Beatitudes 30: Purity 7

June 6, 2007

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

We will continue to think in terms of the heart and what it means to have a pure heart. Two weeks ago we looked at what a pseudo-pure heart was and then last week we looked at what a pure heart really is. This week we want to look at what must be done to obtain a pure heart. In the next week or two we will look at why the pure in heart are blessed. The text tells us that the pure in heart are blessed for they shall see God. That should be the primary motivation for people to desire pure hearts. Without it they will not see God.

As we saw previously human beings are born dead in sin and with hearts that are totally depraved. Matthew 15:19 tells us the root of the issue: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” Genesis 6:5 shows us the reason that the LORD sent the great judgment of the flood: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Proverbs 16:2 tells us that it is not just what we think, desire and do: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weighs the motives.”

With the above Scriptures in mind, we must see that man cannot simply decide to have a pure heart. Many will read verses like those above and simply think that they can become pure by suppressing evil thoughts and desires and trying to focus on good things. They have surely missed the point if they arrive at that conclusion. The verses above should remove all hope from man that he can do this work himself. He must see that God is not just condemning the actions, but He is condemning the actions and the heart that the actions flow from. We must learn to look at those texts as condemning the heart primarily and the actions as a way of condemning the heart. The heart is the issue and not just the actions. So if we have some behavior modification where the actions are changed, the heart can still be just as rotten to the core as it was before. A man’s ways can be clean in his own sight, but we must never forget that the motives and intents of the heart are judged as well.

We must come face to face with the issue that the heart needs to be changed. If a person is unconverted, that person does not just need to behave better, that person needs a new heart. There can be no pure heart as long as there is not a new heart. There is no pure heart as long as the old heart and nature are the ones that we have received from Adam. The unregenerate person must see that it is that new heart that he needs. A person’s sin flows from a sinful heart, so good works must have a new heart to flow from. The works that flow from the sinful heart will all be sinful because the spring is polluted. The heart must be changed in order that what comes from that heart will not be totally polluted.

But at this point we are dealing primarily with believers. In one sense the instructions are the same as unbelievers, though they would come in a different way. The heart of the unbeliever is a heart that is full of pride and self-love. From that spring of pride and self-love man sets up an independence from God and a self-righteousness. What must be done is that man must recognize what is going on within his heart and seek the Lord for grace to break him from his sinful heart. When a person becomes a believer that person is not instantly a perfect person. In fact, no one becomes sinless in this life. So we must all battle and strive in order to have an increasingly pure heart.

The believer must begin to focus on his or her heart and its intents and motives. When the believer begins to understand that the motives and intents are naked and open before the Lord, then the process of seeking a pure heart begins. It is only when we understand the nature of our pride and self that we can begin to understand what a pure heart is and what is required to obtain it. We must also look with faith into that which is unseen by the eyes of the body and know that our hearts are before God in the brightest of light and He sees them perfectly. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). “But You know me, O LORD; You see me; And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You” (Jeremiah 12:3).

On the one hand, the religious sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to God. Yet they are even more wicked when the intent is evil (Proverbs 21:7). On the other hand, we are told to serve the Lord with our whole heart and with a willing mind because God “searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts” (I Chronicles 28:9). No believer will ever please God without a thorough searching of intents and motives of the heart. No believer can please God without a heart that is seeking the glory of God out of love for God in the intents and motives. The heart is the issue and the heart is the issue in terms of true purity.

A pure heart will only be pure when the heart is broken of its sinful intents and motives. We must learn to discern between what we do out of love for God and what we do out of love for self. When we serve self, we are serving an idol as much as if we bowed down before a statue. In fact, the only reason people bow down to statues is out of self-love. They want the idol to serve them in some way. Christianity is treated in that way by what is seemingly a vast majority of people in our day. When Christianity is nothing more than how to live a good life, how to obtain morality, and other things that we want, it is really nothing more than the idolatry of the self. There is nothing that cannot be done within Christianity that cannot come from a heart of self-love except a pure love for God. But even there pride will delude a soul into believing that it loves God. Self-love and pride blinds the soul to reality.

