Do You Feel The Weight? (The New City Catechism #13)

Imagine that you are in need of a kidney transplant and, to your surprise, your neighbor agrees to give you one of his. This is the same neighbor who brought you meals when you were sick, watched your children when you had plans, took care of your dog when you were on vacation, and all-in-all, has been a super person to have next door.

Imagine also that once the kidney transplant has successfully taken place and you have recuperated, your kidney provider surprises you with a gift membership to his cross fit gym he and his wife own. After all, he explained, “this will help you regain your health and strength.” Sometime later he and his wife invite you over for dinner and you are so busy that day you forget. You feel horrible since you had to turn them down to take care of their dog on three different weekends when they needed to be out of town. And to top it all off, two months after receiving the free membership you have yet to darken the door of the gym.

If this had been your experience, how would you react?  Would you feel the weight of not being able to please this neighbor who had done so much for you, who had given you an amazing gift that would lead to a better and healthier life? Most likely you would.

Now think about how you would feel in that situation and then multiply it exponentially and it provides a taste of the impact that should stand behind the truth in this week’s catechism question. Number thirteen in The New City Catechism is this: “Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly?  Answer: Since the fall, no mere human has been able to keep the law of God perfectly, but consistently breaks it in thought, word, and deed.”

We need to begin by seeing the answer given is true. We discover it is so in Romans 3:10–12: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Then later in that same biblical letter the reality is repeated: “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8).

What is more, when we remember that God gives us the law for our good (Deut. 10:13), for his glory (Deut. 4:1-8; Mt. 5:16; 2 Cor. 5:6-15), and so that we can please him (1 Cor. 7:19; Eph. 5:10; 1 Thes. 4:1-6), we see that our above analogy fits. The one who has created and saved us deserves that we should glorify him by doing his will, that is, keeping his Law (1 Cor. 6:12-20). And yet, none of us on our own is able! Do you feel the weight of this?

Yet, there is one who always did the will of the Father, who died to pay the penalty for our sins, and so he has removed the weight of our sin and transgression of God’s Law (Col. 2:13-14). What is more, he enables us to follow God’s will (Rom. 8:1-4). Apart from this truth we never come to see our need for the gospel of Christ or to appreciate just how glorious is this good news.

So, don’t rush over this thirteenth question and answer. And never take its truth for granted!

Joyfully remembering our Law-keeping, debt-removing Savior with you,

Tom

Doing The Impossible (The New City Catechism #12)

In Romans 8:8, speaking of those who do not have the Spirit of God and so they are still chiefly described as, “Those who are in the flesh,” Paul writes that they, “Cannot please God.” In other words, it is impossible for such persons to do what God requires in the way he wants, to the extent he wants, and for the purposes he wants. This means that no one can obey God’s Law and carry out his will on their own.

None of the Ten Commandments remind us of just how impossible it is to do them on our own any more than the last two. Consider what they require as explained in the twelfth question and answer of The New City Catechism: “What does God require in the ninth and tenth command- ments? Answer: Ninth, that we do not lie or deceive, but speak the truth in love. Tenth, that we are content, not envying anyone or resenting what God has given them or us.” 

Many of us are either good at truth-telling or we are good at speaking in love. Very few of us are good at speaking the truth in love, and those who are have been grown and equipped by the Lord.

All ten commandments deal with not just our words and actions, but also the desires of our heart. The last commandment particularly emphasizes this. To be content in God and not to envy or resent certainly is a heart issue. And this is clearly not something we can do on our own.

So, if we cannot keep the Law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, on our own, how can we do it? Paul answers this question in Romans 8:1-4:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

In other words, those who have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior know that not only has Jesus paid the full penalty for us and our Law-breaking, he also lived the perfect life in our place and his righteousness is credited to us. This leads to his pouring his Spirit out upon us and the Spirit enables us to do the things God requires, in the ways he wants, to the extent he wants, and for the purposes he wants. This does not mean that we will live perfectly, but it does mean we will live differently, for we will want to obey God. 

And, when we sin, the blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses us from our sin (1 John 1:7), which means we can confess our sin, rest in his forgiveness, and in confidence we can go forward and serve our Lord.

