Enjoying Life Under the Sun

What do you believe when you say: I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?  That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by His eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father.  In Him I trust so completely  as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul,  and will also turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this life of sorrow.  He is able to do so as almighty God,  and willing also as a faithful Father. For the Bible Tells Me So... Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Genesis 18:14  “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a ...

What do you believe when you say: I believe in God the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?  That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them,  and who still upholds and governs them by His eternal counsel and providence,  is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God. For the Bible Tells Me So... Genesis 1& 2  Exodus 20:11  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.  Job 38 & 39  Psalm 33:6  By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.  Isaiah 44:24  Thus says the Lord, “Your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb:” I am the Lord, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself…”  Acts 4:24  So wh...

What must a Christian believe?  All that is promised us in the gospel. For the Bible Tells Me So... Matthew 28:19  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” John 20:30,31  And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;  but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. The content of our faith is summarized briefly in the Apostles’ Creed. It is called the Apostles’ Creed, not because the apostles wrote it, but because it contains the faith that was handed down to the church by the apostles.  The exact date when it was written is unknown to us, but it is found in its final form about 340 AD.  It was probably written as a teaching instrument for the early converts to the Christian faith and for their children.  It serves ...

Faith consists of two parts: a true knowledge and a firm confidence.  In the first place, faith requires true knowledge.  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? ” (Romans 10:14).  Without the knowledge of Scripture there can be no faith.  We also stress that faith acknowledges that what Scripture says is true. It is not only knowing what the Bible says, but also acknowledging it as true.  Faith is both a sure knowledge and an acknowledgment of the Scriptures. Faith is an acknowledgment of all of Scripture.  It is not as though we may believe part of it, and disbelieve other parts.  This is done by many that profess to be Christians.  Modern Christianity teaches us that all we have to believe are the essentials.  There are even some who go so far as to say that it does not matter what you believe, as long as you believe.  They suppose that even adherents to the Islam religion can be saved.  However, true ...

What is true faith? This question implies that there is also a false faith, which is really no faith at all, but appears to be faith at first.  Sometimes people possess a great knowledge of the Bible.  They can quote many texts, yet they do not have faith, because they do not accept the promises therein.  They do not place their trust in Christ.  Some call this “historical faith.” In reality, “historical faith” is no faith at all.  For faith is more than just a sure knowledge of Scripture.  It is also an acknowledgment that what Scripture says is true.  Sometimes we meet people who are very zealous for the Christian religion.  Yet after a time their zeal dies and they no longer serve the Lord or live according to His commandments.  It is like the seed that fell on shallow ground in the parable of Matthew 13.  Some call this “temporary faith.”  In reality, “temporary faith” is no faith at all.  For true faith never dies.  T...

Are all men, then, saved by Christ just as they perished through Adam? No.  Only those are saved who by a true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all His benefits. For the Bible Tells Me So... Matthew 7:14  “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  John 1:12  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.  John 3:16  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  John 3:18  “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”  John 3:36  “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”  Romans 11:16-2...

When speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast,  President Trump clarified his doubts about going to heaven by stating,  I really think I probably should make it.  I mean, I'm not a perfect candidate, but I did --- a lot of good for perfect people.     My prayer is that God would bring President Trump to the Scriptures. For there he would learn that there are no perfect people.  And, no amount of good on his part or on our part would make any of us  a candidate for heaven.  The Good News of the Gospel  is God's gracious answer to the ruin we have all made of our lives and our world. Jesus Christ alone is the true, righteous, and divine Mediator who saves completely. My salvation depends entirely on God's gracious provision of a Mediator who is both truly human and truly divine.   For Christ alone can satisfy God's justice,  bear wrath,  and restore righteousness and life for me, a sinner. God's justice is serious...

Obedience to God  in the pressures and stresses of day-by-day living  and trust in God’s ways in the large sweep of history are always at risk,  but especially in times of suffering and persecution.  Obedience to God is difficult when we are bullied into compliance to the God-ignoring culture out of sheer survival.  Trust in God is likewise at risk of being abandoned in favor of the glamorous seductions of might and size. Very few of us  live in settings congenial to God-loyalty and among people who affirm a costly discipleship.  Hardly a day goes by that we do not have to choose between compliance to what is expedient and loyalty to our Lord.   The story here in Daniel 3 can keep us alert to what is at stake day by day, hour by hour. King Nebuchadnezzar built a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet thick.  He set it up on the Dura plain in the province of Babylon.  He then ordered all the important leaders in the province, ev...

What kind of mediator and deliverer must we seek?  One who is a true and righteous man,  and yet more powerful than all creatures;  that is, One who is at the same time true God. For the Bible Tells Me So... 1 Corinthians 15:21  For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.  Hebrews 2:17  Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Isaiah 53:9  And they made His grave with the wicked; but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.  2 Corinthians 5:21  For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  Hebrews 7:26  For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;...

Can we by ourselves make this payment?  Certainly not.  On the contrary, we daily increase our debt. For the Bible Tells Me So... Psalm 130:3  If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Matthew 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  Romans 2:4,5  Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?  But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God… Can any mere creature pay for us?  No. In the first place, God will not punish another creature for the sin which man has committed. Furthermore, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God’s eternal wrath against sin and deliver others from it. For the Bible Tells Me So... Ezekiel 18:4,20  “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well...

