Preaching the Theocentric Gospel in an Anthropocentric World
By Jay Wegter
When strolling through a public place we can instantly recognize the behavior of an insolent child. Everything inside of us evokes the conviction that the youngster’s impudence calls for the paddle. But, what we are much less cognizant of is that the life of the unregenerate man is regarded by God as an entire posture of impudence (as revolt, effrontery, and habitual impertinence). For, the natural man, in his love of self, imagines that he exercises the sovereign power to decide what authority he shall be subject to. And, as a studious truth suppressor (Rom 1:18), he fancies himself as the final arbiter of every truth claim, and every claim to authority. His rebellion is made manifest by the fact that his mental powers are employed in explaining away God’s claims upon him (Ps 2:2; Rom 3:4, 10-18).
Man as the image of God has, by virtue of creation, the obligation to live as the image of God. This he will not, and cannot do. The law of God is needed to diagnose his moral impotence and covenant-breaking which are expressed in his thoughts, words, worship, deeds, and motives. The natural man shuns the diagnostic ‘mirror’ of God’s law, and prefers to cling to a spurious and counterfeit assessment of himself. He regards himself to be an upright fellow, though he lives as if it were possible to be autonomous from God (Jer 17:5-6, 9). In his self-authenticating pride, he views his own morality from a self-referential perspective which skews his self-perception toward self-justification. He does not consider what he owes God, so he ‘dumbs down’ God’s moral requirements, adapting them to fit his own lifestyle. Upon this point, Christ’s rebuke is fitting: “And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God’” (Lu 16:15; Eph 4:17).
Man’s true creational identity as the image of God is inseparable from his covenant obligation to live out his created purpose. This sheds much needed light on why unbelievers are eternally condemned in hell. For, Christ was given by the Father so that sinners might be recovered, that they might be restored to their created purpose to live as the image of God. Therefore, the rejection of Christ and the gospel constitutes the rejection of one’s created purpose. There is no ‘back up plan’ for those who do not wish to live as God’s image-bearers—one might as well wish himself to live in another galaxy. To spurn God’s justifying mercy is to reject the ‘Ark’ of salvation and ‘take one’s chances in the flood’ (‘the flood came and destroyed them all’—Luke 17:27). But, just as there was no contingency plan for those who refused to enter Noah’s ark, there is no alternate plan for those who do not wish to know God as His image-bearer
Consider that in our culture of ‘selfism’ choosing one’s own purpose for living is considered innate to personal freedom (men are lovers of pleasure and self, more than lovers of God—2 Timothy 3:1ff.). Today, selecting one’s own purpose for life is regarded as elemental and intrinsic to self-realization—one cannot be ‘authentic’ without exercising that option. How often have we heard this trite saying after a fatal accident: ‘at least he died doing what he loved—he died doing what made him feel alive’. The extent of the popularity of this view (authentication through self-determination) is certainly evidence of the devil’s cleverness. For, the evil one has taken the Edenic lie and cast it into postmodern language so that it sounds reasonable and desirable to 21ˢᵗ Century ears. The patience of the powers of darkness is evident at this juncture, for it is taken several hundred years for the philosophy of dualism to become fully engrained in the Western mind (men are held as captive prisoners through philosophy—Colossians 2:8).
This dualistic, or ‘two story’ view of truth places facts in the lower story, and values in a subjective, irrational upper story. Thus, through the eyes of the dualist, the truth of Scripture is seen as no longer corresponding to the real world, the contents of the Bible have been placed in an upper story category of irrationality. So, in the minds of 21ˢᵗ Century Post-moderns, when believers assert biblical truth claims, they are seen as merely expressing their own opinions and personal preferences. What a clever ruse on the part of the powers of darkness to shove all of Scripture into a dualistic upper story category which relegates holy writ to a set of ‘inspirational myths’ and ‘moral sayings’. Thus, when Christians proclaim biblical truth claims, those assertions are regarded as merely propaganda, as imperious power plays which are disrespectful to the views of others.
The Christian preacher’s dogmatism is viewed as an exercise in ‘signaling’ the things that are dear to his own identity. And further, his efforts to persuade others to embrace what he believes are seen as evidence of the speaker’s own insecurities and hunger to control others—he ‘needs’ others to buy into his propaganda so he can feel good about himself (so he can ‘shore up’ his identity). Of course that reaction by unbelievers presupposes the sham concept of pluralism and relativism—namely that there is no knowable, universal absolute truth. The natural man’s existential vantage point is a position of folly, for he trusts his own heart and holds God’s authority in suspicion. “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered” (Prov 28:26).
