Douglas Wilson

Romans 56: Fully Persuaded (14:5-8)

Douglas Wilson on June 6, 2010

Introduction

As we work through this chapter of Romans, we will find ourselves reinforcing the same principle over and over— love your brother, while keeping the big deals big, the middle deals middle, and the small deals small. Keep a sense of proportion—and as you monitor these things, look to your own sense of proportion first . . . not the other guy’s.

The Text

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom. 14:5-8).

Summary of the Text

Paul’s first example was dietary, and he now moves to calendar observance. One man thinks one day is more important than another, and another man doesn’t (v. 5). Each one should be fully persuaded. The man who observes the day, does so before the Lord, and the one who doesn’t is rendering his non-offering to the Lord (v. 6). Paul hearkens back to his point about eating, and makes the same point. One man says grace over what he eats, and the other man gives thanks for what he does not eat (v. 6). We are not individuals; we are interdividuals (v. 7). If we don’t live or die to ourselves, then we don’t mark a day or set a table to ourselves. Note the phrase “to himself,” contrasted with the earlier (and later) phrase “unto the Lord.”If we live, it is unto the Lord (v. 8). If we die, it is unto the Lord (v. 8). And therefore, whether we live or die, or do anything in between, we belong to the Lord (v. 8).

Fully Persuaded

Let us reiterate the principle by coming at it from another angle. If you are loving your brother, and are grateful to God, then you have the right to be fully persuaded in your own mind about “whatever it is”—whether homebirthing, cancer treatments, biblical diets, “green” concerns, or whatever will be the hot item two years from now. If you are not loving your brother, and are not giving a life of gratitude, then you do not have the right to be fully persuaded in your own mind. Any lack of charity and a lack of thanksgiving means that you have forfeited your right to your own opinion. If you reel it in again, then you do. Go ahead, read that book, or visit that web site.

You love your brother by not judging or despising him (as we saw in vv. 1-4), and you render thanks to God in deep contentment, as we see here. Opinions, of whatever stripe, must be built on the foundation of love for those who differ, and gratitude to God for all things. In contrast, faddists ride roughshod over those who differ, and are driven by discontent with what they are rejecting more than gratitude for what they are receiving.

Every Day Alike

Paul gives us another example from the first century, which is that of honoring one day over another. The apostle clearly teaches that (if the central principles are observed) one man has the right to esteem one day over another. He teaches just as plainly that another man has the right not to. Now in the first century, this would have meant Judaic calendar observance, with some Christians not honoring Yom Kippur and others doing so. Some would not have marked Passover, and others would have. Let it ride, Paul argues, and love each other.

20 centuries later, we would have an analogous situation with the observation of Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. The Bible does not require these days to be observed, and neither may we. The Old Testament festivals were God-ordained, but this was a time of transition. Other festivals were not demanded by the law (like Purim), but were God-honoring anyway. Neither may a man who does not observe Christmas demand that another man cease. If the law of love is remembered, then But remember the human heart—the farther we get away from Scripture, the more likely it is that we may be neglecting the law of gratitude and love. The Church should therefore not establish any festival honoring the death of St. Frideswide’s house cat.

But what about the Lord’s Day? Does that fall under Paul’s stricture here—is it okay for a man to consider all seven days exactly the same? Yes and no. To the extent that the sabbath was part and parcel with the old covenant calendar (seventh day observance and one of the days of Israel’s convocation), that obligation (and the particular manner of its observance) has now ceased (Lev. 23:1-3). The law, and this part of the law was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14). The weekly sabbath died. But when something dies in this way, in God’s economy, it rises again (Heb. 4:9-10). This is why a sabbath-rest remains for God’s people today. The Lord’s Day is made new, just as all things have been made new. Mark the first day of the week in gospel rest; this is a glorified, resurrected sabbath. So do not retreat to Pharisaical corruptions of what was designed to be the lesser glory.

To Himself or to the Lord

We are not individuals; we are interdividuals. We are connected to one another, and we are connected to one another precisely because we are connected to the Head, in whom we are being knit together (Col. 2:19). If we look to the Head, we are going to be coordinated one with another. If we look to ourselves, and our own opinions, however right we insist they must be, we are living to ourselves. But a part of the body that lives to itself is a part of the body that is seeking to make the body spastic. Love gives the body of Christ hand/eye coordination. Self- absorption makes the body gangly and spastic, and is the source of one dispute after another. So do not let health diets, or homebirthing, or vitamin therapy, or partisan politics, or anything else you found on the Internet become a basis for judging. And if you see somebody in the church not heeding that exhortation, don’t you despise them.

