Of Radioactive Power Plants and the Holiness of God

Wow, I can't get over how greatly people fear radiation.  In Japan we will learn that over 20,000 people have died as a result of the tsunami.  Whole towns were wiped away with every soul in them.  The news has reported very little on this massive loss of life, instead we keep hearing that there might be radioactivity in the water and the spinach.  The focus is all on the Nuclear Power plants and the potential loss of life (no one has actually died of radiation in Japan) and say very little of the 20,000 who HAVE died.

Here in the US people are buying up Potassium Iodide tablets for fear that the radioactive cloud or wind will make it around the world.  Yes, these concerns are within the realm of possibility but probability says we are over reacting and that we are TERRIBLY frightened of radiation.

I want to take advantage of this powerful fear to speak about something that very few people fear - the Holiness of God.

The word 'holy' means 'separate'.  Whatever God calls holy is separated for a holy use or purpose.  It becomes holy because God says so.  It can be an article (the ark, a candle stand, a wash basin), it can be a day (the Sabbath).  Anything associated with God is holy but only God is HOLY.  The divine attribute of holiness means that God is the most unique entity in the universe.  There is nothing to which you can compare Him, no created thing is like Him, no power or idea is like Him. God is wholly OTHER, totally separate from creation. Holiness is the umbrella attribute that describes ALL of God's attributes. What is the effect of God's Holiness upon us?

Our progress in sanctification (being transformed for a godly purpose) is tempered by this idea - that God's holiness is radioactive to us. I say it this way because very few fear God's holiness but everyone fears radiation. Look to Isaiah 6:5. Isaiah had a vision of God in the temple and he saw His Holiness and he pronounced a very shocking curse upon himself, he said, "Woe is me, I am undone." The words literally mean "I am disintegrated". God's holiness rips us apart at a cellular level. There is nothing good in us, not one cell and when we come in contact with God's holiness we realize the horrible danger we are in. The seraph flew to Isaiah and touched his lips with a cleansing hot coal. Of course the cleansing is the application of the Gospel. Because of the blood of Christ, the Gospel, we may stand in the presence of God's holiness, we come together enough to stand.

But what happens if we hunger to know God more? We read the Word, we hear it preached, we hide it in our hearts and we begin to draw closer to God, we apprehend more of the knowledge of God but in doing so we come closer to his holiness and once again we begin to disintegrate. We turn again to the Gospel for cleansing and the power to stand in His presence and draw closer still.

This is sanctification, the constant tension of the Gospel enabling us to move closer to the Holy One to be stopped by our sinfulness and knocked back, to rely on the Gospel to enable us and it continues in this cycle until we stand before His throne. The unsaved man understands neither the Holiness of God nor the utter destructiveness of sin and the inability for the two to be reconciled. God is revolted by sin and man is the most revolting thing in creation. But the one in Christ is in a constant state of transforming as we learn to rely on the Gospel to allow us to withstand more of the Holiness of God.

This is Law and Gospel, the Holiness of God is revealed in the Law and legalism only clarifies the fact that God is holy and we are not. It's like putting on a hat made of cesium to protect us from uranium. The Gospel is our protection that allows us to move closer - in Him we live and move and have our being.

If God is so powerful then why does he need to be praised and glorified?

"If God is so powerful then why does he need to be praised and glorified?"  I hear this question a lot, mostly from skeptics but also from believers.  God does NOT need to be praised or glorified because God doesn't NEED anything.  God didn't even need to create but he did and here we are.

Every week Christians go to church to ascribe to God his supreme worth for he alone is supremely worthy. We don't worship God because he needs to be worshiped but so that we might enjoy fellowship with the Creator and his children. Here's an illustration: Not to brag but I have a brick of 15 year old cheddar, it sells for about $50 a pound and it was a Christmas gift from my daughter. It has great value to me. I recognize it's value by bragging about it, smelling it, eating it slowly, holding it in my mouth, pairing it with a fine libation; I even SHARE it (sparingly) and other rituals that acknowledge the value of this amazing Wisconsin delicacy.

Worshiping God is pretty much the same thing. We acknowledge his supreme worth and value in our lives, we hear his Word preached, we boast of his majesty, we sing of his attributes and works and we receive the pleasure of knowing he is pleased to reconcile sinners back to himself.  Worship and praise are parts of a homecoming feast. (In the next article I will discuss the worship service as a homecoming feast.)

Glory, comes from the ancient Hebrew word for 'weight' or 'heaviness'. This made more sense back in the 70s when we spoke of a topic or subject as being 'heavy' - some concepts carry a great cognitive weightiness.

When we glorify God we are acknowledging his perfections and attributes. God is uniquely 'other' from his creation, there is nothing to compare him to. He displays his love, his mercy, justice, wrath, sovereignty, supremacy, power, providence and all encompassed with holiness. Our attributes are mere reflections of his and carry the distortions of the fall, we are capricious, selfish, proud and rebellious. We get a distorted view of God when we project our own weaknesses onto God.

