Not One Word

Has anyone told you they would do something – then failed to do it?

We all experience such disappointments time and again. Why?

The person may have lied, making a promise while having no intention of carrying it out.

Or perhaps they were not aware at the time that they could never fulfill the promise. (One of my children, after a discussion at age six of the nature and consequences of sin, stated with wide eyes and complete sincerity, “I will never, ever sin!”)

Alternately, although sincere when stating their intentions, circumstances may have changed:

  • They may change their mind and no longer want to fulfill the promise;
  • They may have forgotten their promise;
  • Or although they remember the promise and want to fulfill it, they may no longer be able to. Perhaps they have lost the money they planned to give you. Or their health has failed so they can’t take you on the promised trip. Or they have died.

Thus, people often fail us. Consequently, we learn to be skeptical about promises others make.

We wrongly also become skeptical about promises God makes.

Scripture gives us plenty of examples of humans failing to live up to their promises – promises made to one another, and promises made to God. But the Bible assures us: God always fulfills every promise.

The book of Joshua underlines this point. The rescued Israelites have promised repeatedly to obey all that God says (Exodus 19:8, 24:3 & 7). Yet they have made and worshiped a golden calf; they have grumbled and complained and have wanted to choose a different leader to bring them back to slavery in Egypt.

What about God? Joshua 21:45 provides a summary:

Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Note that the identical Hebrew root underlies “word,” “promises,” and “made.” We get a taste of the way an ancient Israelite would hear this verse by rendering it: “Not one word of all the good words that Yahweh had worded to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”

Not one! Every word God spoke proved to be true!

And that is still the case. God will fulfill His every promise. For God is not liable to the human weaknesses listed above that lead us to make promises we don’t fulfill. Consider them in turn:

  1. God doesn’t lie.
    1. Numbers 23:19: “God is not man, that he should lie”
    2. 1 Samuel 15:29: “The Glory of Israel will not lie”
    3. 2 Samuel 7:28: “O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true”
    4. Titus 1:2: God, who never lies
    5. Hebrews 6:18: It is impossible for God to lie
  2. God doesn’t forget. We often feel as if He does, and Scripture records such feelings among those who are His (see, for example, Lamentations 5:20, Psalm 42:9, Psalm 77:7-9, and Isaiah 49:14). But God tells His people, “You are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me” (Isaiah 44:21). Furthermore, He addresses their doubts directly in Isaiah 49: Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
  3. God doesn’t change His mind.
    1. Numbers 23:19 again: “God is not … a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”
    2. Romans 11:29: The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
  4. Nothing can prevent God from fulfilling His promises
    1. Genesis 18:14: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”
    2. Jeremiah 32:27: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”
    3. Job 42:2: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
    4. Luke 1:37: “Nothing will be impossible with God.”
    5. Mark 10:27: “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
    6. Mark 14:36 “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.”
  5. Even we cannot prevent God from fulfilling His promises in us and through us

We see this in the Old Testament in the repeated failures of the people of Israel – yet God’s promises still prove true. Not one word of all God’s good words to them fails! We see this similarly in Jesus’ disciples: they fail Him, they desert Him, Peter denies Him – yet He indeed makes them fishers of men, and builds His church through such weak, fallible humans.

 So listen to God’s Words. Every one is true. Every one is sincere. He will fulfill every one.

When you are tempted to think of God as if He were a man, when you are beginning to doubt His promises, reflect on the Scriptures cited above. Consider the context of each. And have confidence: God’s Word is more certain than anything in all creation: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

Who is With Jesus and Who is Not?

[In the March 17 sermon, we considered the seemingly contradictory sayings of Jesus: “Whoever is not with Me is against Me” (Matthew 12:30) and “One who is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40). We saw that in both cases Jesus is telling His listeners to serve others. The audio of the sermon will be available shortly at this link. The following lessons for the Christian life are taken from the concluding section, and are drawn out of the analysis of the context of those passages.]

Let’s draw out nine principles, nine lessons for the Christian life that flow out of our examination of this seeming contradiction.

First: Serve others by both elevating truth and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.