Until we begin to grasp the depths of our pride and self-love all that we do (even in the name of Christ) will be done out of our pride and our self-love. It would appear that most things and most ministries are in fact based on things of self. We are told to serve God because it is best for us. We are told to do something for God because of what He will do for us. It can also be put in the most orthodox of ways. However, the Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of our being. Until what we do flows from a heart that loves God instead of self our hearts will be full of idolatry and certainly not pure. It is not love for God simply to love Him for the benefits given to self whether real or perceived. We must love God for who He is and sometimes He sends trials upon us that a selfish heart cannot bear, though a heart that loves God grows to see His glory in it.

All of what we do must flow from a love for God and be moved by His grace in the heart. If we do something that is good and yet is not out of love for Him, that is done in our own strength and is setting up pride and self-righteousness. In Philippians 1:17 Paul speaks of preachers who preached for the wrong reasons: “the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.” These men were preaching Christ, but they were doing so out of selfish ambition. We can see the same thing today. There are denominational ladders to climb, meetings to attend where we want to appear good, comparison of churches, or perhaps ways to build the resume. That is not doing ministry out of love for God, but it is doing it out of love for self. Surely we can see how a minister that preaches and ministers from selfish motives is arrogant and proud and is not serving the living God. That man is nothing more than a vile idolater.

It is easy to see this in ministers, but can you see that in yourself? Have you examined your heart lately? How many things do you do simply for the sake of impressing others or to obtain honor in some way from others? If you can begin to see that, then the path for a pure heart is set out for you. You must see that you must be broken from self-love and self-righteousness in order for your heart to have true intents and motives that are moved out of love for God. You must begin to do battle with yourself if you are to have a pure heart and see God. If you do not battle self, then self is what will fill your vision and you will be blinded to the sight of God.

But there must be a word or two of warning. For you to be truly broken from self, you must also be broken from the idea that you can break self from self. We can strive to be broken from self on the basis of the strength of self. That is very deceitful and will lead to a false humility. What you must do is to know that you must be broken from self and yet that you cannot do it. You simply must begin to see each event as from the hand of God and sink into the nothingness of the creature before its Creator. Pray to see each event and trial as from the Lord and know that self cannot deal with it. Why is that? For God has not made us with the strength and love within ourselves to handle these things. He has made us to be empty vessels that He works those things in us by grace.

All that comes from a pure heart is motivated by love for Him and its intent is for His glory. For a heart to flow forth with love is for the heart to be the home of the living God and for Him to work His character in it. That heart is a heart that is not bowed down to self and does not love God for the sake of self. The pure heart does good works in order that the glory of God may shine forth from it, and not in order to show or prove its own self-righteousness. The pure heart is pure because God shines forth from it. The impure heart has nothing but self that flows from it. To have a pure heart, self-love must die and the love of God must flow from the heart.

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Chief End 18 – Marriage 11

June 5, 2007

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.

We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?

In trying to conclude the concept of marriage as it relates to the glory of God, we must say it with all the vigor and conviction that we are given by God to say that marriage is the creation of God as a means to express and manifest His glory. It is not just part of a system of morality that man can do in his own power that in some way demonstrates that he believes in God or thinks that God’s ways make for him a happier life. Marriage is part of creation and creation was intended by God to manifest His glory. The terminal purpose for marriage is found in God’s terminal purpose. Whatever God’s terminal purpose in marriage is determines the most important purpose for marriage in the realm of human beings. Marriage must be approached in theory and practice from the knowledge that it is for the display of the glory of God. That is utterly vital.

Some might smile quietly and simply wonder what that would change. It changes everything. No longer does counseling focus on the felt needs of the man or woman as such and tell one spouse that s/he needs to meet the needs of the other, but instead it tells them that each of them individually and that they corporately exist to manifest the glory of God. The greatest need that any person has is God. Following from that is the need that people have to seek God to fulfill their created purpose and that is to manifest the glory of God. This focus shows us that we cannot glorify God by our actions and duties, but that we only glorify God when He expresses Himself through us. It delivers us from legalism and moralism that is rampant in the religious realm and shows us what it really means to have Christ as our life in real terms. It shows us that salvation is not just a small event, but is rather is the eternal purpose of God in saving people to be His temple so that He might display His glory through them.

