Our Need to Unlearn

In a sermon I heard, the preacher spoke of Simon of Samaria who came to faith in Jesus after being a practicing sorcerer.  For a long time he held the people of his city spellbound by his supernatural abilities, and he duped them into thinking he wielded the power of God.  After Simon believed in Jesus, was baptised and continued with Philip the evangelist in fellowship, he saw when visiting apostles laid hands on people they were filled with the Holy Spirit.  He foolishly offered Simon Peter money so he too could have the power to lay hands on people so they could receive the gift of God.  Acts 8:20-21 tells us Peter's fiery response:  "But Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God."

It is very possible this idea of offering money for power carried over from Simon's life when he was a sorcerer, for power was always on offer--for a price.  In Acts 19 after the fear of the LORD Jesus Christ fell on the people of Ephesus, those who repented of their witchcraft and confessed Jesus as LORD brought their books of magic together and burned them, and the value of those books combined was 50,000 pieces of silver.  Satan is willing to exchange power for a price (always a wretched deal), for he offered the cities of the world to Jesus if He would bow and worship him.  Because of his background, it is likely Simon imagined it was perfectly legitimate to offer money for a supernatural ability like a magician does for a new trick.  Peter rebuked Simon for offering money when the Gospel and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is freely offered by God to all who trust in Jesus.  Simon had a lot to learn.

Simon, like all people who come to believe in Jesus, also had a lot to unlearn.  This is one of the great challenges that faces all Christians, for we naturally carry into our Christian life oversized baggage full of assumptions, hearsay, misunderstandings, the emphasis of one truth to the neglect or negation of another equally important truth, falsehoods and even heresies.  A person who spent time as a spiritist or was a member of a cult has a crooked foundation of thinking laid that does not automatically disappear by the addition of faith of Jesus Christ.  Believers who spent their childhood or their adult life attending churches that had a legalistic style can be influenced by a legalistic lens in their reading and interpretation of the Scriptures, judgments they make about scores of things, and their daily decisions.  Adding knowledge by reading God's word does not by itself remove rubbish ideas we assumed were correct because they are the only thing we have heard or known.  Having been born again by faith in Jesus, we must grow to be dependent on the word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit to observe the scripture, understand what it means, and how to apply it personally.

Praise the LORD He is the One who transforms us, and the light of the Gospel brings countless sins and our errors to light.  God also uses fellow believers to exhort and even rebuke us when bitterness or pride rises up within us, when we crave the spotlight and grab for power like Simon did.  Our journey of being sanctified day by day more into the image of Jesus means we need to keep changing for good, and this means the old ways of living and thinking must be identified and thrown out so we can be better aligned with our LORD Jesus.  People who have had genuine faith in Jesus for decades can still be influenced by assumptions, habits and ways of thinking that are unbiblical.  God forbid we should be like those Paul described in 2 Timothy 3:7, those who are "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."  This suggests an unwillingness to lay aside old falsehoods combined with unwillingness to obey the Gospel.  Unless we put what we learn of God's word into practice by faith in Him, we will not grow spiritually.  Jesus is the Truth and has given Himself to us, and by following Him faithfully in submission to Him we embrace our sanctification.  Though progress may seem slow, we have all assurance God is faithful to complete the work in us He began by His grace.

The Wonder of God

One thing I love and appreciate about God is He is immutable and consistent.  Being eternal and above all God is not susceptible to influences of modern society, and His wisdom does not shift with the times.  In God and His word there is an objective clarity and permanence that is not found in anyone or things of this world.  A person's opinions can shift like the breeze, and their conduct can resemble a chameleon that adjusts to their environment.  I respect people who take a stand on God's truth, and I find their insights by God's grace endure the test of time.  It is encouraging to know there are many great thinkers whose intelligence far exceeds my own who were not ashamed to make the living God and His word central to their thoughts and perspective.

