Marriage and the 7th Commandment

In the previous post in this series going through the ten commandments, we began to look at the 7th commandment, which simply says, “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14, ESV)

We saw last time from the Sermon on the Mount (found in Matthew chapters 5 through 7), that Jesus taught that this commandment forbids not only the outward act of adultery, but even the inward disposition of lust in the heart as well. To look at another person with lust in your heart is to commit adultery in your heart (Matthew 5:28).

But God’s commandment against adultery also shows us something about the importance and sanctity of marriage, something which by any objective standard has fallen on hard times in our day.

Despite what you may have heard, God is not ant-sex. The Bible is not anti-sex. Christianity is not anti-sex. But sex is intended solely for within the confines of marriage, between a husband and a wife alone.

God instituted marriage all the way back in the garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 2. There in paradise, before the Fall of mankind into sin when Adam ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3), God saw that everything that He had made was good . . .except one thing.

Man was alone.

In Genesis 2:18 God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (ESV) And so who was this “helper” suitable for Adam that God made? It was Eve, his wife. In Genesis 2:24 we read of God instituting the creation ordinance of marriage, saying, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (ESV)

That is God’s purpose and design for marriage. And the 7^th commandment is given in order to safeguard it.

Why does God take marriage so seriously? Any number of things could be said in answer to that question. One could point to the many societal ills and the damage that is done by sexual immorality and divorce. The breakdown of the family has taken a truly staggering toll on our society.

But there is also another answer to that question that you might not have considered: Marriage is a picture of the gospel of Christ!

In Ephesians 5:21-33 the Apostle Paul has a lot to say about God’s design for marriage. (Space will not permit me to go into detail at this time.) And he bases everything that he has to say about marriage on Genesis chapter 2 (i.e. God’s original instituting of marriage).

But in v.32 he says something remarkable – he sums up everything that he says about husbands and wives by saying, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (ESV, italics added)

In his commentary on the book of Ephesians, James Boice writes,

“When God created marriage it was not simply that God considered marriage to be a good idea, though it certainly is that, or even because God thought it would be a good way to have and rear children. God created marriage to illustrate the relationship between Christ and the church.” (p.180)

Simply put, marriage between a husband and wife is a picture of the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and His church (i.e. His redeemed people). No wonder God takes marriage (and the sin of adultery which violates it) so seriously! And no wonder we should do so as well!

He Ascended into Heaven

The ascension of Christ is easily one of the most neglected doctrines of the Christian faith. (And that is saying something!) Michael Horton writes,

“Given the place of the ascension in the New Testament (especially in the Epistles), it is surprising that it plays a relatively minor role in the faith and practice of the church. Though affirmed, it does not seem to occupy the same status as Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection.” (The Christian Faith, p.533)

Horton is in no way overstating the case. We as believers should esteem the ascension of our Lord Jesus much more highly than we commonly do – even as highly as His incarnation, death, and resurrection. His ascension plays every bit as much a part in Christ’s accomplishment of our salvation as His incarnation, death, and resurrection.

Both the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed include Christ’s ascension as an essential truth of the Christian faith:

• “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”
• “and [He] ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father;” (The Nicene Creed)

Not only is the historical fact of His ascension recorded for us in the Gospels (Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:50-53) and in the book of Acts (Acts 1:1-11), but references to it are found throughout the rest of the New Testament as well.

A simple search of passages in the New Testament that speak of Christ being exalted to ‘the right hand of God’ comes up with nearly two dozen instances, a number of which include quotes from Psalm 110:1 (i.e. “The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” ESV)

The book of Acts refers to Christ’s ascension repeatedly. (It cannot be understood properly apart from it!) The book of Hebrews does the same. One of the major themes of the book of Revelation is that Christ is reigning over all things for His church and will return in glory to judge the living & the dead.

The Apostle Paul refers to Christ’s ascension repeatedly in his letters. For example, in the book of Ephesians, he points us to it no less than three (3) times. In Ephesians 1:15-23 he writes,

15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (ESV)

In the very next chapter Paul goes on to apply this great reality and doctrine in the lives of believers. In Ephesians 2:4-7 he writes,

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

So God not only made us alive together with Christ and saved us by grace (v.5), but He also “raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ! By virtue of our union with Christ (which in some ways was the grand theme or at least recurring sub-theme of Ephesians 1:3-14), believers died with Christ, were raised with Christ, and have even been seated with Him in the heavenly places!

