to Christ where one is found truly free.

Luther then emphasizes the one thing needed for the believers to live by faith and continue in this freedom. He says, "One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ, as Christ says, John 11:25, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall live'; and John 8:36, 'So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed'; and Matt. 4:4, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"

Luther continues, "Let us then consider it certain and firmly established that the soul can do without anything except the Word of God and that where the Word of God is missing there is no help at all for the soul. If it has the Word of God it is rich and lacks nothing since it is the Word of life, truth, light, peace, righteousness, salvation, joy, liberty, wisdom, power, grace, glory, and of every incalculable blessing. This is why the prophet in the entire Psalm 119 and in many other places yearns and sighs for the Word of God and uses so many names to describe it.

"On the other hand, there is no more terrible disaster with which the wrath of God can afflict men than a famine of the hearing of his Word, as he says in Amos 8:11. Likewise, there is no greater mercy than when he sends forth his Word, as we read in Psalm 107:20: 'He sent forth his word, and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.' Nor was Christ sent into the world for any other ministry except that of the Word. Moreover, the entire spiritual estate - all the apostles, bishops, and priests - has been called and instituted only for the ministry of the Word.

"You may ask, 'What then is the Word of God, and how shall it be used, since there are so many words of God.' I answer: The Apostle explains this in Romans 1. The Word is the gospel of God concerning his Son, who was made flesh, suffered, rose from the dead, and was glorified through the Spirit who sanctifies. To preach Christ means to feed the soul, make it righteous, set it free, and save it, provided it believes the preaching."

"Faith alone," Luther adds, "is the saving and efficacious use of the Word of God, according to Rom. 10:9: 'If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.' Furthermore, 'Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified' (Rom. 10:4). Again, in Rom. 1:17, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.' The Word of God cannot be received and cherished by any works whatever but only by faith."

He then concludes, "Therefore it is clear that, as the soul needs only the Word of God for its life and righteousness, so it is justified by faith alone and not any works; for if it could be justified by anything else, it would not need the Word, and consequently it would not need faith" ("The Freedom of a Christian," from "Martin Luther: Selections From His Writings," ed. John Dillenberger, 54-55).

A Testimony of My Conversion and Call to the Ministry

Shared at the Gideons International Mindanao Camp Gathering in Tagum City on September 23, 2016

Good evening, friends. At the outset, I'd like to thank the organizer for giving me this opportunity to share with you my experience with the ministry of the Gideons International. I'd like to begin by saying that I have believed in God and was taught about Jesus since I was a child. I owned a blue New Testament given by the Gideons International representatives when I was in high school. From that New Testament I learned about the life and ministry of Jesus. Through it also I was able to read the books of Psalms and Proverbs.

Early in my life, I have desired to serve God in full-time ministry as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. Yet I grew up a disobedient child. The concept of the fear of the Lord was unknown to me. I may have looked nice outwardly but deep within I was miserable. My conscience would always bother me and condemn me and I was so uncertainty of my future.

It wasn't very obvious to others but I was very afraid to die. Although I knew that Jesus Christ saves, still I did not have the faith to trust Him fully. So I tried hard doing nice things, like being respectful to my parents, doing the dishes and other house chores, and many other kind deeds. I was made to believe that in doing good works I can sort of earn my way to heaven.

But it did not help me at all and I was quite frustrated. There was something that I was looking for that I haven't found and tasted during those years.

It was the French physicist and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) who spoke of people's need for God when he said, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man, which only God can fill through his Son Jesus Christ." About 1200 years before Pascal, Augustine (354-430) also wrote, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Those quotes from Pascal and Augustine are true in my life. There was a vacuum in me that needs to be filled and there was some kind of restlessness that I didn't know how to put to rest. I thank God that in Christ he fills my emptiness and enables me to rest and to live in peace.

It was in February 1986 when I came to meet a Baptist minister from Bacolod City. He shared to me what I called "a strange teaching about God." We were roommates at a secondary school press conference in Iloilo province.

One night he saw me reading my blue Gideons New Testament. It has been my habit to read my New Testament before I sleep at night. He then asked me if I was a Christian. I was a Roman Catholic at that time. He then asked me if I could spare a few minutes to talk with me about some important things. I said "Yes" out of respect.

Using a Bible tract, he then started to explain to me the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the death of Christ in a way that I did not see in my upbringing. Gradually I was beginning to understand the gospel, the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

At first I was so skeptical at what he was telling me. But later, I was moved to believe that Christ indeed saves, as the Bible says, and by believing in Him, I can be assured of my salvation.

Knowing this gracious saving act of God in Christ toward sinners like me, I was led to confess and repent from my sins. I then began to experience that sense of joy and peace deep within. The things that Augustine and Pascal were talking about became real to me. That peace within that wasn't there before started to overwhelm me.

My contact with this Baptist minister was short. When I returned home after the conference, I started reading some of the Bible tracts that he gave me. I also continued reading my blue Gideons New Testament. When I entered college in 1987, one of my older brothers, who was a new believer, was instrumental in my conversion and in my new found love for the Word of God.

