blood – Auriesville Tubthumper

God the Warrior, Gibbor

GOD as Warrior

As a reminder: Every society needs its warriors to survive. It is the warrior in men that energizes us and allows us to defend our values. It’s the warrior in us that allows us to stand our ground and protect and defend even to the point of death. The warrior is an inherent instinct within the nature of men.

When looking at the term “gibbor”, we know that God Himself is a warrior. We see the words of Jeremiah, “Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. [gibbor] – (Jeremiah 10:6) Please turn to Psalm 89 and you will observe the psalmist saying of God, “Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.” – (Psalm 89: 13-14) Righteousness and justice is the foundation of his throne and He is full of power and strength, He is exalted and He acts with love and faithfulness.

When God saves, and vindicates us humans it is His warrior strength that overcomes the enemy. (Psalm 54:1-4, 20:6) God’s warrior strength and the relationship with His character allows His name Yahweh to be identified with gibbor: “Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is the Lord. [Yahweh]” – (Jeremiah 16:21) A commentator has observed, “One thing the Exodus does not require is any military violence on the part of the Hebrews… Moses arsenal does not include a single bona fide weapon – no swords, no spears, bows, or knives, much less chariots and horsemen. It is Yahweh who fights!

God is not passive. He fights for His people to save, liberate, protect and sustain. He has all the attributes of warrior. I’m glad Jesus is a warrior, I’m glad He fought for my salvation by offering up His only son and glad He will fight again.

The Messianic Warrior

In the promise concerning the Messiah, one designation placed on Him will be “El Gibbor” or the mighty-warrior God. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” – (Isaiah 9:6) His name is listed alongside eternal Father and Prince of Peace. This indicates that being God is not inconsistent with being a warrior and being a warrior is not inconsistent with being the Prince of Peace. God’s ultimate representative, His own son, the Messiah, is a warrior fighting and laying down His own life for His Father’s cause. And one day soon He will mount His white horse and slay the armies of the world to establish a perfect and lasting peace. (Revelation 19:11-21)

Gibbor as National Warrior and Hero

All through the Old Testament the use of “gibbor” refers to the experienced veteran of combat or the hero status achieved from spectacular feats of bravery. Psalm 19:5, Isaiah 36:5, Genesis 6:4, Genesis 10:9 are all examples.

Gideon and Jephthath, two of Israel’s judges were called gibbbors. (Judges 6:12, 11:1) In Judges chapter seven Gideon made a name for himself by destroying the pagan altars and fighting the Midianites with a corp of three hundred gibbors.

The reign of David advanced the concept of the gibbor to an outstanding militia and hand-picked corp of warriors. It was carried on by Solomon and the number of his gibborim grew to 60. He comments on their “parade dress” appearance in Song of Songs 3:7-8.

The warrior is part of the routine expression of manliness in the Bible. God the Father and Christ are examples of what it is. As men, we need to embrace the latent or rejected warrior within for our own development and for the sake of our society and church. The warrior never serves himself. The warrior serves his king and his commander. We must know and understand what and who we serve. The power of the warrior needs to be in the service of a larger view of masculinity.

Let’s be clear, being a warrior is not the goal of manhood. It is a stop along the way to full maleness. Scripture shows that a true warrior should develop as a spiritual warrior. This takes more than just being tough, strong, or determined to win.

Gibbor as the Spiritual Warrior

Solomon says, “Wisdom is better than [warrior] strength.” (Ecclesiastes 9:16) The psalmist adds, “He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” – (Psalm 147:10-11)

Isaiah declares a man’s real strength lies in things like repentance, resting in one’s salvation, and in the quiet trust of God. (Isaiah 30:15) This is reaffirmed through the prophet Jeremiah: “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” – (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

This clarifies the true warrior. Not a warmonger or baby-killer but warriors that know their limitations and place their faith in God. The warrior does not trust in his own ability but he puts his commitment, allegiance and trust in God. For a man that has not had a significant male role model in his life this is bad news. The fatherless generation could learn a lot about being a man through the study of God’s word and witnessing a true warrior in operation. The true warrior does not trust his own strength but he trusts in the strength of the Lord.

On the other side of things, the psalmist admits that “gibbor” can use power for malevolent causes and become a violent man full of evil. This is a possibility inherent in the warrior psyche.

“Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.” – (Psalm 40:4) and in contrast, “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.” – (Jeremiah 17:5)

Job was told by God to “Gird up his loins as a warrior would do preparing for battle” in (Job 38:1-3) He was telling Job to receive the words of God as a warrior would do. For three chapters God put Job in his place by reminding him of who he is and asking him to receive the admonition as a warrior would. The warrior salutes and carries out the order. No debate, just Yes, sir.

