Green Baggins

Folks, I am getting more than a bit weary of the accusations that are flying around on my blog with regard to WTS, Enns, Clark, Van Til, Gerety, myself, and Triablogue members. I don’t have enough energy at this point to moderate as I should. I have certainly not done enough moderation, and not even the Herculean efforts of Reed have made up for my lack. I am imploring people to use this rule to moderate themselves: would you say what you are about to write to that person if they were standing in front of you? Notice the category under which this post has been filed, please.

Ephesians 5:8-14

J. Stowell says this in his book, Fan the Flame: “Discernment in Scripture is the skill that enables us to differentiate. It is the ability to see issues clearly. We desperately need to cultivate this spiritual skill that will enable us to know right from wrong. We must be prepared to distinguish light from darkness, truth from error, best from better, righteousness from unrighteousness, purity from defilement, and principles from pragmatics.” Mr. Stowell is correct. And yet, how few Christians these days exercise spiritual discernment! There are very few who even know what is right and wrong, let alone have the spiritual discipline necessary to choose the right and avoid the wrong. Fortunately, the Bible does not leave us in the dark with regard to these things. The Bible tells us to wake up and be in the light; it tells us what that light is, what darkness is, and how to do all these things. We must be awake.

This passage is not the first time in Ephesians that Paul calls us to spiritual discernment. In fact, the immediately preceding verses talk about it as well. Paul tells us not to be deceived by empty words. How do we know what empty words are? We need discernment. How do we get discernment? We read the Word of God, participate in the Sacraments, prayer, and have fellowship with other believers. Again, these four things are the means of grace. They are the normal ways in which God makes us to grow: the Word of God, prayer, sacraments, and fellowship.

Then Paul starts off these verses by talking about a contrast. It is the contrast between what we were before, and what we are now. What were we before we were converted to Christ? We were darkness. Notice that Paul does not say that we were in darkness, though that would be bad enough. But that is not what he says. He says that we were darkness. As Boice puts it, it is not so much that we were in darkness, as that the darkness was in us. Darkness reigned in us. What is darkness? Well, the darkness here is a moral darkness. Paul is talking about sin. In chapter 2, Paul told us that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. This is another way of saying that. We were darkness. However, our condition has changed. No longer are we darkness. Now, we are light. That is, our sin no longer reigns over us. We have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. Now that changes everything. Now the Holy Spirit indwells us, lives inside of us, bringing light. Now, it is said of us that we are light. Again, Paul does not say that we are in the light, but that we are the light as we are in the Lord.

The logical conclusion to this statement is that we ought to act like it. Paul tells us to walk as the children of light. Paul immediately tells us that he is talking about fruit. As farmers know well, plants cannot grow without light. There can be no fruit without light. So Paul says that if we are light, then fruit should result. What is that fruit? It is what is good, right, and true. Well, what is that? The rest of the Bible tells us that in the Ten Commandments, in Jesus’ interpretation of the Ten Commandments, and in Paul’s own writings.

And then, in verse 10, Paul gives us this command to be discerning. This is a very important command. Oftentimes, we admire people we know who can discern what is right and wrong. And sometimes we will think that we don’t really need discernment. After all, if we have a question, we can always just go to that person, and they will answer our questions. But Paul does not limit his command to those people who already have discernment. Instead, he commands us all to develop this discernment. This command is for all the people of God. And it is that: a command. The principle here is really quite simple. We are to walk in the ways of the Lord, but we cannot do that unless we know what those ways of the Lord are. So, we must learn what the ways of the Lord are, and then walk in them. It is that simple. We get into problems when we try to rationalize certain activities as being okay when they really are not. Right and wrong is not supposed to be complicated. But we like to say, “Yes, God commands us not to steal, but what about charging interest on that loan I gave to so-and-so? After all, I really need that extra money this year. I know he is a brother in Christ, but I need the money.” The Bible even tells us not to charge interest on a loan given to a brother in Christ. The Bible forbids us to exercise greed. And yet, we love to rationalize. We love to make things complicated when it comes to right and wrong. And the reason we like to do that is so that we can do what we want to do.

Verse 11 tells us that we are not to take part in unfruitful works of darkness. Notice that the light produces fruit. However, darkness produces only unfruitful works of darkness. Sin only results in more sin. That is not fruit. It is not even rotten fruit. It is no fruit at all. They are actual deeds, but they have nothing good about them. In verse 12, Paul tells us just how bad these deeds are. They are so bad, that it is shameful if we even have to talk about them.

