to declare and seal

or... What is the purpose of the Lord's supper?

Answer (from my paraphrased Heidelberg Catechism): The Lord's Supper is a "...holy visible sign and seal, appointed by God for this purpose: so that he may more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the gospel, viz., that he grants us freely the remission of sin, and life eternal, for the sake of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross.

Question 67. Does it direct our faith to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, as the only ground of our salvation?

Answer: You bet!: for the Holy Ghost teaches us in the gospel, and assures us by the sacraments, that the whole of our salvation depends upon that one sacrifice of Christ which he offered for us on the cross.

Question 75. How are you admonished and assured in the Lord's Supper, that you are a partaker of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross, and of all his benefits?

Answer: Thus: That Christ has commanded me and all believers, to eat of this broken bread, and to drink of this cup, in remembrance of him, adding these promises: first, that his body was offered and broken on the cross for me, and his blood shed for me, as certainly as I see with my eyes, the bread of the Lord broken for me, and the cup communicated to me; and further, that he feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life, with his crucified body and shed blood, as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister, and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord, as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ.

So, based on this, the next time you receive the Lord's Supper, receive it with a thankful and reverent heart. A heart that is receiving an "edible gospel sermon". The promise of the new covenant is signified and sealed to me! The cross was for me, and I, because I am united with Christ's body, consume him, by faith. He is my "manna" in the wilderness between my redemption (Exodus), and my glorification (the promised land).

rick warren's denial of faith alone?

Here's an interesting video montage. I understand these kinds of things can be misleading, especially if the quotes are taken out of context. The first part - where Rick is talking about faith and love - might be OK, if Rick is talking about a "said" faith vs. a "real" faith. The sort of explanation you'd get if you contrasted what James and Paul say about faith alone. Absolutely, a true believer will exhibit faith AND love; he can't help it!

Having said that, the phrase Rick uses that bothers me is "...it takes more than belief; it takes more than faith to really please God". God says without faith it is impossible to please him - not faith AND love.

Now, for the rest of the video... what Rick proceeds to do is lay his congregation under the heavy, demanding weight of the law. I used to sit under this type of preacing. The gospel was rarely if ever, explained as simply the good news that I'm forgiven in Christ solely on the grounds of Christ's sacrifice, and that I receive this solely by faith alone. I endured (as do Warren's flock) alot of what Rod Rosenbladt calls "golawspel" - gospel mixed with law. Pastors have to be VERY careful they don't confuse these two. The result is a congregation which feels they must DO DO DO to please God, and that his sacrifice wasn't quite enough. The other unfortunate result, is that the sheep get burned out. If it's always about me and what I do, then the savior, who cried out "It is finished" gets forgotten. "You have lost your first love" says Christ to one of the churches in Revelation.

good theology = peace of mind

Good theology gives us something we can't get from everyday life - peace of mind. Jesus said:

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." - John 14:27

It's a peace in knowing that God is all-satisfying. He fulfills my greatest desires. He fulfills my greatest need, namely, reconciliation with the Father. My sin doesn't keep me at a distance from him. Think about it. There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

The 3 most comforting words my guilt-ridden soul can hear are:

"It is finished."

Those 3 words are full of meaning. But basically, God, in Christ Jesus has fulfilled all the righteous requirements for me, and absorbed the Father's wrath for me. Wow. Let that sink in - and be at peace.

oh how i do love a good argument!

Bob Newhart at his best

gutsy guilt

Feeling guilty over sin? When your flesh, and the devil come to accuse you, here are some comforting words, and scripture from John Piper:

"You have a tremendous weapon against the Devil when you know your punishment for sin has already been paid in Christ and your righteousness before God has already been achieved in Christ, and you hold fast to these truths with heartfelt passion.

With this passionately embraced theology—the magnificent doctrines of substitutionary atonement and justification by faith (even if you don’t remember the names)—you can conquer the Devil tomorrow morning when he lies to you about your hopelessness.

What will you say to him? Micah 7:8-9 is a picture of what you say to your enemy when he scoffs at your defeat. I call this practice “gutsy guilt.” The believer admits that he has done wrong and that God is dealing roughly with him. But even in a condition of darkness and discipline, he will not surrender his hold on the truth that God is on his side."

Here is Micah 7:8-9 (NASB):

Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will see His righteousness.

calvin on our good works

1. We have no good works which God rewards but those which we derive from his grace.

2. The good works which we perform by the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, are the fruits of that adoption which is an act of free grace.

3. They are not only unworthy of the smallest and most inconsiderable reward, but deserve to be wholly condemned, because they are always stained by many blemishes; and what have pollutions to do with the presence of God?

4. Though a reward had been a thousand times promised to works, yet it is not due but by fulfilling the condition of obeying the law perfectly; and how widely distant are we all from that perfection!

Let Papists (and all "moral religions"*) now go and attempt to force their way into heaven by the merit of works. We cheerfully concur with Paul and with the whole Bible in acknowledging, that we are unable to do anything but by the free grace of God, and yet that the benefits resulting from our works receive the name of a reward.

* my addition

Osteen on who's going to heaven

I got dizzy listening to how many times Osteen flip-flops on this question. He stands up on the truth for a second, but quickly steps down if it's perceived he's being intolerant. A great example of trying to please man and not God.

google recognizes c.h. spurgeon

I went to Google.com today and saw that they had an image of one of the greatest preachers in modern times - C. H. Spurgeon. Ok, not really. It's Pavarotti. But with a little Photoshopping, I can get pretty creative.

Here's some quotes from Pavarotti, er, I mean Spurgeon:

- The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation.

- The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.

- There is enough dust on some of your Bible's to write "damnation" with your fingers.

- Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.

- A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.

- A sinner can no more repent and believe without the Holy Spirit's aid than he can create a world.

- A vigorous temper is not altogether an evil. Men who are easy as an old shoe are generally of little worth.

- Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.

- Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.

- By perseverance the snail reached the ark.

- Free will carried many a soul to hell, but never a soul to heaven.

- Giving is true having.

- Humility is to make a right estimate of one's self.

ALL are fruits of grace

"And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,"
- 1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV

Below is a great commentary by Calvin on this passage. Basically, don't confuse justification (a judiciously declared right standing with God) with sanctification (holy living/set-apartness), but just as importantly, don't separate them either! What God declares, he absolutely brings out in our lives.