This implication of the paradox is brought out well in the opening paragraph of our Statement of Faith Governing Teaching (which is based on language from the elder affirmation of faith at Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis):

A passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples is best sustained in an atmosphere of deep and joyful knowledge of the character of God. We thus aim to teach the whole counsel of God rather than aiming to discover and teach some minimum required for salvation. In affirming what we believe on these matters, we separate ourselves doctrinally from some brothers and sisters within the universal church. The cause of unity in the church, however, is best served not by finding the lowest common denominator of doctrine, but by elevating the value of truth through stating clear doctrinal parameters, and then demonstrating to the world how Christians can love each other across doctrinal boundaries, rather than by removing those boundaries. We commit ourselves to both elevating truth and loving our brothers.

We don’t serve anyone well by downplaying the importance of truth. And that’s the danger of listening only to Jesus’ statement, “He who is not against Me is for Me,” or emphasizing only God’s love, or only Jesus’ prayer that all His followers might be one. We are one – in Christ. And Jesus is both Lamb and Lion. God is both loving and just – indeed, it is because He is both that the cross was necessary. It is God’s truth that sets us free, that unites us to Jesus, that makes us one. So there is no way we can separate truth from being in Christ. At the same time, we are genuinely to love all those who are in Christ – regardless of how we might differ on our understandings of some important truths. So we exalt truth – and we love across differences in our understanding of truth.

Second: This lesson has to do with how we interact with those who might or might not be in Christ. There are four parts:

  1. We must not imply someone is in Christ who is not.
  2. We must not imply someone is NOT in Christ when they are.
  3. We do well to exhort others to examine themselves, to see if they are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5), using biblical criteria – without implying that they are not.
  4. We do well to challenge those claiming to be in Christ who are engaging in clear, obvious sin, by stating the truth that those who do so will not inherit the Kingdom (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-21).

Third: We must never give the impression that the essence of Christianity is being part of our group by avoiding certain behaviors or advancing some cause other than the Gospel

It may be wise to avoid certain behaviors other than those proscribed in Scripture. And there may well be political or social causes that we strongly believe are implied by Scripture. But the moment we say, “Unless you support this policy or act in this way, you are not in Christ,” we are distorting the Gospel. We are taking part in the Galatian heresy. However important any cause might be, it is not the essence of the Gospel.

Fourth: We must distinguish between individuals and their churches or denominations.

Some denominations or churches hold to specific doctrines that distort or deny the Gospel. We could not have a joint service with such a church. But there often are individuals within such churches that God has saved, in spite of the particular teachings of their church.

Fifth: With respect to other churches, we should ask: Does this doctrinal difference fundamentally distort the Gospel, demeaning the work of the Holy Spirit and the glory of Jesus?

This is the right question to ask, though it is often difficult to answer. For example, the Apostle Paul is absolutely clear that requiring circumcision of non-Jews who had become Christians is to distort the Gospel so thoroughly that there is no Gospel left at all (Galatians 1:6-9). On the other hand, though we believe biblical baptism should take place after profession of saving faith, we do not believe that the baptism of infants practiced in Presbyterian churches is a fundamental distortion of the Gospel.

Sixth: Realize we can and should cooperate on social and political issues without pretending our social allies are in Christ.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and Muslims may well agree with us on a number of social and political issues. Any successful political movement will have to be broadly based. We may choose to work together for such causes. We should love and serve those who are working with us. But we must never give the impression that our social or political agreement is more important than Christ, or that our differences in understanding how a person can be reconciled to God are insignificant.

Seventh: Beware of civil religion.

It is tempting for those who love the United States to baptize this country, and to imply God’s cause is wrapped up with the future of the US, or that what binds us as citizens is as important as what binds us in Christ. We are to pray for our political leaders and to participate in civil institutions – but Christ’s church cuts across all nation states and unites those from every tribe and tongue into a oneness far more important than our citizenship.

Eighth: We must distinguish between loving friends and family members who are not in Christ and separating from false teachers and other religions.

We are to serve everyone. As we saw above, that means never implying someone is in Christ when they are not. Sometimes with false teachers, that will necessitate having nothing to do with them (2 Timothy 3:5). But we can serve and love family members and friends without making that wrong implication. Love them. Enjoy them. Speak the truth to them, and live out that truth before them. Don’t make your continued relationship with them dependent on their response to the truth. That is not service. They may choose to separate from you if you hold steadfastly to the truth – if so, you can’t avoid the separation. But try to love across the differences.

Ninth: We must examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
Are we truly with Jesus? If not, we are against Him. So: Is Jesus supreme in our lives – above our reputations, above all other relationships, above all that we have or own, even above life itself? In everything, is He preeminent (Colossians 1:18)? Do you believe, and do your actions show, that whoever loses his life for Jesus’ sake and for the Gospel will save it? Do you believe, and do your actions show, that the Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which, finding, a man covers up, and out of his joy he goes and sells all that he has in order to buy that field (Matthew 13:44)?

