07.23.09
J.A. Matteson
"And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken." Genesis 21:1
With regard to the Lord communicating with a fallen race the author of Hebrews is informative, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son…” (Heb. 1:1-2a); two observations may be made. First, God Almighty condescended Himself to interact with a sinner, “…the LORD visited Sarah….” Let not the amazing impact of that statement go by casually for the Lord of Glory initiated communication with a sinner continuing His plan of redemption established in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:15, 21).
Previously He visited her husband while she remained in the doorway of the tent quietly laughing at His disclosure that she—as woman far past child bearing age—would conceive and be with child. The child of promise, Isaac, would come through the lineage of the free woman, Sarah, and not the bond woman, Hagar. The Apostle labors the point that the physical birth of Isaac was a miracle and a type; i.e., directly associated with the miracle of the new birth (Gal. 4:28, 31). Just as the initiative of divine grace was a necessary precondition for an old woman’s womb to bear fruit, so it is an absolute in spiritual regeneration. The Lord Jesus Christ drove this point home to the astonishment of His disciples, “’Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’" (Matt. 19:24-26).
The application of the Lord’s statement is inclusive of all sinners and not restricted to those with material riches; viz. apart from the initiative of divine grace whereby they are visited by the Holy Spirit none could be saved (Matt. 16:17), this too was the Lord’s point while speaking to Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (Jn. 3:8).
Second, unlike sinners the Lord has never and will never break a promise; that which is He decrees will come to pass and there is nothing in heaven or on earth to prevent it, “…the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken.” In this regard the Apostle declares, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9). A year earlier the Lord promised to visit Sarah and He predictably fulfilled His word. The grace initiated effectual calling the Apostle references is not dependent upon merit, but the sovereign choice of the Lord, for He said to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION”, and thus, ‘So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy’” (Rom. 9:15-16). And that which the Lord initiates through regeneration He is faithful to complete (Phil. 1:6); viz., glorification (Rom. 8:30).
Sanctification informs the pilgrim that the indwelling Spirit is conforming him day-by-day into the image of Christ Jesus, the second Adam (2 Cor. 4:16). Sarah’s life experience serves as a type for pilgrims and ought to be a great encouragement to them. For just as she was the recipient of grace so they are as well and the new life they enjoy in the Spirit is a gift of God—like Isaac the children of promise are a divine miracle. As the Lord was faithful to His promises to Sarah He is also faithful to the saints, each promise revealed in His Word will never fail, and they may meditate upon them, rejoicing in the knowledge that all of His promises are “yes” and “amen” in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20).
In seasons of difficulty and trial pilgrims may rest in the Word of the Lord, in His everlasting faithfulness and goodness, knowing that all things are working together for their good, to the praise of His glorious name.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Life in the Beloved
J.A. Matteson
"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:8
The following verse (vs. 9) describes Noah as a righteous man, blameless in his time, a fellow who walked with God. An important theological aspect to the narrative is discerning the basis by which he was found righteous and blameless. The Mosaic Law had yet to be given, yet Noah was still a transgressor of it, for the eternal Law and decrees of God preceded commandments written on stone tablets.
Like the rest Noah inherited the Adamic sin nature and was by disposition a child of wrath, for like his contemporaries he too was a sinner falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:3); for as sin entered the world through one man—Adam—therefore all sinned (Rom. 5:12), and the just recompense for treason against the Creator is death (Rom. 6:23). It is important to consider the life of Noah against his contemporaries and to note that he walked with God because he had first found favor with God; that is, grace was extended to him as one born again, the Lord’s redemptive work was operative in his heart as His elect.
As a new creation with a regenerated spirit his heart was inclined towards obedience, to do those things pleasing to the Lord. No where in the immediate text or in the whole of Scripture is there any indication that a man is found righteous and blameless apart from divine grace, “… because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight….” (Rom. 3:20). Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recorded the divine basis by which a man is found righteous and thus walking with God. Note that favor (grace) precedes imputed righteousness.
The order of verses 8 and 9 is theologically significant, change the order of them and a man centered religion of works emerges. Noah did not find favor with God because he was first righteous, blameless, a fellow walking with God; to the contrary, Noah was first the passive recipient of God’s favor (grace) and as a result he walked with God by faith, and it was on that basis he was found righteousness, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Rom. 3:28), and “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH’ (Rom. 1:17), and that faith is a gift of God as a result of unmerited favor (grace), “and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed”, and “For to you it has been granted…to believe in Him….” (Phil. 1:29), and “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). So then there is no place for boasting by Noah according to the flesh, for the flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit that gives spiritual life (Jn. 6:63).
