Archive for August, 2021

Life in the Spirit; Walking the Christian walk in the Valleys and the Mountain tops.

August 29, 2021

We have seen that Christ was the real high priest from Heaven itself and also Christ was the perfect sacrifice once and for all.  For these reasons we have a new and living way in Christ.  The tabernacle on earth was only ever a copy and shadow of the real one in heaven. As a digression we will first encouragement from Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Ethics:

“Only the Triune God has life in himself; all creaturely life is derived from and dependent upon God. While the drive for self-preservation characterizes all vegetative and sentient life, the spiritual life is characterized by love for God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit Its fundamental principle is not found within the natural life but first arises through denial, self-crucifixion, renunciation, and loss of our soul. Love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit and fruit of the Spirit, gives stature and form to the spiritual life.” Reformed Ethics; Book 2 and chapter 7; page 239; By Herman Bavinck; edited by John Bolt)

This is a great encouragement from Herman Bavinck.  In this life we are always facing various trials and at the end even death itself.  My friend’s God is at work, and he cares for your soul.  In Christ by faith, we can grasp eternal life through the work of Christ.  In Christ we have fulness of life.   Bavinck in the first opening pages looks at St Pauls writings but here too in Apollos’ writings we find this encouraging theme.

Before continuing to our main theme let us read our main text from Hebrews 10. 19-25:

A New and Living Way

19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:19-25

When we read the book of Hebrews, we get great encouragement. Did you know that these Christians were really suffering for their faith?  We know what happened to the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. It was pulled down and those Jewish slaves were sent to the Corinthian Canal to build it. Obviously, it was a failed venture until 1853.  Some set the book in Rome however we know the book was probably written before AD 70 and my theory is that it was written in Jerusalem.  We know that many priests were becoming Christians in the Jerusalem Temple.  I would venture to say that these Jewish Christians were being abused by the local Jewish and Roman authorities.  Many of these believers that Apollos is referring to were losing land and property and were being put in prison.  This is persecution my friends.  The believers mentioned in the book of Hebrews are a great encouragement to us alive today.  When we suffer for our faith like they did they stayed firm in the faith.  

From what we have read we have seen Jesus as the Lamb of God.  It is Jesus who died on the cross but by faith we have great ‘confidence’.  This is faith language and we do not enter any temple on earth my friends we enter the Holy Place in heaven itself by the blood of Jesus:

19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

This is the true march of faith.  We are walking and getting closer to the great faith chapter 11.  We are not there yet.  However, we ought to know why we have this great confidence.  It is what Jesus has done for us.

We are not there yet but Apollos furnishes more morsels of spiritual food for our hearts.  ‘By a new and living way’:

20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

 Heaven itself through the work of Christ has broken through the heavens into our space and time.  We have the original Great High Priest over our souls.  The second Person of the Trinity.  The One who took on a body and died so that we might have eternal life.  In these verses we have the proof and evidence my brothers and sisters if only we ‘believe’ and trust our Lord Jesus fully.

Apollos has already covered this ground in this verse already earlier on in the book where he says:

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful:

We saw from Psalm 95 that the people of God grumbled against God and Moses.  We don’t have to be that way my friends.  Sometimes we need to go through the hardships no matter what.  There may be a price to pay.  It maybe we will lose friends, be falsely accused for something we didn’t do.  It may be that we are thrown in prison for our faith.  Let us stay faithful to the Lord Jesus even if we are condemned.  Jesus is our Lord, and the Holy Spirit is our Comforter and helper.  Our home is already prepared in heaven for us.

As Bavinck would say Faith is the root and works are the fruit.  Apollos is grounded in reality my friends.  He takes the believers into heaven itself and then he brings them down to the sacrificial work of Christ on the cross.  In light of what God has done, we are called to love our neighbour.  From that perspective these verses are important:

24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:19-25

With the verses above we are encouraged to live as a family of God.  We are not to forsake assembling (but it is not a command).  Some Christians live away from civilization and they cannot attend for certain reasons.  It may be that the person has physical movements of moving around.  Let us not forget that our God is a God of love, and we ought to reciprocate our lord Jesus’ example.

We also have a firm hope in these verses where it says,” and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” For Christians there is the great expectation of our Lord Jesus coming back for his church.  Here we see a small glimpse of this truth.  We ought to have the same attitude as these believers as we are called to hope for the return of Christ. 

Reflection

Faith and Christian action are always linked.  Apollos (Whom I believe wrote this work of beautiful divine theological reality art) Explained to us what Jesus had done for us through his person and his actions.  Jesus went through many sufferings so in the same way we ought to follow the confession of our faith in Christ.  We are literally a new creation of God inside out as he has written his laws on our hearts.  In Christ we too will enter heaven itself.  It is not a fun thing to go to prison for something you did not do.  Jesus understands this as he was a prisoner too even as the chief priests and soldiers came to arrest him while it was still dark.  The work on the cross has been completed after Jesus cried out on the cross “It is finished”. 

Next time Jesus comes, He will not come as a servant but as the King of all kings. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of this by saying “…all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10. 25”

The day of Christ’s second coming draws near.  Let us take stock and fall on our knees and pray how we can be more like Christ.  There is no whip my friend, only love. 

