How to Meditate on Man (Psalm 64)

Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the throng of evildoers,
who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,
shooting from ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

—Psalm 64:2–4

This song moves from prayer to praise and surprisingly, it does so not only as it looks at man, but as it looks at wicked men. This psalm is an inverted image of the 63rd Psalm. We can well imagine they were both written on the same occasion, but whereas the muse of the 63rd Psalm is God, that of the 64th is wicked men. The tone is different, but they harmonize. Michael Wilcock explains it this way, “His circumstances could be similar, perhaps identical, to those of Psalm 63. The difference is that there he was… seeing them as white on black, while here they are black on white. That is, in 63 he and his security in God were in the foreground and his enemies and their schemes loomed in the background; here in 64 it is the other way round.”

The 64th Psalm is not only an inversion of the 63rd, it is inverted itself—that is, it is a chiasm. But is it a chiasm not of parallels, but of contrasts. On the outside, prayer stands opposite of praise (vv. 1, 10). Further in, the secret conspiracy of men stands opposite of the public proclamation of God’s acts (vv. 2, 9). Tongues, arrows, and shooting are present in vv. 3–4 and vv. 7–8, but first man shoots and then God shoots. And at the center, is the deep and dark evil of David’s enemies. The central focus of this psalm is the deep and dark evil of David’s enemies, and still it turns from prayer to praise.

Often, in such situations, our prayer fails to turn to praise precisely because we focus on man. Normally, it is a problem when we put man in the foreground and God in the background. Prayer fails to turn to praise, because we make much of man and little of God. David’s meditation here doesn’t fail, because he thinks of man rightly. He thinks of man in light of God. God is in the background, but He is big in the background. Man is the foreground, but he is small in the foreground.

The real problem at any particular moment is not that we think on man more than God, but that we think of man as more than God. Certainly, it should be our delight and desire to think on God more, and thinking on God more, helps us to think more of God. All of this is necessary so that when man does come to the fore, we see how small he is compared to our great God in the background. You are free to think much on man, when you think much of God.

My God (Psalm 63)

Psalm 63:1 (ESV)

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; 
  my soul thirsts for you; 
my flesh faints for you, 
  as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

—Psalm 63:1

“My God”—unless you can say that, you will not understand the longing David speaks of here. “O God, you are my God.” Derek Kidner comments “The simplicity and boldness of Thou art my God is the secret of all that follows.” “Thou art my God” is the key, that unlocks the treasures of this psalm.

“The longing of these verses” Kidner tells us, “is not the groping of a stranger, feeling his way towards God, but the eagerness of a friend, almost of a lover, to be in touch with the one he holds dear.” “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you.” If you never have this longing, this thirst, then consider that the reason may be that you cannot truly say, “my God.” Your may be in a pickle. You may want out. But you are seeking a stranger. You do not really thirst for God. You thirst, and you’re asking God to be your waiter. God is not your water. He is your waiter.

This seeking is not the seeking of a stranger. This is not the seeking of sinful man for God. Scripture declares, “no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:11). Man may seek religion and spirituality, but, Paul explains, such seeking is a way of running from God. We suppress the truth we know about God and create gods in our own image (Romans 1:15–23). Man does not seek after God, yet David does. He “earnestly” seeks after God. Why is it that David seeks? Why do any seek?

Before any say, “my God,” God says, “my people.” This simple language goes back to the Abrahamic covenant and God’s promise to be God to Abraham and his offspring. In faithfulness to this covenant, God declared to Israel through Moses, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God” (Exodus 6:6–7). God initiates. “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.” Before any seek God, God seeks them. “We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:9).” This is what Jesus meant when He said, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice” (John 10:16). The children of God seek because the Father has sought them.

God reveals Himself in Christ by the Spirit through the Word. God shines in their “hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). That seeing gives us a new nature with a new appetite. It creates a soul that having tasted that the Lord is good, thirsts and hungers for Him.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:44–46).

That kind of seeking is the result of having been sought and found. The seeking of this psalm assumes all of this. The seeking of this psalm is not one for discovery, but from delight. Yet, it is a desperate seeking. This is the kind of thirst that results from having tasted and thus having been ruined for anything else.

A Silence that Sings (Psalm 62)

Psalm 62:1–2 (ESV)

For God alone my soul waits in silence; 
  from him comes my salvation. 
He alone is my rock and my salvation, 
  my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

—Psalm 62:1–2

The 62nd Psalm opens with a mighty declaration of confidence that sets the tone with which we sing the rest of the psalm. It is a tone of faith and trust.

