faith for faith

Yesterday, we spoke in length on how the death of Christ afforded mercy for the world. This mercy has been manifested and is presently manifested in the staying of God’s hand from striking down every human on the planet in immediate judgment. Because of this we said, repeating Scripture’s declarations, that one facet of Christ’s work on the cross was a propitiatory one, i.e. one that turns aside the wrath of God for a time. We looked at this particularly in God’s covenant with Noah following the Great Flood and how such a covenant necessitates a Propitiator and how Noah’s sacrifice was a foreshadowing and an anticipation of him who is the true Sacrifice and Offering for humanity.

This propitiatory work of Christ for humanity is indeed gracious and merciful on its own accord. The fact that God gives the children of Adam a reprieve from their deserved and ultimate damnation is a mercy that should be incomprehensible to any reasonable heart, and yet Christ’s work on the cross for humanity did not end with its propitiation for humanity.

To understand this second aspect of Christ’s work, we must understand the nature and desserts of all men. We learn in Scripture that all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and that no man is righteous on his own accord (Rom. 3:23, etc.). We are also told in Scripture that every person is guilty before God, not only for the evil deeds that flow from his evil heart, but because of the imputation of Adam’s sin to his children (cf. Rom. 5:12-21). All men therefore, because of their father’s deed and their own wicked deeds, are doubly guilty before God and deserve evil continually.

In spite of the wickedness of men, Scripture teaches that the rain of blessing falls on the just and the unjust from the hand of a loving and gracious God (cf. Matt. 5:45). All men, regardless of their self-righteousness or wickedness, enjoy an amount of blessings while they live upon the earth. All, despite their relationship to Christ, breathe the air that God has provided for the world, give and are given in marriage, enjoy children and grandchildren, are given food for their sustenance and shelter for their protection.

All of these good things that God grants to all people are a gift through Christ and his blood, for it is through his blood that the immediate wrath of God is removed from mankind so that they might live and it is through his blood that these aforementioned gifts are granted to men while they live. And because of his death, Christ has been granted the name above names and is exalted above all things so that in all things he is preeminent and in him all things, including the unregenerate and regenerate, are held together and sustained (cf. Col. 1:15-20).

This goodness of God in Christ in spite of humanity’s wickedness is revealed apart from Scripture in the testimony of Nature, and therefore all humanity is aware of the mercy and goodness of God. The Apostle writes concerning this general awareness in his Epistle to the Romans:

For what can be know about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him (vv. 1:19-21).

Though God has revealed his goodness to all men, they do not give thanks to him for it and thereby condemn themselves further for their ingratitude.

Therefore Christ is for the world the fount head of mercy and blessing, for in his death he temporarily withholds the Divine Judgment and also extends to all common blessings and enjoyments in this age. Tomorrow we will look at redemptive aspect of Christ’s work on the cross.

When we study the work of Christ on the cross, we are not studying a simple subject. The glorious transaction that took place in that sacred hour not only has implications for the elect but it has cosmological implications. Therefore, when we study the doctrine of Particular Redemption, we are not studying the essence of Christ’s work on the cross, but we are studying a single facet of Christ’s work on the cross.

Before we study the particular and redemptive aspect of Christ’s work on the cross, I believe that it would be helpful to look at the universal and propitiatory aspect of his work. But before we even begin this study, I would like to define some terms. “Universal” and “particular” are the adjectives that we will be using to define the scope of each of Christ’s works. “Redemption” is the act of redeeming a person out of bondage for a price. This term is used solely of the saints of God who have been freed from their slavery to sin and have been brought under the Lordship of Jesus Christ through his blood (cf. Romans 6). “Propitiation” is the act of turning aside wrath. With respect to God, this is a sacrifice that temporarily appeases the wrathful hand of the just Sovereign of the Universe. In other words, “redemption” is the complete satisfaction of God’s wrath, and “propitiation” is the temporal appeasement of God’s wrath.