Secular humanism has replaced theology with psychology (as the new ‘queen of the sciences’). For over one hundred years, psychology has reassured its students that man himself is the final and ultimate reference point. Under the tutelage of psychology, the natural man’s sinful instincts have been reinforced—‘be true to your desires and yearnings, for that is how to be true to yourself’. 'you may determine for yourself what is real, what is true, what is right and what is wrong’. ‘You decide the limits of possibility in the cosmos’. The self now has a new level of sovereignty bestowed upon it by the ‘sciences’ (man, in determining reality for himself, now equates the powers of his mind with the mind of God (See David Noebel, Understanding the Times).
Man’s arrogant affinity for a self-referential life view is evidence of his love of darkness and his hatred of the light. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (Jn 3:19-21). We see this love of darkness in bold relief on the campuses of public universities. The academy is dogmatic in its stance that we cannot know absolute truth. But, this sentiment reveals a brazen contempt for Christ, the Logos, who is God’s light to the world. God has spoken infallibly and authoritatively through His Son. “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (Jn 1:1-3; 8:12; 6:51; Col 2:2; Heb 1:1-3).
So fixed and recalcitrant in the depraved heart is the original lie, that contemporary man regards God’s governance to be antagonistic to human flourishing. God’s loving rule and glory are considered hostile to man’s best interest. This rebellious sentiment that God’s glory opposes man’s good can only be removed by an act of God. Nothing can evict the lie but the gospel. What is required is the miracle of regeneration through the bloody sacrifice of the Son of God. For, man’s ruthless loyalty to his imagined autonomy is even stronger than a mother’s love for her own infant—barring a miracle of God, man will not release his cherished imagined sovereignty.
Only the new birth can break that iron grip. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ‘Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (Jn 3:6-7). “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5).
There can only be one Sovereign, there is no coregency, God will not share His throne with the creatures of dust. In order for man to experience redemption, he must come face to face with God’s transcendent holiness and bow before it. But, what does it mean that God is transcendent in holiness? In a multitude of places, Scripture attests to the uniqueness of God’s holiness—there is nothing in creation to which it may be compared. “To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing” (Is 40:25).
God, transcendent in holiness means a number of things, first of all it means that God is the standard of holiness, His holiness flows from His character as infinite Creator and sovereign moral Judge. Holiness is defined by who God is and not by anything outside of God. “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:44a). ‘Transcendence’ in association with God’s holy nature also means that every bit of holiness in the creature must be derivative from God Almighty Who is the source—holiness in the creature is not due to the accomplishment of the creature, it must be imparted to the creature by the Creator. In addition, God’s holiness can never be accurately described as merely quantitatively greater than ours. For, holiness that is transcendent exceeds all categories which are quantifiable. “There is no one holy like the Lord, indeed, there is no one besides You, nor is there any rock like our God” (I Sam 2:2).
In order to help us understand this concept of transcendent holiness, consider how incredibly difficult it is for us to contemplate a universe that is measured in billions of lightyears. Our vast cosmos is the thought of God and He effortlessly maintains it in all places by his infinite power (Is 40:25). This present author readily acknowledges his own failure in attempting to accurately conceive of the scope of our universe with its mind-bending immensity. Thus, when God’s infinitude as Creator and Sustainer of the universe is considered in conjunction with His foundational attribute of holiness, the concept of His transcendent holiness becomes a staggering thought. My mind cannot contain it, I cannot take its measure, or even place it within a quantifiable category. This is why the adjective ‘transcendent’ modifies the word holiness. For, God’s holiness transcends any source, any metric, any dimensions, or any set of limits known to man.
Now, practically speaking, the bottom line for us in being confronted by God’s transcendent holiness is that all true piety involves the desire, above all else, to receive holiness from God. In fact it is a question which pastors ask too infrequently, “Are you panting after God so that you desire holiness from Him?” This issue of being related to God’s holiness by the reception of God’s holiness is why God’s gracious action of sanctifying the believer is so closely tied to salvation. It is because the reception of holiness from God, sometimes designated in theology as definitive sanctification, involves being set apart by His holiness for His holiness. “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (2 Thess 2:13). “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Heb 10:10, 14).
Justifying grace is a divine miracle, for it places the unholy, unrighteous creature into a new standing, the saved man or woman becomes right with God’s righteousness. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Of course this radical change in standings is not because the sinner has made personal improvements, it is because the believing sinner is reckoned righteous in Christ, his Representative (1 Cor 1:30; Heb 4:14-16). This reckoning of righteousness is not a bare transaction, it is better described a ‘relationship given’. ‘That means that God takes possession of the creature, separating the creature from what is profane, and separating the creature unto Himself, unto His own holiness. The redeemed person becomes a devoted being, a temple of God’s Spirit (1 Cor 6:19, 20; Eph 2:19-22).