If marriage is approached as nothing more than outward morality, then the life of Christ in the soul is missed. Marriage becomes a ritual instead of being the glory of God expressed. The couple takes on ritualistic and perhaps legalistic patterns and thinks that God is pleased when they do so. A good moral marriage apart from the purpose of God in marriage really turns out to be nothing more than moralism. People think that they are pleasing God because they are outwardly moral and do moral things in marriage. But is simply just another way that man has found to express the nature of the Pharisee that is so bound up in the proud nature of fallen man. An outwardly moral marriage does not make a person moral any more than keeping the external laws makes a person moral. The only true morality is the love of God dwelling in a person and then being expressed through the person. Marriage is only moral when it is the expression of the love of God through Christ and by the power of the Spirit.

Christianity is really far from what it is set out to be in the Bible. We have much teaching of aspects of the Bible in books and on CD’s and other forms. But it appears to be mainly focused on the morality of behaving in a certain way and in doing things certain ways which please God. But that misses the real point for humanity, marriage, and the Church which is to be the temple of God by which He displays Himself and His glory. A man cannot love his wife as Christ loved the Church apart from the life of Christ in Him loving the wife through Him. The submission of the wife to the husband must also come from Christ as well. Apart from that life of Christ in us, morality is simply outward works without the heart. That is the life of the Pharisee in marriage and not Christ.

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Chief End 17 – Marriage 10

June 3, 2007

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.

We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?

One of the things that I have been trying to get at in terms of marriage is that the modern “Christian” way of doing things is not Christian at all. The modern “Christian” way is really just another form of pride and selfishness. In many ways the world and the modern “Christian” way have a lot in common. Both do what they do out of a form of selfishness. Both do what they do from their own strength, though the Christian might claim that his or her strength is from God. Both have departed from the biblical standard. The world does not like the standards of God so it denies them. The “Church” does not like the standards of God so it brings the standard down in order to make it manageable by human effort and strength. Both of those ways flow from pride.

The world claims it has no standard and so from pride it exerts what it thinks is its independence from God. The “Church sets up its own standard and from pride exerts its own power in keeping its own standard that it says is from God. The world lives by its freedom while the “Christian” lives according to what he or she thinks he or she is free to do or not to do. The “Christian” may indeed pray and study the Bible in an effort to say that he or she is trying to find God’s standard and live according to it. But that still reveals hearts that do not understand that biblical marriage cannot be lived by human beings apart from God living in people.

Let us look at this a bit closer. The husband is commanded to love his wife as Christ loved the Church. So he asks himself how Christ loved the Church. Then he sets out to obey the commands. Is that any different than how the Pharisees approached it? The husband wants to be an obedient Christian so he wants to keep the commandments of God. Why does he want to do that? Does he really love God with all of his being? Could it be that he is within a religious culture that demands it of him and tells him that this is how Christians behave? He is then given many motives of why he should love his wife. He must love her in order to love himself. He must love her because it is good for him to do so. If he loves her she will be a better wife. If he loves her he will be considered a good husband. But in reality all of those things (and others) are really moved by selfish reasons. Even doing things to please God can be nothing more than a selfish desire to please God in order to obtain something from God.

The wife is told much the same thing about submission. If she loves God she will do so, though in reality doing so must flow from the love of God and the outward behavior does not necessarily show the inner love. If she will only submit her husband will love her and things will be better in the home. If she will only submit she will be a good example for other women. If she will only submit she will be pleasing God, but of course that can be nothing more than a selfish desire to please God. A selfish desire to please God is a desire to please God not out of true love for God but out of desires that are rooted in self-interest. It is to have self as the greatest desire or chief end.

While I don’t have the space to get into this very deeply, surely you can see that much of what passes as conservative “Christian” marriage is in reality nothing more than selfishness and pride. It is something that the Pharisees would be very proud to have as their own. There is no real need to rely on God or to have His love in the soul. There is no real glory of God being expressed through the human. It is all about self and self gets the glory.

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Chief End 16 – Marriage 9

June 1, 2007

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.

We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?

The concept of Christian marriage has at best barely survived the onslaught of a form of Christian culture. Within the culture of the world marriage is a thing of feelings and convenience. While that is not a good or biblical view of marriage, I am not sure that it is any more deceptive than the popular Christian view. The so-called Christian culture has a view of marriage that is in one sense a reaction to the world’s view of marriage. The polarization started many years ago and continues on through the present day. The problem is that the biblical model is ignored on both sides, though many profess to the use of the Bible. Indeed they use the Bible, but for selfish ends.

