Soli Deo Gloria » The Gospel

Twixt Gleams of Joy and Clouds of Doubt

Jay — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:38:08 +0000

Every once in a while you come across an old hymn that is rarely sung in church and you wonder why it isn’t. In God’s providence and perfect timing, I remember sitting in church not too long ago and my pastor quoted a few lines from an old, obscure hymn and I immediately related to it. The glorious truths that the hymn points to bring us to Scripture over and over as we relate to the promises of comfort alongside the promises of suffering and trial. (Philippians 1:29) It’s that wonderful picture of our Shepherd in Psalm 23 walking along with us in the dark valley discipling and comforting us at the same time.

The lyrics to this hymn below by John Campbell Shairp are some of my favorites. I must admit that I printed out a small copy of them and they are taped to the front inside cover of my Bible. This hymn really describes the reality of the Christian walk and our need to remember that it’s not my grasp of Christ that matters most to my comfort but His grasp of me. What glorious truth!

‘Twixt gleams of joy and clouds of doubt
Our feelings come and go;
Our best estate is tossed about
In ceaseless ebb and flow.
No mood of feeling, form of thought
Is constant for a day;
But thou, 0 Lord, thou changest not:
The same thou art alway.

I grasp thy strength, make it mine own,
My heart with peace is blest;
I lose my hold, and then comes down
Darkness, and cold unrest.
Let me no more my comfort draw
From my frail hold of thee,
In this alone rejoice with awe—-
Thy mighty grasp of me.

Out of that weak, unquiet drift
That comes but to depart,
To that pure heaven my spirit lift
Where thou unchanging art.
Lay hold of me with thy strong grasp,
Let thy almighty arm
In its embrace my weakness clasp,
And I shall fear no harm.

Thy purpose of eternal good
Let me but surely know;
On this I’ll lean—let changing mood
And feeling come or go—
Glad when thy sunshine fills my soul,
Not lorn when clouds o’ercast,
Since thou within thy sure control
Of love dost hold me fast .

—John Campbell Shairp

The Birds of the Air

Jay — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:03:03 +0000

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they?” Matthew 6:26

I am a worrier. I make no bones about it. It’s a besetting sin that I have struggled with most of my life. Anxious thoughts and the feeling of impending doom has plagued me for as long as I can remember. When the Lord graciously saved me a little over five years ago, the darkness lifted but remnants of sinful anxiety remain in the flesh. I’m convinced that most all believers struggle with what the Puritan’s titled ‘besetting sins’. It may be different for you, but for me it’s anxiety and fear.

The verse above from Jesus’ great sermon on the mount has given me great comfort over the years. Like other examples of our Lord’s teachings, He uses a lesser to greater analogy. If God so cares for those little birds how much more will He care for His adopted children who are in Christ? It’s about right thinking theologically which leads to practical living.

My anxiety can stem from ridiculous scenarios I create in my mind to worry about the mundane things of this life. My anxiety can also stem from my sin. But at it’s absolute core, anxiety (no matter the cause) is sinful for a believer. Anxious thoughts and worry is tantamount to telling God, “I don’t believe You and I don’t trust You.” That stings. But the reality is if we didn’t have the sinful tendencies as redeemed children of God then there would be no need for the Lord to tell us not to worry. We still battle the sinful flesh. It’s one of the reasons that for the believer, death is that final step in sanctification that finally and fully releases us from sin. In a way only understood by Christians, death is the doorway to glorification and the removal of this body of sin and death to a new glorified body free from sin. I can’t wait! But until then, the battle rages on. We are called to mortify the flesh. We are called to fight the good fight and set aside the sin that so easily entangles us. (Hebrews 12:1) We do this by walking by the Spirit. And that begins by taking the very sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

You may deal with anxiety as I do. You may deal with it so severely that you feel crippled by it. (Believe me, I’ve been there.) What our Lord tells us is to trust Him. Realize that the very One who spoke and brought all things into existence from nothing is Your heavenly Father. He will work all things out for good for those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) That may mean experiencing His Father discipline as His children. We must realize that our Father’s concern is not foremost for our happiness but our holiness and conformity to the image of His Son.

