"The mind of fools is in the house of pleasure." (Ecclesiastes 7:4) This wisdom from Solomon is repeated by Paul in Romans 1:24, from the perspective of God, Who no longer restrains the desire of the fool: "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.." This initial "giving over" by God (there are 3) signals the obstinacy of a fool determined to pursue the lust of his heart, set as he is on the house of pleasure. God's gracious restraining influences are persistently ignored, for the fool will have his way, and not even a hundred blows of harsh correction will dissuade him. (Proverbs 17:10) The uncorrectable nature of fool is a prominent feature of fooldom, and God's response of abandoning fools to their folly points to how we should, in some cases, respond to a fool.
God Won’t Fit in Your Comfort Box
This final episode merges the lessons of affliction learned by the psalmist with the role of discipline spelled out in Hebrews 12:4-13. Affliction/discipline are the divinely sanctioned means of conforming believers into the image of Christ. Just as the psalmist didn't wholeheartedly follow God and His Law without affliction, so Christians don't surrender fully to the Lordship of Christ without discipline and affliction. The results, according to Hebrews 12:10-11, are very consequential: sharing in God's holiness as we enjoy the "peaceful fruit of righteousness." This is the New Testament equivalent to the psalmist's plea that God establish his ways to keep God's statutes. (Psalm 119:5) So when Christians affirm their desire to be like Christ (establish their ways), they shouldn't be surprised when God answers through affliction.
Make the Law Your Rod and Staff
The road to having the psalmist's ways established involves two encounters with God's law. As a reminder, Psalm 119 uses 8 words to describe God's law: judgments, ordinances, precepts, word, testimonies, statutes, commandments, and way. The first encounter for Christians is often corrective: the law reflects God's character and highlights where ours is deficient. When believers work through the challenges of conforming to God's law through confession and repentance, they can revisit the same law and experience delight. God in His grace does a transformative work and now the law becomes the psalmist's delight. (Psalm 119:20)(Psalm 1:2) Believers should therefore recognize that the roadmap of sanctification is a purposeful journey in which we are both corrected and comforted by God's law as the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ.
Carnality in the Church can lead to Identity Politics
This episode continues the application of embracing our identity in Christ and addresses the failure to fully embrace that identity in the Christian church. Factions and divisions within the church are sometimes based on Christian carnality in which Christ as our true identity is not urgently pursued. Sectarianism and religious division mixed with politics can lead to identity politics within the Church.