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Big Bible Words: Righteousness

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Silvia & Frank (2017), public domain

Righteousness is among the most important words in the Bible. It’s essential for understanding who God is, who he loves, and how we pursue and obey him.

  • “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.” (Psalm 7:11)
  • “The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.” (Psalm 146:8)
  • “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6)
  • “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

A Simple Definition

We can understand righteousness by way of contrast. The Scriptures consistently use “righteous” and “wicked” as opposites.

  • “…for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1:6)
  • “Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked.” (Psalm 37:16)
  • “The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.” (Proverbs 3:33)
  • “The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.” (Proverbs 10:30)

The word righteousness contains the word “right,” and that’s no accident. The ideas of right-ness and justice are wrapped up in this big word.

Justice always has a standard in mind. Right—according to whom? Just—by what definition? The concept of justice immediately invokes a law.

So to be righteous is to be conformed to all the demands of the law. To have righteousness is to have right standing with respect to the law.

God is righteous because he meets his own standards. He is the chief example of fulfilling the demands of the law. And those who want to be blessed by God must also be righteous.

Righteousness From Another

The Bible often speaks of righteousness from another. A law-breaker receives righteousness from a law-keeper.

  • “And [Abram] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)
  • “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…” (Romans 4:3–5)
  • “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)
  • “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…” (Phil 3:8–9)

As we explore the meaning of righteousness, we dive to the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ! God gives the righteousness he requires. He makes many righteous. Through faith, the righteousness of Jesus is given to God’s people.

For the Kids

Because the Bible is for all of God’s people, we should be able to explain every concept to the youngest in our churches and families. How should we explain righteousness?

Since children understand obedience and disobedience from their earliest years, I take this approach. Righteousness is when someone loves and obeys perfectly.

When we read the Bible with our children and talk about righteousness, the doors are open wide to talk about sin, substitution, and salvation.

(Note: I’m aware that many books have been written trying to define “righteousness” in the Bible. Meaning always depends on context, and I’m not trying to be comprehensive. I hope this brief post can serve as a starting point.)

This was originally published in 2017.

A Plea for Plain Language

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When the apostles wrote the New Testament books, they chose to use not the older, complex dialect of Classical (Attic) Greek but the plain language of the common people (Koine). It was imperative that the gospel of the kingdom be preached to unholy Gentiles and unjustified sinners. But they didn’t use sentences that came across as “It was imperative that the gospel of the kingdom be preached to unholy Gentiles and unjustified sinners.” No, they wrote in sentences that would have sounded more like: “We must tell those who are far from God the good news about what Jesus has done to make us members of his new community.”

Sure, they made up words from time to time (such as Paul’s “hyper-conquerors” in Rom 8:37). But what they manifestly did not do was speak in a special code or theologically technical jargon, despite how the generations since their time has made use of their language.

For this reason, it is fully appropriate for later generations to revise the terminology of earlier generations. Not to sneakily alter the substance of what’s being said, but to make that substance more clear to a new generation of men and women who need to hear it. So a few centuries ago, Christians commonly spoke about things like charity, affections, and conversation. Since those same words have far different usage now than they had back then, our generation now uses the updated but corresponding terms love, attitude or will, and behavior.

The use of contemporary language is not the same thing as “dumbing down” the Scriptures. Nor is it a capitulation to anti-intellectualism. It is primarily an attempt to be clear and persuasive. As sociologist Rodney Stark wrote in his introduction to Discovering God, “I have tried to write everything in plain English. I do not concede that this in any way compromises sophistication. What it does do is prevent me from hiding incomprehension behind a screen of academic jargon.”

Along these lines, I heard Australian preacher Phillip Jensen about 8 years ago, begging pastors and Bible translators to stop using the word “faith,” on the ground that the word no longer means what it used to mean. To the average speaker of English today, “faith” comes with presumptions of blindness, jumping to conclusions, and irresponsible religious assertions. Jensen proposed we begin using the word “trust” instead, which means something much closer to what the Bible is getting at.

And ever since, I have largely taken Jensen up on this counsel. I’ve done what I could to make best use of the word “trust”—in place of “faith”—in ordinary conversation with ordinary people. I confess that “justification by trust” doesn’t have the same ring to it as “justification by faith,” but perhaps “justification” is another one of those big Bible words that could be made plainer.