Think about what Jesus is telling believers in this passage. When you are worrying, anxious or fearful simply stop and look out the window at the little birds flying about. They neither store nor reap. They simply rest in the care of God. God feeds them. They don’t run about anxious and fearful of where their next meal will come from. Jesus’ point is if God provides for those little birds how much more will He provide for His adopted children. How much more will He provide for the elect whom He has given to His Son. We are co-heirs with Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are adopted into the kingdom and we now, by the Spirit, call God who resides in unapproachable light “Father”. This is enough to bring us to our knees. What glorious grace and love. As John writes in 1 John 3:1, “See ywhat kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

This my friend is the cure for anxiety. It is only available to true believers – to those in Christ. Yes, we will battle sin until we die or until Christ returns. But we are to fight the good fight and renew our minds on the truths of God’s Word and His promises. Biblical theology produces doxology and right thinking – which in turn produces practical living. I admit that I so often forget these great promises. I am thankful for the Church and for wonderful godly friends and family who remind me of these truths and exhort and rebuke me when needed.

Marvel at the love of Christ to His family. Cast all of your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7) Obey His loving command to look at the little birds and be reminded of how much your Father loves you in Christ Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria

Justification by Christ Alone

Jay — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:30:14 +0000

Enjoy this outstanding lecture by the late John Gerstner as he compares the Biblical understanding of justification by faith alone to the Roman Catholic heresy and the modern day easy-believism.

Gospel-Centered Sanctification

Jay — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:23:55 +0000

We just finished up another episode of Puritan Voices last week and our focus was on the importance of the gospel in the believer’s life. Much of our emphasis really came down to sanctification and how the believer should “preach the gospel to themselves” on a constant basis and through this we can achieve true sanctification. Over the last year or so, I’ve followed authors who promote this idea of “gospel-centered sanctification” but the more I really look deeply into this teaching it seems to improperly promote a resting faith in both justification and sanctification without the call to the believer to pursue sanctification through an active faith as a result of regeneration. Are we straying from the Biblical truths that our holiness and sanctification stems from our union with Christ (John 15) through a real change in our heart and dispositions? There are clear imperatives in Scripture to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Gospel-centered sanctification teachings seem to fall short in handling those imperatives. Have we forgotten that Christ is the vine and we are the branches and apart from Him we can do absolutely nothing? I believe so and therefore we must be very careful in how we proclaim what is commonly called gospel-centered sanctification. It has some validity to be sure. We as Christians should preach the glorious gospel to ourselves but neglecting the reality of regeneration is not being faithful to what Scripture teaches as a whole with regard to progressive sanctification, in my humble opinion.

I’ve been an advocate of this teaching for quite some time, but after really looking deeper into what Scripture says I believe it to have shortcomings with regards to the right understanding of faith’s role in progressive sanctification and a neglect to recognize Christ Himself and our union with Him as the core of our sanctification and not resting faith. (Faith is essential in sanctification. I’m not denying that. But’s it’s important to realize the type of faith being discussed.) For example, it’s important to recognize that justifying faith is resting faith [in Christ], and sanctifying faith is active faith. The Christian life is one of constant rest, and constant labor. (James 2; 1 John 3:3-9)

Don’t get me wrong. I commend those who rightly proclaim the joy and necessity for believers to preach the gospel to themselves. I need to preach the gospel to myself constantly! There is great truth in this gospel-centered focus and it is where the Church needs to be. But, we must not neglect the full counsel of Scripture and the duality of a faith that rests and a faith that acts. Both must be proclaimed in a healthy balance. Like the old hymn writer put it, “trust [passive faith] and obey [active faith] for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”

I commend a most excellent article by Calvin Beisner on his critique of this particular element of Sonship Theology where he does an outstanding job of explaining the errors in this teaching as well as pointing us in the right direction. May God’s Word prevail and may we be kept by His power rightly diving the Word of truth!