While the culture of the world has changed the view of marriage according to its own whims and desires, the Christian culture view has changed the biblical view to one that is nothing more than behavioral and much like the view of the Pharisees. It is thought by many that a husband that does certain things according to the Bible pleases God in what he does. It is also thought that a woman that does certain things according to the Bible pleases God in what she does. The Pharisees thought they pleased God in what they did. But all of those views miss the real point which is that no one can please God and no one can keep the commands of God apart from Jesus Christ. The professing believer must understand that the commands of God regarding marriage cannot be kept any more than the Greatest Commandment can be kept perfectly and apart from the work of the Spirit in the soul. Any view or counseling technique that puts the power of obedience in the hands of sinful human beings is simply wrong.

The Christian culture of marriage has a major flaw in that it does leave the power of obedience in the power of human beings. We are told that it is a matter of choices. We are told that love is nothing more than the action and we need not worry about the feelings. While the world things that love is nothing more than feelings, many within Christianity think that it is nothing more than behavior. Both are utterly unbiblical and appalling. Love is from God and from God alone. No matter how high a view one has of marriage, it must be taught that love is not within the power of human beings but is from God alone. If one spouse does not love the other, then that person either does not know God at all or has a hardened heart. It is that plain and simple. The answer is to seek God for a broken heart and the Spirit to work love in the heart. It is not a matter of choosing to perform outward functions; it is a matter of the work of God in the soul. Each person must go to God humbly and seek Him for true love.

One of the great tragedies of marriage in the modern day is the separation of the marital counseling and theory from biblical theology. Marriage will not be seen in its biblical power until there is a return to true biblical theology. The Bible is not just a handbook on how to behave in certain areas of life; it is the revelation of the living God on how man is to live as an expression of the glory of God. The Christian view is to declare with energy and love that marriage is far beyond the powers of any and all human beings apart from Christ and the work of the Spirit. It is only then that humanity can begin to see that it is to be broken of its own strength in order to have a biblical marriage. God opposes the proud in all areas, not just some. Within the churches of the day there is a huge amount of pride in the area of marriage by people thinking it is just behavior. Only when people are humbled and broken will they live in marriage by grace. Only then will the glory of God be expressed through them.

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Beatitudes 29: Purity 6

May 30, 2007

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

We have been dealing with the heart and the pure heart for several weeks. Last week we examined the pseudo-pure heart. That type of heart lives by appearances and takes great pride in what it thinks it is and what it thinks others see in it and say about it. The pride of the pseudo-pure heart blinds it to what true humility is so the pseudo-pure heart is proud of its humility. It lives in a perpetual disguise and deceives itself and others. This week we will look at the description of a pure heart.

We have previously looked at the heart as being the very core of the person. It is from the heart that our thoughts, affections, choices, intents, motives, and loves pour out of. In other words, all that we think, desire, and do flows from the heart. If that is true, and surely it is clear from Scripture that it is, then the heart is the most important part of the person. If the heart is impure, then all that flows from that heart is impure. However, as in the case of the Lord Jesus, whatever flows from a pure heart is pure. In the case of saved human beings where we still fight with sin, we have pure hearts by degrees. So the pure heart that is spoken of in the text is not a perfectly pure heart, but a heart that is striving for greater and greater degrees of purity. It is from that heart that is growing in purity that the thoughts, desires, loves, and actions of human beings become increasingly pure.

Since an impure and pseudo-pure heart is full of self and pride, the pure heart will be described by humility. Pride and self is (the same sin in reality) the sin from which all other sin really flows from and so it takes a humble heart to seek and obtain purity of heart. It is impossible to have a pure heart without humility. The Lord fights the proud and gives grace to the humble. The humble heart is also a soft or tender heart as King Josiah was given (II Kings 22:19). The text there tells us that he had a tender heart and humbled himself before the LORD. A tender heart is opposite of a hard heart and a humble heart is the opposite of a proud one. It is the tender and humble heart that bows to the LORD when it hears what He says in His Word while it is the proud and hard heart (like Pharaoh) that will not listen to the LORD.

A pure heart is one that is whole-hearted or focused and single. Those are words that we use to describe a person that is focused with all of his or her might on one thing. There is, after all, only one thing necessary (Luke 10:40-42). The heart that is not whole-hearted is a divided heart and not a single heart. As Matthew 6:24 sets out, no one can serve two masters. The human heart is such that it can only have one primary master at a time which is to say that it only has one master. In light of the Greatest Commandment, where all humanity is commanded to love God with all of the heart, mind, soul, and strength, what man must do is to be focused and whole-hearted on one thing and that is God and His glory. A heart is only pure to the degree that it seeks the glory of God out of love.

