Welcome to Out of the Question, a podcast that looks behind some common questions and uncovers the question behind the question while providing real solutions for biblical world and life view. Your co-hosts are Andrea Schwartz, a teacher and mentor, and Pastor Charles Roberts. Hello, and welcome to this episode of the Out of the Question podcast. I'm here with my co-host, Charles Roberts, and we are celebrating an anniversary. Today marks the 269th episode and the start of year number seven. We began in 2018 with a desire to discuss topics that are of practical importance to faithful Christian living, with an emphasis on application and relevance to our day. For those who are newer listeners, our format goes between interviewing people who we feel have something important to communicate and contribute, and the two of us discussing topics we feel need to be examined and fleshed out. Some have asked what the name out of the question signifies. Well, we feel that too often believers ask the wrong questions in attempting to resolve contemporary matters. So our emphasis is to look behind their questions to discover what the Bible says on a given topic and then ask what question we should be asking. Typically, when someone says that a topic is out of the question, it means we won't discuss it. Well, our emphasis is rather to listen to the questions people ask and help them reframe them with a biblical understanding. So our attempt is to draw out of their questions a biblical orientation to what they're attempting to remedy or understand. So happy anniversary, Charles. Well, thank you, Andrea. I guess I did not realize that it had been seven years since we started. Wow, it's amazing. Yeah. The halcyon days of 2018. Yes, exactly. Before the world changed dramatically. Yes. To start off 2024, we thought we would delve into the theology of New Year's resolutions. Now, fitness clubs and gyms capitalize on this phenomenon, yet by their own accounts, the fitness resolutions fade by February or March. Notwithstanding, Charles, is making a New Year's resolution a biblically sound activity, and are these resolutions really solutions? Well, I can't help but thinking of something someone said regarding the subject of going on a diet. And I think that's something that people would do for a New Year's resolution. Starting this year, in January, I'm going to lose this many pounds or whatever it may be. But the quote was something like, there is no greater example of false hope than the first few hours of a new diet. And I think with the New Year's resolutions it's a similar thing. Is there anything wrong with it? No, as long as people remember that there is a theology of New Year's resolutions, as there is a theology of everything. And for us, that theology is grounded in Proverbs 16, 9, and that is that the heart of a man plans his way But Jehovah, the Lord, establishes his steps. Another way of putting that is that the human heart may plan a course, but it's Jehovah, the Lord, who makes the steps secure. So I think the question behind the question is, why are you making this resolution? What's ultimately your goal and purpose, and how do you see it being accomplished? What is the real driving force behind it and the ultimate result of it? And what does it have to do with the calendar? I mean, what's the difference between December 31st and January 1st? Is it that time heals everything? That given enough time, things will work? Is that consistently biblical? Well, I think to some extent, but I guess the small t theology behind it is that, you know, okay, according to the calendar, it's a brand new year. It's time for a fresh start. But, you know, that's built into some aspect of our secular culture, and I don't know how far we could trace that back. But it's sort of like, you know, we just come off of the Advent season and the observance of Christmas, or whether we fast forward to a few months to Easter, Resurrection Sunday. You know, if we follow a full-orbed biblical pattern of living, then these things really don't mean much, because every day should be an incarnational day, a day that we recognize the significance of the incarnation of the Lord. and also the powerful impact of his death and resurrection and ascension to the father's right hand. So I guess another way of saying that is another every day is a New Year's resolution day, if you want to put it that way. But it's a point where we can mark something and say, OK, here, this is a motivation to do this. Probably this is something that was started by people selling gym memberships or diet plans or something like that. And you used an important word, motivation, motivated. See, I don't think motivation is enough. And the reason I say that is motivation implies that I'm going to produce the power, the ability. It's really coming out of me, right? So I have a motive. I want something out of it. The term I like to use and have used in my own life is conviction. And I think there's a big difference between being motivated and being convicted. And I think if we took a look at going before a judge, We're standing in front of the judge and we are going to be either declared innocent or declared guilty. And if we're declared guilty, we would call that a conviction. We've been convicted of something, which means that you don't say, OK, so I don't have to, you know. produce this penalty, I don't have to serve this time. It's something