The Precepts and Liberty # 1
"So shall I keep your law continually forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty - for I seek your precepts" (Psalm 119:44-45).
But do not men at large - at least in the civilized world, "walk at liberty"? The great majority think so - but they are much mistaken. The fact is that sin has thoroughly perverted the judgment of the natural man, so that he is lacking in any true sense of values; and hence, it is that the Word of truth says, "Woe to those who all evil good - and good evil, who put darkness for light - and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet - and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). So completely has sin blinded the unregenerate, that they suppose that bondage is freedom; and freedom is bondage. The sinner imagines that he can only enjoy liberty while he is master of himself, and that to surrender unto the claims of Christ and take His yoke upon him would be bringing him into captivity. That is why he sees in the Lord Jesus "no beauty that we should desire him" (Isa. 53:2).
A false notion of liberty possesses all of our hearts. Until the Holy Spirit takes us in hand, we want to be at our own disposal and do whatever we please, without anyone to call us to account. Yet the impracticability of such a notion appears in the outworking of it in the natural world. If there were not government in the human sphere, every man doing that which was right in his own eyes - there would be a state of utter lawlessness and anarchy. Still more evident, to those with anointed eyes, is the untenability and wickedness of such a notion when applied to the spiritual realm. Since God is our Creator, since we are wholly dependent upon Him - even for every breath that we draw - it befits us to be in subjection to Him, for to Him we are accountable for all of our actions. Manifestly, it is our duty both to will and to do that which is pleasing to our Maker, our Benefactor, our Judge.
"I will walk at liberty" (Psalm 119:45). Note will, that statement is preceded by "I keep your law continually," and is followed by "for I seek your precepts." Rightly did Thomas Scott point out, "The service of God is perfect freedom, and every deviation is proportional slavery to sin and satan." Only in the path of God's precepts does the soul find true liberty - that is why God's law (the expression of His will) is called "the perfect law of liberty" (James 1:25; 2:12)! By the Fall, we have come under the law of sin and death; and consequently, we are fettered by our corruptions and bound over to eternal misery. But God's Word makes known to us the way of deliverance from that bondage. Sin destroys man's liberty, for it prevents him prosecuting his chief end - which is to glorify God - as it equally hinders him from attaining his highest good, which is to be holy and happy. Only by needing the Law of the Lord - can emancipation be obtained.
License is not liberty, for true liberty is not the opportunity to do what we want - but it is the power to do what we ought. Freedom of heart lies in a course of obedience to God, for there is no satisfaction to the heart - until it finds its satisfaction in the "good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2). The difference between the license of the natural man - and the liberty of the spiritual man - is that of being the bond-slave of sin and "the Lord's freeman"(1 Cor. 7:22); and that is determined by the chains of darkness being displaced by the cords of duty; the fetters of sin by the yoke of Christ.
And Christ's yoke is "easy> (Matt. 11:30), for it is lined with love. God's commandments "are not grievous" (1 John 5:3), for they are dictated by infinite wisdom and are designed for our highest good. Loving, pleasing, enjoying, praising God - is the only real freedom and blessedness. God's precepts must be sought, desired and obeyed - if we are to "walk at liberty." The more whole-heartedly and constantly we "seek" God's precepts and order our lives by them - the more will we "walk at liberty."
1. Thereby we shall be delivered from the darkness of a sin-blinded understanding. The "entrance of your words gives light; it gives understanding unto the simple" (Psalm 119:130).
"Simple" there does not mean dull-witted, weak-minded, or illiterate - but one who is plain-hearted, sincere, and with an eye single to God's glory (compare 2 Cor. 1:12). It is the words of God being received into an honest and good heart - which dispels the mists of error, disperses the clouds of prejudice, exposes the lies of satan, and illuminates the soul. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all those who do His commandments" (Psalm 111:10). The more we walk the path of obedience - the sounder becomes our judgment, and the keener our discernment in perceiving what would promote or what would make against our best interests.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, September 28, 2019
The Precepts and Understanding # 1
The Precepts and Understanding # 1
"A man of understanding will obtain guidance" (Proverbs 1:5).
"Understanding shall guard you" (Proverbs 2:11).
"How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver" (Proverbs 16:16).
"Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools" (Proverbs 16:22).
"He who cherishes understanding prospers" (Proverbs 19:8).
Do we really believe those statements? Re-read them slowly, and then answer our question. If we did, would we not more earnestly and diligently seek to respond to that injunction, "Though it cost all you have - get understanding!" (Prov. 4:7)? But what is meant by "understanding" in these passages? Not book learning or intellectual instruction, for there are many educated fools. Rather, holy prudence, spiritual knowledge, pious discernment and intuition, godly wisdom. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Prov. 9:10). "He who chases fantasies is void of understanding" (Prov. 12:11). "He who hears reproof gets understanding" (Prov. 15:32). "Those who seek the Lord understand all things" (Prov. 28:5).
How many of the Lord's people there are, who feel that to a large extent, they are lacking such understanding.
How often are they conscious of being lacking in spiritual discernment, that the eyes of their hearts are defective in vision. They deplore the foolish mistakes which they so frequently make and wish they had "good judgment." Now the Word of God makes known how that lack may be supplied and that defect remedied - and in language so plain and simple that the unlettered can grasp it - and points to an antidote which is not beyond the reach of the poor and untalented.
"The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Psalm 19:8). "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light" (Prov. 6:23). "A good understanding have all those who do his commandments" (Psalm 111:10). "Through your precepts I get understanding" (Psalm 119:04).
And again we ask, do we really believe those statements? It is by making the Divine precepts the regulators of our character and conduct - that clear vision, holy wisdom, and a good judgment become our portion.
By nature, our understanding is darkened (Eph. 4:18), and just so far as the Christian is regulated by his fleshly inclinations, is his judgment clouded. Sin blinds and deceives, and we are only delivered from its obscuring and deluding effects - to the extent that we are governed by God's precepts. It is not only wise to obey them - but we become wiser in so doing. It is only as we are in practical subjection to the Divine Law that the clouds produced by our lusts and passions are dispelled, and we are able to see clearly. "By the Law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20); and therefore, it is by its precepts we are prepared to understand and appreciate the Gospel, as it is by the precepts of the Gospel, that we learn our need of drawing upon the fullness there is in Christ for His people. There is not only pleasure for the soul to be found in walking in the Law of the Lord - but profit as well. Obedience to the Divine will begets wisdom of heart. The way to increase in spiritual understanding is to be studious of practical holiness, thereby we learn to distinguish between truth and falsehood, good and evil.
"Through your precepts I get understanding" (Psalm 119:104).
1. Understanding of the Divine character. Those precepts are not only expressions of God's will - but also of His wisdom. They are not only mandates of His authority -but manifestations of His moral perfections too. As we ponder the substance and nature of those precepts - we the better perceive the spirituality, the goodness, the righteousness, the holiness of their Author.
