Evolution's Partial Story

Tim Stafford:

In the story of evolution as we know it, there is no Eden. The world was never peaceful and perfect, free from death and pain. Rather the upward curve has been constant and gradual, always accompanied by death, which culls those creatures less than fit for survival.

Nor does evolution tell a story of Adam and Eve. The human race also has risen incrementally. Evolution suggests no story of atonement, for it knows nothing of personal responsibility, law, sin, shame or redemption.

The absence of such information in the story of evolution does not suggest to me [...] that we must throw out large parts of the Bible’s story. One learns different things from different sources—some things from science, some things from music, some things from the Bible. On purely empirical grounds, I would insist that sin is as reliable a fact as can be, even if evolution knows nothing of it. The same with beauty and truth and love—equally missing from evolution as Darwin traces it. Evolution knows of populations, not individuals. It could never chastise Cain for killing his brother. Murder is part of evolution’s mechanism of change. It would be a good thing, if evolution knew anything about “good.”

“Good” is not part of evolution’s story. Nevertheless good exists.

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Everybody Can Serve on Sundays

Colin Marshall shares ways an ordinary church member can serve the church on Sunday mornings:

Before the Service

• Read the passage in advance
• Pray for the gathering
• Greet newcomers (act like you are the host)
• Think strategically about who you should sit with
• Arrive Early

During the Service

• Sing with gusto (even if you can’t sing)
• Help with logistics (if there’s a problem, help fix it)
• Don’t be distracted
• Listen carefully
• Be aware of your facial expressions (you may affect others and discourage preachers)

After the Service

• Connect newcomers with others
• Get newcomers information
• Start a conversation about the sermon
• Ask someone how they became a Christian
• Stay late

If you were waiting for the senior pastor's permission to do any of these things, consider it granted. Oh, and by the way, our text for tomorrow is Genesis 4.

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You Can Change #23 (Chapter 3)

Tim Chester, in You Can Change:

It seems our first instinct when we want to change is to do something. We think activity will change us. We want a list of do's and don'ts. In Jesus' day, people thought they could be pure through ceremonial washing. Today it can be spiritual disciplines or sets of laws. I've tried these approaches. I've written out little rituals to perform every morning. I've tried to regulate my behavior with lists. Many of these things are good in themselves, and we'll discover the role they can play in helping us grow in holiness. But our rituals and disciplines can't change us. (42)

He comes down pretty hard on things like spiritual disciplines. Does this mean that he's against things like daily Bible reading and prayer? Are those practices really good for nothing?

Read this first section called "Trying to Change Ourselves" very carefully. Reread the paragraph I've quoted above. What Chester is arguing against is the notion that it is our efforts that brings about real change in our lives. This is not the grace of God, and because it is not of God, it is not effective.

But note that he does say that disciplines have a role. As he says, we'll be getting to that a bit later, but I think he is right to work very hard to clear the underbrush of our instinctive self-justification through works-righteousness.

Here's a quotation from Dallas Willard that captures this well:

Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.

Have you tried to change through your own efforts?

What did you do? How well did it work?

Creativity Is Rooted in Creation

Mike Cosper's fine essay on creation and creativity concludes with these words:

On a micro level, each of us has different tastes. On the macro level, cultures emerge in radical contrast with one another. The universal gift of creativity blossoms into a cultural mosaic, itself a reflection of God’s vast skill and imagination. The Scriptures give us an image for this variety. It’s one of all cultures—a spectrum of diversity—gathering around a singular object of worship—our enthroned Savior—worshiping not as a monolithic culture, but as every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Let’s keep the phrase “every tribe, tongue, and nation” in mind when we discuss creativity. Unlike God, who simultaneously embraces the beauty and integrity of snails and galaxies, we find it nearly impossible to find love for the unfamiliar, or for cultures that we see as beneath or above our position. The tendency to moralize our preferences, or to moralize the familiar in religious contexts, is almost a reflex. While some of the so-called worship wars can be attributed to theological issues, I think a vast majority of it was simply a matter of moralized and fiercely defended preference.

The result is a traditionalism that is hostile to the contemporary, a hipster church that is hostile to NASCAR references, or a Western-centric way of thinking about music and liturgy that believes Westernization is the goal of missions.

This is a key issue in the future for any conversations about art, culture, or creativity. Christians need to remember that creativity is simply a fact, and all churches embrace creativity in one form or another. Likewise, all churches are embracing some value related to beauty, creativity and aesthetics. What has often been said of theology is true of creativity too: It’s not a question of whether a Christian or a church will have creativity; it’s what kind of creativity they’ll have.

Remembering Reformation Day

From Ligonier Ministries:

On October 31st, we celebrate Reformation Day in honor of the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-five Theses to the door in Wittenberg and thus sparked a reformation.

But what did Martin Luther stand for? What did he believe? What can we learn from Luther and the Protestant Reformation? Could it happen again today? Find answers to these questions and more in these various resources, articles, and messages. In celebration of Reformation Day, we are also providing four free MP3 messages by Dr. Sproul on Luther and the reformation.

Free MP3 Downloads by R.C. Sproul

Right click on the links to save to your computer:

The Making of the Protestant Reformation (Part 1)
The Making of the Protestant Reformation (Part 2)

Martin Luther (Part 1) (From the series Heroes of the Christian Faith)
Martin Luther (Part 2)

Good News for Losers

This goes along well with the sermon from this past Sunday.