from the outside that you say yes to. And so for people who want, if they're a woman and they're in a size 26 and they want to go back to a size 10, I can see how that would be a motivation But is it a conviction? In other words, do they have no other choice but to do it? And I think that goes back to right and wrong. What's our view of right and wrong? If stuffing this piece of cheesecake or this third piece of cheesecake, Well, I'll be motivated tomorrow. I'll get back on track. Is that the same as I'm committing a crime of which I will be convicted and I have been convicted and part of it is to say, no, this is not healthy. I shouldn't do it. And by actually doing it, I'm being irresponsible. So I think a lot of resolutions have motivations behind them, but I'm not so sure they have convictions. Well, I think that that's an important point and the distinction is a good one, but it gets to the heart of the matter that our whole way of life should be revolving around the fact that we are committed to living each moment of every day according to the standards of God's law word. I guess another area where this might make sense or it could be observed how maybe it's not such a good way of thinking about things is the issue of becoming a Christian or quote getting saved as some people call it. Generally many many Christians, most certainly within our camp, we recognize that at whatever point you mark it, once a person becomes a follower of Christ, and they can't do that without his will and his grace, then they never fall away. They persevere therein to the end. So in some ways, it's the same with this. Just as a person doesn't have to resolve to become a Christian again next year, starting January 1st, I'm going to become a Christian again. It's the same with this. Starting on this date, I will stop doing that and start doing this. No, the real success stories in life, the projects, the programs, the agendas that succeed and move forward are the ones that are committed to and they are worked out every day and every month and every week and they go forward. Of course, there may be slacking off here and there in one area or there's a mistake there or a failure here, but that's just a part of the larger project of a long haul program. I was listening to a TV interview just a little earlier today, and somebody was commenting about the humanistic and anti-Christian forces that have been at work. Of course, they've been at work a long time, but especially in the past couple of years, somebody commented that they take this long-haul approach. this long march through the institutions, as Gramsci put it. And this is where I think we, as followers of Christ, have fallen, in that we get this idea that we move in stages, or from one cataclysmic event to the other, rather than having this idea of, this is a long-haul development. It doesn't start on January 1st. It started in Genesis 3. The seed of the woman will crush the head of the seed of the serpent, and it moves forward from there. We can certainly be recommitted and recognize that we need to always keep that vision before us, proclaiming the message of the kingdom. Insofar as we have to say, okay, well, starting this date, I'll be doing better. Well, it's better to want to do better, but the idea is this should be something that is just an ongoing rollercoaster up, down. We keep moving forward and we don't have to keep making resolutions that in the back of our minds, we know that's probably not going to succeed. And the word resolve, you know, we have the word solve, to solve something, a solution, resolution. And I realize that there are other definitions of the word, but years ago, when I was blogging more than I do now, people kept asking me what was my New Year's resolution. And so I dug this out, remembering my paraphrase of Psalm 1. Yes. I resolve that I will not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. I resolve to delight in the law of the Lord and to meditate in his law day and night. I resolve to be a tree planted by rivers of water and to bring forth my fruit in season. I resolve that I will not let my leaves wither, and by my obedience to God's law expect that I will prosper in my godly endeavors. I resolve to see the ungodly for what they are, chaff, which the wind drives away. I resolve to care about those who have not bowed the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. a.k.a. the ungodly, knowing that unless they respond to the truth, they will not stand in the judgment nor in the congregation of the righteous. My interactions with them will exemplify my concern. I resolve to embrace fully the reality that the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. And finally, I resolve to commit this all to my Savior and Lord, knowing that if He is for me, none can be against me. Now, I realize that, did I take some liberties with Psalm 1? Yeah, but I don't think I'm inconsistent with the meaning of it. So let's go back to the first one. I will resolve that I will not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. Well, that sounds like statist education. That sounds like the media. That sounds like those who decide that Christianity has no place. See, when you take God's word, at His Word, that every area of life and thought, no matter what you can conceive of, must submit to Christ, then you're going to stand for your King. And, okay, King, I'm going to stand. In two weeks, I