Elyse Fitzpatrick

No Fluff, No Bricks, Just Good News

grace

It’s All Her Fault….

Last week a pastor friend of mine tweeted a photo displaying a painting he had done of Bathsheba. It set something off in my heart so I posted a thought or two about Bathsheba’s plight and since thousands of you read it and some posted back with questions and comments, I thought I’d share my thought a little more carefully/deeply with you.

I’ve been a Christian for over 4 decades. That means that I’ve heard plenty of sermons about David’s “adultery” with Bathsheba. I’ve listened to pastors do everything from blame Bathsheba for David’s fall to insinuating that, at the very least, she was somehow complicit with him.

I completely disagree.

I disagree first of all because I’ve read the Bible a lot and if there’s one thing I know it’s that the Bible’s writers (ultimately the Holy Spirit) aren’t queazy at all about uncovering sin. Hence, if Bathsheba had been culpable at all, we would have heard about it. But we haven’t.

What we do hear is that David decided to grab a little “me” time and one afternoon, after he got up from napping, he went up on his roof to check out the doings in his kingdom. It was from there that he saw Bathsheba bathing herself. BTW, she wasn’t on a roof. He was. She was probably in a private courtyard. The Bible clearly states that she was being godly, “She had been purifying herself from her uncleanness” (2 Sam 11:4). She was performing what the Lord required of her after having her period.

So, David said to his servants, “Oh, I like the looks of that…get me one.” So his servants went to her house and “took” her. That Hebrew word means, “to get, lay hold of, seize, snatch, take away, acquire, or buy.” What the Bible doesn’t  say is that she cunningly arranged a peep show so she could entrap the king, kill off her husband, and set herself up in cushiness for life. If that had been the case, the Bible would have said that. But it doesn’t. Don’t misunderstand,

When the king’s servants come to take you, you go or you die.

The next time we hear about her, she’s telling David she’s pregnant. The Bible doesn’t tell us her state of mind but it tells us David’s: He’s going to scheme and eventually murder to cover up his sin. When the prophet Nathan confronts him, he doesn’t say, “Well, you know if Bathsheba hadn’t been porning it up, I know you wouldn’t have sinned. Your sin is understandable.” Instead he said, “You are the man!”(2 Sam 12:7)  It was David’s sin. Not Bathsheba’s.

At the death of her righteous husband (notice both of them were more righteous than David), she lamented and grieved for him (2 Sam 11:26). Later, she grieved for her dead firstborn son. David brought nothing but death and grief into the house of a righteous woman.

Afterward, David married her and she bore him other children. Again, we don’t know how much say she had in that, but one thing we do know, is that as a disgraced woman in the ancient near east, she really didn’t have much of a choice.

Finally, we get one more glimpse into her relationship with David. When it was time for him to name his successor, Bathsheba reminded him about a promise he had made to her that her son, Solomon, would be king (1 Ki 1:13). We don’t have any record of him making this promise but he honored her request. My guess (and it’s only a guess) is that at some point he tried to make amends for ruining her life by promising her that her son would be king. And she held him to it.

Here’s my concern: that we not assume that women are to blame for the lust and sin in men’s hearts. Rules about how women dress (see my post about modesty) are of absolutely “no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Col 2:23).

Case in point? The Burka.

If covering ourselves from head to toe stopped men from lusting, then Iraq wouldn’t be the leading consumer of pornography in the world.  But it is.

Okay, now to my point: It’s time that we stop blaming women for the sin that men commit. It’s also time that we stop blaming men for the sin women commit.

It’s time that we all owned our own sin and that’s not a terrible thing to do

because, if we’re in Christ that sin is forgiven and we’re completely righteous. Of course there are precipitating factors, but ultimately rules about outward behavior never transformed anyone’s heart. Only the gospel does that. David’s sin is forgiven. And Bathsheba is listed in the genealogy of Jesus as the wife of Uriah–and she, his little ewe lamb, is in paradise rejoicing with him now.

 

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Modesty is About Much More than What You Wear

Recently, a website that sells modest clothes for women asked me if I would write a few words about my definition of modesty. I generally don’t do that sort of thing…but since I’ve thought a lot about the topic and they only wanted around 100 words, I said okay. And since I live in SoCal and spend time on the beach, I do have a few thoughts about what’s appropriate and what I really didn’t need to see.

So, what is modesty? Is it the length of your skirt or the cut of your blouse? Modesty isn’t less than that, but it certainly is much more.