King David was a supreme example of the spiritual warrior and the gibbor. He always credited his military accomplishments to God and sang praises to Him. (1 Chronicles 29:11-14) David also illustrated the downside of the life of the warrior. To be a successful warrior, blood must be shed. There is a certain irony in the life of the warrior. It is a much-needed stop on the male journey. It is where we grow up. But, it still involves, blood, risk, and/or sacrifice. We need to prove ourselves. It is different with each man how that occurs. Sometimes it takes all the warrior courage we can muster up to pull the task off. Whatever it is, however, we must call forth the warrior within us to kill it. We must trust God with the outcome and risk psychological or physical injury to become men. “What is a man without his sword?”

The challenge of being a warrior is twofold: Knowing what to fight for, and knowing when to quit and neither of these is easy to learn. Usually it takes a major and very tragic loss or a severe wounding within the life of a man to move him out of the warrior perspective. The warrior never leaves us but if the warrior fights enough battles he can become seriously wounded. The arrows find their targets and we become wounded to the point of new an uncharted territory. It’s a dark and scary place. It is a stage on the journey to manhood most men would love to skip. If you are stuck in the wounded male space, you are lost and feel you will never find your way back.

This brings us to the subject for the next post, The Wounded Male- Enosh: The Painful Incongruency, so come back for this in the next posting.

All credit goes to Robert Hicks and The Masculine Journey.

God bless you all,

The Tubthumper

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It’s a miracle, a free gift!

It is Justification. In my opinion justification is a miracle. It is a miraculous gift given to all of us who believe upon Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is provided by Christ’s death on the cross and given to us at no cost through His grace.

The doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone is extremely important and central to the Christian faith.

In spite of the importance attributed to it in the Bible and the critical role it played in the Protestant Reformation, most professing believers today do not understand it. We live in a time when most people are woefully ignorant of basic Bible doctrines. An obsession with entertainment and emotionalism has replaced a concern for theology. How many sermons or classes have you seen dealing with the doctrine of God, or the atonement, or justification? Little to none I’ll bet. Why isn’t doctrine taught today? Did you know that Paul made it completely clear that a mistake regarding justification can send you to the lake of fire? We need preachers and teachers committed to expound on the doctrine of justification.

The doctrine of Justification by faith and the death of Christ at Calvary go together and Justification is based on the blood of the Lamb.

A study of Scripture proves that justification is not subjective or a process, but is a legal declaration by God the Father in the heavenly court.

Some points of clarity between justification and sanctification: Justification is objective. It takes place outside of the sinner in the heavenly court. Justification does not directly change the believer’s inner life. On the other hand, sanctification is subjective. It takes place in the sinner and renders the sinner more holy over time.

Justification is an act of God the Father. God renders a verdict regarding the one who believes in Christ. “It is God who justifies” (Rom. 8:33). Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit. “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). Justification is instantaneous. God declares the believing sinner righteous in a moment of time. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (Jn. 5:24; Lk. 18:14; Rom. 5:1). Justification is not a process, nor is it piecemeal. It takes place only once, and then it is complete. “There is no such thing as being more and more justified. There are no degrees of acceptance with God. To be justified is to be wholly justified.” A “man is either fully justified, or he is not justified at all.” Sanctification is a continuous process. The Christian grows in holiness and more and more conforms to the character of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies God’s word to his heart. “The old sin nature is progressively subdued, but never entirely abolished in this life.” Sanctification is progressive, imperfect, and not completed until death.

Justification removes the guilt of sin and clothes the believer with Christ’s perfect righteousness, thus entitling him to eternal life in God’s own family. Sanctification progressively removes the pollution of sin; subdues the power of sin, and increasingly enables the believer to live in conformity with the word of God.

Justification is an act of God obtained by or through faith. “There is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith” (Rom. 3:30). Faith is not the ground or cause of justification but the instrument by which the believer receives justification. Faith is the gift of God which lays hold of and receives what Christ has accomplished. The believer’s salvation and justification are totally a work of God.

Justification is the manner in which God considers righteous those sinners who, by faith in Jesus Christ, receive Devine forgiveness and reconciliation. Justification is a legal or forensic term and is used in Scripture to denote the acceptance of any one as righteous in the sight of God.

“Salvation includes that which is given, freely and finally, by God (JUSTIFICATION); that which is continually imparted (sanctification); and that still to be attained (glorification).”

