Posts by: Dana Stoddard
martin-luther

Luther’s “Introduction to Galatians” Re-written

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In the years I worked under Dr. C. John (Jack) Miller, he would often give strugglers the assignment to re-write Luther’s Introduction to Galatians in their own words.  The original translation from German to English is long, wordy, and has historically irrelevant parts, but the material is invaluable.  If Romans is Paul’s theology write large, than Galatians is that same theology write small.  It is compact and addresses the real-life issues with the Judaizers.  The Judaizers were leaders in many of the churches Paul started who had returned to a form of “works righteousness.”  Some of your best, and loving friends may be no different.  Their “wisdom” will blind you.

Bill Slack’s response to Jack Miller’s assignment was clear and concise and eventually made its way into the Sonship discipleship materials. I gladly share Slack’s work with the hope that it offers clear light in the on-going debate between legalism and grace.

Martin Luther’s Argument of the Epistle of St. Paul in the Galatians

Paraphrase in modern English by Bill Slack

Christian righteousness is the greatest righteous.  God puts it on us without our lifting a finger.  It’s not political or ceremonial.  It doesn’t have to do with our obeying God’s law.  It has nothing to do with what we do or how hard we work, but it is given to us and we do nothing for it.  It’s “passive righteousness” because we don’t have to work for it. With this “free righteousness” we don’t do anything, we don’t give anything to God, but we receive and allow someone else to do it.  That’s why we’ll call it “passive righteousness.”

This passive righteousness is a mystery that someone who doesn’t know Jesus can’t understand.  As a matter of fact, Christians don’t completely understand it and don’t take advantage of it when they’re tempted.  So we have to constantly teach it over and over again to other and repeat it to ourselves, because if we don’t understand it have it in our hearts, we will be defeated by our enemy, and we’ll be totally depressed.  There is nothing that gives us peace like this “passive righteousness.”

When we see the Law, we see our sin.  The evil in our lives comes to mind, it tears us apart, and we groan and think, “How bad I have been.  My life is full of hate and evil.  Please, God, let me live and I will fix up what I have done wrong.”  Man is so evil that all he can see is what he should do to be righteous.  He is so evil he cannot see what Christ has done for him to be righteous.

So the afflicted and troubled conscience has no cure for depression and death unless it takes hold of the forgiveness of sins by grace, offered free of charge in Jesus Christ, that is “Christian” or “passive” righteousness.  When the person realizes this, he is at peace and can say “I am not going to work for my righteousness, even though I need to have it, and I need to be righteous. Because even if I could work up to righteousness, still I could not trust it to make me right at the judgment of God.  So I throw away all my works, my tries at obeying God’s law, and firmly hold on to “passive righteousness,” that is the righteousness of grace, mercy and the forgiveness of sins.  In short, I trust only in the righteousness that Christ and the Holy Spirit give me!

It is like this:  the earth doesn’t produce rain, nor is it able by its own power or work to get it.  The earth simply receives it as a gift of God from above.  It is the same with “passive righteousness.”  It is given to us by God without our deserving it or working for it.  So let’s look at what the earth is able to do to get the rain each season so that it can be fruitful.  And we will see how much we are able in our own strength and works to do to get heavenly and eternal righteousness.  We see we will never be able to attain it unless God Himself, by the great gift of His Son, gives us Jesus’ perfect record, and gives us Jesus’ perfect righteousness.

So when I see a man that is bruised enough already, burdened by the Law, terrified with sin, and thirsting for relief, that is when in truth it is time to take the Law and “works” righteousness out of his sight and show him by the Gospel “passive” righteousness (Christian righteousness) which offers the promise of Christ without the Law, that Christ came for the hurting and for the sinners.  The man is raised up and has good hope; he is no longer under the Law but covered by grace.

So do we do nothing?  Don’t we do any work to obtain this righteousness?  I answer, nothing at all, for this is perfect righteousness, “to do nothing,” but to know “  believe only this, that Christ is gone to the Father and not now seen.  He sits at His Father’s right hand not as a judge but making us before God wise, righteous, holy, and redeemed; briefly, that He is our high Priest pleading for us and reigning over us and in us by grace.

