Monday, January 25, 2010

Lex Talionis and Abortion

Exodus 21:23-25

"But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth , hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."

This statement here has been termed the lex talionis, "the law of retribution." This is not mentioned for all the laws in the Bible. One great myth that liberals like to bring up is that the lex talionis was meant for all circumstances. There are times when the law of retribution is not carried out, for instance if a man had killed someone accidentally, then the punishment will not be life for life (20:13). It is interesting to me that this law of retribution is only stated here in a case of a pregnant woman being struck so that she gives birth prematurely. The injury here could mean the injury done to the mother, but from context it seems to point to the injury done to the prematurely born baby. This tells me that God here is protecting the life of the unborn, treating the baby in the womb as a person worthy to be defended by the Divine Law. God used such descriptive language and laid out a severe punishment with such emphasis, it should be no wonder as to what God's position is concerning abortion. God protected the unborn in His Law; we should strive to protect the unborn in ours, even if it is protecting them from their own mothers.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Week in Review 01/22/10

What Did Your Pastor Do This Week
This week was the week I was supposed to get over my sickness, but the rain and few bad decisions didn't help all too much. For one thing, I was cold all the time, and the weather aggravated my throat causing me to cough more than I was coughing previously. On top of that, for some odd reason, though my body was still weak, I decided to play a full on five-on-five basketball game. Not only did my legs cramp up pretty badly, my cough got worse. I knew I should have caught up with work and relaxed instead. Still, I really did enjoy this week, and now looking forward to our Bread and Word Fellowship that we didn't have in a long time. Looking forward to a great weekend!

Interesting Happenings
A student looked at another boy's baby picture and after laughing a long time said, "Don't worry, I was once ugly too." I couldn't help but laugh a little.

Check These Links Out
Sproul on Retirement - Piercing, encouraging one-liner.
A Pro-Life Idol - Heart-warming story about an American Idol contestant.
I am... nothing - Ray Ortlund comparing Christ and Adad Nirari the 3rd.
How Much Difference Would It Make? - Francis Schaeffer's sobering insight.
Young Adults Leaving Church? - Interesting myth-buster.
Like the Air They Breathe - The Online Life of Kids - Sobering cultural assessment by Al Mohler.

The Ever-growing Wish List
Dug Down Deep - By Josh Harris

Monday, January 11, 2010

The Goal of True Theology

1 Timothy 1:5

"But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

The true end of instruction -and in turn study- is not the accumulation of information; it is godliness. The content of instruction here is undoubtedly biblical theology. This instruction was to produce "love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." True thoughts of God lead to proper, godly living. It is as Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of your heart the mouth speaks." Are you filling your heart with true theology that overflows into obedience and love towards God? This also means that proper living without proper thoughts of God are not the intention of the Christian faith. There is no place for godless, thoughtless morality in Christianity. All our doing is to be grounded in a true knowledge of God. Do you want to be godly? Fill your minds; fill it with God.

Monday, January 4, 2010

God Keeps Us from Sin

Genesis 20:4-6

"Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, 'Lord, will You slay a nation, even though blameless? Did he not himself say to me, "She is my sister"? And she herself said, "He is my brother." In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.' Then God said to him in the dream, 'Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.'"

Wow. Do you see what God is saying here? God kept Abimelech from sinning. Yet there is this wonderful harmony between Abimelech's will and God's keeping. It can be said that Abimelech lived with integrity and also that God kept Abimelech from sin. God does not keep us from sinning nor does He allow us to live holy without working with our hearts and desires. No wonder Spurgeon said that God's sovereignty and human will are friends.