humbly looking for God

What does it mean to be looking for God?  Or searching for truth?  And is it a vain pursuit?

I believe a lot of people are honest about looking for truth and wanting to encounter God, but I also believe that much of our God-talk today is stuck in a self-defeating pattern.  We start from our perspective and then work from there to see if God makes sense to us.  

When we see what the Bible says about things, we shy away from affirming what the Bible affirms because we’re afraid to come off sounding like we’re saying, “Thus saith the Lord!!”

We’re afraid of sounding cocky or narrow-minded, as if we have some monopoly on reality and truth.

So we couch our doubts, insecurities, and embarrassment under the abused guise of humility and revel in the questions without the ‘ickiness’ of the answers.

But this doesn’t make sense in and of itself.  If God is who the Bible says He is, then I think He gives us answers that we can understand and should trust.  I don’t think shying away from this protects us from pride.

To paraphrase Dorothy Emmet, pride is a human failure which neither philosophy nor theology are impervious to, since they are both human disciplines.  It’s kind of like saying, “Cars kill people.”  No, people kill people and they were disturbingly efficient at it long before they had cars.

If the living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob really is there, and He is a personal being who desires a relationship with His children, then it only makes sense that we would focus on how He communicates with us.  This requires that we start from God’s perspective and work from there to see if we’re making any sense.

How has He communicated with us?  Through Scripture and His Son.  At least that’s the Bible’s take on it.

When we get bogged down with trying to reconcile some abstract theological hang-up with the latest wisdom of our world, God has to be shaking His head - if He’s there.  And if He is, then you won’t find Him with science.  You won’t find Him with experience and sense observation.  You won’t find Him through intuition - whether rational or super-rational.  No matter how many books you read, lectures you attend, papers you write, experiments you conduct, degrees you hold . . . you won’t find Him there.

A pastor friend of mine recently told me how he always wonders what Moses must’ve been thinking when God was telling him about the first few chapters of Genesis.  Moses was a smart guy, educated in Pharoah’s court - so he wasn’t just any state school chump like me.  God tells him, “So . . . then, two kinds of every animal boarded Noah’s boat.”  To which Moses might have said, “Wait up, seriously?”  God probably told Moses, “You’re talking too much again, be quiet.  I AM, remember?  Trust me, I have created you to believe what I tell you, not to understand it all.”

That’s what we have to do if we’re thinking about the Christian God at all.  It’s already a foregone conclusion that scientists, philosophers, and mystical gurus are going to come up empty.  Science, philosophy, and mysticism are not God’s appointed means of communicating Himself to us.

So stop looking for Him there and stop being disappointed that you can’t find enough evidence for Him there.  Stop doubting that He’s there and wondering if He loves you simply because some scientist can’t step out of his own bubble and admit that God is beyond his science.  Stop getting hung up on the fact that some of it sounds a bit other-worldly.  If God’s there, then it all makes sense.  God is, after all, a bit other-worldly.

You’ll only find Him through His appointed means:  His Word + faith.  God’s not making any apologies about the matter.  I wouldn’t hold my breath either.

Stop talking so much.  

Be quiet . . . listen.

Trust Him.

Christ’s Righteousness, Not Our Own, Pt. 4

Before reading this post, click here to read Galatians 3. In this post, I intend to show the heart of the gospel and the place of faith in connection with my previous post on Galatians 3. Here, Paul says in verse 6, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” This verse, and others like it, is central to the gospel because the ultimate promise of God’s covenant with Abraham is fulfilled in Christ by faith (see v. 8), and Paul uses the progression here to reiterate his statement in verses 1-5.

The word translated ‘counted to’ in verse 6 comes from the Greek word logizomai (here, in v. 6, elogisthe). It deals with reality, not suppositions. In other words, Abraham believed God’s promises and God declared him righteous according to his faith. His declaration of Abraham according to faith is definite, guaranteed and promised. Philip Graham Ryken adds in his commentary on Galatians, “To put it in financial terms, [God] accounted [Abraham] as righteous. Trusting God was like opening a bank account. Immediately, God transferred righteousness into Abraham’s account” (Galatians, Reformed Expository Commentary, 97).