Earlier this month, Greg Koukl made the same point I heard Phillip Jensen make 8 years ago. In his article “It’s Time to Forget ‘Faith,'” Koukl argues that:

It’s virtually impossible nowadays to use the word without people subconsciously adding “blind” or “leap of” as modifiers. Indeed, some find it impossible to understand faith in any other way since, in their minds, irrationality is central to any definition of religious faith. For example:

  • “Faith is the purposeful suspension of critical thinking.”
  • “Faith is convincing yourself to believe something with absolutely no evidence.”
  • “Faith is complete confidence in someone or something despite the absence of proof.”
  • “If there were evidence for faith, why would you need to call it faith? We use the word ‘faith’ when there isn’t any evidence.”
  • “This is why religions are called ‘faiths,’ because you believe something in the absence of evidence.”
  • “If you feel you have to prove yourself, you don’t have faith.”
  • “Asking for proof is a sin because it shows we don’t have faith.”

These are the understandings of faith advanced by such notables as Bill Maher, Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and a host of others. If you persist in using “faith” to describe your own spiritual convictions, that’s the confusion you’re up against.

That’s what they mean when they talk about religious faith. Is this what you mean when you use that word? I hope not, since that isn’t what the biblical authors meant.

Koukl’s terrific article is worth your consideration. How can we use plain language that makes sense to people today to proclaim the same message the apostles handed down to us?

Check it out!

Big Bible Words: Atonement

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Stephen McGrath (2009), Creative Commons

Stephen McGrath (2009), Creative Commons

I have a dream. Not a compelling-vision-for-the-future sort of dream, but a sleeping-in-my-bed sort of dream. And I have this dream often.

In my dream, I am my current self (married with children), but I’m also a full-time college student. The semester is half-over, and I come to realize that I’ve forgotten a class. I’ve been faithfully attending most classes, but there’s one course I completely forgot. I never went to class. I haven’t taken any exams. I haven’t read the books or written the papers.

And I missed the deadline for dropping the class. So I’m now stuck with an abysmal grade.

But that’s not all. In my dream, when I discover the neglected class, I try to rectify the situation by attending the next scheduled class period. And when I arrive, something else comes to my attention.

I’m wearing nothing but my underwear.

We Need Covering

I cannot overstate the relief I feel when I wake from this dream. Few things are worse than an I’m-neglecting-significant-areas-of-responsibility dream. One such thing is an I’m-utterly-exposed-and-can-do-nothing-about-it dream.

When Adam and his wife ate the forbidden fruit, they knew their guilt and felt exposed. Their gut instinct was to cover up. So they tried fig-leaf briefs, and they ran and hid (Gen 3:7-9).

The Lord exposed them further so he could help. He coaxed them out from hiding and talked through the problem. He promised to deliver them. Then he covered them. He took their pitiful fruits of the loom and replaced them with his own fur and leather body suits (Gen 3:21). He uncovered their coverings that couldn’t cover and covered them instead with coverings that truly covered.

And so began humanity’s need for divine covering. Because of sin, exposure brings shame. But the Bible paints picture after picture of God’s merciful act of covering.

  • Noah’s sons cover the shame of their senseless father (Gen 9:23).
  • God allows Moses to see his glory, but only after covering him with a protective hand (Ex 33:20-23).
  • David didn’t cover his own sin (Ps 32:5) but trusted God to cover it for him (Ps 5:12, 27:5, 32:1).
  • One mark of a loving friend is the covering of offenses (Prov 10:12, 17:9).
  • Those who reject Christ will feel so exposed that they’ll seek any covering they can find (Luke 23:30, Rev 6:16).
  • True believers are clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27).

The primary Old Testament word for this covering is “atonement.” Can you explain atonement in plain language?

We Need Atonement

The Old Testament uses the term “atonement” often to describe the covering of sin and shame or guilt. Sometimes we use “atonement” interchangeably with “reconciliation” or “restoration,” but its primary meaning has to do with covering (though reconciliation is the general result of atonement).