However, it is not enough merely to avoid doing these deeds of darkness. We must also expose them by our light. The end of verse 11 tells us to expose them. How do we do that? Well, firstly, if we live our lives as children of the light, dark deeds will appear to be dark simply in comparison to our deeds. Secondly, when we see such deeds of darkness, it is our duty to expose them. Now, we must be wise about this. Sometimes we expose a deed to the entire world. This happens, for instance, if we see a crime being committed. Then we tell the police. However, there are some instances when it is not the whole world that needs to know. Sometimes it is sufficient merely to point out that sin to that person. This way, you expose that sin to that person as sin. There is not always a need to expose a particular sin to everyone. However, all too often, if we see sin happening, we do nothing, since we will be called “tattlers” if we say something. We need to stand for the truth.

In saying that we need to stand for the truth, what we must recognize is that Jesus is the truth, and Jesus is the light. Jesus is the truth, because He is the living Word. He is the Word made flesh, appearing among us. He exposed Satan’s works for what they were. He did that when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Jesus set the truth of the Bible over against the errors of Satan. Most of all, Jesus went to the cross, and suffered so that our sins could not only come to light, but be dealt with as well. It is one of Satan’s best tricks to try to get us to think that we need to keep our sins secret. The reality is the very opposite. Jesus’ work on the cross means that our sins can come to light and be dealt with. We can have forgiveness. But if we never confess our sins, and bring them before God, then we have no reason to think that God would forgive us. Of course, no sin can be hidden from God. Nevertheless, we always think we can try to do just that.

Paul concludes by a quotation from somewhere. Scholars are not actually sure where this quotation comes from. It is most likely an early Christian hymn that is based on some texts in Isaiah. Notice that the hymn talks about the sleeper. Obviously, sleepers sleep best in darkness. Paul tells us that the darkness he is talking about here is the darkness of death. That means moral death. This is very close to what Jesus told Lazarus when He told Lazarus to come out of the tomb. It is a perfect description of what happened to Lazarus. Have you awoken, O sleeper? Is Christ shining the light of the pure Gospel into your life? Are you a child of that Gospel light? And are you walking in the light?

Ephesians 5:1-2

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President Calvin Coolidge invited some people from his hometown to dinner at the White House. Since they did not know how to behave at such an occasion, they thought the best policy would be just to do what the President did. The time came for serving coffee. The President poured his coffee into a saucer. As soon as the home folk saw it, they did the same. The next step for the President was to pour some milk and add a little sugar to the coffee in the saucer. The home folks did the same. They thought for sure that the next step would be for the President to take the saucer with the coffee and begin sipping it. But the President didn’t do so. He leaned over, placed the saucer on the floor and called the cat. As James Baldwin said about children. “Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” Children imitate their parents all the time. Sometimes they know what their parents are doing. Sometimes, as in the case of Coolidge, they have the foggiest idea. But imitation is how children learn from their parents. Right now, our son James is imitating every word of ours that he can (which is usually the last two or three words of the sentence). Eventually, he will have the vocabulary necessary to speak complete sentences. It is all a part of growing up. Paul tells us here that we are to imitate our Heavenly Father as children imitate their parents. And the love that Christ has shown for us and to us is the same kind of love that we are to show one another. It is a sacrificial love.

First of all, Paul tells us to imitate God. Now, we could easily misunderstand what Paul is saying if we go the wrong way with this verse. Paul is not telling us that our imitation of God is supposed to be like Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, for instance. They wanted to be like God. They wanted to imitate God, but in a way that took God off of His throne and put themselves there instead. This is obviously the wrong way to imitate God. We do not imitate God by trying to trespass on what is only God’s. There are things about God that He will not share with us. He will not share his glory with anyone. So, we will not have God’s glory, but rather we will reflect God’s glory. Furthermore, we cannot share in God’s infinite power. We will not ever have that kind of power. It seems clear from this passage that the way in which we are to imitate God has much more to do with how we love one another than with who God is. The way in which we are to imitate God is the way in which God has loved us.

We can see that displayed for us in verse 2. How did God love us? He gave His Son as an atonement for sin. We should walk in love, Paul says. What does that mean? Walking refers to a way of life. It means all the choices that we make. It means what we allow to influence us. That is how we walk. And we are to walk in a way that shows the same kind of love for God and our neighbor as Christ showed for us.

