Below is a question from a member of our church (a good question) regarding the difficulties of application of Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 and the believer’s submission to the governing authorities.

Good Morning Pastor Steve,

Thanks for sharing this message (James White podcast on Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2).
We watched James White’s sermon “Unlimited Obedience” a few days ago. I see the same general thing is being preached in this message. I can see what he’s getting at, but I also have some concern that the context of 1 Peter 2 has not been explored properly. As I understand it, Romans was written at the beginning of Nero’s ruling, and 1 Peter was written years later as the Christians were facing heavy persecution from Nero and it was a time when Christianity was illegal. I find this to be extremely relevant as to the interpretation of this passage as he was writing to them specifically as being exiles facing various trials, that were brought on by their emperor. Yet, he’s specifically telling them to honour the emperor.

I also believe it’s important to keep in mind that Peter is instructing them how to conduct themselves during their time as exiles. He tells them in 2:12 to keep their conduct honourable amount the gentiles. Then in 13 to be subject to the human institutions. In verse 16 he instructs them to live as people who are free, but to not use their freedom in Christ as a coverup for doing evil. Verse 17 instructs the believers to honour everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God and honour the emperor. Following this, he instructs the slave to submit to their masters; not only the just master, but the unjust as well. Moving on to 3:1, he instructs the wife to be subject to their husbands even if they do not obey the word. I believe all this instruction including the text on obeying the just and unjust master and the husband whether he is obeying the word of God or not, to be relevant in the context of the passage regarding government.

Please help me to understand. Is James White saying that we must only obey a government that is under Gods authority? Or that we must obey the government unless it goes against Gods authority? These are two very different things.

From what I took from his sermon was that he’s saying we are to obey government that is under Gods authority. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

With the context I see in 1 Peter, I don’t know that that can be true. Please direct me if my understand of this is wrong. It’s something I’ve been looking into for a while now and would certainly like clarification if I’m seeing this incorrectly.

I understand the emphasis James White is placing is on verses 14 and 15, that the government is set up to punish evil and reward good. And that Gods will is for us to do good and as a result, this closes the mouth of foolish people.

Is that not still true even of a corrupt government? Our government hasn’t been one that is God fearing since long before my lifetime, yet there is still a truth to the fact that they punish the evil doer and reward the good. I can admit this line continues to be blurred, but non the less there is still truth to that. Murder is still punished, rape is still evil. However, abortion has been made legal and even celebrated. This is an example of where a Christian would require to stand in opposition. Along with gay marriage, as both of these go against Gods word. And I can see how more and more as time goes on, we will need to stand in opposition.

John MacArthur in his sermon titled “Obeying Civil Authoritues” mentions that we are to obey the government in everything with the exception of two circumstances. 1. The government is doing something that opposes Gods word. And 2. The government is asking you to do something that goes against Gods word.

This is how I understand the text. Is this your understanding of these passages as well, or do you hold to a different interpretation? Such as, we are only to obey a government that is under God’s authority.

Thank you.

Hi ….., we are in agreement that context of the passages are huge in interpreting the meaning of the text. Historical context helps us to understand to whom the text is directly addressed and the circumstances they face which play a role in helping us see what they are being called to (possibly). As James White stated, he did not undertake to give an exhaustive contextual rendering, but an overview digging mainly to the calling of believers to submit to governing authorities. So, a few things.

First, history. Yes, 1 Peter is written roughly five to six years after Romans. Though the two passages are virtually identical in their content regarding submission to governing authorities, there is a historical difference in the audience and circumstances. Is that, in and of itself, enough to alter the meaning of the text? The simple answer to this is, no. History plays a role certainly in interpretation, but the principle means of interpreting scripture, outside of the passage’s immediate textual (not historical) context, is by comparing scripture with scripture. What we find in this case is that Peter exhorts believers to exactly the same thing Paul did.

There would also be a problem in suggesting that as Peter wrote, Christianity was illegal (thus by decree of the emperor against the law to practice and requiring a direct disobedience to Caesar to be a Christian.) That is simply not the case. As I outlined in a sermon a few weeks ago, Christianity was never illegal. You could be a Christian without a problem, so long as you could give homage to both Jesus and Caesar as Lord. So this was the issue. One had to submit to Jesus and submit to Caesar on the same level of submission so to speak. Well, of course, that places Caesar in a position God’s plan for government was never intended to hold. So the issue is God’s intention for the role of government. (interesting that in a conversation about submitting to authorities that the early Christians were killed for not submitting, and we should learn much about this issue from that fact.)

Contextually, in the passage, you did hit on the key, but you skipped over it. 1 Peter 2:12 really is the key to what is going on here, and in all the passages you reference regarding the authority/submission relationships. 1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

“Keep your conduct honorable.” Notice this is given before the call to submit to government. So it is not what comes next that defines “honorable”, but what has already been stated. This is actually a call summarizing what Peter has been saying since mid-chapter 1. 1 Peter 1:14-16, and notice the similarity of the verse leading into the call to personal conduct and compare to 2:11.  “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” So “keep you conduct honorable” is the same as “be holy”.

From chapter 1:17-2:10, Peter is explaining what that looks like, and then in 2:11-12, he repeats the call going into what this will mean in our submission to authorities of various types. The key to our submission is really best stated in those words of chapter 1, “You shall be holy”. What does it look like? 1:17-18 “conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers.” 1:22 “love one another earnestly from a pure heart”. 2:1 “put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander”. 2:2 “long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation”. 2:5 “offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”. 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”.

These verses with their commands give us a picture of what this holiness looks like, what honorable life is to include. Yet we notice in 2:12 that even as believer’s live in this call to holiness, we will be called evildoers. And pay particular attention to the fact that it is not “if” they call us evildoers, but “when”. This, is really saying the same thing as 2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”. This, not because we don’t submit to Caesar, but because we are holy. Interesting note from our Bible study on Wednesday night, Jesus the perfectly blameless, was persecuted. But why? He was persecuted because he did nothing wrong. He was holy, and evil men could not stand to have him in their presence. So they sought to rid the earth of him. We will notice into the passage on submission to various authorities that Jesus Himself comes up as an example, and we ask ourselves, because He is given specifically as an example, what Law did Jesus submit to? What we find is it is exactly the standard Peter (and Paul) set out for us in these passages on submitting to governmental authority. He submitted Himself to the moral law of God. James White did an excellent job of showing this in both of these passages (Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2). These actually frame the governments role in God’s economy. They are to punish those who do evil (violate God’s moral law), and reward those who do good (honor God’s law by lifestyle). I’m going way too long, but there is so much here.

Are we to honor Caesar? Yes. That is what it says, and it is clarified what that looks like in verse 15-17 “that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” In other words, live so as to honor the Lord holding to His moral law (good rather than evil), hold to God’s ordained role for governmental authority to uphold God’s moral law, so that when people call you evil it will actually be a testimony back on them, for they are those who Isaiah speaks of is Isaiah 5:20-23 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!” You see good and evil is defined not by the commands of Caesar, but by the instruction and commands of God.

You stated correctly, “I believe all this instruction including the text on obeying the just and unjust master and the husband whether he is obeying the word of God or not, to be relevant in the context of the passage regarding government.” Yes it is relevant, but let’s be careful in the “how”. Yes we are called to submission to both just and unjust rulers, (government, masters, husbands) even if they do not obey the word (which is basically saying even if they are not believers). That does not say submit to them in everything they call you to do, even when they do not obey God’s word. If it were so, why would the master be harsh with his slave? Verse 20 “But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.” This describes a slave who submits himself first and foremost to the moral law of God (let’s be consistent with the terms good and evil in the text) and who is then punished for it, he is called an evildoer and beaten for doing good because his master rejects what is (according to God) good. And so we see in the master slave relationship exactly the same thing we see in the believer/government relationship. We submit to the God given role for each, and there will be times within each when though we desire to be submissive, there is a higher calling which we are bound to and cannot deny, and yes we will be punished when we face that in faithfulness to the Lord. The same is true in the husband and wife relationship.