The best place to look at the concept is Leviticus 16, which describes the annual Day of Atonement.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest would take a bull to “make atonement” for himself. He would kill the bull for his own sin (Lev 16:11), burn incense (Lev 16:12-13), and splash the bull’s blood on the ark of the covenant in the most private room of the tabernacle (Lev 16:14). The incense would create a cloud to cover the ark, so the priest would not be exposed and die (Lev 16:13). The splashed bull’s blood substituted for the priest’s own blood. When there’s sin, someone must die. But the priest was covered.

Then the purified priest would get two goats. One would live; one would die.

The dead goat would also be taken into the private chamber and splashed on the ark of the covenant (Lev 16:15). Then the priest would go back to the outer room and splash the blood on the altar where he burned the incense (Lev 16:16-19). This ceremony would “make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel” (Lev 16:16). With everything sufficiently covered, he’s ready for the live goat.

He’d put his hands on the live goat and confess all the sins of Israel. This goat, figuratively covered with the sins of all the people, would be taken out and set free in the wilderness (Lev 16:20-22).

All throughout, the priest must be very careful about his clothes (Lev 16:4, 23-24). The priest must not be improperly covered.

What is the point?

  • Atonement involves the covering of our impurity so we can be reconciled to God.
  • This covering must come from God and not ourselves. Even the Old Testament priests needed to be covered themselves before they could help to cover the people.
  • This covering requires a substitute.
  • This substitute must be both dead and alive (thus requiring two goats).

Jesus Our Atonement

All these things teach us about Jesus. Jesus came and took our place. He both died and was raised. He now covers us with his righteousness so our sin won’t ever be held against us.

And he didn’t need his own covering (Heb 7:27). No, he was stripped naked so he could provide our covering (John 19:23-24).

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:19-22). And those who have been covered by Christ’s blood wait for him to return and bring their final salvation (Heb 9:27-28).

Trust in Jesus, and his promise of atonement is: “I’ve got you covered.”

Big Bible Words: Covenant

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handshake

Photo by rawpixel.com, public domain

One of the main ways God relates to his people in the Bible is by means of a covenant. But this isn’t a word we use in daily conversation. What does this word mean?

The Heart of Relationship

The word “covenant” appears in many of the most famous passages of the Bible. As we read these passages, and as younger Christians ask us about these passages, we need to have an explanation ready.

“Covenant” is at the center of serious relationships in the Bible. Here are a few examples.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:8–11)

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. (Genesis 17:7)

Covenants in the Bible are not always between God and an Old Testament figure. We read about covenants between Abraham and Abimelech (Gen 21:27) as well as Jacob and Laban (Gen 31:44). God warns the Israelites about making a covenant with the inhabitants of Canaan (Ex 34:12). Marriage is described using covenant language (Mal 2:14). The word “covenant” even appears in the language many of us hear when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:25).

Old and New

God has made several covenants with his people throughout history. But the Bible speaks distinctly about an “old” covenant and a “new” covenant.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:31–32)

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. (Hebrews 8:6–7)

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

Scores of books have been written about the old and new covenants, and we don’t have the space to explore that in depth here. However, this distinction is vital to our understanding of redemption. The old/new covenant connection is at the heart of the book of Hebrews, and we can assert with its author the central feature of the new covenant:

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:24–26)

An Agreement

Of our articles in the Big Bible Words series, this one might contain the simplest definition. A covenant is a serious agreement. This agreement may come with promises and threats, this agreement may be conditional or unconditional, but at its heart, a covenant is an agreement. (Don’t let the length of some Bible dictionary entries complicate the matter for you.)

As with all Biblical terminology, we should be able to explain “covenant” to adults and children of any age. Here is an illustration that might help the youngsters in your home or church.

A mother sent her two daughters upstairs with two specific tasks. They were to clean the bathroom and put away their laundry, and if they didn’t finish these jobs there would be no dessert after dinner.

The younger daughter enjoyed sweeping, while the older despised it. The younger girl also had trouble hanging her clean dresses up in the closet. So the girls hatched a plan.

The older daughter would help her sister hang up her clothes, and the younger daughter would take care of sweeping the bathroom. The girls realized they were depending on each other to obey their mother, but they trusted each other.

They both loved dessert, so obeying their mother in this matter was serious business. Instinctively, after they talked through their idea, they shook hands. They made a covenant.

Thanks to commenter bryantjonz on the article Big Bible Words: Righteousness for the question/inspiration for this post!

