Another "wow" from the Old Testament

Why am I surprised by the gospel in the Old Testament? Isn't it one story, one plan and one Author? I guess I just get caught up in thinking the Old Testament was for the Old Testament folks and the New Testament is for us.  That's wrong and the Holy Spirit set me straight today via Hosea 2.  Take a look and praise God, as I did for His incredible Old and New Testament mercy and grace. SDG


[14] “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
  [15] And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

  [16] “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ [17] For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. [18] And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. [19] And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. [20] I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.

[21] “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
  [22] and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they shall answer Jezreel,
  [23] and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on No Mercy,
and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’;
and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”
 (Hosea 2:14-23 ESV)

Save by Faith or by Christ?

From My Utmost for His Highest - Oct 28 (This was and is a landmark devotional in my life. SDG)

I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.
The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

What's the Problem?

The following is an excerpt from the book What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert:

The Bible tells us that it is not just Adam and Eve who are guilty of sin. We all are. Paul says in Romans 3:23, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory God." And just a few paragraphs earlier he says, "None is righteous, no, not one" (3:10).

The gospel of Jesus Christ is full of stumbling stones, and this is one of the largest. To human hearts the stubbornly think of themselves as basically good and self-sufficient, this idea that human beings are fundamentally sinful and rebellious is not merely scandalous. It is revolting.

That's why it is so absolutely crucial that we understand both the nature and the depth of our sin. If we approach the gospel thinking that sin is something else or something less than what it really is, we will badly misunderstand the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Bible teaches that humanity's fundamental problem--the thing from which we need to be saved--is not meaninglessness or disintegration in our lives, or even a debilitating sense of guilt. Those are merely symptoms of a deeper and much more profound problem: our sin. What we must understand is that the predicament we're in is a predicament of our own making. We have disobeyed God's word. We have ignored his commands. We have sinned against him.

The Bible also teaches that sin is a breaking of our relationship with God, but that broken relationship consists in rejection of his kingly majesty. It's not just adultery (though it is that); it is rebellion. Not just betrayal, but also treason. If we reduce sin to a mere breaking of relationship, rather than understanding it as the traitorous rebellion of a beloved subject against his good and righteous King, we will never understand why the death of God's Son was required to address it.

Another misunderstanding about sin is Jesus died to save us from negative thoughts about ourselves. This is reprehensibly unbiblical. In fact, the Bible teaches that a big part of our problem is that we think too highly of ourselves, not too lowly. Stop and think about it for a minute. How did the Serpent tempt Adam and Eve? He told them they were thinking too negatively about themselves. He told them to they needed to think more positively, to extend their grasp, to reach toward their full potential, to be like God! In a word, he told them to think bigger. Now how'd that work out for them?

Individual sins don't shock us much. We know they are there, we see them in ourselves and others every day, and we've gotten pretty used to them. What is shocking to us is when God shows us that sin runs to the very depths of our hearts, the deep-running deposits of filth and corruption that we never knew existed in us and that we ourselves could never expunge. That's how the Bible talks about sin--it is in us and of us, not just on us.

Every part of our human existence is corrupted by sin and is under its power. Our understanding, our personality, our feelings, our emotions, and even our will are all enslaved to sin. So Paul says in Romans 8:7, "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed it cannot." What a shocking and frightening statement! So thorough is sin's rule over us--our minds, understanding and will--that we God's glory and goodness, and we inevitably turn away from it in disgust.

This is the Bible's sobering verdict on us. There is not one of us who is righteous, not one. And because of that, one day every mouth will be silenced every wagging tongue stopped, and the whole earth will be held accountable to God.

But, there is hope...

Oh!

To be articulate at certain times we are compelled to fall back upon "Oh!"--a primitive exclamatory sound that is hardly a word at all...

In theology there is no "Oh!" and this is a significant if not an ominous thing.  Theology seeks to reduce what may be known of God to intellectual terms, and as long as the intellect can comprehend, it can find words to express itself. When God Himself appears before the mind, awesome, vast and incomprehensible, then the mind sinks into silence and the heart cries out "O Lord God!"  There is a vast difference between theological knowledge and  spiritual experience, the difference between knowing God by hearsay and knowing Him by acquaintance. And the difference is not merely verbal; it is real and serious and vital.