Jesus Christ gave Himself on our behalf. This refers not just to Christ’s death, but to His entire life. His entire life was a prelude to His death, in which He walked in love. He did it so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for sin. That is so that we could believe in Him, and have everlasting life. However, what so often happens today is that people say that they believe in God and in Jesus Christ, but they don’t walk in that way. They do not walk in love. They may have a twisted idea of what love is. Or, they may walk in the way of self-gratification. Such people have no idea what it is to walk as Jesus walked. Walking in love means primarily self-sacrifice. It is helpful to point out here that the word love in the Bible does not primarily refer to an emotion. It includes our emotions. However, the primary meaning of love in the Bible is self-sacrifice: pouring out yourself for the sake of others as Jesus did. Paul says here that Jesus was a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. This is Old Testament language. The offerings that were burnt were said to have a savory smell to God. So also, Jesus was burned by the fires of hell for our sake, even though He was innocent. Such an action has a fragrant aroma in the eyes of God. This is not God abusing his son Jesus, as some writers have recently suggested. Rather, it is the love of God making a provision for us that we would not have to suffer the wrath of God.

The applications of this are almost endless, precisely because this verse really covers the entirety of the Christian faith. This is one of those great summary verses that tells us, in a nutshell, the entire Christian Gospel. The commands are to love God and to love one another. This means the entire law is present here. We are to have no idols but worship God alone. Furthermore, we are not to worship God in any way that He has not prescribed. The name of the Lord should be our delight, and we should use it reverently, as we ought. We ought also to delight in Sunday, and the opportunity to worship God on this day of rest. We are to love our parents and give them all respect. We are to protect the lives of other people, not putting anyone’s life at risk. This means safety on our farms. Safety should be a number one priority. That is a key way in which we should love one another in our farming culture. We should love our spouses as Christ has loved us. In fact, Paul is going to tell us a lot more about marriage in the rest of this chapter, so stay tuned. We should protect the property of others as well, treating it as carefully as we treat our own property. We should always tell the truth to one another. And we should be content with what we have, and not always try to get more. What I just did was summarize each of the Ten Commandments, though not in the words of the Ten Commandments. Remember that each commandment not only forbids something, but commands its opposite. So, if you are not to kill, then you are to protect life. Also, each commandment includes under it all of the lesser sins. The commandment only gives us the most extreme form of the sin. All the lesser sins are included underneath it. To walk in love means to obey the commandments. That is precisely what Paul means. Paul does not mean that we obey the commandments in order to obtain salvation. We always have to remember that and be reminded of it, since we are all legalists at heart. We all want to get to heaven on our own steam, as it were. Furthermore, we do not obey the law in order to keep our salvation either. We do not start with the Holy Spirit, and end with the flesh, as Paul says in Galatians. However, the law does not stop being relevant once we become Christians. Jesus plainly tells us this in the Sermon on the Mount. He tells us that the law still applies to us. Indeed, the law is still necessary to our Christian walk. It is the way in which we go. As David said in the Psalms, God’s law is our path. That might seem restrictive to us. It might seem as though God is trying to prevent us from having any fun in life. But that is not true. God knows that His way is the best way, and it is the most joyful way. For the end is an eternal life of joy with God, and seeing Him as He is.

We imitate God because our deepest desire is to see Him. Then we shall be as like Him as we possibly can be, for we shall see Him as He is. So says John. The principle here is that imitation leads to likeness. Are you a child of the King? Are you imitating God as much as you are able? That is, are you imitating God’s love and faithfulness? Are you loving God with all your heart? Are you loving your neighbor? That is your offering to God. Listen to these words of Paul, in closing: “Therefore, I urge, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodes as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

Ephesians 4:31-32

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Of the 7 deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back–in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you. So says Frederick Buechner, in his book, Wishful Thinking Transformed By Thorns. Paul has said quite a bit about anger in the verse we have been studying lately. In these two verses, Paul sums up his teaching about anger, and then tells us about what should replace it. We should not live in anger, but in forgiveness.

