Why Having Faith In The Obama Administration Is BiblicalRomans 13:1-7
Monday, May 31, 2010
Pastor Randal Pelton - Why Having Faith In The Obama Administration Is Biblical
Why Having Faith In The Obama Administration Is BiblicalRomans 13:1-7
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Righteousness of God Through Faith
"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one — who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law."
Romans 3:21-31
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one — who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law."
Romans 3:21-31
Pastor Randal Pelton - Faithful Presence: Morality Really Matters - Part 2 of 2
Morality Really Matters: Part 2 of 2 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Pastor Randal Pelton - Faithful Presence: Morality Matters - Part 1 of 2
Morality Matters: Part 1 of 2
Leviticus 20:22-26
Be A Kinder Calvinist
Abraham Piper:
"The second way to understand the letter is to see it (along with the numerous comments that follow) as abundant evidence that, to many, Calvinists come across as self-righteous, condescending, arrogant, unfriendly, argumentative, and even stingy. The fact that we're not all that way is irrelevant in the same way that it didn't matter to Molly that I had done three things to show I appreciate her—she still felt unappreciated. Her frustration was true because, whether or not I was grateful to my wife, I was perceived as an ingrate. Similarly, the frustration in the letter is true because, whether or not the Calvinists in the letter-writer's church are good folks, they come off as proud and divisive jerks. Those Calvinists, as church members, and I, as a husband, should change based on this information, regardless of how "inaccurately" the frustration may be worded.
In my marriage, it doesn't matter whether I'm thankful if I don't seem like it. And in the church, it doesn't matter whether we have the fruits of the Spirit if no one can tell.
It won't be easy to change the pejorative stereotype that clings to Calvinism, but we can start by admitting that it is accurate far too often. Then we can make sure we are manifestly not self-righteous, condescending, arrogant, unfriendly, or argumentative. Also, you can count on us to buy dinner or coffee sometimes.
Paying attention to those who disagree with us and taking them seriously, even if we're pretty sure we'll still disagree, is part of what it means to be in the body of Christ. It's humbling; it sanctifies. It will make us better husbands and wives. It will make us better Christians, and maybe even better Calvinists."
Read the entire article here.
"The second way to understand the letter is to see it (along with the numerous comments that follow) as abundant evidence that, to many, Calvinists come across as self-righteous, condescending, arrogant, unfriendly, argumentative, and even stingy. The fact that we're not all that way is irrelevant in the same way that it didn't matter to Molly that I had done three things to show I appreciate her—she still felt unappreciated. Her frustration was true because, whether or not I was grateful to my wife, I was perceived as an ingrate. Similarly, the frustration in the letter is true because, whether or not the Calvinists in the letter-writer's church are good folks, they come off as proud and divisive jerks. Those Calvinists, as church members, and I, as a husband, should change based on this information, regardless of how "inaccurately" the frustration may be worded.
In my marriage, it doesn't matter whether I'm thankful if I don't seem like it. And in the church, it doesn't matter whether we have the fruits of the Spirit if no one can tell.
It won't be easy to change the pejorative stereotype that clings to Calvinism, but we can start by admitting that it is accurate far too often. Then we can make sure we are manifestly not self-righteous, condescending, arrogant, unfriendly, or argumentative. Also, you can count on us to buy dinner or coffee sometimes.
Paying attention to those who disagree with us and taking them seriously, even if we're pretty sure we'll still disagree, is part of what it means to be in the body of Christ. It's humbling; it sanctifies. It will make us better husbands and wives. It will make us better Christians, and maybe even better Calvinists."
Read the entire article here.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wrath Of God?
“Those who still believe in the wrath of God (not all do) say little about it; perhaps they do not think much about it. To an age which has unashamedly sold itself to the gods of greed, pride, sex and self-will, the church mumbles on about God’s kindness but says virtually nothing about his judgment. How often during the past year did you hear, or, if you are a minister, did you preach, a sermon on the wrath of God? How long is it, I wonder, since a Christian spoke straight on this subject on radio or television, or in one of those half-column sermonettes that appear in some national dailies and magazines? (And if one did so, how long would it be before he would be asked to speak or write again?) The fact is that the subject of divine wrath has become taboo in modern society, and Christians by and large have accepted the taboo and conditioned themselves never to raise the matter.”
J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 148–149.
(HT Tony Reinke)
J.I. Packer, Knowing God, 148–149.
(HT Tony Reinke)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Our Deepest Need In Weakness & Adversity
The deepest need that you and I have in weakness and adversity is not quick relief, but the well-grounded confidence that what is happening to us is part of the greatest purpose of God in the universe – the glorification of the grace and power of his Son - the grace and power that bore Him to the cross and kept him there until the work of love was done.
John Piper
John Piper
Phil Johnson On Legalism
Phil Johnson:
"Pharisaical legalists are not content to live life in the power of the Spirit, cultivate discernment, and avoid things that are clearly profane or immoral; they make lists of rules that prohibit Christians from practically everything but church activities. It's not enough to avoid gambling; they insist that good Christians will avoid card-playing altogether. They're not content with doing things in moderation and with self-control, they make rules that call for strict abstinence from everything doubtful—and they try to impose those rules on other Christians—saddling people with a yoke that they imagine exists somewhere in the white spaces of Scripture.
You want rules? Here's a good one to start with: When it comes to the question of spiritual duties, where Scripture stops speaking, we should, too."
Read the entire article here.
