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Pastoral Position
Paper - Mike Ferguson
Introduction:
If you were to take a poll among Christians today, and asked what
they considered to be the most prevalent sins in our society
today, my guess is that you would get answers like; "abortion",
which is murder, "divorce and marital unfaithfulness or adultery",
perhaps "greed", "coveting", "homosexuality", "lying" and so on.
And if you asked the same group what they thought were the most
prevalent sins in the Church, among those professing the name of
Christ, you would get answers like; adultery, coveting, lying,
divisions and so on. I have participated in one such survey and
have seen the results of others, and of those results, I have
never seen the sin of blasphemy in either the list of prevalent
sins in society or the Church. I believe the reason for this is
that we live in an age that is so steeped in and saturated with
the sin of blasphemy that we can scarcely recognize it. As with
any sin that is the order of the day, we tend to become
desensitized to it, we become calloused and hardened and when this
happens, we move further away from our goal of Christ-likeness.
Far from the sin being horrific and detestable, we get used to it.
Some sins are so common place that they don't even make us
uncomfortable anymore, and I think that the sin of blasphemy has
reached such a state. In this country, it is just another example
of how far we've fallen from our Christian foundation. Blasphemy
is still a crime according to some state constitutions,(1) not
that an individual could not hold to some form of unbelief, but a
person could be jailed for publicly profaning the name of the
Lord. In some nations, blasphemy against the prevailing deity was
synonymous with treason. Most importantly though, we know that the
Bible presents blasphemy as a most heinous sin. During Jesus'
earthly ministry, the Jews sought to kill Him as a blasphemer
because He claimed to be one with the Father (John 10:30-33), and
He claimed the authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-11). And before
the High Priest, when Jesus stated under oath that He was the
Christ, the High Priest tore his robe in horror (Mt 26:63-65).
These of course were false charges for Christ is very God of very
God, but we can see from these and similar texts that the sin of
blasphemy was extremely serious.
Blasphemy simply stated:
Webster's dictionary of 1828 defines blasphemy as "an injury
offered to God, by denying that which is due and belonging to him,
or attributing to him that which is not agreeable to his nature."
We see in the verses above that the Jews, blinded to the reality
of Christ's divinity, considered that a mere man was claiming for
himself divine prerogatives. Blasphemy violates the Creator/
creature distinction by either attributing to the human what
solely belongs to God, or by attributing to God the limitations or
sinfulness of man. We'll develop this more below.
The
Law:
"Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an
Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this
Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought each other in
the camp. And the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the name of
the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses. (His
mother's name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe
of Dan.) Then they put him in custody that the mind of the Lord
might be shown to them. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying,
"Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who
heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the
congregation stone him. Then you shall speak to the children of
Israel, saying: Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. And
whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to
death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the
stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he
blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death." Lev.
24:10-16
Moses
had been given the summary of the moral law written on two tables
of stone. All subsequent statutes, decrees and case laws would
fall under the broader categories of the ten commandments. For
example, under the fifth commandment to honor your parents would
come the principle to honor all lawful authority. Under the
seventh commandment prohibiting adultery would fall all sexual
sin, fornication, sodomy, beastiality, etc. Blasphemy would fall
under the third commandment of not taking the Lord's name in vain.
As the Westminster Shorter Catechism states it, the third
commandment requires "the holy and reverent use of God's names,
titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works", and forbids
"all profaning and abusing of any thing whereby God maketh
himself known."(2) Blasphemy in the Old Testament is a
detracting from the glory of God whether directly or indirectly.
It is the opposite of praising and exalting God.(3)
We see
in the Leviticus passage that the blasphemer is put in custody.
Incarceration was not a biblical option of punishment and there
were no jails in Israel at this time. The offender was probably
put under guard until the Lord's will was revealed. To this point,
the Israelites knew from the third commandment that the Lord would
not hold those who profaned His name guiltless, but the punishment
had not yet been revealed. Death is the sentence which God
commands through Moses, and the offender is taken outside the camp
and stoned. The witnesses who heard the blasphemy would lay their
hands upon his head, and bearing his own sin, the congregation
would stone him. The horror of blasphemy would be driven home to
Israel as the stones crushed the life out of the guilty one. There
was no provision for a "scapegoat", no sin bearer for the one
guilty of this sin. The Hebrew word for blaspheme means "to
curse", but it also means "to strike through" and "to pierce", and
as we look at the life of Christ we see Him falsely convicted of
blasphemy, taken outside the camp, and pierced and stricken
through. Our scapegoat was made a curse for His people to satisfy
the justice of God. I believe it was John Murray who called the
crucifixion the arch crime of history, and I would add, the arch
blasphemy of history.
