Once upon a time there were three little theologians who left home to start their own lives. The first little theologian built a house. He made the foundation out of “desiring” clay, the walls out of “doing” bamboo, and the roof out of “looking” stone. One day a big, bad wolf came along and knocked on his door, saying, “Little theologian, little theologian, let me come in.” The first little theologian said, “Not by the hair of my chinny, chin-chin.” The wolf retorted, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.” So the wolf huffed and he puffed and he blew the first little theologian’s house down and the stone roof fell and crushed the little theologian to death. Then the wolf had a nice bowl of “wishy-washy soup.”
The second little theologian built a house too. He made the foundation out of “doing” bamboo, the walls out of “looking” stone, and the roof out of “desiring” clay. One day a big, bad wolf came along and knocked on his door, saying, “Little theologian, little theologian, let me come in.” The second little theologian said, “Not by the hair of my chinny, chin-chin.” The wolf retorted, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.” So the wolf huffed and he puffed and he blew the second little theologian’s house down and the stone walls fell and crushed the little theologian to death. Then the wolf had a nice little “BLT” – Bible, Legalism, and Torture sandwich.
Lastly, the third little theologian built a house. He made the foundation out of “looking” stone, the walls out of “desiring” clay, and the roof out of “doing” bamboo. One day a big, bad wolf came along and knocked on his door, saying, “Little theologian, little theologian, let me come in.” The third little theologian said, “Not by the hair of my chinny, chin-chin.” The wolf retorted, “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.” So the wolf huffed and he puffed and he puffed and he huffed, but he could not blow the little theologian’s house down. When the wolf sat down and cried, the little theologian invited him inside for coffee and some “humble pie.” Many hours later, the wolf left the little theologian’s house no longer a wolf, but a sheep, and this little theologian’s house continued to stand.
The Point of This Parable (Reader's Digest Version)
Our spiritual lives are often compared to the building of a house in Scripture (for example, Matthew 7:24-27). We can try to build our spiritual houses with materials that are Biblical or with materials that are un-Biblical. These "materials" are truths we are to believe and act upon. Three of the Biblical "materials" or truths that are to be a part of our spiritual houses are: (1) "desiring clay" which is the truth that believers in Jesus should desire God above all things; (2) "doing bamboo" which is the truth that believers in Jesus should submit to the Lordship of Christ and obey His Word; and (3) "looking stone" which is the truth that the gospel calls us to look outside of ourselves to Jesus and His righteousness alone for our acceptance before God. All three of these "materials" or truths must be a part of our lives as Christians to one degree or another, but only one of these truths or "materials" was intended to be the foundation for our spiritual house: "looking stone." If we base our assurance of salvation on anything we do or desire, our foundation will not stand. But if we base our assurance of salvation on what Jesus has done for us and desired in our place, then we have a foundation that can stand the test of any temptation or trial.
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ... not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
(Philippians 3:7-9)
The Point of This Parable (Extended Version)
Now let me try to explain, in more detail, what this story or parable means to me and how it applies to our lives before God. God has used John Piper, John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul in my life greatly. For me, Piper has emphasized the importance of desiring God above all things, and MacArthur has emphasized the importance of submitting to Christ as Lord in all things, and Sproul has emphasized the importance of the Reformation doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, otherwise known as justification by faith alone.
I have recognized that trying to put together the important truths these men emphasize in their ministries (at least, what they have emphasized to me) can be tricky business, so I told this adaptation of the Three Little Pigs to illustrate the spiritual danger involved. It is about three men who each build a house of their own out of the same three building materials: clay (“desiring clay” - which refers to the truth of desiring God above all things), bamboo (“doing bamboo” - which refers to doing what God commands in submission to Christ as Lord in all things), and stone (“looking stone” - which refers to looking outside of ourselves - what we desire and what we do - to Jesus and what He has desired and done as our Substitute in life and death).
But each of these men use a different material as their foundation. The “Big Bad Wolf” comes along and tests the foundation of their house and two of the three houses fail the test, but one stands. It is meant to represent three basic foundations for our assurance before God: what we feel or desire, what we do or submit to, and what we look to outside of ourselves.
The three little theologians do not represent John Piper, John MacArthur, and R.C. Sproul, but rather, three ways people might try to put together into a system three things these men have emphasized to me in their ministries: the importance of the truth of desiring God or holy affections, the importance of the truth of obedience to God’s Word or submission to Christ as Lord, and the importance of the truth of justification by faith alone or the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. The main point is that, while all three of these truths are important, only one of them was meant to be the foundation of our lives and our assurance before God: the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith ... (Romans 1:17a)
... those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17b)
R.C. Sproul would say that justification by faith alone is shorthand for justification (being declared righteous before God) by the righteousness of Christ alone. The imputation of Christ's righteousness means that God credits to our account what isn't in us or produced by us, but what is in Christ alone and produced by His own perfect life of obedience to the Father - Christ's righteousness. This gift of Christ's righteousness includes the forgiveness of sins and His perfect record of obedience to the Law of God: perfect love for God and perfect love for man (Mark 12:30-31). God gives us this gift of Christ's righteousness through faith - as we look to Jesus and His cross, which was both His final and ultimate act of obedience and His wrath-bearing sacrifice (Romans 5:8-9, 17-19).
Why do I speak of the foundation of our hope before God as the "looking stone"? I do this because the Lord Jesus Himself defined saving faith in its essence, not as desiring or doing, but as looking - looking outside of ourselves to Him on the cross for salvation, rather than looking to what is in us (whether it is our desire for God or our doing what God commands). (John 3:14-18; Numbers 21:4-9).
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live." And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:8-9)
The "rebellious and bitten" Israelites did not have to desire differently or sufficiently nor did they have to do something differently or sufficiently. They simply had to trust God's promise of life and look to the "snake on a stick." As the bronze serpent was lifted up, so Jesus was lifted up on the cross - so that all who look to Him and Him alone will be saved from their sins and given eternal life. Jesus was teaching that we simply need to "look and live" - but also that no one will do so unless they are born again (John 3:3, 7) and born of the Spirit (John 3:8). So if we look to Jesus alone for His righteousness, God gets all the glory!
Look and Live! This is the theme of this first post and the reason for the name of this blog.
2 comments:
Welcome to Blogland, Earl! I think this is a great idea and I look forward to more.
Hi Earl! Enjoyed reading your thoughts.
I love the song "O, the Glory of the Cross"
Sure would love to see you all!
Post a Comment