Oh, to see things clearly

I read a blog post by Kevin DeYoung today entitled: A Resurrection Postscript: Saved by Justice. Here are two excerpts that struck home with me.

I believe many of us have not begun to grasp just how good the good news is, just how secure our salvation is, just how completely and unalterably justified we are through faith in Christ. Mark this: God did not set aside the law in judging us; he fulfilled it.  Christ bore the curse of the law so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  Not because we possess this righteousness, but because God credits it to our account.  So that, in one sense, at the moment when Christ died, it was what he deserved (by imputation).  And now by faith, blessing and mercy and favor are what we deserve (by imputation).

The resurrection is not a sentimental story about never giving up, or the possibility of good coming from evil. It is not first of all a story about how suffering can be sanctified, or a story of how Jesus suffered for all of humanity so we can suffer with the rest of humanity. The resurrection is the loud declaration that Jesus is enough–enough to atone for your sins, enough to reconcile you to God, enough to present you holy in God’s presence, enough to free you from the curse of the law, enough to promise you there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

It would be hard and probably impudent to add to what DeYoung has said so well.  I am constantly amazed by my own lack of grasping the breadth and the depth and the length and the height of the gospel. But I always rejoice when I consider (and reconsider) the absolute solidity of Christ, his work on the Cross, his eternal promise to his Father and to mine and the fact that He is not a wishful Savior (oh please accept my gracious offer) but rather a conquering King who has ransomed a people for Himself.

To God Alone be the Glory.

Love Jesus with a Vehement Flame

I fear that the Christian church is far more likely to lose her integrity in these soft and silken days than in those rougher times. We must be awake now, for we traverse the enchanted ground, and are most likely to fall asleep to our own undoing, unless our faith in Jesus be a reality, and our love to Jesus a vehement flame. Many in these days of easy profession are likely to prove tares, and not wheat; hypocrites with fair masks on their faces, but not the true-born children of the living God. Christian, do not think that these are times in which you can dispense with watchfulness or with holy ardour; you need these things more than ever, and may God the eternal Spirit display his omnipotence in you, that you may be able to say, in all these softer things, as well as in the rougher, "We are more than conquerors through him that loved us." - C.H. Spurgeon

I was struck by the quote from Spurgeon above because he really nails the situation most of us find ourselves in. Some of us may be struggling. Some of us may be facing some external pressure regarding our faith. Some of us may be facing cancer, job loss or marital disintegration, bur most of us are not. Most of us start our prayers (rightly so) by thanking God for His super abundant grace in our lives. By and large, we are on the crest of the wave; life is good.

Spurgeon's warning and Scripture's warning is that we should take heed, lest we fall. What happened with the successful farmer who had more crops than barns to store it in? What was Jesus' assessment of the Pharisee to rightly acknowledged God's magnificent blessing in his life and then stopped? When was David most dependent and faithful to his Lord? What is the stinging indictment of the church at Laodicea?

My point is simply to reiterate what Spurgeon said so well. When life is easy, things are really the most dangerous. We must keep up our Bible study. We must keep up our prayer time. We must keep interacting and interdepending on other believers. We must always and continually rely on Christ, not just for a point in time salvation, but for a salvation that spans time, that purifies and sanctifies and strengthens. A salvation that ultimately glorifies and presents us holy and blameless before the Throne. All this we must embrace whether life is crashing in around us or we are living in "soft and silken days"

To God Alone be the Glory

Pray without Ceasing

Here is a good, 4 minute reminder from John Piper of Scripture's call for us to pray without ceasing. One statement he makes about half way through is that "there's nothing automatic here". That phrase stung (and is still stinging) me. How easy and simple and efficient it is to be on automatic. In fact, isn't that what has driven the technology boom and isn't that the goal of most of our lives: to automate everything we can. But spiritual growth, communion with God and holy lives lived in a dark and dying world are not and cannot be automated. All of these must be lived in constant, vibrant dependence on God.

I will end simply the way Piper ends: "I wish my life were more like that"

Pray Without Ceasing

To God Alone be the Glory

A Crucifixion Narrative

I was not able to listen to this until the Wednesday after Easter, but found it is well worth it. I would encourage your investment of a few minutes of download and 23 minutes of undistracted time (perhaps with the lights out and phone off).  Kudos to Rick Gamache! Well done, brother! And thanks to Tony Reinke of Sovereign Grace ministries for sharing the link.

A Crucifixion Narrative

To God Alone be the Glory

Tuesdays from Phil 1 - God Uses Means (even Satan) to Accomplish His Purposes

"I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." Phil 1:12-14

These verses from Philippians 1 are the stunning flip-side to Rom 8:28. Or maybe, just maybe, they are an expansion of Paul's thoughts from Romans. Ask yourself, if God really does use "all things" to accomplish good for those who love Him, isn't possible, maybe even probable that some of the "all things" God uses are not good in and of themselves? And, even if Satan is the author, doesn't it stand to reason that not only is it possible for God to use these things for His purposes, but that He will use these things for His purposes.

