Living Parables

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

I've been thinking again about Hosea's prophecy:  How God gave His word to the people in a parable that Hosea lived before them.

It gives me new light on something I've long noticed, listening to the daily news.

It has often happened (just to cite the most notable instance) that some person in a news-story is grief-stricken.  In our society, it's often the parent of a murder-victim.  It has amazed me how often, even weeping, a grieving parent will say, "I have to forgive him," or "I am going to forgive him," about the murderer.

I've even heard stories where a parent has befriended the murderer, visiting him in prison, advocating for him at parole-hearings, "adopting" him on his release from prison: loving the murderer of their child.

We all know how powerful was the Christian witness of the Amish community, after their daughters were slaughtered in their school-house.  Because it was a high-profile mass-murder, the news went around the world.how they grieved for, and supported, and comforted the family of the man who murdered their children.

But even in "secular" mass shootings, we hear the grief-stricken speak forgiveness.  Even in the many less news-worthy individual shootings, or other devastating crimes against people, it's amazing how many of the deeply-grieved say they forgive.

Forgiveness is not always as definitive a "Christian witness" as it was by the Amish.  Some forgivers reference their Christian faith; some don't.  There's not always a reason given.  No doubt some forgive for other reasons than Jesus' teaching and Example.  I've heard Moslem victims of car-bombings say they forgive the bomber.

It's always seemed to me that doesn't matter.  The spirit of forgiveness is "out there," operating in people's hearts.  The spirit of forgiveness is Jesus' spirit.  More than whether people acknowledge Him, the point is that He is "at work" among us, as He said He'd be, whether or not we acknowledge Him.

It is, for us individually, the choice between life and death that we acknowledge Him...fully, continually, devotedly.  But He is present and manifest and ruling among men, whether or not we choose to see Him.  Being able to see Him present and working is one joy of acknowledging Him.

When we do, we see Him enacting living parables around us, among us, of His Word to us.  His salvation, in Hosea.  His forgiveness, in grieving parents.

Praise You, Father !!  Thank you, our beloved King.

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

"Not That Kind of Christian"

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

My daughter sometimes re-posts on facebook things she's seen on a website called "I'm Not That Kind of Christian."

Usually those posts spotlight a telling contrast between what Jesus taught, and the teachings of today's Christian "leaders" who toady to "conservative" politicians.  One I especially remember paired Jesus' words on how we should treat "enemies" with a quote of Franklin Graham's obsequious praise for the current president's threatening to "incinerate" every North Korean.

That group's name reminded me of the discomfort many of us felt some years ago, when Fred Phelps' followers' were continually keeping themselves in the news, with their "God Hates Fags" signs, and demonstrating at the funerals of soldiers who died (they claimed) because God was punishing America for allowing same-sex marriage.

If a passage came up in Bible study calling homosexuality sin, my friends would agree it's so, but usually feel they needed to reference Phelps group, and quickly add, "But I'm not that kind of Christian."  If we're honestly trying to follow scripture's teachings, we're put in the position of having to differentiate ourselves from the "Christians" who use God's words to justify their anger, hatred, and violence.

When people doing the works of satan perversely call themselves "Christian," we're right to separate ourselves from them.  Our identity as Christians is Christ's Identity.  He only gives it to those who do His works.

I've been wholeheartedly "pro-life" for 50 years now.  Ronald Reagan converted me.  I was a convinced Goldwater conservative after reading "The Conscience of a Conservative" in the early '60s: so when Goldwater's greatest spokesman became Governor of California, I was eager to see how a real conservative would change government.

One of the first changes Reagan made was to California's anti-abortion law.  With his encouragement, Republican legislators enacted America's most "permissive" abortion statute, and Reagan signed it into law.  The number of legal abortions in California skyrocketed.

It was quintessential conservative doctrine, that government's interference in citizens lives should be severely limited.  And what greater individual "right" could there be, where government's "intrusion" was more illegitimate, than in the individual's decision to have, or not have, a child ?  (The later Roe v. Wade decision for a "right" to abort was also based on that conservative principle.)

At the time (1967), I really didn't know what abortion was.  I had to look it up.  When I found out what it meant, my reaction was (the same as John Brown's the first time he saw a slave) "That's wrong."  I haven't changed that view.  And my contempt for conservatism probably dates to that time as well.  Contempt is the only right reaction to any doctrine that justifies evil.

When Reagan ran for President a decade later, I thought maybe he'd had a change of heart.  He said he was "pro-life" then.  But in his 8 years of popularity and power, he did nothing to actually change abortion law.  It seemed clear he talked "pro-life," as his faction of "conservatives" have talked it ever since, primarily as a vote-getting tactic with the "Christian conservative" movement that was created to elect him (over that arch-nonChristian, Jimmy Carter).