One of the lessons that the Great Flood narrative of Genesis has taught us is that Yahweh is a God of immediate justice. That is, without a mediator, God exacts his sentence upon the guilty swiftly and without delay. As for the world during the time of Noah, its terrible wickedness had been presented before the Lord without a Propitiator. We know this because of the outcome of the story: “Yahweh saw the wickedness of man and . . . said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens’” (Gen. 6:5, 7). And this he did. The glorious Justice of God manifested itself in the terrible downpour that destroyed the whole earth and all its life save the righteous Noah and his party.

After the Flood, God blessed Noah and gave his covenant promise to him and his descendants that he would never destroy the world by water again as he had done with the Great Flood. This covenant that God initiated with Noah does not demonstrate a shift in the nature of God, but it demonstrates the arrival of a Propitiator, for God does not change and neither does his ways. Thus God, when he smells the burnt offering given by Noah after the Floor subsides, gives his covenant to Noah, not because of the sufficiency of the burnt offering, but because of the Great Offering that Noah’s offering foreshadowed.

The Apostle demonstrates this point in his letter to the Romans:

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins (vv. 3:23-25).

Later in his letter, the Apostle reveals the Father’s glorious plan behind his Son’s propitiation of the sins of the world and the Father’s passing over them:

So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory? (vv. 9:18-23).

Therefore, when we look at the universal aspect of Christ’s work on the cross, we must look at it as the temporal turning aside of the wrath of God so that God could manifest the riches of his glory to those whom he had chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.

How do we know that this universal propitiation is temporal? We know this because Scripture clearly teaches that all men will be judged and, apart from Christ, condemned according to their deeds, be they public or private (cf. Romans 2:16; Rev. 20:12, 13). Therefore, when Christ turns aside the wrath of the Father toward the world, its wrath-bearing effect finds its end on Judgment Day and not beyond.

Tomorrow, we will take a look at the temporal mercy and gifts that the work of Christ has brought to all of mankind.

There are many controversial doctrines of the Christian faith, but there are few that kindle such emotion as does the teaching concerning the particular nature of the atonement of Christ. It is this doctrine coupled with the teachings concerning the bondage of the will that make most who despise Calvinists despise them. It is a doctrine refused by most who call themselves Christians, and yet it is a doctrine that is understood by few.

The doctrine of particular redemption, simply put, is the teaching that the sins that Christ bore on the cross are only the sins of the elect–i.e. those who were chosen in love before the foundation of the world to have faith in Christ. This doctrine has been more popularly labeled in the past as “limited atonement” in small part to place emphasis on the scope of Christ’s work on the cross and in larger part to force fit the doctrine into the middle of the “TULIP” acrostic that was born out of the Synod at Dordt in response to the Arminian heresy.

The popular term “limited atonement” has sparked enough debate by its semantics alone, and perhaps rightly so in a way. Many have interpreted the use of the word “limited” as one that places a cap on the value on Christ’s death, and others have had a problem with describing anything that God does as “limited,” especially the giving up of himself on the cross. These objections bring up some healthy concerns of those who have them, though their concerns are based upon their ignorance not fact. The doctrine of the limited atonement of Christ (henceforth “particular redemption”) has never taught that there is a definite value on the work of Christ. Quite the contrary, the doctrine teaches that the death of the Infinite by necessity has an infinite value, and therefore could atone for an infinite number of souls if it were God’s good pleasure for it to do so. For these reasons, “particular redemption” is a much more accurate name for the doctrine and a less offensive one.

Many object to the divisive nature of the doctrine and wonder what benefit such a teaching has for the Church. I acknowledge the doctrine’s tendency to divide, and I also sympathize dearly with the desire for a unified Church. However, I do believe that Scripture teaches a particular redemption in its pages and that God in his benevolent wisdom has placed it there for our mutual edification. I will make note of particular benefits of the doctrine in a forthcoming post, but till then know that the doctrine helps us understand the ways of God and will cause the saint to adore and to glorify his Maker and his Redeemer rightly and in greater degree and truth.

