Things that are Rightfully God's

I know that this is a long over due blog and that I am a blog booger for not blogging more often, but take what you can get and be thankful.

I have been dwelling lately on the supremacy of God in all things and the need for all of our life to be completely centered, focused, and dependent on Him. I have realized that it seems like most of the modern Church does not think this way. Most believe that God is not sufficient in things of science, math, relationships, auto repair, etc ... . You name it people will find a way to give into the temptation that God is not able, or not involved in the little things, or worst yet, that He does not exist. This thinking comes from an improper view of Him and a lack of knowledge and faith in God's Scripture. I want this blog to be a reminder to you all that this is a very dangerous and horrifying place to be. If you think this, and in many areas of life we betray that we do by our actions, then you must be warned that God is a jealous God and will do whatever it takes to regain His glory and preeminence from our lives, whether that means judgment in hell, or discipline as believers.

For the last year or so, Jonathan Sarr, Curtis Wentling, Sean Higgins, and myself have been reading John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion." John Calvin's mission was to glorify God in all that he did and for his readers to do the same. Calvin believed with everything that he was that the Lord, alone, is to be preeminent among His people, and as such has the right to exercise complete authority over them. This is the purpose, in his discussion of the Ten Commandments, he states for giving us the First Commandment in Exodus 20:3, "You shall have no other gods before me." He goes on to say that "we cannot "have" God without at the same time embracing the things that are His. Therefore, in forbidding us to have strange gods, He means that we are not to transfer to another what belongs to Him" (Institutes, 2.VIII.16). All things belong to God because He is the Creator and Author of this world and us, and He is the only sovereign, omnipotent, and perfectly righteous one. Not only this (which is sufficient by itself), but for those of us who believe and reap the benefits of His salvation, He gave His only begotten Son, for our filthy, sin filled, depraved, wicked, and God hating souls. As such we are obligated and should with great joy and willingness to humbly give all we have to Him. Calvin being the great teacher that he is, "conveniently" groups the "innumerable things that we owe to God" under four headings: Adoration, trust, invocation, and thanksgiving. Here they are for edification and reminding, with definitions:

Adoration: the veneration and worship that each of us, submitting to His greatness, renders to Him. A part of adoration is that we must submit our consciences to His law.
Trust: the assurance of reposing in Him that arises from the recognition of His attributes, when--attributing to Him all wisdom, righteousness, might, truth, and goodness--we judge that we are blessed only by communion with Him.
Invocation: the habit of the mind, whenever necessity presses us, of resorting to His faithfulness and help as our only support.
Thanksgiving: the gratitude with which we ascribe praise to Him for all good things.

One last thing to leave you with from Calvin, it is not enough to "abstain from a strange god," but if we are to ascribe to God what He will not allow to be transferred to another and must be rendered solely unto Him, we must pursue "true religion." True religion is "steeped in the knowledge of Him." We must "aspire to contemplate, fear, and worship, His majesty; to participate in His blessings; to seek His help at all times; to recognize, and by praises to celebrate, the greatness of His works--as the only goal of all the activities of this life."

May we all aspire to live this way and to fight for God's glory in our hearts, minds, and actions, and to also fight for the same in others. God is playing for keeps and so should we.