There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Dreams can sometimes fascinate believers. From the visions Daniel experienced in the Old Testament (Daniel 7) to Peter’s dream about clean and unclean animals (Acts 10:9-16) it seems as though dreams lace almost all the books of Scripture.
Even in the modern context, it seems as though many believers have come to Christ through seeing Jesus in a dream (see an article about such encounters here).
What are some examples of dreams throughout Scripture? What does the Bible have to say about dreams explicitly and does God still speak to us through dreams? And how much stock should Christians place in dreams today?
We must give thanks for our preservation; that our lives are prolonged and the use of our reason and understanding, our limbs and senses, are continued to us.
It was owing to your good providence that I did not die at birth, and did not come out from the womb and expire; that the knees received me, and the breasts, that I should nurse. Job 3:11-12(ESV)
Though before birth I was called a rebel, Isaiah 48:8(ESV) yet by your power I have been borne by you from before my birth and carried from the womb; Isaiah 46:3(ESV) and you keep my soul among the living and have not let my foot slip. Psalm 66:9(ESV)
All my bones shall say, “O LORD, who is like you!” Psalm 35:10(ESV) For you keep the bones, and not one of them is broken. Psalm 34:20(ESV)
I lay down and sleep, for you, LORD, make me to dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8(ESV)
You have commanded your angels concerning me, to guard me in all my ways; to bear me up in their hands, lest I strike my foot against a stone. Psalm 91:11-12(ESV) And they are all ministering spirits, sent out to serve for the good of those who are to inherit salvation. Hebrews 1:14(ESV)
Psalm 23 This week’s lessons focus on how God acts as a shepherd toward His sheep, and what we are to do in response to Him.
Theme
Safety in Shadow
Verse 4 deals with safety. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” What is this valley of the shadow of death? The popular way of looking at this is to regard it as a promise of God’s presence in the moments of dying, that is, the shadow just before we actually die. That verse has been used that way many times, helpfully, I believe. But, even though that is true as a principle, I do not think that is what the verse is dealing with. Because, if you follow the flow of the psalm, you find that it covers the progress of the Christian life from the moment of belief in God (at the beginning) to our heavenly home (at the end). And this verse is not the step before the end; it is in the middle. So I think what it is dealing with is not death but the shadow or threat of death, the fact that we go through difficult times, sometimes when even our life is threatened.
We become worried and say, “I wonder if God can take care of me now—when these things seem dangerous and I don’t know whether I can get through this with my whole skin or not.” The Psalmist says, “Yes, you can. God will be with you even in the valley of the shadow of death, and because of that you need fear no evil.”
Our Shepherd is carrying His rod and staff as He travels with us. The rod was a club used for defense. The shepherd knew how to use it. The staff was what he leaned upon. It speaks of rest from weariness. The imagery says that our shepherd has a club for defense and a staff upon which to lean. So, when we go through difficult times, we are not to look to ourselves and say, “I don’t know whether I have the resources to go through a time like this or not.” If you look at yourself, you will become worried, and rightly so, because you do not have the resources that you need to go through the most difficult times. But you should look to the shepherd who has the resources. When we put that in New Testament terms, we have Jesus who is with us every step of the way.
Have you noticed how the psalm changes at this point from referring to the shepherd in the third person he (used in the early portion of the psalm) to the second person you (in this section)? Read it with that in mind: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Now comes the break: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” That is where it changes. “For you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil.” In this language we have a testimony to the secret David had found for living his life in the midst of many difficulties: personal contact and fellowship with the shepherd.
Do you know the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ like that? He said to His disciples toward the end of His life, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. . . . I am going . . . to prepare a place for you. . . . And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever’’ (John 14:1-2, 16). Or again, as He spelled it out at the end of the Great Commission: “Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your companion in that way? Is He with you in every difficulty, even to the end of the age? If that is the case, you will not lack safety either and you will know that you are safe in His care.
Study Questions
What are the different views on the meaning of “the valley of the shadow of death”? Why is the one preferred over the other?
What change takes place in the psalm at this point? Why is that significant?
Application
Reflection: In what ways do you need to lean more upon the Lord Jesus Christ to give you the safety and protection you need from the spiritual dangers that weigh upon you?
For Further Study: Download for free and listen to James Boice’s message, “Frailty Anchored in Eternity.” (Discount will be applied at checkout.)
FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS volume 24, number 46, November 13, 2025
If anyone thinks himself to be religious and does not bridle his own tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless, James 1:26.
For the last several years or so I have observed professing Christians, even pastors and elders, who regularly use swear words in their conversations. They say, for example, that the “F bomb” is not offensive to most people, that older people like me who are offended or shocked by such words coming from professing Christians, need to “get a life” and realize times have changed. I wonder if these people might be on the road to hell. I hope not.
I fear for some who hold to the essentials of evangelical faith. More specifically, I fear for some who know the Westminster Confession of Faith like the back of their hand, who have read the Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, who embrace the five solas of the Reformation. I fear they may end up in hell. Why would I say this? After all, I suppose that most of these are not godless, pagan types who mock God. They are not blatant adulterers, fornicators, liars, thieves, or homosexuals. We know those who persist in these things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul made that clear (1 Corinthians 6:11-12). I fear this because of the sobering words of James.
He writes, “If anyone thinks himself to be religious.” What does he mean? We typically think of religion in pejorative terms, like Jesus’ perpetual problems with the Pharisees and Sadducees, but that is not how James is using the word here. His use of “religion” here refers to the outward display of the Christian disciplines—things like public worship (Hebrews 10:24-25, Matthew 5:23-24), keeping the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), honoring authority figures (Romans 13:1ff), and reading and acting upon the word of God (James 1:22-24). James goes on to say, “and does not bridle his own tongue.” James uses this same terminology in chapter three, referring to the fact that we all stumble in many ways, but if one does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. He also illustrates this with a horse in whose mouth a bit is placed so that the rider can direct the horse wherever he desires. So, unbridled speech is unreined speech, out of control speech. I have been both to Saratoga, New York and Cumberland Island, Georgia. Both places have beautiful horses. The thoroughbred horses that run at Saratoga are a marvelous sight. Such power and grace! They can run a mile in two minutes. The horses on Cumberland Island are likewise beautiful, but are unreined, unbridled, out of control. They are wild horses. The power of the thoroughbred horses is kept under control by the jockey who pulls the reins as he wishes. The power of the wild horses on Cumberland Island is unreined, lawless, and out of control. There is power but there is also the potential for destruction. One never knows what these wild horses will do when one encounters them there.
The use of the tongue is a recurring theme in James (James 2:1-3, 14-16, 3:1-12, 4:11, 13, 5:9-12). Thank God that James is not referring here to a slip of the tongue. If that were so, none of us could stand. Instead he means a habitual lifestyle of unbridled, uncontrolled speech. Why is this dangerous? One reason is found in the text but there are at least three others as well. Unbridled speech deceives the speaker. James tells us that one engaging in it, though he is religious, will find his religion worthless when he stands before God on that great day. Jesus said something similar (Matthew 7:21-23). So did Isaiah (Isaiah 1:10-17). He may know his Bible and theology well, but he will still end up in hell. Unbridled speech is also dangerous because it destroys other people (James 3:5-12), it displays the true spiritual condition of one’s heart (Matthew 15:18), and it declares judgment (Matthew 12:36-37). The mouth speaks that which fills the heart. If Paul says the unrighteous, those who are sexually immoral, will not inherit the kingdom of God; then why does James say those who sin with their tongues, something that seems hardly on par with Paul’s list, will also go to hell? Because “acceptable” sins are just as damning as “unacceptable” ones!
This begs a question, doesn’t it? What are the characteristics of unbridled speech? I could mention many. The book of Proverbs alone is full of them. But consider these four as a starter. First, you are guilty of habitual, unbridled speech if your words are constantly devious, divisive, or profane. “Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put devious lips far from you,” (Proverbs 4:24). “The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverted,” (Proverbs 10:32). “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, ‘Was I not joking?’” (Proverbs 26:18).
Secondly, you are guilty of unbridled speech if you are consistently deceitful, what we may call a pathological liar. “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the falseness of the treacherous will destroy them,” (Proverbs 11:3). Thirdly, you are guilty of unbridled speech if you are a grenade thrower, if you make a habit of stirring up trouble at family gatherings or public meetings by saying wrong things at the wrong time with the wrong tone. Think of our soldiers going door to door, trying to root out the enemy. They sometimes throw a hand grenade into an adjoining room, wait for the explosion, and then see what they find. Some people seem to get a kick out of dropping bombs at Thanksgiving and Christmas family dinners. “With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered,” (Proverbs 11:9). “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger,” (Proverbs 15:1). And fourthly, you are guilty of unbridled speech if you make a habit of talking too much, of monopolizing conversation, of not allowing others a chance to speak. “The wise of heart will receive many commands, but the babbling fool will be thrown down,” (Proverbs 10:8). “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise,” (Proverbs 10:19). “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him,” (Proverbs 29:20).
Does this describe you? Surely we are all guilty of these things from time to time, and we must certainly repent of them, but if these define you, then you might be in big trouble. What must you do? You must examine your heart to see if you are truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). Your speech declares the condition of your heart (Matthew 15:18). Even if you are a true believer the profane, vicious, divisive, bomb throwing speech that sometimes comes from your mouth is telling you that things are not right in your soul. Sin is controlling and dominating you. What then? Repent (Mark 1:15). Change your mind. Think differently. It is not okay to continue this way. You cannot say, “I just like to tell it like it is.” That’s no excuse for ungodly speech. Then you must come clean with God, confessing your sin, asking God the Holy Spirit to apply the blood of Christ for cleansing (1 John 1:8-10). And finally, you must walk in the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-20). How do you do that? Remember that you have a Savior who spoke only pure, undefiled words, all His earthly life. These beautiful, life-giving, edifying, grace filled words were summarized when He hung on the cross. He said, “My God, My God. Why hast Thou forsaken Me? Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Today, you will be with Me in Paradise. Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. Mother, behold your son. Son, behold your mother. I am thirsty. It is finished.”
Because Christ is your life (Colossians 3:4), because the old man is dead (Romans 6:5-7), because you are able to put on the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24), because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2)—you can walk in holiness. You can speak edifying words (Ephesians 4:29). You can speak words of grace (Colossians 4:6). Don’t be one of those who are horribly surprised on that terrible day when they hear, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. I never knew you,” (Matthew 7:23).
We subscribe to the Westminster Standards as our doctrinal statement. It consists of the following documents:
The Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Larger Catechism The Westminster Shorter Catechism
We also believe that Christian Worship is to be regulated and defined by God’s Word, the Bible.
Our worship services are designed to please and honor the Triune God of the Bible. We place Scripture reading and the preaching of the word of God at the center of worship along with Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are God’s gifts to His church and ought to always be at the center of Christian worship. We are a congregation that loves to sing God’s praises, recite His Word back to Him, and actively engage in hearing and learning from God’s Word.
We embrace and promote a comprehensive Christian world and life view.
There is no area of life which is not under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is to God and His law which all people, including governments and civil rulers, will answer. The Word of God embraces and informs the way we view marriage, the family, children, education, politics, worship, law, government, war, the church, missions, evangelism, and worship. In the world today there is a battle of opposing worldviews. There are basically only two positions: God’s Word and man’s ideas. We stand positively for Biblical truth and negatively against man’s ideas which are opposed to Biblical truth.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind.
