According to Solomon, whether or not it is right to publicly accuse a person for his sake, you are better off not doing such a thing for your own sake:

What your eyes have seen
do not hastily bring into court,
for what will you do in the end,
when your neighbor puts you to shame?
Argue your case with your neighbor himself,
and do not reveal another’s secret,
lest he who hears you bring shame upon you,
and your ill repute have no end (Proverbs 25.7b-11).

You find out the hard way that Proverbs 18.17 is really true.

The one who states his case first seems right,
until the other comes and examines him.

Such defeats, at the least, involve a great deal of embarrassment. You are wise to approach the person privately first. Perhaps you have completely misunderstood him. Perhaps your idea of what constitutes a “crime” is actually backwards. If so, better to learn privately than to be shamed publicly.

I’ve blogged about how we are called to take dominion over ourselves to better serve God. This process is what N,. T. Wright discusses in his book on Christian virtue. This is a calling that sin makes more difficult and more necessary, but it was true of the human race from our original creation before the fall. Jesus had to go through it as well.

John Murray wrote about this in terms of Jesus’ “climactic obedience.” I read this in his Collected Works and can’t find much about it on the internet. So I’m posting here what I remember:

First, Jesus goes through his ministry insisting that he must die:

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

He insists on it repeatedly, challenging others as to whether they can keep up with his calling:

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

And so he goes on, marching to Jerusalem to die. And then the hour before it is to happen, the full impact of what he is about to suffer hits him, and not one friend even will admit to what he is going through or stay awake with him. Here is Matthew’s testimony:

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

And Luke likewise:

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Obviously Jesus was without sin. And just as obviously he was willing to go through whatever God put before him. But just as obviously he pleaded and begged for something that he knew God would not give him, as he himself had been predicting and promising for months or years now.

Not all obedience is the same. Knowing what you have to do next year is not the same as knowing what you have to do right now. And it takes adjustment. It takes dealing with your physical bodily reactions that you have to wrestle with to bring under your control. That visceral physical pain you feel sometimes when you are strongly tempted to sin. The pain in your gut. Jesus knows about that. He knows it better than you ever will.

And what happens? Jesus grows. Jesus learns obedience. John’s Gospel:

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

So Jesus, having prayed and prayed, is ready. He steps forward. He gets in the way and intervenes so that his disciples (who aren’t prepared for much of anything) don’t have to suffer. His old voice is back. The confidence rings out: “Shall I not drink..?” Duh. That’s what I’m here for.

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him (Hebrews 5.8, 9).

OK, I should quit here, because anything more represents mission drift to this post, but I can’t.

I can’t help but think of Charles Hodge’s comment on First Corinthians 10.12. As I wrote last month, the fact that not everyone in the church is regenerate is good news in a way because…

First of all, it means that you can take God’s warnings against unbelief seriously. This is good news. Paul warns the Corinthians as a father reproves his children. This is how the elect persevere in faith.  As Charles Hodge wrote about one of these warnings in his commentary on First Corinthians:

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall (First Corinthians 10.12).

…There is perpetual danger of falling. No degree of progress we may have already made, no amount of privileges which we may have enjoyed, can justify the want of caution. Let him that thinketh he standeth, that is, let him who thinks himself secure. This may refer either to security of salvation, or against the power of temptation. The two are very different, and rest generally on different grounds. False security of salvation commonly rests on the ground of our belonging to a privileged body (the church), or to a privileged class (the elect). Both are equally fallacious. Neither the members of the church nor the elect can be saved unless they persevere in holiness; and they cannot persevere in holiness without continual watchfulness and effort. False security as to our power to resist temptation rests on an overweening self-confidence in our own strength. None are so liable to fall as they who, thinking themselves strong, heedlessly run into temptation (p. 181, Banner of Truth, emphasis added).

Watchfulness and effort. That is what Jesus asked of his disciples in the Garden.