You can also follow my other blog as Herman Bavinck the master theologian gives us the vocabulary for Life in the Spirit: https://hasan-godtalk.blogspot.com/

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Herman Bavinck and Life in the Spirit

August 28, 2021

 

Beautiful Sunset taken by Hasan Djemal 28 08 2021

In Bavinck’s first book we looked at humanity before the Fall, after the fall with us being under the natural law of nature.  Now the master theologian moves on to look at the new life in Christ.  As a starter into this very important topic Bavinck says:

” Only the Triune God has life in himself; all creaturely life is derived from and dependent upon God. While the drive for self-preservation characterizes all vegetative and sentient life, the spiritual life is characterized by love for God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit Its fundamental principle is not found within the natural life but first arises through denial, self-crucifixion, renunciation, and loss of our soul. Love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit and fruit of the Spirit, gives stature and form to the spiritual life.” (Reformed Ethics; Herman Bavinck; edited by John Bolt; Book 2, chapter 7, page 239)

Obviously, people who read this blog in the public domain come from all sorts of religious traditions and none.  For Christians the life in the Trinity is real spiritual life in Christ by the Holy Spirit.  Some people would deny that there is a God, and they choose to live life their way.  For Christian believers there is a special walk with God.  Bavinck wants to explain all of the twists and turns in our walk with God in Christ by the Holy Spirit.  At the end of the day, we are all spiritual beings.  Even hardened atheists would agree with this.  There is something that animates all of us and is universal to human beings.  If we were not spiritual beings there would be no need for psychologists, mental hospitals, neural surgeons et al. Obviously the starting point for some is that human life was an ’accident’.  For Christians, Jews and Muslims God created us.  We are indebted to God for this life. However, I am speaking from a Christian exclusivist standpoint. This does not mean that I am any better than anyone else.  Perhaps the one reading this blog has an exclusivist standpoint that is not the same one as Bavinck.  From my reading we were all created in the image of God and hence we need to practice neighbourly love because of our exclusivist standpoints. I’m not so hot on liberal theology because it seems to want to melt the religions into some type of melting pot where we compromise.  For people of exclusivist stand points who believe God has spoken through whatever Scripture (Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Sikh, Islamic), this is seen as a horrendous sacrilege.  

So, then the believing Christian is in a spiritual state in relation to Christ.  The New Testament uses a lot of terms for this spiritual state, and I am getting excited with the most beautiful and exquisite jewels that Bavinck our Master theologian has mined for us.  We don’t need crypto currency; we have something worth far more valuable; Our relationship with our Saviour the lord Jesus Christ.  We should get really excited with what the terms are in the New Testament for our walk with God.  Yes, the Scriptures were written over 2000 years ago but by the Holy Spirit time is but an illusion. As believers we belong to the one universal church of believers; those that have trodden the road of faith, we who are alive today and those who will come after us when we have gone to glory. Let us then look at these special references:

Before looking at the references though Bavinck gives us this sentence:

“The spiritual life is presented in Holy Scripture with a variety of terms and images.” (From; Reformed Ethics; Book 2 and chapter 7; page 242; By Herman Bavinck; edited by John Bolt)

Over the next few quotations Bavinck dives into the experiences of Saint Paul.  We need to remember that although Paul started hunting Christians, he was specifically chosen by our Lord to be an ambassador of Christ to the Gentiles.  Although he was at saint Stephen’s martyrdom; in the long run he was going to suffer more than what is naturally possible for a human being.  Paul having so much experience of the Christian walk, is a prime candidate to help us in our own walk with God. 

Paul speaks of himself as a man ‘in Christ’ (ἐν Χριστῷ 2 Corinthians 12:2):

2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 2 Corinthians 12:2

 

In the next verse Paul is defending his Apostleship.  Some ‘Judaizers’ wanted to force Gentile Christians to get circumcised.   Paul won the debate on our Gospel freedoms.  In terms of our Christian walk with God Bavinck point out the phrase ‘to reveal his Son in me’:

16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, Galatians 1:16

The guiding principle in the next verse is that we live by faith in the Son of God.  More precisely on the verse below Bavinck quotes, ““been crucified with Christ,” so that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me””:

19 For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:19-20

 

As children of God, we are growing all the time or ought to be into full maturity as believers.  Bavinck shows us this with “Christ is formed in you”:

19 My children, with whom I am again in labour until Christ is formed in you— Galatians 4:19

 

Paul reminds the believers in Corinth where he stands in Christ in relation to them having faith in Christ Jesus:

15 For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 1 Corinthians 4:15

 

Paul goes even further as Bavinck points out that these believers are literally ‘new creations.’:

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

 

The new life we have rotates around Christ not the big ‘I’:

11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11

 

The believers at Corinth ‘are fleshly’ and have a lot of growing up to do:

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:1

All these reference Reformed Ethics; Book 2 and chapter 7; page 244; By Herman Bavinck; edited by John Bolt)

 

Reflection

All these verses were taken from one paragraph.  As Bavinck points out we need to be aware of flesh and fleshly.  ‘In the flesh’ can mean living in this world as a human being.  ‘Fleshly’ is more about being immature believers who believe the Gospel but there is still room for them to grow up and they still do the worldly things they were supposed to have given up.  On the other hand, he also uses terminology such as ‘in Christ’, the true believer only stands by the Holy Spirit through what Christ has done for us.

For a 20th century theologian such as Karl Barth we find our election ‘in Christ’.  In Calvin we are the object of election. As such double predestination is a little harsh from my point of view.  Barth tried a work around in the Judge judged in our place. Jesus is the Judge who was judged in our place.  (From Church Dogmatics; Karl Barth; volume 4/1) Jesus is the subject and object of election.  We find our election in Christ.  It is an extra step for our election. 

Sometimes I think it is possible to over analyse situations.  We can rest in the fact that we live in Christ and by faith rest on him our Lord and Saviour. 

It is best to turn to the Bible to sort some of these issues out. I think it is great that Bavinck drew so much from the Corinthian letters.  These believers had some serious issues, but St Paul broke through to them and showed them the way of Christ.   We also in our own day have serious issues to deal with and we too like the Corinthian Christians at times can be very fleshly Christians.  If there was hope for the Corinthians, then there is hope for us. I actually wrote a mini commentary on Corinthians recently and you can follow it at:

https://wordpress.com/post/weaver1hasonline.international/896

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Herman Bavinck on Natural Morality and how we fit in.