Calvin writes:
"...he (Paul) says that he is made unto us righteousness, by which he means that we are on his account acceptable to God, inasmuch as he expiated our sins by his death, and his obedience is imputed to us for righteousness. For as the righteousness of faith consists in remission of sins and a gracious acceptance, we obtain both through Christ.

Thirdly, he calls him our sanctification, by which he means, that we who are otherwise unholy by nature, are by his Spirit renewed unto holiness, that we may serve God. From this, also, we infer, that we cannot be justified freely through faith alone without at the same time living holily. For these fruits of grace are connected together, as it were, by an indissoluble tie, so that he who attempts to sever them does in a manner tear Christ in pieces. Let therefore the man who seeks to be justified through Christ, by God’s unmerited goodness, consider that this cannot be attained without his taking him at the same time for sanctification, or, in other words, being renewed to innocence and purity of life. Those, however, that slander us, as if by preaching a free justification through faith we called men off from good works, are amply refuted from this passage, which intimates that faith apprehends in Christ regeneration equally with forgiveness of sins."

adam's fall and mine

"Another difficult question that shrouds the doctrine of predestination is the question of how our sinful nature can be inherited from Adam. If we are born with a fallen nature, if we are born in sin, if we are born in a state of moral inability, how can God hold us responsible for our sins?" Read more

- Dr. R. C. Sproul

thunderclaps & explosions

continuing our home group study on Galatians...

Galatians 1:4 "Who gave himself for our sins."

"Paul sticks to his theme. He never loses sight of the purpose of his epistle. He does not say, "Who received our works," but "who gave." Gave what? Not gold, or silver, or paschal lambs, or an angel, but Himself. What for? Not for a crown, or a kingdom, or our goodness, but for our sins. These words are like so many thunderclaps of protest from heaven against every kind and type of self-merit. Underscore these words, for they are full of comfort for sore consciences.

How may we obtain remission of our sins? Paul answers: "The man who is named Jesus Christ and the Son of God gave himself for our sins." The heavy artillery of these words explodes papacy, works, merits, superstitions. For if our sins could be removed by our own efforts, what need was there for the Son of God to be given for them? Since Christ was given for our sins it stands to reason that they cannot be put away by our own efforts."

- Martin Luther

luther on galatians

"St. Paul wrote this epistle because, after his departure from the Galatian churches, Jewish-Christian fanatics moved in, who perverted Paul's Gospel of man's free justification by faith in Christ Jesus.

The world bears the Gospel a grudge because the Gospel condemns the religious wisdom of the world. Jealous for its own religious views, the world in turn charges the Gospel with being a subversive and licentious doctrine, offensive to God and man, a doctrine to be persecuted as the worst plague on earth.

As a result we have this paradoxical situation: The Gospel supplies the world with the salvation of Jesus Christ, peace of conscience, and every blessing. Just for that the world abhors the Gospel."

John Piper is Bad

Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism

saint augustine's conversion

heart corruptions

O God, may Thy Spirit speak in me that I may speak to thee. I have no merit, let the merit of Jesus stand for me. I am undeserving, but I look to Thy tender mercy. I am full of infirmities, wants, sin; Thou art full of grace.

I confess my sin, my frequent sin, my wilful sin; all my powers of body and soul are defiled: a fountain of pollution is deep within my nature. There are chambers of foul images within my being; I have gone from one odious room to another, walked in a no-man's-land of dangerous imaginations, pried into the secrets of my fallen nature.

I am utterly ashamed that I am what I am in myself; I have no green shoot in me nor fruit, but thorns and thistles; I am a fading leaf that the wind drives away; I live bare and barren as a winter tree, unprofitable, fit to be hewn down and burnt. Lord, dost Thou have mercy on me?

Thou hast struck a heavy blow at my pride, at the false god of self, and I lie in pieces before Thee. But Thou hast given me another master and lord, Thy Son, Jesus, and now my heart is turned towards holiness, my life speeds as an arrow from a bow towards complete obedience to Thee. Help me in all my doings to put down sin and to humble pride. Save me from the love of the world and the pride of life, from everything that is natural to fallen man, and let Christ's nature be seen in me day by day. Grant me grace to bear Thy will without repining, and delight to be not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned, but separated from the old rock where I have been embedded so long, and lifted from the quarry to the upper air, where I may be built in Christ for ever.

- The Valley of Vision

tremble at his wrath as well as his grace

"But, careless sinner, learn that thy salvation now hangs in God's hand. Oh, remember thou art entirely in the hand of God. Thou hast sinned against him, and if he wills to damn thee, damned thou art. Thou canst not resist his will nor thwart his purpose. Thou hast deserved his wrath, and if he chooses to pour the full shower of that wrath upon thy head, thou canst do nothing to avert it. If, on the other hand, he chooses to save thee, he is able to save thee to the very uttermost. But thou liest as much in his hand as the summer's moth beneath thine own finger.

He is the God whom thou art grieving every day. Doth it not make thee tremble to think that thy eternal destiny now hangs upon the will of him whom thou hast angered and incensed? Dost not this make thy knees knock together, and thy blood curdle? If it does so I rejoice, inasmuch as this may be the first effect of the Spirit's drawing in thy soul. Oh, tremble to think that the God whom thou hast angered, is the God upon whom thy salvation or thy condemnation entirely depends. Tremble and "kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way while his wrath is kindled but a little." - C.H. Spurgeon

Paul Potts

his first performance:



...and his second appearance:

getting it right AND getting it out

Bravo to Horton for being honest about an important issue in the church today. We must not only get the gospel right, but get the gospel out.

Here's part of Against Heresies interview with Michael Horton:

Question from Against Heresies: Reformed or conservative Christians are sometimes accused of having an unhealthy interest in controversy and polemics. Is this a fair comment?

Horton: "In my view, the short answer, unfortunately, is “yes.” We are often known more for what we’re against than by what we’re for.

In Acts 2, the church was identified by its devotion to the apostles’ teaching, the breaking of the bread, the fellowship, the prayers, and an intense evangelistic and missionary zeal. We read repeatedly throughout Acts not only that the Word of God was faithfully taught, but that it spread. Today, we are often pressed to choose between getting the gospel right and getting the gospel out. If the gospel is the good news that we say that it is: sinners reconciled to a holy God through the work of Christ alone, why shouldn’t we be the vanguard of outreach to the world?

I fear that it all comes down to sloth or laziness, and I include myself in that critique. Conservatives are often enthusiastic about the truth, but lazy about mission; progressives are often enthusiastic about mission and lazy about the truth..."

