People have puzzled over an answer to this classic paradox for years.
How about this one?
What happens with the power and sovereign will of an omnipotent God
meets the hubris and rebellion of a finite human being?
What happens when we submit to His will?
These are questions that I would like to explore a little in this entry.
Let's begin then, in a section of James which I have frequently quoted
in previous posts regarding overcoming addictions and shameful habits.
(Jas 4:1) From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
(Jas 4:2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
(Jas 4:3) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
(Jas 4:4) Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
(Jas 4:5) Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
(Jas 4:6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
(Jas 4:7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
(Jas 4:8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
(Jas 4:9) Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
(Jas 4:10) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
What makes this profound Scripture from James so important in its message to us
as modern day Christians?
It has a direct relation to us and our lives because it addresses the problems
of selfishness, submission to the will of God, and how it connects with our
overcoming the devil's power.
I have stated in the past that most Christians hurriedly quote the latter part of verse 7, while
conveniently ignoring the first part. But this verse could easily be phrased as a logical syllogism,
especially considering the information we have been provided in the preceding verses:
- Submission to God provides grace.
- Through grace we possess the power to resist the devil.
- Therefore submit to God and the devil will flee from you.
Why do most Christians 'forget' the first portion of verse 7?
Because truly submitting the essence of one's self and one's entire life unconditionally unto God
is decidedly inconvenient for most. Nevertheless, it seems that the more we
submit unto God, the more we find ourselves triumphant over the wiles of the adversary.
Verse 9 can be somewhat difficult to understand in its full meaning without
examining some of the original Greek used.
Be afflicted: talaipōreō means to be wretched; that is to realize one's own misery.
And mourn: pentheō to grieve (either the feeling or the act).
Is James telling us to constantly be downcast and wail in misery
over our negative qualities and attributes?
I don't believe so, because this would directly contradict what the Scripture
teaches us in regards to being thankful and joyful in our salvation.
Paul writes of sorrow:
(2Co 7:9) Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
(2Co 7:10) For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Rather it seems that James is exhorting us to live in a sober spirit of humility and meekness.
Most of the men and women of Scripture who lived Spirit-filled and led lives have also had the characteristics of meekness and humility.
Moses is referred to as:
(Num 12:3) (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)
The word meek means gentle of mind; lowly, poor.
Let's examine a companion passage to James 4 which addresses some of the same concerns.
(1Pe 5:5) Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
(1Pe 5:6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
(1Pe 5:7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
(1Pe 5:8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
(1Pe 5:9) Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
(1Pe 5:10) But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
Peter writes that we should be clothed in humility; literally translated this could be paraphrased
as 'wear humility as a badge upon yourselves'.
Exaltation here comes solely from God Himself, and in His own due time according to the sovereign nature of His will for us in our lives. Indeed all good things come from His hand,
including any praise or exaltation we receive.
Peter goes on to exhort us to be sober and vigilant, because our adversary most certainly is.
He actively patrols, seeking the weak-minded among us to mangle and destroy.
This phrase, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble is taken from Psalm 138:
(Psa 138:6) Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
This thematic element is repeated frequently throughout Scripture.
The word contrite is of particular interest here.
It comes from a Hebrew word that means 'crushed or downtrodden.'
This goes hand in hand with humility and lowliness of spirit.
Let's look at some of the contrite passages from the KJV:
(Psa 34:18) The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
(Psa 51:17) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
(Isa 57:15) For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
(Isa 66:2) For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
So we see this vein running continuously throughout Scripture.
God draws near to those who are humble in spirit. But He directly opposes the proud.
I see a direct relation to the previous post 'God's Immutable Nature', where we discussed rebellion against God's nature being equated with the sins of witchcraft and idolatry in the well-known passage from 1 Samuel.
Pride then, could be stated as esteeming one's own will above that of God.
Pride goes hand-in-hand with rebellion.
First we experience the inner sensation of pride in that we esteem our will above God's will.
Then we bring forth from the treasure of our heart the fruit of rebellion in our acting out our inner state against our Maker. This is manifested as sin.
This, I believe, is the carnal mind spoken of repeatedly throughout the New Testament.
(Rom 8:7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
This is the Greek word Sarx, meaning human nature or the fleshly nature.
That remnant within us even after salvation which causes us to desire and seek
after the things of the flesh, of which John warns us against strongly in 1 John.
(1Jn 2:15) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(1Jn 2:16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
(1Jn 2:17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Jesus says:
(Mat 10:38) And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
It is through the daily denial of the fleshly nature that we grant God liberty in our lives to continue a work of restoration and freedom in Christ.
We do this by walking in the spirit according to Galatians 5.
And the Spirit is not free to work in our lives until we get out of His way and allow
Him to do His work. We do this through submission to God.
You'll pardon my tangent, but I am retracing the steps
of previous entries and studies here so that we may have a logical path to follow.