 

Big Bible Words: Redeemer

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anonymous (2015), public domain

Before they were convinced of the resurrection, two of Jesus’s disciples walked with him along the road. Their words reveal their thoughts about their master.

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. (Luke 24:21, ESV)

If Jesus was still in the tomb then their hopes of the redemption of Israel were dashed. Everything hinged on Jesus’s work and resurrection.

If the hope of redemption was so important for these disciples, we should make sure we understand this word. What is a redeemer?

A Definition

In modern day Christianity, we recognize the word “Redeemer” as referring to Jesus. It’s a popular lyric for hymns and worship songs. But what does it mean? We often use it as a synonym for Savior or Deliverer, but that doesn’t capture all of the biblical weight.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary gives a concise definition for Redeemer: one charged with the duty of restoring the rights of another and avenging his wrongs. This isn’t the best way to explain the term to the youngest in our churches, but it’s a good start. Easton’s definition has its roots in the Mosaic law of the Old Testament.

Redemption in the Old Testament

There are a whopping 149 occurrences of the words redeem, redeemer, or redemption (or a close variant) in the Old Testament. Many of these instances refer to God delivering the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex 6:6, Dt 7:8, Dt 9:26, Dt 13:5, Dt 15:15, Dt 21:8, Dt 24:18). But a larger number occur within the book of Leviticus.

In both chapters 25 and 27 of Leviticus, Moses writes laws of redemption. If an Israelite was poor and needed to sell his property, home, or himself for money, what was sold could be redeemed by that man (or a relative) for a price. The laws also dictated which of these items sold would be released back to their original state in the Year of Jubilee.

This usage fits with our definition. When a house or a piece of land was redeemed, it was restored to its original state (owner).

The Psalmists plead with God to redeem them or their nation. God is called Redeemer on many occasions in the book of Isaiah. More than just deliverance, God’s people are seeking restoration. Whether oppressed by an enemy or by the weight of their disobedience, they ask God to restore their rights, to restore them to their original state of safety and peace with him.

Redemption in the New Testament

New Testament authors use words like redeem and redemption only 18 times. But these occurrences build on and fill out our understanding of the biblical term.

People must be redeemed from something. Christ redeemed us from “the curse of the law” (Gal 3:13), from “all lawlessness” (Titus 2:14), and from “transgressions committed” (Heb 9:15). This fits with Leviticus, when a possession would be redeemed from someone else who had bought it.

But now we also see the idea of an exchange. To redeem is not merely to set right, but to do so by paying a price. Just as money was exchanged to redeem a piece of land, a price was paid to redeem us from the sin that held us captive. Redeeming is not much different from ransoming.

Jesus is our Redeemer, and the price he paid was his own life (Heb 9:12). We are all caught and imprisoned, willingly, in our sin. We think of our rebellion as freedom, but it binds us in the strongest, foulest chains. In the fullness of time, Jesus paid an enormous redemption price (suffering the wrath of God) for our release. Jesus has become our redemption (1 Cor 1:30). He came “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:5).

Explaining Redemption

Let’s return to the heart of the matter. How should we explain redemption—the work of a redeemer—to a young child?

Try this: A redeemer brings back something that was lost or taken away.

Since that explanation is missing the aspect of payment or exchange, let’s spin a simple story for the under five crowd.

Jimmy is playing trucks in his room with his older brother. Their mother calls them for dinner, so they clean up quickly and rush downstairs. When they start playing the next day, Jimmy’s fire truck is in his brother’s bin, and his brother won’t give it back. His brother agrees to hand over the truck if Jimmy gives him a cherry lollipop. So Jimmy exchanges the lollipop to get his fire truck back.

That’s redemption.

How is God Like Dessert?

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Last week, Desiring God published a revised version of an article I wrote as part of the “Big Bible Words” series on this site. In the article, I explain the concept of glory in plain language.

Glory is value, beauty, importance, weight, or rank. It’s possible to praise something without truly glorifying it, such as the public official who smiles with his wife for the cameras but reserves fondest and truest affection for his nameless mistress. And it’s possible to glorify the wrong things — things unworthy of supreme value. But it’s not possible to fake glory. We can’t truly assign value to things we don’t value.

This revised article has more explanation and application than the article here on KW. You may want to check it out!

 

Big Bible Words: Glory

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Though it won’t earn many Words with Friends points, “glory” is a big word.