Because all men fall short of obeying God’s law, all men everywhere are in need of divine grace and salvation from God. This salvation is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners, was buried, rose again, and is alive today seated at God the Father’s right hand.
We Worship God Together as Families.
We offer nursery during the morning worship service for newborns and infants but encourage people to keep as many of their children as they can with them for morning worship. The audio of the service is in the nursery via speakers. There is also a crying room with a video screen and audio of the sermon. We offer Sunday school classes for all ages, but worship together as families. We do not offer “children’s” church.
There’s a lot of buzz right now around potential revival or at least rising interest in the Bible and Christian faith. Let’s pray that’s true. But for many of us, the world remains no less antagonistic toward the gospel. So what does a bold and effective witness for Christ in that environment look like?
We see a surprising answer to that question in the story of the gospel’s first entry into Europe, as Paul takes the gospel to Philippi in Acts 16.
In Philippi, Paul met three people whom he brings to faith in Christ — people who resemble the three kinds of people we meet in our cities today: Lydia, the slave girl, and the Philippian jailor.
1. Lydia: The Seeker (Acts 16:14)
The first is Lydia, who I call the seeker. Luke, the author of Acts, writes, “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul” (Acts 16:14, ESV). Lydia was basically a successful businesswoman on a work trip. She was put together. Professional. Religious, but she had never met Jesus personally.
How does Lydia become a Christian? Essentially, Paul engages her in an evangelistic Bible study. And Luke records that as she listened, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul” (v. 14, emphasis mine). That phrase, “pay attention,” is the same Greek word used for addiction to alcohol. There was something about Paul’s message that stirred her deep in her soul.
I heard a story from Easter this year that felt like a Lydia moment. The day before Easter, our college ministry had scattered thousands of Easter eggs all over the campus of N.C. State. Inside each one was a candy and an inviter card for our Easter services. It took hours and hours of work. And, it turned out, it was a complete waste of time, because the grounds crew at the university almost immediately picked them all up.
All of them … except for one. A single plastic egg had fallen into a little divot near a sprinkler head. On Easter morning, one of these sprinklers turned on, shooting the egg into the air and into the chest of a student walking by. She opened the egg, decided she might as well try out church, and came. And wouldn’t you know it, she gave her life to Jesus that morning.
For most people, God getting their attention won’t be that dramatic. But Lydia represents that person who is open to coming to our Bible studies and our evangelistic events — and through those events, God gets their attention.
2. The Slave Girl: The Captive (Acts 16:16)
The second person is a young slave girl who I call the captive. She’s the opposite of Lydia. She’s not put together and professional. She’s a literal slave. And Luke even says she has a demon (Acts 16:16).
So how does this slave girl come to Christ? Not through one of Paul’s Bible studies. She couldn’t have come to one of those even if she wanted to. She was a captive. And so God used Paul to bring her to faith through an act of deliverance. He got involved in her life and helped her find freedom in Jesus.
3. The Philippian Jailor: The Cynic (Acts 16:23–34)
The third person to come to Christ was the jailor (Acts 16:23-34), who I call the cynic. Why? Because jailors in those days were usually retired Roman generals who were given by Caesar a jail to run in their retirement as a reward for their years of service. They were part of the ruling class, battle-scarred and war-weary.
They were usually pretty cynical. They’d seen it all; they’d traveled the world; they’d stood before Caesar. Rome had all kinds of religions represented in it; they’d seen them all and concluded they were all basically the same. So how does this cynical jailor come to faith in Jesus?
Acts 16:24 says Paul was put into stocks in this jailor’s dungeon. Don’t think of those cute wooden contraptions in Williamsburg, where you and your sister got your picture taken. Think of metal clasps around your wrists, dangling you off the ground with only your toes barely touching the floor. This was cruel and painful treatment.
And yet, Luke records, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25, ESV). Instead of being bitter, or laying there complaining like I would have done, they’re singing with happy hearts. The prisoners and the jailor sat there listening, wondering, How can they have such joy?
Then God sends an earthquake, knocking their chains off and opening the prison doors. This was bad news for the jailor, because in those days, any prison guard who lost his prisoners — for any reason — had to pay with his life. So he decides to end his own life (16:27).
Except that Paul sees what’s going on and says, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here” (16:28). In other words, the jail broke, but Paul didn’t.
Imagine that! Here stands Paul, who has been wrongfully imprisoned and tortured, and on his right hand is freedom — God-provided freedom. And on his left, this jailor, who had probably been the one to beat him the night before. And Paul turns his back on his freedom to go back in for the jailor, because he knew that God hadn’t sent him to Philippi just to get out of prison; he sent him there to go after the souls of people like that jailor.
Three Different People, One Beautiful Truth
We have three very different people in three very different circumstances. But all three become part of the first church in Europe. So what does that show us about engaging our culture today?
The Siddur, the official Jewish prayer book used by men around the time of Paul, tells us that each morning a Jewish man would say a very specific prayer: “Thank you God that I am not a woman, a slave, or a Gentile.” Do you think it’s any coincidence that the first three people saved in Philippi are a woman, a slave, and a Gentile? I certainly don’t.
Anywhere the gospel is truly preached, it unites people that society otherwise separates, because it identifies in us a common problem — sin — and presents to us a common solution — Jesus. The gravitas and urgency around our unity in that message should transcend a lot of things that would otherwise divide us.
Politically Opposed Disciples
Consider the makeup of Jesus’s band of twelve disciples. Matthew described himself as a “tax collector” and labelled another, Simon, as a Zealot (Matthew 10:3–4). This meant that they were divided on the most pressing political issue of the day. Given that Matthew assigned no other labels to anyone else in his list, that means these were rather defining issues for them! One of them thought Rome should be submitted to and cooperated with; the other thought cooperation with Rome was a compromise of God’s covenant and that guerilla warfare was the response of the faithful servant of God. And yet, Jesus called them both to be his disciples.
Ultimately, Jesus’s kingdom teaching would undermine and transform the approaches of both. You could argue about which one had to change more — but it’s hard to imagine a priori conformity on this political issue was a prerequisite, given that they both chose to become Jesus’s disciples. Had Jesus led with one, he would not have brought in the other.
Now, let me be clear, because it might be easy to miss or to twist what I’m saying: I’m not saying we ever back down from speaking out on controversial truths for fear of driving people away. It is our calling to teach the whole counsel of God, and that includes rebuking the works of darkness, calling out wickedness by name. If we don’t do that, we aren’t being faithful witnesses in our generation.
Nor am I trying to equivocate and say the right and left are equally bad. I’m not. I’m just saying we have to take a page from Jesus and think about what we lead with as we call people to follow Christ.
Withhold Opinions and Stay on Mission
And in case you think I am making too much out of this example of Jesus’s apostles, let me give you one more example:
In Luke 12, Jesus was asked by the younger of two brothers to adjudicate on his behalf, speaking into a particularly relevant issue in first-century Palestine: The older brother was using his position and existing laws to cheat the younger brother out of his rightful inheritance (Luke 12:13). This younger brother had a legitimate social justice complaint!
And yet, instead of giving a specific — you might even say political — answer to this problem, Jesus withheld his opinion. Instead he said, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” (v. 14). He then preached a sermon on greed, warning both brothers (and the listening crowd) about the idolatry of money. We ask, Why not give his opinion on this case? Did he not care? Was he not up to the task?
The great Welsh preacher, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, said it wasn’t because Jesus didn’t care, or even that he felt unqualified to give an answer. Had Jesus weighed in on this one, two things likely would have happened. First, he would have cut off from his influence anyone in Israel who agreed with the older brother. Second, the next day he likely would have had a line a mile long of people wanting him to weigh in on their justice issues, which would have kept him from his primary mission — preaching the gospel and making disciples. So, he sat this one out so he could stay on mission.
The same ought to be true for those of us who are in leadership in the church. I’ll say unashamedly: There are a lot of things I have convictions about — and even feel passionate about — that I don’t mix with the message of our church.
I have a pastor friend who says, “I’ve decided that people need to know where their pastor stands — on everything. From now on, there’s nothing I’ll say around the firepit that I won’t also say from the pulpit. Anything less is inauthentic.” I told him, “There are all kinds of things I’ll say around the fire pit that I won’t say from the pulpit. Because the pulpit is reserved for ‘Thus says the Lord,’ not ‘Thus thinketh J.D.’”
There simply isn’t a verse in my Bible that spells out the ideal marginal tax rate, or the right number of immigrants to let into our country, or the best perspective nationalized health care. We need to apply our Christian wisdom to these areas, but we simply cannot speak to these issues as if God has given one obvious and direct word on them. He hasn’t. And so, we don’t.
As I often tell our church, I might be wrong about taxation or global warming, but I’m not wrong about the gospel — and I refuse to let my opinions on the former keep people from hearing me on the latter.
One Name Above All
The Apostle Peter got it right: “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). There are many causes for Christians to engage in. Good causes, necessary causes. But there is only one cause, one name, that leads to salvation. We must keep that name above all.
In this fraught cultural moment, you can be an everyday revolutionary who stands up for the truth of the gospel. After all, the God who shuts the mouths of lions placed you in this time for a reason. You might just decide you wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (5:8)
Here is one of those passages of Scripture whose depths are immeasurable and whose breadth is impossible to encompass. This incredible statement of Jesus is among the greatest utterances in all of the Bible. The subject of holiness, of purity of heart, can be traced from Genesis to Revelation. The theme is infinitely vast and touches on virtually every other biblical truth. It is impossible to exhaust its meaning or significance, and the discussion in this chapter is nothing more than introductory.
