1997 issue 9 - sermon on luke 6:17-49 - the doing of god's will and fellowship with christ - counsel...

8/12/2019 1997 Issue 9 - Sermon on Luke 6:17-49 - The Doing of God's Will and Fellowship With Christ - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/7

The

IJoing

of

God s

Will and

Fellowship With Christ

" "Everything

is

concentrated

in our relation to Chrisf in

whom God remits our sins and

in whom

He

is

a

Father

to His

people. (According to

Matthew 7:23) it

is

not

in

a

man's appeal to Jesus, ('Lord,

Lord') on his own authOrity, but

in Christ's taking him into

His

fellowship,

(knowing

him),

that

we

mustfmd the

explanation

and the

criterion of

doing

righteousness.

Outside of

this

fellowship

there is no

obedience ...

Only those

who are

known by

Him in the sense of this

fellowship will receive

the

grace

of the doing of the Father's will,

Mat.

13:50.

"There is no passage in

which this au h is revealed in a

mOre central and glorious way

than n the well-known words

of the Savior in Matthew

11:28.:30 ... --- The 'weary' and

the 'heavy laden' are not those

who are bent down by the

weight of

life

or by the burden

of their sins, but,

as

appears

from the words

'IllY

yoke' and

'my burden,' they

are

those who

are oppressed by the heavy

demands of the Pharisaical

conception of the

law, Mat.

23:4. They do not know any

rest or relief, i.e., they are

haunted by uncertainty and

fear. For they cannot bear this

yoke, this burden, Acts 15:10,

and

so

they lack peace, Jer.

6:16.

In contrast to this state of

things, Jesus mentions

his

'yoke'

and his 'burden.'

These

words

are

the

standing phrases

for

what

one

must

DO,

i.e.,

for

Jesus' commandments.

This

yoke is easy

and this burden

is

light, not because

these

commandments are not

heavy

demands

to

man's

self-love

and

self-assertion, Mat.

7:13f,

but

because it

is JESUS

who

teaches

them. --- Those who learn

God's

will from Him and

accept

it,

are,

consequently, not only

dependent upon His

word

as a

COMMAND, but are

also

called

to fellowship with

His

person

for its fulfillment." - Ridderbos,

pg.

253-254.

The Fatherhood

o God

and the

Believer s Life

n

the

World

Jesus taught that

the filial

relationship

His

disciples bore

with the Father was not only

concerned with future

bliss

in

eternity,

Matthew 16:19,20;

Mat. 5:5; Mark 10:30;

Lk.

18:30;

Lk

14:14; 20:36, but

Ill COUNSEL of Chalcedon OctoberlNovember, 1997

also with our temporal life here

and

now. See Luke

12:22-31

and Luke 12:6,7,

(Mat.

6:25-34;

10:29-31)' and

Luke

11:3, (Mat.

6:11); Luke 11:9-13,

(Mat.

7:7-12). God's prOvidence,

which

embraces the whole.

of

God's

creating and preserving

power and wisdom, is invoked

over themselves

by God's

children because they

have

been

adopted as

God's

children in

thetdngdom

of Christ.

And,

conversely,

the kingdom

is the

guarantee

that they will

not be

disappointed

by

God

when they

pray

like this.

- Ridderbos, pg.

269.

The Fatherhood o God and

Eternal Life

It must be emphatically

stated that in Christ's kingdom,

God

will be

the

Father of

His

disciples-children throughout

all

eternity, Mat. 16:19,20; Mat.

5:5;

Mk.

10:30;

Lk 18:30;

Lk.

14:

14; 20:36. It is especially

Significant that in Matthew 5:5

Jesus

also

points

to

THE EARTH

as

the place where the kingdom

will

reveal

its

glory.

--- 'God's

work done to

the

earth not only

consists in cleansing

all

violence

and wickedness

away from

the

church, but also in giving the

earth

into

the possession

of

those to whom Jesus

gives

His

promise.' -- The future


2/7

revelation of the kingdomwill

also be

the

commencement

of

the perfect bliss for the earth in

accordance with

the

prophecies

of the renewal of the cosmos,

Isa.

65:17; 66:12;

Dan.

7:14 .. .