But, Abraham’s righteousness according to faith begs the question: how is it that he is righteous according to faith? Ryken continues, “This does not mean that Abraham was actually righteous, only that he was declared righteous” (97). However, Scripture tells us that those who sin have reaped wages according to their works, namely death (Rom. 6:23, cf. 3:9-23). This shows the magnitude of v. 8. “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’” God would justify the ‘children of Abraham’ according to the righteousness of his Son by faith.

So, Paul spells out the gospel in vv. 10-14. The progression goes like this:

• All who rely on the works of the law are cursed by the law (v. 10).
• No one is justified before God by the law (v. 11a).
• The righteous shall live by faith (v. 11b).
• Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (v. 13).

Christ’s substitutionary atonement fulfills the promise to Abraham, through faith: “In you shall all the nations be blessed” (v. 14, also cf. v. 16). “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (v. 29). So when you read verses like Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” read verses 21-22, 24-26 also. Paul is saying that the gospel is Good News for salvation by grace through faith in Christ. Sinners who believe “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,” not by works whatsoever (vv. 24-25). This gift of justification is one that upholds the righteousness of God, clothes us in Christ (see Gal. 3:27), and magnifies the glory of God.

Men are Few in the Pew

Women are 20% to 25% more likely to attend worship weekly in every major Christian denomination according to an article by Cathy Lynn Grossman in USA Today. This probably is not surprising to most Christians. This is the case at many churches here in Louisville and was the case at a number of other churches I have been a part of in the past. It should, however, concern us. Let me give you two reasons:

First, Scripture sets forth the principle that men are to be the spiritual leaders of the home. If fathers are absent from church on Sunday, you can bet they are neglecting their Scriptural duty to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. - Ephesians 6:4

Secondly, men are to be spiritual leaders in the church–elder/overseers are to be the husband of one wife–meaning elders/overseers are to be men (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6). Paul makes this even more clear in 1 Timothy 2:

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve - 1 Timothy 2:12-13

There is clearly an order in creation set forth here by Paul that is to be carried over from the home into the church (c.f. 1 Cor. 11:1-16; Eph. 5:22-33). The Bible clearly teaches that women and men are equal in every way (Gal. 3:28), but it also clearly sets forth that women and men are to have different roles both in the home and in the church. We glorify God most clearly when we honor these roles in our homes and churches. Though one role is no better than the other, they are clearly different.

When the statistics claim that women are 25% more likely to be active in church attendance, it ought to tell us that something is wrong with our churches.

Ross Sawyers believes that if our churches can succeed at reaching men, the rest of the family will follow, he notes that “If the mom comes [to church], there’s a 15% chance the family will. But if the man comes to church, 90% of the time the family will come along behind.”

Sawyers has sought to make up for the discrepancy between men and women in the pew by giving his church something of a macho-makeover. The USA Today article describes his church:

One church, 121 Community Church in Grapevine, Texas, outside Dallas, was even designed with dudes in mind, from the worship center’s stone floor, hunter-green and amber decor and rustic-beam ceilings to woodsy scenes on the church website.

No pastels. No flowers. No sweet music. No sit-with-your-hands-folded mood. Women are welcome, but the tone is intentionally “guy church” for a reason, says Ross Sawyers, founder and pastor of 121.

I appreciate the fact that Pastor Sawyers understands the importance of reaching men. But I want to challenge the men who read this post not to seek to make their churches more masculine but rather to begin today to take responsibility to be the spiritual leaders in their homes and in their churches. Further, I want to challenge church leaders to begin discipling and equipping men to take responsibility for the spiritual upbringing of their children.

While I appreciate the sentiment behind a macho-church makeover, I think faithfulness to Christ begins with obedience to His commands–specifically His command to make disciples and to teach them everything He has commanded us. Discipleship, when rightly conducted begins to transform every part of our lives–especially the family. You may have only a few faithful men in your church, but start there and see how the Lord might bless women, men, and children through a renewed vision for discipleship that extends to the whole family, begging with its head, the husband.

