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As is often the case, I didn't finish my sermon on Sunday.
Not only did I not complete the sermon, but I left unsaid a number of things along the way. Here are a few of them (saving still a few for this coming Sunday)…
Peter's words to wives and husbands in 1 Peter 3 is in the immediate context of how to persevere in difficult and even unrighteous circumstances, answering the question, "How can a believer live a holy life as light to a dark world when treated unjustly?"
But these words also sit in the broader context of all Scriptural instruction on marriage. And particularly, these admonitions are rooted in the account of creation and the creation of the institution of marriage. There is no understanding 1 Peter 3 (or any other injunction on the home) without understanding Genesis 2.
So when Peter commands husbands to "live with your wives…" (3:7), it is with the backdrop of Genesis 2 in mind. To live with your wife means that the husband lives with her in such a way that reflects their oneness and unity. They are not two separate identities with two different objectives and two different purposes and passions who just happen to have the same address. A husband and wife are two people who have been brought together in the most unique relationship with a singular objective, purpose and passion. In every sense of the word, they are one, and everything the husband does in leading his wife demonstrates that he is one with her.
This will be reiterated in v. 8, when Peter exhorts both husband and wife to let every aspect of their lives be harmonious — reflecting that unity of heart.
How might a husband demonstrate his unity with his wife? Writing in a different context, Samuel Logan Brengle wisely noted that:
"[Spiritual leadership] is not won by promotion, but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confessions of sin, and much heartsearching and humbling before God; by self-surrender, a courageous sacrifice of every idol, a bold, deathless, uncompromising and uncomplaining embrace of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering looking unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but rather, like Paul, by counting those things that are gain to us as loss for Christ. That is a great price, but it must be paid by him who would be not merely a nominal but a real spiritual leader of men, a leader whose power is recognized and felt in heaven, on earth, and in hell."
One final observation of the exhortation given to the husbands. Genesis 2 says that husband and wife are one flesh. And this passage emphasizes that the husband is to love his wife by living with his wife, while Ephesians 5 emphasizes that he is to love his wife by giving himself up (like Christ) for his wife. So in all he does — in both life and death — the husband demonstrates by word and deed that he is for his wife and the unity of their marriage.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote these words in application of Ephesians 2:2 a generation ago, but they sound just as true today as in the day in which he wrote them:
Their little life is entirely controlled by the organization of the world. They think as the world thinks. They take their opinions ready-made from their favourite newspaper. Their very appearance is controlled by the world and its changing fashions. They all conform; it must be done; they dare not disobey; they are afraid of the consequences. That is tyranny, this is absolute control — clothing, hair style, everything, absolutely controlled. The mind of the world!…Most lives are being controlled by it and governed by it, all their opinions, their language, the way they spend their money, what they desire, where they go, where they spend their holidays; it is all controlled, governed completely…by this world, the mind of the world, the age of propaganda, the age of advertising, the mass mind, the mass man, the mass individual, without knowing it. Is it not tragic? But that is man in sin…he is controlled by the mind of the world.
(HT: DG Blog)
John MacArthur makes the good point that man likes to live according to five dominant lies — lies that constitute the attempt of man to rid himself of the influence and authority of God. These lies are:
- Life is random. We are all products of evolutionary chance with no purpose and no creator and no accountability. Nobody is in charge, no one put us here, and we are accountable to no one.
- Truth is relative. There are no absolutes and no standard. We are all free to possess our "own" truth and live our lives according to that truth which is of our own invention.
- People are basically good. If they go bad, someone else is to blame — they lack self-esteem or have psychological problems due to environmental failures.
- Everyone can change his own life. He can take control, take charge and become anything he wants to be.
- The goal of life is self-satisfaction.
But the truth is opposite that.
- God is sovereign and nothing random.
- The Bible is absolute truth.
- All people are basically sinful.
- Only Christ can change your life.
- Selfless submission to Jesus Christ is the goal of life.
People in the world have it completely backwards. And it is these lies that pull at the heart of every man.