But Paul isn’t done yet! In Ephesians chapter 4 he goes into some detail about the results of Christ’s enthronement in heaven.  In Ephesians 4:7-13 Paul (quoting Psalm 68:18), says that Christ giving Spiritual gifts to His church was the result of His ascension:

7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,

          “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
            and he gave gifts to men.”

9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (ESV)

Does the New Testament’s emphasis on the ascension of Christ surprise you? It probably shouldn’t. Christ’s work as our Mediator – His present & ongoing work for our salvation as our great Prophet, Priest, and King, all involve His ascension to the right hand of God the Father. (Again, see the book of Hebrews.)

May God grant us understanding into these things (even as Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:15-23, above), and move our hearts by His Holy Spirit, that we might be more inclined to live, worship, witness, and work in light of the truth that our faithful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is even now seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, reigning over all things for the sake of His church!

What is Saving Faith?

In his Systematic Theology, Charles Hodge says the following about the importance of faith:

“As so much prominence is assigned to faith in the Scriptures, as all the promises of God are addressed to believers, and as all the conscious exercises of spiritual life involve the exercise of faith, without which they are impossible, the importance of this grace cannot be overestimated.” (Vol. III, p.41)

That being said, the importance of having a right understanding of what faith is probably cannot be overestimated either. The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines saving faith in the following way:

Q. 86.What is faith in Jesus Christ?

A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.

The first thing that the Shorter Catechism does is specify the source of saving faith. That such faith is said to be a “saving grace” makes this clear. To speak of it as a “saving grace” means that such faith not only saves, but is also a work of God’s sovereign grace. In other words, such faith comes from God alone. As the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-9,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (ESV)

Saving faith (not just salvation in general) is not of ourselves, but rather is (like all of salvation) the “gift of God.”

The second thing that the Shorter Catechism does here is to define or describe saving faith by what it (so to speak) does. And what does saving faith do? Basically two things:

1. Saving faith receives Christ as He is offered to us in the gospel.
2. Saving faith rests upon Christ alone as He is offered to us in the gospel.

To receive Christ means to accept Him as a gift, freely offered to and bestowed upon us by God. This, by definition, precludes works. (See Ephesians 2:9 above.) And notice that we don’t just receive some particular benefit(s) as considered in abstraction from Christ, but rather we receive Christ Himself by faith, and all of the benefits that are ours in Him alone.

To rest in Christ alone is to depend wholly upon Him, and Him alone, for salvation. Not Christ plus something else. Not Christ plus our good works, not Christ plus our obedience, not Christ plus anything else! Another way of putting this would be to say that our entire confidence for our salvation from sin is to be in Christ alone, and nothing else.

Lastly, this saving faith, this receiving and resting upon Christ alone for our salvation from sin, must be “as he is offered to us in the gospel.” In other words, true, saving faith must be in accordance with the Word of God. We are not saved by faith in a Jesus of our own imagination, but only by faith in the Christ of Scripture. It is often said that faith is only as good as its object. Well, the object of our faith must be the Lord Jesus Christ, as He Himself is offered to us in the gospel!

Have you received Christ? Are you resting upon Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to you in the gospel? As John 1:13-13 says,

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (ESV)

 

The Only Head of the Church (THE WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH 25.6)

The last section of Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 25 (“Of the Church”) deals with a point of doctrine which many readers today might consider as bordering on the irrelevant. It says,

“There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof.” (Westminster Confession of Faith 25.6)

Simply put, we believe and confess that there is only one true head of the church – the Lord Jesus Christ. No one else can rightly claim such authority, not even “the pope of Rome.”

In Ephesians 1:22-23 the Apostle Paul writes the following regarding the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ:

“And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (ESV)

Similarly, in Colossians 1:18 Paul writes,

“And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” (ESV)

So the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ is the one true head of the church. How then, does He exercise His supreme authority in the church? In his commentary on the Confession of Faith A.A. Hodge notes that Christ does so through the following:

1. His Inspired Word.
2. His Apostolic Institutions (i.e. the ministry, sacraments, and ordinances).
3. His Own Spiritual Presence. (p.318-319)

And so even though the Lord Jesus Christ is not now physically present on earth, He nevertheless rules over all things for His church from the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He needs no earthly vicar (a title often ascribed to the pope) to act as head in His place.

David Dickson notes that for the church to have any other head alongside Christ Himself would not be unlike thinking of her as a “monster” with two heads (Truth’s Victory Over Error, p.202).