Read the whole interview on Against Heresies

Who is Israel?

"It is therefore not ultimately a question of whether one is a Jew or a Christian in terms of outward organization, but of whether one is "inwardly circumcised"-that is, buried and raised with Christ. Nothing that exists apart from him-even that which calls itself Christian, can live, and nothing that is in him can die. Jesus is not only the federal head and mediator of the covenant; he is in his very person "a covenant to the people" (Isa. 42:6)." - Michael Horton

read more

relevance

Relevance is one of those words that can have negative connotations in the religious world - specifically the reformed world. Modern evangelicalism is said to have abandoned much of it's trust in the ordinary means of grace, to the seductions of "relevance". This is where a church starts to think that people shouldn't hear the harsh words of scripture that proclaim man "sinner", or that mankind is doomed to hell unless saved by the grace of God. This kind of relevance manifests itself in the desire to be understood by the culture and trusted, because the church "gets it" and therefore provides a springboard into biblical truth. This, in turn, can lead a person to God. The danger with this form of relevance is that it can water down the truths of God's word, so what you end up with is a message that doesn't sound too dissimilar from what the world has to offer - although it may have a few Christian words thrown in.

A positive kind of relevance is what Paul talked about in his letters - the kind that is familiar with culture, yet is always concerned with sharing the undiluted truth about man's terrible plight and God's unimaninable offer of free grace. I'm talking about Paul being a Greek to the Greeks and a Jew to the Jews. So what's the difference between good relevance and bad? For one, it's a love of truth - all of it. How can the good news sound truly good unless you've faced the bad news in all it's ugliness and fierceness? Reformation theology frees us from the possibility that we're in charge of our eternal state. It frees us to RESPOND out of gratitude to God's incredible mercy. This kind of fearlessness is the fruit of God's truth, so we CAN relate to one another with a kind of openess that's unafraid. Of course, we still ARE afraid sometimes; our flesh can be such a spoiler...

Anyway, on to the deeper path I'm trying to make here. I'm trying to say something about relevance here that gets at the heart of why we are who we are. Here's what I mean: What is man's deepest need? His deepest desire? I think a good answer is to be valued, to be relevant. Who doesn't want others to listen to them when they have something to say? Who doesn't want to feel needed and important? We have our "circle of friends" and family who show us that kind of relevance and we love it. However, what if we get satisfied with that kind of effect, and only let a select few make us feel relevant? The problem is, we start "rating" people according to how "relevant" they make us feel. Guess what? If someone in our life - be it work, church, family, friends - doesn't live up to our "relevance standard", we treat them with less respect, we treat them with less relevance - in effect, "you don't matter all that much to me, I won't give you any more attention than I HAVE to."

This sounds terrible (maybe it doesn't?), but we can slowly fall into this over time. Keep in mind this is so subtle, we may not know it's happening to us. It may be the guy in your office who's a little "nerdier" than you, or the girl at church who's always "bugging" you, or the person who holds a different political view than you, or a different theological perspective - whatever, you can think of your own examples. The point is, it creeps up on you, and before you know it, YOU are turning into a snob. I know I have been. I woke up this morning and realized I'm not the kind of person I really like. Try this: think of a person you really admire, someone you would trust with your bank account, or to pick up your kids from school. Always a willing and eager friend. Why do you like them so much? Because they make you feel relevant. They take the time to listen to you. They respond with affirmation to you. Rejoice with you. Empathize with you. Basically, treat you with respect - a human being made in the image of God.

My problem is, I could think of those people in my life who were like that, but when it came down to it, I wasn't that person. I'm not an eager listener lately. I have people I listen to, but I also have those I kind of "shun". Not outright ignore, but think of as a "less important person". I don't like that about myself. The thing I fear most is being irrelevant. Someone who could drop off the planet and not be missed. Most of the time it comes out at work or church. I'll try to say something, and feel (this could be real or imagined, it doesn't matter) that no one is taking me seriously. Sometimes I'll cover it up with humor, but that just makes it worse. Sure, I get instant results, but eventually, people will think that I'm just a "jokester" and have nothing of substance to say.

Ok, on to the remedy... Are you ready for this?! It' really profound!: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat others as better than yourself. I've determined to let these sentences burn their way into my brain - by the Spirit's power - and not worry about MY relevance, but everyone ELSE'S! I've been so caught up in myself and how people think of me, that I've become my own worst enemy.

Lord, help me to remember that You've shown the greatest act of love and mercy to me. You specifically elected me out of love, not because I deserved it, but because You chose to. I have received the greatest affirmation of "relevance" any creature could. I don't need to depend on other's affirmations for my happiness, I have all the affirmation I need! Therefore, help me to love my fellow man, to have a listening ear to all. To have compassion, to actually CARE about someone other than myself. To be the kind of friend I would want to have. To treat others with RELEVANCE. Amen.

sacraments fit hand and glove with the gospel

"... the sacraments are not incidental to the Christian life, nor do they contradict our doctrine of justification sola fide. In fact, the sacraments fit hand and glove with the gospel. For God has promised to save us from our sins, and this promise is confirmed and renewed every time we witness a baptism and every time we take and eat. For when we hear those words, “this is my body, broken for you,” we are reminded that Jesus Christ has turned aside God’s anger toward our sins.

That same Savior who has died for me – taking away the covenant curse which I deserve – invites me to the font and to the table where he feeds and nourishes me, and where he swears on his sovereign oath, “I am your God and you are my people.” And what glorious words for sinners such as we. Come all you who are weary and burdened, for here you will find rest and refreshment."

- Kim Riddlebarger

Read More

gratitude

"Imagine that you, in a fit of rage, wantonly and violently and irrationally destroyed your neighbor's car. Imagine that your neighbor was, for the purposes of this story, perfectly innocent. What does your neighbor owe you? Justice! He owes you prosecution to the full extent of the law. If, however, he fixed his car and gave you a 7-series BMW that would be grace. What should your response be? Should it not be humility and profound gratitude? Would you not think of your neighbor's wonderful graciousness every time you thought of or saw that BMW? Of course you would! Wouldn't that sense of gratitude color your life and relation to your neighbor and everyone else?

