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Love as One United Body in Christ

July 15, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

When I think of Bible chapters with long lists of commands, Romans 12 is one of the first that comes to mind. Once Paul gets to verse 9, it’s one imperative after another in a relentless stream that lasts until the end of the chapter.

As students of the Bible, we must not despair or turn away from understanding and applying passages like these. In a previous post, I suggested that we must connect lists of commands to the main point of the passage. I gave one example from 1 Peter 4, and in this post I’ll provide another test case in Romans 12:9–21.

The Context of the Book of Romans

The first eleven chapters of Romans make up Paul’s longest and most robust explanation of the doctrine of justification by faith. This is the glorious gospel which has captured Paul’s heart.

These chapters represent some of Paul’s most debated and contested writings, but Paul does not see them as dry and academic. He ends this first, lengthy portion of his letter to the Romans with a doxology.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33–36)

Chapters 12–16 of Romans is Paul’s application of these doctrines to a specific church at a specific time. This is a pattern we observe in many of Paul’s letters, where the first portion is theological truths and the second portion is his effort to help people live out these truths.

Locating the Main Point

Scholars seem unsure about whether Romans 12:1–2 is a summary/introduction to chapter 12 or to the rest of the letter (chapters 12–16). In either case, these verses are critical for understanding the main point of Romans 12:1–21, which I believe is the larger context for Romans 12:9–21.

As always, the structure of a passage is key to finding the main point. While Romans 12:3–8 is a classic passage on spiritual gifts, reading it in context helps us determine Paul’s larger goal. The explicit teaching on spiritual gifts is found in Romans 12:6–8; this flows out of Paul’s instruction that the Christians in Rome should not think of themselves too highly because they are “one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5).

Notice that there is no transition between topics as Paul moves from verse 8 to verse 9. The easiest explanation is that the use of spiritual gifts was the first topic covered in the teaching about unity in Christ, and Romans 12:9–13 gives us the second topic. We can sum up this second topic using a command from verse 10: “Love one another with brotherly affection.”

Finally, Romans 12:14–21 is not a disconnected screed against revenge. This paragraph is still about the love that a united body should be demonstrating. “Live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:16) is a better summary of this final paragraph.

I take the main point of Romans 12:3–21, therefore, to be something like this: Love each other as a united body in Christ.

Commands Help Us Apply the Main Point

The commands in Romans 12:9–21 pile up quickly. I count 13 commands in first five verses (Romans 12:9–13) and 17 commands in the final eight verses (Romans 12:14–21). We will be buried by these commands if we don’t read and apply them in light of the main point.

However, the connection between this list of commands and the main point of the passage also works in the other direction. These commands help us to understand and apply the main point of the passage!

Let’s take one sentence as an example: “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9). We shouldn’t meditate on that command in a vacuum but in light of the main point. This means that I must not only abhor evil in the abstract, but I must abhor any evil that affects the body of Christ (including the evil within me). I need to love my brothers and sisters enough to help them abhor the evil that might poison our unity and to hold fast to what is good for our body instead.

In the other direction, hating what is evil and holding fast to what is good are part of the way we understand exercising love as a united body.

Conclusion

We’re never meant to apply Biblical commands extracted from their context. (This is true even for the Ten Commandments!) This makes it all the more important to fight for the main point of a passage as we work to be faithful hearers and doers of God’s word.

Intro to the Wisdom of Proverbs, Part 2

July 12, 2024 By Peter Krol

Wisdom’s counterfeits have been around from the beginning.

Wisdom has built her house;
She has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her beasts;
She has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table.
She has sent out her young women to call
From the highest places in the town,
‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’
To him who lacks sense she says,
‘Come, eat of my bread
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways, and live,
And walk in the way of insight.’

The woman Folly is loud;
She is seductive and knows nothing.
She sits at the door of her house;
She takes a seat on the highest places of the town,
Calling to those who pass by,
Who are going straight on their way,
‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’
And to him who lacks sense she says,
‘Stolen water is sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’
But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”
Proverbs 9:1-6, 13-18

Wisdom and Folly are two women who both want to have you over for dinner. One of them has done the hard work of building her house, setting the table, and sending her servants out with a personal invitation for you. The other woman is a moocher. She just sits in her doorway moaning, and the best she has to offer you is what she stole from the first lady. She’s a phony, a fake, and a counterfeit.

counterfeit dollar banknotes — Photo by Kayla Linero on Pexels.com

Wisdom’s Counterfeits

Today, there are all kinds of phony beliefs people have about wisdom, and becoming wise. The sneakiest of these are not total falsehoods, but rather half-truths. The woman Folly offers a real, albeit unsatisfying, banquet. In other words, these counterfeits sound and feel credible on the surface, but they don’t fully capture the truth of God’s wisdom. Here are 5 examples of wisdom’s counterfeits prevalent in our culture. For each one, I’ll state the common perception, identify the true part of it, and expose the foolish part of it.