The earth is

involved n

the

divine

deliverance. Thus it can

be

understood that

the future

bliss is repeatedly described not

only

as

a spiritual enjoyment

or

elevation, but

as

a kind

of

joy

embracing the whole of human

life. It is entirely in ;tgreement

with the biblical idea of creation

that the deliverance

of

the

whole of life, including its

bodily and material

aspects,

also

belongs

to

the contents

of

the

preaching of the gospel, Mat.

19:16; 29; Mk 10:17.

Ridderbos,

pgs. 274-75.

Meanwhile,

it

is

clear that

the reception of etemallife is

closely connected with earthly

life, ie. with the way in which

man h s acted with respect to

God's

will.

This is why the

fulfillment of the

.commandments

can

be

called

'the

way

leading to life,' Mat.

7:14.

As a gift

of the

kingdom

of God, this

'life'

is

prepared for

and begun with

the

sonship

brought about by God's Spirit,

. and by God's fatherly care for

His children, Mat. 19:29. -

Ridderbos, pg. 275. Although

life

is everlasting life n a

future-eschatological sense, it

is

nevertheless unmistakable that

there

is

an unbreakable

connection and unity between

this future gift and the salvation

now already

given,

viz., that of

the remission

of sins,

sonship to

God,

the

gift of

the

Holy Spirit.

Both are gifts

of one and

the

same

kingdom, and so are

founded in the great

saving

act

of

the

revelation of Jesus

Christ. - Ridderbos, pg. 275.

The Biblical Doctrine

of

the Adoption

Adoption

is

an act

of

the

free

grace of God, in and

for

His

only Son Jesus Christ, whereby

all those

that are justified

are

received

into the number

of His

children, have His naype put

upon them, the Spirit of

His

Son given

to

them, are under

His

Fatherly care

lind

dispensations, admitted to all

the liberties and privileges of

the sons

of

God,

made

heirs of

all the promises, and

fellow-heirs with Christ in

glory. Westminster

Larger

Catechism, Q. 74.

The Reason For Loving Our

Enemies Godlikeness

The Uniqueness of the

Christian Different

From ll the Rest

The

disciple of Christ

is

to

love like

this because he

is

to be

like God and Christ. He is

to

reflect God's character in his

own behavior. He is to live and

love as

God

lives and loves,

although on a creaturely

level.

He

is to image God in his life

in this world, that he might be

the son of the

Most

High. A

disciple of Christ

is

a

follower

of

Christ and an imitator

of God

from

the heart.

He

always asks

himself: As I examine my

activities, and look at my life in

detail, can I claim for it that

there is something about it

which cannot be explained in

ordinary terms and which can

only be explained in terms of

my relationship to the Lord

Jesus Christ? - Uoyd-Jones

The

Christian is Christ-like,

though never perfectly so n this

life. He is different from the

unbeliever

in

his thinking, his

morality, his attitude toward

sin, his attitude toward himself,

his attitude toward others, and

his views of God. He is also

different in is living and in the

way

he does everything. His

motives are different, as well as

his

standards, his goals, the way

he reacts to what happens to

him in this life and world, the

way

he handles injuries and

injustice, and the way he treats

his enemies. And, finally, he is

different from the unbeliever in

the way he faces death.

What makes

the

Christian so

unique, so different from the

rest?

It

is

the

fact

that he is a

person who h s become a child

of God.

God

has become his

Father in Jesus Christ. How

can a man who has never had

the love of God shed abroad in

his heart love is enemy and do

all these other things? It js

impossible. He cannot do it;

and ftmhertnore he does not do

it.

There never has been a man

outside Christ who can do this.

The Sertnon is not an exorbitant

demand of this kind. When

you

first read it, it discourages

you

and casts you down. But

then it reminds you that you ;lre

a child of your Father in

heaven, that you are not just left

to yourself but that Christ has

come

to dwell n you and to

take

up His abode in you. You

October/November, 1997 DIE COUNSEL ofCbalcedon 5


3/7

are but a branch of

the

Vine.

Power and

life

and sustenance

are there; you

are

simply to bear

the fruit. - lloyd-Jones, pg.

3l9.

The SpedJic Resemblance

of

God

In

Our Lives

s

Christ's Disdples

More specifically we are to

resemble God in showing

kindness and mercy, and in

being perfect as

God

is

perfect.