August 22, 2021

 

Christians with the aid of the Scripture can differentiate between nature and grace.  As Bavinck says:

“When people awaken to consciousness of the self, they immediately become aware that they are not who they should be. There is a law in their heart, a law that stands above them and opposes the law within their members. This former law under girds their consciences, guiding them to choose between what is (relatively) good and evil. This gives rise to a struggle. The natural moral life is a life of conflict between good and evil. ”

(Reformed Ethics; By Herman Bavinck; edited by John Bolt; Natural Morality; page 227)

Thanks to  cottonbro from Pexels

Bavinck then explains to us that our ‘moral disposition’ takes shape with lots of external forces such as social class, our environment and our personal temperament. (page 229;para2) Our consciousness in relation to nature keeps on developing in us so that it can seen as moral character.  He goes on to say:

“This happens especially when children are brought up under the moral law, learn to obey it, and begin of their own accord to do habitually what they ought to do by virtue of the commandment. This is how moral consciousness awakens and grows strong within people, who then feel conscience-bound to the law or moral idea.” (page 229) The problem however is that this ‘moral struggle never goes away’. With repentance there can be changes but even then, there will always be a struggle.  Bavinck then goes into detail in how this natural morality plays itself out in the individual, family and society.  Before Christianity:

“Moral character, morality, virtue, family, household, nurture, friendship, occupation, science, art, and the state—are products of natural morality.” (Page 232) These virtues did not start from Christianity, but they already existed in the ‘Pagan world’.   These have grown from the natural human world all over the world.

Bavinck the Master Theologian then gives us a fine conclusion to the first book on Reformed Ethics.

On Pages 232-235 Bavinck goes through the following topics:

1.       Natural morality viewed from the perspective of God’s kingdom

2.       Natural morality Viewed from an earthly perspective within time

3.       Natural Morality for the church and individual believers

Natural morality viewed from the perspective of God’s kingdom

Natural morality (morality from nature) from God’s perspective does not lead to God’s presence.  As Bavinck says:

“A wide chasm lies between the most highly developed moral life and the smallest seed of spiritual life. To. obtain spiritual life, it is precisely the natural moral life that has to be entirely surrendered, put to death, and crucified with Christ. In that case, Virtues are nothing but splendid sins.” Page 232

There are many reasons for this conclusion, but Scripture shows this to us to be the case.  Even in this chapter earlier, Bavinck went through the Greek philosophers and indeed their moral conduct was of a very high standard.  As far as Christians are concerned the ethics were at times even higher but this natural morality cannot save us from eternal separation from God.  We can see this from the teachings of Jesus for example.  Jesus starts the Sermon on the mount with ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’.   We could possibly with great difficulty keep all of Jesus’ commands, but have we kept the unwritten laws of the Law (as Bavinck mentioned somewhere).  Possibly not.  The biggest obstacle possibly is trying to get into God’s presence with a haughty spirit.  It just isn’t going to happen.  The pharisees and Sadducees probably kept the laws perfectly, but they missed an important ingredient; ‘humility, faith and grace’.  If the pharisees failed to enter the Kingdom of God by keeping the natural laws of God, then we don’t even stand a chance.  The Lord Jesus Christ kept the law perfectly and it is only through his work and grace that we can enter the kingdom of God.

Natural morality Viewed from an earthly perspective within time

When we talk about time, Bavinck means in our space and time continuum.   In our daily affairs of living this life.  For salvific use and the kingdom of God it fails to allow us to enter God’s kingdom.  However, in living our existence on earth natural morality has ‘great value’.  Bavinck gives us three reasons for this:

a.       Natural morality leaves humanity without excuse

b.       Natural morality restrains humanity to the excesses of evil

c.       Natural morality allows human society ‘to be bearable and at times also give joy’

 

Natural morality leaves humanity without excuse

One example Bavinck uses is a ‘community of robbers’, even they have rules in house so to speak.  Bavinck finishes off by saying “Even the greatest evil seeks to cloak itself in the garment of goodness and hide under it.   Every person’s own conscience testifies to natural morality. “(page 233)

Natural morality restrains humanity to the excesses of evil

Natural morality can hold back the wilder aspects of the human heart and ‘cordons around human lusts.’  On the other hand, natural morality can give satisfaction of doing the right thing and not the wrong evil thing.  Bavinck gives a whole list of names; “Plato, Seneca, and Plutarch and from the laws of Solon, Draco, and Lycurgus; many are examples to Christians and surpass the converted in outward Virtues.” (Page 233) These people managed to excel above Christians in moral virtues (but it cannot save us). Natural morality then ‘maintains itself within the conscience, in the state, in religion, in art, in history, in God’s government of the world’.

Natural morality allows human society ‘to be bearable and at times also give joy’

Natural morality can make a bad situation better (Bavinck uses the word ameliorate in the English translation).  With science and technology and medicine (love for truth) it can help us fight ‘against the elements of nature’.  He finishes off by saying, “And in the terrain of natural morality, there is still some reason for optimism, and pessimism is weakness of character and lack of courage.” (Page 233)

Natural Morality for the church and individual believers

Bavinck now covers:

a.       Natural morality is the presupposition of faith.

b.       Natural morality is even a kind of preparation for the spiritual life.

c.       The life of natural morality remains in the believer and in the church. (Pages 234-235)

As Bavinck shows natural morality is played out in the real world and Jesus says:

“38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; Matthew 13:38” NASB

Bavinck says about this verse “The world is the field in which the seed of the Word, prepared by the Holy Spirit, is sown, germinates, and bears fruit (Matt. 13:38). Regeneration presupposes natural birth, recreation presupposes creation, and Scripture presupposes nature.”

For Bavinck we are not completely ‘regenerated’ in this life.  It is a continued work of God’s goodness and grace being poured into out lives.  He quotes a couple of verses that show this to be the case from Scripture:

20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20 NASB

Christ is the driving force in our lives but that does not mean that we become ascetics or withdraw out of human society to live a false Christian life.  We are still natural human beings living in this world but by faith and grace we live in this world.  He finishes off Book one with saying,” The purpose and task of ethics (especially in our third book) is therefore to describe how regenerate people are to manifest their eternal heavenly life in the form of the temporal earthly life.” (Page 235, The third book hasn’t been published yet)

Reflection

As he has said natural morality comes from our natural first birth selves.   Every human being has a natural morality and from this flows a lot of things such as the sciences, medicine, technology et al.  Natural morality cannot save us from our sins but in this world, it plays a vital part in maintaining order in the chaos.  We have covered some serious topics in unconverted humanity.