THE CONTEXT
THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT
As discussed in some detail in earlier chapters, when Jesus began His earthly ministry, Israel was in desperate condition—politically, economically, and spiritually. For hundreds of years, with only brief respites, she had been under the oppression of foreign conquerors. The country had limited freedom to develop its economy, and a large part of income and profit was paid to Rome in taxes. Those were problems that every person saw and felt. The less obvious problem, however, was by far the worst. For longer than she had suffered political and economic oppression, Israel had suffered spiritual weakness and faithlessness. Yet that problem was not recognized by many Jews. Jewish leaders thought their religion was in fine shape, and believed the Messiah would soon solve the political and economic problems. But when He came, His only concern was for the spiritual problem, the problem of their hearts. At the time of Christ the most influential religious force in Judaism was the Pharisees. They were the chief managers and promoters of the pervasive legalistic and ritualistic system that dominated Jewish society. Over the centuries various rabbis had interpreted and reinterpreted the Jewish Scriptures, especially the law, until those interpretations—known as the traditions of the elders—became more authoritative than Scripture itself. The essence of the traditions was a system of dos and don’ts that gradually expanded to cover almost every aspect of Jewish life. To conscientious and honest Jews it had become obvious that total observance of all the religious requirements was impossible. Because they could not keep all of the law, they doubtlessly developed terrible feelings of guilt, frustration, and anxiety. Their religion was their life, but they could not fulfill everything their religion demanded. Consequently, some of the religious leaders devised the idea that, if a person could perfectly keep just a few of the laws, God would understand. When even that proved impossible, some narrowed the requirement to one law perfectly kept. That idea may have been in the mind of the lawyer who tested Jesus with the question, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” (Matt. 22:36). Perhaps he wanted to see which of the many hundreds of laws Jesus believed was the single most important one to keep—the one that would satisfy God even if a person failed to keep the others. This oppressive and confusing religious system probably contributed to the initial popularity of John the Baptist. He was radically different from the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests, and it was obvious that he did not bother to observe most of the religious traditions. He was a breath of fresh air in a stifling, never-ending system of demands and prohibitions. Perhaps in this prophet’s teaching they would find some relief. They did not want another rabbi with another law, but someone who could show them how to be forgiven for those laws they had already broken. They wanted to know the real way of salvation, the real way to please God, the true way of peace and relief from sin. They knew that the Scriptures taught of One who would come not simply to demand but to redeem, not to add to their burdens but to help carry them, not to increase their guilt but to remove it. No doubt it was such expectations as those that caused many people to think John the Baptist might be the Messiah. The people knew from Ezekiel that someday God was going to come and sprinkle their souls with water, cleanse them from their sin, and replace their hearts of stone with hearts of flesh (Ezek. 36:25–26). They knew the testimony of David, who cried out, “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!” (Ps. 32:1–2). They knew of those truths, and they longed to experience the reality of them. Nicodemus was one such person. He was a Pharisee and “a ruler of the Jews,” that is, a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court. We are not told specifically what his intentions were in coming to Jesus, because his first words were not a question but a testimony. The fact that he came at night suggests he was ashamed of being seen with Jesus. But there is no reason to doubt the sincerity of his words, which showed unusual spiritual insight: “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (John 3:2). Nicodemus knew that, whatever else Jesus might be, He was a teacher truly sent from God. Though he does not state it, the question that was on his mind is implied both from his testimony and from Jesus’ reply. The Lord knew Nicodemus’s mind, and He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). Nicodemus wanted to know how to please God, to be forgiven. “How can I be made righteous?” he wondered. “How can I be redeemed and become a child of God? How can I become part of God’s kingdom?” Had he not had a deep, compelling desire to know God’s will, he would not have risked coming to Jesus even at night. Nicodemus was honest enough to admit his sinfulness. He was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law, and a ruler in the Sanhedrin; but he knew in his heart that all of that did not make him right with God. After Jesus had fed the great multitude near the Sea of Galilee, some of the people who had seen the miracle asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28). The same question troubled them that had troubled Nicodemus: “How can a person get right with God? What must we do to truly please Him?” Like Nicodemus, they had been through all the ceremonies and rituals. They had attended the feasts and offered the required sacrifices. They had tried to keep the law and the traditions. But they knew that something was missing—something crucial that they did not know of, much less had experienced. Luke tells of another lawyer who asked Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). He asked the question to test Jesus (v. 25a), and after Jesus gave an answer the man tried “to justify himself” (v. 29). But despite his insincerity, he had asked the right question, the question that was on the minds of many Jews who were sincere. A rich ruler asked Jesus the same question: “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). This man apparently asked sincerely, but he was unwilling to pay the cost. He wanted to keep the wealth of this life more than he wanted to gain the wealth of eternal life, and he went away “very sad” (v. 23). He knew he needed something more than outward obedience to the law, at which he had been diligent since childhood (v. 21). He knew that, with all his devotion and effort to please God, he had no assurance of possessing eternal life. He was seeking the kingdom, but he was not seeking it first (Matt. 6:33). Others were asking, “What must I be to belong to the kingdom of God? What is the standard for eternal life?” All of those people, at various levels of understanding and sincerity, knew that they had not found what they sought. Many knew that they had not kept even a single law perfectly. If honest, they became more and more convinced that they could not keep even a single law perfectly, and that they were powerless to please God. It was to answer that need that Jesus came to earth. It was to answer that need that He gave the Beatitudes. He shows simply and directly how sinful man can be made right with holy God.
THE LITERARY CONTEXT
At first glance this beatitude seems out of place, inserted indiscriminately into an otherwise orderly development of truths. Because of its supreme importance, a more strategic place—either at the beginning as the foundation, or at the end as the culmination—might seem more appropriate. But the sixth beatitude, like every part of God’s Word, is in the right place. It is part of the beautiful and marvelous sequence of truths that are here laid out according to the mind of God. It is the climax of the Beatitudes, the central truth to which the previous five lead and from which the following two flow.
THE MEANING
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (5:8)
The word blessed implies the condition of well-being that results from salvation, the status of one who has a right relation to God. Being accepted by Him is a matter of internal transformation. Heart translates kardia, from which we get cardiac and similar terms. Throughout Scripture, as well as in many languages and cultures throughout the world, the heart is used metaphorically to represent the inner person, the seat of motives and attitudes, the center of personality. But in Scripture it represents much more than emotion, feelings. It also includes the thinking process and particularly the will. In Proverbs we are told, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7, KJV). Jesus asked a group of scribes, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?” (Matt. 9:4; cf. Mark 2:8; 7:21). The heart is the control center of mind and will as well as emotion. In total contrast to the outward, superficial, and hypocritical religion of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said that it is in the inner man, in the core of his very being, that God requires purity. That was not a new truth, but an old one long forgotten amidst ceremony and tradition. “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life,” the writer of Proverbs had counseled (Prov. 4:23). The problem that caused God to destroy the earth in the Flood was a heart problem. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). David acknowledged before the Lord, “Behold, Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom”; and then he prayed “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:6, 10). Asaph wrote, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart!” (Ps. 73:1). Jeremiah declared, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds” (Jer. 17:9–10). Evil ways and deeds begin in the heart and mind, which are here used synonymously. Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man” (Matt. 15:19). God has always been concerned above all else with the inside of man, with the condition of his heart. When the Lord called Saul to be Israel’s first king, “God changed his heart” (1 Sam. 10:9). Until then Saul had been handsome, athletic, and not much more. But the new king soon began to revert to his old heart patterns. He chose to disobey God and to trust in himself. Among other things, he presumed to take for himself the priestly role of offering sacrifice (13:9) and refused to destroy all of the Amalekites and their possessions as God had commanded (15:3–19). Consequently, the Lord took the kingdom from Saul and gave it to David (15:23, 28). Saul’s actions were wrong because his heart rebelled, and it is by our hearts that the Lord judges us (16:7). It was said of David’s leadership over Israel, “He shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands” (Ps. 78:72). God took the kingdom from Saul because he refused to live by the new heart God had given him. He gave the kingdom to David because David was “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14). David pleased God’s heart because God pleased David’s heart. “I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,” he sang (Ps. 9:1). His deepest desire was, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14). He prayed, “Examine me, O Lord, and try me; test my mind and my heart” (Ps. 26:2). When God told David, “Seek My face,” David’s heart replied, “Thy face, O Lord, I shall seek” (Ps. 27:8). Once when David was fleeing from Saul he went to Gath, a Philistine city, for help. When he realized that his life was also in danger there, he “acted insanely in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard” (1 Sam. 21:13). Thinking him to be mad, the Philistines let him go, and he went to hide in the cave of Adullum. He came to his senses and realized how foolish and unfaithful he had been to trust the Philistines for help instead of the Lord. It was there that he wrote Psalm 57, in which he declared, “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast” (v. 7). He rededicated his heart, his innermost being, single-mindedly to God. David often failed, but his heart was fixed on God. The evidence of his true-hearted commitment to God is found in all the first 175 verses of Psalm 119. The fact that his flesh sometimes overruled his heart is the final admission of verse 176: “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant.” Pure translates katharos, a form of the word from which we get catharsis. The basic meaning is to make pure by cleansing from dirt, filth, and contamination. Catharsis is a term used in psychology and counseling for a cleansing of the mind or emotions. The Greek word is related to the Latin castus, from which we get chaste. The related word chasten refers to discipline given in order to cleanse from wrong behavior. The Greek term was often used of metals that had been refined until all impurities were removed, leaving only the pure metal. In that sense, purity means unmixed, unalloyed, unadulterated. Applied to the heart, the idea is that of pure motive—of single-mindedness, undivided devotion, spiritual integrity, and true righteousness. Double-mindedness has always been one of the great plagues of the church. We want to serve the Lord and follow the world at the same time. But that, says Jesus, is impossible. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other” (Matt. 6:24). James puts the same truth in another way: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4). He then gives the solution to the problem: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (v. 8). Christians have the right heart motive concerning God. Even though we often fail to be single-minded, it is our deep desire to be so. We confess with Paul, “For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.… I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good.… So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7:15, 21, 25). Paul’s deepest spiritual desires were pure, although the sin dwelling in his flesh sometimes overrode those desires. Those who truly belong to God will be motivated to purity. Psalm 119 is the classic illustration of that longing, and Romans 7:15–25 is the Pauline counterpart. The deepest desire of the redeemed is for holiness, even when sin halts the fulfillment of that desire. Purity of heart is more than sincerity. A motive can be sincere, yet lead to worthless and sinful things. The pagan priests who opposed Elijah demonstrated great sincerity when they lacerated their bodies in order to induce Baal to send fire down to consume their sacrifices (1 Kings 18:28). But their sincerity did not produce the desired results, and it did not enable them to see the wrongness of their paganism—because their sincere trust was in that very paganism. Sincere devotees walk on nails to prove their spiritual power. Others crawl on their knees for hundreds of yards, bleeding and grimacing in pain, to show their devotion to a saint or a shrine. Yet their sincere devotion is sincerely wrong and is completely worthless before God. The scribes and Pharisees believed they could please God by such superficial practices as tithing “mint and dill and cummin”; but they “neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Matt. 23:23). They were meticulously careful about what they did outwardly but paid no attention to what they were inwardly. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Jesus told them, “For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also” (vv. 25–26). Even genuinely good deeds that do not come from a genuinely good heart are of no spiritual value. Thomas Watson said, “Morality can drown a man as fast as vice,” and, “A vessel may sink with gold or with dung.” Though we may be extremely religious and constantly engaged in doing good things, we cannot please God unless our hearts are right with Him. The ultimate standard for purity of heart is perfection of heart. In the same sermon in which He gave the Beatitudes Jesus said, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). One hundred percent purity is God’s standard for the heart. Man’s tendency is to set the opposite standard. We are inclined to judge ourselves by the worst instead of the best. The Pharisee who prayed in the Temple, thanking God that he was not like other men, considered himself to be righteous simply because he was not a swindler, an adulterer, or a tax-gatherer (Luke 18:11). We are all tempted to feel better about ourselves when we see someone doing a terrible thing that we have never done. The “good” person looks down on the one who seems to be less good than himself, and that person looks down on those worse than he is. Carried to its extreme, that spiral of judgment would go down and down until it reached the most rotten person on earth—and that last person, the worst on earth, would be the standard by which the rest of the world judged itself! God’s standard for men, however, is Himself. They cannot be fully pleasing to God until they are pure as He is pure, until they are holy as He is holy and perfect as He is perfect. Only those who are pure in heart may enter the kingdom. “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?” David asks, “and who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24:3–4). It is impurity of heart that separates man from God. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear” (Isa. 59:1–2). And just as impurity of heart separates men from God, only purity of heart through Jesus Christ will reconcile men to God. Basically there are but two kinds of religion—the religion of human achievement and the religion of divine accomplishment. There are many variations of the first kind, which includes every religion but biblical Christianity. Within the religions of human accomplishment are two basic approaches: head religion, which trusts in creeds and religious knowledge, and hand religion, which trusts in good deeds. The only true religion, however, is heart religion, which is based on God’s implanted purity. By faith in what God has done through His Son, Jesus Christ, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). When God imputes His righteousness to us He imputes His purity to us. As we look at Scripture we discover six kinds of purity. One may be called primal purity, the kind that exists only in God. That purity is as essential to God as light is to the sun or wetness is to water. Another form of purity is created purity, the purity that existed in God’s creation before it was corrupted by the Fall. God created the angels in purity and He created man in purity. Tragically, some of the angels and all of mankind fell from that purity. A third kind of purity is positional purity, the purity we are given the moment we trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. When we trust in Him, God imputes to us Christ’s own purity, Christ’s own righteousness. “To the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness” (Rom. 4:5; cf. Gal. 2:16). From that day the Father sees us just as He sees the Son, perfectly righteous and without blemish (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:14). Fourth, imputed purity is not just a statement without substance; with imputed purity God grants actual purity in the new nature of the believer (Rom. 6:4–5; 8:5–11; Col. 3:9–10; 2 Pet. 1:3). In other words, there is no justification without sanctification. Every believer is a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Paul affirms that when a believer sins, it is not caused by the pure new self, but by sin in the flesh (Rom. 7:17, 19–22, 25). Fifth, there is practical purity. This, of course, is the hard part, the part that does require our supreme effort. Only God possesses or can possess primal purity. Only God can bestow created purity, ultimate purity, positional purity, and actual purity. But practical purity, though it too comes from God, demands our participation in a way that the other kinds of purity do not. That is why Paul implores, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). It is why Peter pleads, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ ” (1 Pet. 1:14–16). We are not saved just for future heavenly purity but also for present earthly purity. At best it will be gold mixed with iron and clay, a white garment with some black threads. But God wants us now to be as pure as we can be. If purity does not characterize our living, we either do not belong to Christ, or we are disobedient to Him. We will have temptations, but God will always provide a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13). We will fall into sin, but “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Finally, for believers there will also one day be ultimate purity, the perfected purity that God’s redeemed people will experience when they are glorified in His presence. All sins will be totally and permanently washed away, and “we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2).