"Pharisaical legalists are not content to live life in the power of the Spirit, cultivate discernment, and avoid things that are clearly profane or immoral; they make lists of rules that prohibit Christians from practically everything but church activities. It's not enough to avoid gambling; they insist that good Christians will avoid card-playing altogether. They're not content with doing things in moderation and with self-control, they make rules that call for strict abstinence from everything doubtful—and they try to impose those rules on other Christians—saddling people with a yoke that they imagine exists somewhere in the white spaces of Scripture.
You want rules? Here's a good one to start with: When it comes to the question of spiritual duties, where Scripture stops speaking, we should, too."
Read the entire article here.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Weakness
Ray Ortlund:
"Last week at the meetings of The Gospel Coalition, one of the men pointed out that Romans 8:26 does not say, “The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses” but singular “weakness.” Our problem is not just weaknesses. More profoundly, our problem is weakness. Weakness is not just one more experience alongside our other experiences; weakness is the platform on which we have all our experiences. Weakness is a pervasive presence in all we are and do. It will not always be so. But for now, it is.
Every Sunday I am a weak man preaching to weak people. Admonition has its place. But what weak people need, more than admonition, is help. For weak people to live the Christian life in a way that is humane and sustainable, rather than defeating and shaming, we need good news more than good challenge.
Weak sinners, continually reassured by grace, will accomplish more for Christ than they would if continually confronted by demand. I am thankful that the Spirit meets us not in our strength but in our weakness, where alone His help enters in."
Read the original post at Christ is Deeper Still
"Last week at the meetings of The Gospel Coalition, one of the men pointed out that Romans 8:26 does not say, “The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses” but singular “weakness.” Our problem is not just weaknesses. More profoundly, our problem is weakness. Weakness is not just one more experience alongside our other experiences; weakness is the platform on which we have all our experiences. Weakness is a pervasive presence in all we are and do. It will not always be so. But for now, it is.
Every Sunday I am a weak man preaching to weak people. Admonition has its place. But what weak people need, more than admonition, is help. For weak people to live the Christian life in a way that is humane and sustainable, rather than defeating and shaming, we need good news more than good challenge.
Weak sinners, continually reassured by grace, will accomplish more for Christ than they would if continually confronted by demand. I am thankful that the Spirit meets us not in our strength but in our weakness, where alone His help enters in."
Read the original post at Christ is Deeper Still
Prosperity Gospel
It is to trivialize greatly the work of Christ to suggest that God the Father sent His only-begotten Son into the world to bear the world’s blasphemy, insults, and violence, and, most of all, to bear the Father’s wrath – all for increased cash flow and fewer bouts with asthma. It is to make a joke out of the great displeasure, anger, and wrath God has toward sin and sinful persons. God’s real problem, say the faith teachers, is not that we are wicked, selfish, God-hating rebels who deserve eternal punishment, but that we aren’t enjoying ourselves!
Michael Horton - The Agony of Deceit, Moody, 1990, p. 123.
Michael Horton - The Agony of Deceit, Moody, 1990, p. 123.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Five Great Points
We believe in the five great points commonly known as Calvinistic; but we do not regard these five points as being barbed shafts which we are to thrust between the ribs of our fellow-Christians. We look upon them as being five great lamps which help to irradiate the cross; or, rather, five bright emanations springing from the glorious covenant of our Triune God, and illustrating the great doctrines of Jesus crucified.
C.H. Spurgeon
C.H. Spurgeon
Monday, May 24, 2010
Suffering With The Savior
“It is clear from Scripture that suffering is a significant thread that runs through the story of God’s people. In Jesus and because of his resurrection, the saints long for the time when ‘there will be no more death or mourning or crying of pain’ and God ‘will wipe away every tear from their eyes’ (Rev. 21:4). But meanwhile, believers suffer as people united to the Savior, who endured suffering prior to his glory.”
Michael R. Emlet, CrossTalk (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2009), 77.
(HT Of First Importance)
Michael R. Emlet, CrossTalk (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2009), 77.
(HT Of First Importance)
Avoid Being Culturally Relaxed
Tullian Tchividjian:
"Becoming “all things to all people” does not mean fitting in with the fallen patterns of this world so that there is no distinguishable difference between Christians and non-Christians. While rightly living “in the world,” we must avoid the extreme of accommodation—being “of the world.” It happens when Christians, in their attempt to make proper contact with the world, go out of their way to adopt worldly styles, standards, and strategies.
When Christians try to eliminate the counter-cultural, unfashionable features of the biblical message because those features are unpopular in the wider culture—for example, when we reduce sin to a lack of self-esteem, deny the exclusivity of Christ, or downplay the reality of knowable absolute truth—we’ve moved from contextualization to compromise. When we accommodate our culture by jettisoning key themes of the gospel, such as suffering, humility, persecution, service, and self-sacrifice, we actually do our world more harm than good. For love’s sake, compromise is to be avoided at all costs."
Read the entire article here.
"Becoming “all things to all people” does not mean fitting in with the fallen patterns of this world so that there is no distinguishable difference between Christians and non-Christians. While rightly living “in the world,” we must avoid the extreme of accommodation—being “of the world.” It happens when Christians, in their attempt to make proper contact with the world, go out of their way to adopt worldly styles, standards, and strategies.
When Christians try to eliminate the counter-cultural, unfashionable features of the biblical message because those features are unpopular in the wider culture—for example, when we reduce sin to a lack of self-esteem, deny the exclusivity of Christ, or downplay the reality of knowable absolute truth—we’ve moved from contextualization to compromise. When we accommodate our culture by jettisoning key themes of the gospel, such as suffering, humility, persecution, service, and self-sacrifice, we actually do our world more harm than good. For love’s sake, compromise is to be avoided at all costs."