1. Wisdom comes from something inherent in our status, like noble birth or wealth.

What is true about this idea? By living wisely, someone may actually be able to improve his circumstances or status (Proverbs 3:16). However, the folly surfaces when we realize that even rich people can be fools (Psalm 49:20).

2. Wisdom comes with education.

The truth here is that godly people should value good education (Proverbs 23:23). What part of this example is foolish? Those with education, degrees, titles, or letters after their names are still fools if they haven’t been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

3. Wisdom comes with experience.

The truth: experiencing or practicing something can help us grow in discernment (Hebrews 5:14). The folly: even the most experienced individual may not have learned the right lessons yet (Proverbs 27:22).

4. Wisdom comes with age.

The truth: there may be a certain wise perspective that comes with the hindsight of age (Psalm 37:25). The folly: unfortunately, some older folks can be bitter, unteachable, and more foolish than ever (Ecclesiastes 4:13).

5. Wisdom comes with leadership.

This counterfeit is particularly insidious because godly leadership is a gift from God, and also because those who are young and simple desperately want trustworthy heroes. However, Jesus often was most angry with those who used their positions of religious leadership to excuse and ignore their own incessant moral failures. The truth to hold on to is that our church leaders should be the wisest people in the community: an elder or church leader “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9). We get this backward, however, when we think leadership qualifies a person to be a wise counselor, rather than recognizing that wisdom is what qualifies a person for leadership (Psalm 119:99). Just because this person is my priest, pastor, bishop, elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher, youth leader, or parent, does not mean that everything he or she says is wise or biblical! Everyone (except for Jesus) is a sinner who makes mistakes, occasionally demonstrates unclear thinking, or simply might be too subjective to make a good decision right now. Therefore, we must be careful not to naively equate wisdom with leadership roles.

Wisdom’s Reality

What is the whole truth? How does one actually become wise? Go back and re-read Proverbs 9:1-6, 13-18 and see that the answer is this: You become wise by dining at wisdom’s table. You simply know the best place to eat! You’re hungry, and you need some carbs. You refuse to consume counterfeits; you want the real deal. Imitation crab meat might help your casserole in a pinch, but who would choose that over an authentic Maryland feast awash in Old Bay seasoning?

What does it mean to dine at wisdom’s table? “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:53-55). Jesus is wisdom’s feast. Trust in him. Feast on his goodness and mercy. Ask him for life and wisdom. Quit gorging yourself on the secret bread of reputation, pleasure, relationships, wealth, or religious activity.

In Proverbs 1 through 9, Wisdom will build her house. She’ll hew out her pillars. She’ll cook her meat and mix her wine. She’ll even set a place for you at the table. Then she’ll invite you to tuck in and enjoy the feast. The rest of Proverbs will lie before you ready for consumption. Even more so, the rest of Scripture will open up for you, a delightful spread of all manner of wonderful things. But above all, Jesus will become more real to you, his mercy will extend toward you, and his passion for your freedom and glory will captivate you. All you can do then is start munching.

Next week we’ll begin.

This post was first published in 2012.

Intro to the Wisdom of Proverbs, Part 1

July 5, 2024 By Peter Krol

I’m beginning a series of posts on the book of Proverbs, with the goal of exploring how ordinary people can grow in wisdom. By “ordinary people” I mean people who like to hang out with friends, people who have families, people who work jobs and have things to take care of, people who enjoy hobbies and travel and music and sports and tasty food. By “wisdom” I’m referring to the extraordinary things that happen when a person loves Jesus a lot and wants to be like him.

close up photography of owl — Photo by Jean van der Meulen on Pexels.com

Why am I writing these posts? Because I, like you, think of myself as being one of the most ordinary people on the planet. Although I am a full-time missionary with a campus ministry called DiscipleMakers, and that might make some people think of me as being somewhat abnormal, I still feel like I’m someone who is as close to ordinary as you can get. I’m not very tall. I have a mortgage payment. I can’t afford to hire someone to mow my lawn for me, even though I totally wish I could. My children squabble over whose turn it is to press the button on the elevator. I like double cheeseburgers. If you want to hear about someone who is not ordinary, someone who is truly superior and extraordinary in many ways, then I’ll tell you about my wife. But I won’t do that now, because I’ll have plenty of opportunity to brag about her in future posts.