Of course Christians have committed crimes that are even more inexplicable than this. We violated God's law when we had been constituted righteous and holy. We forfeited glory for what? As Christians, we are the recipients of a grace that far transcends an automobile. As Paul says, we were slaves to sin and now we've been made free in Christ." - R. Scott Clark, The Heidelblog: April 10, 2007

Read the whole article

what he did

According to Christian belief, Jesus is our Saviour, not by virtue of what he said, not even by virtue of what he was, but by what he did. He is our Saviour, not because he inspired us to live the same kind of life that he lived, but because he took upon himself the dreadful guilt of our sins and bore it instead of us on the cross. Such is the Christian conception of the Cross of Christ. It is ridiculed as being a "subtle theory of the atonement." In reality, it is the plain teaching of the word of God; we know absolutely nothing about an atonement that is not a vicarious atonement, for that is the only atonement of which the New Testament speaks. And this Bible doctrine is not intricate or subtle.

On the contrary, though it involves mysteries, it is itself so simple that a child can understand it. "We deserved eternal death, but the Lord Jesus, because he loved us, died instead of us on the cross"--surely there is nothing very intricate about that. It is not the Bible doctrine of the atonement which is difficult to understand--what are really incomprehensible are the elaborate modern efforts to get rid of the Bible doctrine in the interests of human pride.

Modern liberal preachers do indeed sometimes speak of the "atonement." But they speak of it just as seldom as they possibly can, and one can see plainly that their hearts are elsewhere than at the foot of the Cross. Indeed, at this point, as at many others, one has the feeling that traditional language is being strained to become the expression of totally alien ideas.

J. Gresham Machen, Christianity & Liberalism, p. 118-9

o wretched man that i am

What a great quote:

"Unless and until we are graciously allowed to see ourselves and our state as they really are, grace holds no interest for us."

- R. Scott Clark

read more on The Heidelblog

monergism.com gets a great face-lift

Check out their new improved site!

Monergism.com is the best reformed theology resource for articles, books, audio, etc... bar none. They also have a terrific bookstore. Kudos on their redesign.

ashamed at Christ's second coming?

1 Corinthians 3: 12-15 says:
"Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."

I was always taught to dread the final judgement, not that I'd be lost in Hell, but because I didn't obey Christ with pure and perfect motives. This kind of teaching is scary because it removes a Christians's joy and replaces it with guilt and dread. It's kind of like waiting for Daddy to come home because you know you're in trouble and he's going to spank you. Ironically, this teaching stems from a fundamenatalism that isn't too far from the teachings of Rome. You end up with a kind of "protestant purgatory". Think I'm exaggerating? Charles Stanley teaches something that sounds eerily familiar to this Read More.

It's interesting also, that the passage in 1 Cor. dealing with the "fire" which purges is used by Rome to further the doctrine of purgatory see Calvin's commentary.

Calvin speaks of this passage as distinguishing correct vs. false doctrine in the church (right doctrine taught = gold, silver, jewels / false doctrine = wood, hay and stubble).

The term "works" in the passage is referring to teachings, and not so much "doings" by the congregation. This is a revelation to me, coming from a background that always stressed the Christian's works as though we had something to be ashamed of at the final judgement! This is why I love reformed theology! The doctrine of Christ's imputation should fill me with anticipation and great hope/relief at His return. Why? Because I'm accounted by God as if I had the perfection of Christ Himself! I no more deserve rewards after justification than before.

"It is begun." VS. "it is finished."

R. Scott Clark, over at The Heidelblog has written yet another great entry about what our only comfort is. Here's a little of it:

"...has fully satisfied for all my sins..."

"In order to understand our confession we need to know a little about the history of the medieval church before the Reformation. Rome taught (and teaches) that Christ died to make salvation possible (by the way, does this sound familiar? Don't lots of evangelicals speak just this way about salvation?) The Reformed way of speaking about salvation is to say that Jesus accomplished salvation for us and applies it to us by his Spirit. According to Rome, however, Jesus' death makes it possible and the Spirit begins the process of sanctification and eventual justification in baptism. In the Roman scheme, our duty is to cooperate with grace toward eventual , final justification. When we sin, according to Rome, we are obligated to do penance.

... Not so in the Heidelberg Catechism. According to the Protestant view, Jesus has propitiated God's wrath and expiated our sins. He has satisfied for "all my sins." He has reconciled God to me and all believers. Rome says, "It is begun." Jesus says: "It is finished." He has redeemed me from all the power of the devil. It isn't just "underway." It's done. God is not propitiated, he is not reconciled, and I am not redeemed in any way by anything the Spirit does within me or anything I do in cooperation with grace. It's done for me. The only "condition," (instrument really) is this: "if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart" (HC 60). The whole Reformation can be said to have turned on the difference between two prepositions. When it comes to being right before God the Roman preposition is "in" and the Protestant preposition is "for." Thank God for that little preposition "for!" "

the bondage of the will

'Martin Luther and the Bondage of the Will' by Wellington Protestant Reformed Fellowship (WPRF)

A great audio teaching on the background of Luther and his influential work.

http://www.cprf.co.uk/audio/m3u/martinluther.m3u

how am i righteous before God?

Here's my analysis of Heidelberg #60 -

Question 60. How are you righteous before God?
Answer: Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ.

Even though:
A. My conscience accuses me.
B. I have grossly transgressed all the commandments of God, and kept none of them, and
C. The fact that I am still inclined to all evil.

Nevertheless, God, without any merit of mine, but only of mere grace:
C. Grants and imputes to me, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ, as if I had never committed any sin. More than that, as if I had fully accomplished all the obedience which Christ has accomplished for me.

Conclusion: I benefit from C. simply and only because I embrace these benefits with a believing heart.

christianity - what it's not, what it is

"Christianity is not a religion of ethics, morality, or politics. Its central message is the proclamation of the death of God’s Son, under God's curse, dying in unspeakable anguish to turn aside God’s holy hatred of sin, so that all who trust in him and in him alone can be saved from God’s wrath and be assured of God’s favor toward them. If we lose that message we have lost Christianity itself."

- Dr. Kim Riddlebarger

the law is spiritual

-from Martin Luther's Intro to Romans

"In chapter 7, St. Paul says, "The law is spiritual." What does that mean? If the law were physical, then it could be satisfied by works, but since it is spiritual, no one can satisfy it unless everything he does springs from the depths of the heart.

But no one can give such a heart except the Spirit of God, who makes the person be like the law, so that he actually conceives a heartfelt longing for the law and henceforward does everything, not through fear or coercion, but from a free heart.