Allow me to offer a word of warning before we engage in this study: this doctrine is only fit to be explored by him who is a child of God and does not neglect the weightier matters of God’s law. It is very easy to be fascinated with such teachings and for those teachings to become a snare and a stumbling block to the petrified heart. If you find that studying such doctrines does not make you a more humble, gracious, and loving person toward your siblings in Christ and toward your neighbors, you have no business with this meat until you have grown past your spiritual infancy. Studying this doctrine apart from a desire to wholeheartedly glorify God in Christ and to love his Church will make you a callous, intellectual elitist in your church and will make you a glorifier of yourself rather than of Christ.

As Christians in a wealthy and materialistic nation, there lies a daunting task in front of us–to regard as rubbish that which we are taught to love. This task is daunting for several reasons, and any one of them alone can bind us as easily as the several combined.

The first reason our task daunting is that we, even as Christians, possess a flesh that is yet not glorified and that presently and on its own accord desires the things of the world. These desires of the flesh might vary in degree and manifestation from person to person, but they are all of one fleshly root. These desires manifest themselves presently in the love of shiny cars, new technology, large houses, inappropriate lusts, etc., and they all lie in wait to strangle out of us any desire for Christ that the Spirit has put into us.

Secondly, those who are of the world encourage us to gratify of our fleshly desires. Worldly people use their philosophies to justify their own the fleshly pursuits and, to appease their own consciences, operate just as those whom the prophet condemns: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20). With their consciences cleaned by their fantastic moralities, those who are worldly seek then to excite our fleshly longings with advertisements, filthy television shows, etc., and thereby demonstrate the Apostle’s observation, “Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).

Thirdly, we are flooded with false doctrine concerning wealth and possessions from those within the church. These false doctrines are not limited to the obvious health and wealth preachers like Joel Osteen and Creflo Dollar, but it applies to many who quietly embrace the world and its treasures. These teachers are arguably more treacherous than the Joel Osteens of the world because their teachings are so close to the truth that it ensnares many who would be orthodox. These teachers tell us that it is okay to have many possessions just as long as we make Christ number one in our life. Others preach that God only requires ten percent of that which he gives us and that God will bless us richly if we faithful with that ten percent.¹

All around us are these snares that attempt to trap us into loving the world or, very likely, that have already trapped us into loving the world. You might be the one who finds himself already trapped by his love for the world, and you know this and are seeking to rid yourself of it but do not know how. Hopefully, I will be able offer some suggestions that will get you heading in the right direction.

Cultivate a Satisfaction for Christ Alone
There is much in the phrase, “Make Christ your number one,” that seems like sound advice. The problem with it is that we are not called to make Christ number one on a our lists, but we are called to make Christ our all. In other words, Christ is not to be the highest percentage of our affections, but he is supposed to be one hundred percent of our affections. When Christ calls us to take up our crosses daily, this is precisely what he means.

What you must ask yourself then is, “Do I live my life in such a way so that in everything that I do, I do it so that I might enjoy and desire Christ more?” This is a radical question to ask yourself, and it will change how you live every moment of your life. Instead of asking yourself, for example, “What music can I listen to that is family friendly or that does not use curse words?” ask yourself, “What music can I listen to that will make me adore Christ more and bring me to worship him?” Imagine the CDs (including some “Christian” CDs) that would be thrown out from our music collections if we asked that question! What if you instead of asking, “What house can we afford to buy?” you asked, “What house can I buy (or build) that will cause me to desire Christ over my house and will bring glory to his name?” If you ask that, I guarantee you that you will not be buying a $250,000 house any time soon.

If you are struggling with the love of the world, you need desperately to rid yourself of the taste for its pleasures. The Apostle John writes these sobering words in his first letter:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions–is not from the Father but is from the world (1John 2:15, 16).

1- I know for many of you, red flags are going up. You believe these things–you believe that it is okay to have nice possessions as long as Christ is your number one–you believe that you are being a good steward of your money as long as you give ten percent to your local church. But let me ask you this, after the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and the fullness of prophets has been made known in Christ, how many rich people in Scripture are told that they can keep their possessions as long as they make Christ number one? While you are thinking about that, how many poor people are told the same thing? Also, where do you find in Scripture after Christ (or any where in Scripture) that ten percent of yourself is an acceptable offering to God?