My hatred of the politicians' hypocrisy, and that of "Christian leaders," has grown in the 40 years since Reagan.  So it's become increasingly necessary...and I'm increasingly glad...to distinguish between following Jesus, and following "Christian conservative" politicians and preachers.  Anyone whose intent is to follow Jesus is forced to distinguish himself from those whose "Christianity" amounts to supporting liars (like the current president) and murderers (like the N.R.A.).

I'm not that kind of Christian.  Nobody who is a Christian is.

In our time, it's become necessary to distinguish ourselves from those who claim Christ's Identity, while doing the works of satan.  We can best draw that distinction by doing the works of Jesus.  One of His works was calling out the hypocrisy of "religious leaders" who were leading His sheep to destruction. Let us all do the works of Jesus.

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Mass Murder Again

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

With every mass-murder, it seems increasingly clear there is no hope of this country changing its course.

Every murder is followed by the same debate, between the same irreconcilable "pro-gun" and "anti-gun" factions.  Whatever other issues come into the debate, its spirit is political.

The deepest kind of political, because any American debate about "rights" is political, and the N.R.A. has framed the debate as being about "rights."  The uselessness of the debate is that the N.R.A. has defined "rights" as having guns.

Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God.  He didn't say much about politics, the human construct by which mankind tries to assert its rule.  Nowhere is the spirit of "politics" more blatant than in societies like America's, whose faith is that "the people rule," Greek demos kratia. Jesus's contrary message is that God rules.

Jesus also didn't say much about "rights."  Unless giving up everything to which He was "entitled," even His human life, said everything about "rights."

Jesus does talk about murder.  He says that everyone angry with his brother (such as most people engaging in America's gun-debate) is guilty of murder (Matthew 5:21-2).  I John 3:15 makes Jesus' teaching even more explicit: "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer."

Jesus also says murderers act in the character of their father, satan (John 8:44).

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

The Turn-About of Disobedience

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

As my long-time teacher Derek Prince pointed out, the word "authority" comes from the word "author," which means "the person by whom a thing is created."  Even leaving aside His complete wisdom, His infinite love, and all else He IS that makes Him the Only One Who should ever rule, God's absolute authority in all things is His as absolute Author or all things.

So His decision that men should have kings to rule among them is unquestionable, as is His choice of the men who will rule.  His command is that we respect and obey those He puts in authority, in respect and obedience to His Sole authority to make those choices.

An interesting thing has happened among us in recent years.  When God placed Barack Obama in authority in America, there were very many people (including very many Christians) who treated him with complete contempt.  In our recent history, no American president has been more violently hated, or had more lies told about him.

Of course God's choice of the "kings" He gives us owes nothing to the personalities of the men.  But it's interesting that those who most reviled and hated Obama were those most instrumental in "choosing" (as they thought) the current president, who was one of their kind.

The current president has certainly made that faction's characteristic spirit a large part of how he rules.  America has never had a president who ruled with more contempt, hatred, and lies than this one "chosen" by those Americans most given to lies and hatred.

I don't entirely subscribe to the saying that "people get the kind of leaders they deserve."  It doesn't seem completely accurate, or fair, to blame the ruled for rulers like Hitler, Nero, Stalin, and others.  But in the reality that God authored, there will certainly always be a moral equity between what people do, and the consequences of their actions.

It all comes down, ultimately and completely, to God's authority.  And the most important point is that He commands those He sets in authority, His authority, to rule in His Character, as "ministers [servants] of God" (Romans 13:4, 5).  He commands that they rule in His moral Character, for good to those who do good, and "bring[ing] wrath" on evil-doers.

The kind of rule God commands of those to whom He gives His authority could not be farther from that of America's current ruler.  I will not say that the lovers of lies and hatred who (believe they) "chose" him "got the kind of leader they deserve:" but there's a God-ordained moral equity in their being ruled in the spirit they love.


                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Re-Post: Authority

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Our brother Mark DuPre writes a blog for which the descriptor "devotional" is insufficient.  His love of God is manifest in his thoughtful meditation on scripture; and reading there, my spirit and mind are always renewed to praise our King.

I first came across a series he did on scripture's teaching about "Authority:" a foundational principle of our faith largely ignored...even falsified...in many parts of the Church at this moment.  His thorough exegesis of God's word to us about His authority could not be more timely, indeed prophetic.