The perfections of God shine forth through His precepts. They reveal His benevolence and benignity, His solicitude for the welfare of His people - for the keeping of those precepts is not only for His glory - but our good. We do not forsake our own mercies - when we ignore them. "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12); and the more we meditate upon it and submit to its requirements, the more do we apprehend the excellency of Him who gave it to us.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
"A man of understanding will obtain guidance" (Proverbs 1:5).
"Understanding shall guard you" (Proverbs 2:11).
"How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver" (Proverbs 16:16).
"Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools" (Proverbs 16:22).
"He who cherishes understanding prospers" (Proverbs 19:8).
Do we really believe those statements? Re-read them slowly, and then answer our question. If we did, would we not more earnestly and diligently seek to respond to that injunction, "Though it cost all you have - get understanding!" (Prov. 4:7)? But what is meant by "understanding" in these passages? Not book learning or intellectual instruction, for there are many educated fools. Rather, holy prudence, spiritual knowledge, pious discernment and intuition, godly wisdom. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Prov. 9:10). "He who chases fantasies is void of understanding" (Prov. 12:11). "He who hears reproof gets understanding" (Prov. 15:32). "Those who seek the Lord understand all things" (Prov. 28:5).
How many of the Lord's people there are, who feel that to a large extent, they are lacking such understanding.
How often are they conscious of being lacking in spiritual discernment, that the eyes of their hearts are defective in vision. They deplore the foolish mistakes which they so frequently make and wish they had "good judgment." Now the Word of God makes known how that lack may be supplied and that defect remedied - and in language so plain and simple that the unlettered can grasp it - and points to an antidote which is not beyond the reach of the poor and untalented.
"The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Psalm 19:8). "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light" (Prov. 6:23). "A good understanding have all those who do his commandments" (Psalm 111:10). "Through your precepts I get understanding" (Psalm 119:04).
And again we ask, do we really believe those statements? It is by making the Divine precepts the regulators of our character and conduct - that clear vision, holy wisdom, and a good judgment become our portion.
By nature, our understanding is darkened (Eph. 4:18), and just so far as the Christian is regulated by his fleshly inclinations, is his judgment clouded. Sin blinds and deceives, and we are only delivered from its obscuring and deluding effects - to the extent that we are governed by God's precepts. It is not only wise to obey them - but we become wiser in so doing. It is only as we are in practical subjection to the Divine Law that the clouds produced by our lusts and passions are dispelled, and we are able to see clearly. "By the Law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20); and therefore, it is by its precepts we are prepared to understand and appreciate the Gospel, as it is by the precepts of the Gospel, that we learn our need of drawing upon the fullness there is in Christ for His people. There is not only pleasure for the soul to be found in walking in the Law of the Lord - but profit as well. Obedience to the Divine will begets wisdom of heart. The way to increase in spiritual understanding is to be studious of practical holiness, thereby we learn to distinguish between truth and falsehood, good and evil.
"Through your precepts I get understanding" (Psalm 119:104).
1. Understanding of the Divine character. Those precepts are not only expressions of God's will - but also of His wisdom. They are not only mandates of His authority -but manifestations of His moral perfections too. As we ponder the substance and nature of those precepts - we the better perceive the spirituality, the goodness, the righteousness, the holiness of their Author.
The perfections of God shine forth through His precepts. They reveal His benevolence and benignity, His solicitude for the welfare of His people - for the keeping of those precepts is not only for His glory - but our good. We do not forsake our own mercies - when we ignore them. "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12); and the more we meditate upon it and submit to its requirements, the more do we apprehend the excellency of Him who gave it to us.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Does God Love Everyone? # 2
Does God Love Everyone? # 2
John 3:16
Turning now to John 3:16, it should be evident from the passages just quoted that this verse will not bear the construction usually put upon it. "God so loved the world." Many suppose that this means the entire human race. But "the entire human race" includes all mankind from Adam until the close of earth's history; it reaches backward as well as forward! Consider, then, the history of mankind before Christ was born. Unnumbered millions lived and died before the Saviour came to the earth, lived here "having no hope and without God in the world," and therefore passed out into an eternity of woe. if God "loved" them, where is the slightest proof thereof? Scripture declares "Who (God) in times past (from the tower of Babel until after Pentecost) suffered all nations to walk in their own ways" (Acts 14:16). Scripture declares: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" (Rom. 1:28). It Israel God said, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). In view of these plain passages, who will be so foolish as to insist that God in the past loved all mankind! The same applies with equal force to the future. Read through the book of Revelation, noting especially chapters 8 to 19, where we have described the judgments which will be poured out from Heaven on this earth.
Read of the fearful woes, the frightful plagues, the vials of God's wrath, which shall be emptied on the wicked. Finally, read the twentieth chapter of the Revelation, the Great White Throne judgment, and see if you can discover there the slightest trace of love. But the objection comes back to John 3:16 and says, "World means world." True, but we have shown that "the world" does not mean the whole human family. The fact is that "the world" is used in a general way. When the brethren of Christ said, "Show Yourself to the world" (John 7:4), did they mean "Show Yourself to all mankind"? When the Pharisees said, "Behold, the world is gone after him" (John 12:19), did they mean that all the human family were flocking after Him? When the apostle wrote, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world" (Romans 1:8), did he mean that the faith of the saints at Rome was the subject of conversation by every man, woman, and child on earth? When Revelation 13:3 informs us that "all the world wondered after the beast," are we to understand that there will be no exceptions? These, and other passages which might be quoted, show that the term "the world" often has a relative, rather than an absolute, force. Now the first thing to note in connection with John 3:16 is that our Lord was there speaking to Nicodemus, a man who believed that God's mercies were confined to his own nation. Christ there announced that God's love in giving His Son had a larger object in view - that it flowed beyond the boundary of Palestine, reaching out to "regions beyond." In other words, this was Christ's announcement that God had a purpose of grace toward Gentiles as well as Jews. "God so loved the world," then, signifies God's love is international in its scope. But does this mean that God loves every individual among the Gentiles?