Many wise people have written excellent works about Proverbs. I haven’t read them all, but most of the ones I’ve read examine Proverbs with a topical approach. They discuss things like how we should handle our money, or what sort of friend we should be to others, or how to speak words that build up and don’t tear down. These books, when done well, are simply terrific, and I highly recommend them to you.[1] Other books that take more of an expositional (or verse-by-verse) approach tend to be pretty technical commentaries and are thus somewhat inaccessible to ordinary people.

My intention in this series of posts is to lay a foundation for a life of wisdom by examining Proverbs chapters 1 through 9 section-by-section. Proverbs is one part of the Word of God, and thus is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training us in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). Proverbs 1-9 is one long introduction to the book of Proverbs, and it intentionally explains how wisdom works. What is wisdom? Why should I care about it? How do I get it? What will keep me from being wise? Overall, how do I make sense of the details about topics like money, friends, and speech in later chapters? And while a topical approach makes sense with the seemingly scattered details in chapters 10 through 31, a section-by-section approach to chapters 1 through 9 is warranted by the organized presentation of the material; therefore, in each section, I will seek to capture the main point, trace out the author’s flow of thought, and draw concrete applications to our day.

Above all, the entire Bible, including Proverbs, is about Jesus: his death for sinners, his resurrection to glory, his offer of forgiveness to all who repent, and his mission to proclaim this great message to every nation (Luke 24:46-47). So, as we study Proverbs, we’ll do our best to focus on Jesus.

This post was first published in 2012.

[1] One example is Anthony Selvaggio, A Proverbs Driven Life (Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2008). Another is Dan Phillips’s excellent work, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs (The Woodlands, TX: Kress Biblical Resources, 2011). [Amazon affiliate links will provide a small commission to this blog at no extra cost to yourself.]

Keep Loving One Another Earnestly

July 1, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Priscilla Du Preez (2018), public domain

It can be overwhelming to read a list of commands in a passage of Scripture, especially if you want to apply that passage. What is a Bible student to do?

In my last post, I advised that the main point should be our guide—not just to interpretation, but to application as well. So when we encounter a long list of commands, our application should start with the author’s main point.

This can all sound very abstract without a concrete example, so today I will work through a passage in 1 Peter 4 which contains one of these lists.

The Commands

The excerpt I have in mind is 1 Peter 4:7–11. Here is the passage with the imperatives (commands) highlighted in boldface.

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:7–11)

We have five commands in four verses. There are no new commands in verse 11, and I think “be self-controlled” and “be sober-minded” are two separate (but related) commands in verse 7. Though we do not see quite the density of commands here as we did in 1 Thess 5:12–22, Peter is not shy about stacking commands on top of each other.

The Main Point

In order to locate the main point of this passage, we need to know what we mean by “this passage.” What’s the structure here, and what is the larger portion of this letter into which this passage fits?

Some scholars consider 1 Peter 2:11–4:11 to be one large section. Some evidence for this is the use of “beloved” (to begin a section) in 1 Pet 2:11 and 1 Pet 4:12. Additionally, Peter writes about glorifying God in 1 Pet 2:12 and 1 Pet 4:11, so these may form bookends (an inclusio) for this section.

With this structure, 1 Pet 2:11–12 serves as a summary of the passage, given at the outset. Then our verses, which are largely about loving one another (1 Pet 4:8), should be read in light of Peter’s exhortations to “abstain from the passions of the flesh” and “keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable.” We can see the link from our paragraph to the beginning of the larger passage in 1 Pet 4:7—the references to self-control and sober-mindedness fit in nicely with the command to abstain from fleshly passions.

I take 1 Pet 4:8 to be the main point of this paragraph: “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Connecting Commands to the Main Point

If 1 Pet 4:8 serves as the main point of 1 Pet 4:7–11, then the commands which show up in verses 9–11 are explaining exactly what “loving one another” should look like in the readers’ situations.

Loving one another—in a way that resists the passions of the flesh and which will cause unbelievers to glorify God—means showing hospitality without grumbling (1 Pet 4:9). It also means using God’s gifts (whether speaking or serving) to serve each other as stewards of God’s grace.

Revisiting the List of Commands

Let’s revisit the list of commands presented at the beginning of this post. One of the five commands is our main point (“keep loving one another”).

The other commands give focus and nuance to help us understand the command to love one another. As we learn to be self-controlled and sober-minded, this is not just for the sake of our prayers—it is also to clear the way to love. We love one another by showing hospitality and serving one another as stewards of God’s grace.

Unrequited Hope and Application

May 24, 2024 By Peter Krol

A firm grasp on the natural human longing for a better world will take your application skills to the next level.

person hand reaching body of water — Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

Unrequited Hope

As we grow to love our neighbors as ourselves, this world becomes a better place to live. Good but not great. Finer but not final. A place of progress but not perfection. We long for a better world.