What is Wrong with Youth Ministry? Part 2: Students with Unsupportive Parents

I case you haven’t been following my recent posts, I have been blogging about how youth ministry has been failing at its stated goal of making committed, fruitful, passionate disciples of Jesus Christ. I see this failure stemming from a number of factors many of which reside in the fact that most youth ministries to not adequately promote the family as the primary avenue of discipleship (see my previous post: What is Wrong with Youth Ministry? Some Stats and a Proposal). Youth ministry must begin to not only equip parents for ministry in the home, but also to value, promote, and encourage discipleship in the family at church. This means the effectiveness of youth ministry in the church is tied directly to the faithfulness of individual families to disciple their children in the home.

Scripture clearly teaches that it is the parents who are to be the primary disciplers of their children (Deut. 6:7, Eph. 6:4), but what about those youth in our midst whose parents are not supportive of the student ministry? What about those parents who do not want to be spiritually involved in their child’s life?

Here is briefly what we need to do:

First we need to seek out such parents. We as a church (parents, youth leaders, other adults and students) ought to visit them in their home and explain to them what we are doing in the youth ministry as well as see if they might be open to hearing the gospel. If this young person’s parents are lost, then we need to share the gospel with them. If this young person’s parents are members of the church then they need to be held accountable for both their membership in the local church as well as their responsibility to diligently teach their children to seek the Lord. Having students whose parents are disengaged doesn’t throw a wrench in the family-driven model of student ministry–the fact that parents are disengaged simply raises the stakes for the church in reaching out to such parents and their students who are involved.

There will likely be students whose parents refuse to support what we are doing at the church despite our efforts to reach out to them. In such cases, the church must attempt to (the church cannot replace the family altogether) make up for the spiritual void of godly adults that the students has due to unbelieving parents. James 1:27 says, “this is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress.” Students who do not have godly parents are spiritual orphans in our midst and it is the church’s responsibility to help fill the void of spiritual upbringing that is missing. The church cannot raise such children, but the church can invest time into such children. We need to plug as many godly adults into the lives of such students as possible. Families in the church with students need to invite such students into their homes and seek to model what a godly home looks like. We need to be active in investing in such students lives as well as in plugging other adults into their lives.

We need to do all these things with a mind to respect the student’s parents but also to diligently help and invest in them. There is always hope that the student’s growth will result in the parents taking an interest in our churches-for God “chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor. 1:27).

God Saves Sinners: J. I. Packer on the Doctrines of Grace

I read J. I. Packer’s introduction to John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ this week and came across Packer’s argument on what is at the heart of the Doctrines of Grace. Many probably have not thought of the debate in this light. I am not advocating anything here, but just want to present Packer’s thoughts for your consideration:

The very act of setting out Calvinistic soteriology in the form of five distinct points . . . tends to obscure the organic character of Calvinistic thought on this subject. For the five points, though separately stated, are really inseparable. They hang together; you cannot reject one without rejecting them all, at least in the sense in which the Synod meant them. For to Calvinism there is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point that God saves sinners. God—the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit; three Persons working together in sovereign wisdom, power and love to achieve the salvation of a chosen people, the Father electing, the Son fulfilling the Father’s will by redeeming, the Spirit executing the purpose of the Father and Son by renewing. Saves–does everything, first to last, that is involved in bringing man from death in sin to life in glory: plans, achieves and communicates redemption, calls and keeps, justifies, sanctifies, glorifies. Sinners–men as God finds them, guilty, vile, helpless, powerless, unable to lift a finger to do God’s will or better their spiritual lot. God saves sinners–and the force of this confession may not be weakened by disrupting the unity of the work of the Trinity, or by dividing the achievement of salvation between God and man and making the decisive part man’s own, or by soft-pedalling the sinner’s inability so as to allow him to share the praise of his salvation with his Saviour. This is the one point of Calvinistic soteriology which the “five points” are concerned to establish and Arminianism in all its forms to deny: namely, that sinners do not save themselves in any sense at all, but that salvation, first and last, whole and entire, past, present and future, is of the Lord, to whom be glory for ever; amen.