Glory to the newborn king!

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria in excelsis Deo!

Christians consider it a buzz-word. Non-Christians liberally biff it around. No less than two musical artists, three albums, and nine pop songs are named “Glory” (including the likes of Kanye West and Jay-Z).

HMS Glory

We’ve got battlefield glory, the road to glory, the glory of love, glory days, blazes of glory, and morning glory. Through history, the British Royal Navy has commissioned or captured ten different ships named HMS Glory.

Glory is not an obscure word, but do you know what it means? Could you explain it to a child?

More Than Praise

We commonly treat “glory” as though it’s interchangeable with “praise.” So we give God “all the praise and glory” for good things. Whether we “praise” him or “glorify” him, we do the same thing: We speak well of him.

But there’s a slight difference between “praise” and “glory” that can be helpful to recognize. Glorifying something means more than speaking well of it; glorifying something means acting in every way as though this thing is the best thing.

For example, in my house, we praise dinner but we glorify dessert.

Dinner Series (2011), Creative Commons

Dinner Series (2011), Creative Commons

I married a terrific cook. Countless culinary aspirants stew in jealous longing for a fraction of her talent. Because her secret arts have been known to bewitch hungry souls to the verge of insanity, an invitation to dinner at our house could make a killing on ebay. We used to have an after-dinner family chant that went, “Good cooker, good looker, good mama,” and we could have drowned out the mobs of Ephesus with it (Acts 19:34). Perhaps I exaggerate just a hair, but the point is this: We eat well here, and we’re not afraid to say so. We praise dinner.

However, dessert is what truly rocks this house. There is always, always, always room for dessert. A child could ask for seconds and thirds on homemade potato rolls and leave the table stuffed to the eyebrows, but he’ll never resist an offer of dessert. We Krols claim to have two stomachs; we reserve the second one for dessert.

Dessert always gets pre-eminence. It’s more important than toys. It’s more important than dolls. It’s more important than television. It’s more important (regretfully) than visitors. The children—who can’t hear me when I say, “Clean your room,” from two feet away—come running if I whisper, “Time for dessert,” from across the building. We glorify dessert.

God’s Glory

God is like dessert. He’s the most important thing (the weightiest being) in the universe, and we glorify him when we treat him as such. Giving glory includes offering him praise, but it also means so much more. We arrange our lives around that which we glorify. Whatever is most important to us will capture our attention and receive our time and resources.

Glory is not a difficult concept. Everyone glorifies something, which is why we talk about glory so much. We can discuss the idea simply with our children, our friends, and our unbelieving neighbors. We don’t need to toss the word around as another piece of Christian Klingon.

And, as the people of God, every little choice we make ought to show the incomparable importance and value of the Lord our God (1 Cor 10:31).

Big Bible Words: Holiness

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How would you explain holiness in plain language?

My Holy Shirt

I have lots of shirts in my closet. To be exact, I have 11 short-sleeve shirts, 12 long-sleeve shirts, and 10 dress shirts. I’m thankful for these shirts, but they’re not all that important to me.

I don’t want to deplete brain power deciding which shirts to wear each morning. So I usually wear them in the order they hang in the closet (according to the season, of course). Occasionally, one of my daughters will choose my shirt of the day. Either way, I’m happy. A shirt adorns my back, and I’m on with my day.

There’s one shirt, however, I truly care about. It’s not the prettiest or highest quality shirt in my closet. But it’s the most important one. It’s special.

Holy Shirt

Holy Shirt

I acquired this shirt in Fort Portal, Uganda in 2008 from a country market. We were there to adopt our twin sons, and this shirt became one of our souvenirs.

I call it my Ugandan Papa shirt. It represents my fatherly love and identification with my sons’ heritage. I wear it only once or twice per year: on the anniversary of the adoption, and sometimes on the boys’ birthday. On those days, I don’t care if I’m at work, at church, or on a trip. I might be at home or around other people. But I’m wearing the shirt.

I don’t put it in the washing machine, because it might not hold up. If it needs to be ironed, we do so with meticulous gentleness.

If the shirt ever deteriorates, we’re going to have to go back to Uganda for another one.

This is my favorite shirt. It’s a special shirt.

Holiness

That’s what it means to be holy.

