Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Sensuality

ἀσέλγεια is a Greek word that occurs 10 times in the Bible and the ESV consistently translates it with “sensuality” or “sensual.” This is fairly accurate if you use Noah Webster’s 1828 definition of sensuality, “Devotedness to the gratification of the bodily appetites; free indulgence in carnal or sensual pleasures.” But if you look up the word online, you will see sensuality is commonly used today to simply refer to the enjoyment of physical pleasure. Thus, someone could get the mistaken idea that the Bible teaches that it is wrong to delight in physical pleasures. On the contrary, he gave us our senses and things like food and drink and sexual relations that we might enjoy them and be happy and grateful (Acts 14:17, Ps. 104:15, 1 Tim. 4:3, 6:17). The problem is when we desire or use these things unlawfully and inappropriately. We ought not to idolize them, covet them, abuse them (see here and here), or pursue them in an unrestrained manner or in a way where we loose control.

The word ἀσέλγεια properly refers to a “lack of self-restraint which involves one in conduct that violates all bounds of what is socially acceptable … esp. of sexual excesses” (BDAG Greek-English Lexicon). The KJV usually translates it with “lasciviousness,” which more accurately translates the word, although it might sound old-fashioned. Other words that can be used to translate it would be licentiousness, wantonness, self-abandonment, or shamelessness.

It is an important concept to note today, as our culture tends to put very few restraints on indulging sensual desires. In fact, some people deem it immoral to hinder or discourage people from indulging any of these desires or to deem any particular indulgence as shameful (at least, as long as they are not harming another person without their consent). But Scripture notes that this lasciviousness is ungodly and something that Christians leave behind. Instead, they are to live in a manner that is self-controlled, dignified, and righteous, gratefully using their God-given senses as God intended, delighting appropriately in what is good and lovely.
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in [ἀσελγείαις], passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:1–5)
“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and [ἀσελγείαις], not in quarreling and jealousy.” (Romans 13:13)

The Doctrine of the Trinity

Q 6: How many persons are there in the Godhead?
Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
Since God is at the center of our faith and religion, it is vital that we believe the right things about him. If we are to have fellowship with God, we need to know who he is, even if the truth seems rather mysterious. We find in Scripture that God is a personal God and that in fact he is three persons, though he is only one God, one divine being. 

The word “substance,” used in the catechism, is traditionally used interchangeably with the word “essence” to refer the undivided divine nature (think of question 4, “what is God?”). All three persons share the full divine being, all that God is, so that they are equal in power and glory. Each person of the Trinity has all the attributes of God. 

These persons are distinct, not interchangeable. They are distinguished by their personal properties. As our larger catechism explains in its tenth question, these personal properties are that only the Father begets the Son, only the Son is begotten of the Father, and only the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and this has always been the case from eternity. Jesus is the only-begotten of the Father (John 1:14), and the Spirit is the Spirit of the Father (John 15:26) and of the Son (Gal. 4:6). From eternity, they have been with each other and loved each other (John 1:1, 17:5, 24). Furthermore, in history they play united but distinct roles in the work of salvation, as 1 Peter 1:1-2 describes, “To those who are elect exiles … according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.”

Our Westminster standards take up and affirm the truths affirmed in the ancient creeds of the church, such as the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. We recite the Nicene Creed every week in worship, and the Athanasian Creed is worth reading as well. But here is a simple summery of the doctrine of the Trinity from J. Gresham Machen:
“The New Testament is just as much opposed as the Old Testament is to the thought that there are more Gods than one. Yet the New Testament with equal clearness teaches that the Father is God and the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, and that these three are not three aspects of the same person but three persons standing in a truly personal relationship to one another” (The Person of Jesus, 13-14).
It is into the name of this Triune God that we are baptized. We are called to serve and entrust ourselves to this Triune God. We are called to have fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, with each one particularly and being drawn by each one to the other two and to their unity as one God. 

