St. John Studies

Last week I wrote about “transitioning” from John Stott’s basic book aptly titled Basic Christianity back to The Cross of Christ.  The Cross is not a basic book, but a deep discussion of the meaning of the cross for the Christian faith. 

Chapter Seven is entitled “The Salvation of Sinners” and it is the first of three chapters designed to sum up what Christ accomplished by His self-sacrifice.  After seven, Stott discusses the idea that God reveals Himself to man through the cross.  After eight, Stott argues that God overcomes evil though the cross.

Stott writes “It would be hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the changes that have taken place as a result of the cross, both in God and in us, especially in God’s dealing with us and in our relations with Him.  Truly when Christ died and was raised from death, a new day dawned, a new age began” [Stott, 165].

In an effort to further explain Stott’s organization, Chapter Seven breaks down salvation with four words: propitiation, redemption, justification and reconciliation.  In the upcoming posts, I will look at each word as it relates to the salvation of man.

Propitiation is something I have written about before.*  It is a core idea in J.I. Packer’s book Knowing God .  I have used the word in my adult Sunday school class and no one had heard of it before; it is not a word that is used by Christians in normal conversation.  Stott says to “propitiate” someone is to appease or pacify their anger or wrath, which raises the question, why would our Father be angry?  Propitiation and wrath don’t seem to go well together and it is that notion that has led some theologians to reexamine this word in regards to a purpose for Christ’s going to the cross.  Stott does a “deep dive” into the writings of Professor C.H. Dodd, summarizing his objections to the notion of God’s wrath by looking at his objection as a linguistic interpretation.** 

By refuting the work of Dodd and others, Stott makes the case that propitiation is the proper word for Christ’s sacrifice.

We think of wrath or anger in human terms and we know that our anger can burst forth in uncontrolled expressions.  Stott says God’s anger is never “irascible, malicious, spiteful or vindictive.  His anger is neither mysterious nor irrational. It is never unpredictable, but always predictable, because it is provoked by evil and evil alone” [italics, bolding and underlining mine].   God’s anger is “poles apart” from ours.  What provokes human anger is most often injured vanity, but that never provokes God.  Evil brings out the wrath of God.

If God’s wrath is an appropriate response to man’s evil, let’s get more particular about what man has done to appease that wrath.  In the Old Testament, human beings used animal sacrifices mostly to satisfy God’s anger [sometimes a grain offering was required].  The idea is that God provided people all of the animals so the sacrifice of an unblemished animal was a divine gift to God to appease His wrath.  Their intention was to get The Lord to act graciously toward His sinful people.    With Jesus, the sacrifice was much more complicated because Christ died for us because God loves us.  Of course, Jesus is God’s Son sitting at the right hand of God the Father.  Stott describes this situation in these words: “God does not love us because Christ died for us.  Christ died for us because God loved us.  If it is God’s wrath that needed to be propitiated, it is God’s love that did the propitiating” [Stott, 172].  Theologian P.T. Forsyth writes “God’s feeling toward us never needed to be changed.  But God’s treatment of us, God’s practical relationship to us—that had to change” [Forsyth in Stott, 172].

As we examine a Divine Human as sacrifice, it is much different that sacrificing an animal or some grain.   Stott points out that God offered Himself in the sacrifice of His Son.  The irony is [that in offering His Son] He was giving Himself.  To pacify His own wrath, He gives Himself as a sacrifice. 

That is profound and it is so complex that many Christians have problems understanding.  It is at the heart of why many feel unworthy.  God’s Son [God Himself] bore His own wrath on the cross at Golgotha and freed man from divine anger and judgement.  We deserved to be on that cross, not Jesus and we know it.   God, in His holy wrath, needed to be propitiated.  God Himself chose to undertake the propitiation and God Himself in the person of His Son died for our sins.  He took the initiative to change His relationship with man when He took our place and died for us.  Stott writes “There is no crudity here to evoke our ridicule, only the profundity of holy love to evoke our worship” [172-73].

Only God could do this, stand in for us, stand in for Himself, take our place, suffer this death, and the consequences of our sin.  We are left with awe that God put forth this perfect example of divine love [Stott refers to it as “holy love”].

If we could understand the mind of God we would understand how someone could do so much for us.  Being human, we feel we have to repay the debt but it is a debt that is too big to be repaid, a standard of behavior that Jesus set that is too high for us to reach, so we wander through life trying to do the best we can, sinning and falling short of the glory of God.   Knowing we need punishment but finding that He still loves us, He extends His grace to us when we don’t do what He expects us to do.  He understands us and forgives us when we fall, asking us to get up and try again to live a life with Him.   We don’t understand God. We try so hard to understand Him, but He is not of this world. Through our own understanding, we simply cannot comprehend God’s love.

The bottom line…our lack of understanding and sometimes failure to appreciate His sacrifice leads us to the feeling of unworthiness.  God’s ways are not our ways and that is humbling.  No matter how hard you try it is hard, to comprehend the sacrifice that God made for you and me.  We could not do it and would not do it.  After so many efforts in the Old Testament to make man understand that he should fear God [respect God], He chose to try another way.

We are left with questions about what to do when we begin our relationship with God.  I have followed Him for twenty four years and know I will never reach an acceptable level of behavior.  Does He expect that?  He may hope for it but He knows me, all my flaws and all my shortcomings. 

What am I left to do?

Praise Him.

Worship Him.

Walk in faith and do the best that I can do.