God Is Faithful To His Promises

“Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:45).

Think of the promises God had made to the house of Israel – including those made before Israel existed!

  • God promised that Abraham’s descendants would inherit the land of Canaan (Genesis 13:14-17).
  • God promised Abraham that He would bring his descendants out of slavery with great possessions (Genesis 15:13-14).
  • Hundreds of years later, God promised that He would use Moses to rescue the people from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 3:7-10).
  • God promised that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let Israel go, even after Moses conducted miracles (Exodus 4:21).
  • Yet God promised eventually Pharaoh would drive the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 6:1).
  • God promised that He would not just bring the people out of Egypt, but that He would bring them to Himself (Exodus 6:6-8).
  • God promised plague after plague after plague on the Egyptians – and they all came about (Exodus 7 to 10).
  • God promised that the firstborn in every house in Egypt would die, but not in the houses of the Israelites (Exodus 11:4-7).
  • God promised that the Israelites would walk across the Red Sea on dry land, but the Egyptians would drown (Exodus 14:13-18).
  • God promised that He would provide meat and bread to the people in the desert (Exodus 16:11-12).

We could go on and on. God promised direction in their travels, defeat of enemies, parting of yet more waters – and all came about.

The people had doubted and murmured; the enemies had been strong and powerful. But God fulfilled every promise – despite the enemy, despite the people’s lack of faith.

So, what about you? Do you trust God to fulfill His promises? And do you recognize the greatness of those promises? Here are a few on which to meditate:

  • Jesus will return with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30).
  • He will reign over an eternal Kingdom of righteousness and peace (Isaiah 9:6-7).
  • Jesus will destroy Satan and his minions (Revelation 20:10).
  • God will complete the good work He has begun in you (Philippians 1:6).
  • Indeed, we will be like Him (1 John 3:2).
  • God will bring to Himself through faith in Jesus those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 7:9-10).
  • Throughout this life, He will watch over you and guide you, and then bring you to Himself forever (Psalm 23:6).
  • He will work all things together for your good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
  • God will so work that at the Name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to God’s glory (Philippians 2:10-11).
  • God will wipe every tear from your eyes, having ended death and mourning and crying and pain (Revelation 21:6).
  • God will rejoice over us, His people, with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17).
  • By the blood of Jesus, you are declared fully righteous; He will remember your sins no more (Romans 3:21-25, Hebrews 10:11-18).

He has sworn by Himself that this is so – and it is impossible for God to lie! So hold fast to the confession of your hope without wavering (Hebrews 6:13-19); stand firm on His level ground, not sliding down into unbelief (Psalm 26); eagerly anticipate the fulfillment of every promise. For He is the faithful God, who keeps His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands (Deuteronomy 7:9).

 

Fearing the One Who is Fearsome: God and Truth

Those of you following the Bible Unity Reading Plan are nearing the end of the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, sometimes called the books of Moses. God has brought His people to the edge of the Promised Land. Here Moses reviews the more than forty years since God brought His people out of Egypt. The people have seen God work; they have heard His voice; they have sometimes responded with joyful obedience, but so often instead have rebelled against Him. God has brought them to Himself (Exodus 19:4); He has made them His people and so they are to love Him above all and obey Him (Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 27:9-10, 6:5-9). He has given them all these commandments for their good (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).

As Moses looks forward past his death, knowing their bent toward rebellion, he warns them:

If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions (Deuteronomy 28:58-59 ESV).

Bear with me here for a bit as we look in more detail at this text.

What is the purpose of the central clause? Why does Moses include, “that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God”?

First of all, remember that the word “Lord” in all capitals is used when the Hebrew text contains the Name of God, “I Am That I Am, ” most often these days transliterated “Yahweh.” With this understanding, it is clear that “this glorious and awesome name” and “the LORD your God” are in parallel to each other.

Second, remember that for the ancient Israelites, names were often used to describe character. A name is a window into who the person is. So to say that God’s Name is glorious and awesome is to say HE is glorious and awesome.

Third, note that the Hebrew verb translated “fear” is repeated in a different conjugation and translated “awesome” by the ESV.