What’s Wrong With Youth Ministry? Some Stats and a Proposal

I believe that a biblical student ministry understands that is the call of both the church and the family to disciple students and thus present all people complete in Christ. Some would argue that biblical student ministry is an oxymoron. That may shock you–but you may also be unaware of the current state of student (or youth) ministry in American evangelical churches. I don’t think the answer is to get rid of student ministry altogether as some have suggested. However it is clear, as the statistics that follow are quite alarming, that student ministry must change if it is to honor the Lord and succeed in making disciples of Jesus Christ.

The current youth ministry statistics reveal that there is something wrong with youth ministry today:

1. According to recent research somewhere between 70 and 88 percent of Christian teenagers are leaving the church by their second year in college (Voddie Baucham, Family Driven Faith, 10).
2. Over 80% of teens who claim to be “born-again” do not believe in the existence of absolute truth (Baucham, 11).
3. A recent Barna survey focused on finding out how teens beliefs differ from their parents found that:
   • 63% don’t believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God
   • 58% believe all faiths teach equally valid truths.
   • 51% don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead.
   • 65% don’t believe Satan is a real entity.
   • 68% don’t believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity (Steve Wright, Rethink: Is Student Ministry Working?, 34). The vast majority of those polled claimed that they and their parents were Christians. It is clear that these statistics do not square up with John 14:6 where Jesus says, “I am the way the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.” The sad reality today is that most of the people in our churches, especially our youth, do not possess a biblical worldview, so that when they get to college they are not prepared to defend the faith as they may or may not even believe defending they faith is necessary. It is clear that youth ministry needs to change!
4. In a recent survey of parents by the Barna Group, it was found that the number one goal parents have for their children is that their children would get a good education (Baucham, 19). Only half as many parents considered their children’s having a relationship with Jesus Christ as important as their child’s education.
5. Another recent study focused on college freshman found that:

• Parents play an extremely important role in developing the religious attitudes and practices of their offspring.
• Parents of students who did not leave the church emphasized religion twice as much as those who students who left the church.
• Students who stayed in church through college said that the first thing they do when they have doubts or questions was to talk to their parents and then read their Bibles (Wright, 48-49).

These statistics may seem shocking, but they shouldn’t given the direction that most youth ministries are headed today. Most youth ministries pull students away from the family rather than equipping and encouraging families to raise up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. God created the family and intended for the family to be the avenue in which faith is passed on from generation to generation (Deut. 6:7-9; Eph. 6:4). Parent’s must teach their children “diligently” to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and might (Deut.6:4-7). There are some stunning correlations here-the majority of students who graduate from our youth ministries are abandoning the faith by their second year of college and most parents see their child’s faith as less important than their education. Perhaps even more profound is the fact that God created the family and commands for it to be the primary avenue of discipleship and the students who are sticking with the faith through college are those whose parents are spiritually engaged in their lives. In other words put the Biblical data together with the current youth ministry statistics and we find that youth ministry is failing at its stated purpose to build up and equip students to be passionate disciples of Jesus Christ.

So here is briefly what I propose:

Parents are essential to effective student ministry. It is the parents who are called upon in Scripture to oversee the spiritual upbringing of their children (Deut. 6:6-7; Ps. 78:1-8, Eph. 6:4). In fact the Scriptures have much more to say about parents meeting the spiritual needs of their children than it does about pastors. I believe that if student ministry is to be biblical, parents must be the primary disciplers of their children. If we are to be faithful to God’s call to disciple the young people in our churches, we must begin to restructure our student ministries so that they encourage, build up, and partner with parents to disciple their children in the home.

In posts to follow I will give a more detailed plan of action and address the inevitable question–”What about student’s whose parents are unbelievers or unchurched?”

