Fierce and Crippling Grace

How blessed we are when we yield to God at the beginning of God's call, the way Abraham and Joseph did. But so many of us are like Jacob. We struggle independently of the God whom we believe and love. We want to be part of his plan, but alas, we make our own plans - and we never truly succeed. Then a crisis comes through which he lays his hand upon us (life becomes dislocated - out of joint), and we have an appalling sense of our own incompetence and weakness. That is the great hour - the hour of grace, because from there on our walk is never the same.

God may be wrestling with some of you this very day. He may be saying to you (clever, astute, capable as you are), "You have believed in me, but you have always manipulated your own life and made your own arrangements. My child, what is your name?"

Source: Preaching the Word: Genesis, Beginning and Blessing, R. Kent Hughes

Fierce Grace

I've been thinking about an aspect of grace lately. My thinking process along these lines was initiated when two of my friends acted in a manner unbecoming Christian behavior. Both of these men are very godly in character and witness and both love the Lord very deeply. So, it was upsetting to me to see them act in a way that I perceived was defamational to their witness of our Lord. So, here's where my thinking led me. I looked inward to see if I could find a circumstance in my own life that would compare to what had transpired between them. Sure enough, there were plenty of examples in my memory for me to peruse. ("Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." Romans 2:1) One in particular was very recent. As I began weighing this event and running it through a very detailed line of reasoning a particular train of thought began to dominate my deliberation. The concept began something like this. I remembered the conviction I felt when this particular failure was perpetrated. To me it was a grievous sin which I struggled to deal with, wondering how I could allow myself - as a Christian - to perpetrate such an evil. I remembered scripture verses like this one "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1). The words there "God forbid" have the connotation of meaning "This is inconceivable". In other words it would be inconceivable to act in such a manner since the grace of God has worked so powerfully and wonderfully in my life. But as I thought about this something was building in the back of my mind. This new thought was asking "What about those times you sinned that you didn't feel such a great tenderness and eminent sorrow toward God for having sinned against him (Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: Psalms 51:4). What about all those "simple" sins that I classified as undeserving of contemplation and passed over so quickly without regard. Did God regard those sins as having any less importance than what I considered as my "big" sin. Well, we all know the answer to that; no, all sin before God is an abomination and must be confessed and repented of in order that our fellowship with God may be restored. So, my mind shifted gears and I set out on a completely different train of thought. It went something like this: If we (Christian believers) stand in the sight of God as having been cleansed from our sin and under no legal condemnation - (Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:1,2) - why do we still experience the assault of shame and guilt in our lives when we commit sin. Well, this new train of thought had illuminated two very important process realms for me: Emotion and Reason. See, my reason tells me that any sin committed against a holy God is offensive to Him regardless of how insignificant it may seem to me. This same reasoning process tells me that if God has established me in relationship with himself (and keeps me through his fierce grace), then I stand judicially justified before him and I am never in a state of condemnation. I can experience a loss of fellowship - brought about when I sin, but I do not experience condemnation because Jesus has propitiated the Fathers wrath by his atoning sacrifice on the †cross†. Now, new light was being shed on something I had heretofore been ignorant of; which one of these processes (Emotion - Reason) was guiding me IF I have only been feeling the shame and guilt of the "big" sins and was exempt of the same guilt and shame when dealing with the "small" sins? Do you see what I mean? How many of you - when you tell a "white lie", for instance, feel the same guilt and shame for something that you consider a much more grievous sin? Does reason tell you that this is the way it is intended to operate? Of course not. Our intellect knows this is not the case. All sin - even the slightest - is abomination and rebellion to the will of God for our lives. So, what is guiding us in this type of thought? - Emotion. Now, here's where it gets a little deeper. Emotion does not think. It cannot "Know". It only "feels" (if even this can be said). And, since the emotive process is controlled by the senses - which are not always reliable - it can be mistaken. Our emotions are passive while our reason (or intellect) is active. The objective truths of scripture are never presented to our emotive processes but always to our intellect. We gain "knowledge" of right and wrong by weighing everything against the weight of scripture. Subjectively, our emotive process cannot comprehend the objective truths of Gods word. So, I then had to ask myself - Why would I ever let my emotions control me. Why would I allow my emotions the upper hand over my intellect in any given situation? If reason tells me that all sin in the eyes of God is reprehensible, why would I listen to emotion when it tries to tell me that I need only to repent for the "big" sins? Now, this line of thinking can turn over many a rock to reveal hidden lessons. For instance, look what this process of emotive control will do. It will inhibit repentance. How? Let's say I sin 20 times and I perceive they are all "little" sins. Will this emotive process drive me to my knees in sorrow for the way I have dishonored my God. I don't think it will. No, it leaves me outside the fellowship of God by convincing me it's no big deal. But then a "big" sin comes along, bringing with it the shame and grief and guilt. In turn this convicts our soul and drives us to contrition. We then confess our "sins" and God grants true repentance. But do you see what is wrong with this picture? Because we refuse to see all sin as reprehensible before a holy God, we overlook what we perceive as iniquity and are separated far too long from Gods fellowship. Then, finally, when one of these "huge" sins raises its ugly head and we recognize (through the intellect) the state of our affairs, we fall to our knees begging for Gods mercy and restored fellowship. Brothers, It shouldn't be this way. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). Let us, as people of "The Way" be more succinct in our approach to the way God has set forth for us to live. May we do this by having the mind of Christ! May the fierce grace of God beset us and drive us to our knees over any and all sin.