Dear pilgrim, there is no place for boasting by you if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That you believe is a divine miracle for the grace of God has been extended to you, quickening your heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. Your spiritual blind eyes, deaf ears, and unresponsive spirit were enabled, made alive in Christ, and as Lazarus was dead four days in the tomb beyond hope, and yet raised to new life by the initiative, will, and pleasure of Almighty God, so too the resurrection power of God on high raised your lifeless spirit to new life in the Beloved, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh…and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ….” (Eph. 2:3-6).
To these marvelous truths John Newton penned the lyrics to his memorable hymn Amazing Grace, “Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear, and Grace my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed”, for apart from the grace of God the heart of man does not believe in Him, fear Him or revere Him, nor does it comprehend the hellish danger his lost soul faces. Pilgrims should meditate upon the grace of God continually, giving thanks to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the spiritual life He bestowed, considering the frightful condition of their fellow man with great sorrow and anguish of heart, and like the Apostle interceding for and pleading with all men to be reconciled to God through the cross of Christ, and as faithful ambassadors proclaiming His Gospel of salvation knowing that faith comes through hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8)
"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:8
The following verse (vs. 9) describes Noah as a righteous man, blameless in his time, a fellow who walked with God. An important theological aspect to the narrative is discerning the basis by which he was found righteous and blameless. The Mosaic Law had yet to be given, yet Noah was still a transgressor of it, for the eternal Law and decrees of God preceded commandments written on stone tablets.
Like the rest Noah inherited the Adamic sin nature and was by disposition a child of wrath, for like his contemporaries he too was a sinner falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:3); for as sin entered the world through one man—Adam—therefore all sinned (Rom. 5:12), and the just recompense for treason against the Creator is death (Rom. 6:23). It is important to consider the life of Noah against his contemporaries and to note that he walked with God because he had first found favor with God; that is, grace was extended to him as one born again, the Lord’s redemptive work was operative in his heart as His elect.
As a new creation with a regenerated spirit his heart was inclined towards obedience, to do those things pleasing to the Lord. No where in the immediate text or in the whole of Scripture is there any indication that a man is found righteous and blameless apart from divine grace, “… because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight….” (Rom. 3:20). Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recorded the divine basis by which a man is found righteous and thus walking with God. Note that favor (grace) precedes imputed righteousness.
The order of verses 8 and 9 is theologically significant, change the order of them and a man centered religion of works emerges. Noah did not find favor with God because he was first righteous, blameless, a fellow walking with God; to the contrary, Noah was first the passive recipient of God’s favor (grace) and as a result he walked with God by faith, and it was on that basis he was found righteousness, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Rom. 3:28), and “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH’ (Rom. 1:17), and that faith is a gift of God as a result of unmerited favor (grace), “and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed”, and “For to you it has been granted…to believe in Him….” (Phil. 1:29), and “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). So then there is no place for boasting by Noah according to the flesh, for the flesh profits nothing, it is the Spirit that gives spiritual life (Jn. 6:63).
Dear pilgrim, there is no place for boasting by you if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That you believe is a divine miracle for the grace of God has been extended to you, quickening your heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. Your spiritual blind eyes, deaf ears, and unresponsive spirit were enabled, made alive in Christ, and as Lazarus was dead four days in the tomb beyond hope, and yet raised to new life by the initiative, will, and pleasure of Almighty God, so too the resurrection power of God on high raised your lifeless spirit to new life in the Beloved, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh…and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ….” (Eph. 2:3-6).
To these marvelous truths John Newton penned the lyrics to his memorable hymn Amazing Grace, “Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear, and Grace my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed”, for apart from the grace of God the heart of man does not believe in Him, fear Him or revere Him, nor does it comprehend the hellish danger his lost soul faces. Pilgrims should meditate upon the grace of God continually, giving thanks to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the spiritual life He bestowed, considering the frightful condition of their fellow man with great sorrow and anguish of heart, and like the Apostle interceding for and pleading with all men to be reconciled to God through the cross of Christ, and as faithful ambassadors proclaiming His Gospel of salvation knowing that faith comes through hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
As A Rose Cut Off
07.08.09
J.A. Matteson
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. Genesis 6:5
Humanism declares that man is essentially good. Scripture reveals that man is radically fallen and inclined toward evil; man is a transgressor of the Law of God, a sinner. Humanism asserts that a sinners highest good is served through an unfettered freedom to pursue the desires of his heart. Scripture brings to light that left to themselves sinners actually are capable of heinous wickedness and only the grace of God prevents them from manifesting fully the evil inclinations churning just below the surface. History and personal experience appear to validate the claim of Scripture regarding the true condition of sinners, exposing the folly of the presuppositions encapsulated within humanistic anthropology.