Life, Death, and the Power of God’s Word

22 “These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. 24 And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’ 28 “And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! -Deuteronomy 5

There is nothing more important for you to do today than to hear from the Word of the Lord. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The Lord, in Jeremiah 23:29 says, “Is not my word like fire . . . and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.” The Apostle James compares the Word of God to a mirror in which we look and who we really are. You cannot truly look into God’s Word and forget who you are (James 1:23-25). Thus when we truly look into God’s Word, we are not only interpreting the Bible, but the Bible is in many ways interpreting us.  God’s Word shows us who were are called to be in Christ. Peter spoke of the Word of God as “pure spiritual milk” and he commands believers to “long for pure spiritual milk like new born babies, so that by it we might grow up to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). Thus God’s Word is to be our authority, our spiritul food by which we grow, and the means by which we judge the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. There is nothing more important for you and I do than to hear from God’s Word.

There is a problem though. Ever since man received God’s Word in the Garden of Eden, man has been doubting and questioning it. Do you remember what the serpent said to Even in the garden? “Has God actually said you shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1). Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, we have been responding to God’s Word with “has God actually said?” In James chapter 4, the apostle James asks the question, “Why are there fights and quarrels among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” You see, ever since the fall our desires and our passions are all messed up. Our greatest desire and passion should be for the glory of God and secondarily for the good of our neighbor, but ever since the fall, when God’s Word comes, we are tempted to say, “has God actually said?” So the apostle James commands us to “put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and recieve with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). If we are to receive God’s Word, we must do so humbly.

The Israelites were shocked that they had heard the Word of the Lord spoken and lived. They knew from experience and from Moses’ teaching that God was holy and would not allow sinners like them into his presence. They were amazed that they might hear God’s Word and live. The good news of the gospel is essentially this–that you might hear the Word of almighty God and live!  It is impossible to hear this Word and respond in pride. You know why? Because this Word became flesh and dwelt among us and through Him, through the Lord Jesus Christ, we might hear God’s Word and live!

When Idolatry Runs Deep: Trusting God’s Perfect Word

There is no one holy like the LORD, there is no God besides Him (1 Sam. 2:2)–this is essentially the theme of the prophet Elijah’s life.  In my previous post, we saw Elijah fearlessly confronting a nation that had fallen deep into idolatry and a king who had married a pagan woman and sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.  Elijah stood before Ahab and said, “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”  This was a message of judgment upon the nation of Israel for forsaking the LORD, but it was also a claim that the LORD is God and Baal is not.  Baal was a fertility God to whom the Phoenecians would pray to bring the early and late rains that would provide the necessary moisture for the harvest each year.  Elijah was proclaiming that God would withhold that which the Israelites were trusting Baal to provide, proving that He alone is God and there is none like him.

And the Word of the LORD came to Elijah and without complaint or question, he goes to the brook Cherith where God says ravens would feed him.  Further, through Elijah, God displays his glory at Zarephath in miraculously providing for him and for the widow by giving her continual supply of oil and flour–saving them from starvation during the drought. Further, God displayed his power over death by soveriegnly allowing the death of her son so that through Elijah’s prayer, the LORD might display His glory in raising her son from the dead.  God poured out his grace on this widow and the result was that this Gentile widow believed in Yahweh. This is seen in her confession upon seeing her son raised from the dead, she says, “now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”  I don’t know why God would miraculously provide for this widow and her son, saving them from starvation only to allow the young boy to fall sick and die, but I its apparent that God often does such things to display his power over all things, to show that He is God and there is no one like Him.  To display his glory in pouring out grace on the least likely of people-a gentle widow in a pagan country.

Indeed much of the suffering in our lives has a similar affect-we don’t know why we must face it or why God would sovereignly allow us to suffer such pain, but we know that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  The reality that God works all things together for his glory is a reality that ought to consume us.  It ought to be our one driving passion.  It is a reality that can see us through any tragedy, any trial, any circumstance because no matter what happens in our lives, Christ is LORD and if you are a Christian, He has given you the greatest treasure known to man-He has given you fellowship with God!  The apostle Paul once said, “I count all things loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ the Lord” (Phil. 3:8).  There is nothing greater than the LORD and he has graciously decided to show us His grace in Christ to the praise of his glorious grace (Eph 2:7).  There is no greater truth to give your life to than the reality that “this Jesus is both Lord and Christ!”