Soli Deo Gloria

Rick

What can a verb do?

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered. (13:4–5)

The previous passage (vv. 1–3) focuses on the emptiness produced when love is absent. In verses 4–5 we find the most comprehensive biblical description of the fullness of love. Paul shines love through a prism and we see 15 of its colors and hues, the spectrum of love. Each ray gives a facet, a property, of agapē love. Unlike most English translations, which include several adjectives, the Greek forms of all those properties are verbs. They do not focus on what love is so much as on what love does and does not do.
MacArthur, J. (1996, c1984). 1 Corinthians. Includes indexes. Chicago: Moody Press.

Check out this post about the use of verbs. It was really interesting and instructional. Bill Gnade has a blog I have discovered and like reading. I think you might too.

Rick

Reflect or Refract?

Christians are generally unconscious that their worship reflects the practical theology of their community. The Puritan stamp on the dictum that ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever’ is unmistakable. The Westminster divines, with keen spiritual insight, focused the significance of man’s whole existence on glorifying God and delighting in his fellowship, because that was simply the practical outcome of their beliefs. Man-centered worship tends increasingly to deny the heart reality we confess. On the one hand, law threatens to displace grace as the foundational motive for adoring God. Both habit and the pursuit of spiritual peace must be suspect when we search for a biblical rationale for worshipping God. In sum, liturgy is theology acted out,our human response to God and his favour. But the forms persist while the content evaporates or shifts its centre from God to man. When liberalism denies the reality of a God ‘who is there’, it cannot avoid transmuting religious verities into myths. The result is seen everywhere in the secularization of the ‘post-Christian man come of age’. When liberation theology seeks to contextualize worship in a programme of sociopolitical action conscience-raising becomes identified with God-awareness in the process of history.

Carson, D. (2000, c1987). The Church in the Bible and the World : An international study (Page 120). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Since You Asked

Here is a list of the books I am currently Reading:

A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, Robert L. Reymond
NAC - Galations, Timothy George
Everlasting Domimion: A Theology of the Old Testament, Eugene Merrill
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

Here is a List of some of the books I want to buy:
(If they are strike through I own them)

Anything by Philip G. Ryken (One of my favorite authors)
Exodus: Saved for God's Glory, Preach The Word series, R. Kent Hughes, ed.
The Doctrines of Grace, James M. Boice/Philip G. Ryken, Crossway Books

A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers, D. A. Carson
Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, Roland Bainton
The Early Church, Henry Chadwick
The Dumb Ox (A Biography of Aquinas), G.K. Chesterton
George Whitfield (2 vols.), Arnold Dallimore
Handbook to the History of Christianity, ed. Tim Dowley
Theology of the Reformers, Timothy George
The Democratization of American Christianity, Nathan Hatch
The Waning of the Middle Ages, Johan Huizinga
A History of Christianity in the U.S & Canada, Mark Noll
Quest for Godliness, J.I. Packer
The Church Under Siege, M.A. Smith
Revival and Revivalism, Iain Murray
Manual of Theology, J.L Dagg
The Gagging of God, D.A. Carson
Spiritual Depression, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones
Holiness, J.C. Ryle
Exercise for Young Theologians, Helmut Thielicke
Inspiration and Authority of Scripture, B.B. Warfield
No Place for Truth, David Wells
God in the Wasteland, David Wells
Losing Our Virtue, David Wells

What do you see?

"...and all these things which the soul sees of itself, and through its own power, it sees without the co-operation of any thing or any one else; for the things which the soul does thus comprehend are a light to themselves, and in the same way we learn the sciences; for the mind, applying its never-closing and never-slumbering eye to their doctrines and speculations, see them by no spurious light, but by that genuine light which shines forth from itself. When therefore you hear that God has been seen by man, you must consider that this is said without any reference to that light which is perceptible by the external senses, for it is natural that that which is appreciable only by the intellect should be presented to the intellect alone; and the fountain of the purest light is God; so that when God appears to the soul he pours forth his beams without any shade, and beaming with the most radiant brilliancy."