Not necessarily, for as we have seen, the term"world" is general rather than specific, relative rather than absolute. The term "world" in itself is not conclusive. To ascertain who the objects of God's love are, other passages where His love is mentioned must be consulted. in 2 Peter 2:5, we read of "the world of the ungodly." If then, there is a world of the ungodly; there must also be a world of the godly. It is the latter who are in view in the passages we shall now briefly consider. "For the bread of God is he which comes down from Heaven, and gives life unto the world" (John 6:33). Now mark it well, Christ did not say, "offers life unto the world," but "gives." What is the difference between the two terms? This: a thing which if "offered" may be refused, but a thing "given" necessarily implies its acceptance. If it is not accepted, it is not "given"; it is simply offered. Here, then is a Scripture that positively states Christ gives life (spiritual, eternal life) "unto the world." Now He does not give eternal life to the "world of the ungodly" for they will not have it; they do not want it. Hence, we are obliged to understand the reference in John 6:33 as being to "the world of the godly," that is, God's own people.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 3)
John 3:16
Turning now to John 3:16, it should be evident from the passages just quoted that this verse will not bear the construction usually put upon it. "God so loved the world." Many suppose that this means the entire human race. But "the entire human race" includes all mankind from Adam until the close of earth's history; it reaches backward as well as forward! Consider, then, the history of mankind before Christ was born. Unnumbered millions lived and died before the Saviour came to the earth, lived here "having no hope and without God in the world," and therefore passed out into an eternity of woe. if God "loved" them, where is the slightest proof thereof? Scripture declares "Who (God) in times past (from the tower of Babel until after Pentecost) suffered all nations to walk in their own ways" (Acts 14:16). Scripture declares: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" (Rom. 1:28). It Israel God said, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). In view of these plain passages, who will be so foolish as to insist that God in the past loved all mankind! The same applies with equal force to the future. Read through the book of Revelation, noting especially chapters 8 to 19, where we have described the judgments which will be poured out from Heaven on this earth.
Read of the fearful woes, the frightful plagues, the vials of God's wrath, which shall be emptied on the wicked. Finally, read the twentieth chapter of the Revelation, the Great White Throne judgment, and see if you can discover there the slightest trace of love. But the objection comes back to John 3:16 and says, "World means world." True, but we have shown that "the world" does not mean the whole human family. The fact is that "the world" is used in a general way. When the brethren of Christ said, "Show Yourself to the world" (John 7:4), did they mean "Show Yourself to all mankind"? When the Pharisees said, "Behold, the world is gone after him" (John 12:19), did they mean that all the human family were flocking after Him? When the apostle wrote, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world" (Romans 1:8), did he mean that the faith of the saints at Rome was the subject of conversation by every man, woman, and child on earth? When Revelation 13:3 informs us that "all the world wondered after the beast," are we to understand that there will be no exceptions? These, and other passages which might be quoted, show that the term "the world" often has a relative, rather than an absolute, force. Now the first thing to note in connection with John 3:16 is that our Lord was there speaking to Nicodemus, a man who believed that God's mercies were confined to his own nation. Christ there announced that God's love in giving His Son had a larger object in view - that it flowed beyond the boundary of Palestine, reaching out to "regions beyond." In other words, this was Christ's announcement that God had a purpose of grace toward Gentiles as well as Jews. "God so loved the world," then, signifies God's love is international in its scope. But does this mean that God loves every individual among the Gentiles?
Not necessarily, for as we have seen, the term"world" is general rather than specific, relative rather than absolute. The term "world" in itself is not conclusive. To ascertain who the objects of God's love are, other passages where His love is mentioned must be consulted. in 2 Peter 2:5, we read of "the world of the ungodly." If then, there is a world of the ungodly; there must also be a world of the godly. It is the latter who are in view in the passages we shall now briefly consider. "For the bread of God is he which comes down from Heaven, and gives life unto the world" (John 6:33). Now mark it well, Christ did not say, "offers life unto the world," but "gives." What is the difference between the two terms? This: a thing which if "offered" may be refused, but a thing "given" necessarily implies its acceptance. If it is not accepted, it is not "given"; it is simply offered. Here, then is a Scripture that positively states Christ gives life (spiritual, eternal life) "unto the world." Now He does not give eternal life to the "world of the ungodly" for they will not have it; they do not want it. Hence, we are obliged to understand the reference in John 6:33 as being to "the world of the godly," that is, God's own people.
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 3)
Evangelical Obedience # 5
Evangelical Obedience # 5
When the Lord declared concerning David His servant that "he kept My commandments and My statutes" (1 Kings 11:34), He was speaking relatively and not absolutely. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in His way" (Psalm 37:23), notwithstanding that he often stumbles, yes, falls, in the same. There are but two classes of people in the sight of God: "the children of disobedience," and "obedient children" (1 Pet. 1:14) - yet many a regenerate soul is fearful of classifying himself with the latter. But he ought not - his scruples are due to an insufficiently enlightened conscience.
When the Lord Jesus said to the Father of those whom He had given Him, "They have kept your word" (John 17:6), surely, it is obvious that He was not affirming that their obedience was perfect. "Evangelical keeping is filial and sincere obedience. Those imperfections, Christ pardons, when He looks back and sees many errors and defects in the life - as long as we bewail sin, seek remission, and strive to attain perfection. All the commandments are accounted kept when that which is not done is pardoned (Thomas Manton). When the heart beats true to Him - Christ makes full allowance for our frailties.
With the Word of God in his hands, there is no excuse for anyone who has, by divine grace, been brought to hate sin and love God - to stumble over the point we are now treating of. David had many failings - and some of a gross and grievous nature - yet he hesitated not to say unto God himself: "I have kept your precepts." (Psalm 119:56). In what sense had he done so? Inwardly - in spirit, in holy resolution, and earnest endeavor. Outwardly, too - in the general current of his life. And wherein he failed - he deeply repented and obtained forgiveness from God. Christ will yet say to each one who has improved the talents entrusted to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant" - yet that is far from implying that therein he was without fault or failure.
When Paul prayed for the Hebrew saints that God would make them "perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight," he was making request for those indwelt by sin, as his added acceptable "through Jesus Christ" (Heb. 13:21) necessarily implied. "And whatever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments" (1 John 3:22) would have no comfort for us, if God accepted only sinless obedience.
"Man looks on the outward appearance - but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). Those words are capable of more than one legitimate application - but they are peculiarly pertinent here. True, God is very far from being indifferent to the substance of our obedience - yet the spirit in which it is performed is what He notices first. Duties are not distinguished by their external form - but by their internal frame - one may perform the same duty from fear or compulsion, which another does freely and out of love. "Waters may have the same appearance - yet one be sweet; and the other, brackish. Two apples may have the same color - yet one may be a crab; and the other, of a delightful relish. We must look to the Rule that the matter of our actions are suited to it; otherwise, we may commit gross wickedness, as those did who thought that they did God service by killing His righteous servants (John 16:2). We must look also to the face of our hearts; otherwise, we may be guilty of gross hypocrisy" (Stephen Charnock). The Pharisees kept the Sabbath with great strictness - yet their outward conformity unto that divine Law was far from being acceptable in God's sight.