The seven letters to the seven churches (found in Revelation chapters 2-3) portray the Lord Jesus as the one who “walks among the seven golden lampstands” (Revelation 2:1, ESV). The lampstands are the churches (1:20). And so Jesus is clearly portrayed, not as an absentee ruler, but as a very present King, walking among His churches and watching over them.

In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ needs no vicar, no pope, no other head to help rule over His church in His place. He is with us always, even to the end of the age, even as He Himself has promised (Matthew 28:20).

 

Ephesians 6:1 on Children and Public Worship

In many evangelical churches it has become increasingly common for the little ones to be excluded in one way or another from attending public worship with their families.

We have the nursery for infants, separate programs of various kinds for the younger children, and some churches even go so far as to have a separate meeting(s) for the youth (i.e. junior and senior high school students) during the worship service.  It would almost seem that in some churches a child could practically go from infancy all the way through graduation from high school without ever actually attending the public worship of their church! (And we wonder why so many children leave the church when they move away to college – they were never really in the church in the first place!)

Now this post is not intended to be an argument against churches having nurseries or cry rooms available to their members who have little ones. (Nor is it an argument against youth ministry in general.) Parents sometimes worry that their noisy infant or toddler might disrupt things or distract others from worship. Such concerns are understandable. (As a father of three younger children myself, I know what it is like to have one of our children crying, wiggling around in their seats, or generally making noise of some kind.) But some churches actually go so far as to openly discourage parents from keeping their little ones with them during the service.

That should not be the case. Parents in our churches should not be discouraged from having their little ones sit with them during the worship service. More than that, I believe that we should do what we can to make children (and their parents!) actually feel welcome in the worship services of our churches. Might that lead to more noise and distraction? Sure. But I think the benefits (especially to the children) over the long haul far outweigh any apparent short-lived negatives that might be involved in having them sit in with the rest of the church during worship.

Not only that, but I believe that we actually have scriptural warrant for such a practice. In Ephesians 6:1-4 the Apostle Paul quotes and applies the 5^th commandment, saying,

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (ESV)

Notice that in his epistle to the church he gives an imperative or command to children. And he does not just give this command to them through their parents, but rather addresses it to the children themselves – directly. In other words, he doesn’t say, “Parents, make sure that your children know that they should obey you in the Lord, for this is right,” but rather “Children, obey your parents in the Lord” (v.1, italics mine)

That should get our attention. Paul, the great apostle and evangelist to the Gentiles, did not see himself as above teaching children; he did not view them as unworthy of instruction along with the rest of the church. Even more importantly for our purposes here, we should take note that he clearly presupposes the presence of children in the public worship services of the church, where his epistles would no doubt have been read and taught to the church.

This also implies that in our preaching we ought to bear in mind the presence of children, and even address them directly at times, when applicable. This also means that our preaching should not be aimed so far over their heads that they cannot even begin to understand anything that is being said.

And let us never forget the words of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who said,

“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14, ESV)

Do You Believe in the Devil?

Wise words from the pen of C.S. Lewis regarding how we should view the existence of Satan and demons:

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” (The Screwtape Letters, p.3)

There are and probably have always been people who have what Lewis would call an “unhealthy interest” in the topic of demons. Many years ago I myself went through a phase where I was somewhat fixated on spiritual warfare and read seemingly every book I could get my hands on that was about the topic. To put it mildly, any of those books were less than thoroughly biblical (and so were even less helpful).

These days I think that even Bible-believing Christians (redundant to put it that way, I know) are far more likely to fall into the other error that Lewis warned against – that of disbelief. Now I don’t mean a literal disbelief (although that too is probably true of some), but rather a kind of disbelief that is akin to what is often referred to as “practical atheism.” The practical atheist is the person who professes (even sincerely so) to believe in God’s existence, but lives in such a way as to contradict that profession of belief. The practical atheist basically lives as if God did not exist. In a similar way, I think many well-meaning Christians go about their daily lives as if the devil and demons did not exist. Needless to say, the Scriptures do not encourage such a mindset among believers.

For example, the Apostle Paul actually mentions Satan and demonic forces a number of times in his epistle to the Ephesians. In Ephesians 2:1-3 he tells the Christians at Ephesus that in their former lives before they came to Christ by faith, they were not only dead in sin (v.1), but they also used to follow “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (v.2). That is even now an accurate description of everyone outside of Christ. Everyone outside of Christ is thus influenced by the devil. Scary thought, I know. But that also serves to show the greatness of God’s mercy, love, and grace in saving sinners and giving them new life in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-10).