Since then, God has used several people to help me grow in the Christian faith. And in the providence of God, I became a youth-worker serving the Lord among high school and college students. I would say that it was one of the most difficult yet faith-building experiences in life.

While I was serving as a youth-worker I was greatly influenced by the writings of John Stott and J. I. Packer. I especially like John Stott’s book Basic Christianity, which helped me in understanding the Ten Commandments. I was convicted of my sins while reading it.

However, I was also comforted knowing that Jesus paid for all my sins when He died at the cross. Stott also has emphasized in that book the atoning sacrifice of Christ at the cross and how that sacrifice satisfied the righteous requirement of God for our sin. I am so thankful that Christ did everything to secure my salvation.

The peace that I have been longing for has come as a result of the knowledge of God’s saving grace in Christ. My reading of the Bible became very meaningful. One time, I was reading Isaiah 53 where it says, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed."

Isaiah was talking about the servant of the Lord who died and was condemned instead of God's people. Suddenly my eyes were opened to the truth that God will not take my sins against me anymore all because His servant has taken my place and paid for the penalty of my sins. That’s really amazing! That’s grace! It gripped me from the inside out.

God did many wonderful things to me since then. One of the amazing things that He did in my life was to call me to serve Him in the ministry of the gospel. He called me to become a preacher of His Word. I am now pastoring a church in Davao City.

I thank God for the privilege He has given me to serve Him as a pastor-preacher. Please pray for me that I might remain faithful in teaching and preaching the Word of God, which I first read in my blue Gideons New Testament. I don't have that Gideons New Testament anymore. I gave it to someone already. I now have the gold Gideons Bible. And I am willing to give this to anybody who needs guidance from the Lord and knowledge of the great salvation that He offers through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you very much for the opportunity you have given me to share my story about how I came to know the Lord and how God used the ministry of the Gideons International to impress upon me His precious Word, the Bible.

Anchor and Lighthouses in Homeschooling

In many ways, homeschooling is like a journey. Sometimes it feels like a sea journey. There are times when the voyage is smooth while at other times it’s rough. Sometimes the journey is as clear as the daylight, but there are also times when it’s uncertain and as dark as the darkest night.

Sixteen years ago, we decided to homeschool our children in spite of lack of knowledge, resources and materials, in spite of zero moral support from family and friends, and non-existence of homeschool support group like our Lighthouse Homeschool Network (LHN) now.

What I want to share with you today are some of the lessons that Cathy and I have learned from our homeschooling journey, which I’m comparing to a sea voyage, and we as amateur sailors. As I do, I would like to focus on two important things, which I call mariner’s aids or tools that help provide a stable and safer homeschooling journey. The first tool is the anchor and the second one is the lighthouse.

As homeschoolers on a journey, we have a goal and a destiny. Of course, our ultimate goal as Christians in all and every endeavor, including homeschooling, is to give glory to God. We were created to show forth the beauty and majesty of our Lord and Creator who revealed Himself clearly in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. That’s our ultimate goal in everything – to honor him.

Now, how do we get there? It’s a life-long journey, you would say. And that’s true. And our homeschool journey is an important aspect of that lifelong journey.

What do we need in order to get there? Well, like traveling at sea, we need first of all, an anchor, “that which gives the [assurance] of stability or security, or a source of abiding confidence.” An anchor symbolizes strength and stability in seafaring especially in the midst of a storm.

In the Bible anchor is used figuratively of the hope that we have in the promises of God. Hebrews 6:19 says: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Well, in context, the promises of God pertain to the believers’ secured position in Christ which includes our redemption from and forgiveness of sin and the hope of entering God’s glorious presence.

In other words, our hope, our anchor, is securely fastened to our faithful and unchanging God who fulfills all His promises to His children. And the anchor that firmly connects us to God is our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Him, our hope, our position, cannot be moved or shipwrecked by the storms of life. That’s how strong our anchor is! That’s how stable and solid the rock which our anchor holds on to!

Thus, like the sailors that drop their anchor in the middle of the sea in order to provide stability for the ship, especially during the storm, we also fasten our hope, we fix our eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ, our anchor, who provides us with security and firmness, as Christ intercedes and connects us to God.

The only difference between the sailors’ anchor and ours is that while the sailors drop their anchor with the hope that it would hold on to something firm and sturdy under the sea we, however, thrust our anchor, by faith, upward to heaven, where our hope is fixed, even in Christ who ministers for us at the Father’s right hand. Christ is our hope of glory who provides for us security and stability in times of trouble. Christ does this for us through His unceasing intercession and through the constant ministry of His Spirit in our lives.

How does it relate to our homeschooling? Well, it’s through this. If our aim is to please Christ or to glorify God, our homeschooling materials and resources and activities must be grounded on something that help us achieve this aim. That means that our resources and materials and activities should be Biblically-based, Christ-centered, and God-pleasing.

There are a lot of teaching materials and resources available in the internet and the market today that will help our children achieve academic excellence and earn them scholarship in prestigious institutions of higher learning. But academic excellence must not be our ultimate aim in homeschooling. It must be subordinate to our main goal of knowing and pleasing Christ.

We may have children who will become academic elite, but if they lack humility, respect for authority and genuine concern for other people and the kingdom of Christ, their academic achievements will fail them eventually.

