We may know from the following whether we are the Lord’s anointed or not. The world loves its own. If then it hates Christ in us, it is an infallible sign that we are good soldiers of the Lord, and not servants of the world. The way to heaven is to sail by hell. If you will embrace Christ in his robes, you must not scorn him in his rags; if you will sit at his table in the kingdom, you must first abide with him in his temptations; if you will drink from his cup of glory, you must not forsake his cup of ignominy. Can the chief cornerstone be rejected, and the other more base stones in God’s building be set by? You are one of God’s living stones, and therefore be content to be hewn and snagged, so that you might be made more suitable to be joined to your fellows, suffering the snatches of Satan and the wounds of the world.
John Boys (1571-1625), Exposition of Psalm 2, as quoted in Reformation Commentary on Scripture: Old Testament VII, Psalms 1-72
What’s tough to distinguish:
- If you are being loved because you are of the world,
- if you are being loved by some because Christ-in-you is compelling them away from the world and toward the loving embrace of God,
- if you are being hated because of Christ-in-you,
- or if you are being hated because you are a jerk.
But what I love about Boys’ commentary on Psalm 2 is the recognition that if we are identified with the Messiah, we will share in his experiences. We will sail on by hell on the way to our eternal home. We will be regarded as he was, we will experience temptation as he did, and we may be counted as infamous. But that is just how we are made fit for his building, shaped as a living stone, made fit to be joined to him and alongside those who make up the household of faith.