This once for all setting apart, or sanctifying work of God is essential to the reception of holiness from God. “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:2, 3).
Consider for a moment that our Creator’s purpose for the ages is to share Himself with us. This all-consuming truth of God’s overarching purpose flies in the face of today’s prevailing mysticism that spiritual things belong to the esoteric, the experiential, to private piety, or to the realm of blind faith. But, Scripture takes God’s redemptive plot out of the realm of merely ‘inner spirituality’ and places it squarely in time, space history. For, the ‘redemption’ of the physical cosmos is linked with the redemption, or resurrection of the believer’s body! Listen to Paul’s words in Romans chapter 8 regarding salvation and a restored creation:
For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body (Rom 8:19-23).
Now returning to that phrase, God’s purpose of the ages, we may confidently say, in spite of our world’s efforts at self-destruction, history will ultimately prove to be His Story. For, God will consummate, ‘wrap up’ all things in Christ—both visible and invisible things: “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth” (Eph 1:9, 10). God’s purpose of the ages encompasses all of creation: people, angels, and the cosmos itself.
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose [purpose of the ages] which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him (Eph 3:8-12)
Thus, living as a Christ-follower is not the monkish life of a spiritual recluse, for, serving God is a whole-life endeavor. His lordship is over every area of our lives, from family, to friends, to career, to possessions, to recreation. Our entire thinking is to be brought in line with God’s Word. For, we can only serve as stewards to His glory if we are committed to ‘thinking His thoughts after Him’. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor 10:3-5). Human beings are the crown of God’s creation because they are the only creatures made in God’s image and likeness (Gen 1:16-17). One of the expressions of our being the image of God is that we serve as His ‘vice-regents’ put over the work of His hands to steward the creation to the glory of God.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas (Ps 8:3-8).
Our faithful stewardship of the world depends upon our willingness to define everything in our human experience as God does, by His infallible self-revelation, the Scriptures. He made the world as a showcase, a stage, and theatre for the display of his moral majesty (His transcendent holiness) (Ex 15:11). That means that our bodies, our relationships, and our rule over the material world have a vital part to play in God’s plan. They are to be used as He specifies; for His glory. There must be a conscious, daily presentation of ourselves (and the things entrusted to us) to God. “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom 6:11-13).
Our God-centered gospel means that our thoughts and affections must be regularly ‘tuned’ to God’s great purpose of sharing His holiness. God’s transcendent holiness is what He desires to communicate to two orders of creatures, humans and angels. Both orders of creatures were formed by God to receive the communication of this holy glory. We are created to be worshippers so that our logical, reasonable, rational, spontaneous response to God’s transcendent holiness communicated to us is worship (Is 6:3).
Only those that come to a saving knowledge of God have any clue as to the weight of what it means to be an image-bearer of God. The sheer weight of carrying His image is beyond calculation. Consider that your creational identity and calling is to reflect the holy character of your Creator. “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 honor Him by being a mirror or reflector of His righteousness and love. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (Eph 5:1-2).
When God begins to awaken a spiritually dead sinner, that man’s conscience receives the very first wounds from the Law of God; he begins to understand that his sin profanes and dishonors God’s character. This means that our transgressions are telling lies about who God is, for they completely misrepresent Him by casting aspersion on His character. “I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst” (Ez 36:20-21, 23a).
The discovery of the true knowledge of God, the Holy One, is traumatic to a sinner. For man’s defection from God is so complete that the true knowledge of God is by nature, provocative, devastating, incendiary because this knowledge exposes just how abnormal man is. One theologian described our fallenness in this way: ‘imagine a shipwreck so devastating that the profile of the ship is unrecognizable, all that it left is debris on the surface of water’. In the garden of Eden the serpent laid the foundation for all atheistic human philosophy. The evil one’s lie was an attempt to normalize rebellion in man’s mind and heart, and to even normalize death itself. So, axiomatically, the knowledge of God produces trauma and shock in the person convicted of sin. Thus, this foundation or understanding of the human condition is essential and vital as the proper backdrop to understanding God’s grace and its necessity.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (Eph 2:1-3).