But if there is any fear or our conscience is bothered, it is a sign that our “passive righteousness” is “withdrawn” – that is, grace is hidden from us, and Christ is darkened – out of our sight.  But when we truly see Christ, we have full and perfect joy in the Lord with peace of mind, and we certainly know “Although I am a sinner by the Law and under condemnation of the Law, still I don’t despair, still I don’t die, because Christ lives, who is both my righteousness and my everlasting life.”  I am indeed a sinner in this life of mine and in my own righteousness, as a child of Adam; where the Law accuses me; death controls me and eventually would destroy me.  But I have another life, another righteousness, above this life which is in Christ, the Son of God, who knows no sin or death but is eternal righteousness and eternal life.

The flesh is accused, tempted, weighed down with sorrow, bruised by the “works” righteousness of the Law; but the Spirit reigns, rejoices and is saved by this “passive” and Christian righteousness.

Because of this St. Paul sets out diligently in this letter to teach us, to comfort us, and to keep us constantly aware of this Christian righteousness that is so great.  For if the truth of our being justified by Christ alone is lost, and then all Christian truths are lost.  For there is no middle ground between “passive” and “works” righteousness.  The person who wanders away from “passive” righteousness has no other choice but “works” righteousness; that is to say “If he does not depend on the work of Christ, he must depend on his own work.”

So we must truthfully proclaim and continually repeat the truth of this “passive” or “Christian” righteousness so that Christians continue to hold to it and never confuse it with “works” righteousness.  Otherwise we will never be able to understand God’s truth, because on this truth and only this truth the church is built and has its being.

“Wherefore I do admonish you, especially those who will become teachers and counselors, and each individual, that you practice this by study, by reading, by meditation of the Word, and by prayer, that when you are tempted you will be able to teach and comfort yourself and others, and bring them from the Law to grace, from “works” righteousness to “passive” righteousness and to conclude “from Moses to Christ.”  For when we are in trouble or our conscience bothers us, the devil likes to lay on us the guilt of sin, our wicked past, the wrath and judgment of God and eternal death to drive us to desperation, make us slaves to him and pluck us from Christ.  Furthermore, he wants to set against us the parts of the Gospel where Christ requires works from us and with plain words threatens damnation to us if we do not do them.  Now, if we cannot see the differences between the two kinds of righteousness and we do not take hold of Christ by faith, sitting on the right hand of God (Hebrews 7:25) who pleads our case, sinners that we are, to the Father, then we are under the Law, not under grace, and Christ is no more a Savior, but a Lawgiver; so that now there is no salvation, but a definite despair, and everlasting death, unless we repent.

Give no more heed to the Law than what it deserves, and say to yourself, “You, Law, would climb up into my conscience and rule me and reprove me of sin and would take away my joy that I have by faith in Christ and drive me to despair that I would be without hope and perish.  This you try to do without authority, keep yourself within your bounds, and use your influence on my flesh, but do not touch my conscience.”

When I have this righteousness reigning in my heart, I descend from heaven like rain making the earth fruitful, that is to say, I enter into a new kingdom and I do “good works” whenever and however I get the opportunity.  To conclude, whoever is convicted that Christ is his only righteousness, doesn’t lonely do his work cheerfully, gladly and well, but also, if necessary, submits to all kinds of burdens and dangers in this life with love because he knows this is God’s will, and God is pleased by his obedience.  This is what the letter of Galatians speaks of.  Here Paul shows us this by addressing the presence of false teachers among the Galatians who had covered up this “passive” righteousness.  He set himself against them and defends and commends his authority and office.

 

lstory

A Theology of Suffering

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Singer/songwriter Laura Story has been receiving a good bit of push back from many Christians due to her new song Blessings because, for the most part, we have lost a proper Biblical theology of suffering. Listen to these powerful words in Laura’s song:

I remember preaching in an African American congregation on Philippians 3:8-10.  The brothers and sisters were talking back to me while I preached.  I have always loved that.  It’s like street preaching.  So following the text I asked these eager folks,

“Do you want to know Him?”

Fans waving, hankies waving, strongly, loudly they responded,

“Oh yes I want to know Him!”