I have spoken much in several posts on the act of giving up all that one owns for the sake of Christ, but I have spoken little of the driving force behind such a step. Yes, I have spoken of obedience to Christ, and that is indeed a chief motivation, but there is a greater underlying and supernatural motivation that drives one to obedience and then to sacrifice. Jonathan Edwards labeled this underlying force by the title of one of his great essays, viz. “A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God, etc.” If there is to be any true religion, any obedience to Christ, and any desire to love him with our entirety, it must begin with a prevenient work of the Spirit of God.

The prevenient work of the Spirit of God is described in several ways in the Bible. It is called at one point new birth, at another the writing of the law upon our hearts, at another the removing of the scales upon our eyes, etc. There are numerous others, and they all demonstrate that our coming to God is fully initiated by God. Christ said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

The necessity of this prevenient work of the Spirit lies not in any lack of our Object of worship and obedience, but it lies in our natural condition in Adam. Scripture declares that all men apart from God’s grace are dead in their sins, blind to the glory and beauty of God, and deaf to the call and demands of the Gospel. Romans 3 declares that no one is righteous, not a single one; all have turned aside and no one seeks God. Elsewhere Scripture declares that even that which we as men consider to be righteousness is in the eyes of God rags of filthiness. There is nothing in us that compels us to call upon the Lord, and there is nothing that we do that commends us to God.

Therefore, even a spark of divine fire to seek after God (as Henry Higgins so eloquently put it) is a spark created by God in the soul.

When God in his Infinite and Providential Wisdom causes this spark of regeneration to happen in the life of the soul, it is nothing short of spectacular–it is life from the dead, it is new birth, it is being given a new heart, it is exchanging sight for blindness and hearing for deafness–it is by all accounts the most spectacular transformation in the universe. The angels in heaven know this and rejoice in unison when a lost soul is brought into God’s fold, even more than they rejoiced when Christ restored physical sight to the blind, or mobility to the crippled, etc.

This supernatural transformation wrought in the soul by the Spirit of God is by most accounts not what is being preached in American pulpits today. Most teach of a conversion that involves praying a prayer, walking an aisle, accepting a Savior, but they do not teach its supernatural and transforming elements. This method of preaching might create many converts and might increase the number of names on church rolls, but it does not save souls. Any acceptance (what a horrid word to use for being saved by the God of the universe!) of Jesus Christ as Savior without seeing him as glorious and beautiful and without full surrender to him and his commandments is not salvation neither in this life nor in the one to come. God does not save prostitutes and heathens so that they remain prostitutes and heathens, but so that they will be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ to the glory of the Father.

This prevenient work of the Spirit continues in the sustaining work of the Spirit, for “He that began a good work in you will carry out till the day of Christ Jesus.” This good work that the Spirit continues in us, which is commonly called sanctification, is nothing more than the desire for and the accomplishment of obedience to God’s commands. On God’s side, it is his Spirit working and willing his good pleasure in us; on our side, it is our seeing Christ as our glorious and beautiful King and regarding all the world’s pleasures as rubbish when compared to him.

This is why Christ commands that we forsake all for him, for only those who see him as he really is will do it. When the rich young man turned away from Christ grieved, the disciples marveled not at the rich man’s leaving but at Christ’s command to him. “Who then can be saved?” they asked. They recognized that no man, regardless of his wealth, can deny themselves for the sake of Christ. But Christ responds, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” God can do it. God has done it. He has done in all those whom he has called to himself, and it is to those that he commands, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor,” “Take up your cross and follow me,” and “Lose your life so that you might gain it.” These commands on not burdensome to God’s children, not because they are not humanly difficult, but because God is so much better to them than the world’s treasures.

This view of the work of God in the soul demands several questions be asked of those who claim to follow Christ: Do you see Christ as more precious than the treasures of the world? Do you say that you treasure Christ but neglect Christ’s commands and hold onto your possessions? If you do not see Christ as better than the world’s treasures or if you do not keep Christ’s commands and sell your possessions, you have nothing on which to base your assurance. The work of God in the soul is a work of God unto obedience, and God does not fail in anything that he does.