I like the way that Bavinck finished off his last chapter.  He does not cut off the believers from the unbelievers.  Whether we are unbelievers or believers, we were all created by God.  For us to stand even a chance of entering heaven a new creative work of God has to happen in us because of the Fall.  This has all been done from an ‘exclusivity position’ yet he retains the exclusivity elements.

As a religious Educator I have problems with the way Religious Studies is taught.  The comparative method can take one so far but then it fails.  The reason Religious Studies fails is that faith of any religion is personal.  The personal factors are stripped away, and one is left with only data. 

Children for example speak a lot of the time from their own personal experiences.  In an essay question for example they can be penalized for not giving an answer that looks at other points of view other than their own.  The thing is that in a safe classroom environment they have come to a point reflectively and ask the question; ‘What does all this mean to me?’

We can learn from Bavinck that we are not ‘lone individuals’ with no family, community or history.  This is where many modern states are going wrong.  In some developed states the individual is the main thing.  The late Rabbi Sacks was right to say in his book Morality for example that there has to be more emphasis on the community.  There isn’t enough of it.  Bavincks Ethics has a lot to teach the secular world as much as teaching the Church.

I am now looking forward to moving onto his second book covering ‘Converted Humanity’.  What happens after we become Christians?  This is a very important question.  I wished that there was someone who could have explained this to me as a young believer.   I think the second book is more upbeat to the first.  Sometimes the topics got a little dark.  I suppose sometimes we need to go through the valleys before we reach the mountain tops.

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God is Going to write His Laws on the tablet of our hearts through the work of Our Lord Jesus Christ Hebrews 10. 11-18

August 21, 2021

19 08 2021

Let us begin by reading Hebrews 10. 11-18:

11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

16 “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM

AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:

I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,

AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”

He then says,

17 “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS

I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:11-18 NASB (Olive Tree Bible Software)

Introduction

We need to remember the context of Hebrews.  When talking about the priesthood and sacrifice it is in context of the Tabernacle and the Old Testament.  John Calvin starts like this too.  Later on, he talks about the Papacy and how the Mass breaks the rule of ‘once for all’ sacrifice of Christ.  This text has got nothing to do with the Papists.  It has everything to do with what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has done for us.  I’m not interested in polemics, but I am interested in what God has to say to us today in the 21st century. 

Verses 11-14

Looking at verses 11 -14 again:

“11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

Verses 11-12

These sacrifices for the people of God were done on a daily basis by the ministering priests.  The main point here is that these offerings could never take away sins.  This is contrasted with what Jesus has done for us.  His ‘sacrifice’ happened once!  After the sacrifice of Jesus, the act was completed for ever.

Verse 13

The beginning of Psalm 110 verse 1 starts with the Divine Trinitarian speech; ‘The Lord says to my Lord’ is omitted here.  Apollos already covered this ground earlier in the book of Hebrews.  Sitting at the right hand of God the Father is a privileged position.  Only the Son can sit here because it is his rightful place.  All the enemies of Christ will be made subject to Christ.

Verse 14

“14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” NASB

14 ‘Perfected’ used about Christ is to be seen in a negative light as far as the Old Testament law is concerned. The work of Christ brings an end in history for any need of sacrifice after Christ.  The job has been done!  Calvin would translate this verse a little differently using dynamic equivalence.  In verse fourteen where it says ‘perfected’,(perfect, indicative active), he prefers ‘consecrated’ because in the same verse ‘sanctified’ is used.  When something is sanctified, it is no longer for common use but only for God’s use. 

Verse 15

“15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, NASB.”

 The third Person of the Trinity is very important to Apollos and actually for many parts of the New Testament.  The Holy Spirit reveals God’s own heart to us, and we need to be more attentive to the prophetic voice of the Holy Spirit who as well as being our Comforter is also our teacher.

Verses 16-18

15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

16 “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM

AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:

I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,

AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”

He then says,

17 “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS

I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:11-18 NASB (Olive Tree Bible Software)

Once the Writer has proven his case, he is upbeat by quoting Jer. 31. 33-34.  At this point he is moving away from looking at the works of Christ and looking at the effects of Christ’s work. Namely the benefits that the Jewish Christians have coming from the work of Christ.  Hence the benefits for all Christians for all time.

We often here these verse quoted in Church or by believers for their encouragement they give.  Actually, when I think about Jesus’ teachings these are not mediocre prophetic words.  Firstly, it is the Holy Spirit Who spoke these words to us. This means that these words should be taken very seriously indeed. 

A note on The Holy Spirit the third person of the Trinity.

In chapter one we saw the relationship of the Father and the Son, and it is true that the main thrust of the letter is about the Son. The writer however at times touches on the person and work of the Holy Spirit as witness to the Son.

There are those that would only understand the Holy Spirit in impersonal terms. We need to be careful of not understanding the Holy

Spirit as only a power, although we can see the attribute of power working through Him.  You can also see the Holy Spirit speaking in chapters 2,4 / 3,7 / 6,4 / 9,8 / 9,14 /10,15 /10,29    As well as these verses closer scrutiny of the prophecies may show that there are also other verses in which the Holy Spirit is speaking as ‘He’.       

Chapter 4,3 Just as He has said.  8,8 is another case in point He says… in light of 9,8. 

2,4 In this verse we hear about ‘gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will’

3,7 Here the Holy Spirit is giving a prophetic speech.

6,4 In verses 4 and 5 we see the disciples spoken of as partakers of the Holy Spirit (third person of the Trinity) and have tasted the word of God (reference to the Father The second person of the trinity).

9,8 The Holy Spirit is giving ‘signs’ in the old covenant.

9,14 This verse refers to all three persons of the Trinity) Here the work of Christ is met through the agency of the Holy Spirit as a gift to the Father.

10,15 Here the Holy Spirit is a witness.

10,29 Here it says that the Holy Spirit can be insulted. i.e., We can only speak of a person being insulted not a power.

The Holy Spirit in relation to the Father and the Son. I would argue that the Writer of Hebrews has an implicit theology of the Holy Trinity, and it becomes explicit in 9,14

From the above argument I have proven that the Holy Spirit needs to be understood in personal terms, just as he is referred in other parts of scripture, such as the speech of Jesus in John 14,16-31. In reality however when Looking at John 14 you can see the workings of the complete Trinity if you also take into account verses 7-15.