We Christians should watch lest we lose the "Oh!" from our hearts... When we become too glib in prayer we are most surely talking to ourselves.  When the calm listing of requests and the courteous giving of proper thanks take the place of the burdened prayer that finds utterance difficult we should beware the next step, for our direction is surely downward whether we know it or not  -- A.W. Tozer

Babes in Christ

The following is from Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotional.  I've posted this because it seems we all live on this roller coaster of evaluating our faith in Christ be what we do.  When we do well, our faith seems strong.  When we do poorly, our faith seems weak.  Spurgeon's words are an encouragement and exhortation that our faith is steady and secure because of Jesus and what He has accomplished specifically for us.  SDG

Are you mourning, believer, because you are so weak in the divine life: because your faith is so little, your love so feeble? Cheer up, for you have cause for gratitude. Remember that in some things you are equal to the greatest and most full-grown Christian. You are as much bought with blood as he is. You are as much an adopted child of God as any other believer. An infant is as truly a child of its parents as is the full-grown man. You are as completely justified, for your justification is not a thing of degrees: your little faith has made you clean every whit. You have as much right to the precious things of the covenant as the most advanced believers, for your right to covenant mercies lies not in your growth, but in the covenant itself; and your faith in Jesus is not the measure, but the token of your inheritance in him. You are as rich as the richest, if not in enjoyment, yet in real possession. The smallest star that gleams is set in heaven; the faintest ray of light has affinity with the great orb of day. In the family register of glory the small and the great are written with the same pen. You are as dear to your Father’s heart as the greatest in the family. Jesus is very tender over you. You are like the smoking flax; a rougher spirit would say, “put out that smoking flax, it fills the room with an offensive odour!” but the smoking flax he will not quench. You are like a bruised reed; and any less tender hand than that of the Chief Musician would tread upon you or throw you away, but he will never break the bruised reed. Instead of being downcast by reason of what you are, you should triumph in Christ. Am I but little in Israel? Yet in Christ I am made to sit in heavenly places. Am I poor in faith? Still in Jesus I am heir of all things. Though “less than nothing I can boast, and vanity confess.” Yet, if the root of the matter be in me I will rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the God of my salvation.  --  C.H. Spurgeon

Justification by Faith Alone

Here is the crucial issue: whether God is the author, not merely of justification, but also of faith; whether, in the last analysis, Christianity is a religion of utter reliance on God for salvation and all things necessary to it, or of self-reliance and self-effort. 'Justification by faith only' is a truth that needs interpretation. The principle of sola fide is not rightly understood until it is anchored in the broader principle of sola gratia. What is the source and status of faith? Is it the God-given means whereby the God-given justification is received, or is it a condition of justification which is left to man to fulfill? Is it part of God's gift of salvation or is it man's own contribution to salvation? Is our salvation wholly of God or does it ultimately depend on something that we do oursleves?  -- J.I. Packer

God is so Majestic

I began to see a God so majestic and so free and so absolutely sovereign that my analysis merged into worship and the Lord said, in effect, "I will not simply be analyzed, I will be adored. I will not simply be pondered, I will be proclaimed. My sovereignty is not simply to be scrutinized, it is to be heralded. It is not grist for the mill of controversy, it is gospel for sinners who know that their only hope is the sovereign triumph of God’s grace over their rebellious will."  -  John Piper

Be Thou My Vision

   Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
   Naught be all else to me, save what Thou art:
   Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
   Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

   Be Thou my Wisdom and Thou my true Word;
   I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
   Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
   Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

   Riches I need not, nor man’s empty praise;
   Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
   Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
   High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

   High King of Heaven, my victory won,
   May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heaven's Sun!
   Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
   Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all!
       ... Anonymous medieval Irish hymn

Something Worse than Death?

One cool thing about reading (and re-reading) through the whole Bible every year is that one can always find new ways that God underscores His eternal truths. I've known for a while that the opening verses of Luke 12 (vv 4-5) teach that there is something worse than death.  But, does God pick up that theme elsewhere?  Well... Take a look sometime at 1 King 14.  King Jeroboam's son is dying and his wife goes to the prophet.  He tells her that not only will the son die, but Jeroboam will lose the kingship.  Then in verse13 he says "And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam."

What!? "for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something pleasing to the LORD"? Jeroboam's son died because he was pleasing to the LORD. Would God really do that?  Maybe a God who is truly loving knows that sometimes death is not evil, but rather a gift and a protection from worse things to come. SDG

Assuming the Gospel

It is vital to realise that the temptations we face are often exceedingly subtle. Some evangelical biographies and histories give the impression that difficult decisions only need to be made when we reach a watershed moment, a clear-cut choice between truth and error. In reality, such crisis points come about because of daily decisions, made on a minute scale and over a period of time, to either assume evangelical distinctives or actively articulate them. Individually, every day, we face the choice whether to sit under the Bible alone, to run to the cross alone and look to Christ alone or to begin to shift our gaze on to other things. Once we begin simply to assume these truths, then we are already beginning to stop “acting in line with the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14). The potential consequences for ourselves are harmful; for the generation following us they are disastrous. -- David Gibson