I then asked,

“Do you want to know the power of His resurrection?”

Power is important stuff.  The assembly is on their feet, faces look at me like they are hurt and befuddled that I should even have to ask.

“Oh yes, Lord, I want to know the power of your resurrection!  Give it to me Lord!”

I raised my hand for quiet, I waited, they were eager to hear the formula to know Him & feel and use the power.  They pleaded with me for the “key” that would unlock the Christian life. Then when quiet was restored I said,

“You must participate in the fellowship of His sufferings.”

Total silence.

It was as if collectively they returned to their seats and said,

“I don’t want to know Him that bad.”

But suffering, via dela rosa…the way of the cross…is an essential element to any Christian’s life.  Often personal suffering is the tool Christ uses to drive us again and again back to Him in humility.  Jacob’s limp hurt everyday for the rest of his life.
Mean-spirited brothers may have wanted to hurt Joseph, but the trauma, torture, imprisonment, and sexual temptation were what “God meant for his good,” (Gen.50:20).

As a counselor for forty years I have observed that God places suffering and hardship in at least one area of His sons and daughters lives to continually drive them to dependence on Him: kids, marriage, vocation, addiction, physical illness, etc. Again and again, God gives grace in the midst of suffering. This is the theme of the Book of Job.

Next time you go to church just look over the assembled folk.  I think James did that in James 5:13-16.  At any given assembly, in every assembly in any century about a third of the congregation is “suffering hardship/in trouble.”  Another third of the assembly is “in good spirits/happy.”  The final third is “sick/weary.”  Folks may rotate through one category to another, but the categories will stay the same week after week.

Unfortunately, most Protestant worship services act as if everyone is in the 2nd category or attempt to emotively get them into the “happy” camp. Two-thirds of the assembly are hurting and must find a way to Jesus in the midst of the pain.

For many strugglers in sexual addiction, failures drive us in shame and guilt from the assembly.  We can’t be “happy” and honest to our heart condition at the same time.  How often have I heard: “I tried church, and it didn’t work.  It was irrelevant, shaming, and phony.”  An authentic community invites the strugglers to worship with integrity in their failure, loss, and pain.

For many, addiction support groups provide the first community that receives them, embraces them, and allows them to learn more of Christ while experiencing the personal pain and consequences of their sin.

James chapter 5 continues on to encourage us to admit our sin and to pray.

“Therefore confess (admit) your sins to each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. …My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone bring him back, remember this:  whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

We believe in the finished work of Christ on the cross, right?  All sins…past present and future…are forgiven in His blood, right?  But, if we are forgiven in Christ on the cross, why do we repent and admit our sin to God and others again and again.  Why confess sin again, why seek forgiveness again and again? Why do we need to “work the steps” over and over again? Why especially will we redo Step 4 over and over again?

This has to do with a distinction between Judicial Forgiveness and Parental Forgiveness.  They are not the same.  Judicial Forgiveness occurs once the first time we come to the cross and admit our wrongdoings.  Parental Forgiveness occurs daily as we repent of our sins and desperately return to our Father.

Consider the following diagram:

Judicial and Parental Forgiveness

Praying in confession of sin for the first time is like an angry, defeated foe who hates this new Sovereign.  Admitting sin repeatedly is before the face of a Father who loves His wayward sons and daughters.

“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.”

In what area of your life has your sin been pressuring you toward Christ? Take some time to survey with your Sponsor how many authentic communities (congregations) there are in your area? Can you understand the idea of “the gift of addiction?”

Blood+of+Jesus+seal-copy

The Blood of Jesus Plus NOTHING

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I wish I were smart.

I wish I had something new and novel to announce to the world.

To be honest, I once had an old, wise systematic theology professor tell me, “If it is new, it is just a reworked heresy and the Truth doesn’t need defended because the new reworked heresy will die its own death.” I’ve have lived long enough to see four or five “new movements” die their own deaths.

Men like John Murray and Herman Ridderbos systemically tell the old Gospel story reworked in their generation. Augustine through the “mystics” of the Dark Ages, to Luther, Johnathan Edwards and beyond, God has not left Himself without a witness to the truthfulness of his word.