Read the entire article here.
Uphold the Value of Suffering
The New Testament not only makes clear that suffering is necessary for followers of Christ, it is also at pains to explain why this is the case and what God’s purposes in it are. These purposes are crucial for believers to know. God has revealed them to help us understand why we suffer and to bring us through like gold through fire.
In Let the Nations Be Glad, in the chapter on suffering, I unfold these purposes. Here I will only name them and say to the prosperity preachers: Include the great biblical teachings in your messages. New believers need to know why God ordains for them to suffer.
1.Suffering deepens faith and holiness.
2.Suffering makes your cup increase.
3.Suffering is the price of making others bold.
4.Suffering fills up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
5.Suffering enforces the missionary command to go.
6.The supremacy of Christ is manifest in suffering.
(HT Desiring God)
In Let the Nations Be Glad, in the chapter on suffering, I unfold these purposes. Here I will only name them and say to the prosperity preachers: Include the great biblical teachings in your messages. New believers need to know why God ordains for them to suffer.
1.Suffering deepens faith and holiness.
2.Suffering makes your cup increase.
3.Suffering is the price of making others bold.
4.Suffering fills up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
5.Suffering enforces the missionary command to go.
6.The supremacy of Christ is manifest in suffering.
(HT Desiring God)
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Doctrine Is Tremendously Practical
John Piper on 1 Peter 1:1-2:
"America is a practical, make-it-happen country. And the evangelical church has that same atmosphere. Give us how-to's not doctrine. So you have major conferences on how to grow successful churches that boldly say, "We don't get into doctrine and theology." And the vast majority of the church seems to hear that as a virtue.
The more I read the Bible the less I sympathize with this view. The apostles saw doctrine as tremendously practical. When Peter begins his letter with the phrase "elect aliens," he means to give practical help to aliens. And he believes it is practically helpful to know that you are among the elect. So I urge you not to be like the pragmatists who belittle doctrines like election. Rather, be like the apostles who cherish the doctrine of election and put it at the very front of their concerns, because it is so urgently practical for living like free and joyful aliens in a foreign world.
Could it be that one of the reasons the church is weak today is because we are constantly trying to take practical short cuts to strength and growth. Maybe we are meant to be strong in faith and love and hope and joy and practical service not in spite of doctrine, but because of doctrine."
Read the entire sermon here.
"America is a practical, make-it-happen country. And the evangelical church has that same atmosphere. Give us how-to's not doctrine. So you have major conferences on how to grow successful churches that boldly say, "We don't get into doctrine and theology." And the vast majority of the church seems to hear that as a virtue.
The more I read the Bible the less I sympathize with this view. The apostles saw doctrine as tremendously practical. When Peter begins his letter with the phrase "elect aliens," he means to give practical help to aliens. And he believes it is practically helpful to know that you are among the elect. So I urge you not to be like the pragmatists who belittle doctrines like election. Rather, be like the apostles who cherish the doctrine of election and put it at the very front of their concerns, because it is so urgently practical for living like free and joyful aliens in a foreign world.
Could it be that one of the reasons the church is weak today is because we are constantly trying to take practical short cuts to strength and growth. Maybe we are meant to be strong in faith and love and hope and joy and practical service not in spite of doctrine, but because of doctrine."
Read the entire sermon here.
What Makes Jesus Marvel?
Kevin DeYoung:
"Does Jesus ever marvel at you or me? I think when he sees his people trusting in the midst of extreme suffering, he marvels. When he sees people from the roughest backgrounds come to him with brokenhearted humility, he marvels. When he sees you give up comfort and security for the sake of his kingdom, he marvels.
But on the other hand, I fear he may marvel at us for the wrong reasons sometimes. If I were a teenager or twentysomething I’d hate for Jesus to look at me and think, “Here’s a kid with loving parents, Bible reading at the dinner table, prayers from his whole family, faithful teaching at church, a comfortable home with lots of opportunities and encouragements, and yet this young person wants nothing to do with me. Amazing!” That’s not the amazement you want from Jesus."
Read the entire article here.
"Does Jesus ever marvel at you or me? I think when he sees his people trusting in the midst of extreme suffering, he marvels. When he sees people from the roughest backgrounds come to him with brokenhearted humility, he marvels. When he sees you give up comfort and security for the sake of his kingdom, he marvels.
But on the other hand, I fear he may marvel at us for the wrong reasons sometimes. If I were a teenager or twentysomething I’d hate for Jesus to look at me and think, “Here’s a kid with loving parents, Bible reading at the dinner table, prayers from his whole family, faithful teaching at church, a comfortable home with lots of opportunities and encouragements, and yet this young person wants nothing to do with me. Amazing!” That’s not the amazement you want from Jesus."
Read the entire article here.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Total Depravity
Objection is sometimes made to the doctrine of total depravity. If men turn away from God in anger, I can understand it. If men turn aside form God in justice, I can understand it. But when they so hate God that they will not even have his salvation, when they refuse pardon through the precious blood of Christ, when they will sooner be damned than reconciled to God, this shows that their heart is desperately wicked. The cross rejected is the clearest proof of the heart depraved.