To the One who is able to keep you from falling

In some sense the path to heaven is very safe, but in other respects there is no road so dangerous. It is beset with difficulties. One false step (and how easy it is to take that if grace be absent), and down we go. What a slippery path is that which some of us have to tread! How many times have we to exclaim with the Psalmist, “My feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped.” If we were strong, sure-footed mountaineers, this would not matter so much; but in ourselves, how weak we are! In the best roads we soon falter, in the smoothest paths we quickly stumble. These feeble knees of ours can scarcely support our tottering weight. A straw may throw us, and a pebble can wound us; we are mere children tremblingly taking our first steps in the walk of faith, our heavenly Father holds us by the arms or we should soon be down. Oh, if we are kept from falling, how must we bless the patient power which watches over us day by day! Think, how prone we are to sin, how apt to choose danger, how strong our tendency to cast ourselves down, and these reflections will make us sing more sweetly than we have ever done, “Glory be to him, who is able to keep us from falling.” We have many foes who try to push us down. The road is rough and we are weak, but in addition to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush out when we least expect them, and labour to trip us up, or hurl us down the nearest precipice. Only an Almighty arm can preserve us from these unseen foes, who are seeking to destroy us. Such an arm is engaged for our defence. He is faithful that hath promised, and he is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety, and say, with joyful confidence,

“Against me earth and hell combine, But on my side is power divine; Jesus is all, and he is mine!”

-- C.H. Spurgeon

Vote!

On Nov 2, all Americans 18 years old and older will have the privilege to vote.  I typically avoid discussing political issues because I think such discussions can quickly slide from a pure Biblical perspective to a very humanistic one.  However, I feel compelled to share the thoughts of two of my heroes in the faith: John Piper and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I will let their words speak for themselves, but my prayer is that for true Christians, we would approach our privilege to vote prayerfully, seriously, humbly and very, very gratefully.  SDG

Piper:

No endorsment of a single issue qualifies a person to hold public office. Being pro-life does not make a person a good governor, mayor or president, but there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person from oublic office. For example, any candidate who endorsed bribery as a form of government efficiency would be disqualified, regardless of his party or platform. Or a person who endorsed corperate fraud would be disqualified no matter what else he endorsed. Or a person who said no black person could hold office--on that single issue alone he would be unfit for office. Or a person who said rape is only a misdemeanor--that single issue would end his political career. These examples could go on and on. Everybody knows a single issue that for them would disqualify a candidate for office.

You have to decide what those issues are for you. What do you think disqualifies a person from public office? I believe that the endorsement of the right to kill unborn children disqualifies a person from any position of public office. It's simply the same as saying the endorsement of racism, fraud or bribery would disqualify him--except that killing a child is much worse. -- The Godward Life, vol 1

Bonhoeffer:

"Destruction of the embryo in the mother's womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life. To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And this is nothing but murder." -- Ethics pg 206

Nothing like God

In all our meditations upon the qualities of the attributes and content of God, we pass beyond our powers of fit conception, nor can human eloquence put forth a power commensurate with His greatness. At the contemplation and utterance of His majesty, all eloquence is rightly dumb, all mental effort is feeble. For God is greater than mind itself. His greatness cannot be conceived. Nay, if we could conceive of His greatness, He would be less than the human mind which could form the conception. He is greater than all language, and no statement can express Him. Indeed, if any statement could express Him, He would be less than human speech, which could by such statement comprehend and gather up all that He is. Up to a certain point, of course, we can have experience of Him, without language, but no man can express in words all that He is in Himself. Suppose, for instance, one speaks of Him as light; this is an account of part of His creation, not of Himself. It does not express what He is. Or suppose one speaks of Him as power. This too sets forth in words His attribute of might, rather than His being. Or suppose one speaks of Him as majesty. Once again, we have a declaration of the honor which is His Own, rather than of Him in Himself. . . . To sum up the matter in a single sentence, every possible statement that can be made about God expresses some possession or virtue of God, rather than God Himself. What words or thoughts are worthy of Him, Who is above all language and all thought? The conception of God as He is can only be grasped in one way, and even that is impossible for us, beyond our grasp and understanding; by thinking of Him as a Being Whose attributes and greatness are beyond our powers of understanding, or even of thought. -- A.W. Tozer

http://christcenteredquotes.blogspot.com/

Rejoice That Your Names are Written in Heaven

If you have all the comfort and prosperity in the world, do not rejoice in this. You may yet die comfortless. If you possess all the comforts in this world, do not rejoice in this, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Joy in these mercies is not absolutely prohibited, but a higher joy is preferred. All of our spiritual blessings come because our names are written in heaven. We have an interest in the electing love of God, and are partakers of the redeeming love of Christ. The Spirit of grace has changed and sanctified us and given us a right to eternal life. We are certainly and distinctly known by God: "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). We are decreed to this by the eternal love of God before the foundation of the world. We are called to it by the preaching of the gospel, and actually enter into it when we are renewed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The greatest ground of joy imaginable is to have our names written in heaven (Luke 10:20).