will begin to be faithful. No, we're faithful. The moment the Holy Spirit convicts us, that's when we're expected to turn, not from our inconvenient ways, but from our wicked ways. So that's not saying, well, if you don't work out at gym, you're wicked, or if you do, you're not wicked. But what's the point? What's behind that? What's your motivation to be healthy, to stay in the game, to be able to continue to be useful to the kingdom, or so you can get into that dress size you always wanted? I'm very glad that you brought this from your Kingdom Driven Family blog because I had come across that earlier. You wrote this back in January of 2016 and it is an excellent thing. We will, of course, link to it when the podcast is put on the website. But this is an excellent thing for people to print it out, frame it, put it on your wall. It is a great way to start a new year if that's something that you feel compelled to do. And whether it's New Year or February 1st or June 1st or August 31st or whatever it may be, this is something we should always keep before us because this is what we are enjoined to be doing as members of God's family. And insofar as we don't keep these resolutions before us, then we're starting to slack off from the commitments that we are supposed to have on a regular basis. I'm reminded of the William Butler Yeats poem, The Second Coming, where he says, you know, in this sort of cataclysmic, apocalyptic, whatever the thing he was describing there is that the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. See, we should be the ones full of passionate intensity and full of these kinds of dedicated, motivated resolutions. And this is an excellent key for people to follow, especially if you're making New Year's resolutions. Exactly. And there's no big fanfare. Yes, I know it's appropriate to have accountability with people, but to announce it to the whole world, it's much better if you announce it in your spirit and commit to the Lord than that you have these people saying, what was your secret? What was your secret? How did you succeed in what you were doing? Because there are important things. So what size you buy at the department store or online, is of consequence, but it's not of ultimate consequence. So people who are more concerned with their weight or their dress size or anything else that they talk about, but continue to not examine what they're doing in their life with their finances, with their children, with their emphases, and they think that somehow they're achieving something. I think one of the scariest lines in scripture is where Jesus says, I never knew you. We want to make sure that he is known to us and we are known to him. I remember years ago reading a story of a fellow who had opened up a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant and inside it said, success should be a result, not a goal. And I've often thought about that and that, okay, we're talking about New Year's resolutions and we've talked about people going on diets, that's a popular one, or getting in better shape, those two things. So in terms of the theology of New Year's resolutions, the sense in which we can say, no, the scriptures don't really recognize anything quite like, okay, at the beginning of each year we do this, rather that, okay, let's talk about diet and being in good physical condition. Does the Bible have anything to say about those things? Absolutely it does. From the very beginning, God gives his guidance about the foods we're supposed to eat and how we are to maintain our health and our bodies. Now, it's not like something you'd get at a local gym printed out, but it's all there in Scripture, because if we follow this pattern of living, then we will be healthy. I mean, the Lord has ordained that we have a certain amount of time in this physical world, so none of us will be living longer than his plan. And I think this gets to the other part of this is that it's the Lord, that proverb I quoted at the beginning, it's the Lord who controls these things. A similar proverb is Proverbs 16, 33. And there's several paraphrases of it. The dice are cast into the lap and all decisions are from the Lord. A thing may be put to the decision of chance, but it comes about through the Lord. So no matter how many times you throw the dice, no matter how many times you resolve to get in better physical condition, ultimately the outcome is going to be ordained by Almighty God. And he is expecting his people to be on that plan every day, every minute of every day and every week. It really should not come about to where you have to do this. Maybe it's okay for some people. I'm just saying that rather than, and I think you've already said this, rather than make a New Year's resolution every January 1st, why don't you live every day and being committed like this in all of these areas? Okay, look, it's good to fit into that dress size or that shirt size. It's certainly good to be in good physical condition and to eat good food. But it's also good to, as it's outlined in the psalm that you paraphrased or sort of paraphrased for the New Year's resolution thing, it's also good to recognize the absolute authority of God over family life, over political life, over the life of a society and its culture. And so maybe we should be resolving every day that, for example, we will see the ungodly for what they are, and that is chaff which the wind drives away. And