Such a law is spiritual since it can only be loved and fulfilled by such a heart and such a spirit. If the Spirit is not in the heart, then there remain sin, aversion and enmity against the law, which in itself is good, just and holy."

faith is defiance

Faith is defiance. Abraham’s faith defied every possibility that he saw, in favor of the “impossible” word that he heard. This is why “faith comes by hearing … that is, the word of faith which we preach” (Rom. 10:17). To trust in God is to distrust every other promise-maker. The world makes a lot of promises: “Try this product and you’ll be ….” Constantly buying into new fads or makeovers as so many fig leaves to hide the seriousness of our condition, we hand ourselves over to marketers who persuade us that we can attain salvation, however we define that. Even the church can become a place where people get the idea that they exist merely to usher in the kingdom by serving on committees and being involved in a thousand programs. We have a lot of purposes, a lot of goals—some of them noble. Desperate to save ourselves and our kids from everything but the wrath of God, we fail to realize that, however watered down, these are all nothing but law rather than promise. Eventually, we will become burned out on good advice. What we need is good news.

- Michael Horton
- excerpt from The Promise Driven Life

ready to forgive

As Spurgeon once wrote, salvation is "all of grace". Yet, we need to be reminded also, that sanctification - the Christian life - is all of grace too. I'm more and more convinced that the evidence of sanctification is not primarily victory over sin, but an ever brightening realization of the depths of sin in one's own heart, and at the same time, an ever leaning trust in the life and death of Christ on our account.

Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.

"That he (God) is ready to forgive appears in this yet more glorious fact, that what God demands of man by the gospel he also works in him by his spirit; as for confession of sin he puts the words into the sinner's mouth, repentance he works in the sinner's heart, and saving faith his own Spirit creates in the sinner's soul. Is he not ready to forgive when even what might be called the condition of pardon in one light is under another aspect a gift of free grace?" - C.H. Spurgeon

luther on the mosaic law

The Law of Moses Binds Only the Jews and Not the Gentiles

"Here the law of Moses has its place. It is no longer binding on us (New Testament believers)
because it was given only to the people of Israel. And Israel accepted
this law for itself and its descendants, while the Gentiles were
excluded. To be sure, the Gentiles have certain laws in common with
the Jews, such as these: there is one God, no one is to do wrong to
another, no one is to commit adultery or murder or steal, and others
like them. This is written by nature into their hearts; they did not
hear it straight from heaven as the Jews did. This is why this entire
text does not pertain to the Gentiles. I say this on account of the
enthusiasts. (2) For you see and hear how they read Moses, extol
him, and bring up the way he ruled the people with commandments. They
try to be clever, and think they know something more than is presented
in the gospel; so they minimize faith, contrive something new, and
boastfully claim that it comes from the Old Testament. They desire to
govern people according to the letter of the law of Moses, as if no
one had ever read it before.

But we will not have this sort of thing. We would rather not preach
again for the rest of our life than to let Moses return and to let
Christ be torn out of our hearts. We will not have Moses as ruler or
lawgiver any longer. Indeed God himself will not have it either. Moses
was an intermediary solely for the Jewish people. It was to them that
he gave the law. We must therefore silence the mouths of those
factious spirits who say, "Thus says Moses," etc. Here you simply
reply: Moses has nothing to do with us. If I were to accept Moses in
one commandment, I would have to accept the entire Moses. Thus the
consequence would be that if I accept Moses as master, then I must
have myself circumcised, (3) wash my clothes in the Jewish way, eat
and drink and dress thus and so, and observe all that stuff. So, then,
we will neither observe nor accept Moses. Moses is dead. His rule
ended when Christ came. He is of no further service."


from http://www.covopc.org/Papers/Luther_on_Moses.html

simultaneously saint and sinner

SIMUL IUSTUS ET PECCATOR- "JUSTIFIED, AND AT THE SAME TIME SINFUL" - by Charles Biggs

Eternal life is Christ dwelling in His righteousness in the soul of the justified person. So eternal life can be easily understood as union with Jesus Christ.


And the word for that union with him is faith. The sinner comes to him, rests in him, trusts in him, is one with him, abides with him; and this is life because it never ends. The united soul abides in the Vine eternally. Weakness, sin, proneness to sin never brings separation, but only the Father's pruning, which cements the union even and ever tighter (John 15:1-8).


Our great hope in our union with Christ is that we know that we are truly forgiven of all our sins. Christ died for all of our sins, not merely a few of them, but all of them.


As justified sinners, we will still struggle with sin and temptation, in fact a Christian ought to be described as a "struggling sinner", or better "one who struggles with sin". In John's first epistle, he writes that if we say we have no sin we lie and we call God a liar (1 John 1:8-10). In fact, John says if we claim to be without sin "his word has no place in our lives" (primarily because the Word became flesh "to save his people from their sins").


However, those covered with Christ's righteousness given to them, those who have Christ as their Advocate with the Father, can go to Christ confessing their sins and he is faithful and just and will forgive as well as purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8,9). We have this great benefit because we are united to Christ and because he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:2).


To be justified and at the same time sinful ("simul iustus et peccator") is to be one who is united with Jesus Christ while truly struggling against our sinful nature, or "old man" as Paul describes our former way of sinful life in this world. We are truly at war with our sinful nature as justified sinners!


The difficulty with the war is that we know our sinful inclinations are not good, yet we still are very much attracted to our sins. We hate our sins, while we love them; we love certain sins, while we at the same time hate them! It is like in the 'Fellowship of the Rings' when Bilbo desires to get rid of the great ring he has obtained from Gollum. He knows it is evil and too powerful for him to control, yet he tells Gandalf the Wizard "it is precious" to him. While we struggle to kill our "old man", our sinful nature and the sins that so easily beset us, we at the same time think they are "precious" to us. Notice how Paul describes this life-long battle with sin in Romans 7.


Paul describes the conflict in this way: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do...As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me...For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - -this I keep on doing" (Romans 7:15-20).


In our conflict with our sin, this is exactly how we feel as well! We want to do good, we desire to obey God's law because it is our delight, but at the same time our sins are still "precious" to us. Where can we go? What can we do? We must run to the Lord Jesus Christ daily confessing our sins and transgressions, knowing confidently that he will forgive us and purify us. This is exactly what Paul does: "Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God --through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 7:24,25).


There is a daily struggle and battle going on in the heart's of justified sinners! We are at the same time justified and yet still tainted with sin. Our hope is that he will cleanse us, he will purify us and one day will present those who are united to Jesus Christ as a Bride without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.