Elijah was mastered by this reality, he gave his life for to spread this truth-to spread a passion for the glory of God–that the LORD, Yahweh, the God of Israel, He is God and there is no one like Him.  There is no other God.  Elijah prayed with this truth at the forefront of his mind.  He acted on this truth holding fast to the great God who is glorious above all things and works all things for his supreme glory.  When He hears God’s Word he doesn’t ask questions, he doesn’t deliberate with God, he simply goes in obedient faith.  When God is gracious to Elijah and answers his prayer, Elijah puts his head between his knees in humble worship.

Christ’s Righteousness, Not Our Own, Pt. 3

“My dear flock, the approach of another year stirs up within me new desires for your salvation, and for the growth of those of you who are saved,” began Robert Murray McCheyne before his congregation, December 30, 1842.

That day, he presented a scheme of Scripture reading “so that the whole Bible might be read once by you in the year [the Old Testament once, the New Testament and Psalms twice], and all might be feeding in the same portion of the green pasture at the same time.” In order to competently rejoice in our great salvation, it is important we read the declarations and promises the Word of God make known about it from cover to cover, to be “acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15; cf. v. 16).

Martin Luther similarly remarked, “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me, it has feet, it runs after me, it has hands, it lays hold on me” (Commentary on Galatians). I intentionally open this post in this manner in order to set our great salvation in Christ in its only proper context. Belief comes from hearing the living Word of God preached concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that is where a post concerning the gospel should begin.

Christ Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law

With that set for our context, consider Galatians 3:1-14. On Sunday morning, I preached this text before a small congregation at First Baptist Church, Claytonville. However, few texts have weighed on my shoulders as heavily as the book of Galatians. In a few brief chapters, Paul exposes the hugely devastating doctrinal error that salvation is something to be attained by the works of the Law, and he then dismantles it. It is no exaggeration to suggest that the error he rebukes in this text is the most commonly believed heresy today. In fact, since the days of Genesis 3, the belief that somehow we can obtain salvation apart from grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone has manifest itself in nearly every context and church, both loudly and softly, with chameleon-like craftiness. It occurred in the churches at Galatia and it does also today.

See what is at stake. Paul begins in 3:1, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” A few paragraphs earlier, in chapter 1 verse 6, Paul sets the table for chapter three by marking a dividing line between those who preach the biblical gospel of salvation in Christ and those who preach another gospel. The language is intense: “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (1:9). The Greek word translated accursed literally means, “let him be anathema” or “let him be damned.” Few instances warrant Paul’s language, but this is indeed one of them. The gospel is at stake in Galatia and Paul is incensed.

Therefore, when he turns again to this, he questions, “Who has bewitched you?” They were a bewitched congregation. It is so remarkable that the believers in Galatia had turned their ears to another gospel that Paul wonders if it is the result of witchcraft. Perhaps those startling words, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” makes the point clear: justification by faith is altogether different from a false belief that we are justified by keeping the works of the Law. For that reason, the apostle “confronted the Galatians with their folly so that by this means he might win them back to the truth they were in danger of forsaking” (Timothy George, Galatians, NAC, 206).

I will continue this exposition of Galatians 3:1-14 in my next post.

What God Does When Idolatry Runs Deep: A Gentile Widow and the Grace of God

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to him, ⁹“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” ¹⁰So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” ¹¹And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” ¹²And she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” ¹³And Elijah said to her, “‘Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴For thus says the LORD the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”¹⁵ And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah. - 1 Kings 17:8-16

Elijah’s journey to Zarephath is yet another test of faith for him.  God commands him to leave the place from which he had been receiving food from Ravens and enter into land that had been greatly affected by the drought, which God had brought in judgment of Israel’s idolatry, and to seek provision from a widow of all things.