We want children who are not only academically competent but also spiritually mature and committed to help in accomplishing the Great Commission of Christ, which is to make faithful disciples from all corners of the earth.

I want to address our children here. Children, in your studies, aim for something that’s beyond the here and now. Anchor your effort in your studies to something bigger than this world. Aim at serving Christ and glorifying Christ in your studies now. Use the gifts and talents God has given you to serve Him and to serve others and you will know that your anchor, your effort, is holding on to something stable.

Now, boys and girls, how about the lighthouse? What is a lighthouse and what is its purpose? A lighthouse “is a tower with a bright light at the top, located at an important or dangerous place regarding navigation (or travel over water). The two main purposes of a lighthouse are to serve as a navigational aid and to warn boats of dangerous areas. It is like a traffic sign on the sea.”

Historians said that the first lighthouses were actually given by nature itself. Sailors sometimes used landmarks such as glowing volcanoes to guide them. In the ancient world, trading ships were eventually built enabling navigators to sail long distances to buy and sell goods. In the days of wooden ships with sails, the wind and waves could easily push them against the rocks and wreck them. And so, the need for lighthouses as warning signals arose.

In homeschooling, we need lighthouses. We need something, or someone, to guide us on our way and to warn us when we are heading at the wrong direction. I would like to share with you only two lighthouses in our own homeschooling experience.

First, we need counselors or mentors in homeschooling. Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” The Word of God encourages us to employ the wise counsel of others in our endeavors, and homeschooling is no exception. With many unknowns and many options in homeschooling, it is important that in our journey we have fellow voyagers and pilgrims who not only give us wise counsel but also encourage us when we are down and troubled.

That’s where we’ve seen the need to start a homeschool support group in 2009. Lighthouse Homeschool Network has been a great support group for our family here in Davao City and I encourage you to avail of the wisdom and experience of our fellow homeschoolers. To some of you maybe your church support group has been serving as a lighthouse as well.

Some families can do it all by themselves, but many of us opt to pull resources together. And for us the journey has been more enjoyable and pleasing with LHN. So thank you so much for all of you who have encouraged us and helped us in our own journey. We’ve gained a lot of friends and connections through LHN. We also have grown in our knowledge of homeschooling and Christian parenting through many of you. I hope that you will continue to keep your lights shining, your Christian virtues and values, to help our fellow travelers in homeschooling.

Another lighthouse that has been guiding our homeschooling – and this is very important – is of course the Word of God, the Bible. One of the most memorable times I have in homeschooling our children is to be able to read with them the Bible and to share with one another the things that we’re learning from it. Bible reading is an important lighthouse for homeschoolers.

Aside from the Bible, we’ve also read books together, either books that help us know God more, or books about Church Fathers, Christian theologians, missionaries, pastors, and even musicians in the past. These books have enriched not only our knowledge of God and Christ and the lives of believers in the past, but they also made our homeschooling experience enjoyable and exciting. Just reading books together enlightens a lot our way.

I know many of you, if not all of you are doing this already. But, boys and girls, isn’t it a lot of fun when mommy or daddy reads books aloud for us? Of course! Maybe, sometime we could have reading stories together as a support group. That’s something that we could probably include in our joint activities in the future.

Well, I could add some more ‘lighthouses’ that could guide our way in homeschooling but I think those two are important – support group and family time. Let us remember that our greater goal in homeschooling is to bring ourselves to a deeper understanding of Christ and a greater commitment to His kingship and lordship over us.

Ultimately, we want to glorify and honor God in everything we do, including our labor to bring up and teach our children in the ways of the Lord. May the Lord continue to give us the grace and the right motive to do this!

Progress of Civilization and God-Centered Learning

No civilization has advanced without education. Civilization can only be achieved and sustained by continuous learning. Education then is man's chief means of acquiring and teaching essential knowledge and skills that leads to progress. For progress to take place and continue, people must keep on learning and discovering truths that are yet to be known, and at the same time build on the knowledge that are already there. You stop learning and you end the possibility of progress.

One thing I observe though is that at every significant point in history where progress deeply impacts society in a good sense, people are learning and living a God-centered and gospel-motivated life rather than man-centered way of life. One example of this is the Victorian era (1837-1901) when England experienced tremendous progress and somehow influenced other countries as well. If one word could sum up Victorian England that would be morality. Victorians aspired to live moral lives in line with their understanding of the Holy Scriptures and their high standard enabled them to excel in literature, science, and industry in a way that is still admired today. That's why Victorian era is usually associated with progress and moral excellence.

I've read that when Queen Victoria in London entertained a chief from one of Britain's African colonies, he asked her the secret of England's greatness. Her majesty did not take him to the Tower of London and showed him the glittering crown jewels. She did not speak to him of the brilliant politicians who debated in Parliament. Instead she presented the chief with a Bible and said, "This is the secret of England's greatness." A prince from India, which is one of Britain's former colonies, also recognized this truth. He asked, "Where did the English-speaking people get all their intelligence and energy and cleverness and power?" "It is their Bible that gives these to them. And now they bring it to us and say, 'This is what raised us. Take it and raise yourselves.'"