When God created the heavens and earth, all was very good (Gen 1:31). But man sought out many schemes (Eccl 7:29), and the consequence was a curse upon the ground (Gen 3:17). Now the human experience is one full of sickness (Ps 6:2), waiting (Ps 6:3), injustice (Ps 10), poverty (Ps 12:5), abandonment (Ps 13), corruption (Ps 14:3), abuse (Ps 22), grief (Ps 31:9), sin (Ps 51), fear (Ps 55:5), violence (Ps 59), sleeplessness (Ps 77:1-4), war (Ps 79:3-4), depression (Ps 88), chronic suffering (Ps 88:15), weakness (Ps 109:24), interpersonal conflict (Ps 120:2), disrespect (Ps 123:4), and loneliness (Ps 142:4)¹—to name just a few of the things we now suffer.

When God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden, he did it so that they would not live forever as sinners (Gen 3:22-23). In that action was the shadow of a hint of a hope of resurrection. If they would die, it means they could live again, right? So prophets such as Isaiah foresaw a new world to come, a new creation to replace the fallen creation (Isaiah 65:17-25). A place where lives would be long and full, no person would labor in vain, and weeping and distress would never be heard.

When Jesus came along, he spoke often about how the age to come was breaking into the present through his own person and work (Mark 1:15, Luke 17:20-21). But that presented a tension with the reality that the age to come was … still a time to come. A time when those hearing Jesus’ words would get to dine with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matt 8:11). A time when a faithful servant would receive their full reward (Matt 6:20). A place of joy that the persevering steward would enter (Matt 25:21). Jesus associates this new age with both bodily resurrection (John 5:28-29) and a new, regenerated world (Matt 19:28-29).

Paul speaks of a new creation, where the sons of God are fully revealed and suffering is replaced by disproportional glory (Rom 8:18-25). Peter motivates us to wait for the new heavens and new earth—the place where sin and suffering are gone and only righteousness is left (2 Peter 3:11-13). And John caps off our hope with his glorious picture of the dwelling place of God with men. A place that is already here but also not yet fully here. A place without tears, pain, or death (Rev 21:1-4).

Whatever we face now is but a photo-negative of what those who have trusted Christ will face then. And does not every human heart long for such a place? Isn’t that what people seek whenever they expose abuses of power, contribute aid to the needy, and rectify injustice? We all want to live in a world that is better than the one in which we now reside. And the Bible holds out much hope that such a place is coming. Just hold fast to the grace of God, persevere through these light and momentary afflictions, and testify persistently to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Help with Application

So how does this doctrine help us to improve at applying the Bible?

In nearly any text, you can ask “unrequited hope” questions with respect to the author’s main point:

What would the world look like if everyone trusted and obeyed what the Lord declares in this text?
What hope do we have for that to take place in this world?
What hope do we have for that to take place in the next world?
Wouldn’t it be great to finally get to such a place?
How does this text highlight your pain, your suffering, or your sin?
What can you do now to prepare for a world without such things?
How does your coming resurrection in the new world motivate you to endure further hardship here and now?
What can you give up now, knowing you’ll have an eternity to enjoy it with the Lord Jesus?
If you do not trust Jesus, what hope can you have for the present world to ever act in righteousness and justice?
For the unbeliever: What has been the best time of your life? What if that is the best it will ever get for you? How does Jesus offer you far more than you can imagine?
In light of the new creation Jesus will bring, what is there left for you to be afraid of?

I am intentionally sidestepping matters of creation, gifts, strengths, law, grace, salvation, and sanctification when I ask these questions. That’s not because such matters are unimportant, but only because the focus of this post is on the natural human longing for a better world.

Sometimes, robust reflection on our hope for the future will give us ample material to speak into the issues of our age: lament, oppression, injustice, sin, suffering, tragedy, misery, perseverance, joy, hope, satisfaction—to name just a few.

Deepen your grasp of the natural human longing for a better world, and you’ll take your application skills to the next level.

This list of human experiences from the psalms was collated by my friend Clint Watkins in his wonderful book Just Be Honest: How to Worship Through Tears and Pray Without Pretending (affiliate link). ↩︎

Diving Deep on Hebrews 3:13—How Should We “Exhort One Another?”

May 20, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

A hard heart is poisonous, but there is an antidote. The author of Hebrews gives a concise prescription: Christians are to exhort one another, every day (Hebrews 3:13).

In this article, we will try to make this command specific.