You asked, “Is that not still true even of a corrupt government?” Yes it is. We are still called to submit and do good. Yet in that submission there is a line, and that line is when the authority directs us to move away from the good (God’s moral law and directives for His people) which we have been called to live by and be holy. When that happens, we will be called evildoers, and we will be punished unjustly. That is true in the examples you cited, our position on abortion, and on gay marriage. We still submit to government, yet we cannot accommodate those positions and will not bow to them. So it is when government tells us we cannot gather, or that we must limit our gathering, or that we alter our worship practices. They have now stepped outside of God’s ordained role and we are forced at that point, just like abortion and LGBT issues, to hold to God’s role for government which they have neglected. Give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and to God that which is God’s. Our worship practices do not belong to Caesar to alter, and should he thus command, he is outside his God ordained role and we are to do good, which means hold to God’s directives.

As for the MacArthur message you mentioned and the two points he lists for when we are to disobey. I think that is quite good. So back to my original post, is it only when Government asks us to sin that we refuse to submit? No, that is only point number 2. We also do not submit when they are doing what is in opposition to God’s word. Both are in play in our current circumstance. We also need to be careful in how we define sin. Is sin disobedience to an explicate command of God? Yes, but we would be in error to limit it to such. Romans 14:23 “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” Now we are entering into the domain of the conscience. To go against conscience is sin. Peter takes us to this very issue in chapter 3.

1 Peter 3:13-17 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

We are to be a people who live in holiness, we do good and not evil, including within these relationships listed, a people who are guided by God’s moral law and keep a good conscience (derived from living as God directs). Yet in this we will be called evildoers because there are lines we cannot cross in each of these relationships.

So the key is really verse 12. What does holiness look like in the context of governmental authorities, masters, and husbands. Do good, not evil, hold to God’s moral law while in submission to God’s ordained roles for each, but be holy in each.

Is James White saying that we only obey a government that is under God’s authority? No. That would be ridiculous because there are none (in the sense of actively seeking to submit to God’s authority). He is saying, as is MacArthur (BTW he is currently not submitting which should tell us where he believes we are with respect to his two points you listed), that we are to submit to government as far as we can up until they step outside of their God ordained role. Notice in 1 Peter 2 that governments, masters, and husbands each have unique God ordained roles, and within those roles there is to be submission. But we don’t impose the submission of wife to her husband upon the believer’s submission to the authorities. They are different roles. Submission might be similarly defined, but what it looks like within each role will be altered by the sphere God has marked out to be included in each.

Now where government is concerned, we do know that ultimately all are under God’s authority (whether they are actively seeking to submit to that authority or not), and He has raised them up and can tare them down, and will do so for His purposes, even evil governments. He will accomplish His purposes through them, whether good or evil. Yet, where they depart from the instruction of the Lord for His people is where our submission will be determined. We are to be holy, even if it causes government to call us evil, and they will!

I hope this helps. We don’t want to draw erroneous application from the text.

Pastor Steve

Imagine, if you will, the threat of a flood. In a situation like that, a boat to weather the storm would be needed most. Yet at the time when boats are most needed, their owner’s have been ordered to cease operations. What would we think of those who gave such an order? Or maybe the question we should ask is “would the operators of such needed vessels follow such orders given the life and death consequences that would result?”

Or consider a health crisis, say a pandemic threatening to kill many people, and out of the fear of that possible carnage, hospitals are ordered to protect themselves by closing their doors. After all, if they remain open, the staff and patients might also be at risk, and therefore it is determined that the safest course of action is to close the hospitals altogether. It is reasoned that this will protect both those within the hospital as well as society in general by limiting the virus’ potential to spread. What would we think of such orders? What would we think of a hospital that actually followed those orders? I can’t speak for you, but I would think those to be orders given by people who have not thought through the situation with much precision. Any reasonable person would conclude that a hospital closing its doors would not be doing so for concern of, and care for, the sick.

Imagine, if you will, a time of crisis. A time of uncertainty, of anxiety, and even panic. A season of unemployment for many people who become worried about how to provide for the basic needs of their families. Food banks no longer able to provide for all who face the shortages. Businesses which took years to build, and are more than just a job for their owners, all upended in short order, resulting in the loss of their very retirement plan. Unprecedented bankruptcies, both corporate and personal. Depression hitting all time highs. Many people lose hope and turn to substance abuse as a means of coping. Many of those people die of overdoses, some by accident, others as a means to escape all of it for good.

Imagine locking people down so as to minimize human interaction beyond that of one’s immediate household. Think of the tensions that would build in people’s lives as a result. Marital stress, tension between parents and children, and these leading to increased incidents of domestic and child abuse. Imagine that the situation becomes so concerning that suicide attempts rise to levels never seen before on a global scale.

Imagine a time when circumstances bring spiritual crisis for many, a time when unbelievers are seeking for hope, and a time which even challenges the faith of Christians as they evaluate the happenings around them and wonder, “does God really care?” We can understand those without Christ needing hope, but this time of spiritual distress effect even those in Christ as lack of focus on the truth of God’s word and overconcern for the events of the world take root. Faith for many waning, tossed to and fro by the circumstances they face. Imagine those who are supposed to point people to the hope we have in the Lord telling us instead that our best hope is in shutting down. They say that really our greatest concern is for longevity of life in this world, thus proving our hope is no more than that of the lost.

Imagine the confusion both God’s people as well as the lost are feeling during this hypothetical time. Then imagine the one place for spiritual health available, the hospital for the soul, imagine that the church is closed!

You see, the church is far more vital than the boat. The boat only sustains life, however, it does not help those in it know how to live. The church is far more important than the hospital. The hospital only provides healing for this life, but offers nothing for the reality of the life to come.
The church, however, provides for both the needs of this life and the life to come. The church points people to the eternal hope of Jesus Christ, which also helps us live through what we face today. The church provides council for marriage, for parenting, for healthy relationships, and every other facet of life. The church helps to meet needs of both its people and those around her. Galatians 6:9-10 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. The church is filled with people who care for the needs of others, be they spiritual needs or physical, and be they inside or outside the church. But if her doors are closed, where can one find the help needed? The church is a refuge for the depressed and for the anxious. The church provides relief to those considering ending it all because the church can point to a hope the world knows nothing of and cannot match. A hope that actually gives life! A real hope for whatever we face. The church helps secure that faith which is being tried, and offers a solution for those who’ve yet to believe.

Knowing how valuable the church is to those in need, especially in the midst of such a time, what would you think of authorities that order the closure of the church? Moreover, what would you think of the church that gives itself to compliance to such orders? We know how we would respond to the boat operators who could save lives but did not. We know how we would feel about hospital staff who closed the doors to the sick and dying if that were to happen. We might even think it absurd to consider such a thing happening. Who would ever do that! We would be outraged. Dereliction of duty we would call it.

I dare say, we should think in these same terms for those in authority who give such orders for the closure of the church. Also, for those local churches who have abandoned their post in such a time of spiritual need by continuing to remain closed in compliance. In fact, we should think much more critically of this, because of all the institutions of society, the church is far more important to remain open!