Justification is by faith alone and not works. We were given a free gift of grace and justification did not occur by anything we did or anything within us, but occurred because of what Christ did for us. Hence it is called a gift, a free gift, a gift by grace, and believers are described as those who receive this gift of righteousness (Rom. 5.17). We are never said to be justified by anything done by us or wrought in us, but by what Christ has done for us. We are justified through the redemption that is in him (Rom. 3.24). We are justified by his blood (Rom. 5.9) We are justified by his obedience (Rom. 5.19). We are justified by him from all things (Acts 13.39). He is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1.30). We are made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5.21). We are justified in his name (1 Cor. 6.11). There is no condemnation to those who are in him (Rom. 8.1). Justification is, therefore, by faith in Christ, because faith is receiving and trusting to him as our Savior, as having done all that is required to secure our acceptance before God.

Justification is God’s response to the problem of estrangement from the only true God. In his letter to the Romans, Paul conveyed the message that God did not consider sin lightly. Sin created a massive gulf between God and people. This gulf required a bridge to bring all of humanity into a right relationship with God. Theologians call God’s bridge building “reconciliation.” Reconciliation functions to bring humans “justification.” The main character who effected this divine plan was Jesus Christ. Uniquely, His death on the cross made it possible for God and people to be reconciled (Romans 5:10) and thus for humans to be justified.

Through the Gospel, God unleashes a power to change people, and at the crucial point: in their relationship with him. When people respond in faith to the message of the good news, God “justifies” them; that is, he declares them innocent before him, removing the barrier that exists between all human beings in their natural state and God. Everything else in the Christian life flows from this marvelous experience.

Yet many people do not hear this good news, and many Christians do not understand what has happened to them.

I see a good example of justification from the Old Testament. We can take a look at David. In Psalms 51 we find the prayer of repentance from David, “restore unto me the joy of thy salvation”. David had no chance under the Law. There could be no sacrifice offered because an adulterer was to be stoned to death under the Law. He had a broken and contrite heart and was asking for forgiveness. He threw himself to the mercy of the Lord and the Lord provided by grace to have David justified apart from the Law. He bypassed the Law of Moses and by grace he was forgiven. The judge died for the defendant!

When God justifies a man, he declares him to be righteous. Just as Adam’s transgressions resulted in condemnation and death, Christ’s ‘free gift’ brought justification and life (Rom. 5:16). In this affirmation, Paul presupposes the resurrection of Christ and its distribution: those who receive the ‘gift of righteousness’ will rule in life through the one, Jesus Christ (verse 17). His single act of righteousness has brought ‘the justification which issues in life (dikaiosis zoes) for all humanity (verse 18). The ‘gift of righteousness’ (verse 17) is nothing other than Christ’s ‘act of righteousness’ (verse 18) in its saving significance for all who believe. Our justification has been accomplished outside of us, in Christ incarnate, crucified and risen.”

There are three major imputations in the Bible. They are Adam’s sin imputed to the human race, Man’s sin (mine and yours) imputed upon Christ, and last but most certainly not least is God’s righteousness imputed to all believers. And justification is an act of God. It is a legal declaration whereby God declares a vile sinner to be righteous.”

The cross of Calvary makes it possible for God to be both just and the Justifier. (II Cor. 5:21)

Justification, however, is only for “him which believeth in Jesus.” This cannot be overemphasized. God justifies only those who believe in Jesus. The only belief that counts with God is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a comfort to know that through Christ’s redeeming work our Justification is connected indissolubly with the glory of God.

We now can look at the word “Grace”. Grace is unmerited favor. It is getting something we do not deserve. All we deserve from God is His eternal punishment for our continued rebellion; but instead He offers us salvation through His Son at the infinite cost of Calvary. So we are “justified freely by His grace”.

It is based on a redemptive price, for Paul goes on to speak of “the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood”. (Romans 3: 24, 25) Remember those words, “redemption, propitiation, faith and blood”. The four steps leading to Justification: 1) You are lost, 2) You cannot save yourself, 3) You realize only Christ can save you, and 4) You must ask Christ to save you.

Justification by faith is the doctrine we need expounded on more today. Justification is free. God does not charge us anything. He does not charge for saving us either.

I will end with these words, “In the brief, but clear and comprehensive words of the Westminster Divines: “Justification is an act of God’s free grace, –Wherein He pardoneth all our sins,– and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, — only for the righteousness of Christ, –imputed to us,– and received by faith alone.”

The peace of God can be enjoyed by all and because of justification we have hope.

By His grace I am saved,

“The Tubthumper”

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