Reflection

About our salvific situation before a Holy God

I want to begin at verses 16-17. God says that he will give us a new heart. This is very serious indeed.  The standards that God has for us is higher than that of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  These people my friends kept the law perfectly, but I have to explain that the standard Jesus sets is even higher than theirs.  If they kept the law perfectly you might ask, then how can I stand of any chance of getting into heaven? 

That is the main point; in your own strength it is impossible to get to heaven. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus gave us the key when he said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’.  I know that I am going on a tangent but before returning to Hebrews we need to think about our Lords sayings in Matthew 5,6, and 7 in his Sermon on the Mount.  If you try to fulfil the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount my friends, you will fall flat on your face.  For me these have been written to show how helpless we are before a Holy God.  One needs to come to a place in your heart and confess that you are destitute and in complete need of God’s Help.  ‘Poor in Spirit’ is no accidental formula.  It is intended to disarm us.  The Pharisees kept the law perfectly (they thought), but they failed to comply with what ‘has not been written’ as Bavinck would explain to us.  Later on, in the book of Acts many priests did in fact follow the way of Christ.  

Returning to verses 17-18 then, the Holy Spirit needs to change our heart.  Unless we come to a place of repentance (‘poor in spirit’) we would not be able to have a new heart.  This is God’s process.

The work Jesus has done for us.

We have now seen that Jesus is our perfect high Priest and our king sitting at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.  He is also the one who died for us so that we can have eternal life.   As Paul says, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10.9-10 NASB

Indeed this is our confession that Jesus has been raised from the dead and because of this we will one day be also raised from the dead.

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Herman Bavinck on The purpose and function of the Law.

August 15, 2021

Before we even begin to think about the purpose and function of the law; What is a purpose and a function?  

Our local rabbit who came to say hello and have some lunch!

 

 Purpose: From my understanding a purpose is a reason for something:

The online Cambridge encyclopaedia gives us a whole list of definitions carrying many different shades of meaning;  https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/purpose

Function:  A function is do with action and something is achieved at the end of the process.

I found it interesting that Bavinck uses ‘Purpose or function’ not ‘purpose and function’ in his minor title to this section.  In society in general the law’s purpose is to regulate human activity and make the world a safer place to live in.  The law functions in such a way that those who break the law can be punished and or reformed in some way and become better citizens.   Bavinck in this very small section gives us three uses of law:

1.       Civil use

2.       Pedagogic or convicting use

3.       Teaching use among believers.  Taken from pages 226 -227

Note: Pedagogy is about the act of teaching

Civil use

Bavinck here says, “The law is a bridle that tames and restrains the raging animal Within people. People can no longer fulfil the law in a spiritual sense. However, they can bring their actions into conformity with the law. “ (Page 226-227)   Just because a person can keep the law externally, this does not mean that it reaches God’s standards.  This is a very important thrust in the teachings of Jesus.  Just because the law has been kept even like Paul could say he was blameless. (Philippians  3.6)  This is not good enough in God’s court.  This was the problem with the rich young ruler in Matthew 19.20:

The Rich Young Ruler

16 And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; 19 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” 20 The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. Matthew 19:16-22 NASB

Even in the natural if you love a family member and they are ill, one would be willing to sell house and car to get the medicine to help the loved one.  What drives a lot of people in these sorts of circumstances is love.   The rich young ruler was not a bad man.  He really did keep all the commandments, but he loved his wealth more than God.  It was a stumbling block to him.   My friends we have the same stumbling blocks because of our materialism and greed.   As Bavinck says in this section that just because you can keep all the rules inside our hearts there can be a haughty and proud spirit when it comes ‘to legal virtue’. 

Note: It is important to put a an exegetical correction to the rich young ruler because it is so easy to misunderstand what Jesus is getting at.  Matthew 5 says,

“3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3”

This is the correction.  The whole thrust of the teachings of Jesus in Matthew is to show that in our own abilities we cannot reach God’s standards.  The starting point is by the root of faith, understand this within our own being.  It is only through God’s grace that we can reach God’s standards ‘in Christ’. 

Pedagogic or convicting use

Bavinck begins this passage by saying there are two areas we need to look at:

“Here the law functions in two ways:

·         first, it convicts us of sin (Rom. 3:19, 20; 4:15; 5:20; 7:7—20):

·         second, it convicts us of judgment and punishment (2 Cor. 3:7; Rom. 4:15; Heb. 12:29).

It is through the law that we become aware of the ideal that God desires concerning what we ought to be and will be.” (Page 227)

We are now going to look at these references and see what God is saying to us:

We are convicted of sin

Note: Convicted in this context is according to our conscience we find ourselves guilty before the divine court.

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:19-20

 

15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. Romans 4:15

 

20 The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:20-21

7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

The Conflict of Two Natures

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Romans 7:7-20

 

It convicts us of judgment and punishment (2 Cor. 3:7; Rom. 4:15; Heb. 12:29).

7 But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 2 Corinthians 3:7

15 For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15

29 for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29

 

Teaching use among believers. 

17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17 NASB

Concerning this verse Bavinck says: This use “consists in the instruction and direction of all internal and external moral actions. Thus, the law is a perpetual rule of life, Matthew 5:17.” Page 227 As believers and students then, we continually learn from God’s Law.

What we have then covered over the last weeks has been a prolegomenon of the chapter preparing us to go deeper into understanding what the natural law is about. 

Reflection

The use of the law falls into three categories in this section.  No person except Christ has managed to keep the law completely.  The law is not bad because God gave it.  We cannot keep the law but that does not mean that the law is bad.  It means that the law is doing what it was supposed to do.  So, we have covered the areas of; Author, Content, Object, Purpose and Use of the Law. 