A divided heart is perhaps not thought of as such a great sin in the modern day but that is perhaps only because divided hearts reflect on it. A divided heart is a heart that has many masters and is certainly not directed and devoted to the One. “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name” (Psa 86:11). If the heart us not united, it is not in a position to fear God. “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (II Cor 11:3). In this text we see that simplicity and purity are what a mind can be led astray from. The word for “simplicity” is a`plo,thj (haplotes) which is really the concept of singleness. Something that is single is also seen as simplicity or undivided. It is the simple or single heart that has purity of devotion. So a pure heart is a heart that is undivided or single in its devotion to Christ.

A pure heart is a heart that is undiluted (to a greater or lesser degree) with non-love. I Corinthians 13 sets out that we can do nothing good that is without true love. Verse 1 of I Corinthians 13 tells us that whatever we speak it must be out of love. “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Even if we have the most eloquent of speech, and perhaps the most religiously correct of speech, if we do not have love our speech is as a loud, clanging, and irritating noise. Surely this points to the heart from which flow all of our thoughts and words. It is also the heart that will flow with love or non-love. So clearly a heart cannot be pure and be the fountain of pure words without love.

We can then move on to see from I Corinthians 13:2 that even if we know all mysteries and have all knowledge, and even if a person could have all faith, yet without love those things are nothing. It is only when those things are applied and used with love are they used to the glory of God. Even if we would give all that we had to the poor and if we gave our body to be burned in the name of Christ, yet if we do not love while doing those things they are morally reprehensible in the sight of God. The reason is that they would then flow from an impure heart of self-love and would be works of idolatry for the idol of self. Knowledge and acts done in the name of Christ must come from a love for Christ for the heart to be pure and for those actions to be for God and His glory.

For the heart to be pure the heart must be moved by grace. Now this may sound a bit different, but we must remember that what is not of grace is of the flesh and in our own strength. We must also remember that all love that flows to a human being is by definition of grace. The only access a human being has to true love is to receive it from the only source of love and that is God. No one loves except those that know God (I John 4:7-8). God does not impart His love in the heart except by the Holy Spirit who pours forth love in the heart of true believers (Rom 5:5). God is not under obligation to do this and so it must be by grace. So a pure heart is a heart that is moved, actuated, and strengthened by grace rather than by the flesh and outward works.

A pure heart is seen in that it is the temple of the living God. God dwells in His temple through the Spirit and our bodies are said to be temples “of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (I Cor 6:19). The context of this text is that of purity in that we are to flee from immorality. A person without a pure heart to some degree is not the temple of the living God. The Spirit is not called the “Holy Spirit” for nothing. He is holy in that He works holiness in hearts and He is holy in the sense that He will not dwell in a heart that has not been cleansed by the blood of Christ. So a pure heart is the home and working place of the Holy Spirit. It is the place where the Holy Spirit sets up shop and manifests the glory of God through.

Closely tied in with the preceding paragraph is the biblical teaching of the fruits of the Spirit. They are called the “fruits of the Spirit” because they are what the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of His people and their thoughts, desires, and actions flow out from those. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23). These things are not the results of the flesh and human effort; they are the results of the life of the Holy Spirit in His people. This shows how the fruit of the Spirit is tied in with many things that have preceded this. If the Spirit is in the heart, it is by grace alone. The work of the Spirit in the heart is not because of human works, but is because of His grace. We also see that the fruit of the Spirit includes love. There can be no pure heart or works apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit and apart from the heart that He works His fruit in.

We can see, then, that a pure heart is a heart that is empty of self and pride (though not perfectly) so that the Spirit of God dwells there. It is a heart that is under the influence and power of the Spirit so that it is a heart that is moved by grace and works by love. It is a heart that is guided by the two Greatest Commandments which means that it loves God with all of its being and loves its neighbor as itself. A pure heart loves self only out of love for God. The point on which all revolves including love for self is love for God. Rather than the revolving point being love for self, which would be idolatry, selfishness, and the height of pride, it does all out of love for God. The pure heart, because it is indwelt by the Spirit, flows out in love because that is what the Spirit works in that heart.