Modesty has to do with humility, with the determination not to show-off, not to seek to prove that one can “pull off” a certain look, or have the power to cause others to notice you. It’s also the humility that looks at others and refuses to self-righteously judge them.  It’s freedom from the inner fashionista who tells you that you’re alternately gorgeous and a slob or…. And it’s freedom from judging others, whether they’re as SoCal immodest or they dress like your granny.

Modesty is love of neighbor.

Sure, it is love of the brothers who will see you, but it’s also love for the women who will look at you and envy you or hate you. Modesty means that you don’t have anything to prove, one way or another, by what you wear.

You don’t have anything to prove because everything that needed to be said about you was already said by a naked man hanging on a cross.

Modesty means that you dress in such a way that it makes it easy for others around you to love the Lord and love you. You make people comfortable. It means that you’re resting in what Jesus has done for you.

Modestly is the heart that Jesus had when he refused to show off by making stones into bread.

Could he have done it? Sure. But he didn’t need to. It’s in that way that Jesus was the most modest person who ever lived. And if you’re trusting him his record of perfect modesty is yours. So, before you decide what you’re going to wear, why not take a moment or two to rest in his work, then love your neighbor for him.

Come to Me and I will give you rest...

He’ll give you rest from the nonstop merry-go-round of trying to wear just the right thing. After all, he’s the one who said, “The body is more than clothing.” Rest in his record of modesty and love your neighbor.

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This is the link to the website that sells modest clothing. Not an endorsement, but just in case you’re interested: https://www.cleomadison.com/blogs/news/define-modesty

Passages from “Because He Loves Me”

Because He Loves MeBecause He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life

Elyse M Fitzpatrick

 

Entire passages from pages 25-35

 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.[1]

 

 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.[2]

 

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God[3]

 

 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [4]

 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.[5]

 

 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.” [6]

 

28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”[7]

 

30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,[8]

 

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. [9]

 

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord[10]

 

 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous[11]

 

37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’[12]

 

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [13]

 

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him. [14]

 

 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” [15]

23 Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,[16]… 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. [17]

 

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [18]

 

3 He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not. [19]

 

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.[20]

 

38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.[21]

 

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. [22]

 

13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted. [23]

 

16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.[24]

 

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?[25]

 

23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” [26]

 

 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.[27]

 

4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.[28]

 

After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”[29]

 

27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’[30]

 

31 But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same. [31]

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.[32]

 

38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”[33]

 

39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”[34]

 

40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?[35]

 

42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”[36]

 

43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.[37]

 

45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.[38]

 

48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”[39]

 

7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,

against the man who stands next to me,”

declares the Lord of hosts. [40]

 

 

50 And they all left him and fled.

 

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?[41]

 

55 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none.[42]

 

61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”[43]

 

17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”[44]

 

38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’[45]

 

63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows. [46]

 

14 As many were astonished at you—

his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,

and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— [47]

 

 

37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”[48]

 

16 And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion. 17 And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him.[49]

 

4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”[50]

 

14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”[51]

 

15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. [52]

 

20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. [53]

 

16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

 

So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.[54]

 

 

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all. [55]

 

 

43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” [56]

 

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people? [57]

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. [58]

 

26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”[59]

 

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”[60]

 

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”[61]

 

. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.[62]

 

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. [63]

 

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.[64]

 

39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” [65]

 

34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.[66]

 

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight[67]

 

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.[68]

 

33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.[69]

 

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” [70]

 

 

47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”[71]

 

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [72]

 

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.[73]

 

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life[74]

 

59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.[75]

 

9 And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

and there was no deceit in his mouth. [76]

 

 

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.[77]

 

6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.[78]

 

2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins[79]

 

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[80]

 

8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.[81]

 

15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”[82]

 

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).[83]

 

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?[84]

 

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. [85]

 

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).[86]

 

25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” [87]

 

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,[88]

 

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”[89]

 

4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.[90]

 

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

 

29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” [91]

 

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.[92]

 

34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[93]

 

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.[94]

 

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.[95]

 

6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.[96]

 

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”[97]

 

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[98]

 

 

30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. [99]

 

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”[100]

 

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.[101]

 

4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. [102]

 

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. [103]

 

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.[104]

 

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors. [105]

 

 

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. [106]

 

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. [107]

 

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.[108]

 

. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. [109]

 

21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. [110]

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 1:3–6.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 5:19.

[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 3:22–23.

[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ge 12:3.