Then, toward the end of the epistle (in what we might consider the “practical application” section of the letter – chapters 4-6), he mentions the devil again – at length. In Ephesians 6:10-20 he writes,

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” (emphasis mine)

Why do we need the “whole armor of God” (v.11, 13)? In order that we might “be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (v.11). And yet how many of us ever give much thought to the fact that our fight is not against flesh and blood (other people), but against “spiritual forces of evil” (v.12)?

Let us not fall into either of the opposite errors that Lewis mentioned above. Let us neither fall into the error of having an unhealthy interest or fixation on devils, nor into the error of disbelief (practical or otherwise). May we learn to view these things biblically (as we should all things), and so learn to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (v.1).

The Elephant in the Room – Sexual Immorality & the Christian

What is God’s standard for the sexuality of the Christian? The Apostle Paul doesn’t mince words – he gets right to the point. In Ephesians 5:3 he writes,

“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.”

Here we are told that sexual immorality is not even be “named” among us! Now Paul isn’t saying that it should never be the subject of conversation among us (although he deals with filthy talk and dirty jokes in v.4). He himself is bringing up the subject in this very letter, so that can’t be his point. What he is saying is that sexual immorality should be so exceedingly rare in the lives of believers so as to be unheard of among us. It should be so rare that if someone were to accuse one of us of sexual immorality, no one would believe it because it would seem absurd.

But is that the case in today’s church?  Is anyone (inside or outside of the church) really shocked or even more than a bit surprised to hear a report of sexual immorality within the church? Sadly, I think not.

Ask yourself this simple question: If someone were to accuse you of sexual immorality, what would the people who know you think? Would they have a legitimate reason to think it might be true?

Sexual immorality in the church is the proverbial elephant in the room – it is the thing that everyone knows is there, but hardly anyone wants to acknowledge it or talk about. Maybe we are hoping that if we ignore it, it will just go away. It is the scandal of today’s evangelical church. How many professing Christians these days seem to think nothing of committing fornication, cohabitation, adultery, and even sodomy! How many “good Christian girls” get pregnant out of wedlock (and all too often not just once) without the slightest hint of church discipline being initiated for the repentance and restoration of the persons involved? In this we have become conformed to the world.

How has this mindset crept into the church? In our day preachers and teachers in the church often avoid the subject altogether for fear of offense. Or in many cases churches and even entire denominations go so far as to explicitly deny or contradict the plain teaching of Scripture on this matter. This should not be so.

Paul goes even further – he even includes our words. Not only should our lives be free from impurity of filthiness, but our speech should be free from it as well! In v.4 he writes,

“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”

A dirty mind expresses itself not only through filthy conduct, but also through filthy speech, foolish talk, and crude humor. Such things are truly “out of place” for those who call ourselves “Christians.” And what should take the place of filthy conversation? Paul says, “ . . .but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Why thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is what should describe the heart attitude of the Christian toward God’s good gift of sex within marriage between a man an a woman. Sex itself is not a shameful, unspeakable, dirty subject. It is a gift of our loving God, and it is not to be abused, twisted, or distorted.

Christians are not anti-sex. The Bible is not anti-sex. We are against sexual immorality. We are for celebrating and sanctifying God’s good gift of sex within the bounds where God has reserved it – between one man and one woman in marriage, which is also a gift from our Creator.

One of the things that should set believers apart from the world around us is sexual purity. In 1 Thessalonians 4:3 Paul writes, ” For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” Abstaining from sexual immorality is the will of God for our lives; it is our “sanctification” – the thing that marks us as being set apart unto the Lord. It is not the only important aspect of our sanctification by any means, but it is so important that Paul seems to sum up our sanctification under that one category!

May God grant His church grace and repentance, so that sexual immorality will become so rare as to be unheard of among us. To Him be the glory.

The Biblical Centrality of the Church

How important is the church in the life of the believer in Christ?  How important is the church in the plan & purpose of God? Many professing believers in our day have a rather low view of the church – they either think poorly of the church, or they just don’t think much about her at all. Far too many no longer see the church as necessary, much less as a vital part of the Christian life.