*see posts for Feb. 25, 2020; March 4, 202; March 17, 2020; April 1, 2020; April 8, 2020; May 21, 2020; May 22, 2020, September 2, 2021 and September 9, 2021.

**pages 167-170.

It has been one hundred and ten days since I have commented on John Stott’s book The Cross of Christ.

For all those days I have been writing every week on Chapter Five of Stott’s book Basic Christianity.

The title of Chapter Five is “The Fact and Nature of Sin” and after beginning with four posts on the nature of sin, I launched into posts on The Ten Commandments because Stott discussed each of The Ten Commandments in Chapter Five [figured I could not “gloss” over them].   Maybe by now we have covered the topic of sin [it has not been my most popular topic].

I have a long history with John Stott.  Basic Christianity was first published in 1958 and I picked up a copy in 1976.  It sat on my book shelves until the time it was needed, around the time I transitioned from a sometimes church attender and lukewarm Christian to a born again believer.

I don’t want to belabor the point, but this book was a “Godsend” [note the capital G on this expression].  I needed it.  I hungered for basic information about the adventure I was on.  No one ever told me that I could have a life centered on a faith in Jesus Christ.  No over ever told me that my mission in life could be bringing glory to God through my worship of Jesus Christ. 

Back then I just did not understand what “being a follower” meant.  I was a baby Christian.

John Stott’s little book was so helpful.

Now since I have finished Chapter Five, commenting on sin and all the commandments, it is time to return to a very different book, John Stott’s The Cross of Christ.

The Cross was first published in 1986, twenty-eight years after Basic.  Unlike Basic Christianity, it is not a book dedicated to explaining the fundamental ideas of the faith. 

I am not the same person I was after I came to Christ many years ago.  To use Christian parlance, my walk with Jesus has been steady with the ups and downs of life, but I can truly say on December 28, 2021 that my belief is strong and still growing.  I have weathered several crises and several mountaintop moments over my years as a believer and I have found that my faith and God’s providence have brought me through all those, that God has manifested Himself in my moments of despair and joy, and He has guided me to where I am today.

All praise to Father God.

But this week it is time to return to The Cross.

Recently I have spent some time reading some writers commenting on the times we are living in, some referring to them as postmodern times.  I hate to use such broad terms but “big-picture” comments on society call for big words, sweeping generalizations.  Today it seems that many people are skeptical about institutions like the government and the church [or any over-arching institution that proposes to make “sense” of this world].   Many people today reject the idea that anyone or anything can have “absolute truth.”  If people reject the notion of absolute truth, they certainly will reject The Bible and the church.  Personal feelings are highly regarded over beliefs that could cause us to share common bonds.  There is a suspicion of reason and instead of looking for “rock hard” answers, people seem happy to live in a relativistic world where we just make up the rules as we go.

These are not easy times for Christians.

In fact, some theologians [I have read] refer to these days we are in as “post-Christian.”

What does this mean?  The faith values of Jesus Christ no longer guide the vast majority of people.   People regard the values of the world or the values of the culture above the values of God.  God has lost His monopoly as a dominant factor in society.

Well, here we are.

Maybe these writers are correct.

We are here in this world and even though it may not be as “friendly” to Christianity as it once was, we are living in these times never-the-less.  I recently enjoyed comments from a pastor from Portland Oregon who felt compelled to plant a church in the Portland area [Door of Hope].  Josh White is from Portland and he knows that we are living in Post-Christian times; many regard Portland as a very forward thinking city [some refer to it as Post-Christian].  He even had a Post-Christian attitude toward the church for many years.  I was impressed as he spoke of his faith, his hardcore effort to reach out to the unchurched, his ministry to people who have been rejected without judgement and his careful walk with Christ surrounded by people who are quick to cry “foul,” you vengeful Christian!

He admitted that his church was a “work in progress” and when he admitted  how tough it was to pastor in Portland, he said something very interesting, something that struck me. 

In all the criticism he faces, in all the skepticism he encounters and in all his efforts to reach the folks who say they do not need Jesus, he has one most powerful image that he clings to, that guides him, that inspires him to never give up.

The Cross of Christ.

Not the book but the sacrifice that God made for you, for me and all the skeptics in our postmodern world.

This day, this night, the Light comes.

Christ came into the world for you–and you came into the world for Him.

The world will be still tonight.

There will be lingering. Longing. We will long for this wonder to go on. One Christmas candle will flame in the quiet. This cannot fade–none of this can ever fade. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given (Isaiah 9: 6). God is with us.

God stays with us.

The Christmas candle burns hot, gives its light, give its Light–and the world lights up, and Christmas goes on forever now.

Christ, the always Gift for all our days.*

from The Greatest Gift Ann Voskamp, 258-59.

“My neighbor has the most beautiful car I have ever seen.  Why Lord can’t I have a beautiful car like that?  Don’t you love me as much as my neighbor?  My neighbor just went on a beautiful vacation in Cancun [I saw the pictures on Facebook].  Why won’t you give me a vacation like that Lord?  I know you love me as much as you love him.  My neighbor has an extremely beautiful wife.  Why is my wife not as beautiful?  Oh Lord, give me a woman who has an appearance that is as stunning as her so I can enjoy life with a woman just like that.

Commandment Number Ten: “You shall not covet.”