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

There Is Only One God

Q 5: Are there more Gods than one?
Answer: There is but one only, the living and true God.
There is only one God. The God revealed in Scripture is one God and he is God alone. This fundamental truth is asserted by the law (Deut. 6:4), the prophets (Is. 45:5-7), Christ (Mark 12:29), and the apostles (1 Cor. 8:4-6). "I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God..." (Isaiah 45:5). Both Jeremiah 10:10 and 1 Thessalonians 1:9 describe God as the living and true God, as opposed to idols which are dead and false. Unlike false gods, the one true God speaks, hears, and acts sovereignly, having created all things, doing whatever he pleases, working all things according to his purpose.

Deuteronomy 6:4 states that “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” It goes on to remark on several consequences of this oneness in verses 5-9. 
"[5] You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [6] And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. [7] You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. [8] You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. [9] You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." 
First, as verse 5 teaches, God deserves wholehearted love, with nothing held back. Your devotion is not to be divided among several gods. You and I are to be singleminded, serving one God with everything we have.

Second, as verse 6 teaches, God’s word ought to be on your heart. One God means one law - one consistent and unchanging moral standard - and one gospel - one way of salvation. His word is supreme. 

Third, as verse 7 teaches, you should teach God's word to your children and speak of it and consider it throughout the whole day. It should be the foundation for your worldview, shaping your view of all of life. 

Fourth, as verses 8-9 teach, God has a sovereign claim over your personal life (hand and eyes), your family life (house), and your social and political life (the city gates). All of life is to be lived to the glory of God in accordance with his word.

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

What Kind of Being Is God?

Q 4: What is God?
Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
As the story goes, the Westminster Assembly came to this question as it was producing the Shorter Catechism and asked George Gillespie, a minister from Scotland, to draft an answer. Sensing his inadequacy to answer “what is God?” he suggested that they pray. In his prayer he said, “O God, thou art a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in thy being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” This part of the prayer was quickly recorded by another member of the assembly and proposed as the answer to the question! While the story may or might not be true, we should approach the study of God with a similar attitude of reverence and worship. 

God has revealed himself to man, so that we are not in the dark about his existence or nature. Our knowledge of him, when based upon his revelation of himself, is limited but true. He has revealed himself in his creation (Rom. 1:19-20) and in his word, which we have in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. He reveals that he is a Spirit (John 4:24), which means he does not have a body. Indeed, he is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and these attributes apply to his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. That is, his being is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. His wisdom is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. His power is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. And so forth. Consider passages like Psalms 90:1-4, 135:5-6, 136, and 139:7-12.

God is not limited by time or space. Neither is God foolish, weak, common, unjust, miserly, or fickle. Now our experience can at times provoke us to feel that God is weak, unjust, miserly, etc. But we must hold fast to his word and believe that God is who he says he is in the midst of trials. One way that our faith is strengthened is when we recount the past deeds of the Lord and give thanks. Consider what he has done for you. Consider what you have received from him. Consider what he has done for his people in the past. Consider what he has done in your life - particularly in taking pity on you when you were under the condemnation of sin.
“It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
and rescued us from our foes,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
he who gives food to all flesh,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.”
(Psalm 136:23–26)

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Faith and Life

Q 3: What do the Scriptures principally teach?
Answer: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. 
This answer is like the table of contents for the rest of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Questions 4-38 will describe what man is to believe concerning God and questions 39-107 will describe what duty God requires of man. These two parts can be describes as faith and life, doctrine and duty, indicative and imperative. As Paul said to Timothy, the Bible is given both for teaching and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). Both are essential to a proper understanding of Christianity and to the purposes of God in giving us the Bible. And central to both doctrine and duty is God - through God’s word we learn to know God and God’s will for us.

The Bible is God’s revelation of his nature, purposes, works, and will. He reveals who he is, what he has done, what he will do, and what he would have us do. Why? So that we can know him and be his people. As we saw in last week’s question, the Bible is given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God forever. The Bible is the “book of the covenant” (Exodus 24:7), according to which God reveals and commits himself to his people as their God and Savior and we entrust and commit ourselves to him as his people.