Romans 55: Love Is Not Relativism (14:1-4)

Douglas Wilson on May 30, 2010

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Introduction

We are the beta test for the new humanity, but this might require some explanation. Jesus Christ is the perfect man, but we are not yet grown up into that perfect man (Eph. 4: 13). So, as far as we go, we are the working prototype of what God is up to. There are some bugs to work out yet, mostly having to do with our lack of love for one another. So let’s work on that.

The Text

“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:1-4).

Summary of the Text

Paul has been explaining the gospel, that message which establishes a new race descended from the new Adam, designed by God to replace the corrupt mass of humanity wrought by the old Adam. We are living in a time of great transition, and so we in the church must live in a way that displays to the outside world how this is supposed to work. The first thing to understand is that the church is not an exclusive club for spiritually superior people. Receive the one who is weak in faith (v. 1), we are told, and we are not supposed to receive him in order to argue with him (v. 1). For example, one Christian believes he can eat anything, while a weaker brother with dietary scruples is a vegetarian (v. 2). Paul sets down the principle of love—do not despise or judge one another, and this is a principle that goes both ways. It goes from the strong to the weak and from the weak to the strong (v. 3). If God has received someone, don’t you try to get more exclusive than God (v. 3). It is bad to try to have higher standards than God does. It is not our place to judge the workmanship that is submitted to another (v. 4). To his own master a man stands or falls (v. 4). And for Paul’s money, he is going to stand—because God is able to make him stand (v. 4).

What Love Looks Like

Paul has already defined the bedrock of love for us, which is the law of God. Love does no harm to his neighbor, and this harm is defined by what God says harm is. We don’t get to define it. In this area—the tangled debates Christians get themselves into—Paul says that love receives a brother without engaging in doubtful disputations. Paul says that the stronger brother must take care not to despise the weaker brother, and the weaker brother must not judge the stronger. These are different verbs, but they both have to do with “not receiving.” The one who despises looks down on the one who tangles himself all up in unnecessary rules and complications, and thus his despising breaks the law of love. The one who judges does so according to his own made-up standards, substituting them in for God’s actual standards. This means he has to judge uphill, which makes him cranky. Both are forms of acting like a supervisor over people you weren’t given any authority over. Your brother stands or falls before somebody else, and the One before whom he stands or falls loves him more than you do, and is not nearly as eager as you are to see him mess up.

Christianity And

This means that love—as God defines it—trumps everything. It is to be the governing demeanor in all our discussions, disputes, and debates, and it is this attitude of love that prevents us from becoming “faddists for Jesus.” C.S. Lewis warned against the error of what he called “Christianity and . . .” Christianity and vitamins, Christianity and homebirthing, Christianity and no cheeseburgers, Christianity and the grunge aesthetic, and so on.

Now of course, we have to make our decisions in these other areas, but we must never do so in a way that links them to the faith in the wrong way. Neither may we leave them unlinked—that would leave our fads without any regulating authority, which would be terrible.

So we must link them up intelligently and in love. In these other areas, we need to be fully convinced in our own minds—we don’t float through life—our ands must be followed by something. But if we accept the duty to love others along with being fully convinced in our own minds, then we are protected against most forms of faddism. This is because fads are not very much fun without the added fun of recruiting for a movement. The substance of the fad is just the raw material. The real attraction lies in supervising people who don’t answer to you, which is what Paul prohibits.

Love Is Not Relativism

But Paul is no egalitarian. He does not say that any decision made by any Christian is just as good as any other. He most emphatically does not say that. In the first of his examples, he takes sides. The weaker brother is the vegetarian. But at the same time, if a modern day Pauline carnivore takes this verse, and beats a veggie-brother over the head with it—“it says weaker brother here, el stupido . . .” it is clear that the stronger brother is not the stronger brother at all. He is right about the meat, but wrong about everything else. He is right about the meat, except for the meat in his head.

Paul comes to other examples in this chapter, but he begins with the food. This is a perennial problem area for a certain religious type of man. Men have a deep desire to have God care about what they put in their mouths. The problem is that the triune God of Scripture doesn’t care—bacon is fine, as are oysters, and refined sugar, and processed stuff made out of what used to be corn, and beer, and tofu, and wheat germ, and dirt cookies, and alfalfa sprouts from the coop. God doesn’t care . . . about that.