The fall left man and woman totally depraved in their being; that is, it affected every aspect of their being, corporeally and incorporeally. Sin introduced spiritual and physical death to the human race, and like a rose cut off from its life nourishing stem humanity has been were cut off from the spiritual life which God supplies, and while spiritual death was immediate the ramifications of physical decay ending in biological death were slower. Since the fall the soul of the sinner remains drastically polluted to which three observations may be made.
First, the sinners mind is tragically broken so that he does not think correctly as intended by his Creator. Rather than being captivated with exalting thoughts towards his Creator he is self-consumed, being utterly twisted in his overall life perspective, self-deceived in the diagnosis of his true depraved condition, and exhibiting a moral deficit to the extent that he is incapable of pleasing his Creator but is perpetually inclined towards acts of irrational stupidity, none being more glaring than idolatry; for example, worshiping a stick of wood rather than the Creator of it, “No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, ‘I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat {it.} Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!’ He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say,’ Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (Isa. 44:18-19).
Second, the sinner’s will is jaded and inclined toward rebellion against God. While the Lord would have fallen man repent of his wandering and return to Him by faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ so as to be saved, he stubbornly refuses, choosing rather evil (unbelief) over righteousness, independence over dependence, eternal death over eternal life, “…choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Josh. 24:15). So ingrained is the sinners rebellious will that if it were not for the grace of the Lord, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, none would believe, none would repent, none would be saved, “When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’" (Matt. 19:25-26).
Finally, the sinner’s emotions obscure spiritual realities and he is inclined to follow wicked subjective hunches rather than objective realities. Humanism instructs sinners to follow the desires of their hearts, for in doing so they will discover fulfillment—self-actualization. Scripture, however, contrasts the destructive end for the sinner in following his heart, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9).
The pilgrim has received grace to believe. As a new creation the saint’s mind, will, and emotions are being renewed daily so as to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, to whom all praise, honor, and glory are due.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8)
J.A. Matteson
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. Genesis 6:5
Humanism declares that man is essentially good. Scripture reveals that man is radically fallen and inclined toward evil; man is a transgressor of the Law of God, a sinner. Humanism asserts that a sinners highest good is served through an unfettered freedom to pursue the desires of his heart. Scripture brings to light that left to themselves sinners actually are capable of heinous wickedness and only the grace of God prevents them from manifesting fully the evil inclinations churning just below the surface. History and personal experience appear to validate the claim of Scripture regarding the true condition of sinners, exposing the folly of the presuppositions encapsulated within humanistic anthropology.
The fall left man and woman totally depraved in their being; that is, it affected every aspect of their being, corporeally and incorporeally. Sin introduced spiritual and physical death to the human race, and like a rose cut off from its life nourishing stem humanity has been were cut off from the spiritual life which God supplies, and while spiritual death was immediate the ramifications of physical decay ending in biological death were slower. Since the fall the soul of the sinner remains drastically polluted to which three observations may be made.
First, the sinners mind is tragically broken so that he does not think correctly as intended by his Creator. Rather than being captivated with exalting thoughts towards his Creator he is self-consumed, being utterly twisted in his overall life perspective, self-deceived in the diagnosis of his true depraved condition, and exhibiting a moral deficit to the extent that he is incapable of pleasing his Creator but is perpetually inclined towards acts of irrational stupidity, none being more glaring than idolatry; for example, worshiping a stick of wood rather than the Creator of it, “No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, ‘I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat {it.} Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!’ He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say,’ Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (Isa. 44:18-19).
Second, the sinner’s will is jaded and inclined toward rebellion against God. While the Lord would have fallen man repent of his wandering and return to Him by faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ so as to be saved, he stubbornly refuses, choosing rather evil (unbelief) over righteousness, independence over dependence, eternal death over eternal life, “…choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Josh. 24:15). So ingrained is the sinners rebellious will that if it were not for the grace of the Lord, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, none would believe, none would repent, none would be saved, “When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’" (Matt. 19:25-26).
Finally, the sinner’s emotions obscure spiritual realities and he is inclined to follow wicked subjective hunches rather than objective realities. Humanism instructs sinners to follow the desires of their hearts, for in doing so they will discover fulfillment—self-actualization. Scripture, however, contrasts the destructive end for the sinner in following his heart, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9).
The pilgrim has received grace to believe. As a new creation the saint’s mind, will, and emotions are being renewed daily so as to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, to whom all praise, honor, and glory are due.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8)
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