The Kindness of

God

We are to

love

unselfishly as

sons of the

Most

High; for He

Himself

s

KIND

to

ungrateful

and

evil mm -

Luke

6:35

1

The

Greek word

for

kind

is

chrestos, meaning excellent, .

useful, kind, benevolent, gentle,

considerate, friendly, helpful,

good, gracious, kindly disposed.

n the Old Testament it is often

used to describe God: Psa.

106:1;jer. 33:11; Psa. 52:9;

69: 16; 34:8; 25:8; Dt. 32:4; Psa .

119:41,

65f,

In the

New

Testament kindness constantly

describes God's actions toward

undeserving sinners; and it

finds particular expression and

completion in his savillg work

in and through Christ, I

Pet.

2:3. Hence it defines the

relationship of

the

disciples of

Christ, in whom the

image

of

God

has

been restored, to

ungrateful and

evil

sinners, Lk.

6:35, as well

as

his relationship

to other disciples, Eph. 4:32.

"Thou art good, (chrestos in

LXX), and doest

good.

...

Psa.

119:68 God

is

ABUNDANTLY

GENEROUS and kind

to

all

. human beings, even to

"ungrateful nd evil men..

He

is

BENEVOLENT toward

everything and

everyone

He has

created, because they are His .

workmanship. God's

benevolence toward those

He

has created, conSidered as

created beings,

is

infinitely

greater thml any love of a

creature toward a creature.

No

earthly father

loves

his child

with b e n e v o l e ~ c e equal

to

that

which the

Heavenly

Father

feels

towards

His

created offspring,

Lk..

6:35; Mat. 5:45 ; - W.G.T.

Shedd, DOGMATIC

THEOLOG'(

,

Vol. I, pg. 385f.

Therefore,

we

are to be

abundantly generous,

benevolent, gracious, kindly

disposed, helpful, good, useful

and morally excellent with

reference to all people, even to

"ungrateful

and

evil

men."

The Mercy of God

"Be

merciful,

(oikti' 'Wnes),

just as

your Father is

merdjul,"

Lukft

6:36. Children

are to

be

like their Father; and one of the

outstanding perfections in

God

the Father

is

His

gr

.eat

mercy,

compassion, sympathy and

desire to help people in times of

suffering and misery.2

Therefore, His children are to

keep on being merciful,

o m p ~ o n t e

sympathetic and

helpful

to those wJ:t(l are

'

suffering.

3

The

present

imperatives in

these

verses

express courses of action,

repetitions whenever the

occasions

arise .

- Lenski

Although grace arid

mercy

.

are

expressions of

God

's

goodness, there is a distinction

6 f TH COUNSEL of Chalcedon OctoberlNovember, 1997

between them.

'Grace

is

especially associated with men

in their sins; mercy is especially

associated with men in their

misery.' In other words, while

grace

looks down upon sin

as

a

whole, mercy looks especially

upon

the

miserable

consequences of

sin,

.So that

mercy

really

means a

sense of

pity.plus

a

desire to relieve

the suffering. That

is

the

essential me ning ofbemg

merc l;it

is

piTY PLUS

ACTION. So the

Christian

has

a

feeling

of pity. His concern

about.themisery of men and

womeI,l.lead;;

to

an anxiety

to

r l i ~ v

it.

-

.That

is being

merCifuL It does not mean only

feeling

pit}';

it means a 'great

desire, and indeed an endeavor,

to do something to

relieve the

situation. - Uoyd-jones,

pg.

99f.

The

perfect and central

.example pf mercy and being

merciful is the sending by

God

ofHis only begotten into this

world ....

Why? Because

there

is

mercy

with

Him.

He saw our

pitiable estate,

He

saw the

suffering, and, in spite of

the

law breaking, this was the thing

mat moved Him

to

action. So

the

Son

came

and dealt with our

condition. - Lloyd-jone$,

pg.

100.

jesus said, Blessed are

the

merciftil,

for

they

shall

obtain

mercy."