In verse 31, we have five things listed in a row, and then one summary word given at the very end. One scholar has helpfully pointed out that this list is progressive. First, Paul talks about bitterness. Bitterness is that form of anger that stays inside, in the heart. We are usually blind to our bitterness. Nevertheless, we might know that we are unhappy. One of my professors told a story of a woman who came to him for counseling. She was unhappy with life, but didn’t know the way out. So, my professor told her to keep a journal. She was supposed to say what happened, what were the possible responses to it, how did she actually respond, and what did she think about it. After a few months, she gave that journal to my professor, who read it, and went through with a colored pen, underlining every statement that indicated bitterness. He told the woman what he had done, and gave it back to her. What she said was so interesting. She said, “The lady who wrote this was a very bitter lady.” She did not know that she was bitter in her heart! She kept on blaming everything and everyone around her for the problems in her life. I wonder if any of us do the same thing. We want to justify ourselves, and so we make everyone around us look bad, so that we’re the only one left standing at the end. That comes from a bitter heart. The other problems with bitterness involve our accusations against God. We think we deserve a better life than we are getting. Then we come to expect such a good life. So, when we don’t get it, we get bitter. Bitterness, of course, takes a while to develop. People are not usually bitter overnight. The solution is Jesus Christ. Did He have the life He deserved on earth? No, He most certainly did not. He had a life full of suffering. But He was not bitter. He came because we deserve much worse in life than what we are getting. He came so that we could have the forgiveness of sins. He can understand you. He knows what your life has been like, and He can sympathize with you. And He can forgive your bitterness against God. Let it go. Let go of your bitterness, and embrace the joy of new life in Christ.

The second thing in this list is rage. This word usually refers to an outburst, or the tendency to burst out, and do something in wrath. So, it is more intense than bitterness, but of much shorter duration. Usually, this happens when we feel that we have been wronged in a specific instance. Billy Sunday was talking with a lady once, and he came up with a perfect illustration for this. The lady was saying that there was nothing wrong with her losing her temper. She blew up, and then it was over. Sunday said, “So does a shotgun. But look at the damage it leaves behind.” The kind of rage that Paul is talking about in this word is the shotgun kind of rage. It is an “action” kind of anger, not primarily a “word” kind of anger. It is what might happen if someone punches you in the face, and you immediately get into a fight with that person. Let us consider for a moment how we ought to react. First we need to know that we are not required to strike back. That is only one of the many responses that we could have. Just realizing that can be a turning point for some people who are prone to these outbursts. You do not have to react in a shotgun fashion. Instead, you can say, “I forgive you, as Christ has forgiven me.” As we will see, since God has forgiven us, so also ought we to forgive one another.

The third word Paul uses here is a word that describes a boiling pot of anger. It is a fairly steady, longer-lasting hot kind of anger. We might use the phrase “our blood is boiling.” A good example of this is King Ahab. You will remember that he wanted Naboth’s vineyard. However, Naboth would not sell the land that had belonged to his family for generations. And so, Ahab went home, Jezebel his wife asked him what was the matter. And Ahab vented to his wife, who came up with the suggestion of murdering Naboth in order to have the vineyard. As Benjamin Franklin says, “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame.” And that was true enough in Ahab’s case, since he died a very shameful death, as did Jezebel. If some of us are prone to this kind of anger, then we need to remember God’s anger against sin. Is it a sinful anger? That is a difficult question to remember to ask, since anger is an emotion that clouds the mind. We are not usually thinking all that clearly when we are in a boiling rage. Nevertheless, as Paul says, we should not be mastered by anything except Jesus Christ. Do we really have the right to be angry? That is the question that the Lord asked Jonah as Jonah lost that plant that gave him some shade. Jonah thought he had the right to be angry, since God had spared Niniveh when Niniveh repented. God as much as told him to shut up, since Jonah was angry at God. It is important here to remember that if we are angry at God, it does absolutely no good to deny that we are. God knows our hearts anyway, so it is useless even to try to hide it from Him. Instead, we should confess and ask God to change our hearts.

The fourth word that Paul uses here is a word that describes someone shouting out loudly in anger. It is that torrent of words that come pouring out of an angry heart. They are usually loud. A father of three won a shouting contest with a roar louder than a passing train. “If you want a war, you go!” Yoshihiko Kato shouted. The sound meter registered 115.8 decibels, louder than the racket of a train passing overhead on an elevated railroad. For that winning shout, Kato won the $750 grand prize of the 10th annual Halls Year-End Loud Voice Contest. Kato admitted that he probably built up his loud voice shouting at his children. What does shouting accomplish, exactly? Well, it usually makes you feel powerful, although the truth of the matter is that the person who can control and master their anger is a lot more powerful than the one who simply gives in to it. Such shouting also makes people afraid of you, particularly those people who are under you in authority. It never convinces anyone else of your point of view. You may shout someone into silence, but it will not be an agreeing silence. It will be a sullen and rebellious silence. Instead of shouting out at people, we should be crying out to the Lord out God to guard our tongues and lips.