We don’t have to imagine, do we? We have been told that the church is to close in order to flatten the curve. (I know that some will object, “but here in Saskatchewan we’ve not been told to close, we are just limited to 30 people maximum.” That’s great if you are a church of under 30 people. But if your church exceeds 30, then you are effectively closed for many members seeking to attend, or outsiders simply seeking help.) Our Lord, whom we serve as ambassadors said “all who come I will never cast out”, and “come to me all who are weary and heavy laden”. We cannot adopt the terms of “we’ll minister to the first 30”. Rather, we follow the terms given, “all who come!”

But I ask, if the church is closed, who will be there to deal with the effects of curve flattening? If not us, the church, then who? No, the church must remain open! She has been called to just such a task. To go into all the lost and dying world and to bring the hope of Jesus Christ. He is the hope of the world, the only hope there is. Let us be really careful that we aren’t just pointing people to the same hopes of our world which are unable to give real relief. There is no lasting hope in lockdowns, masks, or vaccines.

Some will argue that the church can “gather online”, that we can do virtual church. Well, virtual church is an oxymoron. Church is the Ekklesia, the gathering of the called-out ones. You cannot gather without coming together. The only way that there could ever be a “virtual church” is if the only person you need to hear from is the pastor of the church. No, the church is the gathering of all the believers in a local congregation, “so that you are not lacking in any gift” (1 Cor 1:7). The pastor simply does not fill all the needed gifts of encouragement, discernment, mercy, compassion, peacemaking, patience, teaching, service, and all the rest. This requires the whole body. That is in fact why we are called a body. What is a head without lungs? What is a foot without a mouth or ear? All parts are required, and apart from this, it is not church!

No, the church deals with issues far more significant than do boats or hospitals. Not to mention the fact that to close would be to be in open rebellion to our God who has commanded that we gather (Hebrews 10:25). Therefore, the church must gather, the church must declare the one and only place hope can be found because the truth is, a vaccine can buy you a few days, or a few months, or a few years, but you are still going to have to stand before a Holy, Holy, Holy God and there is no safety for sinners but that of Jesus Christ! True hope is found in Christ, only in Christ. Let’s make sure we point only to Him!

This the church must do, lest she be unfaithful to the God who gave her this mission. Far too much depends on her! She must remain open, and she will!

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

A final thought for the church and her people. If you’re not in the attendance of the fellowship of the saints at present, allow me to ask, why not? Are you fearing God (Proverbs 1:7), or is your fear in virus and/or man? If fear of virus, remember, God has numbered our days (Job 14:1-6, Psalm 39:4). You will not die one day early, nor live one day beyond the number of days determined by the Lord for your life. So, no need to fear, unless of course you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life. Are you afraid of what men might do or say of you if you are seen in the company of the church? Is your fear your neighbors, your family, your employer or co-workers and what they may say or do? Those are real fears, and I don’t want to minimize them in the least, however, in the scope of things, maybe a reading of Romans 8:28-39 is in order.

Romans 8:28-39 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 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. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
        “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 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.

There is nothing the world can bring against us that could ever separate us from the love of Christ. Is it the fear of being labeled “unloving”, actually the most loving thing the church can do is simply be the church! No, worldly thinkers won’t understand this, but we do, or at least we should.

And for the church who has closed the doors: have you no fear of God? Honoring Christ comes with the promise of great reward, while disobedience comes at a price. Opening your doors will likely bring persecution, this is true, yet the comfort of Christ is promised to us. 2 Corinthians 1:5-7 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Church, open your doors and be the church you’ve been called to be! Yes there is threat of punishment, but church we’ve nothing to fear from government. In fact, government should fear us! Mary Queen of Scotts once spoke these words of the Scottish reformer John Knox. “I fear the prayers of John Knox more than all the assembled armies of Europe.” She rightly feared a righteous man on his knees in prayer because she knew God heard his prayers, and as she opposed the church, so his prayers opposed her. If we are faithful, we too have a God who has promised to hear and respond to our prayers. So what have we to fear? Open your doors and warmly welcome all who would come without restriction!

Does God love all people? This is a great question, and one which we automatically snap out an answer to without even giving it much thought. “Yes, of course he does. He created us therefore He loves us!” Before we allow our own emotions to answer this question however, maybe we should allow our God, through His word, answer for Himself.

As a missionary sent to preach the gospel, I was recently asked this question, in a manner of speaking, by a church missions board. As I spent some time putting this together, I thought it might be helpful to a wider audience, thus I am making it available here. The question was posed like this:

"We were wondering about your theology of missions.  Could you describe to us your view on whether or not God loves sinners?  If you were sitting across from an unbeliever who did know God and was not saved, who was depressed and hopeless, and that person were to ask, “Does God love me?”  Could you respond positively and affirmatively 'Yes God loves you.' "

 One might expect a question like this from a non-Christian with no understanding of the God of the Bible, but frankly, that is a very odd question coming from leadership in a church. This is not a question whose answer is veiled or vague in scripture, but it is one many, including I would say a majority of “Christians” in our culture, simply do not like the answer which scripture clearly gives. And it is clear.

This is a huge topic, and books have been written on this, but I’ll try to give as concise a response as I can of what we find in scripture.

Does God love sinners? Jesus words found in Matthew 5:44-45 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Certainly it appears that God does have a sense of love for even His enemies, and we are to reflect that sense of love as Christians. Very clearly this passage is speaking of what we would call “common grace” or “beneficent love”. He makes the sun to rise, rain to fall, He gives life to the just and unjust, to the righteous and the unrighteous. Acts 17:25 tells us “since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” So God does, in a sense, care for all, yes! If He didn’t, He would not allow us to continue to exist.

Did Christ die for sinners? Emphatically we can answer YES! 1 Timothy 1:15 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”, of course this is true. Should we tell people that Christ died for sinners? Yes, without a doubt and we should include ourselves in that category as we do.

We also know explicitly that God does not celebrate the death of any. Ezekiel 18:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” But does this mean that God loves every single person? Or maybe we are asking the wrong question.

The question we need to ask is this: Is “God loves you” our message to unbelievers? Is this what we are commissioned to tell unbelievers?

Nowhere in scripture are we exhorted to tell unbelievers that God loves them. Not one verse. We could list many passages that speak of God’s love for His elect, there is much encouragement for the saved to know the height and depth and breadth of God’s love yes. I just don’t ever find in Jesus teaching, or the apostles, or in the evidence of early church history anywhere that Christians are seen as witnessing to non-believers by telling them “God loves you”. Many times in scripture we find the love of God addressed, but so far as I can see, with one exception being John 3:16 (which I will address in a moment), every other case of God’s love seems to be directed only at His elect.

The only verse in the New Testament that speaks of both “God’s love” and “sinners” is found in Romans 5:8 which does say that God demonstrates His love toward “us” that while “we” were still sinners Christ died for “us”. Pronouns in scripture are very important as we seek to properly interpret God’s word. Very clearly in that verse God’s love is not demonstrated toward all, but only toward His elect for whom Christ died. There is no way to read that entire passage of Romans 5:1-11 and not see this is specifically for those who are saved by grace, all the bride of Christ.

In the book of Hebrews chapter twelve we find a very important passage with regard to God’s love.

Hebrews 12:5-6 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Clearly there are some whom God loves, which in this passage are defined as those whom God disciplines. There are some whom God does not love, those God does not discipline. God Himself makes this distinction.

In the book of Exodus as we read of the plagues that God poured out on Egypt we find a truth presented repeatedly throughout the retelling of the plagues as God himself tell us that He makes distinction between the people of Egypt and His people Israel. God makes a distinction! If God makes a distinction, should we not do the same as we preach His message?
Let’s turn our attention to a key passage for this topic found in Romans 9.

Romans 9:10-18 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

 God makes a distinction! Clearly God does not have the same affections for all. This presents some issues in our telling people that He does. In fact, if we do tell people that God loves all, we are found to be liars misrepresenting God. Would we sit across that table from Esau and tell him “God loves you”?