[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Php 2:5–7.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ge 3:15.

[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 1:27–28.

[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 1:30–32.

[9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 2:6–7.

[10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 2:10–11.

[11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 5:19.

[12] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 21:37.

[13] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 9:6.

[14] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 53:2.

[15] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 3:22.

[16] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 3:23–24.

[17] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 3:38.

[18] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 4:18–19.

[19] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 53:3.

[20] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 1:11.

[21] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ac 10:38.

[22] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 3:14–15.

[23] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 52:13.

[24] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 16:16–17.

[25] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 14:9.

[26] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 16:23.

[27] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Php 2:5–7.

[28] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 13:4–5.

[29] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 13:21.

[30] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 14:27.

[31] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 14:31.

[32] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 14:1.

[33] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 26:38.

[34] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 26:39.

[35] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 26:40.

[36] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 26:42.

[37] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 26:43.

[38] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 26:45.

[39] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 22:48.

[40] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Zec 13:7.

[41] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 8:32.

[42] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 14:55.

[43] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 14:61–62.

[44] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 18:17.

[45] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 21:38.

[46] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 14:63–65.

[47] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 52:14.

[48] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 18:37.

[49] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 15:16–19.

[50] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 19:4–6.

[51] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 19:14.

[52] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 19:15–16.

[53] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 15:20.

[54] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 19:15–18.

[55] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 53:4–6.

[56] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 23:43.

[57] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 53:7–8.

[58] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 53:10.

[59] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 19:26.

[60] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 27:46.

[61] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 19:28.

[62] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 23:45–46.

[63] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 19:28–30.

[64] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 6:8.

[65] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 15:39.

[66] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 19:34.

[67] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 1:6–8.

[68] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Php 2:8.

[69] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 8:33.

[70] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 4:7–8.

[71] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 23:46–47.

[72] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 2 Co 5:21.

[73] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 5:6–8.

[74] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 5:9–10.

[75] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 27:59–60.

[76] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 53:9.

[77] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Col 3:3.

[78] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mk 16:6.

[79] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 2:1.

[80] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 2:4–5.

[81] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 6:8–10.

[82] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 20:15.

[83] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 20:16.

[84] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 8:34–35.

[85] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 8:38–39.

[86] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 20:16.

[87] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 20:25.

[88] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Co 15:3.

[89] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 20:26.

[90] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Co 15:4–5.

[91] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 20:29.

[92] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ac 1:9.

[93] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 8:34.

[94] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Jn 2:1.

[95] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Col 3:1.

[96] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 2:6–7.

[97] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 8:15.

[98] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Php 2:9–12.

[99] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 8:30.

[100] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Re 11:15.

[101] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Re 19:11–13.

[102] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Col 3:4.

[103] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Re 22:1–5.

[104] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 8:31–33.

[105] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Is 53:10–12.

[106] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 1:11–14.

[107] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 3:14–19.

[108] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Jn 4:8–10.

[109] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Co 15:27–28.

[110] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Eph 3:21.

I Am Not Antinomian

Recently I received what was simply the latest in a string of inquiries/accusations about my views on the place of God’s law in the life of the Christian. I am thankful for this on a couple of levels: First of all, I’m thankful that people actually do care about theology. This is a great good. I am also thankful that there are people who, for the sake of the church and out of love for me, have taken time and ginned up the courage to actually ask me about my beliefs, rather than just simply writing me off or accepting an accusation as truth. So…if you’re interested in this at all, thank you.

For those who don’t know, antinomianism has been historically defined as the belief that “the believer is free from the obligation to observe the law.” (Berkhof, pg. 543) To put a finer point on it, the antinomian believes that he/she is completely released from what we Reformed folks would call the third use of the Law. The third use, according to the Heidelberg catechism, is that we Christians are to live our lives, “thankful to God for His blessing, and that He be glorified through us…”. The third use shows Christians how to live in gratitude for their many gifts in Christ. When it comes to our standing before God, we are completely forgiven and completely righteous–by faith alone. But because of that standing and in no way to earn merit before Him since all merit has already been bestowed freely, we are to live lives that demonstrate our gratitude to Him. This is the third use of the law. I wholeheartedly affirm it.