Useful Directions For Reading and Searching the Scriptures

by Thomas Boston (1676-1732)

(These directions are also available at http://www.puritansermons.com/boston/bost3.htm)

1. Follow a regular plan in reading of them, that you may be acquainted with the whole; and make this reading a part of your private devotions. Not that you should confine yourselves only to a set plan, so as never to read by choice, but ordinarily this tends most to edification. Some parts of the Bible are more difficult, some may seem very barren for an ordinary reader; but if you would look on it all as God's word, not to be scorned, and read it with faith and reverence, no doubt you would find advantage.

2. Set a special mark, however you find convenient, on those passages you read, which you find most suitable to your case, condition, or temptations; or such as you have found to move your hearts more than other passages. And it will be profitable often to review these.

3. Compare one Scripture with another, the more obscure with that which is more plain, 2 Pet. 1:20. This is an excellent means to find out the sense of the Scriptures; and to this good use serve the marginal notes on Bibles. And keep Christ in your eye, for to him the scriptures of the Old Testament look (in its genealogies, types, and sacrifices), as well as those of the New.

4. Read with a holy attention, arising from the consideration of the majesty of God, and the reverence due to him. This must be done with attention, first, to the words; second, to the sense; and, third, to the divine authority of the Scripture, and the obligation it lays on the conscience for obedience, 1 Thess. 2:13, "For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe."

5. Let your main purpose in reading the Scriptures be practice, and not bare knowledge, James 1:22, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." Read that you may learn and do, and that without any limitation or distinction, but that whatever you see God requires, you may study to practice.

6. Beg of God and look to him for his Spirit. For it is the Spirit that inspired it, that it must be savingly understood by, 1 Cor 2:11, "For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God." And therefore before you read, it is highly reasonable you beg a blessing on what you are to read.

7. Beware of a worldly, fleshly mind: for fleshly sins blind the mind from the things of God; and the worldly heart cannot favour them. In an eclipse of the moon, the earth comes between the sun and the moon, and so keeps the light of the sun from it. So the world, in the heart, coming between you and the light of the word, keeps its divine light from you.

8. Labour to be disciplined toward godliness, and to observe your spiritual circumstances. For a disciplined attitude helps mightily to understand the scriptures. Such a Christian will find his circumstances in the word, and the word will give light to his circumstances, and his circumstances light into the word.

9. Whatever you learn from the word, labour to put it into practice. For to him that has, shall be given. No wonder those people get little insight into the Bible, who make no effort to practice what they know. But while the stream runs into a holy life, the fountain will be the freer.

Receiving the Word of God

"And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers" 1 Thessalonian 2:13.

Every time Paul remembers how the Thessalonians accepted and treasured every gospel truth he shared to them, he can't help thanking God for such a response. Of course, we are aware that Paul's evangelistic sermons were done by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who opened the hearts of the Thessalonians, both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, to believe and appropriate the Word of God. And that's the occasion for Paul to say, “For this reason we also constantly thank God...”. God, through His Word and Spirit is at work in them.

Through Paul's bold gospel proclamation and by the power of the Holy Spirit, coupled by their exemplary lives, the Thessalonians eagerly embraced the Word of God. They were persuaded by it (Acts 17:4), believed its truth claims, appropriated its wonderful promises, and recognized what it really is, the “word that comes from the mouth of God” and not mere words of men. That Word, I tell you, has changed them and their lifestyle.

This is very important to us as 21st century believers. The Word of God in this passage in one sense can mean the whole Bible in its written form handed down to us. It can also mean the body of doctrines that summarizes the whole Biblical teachings on God, Christ, sin, salvation, second coming and other important truths of the Christian faith which we received from our forefathers in the faith.

Amazingly, the faithful preaching of God's Word every Lord's Day can also be denominated as the Word of God, as the Second Helvetic Confession, Chapter 1, declares, “Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed, and received by the faithful.”

We who are deeply convinced of the power of God's Word ought to be involved in getting that Word out to the world, one way or another. We are not just talking about sending missionaries overseas, though that's part of it.

We are talking about that sense of burden and faithfulness to witness both in word and in deed to our neighbors and friends. These neighbors may have been struggling for years in life and they do not have the same hope and comfort that you have in Christ. They may have never heard about the power of God’s kingdom and the rule of King Jesus. If you go out as a friend and share the good news of Christ, both in your word and action, they might be able to taste God’s goodness, which you have been enjoying.

As one with Christ, we have the ability and resources to make that Word visible to our friends. It may start by becoming really acquainted with them and showing genuine interest in asking and listening to them. Before you know it, God may have been working in the heart of that neighbor-friend and he might just hold on to every word of God you share to him.

It is a sad situation to behold when churches that bear the name of Christ reject the Word of God and regard it as mere words of men. An equally distressing phenomenon is the disinterest of the Bible and its doctrines by many professing Christians. Instead of listening and learning from the Word of God, they lean their ears and set their minds on various ideologies and philosophies to satisfy their own selfish curiosity. Pulpits and airwaves in this county and all over the world have become venues for selling watered-down gospel and management techniques of how to grow a church.