I think we need to be very careful here. Yes some will take John 3:16 out of its context to make that case that God loves every single person (applying equal love to all), but clearly read in its context, it simply doesn’t say that. John 3 tells us that we can’t even see the kingdom of heaven unless we are born ἄνωθεν (anothen) which means “from above” just as it is translated in John 3:31. Jesus goes on to say to this Pharisee (Nicodemus) who believes that the only people loved of God were Jews, Jesus says that God’s love reaches far beyond Israel, to the whole world, to all nations, that is the context of the verse. But clearly in the context of the passage that does not mean every single person. If it did, since it is God who causes us to be born again (1 Peter 1:3, John 3:3, John 1:13) God would “cause all” to be born again, and we are not universalists so we must reject that notion. Ephesians 2:8 tells us “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” God has not given this gift to all. God makes a distinction!

God saves some, and condemns some, as that same conversation with Nicodemus clearly shows in John 3:18. Some are already under the condemnation of God. In John 3:36 God’s wrath is already on some. Not all are saved, therefore, not all are loved, at least not loved in the same way. Not all are loved equally. Not all are loved eternally.

Does God love all providentially? Yes! Does God love all to salvation? Of course not, or all would be saved. So for us to say “God loves you”, we have to mean something different when we say that to a believer than we do if we say it to an unbeliever. That can lead the unbeliever to understand that since God loves them, they don’t need to be reconciled with Him because they already have a good relationship with Him. That is a huge problem that witnessing in this way, which we are never exhorted to practice, leads to.

The other thing I would comment on is that if we try to make John 3:16 say that God loves every single person, then we have a huge bible contradiction. As pointed out in Romans 9:13 above, God states clearly that he loves Jacob, but hates Esau. Further we have passages like Psalm 5:4-6 where God destroys, hates, abhors evil men. Psalm 7:11-13 where God is angry with sinners every day and set out to destroy them. Psalm 11:5 where God hates the wicked and those who love violence. Do we want to be found misrepresenting God when His word says these things?

So what does this mean for our “theology of missions”? If we are sitting with an unbeliever who is “depressed and hopeless” as the question above was presented, which I have done on many occasions, we are to do what the bible calls us to do. We are to be faithful to the mission Christ has given us. No, we don’t tell them “God loves them”. We don’t know that to be true other than common grace as mentioned above. How do we know they are not an Esau? Esau received common grace too. We make no judgements in this regard one way or the other, that is not our place, that is not our calling.

What we can and should tell them, being faithful to scripture, is that God has given them life, breathe and everything else. We can tell them that God is kind (Romans 2:4) and that His kindness is extended to us that we might repent and come to Him. We can tell them that God has extended grace to them in that, just like us, though we are sinners and deserve to be condemned, because of God’s mercy towards us we still have life and opportunity to reach out to Him and that He turns away none that come by faith to Him (John 6:37-40). We can tell them that God created them that they should reach out for Him and find Him for He is not far from each of us (Acts 17:27-28). We can tell them that there is hope found in Christ. We can tell them that there is a way to have peace with God, and this peace brings great joy. We can tell them that Christ’s salvation is completely available to them, and that it can be found through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We should have no problem telling people that God sees their hurts and has compassion. That God has invited them into a loving relationship with Him through His Son and He has called them, in fact commanded them, to that relationship which is theirs by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Our theology of missions is to be found in scripture, not in our own thinking. His ways are higher than ours, His thoughts higher than ours. Let’s go to Him to define our mission. What was Paul’s theology of missions? We find in Acts 20 Paul tells us: Acts 20:18-21 “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We find more from Paul on His theology of missions in Acts 26 as he shares his testimony.

Acts 26:15-20 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

We see nothing in Paul’s example on telling unbelievers that “God loves them”. What does he tell them? The gospel (1 Cor. 15:3-4, Romans 3:21-26) and a call to repent and believe (Mark 1:15).

We should also take our theology in this area from Paul’s direct and explicate teaching on what our theology of missions should be. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

We notice never in the New Testament as ambassadors of Christ that our message to unbelievers is to be “God loves you”. Not once! Our message is as Paul laid it out here in 2 Corinthians 5:20 “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

We are commissioned by our Lord Jesus Himself as to the following:

Matthew 28:18-19 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

 Luke 24:46-48 Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

When the bible uses the word “Gospel” that is not equivalent to “God loves you”. Actually, if we understand the gospel, it actually answers the question “how can God love me?” (Yes God’s love is the cause of His sending His Son and the work of the cross, but here I speak of God’s love being manifest. Apart from the finished work of Christ we would all be under the wrath of God. The gospel enables God’s love to be extended to his elect rather than the wrath God’s justice would demand were our price not paid in full in Christ. I am in no way stating that Jesus going to the cross “convinced” the Father to love us.) The gospel begins with God’s holy character, a God who cannot leave sin unpunished, and in His decree has stated that the penalty for sin is death. We all have sinned and therefore find ourselves under the curse of God awaiting for that penalty to be carried out, both physically and spiritually/eternally. In and of ourselves there is no way for us to ever be reconciled with this holy and righteous judge, for a good God must crush sinners. But God has made a way, one way, by sending his Son to live the perfect life that we should have lived, and die on the cross as a substitute for all who will place their faith in Him and his payment in their place. That on the third day as He rose from the grave he demonstrated that his payment had been accepted by the Father and that through Him there is victory over the grave. Not only is our sin atoned for in Christ for all who believe, but eternal life is ours in Christ. With our sin fully paid for in the blood of Christ, we now stand before the Father without stain or blemish of sin in the least. None of this is of ourselves. For it is both to show that God is just, and justifier of all who have faith in Jesus. We are reconciled to God in Christ and adopted into His family as dearly loved children. Oh our God does love. He loves His children!

So we don’t need to tell people “God loves you”, we need to show people how God can love them with this eternal saving love. Telling someone that God loves them with only common grace love is to give them a security they should not have. If that is the only love they have from the Father, they are still headed for judgement and they still don’t know how they can be saved. Telling someone who is not saved that God loves them is merely comforting them while on their journey to hell. That is not our mission, and frankly that is not very loving of us if that is what we do.

So our theology is to proclaim what God has done in the person of Christ, and to call “all” to salvation and the forgiveness of sins which is available to “all” who will repent and believe the Gospel.  God loves (eternal loves) all He chooses to love. God saves all He chooses to save.

We preach the message of Christ indiscriminately to all people (parable of the soils). John 10 tell us that all “His sheep” will hasten His voice and come. John 6 tells us “all the Father gives the Son will come to Him”. He loses none of those He chooses to save.

One final point I would make, this regarding intellectual honesty. Believing in particular redemption (John 10:11, John 10:26), and the bible will not support any other position, that Christ died paying the price, though available for all, yet specifically for a particular people, not a hypothetic possible people, not a potential people, but rather specifically for His elect (Ephesians 1:3-14), those whom He predestined before the foundation of the world to justify (Romans 8:29-30), because this is true, we must see the love of Christ is for those whom He saves. This then defines “His love” for us.

Having said that, for us to then apply that word to someone who is not saved (someone we don’t know if God is going to save or not) means that we would have to change the definition of love to allow us to say God loves them. In other words, we can’t say it and mean the same thing we mean when we say God loves His bride. Is there a sense in which God loves all people? Yes, beneficently certainly, the just and the unjust enjoy sunshine. But not the same sense as He loves those He saves. So to say that God loves an unbeliever, for me at least, is intellectually dishonest. I have to bait and switch to say it. I have to say it but mean something different. I don’t want to be found misrepresenting God by saying something that can be taken in a wrong sense and give someone a false sense of security. I must remember that I will give an account for my ministry, as will all believers.