The Works of Philo - Complete and Unabridged, Hendrickson Publishers, pg. 341

Christ's Influence

"In this world of men, with it's aspirations and its struggles.....there appeared one, born of woman....To most of....his contemporaries he seemed a failure.....Yet no life ever lived on this planet has been so influential in the affairs of men. From it has grown the most nearly universal fellowship, the Christian church, that man has known....

From that brief life and its apparent frustration has flowed a more powerful force for the triumphal waging of man's long battle than any other ever known by the human race. Through it millions have had their inner conflicts resolved in progressive victory over their baser impulses. By it millions have been sustained in the greatest tragedies of life and have come through radiant. Through it hundreds of millions have been lifted from illiteracy and ignorance, and have been placed upon the road of growing intellectual freedom, and of control over their physical environment. It has done more to allay the physical ills of disease and famine than any other impulse known to man. It has emancipated millions from chattel slavery and millions of others from thraldom to vice. It has protected tens of millions from exploitation by their fellows. It has been the most fruitful source of movements to lesson the horrors of war, and to put the relations of men and nations on the basis of justice and peace."
Kenneth S. Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity, 7 Vols. (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1938-1947), 7:503-4

What has his life, death and resurrection done for you?

Rick

A Great Post

"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
King James Version. 1995 (1 Co 12:13).

You've got to check out this post by CenturiØn. This is a great post concerning baptism. If you read this over and get only a yawn from it maybe I'm just a little slow. But, I'll tell you...this thing really jumped out at me.

Here'a a couple of excerpts:

"Ignatius is here using the “full armor” metaphor, and perhaps composing one of the first versions of “Onward Christian Soldiers” – because he is exhorting the believers (to and thru Polycarp) to be soldiers who do not abandon their posts."

"...by being humbled for our sinful defilement, our falling short of, and walking contrary to, the grace of baptism and our engagements; by growing up to assurance of pardon of sin, and of all other blessings sealed to us in that sacrament; by drawing strength from the death and resurrection of Christ, into whom we are baptized, for the mortifying of sin, and quickening of grace; and by endeavoring to live by faith, to have our conversation in holiness and righteousness, as those that have therein given up their names to Christ..."

Get over there and read the whole thing!

Rick

What is it?

Christian doctrine: "What the church of Jesus Christ believes, teaches, and confesses on the basis of the word of God."

Source: Jaroslav Pelikan - The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine

Share The Gospel

In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
In Luke 19:10, He told Zacchaeus and the crowds: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

As we watch the news and stay aware of current events in our world today we do so in order to watch for the signs of His coming. But, we can become so caught up in these prophetic issues that we walk right by people who don’t know Jesus Christ. What would you like to be doing when He returns? What has He given you to do? Do that. Do the Lord’s business until He comes. That’s what matters most. Our communication of the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be clear and should be the priority of every Christian.

On July 28, 1945, the heavy cruiser Indianapolis left Guam for Leyte Gulf, in the Philippine Islands. She radioed the standard message to Leyte that she was on her way, but due to atmospheric interference the signal was scrambled, and Leyte received nothing intelligible.This lack of communication proved disastrous, for at 12:15 A.M. on July 29, the Indianapolis received two torpedoes from a Japanese submarine and sank in twelve minutes. More disastrously, the first torpedo knocked out her electrical system, preventing an SOS call. Nine hundred of the 1,200 men aboard survived the sinking, taking refuge in the few lifeboats afloat or clinging to debris, hoping for a quick rescue. However, since no one in Leyte Gulf knew when the ship was expected in port, the sailors waited in vain. Over three days passed before search planes finally spotted the survivors—only 316 of the original 900 left after the sinking. It was a tragic loss caused by poor communication.

We face the same problem in teaching the Bible. God sends out his message plainly, intelligibly, and precisely—until we begin to communicate it. So often our poor efforts mask its glory and cloud its clarity; the message is garbled and unclear. Yet eternal destinies depend on this message. We must convey correctly the clear, intelligible message of God’s Word. Would we have them any less clearly informed than we?¹

Romans 10:14 says “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I like the way James Montgomery Boice puts it: “"God first plants within our heart what we might call the ovum of saving faith, for we are told that even faith is not of ourselves, it is the "gift of God" (Ephesians 2). Second, he sends forth the seed of his Word, which contains the divine life within it, to pierce the ovum of faith. The result is conception. Thus, a new spiritual life comes into being, a life that has its origin in God and no connection to the sinful life that surrounds it. That is why we can say, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is passed away, behold, the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17). No one is ever the same after the Holy Spirit of God has entered to implant the life of God within him or her."
Source: Foundations of the Christian Faith, James Montgomery Boice, Pg. 407

Share the Gospel with someone this week!