Widows at this time were not considered wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. In fact widows were typically the poorest of the poor and God tells Elijah that a widow in Zarephath would feed him. Not only that but going to Zarephath meant traveling through the nation of Israel, where Ahab had put a bounty on Elijah’s head, and traveling to Sidon—the nation that the Ahab’s pagan wife Jezebel was from!

Elijah passes this test of faith and seeks out this widow and presents her with a test of faith. During a tremendous time of famine and drought, Elijah asks this widow to bring him some water! But then He goes even further and essentially says, “while you are at it, bring me some bread!”

The widow’s response is heart wrenching, and I don’t think she is exaggerating. The famine was severe in the land, and she says, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” She literally has only enough flour and oil to bake one last bit of bread for herself and her son, and then starve to death.

What else was she going to do? She surely did not have the money or provisions to move outside the boundaries of the famine, and who was going to provide food for one such as her? No one else had food or water to spare. Yet Elijah commands her to bring him some bread anyway and tells her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth’” (17:13-14).

Interestingly enough, she does what he asks. She believes that this man of God, this prophet’s word, would prove true. Se does what Elijah says, and God pours out grace upon her and her son. While the nation of Israel is starving (and many are surely dying because of the drought), the Lord provides food for this widow and promises to provide for her until the end of the drought.

In addition, we need to realize here that this woman is a Gentile (a Sidonian). She was from the same people as Jezebel. And yet while Israel had heard Elijah’s pronouncement that it would not rain in Israel except by his Word because of their idolatry, no one was responding to Elijah’s Word by faith. As a prophet of God, Elijah spoke God’s Word and presumably no one was openly responding to the Word of God in faith. No one was openly opposing Baal worship like Elijah.

Later (see 1 Kings 19:18) we find out that apparently the Lord had preserved a remnant of 7,000 people who had not bowed the knee to Baal, but at this time, none of these 7,000 were open about their commitment to Yahweh like Elijah was. And in this time when the nation of Israel had by and large neglected Yahweh and sold themselves to worship Baal, this Gentile woman responds to the Word of God by faith and the Lord pours out his grace upon her and saves her and her son from starvation.

Deuteronomy 32:21-22 tells us that when Israel falls into idolatry, God promises to make them jealous by paying attention to Gentile nations! What is incredible here is that while Israel rejects Yahweh and worships false Gods, this widow of Zarephath believes Elijah and the Lord pours his grace out upon her. When Idolatry runs deep in Israel, the Lord pours out his grace on the nations! You see the same thing in Acts when Paul begins to share the gospel to Jews in the Synagogues in various towns and is run out of town and he then turns to the Gentiles and begins to see many Gentiles come to faith in Christ!

There are two lessons here. First, when God offers His grace to you, the only response is faith. That’s it, believe in God, believe that He is true to His promises, that He alone is God and that He alone is worthy of worship. If you are here this morning and you have never responded to God in faith, if you have never trusted in Christ for salvation, right now as I speak and you are hearing the call of the gospel to put your trust in Jesus Christ, God is offering you His grace.

You can face God in your sin and present before him all your idols and you will face his wrath (like the prophets of Baal soon will), or you can face God on the merits of Jesus Christ if you simply believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He died to save sinners like you and me.

Secondly, when you serve the Lord, do not worry about the results. Everyone may reject your Word, but God is still God. People may hate you and revile you and say all kinds of evil things against you. They certainly did so with Elijah. Ahab had spread the rumor that Elijah was the troubler of Israel and it was his fault that Israel was facing this drought. No matter how people respond to your ministry, to the gospel, the Lord, He is God and He is sovereign over everything and His name is glorified when you are faithful to proclaim it no matter how people respond.

As you seek to serve the Lord, rest in His promises. He has called us to make disciples and in that call there is also the promise that He will be with us. He has promised that He will work all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. As you seek to serve the Lord, do so by faith, trusting that God is the sovereign Lord over all creation and that He will be true to every one of His promises.

I think the Lord also used this encounter with the widow to encourage Elijah who had by and large been rejected by Israel. When faith is present, even from the most unlikely of people, praise God!