So I would choose to speak in a way that can’t be misunderstood to mean that they need not repent and believe to come into right relationship with God. I would speak in a way that clearly communicates God’s providential care and the need of the gospel. So I can say that God cares for them, God see their situation and His heart is grieved, I can tell them that Christ died making salvation completely available to them, etc. But I choose to be intellectually honest and consistent with my definition of God’s love.

I remember speaking to a pastor and teacher of the word that I greatly respect, Dr. Steven Lawson, at the Ligonier conference in Orlando a few years back as I was being challenged about my position, and asked him how I should respond to a church on this question of “God’s love for all”. I felt stupid asking because it is so clear in scripture, but he was gracious in his response, and simply said “Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated.” Scripture is clear, if only we would take our theology from it.

1 John 4:19 “We” love because “he” first loved “us”.

The following is from Spurgeon’s devotional “Morning and Evening” for July 5th.

“We are quite apt to regard the apostolic saints of the first century as though they were “saints” in a more special way than other children of God … In thinking this way, however, we forget the truth that the closer a man lives to God, the more intensely he will mourn over his own evil heart; and the more his Master honors him in His service, the more the evils of the flesh tempt and test him day by day.”

As I read these words, I was drawn to think about this idea that the nearer a man lives to God, and the more God honors a man by giving him a place in service to the Lord, “the more the evils of the flesh tempt and test him day by day.” I asked the question to myself: How? How does this man see increase in temptation and enticement to sin? At first thought, when we hear words like these, “the evils of the flesh tempt and test him day by day”, we immediately think this must refer to items like sexual temptations, or material desires with greed and coveting involved. Certainly, a man close to the Lord and in service can be tempted in these areas as is evident when we see ministers of the gospel who have fallen into sins of immorality or are moved along by a thirsty greed for money. But really, these things are issues that would fall within what Paul calls in 1 Cor. 10:13 the temptations that are common to all man. So that is not really what Spurgeon is getting at here even though the apostles were normal men who could be tempted in these ways. So what is “the evils of the flesh which tempt and test him” if not these? I don’t want to minimize those sins, because they are and have been disastrous in leading to the fall of some, but I think what Spurgeon has in mind is something much more dangerous, something that has brought about the demise of far more ministers of the gospel.

The pastor/elder in the local church has a great responsibility to the truth. After all, our King Jesus did say “I am the truth”. To compromise truth, to any level, is to sit in error. Sure, there are varying degrees of error, and not all error is compromise to the point of receiving an anathema from the people of God, but all compromise in truth is to sit in error. The man who stands and unapologetically preaches the truth as revealed by God in His word is a man who is inviting hatred upon himself. Jesus said to his disciples whom he was to send out to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20) So there is something common between Jesus and His disciples and I think the answer to this commonality is found in John 7:7. Jesus brothers (who don’t believe in him) are provoking him to go to Jerusalem to show the world how great he is and the Lord says to them “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.” Jesus is hated for calling evil for what it is! So too, Jesus disciples who are called to do the same, these will also be hated by the world. 1 John 3:13 "Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you."

There is a great temptation far more luring than sexual temptation or the enticement of money in this. When sexual sin is engaged, though it can be hidden, when the veil is pulled back is easy to spot, but in this issue, a man can maintain the image of faithfulness to His Lord and respected position in the church simply by withholding a few of his words, and no one will ever even be aware of it. So in a moment when truth is needed this temptation comes, should he hold his tongue, after all speaking it will have consequences.

It’s easy for us to see how and why this hatred comes from the world, and why a man would be tempted as such. Think of all the sinfulness our world tolerates and even promotes. Sins which not that long ago were condemned even by non-Christians are now openly celebrated, and when a man stands and calls this out in truth, doing so as lovingly as he possibly can and calling people, even pleading with people to be reconciled with God, he will incur the wrath of the world. I can’t think of anyone I’ve ever met who actually wants the world to hate him. But they will! And it gets worse.

We expect that kind of response from the world, but at least for the man of God serving in faithfulness to the truth, at least there is the church, right? In the church he will find comrades who love that same truth and serve that same God. In the church often we will even say to one another things like “if you see error in my life, if I need to be corrected, please come to me and call it like it is!” And this is how it should be. After all the New Testament does call us to put away falsehood and speak truth to one another (Eph. 4:2) and not to lie to one another (Col. 3:9), and these imperatives carry not only the weight of not speaking as to deceive each other, but also of not withholding truth which needs to be spoken. Yes, we are to do all things out of love for one another, baring with one another, building up, encouraging each other, yes of course, but we are to speak truth to one another as well, and that means if we see something, we need to say something. We need to do it in a spirit of humility and patience and for the good of the brother, but we still need to say it!

Unfortunately, that doesn’t always go as well as we might hope inside the church. The people of God, who are to be clothed in grace, sometimes don’t receive, in fact, very often don’t receive correction like they say they will “if you ever see anything” in their lives. When it comes right down to it, our flesh is still waging war against our nature as children of God and it strikes back at correction as if a self-defense mechanism, and far too often the Christian allows this to lead him/her. The claim at this point is that “your unloving”, or “too harsh”, or “insensitive” and “legalistic”. They will say “you think your better than others”, or that “you think you know everything”. You might hear the excuses “if you knew what it was like to be treated like I have” or “if you walked in my shoes”, but in the end, none of that gives approval for remaining in sin.

The pastor/elder has the responsibility to call it like it is both outside the church, and inside the church, and when he does, in both locales often his reward is the hatred of those he corrects. We might say “yes but this is true for all Christians, we are all told to call it like it is”, and it’s true, but the pastor/elder is responsible at a whole other level here. He is to be “judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1) and is to “give an account for your souls” (Heb. 13:17). The problem is the elder is but a man, and he too desires to be well received by those around him, especially within his own community inside the church. He has the responsibility to encourage, to instruct, to build up the saints entrusted to his pastoral care, and speaking truth is these areas can be hard enough, but he is also called to bring correction, admonishment (strongly/harsh correction if need be), rebuke, and even to remove members who are participating in sin and refusing to repent. He is to call out the adulterers yes, and we all agree on that, but he is also to call out the brother that refuses to offer forgiveness, and the sister who holds on to bitterness, and the child who rejects the authority of his parents. The problem is, within the church all too often, brothers and sisters hold on to their “right” to not offering forgiveness, or to harbor bitterness, or rebel against parents, and when they do, the result too often is hatred toward the man who called it out. I would not be the only pastor in history to tell stories of the loss of what were once very close friends and allies in ministry due to the speaking of truth where it personally involved an issue they needed repentance in. In fact, I’d dare say, this is an ever present problem for the man of God in pastoral ministry.

The evils of the flesh which tempt and test him day by day, for the minister of the gospel, more than any other issue involves the temptation to keep his mouth shut. That includes in his evangelism, in his teaching from the pulpit, and of course in his private counsel offered to members of his flock. I know of one minister of the gospel who was removed from his church for preaching from the pulpit through the gospel of Mark and daring to teach that divorce is sin when he hit Mark 10. I wish I was kidding, but this happens. This particular servant of Christ refused to compromise (praise God), and the cost to himself and his family was great, but had he caved, the cost he would face before Christ would be devastating. There is a great temptation there for the minister, when you know that’s who your preaching to, the temptation is to keep your mouth shut. To withhold truth he knows he should speak, (regardless of the setting) because if he says it, they might leave the church, or they might not serve anymore, or they might not chose to remain his friends, they might even lead an uprising against him and remove him from the pulpit and toss him out of the church.