"The Lord weighs the spirits" (Prov. 16:2). That has a meaning which should make each of us tremble - yet it should also be of great comfort to the regenerate, and evoke thanksgiving. If, on the one hand, the omniscient One cannot be imposed upon by the most pious appearance and utterances of the hypocrite; yet on the other hand, He knows those "who desire to fear His name" (Neh. 1:11), even though some of their actions proceed from a contrary principle. All the intentions and motives of our hearts are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do; and full consideration is given thereto as God estimates our performances. Was not this very truth both the comfort and confidence of erring Peter when he declared to his Master: "Lord, you know all things - you know that (contrary to appearances) I (really and truly) love you!" (John 21:17). "If you, Lord, should mark iniquities (the shortcomings of Your full and righteous demands) - then who shall stand?" (Psalm 130:30). Not one of His people. But, as the next verse goes on to assure us: "But there is forgiveness with You - that You may be feared" (verse 4) - yes, held in awe, and not trifled with. Blessed balance of truth!
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 6)
When the Lord declared concerning David His servant that "he kept My commandments and My statutes" (1 Kings 11:34), He was speaking relatively and not absolutely. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in His way" (Psalm 37:23), notwithstanding that he often stumbles, yes, falls, in the same. There are but two classes of people in the sight of God: "the children of disobedience," and "obedient children" (1 Pet. 1:14) - yet many a regenerate soul is fearful of classifying himself with the latter. But he ought not - his scruples are due to an insufficiently enlightened conscience.
When the Lord Jesus said to the Father of those whom He had given Him, "They have kept your word" (John 17:6), surely, it is obvious that He was not affirming that their obedience was perfect. "Evangelical keeping is filial and sincere obedience. Those imperfections, Christ pardons, when He looks back and sees many errors and defects in the life - as long as we bewail sin, seek remission, and strive to attain perfection. All the commandments are accounted kept when that which is not done is pardoned (Thomas Manton). When the heart beats true to Him - Christ makes full allowance for our frailties.
With the Word of God in his hands, there is no excuse for anyone who has, by divine grace, been brought to hate sin and love God - to stumble over the point we are now treating of. David had many failings - and some of a gross and grievous nature - yet he hesitated not to say unto God himself: "I have kept your precepts." (Psalm 119:56). In what sense had he done so? Inwardly - in spirit, in holy resolution, and earnest endeavor. Outwardly, too - in the general current of his life. And wherein he failed - he deeply repented and obtained forgiveness from God. Christ will yet say to each one who has improved the talents entrusted to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant" - yet that is far from implying that therein he was without fault or failure.
When Paul prayed for the Hebrew saints that God would make them "perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight," he was making request for those indwelt by sin, as his added acceptable "through Jesus Christ" (Heb. 13:21) necessarily implied. "And whatever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments" (1 John 3:22) would have no comfort for us, if God accepted only sinless obedience.
"Man looks on the outward appearance - but the Lord looks on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). Those words are capable of more than one legitimate application - but they are peculiarly pertinent here. True, God is very far from being indifferent to the substance of our obedience - yet the spirit in which it is performed is what He notices first. Duties are not distinguished by their external form - but by their internal frame - one may perform the same duty from fear or compulsion, which another does freely and out of love. "Waters may have the same appearance - yet one be sweet; and the other, brackish. Two apples may have the same color - yet one may be a crab; and the other, of a delightful relish. We must look to the Rule that the matter of our actions are suited to it; otherwise, we may commit gross wickedness, as those did who thought that they did God service by killing His righteous servants (John 16:2). We must look also to the face of our hearts; otherwise, we may be guilty of gross hypocrisy" (Stephen Charnock). The Pharisees kept the Sabbath with great strictness - yet their outward conformity unto that divine Law was far from being acceptable in God's sight.
"The Lord weighs the spirits" (Prov. 16:2). That has a meaning which should make each of us tremble - yet it should also be of great comfort to the regenerate, and evoke thanksgiving. If, on the one hand, the omniscient One cannot be imposed upon by the most pious appearance and utterances of the hypocrite; yet on the other hand, He knows those "who desire to fear His name" (Neh. 1:11), even though some of their actions proceed from a contrary principle. All the intentions and motives of our hearts are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do; and full consideration is given thereto as God estimates our performances. Was not this very truth both the comfort and confidence of erring Peter when he declared to his Master: "Lord, you know all things - you know that (contrary to appearances) I (really and truly) love you!" (John 21:17). "If you, Lord, should mark iniquities (the shortcomings of Your full and righteous demands) - then who shall stand?" (Psalm 130:30). Not one of His people. But, as the next verse goes on to assure us: "But there is forgiveness with You - that You may be feared" (verse 4) - yes, held in awe, and not trifled with. Blessed balance of truth!
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 6)
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Does God Love Everyone? # 1
[A very interesting and thoughtful sermon!! A must read!!]
Does God Love Everyone? # 1
1. John 3:16
2. 2 Peter 3:9
3. The Holy Spirit Will Not Be Resisted
4. Why Preach to Every Creature?
One of the most popular beliefs of the day is that God loves everybody, and the very fact that it is so popular with all classes ought to be enough to arouse the suspicions of those who are subject to the Word of Truth. God's love toward all His creatures is the fundamental and favorite tenet of Universalists, Unitarians, and Theosophists, Christian Scientists, Spiritualists, Russellites, etc. No matter how a man may live in open defiance of Heaven, with no concern whatever for his soul's eternal interests, still less for God's glory, dying perhaps with an oath on his lips - notwithstanding, God loves him, we are told. So widely has this dogma been proclaimed, and so comforting is it to the heart which is at enmity with God - we have little hope of convincing many of their error. That God loves everybody is, we may say, quite a modern belief. The writings of the church fathers, the Reformers, or the Puritans will (we believe) be searched in vain for any such concept. Perhaps the late D. L. Moody - captivated by Drummond's The Great Thing in the World - did more than anyone else in the last century to popularize this concept. It has been customary to say God loves the sinner though He hates his sin. But that is a meaningless distinction. What is there in a sinner but sin? Is it not true that his "whole head is sick" and his "whole heart faint," and that "from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness" in him? (Isaiah 1:5-6). Is it true that God loves the one who is despising and rejecting His blessed Son? God is Light as well as Love, and therefore His love must be a holy love.
To tell the Christ-rejecter that God loves him is to cauterize his conscience, as well as to afford him a sense of security in his sins. The fact is, the love of God is a truth for the saints only, and to present it to the enemies of God is to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs (Matt. 15:26). With the exception of John 3:16, not once in the four Gospels do we read of the Lord Jesus, the perfect teacher, telling sinners that God loves them! In the book of Acts, which records the evangelistic labors and messages of the apostles, God's love is never referred to at all! But when we come to the Epistles, which are addressed to the saints, we have a full presentation of this precious truth: God's love for His own. Let us seek to rightly divide the Word of God and then we shall not be found taking truths which are addressed to believers and misapplying them to unbelievers. That which sinners need to have brought before them is the ineffable holiness, the exacting righteousness, the inflexible justice, and the terrible wrath of God.