Application Within Context

We preach context regularly here at Knowable Word, and there is no exception when it comes to application. Application should flow from the main point of the passage, but we should avoid writing down that main point and then staring dreamily out the window to apply the text.

Consider our passage (Hebrews 3:7–19) as an example. In my view, the main point is that Christians should exhort one another every day to avoid being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (This is only a restatement of Hebrews 3:13.) It would be a mistake to focus on the word “exhort” and then go off on a word-study rabbit trail to frame my application. Here, as in so many places, it is not just the imperative verb that is important. The context gives the word meaning.

Let’s first look to the letter as a whole. My co-blogger Peter has written an interpretive overview of Hebrews in which he argues for this main point of the book: God has spoken by His Son whose work is finished. There is a stay-the-course nature to the tone of this letter—the author does not want his readers to give up Christ.

In the more immediate context (Hebrews 3:1–6), Jesus is contrasted with Moses. Jesus is worthy of far greater glory that Moses (Hebrews 3:3), so it doesn’t make sense to turn from Jesus to Moses and his commands.

When we turn to the ultra-local context, this Christian exhortation is meant to prevent evil, unbelieving hearts (Hebrews 3:12) and to combat the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). Our exhortation is rooted in the fact that we share in Christ, holding our confidence firm to the end (Hebrews 3:14). Our efforts in this regard should aim to pull our friends back from disobedience and unbelief (Hebrews 3:18–19).

Shades of Meaning for our Application

If we are to exhort one another in the ways that Hebrews indicates, an analogy and some examples might help.

When thinking about this passage, I’ve pictured a marathon runner putting one foot after the other, drenched in sweat and with pain on his face. I can see his struggle between the easy option (giving up) and the hard one (finishing the race). How will I exhort him to help him finish the race?

Sometimes exhortation will look like encouragement, speaking timely truths to give a friend courage. Exhortation might also look like challenge or rebuke—if a runner is heading off course we should sound a warning. To exhort might mean reminding someone of their calling, identity, and the precious promises that are theirs in Christ. Often, to continue the analogy, exhorting will mean running next to a friend, to speak and to listen, to comfort and to point in the right direction.

While exhortation is likely part of a sermon in weekly corporate worship, it cannot be limited to that. This is to happen within our every-day relationships.

We need others to help us identify and resist false teaching, to point out temptations, and to remind us of the truth. We need friends to tell us what the finish line is like and why crossing it is so much better than ducking out of the race early.

What this Application Presupposes

In thinking through the command to exhort one another, I noticed three things this presupposes.

First, this command is given to a community of Christians, and there is a clear community responsibility. There should not be in “any of you” an unbelieving heart, and “none of you” should be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. So just as I am to exhort others, I am one who needs exhortation myself.

Additionally, this command presupposes strong relationships that can bear the weight of exhortation. This sort of strong urging is not something we can do for acquaintances. In order to encourage, challenge, and edify a brother, we need to know in what way that brother needs to be encouraged, challenged, or edified. These sorts of close, vulnerable relationships are difficult to form and difficult to maintain.

Finally, the content of my exhortation should be what God has spoken in his Son. My words and thoughts alone are not sufficient to prevent a hard heart.

Five Questions

Because application is so personal, I rarely suggest specific application points for others (unless I know them really well). Instead, here are some questions that flow out of our present considerations.

Who are some people you could exhort? From whom would you welcome exhortation? If no one comes to mind for either question, how can you build these sorts of relationships?
What can you do to make your church a place where mutual exhortation is welcomed?
In what ways are you tempted to turn away from obeying God? How could you share these with a trusted friend?
Where do you lack courage in your Christian life? How could you share this need for encouragement with someone else?
What passages of Scripture (or general biblical truths) would be most appropriate for exhorting one of your specific friends?

The Antidote to a Hard Heart

May 6, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

National Cancer Institute (2020), public domain

In the Bible, having a “hard heart” puts a person in dangerous company. At various places, authors in Scripture use this phrase to indicate a lack of compassion (Mark 3:5), a refusal to repent (2 Chronicles 36:13), and a destiny full of the wrath of God (Romans 2:5). One of the characters in Scripture most often described as hardening his heart is the Egyptian Pharaoh who faced off with Moses (Exodus 8:32).

So, when an epistle tells us how to avoid or prevent a hard heart, we should take notice!

Beware of a Hard Heart

The subject of Hebrews 3:7–19 must be related to obedience, hearts, and hardening. The word “hard” or “harden” occurs three times, “heart” occurs four times, and there are four references to sin, disobedience, or unbelief.

The author of this letter uses as an example the generation of Israelites who exited Egypt with Moses. But this is not a positive example! Christians are NOT to be like them (Hebrews 3:8,15).