In other words, we shall be perfect as he is perfect when we are glorified on that Great Day when Christ shall return for his bride! This is our hope today! God, who began a good work our uniting us to His Son, shall complete it on the Day of His return! Glory be to God! May God grant us more grace and strength to overcome our sins, to despise and hate the sins that so easily beset us, causing us to see Jesus as more "precious" in our sight, and our sins as truly heinous in His sight!


Remember that God has granted us means of grace to help us in our battle: the Word of God and the Lord's Supper! May His Spirit help us today to hate the sins that are so "precious" to us and may we be more conformed to his image this Christmas season! Amen.


In the Name of the LORD of the Word and in the fellowship of His service,

- Pastor Biggs

the power of prayer?

"Christians, however, do not believe in the power of prayer: Rather, they believe in the power of God. American religion – I do not say Christianity – has become so subjective and man-centered that the “power of prayer” and the “power of faith” are touted continually. Power is ascribed to our words – prayer – and to our believing, rather than to the effective Word of God, who heals by speaking a word. This subjectivism – this idolatry – explains why Christ warned us not to think that much speaking, chanting, or rote recital of prayers is Christian prayer.

God does not and will not listen to such prayers. Instead, Christian prayer is to be done privately and succinctly, and comprises praise to God as well as our petitions for help. The model prayer that Christ taught his disciples in the Gospels is focused on God on Heaven, his holy name, and the advancement of his Gospel and Kingdom. Prayer is speaking to God in Heaven, and it is God, not prayer, who hears and heals. Faith is believing God’s Word; it is his Word, not our believing, that saves and heals us. In our idolatrous religious subjectivism, we have not kept our minds on our Heavenly Father, but we have focused on our praying and our believing."

- John Robbins

christmas based on paganism?

Every year it seems, I hear this claim. But is it true? Gene Edward Veith has got his facts straight. A great read.

Christmas was NOT based on a pagan holiday
by Gene Edward Veith

Another Christmas special re-run: My column for WORLD refuting the old charge that Christmas was based on a pagan holiday:

Why December 25?

According to conventional wisdom, Christmas had its origin in a pagan winter solstice festival, which the church co-opted to promote the new religion. In doing so, many of the old pagan customs crept into the Christian celebration. But this view is apparently a historical myth—like the stories of a church council debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or that medieval folks believed the earth is flat—often repeated, even in classrooms, but not true.

William J. Tighe, a history professor at Muhlenberg College, gives a different account in his article "Calculating Christmas," published in the December 2003 Touchstone Magazine. He points out that the ancient Roman religions had no winter solstice festival.

True, the Emperor Aurelian, in the five short years of his reign, tried to start one, "The Birth of the Unconquered Sun," on Dec. 25, 274. This festival, marking the time of year when the length of daylight began to increase, was designed to breathe new life into a declining paganism. But Aurelian's new festival was instituted after Christians had already been associating that day with the birth of Christ. According to Mr. Tighe, the Birth of the Unconquered Sun "was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians." Christians were not imitating the pagans. The pagans were imitating the Christians.

The early church tried to ascertain the actual time of Christ's birth. It was all tied up with the second-century controversies over setting the date of Easter, the commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection. That date should have been an easy one. Though Easter is also charged with having its origins in pagan equinox festivals, we know from Scripture that Christ's death was at the time of the Jewish Passover. That time of year is known with precision.

But differences in the Jewish, Greek, and Latin calendars and the inconsistency between lunar and solar date-keeping caused intense debate over when to observe Easter. Another question was whether to fix one date for the Feast of the Resurrection no matter what day it fell on or to ensure that it always fell on Sunday, "the first day of the week," as in the Gospels.

This discussion also had a bearing on fixing the day of Christ's birth. Mr. Tighe, drawing on the in-depth research of Thomas J. Talley's The Origins of the Liturgical Year, cites the ancient Jewish belief (not supported in Scripture) that God appointed for the great prophets an "integral age," meaning that they died on the same day as either their birth or their conception.

Jesus was certainly considered a great prophet, so those church fathers who wanted a Christmas holiday reasoned that He must have been either born or conceived on the same date as the first Easter. There are hints that some Christians originally celebrated the birth of Christ in March or April. But then a consensus arose to celebrate Christ's conception on March 25, as the Feast of the Annunciation, marking when the angel first appeared to Mary.

Note the pro-life point: According to both the ancient Jews and the early Christians, life begins at conception. So if Christ was conceived on March 25, nine months later, he would have been born on Dec. 25.

This celebrates Christ's birth in the darkest time of the year. The Celtic and Germanic tribes, who would be evangelized later, did mark this time in their "Yule" festivals, a frightening season when only the light from the Yule log kept the darkness at bay. Christianity swallowed up that season of depression with the opposite message of joy: "The light [Jesus] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).

Regardless of whether this was Christ's actual birthday, the symbolism works. And Christ's birth is inextricably linked to His resurrection.

Copyright © 2005 WORLD Magazine
December 10, 2005, Vol. 20, No. 48

For more info:
Read "Is Christmas Christian?" from the Christian Research Institute
Read "Are Christmas Trees Idolatrous?" from the Christian Research Institute

believing the gospel

Believing the Gospel by J. Michael Feazell

Many of us Christians are afraid of the gospel. We are afraid of the gospel because it is too good. Many of us are more comfortable with religion than we are with the gospel. We prefer to read the Bible as a divine rulebook that guards the entrance to the kingdom than to read it as God’s witness to his redemption of the whole cosmos through his Son.

We prefer to think that when God breathed the life of his Word into the Bible, he was merely creating a religion—a divine formula to show humans what things to do and not to do in order to get on God’s good side and stay there.

But the gospel is not a new and improved religion. The gospel is an affront to religion. It is the end of religion, the end of all systems of works designed to make us acceptable to God. The gospel, by contrast, tells us that God himself has already, through Jesus Christ, made us acceptable. The gospel is good news; religion is bad news; and the gospel wins. Christ is victorious. Sin is vanquished.

We are overcomers in Christ alone, not in our overcoming anything. We are sinners, always have been and will continue to be to the day we die. Whatever we may have overcome is like removing a spoonful of sand from the beach. Unless and until we are found in Christ, we remain dead in our sins. And we are found in Christ only by trusting him to be for us who he says he is and to do for us what he says he does. Only when we trust him will we accept his gift of mercy and life, and only when we wake up to our sinfulness will we trust him.

As long as we think we are "doing OK," or that we "aren’t all that bad" or that we are "making progress" or even that we will never be "good enough," we will not trust him. All such thinking is trusting not him, but ourselves. It is thinking that his acceptance of us is based on how well we behave. It is thinking that if we do better, then he will accept us, or conversely, that he accepts us because we have been overcoming.