Since, according to God’s righteous judgment we deserve temporal and eternal punishment, how can we escape this punishment and be again received into favor?  God demands that His justice be satisfied.  Therefore we must make full payment, either by ourselves or through another. For the Bible Tells Me So... Exodus 20:5  … you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me….  Exodus 23:7  “Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.”  Romans 2:1-11  Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.   But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.  And do you t...

But is God not also merciful?  God is indeed merciful,  But He is also just.  His justice requires that sin committed against the most high majesty of God also be punished with the most severe, that is, with everlasting, punishment of body and soul. For the Bible Tells Me So... Exodus 20:6  …but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.  Exodus 34:6,7  And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,  keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”  Psalm 103:8,9   The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.  He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever Exodus 20:5   …y...

But does not God do man an injustice by requiring in His law what man cannot do?  The reference here is to the demand of love.  For the thought from which we proceed in this post is really the right or the just claim of God’s love.  It is His love that demands everything. Already that demand of His love is denied from many sides. Apparently the thought is in the minds of many that love only gives  and that its nature in the highest sense is opposed to demanding.  Immediately we think of the love of Christ, Who having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love (John 13: 1).  These words about Christ also intend to say that He in His love gave everything without even placing any condition on those who were His own.  The fact of the matter is, however, that in itself man’s love does not have a single right or claim to love in response.  When human love also can assert the right and claim of love in response,...

We must pay close attention to the fact that when we discuss God’s justice,  we are dealing with the justice of His love.  We must not posit a contrast between divine justice and divine love.   God’s justice never comes to us with genuine heart-crushing effect except when we see it as the just claim of His love.  Only when we see it in this way does it bind us to an eternal judgment.  With that, we have again said that we can never see nor agree with this justice of God except by faith,  for only faith that has returned to God’s love in Christ is able to see the justice of that love. Thus nothing has really been taken away from the terror of God’s justice.  However, there is now a being tied to and pulled by His love  while at the same time a being consumed in our sinful nature by His justice.  That is also what Scripture says when it reveals to us that our God is a consuming fire.  We begin to see and admit that our God is a consum...

Will God allow such disobedience and apostasy to go unpunished? Certainly not.  He is terribly displeased with our original sin as well as our actual sins.  Therefore He will punish them by a just judgment both now and eternally as He has declared:  Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them (Galatians 3: 10). Imagine if with respect to this our sinful nature could be silenced and that it would recognize divine justice and acknowledge our guilt. Would our flesh then not have the courage to call upon and appeal to the sovereignty of God’s justice in this way:  knowing that divine justice is a free, sovereign determination of God,  and that this justice obligates us in all things while it obligates God to nothing?  Moreover, is God not free whether or not to connect our guilt with the consequence of punishment?  The following escape route of sinful nature is found in the second question:  Will God...

But does not God do man an injustice by requiring in His law what man cannot do?  No,  for God so created man that he was able to do it.  But man, at the instigation of the devil,  in deliberate disobedience robbed himself and all his descendants of these gifts.  One could say that in this Lord’s Day at least in the questions our flesh, that is our sinful nature, is speaking.  For not only now but also throughout all centuries it has continually carried on a dialogue with God in finally seeking to justify itself over against Him.  That is the sinful nature that never lets itself be cornered or captured but always comes up with some sort of response, or even better, knows how to devise yet another query.  It always knows how to avoid the snare and to escape the threat of defeat.  How consistently it maintains this is understood by everyone who knows himself well.  What the Heidelberg describes here takes place in everyone’s life: wrestlin...

From where, then, did my depraved nature come?  From the fall and disobedience of my first parents, Adam and Eve, in Paradise,  For there my nature became so corrupt   that I am conceived and born in sin. For the Bible Tells Me So... Genesis 3  Romans 5:12,18,19  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.  Psalm 51:5  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. But am I so corrupt that I am totally unable to do any good and inclined to all evil?  Yes,  unless I am regenerated by the Spirit of God. ...

Did God, then, create man so wicked and perverse?  No, on the contrary,  God created man good and in His image,  that is, in true righteousness and holiness,  so that he might rightly know God his Creator,  heartily love Him,  and live with Him in eternal blessedness to praise and glorify Him.  For the Bible Tells Me So... Genesis 1:31  Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:26,27  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Ephesians 4:24  …and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness an...

I am inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor.  In that light we must now also consider the love for our neighbor.  Is there love for the neighbor outside of faith in Christ?  It is undeniable that such love shows in various ways that people without true faith are able to love one another dearly.  Moreover, it would certainly be unjust if we qualified such love as pure egoism, for a kind of altruism – a loving of the neighbor for his own sake – is possible.  That means however a love for that neighbor as one sees him and as he himself imagines the person to be.  Yet, without faith we always see our neighbor improperly,  for we do not see him as from God and for God.  We consistently need to maintain therefore that in such a case a person never really knows his neighbor  but has an erroneous and flawed picture of him. Our neighbor truly becomes known to us only through faith in Christ. If a person should ever imagine, even for a moment,...