A hard heart is not just unacceptable in polite society. It has dire, terrible consequences, including the wrath of God.

Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’ (Hebrews 3:10–11)

A hard, unbelieving heart will lead people to “fall away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). God will deny them access to his rest. There are eternal consequences to a hard heart.

Hard Hearts and Sin

A hard heart is dangerous because it leads to sin. It may indicate blindness to or apathy about obeying and loving the Lord.

In this passage, the author quotes Psalm 95:7–11, which refers to Exodus 17:1–7. The Israelites, despite having just seen God deliver them miraculously from the Egyptians, “quarreled” with Moses and complained about a lack of water. They accused Moses of taking them out of Egypt only to kill them in the wilderness. Moses thought the people might stone him, and the people questioned God’s promise to go with them, asking “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Hebrews 3:16–19 emphasizes that hard hearts lead to sin. Those Israelites “rebelled,” “sinned,” and were “disobedient.” They were unable to enter God’s rest because of unbelief.

A Powerful Antidote

The author of Hebrews does not want this end for those reading his words.

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (Hebrews 3:12–14)

How do we prevent an evil, unbelieving heart? How do we avoid falling away from the living God? How do we prevent a hardening by the deceitfulness of sin? We exhort one another, every day.

A person filled with a certain kind of zeal might seize on the word “exhort” and go hunting for sin in other Christians’ lives. But exhort is not quite the same as rebuke, though an exhortation might include rebuke. This command is written to communities of Christians, and these brotherly and sisterly exhortations are to be grounded in knowledge of one another. The best exhortation contains exactly the timely encouragement, challenge, chastisement, and pointers to the promises of God that the other person needs. An obvious but challenging implication of this is that we must get to know each other well enough to know what exhortation is fitting.

Every Day

A person might be able to get behind the idea of occasional exhortation of their Christian friends. But the author of Hebrews is insistent that this happen frequently—”every day,” and “as long as it is called ‘today.'”

Why do we need such regular exhortation? Because we forget! As we have seen above, the same people who crossed on dry ground through the Red Sea accused God of abandoning them a short time later. We are fallible and finite and prone to forgetfulness, so we need to be spurred on by our brothers and sisters.

We Share in Christ

As we remind each other who God is and what he has done, we help to prevent the evil, unbelieving hearts that are ready to sprout within us. This is a vital community effort.

We “have come to share in Christ,” after all. He is not just the Savior and Lord and Redeemer of individuals, but of a collective people. As we share in Christ, we belong to one another. We have this privilege and vital responsibility to speak life-giving truths to our brothers and sisters.

The Lord Shows Compassion as a Father Shows Compassion

April 22, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Much of what we learn as humans happens through comparison and analogy. The biblical authors use this reasoning in several places; see Colossians 3:12–13 for an example where Paul exhorts his readers to forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven. Christians can understand their responsibility by looking to what God has done.

The Bible runs the comparison game in the other direction too, with some deep and surprising results. Instead of exhorting people to act more like God, we learn what God is like by looking at people! In this article I’ll discuss one example found in Psalm 103.

Describing the Lord’s Steadfast Love

Psalm 103 is majestic, and I’ve written about it before. As I was re-memorizing it recently, David’s logic gave me a start.

In one of the center passages of this psalm, David states a common, foundational truth about God.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Ps 103:8)

In verses 9–14 David then explains what these descriptions of God mean. That passage contains these memorable verses.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
    he remembers that we are dust. (Ps 103:11–14)

Part of God’s steadfast love is his compassion, and this compassion is compared to a father’s for his children. I knew that, but I hadn’t observed the text carefully enough to feel the full impact.

A Supreme Example

When David wants to describe how great God’s steadfast love is toward those who fear him, he looks at how high the heavens are above the earth. Who could calculate that height?

When David wants to explain how far away God removes our transgressions from us, he reaches for the distance between the east and the west. Again, an immense (infinite?) distance!

Then, when David wants to illustrate how compassionate God is, he turns to fathers. In the context of the comparisons David is using, this means that the compassion of a father toward his children is a supreme example of compassion. Dare we say it: David couldn’t reach for a greater earthly example!

This text has turned me inside out over the past few weeks, mainly because I see how lacking I am in compassion toward my children. How can it be that God describes himself this way?

A Baked-in Assumption

What we have in Psalm 103:13 is evidence of an assumption made by a biblical author. This is not an exhortation for fathers to be compassionate; instead, it is an argument based on what good fathers are like.

So, any father looking for Biblical guidance won’t find a command here. Rather, David teaches about God relying on how God has made fathers. This means that fathers who have the indwelling Holy Spirit should be the best examples of all.

