Freedom from self-preservation

Peter denied Jesus, to preserve himself physically (Mark 14:66-72). Later he denied the gospel, to preserve himself socially (Galatians 2:11-21). But by the time he wrote his first letter, his heart had been set free: “I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it” (1 Peter 5:12).

What is “the true grace of God”? Not survival, physical or social, but the privilege of sharing in Christ’s sufferings that we may also rejoice when his glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:13).  Whatever life thrusts upon us, the true grace of God is to stand firm in that hard place and embrace identification with Jesus.

(HT: Ray Ortlund)

Filed under: Discipleship, God's grace, Jesus Christ, Sanctification, Suffering, The Christian Life, Union with Christ

Relishing Christ for ALL his benefits

“Some have but a partial faith, relishing Christ only for freedom from the wrath of God, and not also for freedom from the power of sin: this is evidence of a rotten heart; for true believers prize Christ, not only as a Surety, for paying their debt, but also as a Root, for feeding them with the sap of spiritual life, as a root feeds the branches; and they relish Christ, not only as one that appeases God’s wrath, but one that purifies the soul from sin.”

Ralph Erskine, “The Strength of Sin; And How The Law Is The Strength Thereof, Opened Up and Unfolded,” inThe Works of Ralph Erskine, vol. 5, p. 511).

(HT: John Fonville)

Filed under: Christ our treasure, Discipleship, Doctrine, Holiness, Jesus Christ, Sanctification, The Christian Life, The Gospel

Critiqued By The Cross

From Tullian Tchividjian:

In Bob Kauflin’s book Worship Matters, he has a section on how to handle criticism. He’s writing specifically with church leaders in mind (pastors, preachers, music directors, etc.) but his insight proves to be super beneficial for all Christians.

He shows that criticism provides Christians with an opportunity to glory in the cross of Christ. He makes the point that the main reason Christians resent criticism is because we fail to believe what God has said about us at the cross.

He explains what he means by quoting Alfred Poirier: “In light of God’s judgment and justification of the sinner in the cross of Christ, we can begin to discover how to deal with any and all criticism. I can face any criticism man may lay against me.  In other words, no one can criticize me more than the cross already has.”

Reflecting on these words, Bob writes:

What a thought. The cross is a loud statement of our sin, unworthiness, and need. And in light of the cross, we can receive criticism graciously because God, who knows our wickedness better than anyone else, has fully forgiven and justified us.  We will never be brought into condemnation (Romans 8:1)!  So we can confidently pray with David, “Let a righteous man strike me – it is a kindness; let him rebuke me – it is oil for me head; let my head not refuse it” (Psalm 141:5).

Once again I was reminded that because I am in Christ, all that I need I already have–even the capacity to endure criticism with great gospel joy and thanksgiving.

Filed under: Discipleship, God's grace, Gospel-centred, Humility, Jesus Christ, Pride, Sanctification, The Christian Life, The Cross, The Gospel

Every Moment of Every Day

“It’s no wonder that self-help books top the charts in Christian publishing and that counseling offices are overwhelmed. Our pride and our neglect of the gospel force us to run from seminar to seminar, book to book, counselor to counselor, always seeking but never finding some secret to holy living.

Most of us have never really understood that Christianity is not a self-help religion meant to enable moral people to become more moral. We don’t need a self-help book; we need a Savior. We don’t need to get our collective act together; we need death and resurrection and the life-transforming truths of the gospel. And we don’t need them just once, at the beginning of our Christian life; we need them every moment of every day.”

- Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson, Counsel from the Cross (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2009), 30.

(HT: Of First Importance)

Filed under: Christ crucified, Discipleship, Doctrine, Evangelical, Gospel-centred, Grace, Jesus Christ, Sanctification, The Christian Life, The Cross, The Gospel

Shafia’s Story

(HT: Timmy Brister)

Filed under: Discipleship, Faith, Prayer, Suffering, The Persecuted Church

Pursuing Greater Humility

From Justin Chiders:

How do we cultivate humility and mortify pride?

• We need to spend time thinking about God’s greatness and holiness in comparison to our natural, moral, and moral insignificance.
• We need to think about how much God loves the humble and hates the proud.
• We need to meditate on the way that Christ humbled Himself when He came to earth.
• We need to think seriously on the examples of humility left by the most useful believers who have walked this earth.
• We must consider the example of humility demonstrated by the holy angels.
• We need to carefully reflect on the humility of believers who are now in heaven.
• We need to think about the great imperfections and weakness of our faith, our character, our behavior, our motives, our duties, and our service to God.
• We need to think about the fact that we deserve to experience God’s judgment and wrath because of our sin.
• We need to spend time thinking about the day of judgment.
• We ought to reflect on the pride of Satan and the demons.
• We need to remember that everything that we have or have accomplished comes from God’s hand.
• We must spend time thinking about the sad consequences of pride in other people’s lives.
• We ought to spend time with humble people and avoid as much as possible the company of arrogant people.
• We must spend time in prayer every day, confessing our pride to God and earnestly pleading for greater humility.