C.H. Spurgeon
C.H. Spurgeon
The Legacy Of Revivalism And Show Biz
R. Scott Clark:
"The moral of the Caner saga is not one of Calvinist (or even Muslim) conspiracies but one of the subtle pressure to conform to a religious culture, a piety, and expectations created by the conversionist paradigm. The dramatic story we Christians have to tell, however, isn’t, in the first instance, about us at all. In the first instance, the story we have to tell is about God the Son incarnate, about his obedience for us and his mercy to us. The subject of our story is not “we” or “I” but “He,” that is the God who saved us in Christ. Yes, we are, by grace alone, through faith alone, now a part of that story. Jesus is our federal head. He acted for us and now that he has made us alive (sola gratia) by his Spirit, who operates through the preaching of gospel narrative, and has by faith alone (sola fide) united us to Christ by his Spirit that story is our story. "
Read the entire article here.
"The moral of the Caner saga is not one of Calvinist (or even Muslim) conspiracies but one of the subtle pressure to conform to a religious culture, a piety, and expectations created by the conversionist paradigm. The dramatic story we Christians have to tell, however, isn’t, in the first instance, about us at all. In the first instance, the story we have to tell is about God the Son incarnate, about his obedience for us and his mercy to us. The subject of our story is not “we” or “I” but “He,” that is the God who saved us in Christ. Yes, we are, by grace alone, through faith alone, now a part of that story. Jesus is our federal head. He acted for us and now that he has made us alive (sola gratia) by his Spirit, who operates through the preaching of gospel narrative, and has by faith alone (sola fide) united us to Christ by his Spirit that story is our story. "
Read the entire article here.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Kingdom Of God
It is a kingdom which is to come, yes. But it is also a kingdom which has come. “The kingdom of God is among you” and “within you.” The kingdom of God is in every true Christian. He reigns in the Church when she acknowledges Him truly. The kingdom has come, the kingdom is coming, the kingdom is yet to come. Now we must always bear that in mind. Whenever Christ is enthroned as King, the kingdom of God is come, so that, while we cannot say that He is ruling over all in the world at the present time, He is certainly ruling in that way in the hearts and lives of all His people
Martyn Lloyd-Jones : Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Eerdmans, 1960, p. 16.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones : Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Eerdmans, 1960, p. 16.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Love For Others
“…we ought to embrace the whole human race without exception in a single feeling of love; here there is no distinction between barbarian and Greek, worthy and unworthy, friend and enemy, since all should be contemplated in God, not in themselves. When we turn aside from such contemplation, it is no wonder we become entangled in many errors. Therefore, if we rightly direct our love, we must first turn our eyes not to man, the sight of whom would more often engender hate than love, but to God, who bids us extend to all men the love we bear to him, that this may be an unchanging principle: Whatever the character of the man, we must yet love him because we love God.”
John Calvin
HT Tony Reinke
John Calvin
HT Tony Reinke
Gospel-Driven Sanctification
"The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual … but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about us and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ."
Sinclair Ferguson
HT Tullian Tchividjian
Sinclair Ferguson
HT Tullian Tchividjian
Monday, May 17, 2010
How We Overcome
“How dare you approach the mercy-seat of God on the basis of what kind of day you had, as if that were the basis for our entrance into the presence of the sovereign and holy God? No wonder we cannot beat the Devil. This is works theology. It has nothing to do with grace and the exclusive sufficiency of Christ. Nothing.
Do you not understand that we overcome the accuser on the ground of the blood of Christ? Nothing more, nothing less. That is how we win. It is the only way we win. This is the only ground of our acceptance before God. If you drift far from the cross, you are done. You are defeated.
We overcome the accuser of our brothers and sisters, we overcome our consciences, we overcome our bad tempers, we overcome our defeats, we overcome our lusts, we overcome our fears, we overcome our pettiness on the basis of the blood of the Lamb.”
D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 103
HT Of First Importance
Do you not understand that we overcome the accuser on the ground of the blood of Christ? Nothing more, nothing less. That is how we win. It is the only way we win. This is the only ground of our acceptance before God. If you drift far from the cross, you are done. You are defeated.
We overcome the accuser of our brothers and sisters, we overcome our consciences, we overcome our bad tempers, we overcome our defeats, we overcome our lusts, we overcome our fears, we overcome our pettiness on the basis of the blood of the Lamb.”
D.A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 103
HT Of First Importance
Savior From Sin
The nature of Christ's salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a Savior from hell rather than a Savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of Fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.
A.W. Pink
A.W. Pink
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Fatherhood Of God
“Abba” is only a little word, and yet contains everything. It is not the mouth but the heart’s affection which speaks like this. Even if I am oppressed with anguish and terror on every side, and seem to be forsaken and utterly cast away from your presence, yet am I Your child, and You are my Father. For Christ’s sake: I am loved because of the Beloved. So this little word, “Abba,” Father, deeply felt in the heart, surpasses all the eloquence of Demosthenes, Cicero, and the most eloquent speakers that ever lived. This matter is not expressed with words, but with groanings, and these groanings cannot be uttered with any words of eloquence, for no tongue can express them.
Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Incredible Comeback...
One of the greatest comebacks in history. Not only down 3 games to none, but also down 3 goals to none in game 7. Go Flyers!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Saints And Sinners
The saints are sinners still. Our best tears need to be wept over, the strongest faith is mixed with unbelief, our most flaming love is cold compared with what Jesus deserves, and our intensest zeal still lacks the full fervor which the bleeding wounds and pierced heart of the crucified might claim at our hands. Our best things need a sin offering, or they would condemn us.
C.H. Spurgeon
C.H. Spurgeon
The Problem With "Give In Order To Get"
Desiring God Blog:
"Prosperity teachers sometimes teach that if we give, God will in turn give back more to us than we have given. This, then, becomes an incentive to give and a subtle way of advocating the idea that "God wants you to be rich."