Rick

¹Hurley, V. (2000, c1995). Speaker's sourcebook of new illustrations (Page 91). Dallas: Word Publishers.

The Clarity of Scripture

I was reading Centuri0n’s (Frank Turk) Blog and came across this question: “Is scripture that clear?” You will need to read his blog to see what context the question was asked, but it reminded me of a portion of a paper I wrote once. I thought I’d post it here.

When the time came for God to make a record of the things He intended to teach you, He began to inspire men to write certain things in order to make himself known to you and bring glory to himself. Contemplate what R. C. Sproul says about a writer: “What is a writer? Our concern here will focus on the novelist rather than the poet or the journalist. A writer can be described as a verbal artist. The primary task of the novelist is to produce works that are concrete rather than abstract. There is a filtering process whereby abstract ideas trickle down from the technical literature into the more broadly read works. Through this process our values and life views are influenced by the world of intellect.”¹ Do you see what Mr. Sproul is saying? First, he says that a writer is a verbal artist – a painter, if you will, who takes words and through the process of canvas, idea, paint, brush and several other tools of his trade he begins to widen the apprehension of understanding to these words by magnifying the meaning to your understanding. He goes on to say that the primary task in this endeavor is to produce a work that is completely coherent or concrete in our assessment of the work. He further says that a filtering process is involved. This speaks of a process where other “artists” develop some of the more “abstract ideas” into a “technical” sense of understanding. Then, yes, more “artists” further develop these “technical ideas” into a more broad work that almost anyone can understand. Mr. Sproul then says that the intellect has the full ability of understanding of these words because these “verbal artists” have painted the picture with such clarity that as we view it, the influence it has on our values and life views has the effect of presenting it to our intellect as if the artist himself were describing what it was he was painting. Now, I should stop here and say that I am not attempting to speak for Mr. Sproul. These are the meanings that I gleaned from his statement as they apply to my purpose in writing this paper. However, I can say this. It seems to me that this is exactly what God has done in giving us his word through his prophets and biblical writers (artists). As the writing of God’s word developed over a fifteen hundred year period, I’m sure some of the ideas seemed abstract and were not fully comprehended at times to the ones presenting it. Actually, I know this to be true – listen to the words of Jesus: “For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.”² I also believe that as other writers of Holy Scripture drew from previous understanding of the writers before them, the Holy Spirit illuminated their minds to further simplify the word that God had for his people. This process continued as God gave his word to each and every Old Testament writer. Then, as God incarnate, Jesus Christ himself began to teach with supreme authority and divine clarity. As the New Testament gospel was being formulated, the Holy Spirit further inspired these men to write in an even more broad work so that anyone could understand. This is part of what Jesus meant when he promised to send to every believer a comforter – the Holy Spirit himself – to live inside each believer. Consider the words of Jesus: “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit—the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”³ The apostle John also says: “The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in Him."⁴ The Apostle Paul says: “God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (italics mine). We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.”⁵ Friend, please believe me when I tell you that you have absolutely no excuse for not believing every word of God in Holy Scripture. God truly has sent to you writer after writer after writer teaching you – talented artists that have painted the picture of God in such vivid expressions that even a child can understand. God has been long suffering and patient with you if you have not yet accepted his wonderful gift of salvation in His son Jesus the Christ. Can you afford to wait any longer? If you do not believe me, listen to the very words of God: “From the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools….”⁶ Do you see what God said? – “His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made”. God Himself has imagined, sketched out, drawn, painted, written and sculpted so that you might view the most beautiful piece of artwork every created. He has accomplished this out of a deep love for you and in order to bring you understanding so that you might glorify him. If you have forsaken him in the past please pray and ask him to help you see the truth. Then take the time to once again peruse his word and look again to his canvas of creation with such a longing that you may clearly see your great God and creator in the face of his son Jesus.

Rick

¹ Sproul, R. (2000, c1986). Lifeviews : Understanding the ideas that shape society today. Old Tappan, NJ: F.H. Revell
²The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Mt 13:16-17). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers
³The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Jn 14:24-26). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
⁴The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (1 Jn 2:27). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
⁵The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Col 1:27-29). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
⁶The Holy Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2003 (Ro 1:20-22). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

God's Self Existence

Title: Concise Theology: A Guide To Historic Christian Beliefs
Author: Packer, J.I. (James Innell)

SELF-EXISTENCE
GOD HAS ALWAYS BEEN
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
PSALM 90:2