THE WAY TO HOLINESS
Throughout the history of the church people have suggested various ways to achieve spiritual purity and holiness. Some have suggested monasticism, getting away from the normal cares and distractions of the world and devoting oneself entirely to meditation and prayer. Others claim that holiness is a second work of grace, by which God miraculously eradicates not only sins but the sin nature, allowing a sinless earthly life from that point onward. But neither Scripture nor experience supports either of those views. The problem of sin is not primarily the world around us but the worldliness within us, which we cannot escape by living in isolation from other people. But God always provides for what He demands, and He has provided ways for us to live purely. First, we must realize that we are unable to live a single holy moment without the Lord’s guidance and power. “Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin’?” (Prov. 20:9), the obvious answer to which is “No one.” The Ethiopian cannot change his skin or the leopard its spots (Jer. 13:23). Cleansing begins with a recognition of weakness. Weakness then reaches out for the strength of God. Second, we must stay in God’s Word. It is impossible to stay in God’s will apart from His Word. Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). Third, it is essential to be controlled by and walking in the will and way of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:16 says it clearly: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Fourth, we must pray. We cannot stay in God’s will or understand and obey His Word unless we stay near Him. “With all prayer and petition” we are to “pray at all times in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18; cf. Luke 18:1; 1 Thess. 5:17). With David we cry, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Ps. 51:10).
THE RESULT OF HOLINESS
The great blessing of those who are pure in heart is that they shall see God. The Greek is in the future indicative tense and the middle voice, and a more literal translation is, “They shall be continuously seeing God for themselves.” It is only they (the emphatic autos), the pure in heart, who shall see God. Intimate knowledge of and fellowship with God is reserved for the pure. When our hearts are purified at salvation we begin to live in the presence of God. We begin to see and to comprehend Him with our new spiritual eyes. Like Moses, who saw God’s glory and asked to see more (Ex. 33:18), the one who is purified by Jesus Christ sees again and again the glory of God. To see God was the greatest hope of Old Testament saints. Like Moses, David wanted to see more of God. “As the deer pants for the water brooks,” he said, “so my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” (Ps. 42:1). Job rejoiced when he was able to say, “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees Thee” (Job 42:5). Purity of heart cleanses the eyes of the soul so that God becomes visible. One sign of an impure heart is ignorance, because sin obscures the truth (John 3:19–20). Evil and ignorance come in a package. Other signs of an impure heart are self-centeredness (Rev. 3:17), pleasure in sin (2 Tim. 3:4), unbelief (Heb. 3:12), and hatred of purity (Mic. 3:2). Those who belong to God exchange all of those things for integrity and purity. F. F. Bullard wrote,
When I in righteousness at last
Thy glorious face shall see;
When all the weary night has passed,
And I awake with Thee,
To view the glories that abide,
Then and only then will I be satisfied.
(Cited in William Hendriksen, The Gospel of Matthew [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1973], p. 278)
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1985–1989). Matthew (Vol. 1, pp. 199–208). Moody Press.
Blessed the pure in heart, for they shall see God. It is often said that the pure in heart are the sincere and honest people, the men of integrity. A reference to Ps. 24:3, 4 would seem to confirm this: Who shall ascend the hill of Jehovah? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart; Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully.
Purity in heart is also commended in Ps. 73:1. Similarly, in 1 Tim. 1:5 pure is a synonym for unfeigned. And see also 2 Tim. 2:22 and 1 Peter 1:22. All this could easily lead to the conclusion that the people who in the sixth beatitude are pronounced blessed are without any further qualification the sincere individuals, the men who think, speak, and act without hypocrisy. Now there can be no doubt about the fact that sincerity, honesty, the condition of being without guile, is indeed the emphasis here. Over against all human duplicity, be it Pharisaic or otherwise, Jesus pronounces his blessing upon the persons whose outer manifestation is in harmony with their inner disposition. Nevertheless, a study of the context in each of the aforegoing references makes clear that something must be added. Sincerity or integrity is not sufficient in and by itself. A man may be sincerely right but he may also be sincerely wrong. No doubt, the prophets of Baal were very sincere when from morning until noon they were leaping about the altar, cutting themselves with knives, and constantly crying out, “Hear us Baal” (1 Kings 18:26–28). But they were sincere in the wrong direction. So also, in a passage to which reference is often made in the explanation of the sixth beatitude (Gen. 20:6) Jehovah himself testifies that Abimelech, in the integrity of his heart, had taken Sarah away from Abraham. Nevertheless, the Lord did not approve what the king had done but threatened him with death unless he would restore Sarah to her rightful husband (verse 7). Similarly, the “pure in heart” of Ps. 73:1 are those who in all sincerity are guided by “God’s counsel” (verse 24). The faith unfeigned of 1 Tim. 1:5 adheres to “sound doctrine” (verse 10). And the people to whom Peter refers (1 Peter 1:22) are those who have purified their souls “in obedience to the truth.” It is clear, therefore, that the blessing of the sixth beatitude is not pronounced without qualification upon all people who are sincere, but rather upon those who, in the worship of the true God in accordance with the truth revealed in his Word, strive without hypocrisy to please and glorify him. These, these alone, are “the pure in heart.” They worship God “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24) and love to dwell on and practice the virtues mentioned in 1 Cor. 13; Gal. 5:22, 23; Eph. 4:32; 5:1; Phil. 2:1–4; 4:8, 9; Col. 3:1–17; etc. Their heart, the very mainspring of dispositions as well as of feelings and thoughts (Matt. 15:19; 22:37; Eph. 1:18; 3:17; Phil 1:7; 1 Tim. 1:5), is in tune with the heart of God. Hence, it is not really surprising to read that the pure in heart “shall see God,” and that this is the essence of their blessedness. The man whose delight is not truly in the things pertaining to God is unable to appreciate the love of God in Christ toward sinners. Resemblance is the indispensable prerequisite of personal fellowship and understanding. To know God one must be like him. Just as to the hunter devoid of musical knowledge and appreciation the voice of the wind roaring through the forest meant no more than that a hare might be startled from his hiding place and become an easy victim, while to his companion Mozart this same loud deep sound signified instead a majestic diapason from God’s great organ, so also to the impure, God remains unknown but to those who “imitate God as beloved children and walk in love” he reveals himself. Now the beauty of this vision of God, this spiritual perception of and delight in his being and attributes, is that it is transforming (2 Cor. 3:18). Here on earth, however, it is still a “seeing in a mirror darkly,” but in heaven and in the renewed universe, in which the conditions of heaven will also be found on earth (Rev. 21:10), so that “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9), this beatific vision will amount to the sinless and uninterrupted fellowship of the souls of all the redeemed with God in Christ, a seeing “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12).
When I in righteousness at last
Thy glorious face shall see,
When all the weary night is past
And I awake with thee,
To view the glories that abide,
Then, then shall I be satisfied.
(F. F. Bullard, based on Ps. 17:15)
Thus will be fulfilled the prayer of Jesus, “Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, in order that they may gaze on my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the earth.”
Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew (Vol. 9, pp. 276–278). Baker Book House.
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.Deuteronomy 28:5
Obedience brings a blessing on all the provisions which our industry earns for us. That which comes in and goes out at once, like fruit in the basket which is for immediate use, shall be blest; and that which is laid by with us for a longer season shall equally receive a blessing. Perhaps ours is a hand-basket portion. We have a little for breakfast and a scanty bite for dinner in a basket when we go out to do our work in the morning. This is well, for the blessing of God is promised to the basket. If we live from hand to mouth, getting each day’s supply in the day, we are as well off as Israel; for when the Lord entertained His favored people He only gave them a day’s manna at a time. What more did they need? What more do we need?
But if we have a store, how much we need the Lord to bless it! For there is the care of getting, the care of keeping, the care of managing, the care of using; and, unless the Lord bless it, these cares will eat into our hearts till our goods become our gods and our cares prove cankers.
O Lord, bless our substance. Enable us to use it for Thy glory, Help us to keep worldly things in their proper places, and never may our savings endanger the saving of our souls.
The day of Jesus’ return will be a day of unparalleled joy for His people and a day of unspeakable horror for His enemies. Today, R.C. Sproul poses a searching question: Which will it be for you?
We know the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, but who was Luke in the Bible? He’s the only Gentile author in the entire New Testament, yet he never uses his own name. Why did this man, whom Paul called “the beloved physician,” join the apostles as a “fellow laborer” on their dangerous missionary journeys? He was with Paul during his imprisonment and wrote to a mysterious man named Theophilus. We look at the unique perspective of the author of Luke and Acts and why his role was so critical.
Wesley Huff recently responded to influencer Adam Allred, who claimed that the Bible was created hundreds of years after the time of Jesus.