Michael Horton:

The gospel is good news for losers, that in fact we are all losers if we measure ourselves by God’s interpretation of reality rather than our own. The demand for glory, power, comfort, autonomy, health, and wealth creates a vicious cycle of craving and disillusionment. It even creates its own industry of therapists and exercise, style, and self-esteem gurus—and churches—to massage the egos wounded by this hedonism. When crisis hits, the soul is too effete to respond appropriately. We become prisoners of our own felt needs, which were inculcated in us in the first place by the very marketplace that promises a “fix.” We become victims of our own shallow hopes. We are too easily disappointed because we are too easily persuaded that the marketplace always has something that can make us happy.

*****

In the cross and resurrection, God does not explain the problem of evil to our satisfaction but actually overcomes it in a way that surprises and overwhelms us.

From A Place for Weakness: Preparing Yourself for Suffering

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You Can Change #22 (Chapter 3)

[Reminder: We are reading pages 41-47 in chapter 3 for our next small group meeting on November 7.]

“Please forgive me and set me free.” This is Tim Chester's prayer that opens chapter 3 of You Can Change. Does this brief prayer strike you as interesting in any way?

It made me realize how I usually think to pray the first part (“forgive me”) and neglect the second (“set me free”). However, this latter part is an important dimension of what God has done in us through Jesus Christ.

Look at Romans 6, especially these passages below:

Romans 6:6-7

⁶ We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Romans 6:15-23

¹⁵ What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We are not sin-free Christians (like sugar-free candy), but we are set free from being enslaved to sin. Perhaps I don’t need to pray “set me free” since Paul says we “have been set free,” but I think it’s clear that we need to pray, “Lord, help me to live like a man freed from sin, and as your obedient servant.” It’s not automatic.

How do you think focusing on forgiveness of sin but not freedom from sin might stunt our spiritual growth?

Why Care About Church Planting?

From an interview with Darrin Patrick:

What would you say to a comfortable evangelical church who has no vision for planting new churches? Why should they care?

They should re-read the book of Acts, because it is very clear that church planting is normative in the early church and is a necessary factor in revival.

Further, they need to consider the raw statistics that our country is becoming less and less Christian despite more and more mega-churches. There are more and more giant church buildings everywhere but more and more people who are not claiming any religious affiliation.

So they should go back to the Bible, to church history, and then look at the current reality. To the degree that we are able to plan gospel-centered, missional churches, to that degree will we see spiritual renewal and hopefully revival in our lifetime.

"We Believe the Bible and You Do Not"

Keith Mathison describes some of the ways he's heard people debate theology in an unproductive way by using this line: "We believe the Bible and you do not."

I don’t know about you, but as I reflect on it, I can recall numerous times when I’ve seen this “argument” in action in my own theological circles. When I was a dispensationalist, the common thought was that the difference between premillennialists and everyone else was fully and adequately defined by saying that premillennialists believed God’s Word regarding the millennium while amillennialists and postmillennialists did not. We believed what God said in Revelation 20. Amillennialists and postmillennialists did not believe what God said. Case closed.

When I was a Baptist, I regularly heard it said that Baptists believed God’s Word concerning believer’s baptism while others did not. As a Presbyterian, I’ve heard it said that Presbyterians believe God’s Word concerning the promises to the children of believers while the Baptists do not.

I’ve heard this line of argument used in disputes involving the Sabbath, the days of Genesis, theonomy, the gifts of the Spirit, church government, you name it. In every dispute over the meaning of some biblical text or theological point, it seems that someone eventually throws out some version of the line: “The simple fact of the matter is that we believe what God clearly says here and you don’t.” When both sides in a given debate do it, the result is particularly edifying.

*****

The fact of the matter is that people who believe equally in the authority and inerrancy of Scripture sometimes disagree in their interpretation of some parts of that Scripture. We know God’s Word is not wrong, but we might be. God is infallible; we are not. We are not free from sin and ignorance yet. We still see through a glass darkly. In hermeneutical and theological disputes, we need to make an exegetical case, and we need to examine the case of those who disagree with us. It proves nothing to make the bare assertion: “We believe the Bible and you don’t.”

Go here for the whole essay.

Six Things You Need to Know About Death

Gregg Allison offers "Six Things You Need to Know About Death":

1. Death is the gateway between the current earthly existence and eternal existence of either blessedness in the presence of the Lord or of misery and torment in hell (Matt. 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:5-12).
2. This gateway of death is unnatural, the result of sin and not part of the created human order. There is no hint in Scripture that God created Adam and Eve with the eventuality of death as the natural result of the aging process of their bodies. Rather, death was introduced into the human realm as a punishment for sin (Gen. 3:19; Rom. 5:12). The experience of death, therefore, is unnatural, even if it is universal.
3. Christians should view their own death as a homecoming, leaving their earthly body and going home to be with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Death, then, as the passage into their future life, is “gain” and means departing this life so as to “be with Christ,” which is “far better” (Phil. 1:21, 23). Christians do not need to fear death, because the evil one who holds everyone in fear of death has been defeated (Heb. 2:14-18).
4. While grieving deeply over the death of other believers (e.g., Acts 8:2; 20:37-38; Phil. 2:27), Christians should also rejoice with hope (1 Thess. 4:13), knowing that these Christ-followers are now in the presence of Christ experiencing his blessings, comfort, and rest (Rev. 14:13).
5. Such anticipation is not the case with the death of those who did not embrace Jesus Christ.
6. We nurture a steadfast hope for the complete defeat and disappearance of death, a future reality that will one day be realized through Jesus Christ. Then the church redeemed by its Lord will be able to cry, “Death is swallowed up in victory!” (1 Cor. 15:54-55).

City of Man

Here's an interesting conversation with the authors of a new book on Christians and American politics.