Children sometimes ask, “Who made God?” The clearest answer is that God never needed to be made, because he was always there. He exists in a different way from us: we, his creatures, exist in a dependent, derived, finite, fragile way, but our Maker exists in an eternal, self-sustaining, necessary way—necessary, that is, in the sense that God does not have it in him to go out of existence, just as we do not have it in us to live forever. We necessarily age and die, because it is our present nature to do that; God necessarily continues forever unchanged, because it is his eternal nature to do that. This is one of many contrasts between creature and Creator.
God’s self-existence is a basic truth. At the outset of his presentation of the unknown God to the Athenian idolaters, Paul explained that this God, the world’s Creator, “is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:23-25). Sacrifices offered to idols, in today’s tribal religions as in ancient Athens, are thought of as somehow keeping the god going, but the Creator needs no such support system. The word aseity, meaning that he has life in himself and draws his unending energy from himself (a se in Latin means “from himself”), was coined by theologians to express this truth, which the Bible makes clear (Pss. 90:1-4; 102:25-27; Isa. 40:28-31; John 5:26; Rev. 4:10).
In theology, endless mistakes result from supposing that the conditions, bounds, and limits of our own finite existence apply to God. The doctrine of his aseity stands as a bulwark against such mistakes. In our life of faith, we easily impoverish ourselves by embracing an idea of God that is too limited and small, and again the doctrine of God’s aseity stands as a bulwark to stop this happening. It is vital for spiritual health to believe that God is great (cf. Ps. 95:1-7), and grasping the truth of his aseity is the first step on the road to doing this.

The Problem of Evil

"....what I have seen over 18 years of pastoral ministry and six years of teaching experience before that, is that people who waver with uncertainty over the problem of God's sovereignty in the matter of evil usually do not have a God-entranced world view. For them, now God is sovereign, and now he is not. Now he is in control, and now he is not. Now he is good and reliable when things are going well, and when they go bad, well, maybe he's not. Now he's the supreme authority of the universe, and now he is in the dock with human prosecutors peppering him with demands that he give an account of himself.

But when a person settles it Biblically, intellectually and emotionally, that God has ultimate control of all things, including evil, and that this is gracious and precious beyond words, then a marvelous stability and depth come into that person's life and they develop a "God-entranced world view." When a person believes, with the Heidelberg Catechism (Question 27), that "The almighty and everywhere present power of God . . . upholds heaven and earth, with all creatures, and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, all things, come not by chance, but by his fatherly hand" – when a person believes and cherishes that truth, they have the key to a God-entranced world view.

John Piper

Study Notes on Romans 10:6-9

HCSB Romans 10:6-9
6 But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this: Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up to heaven?” that is, to bring Christ down 7 or, “Who will go down into the abyss?” that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. 8 On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. This is the message of faith that we proclaim: 9 if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

I had some trouble understanding this until I searched it out. In the previous verses Paul has said that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes”. His purpose was to show that the passage in Deuteronomy was an exact representation of Christian doctrine. He is saying to the Jews (who are trusting in the law for righteousness) Don’t say “who will go up to heaven?”. Christ has already come down in the incarnation – Put your trust in him. Don’t say “who will go down into the abyss?” for Christ has been resurrected. You see, the vital elements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ have already been accomplished. Believe in them. Believe in it. Believe in Him. The law cannot save you nor was it intended to. No, faith has been preached in scripture from the beginning. Let’s look at that passage in Deuteronomy:

HCSB Deuteronomy 30:12-16
12 It is not in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it. 15 See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16 For I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the LORD your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

It is not in heaven. What is not in heaven? It is not across the sea. What is not across the sea? The Message. The Gospel. It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may follow it.

To Be Continued!

Cross Plains Fires

It's nice to know that we've got heavy hitters in helping get the word out just how hard Cross Plains was hit by the recent wildfires that swept through our city two days after Christmas. Michelle Malkin reported on this. Read her article here. I was also glad to see a Red Cross post about my brother Tom who lost his home. In all 5 members of my own family lost their homes. Linda's home and Tom's home has been rebuilt (Dryed in). David (my nephew) is working on his and Porcious (another nephew - Tom's son) is getting theirs dryed in. Mae (my sister) will most likely not be able to rebuild the home her son lived in due to lack of insurance. But God was gracious in that none of my family was injured. It would be hard to thank all of the people who sent money as something like $800,000.00 has been given out by the Texas Heritage Bank relief fund. If you are reading this and happen to be one of the ones who gave please know that we are very appreciative and are beginning to return to some sense of normality. There's still a long way to go. Many church groups have come in and are helping with the building. Last week Texas Baptist men were here. This week a group from a Methodist Church in New Mexico is here. Our Church - First Baptist - is feeding the workers as they work on homes. A Church from Clyde Texas - First Baptist Church - will be coming in June to help Tom and Linda work on getting the inside of their houses finished. In the meantime Tom is living in a trailer house set up by FEMA and Linda is living with another sister whose house was spared. When they finish their houses I will post some pictures.

