The Holiness of God
2009-05-23

It's Saturday, and it's really late (almost 2pm, which is late for me to be doing this), but Christi didn't get home until almost 1am last night, and I was waiting up for her. Hahaha...I could barely keep my eyes open, trying to play Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. It was funny.


Here is a prayer point for today from the Presidential Prayer Team Site.

As the nation pauses to observe Memorial Day, officially designated as a day of prayer for peace, ask God to bring the end of strife and conflict wherever it exists giving thanks for the many dedicated members of our military who sacrifice regularly for our well-being.



Psalm for Today: 59

1-2 My God! Rescue me from my enemies, defend me from these mutineers.
Rescue me from their dirty tricks,
save me from their hit men.

3-4 Desperadoes have ganged up on me,
they're hiding in ambush for me.
I did nothing to deserve this, God,
crossed no one, wronged no one.
All the same, they're after me,
determined to get me.

4-5 Wake up and see for yourself! You're God,
God-of-Angel-Armies, Israel's God!
Get on the job and take care of these pagans,
don't be soft on these hard cases.

6-7 They return when the sun goes down,
They howl like coyotes, ringing the city.
Then suddenly they're all at the gate,
Snarling invective, drawn daggers in their teeth.
They think they'll never get caught.

8-10 But you, God, break out laughing;
you treat the godless nations like jokes.
Strong God, I'm watching you do it,
I can always count on you.
God in dependable love shows up on time,
shows me my enemies in ruin.

11-13 Don't make quick work of them, God,
lest my people forget.
Bring them down in slow motion,
take them apart piece by piece.
Let all their mean-mouthed arrogance
catch up with them,
Catch them out and bring them down
�every muttered curse
�every barefaced lie.
Finish them off in fine style!
Finish them off for good!
Then all the world will see
that God rules well in Jacob,
everywhere that God's in charge.

14-15 They return when the sun goes down,
They howl like coyotes, ringing the city.
They scavenge for bones,
And bite the hand that feeds them.

16-17 And me? I'm singing your prowess,
shouting at cockcrow your largesse,
For you've been a safe place for me,
a good place to hide.
Strong God, I'm watching you do it,
I can always count on you�
God, my dependable love.

"If the wicked were exterminated in a moment, the remembrance of the event might speedily be effaced. Those judgments which are so evident that none can miss to observe them without shutting his eyes, we sinfully allow to pass into oblivion; so that we need to be brought daily into that theatre where we are compelled to perceive the divine hand.

"David expresses still more explicitly the truth, that he owed his safety entirely to God. God has the strength of the wicked in his hands, to curb and to restrain it, and to show that any power of which they boast is vain and fallacious. His own people, on the other hand, he supports and secures, against the possibility of falling, by supplies of strength from himself."

(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)



Tabletalk Magazine

"The Unforgiveable Sin"
Matthew 12:22-32

22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, �Can this be the Son of David?� 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, �It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.� 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, �Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

This should be interesting...

"If the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, then is this not the one transgression that can make Christians lose salvation? How do we konw whether or not we have commited this sin?"

Before I read any further in this article, I'm going to answer the second question myself, from my own understanding (which is far from perfect). I've always thought this was a silly question. The way I understand Scripture and God, there is no way a person could lose his salvation AND NOT KNOW IT! I just can't fathom that. Can you even envision a scenario where a person gets to the judgment seat of Christ and Jesus says, "Whoops! Sorry...way back in 1963, in March, you blasphemed the Holy Spirt. I know you don't know you did it, but you did...so sorry. You don't make it. Depart from me, I never knew you!" I just can't see that kind of thing happening.

According to the Scripture passage at hand, blasphemy is a sin involving words. What does it look like and why will God not forgive it? What has just happened is that Jesus has cast out a demon. Some Pharisees, though, say that the power of Beelzebub or Satan enabled him to do so. Jesus responds that it is, rather, by the power of God through the Holy Spirit that he did this. He then turns this around to teach about blaspheming the Holy Spirit, giving evidence that attributing demonic activity to Jesus is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

"All truth is from God and the Holy Spirit can show a person who Jesus is even if he never trusts in Christ. If He reveals to us that Christ is from God and then we accuse Jesus of being demonic, we have blasphemed the Spirit because we have called Him a liar, denying His character."

"Because the blasphemy of the Spirit is a willful suppression of the truth about Christ, theologians agree that Christians who worry if they have committed the sin have likely not done so. Those who willfully deny the truth would have no concern for the state of their souls, for they have chosen consciously not to affirm what they know to be real."

For me, this is still a very muddy issue. I think this article clears it up a little, and pretty much agrees with what I have heard most of my life. But it's still a rather confusing subject. And, if I am not mistaken, this event is the only place it ever comes up.



Holiness Day by Day

"The Cross and God's Holiness"
Nahum 1:6

Who can stand before his indignation?
Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire,
and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

"Many people think that God can just forgive our sins because He's loving. Nothing could be further from the truth. The cross speaks to us not only about our sin but about God's holiness."

God's holiness is not just moral purity. The word "holy" means "separate." God is eternally separate from any degree of sin. "He does not sin Himself, and He cannot abide or condone sin in His moral creatures."

God does not "wink" at our sin like a loving, indulgent grandfather! "God's holiness responds to sin with immutable and eternal hatred." God hates sin. He expresses wrath towards sin.

"The cross expresses God's holiness in His determination to punish sin, even at the cost of His Son. And it expresses His love in sending His Son to bear the punishment we so justly deserved."

We can only understand the significance of the cross when we begin to understand the holiness of God and the depth of our sin. This drives us more and more to a total dependence on God's grace which has been given to us through Jesus Christ.



Father, I praise you this morning for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. I ask you to give me a deeper understanding of the cross and its significance, in light of your holiness and my sin. Let me never look at the cross with a flippant attitude. There is nothing light about it. May I be totally dependent on your grace, as I understand more and more about your holiness and your hatred of sin in my life and all believer's lives.

Thank you for getting Christi home safely last night, Father.

I pray for Rachel and her work schedule. Keep her faith in you strong when she doesn't get to attend church because of work. May she never forget who she is in you, Father!



Ponder the holiness of God today, and look at it along side the depths of depravity that is our sin. Not to make you feel guilty, not at all, but to help you understand and appreciate the depths of his grace!

Grace and peace, friends!



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