So, why is it important that we submit entirely to God and humble ourselves before Him?
(Rom 6:16) Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Let's take a look at those who refused to allow God to work in their hearts.
There's a phrase used for this throughout the Scripture.
It's referred to as a 'hardening of the heart'.
In the accounts of the Exodus from Egypt, it is repeatedly stated that Pharoah and the Egyptians hardened their hearts. "But," you might say, "that's not accurate,
for it was God Himself who hardened their hearts!"
Well, let's examine that claim for a moment.
The answer here is that God did not harden Pharaoh's heart contrary to Pharaoh's free will.
He did it himself in response to repeated circumstances which could have induced a multitude of responses.In each case, Pharaoh himself chose the path of pride and obstinance.
(Exo 8:15) But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
(Exo 8:19) Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
(Exo 8:31) And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.
(Exo 8:32) And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
Says Norman Geisler:
Furthermore, the sense in which God hardened his [Pharaoh's] heart is similar to the way the sun hardens clay and also melts wax.
If Pharaoh had been receptive to God's warnings, his heart would not have been hardened by God. But when God gave Pharaoh
a reprieve from the plagues, he took advantage of the situation.
There is an entire passage regarding this in Romans 9.
(Rom 9:17) For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
(Rom 9:18) Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
(Rom 9:19) Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
(Rom 9:20) Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
The fact that we are granted free will by God to respond to His unction of our own choosing is a case
that is made plain throughout Scripture. Take for instance the response of David to the declaration of his sin.
(2Sa 12:7) And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
(2Sa 12:8) And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
(2Sa 12:9) Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
(2Sa 12:13) And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
(2Sa 12:14) Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
David's response to the condemnation of the prophet Nathan is immediate.
Instead of rebelling and hardening his heart, he submits to the judgment of the Lord.
He humbles himself before God. In fact, it is in direct reference to this scenario
that we get Psalm 51, which we quoted earlier in regards to having a contrite heart.
Let's look at yet another example of a different response to God's hand: the city of Nineveh.
(Jon 1:1) Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
(Jon 1:2) Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
(Jon 1:3) But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Why did Jonah flee and refuse to prophecy against the city of Nineveh? Because he knew that this could likely happen:
(Jon 3:5) So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
(Jon 3:10) And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
(Jon 4:1) But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
(Jon 4:2) And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?
Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Even the intense spiritual conviction which is brought on by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit can be either accepted or denied.
We see both of these responses exhibited in the New Testament in the book of Acts:
(Act 2:37) Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
(Act 2:38) Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
(Act 2:41) Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
(Act 2:42) And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
We see the positive response here, followed by a completely different response to the same conviction of the Holy Spirit:
(Act 7:54) When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
(Act 7:57) Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
(Act 7:58) And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
In one account, the people responded favorably and were converted.
In the second account, they responded with violent rebellion and destruction promptly ensued,
not only for Steven but ultimately for themselves.
Our rebellion is not God's desire.
God's desire is for us to submit to Him and humble ourselves in our hearts.
(Deu 10:16) Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
(Eze 33:11) Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
(Psa 95:8) Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
(1Co 10:11) Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
It seems to be a reasonable conclusion from the Scriptures that we have examined that
destruction follows when an Unstoppable Force (God) meets an immovable object (the hardened heart of man).
But this is only the consequence of the freedom given to us which allows us to
rebel against that which is right.
However, when we exercise the gift of free will to submit to God, it is impossible that
we can remain the same.
When an Unstoppable Force (God) meets a movable object (the willing heart of man),
clearly the object moves.
By our act of contrite submission to the will of God in our lives, we open the door for
a metamorphosis to begin in us through the movement of the Holy Spirit.
This will be seen in every facet of our lives, from our mental status to our physical
health, to the tearing down of strongholds of sinful nature that remain within us.
(Rom 8:11) But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Why then, do many of those who call themselves Christians seemingly not exhibit signs of this Divine movement taking place in their lives?
I believe the words of Jesus Himself say it most incisively:
(Mat 7:16) Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
(Mat 7:17) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
(Mat 7:18) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
(Mat 7:19) Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
(Mat 7:20) Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
James concurs during his discourse on the dangers of speech:
(Jas 3:11) Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
(Jas 3:12) Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
And again the words of our Lord from the gospel of John:
(Joh 15:4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
(Joh 15:5) I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
(Joh 15:6) If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
(Joh 15:7) If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
(Joh 15:8) Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
How does one bear fruit?
Not of oneself, but by the process of daily abiding (remaining in daily communion) with
the Lord Jesus. In submitting to the unction of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
In this, the Father is glorified, that we bear fruit; it is in this that we prove ourselves humble disciples of Christ.
Let us then submit to our Lord, for it may be that in so doing we find grace to endure and overcome in our moment(s) of tribulation and darkness, and so give glory abundantly to the Lord Jesus Christ
No comments:
Post a Comment