Back to
Leviticus, some Jewish commentators tell that when the witnesses
laid their hands on the head of the one condemned they said these
words; "Thy blood be upon thine own head, and not we punished
for thy death, which thou hast been the cause of thyself."
They wanted it known that they had no part in this terrible sin.
How horrible it would be if they had participated in this sin, and
how horrible to have been the cause. And this brings me to the
issue of causing another to blaspheme. Scripture teaches in
several places, that our sins can give cause for sinful men to
blaspheme God and His word. Having briefly examined the
seriousness of this offense against God, I want to look at some
passages which highlight one of the terrible consequences of our
sin, especially scandalous or public sin.
In 2
Samuel 11 we have the account of David's adultery with Bathsheba
and subsequent murder of Uriah her husband by ordering him to the
frontline of battle. In chapter 12, Nathan the prophet confronts
David, and in verses 13 and 14 we read: "So David said to
Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to
David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the
enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to
you shall surely die." David's high-handed sins were
blasphemous,(4) and he gave great occasion to the heathen to
slander God. Why? Because he sinned in God's face and showed
contempt for His law. The enemies of God and Israel would revel in
David's fall and the calamity it brought upon his household. They
would say, "This one who sings psalms and loves the law defied
God's authority with his lust. And his God couldn't keep him from
falling." Scandalous sin brings reproach upon the name of God.
The
Apostle Paul warns against sinful choices which cause others to
blaspheme in three of his letters, Romans, 1 Timothy, and Titus.
"Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your
boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are
excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident
that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who
are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of
babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You
therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who
preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say,
"Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery? You who abhor
idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law,
do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For "the name of
God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," as it is
written." Romans 2:17-24
The
things that Paul points out in the beginning of this passage are
good things. God chose Israel to be a people for renown, for
praise, and for glory. They possessed the oracles of God, His
revealed will, they were called to be guides, instructors, and a
light to the blind. They should be boasting in God. They were
called to be a testimony of God's righteousness and goodness to
the nations round about her. But they have proven to be the very
opposite! Paul's quote of the prophets is a stinging indictment, "The
name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles."(5) And why?
Hypocrisy. "You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor
God through breaking the law?" Yes, you dishonor God and cause
His name to be blasphemed. And here is a sobering warning to the
Church, the spiritual Israel. We have the written revelation of
God and we are called to be salt and light, instructors and
guides. What kind of testimony of God are we presenting to the
world when we claim to love Him yet keep not His commandments? We
dishonor Him, and His name and word are blasphemed among the
heathen.
"Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own
masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His
doctrine may not be blasphemed." 1 Timothy 6:1
This
verse can be applied to any relationship between superiors and
inferiors.(6) Think about trying to convince an unbelieving boss
that he needed to submit to the lordship of Christ, when he sees
you loafing and stealing time and productivity and breaking
company rules. He would say, "Is this what your religion teaches
about honor and submission? What kind of God do you serve?" Too
often all we see is a squandered witnessing opportunity instead of
God being blasphemed with us as a primary cause. The positive
aspect of faithfulness in honoring superiors is seen in Titus
2:9-10.
"Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be
well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering,
but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior in all things."
Through
our unfaithfulness and disobedience, God's doctrine is blasphemed.
Through our faithfulness and obedience, His doctrine is adorned.
"But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound
doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate,
sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise,
that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to
much wine, teachers of good things- that they admonish the young
women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be
discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own
husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." Titus
2:1-5
Once
again, Paul lays out the sobering fact that how we live bears
directly upon how God and His word are viewed.
Some Implications:
1. We must have a God-centered view of sin. All sin is against
God. It is sin because it falls short of the glory of God (Rom
3:23). It is evil because God is dishonored. Modern psychology
wants to deny God yet use His morality to denounce hurting each
other. Evil is defined as me being hurt or threatened or abused.