Whereas several of the Ten Commandments deal with overt sinful actions that man can commit, number ten concentrates on the feelings that we have prior to taking sinful action.  When Jesus warned that man should not look on a woman with lust in his heart, He was warning that feelings can lead to the sin of adultery.  Like Commandment Seven, number ten is a feeling that can lead to many types of sin.  Coveting is a sin that Stott writes about with these words:  “Covetousness belongs to the inner life.  It lurks in the heart and mind.  What lust is to adultery…covetousness is to theft” [Stott, 69].  

John Stott has listed The Ten Commandments and commented on each one in his book Basic Christianity.  Why?  A new Christian needs to understand the role The Commandments play in the Christian life.  The Commandments are the standards of behavior by which we are measured.  In past posts I refer to them as the “guardrails” of the Christian life.  Indeed they are “basic.”

One may wonder if coveting ranks up there with “Thou shalt not kill” but one can examine this commandment and see the dangerous nature of covetousness if it is allowed to go unchecked.  The Apostle Paul likens covetousness to idolatry.  Instead of being content with the possessions we have, we idolize the possessions of others.  At the root of this form of idolatry is envy, a sin which (once it grabs a person) can lead to worse sins.  When one is envious of the neighbor’s ownership of a beautiful car, resentment can begin and eventually lead to hatred of the neighbor.  When one is envious of the neighbor’s car, this can lead to unlawful accumulation of funds in order to purchase a similar car.   Envy is a form of self-love and the more a person becomes obsessed with their “neighbors” possessions, the more they become unhappy and discontent.    I would imagine that God could foresee a society full of envious, malcontented people who are pushing themselves to the point of committing all types of sin to achieve materialistic goals.

Again, what is the basic idea of Christianity that new Christians should focus on?  God is the only thing that will make us happy or content.   Material goods that we don’t have are distractions from the way God wants us to live.   Think about the following words in First Timothy 6: 6-8:  “You gain a lot when you live a godly life. But you must be happy with what you have.  We didn’t bring anything into the world. We can’t take anything out of it.  If we have food and clothing, we will be happy with that.”  True happiness lies not in the things we can attain; true happiness is in the personal relationship we can have with God through Jesus Christ. 

Why does the Bible focus on not coveting a neighbor’s servants or a neighbor’s ox or donkey?  Those examples seem so irrelevant for today. Believe it or not both examples can be relevant to today’s world.  Can you imagine going into your friend’s house and it is spotless.  Your house is comparable and it is also clean but you have to work hard to keep it that way.  As in Bible times, today the measure of a person’s wealth is the ability to afford servants.  If your friend can afford a housekeeper, wouldn’t your own life be easier and your home cleaner if you had a housekeeper?  You certainly would not have to work so hard.   Now you think that you have to have a person to help you keep a clean house.  You are now not as happy with your home as you once were because having “help” is the new standard of a good life.  You have to keep up with your friend; you have to have a “servant.”  Today this is often referred to as “keeping up with the Joneses.”

Maybe coveting an ox or donkey would be comparable to today’s vehicles but probably in Bible times the accumulation of such animals meant a lot more.  Oxen could plow the ground to grow more crops and oxen could assist humans in the harvesting of crops.  Donkeys were used as pack animals by traders and merchants.  In Bible times, they were a steady source of revenue because owners could rent them out to others.  The ox or donkey represents livelihood.  If you were satisfied with your life, you understand that you have no need for more oxen or more donkeys. “Today, coveting a neighbor’s ox or donkey may sound something like this:  ‘Why does he get all the breaks?  I work as hard as he does, but I get nowhere.  If I just had what he has, I could do better, too.’”* Second Thessalonians 1: 5-6 says “We cannot love and serve our neighbors if we are jealous of their station in life.  Coveting another’s livelihood can result in believing that God is not doing a good job caring for us, as we accuse Him of being unfair in the way He has blessed someone else.”

As we get to the end of this commentary on all ten of The Commandments, Stott refers to them as an “ugly catalogue of sins.”  Some of them are outward but some are inward.  We may think those “inward” sins are not such a big deal; God does not see those things.  But God does see all our sins.  It is written in Hebrews 4: 13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”  God sees us as we really are and the Ten Commandments expose our sin.  At times it seems hopeless as we feel unworthy in light of God’s standards.

Truly we have to pay a price for our rebellion against God and we will return to that thought when we discuss Chapter Six in Basic Christianity, a chapter entitled “The Consequences of Sin.”

For now we know that “Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD”** but he carried in his arms commands for us all to follow, standards we have to meet, “guardrails” that keep us going safely down the road of life. 

We don’t have to heed those commands.  We can do what we want.  However, I contend that we need guidance in life, that none of us knows all the answers about how to behave in this world.  I contend that we need to be held to a higher standard than the standards of this world.  God gave us the Ten Commandments for a good reason and that reason is that He loves us and as His followers He wants us to play a positive role in our lives here on this earth. 

He loves us

We should love Him.

Let’s not think of His commandments as restrictions; let’s think of them as guidance for the most successful life we can have on this earth.

*  “Covetousness”  from the Gotquestions.org website accessed on 12/23/2021.

**Exodus 34: 29

When I began this series about the Ten Commandments on October 14, 2021, I did not envision how involved the discussions would be.  I knew that John R. W. Stott felt that the Commandments were important enough to include them in his book Basic Christianity.  I knew I could not just gloss over them.  However, since I have discussed commandment one through eight, I have been amazed at the complex feelings that people have regarding God’s standards for Christian living.  I guess I am naïve. In each post I have put on “St. John Studies,” I have encountered endless interpretations of each standard.