Eager to get your thoughts on this topic.

Here’s the link to Calvin Beisner’s article in pdf format.

Here is an article by Joel Taylor that also focuses on this issue.

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Sovereignty of God in the Sin of Believers

Jay — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 16:36:26 +0000

by John Piper

No temptation has overtaken you but what is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will make with the temptation also the escape so that you can endure. (I Cor. 10:13, my translation)

Would it be correct to argue from this text, as some do, that since believers do in fact sometimes succumb to temptation, it is solely due to their own self-determination and not at all due to God’s sovereign disposal of events? If this were a valid argument at least two things would follow which in my judgment are contrary to other New Testament teaching.

1) Believers can no longer have confidence that they will persevere to the end in faith and so be saved. One must persevere in faith if he is to be saved (I Cor. 15:2; Col. 1:23; Mk. 13:13). But many temptations arise in life that threaten faith and call the reality of God and of redemption into question. What assurance does the believer have that he will endure and so be saved? According to the above argument he can have scarcely any assurance because the point of that argument is to limit the influence of God on the believer to the extent that whether the believer yields to temptation or not is finally determined by the believer and not God. The point of the argument is to make God wholly an offerer of power, not an efficient executor of that power in the believer. Therefore, since the believer is ultimately self-determining, his perseverance in faith and consequently his salvation is ultimately determined by himself. That results in the decline of confidence, since for all he knows he may encounter some temptation tomorrow that he will not endure; he may make a shipwreck of faith and be lost.

All this follows, I think, from the consideration that every temptation is an allurement to forsake our reliance upon and joy in the mercy of God and to rely upon and find more pleasure in other things. The argument for self-determination asserts that what the believer delights in most is determined not by the Holy Spirit who dwells within him but somehow by the believer’s own sovereign will. As fickle as our desires are from day to day and year to year, how do I know whether in a few weeks I might desire something else more than thepure milk of God’s kindness (I Pet. 2:2-3)? That the believer should have greater confidence than this follows from the second implication of the argument I stated at the beginning.

2) The second implication of the argument for the believer’s self-determination is that Philippians 2:13 then becomes false. Paul says there that “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” This bold declaration of God’s sovereign control of the believer leads Paul to say two other things. It leads him to an expression of confidence: “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). And secondly the sovereign control of God over believers leads Paul to command the believers to work out their salvation (Phil. 2:12). Note well, it is not the believer’s work which grounds and initiates God’s work. The very opposite is the case: you work, for God is already at work in you to accomplish what he wishes.

The desires of the believer for righteousness are due to God’s openingthe eyes of his heart (Eph. 1:18) so that he can see its irresistible glory. Every act of Christian obedience is a gift of God (Gal. 2:20; I Cor. 15:10). Every act of love is caused by the Lord (I Thess. 3:12). We are his workmanship, his pot of clay, his poem, and all our good deeds have been prepared for ages (Eph. 2:10). This is just another way of saying that all enduring of temptation is the result of God working in us to will and to do his good pleasure.

Given the natural condition of man apart from the Holy Spirit, he will yield to sin invariably; he is the slave of sin (Rom. 6:17,20; 8:3-8). Therefore every instance of turning from sin to righteousness is due to the irresistible work of God, who transforms the mind and heart so that the believer prefers righteousness over sin. I conclude, therefore, that no Christian determines ultimately whether he will overcome a temptation to sin. God determines that.