City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era from Madison Trammel on Vimeo.

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Cursed for Us

James Montgomery Boice:

In the final analysis, the greatest mercy of God is seen, not in God’s mitigation of our punishment, but in His taking the full curse of the punishment of our sin on Himself at Calvary, which is why Adam and Eve were not cursed. Did sin bring pain in childbirth? No pain is equal to that of Jesus who travailed in pain in order that He might bring forth many children into glory (Heb 2:10). Did sin bring conflict? Jesus endured even greater conflict of sinners against Himself for our salvation (Heb 12:3). Did thorns come in with sin? Jesus was crowned with thorns (John 19:2). Did sin bring sweat? He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Do we know sorrow? He was a ‘man of sorrows, and familar with suffering’, (Isa. 53:3). Did sin bring death? Jesus tasted ‘death for everyone’ (Heb 2:9). In short, Jesus took our curse as Paul says in writing to the Galatians: ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us’ (Gal 3:13). He became a curse so that we might be set free to live to God through Him.

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How Can God Be Good?

If pain and evil exist, then how can God be good? This was a question we tried to answer in the sermon this morning. Here's how it was treated in a recent book:

One common argument against the existence of God is the ubiquitous presence of pain and evil in our world. Modern thinkers often conclude that horror and injustice make the existence of a loving, all-powerful God implausible.

Interestingly enough, it is the last two generations of Europeans and Americans, generations that have experienced a radical decrease in suffering, that have struggled the most with the problem of pain, much more so than previous generations that experienced much greater suffering in general.

In Apologetics for the Twenty-First Century, Louis Markos holds that the reason for this shift dates back to the eighteenth century writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who philosophized that humans were inherently good. Until then, people had accepted pain and suffering as a result of the inherently sinful nature of man. “Because we misunderstand—or refuse to accept—that we are fallen, we imagine that we ourselves (apart from God) can eradicate evil and suffering through state-funded public education, universal health care, and free-market capitalism…we are left angry and bitter when we do not get what we think we deserve,” Markos says in chapter 15.

Arguments have been made that if God is all-powerful and all-loving, that he would do anything he wants and eliminate suffering. The philosopher Alvin Plantigna refutes these claims by pointing out that God does not do irrational things, i.e. make a square a circle or simultaneously give and not give us free will in order to combat suffering. Many scenarios exist by which God demonstrates his love and power by using evil for good. In this way, God ensures our free will and shapes us into the people that he would have us be.

All other arguments aside, we see in the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ a God who suffers for us and with us. He experienced full suffering himself on our behalf and is therefore a God who can truly empathize with our pain. While God does not promise that we will not suffer, he does promise to be with us when we do.

This modified excerpt came from the publisher's blog.

Peace Is Not the Proof

Haddon Robinson:

If we think about it, peace cannot be the proof that we’re in God’s will. If ever anyone was in God’s will, it was our Lord Jesus Christ. But the Bible tells us that just before His crucifixion, Jesus, sweat great drops of blood. With strong cries and tears He asked that, if possible, this cup be taken from Him (Luke 22:41-44). At that moment Jesus fulfilled the will of His Father in Heaven, but if these are the marks of a man at peace, it’s certainly a strange kind of peace.

Look at a contrasting example. If ever anyone was out of God’s will, it was Jonah. God commanded Jonah to go to Ninevah, which was to the north and to the east. But Jonah, the reluctant prophet, immediately headed to the south and to the west, and boarded a ship sailing out into the Mediterranean. After the boat put out to sea, a tremendous storm arose, and the pagan sailors were terrified.

But Jonah didn’t worry – - he was asleep in the lower deck of the boat. He had peace, perfect peace, i the midst of the storm. Yet the prophet was completely out of the will of God.

These accounts of Jesus and Jonah demonstrate that inner peace cannot signal whether or not we are in God’s will, Scripture simply does not hold up such a theory.

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Dominion as Destruction or Responsibility?

Francis Schaeffer:

Fallen man has dominion over nature, but he uses it wrongly. The Christian is called upon to exhibit this dominion, but exhibit it rightly: treating the thing as having value itself, exercising dominion without being destructive. The church should always have taught and done this, but she has generally failed to do so, and we need to confess our failure . . . By and large we must say that for a long, long time Christian teachers, including the best orthodox theologians, have shown a real poverty here.

This was taken from a post on humankind created in the image of God and with dominion over nature, titled "World Domination"-- read the rest here.

A Man Bent Over

Colin Smith provides insight to understanding sin and the work of the gospel in our lives.

A Man Bent Over from The Orchard Evangelical Free Chu on Vimeo.

The Amount Which I Use

Alexander MacLaren:

Let me always remember that it is not the amount of religious knowledge which I have, but the amount which I use, that determines my religious position and character.

[Note: I might say "reflects" rather than "determines", but the larger point stands.]

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"Packed" Prayers

I'm no liturgist, but there are some good things to be mined from old liturgies, creeds, and such. Here's a good example from Tim Keller:

Years ago when I wanted to become more skillful in public prayer, I was fortunate to come across the collects of Thomas Cranmer, the writer of the original [Anglican] Book of Common Prayer. The “collects” (the stress is on the first syllable) that Cranmer wrote were brief but extremely ‘packed’ little prayers that tied together the doctrine of the day to a particular way of living. They were prayed by the minister on behalf of the people, or prayed in unison by the whole congregation.