I have been reading G.K. Chesterton's In Defense of Sanity lately, and he is exceptionally brilliant.  I am glad that some of the time I understand what he means and enjoy his sense of humour that crops up often.  Though most of his writings in the book hail from the early to mid-20th century, I like that he applies the timeless wisdom of God to the consistent nature of fallen humanity.  As God is always holy, righteous, just, loving and good, in contrast man remains predictably sinful, conceited, arrogant and proud.  Rather than talking down to anyone as being "holier than thou," Chesterton thinks thoughts through with a copious use of paradox and sound reason.  Though the current events and hot-button topics of his day are quite different than ours, his philosophical approach and clever logic has not aged a day.

I was particularly intrigued concerning a few observations he made about sceptics, and despite our modern education and the information available at our fingertips it seems sceptics have only multiplied.  I found this quote very useful to consider:  "The best that can be said for the sceptic is that he cannot say what he means, and therefore, whatever else he means, he cannot mean what he says." (Chesterton, Gilbert Keith. In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton. Ignatius Press, 2011. page 337)  With the abundance of information today, there is the real risk of misinformation, whether it be malicious or accidental.  In this world full of deceptions, half-truths and agendas, the Bible remains a bastion of truth we can count on to reveal God and His wisdom for us.  It is truly a joy to look upon God with wonder.

On the topic of pride and sceptics Chesterton mused:

"It is a weakness; for it is simply settling down permanently to believe what even the vain and foolish can only believe by fits and starts, but what all men wish to believe and are often found weak enough to believe; that they themselves constitute the supreme standard of things.  Pride consists in a man making his personality the only test, instead of making the truth the test...It is pride to think that a thing looks ill, because it does not look like something characteristic of oneself...But the self as a self is a very small thing and something very like an accident.  Hence arises a new kind of narrowness; which exists especially in those who boast of breadth.  The sceptic feels himself too large to measure life by the largest things; and ends by measuring it by the smallest thing of all.  There is produced also a sort of subconscious ossification, which hardens the mind not only against the traditions of the past, but even against the surprises of the future.  Nil admirari becomes the motto of all nihilists; and it ends, in the most complete and exact sense, in nothing." (Ibid, pages 348-349)

It is good when we measure things by ourselves to discover we are frighteningly small, for this is God's grand design in revealing Himself as almighty and over all.  It is in knowing we are nothing in light of a city, nation, this planet or the universe--a temporary blip of life here one day and gone the next--that God's loving pursuit and sacrifice for our salvation and eternal relationship with Him is magnified.  The best of men see themselves in the worst light, and we are all granted the capacity by the warm light of God's grace to humble ourselves before Him and others.  God did not put forth the challenge for people to prove their worth by ascending to heaven and to knock on His door:  He implores us to bow the knee right where we are before Him in faith, worship and adoration.  The love of Christ constrains us to remain consistent in our awe and gratitude towards Him.

God's Righteous Judgment

Queen Jezebel is a woman whose villainy is infamous in the pages of Scripture.  She stirred up her husband Ahab to do great evil, systematically tried to exterminate all the prophets of God, murdered righteous Naboth and his household for his vineyard, and promoted idolatry like few in Israel before her or ever since.  For her sin God took vengeance upon her according to His word by the hand of Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat.

The prophet who anointed Jehu king held forth the word of the LORD in 2 Kings 9:7-10:  "You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. ⁸ For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab all the males in Israel, both bond and free. ⁹ So I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. ¹⁰ The dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.' " And he opened the door and fled."  For a long time God had been longsuffering towards Ahab and Jezebel, yet the day came when He would bring judgement about their house.  As sure as God's salvation is for all who repent of their sins and trust in Him, so is His fierce wrath and judgment upon those who hate Him--and the end of Jezebel illustrates this perfectly.