My wife has teased me over the years about my “obsessive compulsive” nature but like all jokes or teases, there is an element of truth to her comments.  I tend to be “all in” or “all out” on many aspects of life.  I go “overboard” on gardening or I don’t garden at all.  I like a particular sport a lot and become too interested in it or I won’t allow myself to have anything to do with it.  I exercise to the max or I sit on the couch to the max.  There is no middle ground.

My obsession compulsion reminds me of how Christians seems to approach The Commandments.  Stott is very strict in his interpretation of the Ninth Commandment; carefully attend to his words.  Not bearing  false witness against your neighbor includes  “the lawcourts. It does include perjury.  But it also includes all forms of scandal, slander, idle talk and tittle-tattle, all lies and deliberate exaggerations or distortions of the truth.  We can bear false witness by listening to unkind rumors as well as by passing them on, by making jokes at somebody’s expense, by creating false impressions, by not correcting untrue statements, and by silence as well as by our speech.”

Needless to say, on the Ninth Commandment Stott is “all in.”

Then we have Christians like John Killinger who seems to go the opposite direction.  “The Ten Commandments … do not stand alone as a great implacable law code suddenly delivered out of the blue for all mankind, becoming thus the inflexible standard and inevitable judge to condemn every man who doesn’t fulfill them….the commandments came as a necessity to an almost haplessly disorganized and undisciplined people trying to make a go of it in a wild, nomadic situation.  In this sense, the commandments were an act of grace on God’s part, not of sullen legalism!” [Killinger, 90].*

So what is it?  

“All in” or “all out”…

“Sins of the tongue” seem to be so common today.  When I hear the phrase “bear false witness,” I immediately think of lying and certainly lying has become commonplace in society today.  My wife and I watch crime documentaries and when an alleged criminal is caught, they explain their position regarding the act that some think they have committed.  I am always bemused that their version is different from other versions.  Someone has been killed, raped, assaulted or robbed.  Who did it?  It seems that no one did the act with any malice whatsoever or literally no one will take the blame for anything.  Yet we have a victim; something happened!  Then you throw in slander which for many has become a sport, as people try to figure how they can impugn the good name of another.  Harsh words are also included as well as insults and ridicule.  Pastor Jerry Bridges** says that we lump bearing false witness into the bucket with “any speech that tends to tear down another person”.

Stott seems to think that the first five commandments are all about how the Chosen People were to approach their Holy God.  The last five commandments are about how man is supposed to respect other men.  His contention is if you cannot respect other people, you certainly cannot love them. 

That is a good point.

The problem with this commandment is that “sins of the tongue” are so common and so many of us break the commandment as it expands to whispering about others, tale bearing, backbiting, slandering, gossip, insinuations and evil suggestions.  When confronted by the broadened definition of “bearing false witness” we may all find it hard to be sinless.

We find ourselves condemning ourselves and others frequently if we are “all in.”  We excuse ourselves and others if we say that this commandment is not relevant anymore.   We are “all out.”  Maybe today it is the “wild wild west” of the sins of the tongue.  Maybe this Ninth Commandment is outdated!

Why did God give Moses a commandment that was so hard to enforce in the first place?  First of all, God’s people were to reflect God’s character.  It says in Numbers 23: 19 that “God is not man, that He should lie, nor a Son of man, that He should change His mind.  Does He not speak and then not act?  Does He promise and then not fulfill?”  The people who were called God’s people needed to be His representatives in a heathen world.  Lying brought reproach to the Holy Name of God and God could not tolerate that.  Secondly, bearing false witness against other men was very destructive to the victims of the lie.  A victim suffered a loss of credibility and a blow to their reputation and possibly loss of trade and business.   Leviticus 19:18 makes the point clearly in the words “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”  Thirdly, bearing false witness is harmful to an orderly society.  In courts of law, witnesses would be called in ancient days like they are today.  They should be trusted to tell the truth.  Eyewitness testimony from reliable truthful witnesses is necessary to avoid the breakdown of law and order. “When this happens, chaos ensues and the innocent suffer.”***

Now that we know why Commandment Nine was given, we may have an appreciation of the need for the commandment but it does not make it any easier to parse.  When I am passing along information from a friend to another friend and I stray off into criticism or inaccuracy, am I bearing false witness!  Some say yes and some say no [give yourself a break].  When I comment on the behavior of a famous person [someone I really do not know] am I bearing false witness!  Some say yes and some say no [again, give yourself a break].   When I am stuck in the grocery line and I engage in idle talk about another just to kill time, John Stott writes that I am is bearing false witness!  Some say he is right and some say this man is too legalistic. 

Maybe, just maybe the way around all this complexity is to focus on lying. Some say that lying is not advocated anywhere in the Bible but some point to the Hebrew midwives who lied to Pharaoh when they were supposed to kill Israelite newborns [they were blessed] and Rehab’s lie to protect the Israelite spies [this certainly helped the Israelites].  Others think of instances when a lie is a small evil compared to some great evil that will be committed if the lie is not told.****

I guess it is best to admit that control of the tongue is a constant battle and maybe the best guidance for any human is to turn to the man who sinned big and repented big.  His life and words put a very human touch on the Bible as we watch him be “a man after God’s own heart”.  His simple prayer is possibly our only hope:  “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” [Psalm 19: 14].

