Advice Requested⤒🔗

We know John the Baptist as the messenger of Christ’s coming. His preaching prepared the way for the Lord as he called God’s people to repentance. The meeting with the coming King would be disastrous if there was no repentance, for every tree without fruit would be cut down and burned. This preaching not only taught God’s people the necessity of repentance, but also gave them the realization that true repentance is not just a change of heart, but also shows itself in the life of every day. That realization becomes clear from the question with which people react to John’s proclamation of judgment: “What then shall we do?” — a request for advice as to what the deeds of repentance are. And John gives everyone advice. One must give away half of his clothes. Another must share his food. Tax collectors may not charge more than the tax rate allows, and soldiers are not allowed to plunder. They receive wages and must be content with those. John gives concrete advice as rules for a life of repentance. On the basis of such rules, repentance becomes visible, and God’s children will be recognizable as people who expect that the redemption of their life is through the forgiveness of sins. The question “What shall we do?” is not strange for the subjects of God’s kingdom, and life in his kingdom cannot be without rules for actual repentance.

Wisdom Needed←⤒🔗

In the meantime it is not always easy to answer the question as to what we must do, and to set rules which we must stick to. Many matters are easy to define as sin in the Word of God. There are also those where much wisdom is needed to know what the will of God is. By the way, also where God’s Word is clear, one must always speak and act wisely.

An example of this is how the Lord wants us to deal with a homosexual or lesbian tendency. How are brothers and sisters with such a tendency to take their place in the congregation of Christ? At the time of writing, Rev. B. Luiten recently attempted to come further in this matter and in this, do justice to the Word of God and to the spiritual battle of homosexual-lesbian brothers and sisters (DE REFORMATIE, jgn.73/9). When we understand him correctly, he disapproves of the homosexual contact, but requests space for love and expressions of love of homosexuals for one another without this being stigmatized as a judgeable sin before God. That approach seems better to him than that we speak about “setting the fox to guard the henhouse.”

We do not highlight this to be supportive of the last expression. Neither do we want to engage in a conversation about homosexuality. We appreciate that Rev. Luiten tries to do justice to both God’s Word as well as to the homosexual brothers and sisters. Aside from his concrete vision, we hear in his plea also a protest against the suspicion with which homosexual brothers and sisters are (sometimes) treated. Actually, Rev. Luiten asks to drop the suspicion and to approach homosexual brothers and sisters with confidence. This will make them stronger in the fight of daily repentance to live in holiness before God’s face.

Now there is a measure of wisdom in this. We all know that trust given will stimulate, while suspicion and distrust which does not allow space to someone else can make someone despondent and even cause them to continue on the road of sin. And yet we ask ourselves if the conversation has reached another level, as Rev. Luiten thinks. Are we not stuck in the dilemma between suspicion and trust while an important aspect of the scriptural wisdom has not been justified?

Forgotten Wisdom←⤒🔗

Once again, it is not our goal to debate the vision of Rev. Luiten. The question we have plays out a lot wider and not only in relation to homosexuality. The same matter plays out when two youngsters who are engaged, go camping together, or will share a room and sleep together for the weekend. Are you then suspicious if you warn them that this can easily go wrong, or should you give them the trust that this must be possible? Are you suspicious when you tell young brothers and sisters that they do not belong in certain establishments, or do you trust them to be able to handle this and that they can be there without any trouble? Should you warn against mixed relationships (a believer with a non-believer) or can you trust that it will turn out fine? There are also other examples, of course, such as how we use the television, what we read, the film or internet media, how and where we go out. But we do not have to make up a laundry list of things. We only want to draw attention to a scriptural wisdom which can bring us further than the dilemma of suspicion or trust. We would at least protest vehemently, if we considered the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, who makes a connection between fear of the Lord and the turning away from evil (Proverbs 3:7; 16:6), as an expression of suspicion and distrust, for this wisdom is found throughout all of Scripture!

Distance←⤒🔗

The poet of Proverbs makes the contrast between being wise in your own eyes and the fear of the Lord which is associated with turning away from evil (Proverbs 3:7). Apparently, he wants to show that we cannot expect people who trust their own judgment to turn away from sin. You only do that when you fear the Lord and live in awe of him. And with that the text uses a verb and a preposition for “turning away” which together show an observance of distance, distance between yourself and the sin.

These words also occur in various psalms. Thus, we are taught in Psalm 34 that if we love life and want to enjoy the good things for a long time, then we must turn away from evil and do good (Psalm 34:14-22). In this psalm we are taught the way of life by the teacher of wisdom (J. Ridderbos, DE PSALMEN I/292). Here also, with the same expression showing distance. We encounter the same thought in Psalm 37:27: “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.” The keeping of distance from sin has on the flip side the doing of good, the listening to the law of God. And this lifestyle brings a long life in the Promised Land (A.W. /322) as a blessing from the Lord.