God accepts us because he wants to accept us, and not because we have measured up. God dealt with our sin by the blood of Christ, not by giving us a new and improved law code. We are justified because God justified us himself, personally, through his Son. God did for us in Christ what we could not do for ourselves, and he calls on us to trust him to be our righteousness.

That means we do not have righteousness. It is not just a matter that we "have got some problems." It is not just a matter that we have "a few things to overcome." It is not even a matter of "putting sin out of our lives." It is a matter of understanding that we are hopeless losers, sinners through and through, and that even our "good" deeds are thoroughly laced with selfish impurity. Until we see that, until we see ourselves for what we really are, we will not trust him who alone saves sinners.

Fear of the gospel

Many Christians are afraid of the gospel because it puts everybody on the same level—"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That means we, being sinners ourselves, have no ground to feel spiritually superior to people who do things that disgust and offend us. Others are afraid of the gospel because the gospel requires them to believe that God will save them in spite of their sins. We have a hard time trusting God to do exactly what he promised to do—forgive us our sins.

We want to prove to him we can "do it." We want to show him we’ll be faithful, that we will be obedient, that we will be "good Christians." But the plain truth is, we won’t be. We will sin, and we will sin again, and again. And until we believe the gospel, instead of some fairy tale about having to please God before he will accept us, we will not enter God’s rest. God saves us; our changed behavior does not.

We can live in misery, struggling to be found worthy by perfect obedience and constantly failing and fearing that God is waiting to squash us like flies, or we can trust his Word. (Or even worse, we can live in appalling arrogance, actually believing that we are worthily obeying God and trusting him to accept us for our "holy deeds.")

God is our salvation; our improved behavior is not. To repent is to turn to God and away from ourselves. It is to concede that we are sinners and that we need God’s mercy. It is to trust God to be faithful to his word of grace spoken in his Son before the world began. It is to remove our little homemade crown and hand it over to our Maker, the author of eternal salvation.

God is our righteousness; our illusion of good behavior is not. When we come to see our righteousness as filthy rags, as indeed it is, then we can begin to see our need for God’s grace and mercy. When we believe his word of salvation in his Son, then we can begin to trust him to forgive all our sins and save us.

Trusting God

Why is it so hard to trust God to forgive us and to make us his perfectly righteous children in Christ? Perhaps one reason is because we can’t stand to think of ourselves as, or to think that others might think of us as, bald-faced sinners. We prefer the façade of pretending to be good, decent folks. But we are not good, decent folks. Nobody is good, decent folks. At best, we are less destructive and wicked than we could be if we let ourselves go entirely.

Have you ever noticed that if you behave decently for a day or two, you begin to feel like you are a pretty good person after all? And conversely, if your natural self gets loose for few minutes and you behave like the ratbag you are, then you feel depressed, disappointed and frustrated that you are not as grand as you had been imagining?

But what is there to be disappointed about? Why, given what you are, were you expecting not to behave accordingly from time to time? Our disappointment ought to be in our failure to honor the God of our salvation, not in our failure to look impeccable to ourselves and others. If it were, then we would be free to see more clearly that in spite of our sin, we can rest in the atonement of Christ, for our sins are forgiven in him. The reason we need a Savior is because we need saving. The gospel declares that God has indeed saved us through Christ. In fact, Christ died for us ungodly people while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

Now please don’t start telling me that we "were" sinners, but now we are not to be sinners anymore. Please drop the rhetoric. We are sinners. We do still sin after conversion. Every Christian who ever lived continues to sin after conversion. That doesn’t make sin OK. It doesn’t condone sin. It is simply a fact, and one we would all do much better to just admit and quit pretending that if we try hard enough we will become sinless.

There is one way, of course, in which we are not sinners. As believers we are in Christ, and as such we are not sinners in the sense that God does not count our sins against us (Romans 4:8). In other words, when we do not pretend that we are not sinners, but instead put our trust in Jesus Christ who saves sinners, God does not count our sins against us (compare 1 Timothy 1:15).

Overcomers

What must we do about sin? We must trust God to forgive our sins. We must trust him! He is our only hope. We are sinners, and unless God forgives our sins, we come under the condemnation all sinners deserve. We are not going to stop being sinners. I’m sure you have tried, like I have, and discovered that despite occasional bouts of improvement, sin is still alive and well in your life. But God says that if we trust him he will take care of our sins and he will count us righteous in Christ who, for our sakes, became the perfect human.

The Bible is not a rulebook for new and improved religion. It is the Word of God, God’s chosen revelation of himself to us, declaring to us that in Jesus Christ he has dealt with the sins of the world so that whoever trusts him will be saved. That is good news. It is the gospel. It is not religion. Don’t be afraid of it.

I know. You’re still waiting for me to say something about the importance of behaving right. But I’m not going to. At least not in the way you are probably used to. We are overcomers in Christ alone; when it comes to godly overcoming, there is no other way to be an overcomer.

When you trust Christ to be your righteousness, your behavior will be set by the Holy Spirit on the road to improvement, regardless of whether you constantly set "overcoming goals" for yourself. But if you try to improve your behavior without trusting Christ to be your only righteousness, you may or may not be successful, and whether or not you are won’t make a hill of beans of difference in terms of your standing with God.

In other words, salvation is not based on what you do; it is based on what God has already done. When you trust God, you are in Christ, and when you are in Christ God does not count your sins against you. If you do not trust God, you are still in your sins, because you are not in Christ.

Priorities

Here’s a gospel tip: don’t make behaving better your main goal in life. If you do, you’ll always be frustrated, disappointed in yourself and miserable, not to mention a judgmental and obnoxious prig. You’re welcome to it if you want it, of course. But will-powering yourself into a better you is a no-win life goal. Will-power goodness is the root of religion; it has no place in the gospel.

Instead, make your main goal in life knowing and trusting in the Lord your God for absolutely everything, including your behavior. When you do that, your preoccupation with yourself and how good you are will fade, and your eyes will begin to open to the righteousness of God and the joy and peace of his kingdom. The Holy Spirit will reorder your priorities, and the pain your sins naturally cause in your life will more readily drive you to God for mercy and help to overcome.