So to glorify God is not to give him something he needs, but to acknowledge the glory that is his already and thereby finding assurance in that acknowlegement. Jonathan Edwards, America's greatest philosopher said it like this,

"God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. When those that see it delight in it, God is more glorified than if they only see it.... He that testifies his idea of God's glory [does not] glorify God so much as he testifies also his approbation of it and his delight in it."

In other words, the creature can find no greater pleasure than in acknowledging the perfections of God.
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The opposite of glorifying is blaspheming and that brings the creature no comfort at all. Speaking as one who has blasphemed and praised God, praise is better, MUCH BETTER.
Soli Deo Gloria.

Forgiveness and Trust

If I had to sum up the meaning of Christmas in one word, I would choose RECONCILIATION. ‘To reconcile’ is to settle a quarrel or a dispute, although my favorite definition is ‘to make friends again’.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

and,

Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

and,

2 Corinthians 5:18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Christmas time brings families together and sad but true, there are often family members that we have not reconciled with. We are willing to carry hurts for decades, (though I can think of nothing more exhausting), and we grin and bear the tension during the holidays. I wanted to write about forgiveness for a while and this time of year seems to be an extremely appropriate time.

Someone has said, “never trust your emotions, they lie!” The prophet Jeremiah received the word of God regarding our inner core,

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9

Apart from Christ, our emotions are consummate liars but even after conversion the emotional life is a complicated phenomena. Our desires and inclinations seem to be in a near constant state of struggle against our old nature (Romans 7).

Read in Matthew 18:15-35, our Lords teaching on forgiving our brother (or sister). The teaching and the following parable give us a very strong and straight forward OUGHT. You are probably already very familiar with this scripture and you live in guilt because you just feel stuck in unforgiveness – you can’t do it! Here are just a few thoughts to consider and I mean to comfort you rather that increase your feelings of guilt:

It may seem strange, but the best way to get your mind around forgiveness is to think of the offense in terms of a financial debt. Money is tangible and so our Lord used a financial debt to help us to understand forgiveness.

Let's say you loan me 1000 dollars and then I don't pay you back. After a long awkward relationship I go to you and say, "please, forgive my debt because I can't pay it." You do. Now, my debt is forgiven and you no longer hold me accountable for the money. I am relieved and I thank you profusely. We hug and have coffee together - we've been reconciled.

What happened to the debt, did it evaporate? No, YOU absorbed it. YOU took the pain, the hurt, the inconvenience. When you forgave me it cost YOU something. Someone had to pay the debt and it was YOU. You forgave my financial debt because you had the financial and intestinal means to do so. It was an act of mercy but it cost you something.

When someone hurts you emotionally it's no different. You just can't pretend it never happened because someone has to absorb the pain. Forgiveness requires prayer and a full understanding of what Christ has done for us. Christ has taken all debts upon himself so that if a brother or sister hurts you, then you ought to forgive that brother or sister. Nevertheless, though we OUGHT to forgive, we still must be aware that we will have to take the hurt upon ourselves and THAT requires emotional strength and spiritual maturity.

Forgiveness is the willingness to absorb the hurt and pain in order to free the offender from any further debt to you. Trust, is the willingness to risk being hurt AGAIN and having to absorb the pain AGAIN.

You OUGHT to forgive but let’s follow the Lords teaching from a sermon on discipleship in Luke 14,

28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Reconciliation is like the rebuilding of a tower. You ought to build it but you ALSO ought to count the cost. If you don’t consider the amount of hurt or loss that you must absorb then you may find the whole attempt crumbling and even more pain will come to all involved.

Forgiveness? Trust? Can you afford these emotionally? Maybe not! You may not be ready, but it should be your goal and Christ’s forgiveness of us is the foundation that we need to work from. Trust doesn't mean that you should be foolish but it does mean that you are willing to risk being hurt for the sake of the Gospel and the furthering of the Kingdom. In all things, may God be glorified.

The Will May Be Free.. But That NATURE?

No amount of logic or conscious reasoning is going to convince a person that they lack free will, not when one can FEEL the truth of free will. You ask what would I like, pecan or pumpkin pie? Pumpkin! It was an effortless decision and therefore proving that I have free will because NOTHING outside of myself made me choose the pumpkin – I chose freely.

In actuality, all I've proven with this illustration is that we are decision making agents. We cannot simply define 'free will' as the ability to choose freely without outside compunction because there are factors within us that determine our choice. We won't go into the technical points here but let's keep in mind that we always choose based on a list of criteria that bring about the most desirable outcome. A truly FREE choice would be a RANDOM choice in which no desire or urge effected the decision.

I have previously given a workable definition:

Free will – the ability to choose freely that which we desire the most.