It follows that when a believer gives in to temptation, desiring sin more than God, it is because God has allowed sin or the flesh to gain the ascendancy for the moment. He does not cause the sin in the same way that he causes the obedience. The obedience he brings about by a positive influence of renewal because he delights in holiness for its own sake. Sin comes about in the believer’s life only by God’s permitting man’s natural tendencies to reassert themselves temporarily. And he does this not out of any delight in sin but out of a delight in the greater end which will be achieved. We may not always understand his designs but we need not doubt his wisdom and power and mercy to bring us through to glory in the end. It is very probable that if God did not allow us to taste the power of sin from time to time we would start to feel self-confident and would not appreciate so intensely our redemption. Thus thanksgiving and praise will abound to God in greater measure because he has brought his people through struggles and failures to perfect victory in the end.

Now we may return to I Corinthians 10:13 to see if it comes into conflict with these things. If we analyze what is really happening in temptation it will become evident, I believe, that there is only one thing that provides “escape” from or endurance of temptation, namely, some kind of evidence that God is preferable to the sin we are being tempted with. Perhaps some promise or threat or command comes to our mind from the Bible, as it did with Jesus when he was tempted. Or perhaps we recall an experience we have had of God’s kindness. Maybe a friend will speak a word of encouragement about God’s glory and beauty. In any of these ways, and many others, evidence comes to us that God is to be desired more than sin. This evidence is the escape available to us.

I Corinthians 10:13 declares that God will never leave himself without a witness to his superiority over all sinful allurements. But the text does not promise that God will in fact keep a Christian from yielding to temptation. It promises that the sufficient cause of obedience will always be given in the hour of temptation, namely some evidence that God is more to be desired than sin. Whether a Christian will own up to the truth of this evidence, that is, whether the evidence will move him in fact to prefer God in this trial is not discussed in this text. The promise has an implicit if-clause: You can endure any temptation if you want to badly enough. You will not be tempted beyond your ability if you are relying upon and delighting in God more than what you are being tempted toward.”

The important thing to notice is that this text does not deal with the more basic theological question concerning why I choose to rely on God at one time and on something else at another time. Therefore, the text cannot be used to prove that the reason I do this is my own inalienable power of self-determination. Romans 12:3 would, on the contrary, suggest that God regulates how much reliance on him I have. But that we can save for another time.

Original article can be found here.

Tempted and Tried

Jay — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:37:42 +0000

I am working my way through an excellent book by Dr. Russell Moore entitled Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph and Christ. Below is a snipper from the chapter entitled Starving to Death where Moore gives excellent Biblical insight into the root issues behind sin and how Satan works in the lives of believers. It’s refreshing to see a book that highlites the reality of the war with sin and temptation in the lives of believers and how God often uses that struggle to conform us more into the image of Christ. I also admire Moore’s understanding of how important it is for the community of the church to bear one another’s burdens through a biblical understanding of the struggles with sin in believer’s lives. I highly recommend this book. It’s well written and also gives some very excellent O.T. insight that often has the reader saying, “oh now I see the connection!” I know I’ve already had some “aha!” moments as I plow through this book.

Enjoy this snippet:

Sometimes we actually empower Satan by the way we speak of Christian conversion. We highlight the testimony of the ex-alcoholic who says, “Since I met Jesus I’ve never wanted another drink.” Now that happens sometimes, and we should give thanks for God’s power here. But this liberation is no more miraculous, indeed in some ways less so, than the repentant drunk who says, “Every time I hear a clink of ice in a glass I tremble with desire, but God is faithful in keeping me sober.”

The girl with the same-sex desires might conclude she is doomed to be a lesbian because she isn’t drawn to boys and still fights her attraction to girls. Family members who have to cut up their credit cards to keep from spending every paycheck on what they see advertised may conclude they’re just not “spiritual” enough to follow Christ because they still war against their wants. Nonsense! You are not what you want. You are who you are. And that’s defined by the Word of God. It might be that God frees your appetite from whatever it’s drawn toward, but usually he instead enables you to fight it. This might go on for forty days, for forty years, for an entire lifetime. That’s all right. There must be room then in our churches for a genuine bearing of one another’s burdens when it comes to appetites. Pretending the appetites are instantly nullified by conversion is a rejection of what God has told us – that we are still in the war zone.