At this point, perhaps a different translation will be helpful. Let’s take the New American Standard, replace “LORD” with “Yahweh,” and replace “fear” with “hold in awe”:

If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to hold in awe this honored and awesome name, Yahweh your God (Deuteronomy 28:58)

In this rendering, the point of the central clause is clearer: Moses is restating in other words what it means to be “careful to observe all the words of this law.” We cannot do that in a legalistic sense: “OK, here’s a command, I’ll keep it and show God how good I am.” For to be careful to observe all the words of this law is indeed to love Yahweh with all our heart, soul, and strength!

Rather, Moses is saying that to be careful to observe all the words of this law is indeed logical, true, right, and pure; it is to fear the One who is fearsome, to hold in awe the One who is awesome, to honor the One who alone deserves honor, to delight in the One who is Joy itself.

And all of that depends on Yahweh being the true God, the God of truth, who speaks words of truth to His people. If He is not, then none of Moses’ words make any sense. There is no reason to fear Him if He is not fearsome; there is no reason to hold Him in awe if He is not awesome.

Thus, hundreds of times Scripture emphasizes that God is true, that His words are true, that Scripture itself is our only hope of knowing the truth. Allow me to give a quick summary of the way God speaks of truth in His Word:

  • God’s ways, judgments, rules, law, commandments, and words are all said to be true (2 Samuel 7:28, Psalm 18:30, 19:9, 119:142, 119:151, Proverbs 30:15, Revelation 15:3, 16:7, 19:2, and many more).
  • In contrast, those who oppose God are liars. Satan is the prototypical liar (John 8:44), the antichrist is defined as the liar (1 John 2:22), and those today who are unrighteous “suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18).
  • Jesus, on the other hand, emphasizes time and again that His words are true. More than 60 times, Jesus introduces His words with “Truly” or even “Truly, truly.” He came to bear witness to the truth, and everyone “of the truth” listens to Him (John 18:37). He alone is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
  • This risen Jesus is “the true one,” “the true witness” (Revelation 3:7, 14).
  • God is seeking true worshipers who must worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24).
  • It is through abiding/remaining in Jesus’ word that we will know the truth – and that truth will set us free (John 8:31-32).
  • We must receive the Spirit of Truth, who guides us into all truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13, 1 John 5:6). We can then both know and be in Him who is true, the true God. And this is eternal life (1 John 5:20).
  • Paul calls the gospel “the word of truth” (Ephesians 1:13, Colossians 1:5), and he calls the church “a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
  • In contrast, those who oppose God are under a “strong delusion” having “refused to love the truth and so be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10).
  • So we in the church must preach the Word, even when it is unpopular and derided, because many, having “itching ears,” will “turn away from listening to the truth” (2 Timothy 4:2-4).  And as we use the Scriptures for teaching and correction, God may “grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:25; see also 3:16).

Thus, Scripture claims that it is the source of ultimate truth. We, like the ancient Israelites, have a bent towards rebellion, towards suppressing this truth, and are therefore under a delusion. The Word by the Spirit must dwell in us richly if we are to know the truth, and in turn be set free. So we must submit ourselves to God and His Word – and so find the glorious freedom of the children of God.

So be careful to do all the words of God’s instruction – that is, hold in awe the One who is awesome, glory in the One who is glorious, hold to the true words of the One who is Truth – to your great joy and fulfillment.

[For further reflection on Scripture and truth, read and meditate on this compilation of more than 200 verses on this theme. For more on the process of coming to submit to Scripture, see these three blog posts from 2013: first, second, and third. The Bible Unity Reading Plan is available as an android app here.]

The Consequences of Self-Deception

(For a version of this devotion that is easier to print, follow this link.)

Consider this phrase from Isaiah 44:20: “A deluded heart has led him astray.”

Note that it does not say, “He was deluded about the truth.” Unquestionably that is the case. But the phrase says more: After being deluded about one matter, that very delusion leads us yet further astray from the truth.

In Isaiah 44, this is the case with idol worship. The prophet here mocks the man who takes a block of wood, cuts it up, then uses some pieces to cook food and calls the rest a god. Verse 20 concludes: “He cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Having turned away from the One Who is the First and the Last, the one true God (verse 6), the idol worshiper eventually becomes unable to escape the delusion he willingly chose. He acts foolishly, but can’t recognize it. His chosen delusion leads him further and further from the truth. He is trapped.

This is a great danger that Scripture warns against again and again. Indeed, all fallen humanity is caught in this trap. (more…)