Wesley Huff. Screengrab from YouTube / @WesHuff. R: Adam Allred. Screengrab from Instagram / @adamallredofficial
Apologist Wes Huff recently responded to an influencer who claimed that the Bible was created hundreds of years after the time of Jesus “by a pagan emperor for political reasons.” In a post on Instagram, Adam Allred made a series of unorthodox claims about Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible.
“The Bible was literally voted on by a bunch of politicians and bishops in a room deciding what made the cut and what didn’t out of mounds of texts, centuries after the fact,” Allred said. “That’s like building your spiritual life around the minutes of a corporate board meeting.”
“This reference to a pagan emperor who supposedly compiled the books of the Bible,” said Huff in his response, “I only have to assume is referring to Constantine and the Council of Nicea. But there are some truly serious problems with this.”
Adam Allred: ‘Mainstream Christians’ Have Made the Bible ‘Something of an Idol’
Adam Allred is an entrepreneur, influencer, and the leader of an online fraternity called DGHBoy Nation. He is on a mission to “make men great again.” A video introducing himself on his website shows him starting his day with Scripture and meditation. In it, he mentions the importance of connecting with “the divine.”
In a video he posted on Nov. 3, Allred stated, “Jesus wasn’t a Christian. He was a Jew. And he didn’t come to create a religion.”
“The Bible, as we know it didn’t even exist when Jesus walked the earth, not when Paul wrote his letters, not when Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John recorded their accounts,” said Allred. “The Bible was literally compiled hundreds of years later by a pagan emperor for political reasons. That should tell you something.”
Nevertheless, Allred said that he still highly values the Bible. “Does that mean we throw the Bible out?” he asked. “No, I love the Bible. I read the Bible every day. It’s the most important book in my life.”
Jesus emphasized following him over reading the Bible “because the Bible didn’t exist,” Allred said. Jesus’ priority was people’s hearts, not churches, denominations, or dogma. In the caption of his post, Allred wrote, “The Bible is a tool, not the source. Dogma is a trap. Go directly to God and ‘work out your own salvation.’”
Allred believes that “mainstream Christianity” has turned the Bible “into something of an idol,” claiming that it is “flawless,” when in reality it was written by “deeply flawed men, written, rewritten, translated, re-translated, filtered through kings, priests and politicians.”
And then it was “argued over by 45,000 different Christian denominations who all swear they’re the ones who are right for 2,000 years, until it made it into your hands,” Allred said. “If that’s not confusing, I don’t know what is.”
Allred went on to claim that how God is portrayed in the Old Testament is the complete opposite of how Jesus is portrayed in the New Testament. Comparing the two is like comparing a Metallica concert to a Mr. Rogers special. And God as Paul described him is different from both, said Allred.
Referencing when Jesus told his followers to be like little children, Allred said, “Kids do not need theological degrees. They need simple truth.”
“The gospel that Jesus taught is not about control; it’s about freedom,” said Allred. “So if the Bible is fallible, good—that means it’s human. And if it’s human, then the point was never the pages; it was the person. And he still says the same thing today: Follow me and be free.”
Dr. Eric Mason, founder and senior pastor of Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia, commented on Allred’s post, “I cannot even believe he made all of these fallacious [claims,] say the Bible was written by Constantine.”
Wes Huff Addresses Adam Allred’s Claims About the Bible
Wes Huff is vice president of Apologetics Canada and is working on a Ph.D. in New Testament at the University of Toronto’s Wycliffe College. He went viral earlier this year for the articulate and balanced way he presented evidence for the Christian faith as a guest on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
That conversation has 7.6 million views as of this writing. Huff has appeared on numerous shows and podcasts since then and regularly posts social media videos explaining different topics related to Christianity.
Huff responded to a number of Allred’s claims in a video on YouTube on Nov. 7. Jesus was indeed a Jew, Huff acknowledged, and Jesus was not a Christian because Christians did not exist yet. They derived their name from Jesus. And it is true he did not come to start a religion. “He came to fulfill that which was prophesied about him already,” said Huff.
“Those first Christians were Jews who believed in Jesus as the Messiah, prophesied to be so centuries before his birth,” Huff said, “and when they believed that, they didn’t cease to become Jews. They weren’t converting to a new religion.”
“The Bible, as we know it, didn’t exist when Jesus walked the earth,” said Huff, “but that’s because Jesus’ followers hadn’t written it down yet. Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John couldn’t have access to something they wrote prior to them writing it.”
Huff then addressed the claim that certain people decided what was in the Bible hundreds of years after the time of Jesus. “With all due respect, the Bible was not compiled hundreds of years later,” he said. “We have Christians reading, quoting, even writing whole commentaries for nearly all of the books of the Bible shortly after these documents were written.” Huff mentioned Clement of Rome as one example.
One problem with the idea that a “pagan emperor,” supposedly Constantine, compiled the Bible by calling the Council of Nicea is that there is “really good evidence” that Constantine stopped being pagan before he called the council.
“But more prominently, we know what happened at the Council of Nicea,” said Huff. “We have and can read the writings of those who were there prior to them going to the council. You can read their writings post-council. You can read the creed they wrote as their conclusion of the council.”
“None of these primary sources documents even a mention of compiling, voting on, or what made the cut concerning the Bible,” Huff said. “And you know why? Because they were and already had been considered authoritative Scripture for centuries.”
“In fact, if you look at the first-hand documents related to the council, you’ll see they quote, reference, and even expound upon Scripture as already bearing the jurisdiction and position of being the inspired Word of God,” Huff explained.
And while Jesus did tell people to follow him, he “also quoted Scripture himself. And in the context of rightly handling the Bible that existed in his day, what we call the Old Testament, he said that no one would live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” said Huff.
“He said that Scripture could not be broken,” Huff continued. “He chastised people because they didn’t know what the Scripture said.”
Huff encouraged his viewers to take Allred’s advice to listen for the truth and to do their own research. “Unfortunately, Adam himself isn’t taking that advice, but I would encourage him to do so,” he said. “This topic is too important to get wrong.”
Adam Allred Responds to Wes Huff
Adam Allred replied to Wes Huff in a Nov. 11 video in which he doubled down on his claims that the Bible was “voted on by bishops under a pagan emperor,” “didn’t even exist in [Jesus’] lifetime,” and “is not God.”
However, Allred’s primary focus seemed to be on the importance of not claiming certainty about one’s beliefs and the value of not being formally educated. Allred’s view appeared to be that humility equals uncertainty, and he strongly suggested that knowledge and education were antithetical to truly knowing God.
“You know what’s funny? Any time you question the authority, the first people to rush to its defense are the ones who treat their degrees like divine credentials,” said Allred, “as if God speaks louder to men with titles than men without.”
“Formal learning can be a blessing, but too often, it becomes ego wearing clerical collars. Degrees become dogma, and certainty becomes a drug,” Allred said, “and the moment someone gets fluent in Greek or Hebrew or whatever, they start believing they’ve cornered the marketplace on the divine.”
“But God has always chosen those who haven’t been tampered with by the system,” said Allred, “the ones who haven’t been marinated in institutional bias, and the ones whose hearts weren’t calcified by certainty.”
In the video’s caption, Allred wrote, “Theological certainty is spiritual death. And it was those who claimed to know God and speak for God, who ultimately crucified God’s son. I’m not saying @wesley_huff is a Pharisee. I’m saying certainty is.”
“You want real faith, then stop worshiping certainty, stop weaponizing scholarship. Humility is the birthplace of revelation and openness is the soil where real spirituality grows,” said Allred in the video. “And the moment anyone speaks about God with absolute certainty is the moment they miss the mark.”
A number of people commented on Allred’s post, expressing that they thought he was right and they appreciated what he said. Several others, however, critiqued him for not actually responding to Huff’s points, and some pointed out the irony of Allred expressing his views about uncertainty with certainty.
“Declaring that ‘theological certainty is spiritual death’ is itself a statement made with absolute certainty,” said one user. Still others pointed out that God did call educated people, such as the Apostle Paul.
“Where is your humility man?? @wesley_huff corrected you with historical facts and you just likened this man of faith to the people who killed Jesus??” said another. “Why don’t you address what Wes said instead of your ad hominems…”
Does evil disprove God? If not, what is God’s purpose for evil? Why would a good God allow evil that seems to have no purpose, like the recent m*rder of Charlie Kirk? What is God’s ultimate solution to evil? Join Dr. Frank Turek in this LIVE presentation of, ‘If God, Why Evil?’ delivered at The Univ. of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL) on THURS. 11/13 at 6:30 PM CT in the Gallalee Hall followed by Q&A which will take place to honor the life and legacy of Charlie. Thanks to our generous donors, this event is FREE and open to the public.
because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (5:5b–8)
A fourth marvelous link in the unbreakable chain that eternally binds believers to Christ is their possession of the divine love of God, which has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. When a person receives salvation through Jesus Christ, he enters a spiritual love relationship with God that lasts throughout all eternity. As the apostle makes unambiguous in verse 8, love of God does not here refer to our love for God but to His love for us. The most overwhelming truth of the gospel is that God loved sinful, fallen, rebellious mankind, so much “that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). And as the apostle proclaims in verse 9 of this present chapter, if God loved us with so great a love before we were saved, when we were still His enemies, how much more does He love us now. As if that were not enough, God even graciously imparts His love to us. For those who accept His offer of salvation, God takes His indescribable and undeserved love and pours it out within the hearts of those who believe, through His own Holy Spirit who he gives to them. Taking the truth of eternal security out of the objective area of the mind, Paul now reveals that, in Christ, we are also given subjective evidence of permanent salvation, evidence that God Himself implants within our deepest being, in that we love the One who first loved us (1 John 4:7–10; cf. 1 Cor. 16:22). Poured out refers to lavish outpouring to the point of overflowing. Our heavenly Father does not proffer His love in measured drops but in immeasurable torrents. The very fact that God gives His Holy Spirit to indwell believers is itself a marvelous testimony to His love for us, because He would hardly indwell those whom He did not love. And it is only because of the indwelling Spirit that His children are able to truly love Him. Speaking to His disciples about the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water’ ” (John 7:38; cf. v. 39). Those rivers of blessing can flow out of believers only because of the divine rivers of blessing, including the blessing of divine love, that God has poured into them. In the same way, our spiritual security is not in our ability to live godly but in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to make us godly. Only God can make men godly, and the Spirit’s leading us into godliness is one of the great evidences of salvation. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God,” Paul declares, “these are sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). With the longing to love, even the genuine desire to be godly is produced by the Holy Spirit. Whenever we sincerely aspire to righteous living, whenever we have an earnest desire to pray, whenever we yearn to study God’s Word, whenever we long to worship the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts, we know we are being led by the Holy Spirit. Whenever we experience the awesome awareness that God is indeed our heavenly Father, it is “the Spirit Himself [who] bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:16–17). The natural man has no such desires or experiences, and even Christians would not have them apart from being indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit. Because acknowledging His promises with the mind does not necessarily bring personal confidence to the heart, God makes provision for the emotional encouragement as well as the mental enlightenment of His children. When the Lord is given free reign in our lives, the Holy Spirit will bear fruit in and through us, the first fruit of which is love (Gal. 5:22). But when we grieve Him through our disobedience (Eph. 4:30), He cannot produce what He intends. Therefore, when we live in disobedience, we not only will not feel loving toward God but will not feel His love for us. With perhaps that truth in mind, Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers: “For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:14–19). The Holy Spirit strengthens the inner man and enables him “to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.” By the gracious work of the Spirit within us, our hearts are able to experience a depth of love that our minds are unable to grasp, “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.” Knowing that his readers would want to know more about the quality and character of the divine love that filled them, Paul reminds them of the greatest manifestation of God’s love in all history, perhaps in all eternity: For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. While men were utterly helpless to bring themselves to God, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, notwithstanding the fact that we were ungodly and completely unworthy of His love. When we were powerless to escape from our sin, powerless to escape death, powerless to resist Satan, and powerless to please Him in any way, God amazingly sent His Son to die on our behalf. Natural human love is almost invariably based on the attractiveness of the object of love, and we are inclined to love people who love us. Consequently, we tend to attribute that same kind of love to God. We think that His love for us is dependent on how good we are or on how much we love Him. But as Jesus pointed out, even traitorous tax collectors were inclined to love those who loved them (Matt. 5:46). And as theologian Charles Hodge observed, “If [God] loved us because we loved him, he would love us only so long as we love him, and on that condition; and then our salvation would depend on the constancy of our treacherous hearts. But as God loved us as sinners, as Christ died for us as ungodly, our salvation depends, as the apostle argues, not on our loveliness, but on the constancy of the love of God” (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974 reprint], pp. 136–37). God’s immense love is supremely demonstrated by Christ’s dying for the ungodly, for totally unrighteous, undeserving, and unlovable mankind. In the human realm, by contrast, Paul observes that one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. Paul is not contrasting a righteous man with a good man, but is simply using those terms synonymously. His point is that it is uncommon for a person to sacrifice his own life in order to save the life even of someone of high character. Still fewer people are inclined to give their lives to save a person they know to be a wicked scoundrel. But God was so inclined, and in that is our security and assurance. Saved, we can never be as wretched as we were before salvation—and He loved us totally then. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That sort of self-less, undeserved love is completely beyond human comprehension. Yet that is the love that the just and infinitely holy God had toward us even while we were yet sinners. The God who hates every sinful thought and every sinful deed nevertheless loves the sinners who think and do those things, even while they are still hopelessly enmeshed in their sin. Even when men openly hate God and do not have the least desire to give up their sin, they are still the objects of God’s redeeming love as long as they live. Only at death does an unbeliever cease to be loved by God. After that, he is eternally beyond the pale of God’s love and is destined irrevocably for His wrath. In Christ, we are forever linked to God by His love, demonstrated in (positive) blessings and (negative) mercy.