The last word is the worst word of all. Literally, it is blasphemy. Now, as this word is used in the New Testament, it can refer either to slander against someone else, or it can refer to blasphemy against God Himself. The last result of rage is that we attack that person with our words, and sometimes with our actions. All of anger (and we are talking about unrighteous anger here) is opposed to forgiveness. You simply cannot forgive someone if you are angry with that person, and stay angry with that person. However, speaking against someone what is false, or speaking against God something that is blasphemous is the worst sin that is in the category of anger. You are burning all your bridges with this one. In fact, this sin seeks to eliminate the possibility of forgiveness. We need to remember that forgiveness is more powerful. God’s grace is more powerful. Nevertheless, it is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that is the unforgivable sin. We need to repent of our slander against one another, and our blasphemy against God. Putting away all evil, as Paul says, is the same thing as putting on Christ.

Paul gives us three words that describe first and foremost how God acts with us. God is kind to us, not treating us as our sins deserve. Kindness is doing good to someone even if that person doesn’t deserve, and maybe even doing it precisely because that person doesn’t deserve it. An illustration: British statesman and financier Cecil Rhodes, whose fortune was used to endow the world-famous Rhodes Scholarships, was a stickler for correct dress–but apparently not at the expense of someone else’s feelings. A young man invited to dine with Rhodes arrived by train and had to go directly to Rhodes’s home in his travel-stained clothes. Once there he was appalled to find the other guests already assembled, wearing full evening dress. After what seemed a long time Rhodes appeared, in a shabby old blue suit. Later the young man learned that his host had been dressed in evening clothes, but put on the old suit when he heard of his young guest’s dilemma. This illustrates not only kindness, but also hospitality as its finest.

The second word that Paul uses here is “compassionate.” Again, to illustrate: in the early days of his presidency, Calvin Coolidge awoke one morning in his hotel room to find a cat burglar going through his pockets. Coolidge spoke up, asking the burglar not to take his watch chain because it contained an engraved charm he wanted to keep. Coolidge then engaged the thief in quiet conversation and discovered he was a college student who had no money to pay his hotel bill or buy a ticket back to campus. Coolidge counted $32 out of his wallet — which he had also persuaded the dazed young man to give back! — declared it to be a loan, and advised the young man to leave the way he had come so as to avoid the Secret Service! That is compassion and mercy. Another illustration will help us here: A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death. “But I don’t ask for justice,” the mother explained. “I plead for mercy.” “But your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied. “Sir,” the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.” “Well, then,” the emperor said, “I will have mercy.” And he spared the woman’s son. No one on whom we have mercy deserves it. But then, neither did we deserve to have mercy from God. And yet, He has given it to us. Magnificent, isn’t it?

And lastly, one of the best ways to show mercy and compassion, and kindness, is to forgive one another. In this respect, Paul tells us what our motivation should be. God has forgiven us. Therefore, we should forgive one another. The parable of the ungrateful servant is something I have brought up rather a lot in recent sermons. There is a reason for that. It is the best illustration of this principle that we are ever going to find. God has forgiven us a debt that we can never repay. In return, He asks us to forgive those who have sinned against us, even in major ways. They have not sinned against us nearly as much as we have sinned against God. Therefore, we should forgive them. So, we can see from all this that anger has many forms, many expressions, some subtle and remaining in the heart, some coming out in actions and some in words. But the answer to all of those sins is the forgiveness of God leading to our forgiving one another. Do not be angry, but rather forgive.

Ephesians 4:29

Audio Version

Our culture is saturated with coarseness in our talk. Curse words are present in just about every movie that is made nowadays. Just to illustrate how far our culture has gone with this, here is the story of the movie Gone With the Wind. As you probably are aware, in the very last scene, Rhett Butler (played by Clark Gable) used the “d” word in one of his lines. It is the only swear word in the entire movie. What a lot of people don’t know is that the director David Selznick had to pay a $5000 fine for Clark Gable to say that word in a movie. That was a lot of money in those days. Nowadays, movies exist where every other word is a curse word. Common decency in language is not a very popular thing to talk about in today’s culture. Many people do not even view certain words as being a problem. The culture has shifted a great deal. Many people also do not think that the Bible has anything to say about what words we use. As a matter of fact, the Bible has an enormous amount to say about how we use our words.

Paul’s statement here is not limited to curse words. The word for “unwholesome” (which is a good translation in the NIV) is a very general word. It refers to anything that doesn’t edify. So, it would cover curse words, taking the Lord’s name in vain (which is to use the Lord’s name in a frivolous, care-free way), gossip, undue criticism of other people, failing to give praise where praise is due, and any other way of tearing people down when we should be building up those people.