Note that we are not drawing this application from the main point of this psalm. And we do not want to build any theological pyramids on minor or tenuous conclusions from Scripture. We must tread carefully, meditating on and applying an author’s main point first.

However, it is hardly shocking to say that Christians in general and fathers in specific should be compassionate. This is part of what it means to be one of God’s people (Col 3:12).

How to be Compassionate

I’ll end this brief observation by noting that David offers additional help to those who wish to grow in compassion. We only need to read the next verse.

For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust. (Ps 103:14)

Let’s follow the grammar. The Lord’s compassion is connected by the word “for” to his knowledge of us. Because he knows our frame, he shows compassion to those who fear him.

From this I conclude that one of the best ways I can grow in compassion for my children is to know them better. As a loving father, I can make a study of them, learning their strengths and weaknesses, their fears and joys, their victories and vulnerabilities.

Like me, my children are dust. But the particular kind of dust they are matters, and the more I understand their frame, the better I will be able to show them a proper, fatherly compassion.

Psalm 104: Praise the Lord Who Governs the Earth and Cares for His Creatures

April 8, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Some of the psalms stick in our memories because of their vivid imagery or their just right phrasing of a meditation or longing of our heart. The psalms which have been set to recognizable music are especially memorable.

But we don’t always study those psalms which move us deeply. Today we’ll take a close look at Psalm 104.

Yahweh is Great

After exhorting his soul to “bless the Lord,” the psalmist begins his prayer with one of its main themes: “O Lord my God, you are very great!” (Psalm 104:1) The rest of this stanza—and the rest of the psalm—provide his reasoning.

The Lord is “clothed with splendor and majesty,” shining like light. He is also majestic in the way he governs heaven: riding on the clouds and the winds, putting them to work for his purposes (Psalm 104:1–4).

God Governs the Waters

The Lord is worthy of blessing because “he set the earth on its foundations” (Psalm 104:5). Verses 5–9 of this psalm describe the way God commands the waters on the earth, either at creation or after the flood (or both?). Regardless, God is the one who rebukes, appoints, and sets a boundary for the waters, “that they might not again cover the earth” (Psalm 104:9).

God Waters the Earth and his Creatures

God not only controls the oceans and seas, he directs each spring and stream. In verses 10–13 we see that God wants his creatures and even the mountains to be well-watered and satisfied. “Every beast of the field” drinks from God’s springs; the birds find shelter in the trees and sing a song of contentment (Psalm 104:11–12). God is the one who “water[s] the mountains” and “the earth is satisfied” with his provision (Psalm 104:13).

God Provides so Man can Provide

God governs the water so the earth will produce good things. The livestock benefit from the grass growing and man uses the plants to “bring forth food from the earth” (Psalm 104:14). God provides for necessities and more: wine, oil, and bread are given to “gladden” and “strengthen” his people (Psalm 104:15).

God Provides Shelter for Animals

God plants and waters the trees (Psalm 104:16). One of the reasons? So that the birds would have a place to build their nests (Psalm 104:17). But God cares for other animals too—the wild goats and the rock badgers find refuge in the mountains and among the rocks (Psalm 104:18).

God Governs the Seasons, the Sun, and the Moon

In this psalm, we get a tour of the earth and the heavens, all the different elements of creation that God’s hand controls. God made the moon and he makes darkness (Psalm 104:19–20). The darkness of night provides a time for “the beasts of the forest” to hunt for food (Psalm 104:20). In their roaring and in their retreat, the young lions are “seeking their food from God” (Psalm 104:21). The day and night are even markers for the labor of humanity (Psalm 104:23).

Earth is Full of Creatures Dependent on God

Verses 24–30 are the heart of the psalm. The psalmist takes another survey of all earth’s creatures and concludes that God is worthy of praise. God’s works are “manifold” and full of “wisdom.” “The earth is full of your creatures” (Psalm 104:24).

For the first time in the psalm, the writer turns to the sea, “great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great” (Psalm 104:25). God deserves praise for the ships in the sea as well as Leviathan (Psalm 104:26).

Verses 27–30 show just how dependent the creatures of earth are on their creator. They look to God for food, and they are filled with good things when he opens his hand (Psalm 104:27–28). But God can also hide his face or take away their breath, returning them to the dust (Psalm 104:29). In contrast, God renews the face of the ground as he sends forth his Spirit to create (Psalm 104:30).

Responding to the Great Creator and Ruler

The final five verses of this psalm represent the psalmist’s response to meditating on God’s creative, sovereign rule. He is to be praised!

