Really? That's Blasphemy?

Originally posted on the Gig Harbor Reformed Bible Study blog:

This Lord's Day I am preaching a sermon on Exodus 20:7 - the third commandment. Quick... what is it?

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain."

As I was studying for and writing this sermon it was fascinating to unpack all that this seemingly short commandment tells us as children of God. One of the areas that I was most fascinated with was how this commandment speaks of our salvation. How in the heck can "not taking the Lord's name in vain" lead to talking about our salvation?

Blasphemy is the direct or the indirect detracting from the glory and honor of God. Doing anything to take away from the glory and the honor that is due the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) alone is blasphemous.

There are many preachers today who are telling believers that they can lose their election and their salvation if they are not righteous enough, if they are not faithful enough. When Christ comes again, in that final judgment these teachers say that when you are standing before God the Judge he will look at your obedience and render a verdict based on what you have done. To put it another way some would have us believe that God’s favor and acceptance of us ultimately depends on our obedience. This has taken root in many churches across the world (unfortunately) under the heading of "Federal Vision Theology." It is amazing that the Reformed Confessions (both the Westminster Standards and the Three Forms of Unity) speak so clearly against this errant theology, but yet somehow they are tolerated even in so-called Reformed churches.

Teaching such as this takes away from the finished and completed work of Christ! Christ’s active obedience is our obedience and righteousness before God. Anybody that teaches or believes otherwise is diminishing the finished work of Christ and making our acceptance before God based, at least partly on our own work. Put simply, this is blasphemy!

Maybe you think that this is too strong. Really? Blasphemy? If you think that then listen to what The Belgic Confession says in article 22:

We believe that for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery [what Christ has done for us] the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith that embraces Jesus Christ, with all his merits, and makes him its own, and no longer looks for anything apart from him. (Not even looking at ourselves.)

For it must necessarily follow that either all that is required for our salvation is not in Christ or, if all is in him, then he who has Christ by faith has his salvation entirely. (Its one or the other. Either completely not in Christ, or entirely in Christ)

Therefore, to say that Christ is not enough but that something else is needed as well is a most enormous blasphemy against God-- for it then would follow that Jesus Christ is only half a Savior.

This is serious! "A most enormous blasphemy against God." If this is misusing the name of God, then what does the commandment say? “… And the Lord will not hold him guiltless.” This blasphemy means that you will stand before God still clothed in your own filthy rags trying to impress him. God is not going to look on these blasphemers and see the perfect righteousness of Christ, but their own pitiful merits which the Heidelberg Catechism says in Q&A 114 “even the holiest have only a small beginning of this obedience.” The name of God and of his Christ is the basis of our salvation. Looking to anything or anybody else means that we are misusing the Name of God and breaking the Third Commandment.

I hope and pray that if you believe in teaching such as this that you will seriously consider the ramifications of holding that position. The Federal Vision is not just a benign, innocent interpretation of Scripture and the Reformed Confessions and the only difference is just a misunderstanding. This theology is breaking one of the Ten Commandments, and one of the commandments that speaks of God's just punishment for those who break it - "you will not be held guiltless." Not quite the position that one wants to be in when they are standing before God. I am thankful everyday that I am standing before God guiltless, not because of anything I have done, but because I have been clothed in the pure garments of Christ and that he is my righteousness before God.

Flights

Well, my calendar only has one more engagement scheduled and that is on October 25 at Emmanuel URC in Hanford, CA. We are going to drive up there for a little mini-road trip so at least for the time my flying around the country has come to a close. As I have mentioned before I really do enjoy flying, but flying someplace every week for five weeks was a little too much.

Since June of 2009, and including my vacation to Maine (flying into Providence, RI) I have flown a lot!! There is a web-site called Flight Aware that plots out the flights of pretty much any flight (at least in the US and Canada). These plots can be transferred over to Google Earth which also includes altitude data. So here are some images concerning the actual flights that I have taken this summer up to my flight home from Regina, SK, Canada. The only flight whose plot is missing is my flight from Regina to Calgary. For some reason the only part that got "recorded" was on approach just west of Calgary. Oh well.

Here is an overview of all the flights:


Here is an oblique view of the flights looking roughly north from San Diego:


Finally, here are all the approaches and landings out of and into San Diego. Obviously there are a few data points which have the altitude messed up so ignore those "triangles"!

The Tour Goes International!

This weekend marks stop number 4 in my tour of the Western Half of the North American continent. Michelle will be joining me as we go to Regina, Saskatchewan. We are both looking forward to getting away from the Southern California heat (which has cooled off quite a bit the last few days) and enjoying some fall weather (high 40s to mid 50s is forecasted). There is an independent Presbyterian church (long story) who is thinking about joining the URCNA, but is currently without a pastor. Therefore, myself and three other men (two of whom I know) have been asked and accepted the invitation to candidate there. It sounds like a great little church and I am excited to meet the people there and bring them God's Word for the next two Lord's Days.

My last two trips were wonderful as I was able to relax and fellowship with others on absolutely gorgeous days. Two weekends ago while I was in Loveland, CO I went hiking with four other guys. We hiked to Chiquita Peak (13,069') and had a great time. Then in the evening there was an open house for people of the congregation and I was able to meet some new faces. Last weekend in Lynden, WA I went to a high school football game on Friday evening, helped pour concrete on Saturday morning, went for a boat ride around Whatcom Lake, then had a BBQ outside and ate around a firepit. Both of those great Saturdays were followed up by the immense privledge of leading God's people in worship and bringing them God's word which is why I was flown out to those churches in the first place!

These past few weeks have been really busy, so I am looking forward to staying put for one whole week! If I am able I will update you with our happenings up north at some point next week.