Next time we are going to start to look at the natural law.  This is the law of nature, what we are born with.  We are coming to the end of Bavincks Book 1 on Reformed Ethics, and I am getting very excited as we move into the ethics of the Christian believer.   We live by faith, and ‘life in the Spirit’.   What does this actually mean.  In the coming weeks after I have finished Book1 on natural morality we will be diving into ‘Life in the Spirit’.   I know personally as I have grown spiritually and as a human being by reading and studying Bavinck’s writings.  On the side I also started to read his 4 volume Dogmatics. 

I hope that those of you who have followed my blog have also grown to be more like our Saviour Jesus Christ.   In today’s world we need someone like Herman Bavinck to show us what the Bible has to say about our beliefs.   Thanks for following my blog it is an open blog to everyone.  I hope and pray for those who have not come into a living relationship with our Lord that even if they don’t convert to the faith that there is more empathy towards Christians.  Better still is that you come into a true relationship with God through his Son our Lord Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.  For those who are believers already I pray and hope that your walk with God goes even deeper and that through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ you walk the walk and do the talk the talk of faith carried by the gift of grace. The Gospel of Matthew surely shows us that we have a deep need of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.   Let us then continually love God and love our neighbour (whoever they are including those who would want to harm us.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reformed Ethics volume 1; Herman Bavinck; edited by John Bolt; page 226-227

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Our Lord Jesus Christ, the only one to have kept God’s Will perfectly

August 14, 2021

14 08 2021

Apollos whom I believe wrote this book quotes from the Old Testament:

King David (Hebrews 10;5-7 from Psalm 40; 6 onwards) and Jeremiah the Prophet (Hebrews 10; 16-17 from Jeremiah 31;33).

King David who was one of the ancestors of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and Jeremiah the Prophet were two characters that suffered a lot for their faith through the trials that they went through.  Both men had a close walk with God.  Sometimes we need to go through sufferings to reach our final destination.   All the kings of Israel were anointed with oil hence Messiah means the ‘anointed one’.   Jesus’ title of Christ, messiah shows his kingship lineage.  Jesus is the only king that brought the sacrificial system and kingship into one union in his person.   We have already touched on this in earlier blogs.  In verses 5 to 7 God is speaking through king David and in verses 16 to 18 God is speaking through the voice of Jeremiah.   Let us now read from Hebrews 10; 5-18

5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,

“SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED,

BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;

6 IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE.

7 “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME

(IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME)

TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”

8 After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

16 “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM

AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:

I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,

AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”

He then says,

17 “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS

I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:5-18

Verses 5-11 The Writer then quotes a Psalm that relates to the messiah ps40-6-7.  We can see in the Hebraic parallelism Christ contrasted with the sacrificial system.  However, the key that the Writer uses in this verse is found as the son doing the will of God in verse 9.  Not anyone doing the will of God but namely the Son of God the Christ. In verse 10 the Writer finishes off by stating that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient once and for all.   Let us quote verses 9 and 10 again:

“9 then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” NASB

There is only one man in the whole of the human race who has not sinned.  There is only one man in the whole of the human race who kept God’s will perfectly.  This Man being fully divine and full human at the same time is the one who has never sinned and kept God’s council perfectly.   The little phrase ‘takes away’ literally means makes an end, kills off (g0337. ἀναιρέω anaireō ; from 303 and 138; to take up, take away, make an end:– Taken from Olive tree software).  The sacrificial Judaic system finds its fulfilment in Christ therefore the sacrificial Old Testament system has become redundant.  Jesus was the main sacrifice and in him we are sanctified.  It is through Jesus offering himself and keeping God’s will perfectly. We see this in the garden of Gethsemane:

“39 And He came out and went, as was His habit, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40 Now when He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you do not come into temptation.” 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 43 [[n]Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground]. 45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, 46 and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you do not come into temptation.”  “(Fromhttps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022&version=NASB)

In this passage we see the prayer that shows how far Jesus would go in order to do God’s will.

Reflection

We cannot fulfil God’s will in our own strength.  It is what Jesus has done for us that allows us to come into the presence of God by faith.  There have been serious debates between Roman Catholic and Protestant teachings based on the above text.  As a biblical exegete I’m only interested in making the text clearer for us to understand.  Each person needs to make up their own mind on how to interpret the text in their church situations. All I know is that Jesus died for me once so that it is possible to have eternal life by faith.   As Christians we ought to live in such a way that we love one another and through this, the world can see a sign of the divine in our lives and be convinced that they need to repent and accept Jesus Christ as their personal saviour.  Jesus is the fulfilment of the law.  The sacrificial system, the Tabernacle, the priesthood all pointed to the work and person of Jesus Christ, and he resides in the true Tabernacle, not a copy.  Everything on earth are mere copies of the real thing.  That does not mean that they were not important; they were important because even as a shadow they pointed to the work and person of Christ.  It was a devastating thing when the Temple was destroyed in AD 70 but it is interesting that in historical retrospect that three great religions have a serious claim to Jerusalem.  Jerusalem has always been a Holy Place. 

Jerusalem was the old Salem in which king Melchizedek lived.  Since the time of Abraham though Salem became corrupted and at the time of Joshua the ‘Adoni-zedek king of Jerusalem’ was planning to attack Joshua (Joshua 10:1).  He has the same name form as Melchizedek king of Salem.  There are other links in the Psalms for example that link Zion and Salem to Jerusalem for example:

“His tabernacle is in Salem;

His dwelling place also is in Zion. Psalms 76:2”

And then how about this verse:

31 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the LORD will perform this. 2 Kings 19:31

Dr Katrina Larking at KCL in the Hebrew lectures many years agon once made the point that all the other nations in Palestine such as Moab, Edom and so on did not survive.  The only nation to have survived was Israel.  Perhaps we are seeing God’s plan being worked out somehow. 

Notes

Some Christian theologians in the past have used this verse as a polemic on the Roman Catholic Church to combat the doctrine of transubstantiation. This is an erroneous way to use the text.  The verse is in light of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament not in light of any disagreement between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants. To be more precise, if you want to follow the argument about transubstantiation that Roman Catholic theologians use, you need to understand Aquinas’ borrowing of Aristotelian metaphysics. Be careful not to fall into the trap of reading something into the text that is not there (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation).   We are interested in exegesis (https://www.britannica.com/topic/exegesis) reading out the meaning that is there in the text, taking into consideration the original readers.