*John Killinger  For God’s Sake Be Human

**Jerry Bridges Respectable Sins

***Information accessed from the gotquestions.org website “Commandment Nine”

****e.g. Corrie Ten Boom who lied to keep Nazis from capturing Jews she was trying to protect in WWII.

As I have discussed commandments one through seven, I have been amazed at how strictly they have been interpreted.  Let me refer to two recent posts as examples:  thou shalt not kill includes not only murder, but also the expression of “cutting words” which one can say about another, being angry with someone without cause, hating your brother, losing your temper, uncontrolled passion, sullen rage, bitter resentment and desire for revenge are considered killing.  You can kill by neglect.  You can feel spite and jealousy and “kill” another.  Committing adultery is not only sexual activity outside marriage but also flirting, sexual experimenting of any kind, self-satisfying sex [masturbation I assume] , perverted heterosexual sex, selfish sex practices within a marriage, and even divorce.

So do we have the same strict interpretation “for thou shalt not steal?”

Yes we do.

I have always considered the eighth commandment to just be about taking the property of another.  Certainly that is clearly within the commandment but like other commandments, it goes much further.  When one considers how the commandment is interpreted, it turns out that many of us may have committed the act of stealing. 

According to John Stott,* tax evasion is robbery.  Many try to avoid customs charges when bringing products into the country [also considered by him as“robbery”].  Working less at work when you could be giving your employer one hundred percent is stealing.  Conversely, when you have employees and you underpay them, that is theft.  Stott writes what “the world calls scrounging God calls stealing” [68].    As I have described comments on commandment six and commandment seven as “strict”, Stott describes them as “negative.”  “These negative commandments [six and seven] also imply a positive counterpart.  In order to truly abstain from killing, one must do all in one’s power to foster the health and preserve the life of others.  To refrain from adultery is insufficient…the commandment requires the right healthy and honorable attitude of each sex toward the other” [Stott, 68].

To not steal from another is one of those commandments that has a positive counterpart.  We should do all that we can to foster a feeling that we are living in a stable society and that includes respecting the property of others.  I have seen recent coverage of “smash and grab” robberies in some locations in the United States.  When I see CCTV footage of a robbery mob entering a jewelry store and quickly stripping the store of expensive valuables, I am shocked by the act itself, but mostly I am shocked by the idea that fifteen or twenty people would find it acceptable to steal all at the same time.  I like to think that stealing from someone is a rare act that is done by one person who is suffering some mental weakness or some dire financial emergency, not a large number of people stealing all at once.  This kind of thievery makes me wonder about the stability of our society.  When do people begin to justify their thievery as ok?

This may support the idea that some have that the Ten Commandments are outdated; that they are part of the Old Covenant, but if you have ever had anything stolen from you, you know the feeling of being a victim is very real.  I have had something stolen from me and I hated the idea of feeling vulnerable.  The more precious the item is, the more it hurts.  You may want revenge.  You don’t feel safe anymore when someone invades your property and takes possessions. 

Jesus referred to this commandment when He was conversing with the rich young ruler in Matthew so that makes me think the commandment was not just of the “Old Covenant.”   He referred to commandment eight directly in Matthew 19: 18.  One might recall that the rich young ruler’s problem with following Jesus was accumulating so much wealth that he could not let go of it and become a true follower.   The fact that Jesus spoke this commandment means it is not in the category of ceremonial and sacrificial laws of the Old Testament which were given to Israel.  This commandment is meant to apply to all men in all ages.  We should respect the possessions of others but we also should not let our possessions possess us [another message for another post].

The apostle Paul, when discussing God’s commandments, sums up the entire law in the same way as our Lord Jesus did, with “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31; Romans 13:9). And, again like Jesus, he states that this is the fulfilment of the “Law” (Matthew 22:39-40). So, we know from such instructions that “Do not steal,” as with all of the Ten Commandments, is about “loving one another” (John 13:34-35).  The Apostle Paul went so far as to say that abstaining from thievery was not enough; Paul felt that people should start working.  Stott writes that Paul’s attitude could be summed up as “[man] should continue in honest labor until he found himself in a position to give to those in need” [68].

There was a time in my life when I was never worried about tithing.  Akin to the rich young ruler, I was blessed with material possessions and a nice paycheck.  I did not even attend church.  Then my life changed when I realized that a relationship with God is what I needed.  The problem is that I still did not understand tithing.  I became a member of a church but I could not part with some of my riches that I truly owed to God.  I did not understand that everything that I had was a gift from God.  When we withhold our time, talent, possessions and finances from God we are really withholding the things that are rightly His.  In essence we are stealing from Him.  Then I made up my mind that I needed to begin giving to my church.  I began to tithe and I discovered something.  I discovered that I could give a portion of my wealth to God and still have plenty to live on.  In fact, I found that He blessed me with more than I ever expected.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it’” [Malachi 3:8-10].

Stott defines commandment eight as “to steal is to rob a person of anything which belongs to him or is due to him.”

One day we will be judged by God and expected to give an account of what we did with the gifts God has so generously bestowed on us. 

None of us want to be judged by God as lacking. 

As He has so generously given to us, we should give back to Him.**

*from his book Basic Christianity

**supplemental material for this post comes from the “gotquestions.org” website on commandment eight.

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” [Matthew 5: 27-28].

November 1976, Playboy Magazine, interview with presidential candidate Jimmy Carter:

“I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.”