Risking the danger of being misunderstood, let us say - and we wish we could say it to every evangelist and preacher in the country - there is far too much presenting of Christ to sinners today, and far too little showing sinners their need of Christ, that is, their absolutely ruined and lost condition, their imminent and awful danger of suffering the wrath to come, the fearful guilt resting upon them in the sight of God. To present Christ to those who have never been shown their need of Him, seems to us to be guilty of casting pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6). If it be true that God loves every member of the human family, then why did our Lord tell His disciples, "He who has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and he who loves Me shall be loved of My Father...If a man love me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him" (John 14:21, 23)? Why say, "He that loves Me shall be loved of My Father," if the Father loves everybody?? The same limitation is found in Prov. 8:17: "I love them that love Me."
Again we read, "You hate all workers of iniquity" - not merely the works of iniquity. Here then is a flat repudiation of present teaching that God hates sin but loves the sinner: Scripture says, "You hate all workers of iniquity" (Psalm 5:5)! "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalm 7:11). "He who believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God" - not "shall abide," but even now - "abides on him" (John 3:36). Can God "love" the one on whom His "wrath" abides? Again, is it not evident that the words, "The love of God which is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:39), mark a limitation, both in the sphere and objects, of His love? Again, is it not plain from the words, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (Romans 9:13), that God does NOT love everybody?? Again, it is written, "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives" (Heb. 12:6). Does not this verse teach that God's love is restricted to the members of His own family? If He loves all men without exception, then the distinction and limitation here mentioned is quite meaningless. Finally, we would ask, is it conceivable that God will love the dammed in the Lake of Fire? Yet, if He loves them now,He will do so then, seeing that His love knows no change. He is "without variableness or shadow of turning" (James 1:17).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
Does God Love Everyone? # 1
1. John 3:16
2. 2 Peter 3:9
3. The Holy Spirit Will Not Be Resisted
4. Why Preach to Every Creature?
One of the most popular beliefs of the day is that God loves everybody, and the very fact that it is so popular with all classes ought to be enough to arouse the suspicions of those who are subject to the Word of Truth. God's love toward all His creatures is the fundamental and favorite tenet of Universalists, Unitarians, and Theosophists, Christian Scientists, Spiritualists, Russellites, etc. No matter how a man may live in open defiance of Heaven, with no concern whatever for his soul's eternal interests, still less for God's glory, dying perhaps with an oath on his lips - notwithstanding, God loves him, we are told. So widely has this dogma been proclaimed, and so comforting is it to the heart which is at enmity with God - we have little hope of convincing many of their error. That God loves everybody is, we may say, quite a modern belief. The writings of the church fathers, the Reformers, or the Puritans will (we believe) be searched in vain for any such concept. Perhaps the late D. L. Moody - captivated by Drummond's The Great Thing in the World - did more than anyone else in the last century to popularize this concept. It has been customary to say God loves the sinner though He hates his sin. But that is a meaningless distinction. What is there in a sinner but sin? Is it not true that his "whole head is sick" and his "whole heart faint," and that "from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness" in him? (Isaiah 1:5-6). Is it true that God loves the one who is despising and rejecting His blessed Son? God is Light as well as Love, and therefore His love must be a holy love.
To tell the Christ-rejecter that God loves him is to cauterize his conscience, as well as to afford him a sense of security in his sins. The fact is, the love of God is a truth for the saints only, and to present it to the enemies of God is to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs (Matt. 15:26). With the exception of John 3:16, not once in the four Gospels do we read of the Lord Jesus, the perfect teacher, telling sinners that God loves them! In the book of Acts, which records the evangelistic labors and messages of the apostles, God's love is never referred to at all! But when we come to the Epistles, which are addressed to the saints, we have a full presentation of this precious truth: God's love for His own. Let us seek to rightly divide the Word of God and then we shall not be found taking truths which are addressed to believers and misapplying them to unbelievers. That which sinners need to have brought before them is the ineffable holiness, the exacting righteousness, the inflexible justice, and the terrible wrath of God.
Risking the danger of being misunderstood, let us say - and we wish we could say it to every evangelist and preacher in the country - there is far too much presenting of Christ to sinners today, and far too little showing sinners their need of Christ, that is, their absolutely ruined and lost condition, their imminent and awful danger of suffering the wrath to come, the fearful guilt resting upon them in the sight of God. To present Christ to those who have never been shown their need of Him, seems to us to be guilty of casting pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6). If it be true that God loves every member of the human family, then why did our Lord tell His disciples, "He who has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and he who loves Me shall be loved of My Father...If a man love me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him" (John 14:21, 23)? Why say, "He that loves Me shall be loved of My Father," if the Father loves everybody?? The same limitation is found in Prov. 8:17: "I love them that love Me."
Again we read, "You hate all workers of iniquity" - not merely the works of iniquity. Here then is a flat repudiation of present teaching that God hates sin but loves the sinner: Scripture says, "You hate all workers of iniquity" (Psalm 5:5)! "God is angry with the wicked every day" (Psalm 7:11). "He who believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God" - not "shall abide," but even now - "abides on him" (John 3:36). Can God "love" the one on whom His "wrath" abides? Again, is it not evident that the words, "The love of God which is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:39), mark a limitation, both in the sphere and objects, of His love? Again, is it not plain from the words, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" (Romans 9:13), that God does NOT love everybody?? Again, it is written, "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives" (Heb. 12:6). Does not this verse teach that God's love is restricted to the members of His own family? If He loves all men without exception, then the distinction and limitation here mentioned is quite meaningless. Finally, we would ask, is it conceivable that God will love the dammed in the Lake of Fire? Yet, if He loves them now,He will do so then, seeing that His love knows no change. He is "without variableness or shadow of turning" (James 1:17).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 2)
Evangelical Obedience # 4
Evangelical Obedience # 4
What is yet more to the point in connection with our immediate subject, under the New Covenant - provision has been made for the failures of its subjects. God does not reject their obedience because it is faulty - but graciously accepts the same when it is prompted by submission to His authority, is performed by faith, is urged by love, and is done with sincerity of purpose and endeavor.
Sin has disabled us from an exact keeping of God's commandments - but He approves of what issues from an upright heart and which sincerely seeks to please Him. We are bidden to "have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably (not flawlessly!) with reverence and godly fear" (Heb. 12:28). While God still justly requires from us a perfect and perpetual obedience, nevertheless, He is graciously pleased to receive and own genuine efforts to conform to His will. He does so because of the merits of Christ and His continued mediation on our behalf. Having accepted our persons, He also accepts our love-offerings - note the order in Genesis 4:4. We present spiritual sacrifices unto Him, and they are "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).
That we are here propounding no new and dangerous error will be seen from the following quotations: "Notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works are also accepted in Him: not as though they were in this life wholly unblamably and unreproveable in God's sight - but that He, looking upon them in His Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, though accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections" - (The Westminister Confession of Faith).
