Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

 ³  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court,

 ⁴  they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.

 ⁵  “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women;  what then do You say?”

 ⁶  They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.  But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.

 ⁷  But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

 ⁸  Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

 ⁹  When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.

 ¹⁰  Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they?  Did no one condemn you?”

 ¹¹  She said, “No one, Lord.”  And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either.  Go.  From now on sin no more.”]”  John 8:1-11.

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This Scripture for today reminds us of 1 John 1:8-10.  “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

Some people misuse the Scripture for today, particularly “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”, to try to make it seem as if either they did not sin or some friend did not sin.

However, Jesus did not teach that the woman did not sin.  Yes, he did not condemn her, but he made it clear that she did sin by stating:  “Sin no more“.  (Emphasis added.)

So, we go back to 1 John 1:8-10.  We learn to admit our sins.  But, we do more than just admit our sins when we are confronted with our sins.  We confess our sins even if others do not confront us with our sins.

We may wrongly think that the worst that can happen to us if others confront us with our sins.  But, Psalm 32 reveals the worst.  “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;  My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.”  Psalm 32:3-4.

But, when we confess ours sins, God forgives us of our guilt.  Psalm 32:5.

God provides deliverance and even a hiding place.  “You are my hiding place;  You preserve me from trouble;  You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”  Psalm 32:7.

God delivers us from our sins.  1 John 1:9 assures us that God cleanses us from all unrighteousness. 

Can God even provide a hiding place for us?  He did so for the adulterous woman.  If ever there was a person who needed and wanted a hiding place, it was this adulterous woman.  Yet, Jesus provided it for her as Jesus caused her accusers to leave one by one.  Her story builds our faith that Jesus can forgive us, deliver us, and hide us.

 ⁴⁷  The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you?

 ⁴⁸  “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?

 ⁴⁹  “But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.”

 ⁵⁰  Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them,

 ⁵¹  “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”

 ⁵²  They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you?  Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”

 ⁵³  [Everyone went to his home.”  John 7:45-53.

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I was intrigued by the Pharisees’ statement:  “But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.”  

There are 81 verses with either the word “accursed” or “cursed” in it. 

In a review of these verses, I did not see any verses which base such a curse on lack of knowledge of the law.  Rather, the curses were based on “doing“, either doing something forbidden by the Law or based on not doing something commanded by the Law.

Deuteronomy 27:26
” ‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’  And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ ”

So, we take the step from knowledge to “doing”.

But, we are not saved by the “doing”.

“For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.”  Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident;  for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”  However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.”  Galatians 3:10-12.

So, we take the next step from the “doing” to “faith”.

But, even though faith is the means by which we are saved, we are not saved by faith as if we generated our own faith or were wise enough to believe.      

“For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  Romans 9:15-16. 

^“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”  1 Corinthians 1-26-29.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9.

Grace comes to us:   “it is the gift of God.” 

^“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”  Ephesians 2:4-5.

 ⁴²  “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

 ⁴³  So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.

 ⁴⁴  Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.”  John 7:40-44. 

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Regarding the division, we are reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:34-39.   “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth;  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;  and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.  “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;  and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”  Matthew 10:34-39. 

We also remember John 6:66-69.  “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.  So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”  Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have words of eternal life.  “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”  John 6:66-69.

The division is sharp.  On which side are you?

 ³⁴  “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

 ³⁵  The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him?  He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?

 ³⁶  “What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

 ³⁷  Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

 ³⁸  “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”

 ³⁹  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive;  for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”  John 7:32-39.  

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There are three things  that I want to cover in this Scripture.

First, I want to cover the contrast between the reprobates and the elect. 

Although in a sense, Scripture tells us that in our total depraved condition, no one seeks after God (Romans 3:11), the Pharisees were seeking Jesus, not to follow Him and be His disciples, but to seize Him.  The Pharisees represent the reprobates who seek Jesus to handle Him on their own terms for their own purposes.  They may want to be saved, but they are only willing to receive Jesus on their own terms.  They will neither find Jesus nor go where Jesus is (heaven).

On the other hand, there are those elect in whom God creates that thirst for Jesus.  We read in the last chapter, John Chapter 6, about God’s irresistible grace through which God draws His elect to Jesus.  Although everyone receives an outward call, even command, to come to Jesus, only the elect receive that inward call and thirst for Christ.   

