God Loves… Himself

Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

Matthew 22:39 “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

I Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Isaiah 64:7 There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities.

When we think of what is going on in our world today, it is not the same world and we do not live in the same country we used to. While our country has the same title, it is far from being the same country that it was even ten years ago, much less than 40 years ago. What we have to come to grips with, however, is that the real problem is not political, but instead it is spiritual. The real problem that our nation has is with God. It is the true and living God who is fighting against us and it is God who is hardening our hearts and turning us over to our sins.

It is true that the previous paragraph sounds in the modern ear like it was written or spoken by a crazy person. The way people look at the world is through the lenses of naturalism as if the world ran according to natural law rather than according to God. It is thought that we are making great progress in our day, and that is true if one judges progress by technology and ease of life. However, if one judges progress by how much people are growing in their love and obedience for God, then it is easily seen that we are going down the hill at a rapid rate.

Do people in our nation love God more than themselves? Do people in our nation love their neighbors as they love themselves? Are people being conformed to their lusts in their ignorance of God or are they pursuing holiness which is to be like God? When people are not doing those things, but instead are going the opposite direction, it is evident that God has hidden His face from us and has delivered us into the power of our iniquities. While the citizens of the United States pride themselves on the freedoms set out in the Constitution, they are actually going backward more and more into a spiritual slavery that is far worse than they can possibly imagine.

While so many in our nation (and world) is suppressing the truth of God as hard and as fast as they can, what is happening is that the living God that they try to deny is turning them over to a hardened heart and they are becoming more and more foolish in their understanding. While so many in the world try to deny God in all ways, there are many outwardly religions people who deny things about God so that they can have a god of their own understanding. While they hate the true God, they can come up with a false god that is tolerable to them and so they love that God (they think). They can come up with their own standards of loving their neighbors and as such they can come up will all kinds of self-righteousness as they attend church each Sunday morning (and perhaps other times as well) and do their religious duties.

The real issue with our nation is that the professing churches are fleeing from the truth of God and are settling for tradition, for some modern idea, or just about anything that is not the true God. As the professing churches are fleeing from the true God, both conservative and liberal, they are being hardened toward the true God and the nation no longer has salt and light. The problem is not a lack of religion or a lack of belief about some things people believe to be true, it is about a lack of true faith and love to the true God. Some people have a high level of commitment to their idea of God, but they have left the true God behind and have embraced a false one. Our nation is grappling with ideas of racism and the economy and on and on it goes, but apart from the light that God gives our nation is in utter blindness and do what they do in their blindness. We have political leaders who do not bow to God and as such they are the blind leading the blind while we have religious leaders who have false gods and as such they are the blind leading the blind. Apart from God giving us grace to seek His face, the churches cannot turn to God. We are in the hands of the one and only God, the sovereign God. We must seek Him.

Matthew 22:37 And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

Matthew 22:39 “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

I Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

Psalm 119:37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways.

Ephesians 5:16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they?

The idea of whether watching various television shows and/or movies is moral for a Christian or not is most likely considered to be an antiquated question by most. However, when we think about it, there are many things about watching movies that we have to think about and carefully consider. The question is not whether there are commandments that specifically command us not to watch television and moves, but whether Christian principles are violated if we do. Perhaps the issue is not whether we watch anything at all, but what should we spend out time doing and what should we watch if we do watch.

Some of the things that we are to consider have to do with whether television and movies help us to love God and our neighbor. For example, the Great Commandment commands us to love God with all of our being. Does television and movie watching help or hinder in that pursuit? But again, notice that asking the question does not say that there is a biblical command to do so. The point is to consider how much of us is required if we are to pursue the living God with all of our being. How much is possible to watch while loving God and while pursuing the living God? Perhaps each person has to answer that question before God rather than having set rules.

How can watching television and movies help us love our neighbor? This is interesting to think of. If love for our neighbor consists in our helping them or desiring them to love God, this may shine a little light on the subject. If we spend 15-20 hours a week watching the screen in some way, that does cut down on my time that I could love my neighbor. If we spend that much time watching the screen, then what kind of example is that setting for others?

If I am spending 15-20 hours weekly watching the screen and that is a very conservative estimate, is that the best use of my time? If we are to redeem the time and make the best use of our time, is using that time filling our minds and souls with the things of the world the best use of it? Do we spend that much time in the study of the Bible and in prayer each week? When you think about it, do we spend that much time a week in spiritual things? If we spend 20 hours a week watching the screen, that is 1,000 hours a year in round figures. That adds up over short lifetimes and long lifetimes as well. Fifteen hours a week adds up to 750 hours a year. Either way, that is a lot of time.