But to withhold truth is to compromise truth and sit in error.  To withhold truth is to allow the flock (or a member of the flock) entrusted to remain in a pasture eating poison or frolicking with the wild beasts who seek to devour. How can a man keep his mouth shut and not warn frantically one in such danger? But more than anything else, to withhold the truth is to be unfaithful to the Lord who has called this man to exactly that! Only if he loves himself more than His Lord, and more than these sheep can he remain silent. And no man is immune to the pull to love himself.

This leads me to one thought to close: These men who serve the Lord in this capacity, undergo a temptation as Spurgeon says where “more intensely he will mourn over his own evil heart; and the more his Master honors him in His service, the more the evils of the flesh tempt and test him day by day.” These have a solemn responsibility and greater accountability to serve in faithfulness. This being true, we must commit to uphold these men diligently in our prayers. If they are assailed day by day, we should not cease to pray for them day by day. Lift up his wife, his children in prayer for they walk alongside him in a way others do not. Pray for his time in the word, for his closeness with the Lord. Pray that God holds him faithful and that he would speak everything the Lord moves him to say, even correction when it is aimed at ourselves.

“Judge not, that you be not judged!” Matthew 7:1

O how this verse gets misused, and sadly it is equally distorted within the church as it is by those outside the church. If only we would read the rest of the passage before trying to apply it to each and every situation where judgement is called for. Today we are in such trouble in the area of discernment within the church, and a large reason for it is because of our attempts to apply this verse to any questionable ideas and/or behavior (we could look at 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 and see that within the church we are actually commanded to judge).

One area where the church is in real trouble due to this misuse of scripture is in the area of “judging” false teachers. We might disagree with certain teachings and even teachers, but shouldn’t we just leave it to God to “judge” them? After all, we are not to judge! Well, the simple answer to this question is an emphatic NO! Let’s open our bibles and see what response we are called to, where teachers of false doctrine are concerned.

“Shouldn’t we leave it to God to judge?” I think before we even get to that question, we need to back up a step and first ask “Does God judge those who teach false doctrine?” Now we could look at a multitude of scriptures that show very clearly that indeed God does judge these, and He judges these in the extreme, but I’ll just stick to one example. So often today we hear people making the claim that Jesus would never judge, so I want to focus there. Jesus is after all the exact imprint of the God’s nature (Hebrews 1:3), so did Jesus ever judge those who taught false doctrine? Was Jesus ok with people teaching whatever they think to be correct? If not, how did He respond?

Well, Jesus was faced with those who taught falsely about God very often. The Pharisees were exactly that. Jesus called them sons of Satan who were of their father the devil (John 8:38-44), white washed tombs full of dead men’s bones (Matthew 23:27), He said they were full of greed and self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25), He said they make those whom they disciple twice as much the sons of hell as they themselves are (Matthew 23:15). He called them hypocrites who would never inherit the Kingdom. Need I go on? I think that is really clear. Did Jesus judge false teachers? Very much so! In John 5:30 Jesus says “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

We too, believers in Jesus Christ, have been sent, in fact, as Jesus was sent, so we have been sent (John 20:21). We too judge only as we have heard, referring of course to the Word of God, and our reasoning is exactly the same as Jesus, because we seek not our own will but the will of Him who sent us. His will regarding false teachers has not changed.

Now of course Jesus is God, we are not, so we really haven’t answered the question. I mean as God, Jesus has the right to judge, but that doesn’t mean we have that same right. Jesus did teach his disciples to “judge with righteous judgement” (John 7:24) which means to judge the same way that our righteous Father judges. To see things the same way He does. We are to love the things that God loves. Truth, righteousness, holiness, and so on, and we are to hate the things which God hates. He loves truth, we are to love truth. He hates error and false teaching, and we are to judge it, and those who promote it, in the same way He does, righteously.

But did the apostles respond to false teachers as Jesus did, or did they leave the judging to God? We could look at many passage here again, but I would like to focus on just a few. First, let’s look at Paul’s instructions to the elders of the church in Ephesus, a church He had planted and spent three years teaching.

In Acts 20 Paul calls these elders of this church to himself and gives them instructions as he is heading to Jerusalem and will not see them again. There is much to be learned in that passage, but let’s focus on the elder’s role with regards to false teachers.

Acts 20:28-31 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

The role of the elders in the church is a role of oversight, care, and protection of the flock of God. Paul warns these that wolves will arise, from within the flock, seeking to do harm to the flock which happens by “speaking twisted things for the purpose of drawing away disciples after them.” False teachers! What is the response of the shepherd (elder/pastor)? He is to be alert! He is to admonish the sheep continually as a means of protecting them. To admonish means to reprove, to reprimand, to caution, to rebuke. It is a harsh warning! He is to warn the sheep to have nothing to do with these false teachers. That is going to require teaching the flock not only what is wrong in the teachings of these, but also naming these. We see in Paul’s example throughout his letters to the churches and to his trained-up men (Timothy and Titus) that Paul has no trouble naming names. That is a pattern we (elders today) are to follow.

In 1 Timothy 1 Paul speaks of teachers who mislead people. 1 Timothy 1:3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine. In other words, don’t let these teach unless first their doctrine is correct! Then he goes on to explain where their teaching is off the mark, specifically in this case devotion to genealogies, myths, speculations rather than sound doctrine, vain discussions, teaching about the law without understanding of the law. Paul goes on to instruct on proper understanding and later in the chapter comes back to these false teachers where we find this:

1 Timothy 1:18-20 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Paul instructs the pastor, Timothy, that part of his role is to “wage the good warfare” which of course earlier includes charging certain people not to teach, and Paul goes on to name those he has in mind. He says of these that he has “handed them over to Satan” to learn not to blaspheme. He has dis-fellowshipped these individuals. He removed them from the church, meaning none were to fellowship with them, none were to give them their attention other than to call them to repentance. They were to be considered outside of the body of Christ.

In Galatians 1:8 Paul instructs the church what to think about false teachings. “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” According to Paul, those who teach a different gospel are under the curse of God. Not only will God judge them, He already has and we are to respond to them as if that is true. Just two verses earlier Paul expressed his opinion of those who receive the doctrines of these false teachers. He says “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). Further into this letter he writes of these “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” (Galatians 3:1) Notice he did not respond “I’ll just leave it to God to work it out and judge those who present false doctrine.” No, Paul did exactly what he told the elders of Ephesus to do in Acts 20. He warned harshly not to listen to those who teach falsely, and he made it very clear who these false teachers were. In this instance, not by specifically naming names, probably because there were too many to name, but he called out an entire system of theology. Much like we would call out the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church today. Its not just the Pope, and its not just the cardinals, it’s the entire system of belief that is under God’s curse.

Next, let’s look at Paul’s instruction to a pastor, his own son in the faith whom he trained for the purpose of giving oversight to the church. As we read this, we should also understand this instruction is equally given to all of the church in every age as direction for leadership. Paul left Titus in Crete for the purpose of appointing elders in all the churches there. Paul gave the qualifications for the men to be selected for this office in Titus 1:5-9 (if only we would take these qualifications seriously, we wouldn’t be speaking of this today because it would already be happening). These qualifications give us a pattern for two things. One, the kind of life the elder is to lead. It is obviously so important that he be a man who seeks to live in holiness unto the Lord. But Paul also gives qualification for this man’s spiritual life and specifically his teaching as this is to be the central focus of his ministry.

Titus 1:5-9 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

I want to focus on that last verse, and then continue on in Titus 1, because the passage doesn’t end there. These men who are to be installed as elders in all the churches (which by the way is still the pattern today) are to be men who hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught. In other words, men who stick very close to sound biblical doctrine. This automatically disqualifies anyone of deviant doctrine. Why is that so important? Well this man is responsible for teaching and protecting the flock. He must be a man who can tell the difference between truth and error so as to protect the flock from poison and ensure that they are fed what is good for them.

