Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Host: The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals presents the timeless teaching of Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: God does not want a legalistic walk which satisfies the pride of the flesh, but which is a counterfeit coin that can never deceive the eye of the world, let alone the eye of God. Let us then flee that type of Christian life which sets up rules in such a way that if they are approximately kept, the individual may think of himself as meeting God's approval.

Let us seek rather to be such a friend of Christ in his death that we shall be counted as being dead with him. In this way, we are crucified to the world, and the world to us. In other words, we hold the world to be dead, and the world holds us to be dead.

But God is pleased with the life of Christ in such a believer, and the world, while hating it, is forced to admit that it is the life that is real. Let each of us question himself narrowly: Is my Christian life acceptable unto the Lord God my Father, and is my Christian life approved by the unsaved world that knows me?

Host: God's Word is truth for God he gave, to teach, rebuke, correct and train. He quits by whom we can pursue the work God has for us to do. God's Word is all the Christian needs to grow in grace and to good deeds.

Host: Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's Word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio ministry, which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.

The application of God's Word as taught by Dr. Barnhouse is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago. The message we'll be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled Favor With God and Man. The Bible tells us that Jesus grew into manhood. He increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

As we grow more and more into the likeness of Christ, we too will exhibit lives that are increasingly acceptable to God and approved by man. How can we learn to imitate our Lord's pattern of growth, so we can increase in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man? The scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible, Romans chapter 14 and verse 18. Here again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled, Favor With God and Man.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto thee, our Father and our God and in the Holy Spirit. We want to do that which is well pleasing to thee. We ask thee therefore that thou shall teach us in this hour. We want to be acceptable to thee. We want to have a life that is open to thy gaze and to the gaze of men, that they may see thee and glorify thee because of thy work in and through us.

So bless the going forth of thy word, that it shall accomplish thy purpose in this hour. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In our study of Romans, we come to chapter 14 and verse 18. He who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. The keyword in the beginning of our text is the word thus. The old King James rendering, he who serves Christ in these things, is not accepted by the best scholarship, and almost all the commentators agree in translating it to mean that the one who serves Christ in this manner is acceptable to God and approved of men.

And we are thus thrown back to the previous verses for our context. The passage means then that the believer in Christ, who serves Christ negatively and positively in the manner indicated here, is acceptable to God and approved of men. The believer therefore is to see to it negatively, that there is no taint of legalism in his attitudes, and that positively he lives in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Such a manner of life is well pleasing to God and must gain the approval of men.

In the following study, we shall develop these three thoughts: the manner of life of the believer, the acceptance of the believer's life by God, and the approval of the believer's life by men.

At the risk of being misunderstood, we must declare that the Bible everywhere indicates that God does not want a man to be content with a set of moral standards. God wants a man to live the Lord Jesus Christ. If a person has nothing more than a set of moral standards, such standards may easily degenerate into a set of moral cliches.

It is possible for one who lives in legalism to pay lip service to the doctrine of Christian love, but to be hard and even bitter toward those who do not agree with him in the crossing of every T and the dotting of every I. The aim of every believer in Christ is to be well pleasing to God. We have as our example, the Lord Jesus Christ.

On the day of his public manifestation after his baptism, the Lord Jesus Christ was recognized by his Father in Heaven in these terms: This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Each believer should strive to be well pleasing to the Father.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, wherefore we labor that whether we be present in our earthly bodies still alive, or absent from our bodies and therefore in his presence, we may be accepted of him. And the revision renders it, we make it our aim to please him. Now we know how an advertiser aims to please his customers. We know how a lover aims to please his beloved. This is the way we should aim to please the Lord. This should be our study, our constant thought.

Now our text flatly states that if we live negatively without legalism, and if we live positively in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, we shall be acceptable to God. The startling thing about our text is that it states that the believer who lives in such fashion will also be approved by men. This immediately raises the problem of the attitude of the Christian toward those who are not believers. The reason why there is such a problem is that the Bible makes many statements about our relationships with unbelievers, which seem flatly to contradict each other.