In another sense the pure heart is that which flows out the life of Christ. Christ dwells in His people and it is His life that is to be lived through us. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal 2:20). The old self has been crucified with Christ and is dead. That is the impure part of the heart. But now self no longer lives and it is Christ who lives in us and He lives in His people by faith. That is the pure heart. A pure heart is one that no longer lives for self or flows forth in the pride of self, but the life that flows out is the life of Christ. It is Christ who is exerting His life in and through His people. This is the difference between a form of the Pharisee and true Christianity. The Pharisee can be orthodox and committed to attending church and to good works. But it is the life of the flesh and of self. The true believer has a pure heart which means that self has died and what s/he does is the life of Christ coming through it. The pure heart is utterly necessary because Christ does not dwell in a heart that He has not cleansed and He only lives in a heart that His life will be lived through.

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Chief End 15 – Marriage 8

May 30, 2007

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.

We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?

We can now look at marriage in a more direct way as it relates to the expression and manifestation of God’s glory in this world. God created all things as a way by which He may manifest His glory. He had a primary reason or terminal end for all that He did. Marriage was created by God and His terminal end or chief end was to manifest His glory. That is the guiding light for interpretation of marriage. It is not that the man and woman look at self and strive for self-realization in the marriage. It is not setting aside one person’s goals for another or both striving to be good, but it is for both to realize that in their oneness the glory of God is to shine forth from them. It seems as if most counseling revolves around a needs basis or is simply behavior modification. Both of those are simply forms of humanism. We can also encourage people to be good in marriage in order to be good moral people, but again that is humanism or moralism. We can encourage people to obey God’s commands in marriage for various reasons, but again that can be nothing but outward religion and following rules in a misguided effort to please God. All things were meant to be a way for God to manifest the beauty and majesty of His glory. All believers are to obey with the intent to manifest the glory of God out of love for His glory. Those things cannot be worked up, they can only be worked in us by the life of Christ that comes down to us.

We must fight against the idea of marriage where one person must meet the needs of the other and in doing that God is glorified. Rather than that, what we must strive for is that the husband would love His wife with the love that flows from the throne of God. The wife must lovingly submit with the life of the submissive Savior that is in her. It is only when the internal glory of God is manifested through human beings that it is His glory shining through. It is not obeying certain rules that God is glorified and honored because if the effort and strength comes from the human being then it is to their own honor. That would be nothing but another form of self-righteousness.

If marriage is nothing more than a way to be moral, then it is nothing more than the spirit of the rules of the Pharisees. God did not give us His laws and His standards within marriage as rules that we keep, but to show us that we cannot do them apart from the life of Christ in us. The husband’s duty to love cannot be kept by human strength and even within the confines for conservative religion. The duty of the wife to lovingly submit is not something that can come from self-strength, even if she is a woman with much strength. The standards that God gives for marriage are not given to people that have the strength to keep them, but they are to show us that we cannot keep them from the heart apart from His love and strength in us. It is only when His rules and principles are kept from His love and strength is His glory manifested in and through us.

If we use rules for marital bliss as nothing more than behavior modification, then we are not teaching people to live in the marriage by grace. There is no love apart from the love of God in the soul since God alone is the only source for true love (I John 4:7-8). While certain rules may in some way modify human behavior, remember that the Pharisees also had behavior modification. But instead Christianity teaches that the believer is to live by the life of Christ in the soul which is also the love that the Spirit has worked in the soul. It is only then that God’s terminal purpose in creation of expressing His glory is seen in the marriage and is not simply behavior by human strength.

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Chief End 14 – Marriage 7

May 28, 2007

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.

We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?

The fall and the following curse are vital to understanding Ephesians 5 and the chief end of God for marriage. Let us look at the curse that God placed on Eve after the fall. “To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). While women identify with the pain of childbirth, the rest of the curse is not seen as much. The first part of the woman’s curse (which Adam has a big part of the pain in) is that she will desire her husband. But that is a rather hidden part of the curse. To get a better handle on understanding this, listen to what God told Cain in Genesis 4:7: “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Using the same language, we can see that desire is to master and rule something. Sin desired Cain in the sense that it wanted to rule him and run the way he lived. Part of the curse is that the woman desires her husband and wants to rule over him.