Rick

Satisfaction

Are you satisfied? I’ve been doing some contemplating on this subject lately. John Piper says “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him”. He uses an analogy to express his meaning on this. He says “We do not honor the refreshing, self-replenishing, pure water of a mountain spring by lugging buckets of water up the path to make our contributions from the ponds below. We honor the spring by feeling thirsty, and getting down on our knees, and drinking with joy. Then we say, "Ahhhh!" (that's worship!); and we go on our journey in the strength of the fountain (that's service). The mountain spring is glorified most when we are most satisfied with its water”.

That got me to thinking about what it is that I am going to God for. What am I drawing from God which will satisfy me? Too many times I try to satisfy myself by my own means. I fail…always. It is always a temporary joyless satisfaction. What is it in me that makes me think that I can add something to God? What is it that makes me think that I somehow can help God in accomplishing his plans? Is not that the apex of arrogance? Does the great mountain stream need a few pitiful buckets of “my” water to somehow enhance its refreshing taste? Could it be that we want others to think that we are refreshed by the water from our own cisterns in an attempt to hear the “Ahhhh’s” of worship directed toward ourselves?

We have this everlasting steam of life-giving water and we dig broken cisterns for ourselves that won’t even hold water. Even if we are able to draw a few drops of water from these “hand dug” wells, they won’t refresh. They will never provide the strength we need to be of service to anyone. No, if I am to be of service to God I must drink from Jesus. Too many times in the past I have knelt and drank without ever expressing the “Ahhhh” of worship. I was satisfied but I did not glorify God. I’ve done that far too many times. Is that fair? Is it right to take from God and be satisfied but refuse to give glory? How long will it be before his patience wears thin by the persistence of refusing to give him the glory and admit that he alone satisfies? Be merciful God……Lead me constantly to your still waters. Refresh my soul. Satisfy me that I may continually glorify you.

Psalms 37:4
Psalms 100:2
Phil. 4:4

Rick

A Soft Stone?

Title: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2nd, Chapter 3, Section 6
Author: John Calvin

How can it be said that the weakness of the human will is aided so as to enable it to aspire effectually to the choice of good, when the fact is, that it must be wholly transformed and renovated? If there is any softness in a stone; if you can make it tender, and flexible into any shape, then it may be said, that the human heart may be shaped for rectitude, provided that which is imperfect in it is supplemented by divine grace. But if the Spirit, by the above similitude, meant to show that no good can ever be extracted from our heart until it is made altogether new, let us not attempt to share with Him what He claims for himself alone. If it is like turning a stone into flesh when God turns us to the study of rectitude, everything proper to our own will is abolished, and that which succeeds in its place is wholly of God. I say the will is abolished, but not in so far as it is will, for in conversion everything essential to our original nature remains: I also say, that it is created anew, not because the will then begins to exist, but because it is turned from evil to good. This, I maintains is wholly the work of God, because, as the Apostle testifies, we are not “sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves” (2 Cor. 3:5).

We Will Not Listen

Title: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3rd, Chapter 2, Section 10
Author: John Calvin

The human heart has so many recesses for vanity, so many lurking places for falsehood, is so shrouded by fraud and hypocrisy, that it often deceives itself. Let those who glory in such semblances of faith know that, in this respect, they are not a whit superior to devils. The one class, indeed, is inferior to them, inasmuch as they are able without emotion to hear and understand things, the knowledge of which makes devils tremble (James 2:19). The other class equals them in this, that whatever be the impression made upon them, its only result is terror and consternation.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version
Jeremiah 44:15 - Jeremiah 44:17 (NKJV)
15Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying:
16“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you!
17But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.

Speaking of Creeping Around

Jack Hyles, considered by many to be an authority on preaching, gives the following advice to his fellow-ministers 'Many of us in our preaching will make such statements as, 'Now, in conclusion'; 'Finally, may I say'; 'My last point is . . .'. These statements are sometimes dangerous. The sinner knows five minutes before you finish; hence he digs in and prepares himself for the invitation so that he does not respond. However, if your closing is abrupt and a lost person does not suspect that you are about finished, you have crept up on him and he will not have time to prepare himself for the invitation. Many people may be reached, using this method,'


For the full article on "Decisional Regeneration", which this was taken, from go here.

Rick

Those Creeping Calvinists

When I think of things that are creepy I think of many things. However, the word calvinist never enters my mind. For that matter, Arminian doesn't even cross my mind. But I guess there are people who think we calvinists are creepy. There's an article here that may help you see what I mean.