Adapted from Wayne Mack’s Humility: The Forgotten Virtue.

Filed under: Christian character, Discipleship, God's Glory, Humility, Jesus Christ, Sanctification, The Christian Life

Getting The Gospel Down Deep

From Tullian Tchividjian:

Thinking out the deep implications of the gospel and applying its powerful reality to all parts of my life is a daily challenge and a daily adventure. Theologically I understand that the gospel didn’t just ignite my Christian life but it’s also the fuel that keeps me going and growing every day. My challenge is understanding how this works functionally. So, here are a few questions I go back to all the time which help me make the connection between what Christ accomplished for me and my daily internal grind:

Since Jesus secured my pardon and absorbed the Father’s wrath on my behalf so that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”, how does that impact my longing for approval, my tendency to be controlling, and my fear of the unknown?

How do the life, death, and resurrection of Christ affect my thirst for security, affection, protection, meaning, and purpose?

In other words, how does the finished work of the One “exposed, ravaged, ruined, and resurrected for us” satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?

Being able to answer these questions helps me to get the gospel deep into the fabric of my being.

Filed under: Discipleship, Gospel-centred, Jesus Christ, Sanctification, The Christian Life, The Gospel

A Testimony to God’s Goodness in Disability and Suffering

From John Knight :

As a father of a multiply-disabled child, I have consumed dozens of books, articles, and web sites on suffering, disability, and the sovereignty of God.

What I read yesterday morning from a young man with spina bifida may be the best statement I have ever encountered on this subject.  Here is an excerpt:

Both pain and pleasure are meant to point us to the same reality; namely, that Jesus Christ is infinitely beautiful and so much more than enough for our every need. Living for Him, even suffering for Him, is worth every moment of affliction! Why? Because Jesus shows you such beauty in pain, because He is there and He is carrying us through.

(HT: Desiring God Blog)

Filed under: Christ our treasure, Christian hedonism, Discipleship, Jesus Christ, Suffering, The Christian Life

Dual Citizens: Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet

Just ordered my copy!

.
New covenant believers live between “the already” and “not yet,” a point in redemptive history between the partial and complete fulfillment of God’s promises. This means they are exiles and pilgrims in the divinely ordained overlap of the ages. As Rev. Jason J. Stellman argues in his book Dual Citizens: Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet, this biblical motif shapes the identity of Christians at every turn and affects their every activity in both the sacred and secular realms. Stellman explores the Christian pilgrimage with deep biblical insight, humor, and relevance to our contemporary context, revealing how Christians are to think of themselves and their role this side of heaven.

Retail $18.00 | Ligonier’s Price $14.40
Hardcover 6.25 x 9.25 | 193 Pages
ISBN 1-56769-119-6 | Released August 2009

Order for $14.40
Table of Contents and Sample Chapter
High-Res Image: Front Cover | Back Cover

(HT: Ligonier Ministries)

Filed under: Already Not Yet, Biblical exposition, Discipleship, Doctrine, The Christian Life, Theology

Why I Abominate the Prosperity Gospel

John Piper explains why the so-called “prosperity gospel” is not the gospel.

Filed under: Biblical exposition, Christ our treasure, Discipleship, Evangelical, John Piper, Prosperity gospel, Worldliness

No Condemnation!

“…when the devil comes and says, ‘You have no standing, you are condemned, you are finished’, you must say, ‘No! my position did not depend upon what I was doing, or not doing; it is always dependant upon the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Turn to the devil and tell him, ‘My relationship to God is not a variable one. The case is not that I am a child of God, and then again not a child of God. That is not the basis of my standing, that is not the position. When God had mercy upon me, He made me His child, and I remain his child. A very sinful, and a very unworthy one, perhaps, but still his child!

And now, when I fall into sin, I have not sinned against the law, I have sinned against love. Like the prodigal, I will go back to my Father and I will tell Him, “Father, I am not worthy to be called your son.” But He will embrace me, and He will say, “Do not talk nonsense, you are My child,” and He will shower his love upon me! That is the meaning of putting on the breastplate of righteousness! Never allow the devil to get you into a state of condemnation. Never allow a particular sin to call into question your standing before God. That question has been settled.”