In fact, Paul is going to repeat himself in the next chapter with a bit more detail. Verse 4 of chapter 5 says this: “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” Obscenity is talking about things we shouldn’t be talking about. Foolish talk is talk that doesn’t go anywhere or do anything helpful. Coarse joking is off-color jokes, and jokes about things that we shouldn’t even be talking about.

The ancient Greeks had a very helpful way of putting this. If there is something that you feel like saying, but you shouldn’t say, then, as the Greeks would say, don’t let it escape the prison bars of your teeth. They thought of the teeth as the keepers of the mouth. They act somewhat like prison bars. You can clamp them shut so that the words you were thinking about saying don’t actually come out of your mouth.

Of course, our tongues are very dangerous, aren’t they? Listen to what James says about the tongue: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” That is a fairly strong accusation against the tongue, isn’t it? At the very least, we should see just how much damage we can cause with our words. It is a lot more than we usually think. Oftentimes we can cause a great deal of harm without even realizing that we are doing so.

Fortunately, Jesus is the Living Word. All of Jesus’ words are life to us. Even when Jesus was blasting the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, even those words are life to us. Jesus is the Word. That Word was crucified on the cross for our sins, even the supposedly small sins of our mouths, what we say. Christ died for those sins as well. The Bible says that we will be judged for every single word we utter. I don’t know about you, but the idea of facing judgment for every single word I’ve ever uttered in my life would absolutely terrify me if I didn’t have the blood of Christ covering over all those bad things I’ve said in my life. Jesus never uttered an unwholesome word in His entire life. And in that righteousness we can all stand if we but trust in Him.

Now, it is not enough merely to refrain from unwholesome talk. We also need to speak words that build up one another. Paul uses a beautiful metaphor here. When you build a building (and let’s say you are using bricks), you lay one brick at a time. You don’t take those bricks that you have laid already, and take them out of the building. You don’t tear down the building that you are trying to build. Instead, you build it up one brick at a time. You are building a building. Another word for a building is an edifice. That word “edifice” comes from the same root as the word “edify.” It is the perfect word to describe what Paul means here. The NIV translates the phrase “building others up,” and that also is a good translation. A lot of this has to do with our attitude. Do we want to build others up, to edify them, or do we want ourselves to look good, and think that in order to accomplish that, we need to tear others down? We need to check our attitude to see which way we are thinking. We build up one another one good brick of encouragement at a time. Lay lots of those kinds of bricks. We should all be brick-layers for the kingdom of God. Let me tell you one thing about encouraging words as opposed to destructive criticism: the effect that an encouraging word has may not be as strong as a destructive word. I know in my own life, for instance, that encouraging words have to build up momentum to have a great effect. But one discouraging word weighs more heavily than all those words of encouragement. In other words, everyone in the Christian life needs far more encouragement than criticism. I think that oftentimes we think that we need to give out criticism and encouragement in equal measure. But they don’t have an equal effect. We need far more encouragement than criticism in the Christian life. At the same time, even if, on average, encouraging words do not have the same punch as destructive criticisms, you still don’t know what effect an encouraging word can have. Sometimes, at the right time, it can change a person’s life. Encouragement is a bit like research. You never know when you’re going to hit gold. Research is like looking for a needle in a haystack. You keep on looking and looking, and sometimes you find a bar of gold. Encouragement is like that. You may say many words of encouragement, and all of them are helpful. But sometimes, you say the right thing at the right time, and it changes a person’s life for the better. And don’t forget the ripple effect, either. If you hit gold on one of your words of encouragement, remember that the person you encourage may change so that they start affecting other people’s lives. So, ultimately speaking, encouragement has more power than criticism, even if not every statement of encouragement has the same amount of power. But I can assure you that statements of criticism are universally powerful. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes criticism is necessary. If you see someon plunging headlong into self-destructive behavior, especially if it is one of your children, then a word of criticism can do a lot of good. But when we are talking about our friends, be slow to criticize, and quick to encourage. It may feel strange at first. But persevere in doing good and building up other people. A good rule of thumb here is that is what you are planning on saying isn’t going to help someone else, then don’t say it. As Calvin Coolidge once said, he has never been hurt by what he hasn’t said. And, as others say, it is better to say nothing and still be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. So often, we think of our words as being about us. It is about my image, and how I look to other people. The reality is that our words are communication to other people. Therefore, our speech should be for other people’s benefit. We are not to be selfish about our words, but are to consider what the other person needs to hear. And far more often does that other person need encouragement than criticism.

