Foreword:
The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments by Arthur W. Pink
(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)
In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. In our day, when people who identify themselves as Christians are so sensitive to any accusation of legalism that they tend to swing all the way out to antinomianism (that is lawlessness), it is perhaps now more than ever that we ought to prayerfully re-examine the Ten Commandments – and few do it better than Arthur Pink (1886 - 1952). I found this article to be very convicting as I first worked through it. And, lest we think we the church are not in need of this labour, let us be reminded that those whom Jesus will reject on the last Day even though they did many mighty works in his name, were accused by our Lord of not just having no intimate relationship with him (‘I never knew you’), but also that they were accused as workers of lawlessness by our Lord. The Law of God does not save, nor does it keep one saved – none the less we are called to obedience to it who are saved – but enough of me – here is Arthur Pink…
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT PART III
In pointing out the duties required by this Commandment we cannot do better than to quote the Westminster Confession of Faith. They are "the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God (1 Chron. 28:9; Deut. 26:17, etc.); and to worship and glorify Him accordingly (Psa. 95:6, 7; Matt. 4:1O, etc.), by thinking (Mal. 3:16), meditating (Psa. 63:6), remembering (Eccl. 12:1), highly esteeming (Psa. 71:19), honouring (Mal. 1:6), adoring (Isa. 45:23), choosing (Josh. 24:15), loving (Deut. 6:5), desiring (Psa. 73:25), fearing of Him (Isa. 8:13), believing Him (Ex. 14:31), trusting (Isa. 26:4), hoping (Psa. 103:7), delighting (Psa. 37:4), rejoicing in Him (Psa. 32:11), being zealous for Him (Rom. 12:11), calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks (Phil. 4:6), and yielding all obedience and submission to Him with the whole man (Jer. 7:23), being careful in all things to please Him (1 John 3:22), and sorrowful when in anything he is offended (Jer. 31:18; Psa. 119:136), and walking humbly with Him (Micah 6:8)."
Those duties may be summarized in these chief ones. First, the diligent and lifelong seeking after a fuller knowledge of God as He is revealed in His Word and works, for we cannot worship an unknown God. Second, the loving of God with all our faculties and strength, which consists of an earnest panting after Him, and deep joy in Him, and a holy zeal for Him. Third, the fearing of God, which consists of an awe of his majesty, supreme reverence for His authority, and a desire for His glory: as the love of God is the motive-spring of obedience, so the fear of God is the great deterrent of disobedience. Fourth, the worshipping of God according to His appointments, the principal aids to which are these: study of and meditation upon the Word, prayer, and putting into practice what we are taught.
The most important question a professing christian must regularly ask themselves is: “is my faith real?” or “am I truly saved?”
2 Corinthians 13:5 states:
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?”
“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” (Martin Luther) – true faith produces works (James 2:14-26). There is an empty confessional Christianity, which many profess, which is based on a decision to acknowledge the cross but which bears no fruit. If someone recites the sinner’s prayer or walks the aisle or raises their hand at an evanglical meeting and calls themselves a Christian and yet lives in open unashamed rebellion against the laws of God – are they a real Christian? Can you think of times in scripture where Jesus himself preached against such a path? What of the writings of Paul or John? The first commandment is a remedy against such a path if it leads us to the four precepts or duties of the true beleiver as summarized by Pink above. Can you state these in your own words? Can you honestly say they describe your Chirstian walk? If not, will you pray to God that He would help you with each duty? Lastly bear in mind that none of us performs our duty perfectly all the time – even the apostle Paul called himself a wretched man. It is not your record of duty that saves you (it is Christ’s which he has impiuted to you – hallelujah!), but if your heart yearns to live for God, if you wish you were able to be perfect, if you hate your sin because it offends God, if the real you wants to honour and worship the real God in the way that He prescribes – then you can be assured that your faith is not in vain. We must examine and test ourselves because the human heart is so deceitful and history is cluttered with examples of outwardly pious Christians who then fell away from faith thereby showing that they never were true believers at all (1 John 2:19). What is the overall direction of your life, the tenor or tone? Let the words of Pink and/or the quote of the Westminster Confession of Faith he gives be a fire that purifies you (read them again). Invite the heavenly Gardener to prune you – to add and subtract what is needed so that you might glorify his name, love the saints and live in true assurance of your election to eternal life.