“For God alone my soul waits in silence…”. What does it mean to wait in silence? The first thing to notice about this silence is that it is very loud. This is no quiet, contemplative silence, waiting for an answer. This is the silence that results from having the answer, and it is loud. This song is an expression of this silence. This silence sings.

This silence shushes neither loud singing nor ardent prayer. Pouring “out your heart before” God does not take us away from but towards this this silence.

This silence is a stillness of soul; it is a trustful rest in God. “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” You can see how silence and stillness are parallel in Psalm 83:1. “O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God!” Understanding that silence means stillness, we can find further illumination in texts like Psalm 37:7. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” This stillness of soul means not fretting over the wicked.

A familiar passage, often misunderstood, is then not only clarified by this, but now serves to clarify. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10). This stillness of soul is not loud with doubt, fear, or murmuring. It is loud with faith, trust, and rest. It is loud with confidence. This silence of soul is an expression of trust—trust in God alone. Trust in God that our salvation comes from Him.

It is a stillness that understands our part is to trust and obey. God’s part is to save and deliver. When it comes to the saving, this stillness of soul realizes two things: 1. I can’t make His salvation happen. 2. They can’t stop His salvation from happening.

This is the kind of trust that takes a deep breath, and then sings, “For God alone my soul waits in silence from him comes my salvation.”

Praying for Your Prayers (Psalm 61)

David prays for his prayers. “Hear my cry…listen to my prayer.” David prays for his prayers! The 61st Psalm opens with a prayer that his prayer be heard. David is serious about praying. He is earnest in prayer. He does not just pray to pray. He prays to be answered. He prays prayers that must be answered. Prayer is not sky journaling, therapeutically pouring out your soul to the silent but caring counselor in the heavens. Prayer, specifically petition, is not ultimately about you praying, but God answering.

Oh how little we really pray. How little we really pray is evidenced in this—we don’t look for an answer. I don’t pray enough. I don’t even pray enough lazy prayers. So few are truly earnest. Oh how little we pray even when we do pray. We look with more anticipation for the latest Amazon package to arrive than we do for answers to our prayers. William Plumer writes, “It is a sad mistake with some to offer prayers and then care no more of them. It is not the prayer but the answer to it that brings the blessing.”

Pray, “Deliver me from this temptation!” and then look in earnest for the answer as though your life depended on it.

Pray, “Save my children!” and then look in earnest for the answer as though their life depended on it.

Pray, “Revive your church!” and then look in earnest for the answer as though our hope depended on it.

Pray, “Advance your gospel!” and then look in earnest for the answer as though their hope, the hope of the nations depended on it.

Certainly our prayers should involve more than petition, but are your petitions so petty they are forgettable? Or do you pray prayers that God must answer! Certainly there are many petitions that we may not bring before God as demands. But as you grow to know God, as you cry out with greater insight and specificity “Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9–10)—as you do so, there should be an earnestness, a desperation for God to prove Himself to be the God He has promised to be.

“Hear my cry… listen to my prayer.” I’m afraid we don’t pray for our prayers, because we know that so often, our prayers aren’t really worth listening to.

Thou art coming to a King,
large petitions with thee bring,
for his grace and pow'r are such,
none can ever ask too much.

Perhaps we may begin by praying that we would pray prayers worth praying for?

The Prescription of Prophetic Liturgy (Micah 7:1–20)

Shepherd your people with your staff, 
     the flock of your inheritance, 
who dwell alone in a forest 
     in the midst of a garden land; 
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead 
     as in the days of old. 
As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, 
     I will show them marvelous things.

—Micah 7:14–15

The closing portion of Micah has been described as “prophetic liturgy.” Stephen Dempster applies that language to vv. 8–20, but I believe it appropriately describes the whole chapter. Micah 7 is “prophetic liturgy.” As such, this chapter is a profound gift. But with those two words, and combined even, you may not instantly recognize it as such. “Prophetic? Liturgy? No thank you.” Its like the grandparent telling the unknowing four year old that they’ve got him some puppy chow for a snack. He’s not intrigued.