As I have read them over the years they have brought me two great benefits. First, they have given me a basic structure by which I can compose good public prayers, either ahead of time, or spontaneously. Cranmer’s collects consist of 5 parts:

1. The address - a name of God

2. The doctrine - a truth about God’s nature that is the basis for the prayer

3. The petition - what is being asked for

4. The aspiration - what good result will come if the request is granted

5. In Jesus’ name - this remembers the mediatorial role of Jesus

See this structure in Cranmer’s famous collect for the service of Holy Communion:

1.Almighty God

2.unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid,

3.cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit,

4.that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy name,

5.through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

See how the prayer moves from a doctrinal basis (why we can ask for it) to the petition (what we want) to the aspiration (what we will do with it if we get it.) It is remarkable how this combines solid theology with deep aspirations of the heart and concrete goals for our daily life.

He later gives some further examples:

Blessed Lord, who has caused all holy Scripture to be written for our learning; grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of thy holy word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of eternal life, which thou hast given us in our savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Almighty God, who dost make the minds of all faithful men to be of one will; grant unto thy people, that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise, that among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may be surely fixed where true joys are to be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God, which hast prepared to them that love thee such good things as pass all man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we loving thee in all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve, pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy, forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid and giving unto us that which our prayer dare not presume to ask; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou does command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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You Can Change #21 (Chapter 2)

Here are the main points within the final section of chapter 2 in You Can Change (35-36):

Let’s sum up our motive for change: to enjoy the freedom from sin and delight in God that God gives to us through Jesus. I want to highlight four things arising from this definition.

First, growing in holiness is not sad, dutiful drudgery. It’s about joy.

Second, change is about living in freedom.

Third, change is about discovering the delight of knowing and serving God.

Fourth, becoming like Jesus is something that God gives to us.

Do you remember how Tim Chester said that we need to see God's prescription for change as good news? Now it's starting to sound like it.

This is a better way than our usual paths of performance and begrudging drudgery, it it not? Pray for the eyes to see this, for the appetite for this kind of discipleship and devotion to Christ.

As Jesus promised, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." (Matthew 5:6)

See you at small group tomorrow night!

One Step Closer to Christ

Here's how Chris Castaldo describes the outreach ministry at his church:

Evangelism is the activity in which the entire church prayerfully and intentionally relies on God in sharing gospel love and truth, in order to bring people one step closer to Jesus Christ.

If you go here, you can read his elaboration on each phrase of this definition. I'll include the final section below.

One step closer to Christ. Of all the points I’ve made so far, this is the one about which I am most passionate. Sometimes when we think about evangelism, we define it by a particular method. For many of us, it’s the crusade approach made popular by D.L. Moody or Billy Graham. Accordingly, we think of evangelism as a full-blown gospel presentation that begins by explaining the human problem of sin and culminates in an invitation for one to receive Christ.

I don’t know about you, but most of my gospel encounters don’t allow for a full-orbed sermon. In a crusade, the goal of the evangelist is to clearly present the entire message and urge someone to make a decision. However, if you define all of evangelism in that way, what happens when you only have two minutes to talk to a colleague beside the water cooler during break? How do you witness to the checkout person in the supermarket, or to a family member who knows what you believe and is utterly disinterested in hearing any more sermons? The answer is—you don’t. You don’t say a thing. We can’t share in that kind of way without completely alienating ourselves; therefore, we don’t share at all. The outcome is the same as hiding our lamp beneath the proverbial table.

We need to learn how to gradually plant seeds of gospel truth that help people incrementally move one step closer to Christ. Evangelism should not be strictly limited to a comprehensive presentation of the “full delmonte” (i.e., everything there is to say about salvation) culminating into a Billy-Graham-like invitation. We need to view the incremental efforts of seed planting, which we perform in the course of natural relationships, as not only a legitimate form of evangelism but also a critical method among our friends and loved ones.

You Can Change #20 (Chapter 2)

1 Corinthians 6:18-20

¹⁸ Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Tim Chester, in You Can Change:

Imagine you’ve done the cleaning at home because you have guests coming. You’ve scrubbed the floors, cleaned the windows, tidied the rooms, and dusted the furniture. Everything is spick-and-span. And then you pop out to get some flowers from the shops, through the rain and mud. What do you do when you get back? Do you tramp your muddy feet through the house and shake out your wet clothes? No; you carefully take everything off at the door. You want to keep your home clean for your guests. The Holy Spirit has cleansed and washed us. He’s given us a new start and a new life. He’s come to make his home in us. He’s consecrated our lives as his temple. Why would you want to mess that up by bringing in your dirty habits or returning to your filthy sins? Would you want a friend to live in a trash bin? (34)

Tim Chester is trying to do exactly what the apostle Paul was doing in the passage quoted above: using the image of our body as a temple of the Holy Spirit as motivation for living holy lives.

His illustration brings it into our everyday experience and appeals to our common sense, but I think it is good for us to reflect further on the purity and holiness of the temple that he mentions earlier and more briefly. When we remember how important it was for the priests who served in the temple to be undefiled, for the sacrifice that was required even to gain access to the holiest place, and so on, there is not just a common sense logic at play. Any place that would be the dwelling of a holy God must be holy as well.

If we love God and revere his perfect righteousness, there will be a desire to make him welcome in our lives. As long as we remember that, ultimately speaking, only God through Christ can make us fit for the Spirit, we should pursue a life consistent with that holiness.

Chester also said, "Our lives, and our life together as a Christian community, are sacred spaces, consecrated to God." The passage from 1 Corinthians reflects this individual aspect, but the corporate (church body) aspect is seen in Ephesians 2:19-22:

¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Practically speaking, how should our church (the people, together) reflect the kind of holiness that is fitting for a dwelling of the Spirit of God?