No Imperialism

Within the church, the imperialist for “whatever fad it is” struggles with Paul’s acceptance of his option as a mere option. He doesn’t want to define love the way Paul does—in terms of leaving your brother alone—and instead wants to say that it is only because of his deep love that he is urging his brother to start taking these pills “for what ails ya,” $4.99 a bottle. Love is what makes a helpful sister tell a newly pregnant woman a bunch of hospital horror stories. Right. Love meddles, love bustles, love volunteers information, love won’t shut up. Love refuses to listen to Paul, which can’t be right somehow.

The Real Test

Love and wisdom go together. If everyone loves one another, disagreement is manageable—even when the consequences of being wrong can be significant. The less able you are to keep your crusade to yourself, in line with Paul’s instruction here, the more likely it is that your wisdom on that issue is not wisdom at all.

The Pentecostal Gift

Douglas Wilson on May 23, 2010

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Introduction

As we celebrate the various holidays of the church year, we generally know what they are about. Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, and Easter His resurrection. And even if you didn’t know what Ascension Day was about, you could probably guess from the name—in a “who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?” sort of way. But what is Pentecost about? Even if we know the reason for the name, what is it we are celebrating?

The Text

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men” (Eph. 4:7-8)

Summary of the Text

After Christ ascended into Heaven, where He received all power and authority, as well as being given every nation of the earth, His first regal act was to disperse gifts among His people. This is what a king does upon his coronation. Paul says here that among believers “every one of us” has received something, in accordance with the measure of the gift of Christ (v. 7). So the Lord ascended on high (v. 8). He led captivity captive, meaning that all the Old Testament saints who had been waiting for release from Sheol, followed Him to Heaven (v. 8). And once He was established there in Heaven, He began the glorious work of establishing His rule on earth. He rules in principle, and is the only legitimate ruler of the nations of men. He has commanded us to go out and proclaim this reality to all nations (Matt. 28: ), and so that we would not be powerless as we undertook the task, He gave us gifts to equip us (v. 8). Pentecost is therefore a celebration of evangelism. It is a celebration of harvest, and of the workers who have been fitted out to labor in that harvest. It is the answer to the prayer that Jesus suggested, that God would send laborers into the harvest (Luke 10:2; John 4:25).

The Old Testament Pentecost

Our name for this festival comes from the Greek name for the Old Testament festival that was called the Feast of Weeks (Lev. 23:15; Dt. 16:9). The name means “fifty” and refers to the fifty days that began with the wave offering of Passover. The thing being celebrated by Pentecost was the conclusion of the grain harvest. Although it is a spring festival, it is a harvest home festival. This imagery is not altered in the New Testament Pentecost, but is rather picked up and expanded. It is still all about the harvest, but it is the inauguration of the harvest, not the conclusion of it. The original band of workers has gathered, and God gives out the gifts that will enable them to work—He hands out the scythes, and He bestows the power to wield them. He does not give us Pentecostal power so that we might enjoy a buzz in our heads, but rather bestows power so that we might work (Col. 1:28-29).

Puzzled By the Gifts

But we still need to be checked out on our gear. Many Christians have been distracted by the biblical description of some of these gifts, instead of feeling equipped by them. The first thing to note in our passage is that God gave four basic gifts—apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers (Eph. 4:11). Here the metaphor is one of building, not harvesting. Apostles and prophets are foundational. Evangelists bring in the materials, and pastor/teachers assemble it into the building. Apostles and prophets pour the concrete. Evangelists are the loggers and sawmill operators. Pastor/teachers are the contractors.

Signs of an Apostle

What gave the apostles and prophets the right to pour the foundation? Since their work set the boundaries for all subsequent work, we need to be sure that they are from God. “Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds” (2 Cor. 12:12). The foundational work that we are building on is the foundation work of Scripture. The sign gifts were, among other things, a sign that the person who had that gift, or was a source of it, was someone authorized to do foundation work—which is to say, someone authorized to write Scripture. And remember that the other fundamental sign that tongues provided was a sign of judgment against the Jews (1 Cor. 14: 22). It meant, in essence, that they were no longer the authorized builders. The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone.