In a couple of weeks, many people will find themselves in a church building who have not been in one since Easter Day. They might do this traditionally, they might do this for the sake of a more religious family member, or they might do this thinking that they are honoring Christ in some way by showing up for two services during the year that are dedicated to his birth and resurrection. Those of us who are found in church services quite regularly will, as we do every year, criticize those who think that they can appease God with their two acts of annual service, and we will criticize them rightly for we know that Christ demands much more of his followers.

However, many of us faithful attendees who criticize the Christmas and Easter crowd do not seem to understand that Christ demands much more of his followers than just a full year of church services—he demands complete obedience to his commands. He said to his followers, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” yet many of us who claim to love him know nothing of his commands; or worse, we do know his commands and blatantly disobey them and therefore do not love him.

We look at the Gospels¹ much like the Chreasters² look at attending church services, for we know the Gospels’ beginnings concerning Christ’s birth and we know their endings concerning Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, but we know nothing of the rest. We might know their content—their “nice” stories and Jesus’ healings, but we do not really know them. For if we did know the Gospels, we would know that Christ commands his followers to love God and to love one another and that Christ clearly shows over and over and over that we love God by loving others and that we love others by surrendering our possessions and our lives for their sake.

His command and call to this joyful poverty is universal. He commands it of the rich man (cf. Matt. 19:21), he commands it of his disciples (Luke 12:32, 33), he commands it of the hearers of his Sermon (cf. Matt. 6:19), and he commends its practice in the widow who gave all that she had (Mark 12:41-44). Everyone of us falls into this spectrum, from the widow who gave all that she had to the rich young ruler who rejected Christ by keeping his wealth. None of us is excluded.

The question you must then ask yourself, you who are found in church services year round: do you find your comfort in being “better” than those whom you affectionately label Chreasters, or do you find your comfort in loving Christ and keeping his commandments? For if you are not selling your possessions, you should not be comfortable for you are not loving Christ.

1- i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John
2- “Chreaster” is a combination of the words “Christmas” and “Easter” and is used by some to label those who only come to church at those times.

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41-44).

What do you want said of you at the end of your life, that you gave large sums but a tenth of your life or that you gave a meager amount but the whole of your life? With whom do you think that Christ will be pleased, and which one do you think will have treasures stored up for himself in heaven?

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:7-9).

When Haley and I were on our honeymoon in St. Lucia, we decided to try out a free snorkeling trip. Whilst we were snorkeling, I decided (for some reason) to touch a rock that was underwater in the reef, and I found myself reflexively withdrawing my hand just as quickly as I had placed it upon the rock. I swam to the surface, looked at my left hand, and saw that one of my fingers was bleeding and had on it what appeared to be three black specks. Those specks were in fact imbedded splinters from whatever was on the rock that I touched. Being away from home and away from my “home surgery kit,” I had to deal with the splinters for the rest of our honeymoon, and they were quite painful.

After getting back to the States, one of the first things that I did when I got home was attempt to remove the splinters from my aching finger. I successfully removed the first two, pulling out the entire splinter with a pin, a knife, and a set a tweezers. The last splinter proved to be more difficult, and it broke while I was trying to remove it. The small piece that remained in my finger imbedded itself further and finally proved itself impossible to remove. Two years later and after several bloody attempts to remove it, my honeymoon splinter is still with me. Since then the constant pain has subsided, and most times I forget that it is there. But every so often, I will grip something in particular way or push against something at the just the right angle, and I will feel an unbearably sharp pain travel from the tip of that finger and up my left arm, reminding me that my splinter friend is still with me after all this time.

For this reason, when I read Paul’s account of his thorn in his flesh in 2 Corinthians 12, I, either rightly or wrongly, think it comparable with the splinter in my own finger. In light of the context and my experience, I do not think Paul’s thorn was something that struck him with pain constantly, but that it was something that struck him with pain when he needed it. According to the text, the thorn was given to him solely to prevent him from becoming proud and conceited, and I can imagine Paul finding himself in torment, seemingly out of the blue, as with my splinter, at precisely the time that he thought more highly of himself than he ought to have had.

