The Sword Room

I started reading and meditating on the Greek text of 1 Peter this past week, and the salutation of the epistle says a lot. Peter identifies his recipients as elect sojourners scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bythinia. The whole idea of being sojourners scattered across the Roman Empire indicates that this world was not their home, they were just passing through. But they are not just wandering nomads without direction or purpose–they are elect sojourners. There is a method and a plan behind the apparent haphazardness of their existence, for the God of the universe is in absolute control of their lives and destinies. What a comfort!

In 1:2 Peter modifies the Greek adjective elect used in v. 1 with three prepositional phrases, each one describing the role of a member of the Triune Godhead in election. First, Peter’s readers were elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. The biblical concept of divine foreknowledge has been greatly misunderstood. At the popular level many understand foreknowledge to mean that God looked down the corridors of time from eternity past to see who would of their free will choose to trust Christ, and He elected them on that basis. But this is not strictly accurate, for the object of divine foreknowledge is always the person known, not facts about the person. For example in Romans 8:29 we read that whom He foreknew He predestined… This sounds a lot like what God told Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5) when He told him that before he was born He knew him; or what the psalmist said (Ps. 1:) when he declared that the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish; or when it tells us in Genesis that Adam knew his wife; or yet again, when Jesus shall declare to the impostors on judgment day (Matt. 7:23) I never knew you. It is all  too obvious from the context that Jesus knows much about the impostors, but the point is that He never knew them. This can only mean that He did not choose them or know them intimately because they were never of His sheep. The were not foreknown or foreordained as was Christ and His true elect (c.f., 1 Peter 1:120, where the same Greek word for foreknowledge is used as in 1:2). The biblical concept of foreknowledge will seem odious to the more slobbering variety of Arminians, but facts are facts.

The text also says that believers are elect by the sanctifying work of the Spirit. The sanctification here is positional and punctiliar rather than practical and progressive–although the Holy Spirit is the active agent in both cases. In other words, God’s Holy Spirit sanctified or set the elect believer apart for special use once and for all in eternity; and in time the same Spirit conforms the regenerate believer to the image of Christ through the ongoing process of sanctification. When Romans Nine talks about some vessels being set apart for honorable use and some for destruction, the reference is to the sovereign sanctifying work of the Spirit in eternity.

Finally the believers are elect for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. No one would flinch at the idea of God choosing the elect to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. But this verse infers that only the elect are actually sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. To be sprinkled with His blood is to be cleansed, and the reason all are not sprinkled is because they are not chosen to be sprinkled. Notice too that election is unto obedience to the Lordship of Christ. If God chooses you for heaven He also chooses you for obedience as well. You are created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand for you to walk in. So much for the decisional salvation that would have you base your assurance on having parroted some words many years ago. But rest assured that if you are one of God’s elect you will as a general pattern live a life of obedience to Jesus because you love Him and want to serve Him.

And so my fellow sojourners scattered and chosen, take great comfort in the sovereign work of the Triune Godhead in your election and salvation.

Iniquities prevail against me (Psalm 65:3).

When I was a young believer the older pastor who mentored me used to point to bums on the street and say, “There but for the grace of God go I.” His point was that no one who is saved has any ground for boasting; for were it not for the grace of God none of us would know and serve the Lord. Period. Sin would kick our butt.

Sometimes we feel like the psalmist did–like our iniquities are kicking our butt. The fact of the matter is that no one is as bad as they could be in their behavior patterns. Even Hitler was not as bad as he could have been. If God were to remove the restraining hand of his common grace this world would become hell and even the most outwardly moral people would rush headlong into unbridled evil with the force and speed of a tsunami. It is no credit to us in any way shape or form that we trust and obey the Lord.

The psalmist goes on to state: As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them (v. 3). The remedy for sin is and always will be atonement unilaterally dispensed from God’s end. It is a noble thing for the believer, out of love for the Lord, to battle sin and seek to prevail against it. We are exhorted along this line too many times in the word of God to make any mistake about it. But at the end of the day sin is inevitable while we live in fleshly bodies in this fallen world. So atonement is essential on a daily basis. But if we keep on walking in the light as He Himself is in the light, we keep on having fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son keeps on cleansing us from every sin (1 John 1:7, Holdaasian Translation). Now obviously at justification all our sins were forgiven judicially, but as we live our daily lives our minds and consciences are defiled by sin, and we need the good news of Christ’s blood atonement daily.

When sin kicks your butt you need first to recognize the reality of Christ’s atoning work and its daily application in your life. Then as you move forward and draw close to God in fellowship you must ever bear in mind that this too is all of grace. Check out what the psalmist goes on to say in our text: Blessed is the man whom you choose, and cause to approach you, that he may dwell in your courts (Psalm 65:4). Make no mistake about it, no matter however else it might appear: the only reason you ever approach God in genuine worship or choose to love and serve Him is because He chose you to do it and He caused you to do it.

So there it is. When sin kicks you in the seat of the pants go back to the basics of the atonement–the blood of Christ. Then remember that your ongoing life of sanctification is no less a result of His decree to save you. He chose you, and He causes you to persevere. He who began the good work in you will continue to perform it and see it through to completion. With that in mind, brothers, give it all you’ve got for His glory!

But seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

We have all sung the old chorus based on this verse, but how many of us have really grasped its meaning and lived it out?

First we are told to seek. In this context the idea of seeking is stronger than casual inquiry. It has the nuance of pursuing something with passion. Our seeking is modified by the adverb first, which means first in importance rather than order of occurrence. This kind of seeking is illustrated in passages like 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and Hebrews 12-1-2 in terms of an athletic struggle to cross the finish line and claim the prize.