The other side of the curse is that the man would respond to the woman’s desire to rule him by ruling over her. The same word is also used in Genesis 4:7 for what Cain was to do with sin. He was to master it and to rule over it. In other words, he was to harshly rule over sin and not let it have a foot in the door or a say in any matter. So the husband responds to the wife’s desire to rule over him with an iron fisted way of running things His way. What we see in this, therefore, is that both the man and the woman each desire to be his or her own god which is the lie of the evil one. It is this desire that we see in each human that is nothing but pride and selfishness and the desire to rule over the other. That is the desire to be god. The woman believed that she could be like God and in so doing desires to rule over the husband and to get her own way in everything. The husband responds with mastering or ruling over the woman in order to get his way. It becomes a battle of the gods in two people fighting for control.

Ephesians 5 sets out the reversal of the fall in Christ. It takes Christ to reverse that fall. Submission and love are pictures of how God works His character in people as well as shines His glory through them. The fall shows how selfishness and pride instead of love came to rule in the marriage. The fall shows how selfishness and pride instead of love and submission came to rule in the marriage. Christ shows how the fall is reversed by working in His people love and submission in the marriage. In other words, men do not love and women do not lovingly submit because of selfishness and pride. It takes the life of Christ in the man by the power of the Spirit to love the wife. It takes the life of Christ in the woman by the power of the Spirit to submit and love the husband. In other words, it takes the very outshining of the glory of God who is Christ to work these things in the hearts of men and women so that marriage would be what it was meant to be. Marriage was meant to be one means by which the glory of God would be in people and shine through them. It does not do that when pride and self are at work.

What should be seen in marriage is not Christian duty and Christian principles as such, but the very glory of God shining through people in marriage. Marriage was created not so much as a means to raise kids or to make people happy as such, but as a way that the glory of a triune God would shine through and be manifested. Men are to love and women are to submit as ways that God’s glory shines through them. That is, after all, why He created them.

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Chief End 13 – Marriage 6

May 26, 2007

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.

We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?

The thing that makes the wife submitting to her husband so hard is pride and selfishness, but perhaps something more is involved in that as well. When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden, there was a curse placed on them. All of their descendants have had to bear that curse. The curse on them and marriage is only lifted in Christ. Unbelievers, though they may think that they are believers, have a curse placed on them and their marriage. So many try hard at having Christian marriages and perform in some way the duties of them and yet do not have the reversal of the curse as only found in Christ. Jesus said that His yoke was light and His burden was easy (Mat 11:30). He also said that His commands were not burdensome (I John 5:3).

What makes the yoke of Christ not burdensome is that the believing woman has the life of Christ in her. The One who perfectly submitted to His Father is the One who is working that life in her. The One who perfectly submitted to His Father is the One who is on the other side of the yoke doing the work. Since submission to a husband is really submission to God, Christ works that submission in the woman that is submitted to Him from the heart. The believer must submit to Christ from the heart in order to submit to another human in truth and love. When Christ is doing the work of submission in the heart and life of the woman, submission is not a burden but is an act of love to Christ. It is also the giving of the body and soul as His instrument of glory in the world as He created it to be.

I Peter shows how submission should be: “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. 3 Your adornment must not be merely external– braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; 6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear” (3:1-6).

As we see this text lived out we can see the glory of Christ shining through the woman. It was in perfect submission to the Father that the glory of Christ shone through. He told his disciples that all men will know that you are My disciples if you have love for each other (John 13:35). When a woman truly submits to Christ through her husband and that from the heart, it is plain for others to see that there is a different power in that woman. The behavior shows a power that Christ alone can put there. A chaste and respectful behavior shows the life of Christ. It is a gentle and quiet spirit toward the husband which only flows from the hearts of women who have Christ. Notice that in verse 5 it says (taking out the commas) that holy women who hoped in God adorned themselves with submission to their husbands. The beauty of Christ in a woman is put on with submission to Him by submitting to the husband and in that the glory of the submissive Savior shines through the woman. Women were made to glorify God as all are created to manifest the glory of God. Submission to the husband is one main way that the glory of God shines through Christ and then through the woman. It is His chief end in creating human beings.

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Chief End 12 – Marriage 5

May 24, 2007

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.

We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?

The third particular in marriage is that of God’s command that the wife to submit to the husband as the Church is to submit to Christ. This is not a popular teaching in the culture of today. In fact, it is mocked and despised as are virtually all of the real teachings of Scripture. However, what is mocked is perhaps a misrepresentation of what is taught and it is certainly from a humanistic perspective. Why does culture mock and despise the biblical command for wives to submit to husbands? Within each human heart there is the idea that comes from pride and independence that “I answer to no one else.” The fall has had terrible effects on marriage. The real issue is that unbelieving women do not see that they are to submit to God first and foremost. That is the real problem.