The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments by Arthur W. Pink
(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)
In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. In our day, when people who identify themselves as Christians are so sensitive to any accusation of legalism that they tend to swing all the way out to antinomianism (that is lawlessness), it is perhaps now more than ever that we ought to prayerfully re-examine the Ten Commandments – and few do it better than Arthur Pink (1886 - 1952). I found this article to be very convicting as I first worked through it. And, lest we think we the church are not in need of this labour, let us be reminded that those whom Jesus will reject on the last Day even though they did many mighty works in his name, were accused by our Lord of not just having no intimate relationship with him (‘I never knew you’), but also that they were accused as workers of lawlessness by our Lord. The Law of God does not save, nor does it keep one saved – none the less we are called to obedience to it who are saved – but enough of me – here is Arthur Pink…
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT PART III
In pointing out the duties required by this Commandment we cannot do better than to quote the Westminster Confession of Faith. They are "the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God (1 Chron. 28:9; Deut. 26:17, etc.); and to worship and glorify Him accordingly (Psa. 95:6, 7; Matt. 4:1O, etc.), by thinking (Mal. 3:16), meditating (Psa. 63:6), remembering (Eccl. 12:1), highly esteeming (Psa. 71:19), honouring (Mal. 1:6), adoring (Isa. 45:23), choosing (Josh. 24:15), loving (Deut. 6:5), desiring (Psa. 73:25), fearing of Him (Isa. 8:13), believing Him (Ex. 14:31), trusting (Isa. 26:4), hoping (Psa. 103:7), delighting (Psa. 37:4), rejoicing in Him (Psa. 32:11), being zealous for Him (Rom. 12:11), calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks (Phil. 4:6), and yielding all obedience and submission to Him with the whole man (Jer. 7:23), being careful in all things to please Him (1 John 3:22), and sorrowful when in anything he is offended (Jer. 31:18; Psa. 119:136), and walking humbly with Him (Micah 6:8)."
Those duties may be summarized in these chief ones. First, the diligent and lifelong seeking after a fuller knowledge of God as He is revealed in His Word and works, for we cannot worship an unknown God. Second, the loving of God with all our faculties and strength, which consists of an earnest panting after Him, and deep joy in Him, and a holy zeal for Him. Third, the fearing of God, which consists of an awe of his majesty, supreme reverence for His authority, and a desire for His glory: as the love of God is the motive-spring of obedience, so the fear of God is the great deterrent of disobedience. Fourth, the worshipping of God according to His appointments, the principal aids to which are these: study of and meditation upon the Word, prayer, and putting into practice what we are taught.
The most important question a professing christian must regularly ask themselves is: “is my faith real?” or “am I truly saved?”
2 Corinthians 13:5 states:
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?”
“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.” (Martin Luther) – true faith produces works (James 2:14-26). There is an empty confessional Christianity, which many profess, which is based on a decision to acknowledge the cross but which bears no fruit. If someone recites the sinner’s prayer or walks the aisle or raises their hand at an evanglical meeting and calls themselves a Christian and yet lives in open unashamed rebellion against the laws of God – are they a real Christian? Can you think of times in scripture where Jesus himself preached against such a path? What of the writings of Paul or John? The first commandment is a remedy against such a path if it leads us to the four precepts or duties of the true beleiver as summarized by Pink above. Can you state these in your own words? Can you honestly say they describe your Chirstian walk? If not, will you pray to God that He would help you with each duty? Lastly bear in mind that none of us performs our duty perfectly all the time – even the apostle Paul called himself a wretched man. It is not your record of duty that saves you (it is Christ’s which he has impiuted to you – hallelujah!), but if your heart yearns to live for God, if you wish you were able to be perfect, if you hate your sin because it offends God, if the real you wants to honour and worship the real God in the way that He prescribes – then you can be assured that your faith is not in vain. We must examine and test ourselves because the human heart is so deceitful and history is cluttered with examples of outwardly pious Christians who then fell away from faith thereby showing that they never were true believers at all (1 John 2:19). What is the overall direction of your life, the tenor or tone? Let the words of Pink and/or the quote of the Westminster Confession of Faith he gives be a fire that purifies you (read them again). Invite the heavenly Gardener to prune you – to add and subtract what is needed so that you might glorify his name, love the saints and live in true assurance of your election to eternal life.
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