With the reconversion last week of Francis Beckwith, the President of the Evangelical Theological Society, to Roman Catholicism, questions have arisen again about the relationship between Catholicism and Evangelicalism. Beckwith said (among a number of other things) that the reason for his reconversion centered around his understanding of justification:
I became convinced that the Early Church is more Catholic than Protestant and that the Catholic view of justification, correctly understood, is biblically and historically defensible. Even though I also believe that the Reformed view is biblically and historically defensible, I think the Catholic view has more explanatory power to account for both all the biblical texts on justification as well as the church’s historical understanding of salvation prior to the Reformation all the way back to the ancient church of the first few centuries.
Elsewhere he affirms declares that "I still consider myself an evangelical, but no longer a Protestant." In other words, the Catholic view of justification does not contradict the evangelical view of justification. As with the attempts over the past few years to minimize the distinctions between Catholicism and Evangelicalism (Evangelicals and Catholics Together), this kind of statement ignores a number of key issues. In fact, it is not possible to be both evangelical and Catholic because (this is a short, but critical list):
- To accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is to accept the role of Mary as co-redeemer with Christ.
- To accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is to accept the Roman Catholic practice of communion, which emphasizes that Christ is literally present in the elements of the bread and cup, meaning that the initial sacrifice of Christ was inadequate (invalidating passages like Heb. 10:11-14).
- To accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is to accept the doctrine of purgatory, which teaches that there is no security in salvation and that there is a dependence on works to produce salvation -- even the works of others can produce my salvation.
- To accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is to accept the Roman Catholic view of Scripture, which embraces the Apocrypha as Scripture; believes the Pope to be able to speak infallibly on theological issues, such that his words supersede the words of Scripture; and accepts tradition as having more authority than Scripture.
In fact, the second statement, "The Gift of Salvation," produced by Evangelicals and Catholics Together includes this statement:
While we rejoice in the unity we have discovered and are confident of the fundamental truths about the gift of salvation we have affirmed, we recognize that there are necessarily interrelated questions that require further and urgent exploration. Among such questions are these: the meaning of baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and sacramental grace; the historic uses of the language of justification as it relates to imputed and transformative righteousness; the normative status of justification in relation to all Christian doctrine; the assertion that while justification is by faith alone, the faith that receives salvation is never alone; diverse understandings of merit, reward, purgatory, and indulgences; Marian devotion and the assistance of the saints in the life of salvation; and the possibility of salvation for those who have not been evangelized.
With so many key issues left unresolved, there is and can be no "togetherness." The Roman Catholic doctrine of justification is far from an evangelical understanding of justification. And for Beckwith to minimize those issues is, frankly, foolish.
Additionally, for Beckwith to suggest that Catholicism teaches a Biblical view of justification is to ignore the Reformation and all those who died in defense of Protestantism. The central issue for Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and all the Reformers (many of whom died in defense of this) was the very issue of how a man comes to be declared righteous before God. To say that there is no distinction is to invalidate that entire movement as irrelevant and even wrong.
The issues that have been placed "on the discussion table" by Beckwith's return to Catholicism are of central importance to our faith. They must not be ignored. Our very faith depends on it.
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Other helpful responses:
Christian parents sometimes undergo the sorrow of watching their children stray from the truth of Christ. How should they respond to that sinful waywardness? Abraham Piper (John's son), offers some counsel that serves as both an encouragement (there is hope for repentance!) and some help (what can I do??). Read it here.
In addition, there are a number of helpful resources here, including a helpful summary by John MacArthur, "8 Ways Parents Provoke."
In thinking about ministry and the role of the pastor and the role of the people in relation to 1 Thess. 5:12-24, I came across a story a read a few years ago and a statement about the importance of perseverance in ministry.
The story concerns a pastor, John Newton, and a troubled parishioner in his church, William Cowper. In order to minister to Cowper, a poet, Newton collaborated on a hymnal with him (which is how we came to possess "Amazing Grace" from Newton's pen and "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood" by Cowper, and approximately 250 more hymns). Newton spent much time with Cowper while he was his pastor, counseling, exhorting and encouraging. And that relationship continued even after Newton moved to another church in Olney.
What was the fruit of that relationship? Cowper told a friend about Newton, saying, "A sincerer or more affectionate friend no man ever had." And he would also write these words to Newton himself:
I knew you; knew you for the same shepherd who was sent to lead me out of the wilderness into the pasture where the Chief Shepherd feeds His flock, and felt my sentiments of affectionate for you the same as ever.