Let me set down several of these seemingly contradictory references, and then seek to solve the puzzle. Christ was despised and rejected of men. And yet we are to be like him and take him as our example. Jesus increased in favor with man as well as in favor with the Heavenly Father. Yet he told his disciples, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Writing to Timothy, Paul recited the qualifications of a man who desired to be an overseer in the church. After listing a dozen items concerning personal character, business stability, home life, and so on, the Apostle says, Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders. But on the contrary, the Lord Jesus Christ said, Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you and cast you out as evil on account of the Son of Man. Woe to you when all men speak well of you. Now here indeed are seeming contradictions.

Perhaps a part of the answer can be found in the following incident. A few years ago, I was preaching in a certain city and I pointed out that the Christian, though in the world, was not of the world. I stated that we are a heavenly people living in the midst of the world, which had crucified Christ. I emphasized that Christ had announced that the world would hate us. I concluded by saying, you may be sure of the fact that if nobody thinks you're queer, you are not a good Christian.

Afterwards, a friend pointed out to me that certain qualifications should be made, since the position was not entirely as I had presented it. I was advised to state also, that if everybody thinks you're queer, you're not a good Christian. Well, there are some things for which a Christian will always be hated by the world. There will always be the offense of the cross.

But we must be very careful that there shall not be also the offense of the Christian. The offense of the cross is one thing and one thing only. There are those who talk of it as though it were the offense of religion, but this is not so. Looking at our civilization, we find many religious leaders who excite the admiration of the world. Their place in religion gives them outward magnificence, pomp, ceremony, worldly prestige, even riches and a throne, and yet they have none of the offense of the cross.

There are others who preach a fundamental gospel about salvation by the grace of God, and who use all of the vocabulary about the blood, the expiation, and redemption, and who nevertheless are enemies of the cross of Christ. If we take the teaching of the entire Bible on the subject, we learn that the cross was a scandal to Israel because it was the death of any and every system of human merit. The cross was the declaration that salvation is by grace, through faith plus nothing.

The cross revealed that human works cannot be considered as a down payment or a part payment, or an installment payment or any other kind of payment for salvation. The cross reduced a man to moral bankruptcy, so that he stands before God, a naked sinner. But there is more to it than this. The meaning of the cross is that after a person has trusted in Christ, he must break with the old legal standards by which he attempted to live before he trusted in Christ.

We must be very careful not to claim to have put legalism for salvation out of the front door of our lives, but then to bring it back in again by the side door. Let me give an example. Several years ago, I witnessed about Christ to a man in his 30s, who was a porter, who checked me into a hotel room. He said, I used to be a Christian, but I got lost again. Before I had time to answer, he continued, in fact, I've been saved twice, but both times I got lost again.

I got saved in a revival down in my home in West Virginia, but I came up here and got into bad company, and I've begun smoking again and have gone to the movies. I was appalled at what I heard. What on earth did this have to do with salvation? And yet the fault did not lie with this man himself. I was soon able to open the word of God to him and bring him to the simple trust in Christ, and to the awareness that the life which he had in Christ was eternal life.

For there seemed no doubt of the fact that he believed that Christ is the Lord Jehovah, and that salvation is through faith in his work, and that he was trusting in him as his savior. The fault lay with those who had taught him. He had become associated with one of those denominations which teach that you may be saved today and lost tomorrow, and that salvation consists in believing in Christ, plus the avoidance of a long string of practices, which avoidance the church has set forth as being the marks of a Christian.

If you had questioned these people about the method of salvation, they would have answered you without hesitation that all was by grace through faith. So far as the first steps of salvation are concerned, their front porch was clear. Legalism had been put completely outside. But they had brought legalism back into the house through another door, and had made the maintenance of salvation dependent upon the life and works of the Christian.

Still another group has avoided this error only to introduce another. They are clear that salvation is by grace through faith plus nothing. They are clear that we are also maintained by grace. But they introduce legalism as a way of life for the believer. I'm convinced that this is the thing which God most desires to root out of the Christian life.