It doesn’t mean “good,” although biblically holy things will also be good.

It doesn’t mean “righteous,” although biblically holy things will also be righteous.

It doesn’t mean “sinless” or “sacred” or “worthy of worship.”

It means special. A holy thing is different from everything else in its category. A “holy” shirt is more special than the other shirts. A holy ground is more special than any other ground. A holy land is more special than any other land. A holy assembly is more special than any other assembly.

A holy God is special; he’s different from all the other gods. A holy Spirit is special and unlike any other spirit. A holy people is more special and unique than any other people.

Leviticus 19:1-8 explains holiness simply. “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Lev 19:2, ESV). What does that mean? The Lord gives examples.

  1. Revere your father and mother. They are not ordinary, common people. They are special to you (Lev 19:3).
  2. Keep the Sabbath. It is not like every other day. It is a special day (Lev 19:3).
  3. Do not turn to idols. They are ordinary and not special at all (blocks of wood or stone or iron with no rescuing power). Not like the LORD your God, who is special (Lev 19:4).
  4. Peace offerings (one type of Old Testament sacrifice – think of grilled hamburgers or lamb chops) must be eaten within two days. If an Israelite kept any leftovers, he’d be treating them like all the rest of his food. He has profaned what is holy to the LORD. He didn’t treat it as special food (Lev 19:5-8).

Profanity

The opposite of holiness is profanity. Profanity doesn’t technically mean “bad words” or “curse words.” It means “common words.” Similarly, “vulgar” used to mean “common” long before its meaning morphed into “indecent,” “crude,” or “obscene.”

Leviticus 19:8 shows that you don’t have to defile something to profane it. You merely have to ignore how special it is and treat it like everything else.

So What?

The one who called you is special, so you also must be special in all your conduct (1 Pet 1:15). God is your Father and Acquitter. Christ’s blood ransomed you. You are no ordinary person (1 Pet 1:17-21).

Neither are the others who were also ransomed. They are your brothers. They are special. Now love them and remind them of how special they are (1 Pet 1:22-25).

Big Bible Words: Justification

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I’ve had to ‘fess up to many things in my life, but few were as disgraceful as the photocopier incident.

The twilight of my teen years and the height of my vigor were upon me. I was a summer camp counselor for impressionable children. I built a reputation for loving fun and silliness. I would do anything for a laugh. I secretly wished my exploits would become the stuff of camp legend.

I would get my wish, but only when my unquenchable ambition drove me to epic failure.

TV Tropes Foundation, Creative Commons

TV Tropes Foundation, Creative Commons

In my folly, I neglected to treat my unpresentable parts with greater modesty (1 Cor 12:23). I believed a photocopy of my hindquarters would elevate my status. But wisdom was hindmost in my thinking, and hindsight confirms my terrible mistake.

I did not receive adulation that day. No, I reaped a few things that ended up being far more instructive to my soul. A broken glass tray. A huge gash on the back of my thigh. Unceasing ridicule.

And the opportunity to disclose to the camp director why the photocopier was out of commission. For some reason, no other counselor was willing to do it for me.

I had no justification for my actions. I couldn’t avoid blame.

So I manned up and took responsibility. What else could I do? My condemnation was just. With sparkling amusement, however, the Director’s first question offered me some slight consolation. “Pants up or down?”

Justification

According the Bible (Rev 20:12), God will not be amused by our rebellion against him. He’ll gather great and small before his throne. He’ll open books that recount their deeds. He’ll require justification for what’s written there.

Some will try to avoid blame by listing all their good deeds (Matt 7:22-23, Luke 18:9-14) in the hope that these good deeds outweigh the bad ones. Others think they’ll avoid blame by comparing themselves with worse sinners (Luke 18:11). Some will simply blame other people or circumstances instead of admitting any sort of blame themselves (Luke 16:19-31, especially Luke 16:30). None of these tactics will work (Luke 18:14).

A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. (Gal 2:16, ESV)

There is only one justification that will effectively remove our blame. Jesus “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). He “gave himself for our sins” (Gal 1:4). God “made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

The only ones whose names are not written in the “book of life” are those who seek justification in anything but Jesus who is “the Life” (John 14:6, 1:4, 6:35).