But what does the Bible have to say about the church? Even a cursory examination of the word ekklesia (which is most commonly translated as “church”) in a Greek concordance is instructive. It occurs no less than 114 times in the New Testament.  In the epistles of Paul it occurs at least 58 times.  This, of course, should come as no surprise, as the vast majority of his epistles were written to churches (e.g. Romans, 1 Corinthians, etc.) or to pastors of churches (e.g. 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus), not just to individual Christians. In fact, even the book of Philemon was addressed not only to Philemon (v.1), Apphia, and Archippus (v.2), but also to “the church in your [i.e. Philemon’s] house” (v.2). So basically all of Paul’s epistles were in some way church-related. All of them.

But do we think of the church when we read or study the epistles of Paul? Or do we read those letters through the foggy lenses of our individualistic spectacles? Do we jump right to asking, “How does this passage of Scripture apply to me?” without ever bothering to ask how it applies to us (i.e. as the church)?

In commenting on Ephesians 3:1-13, John Stott writes,

The major lesson taught by this first half of Ephesians 3 is the biblical centrality of the church. Some people construct a Christianity which consists entirely of a personal relationship to Jesus Christ and has virtually nothing to do with the church. Others make a grudging concession to the need for church membership, but add that they have given up the ecclesiastical institution as hopeless. Now it is understandable, even inevitable, that we are critical of many of the church’s inherited structures and traditions. Every church in every place at every time is in need or reform and renewal. But we need to beware lest we despise the church of God, and are blind to his work in history. We may safely say that God has not abandoned his church, however displeased with it he may be. He is still building and refining it. And if God has not abandoned it, how can we? It has a central place in his plan. (The Message of Ephesians, p.126)

Even the very best churches (as Stott notes above) are “in need of reform and renewal.” But even so the church is still very much central to God’s plan – it is still “through the church” that “the manifold wisdom of God” is to be made known to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10, ESV). And as Paul says later in the very same chapter, “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:21, emphasis mine). The glory of God is to be manifested in and through His church, and that is to be the case “throughout all generations.”

We have not, nor will we ever in this life, outgrow the church or our need for the church. And we should not expect to do so – it really does have a central place in God’s plan.

A Mighty Adversative

“A mighty adversative” – that is John R.W. Stott’s description of the first two words of Ephesians 2:4: “But God . . . .”

Stott writes,

“Verse 4 begins with a mighty adversative: But God . . . These two monosyllables set against the desperate condition of fallen mankind the gracious initiative and sovereign action of God. We were the objects of his wrath, but God, out of the great love with which he loved us had mercy upon us. We were dead, and dead men do not rise, but God has raised us with Christ. We were slaves, in a situation of dishonour and powerlessness, but God has raised us with Christ and set us at his own right hand, in a position of honour and power. Thus God has taken action to reverse our condition in sin.” (The Message of Ephesians, p.79-80)

No wonder some have said that the words “But God . . .” are the two most important words in Scripture!

Calvin on Why We Should not Avoid the Subject of Election

What are we to make of the doctrine of election? Despite the fact that it is clearly taught in Scripture (and repeatedly so, I might add!), many sincere, well-meaning, Bible-believing people in the church today seem to be of the opinion that it is a doctrine (oops, that word is also on the ever-expanding list of things to be avoided in the preaching and teaching of the church) better left unsaid.  After all, many people find it to be confusing or even downright offensive.

If it is so sure to confuse some people or offend others, shouldn’t we just avoid the subject altogether? No doubt that is the approach taken by many today.  In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin gives us some helpful advice on the subject:

For Scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit, in which, as nothing is omitted that is both necessary and useful to know, so nothing is taught but what is expedient to know. Therefore we must guard against depriving believers of anything disclosed about predestination in Scripture, lest we seem either wickedly to defraud them of the blessing of their God or to accuse and scoff at the Holy Spirit for having published what it is in any way profitable to suppress. (Vol.2, p.924)

Only a couple pages later, he writes:

Whoever, then, heaps odium upon the doctrine of predestination openly reproaches God, as if he had unadvisedly let slip something hurtful to the church. (Vol.2, p.926)

In other words,to avoid the subject is to cast aspersions upon God Himself for including the subject (and, frankly, for doing it so often!) in His Word. To ignore or downplay the doctrine of election when it is prevalent in the text is to accuse God Himself of either including something in His Word that is unnecessary (as if He intentionally gave us something we do not need), or (worse yet) even downright harmful to His people.

So let us not deprive God’s people of something that He gave us for our good; and (even more importantly), let us not insult our heavenly Father as if He would give His children a stone when they ask for bread (Matthew 7:9).