-- Matthew Mead

http://christcenteredquotes.blogspot.com/

New blog?

Well yes and no. This blog will continue to be where I share thoughts that God, through the Spirit, has used to encourage or exhort me.  The new blog is simply going to be my storehouse of quotes from Christian men and women through the ages that have inspired or provoked me.  I may not agree with every nuance of theology of the people I quote.  My goal is to share the specific, God-given, Christ-exalting insights they have provided in the quoted material.  Enjoy, to the glory of God!

Oh yeah the blog's link: http://christcenteredquotes.blogspot.com/

Prophecy to the Breath

Have you ever read Ezk 37? The first 14 verses are especially compelling. Ezekiel finds himself alone in a valley of filled with dried up bones and God asks "Can these bones live?"  What would your honest answer be?  No way!  A pile of corpses can't live, how much less a pile of dried up bones.  Yet God tells Ezekiel to tell the bones that He (God) will cause breath to enter them and they will live.  And what happens? Ezekiel prophecies to bones and they recovered their bodies. If we pause for a moment and forget that we know the end of the story, what would our assessment be? Yeah for God! Our job is done. Let's go conquer some enemy.  But we know the job wasn't done and that God had another step in His life giving process.  Why two steps why not flesh and tendons and all that, along with life itself?  I think its for two reasons: 1) It is to show us that there is a clear distinction between physical life and spiritual life.  Is either one less of a miracle than the other? No, but one is clearly dependent on the other.  The other and probably more significant reason for separating the two steps is to highlight the giver of each of the gifts. If spiritual life came with the physical life, things could get blurry, watered down and perhaps a little muddled.  So, God makes it clear.  As Ezekiel prophecies to the breath, the breath came to them and they lived.

So brothers and sisters, do we "prophecy to the breath"? To update the lingo, do we invite the Holy Spirit to our devotions, to our bible studies, to our conversations? Do we ask Him to join us at church, at work, at home?  Or, as AW Tozer asks, "Are we just turning the crank?"  SDG

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ

With a title like that one might expect a very long (or very short) entry.  This one will be short since my goal here is not to itemize (that may come later), but rather to challenge us all to self-itemize. What comes to mind when you hear Paul say "this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8 ESV)? Make a list in your mind and / or in your Bible. Jesus is so much more than we grasp at any one moment.  And, fallen, forgetful, self-absorbed humans that we are, we tend to focus on the gifts He brings rather than the person that He is. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16 ESV) SDG

Is Jesus Really the Center?

About a month a ago, I started an entry with this same title.  It was based on 1 Cor 1:18-31.  While my thoughts were o.k. I think God has brought me to a point of asking the same question in a different light.  The bottom-line question we must prayerfully and frequently ask ourselves is this: "Is Jesus really the center of everything we say and do?"

If you're like me, the quick answer is either "sure" or are "you kidding"?  Either side betrays my arrogance.  On the sure side, I don't want to admit that keeping Christ at the center of everything requires effort.  No downtime while driving.  No little things that we can do on our own.  No secret hideout where I can be alone.  Quite frankly we cannot keep Christ at the center continuously, unless the Spirit makes it happen.  But, I'm also arrogant on the are you kidding side.  Why?  Because even though I see the impossibility of me doing something like this on my own, I am too full of myself to that I need the Holy Spirit to reign and rule in my heart and mind.

So what's point? I think there is a real tendency, even among Christians, to divide things into sacred and secular categories.  And while we may not be crass enough to admit it to each other, we tend to only give Christ the proverbial nod when entering our "secular" activities while inviting and focusing and honoring Him greatly in our sacred activities.  But if Jesus is Lord, He is Lord of all.  Would it change how I drive to work, how I mow the lawn how I do my job and interact with others at work, would it change my relationships at church, would it change my relationships at home, would it change how I view the ministries God has placed me in?  The answer is Yes! and Amen (2 Cor 1:20).

I invite you all to hold me accountable to this.  SDG