Archive for November 2007
Love Makes Sense (1 Corinthians 14:1-25)
Yesterday, I spoke from 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 on the theme, "Love Makes Sense." To listen to the message online, click here.
Scooping Fire into Your Lap (Proverbs 6:25-35)
The Book of Proverbs everywhere teaches that actions have consequences. Good actions have good consequences, bad actions bad ones. One of the book’s specific lessons is that cultivating a faithful marriage leads to blessing. By contrast, pursuing adulterous liaisons leads to judgment.
In Proverbs 6:25-35, the Proverbist outlines the judgment that falls on the man who seeks adulterous liaisons. They are both person and interpersonal. Verses 25-29 outline the personal judgment that comes to the adulterous man:
Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes,
for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread,
and the adulteress preys upon your very life.
Can a man scoop fire into his lap
without his clothes being burned?
Can a man walk on hot coals
without his feet being scorched?
So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.
In our day and age, pornography is readily available. Many men get caught in its trap. They fixate on some beautiful young woman on their computer screen and ignore their own wives, to the detriment of their marriages. Or worse, they become so desirous of what they see on screen that they seek out adulterous liaisons with women whom they believe will fulfill their fantasies. The first step in protecting your marriage, not to mention avoiding the negative consequences of adultery, is to monitor what you see.
Proverbs is very practical about the consequences of adultery. It costs money to view pornography or engage in an affair. “The prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread.” But no man can be equally attentive to two women. That is, I think, what is meant by the words, “the adulteress preys upon your very life.” She wants the attention that you should be giving only to you wife.
Verses 30-35 outline the interpersonal consequences of adultery. It ruins two marriages, and it exposes the unfaithful man to revenge:
Men do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment;
whoever does so destroys himself.
Blows and disgrace are his lot,
and his shame will never be wiped away;
for jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
He will not accept any compensation;
he will refuse the bribe, however great it is.
These verses draw an interesting contrast between theft and adultery. People will excuse a hungry thief, as long as he makes restitution when he is able. But a cuckolded husband is not similarly forgiving. And anyway, what payment could possibly cover the costs of broken trust? Instead, there are only “blows and disgrace” for the adulterer, “fury” and “revenge.”
Knowing the personal and interpersonal costs of adultery, the wise man chooses to love his own wife, shield his eyes from temptation, and avoid adultery at all costs.
The Power of Words for Good or Bad (Proverbs 6:20-24)
Proverbs 6:20-24 speaks about the power of words for good or bad. It contrasts the good words of parents with the bad words of adulterers. While our parents’ words include “commands” and “teaching,” adulterers’ words are “smooth.” The authentically moral person knows how to resist sexual seduction through “the corrections of discipline.”
Verse 20 begins with an exhortation to listen to your parents:
My son, keep your father’s commands
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
The words commands and teaching are legal terms in the Bible. Our parents are our first instructors in the moral law of God. That is why, according to the Fifth Commandment, you are supposed to “honor your father and your mother.” As we grow older, of course, we obey them less but listen to them more, needing guidance through the grey areas more than black-and-white rules. But whatever our age, our parents teach us how to live by word and by personal example.
Our parents’ teaching works best when we internalize it. Verse 21 tells us:
Bind them upon your heart forever;
fasten them around your neck.
The heart is the core of the human personality. According to Jesus, its character determines the character of our actions, for better or for worse (Luke 6:45). Obedience to God’s commands (which our parents teach us) involve not just external doing but also internal desiring. We usually do what we want to do, which is why we should pay attention to the state of our heart, “the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23).
What is the result of whole-hearted obedience? Verses 22-23 tell us:
When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.
For these commands are a lamp,
this teaching is a light,
and the corrections of discipline
are the way to life…
In Romans 3:20, Paul teaches that “no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” From this, many have concluded that the law serves no good purpose in the life of the Christian. But as verses 22-23 show, God’s commandments are able to guide us on the spiritual journey of life. They cannot save us from sin, but they can show us the life God created us to live. A truly biblical theology of the law always contains both of those two truths.
The commands and teaching of God are words—good words. But there are bad words too, such as those of adulterers. One of the purposes of the law, according to verse 24, is
keeping you from the immoral woman,
from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.
It is difficult to listen to God’s words, let alone our parents’ words, when an adulterer is whispering sweet nothings in our ear. That’s why verse 23 speaks of “the correction of discipline.” The authentically moral person has learned whom to listen to, and whom to ignore.
Seven Things God Hates (Proverbs 6:16-19)
Proverbs 6:16-19 enumerates seven things God hates.
There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him…
While divine hatred is not a major theme of Scripture, it is present in both the Old and New Testaments. See, for example, Deuteronomy 12:31, 16:22; Psalm 5:5; Isaiah 1:14, 61:8; Amos 5:21; Zechariah 8:17; Malachi 2:16; Romans 9:13; Revelation 2:6. In these verses, the usual object of God’s hatred is a sin of some sort. But occasionally, the object of God’s hatred is the person who commits these sins.
Now, I think we all believe that God is a God of love (1 John 4:8). But can a loving God hate? Is the notion of divine hatred reasonable, or is it a hateful and detestable concept?
I think it is possible for a loving God to hate. Indeed, I think it is necessary for a loving God to hate. Let me give you an analogy. I love my wife. Precisely because I love my wife, I hate anything that would harm her. I would hate for her to be assaulted or molested in any way. And I would hate anyone who tried to harm her. Could I truly love my wife if I were indifferent to the harm that came her way or the people who brought it? Obviously not! But if my love for my wife requires hatred for certain things or people, why can’t a loving God also hate certain things or people?
With that question in mind, look at the seven things God hates according to Proverbs 6:16-19:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
These seven sins pit people against one another. Every haughty person has someone he’s insulted. Every liar someone he’s deceived. Every murderer a victim. Every conspiracy a dupe. Every evildoer an evil-done-to. Every perjurer a wrongly accused defendant. Every dissenter a broken friendship.
If God is a loving God, he cannot be morally neutral. He cannot put his arm around the victim while simultaneously patting her victimizer on the back. God takes sides in every moral controversy. He loves the good side; he hates the bad side. It is because God takes sides that he calls for different responses from different people. He offers comfort to those who are distressed, but he requires repentance from those who distress them. “The time has come,” Jesus said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15).
The good news is that God’s hatred for sin and the people who commit it is not his last word. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God simultaneously judges every sin and all sinners and offers them righteousness in its place (Rom. 3:25-26). Divine hatred is a necessary but minor theme of Scripture when compared to the wonderful news of God’s forgiving love.