Consider the following:

We are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ plus nothing. In hymnity, we affirm that “Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.” Theologians call this Justification. This is the half of the Gospel that all evangelicals preach: Jesus died to make us not guilty. He takes the liability for our sins.

Generally, evangelicals then preach that we should live in obedience to the Law after being justified. “You’re saved by grace so that you can live by the law.” Not much fun there. But when Jesus cried out in a loud voice near his death on the cross, “It is finished!” This was not a wimper that his difficult mission on earth was coming to an end, but that his voluntary daily obedience, and voluntary substitutionary death had ransomed back to His Father everyone for whom he had died—everyone of them…all of them…for all time.

The efficacy of his blood doesn’t just make us clean but keeps us clean.

He gives His perfect obedience to us in place of our sin—past, present and future. On the cross he makes us not guilty and holy. He has given us His holiness “as if I have never sinned or been a sinner, as if I was as perfectly obedient as he was.” We are made holy by the blood of Christ plus nothing.

Paul, the founder of the congregation at Corinth, should have been furious. A man sleeping with his own stepmother, lawsuits filed against each other, divisions and strife, and arguments over preacher preference. Paul was furious, but before he addressed the congregation by letter he remembers “who they are and Whose they are.”

“Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church (called out ones) in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” I Corinthians 1:1-3

These are the same people he is about to rebuke and confront.

Paul didn’t call himself to be an apostle. God’s church at Corinth did not call themselves out of that pagan city—God summoned them. They did not sanctify themselves—they were in Christ on the cross. They did not call themselves holy—God’s summons made them so.

As a result they repented and had faith like all who themselves call on the name of the Lord. As a result of the finished work of Christ on the cross, Grace and Peace are their possessions, given as gifts from a loving Father.

Paul has to remember who they are and Whose they are before, as a founding pastor, he rebukes them for their continuing sins. His anger must be tempered because they are not his, but Christ’s brothers and sisters and the Father’s adopted sons and daughters.

By the end of the chapter Paul reminds the Church at Corinth that they are not very smart, wise, rich, or noble.  They have nothing to boast in except the work of Christ for them on the cross. The Father loves us!

“It is because of Him (Father) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption,” I Corinthians 1:30

Christ is all the Wisdom I will ever have or need. Christ is all the righteousness (Justification) I will ever have or need. Christ is all the Holiness (Sanctification) I will ever have or need. In fact, He is my whole redemption!

The task of the adopted sons and daughters in Corinth as well as you and me today is to make very small humble strides toward that holiness in this lifetime. We are to strive to become who we already are. I have the good hope of small progress in progressive sanctification because of the definitive/definite/actual sanctification secured for you and me in the cross plus—NOTHING.

After all he has done for us, why would we not serve Him in gratitude?

Have you lived by the “saved by grace but live by the Law” way of thinking? Does this give you a fresh view of God’s grace? Thoughts?

The Father's Smile Leads to Obedience

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Our heavenly Father has a wonderful way of using language in order to encourage us and give us hope.  It is the use of Imperatives (verbal form) and Indicatives (verbs).

Here is an illustration that gave hope to believing Israel for centuries:

“And God spoke all these words,  ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall have no others gods before me.”  (Ex. 20)

For generations Israel could reflect on how and what it took for God to plan/prepare/execute their deliverance from Egypt.  By the use of a “past indicative” “I brought you,”  hope and encouragement were engendered.  God and God alone did this.  No human hand could have pulled this off.

The imperative is “You must not have any gods before me.”   One has only to look briefly at the history of Israel to realize that they repeatedly did not accomplish their human responsibility to “not have” any other gods.  As they leave behind the waters of the Red Sea the golden calf awaits them.

Paul is a master of the use of Imperative/Indicatives.  He uses them in two ways.  We will look at how he encourages and gives hope to the new Israel in just a minute.  But first he uses this verbal construction to absolutely frighten us into hope and encouragement.

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his will.”  (Phil. 2).

You must work out your redemption.  If you are honest (like believing Israel was honest in the wilderness) your response would be, ”I have been trying to save myself in many different ways in my old life, but I can’t do it.  This is hopeless!  I am in despair!  (See Romans 7 and the expression of the mature apostle Paul: “the very thing I do not want to do, I practice doing – oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin!”)