Our

Lord is

really

saying

that I

am

only truly

forgiven

when I

am

truly

repentant. To be truly

repentant means that I realize I

deserve nothing but

punishment, and that if I

am

forgiven

it

is

to be attributed


4/7

entirely to the love ofGod and

to

is mercy and grace, and

to

nothing else at all. But I go

further; it means thi$. If I am

truly repentant and realize my

position before God, and

realize

that I

am

orily forgiven

in

that

way, . hen of necessity, 1 shall

forgive

those

who

trespass

against me. - Lloyd-Jones, pg,

102.

"Let me put it like this. --

This Beatitude

follows

all the

others; therefore I put it in this

form. I am poor in spirit; I

realize that have no

righteousness; I realize that face .

to

face

with

God

and His

righteousness I

am

u

terIy

helpless; I can

do

nothing. Not

only that. I mourn

e c u ~

of

the sin that is within me; I have

come to

see,

as the

result of the

operation of the

Holy

Spirit, the

blackness of my own heart .I

know what it

is to

cry out,

0

wretched man that I am who

shall deliver

me?'

and

desire to

be rid of this vileness that is

within

me.

Not

only

that. I

am

meek, which means that now

that I have experienced this true

view

of myself, nobody

else

can

hurt me, nobody else can insult

me, nobody can

ever say

anything too bad about

me.

I

have seen myself, and my

greatest enemy does not know

the worst about

me.

I have seen

myself

as

something truly

hateful, and it

is

because

of

this

that I have hungered and

thirsted after righteousness. I

have

longed

for it.

I

have

seen

that I cannot create

or

produce.

it, and that nobody

else can

. I

have

seen my desperate position

in the sight of

God

. I

have

hungered and thirsted. for that

righteousness which

Will.

put

me

right with

God,

that

will

-

reconcile me

to

God, and give

me a new nature and life.

And

I

have

seen it in Christ. I have

been filled; I have received it all

as

a

free

gift.

"Does it not

follow

inevitably

that, if I have seen and

experienced all that,

my

attitude

towards everybody else must be

completely and entirely

changed? If all that is true of

me,

I

no

longer see men

as

I

used

to

see them. I see them

now with a Christian

eye.

I

see

them as

the

dupes and victims

and

the slaves of sm and Satan

and of the way of the world. I

have

COme

to

See them not

simply as

men whom I

dislike

but as men to be pitied. I have

come to see them as being

governed by the god of tIlls

world, as being still where once

I

was,

and would be

yet

but

for

the grace

of

God. $0

I

am

sorry

for

them.

I

do

not merely

see

them and what they do. I

see

them as the slaves of hell and of

Satan, and my whole attitude

toward them

is

changed.

And

because of that, of course, I can

be and must be merciful with

respect to them. ---

But I would take you again

to

the

supreme example.

Look

at

Him

there upon the

cross,

who never sinned, who never

did any harm

to

anyone, who

came

and preached the truth,

who came

to

seek and

to

save

that which was lost. There He

is , nailed and suffering agonies

on the cross, and yet what does

He say as

He

looks upon the

people who are responsible for

it? 'Father, forgive them.' Why?

"For they know not what they

do.' --- Loqk at Stephen the

. martyr

attair:\ing to

that. -

As

they

are stoning

h im.

, h t q he -

say? He prays to his heavenly

Father and cries, '

Lay

not

this

sin

to

their charge.' 'They do not

know what they are doing,

Lord,' says Stephen; 'they are

mad

. They are mad because of

sin; they do not understand me

as Thy servant; they do not

understand my Lord and

Master;

they are blinded

by

the

god of this world. ... Lay; not

this sin to their charge.' And

that, I say, is

to

be the condition

ofevery one who is truly

Christian. We are to feel a

sense of sorrow for all who are

helpless slaves of sin. "

Lloyd-Jones, pg. l02f.

The Perfection o God '

The

Significance o

the

Word,

as

Therefore

you

are

t

be

perfect,

as

your

heavenly Father

s

perfect, Mat. 5:48. Therefore,

because you are the

sons

of

the

Most High,"and disciples of

Jesus, 'you are to

be

perfect, as

your

heavenly Father

s

perfect.

That little word, 'as,' (hos)

shows that we are to make God

our model in all his perfections

and follow Him in spirit and in

truth; not, however, that

complete equality

is

demanded.