To my understanding, Mark's writing notably achieves his purpose...even more God's purpose...of "getting it straight in our hearts."  Below is the first segment of his series on authority.
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Luke 7:8-9 For I [the centurion] also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

Romans 13:1-7 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves…. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake….Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Jesus is recorded as marveling only twice. Once was at the unbelief demonstrated at his hometown of Nazareth. The other time was at the faith of a Gentile soldier, whom Jesus recognized as having faith greater than that of His own people. Specifically, the centurion’s demonstration of faith was based on his understanding of authority. He was a man who moved in his own authority, and was recognized as a man of authority. He knew how to take orders and how to give them. He recognized in Jesus someone with authority like him, but with power much greater than his own

Israel was often rebuked by God for her rebelliousness, and it’s clearly an aspect of human nature that is evident from Adam to the present. But we live in a particularly rebellious age, when even the idea of authority is under great attack. The very word “authority” is often expressed and often received as if it had the word “abusive” in front of it. But as we can see, the concept of authority is from God Himself (Romans 13:1b: “For there is no authority except from God.”)

We can wring our hands over the misuse of authority all we want—and there will always be plenty of evidence for hand wringing—but the idea of authority is from God. So as disciples of Jesus Christ we must come to terms with what authority is, how it’s manifested in this earth, and how we are supposed to deal with it.

The first issue with authority, however, is not a mental understanding of its various manifestations. It’s getting it straight in our hearts that we are to submit to or work with authority where we find it. Since authority is from God, it is to be honored. It is to be adjusted to, perhaps even bowed to in our hearts. There will be little true revelation of authority in our lives if we haven’t settled it that authority is an aspect of God worthy of our efforts to understand it the best we can, with the goal of recognizing it, submitting to it, and glorifying God in the process.

The attack on the idea of authority is, at its foundation, an attack on God, as authority is from Him. The great struggle for many of us is the constant parade of abuses of it in history and even in our own lives. But man’s misuse of God’s authority doesn’t negate its reality. Neither should we let it blind us to where God’s authority is in our lives, so we may rightly position ourselves before Him and reap the rewards that come with faithfulness.

While much of the rest of the world is blind to authority, dismissive of it, or even rebellious against it, the Christian should be eager to locate God’s authority in every aspect of his/her life. We should be eager to use that authority to bless and just as eager to submit to authority as unto the Lord.

Prayer: Father, cleanse my heart of the rebellion that comes to the surface when I consider the issue of authority in my life. I repent of using man’s misuse of authority as an excuse not to follow You in that area. Help me to see where You’ve placed authority in my life, and help me to honor You in working with it.

https://markdupre.com/2017/11/23/november-22-3-2/

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Re-Post: "5 Things Jesus Would Say to Conservatives"

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

I don't agree with all the points this brother's post makes: but "conservatives," who claim to politically represent Jesus' teachings, should expect to be thoroughly measured on how they manifest Jesus' teachings.  Even moreso, those who self-identify as "Conservative Christians."

"Conservatives" (like all of us) fall short.  This post seems an honest critique of some of those short-comings: which, if "conservatives" take correction in a Christian spirit, will give them fruitful thoughts for self-examination and repentance.
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There’s no question that conservatives are not solely to blame for this problem [of disunity]. So where do I get off calling them out? That’s a great question.

In the last thirty years, evangelicalism has come under the spell of the Republican party. Through an intentional effort to secure this enormous voting bloc—one that responded positively to Jimmy Carter’s “born again” talk—Republicans focused on painting themselves as God’s party. They were the only ones who cared about Christianity and moralism.

Today, Republicans need the evangelical vote. They’ve come to a place where they rely on this bloc to carry them through elections. By coloring themselves as the choice for God-fearing Christians, they guarantee that poor, white middle America will consistently vote Republican—often against their best interests.

Meanwhile, evangelical Christians are increasingly poisoned by this political association.  As Christians have conflated Christianity and conservative politics, they’ve ended up championing things that oppose Christ: nationalism, war, division, racism, hatred.

If conservatives and liberals simply represented two sides of a political divide, I wouldn’t particularly care. Politics are important insofar as they affect real people and for that reason, I try and vote as responsibly as possible. But the fact that people outside of the church are left thinking that American conservative politics and Christianity are synonymous is wrong—plain and simple.

This post isn’t intended to slam anyone with conservative viewpoints. There’s nothing wrong with having a political perspective that skews right. The problem occurs when you believe that your religious and political identity are synonymous. If you think that you’re a conservative because you’re a Christian, this post is for you.

And while this isn’t intended to be mean-spirited, it is pointed. The relationship between conservatism and the church is driving people away from the cross—and here’s what I think Jesus would say about it.