Real Tongues

But if this is true, then what are we to make of the “ecstatic utterances” that accompany the worship of many modern Christians? The biblical gift of tongues is a gift of languages. This means two things. First, it has to be a coherent language, and not a jumbling of syllables with way too many a’s. Second, it needs to be a gift, and not acquired the normal way—which would be by growing up in a culture, or by arduous study.

On the first point, it shouldn’t be babababababra-ann, for some Beach Boys tongues, and it shouldn’t be shambala shambala, for some Three Dog Night tongues. It needs to be a language—In principio Deus creavit caelum et terram, for Latin, or Feallen sceolan hæÞene æt hilde, for Anglo Saxon, and tres biens, mademoiselle is French . . . or so I am told. At Pentecost:, the words given to the believers on that day were words of other tongues (Acts 2:4), which were then called dialects (Acts 2:6). And men from many different nations understood them. And the second point is that a real language has to be given, just like that.

What Non-Christians Are For

The celebration of Pentecost reminds us of what we should see when we look out at the unbelieving world. What are non-Christians for, exactly? We should have the same feeling about that as a farmer has when he is looking at a field that is “white unto harvest.” When we call non-believers to repentance, we are not meddling or interfering. When we proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to men, we have come to our place in the story. Christ was born, lived, died, rose, and ascended. And He gave gifts to men.

This Mind in You

Douglas Wilson on May 16, 2010

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Introduction

Conservative Christians know and understand that we deserve to be brought low. We know the law of God, we know our own sinfulness, and we know that the holiness of God casts us down. This is all good, as far as it goes, but we need to follow God’s purposes all the way out. God humbles us, which we deserve, but He also exalts us, which we do not deserve at all. This is often the point where we stumble.

The Text

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:5-11)

Summary of the Text

In this great hymn on the obedience of Christ, the apostle Paul urges us to have the same mind in us that Christ had in Him (v. 5). He, before the Incarnation, was in the very shape of God (v. 6), and yet did not grasp after that. Instead, He submitted Himself to the will of the Father, and took on the shape of a servant or slave, being born in the likeness of men (v. 7). As if that were not enough, once He found Himself in the form of a human, He humbled Himself even further, accepting even death on the cross (v. 8). It was for this reason that God exalted Him highly, and gave Him a name above every name (v. 9). The result of this is that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus, whether in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth (v. 10). Every knee bows, and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (v. 11).

Together With Christ

When Paul says that the mind of Christ should be in us, he is talking about the whole process. We do not just follow Christ to Jerusalem, to die with Him as Thomas said (John 11:16). We also follow Him to Heaven, where He is now seated. If we are united with Him in His death, we are also united with Him in His resurrection (Rom. 6: 4). We are crucified together with Him (Gal. 2:20), buried with Him (Col. 2:12), raised with Him (Eph. 2:6), and we ascend together with Him to be seated in Heaven (Eph. 2:7). We would say this in English by saying that we have been co-crucified, co-buried, co-raised, co-ascended, and co-seated.

The Problem . . .

Christians tend to accept all this, and to rejoice in it until we are back at square on. We are like the prodigal son who wants to be forgiven, and restored, but to be put up in the servants’ hall. He is not expecting the fatted calf to be killed, a party to be thrown, or a small jazz band to be hired. He wasn’t expecting the ring, or the best robe (Luke 15:22). He wasn’t expecting to be exalted. His older brother wasn’t expecting that either.

So this is where our faith staggers. We expect to be forgiven—that’s God’s job, right? But we don’t expect to be exalted, and when God moves to do this, we often fight Him. We throw ourselves to the floor in repentance, and when God reaches down to pick us up, we kick and bite and scratch. But it is not true humility to fight with God. If God has determined to do something, how is it abasing the creature to quarrel with His sovereignty. The Bible teaches both—we are told to humble ourselves so that God might lift us up (1 Pet. 5:6). We are to look forward to the joy, just like Jesus did. He was worthy of that joy, and we are not. So?

For Us Who Believe?

This is a truth that is infinitely bigger than our heads and hearts, and yet God wants our heads and hearts to contain this truth anyway. This is why Paul prays for impossible things with regard to the Ephesians (Eph. 3:17-21). This is the focus of Paul’s prayers for them (Eph. 1:17-18). He wants them to know the glory of God’s inheritance in them (v. 18). Think of it.

“. . . That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:17-21).

