Truth as a Protection Against Idolatry

I am currently reading selected works of John Calvin (Protestant reformer from the 1500s) and works about him. Tonight I found the following that I was challenged by. It relates to the importance of knowing the God whom we worship. The basic idea is that if we do not know God in truth (i.e., as He has revealed himself through Christ and through the Scriptures), we will inevitably fall into idolatry in our worship of Him.

The following quote comes from Calvin's Commentary on Acts 17:24. Paul is here declaring to the men of Athens the true nature of the "Unknown God" to whom they have erected an idol. The verse reads as follows: "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man (ESV)."

Calvin's writes,

“For this is the true rule of godliness, distinctly and plainly to know who that God whom we worship is. If any man will entreat generally of religion, this must be the first point, that there is some divine power or godhead which men ought to worship. But because that was out of question, Paul descends unto the second point, that [the] true God must be distinguished from all vain inventions. So that he begins with the definition of God, that he may thence prove how he ought to be worshiped; because the one depends upon the other. For whence came so many false worshippings, and such rashness to increase the same oftentimes, save only because all men forged to themselves a God at their pleasure? And nothing is more easy than to corrupt the pure worship of God, when men esteem God after their sense and wit" (emphasis mine).

Calvin rightly interprets the significance of what Paul is proclaiming to the Athenians. If God made you and you make the idols and temples, then it is foolish to think that God is something made by human hands?

We sometimes think that idolatry is something to which only primitive people are in danger. However, often times we are guilty of worshiping a God of our own making too. Maybe false image is that He is a heavenly grandfather that ignores our sins. Or maybe the false image is that He is high, aloof, and uncaring of us in our weaknesses. Both of these idols are torn down by the birth, life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. His sufferings and death to take the punishment of our sin tells us that God takes our sin seriously. Yet the fact that God would give His only begotten Son in our place tells us that He is not insensitive to us in our suffering. In fact, Christ currently intercedes for us as a Mediator who has suffered in every way we suffer yet without sin (Heb 4:15-16). May we know our God truly and may our worship be in accordance with and in grateful response to who He is and what He has done for us in Christ.

Grace & Peace,

Jonathan

Ascribing Truthfulness to God: Luther on the Function of Faith

In the last week the Holy Spirit has consistently been reminding me of the necessity of faith. Last Sunday I heard an excellent sermon about the persevering faith of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 by Dr. Greg Welty. The theme has been repeated in my conversations. Further, this morning Karen and I read the story of Jesus healing a demon possessed boy (Mark 9:14-29). The boy's father came to Jesus and begged him to heal the boy from his affliction, for it caused epileptic seizures that threatened his life. Jesus said that he could heal the boy if the father had faith. The father's response is so descriptive of our weak condition. He cries, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (v.24).

In one of Martin Luther's most famous works, The Freedom of a Christian, he offers a helpful explanation of the function of faith. Simply put, Luther sees faith as ascribing truthfulness to God. However, Luther deserves to be heard in his own words:

"It is a ... function of faith that it honors him whom it trusts with the most reverent and highest regard since it considers him truthful and trustworthy. There is no other honor equal to the estimate of truthfulness with which we honor him whom we trust. Could we ascribe to a man anything greater than truthfulness and righteousness and perfect goodness? On the other hand, there is no way in which we can show greater contempt for a man than to regard him as false and wicked and to be suspicious of him, as we do when we do not trust him. So when the soul firmly trusts God's promises, it regards him as truthful and righteous. Nothing more excellent than this can be ascribed to God. The very highest worship of God is this that we ascribe to him truthfulness, righteousness, and whatever else should be ascribed to one who is trusted. When this is done, the soul consents to his will. Then it hallows his name and allows itself to be treated according to God's good pleasure for, clinging to God's promises, it does not doubt that he who is true, just, and wise will do, dispose, and provide all things well."--Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian (in Three Treatises, 284-85).

This quote has come to mind several times throughout the day in various contexts. Tonight, I find myself wrestling through the following questions:

1. Do I trust that God is faithful to fulfill his promises?
2. Does my worship of God involve ascribing truthfulness to Him, His promises, commands, and judgments?
3. In what ways am I failing to acknowledge the truthfulness of God and His Word? In particular, do I question His truthfulness in the face of adversity?
   
4. Do I recognize the frailty of my own faith? Am I looking to God for help in sustaining and strengthening this weak faith?
   

May God grant us faith as well as the continued strength to believe and ascribe truthfulness to Him.

Grace & Peace,

J

P.S.--If you have never read anything by Luther, you should start by reading The Freedom of a Christian. It contains a classic exposition of his understanding of justification by faith alone. The edition of the work pictured above contains two other treatises that will give you a great feel for Luther's reformation efforts. I highly recommend it for your personal library.

Bonheoffer on Genuine Christian Fellowship

I read the following passage last night and was challenged by its call for authentic/transparent Christian fellowship.

"Confess your faults one to another" (James 5:16). He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, notwithstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final break-through to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners. The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!

But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come, as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you. He wants you as you are; He does not want anything from you a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. "My son, give me thine heart" (Prov 23:26). God has come to you to save the sinner. Be glad! This message is liberation through truth. You can hide nothing from God. . . . You do not have to go on lying to yourself and your brothers, as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner. Thank God for that; He loves the sinner but He hates the sin.--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 110-11.

Bonhoeffer will go on to spell out how one should go about such confession, namely to a trusted brother or sister in the faith. It is important to understand that he is not encouraging us to take sin lightly. Sin is serious; serious enough for God to send His only begotten Son to die the death that sin deserves so that we might have life through Him (cf., Bonhoeffer's classic The Cost of Discipleship). Bonhoeffer's point is that all men sin, even Christians. While we have been freed from the bondage to sin, we must still struggle against it until we die or Christ returns (cf., Hebrews 12:1-3ff.). He rightly contends that Christians will not have true fellowship with one another until, in their struggle against sin, they begin confessing their sins to one another and praying for one another (cf. Galatians 6:1-2; James 5:16).

Father, help us to hate sin as You do. May we fight against the desires of our old self and seek assistance from our brothers and sisters in the faith through humble confession. Build in us the image of Christ and assist us to image Him well by the aid of Your Spirit. Help us to give our hearts to You completely. As we do, may others see Your light in our attitudes and actions and give glory to You for the work You are doing in and through us.

Grace & Peace,

Jonathan