This whole section of the Roman Epistle is written to wean people away from the commandments as a way of life. God's way of life for the believer is the indwelling Christ, manifesting himself in love through our every thought and word and deed. When we begin to live such a life, we'll find that we are acceptable to God, and approved of men.

1500 years ago, Chrysostom, writing about this verse, said that a believer who was a man of peace and uprightness, would always be admired by the unsaved world, even when they did not like his faith. For even the unsaved can share in the benefits of a life that is peaceful and upright.

The Greek word which states we are approved of men, this word approved carries a most interesting meaning. In the ancient world, there was no banking system as we know it today. Paper money did not exist. There were no hard coins as we know coins, which have been stamped out with hydraulic presses. All money was made of heated metal, poured out in the liquid state, and allowed to cool. The coins were made somewhat as we make waffles today, and when they were cool, it was necessary to scrape off the uneven edges.

The coins were comparatively soft, and of course, many people shaved the coins a little closely. In one century, more than 80 laws were passed in Athens, to stop the practice of whittling down the coins that were in circulation. But there were money changers who were men of integrity. They were men of experience, who would accept no counterfeit money. And they were men of business honor, who put nothing but genuine, full weight money into circulation. They were known by the Greek word Dokimos. And this word is used here for the life of the Christian as it is to be seen by the world. It is not to have any counterfeits.

It is not to be lightweight. It is never to have anything in it that short changes another. Furthermore, this word Dokimos throws great light on another passage which has often been a difficulty for those who do not understand the original language. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in 1 Corinthians 9:27, that he lived his life in such a manner as to be a winner in the race. I keep my body under, he writes, and I bring it into subjection, lest after having preached to others, I might myself be a Dokimos, cast away.

There have been those who have thought that Paul was teaching that he could be cast away from salvation, and thus denying all the rest of his thinking. But when it's realized that the Greek word is Adokimos, the opposite of our word Dokimos, approved, in the text we're studying, the answer becomes clear. I do not want to be disqualified in my Christian life, because of the false coinage of some unethical action. I do not want to be shunned by the world because my money is queer.

Our text then teaches us that God wants us to live such a life, that the world will know that we are different, will realize that we possess something that worldlings do not possess, will hate the fact that we claim that our life is a divine life, communicated to us through faith in the atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet forced to admit, grudgingly perhaps, that the life is fundamentally right. The world must see that there is unswerving integrity, that there is the irenic, peaceful spirit that gets along with all classes and quality of men, and that there is deep-seated joy.

There are certain types of so-called Christian life that I unhesitatingly disapprove. I heard a joke some time ago about a businessman who was asked by a stranger if he were a clergyman. The astonished businessman reacted with an oath to the contrary, and explained that he'd been sick lately and that's why he looked like a minister. In other words, the pale, flaccid counterfeit of manhood has no real testimony for the absolute vitality that belongs to a Christian, even when he's an invalid.

When a novelist published some great books in England during the last century, under the pen name George Eliot, one writer showed from a score of quotations that the knowledge of sports, hunting, and masculine life in general proved that the author was a man. Another writer showed from a score of quotations that the knowledge of sewing, boudoir chatter, and feminine ways proved that the author was a woman. A third writer published an essay claiming that both were wrong and that the author was a clergyman. This was what finally brought Mary Ann Evans to reveal her true identity.

Certainly a minister should not be thought of as someone who is neither man nor woman. And no Christian is to lack the dynamic virility which Christ will bring into any life that is yielded to him. In Corinthians we read that an effeminate man or a masculine woman is something that is abominable. Effeminacy is classified with thievery, drunkenness, and extortion. God presents it to us as a law of nature, that it is a disgrace for a man to have long hair.

Just as we must disapprove such softness in men, so we must disapprove hardness in women. Men are disgusted with soft men, women are disgusted with unfeminine women. Sometimes we see women who have, in the name of Jesus Christ, made themselves look outmoded and unpleasing. I believe that this is not pleasing to the Lord. I'm fully aware of the passage which says that the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great price. But there is no contradiction here.