For God's attributes are infinite

while our virtues are finite and,

compared with. God's, a mere

shadow. (Starke)- Lenski

OctoberlNovember, 1997 TIlE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon 7


5/7

The Signiftcance

o the

Words, you are

to be

You are to

be

.... is a future

tense'

with

the force of

an

imperative, and the word y o u ~

in Greek is emphatic, (humeis),

so that it denotes, You, on your

part, in contraSt to the scribes

and

Pharisees.... .. The Pharisees ,

had mutilated and perverted

the law

and

tried to subtract

as

much as possible.... Thus there

was

nothiIig perfect about

their

obedience,

it

consisted of

useless outward scraps. The

disciples ofjesus are

to be

wholly different. - lenski

The Significance o

the Word, perfect

The Meaning

o

the

Hebrew

and Greek

Words for perfect

..

perfect

is te1eioi in Greek,

which

when applied to people

means wholly devoted to the

will of God revealed to every

sincere Israelite

in

the Word of

the divine law and in the model

of the divine conduct. (iahn)

lenski.

Jesus is drawing this

command

from Deuteronomy

18: 13--

You

shall be

blameless,

(complete, perfecr), before

the

LORD

your

God. This verse is

an

echo

of

Genesis 17: 1-- I

am

God

Almighty; walk

btJore

Me,

and be blameless, (perfect,

complete). The Hebrew word

for perfect

in both

these O.T.

passages

has

the fundamental

meaning of completeness and

came to mean ethically sould,

upright,

full

of

integrity. The

Greek word

for perfect

in

the

Septuagint

and

the New

Testament carries the Idea of side He

had

pledged Hitnself to

completion, fulfillment, the jews;

sO on

the other He

maturity. It denotes the final had :made them His debtors, not

step inreaching a goal, along

to

prostitute themselves to idols,

with the idea

of

wholeness and or

to

hanker after strange

of

beilig undiVided. r e l i ~ o n s whereby men's minds

The Meaning

Of the Divine

are led astray. This perfectness,

Commands

in

Genesis 17:1

and

then, is opposed

to

all

those

Deuteronomy

18:13

mixu:ires or corruptions which

withdraw

us

from the sincere

In G e n ~ s i s

17:1the Lord is worship of the one true God;

calling

b r a ~ D ; l Walk

I{efore because the simplicity which

My eyes

in a way that

is

pleasing retains

us in

obedience to

to Me, in

complete

trust nd total heavenly teaching, is that

obedience, ill full integJ;ity of spiritual chastity which God

heart, mind

and

life. His requires of His Church. The

strength for such a life would be Context of the pllSSage proves

found

in

God Alntighty.

To this with

sufficient clearness,

walk before God, is to walk or

viz.,

that God would restrain the

live as in His sight, and under jews from all licentiousness so

His spedal

inspection: to fet;l that being devoted to His

His open and unslumbering

eye

service; they should

not

look

ever upon us. To walk thus this way or that way,

nor

be

before God is impossible,

if

carried away by vanity

and

there be

not

redeeming

lQve on

instability,

but

constantly abide

His

part, apprehended,

by

faith in the pure worship which He

on

our part;

,and to be pqfect, had presciibed

to

them. _ ohn

guileless, and upright, in thus Calvin

walking before God,.is me great

duty;

of

he believer. He alone

The

Meaning

of

perfe

.ct

in

can discharge thatduty. Others Paul's Writings

do

not

like to retain,God in Paul uses the word, teleios,

their knowledge; they have

tc

mean mature, full-grown and

comfort only when all serious . complete

with

respect to the

thought of God is got rid of, and knowledge of God and of

put aside; and so they hide salvation, Rom. 12:2; I Cor. 2:6;

themselves from God amjd I Cor.p lO; I Cor 4:20; Eph.

secularvanitiesorsa


6/7

The Command

jesus

was

not being

perfectionistic here, teaching

that man could reach

sinless

perfection before death. The

Beatitudes and Lord's

Prayer

clearly

reveal

that that w s not

the case. Therefore, what

exactly

is

jesus commanding of

His disciples when

He

demands

that they

be

perfect

as God

is

perfect?

He is commanding

them to be

as

true, upright and

morally superior in

all

their

dealing with other people, as

God is in His dealings with

us.

They must be as complete in

their devotion to love the

unlovely, as

God

is in

lOving us.