When we have David writing about how he awakened during the night watches so that he could meditate on the Scriptures, we have a better example of how our time should be used. The world is attacking us through the screen and is getting to us with its worldview. The more we watch the world the more we will become like it or the more we will not be opposed to it. The more time we spend meditating on God and His creation the more we will become like Him and opposed to the things opposite of Him. It seems to be the best to drink in things of the living God rather than things of the world which are opposed to Him.

Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

1 Corinthians 1:29 so that no man may boast before God. 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

I was “privileged” to hear a prison “minister” who was doing what he called “preaching” recently. It was so striking during an interview with him and during his time “preaching” his view of how centered Jesus was upon him and others. It appeared that he boasted about himself and seemed quite struck with himself as a bishop. It also appeared that those who gathered to hear him “preach” would cheer loudly and give out whoops the more selfish he seemed to preach. The kind of God and the kind of Christ that men love and want to hear about is the kind that loves them and wants all kinds of earthly riches and earthly things for them.

People have complained about health and wealth types of preaching for years, but this is not specifically what the man was attempting to communicate. The problem with so much of preaching today was set out by this man though he seemed to be a bit more extreme than most. In our day it seems as if man is the lord and Christ is the servant. It is true that Christ did not come to serve but to serve; it is also true that He is the sovereign of the universe and that all will bow before Him. Jesus Christ did all that He did out of perfect love for His Father. He still does.

It is hard not to have some sense of sympathy for all those men who were listening to the Bishop and his preaching of a god that was so small he was centered on nothing but the earthly good of those men. But that seems to be the primary focus of much of the preaching today. There is a focus on how God wants to give men so much but men don’t have the faith or they lack something. There is such a focus on how God only gives things to men who are holy, but He will give nothing to those who are not holy. That is nothing more and nothing less than a message of works. Even if we throw the word “grace” around we are not using it in the biblical sense. Grace is always sovereign or it is not grace. The only kind of true grace there can possibly be is free-grace.

The cross of Christ seems to be preached in a way where it purchases men the power to obtain what their flesh desires, which means the true meaning of the cross is lost. It is sad to see the cross of Christ emptied by the preaching of men who think that they preach the gospel. It is utterly pathetic to see men preach a Christ who died on the cross but is powerless to do any application of it. The god of the modern pulpit is weak and inept rather than sovereign and omnipotent. It is not just that these men have a weak theology, but that they have a false god that they are preaching so confidently about.

It is so sad to hear moralism and conditionalism taught and “preached” across our land. It is not that these are other versions of Christianity, but instead they are perversions of it. It is not that these people have the heart of the Gospel and need to be instructed a bit more, but they are simply preaching a false gospel and a false god. Whatever else one may argue concerning the United States being a Christian nation or having a Christian foundation, we are far from being a Christian nation and a false gospel is rampant in our land today. By saying that a false gospel is rampant in our land today, I am meaning that a false gospel is rampant in the professing churches of the day. When a god is preached that is focused on blessing men in this world more than the next, we can know that the preacher is quite confused. When a god is preached that does not do all for His own glory and name’s sake, we can know that a false god is being preached. When we hear of a god that winks at sin, we can know that this is not the thrice holy God of Scripture being set out. We live in an awful day since the truth of God is rare in the land.

Romans 14:8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

Acts 13:36 “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay;

Matthew 18:8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.

Philippians 1:20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Philippians 1:23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;

The thoughts of death are not pleasant to many, perhaps very few. But for Paul he thought it was much better to depart and be with Christ rather than stay on this earth. He longed for Christ to be exalted in his body, whether by life or by death. This is to say that his greatest goal was to exalt Christ and he did not care whether it was by life or death that it happened. This is not a prevalent thought in our day and perhaps in any other day either. But it seems from the whole of Scripture that Paul was more biblical in this way of thinking than any other.

Romans 14:8 teaches us whether we live or die we are the Lord’s. That seems like a simple teaching in some ways, but if we truly take this teaching to heart it changes everything. What it teaches us is that we are the Lord’s and we are at His disposal. He is the Master and it is His decision of how and when to dispose of us. Whether we live or die we are the Lord’s and we live for Him and we die for Him. It seems like such a simple statement, but how profound it is to be faced with death and then sweetly submit to His sovereign hand in the midst of it.