Not only must he be a man who clings very close to sound biblical teaching himself, He also must pass on that sound teaching. He must give spiritual instruction in sound doctrine. He can’t do that if he is not sound himself. We could say much about the importance of this, and it is clear today that by in large the church has neglected this instruction which is evident by all the false teaching coming from the pulpits in churches across our nations. But let’s stay on track and look at the second part of verse 9. These elders are also to “rebuke those who contradict” sound doctrine. The word Paul uses here translated as “rebuke” in the ESV is the word elegcho which means to harshly rebuke generally with the suggestion of shaming. It means to “speak against”. So the elder who cares for the flock is to warn them, and protect them by teaching them what is true, what is not true, and who not to follow. He is to speak boldly against those who teach falsely so that the sheep will not be swayed by the false doctrine these present. But let’s continue reading the passage because Paul also tells us why he is to preach as such.

Titus 1:10-16 For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, upsetting people (meaning confusing in doctrine what to follow and giving people uncertainty in what to believe). They do it for wrong motives, shameful gain. They teach what they ought not teach. They must be silenced! They must be sharply rebuked. That is another way of saying they must be harshly, harshly corrected. The emphasis must not be missed. They need rebuke so strongly so that they will not lead others astray, and so that they themselves might turn to the truth.

As John MacArthur states in his commentary on this passage:

“The Lord’s preachers and teachers are to be polemicists against unsound doctrine that goes under the guise of biblical truth… The dual role of the godly preacher and teacher is to proclaim and to defend God’s Word. In the eyes of the world and, tragically, in the eyes of many genuine but untaught believers, to denounce false doctrine, especially if that doctrine is given under the guise of evangelicalism, is to be unloving, judgmental, and divisive. But compromising Scripture in order to make it more palatable and acceptable—whether to believers or to unbelievers—is not “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). It is speaking falsehood and is the farthest thing from godly love. It is a subtle, deceptive, and dangerous way to contradict God’s own Word. The faithful pastor must have no part in it. He himself tolerates, and he teaches his people to tolerate, only sound doctrine.”

How does God feel about false teaching? Strongly enough that He gives us warning about the dangers of adding to, or removing from, His word. God is also so concerned about those who would add to, or take away from the whole council of God, that He instructs the church that these wolves will come, they are to be marked as such, the sheep are to be protected from them, which is accomplished by letting everyone know who they are and how their teaching is in error. In short, we are to judge these, and frankly, we are in real need of this today!

This is a qualification for an elder. It is a part of the office, and therefore, the elder that does not follow in this pattern disqualifies himself from the office. If a pastor never warns the flock with regards to false teachers and false teaching, he is not a shepherd, and should not hold that office, and he should not be listened to by the flock.

Why is this so important today? It might well be more important today than it ever has been. We have here in our city a “Christian bookstore” whose shelves are filled with anything and everything but Christian material. So little of what you would find there could actually be called Christian. Moreover, the internet has much to offer Christians in the area of teaching. I have been blessed again and again by good solid biblical teaching which I have found online. But there is also much that is hazardous and fatal to the flock if they are allowed to feed on it. Baby sheep can’t tell the difference between good feed and poison, and the shepherd must help them discern the difference. If we love the sheep, we teach them truth, we warn them about false doctrine, and we name names so they know who not to give attention to. And remember, false doctrine is not always so slap you in the face obvious that anyone and everyone can see it for what it is. No, it is often very subtle, nuanced, but just as deadly.

So yes we are to judge. We judge because we love God and we love His truth. We judge because we love God’s people and would have them protected and guided.

John 3:16 is one sentence in the middle of a conversation. It is not a book unto itself, as it would seem when considering how it is usually interpreted. It is one of the most cherry picked verses of all scripture, and its context is usually completely ignored. Because our goal in bible study is to expose what the word of God says, rather than imposing on it what we want it to say, we must revisit the text and examine this verse within its inspired inerrant context. When we do, we see a much different picture than is normally presented today.

John 3:16 expresses a marvellous truth. But in order for us to come to a proper understanding, we must see that as this is part of an entire conversation, about salvation, the salvation promise within this verse is defined and constrained by the salvation statements made through the entire passage in the whole conversation. That means when Jesus says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”, by necessity “God’s love for the world”, as well as “who God gave His Son for”, and “whoever believes” are all defined by the other statements in this same conversation.

So… in verse 3 of John 3 Jesus tells us that a person can’t even see the kingdom UNLESS he is born again, but born again is lacking there as a translation. The Greek is more specific. Not just reborn, but including the source of this birth. Born “from above” just as this same word is translated in verse 31 of this very same chapter. Well that takes it out of man’s hands right there. It requires God to cause a rebirth to even see the kingdom.

So … “whoever believes” is defined for us, because unless there is new birth a man can’t even see spiritual truth needed to believe. 2 Cor. 4:4 and 1 Cor. 2:14 would be helpful to understand. God needs first remove the blinders, which happens as we are regenerated.

If God must cause the new birth (1 Peter 1:3), and we know that God does not cause new birth in everyone, then the new birth also defines for us whom God loves, and for whom God gave His Son. Yes, Jesus is given for the whole world, in a sense, as he is the only saviour the whole world has. He is also available to the whole world certainly. And yet only those who can see the kingdom will ever believe and only those who have been reborn from above will ever see and therefore Jesus is given specifically for these and none but these. Jesus teaches this truth elsewhere as well. In Matthew 16:17 upon hearing Peter’s confession that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus says “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” Belief requires God to open a man’s eyes and reveal spiritual truth. God does not open everyone’s eyes! The new birth is a discriminating love of God, based solely upon The Lord’s sovereign grace.

John 3:16 is also further defined by John 3:5-6 which teaches us that a man must be born of water and spirit. Water a reference to Ezekiel 36:25-27 and the work of God in washing the sinner clean and filling him with the Spirit. In other words, regeneration must occur before a man can believe. Order of salvation is a very important, yet most neglected in contemporary evangelicalism.

So where does this regeneration come from? Well, this is defined for us in John 3:7-8. The Spirit is like the wind, the wind blows where it wishes, The Spirit works where He wishes! John 1:13 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Where does this new birth come from? Well, it isn’t man choosing God, it isn’t man’s will, it is “of God”.

God is absolutely sovereign over whom He saves (and no he does not look through the corridors of time, that would be a God that learns, and therefore not a God who is perfect. That is not at all the God of the Bible. Plus, if He did look through time, according to Gen. 6:5, Gen. 8:21, Eph 2:1, Rom. 8:5-8, Rom. 3:10-18, John 8:34 all He would see would God hating sinners who love and choose nothing but sin.)

But that’s not all. John 3:16 is further defined and constrained by John 3:17-21. Jesus came to provide a way of salvation, the one and only way. “Whoever believes has eternal life”, but remember, no one can even see to believe unless regeneration has taken place. No one can enter the kingdom, let me say that another way, no one “can be saved”, since entering the kingdom is equal to being saved, no one can UNLESS he is born from the Spirit of God. (I know I already covered this, but as Jesus stated this twice, it’s probably important enough for me to stress again as well.)

All who don’t believe, that would be equivalent to all who have not been born of the Spirit, according to verse 18, are condemned already. Verses 19-20 tell us who that is. It’s all of us. None will ever come into the light because men hate the light. Romans 8:7 gives addition info which proves helpful. The man of the flesh (the man who has not been born again of the Spirit) cannot please God. Who is this? Well it’s all of us before God brings the new birth.

