Tag: law

Holy Desires (Part Three)

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers (NIV).

God urges us to delight in his counsel. The happy person delights in God’s law. What is meant by the law of the Lord? Perhaps the word law would be better translated as “instruction”. Here the psalmist intends the Scriptures; that is, God’s written revelation. They are law in the sense of binding instruction for us, since God’s instruction is not optional, but the word means more than precepts and regulations. In God’s law you find commands, narrative examples and testimony to God’s nature, plans and actions. God teaches us who he is, what his plan for his glory is in history, how to know him and draw near to him, and how to fellowship with him.

To delight is to feel great pleasure. Joy and satisfaction combine in an intense, heart-felt experience. “Wow! I like this! I can’t stop myself from wanting more.” This is what many religious people are missing. They may worship because they feel they must, but it is the wrong kind of “must”, flowing from fear or obligation and not from joy and love. Suppose I asked my wife in a melancholy or reluctant way, “Must I kiss you?” She’d probably say, “No!” But what if I said to her with desire in my voice, “I must kiss you!” That’s a far different matter!

Delight develops from experience. Delight does not happen from a legalistic prescription. It does not come from forcing yourself to read three or four chapters a day. Approaching the Bible with that attitude is more likely to produce pride in your heart than delight in God’s law. Delight occurs as the Spirit uses God’s word with his grace and causes you to sense its value and sweetness. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold… How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Psalm 119:72, 103)! Like coming to know God, we taste it and by grace find out how good it is (cf. Psalm 34:8).

The delight in God’s law leads the happy person to meditate on it. The word translated in verse two as “meditate” is the same word translated as “plot” in Psalm 2:1b. To meditate is to have deep reflective thought on the ideas of God’s word and to plan how those ideas can transform our character, ideas, attitudes, words, and actions. Yes, we need to apply God’s instruction to every facet of who we are and what we do. This requires a more active reading of God’s word than most Christians are accustomed to. We need to read carefully, understand fully, think intently, and then apply wisely. All of us will profit more from the Bible, if we make longer investments of time and concentration when we read it.

In other words, meditation is for people who are active, like Joshua. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; 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 (Joshua 1:8 NIV). People who want to accomplish tasks for the glory of God need to meditate on the Scriptures. “How can God’s ideas change my world?”

Let us look intently at ourselves. In what ways are we thinking about how God’s message can transform our lives, our family, our churches, our neighborhoods, our nation, and our world? As we read the Bible this week, let’s look for ideas that will change our lives and think about how to put those ideas to work.

Grace and peace, David

Sorting Out Guilt and Guilt Feelings

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Hebrews 10:22

The Holy God has provided a way that people can approach him and have their guilt and guilt feelings cured. First, we must understand the cure for guilt.           God offers the cleansing of the conscience. Let’s briefly review the problem that had to be dealt with.

There is a three-part true guilt because of sin: just condemnation because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:18), righteous judgment due to personal disobedience (Ephesians 5:6), and a holy verdict of wrath because of not believing in Christ (John 3:18). Linked to this true guilt is a conscience that produced acts that lead to death: because the sinner is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1), because death cannot produce life that God accepts (Romans 6:21), and because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

During the time of the law or old covenant, there was an incomplete solution to the problem of guilt. The true believers before Christ came were truly saved. Their sins were forgiven and they were right with God, because they believed that God would provide a perfect offering for sin. They were right with God (Romans 4:1-8). But their consciences were not cleared (they still felt guilty for their sins), because Christ’s better sacrifice had not yet been offered (Hebrews 9:9-10; 10:1-4).

Now we have the better blessing of the new covenant (10:22). The blood of Christ has been sprinkled on our hearts to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. Our sins are forgiven and God and his law are satisfied. “What Christ has done in liberating us… is… to set our conscience free from the guilt of sin… [The Christian has] freedom of conscience, freedom from the tyranny of the law, the dreadful struggle to keep the law, with a view to winning the favour of God. It is the freedom of acceptance with God and of access to God through Christ” (Stott, Galatians, p. 132). We have this actual cleansing as a reality in our lives. We are not guilty, but right with God. We are free people.

However, many encounter difficulties in applying this to their lives: “But I still have a sense of guilt!” This is a common affliction that afflicts many. This should caution us against giving quick, simplistic answers that pertain to all. In different people the problem may spring from one or multiple sources. Having given that caution let us think about some of these in the form of questions.

  • Are you really right with God? Perhaps you feel guilt because you are guilty. Your problem might be that you have never trusted in Christ to have your sins forgiven and to have his righteousness credited to your account.
  • Do you understand the gospel of Christ? You might be truly saved, but either you have been poorly taught or have been taught much error with the truth. When such afflicted people learn the truth and grab hold of it, it can be like “getting saved all over again!” Of course you are not, but the resulting liberation as you lay hold of Christ with a clearer understanding can make it feel that way.
  • Is there unconfessed sin in your life? I mean sin that you know about, sin that you indulge in, though you know it is inconsistent with whom you are in Jesus Christ. Have you sinned against God the Father in heaven (1 John 1:9)? Sin is not trivial and should not be played with. As you confess your sins, you will discover his faithfulness in Christ.
  • Is law in your conscience? By law I mean the ten commandments of the law covenant, human religious standards or rituals that function like law, or a wrong view of law during this new covenant age. Do you have the idea that “God will accept me or sanctify me if I keep the law?” Some imagine that God doesn’t really like them unless they are perfect. I realize that many would vehemently deny that this is true about them, yet they still feel this way inside “when other Christians aren’t looking.” The doctrinal paths into this swamp of depression are numerous, and we cannot deal with them now. But listen to the words of John Bunyan: “I may not, will not, cannot, dare not, make it [the law] my saviour and judge, nor suffer [allow] it to set up its government in my conscience; for by so doing I fall from grace, and Christ Jesus doth profit me nothing” (Treasury of Bunyan, p. 924).
  • Are you living by faith in Christ? We plan to talk about this in our next article. But for now, I want to say this: You cannot strip faith out of the Christian way of life and still call it Christian. True Christianity asserts that the supernatural is a necessary part of how we live. Faith in God through Christ by the power of the Spirit of God is essential. True confidence before God comes by his action in us. Our faith is part of this relationship.

Grace and peace, David