"I call it Gospel obedience, not that it differs in substance from that required by the Law, which enjoins us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts - but that it moves upon principles, and is carried on unto ends, revealed only in the Gospel" (John Owen).
According to the modification of the new covenant, "God, out of His love and mercy in Christ Jesus, accepts of such a measure of love and obedience as answers to the measure of sanctification received" (Thomas Manton).
Though the above quotations are far from being divinely inspired - and therefore, are without any binding authority upon the children of God - nevertheless they are from men who were deeply taught and much used by the Holy Spirit, and thus, are deserving of our serious and prayerful attention. While the Christian is forbidden to call any man "father" - that is far from signifying that he should despise such teachers. There is no Antinomian laxity in the above citations - but a holy balance such as is scarcely ever found in the ministry of our day.
Above, we pointed out that God justly requires a perfect obedience from all rational creatures, and that under no circumstances will He lower His demand. Every regenerate (born again) soul concurs with God's holy claim, and deeply lament his inability to meet that claim. We also affirmed that under the moderation of the New Covenant constitution, that God is graciously pleased to accept and approve of an obedience from His people, which - though sincerely desiring and endeavoring to measure up to His perfect standard - is, through their remaining corruptions and infirmities, a very defective one; and that He does so without any reflection upon His honor.
We followed that brief averment by giving excerpts from some of the Puritans - the number of which might easily be multiplied - not for the purpose of buttressing our own teaching - but in order that it might be seen that we are not advancing here any dangerous or strange doctrine. Nevertheless, the majority of our readers will require something from an infinitely higher authority than that on which to rest their faith; and to it, we now turn.
In Genesis 26:5, we find the Lord declaring: "Because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept my charge, My commandments, my statutes, and My laws." Yet he did not do so perfectly, for he was a man "subject to like passions as we are"; nevertheless, God owned his obedience, and, as the context there shows, rewarded him for the same. Sincere obedience, though it be not sinless, is acceptable unto God; if it were not, then it would be impossible for any of His children to perform a single act in this life which was pleasing in His sight. Not only so - but many statements made in the Scriptures concerning saints would be quite unintelligible to us - statements which oblige us to believe that God receives the hearty - yet imperfect, endeavors of His people; yes, that He attributes unto the same a far higher quality than they do. Thus, He said of Job, "That man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1): yet, as we read all that is recorded of him, it soon becomes apparent that he - like ourselves - was "compassed with infirmity" (Heb. 5:2).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 5)
What is yet more to the point in connection with our immediate subject, under the New Covenant - provision has been made for the failures of its subjects. God does not reject their obedience because it is faulty - but graciously accepts the same when it is prompted by submission to His authority, is performed by faith, is urged by love, and is done with sincerity of purpose and endeavor.
Sin has disabled us from an exact keeping of God's commandments - but He approves of what issues from an upright heart and which sincerely seeks to please Him. We are bidden to "have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably (not flawlessly!) with reverence and godly fear" (Heb. 12:28). While God still justly requires from us a perfect and perpetual obedience, nevertheless, He is graciously pleased to receive and own genuine efforts to conform to His will. He does so because of the merits of Christ and His continued mediation on our behalf. Having accepted our persons, He also accepts our love-offerings - note the order in Genesis 4:4. We present spiritual sacrifices unto Him, and they are "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).
That we are here propounding no new and dangerous error will be seen from the following quotations: "Notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works are also accepted in Him: not as though they were in this life wholly unblamably and unreproveable in God's sight - but that He, looking upon them in His Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, though accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections" - (The Westminister Confession of Faith).
"I call it Gospel obedience, not that it differs in substance from that required by the Law, which enjoins us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts - but that it moves upon principles, and is carried on unto ends, revealed only in the Gospel" (John Owen).
According to the modification of the new covenant, "God, out of His love and mercy in Christ Jesus, accepts of such a measure of love and obedience as answers to the measure of sanctification received" (Thomas Manton).
Though the above quotations are far from being divinely inspired - and therefore, are without any binding authority upon the children of God - nevertheless they are from men who were deeply taught and much used by the Holy Spirit, and thus, are deserving of our serious and prayerful attention. While the Christian is forbidden to call any man "father" - that is far from signifying that he should despise such teachers. There is no Antinomian laxity in the above citations - but a holy balance such as is scarcely ever found in the ministry of our day.
Above, we pointed out that God justly requires a perfect obedience from all rational creatures, and that under no circumstances will He lower His demand. Every regenerate (born again) soul concurs with God's holy claim, and deeply lament his inability to meet that claim. We also affirmed that under the moderation of the New Covenant constitution, that God is graciously pleased to accept and approve of an obedience from His people, which - though sincerely desiring and endeavoring to measure up to His perfect standard - is, through their remaining corruptions and infirmities, a very defective one; and that He does so without any reflection upon His honor.
We followed that brief averment by giving excerpts from some of the Puritans - the number of which might easily be multiplied - not for the purpose of buttressing our own teaching - but in order that it might be seen that we are not advancing here any dangerous or strange doctrine. Nevertheless, the majority of our readers will require something from an infinitely higher authority than that on which to rest their faith; and to it, we now turn.
In Genesis 26:5, we find the Lord declaring: "Because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept my charge, My commandments, my statutes, and My laws." Yet he did not do so perfectly, for he was a man "subject to like passions as we are"; nevertheless, God owned his obedience, and, as the context there shows, rewarded him for the same. Sincere obedience, though it be not sinless, is acceptable unto God; if it were not, then it would be impossible for any of His children to perform a single act in this life which was pleasing in His sight. Not only so - but many statements made in the Scriptures concerning saints would be quite unintelligible to us - statements which oblige us to believe that God receives the hearty - yet imperfect, endeavors of His people; yes, that He attributes unto the same a far higher quality than they do. Thus, He said of Job, "That man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1): yet, as we read all that is recorded of him, it soon becomes apparent that he - like ourselves - was "compassed with infirmity" (Heb. 5:2).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 5)
Saturday, September 7, 2019
The Eternal Duration of Hell's Torments # 2
The Eternal Duration of Hell's Torments # 2
3. Again there is an actual eternity in man's sin, for though death puts an end to their lives, it does not put an end to their sins - for hell is as full of sin as of suffering. They sin even in hell, even when under the wrath of God. Their sin-nature remains forever - and they continue sinner forever. Therefore it is just with God that there should be an everlasting continuance of the punishment.
Here is the greatest misery of the damned - that is without redemption, or hope, or aid, forever!
4. It is just with God that the sinner should be punished with everlasting misery - because he chooses it, refusing everlasting felicity. The purchase our Lord made by His death, is an everlasting blessedness, and God by His infallible promise assures us that all who sincerely believe and obey Him, shall be rewarded with Heaven forever. For all the wages of God in the last day, whether of love to the saints, or punishment to the wicked - are everlasting and run into eternity.