David wasn't denying taking the life of Uriah, or the calamity
brought down upon his family when he said "Against You, You
only have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight" (Ps
51:4). He understood this principle. We need to be zealous for the
glory of God. We need to guard our lives and understand that we
"dishonor God by breaking the law." (Rom 2:23)
2. Our
hypocrisy is used to attack God. The fact is that all unbelievers
are blasphemers. To deny God is blasphemy. The late R.J. Rushdoony
summed it up nicely: "To ground any sphere of thought, life, or
action, or any sphere of being on anything other than the triune
God is blasphemy."(7) The unbeliever tries to shake off the
revelation of God that smacks him in the face every day of his
life. Usually the unbeliever couldn't care less about your sin, he
is just looking for an occasion to defame God and religion in an
attempt to appease his guilty conscience. The wicked want you to
be a hypocrite and will even aid you in your hypocrisy. Some may
act deeply offended by hypocrisy, but instead of seeing that the
problem is your sin, they thank you for the hammer and
begin slamming the foundation of Christ and His gospel.
3.
Having said that unbelievers are bent on blaspheming God, this
doesn't get us off the hook for giving them the occasion. We need
to avoid two errors here. The guilt manipulator wants to put all
the blood on your head. "They are going to hell because you didn't
witness to them." No. They are going to hell for their own sin,
not mine. But the other extreme says, "They were bent on it, they
were going to do it any way, I'm not responsible." The biblical
position is to affirm secondary causes. That's us folks. As
"Reformed", we usually don't have trouble understanding that God
predestines the means, as well as the ends in the realm of
salvation. We understand that salvation is of the Lord, yet it is
one of life's greatest thrills to be the means of leading someone
to Christ. But how often do we consider being the means of someone
blaspheming? You're kidding yourself if you are saying "Surely not
I Lord." The thought of it should be horrifying to us. Yes, God
hardens the wicked for destruction and He uses means. May God
grant that our opponents be ashamed, having nothing evil to say
about us (Titus 2:8).
4.
Failing to submit to authority is the root cause of God being
blasphemed among unbelievers. In Numbers 15:30, the Lord calls
high-handed, presumptuous sin blasphemy because it is a direct
assault upon His authority as law giver. In Titus 2, wives are to
be obedient to their husbands, their head and authority, that the
word of God may not be blasphemed. First Peter tells us that the
wife's submission to the husband adorns herself as well as the
gospel. The 1 Timothy passage clearly refers to submission to
authority that God's doctrine not be blasphemed. And in Romans 2,
the Jews didn't honor God by submitting to His law. There is no
authority except from God (Rom 13:1). When you claim to love and
follow Him, but cast off His order by not submitting to the
authorities which He has placed over you, you give occasion for
His name, word, and works to be blasphemed. As an aside, I think
this principle lends support to those who would place the fifth
commandment in the first table of the law as our duty to God for
we see how it is an attack upon His authority.
Conclusion:
On a positive note, our reformation in worship is a powerful
antidote against blasphemy. As we put away childish things,
smugness and flippancy in our worship, and come before God in fear
and reverence, our lives will be transformed. God's transformed
people grow in faithfulness and obedience. Willing submission and
obedience to father, mother, husband, elders, employers,
governors, etc. adorns the gospel and glorifies God. "Let your
light so shine before men that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father in heaven" (Mt 5:16). May God's name be
hallowed.
1 In
1968, a man was convicted on charges of blasphemy in Maryland. The
1723 law against profaning the Lord's name in public was still on
the books. Quoted in "Institutes of Biblical Law" R.J. Rushdoony
pp124
2
Questions 54 and 55
3 In
the Greek of the New Testament, blasphemy can be used in a broader
sense of slandering or insulting any person as well as insulting
or mocking God.
4
Compare 2 Sam 12:9 and Numbers 15:30-31.
5
Paul's quote seems to be a harmony of Isaiah 52:5 and Ezekiel
36:22
6 This
is offensive language in our egalitarian age, but simply refers to
either being in authority, (superior) or under authority
(inferior).
7
Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law pp127 |