Posted in Hebrews course, Turkish Theology | 2 Comments »

Hebrews chapter 10 verses 1-4; the importance of the law of God

August 6, 2021

Chapter 10 continues with the sacrifice of Christ.  Before we look at the text in more detail Ellingworth gives us an outline up to verse 18.

Note that Ellingworth says of this passage that, ‘The entire passage is a summary of the central teachings of the epistle Page (488).  The passage has been broken down as follows by various scholars:

“v1-4     The importance of the law.

V5-10    The willingness of Christ.

V11-14 Two kinds of priest.

V15-18 The confirmation of scripture. “(The Epistle to the Hebrews; A commentary on the Greek text; page 488 of Ellingworth)

Let us now begin by reading up to verse 18:

One Sacrifice of Christ Is Sufficient

1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,

“SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED,

BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;

6 IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE.

7 “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME

(IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME)

TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”

8 After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

16 “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM

AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:

I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,

AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”

He then says,

17 “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS

I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:1-18

Verse 1: 1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.

When one read this verse, it is easy to miss a very important point and it cannot be seen in the English translation.  The two key words are shadow and ‘form of things.’  Basically ‘shadow’ and ‘image’.   Apollos uses shadow in two places.  This verse and chapter 8:5:

5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.” Hebrews 8:5

The question that arises is what is the relationship between the shadow and the image?  John Calvin explains the difference here by saying that the painting has two parts.  The first part is the pencil, and the second part is when the paint is added to make the picture even more beautiful.  The pencil mark is still there and is still important although it is no longer visible.  (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries; Hebrews 1 & 2 peter: Eerdmans; page 132).  There is a relationship between the sacrifice of Christ and the yearly sacrifices.  Only the work of Christ can perfect the believer and take away sins.  The Mosaic sacrifices were only a shadow, but they were still important in that they pointed beyond themselves to the true ‘form of things’.  Verse 2 continues to explain what verse 1 just said.   Verse 3 spells it out:

“3 But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins year by year.” NASB

This is quite a hard pill to swallow; ‘a reminder of sins.  A reminder means that a person continually needs to go through the same sacrificial process again and again.

Verses 2-4

“2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” NASB

In these verses the original worshippers under the Old Covenant still had guilty consciences even after the ritual of sacrifice.  He concludes that the blood of animals has limitations as far as conscience is concerned. 

Reflection

Over the centuries there have been people who have wanted to throw the Old Testament away such as Marcion. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcionism) This is a categorical mistake because Christ came not to abandon but to fulfil the law and the Prophets.  The Old Testament will always be important. A shadow still has an object that belongs to it.  In the light of what we have said we are truly blessed that Christ died for us so that we too in Christ can enter heaven itself too. 

Concerning the idea of the conscience  in one of our verses.  Christians are not supposed to run away from the Law.  IN Christ it has been fulfilled.  I now quote some work from my other blog on Bavincks Reformed Ethics:

“Herman Bavinck will not agree with any of this, and he shows us through Holy Scripture how we ought to perceive the moral natural law and indeed God has to be the foundation.  It is God who has spoken and as he says the Church is called to be different to the nations. Let us look at Bavincks Scripture contents.

“(Exod. 20:2). The moral law is acknowledged throughout the whole Bible as God’s law, even by Jesus himself, who explicitly speaks of biblical commandments as God’s commands and words (Matt. 15:4). Therefore, the law cannot be undone, only fulfilled (Matt. 5:17; cf. Rom. 7:23, 27; 8:2).41‘” (page 221):

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Exodus 20:2

4 For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ Matthew 15:4

17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17

23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:23-25

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:2 (All these verses have been drawn from Olive Tree Bible software)

Bavinck puts this whole discussion in context:

“When modern thinkers posit an evolutionary origin for biblical law and deny its divine source, they need to be Challenged, as Harless has done: “The law of God in Israel is not the product of a development-process in the people of Israel in which they had gradually become conscious to themselves of what is right and good in the relation, whether of man to man, or man to God. On the contrary, God testifies His will in gradual revelation, in opposition to the spirit predominating amongst the people.” (Page 221)

For Christians the above statement from Bavinck is very important.  God is in control and man thinks he is in control.  Bavinck is not saying that reason is completely bad.  However, as Barth and Bavinck would say faith seeking understanding.  This is how we ought to live.  The man of faith puts his reasons at the feet of Jesus and then he is able to understand the greater picture and not someone looking for something in the pitch black of a storm.

Bavinck finishes the ‘Author section’ by saying:

 “All the relationships between people and God and among his subjects are regulated.43 The source of knowledge of the moral law, therefore, cannot be only our conscience and reason—although they are very valuable—but Holy Scripture in its entirety. This means not only the Pentateuch but also the prophets and the New Testament. The Decalogue is only the summa of the law; the Old and New Testaments are the explanation and commentary.” (From page 222)

Reflection

God created the law, conscience and the world.  Scripture explains to us the facts and as faithful believers we live by these truths.  Those who try to abstract God from the Good (ethics) have to find another base (foundation) and it is generally some form of evolutionary idea that sees things getting better.  We have seen pure reason run into all sorts of problems.  Theology must always use the appropriate tools to come to appropriate conclusions.  We are also dealing with the facts in a scientific way just as much as any scientist this is why Theology is known as the Queen of the sciences.  I don’t believe in using philosophy as a grammar of theology because then the grammar takes over.  It was a good thing that John Calvin dumped Aristotle out of his Institutes.  Let us put Christ first in our live and live by faith.  Ultimately this is the true seat of happiness in the presence of God by the Holy Spirit.”  From https://hasan-godtalk.blogspot.com/

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Herman Bavinck on the object of law: in relation to law of thoughts, civil law and natural law

August 6, 2021

 

04 08 2021

The Object of the Law (Reformed Ethics; Herman Bavinck; edited by John Bolt; pgs 224-226)

I made these coasters last year by hand

 

As a generalized starting point, we begin by looking at our disposition in light of the law.  This is his general introduction to this section. The law then can only measure the outward disposition of the mind.  It cannot pass judgement on the inward disposition of the mind (Schleiermacher pg 224).  To a certain extent Bavinck agrees with this but not completely:

“However, the law also regulates the essence, the nature of a human person.   Notwithstanding, there is some truth in Schleiermacher’s statement.” 