There are two main problems with this worth mentioning. First, while it is true that God absolutely does give back to us more than we have given (see, for example, Matthew 19:29 or the feeding of the five thousand), this is not always (or usually) financial. God gives to us in a multitude of ways, and finances are only one such way—and, by far, not the most important.
Second, when God does give back to us, it is not so that we can keep it to ourselves—as though God intends for his further outpouring of grace to terminate on us. Rather, as we are blessed more by God (in all ways—not just financially), he expects us to in turn bless others even more. This doesn’t diminish the significance and meaningfulness of his grace but actually increases it even more, for we experience his grace most fully when it is a means of further serving others.
We see both of these realities in 2 Corinthians 9:10-11: "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God." We see here that God's blessing is not merely financial because Paul writes that he will enrich us "in every way." And we see that God does this so that we can in turn bless others even more when Paul writes that God does this so that we can “be generous in every way."
Read the entire article here.
"Prosperity teachers sometimes teach that if we give, God will in turn give back more to us than we have given. This, then, becomes an incentive to give and a subtle way of advocating the idea that "God wants you to be rich."
There are two main problems with this worth mentioning. First, while it is true that God absolutely does give back to us more than we have given (see, for example, Matthew 19:29 or the feeding of the five thousand), this is not always (or usually) financial. God gives to us in a multitude of ways, and finances are only one such way—and, by far, not the most important.
Second, when God does give back to us, it is not so that we can keep it to ourselves—as though God intends for his further outpouring of grace to terminate on us. Rather, as we are blessed more by God (in all ways—not just financially), he expects us to in turn bless others even more. This doesn’t diminish the significance and meaningfulness of his grace but actually increases it even more, for we experience his grace most fully when it is a means of further serving others.
We see both of these realities in 2 Corinthians 9:10-11: "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God." We see here that God's blessing is not merely financial because Paul writes that he will enrich us "in every way." And we see that God does this so that we can in turn bless others even more when Paul writes that God does this so that we can “be generous in every way."
Read the entire article here.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The Gospel Is For Christians
There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be trust as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest.
B.B. Warfield
B.B. Warfield
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Church Membership
Kevin DeYoung:
"God’s covenant with us is prior to any covenant we make with each other. He chooses us, sets us apart, calls us to holiness, and enjoins us to love one another. But all this must happen in particulars. The commitment to live out the principles of the new covenant takes place with a specific people in a specific place. This results in a local church. Membership matters because particularization matters.
According to Jonathan Leeman (whose ideas I’ve borrowed in the paragraph above), submitting to a local church accomplishes a number of crucial things."
Read the entire article here.
"God’s covenant with us is prior to any covenant we make with each other. He chooses us, sets us apart, calls us to holiness, and enjoins us to love one another. But all this must happen in particulars. The commitment to live out the principles of the new covenant takes place with a specific people in a specific place. This results in a local church. Membership matters because particularization matters.
According to Jonathan Leeman (whose ideas I’ve borrowed in the paragraph above), submitting to a local church accomplishes a number of crucial things."
Read the entire article here.
Repenting Of Our Good Works
"What must we do, then, to be saved? To find God we must repent of the things we have done wrong, but if that is all you do, you may remain just an elder brother. To truly become a Christian we must also repent of the reasons we ever did anything right. Pharisees only repent of their sins, but Christians repent for the very roots of their righteousness, too. We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness – the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord. We must admit that we’ve put our ultimate hope in both our wrongdoing and right doing we have been seeking to get around God or get control of God in order to get hold of those things.
It is only when you see the desire to be your own Savior and Lord—lying beneath both your sins and your moral goodness—that you are on the verge of becoming a Christian indeed. When you realize that the antidote to being bad is not just being good, you are on the brink. If you follow through, it will change everything—how you relate to God, self, others, the world, your work, your sins, your virtue. It’s called the new birth because its so radical.”
Tim Keller, The Prodigal God
It is only when you see the desire to be your own Savior and Lord—lying beneath both your sins and your moral goodness—that you are on the verge of becoming a Christian indeed. When you realize that the antidote to being bad is not just being good, you are on the brink. If you follow through, it will change everything—how you relate to God, self, others, the world, your work, your sins, your virtue. It’s called the new birth because its so radical.”
Tim Keller, The Prodigal God
Self - Denial
"Jesus Christ demands self-denial, that is, self-negation (Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23), as a necessary condition of discipleship. Self-denial is a summons to submit to the authority of God as Father and of Jesus as Lord and to declare lifelong war on one's instinctive egoism. What is to be negated is not personal self or one's existence as a rational and responsible human being. Jesus does not plan to turn us into zombies, nor does he ask us to volunteer for a robot role. The required denial is of carnal self, the egocentric, self-deifying urge with which we were born and which dominates us so ruinously in our natural state. Jesus links self-denial with cross-bearing. Cross-bearing is far more than enduring this or that hardship. Carrying one's cross in Jesus' day, as we learn from the story of Jesus' own crucifixion, was required of those whom society had condemned, whose rights were forfeit, and who were now being led out to their execution. The cross they carried was the instrument of death. Jesus represents discipleship as a matter of following him, and following him as based on taking up one's cross in self-negation. Carnal self would never consent to cast us in such a role. "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die," wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was right: Accepting death to everything that carnal self wants to possess is what Christ's summons to self-denial was all about."