Watch an Olympic athlete and you will have no problem discerning what he or she is seeking first. Listen to tycoons like Donald Trump for five minutes and you will know what they are after above all else and at all cost. These people do not sleep in. They do not waste a lot of time or energy on things peripheral to their prime objectives. They do not rub elbows with people who do not share their priorities or who might distract or drag them down.

I am not suggesting Jesus wants us to all become anal type-A workaholics. But He does tell us to put His kingdom and righteousness above all else in our lives. The word kingdom (Greek basileia) here refers to the reign and rule of God. We are to seek first His Lordship in our lives. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords now, and He rules through His people, the church. Jesus tells us to seek to seek His reign in our lives which results in righteousness. I do not believe the reference here is to imputed righteousness, but to obedient right living. Of course we are not referring to justification here but to sanctification. When God regenerates us and implants saving faith we are pronounced righteous positionally, apart from anything we have done or will do. In sanctification we grow daily in real personal righteousness through the putting off of the old man and putting on of the new man (Eph. 4) and by putting the deeds of the flesh to death (Rom. 8).

As we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness we are promised that all these things will be added to us. In the context this refers to our basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter–all the things many people spend countless hours worrying and stressing over. In this economy people are losing jobs and homes; cars are being repossessed. Marriages are falling apart. People are getting ulcers, depressing themselves, and is some cases ending their lives. When you seek your own kingdom and try to rule and reign your own life independently of the Lord and His righteousness, there is no ultimate security because you cannot always depend on yourself and others. Life gets ugly and really sucks. But if your life is in the hands of someone who knows the stars by name, has numbered the hairs of your head, and who notices when a sparrow falls to the ground, you can lean on Him.

There is a kind of peace–not drudgery–in seeking first His kingdom and righteousness.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8).

This verse has common-sense applications on so many levels. In the physical realm if you sow the seed of laziness and gluttony you will reap poverty and bad health. In the spiritual realm if you feed your soul on the seeds of worldliness, compromise, lust, and rebellion you should not expect to reap anything good. But if you sow the seeds of prayer, faith, the Word, fellowship, etc., you will reap the spiritual fruit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23. The payoff is not always immediate negatively or positively, but inevitably you will reap what you sow.

Therefore I urge you my spiritual fight club brothers to sow to the Spirit every day throughout the day by prayer, meditating on the truths of God’s Word, fellowshipping with like-minded believers, and sharing Jesus with others. Leave off whatever you are sowing to your flesh, whether it be alcohol, drugs, anger, porno, or sloth. Kill the deeds of the flesh daily because if you do not kill them they will slowly choke the life out of you. The bad fruit might not be immediately visible, but remember: God is not mocked–you will reap what you sow. So make it your ambition right now to start pulling your weight instead of your wire. You and those you love will be the better for it.

Having said all this I see another application to the Galatians passage. It is part of a paragraph that begins with these words: And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches (v. 6), and ends with these words: So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith (v. 10). Sandwiched between these verses is the warning about reaping and sowing. This strongly suggests that what Paul means by sowing to the Spirit is doing good to others–believers and non-believers alike (although believers definitely have top priority). Every time you encourage your pastor, or help the little old lady at the grocery store with her bags you are sowing to the Spirit. Every time you bless someone who curses you or thank someone for an act of common courtesy you are sowing to the Spirit. Paul tells us not to give up or grow weary of sowing to the Spirit in this way because inevitably we shall reap what we sow–in this life and in the next.

Sow a little seed to the Spirit every day. Start by telling your wife you love her. Even if she has been grumpy and you are a bit miffed at her attitude lately.

On August 7, 1976, Connie Blankenship married Peter Holdaas in a little Baptist church in her home town of Clearwater, Idaho. They had met only eleven months earlier at Vancouver Bible College.

They lived in Blaine, Washington, while Pete finished school and worked as the pastor of a little church in nearby Birch Bay. They moved to Denver in 1980 for seminary and served in a church there, and then to Albuquerque as church planters. Back to Blaine in 1986 where they have been ever since. Pete remained in pastoral ministry until 2009 and Connie has been involved in the antique business. Thirty-five years and six kids later they are still happily married. Oh, and four grandchildren.

So yesterday we left Blaine and stopped off at Moose Creek BBQ for lunch. My brisket sandwich was tasty as usual, and the added perk was that Connie could only finish half of her pulled pork sandwich. Pat–the owner–was in rare form and told us some good stories about Oklahoma back in the day. We wandered over to Thorp to look at the big antique/fruit place right along the freeway and then checked into a room in Ellensburg. We went out for chicken fried steak like we always do when in this town, and today we are going up Bluett Pass to check out some antique joints in Wenatchee and then back to Apple Annie’s in Cashmere.

Sounds like maybe something old people would enjoy, but one thing I have learned from Pat over at Moose Creek is that you are as young or old as you feel. He is nearly thirty years my senior, but he is still full of life. He is still inventing new sauces for his meats and even thinking about opening shop in the Bellingham area. (Did you hear that, Rich?).

Anyway, I have no words of wisdom about how to have a good marriage. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ has been a major factor for us. If you believe in luck then you will agree that there is a degree of it in every successful marriage. I think I lucked out and got a really great wife.

I need meat now–smoked meat. Slow cooked, either beef brisket, ribs, chicken, or pork shoulder. Smothered in sauce. Darn! Why no good BBQ north of Smokey Point????