How to Explain Justification

“Justification” is one of those big Bible words we often toss around. But can you explain the concept in plain language?

court-gavel_0Vindication. Acquittal. Declaring innocence. Removing blame. Providing evidence. Proving rightness (or simply “being right”). Take your pick, and use ordinary language when you lead others. Just because the word is in the Bible, don’t assume everyone knows what it means.

Remember, if you can’t explain it to a child, you might need to reconsider whether you really understand it yourself. Here’s how I might explain justification to my 6-year-old son:
Me: Did you finish cleaning your room?
Son: Yes!
Me: Ok, I want you to show me.  Let’s go check it out, and we’ll see if your confidence is justified.
And how would I explain “justification by faith in Christ”?
Son [struggling with something difficult]: Papa, I can’t do it.
Me: Why not?
Son: It’s too hard.
Me: You’re right, son. You can’t do it. But someone else can. Who do you think that is?
Son: Jesus?
Me: Yes! Let’s trust him and thank God for him.
Question: How would you explain justification?

Big Bible Words: Propitiation

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KlingonsI once heard Mark Driscoll ask ministry leaders to stop speaking “Christian Klingon.” I appreciate the image of “Christian Klingon,” because some people don’t even know what Klingon is – which makes the point. Driscoll’s counsel applies not only to church and ministry leaders but also to anyone who speaks to others about Christianity.

The Bible uses some big words, but most of these words were part of the regular vocabulary of the time. Certainly, some authors made up words or specialized them to fit their purposes. But the New Testament authors wrote in the everyday language of the people. It’s called “Koine” (which means “common”) Greek.

Here’s my point:

We should be able to speak of the Bible and Christianity in ordinary language.

In fact, we should be able to explain it to a two-year-old. If we can’t, we probably don’t understand what we’re talking about.

For example, 1 John uses a big word: propitiation.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2, ESV).

Can you explain the concept in plain language?

 What does “propitiation” mean?

Crossway’s blog has the following definition of propitiation:

God averting his wrath toward man through the death of His Son.

Wikipedia puts it this way:

Propitiation is the act of appeasing or making well disposed, especially a deity, thus incurring divine favor to avoid divine retribution.

Biblicaltraining.org simply puts it this way:

The turning aside of divine wrath against sinful man.

These definitions are pretty good, but I think they miss a key component.

Jesus is a person, not an action.  John doesn’t say that Jesus is the act of turning aside God’s anger.  John says he is the thing that turns aside God’s anger.

Let me illustrate.  A friend of mine used to work for a company that made the mixer drums on the back of cement trucks (the big container that spins and holds the cement).

Because of their expertise in engineering incredibly strong and durable materials, they received a contract from the US government to design a concrete barrier (a wall about 3 feet high) to protect important buildings.  My friend was chief engineer for the project, and his job for a time was to sit at a computer and smash virtual pickup trucks (armed with virtual explosives) into various prototypes of the barrier.

Those defense barriers were the propitiation for the government buildings.  In fact, “defense barrier” is a pretty good plain-language definition for propitiation.

Tomahawk missilePicture God’s anger at your sin, racing toward you like a Tomahawk missile.  At the last moment, Jesus jumps in front of you and absorbs the blast.  That’s what propitiation means.

Could you explain this concept to children?  They see propitiation happening all around them (toy armor, kid forts, and baseball gloves immediately come to mind), and we just have to draw the connection to Jesus for them.

Questions: How else might you explain “propitiation” to someone unfamiliar with the Bible?  What big Bible words would you like to see addressed in a future post?

Update

My engineer friend wrote to correct a few details from the anecdote above.

First, the barriers we made were steel, not concrete.  The steel used to make the concrete mixer drums is hardened for abrasion resistance, which also means it is better able to stop armor-piercing rounds.

This leads to a second correction, which is that the barriers we made were shot with armor piercing AR-15 rounds.  I never modelled trucks driving into the barrier, and I don’t believe the inventor ever tested vehicle impact of the barrier.  Other companies have done such tests though, and I might have shown you a video once of a competitor’s barrier stopping a truck.

Finally, the inventor was a local corrections officer hoping to make sales to the government.  We didn’t have a government contract.

Apparently, my memory failed me in these details, and I offer my humblest apologies.  But many thanks to my friend, who is the propitiation for my failure against the mistrust of informed readers.