Revelation 14:13 speaks of how blessed those are who die in the Lord. While we usually don’t think of the blessedness of death, that is what this text sure seems to teach. We read the Beatitudes and they tell us how blessed people are who are poor in spirit, who mourn, and who are meek. The Beatitudes are so backwards or contradictory to all that the world thinks of as blessed. They even speak of how blessed people are when others persecute them and revile them. But Revelation 14:13 seems to go even farther and tells us that dying in the Lord means that we are blessed.

These verses give us an eternal view of things. We are to view life and death and all things through the lenses of Christ and His rule over His people. True blessedness is to have Christ rather than to be like the world. True blessedness is to have Christ than to have the things of the world. Having Christ is the greatest blessing that there is in this world and even more so in the next. When the soul that has Christ passes from this world to the next, the person will have even more of Christ there and as such the soul who has more of Christ is blessed. The soul that has Christ in the next life will have Christ without the taste and blindness of sin.

It is a great blessing to have Christ and it is a great blessing to die in the Lord. Yes, it will sound strange to the world and it will sound strange to those in the local professing churches who don’t really get these things. However, the words of Christ through Paul and John are testimonies to the reality of these things. The Lord Jesus is the greatest blessing to all who have Him in truth. The Lord Jesus Himself is who we should seek in this life above and beyond all other things. We should seek Him now with all of our being knowing that in eternity we will be filled with Him and His glory to a degree that we cannot imagine in this life.

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Ephesians 4:18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

Acts 8:23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.

Revelation 3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

It is difficult to watch people as they struggle with the consequences of sin and yet remain blinded to their sin. It is difficult to watch people as they are so blinded and also bound by their sin that they love their sin even as it kills them and ravages their souls and their bodies. Watching children, relatives, and people we know living and yet dead in their trespasses and sins will either confirm a person in the Scriptures or drive them far away.

Regardless of how one watches another, if one is looking at people with biblical lenses on they will see these people walking according to the course of this world. The world, of course, loves for these people to join them and walk with them in their wicked ways. The world does not think of those ways as wicked, but instead they think of them as human and normal and perhaps as fun. They think of themselves as just having a little fun, and after all, we know that a little fun is not wrong (they say).

The course of this world, however, and all of the so-called fun of this world, is really “according to the prince of the power of the air.” This appears as complete nonsense to people as they are just like other people, just normal people having normal lives and normal fun. All normal people do those things. They don’t understand and don’t want to understand that the ways of the world are really the ways of the devil who is leading them as slaves into hell for eternity. As they live “in the lusts of” their “flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,” they are “by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” It matters not how nice the people are, how helpful to others they may be at times, they are children of wrath and their lives are really nothing but an “indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind.”

These people, who appear as normal, perhaps quite athletic and healthy, and even successful, are “darkened in their understanding.” As such they are “excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.” We have to learn to see people for who they really are and what they really are. We cannot be blinded to how they benefit us and help us or how nice they are to us. These people are dead and have no life. These people as dead will end up in eternal hell if God does not have mercy upon them. These people are influencing us and our children and we simply will not deal with the reality of it.

We cannot change anyone by the force of our reasoning or by being nice to them either. Of course we are not to treat them badly, but we must understand that the only thing that can change a person is God Himself. He may use our words and our actions as means if He is pleased to do so, but He will not change people from being children of the devil to be His children for any other reason than free-grace. We are powerless to produce spiritual change in others and yet we are called upon to pray. We are powerless to effect change in the hearts of others, yet we are called upon to preach and teach. We must learn to look at people as they really are and not how they present themselves to us and to others. We must seek the Lord to give us eyes to see them as they are and to seek His face to do according to His good pleasure.

Galatians 3:17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. 19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

The point that the human heart has such a hard time with is that it can never earn the slightest favor or standing with God by the Law or by good works. People are constantly turning to the Law or their own good works or something about them as a basis of a good standing with God. It seems as if the Law has a pull on the human heart and it is hard for the heart to turn from the Law and look to Christ alone. The human heart seems to always be pulled by Law and self-righteousness or the ability to do something to earn even a little before God.