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1991). Romans (Vol. 1, pp. 283–286). Moody Press.
God’s Love Commended
Romans 5:6–8
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
There are a number of preachers today, some of them quite famous, who do not want to say anything unpleasant about sinful human nature. They describe their approach to Christianity as “possibility thinking” and argue that people are already so discouraged about themselves that they do not need to be told that they are wicked. I do not know how such preachers could possibly preach on our text. They should want to, I think, Romans 5:6–8 (and verse 5, which precedes this paragraph) speak about the love that God has for us. The greatness of this love, which is mentioned here in Romans for the very first time, is an uplifting and positive theme. Besides, it is brought into the argument at this point to assure us that all who have been justified by faith in Christ have been saved because of God’s love for them and that nothing will ever be able to separate them from it. This is the climax to which we will also come at the end of Romans 8. Nothing could be more positive or more edifying than this theme. Yet Paul’s statement of the nature, scope, and permanence of God’s love is placed against the black backdrop of human sin, and rightly so. For, as Paul tells us: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (v. 8). How can we appreciate or even understand that statement without speaking about the evil natures of those whom God has thus loved? This is a very practical matter for two reasons. First, since Paul is describing the love of God against the dark background of human sin, he is saying that it is only against this background that we are able to form a true picture of how great the love of God is. In other words, if we think (as many do) that God loves us because we are somehow quite lovely or desirable, our appreciation of the love of God will be reduced by just that amount—just as a beautiful but very vain woman might have trouble appreciating the love of her husband, or of anyone else. If we think we deserve the best of everything, we will not appreciate the love we receive irrespective of our beauty, talent, or other supposedly admirable qualities. The second point is this: If we think we deserve God’s love, we cannot ever really be secure in it, because we will always be afraid that we may do something to lessen or destroy the depth of God’s love for us. It is only those who know that God has loved them in spite of their sin who can trust him to continue to show them favor.
God’s Love for Sinners
I begin with Paul’s description of the people God loves and has saved, and I ask you to notice the four powerful words used to portray them, three in the passage we are studying and one additional word in verse 10. They are “powerless,” “ungodly,” “sinners,” and “enemies.” It is important to know that we are all rightly described by each of these words.
Powerless. This word is translated in a variety of ways in our Bible versions: “weak,” “helpless,” “without strength,” “feeble,” “sluggish in doing right,” and so on. Only the strongest terms will do in this context, since the idea is that, left to ourselves, none of us is able to do even one small thing to please God or achieve salvation. One commentator distinguishes between “conditional impossibilities” and “unconditional impossibilities” in order to show that this kind of inability is truly unconditional. A conditional impossibility is one in which we are unable to do something unless something else happens. For example, I might find it impossible to repay a loan unless I should suddenly earn a large sum of money. Or I might be unable to accept an invitation to some social event unless a prior commitment is canceled. An unconditional impossibility is one which no possible change in circumstances can alter, and it is this that describes us in our pre-converted state. What specifically were we unable to do? We were unable to understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). We were unable to see the kingdom of God or enter it (John 3:3, 5). We were unable to seek God (Rom. 3:11). Paul elsewhere describes this inability vividly when he says that before God saved us we were “dead in [our] transgressions and sins” (Eph. 2:1). That is, we were no more able to respond to or seek God than a corpse is able to respond to stimuli of any kind.
Ungodly. This word conveys the same idea Paul expressed at the beginning of his description of the race in its rebellion against God: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Rom. 1:18). In these verses, “ungodly” and “godlessness” mean not so much that human beings are unlike God (though that is also true), but that in addition they are in a state of fierce opposition to him. God is sovereign, but they oppose him in his sovereignty. They do not want him to rule over them; they want to be free to do as they please. God is holy, and they oppose him in his holiness. This means that they do not accept his righteous and proper moral standards; they do not want their sinful acts and desires to be called into question. God is omniscient, and they oppose him for his omniscience. They are angry that he knows them perfectly, that nothing they think or do is hidden from his sight. They also oppose him for his immutability, since immutability means that God does not change in these or any of his other attributes.
Sinners. “Sinners” describes those who have fallen short of God’s standards, as Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It means that we have broken God’s law and in this sense is probably parallel to the word wickedness in Romans 1:18, which was cited above. “Godlessness” is being opposed to God; that is, to have broken the first table of the law, which tells us that we are to worship and serve God only (cf. Matt. 22:37–38). “Wickedness” means to have broken the second table of the law; we have failed to treat others properly, to have respected them, and to have loved them as we love ourselves (cf. Matt. 22:39).
Enemies. The final word Paul uses to describe human beings apart from the supernatural work of God in their lives is “enemies,” though the word does not appear until verse 10. This summarizes what has been said by the first three terms, but it also goes beyond that. It affirms that not only are we unable to save ourselves, are unlike and opposed to God, and are violators of his law, but we are also opposed to God in the sense that we would attack him and destroy him if we could. Being like Satan in his desires, we would drag God from his throne, cast him to hell and crush him into nothingness—if that were possible—which is what many people actually tried to do when God came among them in the person of Jesus Christ. What a terrible picture of humanity! No wonder the possibility thinkers choose other, more uplifting themes to speak about! Yet it is only against this background that we see the brightness of God’s love. “You see,” writes Paul, “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (vv. 6–8).
Love at the Cross
Any contrast has two sides, of course, and thus far we have looked only at one side. We have looked at the dark side: ourselves. We have seen that God loved us, not when we were lovely people who were seeking him out and trying to obey him, but when we were actually fighting him and were willing to destroy him if we could. That alone makes the measure of God’s love very great. However, we may also see the greatness of the love of God by looking at the bright side: God’s side. And here we note that God did not merely reach out to give us a helping hand, bestowing what theologians call common grace—sending rain on the just and unjust alike (cf. Matt. 5:45), for instance—but that he actually sent his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for us. There is a further contrast, too, as Paul brings these great ideas together and compares what God has done in dying for sinners with what human beings might themselves do in certain circumstances. Paul points out that, while a human being might be willing to give his life for a righteous or, better yet, a morally superior woman or man under certain circumstances, Jesus died for us while we were still sinners, which is the precise opposite of being good, or righteous. In his excellent study of this text Donald Grey Barnhouse gives two illustrations of exceptionally great human love. In one story two men were trapped in a mine cave-in, and poisonous gas was escaping. One man had a wife and three children. He also had a gas mask, but his mask had been torn in the underground explosion and he would have perished apart from the act of the man who was trapped with him. This second man took off his own mask and forced it on the man who survived, saying, “You have Mary and the children; they need you. I am alone and can go.” When we hear of an act like this, we sense we are on hallowed ground. The other story concerns a tough youngster from the streets of one of our large cities. His sister had been crippled and needed an operation. The operation was provided for her. But after the operation the girl needed a blood transfusion, and the boy, her brother, was asked to volunteer. He was taken to her bedside and watched tight-lipped as a needle was inserted into his vein and blood was fed into his sister’s body. When the transfusion was over, the doctor put his arm on the boy’s shoulder and told him that he had been very brave. The youngster knew nothing about the nature of a blood transfusion. But the doctor knew even less about the actual bravery of the boy—until the boy looked up at him and asked steadily, “Doc, how long before I croak?” He had gotten the idea that he would have to die to save his sister, and he had thought that he was dying drop by drop as his blood flowed into her veins. But he did it anyway! These stories sober us, because in them we recognize something of the highest human love. Yet, when we read of the love of God in Romans 5, we learn that it was not for those who were close to him or who loved him that Jesus died—but for those who were opposed to God and were his enemies. It is on this basis that God commends his love to us.
An Argument for Hard Hearts
Isn’t it astounding that God should need to commend his love to us? We are told in the Bible, though we should know it even without being told, that all good gifts come from God’s hands (James 1:17). It is from God that we receive life and health, food and clothing, love from and fellowship with other people, and meaningful work. These blessings should prove the love of God beyond any possibility of our doubting it. Yet we do doubt it. We are insensitive to God’s love, and God finds it necessary to commend his love by reminding us of the death of his Son. So it is at the cross that we see the love of God in its fullness. What a great, great love this is! You may recall that when the Swiss theologian Karl Barth was in this country some years before his death, someone asked a question at one of his question-and-answer sessions that went like this: “Dr. Barth, what is the greatest thought that has ever gone through your mind?” The questioner probably expected some complicated and incomprehensible answer, as if Einstein were being asked to explain the theory of relativity. But after he had thought a long while, Barth replied by saying: “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.” This was a profound answer and a correct one. For there is nothing greater that any of us could think about or know than that Jesus loves us and has shown his love by dying in our place.