Of course, you don't want that to happen to your and to your church, do you? But once you start neglecting the faithful preaching and teaching of God's Word you are heading for that direction, too. Once you do not diligently guard what you hear from the pulpit and church classrooms, seeds of falsehood or different gospel, which is not a gospel at all, will creep in.

Disregard of God’s Word may also manifest in your failure to find regular time for Bible reading and meditation, much more to apply the truth that you know. It could even be seen in your casual and frivolous attitude toward sin.

The way to accept and embrace the Word of God as the Thessalonians did is by, first of all, longing and thirsting for the pure preaching of God's Word every Lord's Day. Preaching of God’s Word is of primary importance for God’s people. As you let that preached Word saturate your mind you will be constrained by the Holy Spirit to act in obedience to that Word. As you patiently read and study that Word and let it regulate your heart and mind, God will show how great your sins and miseries are.

Then He will lead you to confess and repent from certain sins that you've been committing over and over. That Word of God gives you the grace to abstain from doing something immoral and destructive, like hurting your spouse, dishonoring your parents, slandering your brother, abusing your freedom in Christ or even blowing your top.

Parents, how many times have we committed foolish mistakes by flaring up in front of our children, which could have been prevented if we hide the Word of God in our heart? Or how many young boys and girls could have obeyed mom and dad promptly and nicely if they just let God's word that says, “Honor your father and your mother” or “Do all things without grumbling” dwell in their heart.

Acceptance of God's Word would be evident in our lives when we start memorizing, meditating and living that Word out daily that it becomes part of our daily thought and conversation with others. As we let the Word of God linger in our mind and heart that Word will come out in our praying, in our encouraging and even in correcting in love of our fellow believer.

By filling our minds with Scriptures, praying with Scriptures, singing the Scriptures and walking according to the Scriptures, we will be faithful recipients of the Word of God. That Word will come out naturally in our behavior and lifestyle. How serious have you been taking the Word of God?

God's Indescribable Gift - Part 3

God's Indescribable Gift - Part 3

(Another meditation on 2 Corinthians 9:15. Thanks once again to Rev. Andy Spriensma for the seed thought of the series of these meditations.)

I would like to add that there is a great encouragement in this passage. There is great comfort in what Paul is saying that God’s gift, Jesus Christ, is indescribable, because it makes us think that Paul could identify with us – whether we are a lay person, a Bible teacher, a pastor or preacher.

If you are a Bible teacher or preacher and, for example, in the middle of the week you are working on a certain passage trying to understand its message and the Spirit illumines the text on your desk in front of you and the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ begins to shine brilliantly, so you end your study with a prayer of thanksgiving.

But then the next part comes, when you have to write your lecture or sermon and you have to do so in such a way that the gospel shines just as beautifully as it did earlier to you, if not more. And you have to do it in such a way that it lasts no more than 30-40 minutes. Otherwise people would get bored and will start asking themselves, “When is he going to stop?”

I tell you, it's not easy to be a pastor or preacher because week after week, preachers have to see to it that God's people know Jesus Christ better than the last sermon or Bible study. Week after week, preachers would labor in their sermon preparation to know Christ better and to describe Him to the congregation who is indescribable, to express Him who is inexpressible, and to speak of Him who is the unspeakable gift of God.

Constantly preachers must think of new ways of saying and new ways of proclaiming and illustrating the same old, glorious truth, the gospel of our salvation, so that God's children would fall in love with Him more and more and give their everything and do everything they can do for His honor and glory.

Author John Piper, speaking about imagination, said this, “Preachers don’t make God’s beauty more beautiful. They make it more visible. They cut through the dull fog of our finite, fallible, sin-distorted perception, and help us see God’s beauty for what it really is.”

So please pray for your pastor every week that by the Spirit of God he would be able to describe to you more visibly the unspeakable gift of God, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. Pastors and teachers of the Bible, let this be our goal every week. May our sermons or lessons be beautiful.

But not because of fancy technique or impressive knowledge or powerful delivery. May they be beautiful because they portray Christ, in ALL His glory. May they be beautiful because they present the gospel in all its wonder. And to do this, use every technique you learned, every skill you acquired, and every God-given gift that is in you.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you come at some point in your Christian life to a notion that there is boredom and monotony in reading or meditating on the Bible, remember, you have not yet fully grasped the gift of salvation. Fellow preachers and teachers, if you come at some point in your ministry or teaching the Bible that there is drudgery, remember, you have not yet fully described God's gift of salvation.

Twenty-four years in my Christian life and ten years of ministry, including 3 years in seminary, still I have not yet fully grasped nor described God's gift of salvation. That is the encouragement. There’s still room to know Christ better and deeper.

Every Bible passage we read or teach presents Christ as our Lord, Redeemer and Mediator. May we know Him all the more as we seek Him daily and weekly in the Holy Scripture. And as we know Him more and more, may we learn to grow also in giving more of ourselves to others, in keeping ourselves humble and in encouraging ourselves to persevere in our Christian life and service, whether as a layman or as an ordained minister in the church of Jesus Christ.