Therefore, in light of our ruin by sin, the greatest gift imaginable to transgressors is the free reception of holiness from God who is transcendent in holiness. “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified” (Gal 2:16; 1 Thess 1:9; Titus 2:14). This God-approved righteousness, freely given, illuminates why the spurning of God’s mercy results in damnation (2 Thess 1:7-9; 2:10-12). It sheds additional light on the enmity in man’s heart, that his unbelief screams, “Please stop being God, please stop being transcendent in holiness!” “For, what the Bible says about God is too searching and invasive, too intimidating, guilt-producing, and terrifying to my conscience.” “And, I learned in the ‘science’ of psychology that my personal well-being means that I ought to steer clear of anything that makes me feel badly.”
Because God is infinite in His being and in His holiness, there is a certain devastation when the sinner encounters God through his infallible Word. The unbeliever’s natural response is to seek to insulate himself from divine condemnation by one of four judgment-avoidance strategies. 1) He practices denial of the truth (preferring to revel in his own opinion of things). 2) He escapes by retreating into a host of diversions and distractions. 3) He expresses his opposition to God’s authority and right to judge by open defiance toward God and His claims.
- He seeks to appease God by legal and religious working (by self-righteousness). Each of these failed strategies to avoid judgment is a rejection of the priceless gift of God’s Son, and therefore constitutes the renunciation of God’s own Person and the repudiation of His transcendent holiness.
By radical contrast, those whom God redeems become His friends and His co-workers in the world, laborers in ‘God’s field’ (1 Cor 3:9). The Lord sends them out as ambassadors of reconciliation. With the appropriate pleas, these ambassadors are sent out with the urgent message, ‘be reconciled to God’! (2 Cor 5:18-21). For, God has paid an immense price to establish the terms of peace between Himself and sinners. He has borne all of the cost of peace on His side. In immeasurable expense to Himself He has borne our offenses on His side, charging the guilt of our offenses to His beloved Son. And, now the basis of the free invitation of the gospel to sinners is that God’s wrath is fully satisfied on behalf of all who believe the Son and thereby obey the gospel (Rom 3:23-26). For, Christ’s perfect life and sacrifice have fashioned a God-approved righteousness by which to clothe the naked, shivering sinner (Rom 10:4; Phil 3:9). To receive this blood-bought righteousness, not only reconciles the sinner, but also exalts God’s love, justice, and holiness (Eph 1:6). Through Christ, the believing sinner becomes ‘right with God’s righteousness’—all to the glory of God. These are the elements of the gracious covenant which establishes the believer’s love relationship with God.
In our man-centered age, Christianity has gradually drifted toward a reductionist definition of the gospel, as if the message of the gospel is but a wonderful plan or proposition; an ‘opportunity’ which provides insurance against hell. What has been relegated to the margins in the modern gospel is the transcendent holiness of God and the lordship of Christ. In the modern gospel, the kingdoms of light and darkness are not placed into bold relief. By way of correction, the stark contrast in kingdoms is captured in the following passage: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13, 14). These two kingdoms constitute or represent two opposing loyalties. The respective destinies of these two kingdoms could not be more marked. Our Lord alludes to this when He stated that His coming will bring a sword of division. In first Century Jerusalem, the religious formalists imagined that Messiah would unify Abraham’s descendants with a message of political power and victory. But, our Lord states that he came to bring a sword, which would produce division even between the most intimate family members (Mt 10:34). According to our Savior, the issue of right-relatedness to Christ’s Person would literally divide the entire human race. The division would be between the reconciled friends of God, and the obstinate enemies of God (Col 1:21).
Apart from the diagnostic work of Scripture laying bare the rebellion of man, we are unable to discern just how much the sin disease produces a love of darkness. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (Jn 3:19-21). This love of darkness, if it ends in impenitence, is spiritual suicide. Only the effectual call and the new birth, can conquer man’s propensity to cling to his imagined autonomy (Rom 8:28, 30; 1 Thess 2:11-14; 1 Pet 2:9; 5:10).
Scripture describes this stubbornness as walking according to the course of this world and following the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:3). Christ died for this vileness in order to bring His elect to the Father. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Eph 5:25-27). A glorious feature of Christ’s lordship is the efficaciousness of His sacrifice, for by His finished work, He will effectually call and redeem all those given to Him by the Father. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (Jn 6:39, 40). “. . . and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Rom 8:30).
Christ ‘obtained’ or achieved eternal redemption by His sacrificial death (Heb 9:12). This again highlights the weakness of today’s gospel since today’s gospel is commonly cast as merely a wonderful offer, and not the sovereign purpose of God to give a people to His Son (Jn 17:2-10). Oh the incalculable immensity of God giving Himself to His people in, and through His Son. This communication of God’s glory in the face of Christ was necessary so that God’s transcendent holiness might be beautiful to us instead of appalling and terrifying (2 Cor 3:18; 4:6). For the sight of that holiness will be unbearable to the reprobate (Rev 6:15-17).