“Prophetic liturgy,” what does that mean? For many evangelicals, “liturgy” is an alien word conjuring up images of stuffy, highly formalized worship services. At worst, it sounds Catholic, and at best, Presbyterian, with Anglican, falling somewhere in-between. But liturgy is not alien. Liturgy is inescapable. Liturgy is simply the shape our worship takes. Churches that say they have no liturgy only fool themselves. Their worship has a regular shape and routine. So the question isn’t whether or not to have a liturgy, but whether or not it is Biblical, thoughtful, intentional, purposeful, historical, and meaningful. The irony is how repetitive “non-liturgical” liturgies are. Human spontaneity defaults into the repetition of our finite minds. Whereas more liturgical services are more intentionally diverse—covering a wide sampling of Scripture and systematic theology. Where they are repetitive, they are repetitive by design with emphatic purpose.

As prophetic liturgy, this outline of worship is not only inspired, it is prescribed. It is a Divine “script” written for their future healing. There is a specific situation in the future in which Israel is to “take it” by mouth for their good.

Micah is made up of three cycles of judgment and salvation. This last promise of salvation is given to them as the proper response to both. The grace of God given to them here is a liturgy of proper response to both His judgment and salvation. How should they receive His judgment and believe His salvation? How should they worship? How should we respond in worship to the message of Yahweh’s salvation and judgment? Here is the gift then: Yahweh does not just speak of salvation and judgment—He gives us a liturgy to properly worship Him in them. His Word tells us how to receive and respond to His Word. This final proclamation of salvation shows us that God’s grace not only works outside of us to deliver us, it works inside us to transform us, so that our worship aligns with God’s heart.

A Full Court (Micah 6:1–16)

Hear what the LORD says: 

Arise, plead your case before the mountains, 
     and let the hills hear your voice. 

Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, 
     and you enduring foundations of the earth, 
for the LORD has an indictment against his people, 
     and he will contend with Israel.

— Micah 6:1–2

The great legal drama of Micah now begins to draw to a close. Three times we have heard a summons to judgment. This final summons is in a way the grandest and most poignant. Of the three times we are called before the heavenly Judge of all the earth, this is the fullest court description.

First we have the summons of the defendant, “Hear what the LORD says…”. The “hear” here is plural. The defendant is later identified as “his people.” Yahweh is calling his own people before him to be judged. Not just just their chief cities, nor just their corrupt rulers—but simply “his people”—all of them.

The first summons in Micah was a call to all the peoples of earth for judgment. It is a summons that hangs over the entirety of this book. “Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple” (Micah 1:2). If God calls His own people to court, will He not judge all all the peoples of the earth? Will He not judge you?

Next we have the command of the Judge for His covenant prosecutor to act. Whereas the “hear” is plural, the verbs “arise” and “plead” are singular. Micah is called on to act as God’s prosecutor, showing how Israel has violated covenant. This is the major role of the Old Testament prophet. The popular idea of the prophet is that of a future-teller. But we would do well to replace that with the idea of covenant-teller. While the prophets do foretell of God’s covenant faithfulness to redeem in the future, a substantial part of their ministry is acting as a covenant-prosecutor. When they speak of  judgment to come, as much as they are foretelling, they are pronouncing the very covenant curses God promised in His law. Curses we will clearly see in this chapter.

Next we see a summons to mountains and foundations of the earth (v. 2). They are not summoned as defendants, but as witnesses. The enduring mountains and foundations have been there since the first sin. This is the creation that groans and was subjected to futility because of man’s sin (Romans 8:20–22). This is the creation that cries out for the innocent blood that stains its soil (Genesis 4:10). Such witnesses testify to the majesty of this court. Who but the Lord of heaven and earth can call such witnesses?

Finally, the Plantiff/Judge is explicitly identified. These witnesses are called on to hear “the indictment of the LORD.” It is He who “will contend with Israel.” This is Yahweh’s indictment brought by Yahweh’s prophet before Yahweh’s creation, against Yahweh’s people. Do you see how certain their condemnation is? Do you see how certain our condemnation is? There is no hope of bribing the Judge, buying the prosecutor, or manipulating the witnesses. You are known by them all and they are His servants.

Hear all peoples, if Yahweh has so faithfully judged Israel, will He not judge all the earth? We have all of us broken covenant—the covenant of creation. We owe all to our Creator, and all His creation testifies of our sin against Him. Creation speaks of His glory and testifies of His wrath against the unrighteousness of man—thorns and poison ivy, earthquakes and tornadoes, wildfires and volcanoes, floods and hurricanes, drought and disease all testify to our sinfulness. 