Rick

The Righteouness of God

NKJV Romans 10:1-2
“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.”

Not according to Knowledge? The Greek word here for knowledge is ἐπίγνωσις [epignosis /ep•ig•no•sis]. Here’s the definition: epignosis (ἐπίγνωσις, 1922), akin to a “full, or thorough knowledge, discernment, recognition,”
In the next verse Paul points out what is was that they lacked knowledge in:
“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Rom. 10:3)

Believers receive God’s righteousness. They are made right with God and they participate in His righteousness, His rightness. Rightness means to be as something or someone should be—right as opposed to wrong, good as opposed to evil, sinless as opposed to sinful. God is totally righteous because He is totally as He should be. He cannot vary from His rightness. When we trust His Son, He shares His Son’s righteousness with us. “To the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). When God looks on a Christian He sees His Son and His Son’s righteousness. When a person trusts in Christ, his unrighteousness is exchanged for Christ’s righteousness, “that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Phil. 3:9). Man has never had any righteousness of his own and can never have any righteousness of his own, that is, which originates in him. The only righteousness he can have is that which God gives him through His Son. It is the only righteousness he needs, because it is perfect righteousness.1
1Source: MacArthur, J. (1996, c1984). 1 Corinthians. Includes indexes. Chicago: Moody Press.

We still fall into sins in our behavior because we have not yet been made perfect. In Philippians 3, Paul revealed this distinction when he wrote that through faith in Christ he had received the righteousness of God apart from the Law; yet, he added that he had not yet attained a perfect standard of holiness practically (vv. 7–14). So we constantly require forgiveness—the kind that is graciously offered by our Heavenly Father. The Apostle John warns us, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8–9).
So sin, while it is forgiven judicially, is still a reality in a Christian’s life. A decreasing frequency of sin, along with an increasing sensitivity to it, should characterize every Christian’s walk. And while our sins today and in the future don’t change our standing before God, they do affect the intimacy and joy in our relationship with Him.2
2Source: MacArthur, J. (1995). Alone with God. Includes indexes. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith. 18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;
Source: American Standard Version. 1995 (Ro 1:16-18).

IMPORTANT (Imputation)

“Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him.”
Source: American Standard Version. 1995 (2 Co 5:21)

In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul provides important insight into the relationships between our sin and Christ, and His righteousness and us. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” While the word “impute” is not used in this verse, the context suggests that Paul is indeed thinking in terms of imputation. He describes the non-imputation of believers’ sin in verse 19: “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.” Verse 21 sets up a parallel idea between Christ being made sin for us and our becoming the righteousness of God in Him. The question is, “How did this exchange take place?” Christ did not personally become sin for us. He “knew no sin.” In what sense, then, did He become sin? He did so representatively—as our substitute. He represented us on the cross by having our sins charged to Him and suffering the consequences for them. This is perhaps the most readily admitted relationship in which imputation operates.
Source: FJ59

“The righteousness of God” carries two connotations. In one sense it speaks of God’s holy hatred of sin. In the early 1500s, Martin Luther sat in the tower of the Black Cloister, Wittenberg, reading this verse. “That expression ‘righteousness of God’ was like a thunderbolt in my heart,” Luther said years later. “I hated Paul with all my heart when I read that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.”3 Luther saw God’s righteousness as an unassailable obstacle to eternal life. Luther was deeply aware of his own sinfulness, and he knew because of it he was unacceptable to a righteous God. Therefore, as he read this verse he was seized with despair.
But there is a second connotation of righteousness in verse 17: “As it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’” This speaks of Christ’s perfect righteousness, which is imputed to the account of the believing sinner (Rom. 4:24). When Luther finally understood this sense of the word righteousness, he knew the true meaning of the gospel, and that discovery resulted in the Protestant Reformation.
The doctrine is known as justification. It means that God freely reckons all of Christ’s perfect righteousness to the assets side of the believer’s ledger, and He cancels out all the sin on the debit side. When God looks at the believing one, he sees that person as if he or she were as fully righteous as Christ Himself. That’s how God “justifies the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). Because Christ made full atonement for sin by His death and resurrection, God can justify sinners without compromising His own righteousness—“that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). This is the very heart of the gospel. It is why the message is good news.4
3Source: Table Talk, Theodore G. Tappert, ed. in Helmut T. Lehmann, gen. ed., Luther’s Works, 55 vols. (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1967), 54: 308–9.
4Source: MacArthur, J. (1993). Ashamed of the gospel : When the Church becomes like the world. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.