Playboy rushed this issue to the newsstands one month early and when people opened the pages, these words became headline news in that 1976 world.

I open with this historical episode to introduce the Seventh Commandment which says “You shall not commit adultery” [Exodus 20: 14].  Moses gave this law to the Israelites with no explanation, which could possibly mean that they understood what it meant at that time.

Times have changed…

Just as I wrote in comments on Commandment Six regarding “Thou shall not kill,” this commandment is also much more complex today than in Old Testament times.  Polygamy was allowed by God in the Old Testament, but never endorsed by God [for example, King Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines].   Some people practice polygamy today with the justification that added spouses are legally included in the marriage [ e.g. fundamentalist groups of Latter Day Saints].  Divorce has muddied the waters today, with adultery outside of marriage prohibited but divorce and remarriage is legal.   Jesus is very clear in Luke 16:18 that “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery.”  The marriage bond is supposed to last a lifetime, so modern divorce does not really release one from the responsibility to be faithful to the original spouse.

And then we have Matthew 5:27-28.

I know I am dating myself but when Carter came out with his statement in 1976, many did not know what he meant.  I find it interesting that he never tried to “clean up” his comments, “walk them back” or retract them.  He just let them stand as they were.  But what did he mean when he said “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust?”

For many, the Seventh Commandment seems to rest on that word. 

John Stott in his book Basic Christianity has very strict boundaries for sexuality.  Avoid situations where lust can occur.  [Adultery] “includes any sort of sex outside the marriage relationship for which it was designed.  It includes flirting, experimenting, and solitary sexual experience.  It also includes sexual perversions, for although men and women are not responsible for a perverted instinct, they are for its indulgence.  It includes selfish demands within wedlock, and many, if not all divorces.  It includes the deliberated reading of pornographic literature and giving into impure fantasies” [Stott, 67-68].

It seems to me that President Carter may be in trouble in  John Stott’s view.

Maybe many of us are…

Today in our much more sexualized world, temptation seems to be everywhere.  It is so easy to find temptation within easy reach [a pick on a streaming movie service, a video on a computer screen].  Literally I could quit writing this blog and see pornographic material in seconds.   Considering Stott’s very strict advice above, it is hard to avoid sexual material altogether, so what are we supposed to do?

The Bible acknowledges the pleasure of sex in the sexiest book of the Old Testament, Song of Solomon.  So let’s not say that we should avoid sex altogether.  One can turn to many places in that book and see evidence that God does not hate sex between a man and a woman; after all, He created sex. Before we take Stott’s words totally to heart and say that all sex is bad, we should address God’s feelings toward human sexuality further.  Some feel that the author of Song of Solomon* is expressing God’s love for the Israelite people or that the book is an expression of God’s love for people in general.  Others take it for what it is: the poems celebrate desire, physical beauty, depict sexual scenes, and talk about the glory of sex.  In short, it is sex from a Holy point of view.  It is not lust.

How can we have that point of view?

The answer is to confine sexual activity within a marriage.

Even though sexual temptations in this world abound, it is worthwhile to fight them.  Sex within the boundaries of marriage can be joyful, desirable and downright pleasurable if the element of guilt is removed.  Individuals with open sex lives are aware of the serious jeopardy that can occur: “Lust not after her (a loose women) neither let her capture you with her eyelids…Can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes not be burned?” [Proverbs 6: 25, 27].  This is only one of many times when the Bible warns us about sex that goes out of bounds.

But why is God so intent on encouraging joyful sex within a marriage?

God has a vested interest in promoting the institution of marriage.  It is a building block of His creation and His society.  One can turn to Genesis and see that God made man and woman to complement one another.   Marriage is the vehicle to preserve the human race.  It is obvious that all the admonitions against adultery center on the sacred nature of marriage.

Another reason for the sacred nature of sex within marriage can be found in the attitude that God had toward the Israelites.  These chosen people were to be God’s holy examples.  God did not want His people to copy the adulterous practices of every culture that the Israelites encountered.  It is true that in the lands where the Israelites lived, sexual practices were not confined to marriage. 

Now let’s be reasonable.  With the nature or men and women, is it highly probable that we will win all the battles for sexual temptation all the time?

The answer is no.

Maybe that is what Jimmy Carter was admitting when he said he looked on a lot of women with lust.  I am sure that Rosalynn Carter was not pleased to hear that her husband committed adultery in his heart.  Maybe he was admitting that it is hard to keep watch over his eyes and other senses.  Maybe he was saying it is hard to have self-control.  Being a public figure, maybe he was admitting that he found himself with people who had very different attitudes toward sexuality and it was hard to always push them away. 

I am sure that his controversial interview in 1976 shocked many self-righteous people.  After all, Carter has been a Sunday school teacher in his Baptist Church for many years [he certainly was in 1976].  

But maybe it was a breath of fresh air for many, an honesty that many people probably need to admit.  Matthew 5: 27-28 is a high bar for anyone to reach and if many would make a totally honest admission, it is hard to reach that standard one hundred percent of the time. It is hard to be a “perfect” Christian and maybe Carter was trying to say I try to be perfect but I am not perfect all the time.  Too often Christians get so caught up in the façade of perfection and they never let people see who they are, warts and all.

And Christians do have warts…

Carter knows that he is washed in the blood of Christ and by admitting to shortcomings he was not saying that I am unrepentant.  Unrepentant adultery is the sin that can drag one down permanently.  Any sin that a Christian commits can be forgiven when a Christian repents.  Sexual temptation is all around us in this world today and to fight it is to be in constant combat.  No soldier wins every battle every time.

