He’s Making a List…

(Leia este post em português.)

(No, it’s not about Santa.)

Usually we make lists to outline something important, for ourselves or for someone else. We make grocery lists to summarize what we need to buy; teachers make lists of necessary materials for their students; bosses make lists of rules to direct the task to be accomplished. In short, we make lists to summarize important stuff.

So imagine what it’s like when God makes a list. When He writes a list, it’s because He is giving us a brief overview of what He wants done (or not done). Whenever you come across a list in Scripture, you can be sure God is saying, “Hey, just to be clear, I’m going to sum it up for you.” Below are some important lists we find in the Bible that can help us evaluate our priorities and see if they square up with God’s priorities. They are organized in order of appearance in Scripture.

The Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-19; Deut. 5:6-21). Just because we are under grace now doesn’t mean that this list doesn’t count. Jesus came and fulfilled this law, and if anything, He raised the bar regarding our obedience to it (see Matt. 5:21-29 if you’re in doubt about this). The important thing to remember is that obedience to this law doesn’t save; rather, we are saved to obey it.

1. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make any idols.
3. Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. Don’t kill (murder, really).
7. Don’t commit adultery.
8. Don’t steal.
9. Don’t bear false witness against your neighbor
10. Don’t covet (your neighbor’s wife, or anything else of his, for that matter).

Things God Hates (Prov. 6:16-19) For God, who is the very definition of holiness and perfection, any and all sin is abominable. But God decided to include a list in Proverbs of the ones He particularly hates. A couple of points of interest: all of them are spoken of in terms of something or someone that commits them; look at all the body parts! Also, lying must really, really bad — it made the list twice.

1. Pride (haughty eyes)
2. Lying (a lying tongue)
3. Violence against innocents (hands that shed innocent blood)
4. Premeditated evil (a heart that devises wicked plans)
5. Propensity toward sin (feet that rush to evil)
6. Lying again, this time in a legal setting (a false witness that spreads lies)
7. Discord (the person that stirs up strife among his brothers)

The Ones God Blesses (Matt. 5:3-11; Luke 6:20-22). Actually, the word “blessed” in Greek speaks of “happiness” (read more about it in my other post “Truly Happy People”). In His famous Sermon the Mount, Jesus explained that people could be truly happy if they made God’s priorities their priorities instead of experiencing the fleeting happiness of society’s priorities.

1. The one who is poor, yet godly;
2. The one who is sorrowful, but expectant of God’s comfort;
3. The one who is meek;
4. The one who is hungry and thirsty for righteousness;
5. The one who is merciful;
6. The one who is pure in heart;
7. The one who is a peacemaker;
8. The one who is persecuted and falsely accused for His sake.

The Shortest List (Matt. 22:36-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:26-28). Jesus said three important things regarding this list of commandments. In Matthew, He said, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (22:40) In Mark, He said, “There is no greater commandment than these” (12:31). In Luke, He explained to the one who asked about eternal life, “Do this and you will live” (10:28). This list is just two commandments, but they are REALLY, REALLY important ones.

1. Love God (with all your heart, soul, and understanding)
2. Love others (at first this command was to love your neighbor “as yourself”; but Jesus changed it when He told His disciples to love one another “as I have loved you;” cf. John 13:34)

The Works of the Flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). Once again, we have a list of things God doesn’t want in our lives. Notice that this is a list of “works,” yet it’s negative. This is interesting because so many people emphasize works as a means of salvation, and God is pretty clear that it isn’t (Eph. 2:8-9). Another thing is that a work is an action; a product of our will. In other words, we want to do it, so we do it. This will come into contrast with the “fruit” in the next list, since “fruit” is a natural and spontaneous product. The fruit produces good works, certainly, but the mere presence of the Spirit in our lives should produce these results. (There are some natural thematic divisions in this list, so they are grouped to emphasize this.)

Carnal relationships

1. sexual immorality
2. impurity
3. sensuality

Relationship with God

1. idolatry
2. sorcery

Relationship with others

1. enmity
2. strife
3. jealousy
4. fits of anger
5. rivalries
6. dissensions
7. divisions
8. envy

Excesses

1. drunkenness
2. orgies
3. and things like these

The Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). As we saw with the list above, Paul contrasts the “works of the flesh” with the fruit of the Spirit. These things are not only pleasing to God, but are signs of the truly regenerate person (in whom the Spirit dwells). The prolonged or constant absence of these things could well indicate that someone does not truly know Jesus Christ.

1. love
2. joy
3. peace
4. patience
5. kindness
6. goodness
7. faithfulness
8. gentleness
9. self-control

If we really meditate on these lists God has made, we will have a pretty good idea of what His priorities for our lives really are.