March 15, 2023

 The latin phrase: coram Deo, best translated as “In God’s presence,” literally means “before the face of God.” Commenting on the phrase, R.C Sproul remarks: “To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.” Which gets us close to Jesus’ meaning in this next section of the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:17-48 Jesus exhorted his followers to behave positively in light of the “do not” statements of the 10 commandments. In Matthew 6, Jesus discourages the bad motives that lurk under the surface of public piety.  Verses 1-4 address the hidden inclinations for practicing righteousness (namely charitable giving) before others “in order to be seen by them.” That’s a sticky issue for many of us isn’t it? Affirmation, by and large, is a good thing - and practicing righteousness (acting according to Biblical teaching) is a much needed thing. But notice that Jesus does not say practicing righteousness is its own reward (something that you or I might say or think), but instead Christians are exhorted to seek reward from our Father “who sees in secret.” The truth is that the glow of human praise only lasts for a short while, while the reward of our Father, who sees in secret, is as everlasting as He is everlasting. Not only is human praise fleeting, it is also compromising. If our motivation for behavior is only ever the praise of others - we will inevitably compromise in areas of faithfulness that don’t result in that praise. But if our faithfulness is pursued coram Deo, we will the receive lasting reward of Christ without compromising the truth of scripture.

-Matt Allhands