The Greatness of God’s Love
I would like to close this study by reflecting on the greatness of God’s love for us, but I wonder how anyone can do that adequately. How can any merely human words sufficiently express this wonder? Some years ago I was preaching through the Gospel of John and had come to that greatest of all verses about the love of God: John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” I wanted to say that the love of God is great, remembering that Ephesians 2:4 uses that very word: “But because of his great love for us.…” But the English word great is not great enough for this subject. The week before, I had been at Houghton College in New York, and I remembered having said that I thought the work of the college was great, that some of the points the other speakers had made were great, and that I had had a great time. I was sincere in my use of the word great. But what were such uses of the word compared to the use of the word to describe God’s love? Someone once tried to express the greatness of God’s love by printing on a little card a special arrangement of John 3:16, with certain descriptive phrases added. The twelve parts of the verse were arranged down one side of the card, and the added phrases were printed across from them. It went like this:
God the greatest Lover so loved the greatest degree the world the greatest company that he gave the greatest act his only begotten Son the greatest gift that whosoever the greatest opportunity believeth the greatest simplicity in him the greatest attraction should not perish the greatest promise but the greatest difference have the greatest certainty everlasting life the greatest possession
The title placed over the whole was: “Christ—the Greatest Gift.” Let me try to express the greatness of the love of God by the words of a hymn by F. M. Lehman. Lehman wrote most of this hymn, but the final stanza (the best, in my opinion) was added to it later, after it had been found scratched on the wall of a room in an asylum by a man said to have been insane. The first and last verses of the hymn and the chorus, go as follows:
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave his Son to win:
His erring child he reconciled
And rescued from his sin.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Tho stretched from sky to sky.
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Did you know that the love of God seemed so great to the biblical writers that they invented, or at least raised to an entirely new level of meaning, a brand-new word for love? The Greek language was rich in words for love. There was the word storgē, which referred to affection, particularly within the family. There was philia, from which we get “philharmonic” and “philanthropy” and the place name “Philadelphia.” It refers to a love between friends. A third word was erōs, which has given us “erotic,” and which referred to sexual love. This was a rich linguistic heritage. Yet, when the Old Testament was translated into Greek and when the New Testament writers later wrote in Greek, they found that none of these common Greek words was able to express what they wanted. They therefore took another word without strong associations and poured their own, biblical meaning into it. The new word was agapē, which thereby came to mean the holy, gracious, sovereign, everlasting, and giving love of God that we are studying here. Alas, I feel that even yet I have not begun to explain how great the love of God is. There is nothing to be done but to go back to our text and read again: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Perhaps I should say one more thing on this subject: If you do not yet fully appreciate (or perhaps have not even begun to appreciate) the greatness of the love God has for you, the explanation is probably that you have never really thought of yourself as God saw you in your fallen state. Perhaps you have never thought of yourself as someone who was utterly without strength or powerless before God saved you. Perhaps you have never considered yourself to have been ungodly. Nor a sinner. Nor God’s enemy. But that is what you were—and still are if you have never come to Christ in order to be justified. It is only if you can recognize the truth of these descriptions that you can begin to appreciate the love that God holds out to you through the death of his Son. If you have never responded to this great overture of the divine love, let me encourage you to do that, assuring you that there is no greater truth in all the universe. Can you think of anything greater? Of course, you can’t. How could anybody? God loves you. Jesus died for you. Let those truly great thoughts move you to abandon your sin, love God in return, and live for Jesus.
Boice, J. M. (1991–). Romans: The Reign of Grace (Vol. 2, pp. 535–542). Baker Book House.
The Schumer Shutdown is over! After 43 days, the government shutdown has ended and funding has been restored. Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, held up a continuing resolution to fund the government for 41 days before eight Democrats, including Minority Whip Dick Durbin, voted with Republicans to pass the legislation. The Senate amended the legislation to extend funding through January 30, requiring the House to pass it once again on Wednesday evening in a 220-209 vote. Last night, Donald Trump officially signed the bill to reopen the government. Schumer led the shutdown over expiring ObamaCare subsidies but failed to secure any meaningful concessions from Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson said of the shutdown, “We didn’t give them anything — any of their radical, crazy demands.” Democrats managed to shut down the government, claim Republicans were hurting people, and also be angry that it’s over.
Shutdown surprise: Far from achieving any meaningful results from their 43-day government shutdown, Democrats actually allowed Republicans to insert a provision into the continuing resolution that will enable senators targeted by the politically motivated Arctic Frost investigation to sue for damages. The provision applies broadly to any situation where a senator’s data was “acquired, subpoenaed, searched, accessed, or disclosed pursuant to a search, seizure, or demand for information without notice being provided.” Qualified or even absolute immunity is no protection for such a violation, as the provision clearly states. Any senator who successfully brings a suit within five years of learning of a breach could be entitled to $500,000 per violation. Since Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost scheme committed exactly this kind of violation, the eight named senators targeted are likely anticipating a nice half-million-dollar payday after this week.
Dems block effort to vote on Epstein files: On Wednesday, Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett exposed the ongoing political gamesmanship behind the Jeffrey Epstein files saga. “Just left the House floor, and I tried to do a UC, unanimous consent, tried to get the Epstein files, get it straight to the floor, cut out all this nonsense,” Burchett explained. “The Democrats blocked it, oddly enough. Now, here they’ve had it for four years, and obviously, if there’s something there about Trump, they would have released it. And now they’re all ‘let’s get it out, let’s get it out.’” He added, “So, this is politics. It has nothing to do with doing what’s right. It’s Washington, DC to a T.” Burchett’s claim came hours after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a number of selected Epstein emails in an obvious effort to paint President Trump in a nefarious light.
USA observes Anti-Communism Week: On November 7, President Trump announced that the U.S. would be observing Anti-Communism Week and remembering the 100 million lives lost to that evil ideology. The proclamation served to “renew our national promise to stand firm against communism,” which surely came as a blow to voters in New York City. Trump warned against trusting the government and trading the “promise of prosperity for the empty comfort of control.” At a time when populism is becoming, well, more popular, Trump is taking the time to highlight the dangers of communism, which can arise from populist instincts. Roughly 1.5 billion people in five countries still live under communism despite the victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
Patel’s fentanyl-focused Beijing trip: At a White House press briefing on Wednesday, FBI Director Kash Patel discussed his recent trip to Beijing, where he met with Chinese government officials regarding the Trump administration’s expanded effort to combat the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. As Patel explained, “This was a historic trip for the FBI and America’s national security — the first time in a decade that an FBI Director has been to China and received an audience with his counterpart to discuss the fentanyl crisis.” Patel noted that China had agreed to list 13 precursors and restrict seven chemicals used to make fentanyl. He called the agreement “a victory that will ultimately crush fentanyl traffickers and save so many American lives for generations to come.” So far this year, the FBI has seized roughly 1,900 kilograms of fentanyl, a 31% increase over last year, an amount that could kill 127 million Americans.
Sen. Duckworth staffer allegedly schemed to free illegal alien: A staffer from Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s office has been accused by DHS of illegally seeking to free an illegal alien detained at an ICE facility in East St. Louis, Illinois. The illegal alien in question has four prior deportations and a DUI conviction. According to ICE, Duckworth’s staff member falsely identified as the illegal alien’s lawyer “to gain access to the detainee and seek his release from custody, and he accomplished it by falsifying an official Department of Homeland Security (DHS) form.” DHS wants to know about the staffer’s employment and whether he acted with knowledge of other members of her staff. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons also implored “all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, as well as their staff, to stop the political games that put law enforcement and detainees at risk.”
California moves to revoke 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants: Fatal and well-publicized truck crashes in Texas, Alabama, Florida, and California this year have sparked changes. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has imposed new restrictions on which visa holders qualify for commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), disqualifying 190,000 of the 200,000 current noncitizen CDL holders. Duffy sees California’s move to revoke 17,000 licenses as an admission that licenses were being issued illegally. Duffy’s team examined 145 California-issued CDLs in September and found that a quarter were issued incorrectly, including four that remained valid for years after work permits expired. California Governor Gavin Newsom insists that the issued licenses complied with Department of Homeland Security guidance and that the drivers had valid work authorizations.
The penny is history: A penny for your thoughts may become just a colloquialism from a bygone era, as Wednesday marked the last day the U.S. one-cent copper coin was produced at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, the last of America’s mints to produce it. This marks the end of a 230-year history of the production of America’s most abundant coin, first introduced in 1793. Treasurer Brandon Beach explained that ending the penny production would “save the taxpayers $56 million.” Before yesterday, the last U.S. coin to be discontinued was the half-cent way back in 1857. Despite the fact that no more pennies will be minted, billions of the coins will still remain in circulation and legal tender.
Ukraine’s government shaken by $100M corruption scandal: Volodymyr Zelensky, who was elected in part on an anti-corruption platform, finds himself ensnared in a scandal that directly affects his inner circle and a particularly sensitive sector. A sweeping $100 million energy kickback scam has led to charges against at least five people. Herman Halushchenko, former energy minister in Zelensky’s government, has been suspended, and the adviser to the now-suspended minister is also facing charges. Timur Mindich, Zelensky’s longtime political ally, is also charged in the case. The Washington Times reports, “The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office disclosed details of their investigations into the state-owned nuclear energy firm Energoatom, which allegedly forced contractors to pay kickbacks of up to 15% to avoid being blocked from contract payments or being removed from supplier rosters.” A Kyiv-based back office controlled by Mindich was steering the operation.
Headlines
Michael Wolff encouraged Jeffrey Epstein to blackmail candidate Trump (NY Post)
Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff indicted on public corruption charges (National Review)
IAEA unable to check Iran’s uranium since June war (Times of Israel)
Trump asks Israel’s president to pardon Netanyahu (WSJ)
Record 40% of young women want to flee U.S. (Fox News)
Number of babies killed annually during IVF is now more than those lost to abortion (Not the Bee)
U.S. Catholic bishops ban “gender-affirming care” at Catholic hospitals (National Review)
Humor: Democrats somberly remove sombreros, signaling end of shutdown (Babylon Bee)
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When all else fails, distract everyone with a shiny object. That’s the obvious takeaway from the latest “news” about Jeffrey Epstein.
On Wednesday morning, Democrats were reeling from their embarrassing defeat in the Schumer Shutdown fiasco. Democrats repeatedly voted against opening the government, and when a few of them finally caved, most of the party was livid. Even the Leftmedia had turned, admitting what we all knew the whole time: Democrats shut down the government for a record 43 days, leading to, among other signs of the apocalypse, chaos at airports with unpaid air traffic controllers and thousands of canceled flights, as well as starving massive masses of people threatening to loot stores because they couldn’t buy groceries Coke and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups without food stamps.
What’s a party of political performance artists to do?
Release three of Jeffrey Epstein’s emails to make Donald Trump look bad.
“In one email from 2019,” reports NewsNation, “Epstein appeared to write to journalist Michael Wolff, ‘Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine [Maxwell] to stop.’”
In another email to Maxwell, Epstein’s girlfriend, who is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for sex trafficking, Epstein said, “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him,, he has never once mentioned. police chief etc. i’m 75% there.”
NewsNation sets up the third: “In another email from 2015, Epstein asked Wolff what he should do if the media asks then-candidate Trump about their friendship. Wolff replied that Epstein should let Trump ‘hang himself.’”
That’s it. That’s all Democrats have.