Gospel Doctrine, Gospel Culture

Ray Ortlund explains the connection between theology ("doctrine") and the shape of life in the church (its "culture"):

Gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. The doctrines of grace create a culture of grace, healing, revival, because Jesus himself touches us through his truths. Without the doctrines, the culture alone is fragile. Without the culture, the doctrines alone appear pointless.

The doctrine of regeneration creates a culture of humility (Ephesians 2:1-9).

The doctrine of justification creates a culture of inclusion (Galatians 2:11-16).

The doctrine of reconciliation creates a culture of peace (Ephesians 2:14-16).

The doctrine of sanctification creates a culture of life (Romans 6:20-23).

The doctrine of glorification creates a culture of hope (Romans 5:2).

If we want this culture to thrive, we can’t take doctrinal short cuts. If we want this doctrine to be credible, we can’t disregard the culture. But churches where the doctrine and culture converge bear living witness to the power of Jesus.

We need to know the gospel, believe it, and live out all that it entails.

You Can Change #19 (Chapter 2)

In You Can Change, Tim Chester continues with three biblical images for our new identity in Christ that should motivate us to change. The second is "You Are the Bride of Christ," and he uses this illustration:

Why do I bring my wife a cup of tea in bed in the mornings? It’s not because I need to make her mine. She’s already my wife, just as Christ is already my bridegroom. It’s not because I need to make sure she won’t leave me. She’s committed herself to me with the covenant promises of marriage, just as Christ has committed himself to me with covenant promises. It’s not even so she’ll treat me well. She often treats me well even when I treat her badly, just as Christ is always gracious toward me even when I don’t deserve it. No, I try to please my wife because I love her and because she loves me. I delight in delighting her. So it is with Christ. Christ is our lover, our partner, and our bridegroom, and so we live for him, want to please him, and do what he asks. The more my wife loves me, the more I find myself loving her. Christ has loved me with infinite love, giving himself for me on the cross. He loved me when I was unlovely. If I’m holy, clean, or radiant, it’s only because he made me so. And so I love him and live for him. (32-33)

Let's make this parallel more explicit. Here's what a healthy "marriage" relationship with Christ would look like:

1. I do not turn from sin to righteousness because it will make me a Christian. I already belong to Christ by virtue of his sacrifice, through faith.

2. I do not live obediently in order to keep Christ and salvation. He has promised himself to me.

3. I do not pursue holiness in order to gain God's favor. His favor is gracious (I do not deserve it), and he blesses me because I am in Christ.

So why do I so often operate as if all these things are riding on my behavior? That's a good question. Perhaps an even better one is this: How can I focus more the love that Christ has for me and live out of that reality?

What do you think would be some specific and practical ways to remember and be motivated by his love for you?

The Most Forgiving People

Here are a list of characteristics of the most forgiving people, compiled by Ken Sande:

The most forgiving people in the world have an exceedingly high view of God.

The most forgiving people in the world trust that God is all powerful, all loving, and always working for his glory and our good, even in the midst of suffering. (Gen. 45:4-7; Acts 2:23-24; Rom. 8:28)

‎The most forgiving people in the world trust God’s promise that every sin will eventually be fully paid for, either through Christ’s atonement on the cross or through eternal judgment. (Gen. 50:19; Luke 18:6-8; Rom. 12:19)

The most forgiving people in the world see their sin against God and his forgiveness of them as being infinitely great. (Matt. 18:23-25; Luke 7:47; Ps. 25:11; Eph. 1:7)

The most forgiving people in the world see God as the true treasure of forgiveness and will do anything to have more of him. (Ps. 73:25)

The most forgiving people in the world see others through the eyes of Christ. (Col. 1:21-22; Luke 23:34)

The most forgiving people in the world depend utterly on God to cultivate the perspectives and attitudes needed to forgive. (Phil 2:13)

Source

You Can Change #18 (Chapter 2)

Let's review where we've been in this chapter of You Can Change.

The chapter is titled "Why Would You Like to Change?" We're talking about what motivates us, and what should motivate us to change, grow, become more like Christ.

It should not be that I want to prove myself to God, to others, or myself. None of those are options because they all involve me trying to prove myself. The only way for to be approved to God is to be approved by God-- to be declared just by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the payment for my sins.

Tim Chester now transitions to what will occupy us for the remainder of chapter:

We don’t change so we can prove ourselves to God. We’re accepted by God so we can change. God gives us a new identity, and this new identity is the motive and basis for our change.

Again and again in the New Testament we are called to be what we are. It’s not about achieving something so we can impress. It’s about living out the new identity that God gives us in Jesus. (29)

Now, I believe there are more reasons than these for us to be motivated to pursue holiness, but it is clear that the Scriptures point us to who we are in Christ in order to encourage us to live like Christ.

Chester's first example is this: You are a child of the Father. Taken from Galatians 4:4-7 and 5:13, we have to be informed (and frequently reminded) that we are no longer slaves, but children. That means we are loved, accepted, and will receive all that God has promised to his own.

This doesn't mean that we will automatically be good. It doesn't mean that when we do wrong that God just winks and looks the other way like an indulgent or passive father. When the apostle Paul tells believers that they are no longer slaves but children with all the privileges that go along with that status, he tells them this in order to inspire them (and us!) to joyful, eager obedience.

Do you realize all that it means for you to be adopted into God's covenant family?

Do you know the kind of love, the extent of his grace, that he has for you?

Do you rest in the security of all his promises that extend through eternity?

Do you return to this truth again and again as a means of fighting temptation and sin?

Do you return to this truth again and again as a means of pursuing obedience and holiness?