Paul wants the people to know that the Law was never given for anyone to obtain the slightest shred of righteousness, merit, or a good standing before God. This is utterly vital. Human beings are born dead in sins and trespasses and by nature are children of wrath (Eph 2:1-3). It is only by the free-grace of God that they are regenerated and granted life in their souls (Eph 2:4-10). Paul would have the people learn that they have no hope in themselves or in the Law and that their only hope is the free-grace of God in Christ Jesus. Human beings are shut up under sin and can do nothing to release themselves from that bondage. Only the power of God operating by grace alone can do that work.

But the Law does have a work to do, though it is one that is denied by the vast majority of our day. The Law is a tutor to show men their need of Christ and it is their tutor to bring men to Christ in one sense. Until men are convinced of sin, they will not be convicted of sin in any deep way at all. Until men are convicted of sin and feel that they are guilty, they will not begin to see their bondage to sin and their inability. The Law can show men these things to a measure or to a degree, though the real convictions and the realizations of his inability can only come as God shows these things to men.

As long as men think that all they have to do is believe, they will think that they have the power to believe when they want. The Law in the hands of the Spirit will show men that they have no ability to give themselves a believing heart. The Law can be used by the Spirit (it is His job to convict of sin) to convict men of sin to the degree and to the point where they utterly despair of all hope in themselves. Until they reach that point, they will still be looking to self and the strength of self. The Law does not tutor men by just teaching them about a few things, but instead when the Law is used by the Spirit it goes into the depths of the soul and convinces them of their utter inability. It is in doing this that the Law is then a tutor to bring men to Christ.

While the Law has nothing to do with men obtaining merit before God, it has a job to do in the hands of the Spirit to show men how they cannot obtain merit before God. While the Law has nothing to do with men earning righteousness before God, it can be used by the Spirit to show them how unrighteous they are in the presence of a thrice holy God. While the Law has no ability to give men and not ability in man to tell man about, it can be used by the Spirit to show men their complete and utter inability in the things of God. How backwards we are when we use the Law as a way to obtain merit or righteousness before God, because the Law was never given for that purpose and in fact was given for the exact opposite purpose. This may be one reason why there are so many false conversions in the world and why unconverted men are so confident of their conversions. They have never been tutored by the Law and as such they have never been broken from all hope in themselves and as such have never truly been to the true Christ.

Galatians 3:17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. 19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

It seems as if the Law has become more important than Christ in some circles today. Whatever position one takes on the many issues, one has to understand that the Law does not nullify the promises of God and that the promises of God are by free-grace. The Law came four hundred and thirty years after God made a covenant with Abraham based on His promises and those promises were of free-grace. The Law was never able to impart life, but instead it pointed to Christ who alone can impart life. The Law cannot give righteousness at all before God, either in the Old or New Testaments, but instead this is by free-grace alone.

I Timothy 1:8 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers 10 and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

The Law, which is good, must be used in a lawful way. What does Paul mean when he says that the law is not made for a righteous person? He has already taught us in Romans that no one is righteous, no not one. Perhaps he means it in a different sense. Perhaps a person that has Christ is righteous because of Christ as opposed to being righteous in and of himself. The point is, however, that the Law is not made for a righteous person. The Law is, however, made for the lawless and rebellious sinners. The Law is made for those who are acting or living in a way that is contrary to sound teaching which is contrary to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. Notice the distinction that this passage draws out. It makes a distinction between those that the Law was not made for and those that the Law was made for. Perhaps the distinction is not as obvious as we would like, but the distinction is between those who are saved by the glorious Gospel and those who are still in rebellion against God.

Those who live according to the glorious Gospel live by the grace of God and are not condemned by the Law, but those who do not live by grace are condemned by the Law. All those apart from Christ only have the Law as their standard of righteousness and as their way of obtaining righteousness, but of course the Law condemns them. The Law condemns all who trust in it, but the Law is intended to be a tutor to Christ. Those who are tutored by the Law rather than attempt to earn righteousness by it flee to Christ as their righteousness. No one (other then Christ) has ever kept any of the Law for a moment in a way that would justify them, but all who are truly tutored by the Law and flee to Christ are justified by Christ alone.

What we see is a very clear teaching on the Law, though it does not answer all the objections. What we must see, however, is that we are to live by Christ and not by the Law. We are to rest in the finished work of Christ and not try to keep rules about the Law. We are to love Christ instead of trying to please Him by keeping the Law. It is the life of Christ in us that moves us to love and keep the heart of the Law, but trying to keep the rules of men will do nothing but lead to legalism and will result in our not living by Christ and His grace. We cannot live by free-grace and yet by the Law at the same time. The Law is to tutor us in coming to Christ, but once we are there beware of coming under the Law.