Second, the Pharisees’ scoff, that Jesus would not go to the Greeks (a/k/a Gentiles), was prophetic.  To these Pharisees, and most Jews, it was unimaginable that Godly Jewish leaders would go to and teach  the heathen Gentiles.  But, Jesus, through His Body, the Church, did exactly that.  This reminds us of the depth and extent of the love of God for the whole world, namely for people beyond just the Jews, people of every nation and tribe.

Third, Jesus statement “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” should greatly encourage us.  Even though Scripture has recently pounded the table about the truth of election, we need not “inquisitively pry into the secret and deep things of God”.  No name, after those in the first century, is written in the Bible.  No one, except God, can peer into the Book of Life.  Rather, we can perceive as to whether or not we are thirsty for Christ.  If we are thirsty for Christ, then we receive assurance by Jesus’ statement that we can come to Jesus and drink.

There is no Reformed Confession that is stricter about election nor pounds the table more about election than The Canons of Dordt.  But, here is the comfort of what The Canons of Dordt states about such a thirst. 

Article 12.  The elect in due time, though in various degrees and in different measures, attain the assurance of this their eternal and unchangeable election, not by inquisitively prying into the secret and deep things of God, but by observing in themselves with a spiritual joy and holy pleasure, the infallible fruits of election pointed out in the Word of God – such as a true faith in Christ, filial fear, a godly sorrow for sin, a hungering and thirsting after righteousness, etc.

Article 16.  Those who do not yet experience a lively faith in Christ, an assured confidence of soul, peace of conscience, an earnest endeavor after filial obedience, and glorying in God through Christ, efficaciously wrought in them, and do nevertheless persist in the use of the means which God hath appointed for working these graces in us, ought not to be alarmed at the mention of reprobation, nor to rank themselves among the reprobate, but diligently to persevere in the use of means, and with ardent desires, devoutly and humbly to wait for a season of richer grace.  Much less cause have they to be terrified by the doctrine of reprobation, who, though they seriously desire to be turned to God, to please him only, and to be delivered from the body of death, cannot yet reach that measure of holiness and faith to which they aspire;  since a merciful God has promised that he will not quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed.  But this doctrine is justly terrible to those, who, regardless of God and of the Savior Jesus Christ, have wholly given themselves up to the cares of the world, and the pleasures of the flesh, so long as they are not seriously converted to God.

 ²⁷  “However, we know where this man is from;  but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”

 ²⁸  Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.

 ²⁹  “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

 ³⁰  So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.

 ³¹  But many of the crowd believed in Him;  and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”  John 7:25-31.

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I love that question.  “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”  The inference is that the believers were reminding others of the signs that Christ performed. 

When we feel like we are not a good witness for Christ, we can take comfort and gain strength through remembering Acts 1:8:  “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;  and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

And what do good witnesses do?  They tell others of what they witnessed.  Maybe, we witnessed some Scripture by reading it and understanding it to some God-given extent.  Maybe, we witnessed some Reformed Confession and can link it to some Scripture to help others better understand the Scripture.  Maybe, we witnessed some personal experience that Scripture describes.  Maybe, we witnessed some Godly character trait in others, such as the fruit of the Spirit, and we can encourage them that God is working in them.

These are all signs.  Scripture is a sign.  Reformed Confessions are signs.  Personal experiences are signs.  Godly character traits in others are signs.  We can and should point to these signs. 

Now, obviously, some signs are more reliable than others.  Scripture is more reliable than the others I mentioned.  But, a witness can and should tell others of not only the clearest and closest thing he saw;  a witness can and should tell us, with careful explanation of the conditions, of things that he saw through a darker light and from a greater distance.  We should testify even though we are not perfect and even though our observations are not perfect. 

We can raise a helpful question like was raised here.  “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”  

We can also testify as to our personal experience (point to a sign) and raise a question as was done by the Samaritan woman at the well:  “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done;  this is not the Christ, is it?”  John 7:29.

So, what have you witnessed that may help others?

 ²⁰  The crowd answered, “You have a demon!  Who seeks to kill You?”

 ²¹  Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel.

 ²²  “For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man.

 ²³  “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?

 ²⁴  “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”  John 7:19-24.

Let us first remember that God loves justice.  God exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, and He delights in these things.   

“Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;  but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth;  for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 9:23-24. 

But, justice is not just favoring the poor.  

“You shall do no injustice in judgment;  you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.”  Leviticus 19:15.

Here is a prophecy about Jesus.  Notice the righteous judgment.