This Mind In You

Jesus is the new man. Jesus is the representative man. Everything He did is ours. Everything He said is ours. Everything He accomplished is ours. He has given us all things in Him, and He has told us to strive for all things in imitation of Him. And He did everything He did for the sake of the joy that was set before Him (Heb. 12:2). We are called to the same kind of thing.

Let this mind be in you . .

Romans 54: Time For The World To Get Up (13:11-14)

Douglas Wilson on May 9, 2010

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Introduction

The Incarnation of the Word, and the resurrection of that Word from the dead, has entirely remade the world. We fail to recognize this because we don’t understand history—and the way the world actually was before Christ came into it. But humanity lived through a long night indeed, and when Christ came, the sun rose. Men still sin, but the sun is up. We can still have cloudy days, and even storms, but the sun is up—and cannot be made to ever go down.

The Text

“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom.13:11-14).

Summary of the Text

We have seen how the believers are to submit themselves to the old authorities. They were true authorities, but their rough governance of humanity was in the process of being replaced. We have also seen how believers are to treat one another lawfully from the heart, which is what love is. And so now we come to some very interesting applications. The apostle Paul takes the Decalogue, the meaning of love, and pushes it into some interesting corners. Paul says that the Roman Christians should know the time (v. 11). What time was it? Time to wake up, because salvation was nearer than when the first Christians first believed (v. 11). What is this approaching salvation? It is the cataclysm that Paul has been preparing the Roman Christians for—the final conclusion of the Judaic aeon and the formal, unfettered commencement of the Christian aeon. Note that the night is far spent (v. 12), and that the day is “at hand” (v. 12). Paul is not talking about the second coming, many thousands of years in the future. The response to this immediate eschatological reality is to cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light (v. 12). Once up, with the panoply on, what are these believers to do? They were to walk honestly, because it is day time (v. 13). This honest walk excludes six things—riotous partying, drunkenness, fornication, wantonness, strife, and envying. Put off the old man, and instead put on the Lord Jesus (v. 14), making no provision for the flesh or its lusts (v. 14).

Armor of Light

How should someone act if they are dressed out in the armor of light? What should their behavior be? Right away, it excludes certain things. Orgies or riotous parties are out. So also is drunkenness. The next sin is translated chambering, but the word means sexual immortality. After that is a rejection of sensuality, lasciviousness, or filthiness. Then comes strife or quarreling, and after that is envy. We are dressed in the armor of light, and we are to walk as the children of light (Eph.5:8). We are to do this in a way that produces the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of light—that which is good, right, and true (Eph. 5:9). Set your minds on heavenly things (Col. 3:2). Whatever is pure, (Phil. 4:8), think about that.

Put Off, Put On

These instructions are given to Christians. When you were first converted, you put off the old man, and you put on the new man, Jesus. That was a fundamental action. But it is not the kind of action that never needs to be repeated. We repeat this motion throughout the course of our lives. We put off, and we put on. We put off the old, corrupt way of being a human being, and we put on the new and glorious way of being a human being—the Lord Jesus.

No Provision

An important part of what it means to put off the old man concerns the way we speak. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Eph. 4:29). “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Eph. 5:11-12). Right after this, Paul uses the same image he used in our passage here, that of waking up from sleep so that Christ the sun could shine on us. One of the disgraceful things in the modern church is slack entertainment standards, being willing to be entertained in our homes by people that we wouldn’t have in our homes. But digitizing a dirty joke doesn’t clean it up any. And then Christians begin speaking and joking that way themselves—although the Bible plainly says not to. Wake up, sleepers.

Eschatological Ethics

The Bible calls us to holiness because of who we are—we are named as Christians in our baptism. But the Scriptures also summon us to purity because of where we are in the story. That is what is happening here.

The Roman Christians were told not to behave in a certain way because it was morning. Christ is the sun, and this is why this contextualization does not make it inapplicable to us in our situation. The first Christians were staggering down for coffee at 5:30 am. We are busy at work, mid-morning. Does this reasoning apply to us, less or more? We are engaged in the work of the Great Commission, which consists of racking people out of their beds. As the morning progresses, this becomes even more of a necessity. As the day progresses, we have to stay with it. Some lazy men have trouble getting up, which is what Paul was addressing. Other lazy men have trouble working through the day, which is what we are addressing—but the point is the same. Don’t be like the archbishop who once joked that he didn’t get up early because it made him proud all morning, and sleepy all afternoon.