Now if God's tender and promises of everlasting glory are despised - then there is nothing left to be the sinner's portion, but everlasting misery. It is the fruit of his own choice, for it is certain that God will give to every man in the next world, that which he chooses in this. "I have set before you everlasting life, therefore choose life, that you may live!" He who chooses life shall have it. he who does not choose life, but willingly cleaves to his lusts - he in the outcome chooses death and hell, and he shall have it.
He who chooses sin, chooses it with all its attendants, misery and wrath, for they cannot be separated from it. Therefore, if he chooses sin for himself - it is just that he should have the consequence of his own choice.
He who chooses God for his portion, shall forever enjoy Him. Is it not then just, that he who chooses misery - should forever lie under it?
Many say to God here, "Depart from us. We do not desire the knowledge of your ways!" it is just that God should say to such then, "Depart from Me into everlasting fire!"
There can be no complaint in hell against God, where the punishment, however so great it is, is nothing else but the fruit of a man's own choice. For he who chooses sin as his way, does by consequence choose sin's end - which is eternal hell and misery. If he falls into the hands of the living God - then he can blame none but himself. It is the fruit of his own choice!
Here we see the folly of lost sinners. What greater folly can any be guilty of, than to indulge sin, and gratify lust, and neglect God and Christ, and all the means of grace? Is it not folly for a man to make himself eternally wretched and miserable by his own choice? This shall be the woe of the damned, that they chose it!
But you will say, did any man ever choose to be miserable? Yes, thousands, and tens of thousands - every man who knows there is a God, and that he has an immortal soul, and must give a final account to God for all that he does in this world. He knows that sin will end in eternal damnation - and yet indulges in sin and lust! Therefore he chooses to perish and to be miserable forever. He loves hell and death (Prov. 8:36). "All those who hate Me, love death." They love their sins and lusts and pleasures, that God has entailed death on, and therefore are said to love death.
To cure the folly of these mischiefs, it is good to counterbalance our sinful desires with frequent thoughts of eternal realities.
I am not to live always. I may be in another world, before another Lord's Day comes. I must appear before the eternal God, to give an account of all that I have done in the flesh. Can I dwell with everlasting burnings? Can I endure the endless wrath of incensed justice? Think of this, when you are about to please the flesh and gratify your lusts: Can I bear the wrath of God forever?
O! then, that you would endeavor to cure your present prevailing lusts, with the frequent forethoughts of the heat of the everlasting wrath of God! "For it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!"
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
~Matthew Mead~
(The End)
3. Again there is an actual eternity in man's sin, for though death puts an end to their lives, it does not put an end to their sins - for hell is as full of sin as of suffering. They sin even in hell, even when under the wrath of God. Their sin-nature remains forever - and they continue sinner forever. Therefore it is just with God that there should be an everlasting continuance of the punishment.
Here is the greatest misery of the damned - that is without redemption, or hope, or aid, forever!
4. It is just with God that the sinner should be punished with everlasting misery - because he chooses it, refusing everlasting felicity. The purchase our Lord made by His death, is an everlasting blessedness, and God by His infallible promise assures us that all who sincerely believe and obey Him, shall be rewarded with Heaven forever. For all the wages of God in the last day, whether of love to the saints, or punishment to the wicked - are everlasting and run into eternity.
Now if God's tender and promises of everlasting glory are despised - then there is nothing left to be the sinner's portion, but everlasting misery. It is the fruit of his own choice, for it is certain that God will give to every man in the next world, that which he chooses in this. "I have set before you everlasting life, therefore choose life, that you may live!" He who chooses life shall have it. he who does not choose life, but willingly cleaves to his lusts - he in the outcome chooses death and hell, and he shall have it.
He who chooses sin, chooses it with all its attendants, misery and wrath, for they cannot be separated from it. Therefore, if he chooses sin for himself - it is just that he should have the consequence of his own choice.
He who chooses God for his portion, shall forever enjoy Him. Is it not then just, that he who chooses misery - should forever lie under it?
Many say to God here, "Depart from us. We do not desire the knowledge of your ways!" it is just that God should say to such then, "Depart from Me into everlasting fire!"
There can be no complaint in hell against God, where the punishment, however so great it is, is nothing else but the fruit of a man's own choice. For he who chooses sin as his way, does by consequence choose sin's end - which is eternal hell and misery. If he falls into the hands of the living God - then he can blame none but himself. It is the fruit of his own choice!
Here we see the folly of lost sinners. What greater folly can any be guilty of, than to indulge sin, and gratify lust, and neglect God and Christ, and all the means of grace? Is it not folly for a man to make himself eternally wretched and miserable by his own choice? This shall be the woe of the damned, that they chose it!
But you will say, did any man ever choose to be miserable? Yes, thousands, and tens of thousands - every man who knows there is a God, and that he has an immortal soul, and must give a final account to God for all that he does in this world. He knows that sin will end in eternal damnation - and yet indulges in sin and lust! Therefore he chooses to perish and to be miserable forever. He loves hell and death (Prov. 8:36). "All those who hate Me, love death." They love their sins and lusts and pleasures, that God has entailed death on, and therefore are said to love death.
To cure the folly of these mischiefs, it is good to counterbalance our sinful desires with frequent thoughts of eternal realities.
I am not to live always. I may be in another world, before another Lord's Day comes. I must appear before the eternal God, to give an account of all that I have done in the flesh. Can I dwell with everlasting burnings? Can I endure the endless wrath of incensed justice? Think of this, when you are about to please the flesh and gratify your lusts: Can I bear the wrath of God forever?
O! then, that you would endeavor to cure your present prevailing lusts, with the frequent forethoughts of the heat of the everlasting wrath of God! "For it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!"
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).
~Matthew Mead~
(The End)
Evangelical Obedience # 3
Evangelical Obedience # 3
Love to God and our neighbor is indeed the great duty enjoined by Law (Deu. 6:5; Lev. 19:18) and the Gospel alike (Gal. 5:13-14); yet it is a love which manifests itself by a hearty obedience (2 John 6). Though Christ delivers from the curse of the Law - yet not from its precepts: "That we being delivered out of the hand of our (spiritual) enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life" (Luke 1:74-75).
Every privilege of the Gospel entails an added obligation upon its recipient. As creatures - it is our bounden duty to be in entire subjection to our Creator. As new creatures in Christ - it doubly behooves us to serve God cheerfully. It is a great mistake to suppose that grace sets aside the claims of righteousness, or that the Law of God demands less from the saved than it does from the unsaved. Nowhere are the high demands of God set forth more fully and forcibly, than in the epistles addressed to the saints. Take these as samples: "But as He who has called you is Holy - so be holy in all manner of conversation" (1 Pet. 1:15; "That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10).
