Sunday, August 30, 2015

SOAP 08/29/2015; Ezekiel 5:6

Today's reading: Ezekiel 4, 5, 6, 7; Revelation 3

S) " But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes more than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’"

Ezekiel 5:6 (NASB)

O) God's standard is perfection. Because of that holy precedent, there is a blanket sense in which every nation, every person, is equally guilty. All have sinned and fallen short (see Romans 3:23). However, there is also a sense in which God's own people were especially guilty, because they had the knowledge of the truth. They carried the Law of Moses, they had the prophets from within their own people, they had a covenant relationship with God. So, not only had they broken the commands of God, sinning and forsaking righteousness (which was the same as every other guilty party), but they also broke their covenant. Their rebellion was more wicked than the nations and the lands which surrounded them, because their rejection was, we might say, a more personal rejection. This is to say nothing of the possibility that they were more guilty by some measure (that is, that perhaps a larger percentage of their citizens were involved in abominations against the LORD, etc.).

A) Teachers are held to a higher standard (see James 3:1), so their judgment will be more strict. This follows the same core issue that the people of Jerusalem had in the verse above. James was referring to church structure, pastoring groups of people, but there is a sense in which I am a teacher simply because I have the truth in Jesus Christ. I teach my children, obviously. I have a duty to teach my wife, if the need arises (although, in truth, we teach each other in admonishment, sharing what we are learning in the word, and from other teachers). I am also called to teach unbelievers, by way of my very testimony. In all of that, the verse above reminds me that the stakes are higher for me, since I am in a covenant relationship with the LORD, through Jesus Christ. The evidence of that covenant, the fruit that I should bear because of the truth that I bear, should reflect the goodness of God to people who do not know. When I first read the verse above, I thought of one of the buzz words that afflicts Christianity in our world today: hypocrisy. The thing is, by worldly standards, hypocrisy isn't condemned among those that are worldly. They claim phrases like, "truth is relative," or say things like, "morality is fluid," all of which are basically justifications for hypocrisy. However, Christianity can get tagged for having hypocrites, and held as grounds for dismissal. But, in reality, there is a sense in which they are right. As a Christian, I should not be hypocritical. I will make mistakes, but hiding them, diminishing their significance, or ignoring them not only shows me being short of God's holiness, but it also sullies the name of my Lord, Father, God, and King. That should be a personal affront to Jesus Christ.

P) Father, Your standard is truly too high for me to ever hope of reaching it on my own. In fact, on my own, truly left to myself, I wouldn't have ever wanted to reach that standard. But in Your grace, You leave none of us alone. You poured Your Spirit upon all flesh, and You draw us near; You drew me near. You called me into relationship with You. Now reconciled, I want to honor Your name which I now bear. I want to call myself a Christian, and glorify Your name, reflecting Your character, magnifying Your love. Rebuke me sharply, Father God. Discipline me to a more holy life. Let me obey in love and grace and mercy toward others. Let Your will be done. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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