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26.40-41).

Peter couldn’t do it. Why not? Because he didn’t believe he was frail. He had supreme confidence in his own perseverance.

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

So there you have it. Peter is so confident he sleeps. The Son of God cries out to His Father for help. The Son perseveres and Peter falls.

Awhile back I wrote:

Well, maybe, making “everything point to Christ” is really only a job half-done when speaking of faithful Biblical hermeneutics! Here’s Jesus interpreting a passage of Scripture:

Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.

So what seems a prophecy only of Jesus includes his followers.

But some passages work the opposite way. Sometimes a passage about Christians turns out to refer to Christ as well. Consider this from Proverbs 3:

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.

Who is the Father and who is the son?

It would be easy to make a case that this is Jesus addressing us. Jesus is the greater Son of David. So he, more than Solomon, is the Author of the Proverbs (see 1.1).

But the book of Hebrews points in another direction:

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 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.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

So far, this fits with the idea that Proverbs addresses believers. But that is because of where I started the quotation.  This passage starts by pointing to Jesus as the one who struggled against sin[ful people] and resisted to the point of shedding his blood:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 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.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Matthew Henry pointed out that Jesus is the pioneering and preeminent believer:

(1.) What our Lord Jesus is to his people: he is the author and finisher of their faith—the beginning, perfecter, and rewarder of it. [1.] He is the author of their faith; not only the object, but the author. He is the great leader and precedent of our faith, he trusted in God; he is the purchaser of the Spirit of faith, the publisher of the rule of faith, the efficient cause of the grace of faith, and in all respects the author of our faith.

Indeed, Jesus is presented as the one who went before us and “learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5.8). And we must follow in his footsteps by learning as well:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God… (Hebrews 5.12-6.1).

So when the Proverbs exhort us to not despise the Lord’s discipline, it is pleading with us to be willing to follow Jesus in a path that he traveled first for us as the author of our faith. Jesus grew in wisdom through his trials (Luke 2.40, 52), so how can we refuse that path?

(I’m sure Keller believes and preaches more than two points! So what follows below is in no way a criticism of him.)

Tim Keller is famous for making two points:

1. “we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but

2. more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope.”

Yes, but what about the third truth?

3. We can be greater than we would ever dare attempt.

So, if one accepts only 1. and 2., one will find great comfort. But if one accepts 3. along with 2. then one might suspect that Jesus is gong to make one’s life a living hell for quite some time.

In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 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.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

PS: After I wrote this I saw Doug Wilson deal with an issue and, in so doing, make what, to my mind, was a similar point–at least for someone who should get married but fears it.

In Proverbs 19.11 we read:

Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

This obviously has theological implications. God is the one slow to anger and he sees that fact as glorious rather than demeaning in himself. He overlooks offenses.

If we can extrapolate that what applies to taking offense should also apply to giving offense, then we have an interesting implication spelled out in First Corinthians 10.30-11.1:

If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

And of course, if Paul is imitating Christ he is imitating God. Not giving offense reflects and participates in the glory of the true God.

Is that your understanding of God? Is that how you act to the glory of God? If not, you will always be prone to foolishness and to try to pass it off as piety.

Mark Horne » Blog Archive » Your mission field includes your mouth, hands, and feet.

Reflecting on the difference between the Law’s commands and wisdom makes me realize how obvious it is that Eve was growing in wisdom when she answered the serpent.  Proverbs 5.8 says of the immoral woman:

Keep your way far from her,
and do not go near the door of her house

That is not what the Seventh Commandment says. The Law contains no prohibition against being near the door of a temptress. (And of  course, I don’t think this is an absolute prohibition. It is about the habits and expectations you develop as normal behavior.)

And so Eve was Lady Wisdom in response to the serpent.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Of course, the Serpent pressed on and Adam stood by silently even though he was the only one who had actually heard God prohibit the tree. So it was all undone.

But Eve started off running well.