Martyn Lloyd Jones, The Christian Soldier, p. 255

(HT: John Fonville)

Filed under: Christ our righteousness, Discipleship, Doctrine, God the Father, Grace, Jesus Christ, Justification, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Salvation, The Christian Life

A Great Disturbance: repentance as a way of life

“Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in saying ‘Repent,’ intended that the whole life of believers should be repentance.” Martin Luther, Thesis 1

According to Schaff, History of the Christian Church, VII:160, Luther was attacking the medieval notion of sacramental penitence. That kind of “repentance” could be limited to isolated outward acts, leaving the rest of our lives safe from the mega-upheaval of true repentance. Luther contended that real repentance opens us up to endless personal change, leaving nothing about us untouched.

When Luther posted his Theses, he undermined self-reinforcing Christianity, which is no Christianity, and he launched a new era of self-challenging Christianity, which is the power of the gospel.

In Karl Barth’s commentary on Romans, he entitles his section on Romans 12-15 “The Great Disturbance.”

The whole world needs gospel disturbance.

(HT: Ray Ortlund)

Filed under: Discipleship, Doctrine, Evangelical, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther, Repentance, Sanctification, The Gospel

GOLLUM AND SLAVERY TO SIN

From Josh Harris:

I’m reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring to my two older kids. Last night we read the passage in which Gandalf explains the history of the pathetic Gollum as well as story of the One Ring to Frodo. I thought the following description of Gollum’s wretched state as a slave to the ring was an apt description of what it’s like to be a slave to sin:

“All the ‘great secrets’ under the mountains had turned out to be just empty night: there was nothing more to find out, nothing worth doing, only nasty furtive eating and resentful remembering. He was altogether wretched. He hated the dark, and he hated light more: he hated everything ,and the Ring most of all.

 

“What do you mean?” said Frodo. “Surely the Ring was his precious and the only thing he cared for? But if he hated it, why didn’t he get rid of it, or go away and leave it?”

“You ought to begin to understand, Frodo, after all you have heard,” said Gandalf. “He hated it and loved it, as he hated and loved himself. He could not get rid of it. He had no will left in the matter.” (page 54)

 

Isn’t that what it’s like when you’re ruled by your sinful desires? (Eph. 2:1) All the promises of sin and illicit pleasure turn out to be “empty night” and the very things you once thought would satisfy you learn to despise. And yet you can’t turn away. You have a desire to be free, a desire to do what’s right, but lack “the ability to carry it out” (Rom. 7:18).

Without Jesus I am Gollum–calling what is killing me “my precious” and all the while hating myself. Praise be to God that Jesus Christ came to redeem sinners like me. He gave up his life on the cross so that I could be forgiven and freed to know and serve God forever.

Filed under: Christ our Mediator, Christ our sin bearer, Christ our treasure, Discipleship, Gospel-centred, Idolatry, Jesus Christ, Sin, The Christian Life, The Cross, The Gospel

The gospel of unconditional grace

“To preach the Gospel of the unconditional grace of God in that unconditional way is to set before people the astonishingly good news of what God has freely provided for us in the vicarious humanity of Jesus. To repent and believe in Jesus Christ and commit myself to him on that basis means that I do not need to look over my shoulder all the time to see whether I have really given myself personally to him, whether I really believe and trust him, whether my faith is at all adequate, for in faith it is not upon my faith, my believing or my personal commitment that I rely, but solely upon what Jesus Christ has done for me, in my place and on my behalf, and what he is and always will be as he stands in for me before the face of the Father. That means that I am completely liberated from all ulterior motives in believing or following Jesus Christ, for on the ground of his vicarious human response for me, I am free for spontaneous joyful response and worship and service as I could not otherwise be.”

- TF Torrance

(HT: Of First Importance)

Filed under: Christ our Mediator, Christ our righteousness, Christ our treasure, Discipleship, Doctrine, Evangelical, God's grace, Jesus Christ, Union with Christ, Worship

What is true of Him

 

“God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

We must think of suffering in a new way, we must face everything in a new way. And the way in which we face it all is by reminding ourselves that the Holy Spirit is in us. There is the future, there is the high calling, there is the persecution, there is the opposition, there is the enemy. I see it all. I must admit also that I am weak, that I lack the necessary powers and propensities. But instead of stopping there . . . I say, “But the Spirit of God is in me. God has given me his Holy Spirit.” . . . What matters . . . is not what is true of us but what is true of Him.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression, page 100.

(HT: Ray Ortlund)

Filed under: Attributes of God, Discipleship, Evangelical, God centredness, Holy Spirit, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Warfare, The Christian Life, The word of God