J.I. Packer
J.I. Packer
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Diminishing Affections For The Things Of This World
The ways, and fashions, and amusements, and recreations of the world have a continually decreasing place in the heart of a growing Christian. He does not condemn them as downright sinful, nor say that those who have anything to do with them are going to hell. He only feels they have a constantly diminishing hold on his own affections and gradually seem smaller and more trifling in his eyes.
J.C. Ryle
J.C. Ryle
Keeping Balance
Phil Johnson:
"Let's be honest: That claim is often employed in an effort to stop meaningful discussion rather than advance it. Many people who take that approach simply don't want to work through the difficulties posed by the tension between the gospel call and the sinner's inability, or between God's absolute sovereignty and His wrath against sin. They imagine that if they take a position in the middle of the road and cover their eyes, they can simply avoid all such problems altogether.
That's not a biblical way of thinking. Scripture (as well as true Calvinism) stresses both divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The truth is not a midway point where neither emphasis is taught at all, but a balanced doctrine where both sides of the truth are fully stressed.
The balance between Christian liberty and godly living is also like that. Don't look for a comfortable midway point between legalism and license. There is no safe "middle road" between legalism and license. In fact, legalism and license often go hand in hand and are found together, because they stem from the same wrong view of sanctification. Legalism is often a smoke screen for carnal living."
Read the entire article here.
"Let's be honest: That claim is often employed in an effort to stop meaningful discussion rather than advance it. Many people who take that approach simply don't want to work through the difficulties posed by the tension between the gospel call and the sinner's inability, or between God's absolute sovereignty and His wrath against sin. They imagine that if they take a position in the middle of the road and cover their eyes, they can simply avoid all such problems altogether.
That's not a biblical way of thinking. Scripture (as well as true Calvinism) stresses both divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The truth is not a midway point where neither emphasis is taught at all, but a balanced doctrine where both sides of the truth are fully stressed.
The balance between Christian liberty and godly living is also like that. Don't look for a comfortable midway point between legalism and license. There is no safe "middle road" between legalism and license. In fact, legalism and license often go hand in hand and are found together, because they stem from the same wrong view of sanctification. Legalism is often a smoke screen for carnal living."
Read the entire article here.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Why Read Dead Guys?
"[W]e need intimate knowledge of the past. Not that the past has any magic about, but because we cannot study the future, and yet need something to set against the present. . . . A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age."
C.S. Lewis - The Weight of Glory (Touchstone 1996), 48-49
HT Dane Ortlund
C.S. Lewis - The Weight of Glory (Touchstone 1996), 48-49
HT Dane Ortlund
Why Christians Need To Understand The Fall
"When we understand our sin biblically, we understand why we are prone to great evil and know why the world is not the way it should be. But by knowing that God made us in his image and likeness, we find the source of our dignity, value, and identity. By knowing of the fall and our state as sinners, we understand depravity as the root problem with our life and world. And by understanding the work of Jesus, in our place for our sins, we enjoy the depth of God's love for us, work in us, and eternal future with us as he restores us to the holy state from which we have fallen.
Like a loving Father, God warned our first parents of the consequences of sin. Nonetheless, they and we have each chosen sin. Because God is holy, he must deal with our sin. Because God is loving, he has chosen to do so in a way that we could be forgiven and restored to right relationship with him. In so doing, God is honoring us by showing that we are made for more than sin and that he expects more from us."
Doctrine, Chapter 5. Fall: God Judges (pgs. 172–173).
( HT The Resurgence )
Like a loving Father, God warned our first parents of the consequences of sin. Nonetheless, they and we have each chosen sin. Because God is holy, he must deal with our sin. Because God is loving, he has chosen to do so in a way that we could be forgiven and restored to right relationship with him. In so doing, God is honoring us by showing that we are made for more than sin and that he expects more from us."
Doctrine, Chapter 5. Fall: God Judges (pgs. 172–173).
( HT The Resurgence )
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Friday, May 07, 2010
Worship Is Giving God The Best That He Has Given You
"Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship. If you hoard a thing for yourself, it will turn into spiritual dry rot, as the manna did when it was hoarded. God will never let you hold a spiritual thing for yourself; it has to be given back to Him that He may make it a blessing to others."
Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Is God Sovereign Over Human Disability?
Yes he is. He tells us so in Scripture:
Then the Lord said to (Moses), "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" (Exodus 4:11)
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:1-3)
To be clear, God's sovereignty doesn't mean he merely permits disability. These verses show us that he sovereignly intends it, both for his glory and for our good—"that the works of God might be displayed."
With that in mind, what do you think about this expansion of Psalm 139:13-16? I've added some additional descriptors in italics to bring out what we really mean if we believe that God is sovereign over disability:
For you formed my inward parts with Down syndrome;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb without eyes.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made with cognitive challenges.
Wonderful are your works in creating me without limbs;
my soul knows it very well though my ears will never hear a sound.
My frame was not hidden from you as you made me with Apert syndrome,
when I was being made in secret with autism,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth without Hexosaminidase A.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance with spina bifida;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me with cerebral palsy,
when as yet there was none of them.
John Knight
Then the Lord said to (Moses), "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" (Exodus 4:11)
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:1-3)
To be clear, God's sovereignty doesn't mean he merely permits disability. These verses show us that he sovereignly intends it, both for his glory and for our good—"that the works of God might be displayed."
With that in mind, what do you think about this expansion of Psalm 139:13-16? I've added some additional descriptors in italics to bring out what we really mean if we believe that God is sovereign over disability:
For you formed my inward parts with Down syndrome;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb without eyes.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made with cognitive challenges.