Joyfully Doing The Impossible With You In Christ,

Tom 

Two Sides Of The Same Coin (The New City Catechism #11)

 When we use the idiom, “two sides of the same coin,” we often mean there are two subjects closely related to each other and even part of a larger category or topic. With this understanding we can make the point that many of the Ten Commandments are two sides of the same coin. Such is the case with the three commandments we look at this week in the eleventh question and answer in The New City Catechism, which reads:

What does God require in the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments? Answer: Sixth, that we do not hurt, or hate, or be hostile to our neighbor, but be patient and peaceful, pursuing even our enemies with love. Seventh, that we abstain from sexual immorality and live purely and faithfully, whether in marriage or in single life, avoiding all impure actions, looks, words, thoughts, or desires, and whatever might lead to them. Eighth, that we do not take without permission that which belongs to someone else, nor withhold any good from someone we might benefit.

 As the catechism suggests, the sixth commandment (“You shall not murder,” Ex. 20:13) not only prohibits us from taking a life without just cause and prohibits us from engaging in thoughts and actions that tend in that direction (we are not to hate another, Mt. 5:21-26), we also are to love others as ourselves (Mt. 7:12; 22:39). Similarly, the seventh commandment (“You shall not commit adultery,” Ex. 20:14) not only prohibits us from sexual immorality, but also calls us to pursue sexual purity. Finally, the eighth commandment (“You shall not steal,” Ex. 20:15) not only prohibits taking without permission what is not ours, but also calls us to generosity.

 One final way these commandments address two sides of the same coin is that they not only call us to live righteously, but they also show us the way to genuine well-being and happiness. Consider these biblical statements:

…keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good…. (Deuteronomy 10:13)

 

[Happy] is the [person] who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. (Psalm 112:1-3)

 

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

 Joyfully keeping two sides of the coin of God’s will with you,

 Tom

Foundational Truths (The New City Catechism #10)

 God’s moral will is not decided by some standard external to him, but derives from his own character and attributes. One of the places in the Bible this is clearest is in Leviticus 19:2, where God commands: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” In other words, in the same way that God is altogether set apart unto himself, i.e. to his own glory, so he commands his people also to be fully set apart unto his glory.

What does it look like to be holy as God is holy? As Leviticus 19 goes on to answer that question, we are surprised. We expect one or all of the first three commandments to be listed after this summary injunction. Yet, that is not what we find. Instead, we find commandment #5 and commandment #4 in Leviticus 19:3: “Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God."

Why would the text deal with revering parents and keeping the Sabbath immediately after calling for God-like holiness?  It seems to be that these two commandments deal with foundational truths.

The Sabbath not only reminds us we regularly need rest—a rest that we can find only in God—it also reminds us we need regular times of concentrated worship of God that recharge us by his grace.

The command to revere parents reminds us that from early in life children are to learn to submit to, honor, and obey their parents, and this prepares them for submitting to God as their king.

What we discover in these two commandments, then, are some important and foundational truths. The New City Catechism, #10, explains them this way: “What does God require in the fourth and fifth commandments? Answer: Fourth, that on the Sabbath day we spend time in public and private worship of God, rest from routine employment, serve the Lord and others, and so anticipate the eternal Sabbath. Fifth, that we love and honor our father and our mother, submitting to their godly discipline and direction.”

Joyfully Resting In And Honoring Our Heavenly Father With You,

Tom

A Help For Prayer (The New City Catechism #9)

 One of the most helpful discoveries I made years ago for my prayer life is to pray Scripture. When we do this, we know we are praying in line with God’s moral will for us.

 On the one hand this means allowing all I read in the Bible to lead me to pray. On the other hand this means praying certain passages often because they are so helpful. A passage I turn to at least a couple times a week as I pray for self and others is the Ten Commandments. Since they are a summary of God’s moral will for us, they also are a great guide for prayer.  If you try this, allow the Ten Commandments to fuel praise, offering of petition, confession of sin, and thanksgiving.

 This is especially seen in the first three commandments that address keeping God as a priority and also revering him as we should. Here are those commandments:

#1 (Exodus 20:3): “You shall have no other gods before me.”

 #2 (Exodus 20:4-6): “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

#3 (Exodus 20:7): “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”

 Yet, what more specifically do these first three commandments demand of us?  We find help to answer this in the ninth question and answer of The New City Catechism: “What does God require in the first, second, and third commandments? Answer: First, that we know and trust God as the only true and living God. Second, that we avoid all idolatry and do not worship God improperly. Third, that we treat God’s name with fear and reverence, honoring also his Word and works.” 

One of the benefits of memorizing The New City Catechism is that in doing so you also learn the Ten Commandments and gain help in understanding what they demand. This is both a guide for knowing the will of God and praying the will of God.

Joyfully Living And Praying The Will Of God With You,

Tom