that's a really big one in our day and time, I think. And what I'm going to share, I actually got from a book by Jay Adams, and it's an exposition of Psalm 1. And he speaks about the walk, the stand, and the sit. that is mentioned in the first verse of Psalm 1. So a lot of times we walk through an area, all right, and we might recognize, okay, this isn't godly, this isn't right, but then we decide to stop and we hang out for a while, we stand there, and eventually we're sitting in the midst of the scornful. And so it becomes very, very easy to really think that there's two ways you can live. You can live God's way, but you also got to get along in this secular world as if God's way doesn't speak to that. And so I think it's not uncommon, Charles, for people to decide what parts of scripture they're going to take as what happened. So you talk to somebody about the account of Daniel's three friends. So if you said, tell me what happened, you'd say, well, they were thrown into the furnace and then the king saw a fourth person. Okay. Are we going to take that as what the Bible says is true? Well, yeah, most people will, but then they'll go over things that the law talks about in terms of debt, that talks about in terms of building family wealth and why it's important to do so. my stock advisor says to do this, but yeah, but God says to do this, but okay, it doesn't really speak to that. So when we decide we're gonna pick and choose what part of the scripture we get to say is true, or even going ahead and endeavoring to obey, then inadvertently, we're having another God before God. And it's that person who you'll see in the mirror, because we decide that our preferences, the way we want to look at the world, is somehow supposed to be acceptable to God. And there's nothing in the scripture that I read that says, God allows you 10 disobediences, and then on the 11th, you're going to get it. Yes, he's forbearing, but we don't know at what point he decides, no, it's not going to be your way. Well, I think all of us have, at one point, I'll say between you and me and our listeners, either we ourselves or we know people who make New Year's resolutions. And certainly, as you indicated at the beginning, it's something promoted by health clubs and gyms. And I've been involved in physical fitness and trying to keep myself healthy for a long, long time, and long enough to know that every January is when you dread going to the gym because, like, I think I'll just quit going from January to March because then they'll all be gone and they'll have failed. That's kind of a bad attitude to have about it, but actually that's just sort of the way it works out. So I'm wondering, and let me ask you this, Andrea, whether for yourself or someone you know, do you know of anyone who has started out with a reasonable New Year's resolution and actually accomplished it in a good and positive way? I've known a lot of people who have, and then what happens is, to use the expression, they go off the wagon. And because of the way our bodies are constructed and metabolized, oftentimes they go right back up to the size they were before. And they actually think it has something to do with willpower as opposed to obedience. If you're not doing something in obedience, to the Word of God, then what's the point of doing it? See, I think it was Bodhi Bakum who says a lot of people think that the gospel requires obedience, right, before you can be called a Christian. But he says obedience is a byproduct of being born again. It's not a requirement. Because left on our own devices, we won't be obedient, because we have sinful natures that won't totally go away until God takes us home to heaven. Then we'll have the glorified body and we'll be without sin. So this whole idea that I can do it by sheer willpower Well, Eve ate that fruit by willpower. She decided she'd be powerful if she did what she willed. So I'm not sure that willpower even has a place in the discussion of our response to God. And it really speaks to what you pointed out in the proverb, is that God has to be the author and originator of it. Yeah, and I think that gets to the heart of the cultural theology behind New Year's resolutions. It really is a humanistic one at the core, because the people who promote the doing of these things, and I don't mean imply they're, you know, like evil on the level of being a serial killer evil, but in God's sight, if we were promoting anything, that calls into question his sovereignty, his authority over our lives, then that is wicked. It seeks to displace the sovereign authority of God Almighty with that of another God, whether it be yourself or some willpower or the universe, you know, that's a popular one. So if there is something like a New Year's resolution to, say, lose weight or get in physical shape, And if there's some measure of success with that within a couple of months, then who is it that gets the glory? It's generally the person who did it, or the coach, or whoever it may be. Now, in looking over my files, so to speak, I found that I also placed another blog piece, I think subsequent to this one that I read, and it really was just a reprint of Ecclesiastes 12. It starts off with, remember thy creator. So a lot of us think, well, OK, I forget sometimes to read the Bible in terms of what I'm supposed to do, and I don't think about God all the time. Well, I like to say, forgetting. is not a, hey, I'm