Praising the Lord Our God - Part 2

[The LORD] loves righteousness and justice... ~ Psalm 33:5a

God "loves righteousness and justice." Righteousness and justice are two closely related moral attributes of God, akin to His holiness and wrath, whereby ‘He maintains Himself as the Holy One over against every violation of His holiness’ (Louis Berkhof, A Summary of Christian Doctrine, p.33). Our God delights in doing what is right and just because He is righteous and just.

As the Creator and Lord over all the earth, He governs the whole world with righteousness and justice. And how does He do that? Through His law which is the standard of His righteousness.

Essential to the notion of righteousness is conformity and obedience to the law of God. The world is full of wickedness and injustice because it rejects the law of God. Our society in general abhors the law of God. In its rebellion against the righteous rule of God the world is under judgment. That’s why Paul says, “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom.1:18).

Friends, God is holy. His holiness sets Him apart from us. He hates sin and evil and punishes them who do evil. Part of His punishment is to give sinners over to their own deceitful hearts, sinful passions and depraved minds. Yet in His righteousness He rewards those who do what is right.

But who among us do what is right always? Who among us obey the law of God perfectly? No one, except our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3 does not only tell us that no one is righteous and no one does good. It also declares that God manifested His righteousness and justice in Jesus Christ. God presented Him as propitiation, that is, as an atoning sacrifice that satisfied God’s wrath against our sins.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, the Righteous One, is God’s perfect sacrifice for our sins. He perfectly obeyed the law of God and offered Himself in His death in our behalf.

So none of us can boast before God. All of us are guilty of disobeying His law. None of us is righteous. None of us does what is right. We deserve His wrath. But if by faith you and I accept the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, we are counted righteous. We are united with Him who was tempted in every way yet did not sin so that in Him we who believe become the ‘righteousness of God’ (2 Cor 5:21).

One Puritan pastor puts it this way: “It is our wisdom and our comfort; we care for no knowledge in the world but this: that man hath sinned and God hath suffered; that God hath made himself the sin of men, and that men are made the righteousness of God" (Thomas Hooker).” This is good news! This is the gospel!

So how do we magnify the righteousness of God? The best way is to believe that Christ is our righteousness…that in Him, by faith, God has declared us righteous… that we now stand in a right relationship with God, His law, and His justice…that through Christ we have peace with God and have obtained mercy. Look to Christ. Behold Him as your righteousness and God will not count your sin against you any longer.

We also magnify God’s righteousness by loving His law, His righteous law. When I say the law of God, I’m referring not only to all the laws and commands of God in the Bible but the whole written Word of God itself. Do you love reading and memorizing the word of God? Most of all, do you delight in obeying His Word? Obedience to God’s Word is another way to praise God in His righteousness.

Devoting your time in meditating in order to practice the Word is another way of conforming to God's righteousness. Joshua 1:8 says, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

The law of God is for our good. The Apostle John says, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). When God justifies us, He also gives us the ability to love His Word and to keep His Word. By keeping His Word, we conform to His righteousness and that way we glorify God.

No matter how hard your situation is, God desires your obedience. When your faith is tested look to Christ as your only righteousness for in the light of it, you can endure, even rejoice, in your sufferings. Look to Him who endured all kinds of injustice and pain for your sake.

In all your trials and suffering, remember Him who suffered for you. But do not forget that in all your hardships, God still does what is right and good for you. In Christ, He turns your sorrows into joy, your mourning into dancing, your affliction into opportunity to grow in your faith and obedience. Suffering builds up good character and strengthens hope for God’s people. God alone makes good out of evil. He alone makes right from wrong. He alone does what is right and just. This is the righteous God of the Scripture.

Oh, how easily we accuse God of being unfair when adversity strikes us. Maybe someone very close to you keeps on hurting you. Maybe you have been cheated or abused by someone and it still bothers you. Before accusing God of being unfair or getting back at your perpetrator, remember Christ and the agony He has to go through in bearing the consequences of your sins.

Remember that He was without sin but because of your sins and my sins, He was forsaken by many, hated, scorned and bruised by those who wished him dead. But He endured them all so that you and I will be forgiven. He suffered so that you and I would sin no more. He was afflicted so that you and I would stop hurting each other and would start building up one another in the faith.

We can glorify God even in the most painful situation of our lives when we recognize our suffering and count it with joy that God regards us worthy to share in the suffering of His Son. God knows what is right for us and He does what is right for us, even allowing us to go through difficult circumstances.

Be Watchful of Your Doctrine

A meditation on 2 Peter 3:17

"You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability."

We need to be warned of the danger of false teaching and its natural outcome, that is, greed and immorality. It is true that the Scripture is quite clear when it comes to many teachings. Salvation or redemption from sin, for example, is clear from the Bible that it is from God alone, by His grace alone and to be received only by faith in Christ alone. Salvation is not by faith plus our good works. Rather the Scripture teaches that salvation by grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, results in holy living and produces good works in the lives of those who are saved.

However, there are portions of Scripture that are not easy to interpret. Peter admits that some of Paul's letters contain some things that are hard to understand. These hard-to-understand writings of Paul and other hard passages of the Scripture are being used by these false teachers inside the church to teach strange and esoteric doctrines. These false teachers are twisting the Scripture to deceive many and to earn personal gains (v.16).