True Revival

Night at Golgotha

Jay — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:48:24 +0000

Night at Golgotha (Vasilij Vereshchagin)

I’m not usually a big art person but there are a few pieces of art that are simply stunning and the masterpiece above by Russian artist Vasilij Vereshchagin (1869) is one such painting.

As we near Christmas, this artwork reminds us that the reason for the incarnation was so that the Child in the manger would die for the sins of His people. (Matthew 1:21) We so often get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas that we forget that the shadow of the cross lies heavily over that humble manger.

This piece of artwork shows the darkness over the cross reminding us of God’s wrath poured out on our sin Substitute and the cry coming from the cross that the penalty for our sins is forever paid in full – “it is finished!” The procession going off into the distance with that haunting light shows us the funeral march as the lifeless body of the Lord Jesus Christ is carried to the sepulcher. Yet, the light glimmering there reminds us that death cannot hold Him. His resurrection for our justification (Romans 4:25) is gloriously imminent in this painting.

The miracle of Christmas is the incarnation. The Creator became the creation. Christ the man represents humanity as our High Priest and as our substitute He died in our stead for our sins. Christ the Almighty God is the infinitely worthy sacrifice to appease the infinitely worthy and just God. The painting above reminds us of the great truth that Christ humbled Himself to become a man and was obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8) to purchase His people and adopt them into His Kingdom. Death could not hold Him! He is now seated victoriously at the right hand of God awaiting for His enemies to be made a footstool to His feet. (Hebrews 10:13)

Miraculously, this Almighty King is not ashamed to call me His brother. (Hebrew 2:11) Now that is something to be eternally thankful for! Thank you Lord Jesus for Your amazing grace that saved a wretch like me!

Merry Christmas!

True Discipleship

Jay — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:55:04 +0000

When I first saw this video I continued saying in my mind, “yes! This is what it’s all about.” I am so tired of churches that focus on programs, entertainment, sports programs and “stuff”. (Programs aren’t entirely bad unless they become the focus which is exactly what is plaguing many churches today.) They want to pack the doors on Sunday mornings but they do not equip the saints to go out into the world and make disciples. This video does a good job of showing this problem. While I don’t agree entirely with the ministry who developed this video regarding their understanding of “kingdom multiplication” and an unbalanced message that instead of being in church we should be out in the world, I think it sends a proper message to most larger churches who are obsessed with programs and just getting people in the door and trying to be so much like the world. Bottom line, church is for believers, not the world! The key is, if we understand church Biblically then the saints will naturally seek to go out into the world as lights of Christ but they will also deeply desire to be in the family of Christ on the Lord’s Day and any other time they can corporately get together to feast on God’s Word, be held accountable and worship Christ the Lord.

Would love to get your thoughts after watching this video:

HT: Jeremy Gardiner’s Twitter feed

Ravi Responds to a Muslim

Jay — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:45:26 +0000

A most excellent response to a Muslim’s question by Ravi Zaccharias. I also love how he explains the multiple denominations within Christianity.

So True …

Jay — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:47:07 +0000

This is an excellent snippet from a very passionate sermon by Paul Washer. It’s going to offend many – especially most behind the pulpit today who refuse to proclaim the gospel or rely on the erroneous “decisional regeneration” so prevalent in most churches.

Do You Love the Reproofs of the Word?

Jay — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:01:42 +0000

“Question: How shall we know that we love the reproofs of the Word? (1) When we desire to sit under a heart-searching ministry. Who cares for medicines that will not work? A godly man does not choose to sit under a ministry that will not work upon his conscience. (2) When we pray that the Word may meet with our sins. If there is any traitorous lust in our heart, we would have it found out and executed. We do not want sin covered, but cured. We can open our breast to the bullet of the Word and say, ‘Lord, smite this sin.’”

- Thomas Watson

The Most Terrifying Truth of the Gospel

Jay — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:33:02 +0000