I once had a wise man tell me this about sexual temptation.  “Sexual temptation will occur and the human response is inevitable.  The key is to think of these instances as birds flying over your head.  Just because a bird flies over your head don’t despair.  Despair comes when you invite the bird to nest on top of your head and he decides to take up permanent residence.”

*Most theologians do not attribute an author to this book.

September 16, 2021 is when I began commenting on Chapter Five of John Stott’s book Basic Christianity.  The Chapter concerns itself with the “Fact and Nature of Sin” and several pages are devoted to the Ten Commandments.  As I have navigated through the first five commandments [described by some as laws about how we are supposed to approach God], we are now in the part of the commandments where we were given laws about how to live with other human beings.

Commandment number six seems very straightforward: “You shall not kill.”

What could be simpler than that?  If you kill, you break God’s law.  If you do not, you are ok with that law.

I would caution anyone to assume that any commandment is really that simple.  Killing is a very complex act.  Google “thou shall not kill” and you can see the complexity very quickly:  Is thou shall not kill the same as thou shall not murder?  God kills so much in the Bible; does that mean that He is breaking His own commandment?  Why does God refer to capital punishment in Genesis 9: 6; is it ok to kill in this circumstance?  What about soldiers who go into war?  The government asks them to kill.  Is that ok?  Is it wrong to kill spiders?  What about bugs and snakes?  And then the most complex, divisive issue in the world today:  Is abortion killing?  If it is, that breaks the sixth commandment doesn’t it?  I have just exposed the “tip of the iceberg;” the topic of killing is discussed ad nauseam in this world today.

Then I turn to Stott’s comments on killing.  He brings up the subject of looking at people as if you want to kill them.  Murder can be committed with “cutting words” alone.  Jesus says that to be angry with someone without cause is just as serious as killing.  The Disciple John states “Any one who hates his brother is a murderer”.  Temper, uncontrolled passion, sullen rage, bitter resentment and desire for revenge can be considered murder.  You can kill with “malicious gossip.”  You can kill by neglect and cruelty.  Spite and jealousy can kill.

Wow, I always thought the sixth commandment merely meant the unjustified taking of human life. 

It is obviously so much more.  To begin, I have used both words “kill” and “murder” in the writing above.  That is complicated in itself, for some Bible translations refer to the commandment as “thou shalt not kill” and other refer to it as “thou shalt not murder.”  For many, killing is a physical act but murder is a physical act reflective of one’s heart toward another.

Why do we murder one another?  In the beginning, God created us to live in harmony with one another; after all, we were created in God’s image.  After going beyond the first two chapter of Genesis, we see that sin enters the picture and then people found themselves capable of acting violently against one another.  Of course Cain killed his brother Abel.    Cain, the firstborn, was a farmer, and his brother Abel was a shepherd. Both brothers made sacrifices to God, but God favored Abel’s sacrifice instead of Cain’s. Cain then murdered Abel out of jealousy, whereupon God punished Cain by condemning him to a life of wandering.  From the start of murder in Genesis 4: 8, taking the life of another has been commonplace.  

How does this fit in with a Christian worldview that advocates that every human life is valuable?  It does not fit.  That’s why God introduced the sixth commandment, to seek to curb man’s appetite to murder others.  Without something, man’s sinful nature could run rampant and murder could become too prevalent.  First John 3: 4 states “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”  I harken back to my post on October 20^th where I discuss “guardrails” which protect us from danger as we drive down the road.  God’s commandments can be seen as guardrails.  Commandment number six keeps us from eradicating humanity [although there have been numerous examples of efforts at mass killing e.g. Nazi Germany, Mao Zedong’s Regime in China and Stalin’s Communist Regime in Russia]. 

If mankind is conflicted on the topic of killing, the Bible seems to be also.  Paul talks about the right of the government to take the lives of evil people in some versions of Romans 13: 1-7.  Matthew 5: 21 says “You have heard what was said to people who lived long ago. They were told, ‘Do not commit murder’.  Anyone who murders will be judged for it.”  Scripture is full of instances when God endorses the taking of other’s lives [see 1 Samuel 11 and Judges 6-7].  The unintentional killing of another is also addressed in Scripture as manslaughter.  Unintentional killers can flee to refuge cities where they can escape punishment [see Exodus 21: 13].  

Premeditation seems to be the key regarding the taking of another’s life.  Premeditation does not line up with God’s will.  Murder stems from a hatred for another, a deep hatred.  When we harbor hatred in our hearts, that is a grievous sin.  As Christians we know that unjustified killing of another human is not right and will result in extremely negative consequences on Judgement Day.

One can turn to news of the day and see obvious examples of people who commit murder.  Today is November 25, 2021 and Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted for taking the life of two people on November 19.  The Ahmaud Arbery trial verdict occurred yesterday, the young man was killed by men who claimed self-defense.  The jury convicted the perpetrator and two others riding in his vehicle.  Those are just the instances that make it into the news.  Many examples of killing don’t get national coverage, yet people die anyway and when it occurs, it is never simple: If you kill, you break God’s law.  If you do not, you are ok with that law.

Extenuating circumstances always come into play, but as I have watched countless crime documentaries with my wife and I hear the conflicting versions of the act of killing, I often ask myself what is true?  I consider the power of God and His all-knowing nature. 