God created all things as a means to communicate and display His own glory. Whatever else we do, we must get that basic thought driven into the depths of our souls. No human being is completely independent of other human beings, though some like to think so. That is because God has created human beings to display His glory in the Trinity. The Persons of the Trinity exists in perfect union and love. Marriage should be a reflection of that. As the second Person of the Trinity submitted perfectly to the Father though they were equal in power and glory, so the wife is to submit to her husband. In doing this she is carrying out her created purpose.

It seems as if people think of the submission of the wife as being much like the submission of a dog. Instead of the dog doing what it wants, it should sit and lay down as the master wants. It is to follow the command of its master each and every moment. This is, of course, before the days of animal rights. But the expression of the glory of the Trinity does not give us that teaching. Within the Trinity the Father and the Son have one common goal and that is the communication and display of the glory of God. The Son submitted to the Father out of love while knowing that He was perfectly loved and that this submission was to carry out the purpose of the Trinity which was the glory of God. There is no groveling and carrying out arbitrary commands. There is the perfect and mutual love in being focused on the chief and terminal desire of the triune God and that is to manifest His glory.

The command for the husband to love his wife and the command for the wife to submit to her husband fit together as aspects of marriage which are there to show forth the glory of God. The wife that fights submission to her husband is really fighting submission to God. The passage tells us that the wife is to submit to the husband as to the Lord: “22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything” (Eph 5:22-24). In submitting to her husband the wife is proclaiming who her real Lord is, and that is Christ. When the wife does not submit to her husband, she is showing that she is her own lord and she will obey herself.

Marriage was planned by God as a way to manifest His glory on earth. The submission of the wife to the husband with the proper attitude is the display of true character and beauty, that is, it is to be like Christ in His submission to His Father. When the believing wife lovingly submits to her husband, the glory of God is shining through her.

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Chief End 11 – Marriage 4

May 21, 2007

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8. It is meant to give context.

“We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?”

Last time we looked at the text which tells us that the husband is to love the wife as Christ loved the Church (Eph 5:25-30). If we look at the issue of loving as something that flows from the character of God instead of behavior alone of some form of elevated feelings, we can see that loving and therefore marriage is in some way linked with the life and love of God in the person and in the marriage. So last time we looked at I John 4:7-12 and tried to look at the source of love. Now we must link the source of love to that of love in the marriage and of God’s terminal purpose or chief end in creating all things and especially human beings.

What we want to see at the moment is that the command to love as Christ loved is not a new command in Scripture. We see it in other passages and other contexts. For example, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). John 15 also gives us the same language: 9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.” 10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. 12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”

We can see from the above text that God’s love is the standard for how to love one another. The Church has been loved by Christ “just as the Father has loved Me.” The command and standard to love one another is to do that “just as I have loved you.” To love a wife as Christ loved the Church is to love the wife as the Father loved Christ. Christ had as His model and as the life of love in Him the love of the Father. This shows us very clearly that the Father of love is God the Father and His love flows to human beings through Christ. We can see this in another way from Ephesians 5:1-2: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” The command to love any other human beings is always just as Christ loved and as He was loved. But if this is true, does that mean that a husband has no greater obligation to love his wife than to any other human being?

We must be very careful while admitting that all believers are to love all other believers as Christ loved them. He loved as He was loved by the Father. But within the marriage there is a special intimacy which is reserved for and is to be between the husband and the wife. The husband is to love His wife and is to be one with His wife as Christ loved His Bride (the Church) and is one with Her. As the husband and wife are counted as one and are to live in a oneness of love and unity, this is to picture what Christ is to the Church. Unbelievers should be able to see the oneness of Christ and His Church when they see the Church. The love of Christ for His Bride is not in unbelievers. As I John 4:7-8 sets out, only those that are born of God and know God have the love of God in them and actually love with real love. It is not that God does not have a general benevolence toward the world, but that He does not unite Himself to the world in love. But He does unite Himself and becomes one with His people in Christ and by the Spirit. The husband is to give himself to the wife and desire unity in love with her. In this the glory of Christ and His love for the Church should be seen. In this God’s chief end is seen in the display of His love.

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