Heavenly Compassion

A good quotation from Robert Murray McCheyne on the Sunday of our Missions Festival:

Leave your home, your comforts, your bed, your ease, your all, to feed lost souls. The Lord of glory left heaven for this; it is enough for the disciple to be as his Master. It is said of [Joseph] Alleine that ‘he was infinitely and insatiably greedy for the conversion of souls.’ . . . The Lord give you this heavenly compassion for this people. Do not be satisfied without conversion. . . . Remember that a moral sinner will lie down in the same hell with the vilest.

Source

You Can Change #17 (Chapter 2)

Tim Chester, in You Can Change:

You will cleanse no sin from your life that you have not first recognized as being pardoned through the cross. This is because holiness always starts in the heart. The essence of holiness is not new behavior, activity, or disciplines. Holiness is new affections, new desires, and new motives that then lead to new behavior. If you don’t see your sin as completely pardoned, then your affections, desires, and motives will be wrong. You will aim to prove yourself. Your focus will be the consequences of your sin rather than hating the sin itself and desiring God in its place. (28)

Be careful. You can easily take this sentence the wrong way: "The essence of holiness is not new behavior, activity, or disciplines." We all have heard plenty of times that God cares more about the heart than our external actions, and there is truth in it. However, we can read that sentence alone and then decide that what we really need is to work hard at our affections, desires, and motives. But we will go on being frustrated (and un-justified) if we do that apart from the cross.

Am I so grounded in the gospel that I am not worried about what other people think?

Am I so secure in what Christ has done for me that I do not obsess over how I look?

Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed

I ran across Nathan Clark George some time ago, and this is the song I keep coming back to. I saw the video this morning and so am sharing it with you. He makes this old tune sound fresh and beautiful, and Isaac Watts' lyrics, of course, are profound and poignant.

He has CDs available at his site, or you can get the MP3s from Amazon.

Source

You Can Change #16 (Chapter 2)

We now come to the section titled "Justified by Grace" that is at the heart of Chapter 2. I think we can get at the big idea of this chapter from You Can Change from these two paragraphs quoted below.

Tim Chester:

But we can never change enough to impress God. And here’s the reason: trying to impress God, others, or ourselves puts us at the center of our change project. It makes change all about my looking good. It is done for my glory. And that’s pretty much the definition of sin. Sin is living for my glory instead of God’s. Sin is living life my way, for me, instead of living life God’s way, for God. Often that means rejecting God as Lord and wanting to be our own lord, but it can also involve rejecting God as Savior and wanting to be our own savior. Pharisees do good works and repent of bad works. But gospel repentance includes repenting of good works done for wrong reasons. We need to repent of trying to be our own savior. (25)

The previous sections in this chapter have been examples of the truth summarized by this paragraph. If we try to prove ourselves, and if we do so to try to please anybody other than God, then we have taken God out of the picture. We have said God is not the judge, and he is not the savior. It was not God's holiness that was offended, and it was not God's law that was broken. When you think about it like this, can you see how despicable this is?

Now, if this strategy for proving ourselves is destined to fail and all the more offensive to God, should we be surprised that it will be frustrating to us? We think, as we're trying to change, that we should be more satisfied, more fulfilled, more at peace. But we only feel exhausted, defeated, and unsure of ourselves, because we're trying to be both the judge and savior.

Chester, again:

Another word for proving ourselves is justify. We want to justify ourselves—to demonstrate we’re worthy of God or respectable in the eyes of other people. But we’re justified only through faith in what Christ has done. When you feel the desire to prove yourself, remember you’re right with God in Christ. You can’t do anything to make yourself more acceptable to God than you already are. You don’t need to worry whether people are impressed by you because you’re already justified or vindicated by God. And what makes you feel good is not what you’ve done, but what Christ has done for you. Your identity isn’t dependent on your change. (26)

The sections that follow in this chapter will be examples of the truth summarized by this second paragraph. The point here is that if, instead of proving ourselves, it is God that proves (justifies) us, then our identity does not rest on our performance, but his. Shall we consider his performance for a moment? Was Christ's life not perfect? Did he obey at every point? Did he not resist the temptation of the devil himself? Did he not obey the Father's will even to the point of death? His perfect record of deeds, his unstained purity of heart, his complete once-for-all sacrifice for sins-- that is what justifies us when we entrust ourselves fully to Christ.

That is the unshakable foundation from which we can pursue change, and really be changed.

Women Are Essential to Community

Here's another post along the lines of last week's sermon.

Brad House:

As image-bearers of Christ, women have been created to contribute to community in unique and profound ways. It is imperative for the health of the church that the call to men to rise up does not inadvertently ask women to shrink back.

Go here to read the whole piece: Why Women Are Essential to Community.

You Can Change #15 (Chapter 2)

In You Can Change, Tim Chester gives another reason why we might want to change-- "to prove myself to myself."

We can’t feel good about ourselves until we’ve put some distance between ourselves and our last “big sin.” For us, sin has become first and foremost sin against ourselves. If I sin, then I’ve let myself down. What I feel when I sin is the offense against me and my self-esteem, not the offense against God. (25)

Our culture is filled with this often pathetic self-referential kind of talk. For example:

"I need to give myself permission to relax."

"I guess I just can't forgive myself."

"I know I disappointed you, but I really disappointed myself."

Let me play with that last one for a bit. When some politician gets caught in a lie, then holds a press conference where he says, "I am sorry. I know I hurt my family deeply and I did not uphold the honor of this office. I have disappointed you, but most of all, I disappointed myself."

Now, if they are at all genuine (or genuinely trying to sound genuine), then they must think this kind of talk sounds really serious and very deep, from the heart. But it is so wrong. The greatest offense was not to himself, but to others.