not responsible. We're told to remember. So remembering is a positive thing. So the preacher tells us to remember thy creator in chapter 12, and then says, and it's probably a passage in scripture, that whether or not I like it, I need to remember, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Dear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." And then I concluded the blog piece was, so this year I resolved to remember and fear. because those two things go together. The more you read about Scripture, we recognize that if we want to be wise, the first thing is to fear God. And I don't mean, oh, he's going to get me. Am I really saved or am I not? No, to recognize that we don't determine the length of our days. We don't determine if our lungs are gonna work five minutes from now. When you have that kind of submitted view, if it's April 13th and you decide, you know what, I've been sitting in this area, I don't wait till January 1st to make a change, it becomes April 13th. And so the idea is when we trust God and obey him, We don't make it something on the timeline that, you know, when the calendar turns over, then we'll do it. That shows a cavalier attitude that maybe it's just not that important. Yeah, and I think the reference there to Ecclesiastes is very important because it gets to the heart of the matter about both God's sovereignty, the fleeting nature of our own decisions if they aren't grounded in his law word, and the whole importance of living our daily lives in accord with that word. You know, too often people operate from the standpoint, going back to Proverbs 16, well, life is just a throwing of the dice. However they turn up, that's the way it's going to be for me this year. I'm going to try to do this, but what will be, will be. Well, that's true, but not because of some random chance happening, but because the Lord is the one who directs our steps. And it's not just simply that he does that. He also promises prosperity and blessing for his people who are obedient to him. I'm glad you referred to what Vaughty Baucom said, because the Westminster Confession of Faith has a very similar statement, and I'm sure he's keyed off from that to some extent, that although, and I'm dramatically paraphrasing what the confession says here, but on the issue of justification and good works, So-called good works are not what justifies us before God, but the distinction is made is where there has been true justification. In other words, someone who has become truly saved, then the good works inevitably follow. Salvation, true dedication to the Lord is inevitably accompanied by these works that display that we are living for Him, that we're not just getting up, casting the dice every day. It's okay, well, I think I'll do this and maybe tomorrow I'll start that. No, I have a plan. I have a program. I have marching orders every day of my life. And it starts in Genesis and goes right through Revelation 20. And obedience and growth are then evident. That's kind of what he was saying. That would be the byproduct. So any of us who've ever had children and what we buy the baby at three months suddenly doesn't work at eight months, definitely doesn't work at three years. And then there's a whole period of time where it's like, Should we even bother to buy clothes because in a short period of time the person will grow out of those clothes? So it isn't that this person is spending all his time or her time trying to grow. You know, I go to bed at night and I got to grow for tomorrow. It's the byproduct of sleep. food, water, fresh air, and how God ordained things to be. So my pediatrician used to say, don't worry, don't worry. Is your child growing out of her clothes? Yes, everything's fine. Because if she stayed in the same clothes, then something wouldn't be fine. And for too many people, they're willing to say, OK, yeah, it didn't work this year, but I'll do it next year, or I'm going to keep trying. I don't believe this. final command in Ecclesiastes is, let's hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Try to fear God. Try to keep his commandments, because this is what you should try to do. There is no try. We're supposed to do it. And when somebody defaults to, well, I'm trying, but it's not working, who are they blaming? Are they actually saying that there's a command of God that's too hard to obey? I don't think so. Well, I want to suggest to our listeners, although some may have already gone down this path and made a resolution like this, but on the supposition that there may be some who listen and who are maybe not all that familiar with the works of R.J. Rushdoony, I'd like to key off on something that you wrote just a year or two ago about something that would be an excellent New Year's resolution, and that is to actually read R.J. Rushdoony's works. And I know that in the piece that you wrote on this back in 2021, you mentioned doing that. And I'm just wondering for our listeners, if you could suggest if somebody wanted to make that as a worthy goal in the coming year, to read more of Dr. Rastouni's works, where you would tell them to start, and if your Chalcedon Teacher Training Institute might be relevant to somebody wanting to do that. OK, now, listeners, I didn't ask him to bring that up, but he did. And so I'll take the commercial. Yes. Back when I was done homeschooling, it was like, OK, God, now what? And the answer I perceived was