There is but one safe place in the universe from which to behold God’s transcendent holiness. It is from the safety of being hidden in Christ, clothed in His imputed righteousness. In a sense, Christ has become the believer’s ‘observatory’ from which he or she may safely behold the glory of God’s moral majesty. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18). But we cannot adore what we do not share in, and therefore we must be made like Him in order to enjoy him (2 Thess 2:13-14). “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Eph 1:4-6).
The world wants a god with relative holiness rather than transcendent
holiness. The reason why is that a god of relative holiness would accept a relative righteousness in the creature. Paul identifies this tendency in Romans chapter ten. “For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom 10:1-4).
Our God who is transcendent in holiness cannot deny himself, He will not make adjustments to His own holiness to keep the creature out of hell. For, He is immutable and unchanging, therefore we are the ones who must change, and be changed. But, in our enmity and helplessness, only God can provide the change of status and the change of our natures. This is why He has sent his Son and, and it is why He commands gospel faith. The gospel is simple in its purity and beauty. The quickened sinner may rightly say, “God the Father gave His Son for my sins.” Butk only a person who is a ‘new creation’ (2 Cor 5:17) having experienced the effectual call and the new birth, can make this claim in truth.
God’s transcendent holiness confronts man, stopping him in his tracks. Through the rigor of the Law and through the scandal of the cross, man is ‘knocked of balance’ and staggered by what he cannot manage and control. No amount of escape, defiance, or appeasement can quiet a man’s conscience—for the Law and the cross ‘stick there’ like painful briars. They speak of God’s transcendent holiness. They disturb the conscience with a portentous message that a day of accounting is coming—a day of destiny in which one’s life will be evaluated in light of this holiness. Someday you will stand before this holy God, giving a comprehensive account. “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment” (Mt 12:36).
The universe was made as a stage for the glory of God’s moral majesty. This begs the question, how can fallen, polluted man find solace in God’s purpose to eternally display His transcendent holiness? Every true believer knows the answer: the cross makes the sinner beautiful to God and the cross makes God’s holiness beautiful to the sinner. For only in Christ does the creature realize his created purpose. This is so succinctly stated in the Westminster Shorter Catechism: Q. What is the chief end of man? A. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Is there anything about God’s transcendent holiness that draws and enchants, or does it only terrify and repel you? Your answer will reveal whether or not you belong to Christ. Jonathan Edwards is incredibly lucid in these matters of God’s holiness in connection with the sinner’s salvation. The following observations made by Edwards are drawn from his magnum opus book, The Religious Affections.
Self-love in religion as our starting point can block us from true religion. Love to God starts with the affections perceiving the excellence of God’s nature— self-interest will be secondary, but self-interest will be primary in the hypocrite (pp. 170-172).
The believer’s affections express true gratitude for who God is in Himself. Therefore, in genuine salvation, the beauty of God’s nature is unfolded.
Our love is drawn out by His love to us first, but, the hypocrite’s motivations never rise above self-love (pp. 173-179).
Concerning God’s moral majesty, we love God for the beauty of His holiness; for His moral excellence—it is the starting point for the appreciation of all other virtues and attributes in God. Loving God’s holiness is the only way to acquiesce to God’s way of salvation (pp. 181-185).
The nature we were born with is against God’s holiness, therefore, delight in God’s holy nature, without self-love coming first is a good test of true salvation. The unbeliever may have some “spiritual perception” but he is blind to God’s moral majesty (holiness) (pp. 187-189).
The Spirit’s enlightening is needed in order to perceive and love the moral majesty of God. The new birth gives a new sense to perceive the beauty of divine things. The new birth is needed to see the beauty of holiness. The saint is lost in wonder at the suitableness of Christ for the sinner’s dilemma. Because he has no principle of grace, the hypocrite cannot put on the grace garments spoken of in Ephesians chapter four and Colossians chapter three (pp. 192-203, 210).
Genuine assurance of salvation is joined to the absolute persuasion of, and beauty of divine things. The saint is ravished by the beauty of moral excellence. All of the gospel’s doctrines depend upon God’s holy beauty. Every part of the gospel has God’s holy beauty in it. To “sell all” for Christ is the result of the powerful conviction of the truth of the gospel (also, that conviction of the truth of the gospel gives the ability to suffer for the cause of Christ) (pp. 218-228, 231-233).
All that God is toward me in Christ as spelled out in the word of grace provides the covenant love, and the safety necessary to behold God’s holiness, and that beholding produces the desire for imitating and adoring His holiness (JRW).