The same holds true with our sin. When we do wrong, the greatest violence we have done is not against ourselves, but against God. All this talk about "I give myself permission" and "I forgive myself" and "I'm disappointed" stems largely from the fact that we see ourselves as the highest authority with the greatest honor at stake.

It is God who gives or withholds permission. It is God who forgives in the only way that finally matters. It is God whose estimation of us has any bearing on ultimate reality and for eternity. It is the holiness of God and his honor that is at stake.

It is time to get over ourselves and pursue change-- for God's sake.

Two Types of Idolatry

This goes well with the previous post. For more on this topic, see Tim Keller's Counterfeit Gods.

Darrin Patrick:

Surface Idols. The more observable of the two types of idolatry, surface idols are often easily-seen offshoots of deeper, less obvious sins. Some examples include:

• Image idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I look certain way.
• Helping idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if people are dependent on me.
• Work idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am highly productive.
• Materialism idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I have a certain level of wealth, financial freedom, and possessions.
• Inner Ring idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am part of a particular social or professional group
• Ideology idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if my political party or social cause is in or gaining power.

Source Idols- The more subversive idols are the ones that drive all the other types of idolatries in our lives. They include:

• Comfort idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I experience a certain quality of life or a particular pleasure.
• Approval idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am loved and respected by ________.
• Control idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am able to get mastery in my life over a certain area.
• Power idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if have power and influence over others.

From Church Planter

Source

You Can Change #14 (Chapter 2)

In You Can Change, Tim Chester says that one of the reasons we may for pursuing change is that we want to prove ourselves to other people.

One of the problems with trying to prove ourselves to other people is that they set the standard. Their standards may be ungodly, but we adopt their behavior to fit in. Or their standards may be godly, but we’re living in obedience to people rather than in obedience to God. Often what happens is that we settle for living like other people even when that falls short of living like Jesus. Or we measure ourselves against other people and decide we’re more righteous. We may point the finger at others’ faults so we can feel better about ourselves.

Instead we should be comparing ourselves to Jesus, finding we fall a long way short of God’s standards and discovering that we desperately need a Savior. (24)

How can you tell whether you're comparing yourself to other people instead of with Jesus? There should be some fairly simple ways to test this.

• When I am comfortable with my attitudes and actions, is it because I am fitting in with my group (family, church, friends, etc.)?
• When I feel good about myself, is it because I have outperformed someone else?
• When I experience fullness in spiritual disciplines or fruitfulness in ministry, am I more proud of myself than grateful to God?
• When I feel dissatisfied with my performance, is it because someone else is getting attention or credit, and I am not?
• When I desire improvement in my life, is it because I am personally embarrassed?
• When I do grow, do I have an uncontrollable urge to tell everyone else about it in a way that is more about me than God's glory?

Brothers and sisters, this is not just a faulty understanding of justification. This is idolatry.

Transcendent Love

Nancy Pearcey:

The irony is that Christians are often accused of being prudes and Puritans who hold a negative view of the body and its functions, such as sex. During one college debate over abortion, the pro-choice students shouted to the pro-life students, “You’re just anti-sex.” But the truth is that Christianity has a much more respectful view of our psycho-sexual identity.

The Bible’s treatment of the subject begins in Genesis 2, the account of God’s creation of the two sexes. When Adam recognizes Eve as kindred to himself, he exclaims, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23 ESV). Was he referring only to the bodily correspondence between the two sexes? Clearly not. The reference to physical unity was intended to express a joyous unity on all levels—including mind, emotion, and spirit. Jesus’ commentary on the same verse is that “they are no longer two but one flesh” (Matt. 19:6 ESV). Scripture offers a stunningly high view of physical union as a union of whole persons across all dimensions. The deepest level of physical intimacy is meant to express the deepest level of personal intimacy—whole persons committed to one another. When sex is torn apart from that union, we are in essence telling a lie.

Liberalism treats sex as instrumental to extrinisic goals, such as physical pleasure or expressing affection. That’s why liberals do not object to any form of sexual relation as long as it meets those extrinisic goals—as long as it involves mutual pleasure or affection. By contrast, a biblical worldview treats sex as intrinsically good in constituting the one-flesh relationship. Humans are an image of God not only as individuals but also in their relationship with one another—and most intensely in the intimate sexual-emotional-spiritual unity of marriage.

This explains why marriage is used throughout Scripture as a metaphor for the intimate relationship God aspires to have with his people. In the Old Testament, Israel is the unfaithful wife. In the New Testament, the church is the bride of Christ. The marital metaphor means that our sexual nature possesses a “language” that is ultimately meant to proclaim God’s own transcendent love and faithfulness.

From Saving Leonardo

Source

Aware of Guilt, Ready for Grace

Paul Tournier:

All men are equally burdened with guilt. Those called righteous are not free from it but have repressed it; those called sinners are aware of it and are, for that reason, ready to receive pardon and grace.

Source

You Can Change #13 (Chapter 2)

Tim Chester, in You Can Change:

The instinct to self-atone runs deep in our hearts. We want to make amends for our sin on our own. But God has done it all through Christ because of his grace, his undeserved love to us. Grace is so simple to understand and yet so hard to grasp. It’s not its complexity that makes it difficult. The problem is that we seem to be hard-wired to think we must do something to make God favorably disposed toward us. We want to take the credit. But all the time God is saying, “In my love I gave my Son for you. He’s done everything needed to secure my blessing. I love you as you are, and I accept you in him.” God can’t love you more than he does now, no matter how much you change your life. And God won’t love you less than he does now, no matter what a mess you make of your life. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). (23-24)

As my boys grow up, I hear them say things like, "I can fix this. I can do it all by myself. I don't need any help." It's good when they're learning to take initiative and responsibility, but it's bad when they are being defiantly independent and stubborn. The problem is that it's not always easy to know which is which.