Peter is aware of such false teachers operating in the church. That's why he's telling his fellow believers, and he tells us today, to be watchful or else we be carried away by the error of these unprincipled men. By the way, Peter calls them untaught and unstable people who distort the Scriptures (v.16b). Thus he's warning us to be on our guard of our doctrine and to be aware of people who teach erroneous doctrines.

In chapter 2, Peter describes the nature of these deceivers (vv.1-2, 10-12, 13b-19). Then in 2:3b, 4-9, 13a, he warns his readers of the danger and destruction awaiting those people and those who follow them. They will be punished and destroyed by God at the proper time, the same way God punished the ungodly in the time of Noah and Lot (2:4-10a). The apostle is giving us a strong warning here. So we have to take his warning seriously.

If you claim you have received the grace of God in salvation you ought to have a godly lifestyle now, different from your careless and unproductive lifestyle in the past. Or, at least, some noticeable changes in your thinking pattern and behavior must have taken place. It doesn't mean, of course, that you are thoroughly perfect and everything is doing well in your life now. No, that's not what is meant here. In other words, as a professing believer of Jesus Christ, have you seen some growth in your life in terms of your interest in knowing God through the Bible? Or have you noticed a growing desire to obey God and a constant striving to resist sin and temptation in your life?

These are signs of growth in the grace and in the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters in Christ, to grow in the grace of God is also to grow in the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus. Peter makes this very clear in 1:2. We can notice there that God's grace and peace are multiplied in or through the knowledge of God. To know God is the means by which His grace and peace grow and become powerful in our lives.

If you want to enjoy God's perfect peace and His amazing grace, your knowledge of Him has to grow. As one famous preacher says, “Grace is not a mere deposit. It is a power that leads to godliness and eternal life [1:3]. And where the knowledge of the glory and excellence of God cannot be found, grace does not flow. The channel from God's infinite reservoir of grace into and through our lives is the knowledge of God.” This knowledge of God comes to us, of course, through our Lord Jesus Christ as the Spirit opens the Word to us.

Young boys and girls and dear young people, you need to listen, you need to learn the doctrines of our faith before you can take them to heart. And what's the best way to have the knowledge of God but to continually avail of God's appointed means of grace, that is, the preaching of the gospel of Christ and the sacraments. Bible study and meditation, as well as prayer, are also means by which God reveals Himself to us and increases our faith in Him. Faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Do not underestimate the transforming power of God in gospel-preaching. Likewise, do not forsake the things that you've learned from the Bible which your parents or Sunday school or catechism teachers have taught you. Continue to live by them and diligently seek opportunities to share those precious gospel truths to others.

Parents, don't give up. Train your children in the way of God's covenant. Remind them of God's promise to them which was signified and sealed in their baptism. Challenge them to live by faith and to grow in the knowledge of their blessed Savior Jesus Christ.

So together, let us be faithful in the study of God’s Word – in preaching and teaching, and in upholding one another in prayer, asking God to cause us to grow in His grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The “Perfections” of Scripture and Their Implications in Hermeneutics

In the history of Bible interpretation, it was the Protestant Reformers who championed four perfections or attributes of the Scripture as they defended themselves against the accusations of Roman Catholic authorities and as they declared the teachings of the Holy Scripture over and against the excesses of Rome and some of the Protestant sects. These perfections also serve as important guides for us modern interpreters in understanding the message of the Holy Scripture.

The first perfection of Scripture is its authority. By this we mean to say that the Holy Scripture is the supreme and ultimate authority in matters of faith and conduct. While we recognize other authorities and standards such as the church council or assembly, creeds and confessions of the church, church leaders, and others, these are subordinate to the Scripture’s authority. Ultimately our recognition of the authority of Scripture is founded on the Lordship of Christ, who attests to the authority of the Scripture (Matt. 5:17-19), and the authority of God, who is the divine author of the Holy Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21). This tells us that the faithful interpreter of the Bible must submit himself to the Lord as he interprets God’s Word.

Consequently, we interpret Scripture with great care and humility, submitting to its commands and precepts, believing its claims and promises, utterly depending on the Holy Spirit’s illumination and enabling in understanding and applying everything that it says. We have no right therefore to twist, modify or undermine its teachings and instructions in order to suit our own personal, cultural, theological or denominational preferences and convictions which are not Scriptural. Nor do we have the freedom to interpret (or reinterpret) Scripture in such a way as to justify our unscriptural beliefs and wrongdoings or minimize our culpability. That is not only an irresponsible handling of the text of Scripture but that is also an irreverent way of interpreting the Bible.

For example, since Scripture clearly teaches that God will inflict “vengeance on those who do not know [Him] and on those who do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:8), we as Bible interpreters and teachers do not have the right to diminish the truth of eternal punishment in order to make the gospel appealing to the unbelieving ears. In interpreting any Biblical passage, the authority of Scripture must guide us in seeing and learning what it really says, not what we want to see and hear from the text.