Verse 21 then tells us how it can happen. If no one will ever come to the light, then how is it that any can be saved (how can any believe without the light needed to believe)? “His works have been carried out in God.” God does it. God carries the man to the work of believing. John 6:29 “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” Notice Jesus did not say this is the work God requires, but rather this is God’s work! Exactly! Exactly! Philippians 2:12-13 “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.“

God is completely sovereign in salvation. Does John 3:16 teach that God loves all equally? No. Quite the opposite. It teaches that God specifically loves those whom He causes to be born from above, those whom the Spirit washes clean and indwells. Those whom God brings to faith. Those whom God carries to belief and therefore eternal life.

In a nutshell, that’s John 3:16. God has given His Son Jesus because God is both just and justifier of the one who has faith, and this God does not leave that faith up to chance, He carries every one of His elect, those whom he has loved from eternity past and will love for all eternity, he carries these and causes these to believe. 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” This is not only a faithful interpretation of John 3:16, but also the consistent testimony of the New Testament scriptures.

Who is “the world” in John 3:16? Well Jesus is speaking to a Jew. A Pharisee. These believe that only Jews were loved by God. In the context of John 3 “the world” certainly does not mean every single person on planet earth. John never uses the word “world” (kosmos) to mean that. For example, turn to John 1:29. Jesus is said to be the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. Does this in any way mean that Jesus takes away the sin of every man, woman, and child on the planet? Of course not, and we would never interpret it as such, and yet we do interpret John 3:16 and the word “world” there in just that way. But that is not what John intended to teach his readers.

“For God so loved the world”. Does that mean God’s love for all is the same? Well, the writers of the New Testament would have been shocked to find out that was true. Look what they wrote: Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (hint: all the pronouns in that passage refer to believers, not to every one on the planet). Ephesians 2:4 “ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” Did God give that love to all? No, only to “us” who are in Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:16 “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace.” Did God the Father give eternal comfort and good hope to all? No, it seems God’s love is discriminating, just as we have seen from John 3. His love is discriminating not based on anything good in us mind you, but discriminating based upon His good pleasure.
1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God”. Are all children of God? No! God has bestowed a special kind of love on the saved. God makes a clear distinction.

1 John 4:9-10 “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. 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.”  Do all live through Christ? No, only those who believe have life. So this same love is not for all. But God loved “us”, the redeemed in Christ with an eternal saving love. Has God made propitiation for everyone’s sins? If so, everyone goes to heaven, so we understand that can’t be. No, God made propitiation in Christ for all His elect. Only for His elect.

No the word “world” in the context of John 3:16 simply means all nations. This salvation is not just for Jews. There will be people of every nation, every tribe, every tongue, whom God causes to be born from above, washed, filled with the Spirit, brought to Faith, who receive eternal life. Now that’s a God worth worshipping! Hallelujah what a Saviour!

Popular “Christian” Theology Today: People are not bad, they are human, we just makes mistakes.

This popular theology is unbelievably harmful to the church and flat out wrong. The idea is that man is inherently good but does have a few small blemishes. The bible teaches something very different: man is not only bad, He is wick, evil, enemies of God, hostile to God, rebellious, idolaters who would rather worship creation than creator, and it is proved by the fact that as God came in human flesh we nailed Him to a Roman Cross (Luke 11:13, Romans 5:9, Romans 8:7-8, Romans 1:18-32). Though we know God, we refuse to worship Him by active suppression of the truth. We not only know what is evil and do what is evil, we even give approval to others to do evil as well. We don’t make mistakes. We intentionally reject the law of God written on our hearts, we calculate how we can disobey the Lord, we purposefully ignore his commands and rebel against Him. We are not basically good, we are by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:3), dead in our sin (Eph 2:1), desperately sick (evil) in our hearts (Jer. 17:9).

In Romans 7:18 Paul says there is nothing good in us. Nothing. God has given us the law of God for one purpose, and it is not to show that we are basically good people, rather to show us that we not in any way good (Romans 3:19-20). Romans 3:10 tells us there is none righteous, not even one. Romans 3:18 tells us we have no fear of God. Isaiah 53:6 tells us that we all turned our own way. Jesus tells us men hate the light and refuse to come into the light apart from spiritual rebirth. He further shows that man is under the condemnation of God (John 3:18), and in John 3:36 we see that man is under the wrath of God. We are not bad, we are far, far worse than that. We are God hating sinners. The book of 1 John calls sin lawlessness. Living as though no law had ever been given. That is us. We are corrupt to the core. Bad doesn’t even begin to describe us. No we are not bad, we are totally depraved! Genesis 6:5 (before the flood) “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Genesis 8:21 (after the flood) “for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” We are just as evil now as those God condemned in the flood. When we understand this we will call upon the name of the Lord, because it is then that we understand that the only one who can save us is God, and we need Him to save us from Himself, for He is angry with sinners every day (Psalm 7:11)

When we see ourselves as basically good with a few minor flaws, we can easily understand why God might love us and save us. But when we understand the truth of God’s word and how evil we really are, then our eyes are opened to the wonder of this amazing grace bestow on us that we should be called children of God. He has taken wicked men and rescued us who deserve nothing but hell by transferring us to the kingdom of His Son! That will bring you to worship!

Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

May 20th, 2013 an F5 tornado with winds peaking at more than 200 Miles per hour hits Moore, Oklahoma. Neighborhoods, stores, and schools are indiscriminately flattened by this monster storm which appeared out of nowhere. When warning sirens started blaring, thousands of people headed for shelter where ever is could be found. Sadly, many did not have time to make it to shelter, some were forced to take refuge in areas that were not suitable to protect them, and as always happens in events like this, some did not seek shelter at all. Loss of life results from each of these realities. It was a very sad day.

As I think about this tragedy, my mind is drawn to the many parallels between this story and the Christian life and witness.

If you don’t know the Lord yourself, please take note. There is a storm coming. The Lord Jesus has promised that He will return to judge the living and the dead. Are you possibly trusting in something that can’t save you when Jesus does come? Your good deeds can’t save you. Your religion won’t help you. There is no escaping this future outside of turning to Jesus before he comes and calling on His Name for salvation, confessing Him as Lord, and surrendering your life to Him through repentance and faith. Jesus is the only safe refuge from the storm! Romans 10:9 tells us “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Trust Him, call out to Him. Do it now, while you still can. Consider this the siren whaling to give you warning of that which approaches. I pray you take the warning seriously and turn to Jesus.

For those who are believers in Jesus, we are called to witness/testify to the world of the calamity which is approaching. Sadly, much of the “church” today seems to view our witness as simply an affirmation to the world that Jesus loves everyone, and many professing Christians have never been taught that the message we carry is also a message of impending doom for those who do not know Christ. This is a sobering truth for us as believers. Look what the prophet Ezekiel has to say about this:

Ezekiel 3:17–21 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.  If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.  But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

God has given us the mission of proclaiming to the world both the warning and the place of refuge from the calamity approaching. If those sirens had not sounded in Moore, Ok, many more people would have died. If Christians do not sound the warning, many will perish. We must be the people who are warning the world to “flee from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7). This is true not only for their sake, but according to this passage in Ezekiel, for ours as well. You see, if we are not out there warning them of what is coming, then either we don’t care if they perish, or we don’t believe it ourselves. Either way, this points to the reality that we are in great danger of facing this same judgment ourselves, because quite possibly we are not saved. We are not saved by our works, but our works certainly do evidence the reality of our salvation. This should lead us to examine our lives and our witness. Look at the witness of the Apostle Paul in Acts 17.

 Acts 17:30-31 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

You and I have been called to the position of watchmen. So let’s make sure we are faithful to that calling! To the praise and glory of our Lord.