So, let no unwholesome talk escape the bars of your teeth. Rather, build up one another in the faith, one good brick of encouragement at a time.

Posted by Bob Mattes

The thread on the Context of Sam Duncan’s Comment on the SJC has topped 700 comments! Yesterday I found another great thread, this one over at the PuritanBoard, on the situation inside LAP. The interaction between SemperFideles and HaigLaw there provides more information on the human side of the equation, something often lost in this debate. Well worth the read.

Both HaigLaw’s comments on the PuritanBoard thread and Pastor Davis’ comments starting here highlight the wisdom of my earlier post about not being loyal to the wrong people. I caught more heat for that post from the Federal Vision mini-empire than any other post I’ve written, and it’s clear why. I struck at the heart of the issue. Federal Visionists in the PCA rely on their personal relationships inside their Presbyteries to protect them from the required discipline at the point of original jurisdiction. When that happens, the only place an impartial trial can take place is at the Standing Judicial Commission of the General Assembly, just as it was with Wilkins. Hence the spew of venom against the PCA and its SJC–the latter established by the will of the commissioners of the PCA General Assembly–as the only remaining threat to them.

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Posted by Bob Mattes

Updated slightly on 27 Jan.

This post at HaigLaw’s Xanga site has been up for a week, but no one active in these discussions, including myself, seems to have found it until now. A commissioner at the Louisiana Presbytery meeting on 19 January wrote a brief article about the proceedings. HaigLaw’s post is a good read, and his hit count will probably skyrocket now.

I’ll try to put the pleas into perspective. Louisiana Presbytery (LAP) had decided its answer to their indictment and citation by the PCA’s Standing Judicial Commission (SJC). LAP has pled “not guilty” to Charge 1 and “guilty” to Charge 2. I’ll offer a quick analysis of what that means and where it leaves us.

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Posted by Bob Mattes

I am blessed to report that Rev. Mike Lawyer and I have reconciled after exchanging a series of less-than-desirable blog posts. Because a lot of fallout from these posts landed on this blog, I feel that it is only right that I post the good news here.

Rev. Mike Lawyer has written a very gracious letter apologizing for his posts and accusations that caused me to write my retort. I am honored to humbly accept Rev. Lawyer’s apology in full. Indeed, his letter is a model of Christian repentance. He also graciously modified an earlier post to reflect his new understanding of the situation.

I equally apologize to Rev. Lawyer for the tone of my original retort. It is way too easy to strike back at those who wrong us, but as I wrote in another post about a week after I published the original retort, Christ commands us to do better. For my falling short of my Lord’s just expectations and offending Rev. Lawyer in the process, I am truly sorry. That I did not pull the post sooner, especially after my subsequent admonition to the blogging community here on tone, stands as a testimony to simul justus et pecator. I offer no excuse.

One more thing. Rev. Lawyer assured me in his letter that Doug Wilson had no part in his posts, nor was he asked to post them. I accept that as stated. I hereby retract all previous comments to that end and apologize to Doug for thinking and posting otherwise.

As a result of this reconciliation, Rev. Lawyer has modified on of his posts and I have revised two related posts on my site. Hopefully these actions will put the neutron rods back in the reactor.

I do not have adequate words to express my joy and relief at being able to put this episode behind us. We all sin, and yet are too quick to point out the sins of those we feel have sinned against us. As I was so quick to do so in Rev. Lawyer’s case, so I must be equally quick to forgive. To do otherwise would be to deny our Lord and His gracious work in our lives.

I cannot leave this subject without publicly thanking all those who rose to my defense during this time. I am grieved that some paid a heavy price in doing so. I thank the Lord for such dear brothers and sisters and their love, and I am humbled by your courage. Now I ask that everyone celebrate this reconciliation with us, and that we move on from here with renewed gratitude for the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Posted by Bob Mattes

Posted by Bob Mattes

If you missed the dust-up here at GreenBagginses over Thanksgiving weekend, you missed quite a show. I am deeply appreciative of, and indebted to, those who so quickly and freely rose to my defense, as well as that of the PCA and SJC. I had an amazing a post written in my head to right all the many wrongs against the PCA, the personal attacks, and more. But then…

While struggling with how to wrap all this up, I providentially encountered a passage in William Cunningham’s The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation. This is a collection of articles that William Cunningham wrote in the mid-19th century. The third essay, written in 1856, is on assurance and refutes an article by Sir William Hamilton. Dr. Cunningham starts out by quoting a very long section of Hamilton’s work, then starts his analysis with this sentence (page 112-113):

We hope to be able to prove that this elaborate statement contains about as large an amount of inaccuracy as could well have been crammed into the space which it occupies; and, if we succeed in doing this, we may surely expect that Sir William’s authority upon theological subjects will henceforth stand at least as low as zero.