The second perfection of Scripture pertains to its necessity. The necessity of Scripture “refers to its indispensable service as the God-ordained instrument for the communication of the knowledge of God and of ourselves. Only by means of the Scriptures do we come to know clearly and fully those things which are necessary for us to know in this life, to God’s glory and for our salvation” (From a handout in Theological Foundations class at Mid-America Reformed Seminary; cf. Belgic Confession, Article II). There are things of and about God and about ourselves which could not have been known to us if the Bible was not written.

In acknowledging the necessity of the Scripture we are saying that without God’s divine act of revealing Himself more clearly and more fully through the written Word, our knowledge of Him and of ourselves is limited, even defective because of our sin (Rom. 1:18-23). Though “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1), God deemed it necessary to make Himself known to man through the writings of the prophets, like Moses (Ex. 17:14; 34:1, 27) or Jeremiah (Jer. 30:2), the apostles, like John (John 20:31; 1 John 1:4), and other men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21).

This then tells us that in reading and studying the Scripture, by faith and through the enabling of the Spirit, we are engaging ourselves in the pursuit of gaining a better and more reliable knowledge of God, of Jesus Christ, of ourselves and the way we should live as God’s people (Jos. 1:8; Psa. 19:7-14; Ps. 119; Luke 24:27; John 5:39; 2 Tim. 3:15). The necessity of Scripture then gives us the motive and the goal in interpreting the Bible, to know and gratefully thank and worship God for revealing Himself in such a special way. Only the Scripture gives us godly wisdom, which is closely connected to the idea of the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; Ps. 119:33-34). Thus in interpreting Scripture we have to bear in mind that the whole written Word has its own overall purpose, while recognizing the unique individual purpose of each writer and the times and audiences they were writing (e.g. Luke 1:1-4; John 20:31).

Third, it is also said that the Scripture is plain and clear for anyone who earnestly seek to know God, His gift of salvation in and through Christ, and His will for us. This perfection is called the clarity or perspicuity of Scripture. Louis Berkhof contends that

“In opposition to Rome, [the Reformers] further defended the clearness of the Bible. They did not deny that it contains mysteries too deep for human understanding, but simply contended that the knowledge necessary unto salvation, though not equally clear on every page of the Bible, is yet conveyed in a manner so simple that anyone earnestly seeking salvation can easily gather this knowledge for himself, and need not depend on the interpretation of the Church or the priesthood” (Summary of Christian Doctrine, p. 20).

As Bible interpreters we must then be careful not to complicate simple commands as “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” or “Honor your father and your mother.” These commandments are simple and need not be allegorized. The same thing applies to the narrative and the truth it portrays.

However, we also recognize that there are different literary genres in the Bible and therefore different literary approaches are required to make sense of the different Scriptural texts (like narrative, prophetic, apocalyptic, parable, etc.). Likewise there are difficult passages in the Scripture that are not easy to understand and this is where the principle that says “Scripture interprets Scripture” or that idea that states “the clearer parts of the Scripture must shed light to the difficult part” applies. The unity of Scripture is also important here. We should not forget that there is one God the Holy Spirit who is behind all the 66 books of the Bible. Literary and historical contexts are also important in this regard. A faithful Bible interpreter cannot afford to disregard the literary structure as well as the environment or background of the author and his audience in trying to understand the meaning of the text.

Responsible Bible interpretation then acknowledges the simplicity of the message of the Scripture, particularly on God’s work of salvation in Christ, while recognizing that there are things that God did not reveal to us (Deut. 29:29). This should move us then to be diligent in studying and understanding the word of God, not giving up when we seem to face dead end.

The sufficiency of Scripture is its fourth perfection. By this “we mean to refer to its adequacy and completeness to regulate, found and confirm the church’s faith and practice. The Bible alone is sufficient to equip the man of God for every good work. It does not require the addition of extra-Scriptural tradition or revelation to provide for the need of God’s people” (From a handout in Theological Foundations Class at Mid-America Reformed Seminary). Again the Reformers vigorously “defended the sufficiency of Scripture, and thereby denied the need of the tradition of the Roman Catholics and of the inner light of the Anabaptists” (Louis Berkhof, Summary of Christian Doctrine, p.20).

Similar to its clarity or perspicuity, the sufficiency of Scripture gives us the assurance that Scripture is our sure foundation and guide in knowing the truth and walking according to the truth. Guided by and dependent upon the Holy Spirit, the faithful Bible interpreters need not look anywhere to find certainty and security in the faith other than what the Spirit has already revealed in the written Word of God. Everything that we need to make us wise unto salvation has been provided by God in the pages of the Sacred Writings.

Thus in keeping with the Scripture’s sufficiency, our hermeneutical approach should be characterized by confidence, not doubting whether or not the Scripture misleads us or confuses us on matters of faith and doctrine. When confronted by two seemingly opposing or contradicting ideas, the interpreter should be convinced that the Scripture contains within itself a way to clarify ambiguity.

These perfections give us reason all the more to love the written Word, to guard its message and to rejoice in the fact that when we are confused we can turn to the Scripture and there find God speaking to us and assuring us that His Word “is a lamp to [our] feet and a light to [our] path” (Psalm 119:105) and can keep our way pure (Psalm 119:9). Thus Paul can confidently say to Timothy,

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:14-16).