This is not only a high personal compliment, but a testimony to the value of endurance in ministry, which is affirmed by John Piper in When I Don't Desire God:
We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (I Thess. 5:14-16)
Admonishing, encouraging, helping, being patient, not repaying evil for evil, seeking to do good to all - this is a fruitbearing life. [Paul] is telling us to be like trees planted by streams of water that bring forth fruit. This is the effect of delighting in the Word of God in Psalm 1:3. Look at all these needy people draining you. The 'idle' are provoking you; the 'fainthearted' are leaning on you ' the 'weak' are depleting you. But you are called to encourage and help and be patient and not return evil for evil. In other words, you are called to have spiritual resources that can be durable and fruitful and nourishing when others are idle and fainthearted and weak and mean-spirited
How? Where do we get the resources to love like that? Verse 16 answers, 'Rejoice always.' That corresponds to 'delight' in Psalm 1. Presumably, this rejoicing is not primarily based on circumstances, but on God and his promises, because the people around us are idle and fainthearted and weak and antagonistic. This would make an ordinary person angry, sullen, and discouraged. But we are supposed to have our roots planted somewhere other than circumstance. The roots of our lives are supposed to be drawing up the nutrients of joy from a source that cannot be depleted - the river of God and his Word. The one who delights in the Lord is 'like a tree planted by streams of water.'
What then is the key to this rejoicing, or this delight, which sustains the life of fruit-bearing love? Verse 17 says, 'Pray without ceasing.' And verse 18 says, 'Give thanks in all circumstances.' So the answer seems to be that continual prayer and thanksgiving is a key to joy in God that makes a person durable and fruitful in relation to all kinds of people. Therefore one biblical key to maintaining joy in God and his Word is to pray without ceasing. [pp. 155-6.]
Numerous factors in the culture of the church have led too many churches and too many people to believe and practice a theology that places the work of ministry on the shoulders of trained professionals and absolves untrained servants of ministry responsibilities. Yet the New Testament has a different view of ministry.
Ministry is the work of every believer.
That statement is supported by passages teaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are given to every believer (e.g., Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4:7-13). And it is either directly stated or strongly implied throughout the rest of the Epistles.
For instance, when the NT writers use the term "brothers," they are affirming that what follows is for every believer in Christ, not merely the trained pastors. So when Paul urges his Thessalonian brethren to "admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone" (5:14) his words obviously are addressed to pastors. And they are also addressed to everyone else who is a believer in Christ — his brothers.
Ministry is the joyful and privileged work of every believer.
Kent Hughes points out a couple of truths related to God's use of "ordinary" people to accomplish His divine purposes:
"[God] can use a very small thing if it is committed to him. It has been said: 'God must delight in using ordinary people with ordinary gifts because he made so many of us!'"
"God chooses to use ordinary people to serve him! He chooses them so there will be no mistake where the power comes from and so human boasting will be excluded."
So be encouraged that God not only can use you in the work of ministry — but He has actually even designed you for His ministry.
The holiness of God is an oft-repeated theme in Scripture. It is demonstrated in His choice of Israel as His people (Dt. 7:6), the sanctification of that people (Lev. 21:8); His jealousy for that people and His holiness that would not allow Him to overlook their sin (Josh. 24:19); His unique character (1 Sam. 2:2); His physical salvation of men (1 Chron. 16:35); His omniscience (Ps. 11:4); His authority over all mankind (Ps. 47:8); His fatherly care of the fatherless (Ps. 68:5); His pure nature (Ps. 99:5, 9); his glorification in all the earth (Is. 6:3); His inability to dwell with sin in any form (Is. 6:5); and a host of others passages and circumstances.
Yet as we try to understand the holiness of God, A. W. Tozer rightly noted that
We cannot grasp the true meaning of the divine holiness by thinking of someone or something very pure and then raising that concept to the highest degree we are capable of. God's holiness is not simply the best we know infinitely bettered. We know nothing like divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God's power and admire His wisdom, but His holiness he cannot even imagine. [The Knowledge of the Holy]
One resource that has helped me immeasurably in growing in my minuscule understanding of God's holiness is R. C. Sproul's book, The Holiness of God. And just yesterday I listened to the message he preached at the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors this year on that topic and was again moved toward worship and convicted of my weak understanding and presumption upon His holiness. It is well worth your time to listen to this message.