OK, that seems to fit into the “serrated edge” mentality. But then I read a footnote added after Dr. Cunningham’s paper was initially presented. My heart broke as I read it:

In the interval between the publication of the former article and the present one, Sir William Hamilton died, and Dr. Cunningham, in his introductory remarks, thus refers to the event: “The knowledge, if we had possessed it, that he was to die so soon, would assuredly have modified somewhat the tone in which the discussion was conducted, would have shut out something of its lightness and severity, and imparted to it more of solemnity and tenderness; and the knowledge which we did possess, that he, as well as ourselves, was liable every day to be called out of this world and summoned into God’s presence, ought to have produced this result.” [italics in original]

“…ought to have produced this result.” Reading this brought home the reality of Dr. R. C. Sproul’s constant reminder that we live our lives Coram Deo–before the face of God. Our Lord could call us to His presence in heaven in the next second. With apologies to Francis Shaeffer, how then shall we blog?

Are we bringing honor and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ with our words and wit, or are we adding our pride and acerbic “peculiar talents” to the offense of the cross? Do we seek to justify ourselves, or to humbly offer the justification of God freely to the lost, even those with whose politics, business, or lifestyle we disagree–becoming all things to all men so that we may bring some to Christ (1 Cor 9:19-23)?

Here’s what God says about the “serrated edge” in Titus 3:2:

…to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. (ESV)

How about James 1:26 on “peculiar talents”?

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. (ESV)

And last but certainly not least, 1 Cor 10:31-33 to tie it all together:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. (ESV) [all emphasis added]

How then shall we blog, brothers?

Posted by Bob Mattes

Posted by Dr. Jeff Hutchinson

Lane was asked, and has agreed to serve as an Assistant Prosecutor in the PCA’s Judicial Case against the Louisiana Presbytery (Case 2007-14).  All may agree that it would likely be a bad, or even ugly thing for him to have been asked were he known “to indulge a malignant spirit towards the accused,” were he “not of good character,” were he ”himself under censure or process,” or were he ”known to be litigious, rash, or highly imprudent” (Book of Church Order 31-8).  But of course–by God’s grace (as Lane would be the first to say)–none of those things are true.

But what about the other phrase in 31-8, that “Great caution ought to be exercised in receiving accusations from any person who…is deeply interested in any respect in the conviction of the accused”?

First, note that even were a prosecutor “deeply interested in the conviction of the accused”–however that may be understood–even then he may still be fit to be a prosecutor, if the court so judges with all due caution.

Second, note that this wise caution comes in the context of references to “VOLUNTARY” and not appointed prosecutors (I am sure all you expert BCO exegetes out there had already noted this).  Sam Duncan, Lane Keister, and every other Assistant Prosecutor Sam Duncan may ask to serve with him, did not volunteer, they were asked, and they agreed.  This is an important distinction, and it helps to keep uninformed and reactionary charges of “bias” at bay.

Finally, though, being “deeply interested in the conviction of the accused” is not to be confused with having a deep interest in the theological issues or matters of church doctrine or government involved in the case!  Our Constitution’s caution is with regard to fleshly motivations that are personal and not impartial, it is not a codified enthronement of the ignorant and indifferent, and only the ignorant and indifferent, to positions of authority in judicial matters!  Now THAT would be ugly!

Though Lane is not a member of the SJC, the principles governing that Commission govern Lane’s service as an Assistant Prosecutor.  And one of the principles makes this final point crystal clear, “A member is not disqualified merely because he has previously expressed opinions on theological issues or matters of church doctrine or government involved in the case” [SJC Manual 6.2(c)].

Thank you, Lane, for all your clearly expressed opinions to this point!  Keep it up!  Of course, do not comment to anyone outside the process with regard to the merits of this particular case, Case 2007-14, but please keep preaching and teaching the doctrines and government of our church, even (and especially) those that are “involved in the case.”

Lane Keister as Assistant Prosecutor?  Good.

Posted by Jeff Hutchinson