Again, that pure and perfect righteousness of Christ is laid hold of by faith. That means it cannot be earned through human merit: “To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness…. God imputes [this] righteousness apart from works” (Romans 4:5–6). To try to earn righteousness through our own merit is the spiritual equivalent of making clothing from fig leaves. Our own “righteousness” is a tawdry, ineffectual covering for sin. Such self–righteousness is like dressing in the filthiest imaginable rags rather than a clean garment (Isaiah 64:6).5
5Source: MacArthur, J. (2001). The battle for the beginning : The Bible on creation and the fall of Adam (Page 220). Nashville, TN: W Pub. Group.

Because his death paid the price for sin, Jesus suffered once only. One after another, year after year, the animals of the old covenant were slaughtered. Their deaths could not take away human sin; this sacrifice could only portray the coming deliverance (Heb. 9:23–10:4). Human righteousness must overcome human sin. Neither the innocence of a lamb nor the perfect righteousness of God could meet the need. Only a perfect human could defeat sin. Jesus was that human.6
6Source: Sproul, R. (2000, c1994). Vol. 4: Before the face of God : Book four: A daily guide for living from Ephesians, Hebrews, and James Grand Rapids: Baker Book House; Ligonier Ministries.

No traitor to any king or nation has even approached the wickedness of our treason before God.Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself. Have you ever considered the deeper implications of the slightest sin, of the most minute peccadillo? What are we saying to our Creator when we disobey Him at the slightest point? We are saying no to the righteousness of God. We are saying, “God, Your law is not good. My judgment is better than Yours. Your authority does not apply to me. I am above and beyond Your jurisdiction. I have the right to do what I want to do, not what You command me to do.”7
7Source: Sproul, R. (1985). The holiness of God. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers

So, what is the meaning of the word righteousness? It implies the active as well as passive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. We generally, when talking of the merits of Christ, only mention the latter, — his death; whereas, the former, — his life and active obedience, is equally necessary. Christ is not such a Savior as becomes us, unless we join both together. Christ not only died, but lived, not only suffered, but obeyed for, or instead of, poor sinners. And both these jointly make up that complete righteousness, which is to be imputed to us, as the disobedience of our first parents was made ours by imputation. In this sense, and no other, are we to understand that parallel which the apostle Paul draws, in the 5th of the Romans, between the first and second Adam. This is what he elsewhere terms, “our being made the righteousness of God in him.” This is the sense wherein the Prophet would have us to understand the words of the text; therefore, Jer. 33:16, “She (i.e. the church itself) shall be called, (having this righteousness imputed to her) The Lord our righteousness.”8
8Source: Whitefield, G. (1999). Selected Sermons of George Whitefield. Oak Harbor, WA

Disagreement

The most serious divisions a church can have are those involving doctrine. One of the things that keep many people away from Christ, away from the Bible, and away from salvation is doctrinal disagreement with the gospel. The word divisions translates the Greek schismata, from which we get schism. In the physical sense the meaning is “to tear or rip,” that is, to separate, as in Matthew 9:16 (“tear”). Metaphorically it means to have a difference of opinion, a division of judgment, a dissension. Once when Jesus was preaching in Jerusalem the people listening to Him could not agree on who He was. Some thought He was the great prophet, some that He was the Christ, and some that He was just an ordinary man making extraordinary claims. Consequently, John reports, “There arose a division [schisma] in the multitude because of Him” (John 7:43). Still today there are divisions because of disagreements as to who Christ is, even among those who go by His name. It is in the area of biblical interpretation that the conflict between evangelical theology and liberal theology becomes sharper. Simultaneously there is a profound disagreement with liberal theologians over their low view of biblical authority.

Sometimes people go to the extreme of trying to suppress all disagreement. It is, however, obvious from his writings that the apostle Paul was concerned about the specifics of truth and settling disagreements. Thus, it is important to have good, healthy, positive arguments and discussions about issues that divide Christians. However, we should seek to avoid an argumentative spirit. In fact, Paul continues by ordering, “Do not be proud.… Do not be conceited.” It is arrogance that creates a contentious spirit and prevents healthy discussion of issues. We must all continue to struggle. We must never assume that we have arrived. Yet there is no virtue in sheer skepticism. We look with a jaundiced eye at those who are always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. God is delighted with men and women of conviction. Of course he is concerned that our convictions be according to truth.

We should pay careful attention to what we believe about God, and to how we represent Him to others. We need to make sure that our doctrines are true and accurate. How can we be sure? By examining them in light of the Bible, to see whether they square with what God has told us about Himself (compare Acts 17:11). And then we need to stay humble about areas where there is disagreement among those whose commitment to scriptural authority is equally strong. Have you ever held a conviction that led you into an argument with someone else, only to find upon reflection that the other person was right and you were wrong? Such embarrassing events in our lives remind us that no one “has it all.” We very much need one another. Display the humble spirit of admitting error, and through forgiveness strive for harmony in your relationships.