And in the history of Job, the Lord God gives a glowing witness of Job’s righteousness. He calls Job “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:1, 8). The exegete J.H. Kroeze differentiates here between uprightness as the inner life principle and turning away from evil as the lifestyle that is governed by that uprightness (Job /46). In this way the inner awe for God is accompanied by and expresses itself in the observing of keeping a distance from sin.

In the fourth lamentation of Jeremiah, the lament of the prophet is an indictment against the prophets and the priests: “Away! Unclean!” people cried at them. “Away! Away! Do not touch!” (Lamentations 4:15). For, despite the repeated calls to shun the uncleanness and sin, they did not heed the warnings, and therefore are guilty of causing the demise of Jerusalem.

One could mention many more Scripture references from the Old Testament, but these are sufficient to show that uprightness before God also means that God’s child keeps a distance from sin. This distance is praised by God, and also blessed by him, while not keeping this distance incurs his wrath.

Flee!←⤒🔗

Whoever thinks that this is strictly a theme of the Old Testament and that this would be different for God’s people in the new covenant is mistaken. Note even only the fact that the apostle Peter in his first letter quotes the above-mentioned passage from Psalm 34, showing that uprightness—also in the new dispensation—includes keeping a distance from sin (1 Peter 3:6-12).

The apostle Paul says the same thing. When he has to write to the congregation of Corinth about the sexual immorality found in her midst, he says, very boldly, “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). He apparently means not only  that Christians must not practise any sexual immorality, but they must flee from it and so stay far from it. And that is a fruit of unity with Christ. Whoever is one Spirit with the Lord flees from everything which does not tolerate the Spirit of Christ.

This same distance-creating movement can also be heard when Paul explains to the congregation that faith and unbelief, holiness and sin have no common basis. He then quotes the words with which the priests in Isaiah 52 are called to leave the pagan Babel: “Depart, depart, go out from there; touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves, you who bear the vessels of the Lord” (Isaiah 52:11, 2 Corinthians 6:17). That is a turning away from sin and part of your sanctification. And the apostle connects this flight from sin to the promise, which the Lord repeats throughout all of Scripture, that he will dwell and walk among his people and that he will be their God and they will be his people (2 Corinthians 6:16). If the people of God do not turn away, they will block the fulfillment of this promise. The gracious presence of the Lord God cannot be combined with the nearness of sin.

That is also characteristic of God’s people today. The foundation of the church also echoes this: “the Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2:19). That is a comforting foundation. The fact that the Lord knows us speaks of his eternal love and of his protecting care. And, as we confess (Canons of Dort, Chapter I, Article 13), God’s electing love does not make us live in sinful carelessness, but it encourages us to live a holy life and a daily struggle against sin: in short, to be fleeing from sin.

True Repentance←⤒🔗

Many people are concerned with whether true repentance must be seen as a (single) occurrence or as an ongoing process of daily repentance. The Catechism, in Lord’s Day 33, does not really deal with this question. Apparently, it is not the most important question. More important in repentance is our relationship to God. Real repentance is “sadness that we have angered God by way of our sins” and at the same time “joy in God through Christ.” We are no longer standing with our backs turned toward God but are praying to him for forgiveness of our guilt.

With that, the Catechism has not said it all. The inner turning around of our heart shows up in deeds of repentance. The question “What must we do?” needs an answer. Lord’s Day 33 provides that answer. On the one side it is “more and more to hate [sin] and flee from it” and on the other side “a love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works.” Note carefully: hating and fleeing from sin. There is an aversion and a distancing flight from sin, a fleeing to get away from sin.

The Catechism tells us here briefly that the Spirit teaches us throughout Scripture. We also confess this as being characteristic for the true members of the church; that they flee from sin and pursue righteousness (Belgic Confession, Article 29).

Evidently, repentance to God is more than asking him for forgiveness of sins. It is also more than repentance for our sins. It also goes further than an intention to not sin again. Repentance asks what must be done to live a holy life. And that includes fleeing from sin and staying away from sin: hating and fleeing.

Sneering←⤒🔗

When we want to know what God’s will is for our lives, we do not always have clear commands and prohibitions that give us a clear hold. One must differentiate wisely. For this, God’s Word gives us more than the question of whether we treat one another with suspicion or with trust. In light of the command to flee from sin, it will be foolish to downplay a warning as suspicion. Rather, the Word of God opens our eyes to our own weakness and the power of sin. Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Corinthians 10:12). He who lets himself be warned is always wiser than he who trusts his own insight. And would a warned person not take any measures against the danger?

In our culture of tolerance, people sometimes sneer at all sorts of rules which existed in the Reformed lifestyle in the past. For example, you did not go on vacation together as an engaged couple. And so, there were more rules covering different areas of life. We will not argue that these rules were always good and must come back. But it would not be the first time that someone who laughs at safety measures gets into an accident. That is what true repentance will not do. Wherever necessary, it will create distance through concrete measures, so as to live holy before the Lord God.