The psalmist cries for God’s glory to endure forever (Psalm 104:31) even as we read what this glory involves: God can make the earth tremble and the mountains smoke by his glance and touch (Psalm 104:32). It is appropriate to sing long and loud to this God, to rejoice in the Lord (Psalm 104:33–34).

The final verse of the psalm contains a cry for the elimination of sinners and the wicked (Psalm 104:35). This may seem like a tangent, but the psalmist connects the Lord’s holiness to his ruling power and praiseworthiness. Such a powerful and pure God cannot dwell with sinners! They must surely be “consumed.”

As Christians, we confess that Christ is all and that the entire Bible points to him. Here is another such instance. How will sinners (and sin) be eliminated from the earth? Christ will come; the Spirit will come; the Father will transform sinners into glad and grateful children.

If you’re anything like me, the last line of this psalm is easy to say with the psalmist: “Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 104:35)

10 Truths About Jesus from Hebrews 3

March 11, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

The first six verses of Hebrews 3 are bursting with truths about Jesus. In this article, I will hang these truths in frames on the wall, as it were, so that we might walk around and consider them. Like the author of Hebrews, I want us to see how glorious Jesus is so that we might respond by listening and holding fast to him.

Consider Jesus

That word “consider” in the opening paragraph was no accident. In Hebrews 3:1–6, there is only one command: Consider Jesus.

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. (Hebrews 3:1–2)

In the verses that follow, the author gives us much to consider!

Thus far in the epistle, the author has been arguing that because Jesus is superior to the angels, readers/hearers should “pay much closer attention” to what they have heard from Jesus (Hebrews 2:1). What the angels declared was good and reliable, but now Jesus has accomplished “a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3).

In chapter 3, the author compares Jesus to Moses, providing many reasons for these first century Jews to endure to the end as Christians.

Ten Truths

In my observation of Hebrews 3, these ten truths about Jesus jumped out. (Some of what I’ve included also requires interpretation, but that is to be expected!)

Jesus is the apostle of our confession (verse 1)

We think about Jesus having apostles much more than him being an apostle. But “apostle” just means “one who is sent out,” which is an apt description of Jesus.

Jesus is the high priest of our confession (verse 1)

The author of Hebrews spends a lot of time on this subject, introducing Jesus as a high priest a few verses earlier (Hebrews 2:17). Note the way these two offices—apostle and high priest—reference the new and old covenants.

Jesus is the apostle and high priest (verse 1)

I’m not repeating myself here, I’m only drawing attention to the singularity of Jesus. There were many apostles, and there were many high priests (each one was replaced when they retired or died), but Jesus is the only one who occupies both offices.

Jesus was faithful to God (verse 2)

All that the Father called Jesus to do, Jesus did. He did not duck a single responsibility or duty.

God appointed Jesus (verse 2)

The one Jesus was faithful to was the one who appointed Jesus to his work.

Jesus’s faithfulness was like Moses’s faithfulness (verse 2)

Moses was a man who spoke with God with a frequency and intimacy unlike anyone else in the Old Testament. Moses was not perfect, but he was faithful, and Jesus’s faithfulness was like that.

Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses (verse 3)

Despite their faithfulness being comparable (to a degree), the glory they are due differs dramatically. Jesus is far more glorious.

In terms of glory, Jesus is like the builder and Moses is like the house (verse 3)

How much more glorious is Jesus than Moses? Well, we do not praise a building for its design, beauty, or longevity, do we? No, we praise the architect and builder! Praising the building would be just as misguided as preferring Moses.

Jesus is the Christ (verse 6)

Note how the author had been referring to “Jesus” in verses 1–3 but then calls him “Christ” in verse 6. Titles are never used by accident, and we should hear the author emphasizing that Jesus is the Messiah. That would be powerful for Jewish Christians.

Jesus is faithful over God’s house as a son (verse 6)

The contrast in verses 5–6 is masterful.

Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:5–6)

Moses was faithful, but Jesus is faithful. Moses was faithful in God’s house, but Jesus is faithful over God’s house. Moses was faithful as a servant, but Jesus is faithful as a son.

Listen to Jesus

At first glance, this contrast appears to be missing one ingredient. Moses’s task as a servant is stated, “to testify to the things that were to be spoken later.” Where is the corresponding task of Jesus?

It is included in Moses’s job description! Moses pointed to the one who would speak later—Jesus, the Messiah, the son who is over God’s house. And we are his house!

Jesus is the one who speaks to us; this is a key to understanding the entire letter and is introduced in Hebrews 1:2. And if we follow the author’s logic, the implication is clear. If faithful Moses pointed to Jesus as the one worthy of our attention, respecting this great prophet of old means following Jesus of Nazareth now.

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