But now that Paul has your attention in Phil. 2 he states the indicative,

“for (because) it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

I can work because God is at work.  I can try to do this!  It is not hopeless.

Let us consider one more:

“What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace my increase?  By no means!  We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer? (Rom. 6)

In Romans 3-5 Paul has described the great transaction.  Christ is substituted for us.  We died with Christ on the cross.  He is our representative.

And having the comfort of this substitutionary death:

“In the same way, you must count yourselves death to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.”

After all Christ has done for me, why would I not serve him.  I want to.  I try.  I repent when I fail.  I fail regularly – daily.  I run away to Christ again and again.  And commit my efforts to Him again and again, daily.

I must become who I already am.  I must remember who I am and Whose I am.

We serve Christ in obedience not in order to make the Father smile…we serve Christ in obedience because the Father is smiling at me.

He is dancing over me!  My sins have already been commuted on the Cross.

Thus “You must be holy, for I, the Lord, your God am holy.”

The Older Testament saint says:  “But I can’t! That’s why I and the priest repeat the same sacrifices daily.  All the blood of all the bulls, goats and doves look forward to a perfect, single Sacrifice.”  See Hebrews 9:12ff.

“He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.  The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.  How much more, then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

Fact:

God has delivered Israel out of Egypt.

I am dead to sin by virtue of the Cross plus….. nothing.

God is working out my salvation for His own good purpose.

God Has cleansed me by virtue of the Cross plus…. nothing.

Therefore:

I can work hard to have no other idols before His face.

I can strive to put to death the sin in my members.

I can work out my own salvation.

I can serve the living God!

The futile monotony has ended:

“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties, again and again he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.  But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God.  Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by the one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”  (Heb. 10:11-14).

Fact:

I am in the One perfect sacrifice – Christ in His death, resurrection, ascension.

Therefore:

I am being made holy.  I am conformed more and more to the image of the Son.

Chinese Take-out Theology

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Take-out boxRecently a Christian journal featured the work of two Christian counselors. Here’s how the reporter saw the essence of their work:

“Their vision of God is not that of a vengeful force who punishes man for his sins, but rather one who loves, forgives and guides. So often, people have a distorted image of God…Therapy may help overcome that.”

The phrase, “their vision of God,” puzzles me. Am I as a Christian counselor supposed to order up my own god? Is God merely a projection of my own problems and moods? Or do my clients determine the kind of god I see?

Then there are the situational adjustments. Although I may tilt in favor of a loving, forgiving God, are there times when a vengeful one comes in handy? If so, when? I guess a personally customized God comforts some people, but it (he? she?) leaves me anxious and confused.

People smarter than I tell me that we live in a “post-modern” world. The Enlightenment jettisoned God in the eighteenth century and replaced Him with reason. The twentieth century threw out reason and replaced it with relativism. There are no timeless truths today; everything is relative and every person decides for himself or herself what makes life worth living and who God is. (Sounds a lot like the book of Judges, doesn’t it?)

This relativism I see reflected on fundamental believers bumper stickers:

“God says it, I believe it, Therefore, it’s true.”

Do you see the relativistic error? We have made God’s truth conditional on our believing it! It should read:

“God says it, Therefore, it’s true.”

And His Word remains true whether you or I believe it or not.

Culture corrupts the church as much as the church changes culture, unfortunately. So we shouldn’t be surprised that modern relativism shapes the thinking of many Christian counselors and other church ministries. Systematic theology (much too rational!) has been junked; you may as well burn your Hodge and Strong. Instead, welcome to the world of Chinese take-out theology, where you can order the god who fits your taste.
Are you in the mood for a stern god? Maybe your neighbor did something to offend you and he needs some punitive justice to put him in his place. Then choose from Column A. Or maybe you are in a tight spot and need some rescuing. Look to Column B. There you find the Omni-God-you know, all powerful, all-knowing, etc. Or maybe you want some warm fuzzies. Column C is loaded with them: love, mercy, compassion, patience, and all the other comforting stuff of which a victimized culture believes it has been cheated. Pay your money and take your choice, but be sure to ask yourself,

“Is this really the God that I will meet at the Judgment?”