Read the full post at

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jaysondbradley/2017/11/jesus-would-say-conservatives/#WjlKpOj4YMQQbXOA.99

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Lesser of Two Evils Again

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

An Aussie Christian blogger I hadn't run across before said (in another context) that a quote by Spurgeon appeared often on social media during last year's presidential campaign: "Of two evils choose neither."

I'd not seen the Spurgeon quote before: perhaps because I go on facebook no more often than I stroll through a sewer, and deliberately avoided it during the election season.  But Spurgeon's quote stated fairly well the conclusion I came to at that time, after hearing many Christian friends rationalize their vote for Trump by the "lesser of two evils" thinking.  So I set out to verify Spurgeon's quote.

In his "The Salt-Cellars," p. 297, Spurgeon did indeed write, "Of two evils choose neither. Don't choose the least, but let all evils alone."  (He credits that wisdom to "John Ploughman:" but in the introduction to his book of that name, says "John Ploughman" is his pseudonym.)

(One blogger claimed that the quote was being misused to discourage people from voting, because Spurgeon taught that people should vote.  He also claimed that what was being posted on social media was a different quote by a contemporary writer, John Marcavage: "Of two evils choose neither.  Christians must turn from the endless cycle of voting for the lesser of evils and expecting an unrighteous act to produce a righteous result. From a communist to a cultist, choosing the lesser of two evils is still evil, and never should we do evil that good may come.”

I find Marcavage's thought preferable to Spurgeon's, since it also warns against the related "do evil that good may come" teaching...another false rationale many Christian friends gave for voting for Trump...condemned in Romans 3:8.  But whether or not being misused, my purpose was only to verify Spurgeon's quote was genuine before I used it, and it was.)

I had come to the same conclusion as Spurgeon: though the way I put it was that operating by "lesser of two evils" thinking always results in our choosing evil, knowing it IS evil.

The enemy is infinitely subtle in his deceptions.  The “father of lies” has practiced his “skill” on human beings since the Garden of Eden, and he's incredibly more successful at it than any of us are at keeping ourselves from deception.  Any of us can be deceived by him to make a wrong choice.

By definition, we are deceived any time we trust ourselves to make a decision without exercising, and heeding, the Spirit’s discernment: a foolishness which opens us to greater deception, which deception always produces sin.

We don't ordinarily sin because we deliberately choose to do evil; rather, that we choose to do what we are mistaken in believing is good.  The template for producing sin is that we are persuaded, and convince ourselves, that some evil is, or could be, or would be, actually “good.”  That's where the enemy ordinarily operates.

And very successfully.  With Eve in the Garden, for example, when he persuaded her that disobeying God would confer God-like knowledge.  With many "Christian Conservatives," for example, when he persuaded them that electing Trump would result in "conservative" Supreme Court justices, who would outlaw abortion.  Again, see scripture's condemnation of this "do evil to do good" rationalization in Romans 3:8.

But choosing an evil because it is a "lesser" evil is a different order of sin, greater than being led to do evil by our (hopefully momentary) spiritual blindness that it is good.  When we choose "the lesser of two evils," we willfully choose evil...knowing it IS evil.

If we believe circumstances exist in which we "have to" do evil, we acknowledge that satan is the effectual ruler of all things, and God is powerless against him.  God lied to us, saying He gave us a choice between good and evil, if satan can create situations in which no choice for good exists, and yet we "have to" choose.

Our beloved brother Tim ("Onesimus") in Australia made a comment that seemed to cap all my thinking about the deep consequences of believing the "lesser of two evils" deception.  He pointed out yesterday that what he sees happening in America (and having an even-closer view than he does, I'd whole-heartedly agree with him) is more than mistaken moral vision, greater even that foolish resignation at “having to” do evil.

What Tim saw, and saw truly, is that the "active support and promotion" of evil manifested in many American Christians' "political activism" is a quantum step beyond being deceived by the enemy, to joining the enemy.

I've been concerned at seeing that very thing among Christians I know.  Christians who last year reluctantly voted for Trump as "the lesser of two evils" evidenced they could still recognize evil.   But many of them...perhaps because their pride will not let them admit they did wrong...have now become staunch defenders of his daily lies, and his evil-intentioned actions.

That so-called "Evangelical base," professing to follow Christ while (sometimes even by) "active support and promotion" of evils committed by members of "their" politicians and "their" political faction, are becoming increasingly hardened in their rationalizing, acceptance, and love of evil.  The enemy is increasingly successful, through political deception, in creating a "church" bearing Christ's name which serves evil.

There is no reason to believe the enemy will abandon the tactic which has worked so well for him.  We should expect he will continue to practice it, in hopes of leading more Christians astray.  Christians who have their hearts set on following Christ must be even more alert and discerning about the deceptions the enemy will continue to try to insinuate into our thinking through politics in the coming days.

"Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves."     --  Romans 14:22

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Oaks of Righteousness

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

                                                --  Isaiah 61:1-3

The first two verses are very familiar to us.  They are the words of prophecy which Jesus read from the scroll in his home synagogue, saying they were fulfilled that very day, in Himself (Luke 4:18).

I think it was sometime last year when I was praying for my teenagers and those of a beloved sister, that God brought to mind a phrase from scripture.  I had to look it up to see where it was, and make sure I got its words right.  I was very surprised to see it was immediately after the words Jesus said were the prophecy about Himself, words I've often read and meditated on.

Guess I stopped paying attention right after verse 2, all the times I read that passage.  But this time the phrase God brought to mind was in verse 3..."oaks of righteousness."

"That's what I want you to pray for your teenagers and Genelle's boys," God said.  So I have been every since.

Praying it this morning, God got me thinking about the phrase.

What is it He means by that phrase, that I should understand and mean too ?

The first things He brought to mind was that oak is a strong tree...that it is a straight tree, and that its roots go deep to hold it firm.

I trust if I continue to listen, God may say more about this scripture: but for now, that's what He's given me.  That he wants me to pray that my grandkids and Genelle's sons will be strong in righteousness, straight in righteousness, and firmly-rooted in righteousness.

Thank you, Father, for teaching me.  Please never stop teaching me Your ways and Your wisdom.  Amen.

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

Calvin on Evil Rulers

                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                              

I very definitely have no dog in doctrinal disputes about Calvin's teachings.  I'm not even sure what anti-Calvinists are called, beyond "anti-Calvinists."  It's never really seemed a necessary part of my life in Christ to research and decide and declare if I'm a Calvinist or an anti-.

The formal theology associated with Calvin's name is doubtless flawed: that's only what we should expect of anyone's theology, including our own.  Believing any human mind can substantially encompass the reality of God is a first step toward idolatry...taken in pride.  None of us can, and none of us do.  So I'm also pretty sure the theology of Calvinism's opponents is just as flawed.

It seems a mistake to follow either to the extent we identify by one "side's" name, or by the other's.  Taking "sides" in theology is the same as taking "sides" in politics, football, nationalism, or any of the other human constructs to which men give their allegiance: that is to say, idols.

"Taking sides," or "factions," is not a fruit of Christ's Spirit any more than idolatry is.  Galatians 5:20 says "dividings" or "factions" grow from our flesh.  The Greek word there for "dividings" is haireseis, from which we get our English word "heresy."

The rhetorical question in I Corinthians 1:13 affirms that Christ is not divided.  Since Jesus identified Himself as "the Truth" (John 14:6), Christians, above all other people, must believe that "the Truth" is not divided.  There are no "sides" in Truth, no "your Truth" and "my Truth:" and the only "anti-" connected with it is denial of Truth.  The latter is what Jesus said is the distinguishing character of "the father of lies" (john 8:44).

Quoting Calvin here has nothing to do with identifying as a Calvinist or an anti-Calvinist.  I cite Calvin because I consider he speaks scriptural truth.

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"We are not only subject to the authority of princes who perform their office toward us uprightly and faithfully as they ought, but also to the authority of all who, by whatever means, have got control of affairs...that whoever they may be, they have their authority solely from him....they who rule unjustly and incompetently have been raised up by him to punish the wickedness of the people; that all equally have been endowed with that holy majesty with which he has invested lawful power....a wicked king is the Lord’s wrath upon the earth...thus nothing more would be said of a [wicked] king than of a robber who seizes your possessions, of an adulterer who pollutes your marriage bed, or of a murderer who seeks to kill you. For Scripture reckons all such calamities among God’s curses. But...In a very wicked man utterly unworthy of all honor, provided he has the public power in his hands, that noble and divine power resides which the Lord has by his Word given to the ministers of his justice and judgment. Accordingly, he should be held in the same reverence and esteem by his subjects, in so far as public obedience is concerned, in which they would hold the best of kings if he were given to them.”

                                   --  John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 20, Section 25

 
"He now commends to us obedience to princes...that the Lord has designed in this way to provide for the tranquillity of the good, and to restrain the waywardness of the wicked...for except the fury of the wicked be resisted, and the innocent be protected from their violence, all things would come to an entire confusion...

For since a wicked prince is the Lord’s scourge to punish the sins of the people, let us remember, that it happens through our fault that this excellent blessing of God is turned into a curse.”
 

                                  --  John Calvin, Commentary on Romans  (Chapter 13, vv. 3-4)