This symbolic thorn in Paul’s flesh is not reserved to Paul’s experience alone, for I believe that many Christians are given thorns like Paul’s to humble them. From the context, I believe Paul’s thorn was a particular, nagging sin that Paul could not completely overcome, and this I believe because of God’s response to Paul’s petition to remove it: “My grace is sufficient for you.” God’s grace was sufficient for Paul’s thorn. Then I asked myself this question, “What is the best way to humble a man who thinks himself righteous and holy on his own accord?” The answer: Let him fall into the sin that he believes that he has conquered.

Have you not found this to be the case in your own life? You find that you are living righteously before God and are loving him and obeying his commandments, and then, all of sudden and out of nowhere, your focus shifts off of God and his glory to you and your glory. You think to yourself that you have somehow arrived spiritually, that you get what others do not, and then a small, pride-filled grin smirks across the side of your face. And just as quickly as you found yourself boasting in yourself, you find yourself sinning in a way that did not even occur to you prior to your boasting. You immediately realize the folly of your thinking and remember quite clearly that without God you are nothing.

For this reason, the thorns of sin that torment us throughout our lives are sweet Providences in disguise. Yes, they cause us to groan for the redemption of our bodies and to yearn for that day when the jewels of sin will appear to be dung in the sight of God, but they are at present working together for God’s glory and our good. We, like Paul, will pray in our ignorance and weakness that these things would be removed from us, and the Spirit will be there interceding for us with inexpressible groanings according to perfect will of our Father (cf. Romans 8:26, 27). Rest well, child of God, knowing that God will discipline you and that his grace is more than sufficient to cover your failings.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! (Matthew 23:23, 24).

There is something in human nature that strives to do as little as possible to appease one’s conscience. A classic case of this in many traditional church backgrounds is the act of tithing. It is this one act coupled with regular church attendance that makes some Christians feel as though they are square with God. They feel no guilt, and they feel that they are at peace with God in spite of the fact that God never once commands the Church to tithe and in spite of their utter neglect of the weightier call of God upon their lives.

Jesus Christ during his stint upon this earth also encountered a group who had clear consciences in spite of their disobedience to the law—the Pharisees. These self-righteous men thought that they could one-up God on his commandments so that they would be sure never to break them. They called this one-upmanship, “putting a hedge about the law.” For example, if the law commanded them not to use the Lord’s name vainly, the Pharisees would not speak the name of the Lord at all. If the law commanded them not to be drunk with wine, they would not drink wine at all. If the law commanded them not to work on the Sabbath, they would count their steps on each Sabbath and would even not save a man’s life if he were in need of rescue on the Sabbath.

Aside from not saving a man on the Sabbath, we might look upon the Pharisees’ practices quite favorably. Many of us do in fact choose not to participate in certain activities, not because they are forbidden by Scripture, but because we believe that those things are not profitable or might lead us into a certain temptation. Therefore many Christians choose not to drink, not to go to R-rated movies, not to listen to secular music, etc., all so that they might live lives that honor God. And all these are fine to practice so long as we recognize that they are not God’s law and that they are not a substitute for it.

In Matthew 23:23, this is exactly what the Pharisees had done, namely they had taken one part of God’s law given to the nation Israel, viz. tithing, and they had made it into a refined science of dividing herbs and spices. As the text indicates, this practice was not wrong in and of itself (in fact it was in accordance to the nation’s laws), but the Pharisees had put great weight and worth on tithing and regarded as worthless the truly weighty laws of God, viz. justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Christ’s condemnation of them is not light, for he declares that they not only will not enter into the kingdom of heaven, but they, by their teachings are blocking others from entering (cf. v. 23:13, 14).

Christ says elsewhere that the greatest two commandments are to love God with all our being and to love one another as we love ourselves. We should find no consolation for our consciences if we are not keeping these commandments every moment of our lives. If we are not and find satisfaction for our consciences in our tithing, our church attendance, and our G-rated movies, we are no better than the Pharisees and are just as likely to split hell wide open. And if you are wondering how loving God and loving others as we love ourselves looks, here is an example from 2 Corinthians 8:

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

Then:
Jesus: If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.
Rich Young Jew’s Response: When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Now:
Jesus: If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.
American Christian’s Response: lol.