Wonderful are your works in creating me without limbs;
my soul knows it very well though my ears will never hear a sound.
My frame was not hidden from you as you made me with Apert syndrome,
when I was being made in secret with autism,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth without Hexosaminidase A.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance with spina bifida;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me with cerebral palsy,
when as yet there was none of them.
John Knight
Baptism And The Great Commission
Nathan Finn:
"So what is the application? Well, part of what it means for us as Southern Baptists to embrace a Great Commission Resurgence is a renewed commitment to planting healthy churches in every corner of the globe. As we understand the Scriptures, this means those churches should be assemblies of disciples who have repented of their sin and trusted in Christ alone for their salvation and followed their Lord publicly through the ordinance of believer’s baptism. This is the New Testament way.
Southern Baptists should celebrate how God is working through many Christian groups to spread the gospel to all nations. I even think we should look for ways we can in good conscience cooperate with other Great Commission Christians in spreading the gospel to all people. But we must continue to hold fast to our New Testament commitment to plant churches of baptized disciples who will in turn plant more churches of baptized disciples. To do anything less would be to disobey our Lord’s commands about all that it means to “go therefore."
Read the entire article here.
"So what is the application? Well, part of what it means for us as Southern Baptists to embrace a Great Commission Resurgence is a renewed commitment to planting healthy churches in every corner of the globe. As we understand the Scriptures, this means those churches should be assemblies of disciples who have repented of their sin and trusted in Christ alone for their salvation and followed their Lord publicly through the ordinance of believer’s baptism. This is the New Testament way.
Southern Baptists should celebrate how God is working through many Christian groups to spread the gospel to all nations. I even think we should look for ways we can in good conscience cooperate with other Great Commission Christians in spreading the gospel to all people. But we must continue to hold fast to our New Testament commitment to plant churches of baptized disciples who will in turn plant more churches of baptized disciples. To do anything less would be to disobey our Lord’s commands about all that it means to “go therefore."
Read the entire article here.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Genuine Salvation
"It is greatly to be feared that there are multitudes in Christendom who verily imagine and sincerely believe that they are among the saved, yet who are total strangers to a work of divine grace in their hearts. It is one thing to have clear intellectual conceptions of God's truth, it is quite another matter to have a personal, real heart acquaintance with it. It is one thing to believe that sin is the awful thing that the Bible says it is, but it is quite another matter to have a holy horror and hatred of it in the soul. It is one thing to know that God requires repentance, it is quite another matter to experimentally mourn and groan over our vileness. It is one thing to believe that Christ is the only Savior for sinners, it is quite another matter to really trust Him from the heart. It is one thing to believe that Christ is the sum of all excellency', it is quite another matter to LOVE HIM above all others. It is one thing to believe that God is the great and holy One, it is quite another matter to truly reverence and fear Him. It is one thing to believe that salvation is of the Lord, it is quite another matter to become an actual partaker of it through His gracious workings."
A.W. Pink
A.W. Pink
Why Study Early Christian History and Literature?
Here is Everett Ferguson’s answer, on MP3, from the recent Center for Early Christian Studies conference at Wheaton College (March 18, 2010).
HT Justin Taylor
HT Justin Taylor
Doctrinal Books
“For my own part, I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await others. I believe that many who find that ‘nothing happens’ when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand.”
C. S. Lewis, quoted in R. L. Green and W. Hooper, C. S. Lewis: A Biography (New York, 1974), page 115.
HT Ray Ortlund
C. S. Lewis, quoted in R. L. Green and W. Hooper, C. S. Lewis: A Biography (New York, 1974), page 115.
HT Ray Ortlund
Real Apologetics
Michael Spencer:
"We need to remember that each day dying people are waiting for the word of death and RESURRECTION.
The are a lot of different kinds of Good News, but there is little good news in “My argument scored more points than you argument.” But the news that “Christ is risen!” really is Good News for one kind of person: The person who is dying.
If Christianity is not a dying word to dying men, it is not the message of the Bible that gives hope now.
What is your apologetic? Make it the full and complete announcement of the Life Giving news about Jesus."
Read the entire article here.
"We need to remember that each day dying people are waiting for the word of death and RESURRECTION.
The are a lot of different kinds of Good News, but there is little good news in “My argument scored more points than you argument.” But the news that “Christ is risen!” really is Good News for one kind of person: The person who is dying.
If Christianity is not a dying word to dying men, it is not the message of the Bible that gives hope now.
What is your apologetic? Make it the full and complete announcement of the Life Giving news about Jesus."
Read the entire article here.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
New Creation
"If you have been truly born again you have a new and holy nature, and you are no longer moved towards sinful objects as you were before. The things that you once loved you now hate, and therefore you will not run after them. You can hardly understand it but so it is, that your thoughts and tastes are radically changed. You long for that very holiness which once it was irksome to hear of; and you loathe those vain pursuits which were once your delights. The man who puts his trust in the Lord sees the pleasures of sin in a new light. For he sees the evil which follows them by noting the agonies which they brought upon our Lord when He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Without faith a man says to himself, "This sin is a very pleasant thing, why should I not enjoy it? Surely I may eat this fruit, which looks so charming and is so much to be desired." The flesh sees honey in the drink, but faith at once perceives that there is poison in the cup. Faith spies the snake in the grass and gives warning of it. Faith remembers death, judgment, the great reward, the just punishment and that dread word, eternity."