Hilariously, Republicans were ready for them. Democrats released three cherry-picked emails, so Republicans released twenty thousand emails. Angry Democrats, without an ounce of self-awareness, called that a distraction.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was also ready for it. “The Democrats selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump,” Leavitt asserted. “The ‘unnamed victim’ referenced in these emails is the late Virginia Giuffre, who repeatedly said President Trump was not involved in any wrongdoing whatsoever and ‘couldn’t have been friendlier’ to her in their limited interactions.”
Leavitt added some key history, too. “The fact remains that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his club decades ago for being a creep to his female employees, including Giuffre,” she explained. “These stories are nothing more than bad-faith efforts to distract from President Trump’s historic accomplishments, and any American with common sense sees right through this hoax and clear distraction from the government opening back up again.”
Indeed, the main takeaway from the Democrats’ release — other than their desperate attempt at distraction — is that there’s no evidence Trump did anything wrong related to Epstein. In fact, in the exchange between Epstein and Wolff, the latter was specifically digging for any incriminating dirt. He came up empty.
Trump ain’t exactly clean as a whistle when it comes to his history with women, but if he were guilty of sex with underage girls, Epstein-related or not, we’d know about it by now. Democrats have been trying to personally destroy him for over a decade. To use a vivid metaphor, they’ve fired every round they have.
Of course, the entire MAGA Right is built on distrust of the federal government and all things Swamp, so there’s a sizable element of Trump’s own supporters who still believe there’s a cover-up of Epstein’s relationships. The infamous “list” has yet to be made public. The Trump Justice Department’s releases have been duds, only elevating suspicion.
The saga will no doubt continue to attract public attention, and politicians on both sides are exploiting that to keep their audiences tuned in. Real crimes were committed, and powerful people connected with Epstein have a lot to answer for — Prince Andrew is likely one of many. The House is poised to pass a discharge petition to release all the files the Justice Department has on Epstein. As always, stay tuned.
Thomas Gallatin: Behind the U.S. Military’s Recruitment Surge — We’re not quite a year into the Trump administration, and it’s worth a look at how the Armed Forces have turned around their dismal recruiting results.
Emmy Griffin: What Is Stealing Women’s Childbearing Years? — Women have imbibed cultural lies and are regretting it in their 30s. Because a career can wait, but starting a family has an expiration date.
Sophie Starkova: The Groomers Pitch a Fit Over TV — GLAAD has begrudgingly noticed that the “representation” of alphabet people on television has declined in recent years, reducing entertainment’s indoctrination powers.
Gary Bauer: Breathing New Life Into Free Speech — Harmeet Dillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, pledges to investigate this week’s Berkeley riot.
Gregory Lyakhov: Trump’s Drug-Price Turning Point for Affordable Healthcare — By making essential drugs affordable, reshoring production, and prioritizing patients over politics, President Trump has reframed the national conversation.
Patrick Hampton: Is There Hope for the Black Community? — The issues facing the black community in America are complex and multifaceted, but they are not insurmountable.
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Reader Comments
Editor’s Note: Each week we receive hundreds of comments and correspondences — and we read every one of them. Click here for a few thought-provoking comments about specific articles. The views expressed therein don’t necessarily reflect those of The Patriot Post.
How ObamaCare Broke Health Insurance — NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya breaks down why healthcare is so expensive in America — and why every attempt at “reform” has only made the problem worse.
What Just Happened With the BBC? — The BBC was just caught red-handed doctoring a video to make President Trump appear to be inciting violence in a documentary that was aired just prior to the 2024 election. Now, executives have resigned and Trump is threatening to sue them for a billion dollars.
Berkeley Antifa Attack — Antifa thugs attack Turning Point USA tour attendees in Berkeley, California.
“Trump is actively working to withhold SNAP funding — forcing families to food banks across the country.” —Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
Projection
“[Republicans] are deliberately trying to make the shutdown as painful as possible. These are nihilists that we’re dealing with.” —Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Intraparty Squabbles
“I’m not coming in to punch anybody in the face, but I’m not pleased that, in the face of this invasive species that is Donald Trump, who’s completely changed the rules of the game, that we’re still playing by the old rules of the game.” —California Gov. Gavin Newsom excoriating the Democrat senators who flipped their votes on the continuing resolution
For the Record
“The big picture of what is happening is the failure of the Affordable Care Act. Indeed, some Democrats have admitted that the reason they shut down the government was to hold out for more ‘emergency’ subsidy money because the ACA has failed to make health coverage affordable.” —Byron York
“No Democratic senators have been seen wearing T-shirts saying, ‘I caused disruption and heartache for millions, and all I got was a meaningless promise for a lousy vote,’ but they would be apt. … In the Trump years, to be progressive is to feel an implacable sense of impotence and rage. This was the real reason for the shutdown — it was a way to give vent to an unreasoning hatred of Donald Trump.” —Rich Lowry
Lack of Self-Awareness Award
“Conservatives are living in a completely different information world than liberals.” —CNN’s Abby Phillip
Belly Laugh of the Day
“Jasmine Crockett is actually what the Democrats should be leaning into. Because she is a phenomenal messenger.” —radio host Charlamagne
Village Idiots
“To get [crossdresser Bad Bunny] to want to be a part of our game, I think, is amazing. … I think the [NFL halftime] show’s going to be amazing. … We do everything we can to avoid politics. … This is about bringing people together.” —Dallas Cowboys executive vice president and chief brand officer Charlotte Jones
“Oz has always been a queer place. A safe space for queer people, for every different color of the rainbow, for everybody. Read the L. Frank Baum books. It’s the truth. You’re safe with us. We love you so much. The gayer, the better.” —singer and actress Ariana Grande
Irony
“I’m 97% German and 3% Neanderthal. Maybe it’s ironic that a big German guy from Pennsylvania has been very, absolutely devoted to Israel.” —Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA)
Re: The Left
“Charlie Kirk gets shot and people are celebrating. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You want people to die that you disagree with? Like, where are we right now on the scale of one to civil war? … This is nuts. Like, what are you guys on? Like, what’s happening here?” —podcaster Joe Rogan
“If there is one thing you want on a battlefield, it is an adversary who clearly states who they are and their objectives and intentions. We have that now with the Marxist left and the Islamo-fascists.” —Allen West
Upright
“If Trump is the only figure willing to fight for basic truth in the media, then we should all be cheering him on, especially if it means that the British people could finally be freed from the unaccountable bottomless money pit of propaganda that is the BBC.” —Ian Haworth
“We’re coming into these bureaucracies … and it’s just a series of very narrow Overton windows. You’re not allowed to bring the conversation out of that or you get destroyed. And now we’re working for a president who just takes a bulldozer to Overton windows.” —HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
ON THIS DAY in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, was dedicated. The black granite wall honors each of the 58,000 Americans who gave their lives defending freedom in Vietnam. President Ronald Reagan once said, “No number of wreaths, no amount of music and memorializing will ever do them justice, but it is good for us that we honor them and their sacrifice.”
Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters and Sean Hannity bring Fox News viewers their fresh takes on the top news of the day. #fox #foxnews #news #usnews #worldnews #breaking #breakingnews #us #usa #lauraingraham #seanhannity #jessewatters #montage #mashup #new #greggutfeld #gutfeld #washingtondc #dc #donaldtrump #trump #monologue #recap #highlights
President Trump calls for a pardon for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he’s on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust; the United Arab Emirates says it will not take part in the proposed International Stabilization Force in Gaza, saying it does not yet see a clear framework for the plan, and views Qatar and Turkey as “Hamas enablers;” Chris Mitchell talks about the concerns over the International Force, if other countries could leave, concerns that the Muslim Brotherhood could be involved in the Gaza reconstruction plan, the US denial of reports about a plan for a military base on the Israel/Gaza border, and the charges against Netanyahu; with Zohran Mandani winning the election for mayor in New York City, Alex McFarland talks to CBN’s The Global Lane about the possibility of Islamists getting involved in US politics; the longest-ever federal government shutdown finally comes to an end; and hundreds respond to the call for salvation at the latest “Unite Us” Gospel event at North Carolina State University.
President Donald Trump is joined by the First Lady, Melania Trump to sign an executive order at the White House in Washington, D.C. Watch LIVE on RSBN starting at 12 pm ET on November 13, 2025.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s career of massive stock hauls while a member of Congress is coming to an end now that she has announced she will leave Congress at […] The post appeared first on The Western Journal .
President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday night to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, providing relief to furloughed federal workers and restoring essential services after 43 days of disruption.
Meanwhile, pro-life advocates hailed the measure for blocking Democratic efforts to extend taxpayer funding for abortions through Obamacare.
The bipartisan spending package, which funds the government through January 30, combines three full-year spending bills with a short-term continuing resolution. It ensures back pay for affected employees, including air traffic controllers and Capitol Police, and addresses economic losses estimated in the billions from halted federal operations, disrupted air travel and limited access to food aid and healthcare services
“I just want to tell you the country has never been in better shape,” Trump said. “We went through this short-term disaster with the Democrats because they thought it would be good politically. And it’s an honor now to sign this incredible bill and get our country working again.”
The bill’s passage marked a victory for pro-life groups, who had lobbied intensely against provisions that would renew Obamacare premium tax credits set to expire at year’s end. Those subsidies represent the largest departure from the Hyde Amendment — a longstanding federal policy barring taxpayer dollars from directly funding most abortions — since the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
The Senate got the compromise measure through, without the Obamacare abortion funding, because Republicans agreed to have a stand-alone vote on Obamacare subsidies. However, it is expected that the vote will fail because Democrats don’t have 60 votes necessary to pass the Obamacare funding with taxpayer dollars for abortions.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser praised Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and other Republican leaders for holding the line.
“Thank you, Leader Thune and Senate Republicans, for firmly rejecting Democrat demands to force taxpayers to fund abortions through Obamacare as the price for their votes to reopen the government,” Dannenfelser said. “For more than a month, Democrats kept the government shut down over Obamacare — the single largest departure from the Hyde Amendment and expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade. When government subsidizes abortion, more unborn Americans lose their lives and more women suffer.”
The Senate approved the compromise Monday on a 60-40 vote, with eight Democrats and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine joining all 52 Republicans to break the impasse.
Among the Democrats were Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Jackie Rosen of Nevada and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
The measure reached Trump’s desk after the House approved it 222-209 along largely partisan lines, with two Republicans and six Democrats crossing over.
Democrats had demanded the Obamacare extension as their top priority, but Thune secured their support by pledging a December vote on the subsidies bill — a measure pro-life advocates expect to fail in the face of the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has offered no such commitment, signaling further resistance in the lower chamber and making it even more likely that Obamacare will not have abortion funding.
“As this bill moves to the House, we urge representatives to stand as firmly against pro-abortion Democrat demands as their colleagues in the Senate,” Dannenfelser added. “This is what the pro-life base expects, and SBA Pro-Life America will score against any vote to extend Obamacare subsidies that sidesteps Hyde.”
House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed Democrats for the chaos.
“The damage caused by the Democrats with this reckless government shutdown cannot be forgotten,” Leavitt said. “It is entirely the fault of the Democrat party.”
An entire generation of women is lost amidst engineered anxiety, chasing hollow independence while forsaking the proven anchors of marriage, family, and selfless purpose.
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