They must be complete in their

devotion to God, lacking

nothing, as

God

is complete in

and of Himself lacking

nothing.

Their devotion must be total;

just as

God's

devotion

to

Himself is total.

When our Lord summons

us

to

be 'perfect' or mature, i.e.,

to grow in terms of our

God-appointed end,

He is

summoning us to serve God

with

all

our being, and

to

be

holy unto

Him. 'Ye

shall be

holy

unto Me; for I the LORD

am

holy, have severed you from

other people, that-ye should be

mine,' Lev. 20:26. --- God

alone is

holy; we

are holy

to

the

degree that

we

separate and

dedicate ourselves to

Him

and

to

His

Kingdom.

To

abide

in

Him

means

to bring

forth

fruit,

jn. 15:2; to love God means to

keep

His

commandments, In.

15: 10,14. Our goal thus is to

do the

will

of our Father, to

serve Him

with all our heart,

mind, and being, to

love God

and our neighbor. -

Rj

Rushdoony,

ROOTS OF

RECONSTRUCTION,

pg. 276.

The

Basis

For the

Command

Christ's disciples

are

to be

perfect,

because

God,

their

Father

is

perfect. What does

jesus refer

to

when He speaks of

God's

perfection ? God

is

complete in and of

himself. He

is lacking in nothing. 'He

possesses all perfections.

God

is perfect in that Be is

the sum-total of

all

excellencies, the One than

whom no greater, higher, better

can exist either in thought or in

reality.

In other words,

GOD

ANSWERS

FULLY

TO

THE

IDEA OF

GOD.

That creature

is perfect in a creaturely, finite

manner which

fully

answers to

its norm.

So also God is

perfect

because the idea of

God

is

is full

accord with His being. Of

course, this is the case

humanly

speaking;

it must not

be

misinterpreted.

We

should

remember that God posits the

norm

for the

creature; hence,

this norm is au thoritative

for

the

creature: the creature

is

morally

bound

to

live up

to

it. In that

sense

we

cannot speak of any

idea or norm with reference to

God.

There is no norm which is

authoritative

for

God and

to

which

He

must answer.

But

the

idea

of

God is

derived from the

being of

God

Himself. In Him

being and self-consciousness are

one;

He

IS that which

He

KNOWS Himself

to

be, and He

KNOWS Himself

to

be that

which

He is.

---

Every

attribute of God

becomes dear to

the believer:

he cannot dowithout even a

single

one of them; he is

satisfied with no other God than

the only true God, who has

revealed Himself in Christ, and

he

exalts all

His

virtues. The

Christian is filled with

admiration, love, thanksgiving,

and adoration not only because

is

God is a God of grace and

love

but

also

because

He

is a

God of holiness and

righteousness, not only because

He is benevolent but also

because

He

is omnipotent..

. -

Herman Bavinck,

THE

DOCTRINE

OF

GOD,

pg. 246f.

Therefore, to be perfect

as

God

is perfect means that just

as

God

is everything God should

be; so we who are Christians

should be everything Christians

should be.

This peifection

does not

mean equality but relates solely

to resemblance. However

distant

we are

from the

perfection of God, we are said

to

be

peifect as

He is peifect

when

we

aim at the same object,

which

He

presents

to

us in

Himself. --- There is no

comparison here made between

God and us:

but

the peifection

of

God

means,

FIRST,

that free

and pure kindness, which is not

induced by the expectation of

gain;

and,

SECONDLY,

that

remarkable goodness, which

contends with the malice and

ingratitude of men. - Calvin.

The ontrast In

Definitions

o

Peifection

Biblical

Christianity and

OctoberlNovember, 1997 THE COUNSEL

of halcedon I

9


7/7

Humanism have their own

concepts of perfection; and they

are, as always, diametrically

opposed to each other.

requires notice,

the

expectation

of flawless, sinless behavior ill

other people. --- Humanism

leads

us

to demand perfection

"Edna

St.

Vincent Millay

began her poem 'Moriturus'.

with these telling words,

If I

could

have

. ' of other people without '

demanding it of ourselves,

because

we

see ourselves as our

own ultimate, our standard and

our

- - ~

Two things in one:

he

peace

of the grave,

And

the light of

the

sun . ..