I would like to take a moment and consider a couple of other implications from these verses (and by extension, Rom 8:28 as well). My two thoughts are interrelated, but I'd like to hit them one at a time. The first thought is this, "What is the good that God is working out for those who love Him?" I can't see it being health or wealth. not based on the lives of the first Christians or the large majority of 21st century Christians around the word. I don't see it being Paul-like or Peter-like, apostle-like lives lived on the front lines of the Spiritual battlefield.  It may be that for some, but I'm convinced that's not the norm.

So, what is the good that all things are working toward? Here are a few considerations to ponder.

• God will never leave us where we are at spiritually. (Eph 4, Phil 2, Heb 2) Our spiritual lives are journeys and He expects to be growing and maturing. He will work all things (even Satan-wrought things) together so that we may grow and mature in Christ. See Job 1-2, Heb 12
• Christ is building his Church. Part of building that Church is making her pure and holy (Eph 5) If we are loved by Christ, He will work all things (even evil, painful things) together for the purifying, sanctifiying good of those whom he loves and wishes to present holy and blameless before his Father's throne.
• Christianity and the Church are an ecosystem (kudos to Tim Keller for this great imagery). 2 Cor 1 may be the single best glimpse of this idea, but in reality its everywhere. The simple idea is that Christianity is not just me and Jesus plus you and Jesus plus the other guy and Jesus plus so and so and Jesus. It is not a collection of individual posts in the ground, each pointing to God, but with no connection to each other. Instead, it is like a jungle (or forest, or ocean) where each member of the system is dependent on the other. Get one part of the system out balance and the whole system suffers. Prune or trim part of the system and the whole system benefits.

That third observation brings me to my second thought. Since Christianity and the Church really is an interconnected ecosystem, could it be that God will bring things into my life that are really designed for the benefit of others? Track Paul's thinking in the verses from Philippians 1. Paul is in prison, not sure of his earthly fate, yet he views his situation as something that has served to advance the gospel. How can this be good?  Look at Christ in Gethsemane. Aching at the prospect of bearing the sins of the world and having to absorb the wrath of His holy Father. How can this be good? Yet, in this ecosystem called Christianity, every system, every element has a role and a purpose. Everything works together for good.

So, all things working together for good may include evil, Satan-wrought things for the over arching plan and glory of Christ. We may actual receive what appears to be the short end of stick if God determines that it will result in what is best for the kingdom of His Son. Oh, to be used like Paul, for the very great purpose of advancing the gospel.

To God Alone be the Glory

Damnation, and he took it lovingly.

 Thanks to Michael Johnson on the Desiring God blog.  Read the full post here.

Rabbi Duncan was a great old Reformed teacher in New College, Edinburgh, a hundred and more years ago. In one of his famous excursions in his classes, where he would move off from the Hebrew he was supposed to be teaching to theological reflections on this or that, he threw out the following question: “Do you know what Calvary was? What? What? What? Do you know what Calvary was?” Then, having waited a little and having walked up and down in front of them in silence, he looked at them again and said, “I’ll tell you what Calvary was. It was damnation, and he took it lovingly.” The students in his class reported that there were tears on his face as he said this. And well there might be. “Damnation, and he took it lovingly.” - J.I. Packer, Knowing Christianity

The Cross and the Resurrection. They go hand in hand. You can't have a risen Savior without a dead one and a crucified Messiah is powerless if he is still in the grave. Yet somehow I get the sense we tolerate the Cross to get to the Resurrection. We want the glory, but we want to avoid the shame. Skip the bad stuff, skip the hard stuff, skip the cruel stuff. Just give me the the empty grave and Jesus' resurrection power.

But isn't the glory and the power of the Resurrection found in the ugliness and brutality of the Cross? Do we really grasp the fact that the Cross was supposed be ours? The shame and torture and rejection by God really belonged to us? As Packer quoted above Calvary was damnation. Our damnation. But Jesus took it for us and he did so because he loved his Father and he loved his soon to be brothers and sisters.

So, as we rejoice one day removed from Easter, let us celebrate that Jesus is no longer in the tomb. But let us also celebrate that the tomb is empty because the cross did its job and the One who hung on the cross did so willingly and lovingly. And let us celebrate that the damnation that was ours became his and is now completely removed from the mind of God.

To God Alone be the Glory

Edwards' Resolutions - week 17

My I intention, by God's grace, to post one of Jonathan Edward's 73 resolutions each Monday. As I read the list, it is convicting to me that I can only handle them in small doses, while Edwards reviewed the whole list each week The entire list of Edward's resolutions can be found here: the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards

To God Alone be the Glory

Preamble:

Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Resolution 17:

Resolved, That I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.