Historically, the antinomian would be a person who would say that Christians are under no obligation to seek to obey the law of God (the third use). I do not believe this. I am not an antinomian. Antinomianism is a heresy. It is a serious charge to bring against anyone. In times past, a woman like me would likely have been burned at the stake if I had espoused such views. I have never said, nor would I ever say, that Christians are free to ignore the law. I would invite anyone who is concerned about the purity of the church and who would call me a sister in Christ, to demonstrate this charge by pointing at something I have written (there are 20 books out there) or said publicly (there are loads of YouTube videos to watch). If you are concerned about obedience to God’s law, then please consider this,

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness” (2 Tim 2:24).

Please correct me if you think I am sliding into heresy, otherwise stop making this accusation. If this person is so concerned that God’s Law be obeyed, let him (or her) obey it himself. Antinomianism is a serious charge. It is a disciplinable charge. It would place me outside the faith. If people are concerned that I have fallen from the faith, don’t they, in response to the Word and the Spirit, have an obligation to come to me personally? It is as uncharitable to brand me as an antinomian because I seek to comfort weary sinners with grace as it would be to call my accusers nomists because I might think that they over-emphasize the law. Nomism and antinomianism are serious accusations. May we not make them without great care and without an overabundance of proof.

What I am guilty of doing, and over and over again, and what I pray I will never stop doing, is to seek to comfort guilty Christians (primarily women) who know that they sin, who hate their sin, and who are struggling against it. I have told them that Christ’s perfect forgiveness and record of obedience is theirs, by faith alone, in Christ alone, even (and especially) when they fail. This is what it means to be justified, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism states in Q 33:

What is justification? Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us a righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone. (See Rom 4:4-8, 11;  2 Cor 5:19, 21; Gal 2:16; Phil 3:9).

I have told them that the Law: “Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself,” continues to stand as God’s command to them 24/7/365 and that they can rejoice and should continue to strive to walk in grateful obedience to it because Christ has already fulfilled it perfectly for them. (See Heidelberg #62, 86, 91; WSC #35; WLC #75) That is not antinomianism. It is the gospel. Antinomianism seems to be the charge that is made against any person who preaches the sweetness of the gospel to Christians and who doesn’t end every message (whether in print or audio) with a “Do more, try harder” injunction. I am not an antinomian but I do relish the sweetness of the good news–a good news sadly missing from many Christians’ experience. My emphasis is not on whether or not Christians should seek to obey God’s law. Of course they should. That question has been answered and the answer has been part of the church’s definition of orthodoxy for hundreds of years.

My concern is to discern how Christians are motivated to obey. I do care about obedience. But I must ask whether burdened, weary, sin-sick, guilty Christians are motivated to obey the Law by hearing it over and over again or are they motivated to obey by hearing that God still loves them, still forgives and welcomes them, and that they can, by faith in His constant welcome, get up and try again even if they’ve blown it (again)? I believe the latter. It is the gospel itself that is the “power of God for salvation” not only at the beginning of our walk of faith but also all throughout it (1 Cor 15:1-2). Would I tell sister caught in sin that she needs to obey? Of course. Would I tell her specifically what she should do? Of course, as far as Scripture would allow. But would I also assure her that even though she may try and fail numerous times that God’s disposition to her is one of a loving shepherd who welcomes sinners and that she can put off her sin because everything has already been granted freely to her in Christ.

It is the good news of what has already been accomplished for us by Christ that engenders within the heart of the believer the love that is necessary for obedience. It is the good news, the gospel itself, that empowers us to change; it liberates us, it transforms our affections; makes us love God and enables us to say “no” to every other lover, because the love he’s given is so sweet, so glorious, so all-encompassing.

On the other hand, obedience performed out of a desire to earn something/anything from God is not true obedience; it is obedience done for the self, to assure oneself, to merit God’s love. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). Obedience must be fueled by love for God and in faith that he sees and welcomes us because of the work accomplished for us by the life, death, resurrection, ascension and intercession of our Savior.

I have been asked whether I have changed. Yes, I have. I no longer only teach the law. I also teach his Gospel. Since the Lord has given both the law and the gospel to the church, it is up to us who have opportunity to speak, to speak them both: Law and Gospel. It is interesting to me that in the days in which I wrote and spoke primarily about the Law no one ever accused me of being a heretic; no one ever called me a nomist (or semi-pelagian). IMO that’s because hearing the law appeals to us while hearing the gospel messes with our pride. Just IMO.

So, thank you. Thank you for reading this whole thing. It’s a lot, I know. And thank you, that when you hear a sister or brother in Christ being charged with a heresy, that you actually investigate the charge and tell the one who would bring such a charge to demonstrate his charges before he spreads them.

Thank you for reading it.