Galatians 3:17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. 18 For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. 19 Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. 20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. 21 Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Those who focus on the law refer to the other side as antinomians. Those who do not focus on the law may think of those who do as Pharisees. Much ink has been spilt and it has taken many trees to make enough paper for all the books that have been written on this subject. There are mine fields on both sides of this issue and perhaps it takes a foolish person to must on this in a short post on a Blog. Well, so be it.

Whatever else must be said it must be said that God’s promises were never nullified by the Law and will never be nullified by the Law. Without trying to make any real distinctions between the moral, the civil, and the ceremonial laws, we can note that what is said here appears to be primarily moral law. Underneath this passage is the grace of God and how it shines through at this point. The glories of free-grace shine so brightly that the apostle does not need to specifically point it out for us to see this wonderous grace. Every time you read the word “promise” in this text, you can know that this promise was by free-grace. Every single time you read of the imparting of life, know that life is only imparted by free-grace. Every single time you read of Jesus Christ, know that He was only sent by free-grace. Every time you read of faith, know that it is given by free-grace. This text, then, is saturated with the free-grace of God.

It may be the case that in thinking of free-grace as we read this passage will keep us from falling off either side of the cliff that these things run beside. The Law came after the promise, so we must know that the Law is not contrary to the promise and does not nullify the promise by free-grace. We must know that instead of the Law being contrary to free-grace, the Law was given in order to be a backdrop for free-grace to shine and show us the need for free-grace. As verse 19 sets out, the Law was added because of transgressions. Two verses below should help with that meaning.

Romans 5:20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET

The Law came so that transgression would increase, that is, set forth our sin. While the Law does not produce sin directly, it does show us that our hearts are full of sin and our actions are vile and sinful. It is also true that our rebellious and sinful hearts react against the Law and more sin is drawn out. However, keeping the externals of the Law does not make us righteous, but in fact only makes us more sinful by trusting in our keeping of the Law. The Law is our teacher and it teaches us that we cannot keep the Law and that we must have Christ as our Savior from the Law. Life can only come by free-grace and can never come by any other way, especially the Law. When men bring the Law in and try to make it as a way of life, they are as much in opposition to the Gospel of free-grace as those who live in open rebellion. Whatever we believe about the Law, it must always be seen as being opposed to free-grace when blessings and life are supposed to come as a result of keeping the Law. The Law shows us our need for Christ and for free-grace. We must leave the Law in its place.

If a partial and inaccurate view of the divine character is before the mind, it is impossible there should be a clear and vigorous exercise of love to God. If an entirely false character is before the mind, it is plain that the approbation of that would not be love to God, but love to some other being. Now, in some instances, I think the character exhibited for the character of God is so entirely erroneous, that true love to God cannot be exercised towards it. In many of the discourses I have heard among new-measure men, such a representation has been given of the divine character as is entirely agreeable to the natural heart. In this case you have only need to do something to excite feeling enough to gain the sinner’s attention, and make him wish to secure his salvation. Then present such a view of the divine character as the natural heart already loves, and ask if he loves it; and your work is done. He thinks he is a convert, while he has not even been the subject of conviction. To produce a true conversion, you must proceed in a different way. The mind of the natural man is enmity against God. The sinner needs to see this. He needs also to be convinced that he is without excuse in this enmity. The true character of God needs to be exhibited, and held before the mind till it is clearly seen. (Pilgrims Progress through the Wastelands, Weeks)

It is so clear that men are so ignorant of themselves and their sin because they are proud and selfish, but also because of their ignorance of God. Men are ignorant of God because of terrible teaching, unconverted preachers, and because of their own sinful hearts. While we may lament the ignorance men have of God in their hearts and the ignorance of God that men in the pulpits have, this is not just because men are lazy. It should not surprise us that the reasons that men are so ignorant of God are given to us in the Bible. We are told that the natural man is at enmity with God and hates God. We are also told that God blinds men and turns them over to sin, which is easy to see that when God blinds men to the truth, He is blinding them to Himself.

Romans 1:18:For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Jesus teaches in John 17:3 that eternal life is to know the Father and His Son (Jesus). Ignorance of God, on the other hand, is said to by why people are excluded from the life of God. “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart” (Ephesians 4). When men give themselves over to doing evil, they become more and more blinded to their own hearts and to the life of God. When men are in darkness and without life, they are hardened of heart by God and are in a terrible condition.