Abraham found solace in asking, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25). But outside of Christ this is our greatest terror, for there is none righteous, no not one. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Judge of all the earth will do what is right and we are not righteous.

“When” Does Help You Understand “What” (Micah 4:1–13)

It shall come to pass in the latter days 
that the mountain of the house of the LORD 
shall be established as the highest of the mountains, 
     and it shall be lifted up above the hills; 
and peoples shall flow to it, 
     and many nations shall come, and say: 
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, 
     to the house of the God of Jacob, 
that he may teach us his ways 
     and that we may walk in his paths.” 
For out of Zion shall go forth the law, 
     and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

—Micah 4:1–2

What does this mean? Should we expect Zion to literally tower over Everest and the temple to be restored? Oddly, I’ve don’t think I’ve ever heard the advocates of a “literal” interpretation argue for a Mount Zion with an elevation of 30,000 feet. Even so, when does help answer what. But when might not be when you think it is and thus we are led to a different what.

What does this mean? When is the mountain of the house of Yahweh to be established as the highest of the mountains? “In the latter days.” The LSB, NAS, CSB, and KJV all have “in the last days.” When are these last days? Acts 2:17 us that the last days have already arrived in the wake of Jesus’ resurrection. Peter explained to the crowds on Pentecost, “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…’” (Acts 2:16–17). Joel goes on to speak of what we normally think of last days stuff—stuff like the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood (Joel 2:32). But this passage in Joel ends by telling us, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls” (Joel 2:32).

The last days have been inaugurated but not yet consummated. They are here now, but not fully here yet. The future is breaking into the present. This began with Jesus’ resurrection as the firstfruits of the harvest to come. It swells as men are born again, a new creation in Christ, strangers to this world, belonging to the world to come. This is why Hebrews opens telling us, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1). 

That’s when and it helps you understand what. What does it mean that the mountain of the house of Yahweh lifted up above all the hills? It is lifted up in Christ, who is Himself the temple of the LORD. In Him we most fully and may truly exclaim, “Yahweh is in the midst of us! No disaster shall come upon us.” John records that He told the Jews “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:18). And John also tells us, “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22). The temple was a shadow. Jesus is the substance. How is the mountain of the house lifted above all hills? It happens as that stone not cut by human hands strikes the kingdoms of this world as fine as dust so that they are carried away. It happens, Daniel tells us, as “the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35). It happens as God highly exalts Christ and bestows on him the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9). It happens in He who is is called Emmanuel, “God with us.”

This happens supremely in Christ, but because it happens in Christ, it happens in His people—the true Israel of God, His church. Peter tells us that we are “being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Paul asks us, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). This is true of each member of the church and it is true of the church corporately. The world cannot see it, but the church has been raised up with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). The kingdoms of this world will pass away, but the kingdom of God will endure forever and thus the gates of hell do not prevail against the church. She, as the temple of Yahweh, is exalted above all other mountains and hills—all the kingdoms of this world.

How does this happen? Don’t look for a restored temple in Jerusalem. Listen to how Hebrews says it has happened in these last days inaugurated by our Lord Jesus Christ. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22–24).

Can you see why then John Trapp would say, “These last days are Gospel-days”?

Great God, Great Judgment (Micah 1:1–16)

The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.


2  Hear, you peoples, all of you;
pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
3  For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4  And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.

—Micah 1:1–4

Micah, “Who is like Yahweh?”—that is what Micah means. 

“Who is like Yahweh?” He has no rival. He is without peer. He alone is God. He is transcendent and incomprehensible—infinite in all His attributes. He is holy.

You cannot have a great God without great judgment. If there is no great judgment, then He really isn’t a great God. If sins against Him are negligible, then He is inconsequential. If you want a God who is perfect in goodness, truth, and beauty and thus the fullness of our every longing and the fountain of all delight, you cannot have Him without great judgment. To rebel against such a God is the highest of crimes worthy of eternal torment. The magnitude of hell is a testimony to the glory of God. If you want a God of whom you may exclaim, “Who is like you!” then you must be able to make that very exclamation of His judgment as well as of everything else that He is in perfection and unity.

Micah is a book of judgment. Three times we are summoned to “hear.” Three times a word of judgment follows that summons.

“Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple” (Micah 1:2).

“And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones,…” (Micah 3:1–2).