In closing, think about these words from First Samuel 16:7:  “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

God knows the truth…

From David and Susan Carter to anyone who happens on to St. John Studies…

Have a Happy Thanksgiving…

It is a holiday but it is also a day when I post. I will be commenting on commandment six of the Ten Commandments.

Later…

Enjoy the day…

John Stott* states that the Fifth Commandment is categorized as one of the commandments that concerns our duty to God [the first five].  Some people may wonder about that since “Honor Your Father and Mother” seems to be about our parents and not really about God.  However he writes that “while we are children [our parents] stand toward us in loco Dei,” meaning in the place of God.  In essence, they represent God’s authority; therefore honoring parents is akin to honoring God.

He further comments that young people may find it “easy to be ungrateful and neglectful, and fail to show their parents due respect and affection.  In their own homes, people (young people especially) are at their most selfish and inconsiderate” [Stott, 67].

My teenage years were stormy, for my parents and I clashed over my efforts to have a serious relationship with my girlfriend, my clothing and very long hair and my attitude toward the Vietnam War.  My son’s teenage years were also stormy as we clashed over his need to have freedom to party, his inability to keep his room fit for human habitation and his obsession with his cool car and his fashionable clothes.  Despite all the battles we had, my wife and I tried to remain firm in asking him to respect us as parents.  We realized that his behavior was partly due to changes in his physical makeup [i.e. hormones] and also to his desire for independence before he really had any idea about what “independent” truly meant. 

Strain in the home between parents and children is a common story, yet we have that Fifth Commandment requiring children to “honor” their parents.  This idea occurs many other places in the Bible: in Ephesians it says “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” [6: 1].   Proverbs 1:8, 13:1 and 30:17 are all verses which urge children to respect their parents.  Colossians 3: 20 says “Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”

So what does it mean to “honor” your parents?  How do we “honor” them?  What if our parents are “ungodly;” do we still honor them?  Is there ever a time when we outgrow honoring our parents?

First of all what does honor mean?  To honor means to be respectful in word and action to the position of parenthood.  The “position” deserves honor even though children may disagree with their parents.  The Greek word for honor means “to revere, prize and value.”  Honor has more to do woth attitude than anything else.  A child may not like a parent’s decision but they still should obey out of respect for the parental role.  Jesus submitted Himself to His earthly parents: “Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured all these things in her heart” [Luke 2: 51].  He also submitted Himself to His heavenly Father in the Garden at Gethsemane: “Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will’” [Matthew 26: 39]. 

How are we supposed to honor our parents?  We do this with our actions and our attitudes.  Lip service is not enough.  Grudging obedience is not enough.  If a parent expresses their wishes and those wishes are within the bounds of reasonable parental requests, children should obey. For the young child, obeying parents goes along with honoring them since young children are hardly ready to make life decisions on their own.  Honoring in this context means listening to parents, heeding their advice and submitting to their authority.  In Matthew 15: 3-9 Jesus reminded the Pharisees that God says to obey fathers and mothers.  The Fifth Commandment is part of “the Law” but the Pharisees were adding in their own traditions which essentially overruled the Fifth Commandment.  “He  answered them, ‘And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?’ For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’  But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, He need not honor his Father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.  You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”  Certainly Jesus knew that honoring meant honor with word and attitude.  The child who does not honor their parents with his or her heart does not honor them in a sincere manner.

Are there any circumstances when a child should not obey their parents?  The answer is yes.  Ezekiel 20: 18-19 states “I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols.  I am the Lord your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”  Parents are human and they may make bad decisions and children can be led astray.  Parents have a responsibility to instruct their children in the ways of God.  Ephesians 6: 4 states “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”  Even poor decisions can be forgiven as every parent in every situation cannot be right one hundred percent of the time.  Younger children should obey their parents even if the request is faulty.  But if a parental request goes against God’s law and a child [or especially a young person] knows that, following God law overrides following parents [see Acts 5: 29]. 

When does honoring parents change?  Do we ever outgrow honoring our parents?  As children grow up and move out of the house, they can show honor and respect by keeping in touch with their parents when at all possible. As parents age, their needs may increase. Adult children should stay aware of those needs and try to help meet those needs as a way of showing honor.  Parents who may not be the best deserve respect because they brought the child into the world and Christians feel that God can use anyone to accomplish His good plan [that includes parents of course].  Godly people are also supposed to show respect for all people and that includes parents.   As adults we are not bound to obey our parents every request but we can still respect them.

Truly honoring our parents is not an “easy” commandment.  I know it is not always fun and at times, it requires God’s strength to submit to parents [especially if a child is strong-willed].  However, the commandment is practical in that people who obey it can be more prepared to be good citizens.  As they mature, they have less trouble obeying governmental authorities, law enforcement authorities and employers.  Not only are they pleasing God, but they may have an easier time functioning in the world. 

I end with the idea that the Fifth Commandment is the only commandment that has promises associated with it.  “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.   ‘Honor your father and mother—which is the first commandment with a promise— so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’” [Ephesians 6: 1-3].

Certainly at times home life can be stormy but there is benefit to honoring one’s father and mother: we can gain wisdom, we can learn to respect authority, we can live a life much more at ease which can lead to longevity but most of all, as we can obey our parents we please our Lord.**

*From his book Basic Christianity

**Supplemental material for this post came from research from Gotquestions.org material related to the Fifth Commandment.