^“And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
         And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
         Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
         And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
         And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
         And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.”  Isaiah 11:3-4.

Dispense true justice and practice kindness.

^“Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother;  and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor;  and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ ”  Zechariah 7:9-10. 

Here is a summary given by Scripture on how we should live our lives.

Micah 6:8
“He has told you, O man, what is good;  And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Here is one simple but very practical way that we all can do justice. 

We should be competent in both in the quality of our work and in what we charge.  We should provide just value in the labor and goods that we provide for the income that we receive.  We should charge;  it is just that we receive money;  but, we should charge fairly.

 ³  Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.

 ⁴  “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”

 ⁵  For not even His brothers were believing in Him.

 ⁶  So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune.

 ⁷  “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.

 ⁸  “Go up to the feast yourselves;  I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”

 ⁹  Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.”  John 7:1-9.

The world does not want to hear “its deeds are evil” which is “Total Depravity”, the “T” in “TULIP”.  The world does not want to hear that we are dead in sin.  The world does not want to hear Romans 3:10-12.

“¹⁰  as it is written,
         “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
    ¹¹  THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
         THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
    ¹²  ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
         THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
         THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”  Romans 3:10-12.

So, the world presents a “Jesus” who loves everyone and who doesn’t say anything bad about anyone, except maybe about those who were intolerant.  The world wants their “Jesus” to copy their practice of not calling anyone bad, except those who are intolerant, namely those who also strive for holiness and also call the world’s deeds as “evil”.

The world presents man as basically good.  “We just need teachings to improve ourselves and to uncover the goodness within us.”

The world thinks and teaches:  “I am better than others.  Therefore, I am good.”

The world does not want to hear about salvation based on “Unconditional Election”, the “U” of “TULIP”.  At least, the world wants credit for a “free-will” choice of Christ.  The world exclaims:  “We are not dead in sin;  we may be wounded;  but, we should get credit for flailing our arms signaling our willingness to be rescued.”

We should not be surprised that the world hated Jesus.  “For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”  John 7:5.

 ⁶⁸  Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have words of eternal life.

 ⁶⁹  “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

 ⁷⁰  Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?”

 ⁷¹  Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.”  John 6:66-71. 

Like many of Jesus’ disciples, there will be others who will also just listen to the voice in their head and rely on their own sense of what is true, and they will withdraw from walking with Him.  Or, like the twelve, there will be those who will listen to Jesus’ voice and trust Him and His words, and they will follow Him.

“The chosen” will be drawn by “Irresistible Grace”.  “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased;  listen to Him!”  Matthew 17:5

We remember Jesus’ words in John 6:44.  “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;  and I will raise him up on the last day.

We also remember Jesus’ words in John 6:65.  “And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

Here is some of what The Canons of Dordt state about “Irresistible Grace”, the “I” in”TULIP”.

Article 6. That some receive the gift of faith from God, and others do not receive it proceeds from God’s eternal decree, “For known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world,” Acts 15:18.”Who worketh all things after the counsel of his will,” Ephesians 1:11.  According to which decree, he graciously softens the hearts of the elect, however obstinate, and inclines them to believe, while he leaves the non-elect in his just judgment to their own wickedness and obduracy. And herein is especially displayed the profound, and merciful, and at the same time the righteous discrimination between men, equally involved in ruin; or that decree of election and reprobation, revealed in the Word of God, which though men of perverse, impure and unstable minds wrest to their own destruction, yet to holy and pious souls affords unspeakable consolation.

Article 7.  Election is the unchangeable purpose of God, whereby, before the foundation of the world, he hath out of mere grace, according to the sovereign good pleasure of his own will, chosen, from the whole human race, which had fallen through their own fault, from their primitive state of rectitude, into sin and destruction, a certain number of persons to redemption in Christ, whom he from eternity appointed the Mediator and Head of the elect, and the foundation of Salvation.

This elect number, though by nature neither better nor more deserving than the others, but with them involved in one common misery, God hath decreed to give to Christ, to be saved by him, and effectually to call and draw them to his communion by his Word and Spirit, to bestow upon them true faith, justification and sanctification;  and having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of his Son, finally, to glorify them for the demonstration of his mercy, and for the praise of his glorious grace; as it is written: “According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love;  having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved,” Ephesians 1:4,5,6.  And elsewhere: “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called;  and whom he called, them he also justified;  and whom he justified, them he also glorified,” Romans 8:30.