The law for Bavinck is directed towards the human ‘will’ which is the ‘seat of morality’.   To a certain extent then it regulates ‘our essence and nature’ which comes from the actions we do.  For these reasons then the law does not care about what we look like or how tall we are.

I don’t think much has changed over the last 150 years when Bavinck penned this.  It is still the case that the forensic evidence and tools are brought into the court room.  The evidence is put before a jury and the defendant is either accused or found innocent.  Sometimes the evidence is thrown out of court because it has been tampered with.  In that case perhaps the defendant was guilty but is acquitted of the crime.  It is not a perfect system, but it is all that we have.  Sad to say sometimes in certain places in the USA innocent people have been executed for a crime they did not do.   So yes, I agree that the law can only really pass judgements on the evidence and can perhaps touch on the motives from the external evidence but at the end of the day only God can peer into the soul of the person. 

Would you agree with what has been said so far?

Bavinck continues to say that because of our fallen state (Adam), ‘Our being; inclinations, the condition and actions of our soul and mind, are subject to the moral law along with the will and our deeds along with the will and our deeds. (From pg 224)

This is where the human courts fail. The moral law goes beyond the human court because to a certain extent the law can only see the evidence.  In the moral law then we move into God’s jurisdiction, and He can see everything about us.   Herman Bavinck does not stop here but he then differentiates the moral law from:

·         The law of thought

·         Civil law

·         Natural law

The law of thought (Answer to Hegel)

For Bavinck the law of thought is subject to the moral law. As he says:

“The law of thought is only for our thinking, for the mind, and definitely not for the will and the heart, which have a completely different law.”

With this he critiques Hegel (with his pure thought idealism) and says that the law of thought ought ‘never to be for everyone and everything’.  The law of thought only encompasses the thinking rational mind and limited to this.  If we make a mistake in logic for example (my example) ; 2+2= 5 this does not give us a ‘guilty conscience’.   The moral law speaks to the centre of the person in the human will.   So then when we do something wrong the morality and the logic can add up to guilt. 

‘Concurrence’ with the moral law in the sense that two things (included is the law of thoughts) happening at the same time is a possibility.  It is however not possible in the opposite direction and Bavinck says:

“However, the opposite is not the case: one can think correctly and still sin against the moral law, because the moral law does not order reasoning itself (which can be correct) but only the quality of moral reasoning, the “how” of the reasoning.” (From page 225)

An error in logic does not mean always a mistake in morality.  He goes on with ‘infallibility in understanding does not correspond with moral infallibility. ‘  The moral law then is at the centre of ‘ entire human person: mind, will, feeling, and all powers.’ (From page 225)

Civil Law

Bavinck reminds us here that the moral law and the civil law are not the same thing.  Justice needs to be based on the moral law but not fight against it.   Morality and civil law (justice) are not the same thing because justice is in the public realm including the use of legalised violence and coercion. Justice is moral in the sense of:

“Justice, therefore, is the moral in that the moral is situated in the public sphere—in the state.”

 

Natural law

The moral law in the present needs to be differentiated from the natural law.  Over time law has changed its meaning of use. Originally it was the law of the state or the ‘law of the nature of God’. (From page 225).  It used to mean:

“The ‘law of nature’ meant an ethical rule that was known by nature.”

This situation changed in the 16thand 17th centuries.   

Bavinck goes on before looking at Schleiermacher:

“This term was transferred in a very metaphorical sense to nature, for no one enacted those laws of nature and no one has the power to obey or transgress them. That is the reason why even today there is much disagreement about the concept and meaning of the ‘laws of nature.”

The footnotes on pages 225 -226 are even more interesting:

We are taking Bavinck’s own lead here by inserting key elaborations of his point from his Reformed Dogmatics; a marginal note in his manuscript calls for inserting an “excerpt” from Gereformeerde Dogmatz’ek. The quoted passages that follow in this paragraph are from this same page. Bavinck follows the passage we have just cited with a lengthy quotation from Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920), the German physician who was a key figure in the founding of modern psychology: “In the seventeenth century God legislated the laws of nature; in the eighteenth, nature itself decreed them; and in the nineteenth century the individual natural scientists furnish them.”

These footnotes point to an evolutionary movement of thought about ‘Law’.

·         17th Century God decreed.

·         18th Century nature decreed

·         19th century the individual natural scientists furnished the laws!

 

Bavinck then goes into Schleiermacher’s view on the natural law and he show that it is a form of pantheism so let us read:

“According to Schleiermacher, “the moral law is not to be set over against natural law, but it develops by means of an ascent from the lower to that highest individual natural law.”68 The moral law, therefore, is merely potentialized natural law, the law for human intellectual life. Similarly, “vegetation is a new law for the elementary life of the earth; the animal world is a new law for the vegetation; the intellectual life of humanity is a new law for the animal world, vegetation, and elementary life.”69 Humanity gradually detects and fulfils this moral law as the law of its intellectual life. This is nothing other than pantheism.” (From page 226)

Bavinck critiques the above by saying there is no ‘ought’ in natural law but the moral law has obligations for The moral law has obligations that must happen, it punishes offenses, it employs no physical coercion, and, unlike natural law, it focuses on the personal, not on the impersonal: it addresses the will. (from page 226).

Reflection

There are scholars who have rejected the theological view of reality for some flimsy ideals.  It is good to remind us here of what was said earlier:

Bavinck continues to say that because of our fallen state (Adam), ‘Our being; inclinations, the condition and actions of our soul and mind, are subject to the moral law along with the will and our deeds along with the will and our deeds. (From pg 224)

Bavinck goes through various types of law such as the law of thought, the natural law and civic law.  They are all dependent on God’s moral law but not the other way around.  We have not yet finished with the definitions, and we still need to look at ‘the purpose and function of the law’. (pages 226-228)

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