Who is that God? He is the God of the Bible who is perfect in all of His attributes. He is both loving and jealous, merciful and angry, transcendent and imminent, vengeful and forgiving. He is all that He is, and He encounters us in the completeness of His being, not merely as our alter ego. Your ministry becomes robust and far-reaching when you embrace the fullness of God, but it becomes still and ineffective when you narrow God to those attributes that you or your parishioners find personally comfortable. Let God shape your ministry; don’t let your ministry shape your god.
Encounter all that God is in Jesus Christ, “for God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him” (Col. 1:19). Follow Him in a discipling ministry that comforts, confronts, challenges, forgives, calls down judgment and offers the touch of mercy. In Him “loving kindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps. 85:10).

With that kind of theology, you won’t feel hungry an hour later.

Luther On Growth

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This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in (an alien) righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on; this is not the end but it is the road; all does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.

Martin Luther

Our Life Story in 5 Short Chapters

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Large Sinkholeby Portia Nelson

Chapter 1

I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost …I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend I don’t see it.

I fall in again.

I can’t believe I am in the same place,

but, it isn’t my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in …it’s a habit.

My eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

Chapter 4

I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it.

Chapter 5

I walk down another street.

Hallelujah!

So which chapter are you in right now?

A Meditation on Psalm 103

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worship(Take a moment to read Psalm 103.)

Perhaps more often than we are used to doing it, we should unashamedly sound forth a resounding “Hallelujah.” With unblushing faces we should shout out the blessing of our God. Whatever the deep feeling that each of us may cherish within our souls, let us realize anew that the redeemed are to say so. Christian faith is not designed to be a silent and hidden treasure. It is a jewel to be displayed for the glory of God. Our good works are to be done before men and our light is to shine, not for men’s praise, but to praise the Lord. He is the Master-workman Who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Psalm 103 is part of inspired Scripture which elicits from us the note of hilarious praise.

There are no neutral sections within the anatomy of the soul where God’s praise is absent. All that is within me: my mind, my emotions and will, and whatever faculties are lodged within God’s creative handiwork, are to burst forth in blessing to our God. We know by faith that God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His attributes. This is sufficient ground for us to express praise, but when we recount the benefits God has bestowed is there not a bubbling up of adoration and thanksgiving which nothing should restrain? When we pause to think of sins forgiven and at last all diseases healed; when we ponder the rescue from destruction and the crowning of lovingkindness and tender mercies; when we remember with satisfaction the discovered good things and the renewal of strength as the eagle gathers in it’s mountainous flight, how can we resist joining David with “Bless the Lord, O my soul”?

It is the Lord Who is the execution of righteousness and Who justifies us by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ to our account. Yes, let my soul burst forth in joyful lays in the contemplation of sovereign grace. In a world gone mad in its sin and misery, ever ripe for the judgment of God, let us be glad that God takes note of the oppressed who cry day and night for his response. In a world suffocating in its reliance on its own ability to fathom the secrets of life we treasure the revelation God has given to Moses. We shall measure our song by the law and testimonies and grasp all of Scripture which unfolds the meaning and implications of what God revealed to Moses. Let us be deeply moved to Spirit-led utterance when we see the redeeming acts of God. It is impossible for us to remain quiet in the light of sins forgiven and wrath diverted from us to His beloved Son. This is not just a momentary pardon, but a separation from our sins that eternity can never bridge.

When we think of God’s fatherly kindness and pity toward His children; when we are aware of the lifting of the curse that fell upon Adam and his posterity so that the dust has but a momentary apparent victory, we wait with exhilaration the final victory when Christ returns to call His own from their respective dust. And then we shall bless the Lord for His everlasting mercy in the atmosphere that will be free from the groans and sighs which mark our wilderness journey. The covenant keepers will be resplendent and angel voices will join the harmonious anthems of victory and blessing. At last the new world of created things will clap its hands and shake with joy as the reverberations of the saints’ triumphant songs ripple everywhere.

Yes, bless the Lord, O my soul — even now!

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