But right here, a formidable difficulty presents itself. On the one hand, the renewed soul clearly perceives the necessity and propriety of such a standard being set before him, and cordially acquiesces therein; yet on the other hand, he has to acknowledge, "to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not" (Romans 7:18). Though it is his deepest longing to measure up fully to the divine standard - yet he is incapable of doing so; and though he cries earnestly unto God for enabling grace and unquestionably receives no little assistance from Him - yet at the close of this life, his desire remains far from being realized.
Now the healthy Christian is deeply exercised over this, and instead of excusing his failures cries, "O that my ways were directed to keep your statutes!" (Psalm 119:5). But that is only half of the problem, and the least difficult half at that. The other half is: "How is it possible for a holy God to accept and approve of imperfect obedience from His children? That He will not lower His standard to the level of their infirmities, is clear from the passages quoted above; yet that He does both graciously receive and reward their faulty performances is equally plain from other verses. In what has just been stated, we discover one of the fundamental differences between the Covenants of Works and Grace.
Under the Covenant of Works - a rigorous and inflexible demand was made for perfect and perpetual conformity to God's Law, and no allowance or relief was afforded for the slightest infraction of it. A single default, the least failure - was reckoned guilty of breaking all the commandments (James 2:10) - for not only are they, like so many links in the same chain, a strict unit - but the authority of the Lawgiver behind them was flouted. Nor was any provision made for the recovery of such a one. The constitution under which the first man - and the whole human race in him - was placed, was without any mediator or sacrifice; and no matter how deep his remorse, or what resolutions of amendment he made - the transgressor lay under the inexorable sentence: "soul that sins - it shall die!" (Ezekiel 18:4, 20), for God will by no means clear the guilty. Moreover, under the first covenant, God provided no special grace to enable its subjects to meet His requirements. He made man in His own image, and pronounced him "very good," and then left him to his native and created strength. Finally, under that covenant, man was required to yield obedience in order to his justification - for upon his compliance, he was entitled unto a reward.
Now, under the Covenant of Grace - everything is the very opposite of that which obtained under the Covenant of Works. Complete subordination to the divine will is indeed required of us - yet not in order to our justification before - and acceptance with God. Instead, the moment we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and place our whole dependence on the sufficiency of His sacrifice - His perfect obedience is reckoned to our account; and God pronounces us righteous in the high court of heaven, and we are entitled to the reward of His Law. Consequently, our subsequent obedience is rendered neither under threat of damnation, nor from a mercenary spirit - but out of gratitude for our deliverance from the wrath to come, and because of our acceptance in the Beloved.
Nor are we left to our own strength - or rather, weakness. God does not barely command us, and then leave us to ourselves; but "works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phi. 2:13). He communicates to us His blessed Spirit and makes available that fullness of grace and truth which there is in Christ our Head - for He is not only a Head of authority - but also of efficacious influence: "From whom the whole body (the Church) fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part" (Eph. 4:16).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
Love to God and our neighbor is indeed the great duty enjoined by Law (Deu. 6:5; Lev. 19:18) and the Gospel alike (Gal. 5:13-14); yet it is a love which manifests itself by a hearty obedience (2 John 6). Though Christ delivers from the curse of the Law - yet not from its precepts: "That we being delivered out of the hand of our (spiritual) enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life" (Luke 1:74-75).
Every privilege of the Gospel entails an added obligation upon its recipient. As creatures - it is our bounden duty to be in entire subjection to our Creator. As new creatures in Christ - it doubly behooves us to serve God cheerfully. It is a great mistake to suppose that grace sets aside the claims of righteousness, or that the Law of God demands less from the saved than it does from the unsaved. Nowhere are the high demands of God set forth more fully and forcibly, than in the epistles addressed to the saints. Take these as samples: "But as He who has called you is Holy - so be holy in all manner of conversation" (1 Pet. 1:15; "That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10).
But right here, a formidable difficulty presents itself. On the one hand, the renewed soul clearly perceives the necessity and propriety of such a standard being set before him, and cordially acquiesces therein; yet on the other hand, he has to acknowledge, "to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not" (Romans 7:18). Though it is his deepest longing to measure up fully to the divine standard - yet he is incapable of doing so; and though he cries earnestly unto God for enabling grace and unquestionably receives no little assistance from Him - yet at the close of this life, his desire remains far from being realized.
Now the healthy Christian is deeply exercised over this, and instead of excusing his failures cries, "O that my ways were directed to keep your statutes!" (Psalm 119:5). But that is only half of the problem, and the least difficult half at that. The other half is: "How is it possible for a holy God to accept and approve of imperfect obedience from His children? That He will not lower His standard to the level of their infirmities, is clear from the passages quoted above; yet that He does both graciously receive and reward their faulty performances is equally plain from other verses. In what has just been stated, we discover one of the fundamental differences between the Covenants of Works and Grace.
Under the Covenant of Works - a rigorous and inflexible demand was made for perfect and perpetual conformity to God's Law, and no allowance or relief was afforded for the slightest infraction of it. A single default, the least failure - was reckoned guilty of breaking all the commandments (James 2:10) - for not only are they, like so many links in the same chain, a strict unit - but the authority of the Lawgiver behind them was flouted. Nor was any provision made for the recovery of such a one. The constitution under which the first man - and the whole human race in him - was placed, was without any mediator or sacrifice; and no matter how deep his remorse, or what resolutions of amendment he made - the transgressor lay under the inexorable sentence: "soul that sins - it shall die!" (Ezekiel 18:4, 20), for God will by no means clear the guilty. Moreover, under the first covenant, God provided no special grace to enable its subjects to meet His requirements. He made man in His own image, and pronounced him "very good," and then left him to his native and created strength. Finally, under that covenant, man was required to yield obedience in order to his justification - for upon his compliance, he was entitled unto a reward.
Now, under the Covenant of Grace - everything is the very opposite of that which obtained under the Covenant of Works. Complete subordination to the divine will is indeed required of us - yet not in order to our justification before - and acceptance with God. Instead, the moment we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and place our whole dependence on the sufficiency of His sacrifice - His perfect obedience is reckoned to our account; and God pronounces us righteous in the high court of heaven, and we are entitled to the reward of His Law. Consequently, our subsequent obedience is rendered neither under threat of damnation, nor from a mercenary spirit - but out of gratitude for our deliverance from the wrath to come, and because of our acceptance in the Beloved.
Nor are we left to our own strength - or rather, weakness. God does not barely command us, and then leave us to ourselves; but "works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Phi. 2:13). He communicates to us His blessed Spirit and makes available that fullness of grace and truth which there is in Christ our Head - for He is not only a Head of authority - but also of efficacious influence: "From whom the whole body (the Church) fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part" (Eph. 4:16).
~A. W. Pink~
(continued with # 4)
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