As Jehu rampaged towards Jezreel, eliminating those of Ahab's house one by one, Jezebel heard he was approaching and put on make-up, styled her hair and adorned herself with her royal crown.  Her words dripped with arrogance and hypocrisy as she greeted Jehu from the safety of her high window in 2 Kings 9:31:  "And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?"  Jezebel was guilty of mass-murder, yet she accused Jehu of doing evil who obeyed the command of God as His anointed.  Jehu did not argue with or address her at all.  He said to the eunuchs who attended her, "Who is on my side?  Throw her down."  After they threw Jezebel to her death, Jehu promptly trampled her corpse with his horses and chariot and left her where she lay.  When Jehu later sent his servants to bury Jezebel, all that remained was her skull, hands and feet because dogs had eaten her, according to the word of the LORD.  Though a king's daughter, she was like refuse upon the ground so no one could see a tomb and say, "Here lies Jezebel."  Her only memory is found within the pages of scripture:  a warning of God's judgment against those who commit wickedness in God's sight, and a foreshadowing of the plans God has for Satan.

Jezebel was thrown down from a window by eunuchs, and Satan will one day be thrown out of heaven by angels.  He will be bound and ultimately destroyed forever for His crimes against God.  The prophet Isaiah spoke of the destruction of Lucifer, the oppressor and accuser of God's people.  The devil who thought to exalt himself to assume God's throne in heaven above the stars will be justly thrown into hell for his wickedness.  It says in Isaiah 14:18-19:  "All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house; ¹⁹ but you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot."  God takes no delight in the death of the wicked, but He loves to uphold justice and righteousness in heaven and earth forever.  Like Jezebel was thrown down, so Satan will be cast down and be without memorial forever by the word of the LORD.  The destroyer of the world will be destroyed, and all who fear God ought to rejoice in His salvation and judgment.  Vengeance is the LORD's, and He will repay (Deut. 32:35, Heb. 10:30).

An Everlasting Love

The book of Malachi begins with the burden of the word of the LORD that reads, "I have loved you," says the LORD.  Yet you say, 'In what way have you loved us?'"  Isn't this a heartbreaking response from God's people, ones He always loved?  It is written in Jeremiah 31:3:  "The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you."  From the beginning God only showed love to His people, for God is love.  The Hebrews were God's people because He loved and chose them out of all the nations of the world, brought them out of Egypt, and brought them into the land of promise.  Yet a day came when they did not acknowledge God loved them at all.  Their response to God's claim of loving them was, "Yeah?  Prove it!"

Malachi's style of prophecy was dialectical or disputational, and God's objective statements were followed by questions and contradictions by His people.  God through the prophet provided evidence for His initial claim, and those who feared God would be moved to repentance for sin and heed God's command.  God is good not just to tell us where we have done wrong, but He explains the right action we ought to take instead.  While God showed His love of His people by the covenant of Law and countless blessings, all people today--both Jew and Gentile--have a fuller, more complete picture of God's love through Jesus.  Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son Jesus, and by the power of the Gospel He gives the right to become children of God by believing on His name.

A well-known poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning begins, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."  This is a good exercise for Christians to embrace, that we would consider all the ways God has practically shown His love for us.  When we acknowledge God's continuous love toward us by revealing Himself to us, providing for all our needs, drawing us to Himself with lovingkindness, providing atonement for our sin and remaining faithful to us despite our faults, it evokes praise and thanksgiving to God.  1 John 3:1 reads, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him."  It is because God loves us that He redeemed and reconciled us to Himself as children, and if this was the only thing He did for us it would be enough cause for us to praise and glorify Him forever.

God has done more than love us in a particular way because He is love.  Everything about Him is loving, and His undying, active love always acts for our ultimate good.  Since He is able to make all things work together for good to those who love God, we can rest assured in His sovereignty and be secure in His love.  We will never be able to count all the ways God has loved us, but the cross speaks of love that is sacrificial, constant and eternal.  In coming to Jesus Christ for salvation we discover God has loved us with an everlasting love, and therefore with lovingkindness He has drawn us to Himself through Jesus.  If we ever assume the posture of "How has God loved me lately?" it may be we have yet to understand God is love, and He is ours through faith in Christ.