A Christian woman can have the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, and yet dress in a fashion that will let well-groomed worldlings give her the approving eye, as she moves through the salon of some fine hotel. Your beauty should not be dependent on an elaborate coiffure or on the wearing of jewelry or fine clothes, but on the inner personality, the unfading loveliness of a calm and gentle spirit, a thing that is very precious in the eyes of God. She who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men.

To sum it all up, God does not want a legalistic walk which satisfies the pride of the flesh, but which is a counterfeit coin that can never deceive the eye of the world, let alone the eye of God. Let us then flee that type of Christian life which sets up rules in such a way that if they are approximately kept, the individual may think of himself as meeting God's approval. Let us seek rather to be such a friend of Christ in his death that we shall be counted as being dead with him.

In this way, we are crucified to the world and the world to us. In other words, we hold the world to be dead, and the world holds us to be dead. But God is pleased with the life of Christ in such a believer, and the world, while hating it, is forced to admit that it is the life that is real. The water that flows from the eternal fountain is clear as crystal, even when it flows between muddy banks. Let each of us question himself narrowly: Is my Christian life acceptable unto the Lord God my Father, and is my Christian life approved by the unsaved world that knows me?

For this is what the word of God says, the man that lives in this way is a man who will be acceptable to God and approved by men. Oh, Lord our God, we pray thee that we may so live that men may see our good works and glorify thee, our Father which art in Heaven. If there should be anyone listening this hour who has not been born again, give such a one restlessness. That they may know no peace till they rest in Christ. But upon all thy redeemed own, may thy grace, thy mercy, thy peace abide, and a new sense of the rich wonders of thy word. And unto thee we give the glory and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Host: Our lives will be acceptable to God and approved by men, when we abandon every shred of legalism in our hearts and attitudes, and live in righteous peace and joy in the Holy Spirit through the grace which comes to us through Jesus Christ. We hope you have benefited from today's message entitled Favor with God and Man. To listen to additional teaching by Dr. Barnhouse, visit us online at alliancenet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is also available by calling us toll free, 1-800-488-1888.

Today's message again is entitled, Favor with God and Man, or simply request message number R14-39. We would also like to make available to you a free copy of our booklet entitled, Overcoming Fear in Witnessing. Are you intimidated about sharing your faith? Does fear hold you back from telling your family, friends, and coworkers about Christ? This free booklet will help you overcome the barriers to effective witnessing, so that you can share the gospel clearly, in love, and without fear.

If you want to be a bold, confident witness for Christ, ask for your free copy of Overcoming Fear in Witnessing when you call or write. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We exist to promote a biblical understanding and worldview. Drawing upon the insight and wisdom of Reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by, we seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place.

The Alliance also produces the radio broadcast The Bible Study Hour, featuring the teachings of the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice, and Every Last Word, featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Philip Graham Ryken. For a full list of radio stations carrying our programs, visit our website at alliancenet.org. Would you like to build your own audio library of Dr. Barnhouse's timeless messages, so you can listen to them anytime, anywhere? Then you will be interested in our Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible Audio Commentary Series.

Visit our website at alliancenet.org or call us at 1-800-488-1888 and find out how you can sign up for the Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible Audio Commentary Series. Visit our website, alliancenet.org or call us at 1-800-488-1888 and find out how you can sign up for the Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible Audio Commentary Series. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of listeners like you. If you have benefited from the broadcast and would like it to continue, please prayerfully consider a donation to help us keep this ministry on the air.

For more information or to make a contribution to help further our work, contact us by calling toll free, 1-800-488-1888. Again, that's 1-800-488-1888. You may also write to us at Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103, or visit us online at alliancenet.org. Be sure to ask for a free resource catalog, featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, videos, and a wealth of other materials from outstanding Reformed teachers and theologians, including Doctors Donald Grey Barnhouse, James Montgomery Boice, Martin Lloyd Jones, and Philip Graham Ryken. Thank you for listening today. Join us again next time for more classic teaching on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible.

Host: The Bible has come and dwells to do God's saving work for us. His cross our souls from death to life and rescues us from deepest night. A wondrous gift, a thunder so hard, the life impart work of God.