C.H. Spurgeon
C.H. Spurgeon
Monday, May 03, 2010
Comfort In The Gospel
"Another excellency in the Gospel is, that it is equally suited to all persons in all conditions. Had any self-righteous methods of acceptance been proposed to the dying thief, what consolation could he have found? How little could he do in his few remaining hours! However he might have admired the goodness of God to others, he must have utterly despaired of mercy himself. But through faith in Christ he was enabled to depart in peace and joy As to the murderers of our Lord, how long must it have been before they could have entertained any comfortable hope of acceptance! But the Gospel affords a prospect of salvation to the very chief of sinners, and that, even at the eleventh hour. Nor is there any situation whatever, in which the Gospel is not calculated to comfort and support the soul…Under the various calamities of life, also, believers find consolation in the thought that the salvation of their souls is secured by Christ. Hence they are enabled to bear their trials with firmness: they “know how both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” And shall not this recommend the Gospel? that there is no situation, no circumstance whatever wherein it is not suited to us? that while every other method of salvation increases our anxiety, and, in many instances, drives us utterly to despair, the Gospel always mitigates our sorrows, and often turns them into joy and triumph?"
Charles Simeon (Horae Homileticae Vol. 12)
Charles Simeon (Horae Homileticae Vol. 12)
Contentment
Tim Keller:
"If grace has really changed our hearts, we don’t ultimately care if life goes the way we want it, as long as we have him. The joys of acclaim, wealth, and power are nothing compared to the eternal acclaim, wealth, and power we have in him. A “weaned child” is not just someone who knows this in principle, but who has worked gospel truths into his or her soul as spiritually sensed realities. Internally, this quiets the soul into profound contentment and poise. Externally, it means humility, a willingness to learn from others and also to trust God. The believer realizes that the reason God’s actions are often opaque is not because we are wise and he is foolish, but because he is too “great” and “wonderful” for us."
Read the entire article here.
"If grace has really changed our hearts, we don’t ultimately care if life goes the way we want it, as long as we have him. The joys of acclaim, wealth, and power are nothing compared to the eternal acclaim, wealth, and power we have in him. A “weaned child” is not just someone who knows this in principle, but who has worked gospel truths into his or her soul as spiritually sensed realities. Internally, this quiets the soul into profound contentment and poise. Externally, it means humility, a willingness to learn from others and also to trust God. The believer realizes that the reason God’s actions are often opaque is not because we are wise and he is foolish, but because he is too “great” and “wonderful” for us."
Read the entire article here.
Edwards Brings People Together
Stephen Nichols:
"What I find intriguing here is why I came to Edwards in the first place, and also why I have stayed with him all these years. Edwards brings people together. I started out with Edwards because he brought so many people together. Literary scholars, historians—even historians of science—theologians, politicians, pastors, and people in the pew all drink at the waters of Edwards. I’m not sure of any other figure who appeals to so many broad interests, barring Augustine (which is likely why we like to call Edwards America’s Augustine). To put the matter directly, if Edwards can bring Piper and Warren together, Edwards must be saying something remarkable. If Edwards can bring scholars, pastors and laity together, he certainly is saying something worth hearing."
Read the entire article here.
"What I find intriguing here is why I came to Edwards in the first place, and also why I have stayed with him all these years. Edwards brings people together. I started out with Edwards because he brought so many people together. Literary scholars, historians—even historians of science—theologians, politicians, pastors, and people in the pew all drink at the waters of Edwards. I’m not sure of any other figure who appeals to so many broad interests, barring Augustine (which is likely why we like to call Edwards America’s Augustine). To put the matter directly, if Edwards can bring Piper and Warren together, Edwards must be saying something remarkable. If Edwards can bring scholars, pastors and laity together, he certainly is saying something worth hearing."
Read the entire article here.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
His Grace His All
In trial and weakness and trouble, He seeks to bring us low, until we learn that His grace is all, and to take pleasure in the very thing that brings us and keeps us low. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. His presence filling and satisfying our emptiness, becomes the secret of humility that need never fail. The humble man has learned the secret of abiding gladness. The weaker he feels, the lower he sinks, and the greater his humiliations appear, the more power and the presence of Christ are his portion.
Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray
Care Of Creation
Russell Moore:
Some conservatives, and some conservative evangelicals, act as though “environmentalism” is by definition “liberal” or even just downright silly. Witness a lot of the evangelical rhetoric across social media on Earth Day a while back: mostly Al Gore jokes and wisecracks about cutting down trees or eating endangered species as a means of celebration.
Do some environmentalists reject the dignity of humanity? Yes. Do some replace the reverence for creation with that due the Creator? Of course. This happens in the same way some do the same thing with reverence for economic profit or any other finite thing.
There’s nothing conservative though, and nothing “evangelical,” about dismissing the conservation of the natural environment. And the accelerating Gulf crisis reminds us something of what’s at stake.
Read the entire article here.
HT Justin Taylor
Some conservatives, and some conservative evangelicals, act as though “environmentalism” is by definition “liberal” or even just downright silly. Witness a lot of the evangelical rhetoric across social media on Earth Day a while back: mostly Al Gore jokes and wisecracks about cutting down trees or eating endangered species as a means of celebration.
Do some environmentalists reject the dignity of humanity? Yes. Do some replace the reverence for creation with that due the Creator? Of course. This happens in the same way some do the same thing with reverence for economic profit or any other finite thing.
There’s nothing conservative though, and nothing “evangelical,” about dismissing the conservation of the natural environment. And the accelerating Gulf crisis reminds us something of what’s at stake.
Read the entire article here.
HT Justin Taylor
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