We live in a time when the knowledge of God is no longer thought to be important, but instead knowing about church growth techniques and various psychological theories along with a good band is what church appears to be about in our day. This should not surprise us, however. When a man who hates God is in the pulpit, it is no wonder that he will not have a great knowledge of God and will want to speak of his false god and of himself. He will want people to like him and he will try to get them to feel good about themselves and about the sermon. That is precisely what we don’t need, but that is precisely what we are getting as we slip deeper and deeper into judgment. The greatest good is when God gives us Himself, but the greatest punishment is for Him to draw back from people and give them over to blindness and darkness. How glorious free-grace is to those who love God, but those who are blind see no beauty or glory of it.

When you go into the dark chamber of the Old Testament, take Christ with you in the arms of your faith, and immediately the shadows will flee away, and the brightness of day break in upon the thickest darkness; for this Child is the interpretation of all the prophecies and sayings; the key to all the rites and visions; the unfolding of all the seals and mysteries; the deciphering of all the figures and types; and the body and substance of all the shadows and symbols. (F.W. Krummacher)

In the statement above we have a parallel statement (at least of sorts) with Paul’s statement about not knowing anything but Christ and His crucified. It is Christ who is the main theme of the Old Testament and it is the Old Testament that points to the coming Christ by setting Him forth in types and shadows. The Old Testament can be quite a mysterious book unless we see it as pointing to Christ as the main point. This is not to say that all the parts of the Old Testament are easy to figure out when we see that it points to Christ, but it is to say that we miss the main point when we are not looking for how the Old Testament points to Christ. It is the same with any book (in a sense), if we are reading it without seeing the main point the book will not make a lot of sense.

The Old Testament gives us an account of creation, but the New Testament tells us that all things came into being through Christ and that apart from Him nothing has come into being (John 1:1-5). The New Testament also teaches that all things were created through Christ and for Christ (Colossians 1). In other words, while we can understand certain things about creation from Genesis, we will not understand the purpose of creation apart from Christ. We can wrestle with many things about creation, but we must not forget that the main point of it all is that creation has a purpose and that is to glorify God in and through Christ.

The book of Leviticus is the place where most people stop reading when they try to read through the Bible. It is heavy with things that we don’t understand and it has ways of putting things that are unfamiliar. However, it is the book of Leviticus that sets out for us the work of Christ. All the offerings of Leviticus point toward what Christ was to come and accomplish. All that sinners did was to be done by sacrifice, by blood, and were to be done through a priest. Each and everything in Leviticus point to Christ and His work in life, on the cross, and His work as Prophet, Priest, and King. How our minds cannot grasp the book of Leviticus until we grasp the issue that it is pointing to Christ and then we can behold the Gospel in it.

The tabernacle was something that appeared to have a lot of detail and things that appear to be useless. Yet when we can grasp that the body of Christ in the New Testament was indeed the very tabernacle of the glory of God (John 1:14), we can understand that the tabernacle of the Old Testament pointed to Christ. We can understand that all the activity that took place in the tabernacle had to do with Christ and the work of Christ. While some may think of these things as pointless, they do indeed set out the work of Christ and in the Old Testament tabernacle we can behold the glory of God in Christ.

Regardless of whether it is the Old or New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ is the point and purpose of it all. Jesus Himself told us that He came to reveal the Father (John 1:18), and throughout the book of John He spoke as if that was what He came to do. He did what the Father told Him to do and He spoke what the Father said to speak. He was the very glory of God shining in the types of the Old Testament and then the fulfillment of those in His fleshly tabernacle in the New Testament. It is not scholarship that reveals the Bible and the truth of God; it is Christ who does that. It is Christ we must seek for understanding and it is Christ we must seek to see the face of God. It is Christ we must seek if we long for and desire the very presence of God.

Christ Himself came to earth by the free-grace of God and it is in and through Christ that the free-grace of God is displayed and manifested. The Gospel is seen in both Testaments, but the Gospel is only seen in Christ because it is in Christ that we are enabled to behold the glory of God. Apart from Christ we will see nothing but morality, intellectual activity, and religious activity. We can study things about Christ and yet miss the truth of Christ. We must seek Christ or we will miss the whole point of God’s revelation of why He created and then how He saves sinners by free-grace. The whole Bible points us to free-grace and we must not miss it.