Free choice is not the problem in this logical and theological puzzle, the problem is with our DESIRES. Are our desires free from pre-determined influences? Let me give you another illustration and one of my favorites:

At one time I had three beautiful Golden Retrievers and a lovely fenced little farm for them to run on. Let's say I put them outside the back door with the promise of a treat – a hunk of juicy STEAK. The three dogs stand in rapt attention as I lift the meat over my head. Mind you, there are no leashes on them, no leads or dog runs, nothing to constrict or control their movements – they are totally FREE to go anywhere they DESIRE.

I throw the first morsel to the right. Can you predict which direction the three dogs will go? If you chose a unanimous decision to go to the right then you are correct. Next I throw the steak to the left, the opposite of the first toss. Yes! You are correct again, this time they ran to the left. Next, to keep things fresh I toss the meat to the right again. I could have thrown it straight and long and of course the dogs would follow the meat. No matter how many times I throw a piece of meat and ANY direction, the dogs will follow - it is their NATURE.

The dogs are free to choose and free to move in any direction but they are in bondage to their NATURE. Our nature is the fountain of our desires and though our wills may be free in choosing, our wills are NOT FREE of our nature. Our natures, apart from Christ, are IN BONDAGE TO SIN.

Ephesians 2:1

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

In this verse lies the sad condition and the truth about free will. Our will may be free from outside control but it cannot escape it's bondage to the desires of our fallen nature. By nature, all mankind are haters of God and can NEVER make a saving decision toward God – it would violate our nature.

Jesus, in his explanation to a nationalistic Nicodemus told the curious Pharisee,

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

So if the Lord says, “whoever believes in him, should not perish”, then doesn't that mean we have the freedom to choose eternal life? Not if we are God haters, not if we are by nature children of wrath. The truth is that the answer to “whoever will believe” is NOBODY. Unless God first changes our God-hating nature then no one WILL believe.

Hence Jesus explains in John 6:44

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him

and again in verse 65,

And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

So, in any discussion, remember to define your terms. We do indeed have wills and in as much as our wills are free from OUTSIDE control then our wills can be called FREE, but watch out for the problem INSIDE. Even the best that our minds and hearts have to offer comes from a polluted well, a fallen nature that apart from Christ is an ENEMY of God. Hence, Isaiah tells us that "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." We are in bondage to sin and it is ONLY in Christ that we are truly given the ABILITY to NOT SIN - it is the closest that we will come to true FREEDOM in this life. To God be the Glory.

FREE WILL! Ok, grab your forks, we're going to open this can of worms.

For a very long time now I have wanted to address the topic of 'Free Will'. There is much confusion about this subject and enough suspicion of it that most will avoid a study of it, thinking it's a can of worms best left unopened. The real problem with a discussion of 'free will' is that folks don't define their terms before they start an argument. Just as with Calvinism, people bring their own bias, understandings and misunderstandings to the table and then spend hours talking past each other. Our goal here is to break these complicated or misunderstood ideas down into bite sized portions and if I've put this discussion off, it's because this is such a FABULOUS meal with many courses and many ways to present it. I will try and answer the biggest questions but it will take several installments. In this first portion I will give you a great working definition of 'free will'. In subsequent offerings we will look at God's Sovereignty and Salvation, Is God's Will Free or Necessary?, Free Will and Human Responsibility, the Will or Wills of God and more. Let's begin with God.

God is the First Cause and “in Him we live and move and have our being”. Acts 17:28 God is the Creator and has ownership of all things and may dispose of all things as He see fit. God's sustaining power holds all the elements of the universe together, from sub-atomic particles to galaxies. God knows every part of His creation with perfect intimacy, (just as He knows you!). God is the King of kings, this means that He is King in the fullest and most absolute sense, His authority is complete and total. The theological word for this kingly and absolute authority is 'sovereignty'. God is sovereign in power and sovereign in His will.

Think about that for a moment, if what I have just said is true – that God's will has his absolute total and supreme authority behind it, then logically we must conclude that there can be only ONE FREE WILL in the universe. God's will trumps all other wills. Let's see if you believe this: You have a loved one who is unsaved, do you pray for that loved one that salvation will come to him? When you pray, do you pray to God or do you call your loved one and pray to him or her? If you pray to God for him or here (as you should) then you must admit that God's will can over power, restrict and manipulate the will of your loved one. If God's will does not trump your loved one's will then you should pray to your friend or relative and say, “Bill” or “Mary, save yourself, please!” You don't do that, in fact what you really want is for God to 'violate' the 'free will' of your friend, to quicken them, to open the eyes of their heart and CAUSE them to come to the savior.

That's enough to digest for now but I did tell you I would give you a working definition of 'free will' and I will do that so you can ruminate on it until the next serving.

Definition: 'Free will' is the ability to choose freely that which we desire the most.

Memorize that because it's going to get you out of trouble and offer a delicious morsel to those who hunger for a better understanding of God and his dealings with His creatures. I will take this definition apart in the coming days.

(Go To Part Two)