If we're owning up to our short-comings and sins, that's a good thing, and I think it should lead to a certain kind of resolve to do what's right. The problem comes when we think that we can make God happy by our own efforts. "Oops. I'm sorry, God-- I know I messed up, but I can fix it. I'll clean up my mess. You don't need to help." It sounds good, right? But God says that all we can do with our sin is confess, repent, and believe in Christ.

Isn't change good? Isn't it necessary? Yes-- that's the point of the book. But we'll go completely wrong if we try to change, and believe that our turning from sin is what makes us acceptable to God. Rather, we must be grounded in the forgiveness that God offers in Christ, and then determine to change by his grace, by his power.

How Can I Glorify God?

Kevin DeYoung very helpfully compiles a list of ways the Bible speaks of how we can glorify God (hover over the reference to see the verse):

1. Give God verbal declarations of praise (Rev. 4:8-9).

2. Live a life of noticeable piety (Matt. 5:16; James 1:27; 1 Peter 2:12).

3. Ask God for things in Jesus’ name (John 14:13).

4. Bear fruit and show yourself to be a disciple of Jesus (John 15:8).

5. Declare the truth about Jesus (John 16:14).

6. Love your life less than God (John 21:19; 1 Peter 1:7; 4:16).

7. Worship God as God (Rom. 1:21).

8. Live a life of sexual purity (1 Cor. 6:20).

9. Live a life of generosity (2 Cor. 9:13).

10. Rejoice in God’s glory displayed in creation (Psalm 19:1).

11. Do the works of faith (2 Thess. 1:12).

12. Use your gifts in God’s strength (1 Peter 4:11).

13. Make sure everyone knows you’re not God (Acts 12:23).

14. Live a life of gratitude (Psalm 50:23; 2 Cor. 4:15).

15. In matters of liberty, seek the good of others (1 Cor 10:31).

16. Extend grace to sinners (2 Cor. 8:19).

17. Be a part of a local church (2 Cor. 8:23; Eph. 3:20-21).

18. Tell God you are wrong and he is right (Josh. 7:19; Jer. 13:16; Rev. 16:9).

19. Obey God (Lev. 10:3; Mal. 2:2).

20. Go from a Christ-despiser to a Christ-worshiper (Gal. 1:24).

You Can Change #12 (Chapter 2)

I ran across this flow chart today, and it certainly goes right along with what we've been reading together from You Can Change. The truth expressed in this chart is so obvious that it may be intended as ironic: If you're not happy, then change something. Duh! On the other hand, sometimes we need the obvious to be spelled out for us like that. Yeah, in one sense, it's that simple.

But we also have to see that this chart assumes that My Happiness is the major factor and ultimate goal. Thus, if I'm not happy, I need to change. If I am happy (or I don't mind being unhappy, which is to say "I'm happy being unhappy"), then I don't need to change.

The problem is, my sense of happiness is only a helpful gauge if it corresponds to God's assessment of my life. So, for all the personal, individual language that Tim Chester uses in You Can Change, like "What Would You Like to Change?" and "Why Do You Want to Change?", he is ultimately trying to get our thoughts to turn to God's Word.

As we've already seen, God's more concerned with our holiness than our happiness, but the good news is that our holiness will bring a deeper, richer happiness in God than we could ever have imagined.

This will be good for us to remember as we start Chapter 2: "Why Would You Like to Change?"

More tomorrow...

Source for graphic here, attributed to Alex Koplin and David Meiklejohn

The Boy and the Bridge

In a column just published this morning, Al Mohler comments on the sad story of Tyler Clementi. It is a perfect companion to the sermon yesterday as applied to an event that is in the news, and one that could just as easily be in our community. I'd highly recommend that you read the whole thing, but here's how he concludes:

There are Tylers and Ashers and Billys and Seths all around us. They are in our schools, in our neighborhoods, in our churches . . . and in our homes. They, like us, desperately need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to know the grace of God toward sinners. They, like us, need to know the mercy of God extended to sinners through Christ Jesus. They, like us, need to repent of their sins and learn by grace how to grow into faithfulness. They, like us, need to know that they are loved if they are going to trust Christians to tell them about Jesus.

Even long before they may hear or respond to the gospel, they need to know that they are loved and cherished for who they are. They need to know that we stand between them and those who would harm them. They need to know that we know how to love sinners because we have been loved despite our own sin.

I am haunted by the one question that seems so obvious and clear in the account of Tyler Clementi’s tragic death. In those days of crushing anguish, humiliation, and confusion, was there no one who could have stood between that boy and that bridge?

Lots o' Links on Gender and Marriage Issues

The Bears game is, well, unbearable, so I'm redeeming the time to post a roundup of several recent articles that relate to the topic of this morning's sermon.

The Resurgence on Why Gender & Sexuality Matter

Listen to this 23-minute conversation between two Christian counselors on Healing After Adultery

Al Mohler's commentary: Divorce - The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience

Paul Tripp on The Problem of "Kingdom" in Our Marriages

WORLD magazine describes the consequences when Daddy Is a Sperm Donor

Also from WORLD: Who Favors Same-Sex Marriage?

Ross Douthat on How Divorce Spreads

I'll post some more on this range of topics throughout the week, with the next post on You Can Change coming Tuesday, as the Lord wills.