help homeschooling families homeschool. And so as a result, I wrote some books. And I started doing studies specifically with women and their daughters, because that's what Titus II says to do. And so over the years, I had enough of a response of people who wanted to do it. Sometimes people wanted to do it individually, other times they wanted to do as a group. Many times they put together their own group and said, would you teach us? And so we went through a number of Dr. Rush Juni's books. And if you go to calcedonteachertraining.com or ctti.org, you will see that there are a number of the books that we had gone through with questions for thought and discussion that come after it. Now, one of the things that thrills me is when I do these kinds of courses and I see the change it has in the women who are going through it and how by their own admission it changes how they deal with the roles they have of wife, mother, grandma, even business owner, employee, things like that. But the greatest joy comes when people say, you know what, I'm going to start a study with people in my church or in my neighborhood. And so they use the outlines that we have, and then what they do is they ask the question, understanding that, no, this isn't like the test in school, that you're going to be knocked off for the bad answer, but it's a discussion. And in so many cases, rather than having to beat somebody on the head that your theology isn't good, as they study the word of God, as they see the commentary that Rushduni gives on the law and on these various things, their life reforms and they become an active participant in the dominion mandate in a way that they never conceived was necessary or possible. And so whether or not, I mean, it's now January 10th that we're recording this, you don't have to wait till January 1st to do it. If you feel that you could use some accountability or some structure, that's what the whole purpose of it is, because ultimately we're all teachers. We're teachers to our children. We're teachers to our neighbors. We're teachers to our brothers and sisters in Christ because we're supposed to help each other be more faithful. So thanks for the plug, Charles. I appreciate it. Well, and I think it's important, too, to make sure that all of our listeners understand that, of course, the foundation for all of this is God's Word and Holy Scripture. But what I'm concerned for, and this is where I think, you know, what you have done with that program and Dr. Rustuni's writings generally, is the fact that so much of what people get in some churches, not all, It would be like someone who was an expert at auto mechanics and they could take a Ford or a Chevrolet or a Nissan and just take it apart and put it back together. They know everything about this car. They can tell you how this part of it relates to the other and you got to have this amount of air in the tires and you got to have the tie rods this way and all this kind of thing, but they don't know how to drive. You know, they can take a car apart, they know how to all the actions and interactions, but it's of no practical use other than just sort of study and putting things together back and forth. And I find this is what has always been, for me personally, as a Christian and as a pastor, the tremendous value of the work of R.J. Rushton. is the fact that he takes almost all of scripture and shows how it applies in day-to-day life, regardless of what your endeavor is, whether you're a husband, a wife, a mother, a father, a child, an employee, an employer, whatever it may be, a pastor, A Sunday school teacher, you know, he goes through these various books of the Bible. I wish we had more of them, but what we do have are excellent. And then something like the Institutes of Biblical Law, he takes the most foundational issue as far as the daily living of a Christian, which are the Ten Commandments, and shows how those apply in exhaustive detail. So it's important to have not only the understanding about how—this is how Genesis 3 relates to Matthew 1, 2, and 3, and this is how the book of Psalms gets involved with the messianic prophecies of the coming of the Christ and all of this. That's all well and good. But if you don't know how to live your life in a dying, decaying culture like we have today, And if you don't know how to apply the teachings of Holy Scripture, then you're just like that mechanic who knows how to put a car together and take it apart, but he can't drive it. He doesn't know anything about driving. Exactly. So that's our hope for people who tune into this podcast. We hope you keep tuning into our podcast. But if you're struggling with something and you don't see how it relates, we encourage you to send in your question. And many times in the last number of years, we have tackled people's questions that they've asked, and we've gotten responses that say, thank you so much. It's given me another way to look at this from a scriptural point of view. So we hope you do it. For those of you who've been with us since the beginning, thanks for listening. And Charles, it's my hope that 2024 brings opportunities for us to help people be more faithful. Absolutely. That's a great resolution. Yes. Out of the Question podcast at gmail.com is how you get a hold of us and we'll talk to you next time. Thanks for listening to Out of the Question. For more information on this and other topics, please visit calcedon.edu.