Here in a few words

we

have

.an important aspect of

humanism, the attempt to get

the best of

all

possible worlds

without the responsibilities of

any. The desire

is

to be dead to

all that might

hun

liS,

but

alive

to all that we can enjoy; to have

all the fulness of life and

meaning which God has

ordained, butwithout God;

to

have both 'the peace of the

grave, and the light of the sun.'

The humanist wants life to be

an endless smorgasbord

table,

on which

all

the gods of

humanism's past and present, as

well

as

the God of Scripture',

serve up their fineSt

offerings

for

man to pick and choose at,

world without end, forever. n

this humanistic sense,

PERFECTION is the sum total

of everything man can desire,

together with the total absence

of all responsibility, '

accountability and all problems.

-- Aworld, however, in which

one wants

to

enjoy both 'the

peace of the

grave

arid the light

of the sun'

is

a world of

inSanity

and is doomed

to

the slave's cell

and the grave. ---

There

is

another aspect of htinianistic

PERFECTIONISM which

. As

against

the hUIl)anistic

ideal of perfection, it

is

important to understand

the

Biblical doctrine. Perfection in

Scripture

is

not sinlessness but

it

is rather.uprightness, sincerity

and maturity of faith and

obedience. --- A God-centered

perfectioni$m is a relationship

between the individual and

God

:

in terms of

His

grace

and

law;

it

is growth in obedience, integrity

and.maturity. Itis first of all a

standard whereby we see

ourselves in terms of God's,law

word, and then a

standarq. for

,

. assessing others. ,--- HUmaIlistic

perfectionism is not .

God-.oriented;instead, it

is

a

unilater:lil

dem\lnd

wem lke of

other people and then condemn "

them for failing to meet it:

Humanistic perfeclionism leads '

to a fragIl)en,ting society and to

loneliness in a crowded place

...

.

~ Humanistic perfectionism

leads to a flight from man and a .

horror for people and personal

relationships. - .Humanistic

perfection

m Tts

against IIlan, .

because

man fails

to tneet its

hopes."-

Rushdoony,

SALVATION

AND GODLY

RULE, pgs. 79f.

(to be continued.) .

Thisverse is a refutation of Gary

North's view that

c

Ommon grate

does not imply the favor of God to

1 f THE

COUNSEL

of

ChaIcedon

OCtober/November

1997

the unregenerate. God in no way

favors the unregenerate." -page 107

in DOMINION

AND

COMMON

GRACE, (Tyler, T"'IllS, Institute for

Christian Economics,,1987)

it

mustbe pointed out as

Charnock has done in his book, THE

EXISTENCE

AN

.D ,ATTRIBUTES OF

GOD, (as quoted by W.G.T. Shedd,

in his DOGMATIC THEOLOGY,

VoL

I, pg.3890: "The goodness (mercy)

of he,Deity is infinite and

cirC]lmscribed by no limits;

but

the

exercise of His goodness may be

limited

by

Himself. God is

necessarily good in His nature; but

free in

His

communication of i

t.

is not necessarily communicative of

His goodness, as the

sun

of its light;

Which chooses.not its objects,

but

enlightens all indifferently. This were

to make God

ofno

more

understanding than the

sun,

which

shines not where it pleases but where

it must. He is an .understanding

agent, and has a sovereign right to

choose is own subjects. It would

not be supreme, if it were not a

vohmtary goodness." Hence, the

mercy of God is sovereign mercy,

that is,

will have mercy

on whom

He will

have mercy

3Mercy

may not

be

antinomian

Le., bestoWed in a lawless manner,

Deuteronomy 21:18--n. l t is not to

be

bestowed at random without

considering the directions of the

Word

of God. The Christian is not a

person

who

smiles

at

evil

and

transgression of Biblical Law. He is

not "a flabby kind of person,

easy-going, easy to get on with, to

whom it does not matter whether

laws are broken or not who is not

concerned about keeping them."

L l o y d ~ J o n e s STUDIES IN THE

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, Vol. I,

pg. 98.

We

know this to be the case,

because God

is

also said to be

merciful,and He certainly is not '

easy-going and tolerant with

reference

to

the transgression of His

Law.

He

is also righteollS and holy

andjusL

1997 issue 9 - sermon on luke 6:17-49 - the doing of god's will and fellowship with christ - counsel...

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