“Hear what the LORD says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel” (Micah 6:1–2).

With each summons, we move from judgment on their capital cities, to the judgment of their leaders, to the judgment of the people. And yet, at the end of each cycle of judgment, there is the hope of salvation. But always in Micah, before the promise of salvation is pronounced, we are summoned to hear of judgment. To properly receive the good news of grace, we must stop railing against God’s word of judgment. We must own our guilt if we are to receive God’s grace. We must learn to exclaim, “Who is like Yahweh?” and then we may rejoice, “Christ Jesus—my Lord, my God, my Savior!”

Our Triune Salvation (Titus 3:3–7)

“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

—Titus 3:3–7
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

He [the Father] saved us… by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” The Holy Spirit is poured out on us richly by the Father through Jesus Christ. The Spirit was purchased for us by Christ our Savior. He was so purchased that He is poured out on us “richly.” If the Spirit is special sauce of our salvation, the Father has so slathered Him on through the Son that the entree could be mistaken for a soup. How does the Father look on the work of the Son? Because of the Son, He not only pours out the Spirit, He pours Him out richly on us. He pours infinity on you, richly.

Our salvation is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit. Our salvation originated in the Father, was secured by the Son, and is effected by the Spirit. The Father determined, gave and sent; the Son lived, died, and rose; and the Spirit regenerates, seals, and sanctifies.

Speaking in a strictly metaphorical way, Irenaus said that the Father has two hands, the Son and the Spirit. Our God is ambidextrous and He always uses both of His hands. God is a Tri-unity of persons. Their operations are inseparable. Where God works, all three persons work. Where you find one working, the others are working (John 5:17, 19). God creates and recreates using both hands. The Father saves you by two sendings: the sending of the Son and the sending of the Spirit. The gracious sending of the Son purchases the sending of the Spirit. The Son was sent to accomplish salvation and the Spirit was sent to apply that salvation. 

These sendings are self-sendings of our Triune God. Fred Sanders explains, “when God the Father sends the Son and the Spirit, we meet God in sendings that have an infinite depth behind them: self-sendings in which God sends God; sendings in which God is God with us.” God, though God, has given you God as the guarantee of giving you God in full and forever. The Father, through the Son, has given you the Spirit, as the guarantee of Him giving you Himself in full and forever. This is the Trinitarian shape of your salvation. The Trinity is not a distant doctrine; it is the very substance of your salvation.

What Must Be Taught in Order to Teach (Titus 2:11–15)


“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…”

—Titus 2:11

There are some things that must be taught in order for one to teach. Or, stated from the perspective of the student, there are some things you must learn in order for you to learn. If you are to learn to read, you must first learn your alphabet. If you are to learn algebra, you must first learn arithmetic. If you are to learn Christian ethics, you must first learn Christian theology. If you do not take the first course, you are certain to flunk the second.

J. Gresham Machen, throughout the early 19th century, warned that theological liberalism was not Christianity. The liberals thought they could skip theology and still pass ethics. They thought they if they got a zero in doctrine, they could still ace devotion, as though that were the only course that mattered. But without a protestant theology, the ethics of the mainline protestant denominations, have been driven about by every wind of doctrine. Doctrine determines devotion. Change the shape of the doctrine, you change the shape of the devotion. This is why consistent Christians give their lives for unbelievers and consistent Muslims take lives the lives of “unbelievers.”

Here, Paul gives the grounds for the Christian life. Why do Christians live as they do? Or, rather, why do they strive to live as they do? Because the grace of God has appeared. Build on anything else, and you build on sand. Paul’s ethical edifice has a faith foundation. Christian ethics don’t float. They are rooted, and they are rooted like a tree. If you are really rooted in the truth, drawing your life from it, you will grow towards the sky with God’s-glorifying, grace-given good works. Anything else is artificial or built on the sand.

The gospel is a prerequisite for the law. Theological liberalism tried to teach the law without the gospel, but the lesson didn’t stick. Machen explained the difference between Christianity and theological liberalism writing, “Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity—liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man’s will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God.” The law says “Do.” The gospel says “Done!” You cannot hear what God would have you do until you believe what God has done. Only after having been told what Christ has done, and believing, may you then hear what Christ would have you do. And this is because after hearing and believing, you do, not for life, but from life. The grace of God that has appeared, appears to you. It appears bringing bringing salvation and training us in righteousness.