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Delighting in Our Duty
When we think of the law of God, the first thing that should come to mind is love—God’s love for us as fallen sinners, directing us to love Him, enjoy Him, and glorify Him. God’s law is a gracious gift to us, and it has three primary uses. First, the law functions as a teacher by showing us God’s perfect righteousness and our unrighteousness and sin, and it shows our danger of God’s judgment, leading us, by God’s grace, in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ who fulfilled all the righteous demands of God’s … View Resource
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By What Authority?
Can this be it? Centuries earlier the prophet Zechariah had declared, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (9:9). Now the prophecy had been fulfilled. The One who had proclaimed good news throughout Israel, the One who had healed the sick and cast out demons, the One who had raised the dead, had entered Jerusalem on a donkey and cleansed the temple. The people cried out, “Hosanna to … View Resource
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Trust and Obey
A few months ago, I had the privilege of watching my brother commissioned as an officer in the United States Air Force. It was a fascinating experience. After three months of rigorous training, my brother’s status changed from “enlisted” to “commissioned” with the pinning on of gold bars. Those gold bars symbolize his achievements as well as his new-found responsibilities. As an officer, my brother is now looked up to as a leader — responsible to make sure the orders he receives from his superiors are carried out by the men under his command. This “chain of command” that holds together … View Resource
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Be Ye Perfect
In Matthew 5:33–48, Jesus tells us how we are to fulfill the law — not legalistically, but in a spirit of Christ-like love. The goal is that we might strive to obey His final admonition in verse 48: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (kjv). This Christ-like perfection is nothing less than God’s purpose for us, that we “be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). When have you last heard someone casually say, “I swear,” or “I promise with all my heart”? Such words are illustrations of … View Resource
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The Suffering Servant
John Murray, with good reason, argues that obedience is the most inclusive concept available to us for describing the redeeming work of Christ (Redemption Accomplished and Applied, p. 19). Other categories such as sacrifice and satisfaction cover some of the data, but obedience is by far the most comprehensive. It is also, of course, utterly biblical. Christ came pre-eminently as the Servant, in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (especially Isa. 52:13–53:12). In accordance with this, He saw Himself as one who had come not to do His own will, but the will of the Father who had sent Him … View Resource
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Obedient Love
Perhaps no subject in history has been discussed more than love. Yet love remains one of the most misunderstood concepts in our culture. On a daily basis, through music, movies, and television, society discusses love as virtue, love as vice, love as physical intimacy, but mainly society speaks of love as an emotion. The Bible, however, describes love as something greater than just a feeling. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that without love, his accomplishments and talents mean nothing. Through Paul’s teaching we learn that our actions, if unaccompanied by godly love, have no value. Why are … View Resource
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Love and Its Counterfeit
I mentioned some months ago in my article that 2005 was the 450th anniversary of the martyrdom of John Bradford. It also is the 450th anniversary of the martyrdoms of Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer, two bishops in the English Reformation who were clear preachers of the Gospel, and two witnesses who were faithful unto death. The older Latimer said to the younger man Ridley as he was walking out to the stake to be burned, “Play the man, Ridley!” And so he did. Both these men could have saved their lives simply by renouncing their faith in Christ’s … View Resource
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Obedient Unto Death
“Passive” is not a complimentary word to apply to someone these days. It suggests an inert, sluggish, withdrawn soul that is lost in daydreams. So perhaps it sounds like a contradiction to speak of “passive obedience.” How can obedience be passive? I suppose if someone in authority commands you to be inert, sluggish, withdrawn, and lost in daydreams, then your passivity will be an act of obedience — although we are now descending into wild paradox with our talk of a “passive act”! The passive obedience of Christ, however, doesn’t involve these contradictions and paradoxes. The word “passive” here … View Resource
Obedience
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