Let me say it another way: Work on yourself and make every effort to change for the better—but not because you think it will make you less a sinner and get you in good with God. Take overcoming seriously. Do it because God wants you to, because Jesus Christ gave you a new life, because it is right, because everybody who loves you wants you to, and because it will make your life infinitely more blessed, rewarding, peaceful and pleasant. But don’t do it because you think that’s how you will get into the kingdom of God. It isn’t.

Regardless of how much you improve (and you need a lot of improvement—I know you; you’re just like me), you are still a sinner, and the only hope of salvation you’ve got is the mercy of God along with his word that in Christ he extends it to you. Trust him, not your good life, when it comes to salvation. When it comes to salvation, trust the word of God that in Christ it is a fait accompli; when it comes to behavior, trust yourself to the supervision of the Holy Spirit and put your heart into overcoming.

Don’t think that good behavior results in salvation; but know that salvation results in good behavior. But don’t let that make you think that poor behavior equals unsaved and good behavior equals saved. It simply does not work that way; don’t forget that we all still sin. Sin involves not merely acts but attitudes, and God knows even the deepest secrets of our hearts.

Rest in this: God loves you; he’s proven it in Christ, and he will make you into what he wants you to be. You can trust him to do it. Get to know him. Spend time with him. Put your confidence in him. Make him the priority in your life, and you will begin to find his love influencing the way you live in the world and the way you interact with others.

Whether we experience hardship or ease, prosperity or poverty, bad times or good times (and Christians experience them all), our ability to cope with what comes our way will depend on our trust in God. But all the while, because we are in Christ, our salvation is not in question. We are saved by God’s grace through faith, and even our faith is God’s gracious gift to us.

Remember, the gospel is good news. It is "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). Therefore, as Hebrews 10:23 encourages us, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

he is faithful

"Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it."
— 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Heaven is a place where we shall never sin; where we shall cease our constant watch against an indefatigable enemy, because there will be no tempter to ensnare our feet. There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. Heaven is the "undefiled inheritance"; it is the land of perfect holiness, and therefore of complete security. But do not the saints even on earth sometimes taste the joys of blissful security? The doctrine of God's word is, that all who are in union with the Lamb are safe; that all the righteous shall hold on their way; that those who have committed their souls to the keeping of Christ shall find Him a faithful and immutable preserver. Sustained by such a doctrine we can enjoy security even on earth; not that high and glorious security which renders us free from every slip, but that holy security which arises from the sure promise of Jesus that none who believe in Him shall ever perish, but shall be with Him where He is. Believer, let us often reflect with joy on the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, and honour the faithfulness of our God by a holy confidence in Him.

May our God bring home to you a sense of your safety in Christ Jesus! May He assure you that your name is graven on His hand; and whisper in your ear the promise, "Fear not, I am with thee." Look upon Him, the great Surety of the covenant, as faithful and true, and, therefore, bound and engaged to present you, the weakest of the family, with all the chosen race, before the throne of God; and in such a sweet contemplation you will drink the juice of the spiced wine of the Lord's pomegranate, and taste the dainty fruits of Paradise. You will have an antepast of the enjoyments which ravish the souls of the perfect saints above, if you can believe with unstaggering faith that "faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it."

is porn norm?

Is Porn Norm?
Rev. George C. Scipione
First published in Evangelium, Vol.3, Issue 4.

Several years ago, Faith Popcorn, America’s foremost trend expert, hailed by the New York Times as the “trend oracle” and as the “Nostradamus of marketing” by Fortune magazine, declared, “Porn is norm.” She was not endorsing pornography, but predicting that media technology would push the limits of what is acceptable and would facilitate a culture of instant gratification; thus porn would be the norm. True to her prediction, pornography has moved out of the back allies of the urban scene and onto the main streets of America.

While most Internet businesses were going bankrupt, the porn industry was raking in huge profits, making it perhaps the most profitable business on the Internet. In the past, one had to travel to sleazy backstreets to find porn; now, it’s only a click away on the computer and on the remote control of the cable/satellite TV. Easy, private and nobody knows … except God. At home or in the hotel, porn is private, available and acceptable. Some estimate that as much as 70% of in-room hotel profits come from porn and that over 50% of hotel patrons participate. As people consume it in private, porn becomes the norm and goes public.

Whether it’s the infamous Super Bowl incident or the recent Paris Hilton hamburger commercial, porn is seducing its way into the mainstream. The church needs to be on guard against this tsunami of trash. As it inundates our culture, it is also seeping into our churches. Shepherds must be vigilant and use the rod and staff to defeat this enemy and guard Christ’s sheep.

A Reality in the Church
I can hear you protest, “That’s the pagan world, not the church!” Are you sure? My personal experience and my pastoral experience have taught me otherwise. I’ve been ordained for over thirty years. I’ve served as pastor in two congregations, as a theological professor and as a biblical counselor. The threat is real, present and dangerous. It is much worse now than thirty years ago. While I do more counseling than most pastors, I have discovered that my experience is typical of dozens of other pastors, as I’ve talked with them, prayed with them and advised them on numerous cases.

Personally, on our home computer, spam (unsolicited mass e-mail) has included pornography pushing heterosexual sins, homosexuality, bestiality, and sadomasochism. Yes, ancient Rome would love this technological bonanza; Sodom would shout for joy as sin becomes so simple. Dear saints, we are slouching towards Gomorrah. As Professor Peter Jones has shown well, we have degenerated into a Roman Empire of pagan passions. (1)

As a pastor of a local congregation and a seminary professor, I’ve counseled pastors and members of evangelical and Reformed churches enslaved to porn—single and married men, men and women struggling with homosexuality, fornicators, adulterers, victims and perpetrators of sexual molestation, cross-dressers, transsexuals, and other unmentionable perversions. Porn, with the rare exception, is always involved. I have never dealt with a sex offender who was not deeply enslaved to porn. (2)

The Biblical Solution
To paraphrase a line from our history, “Heaven—we have a problem!” But we have a powerful, loving, sovereign Savior who rules and reigns in heaven! He has the answers to this dilemma and is more than willing to help us overcome the enemy of our souls and live pure, victorious lives in this evil and perverse generation (Phil 2:14-16). The solution is twofold. First, we must define these sins biblically. Second, we must biblically define God’s solution to these sins.

Porn, and the lusts triggered or deepened by it, are sins. But they are sins in specific ways. Such understanding is necessary to defeat these enemies. First, they are self-centered perversions of God’s design of human sexuality as part of the image of God and as a good gift to one’s spouse, (Gen 1, 2; 1 Cor 7). Second, they run contrary to reality and involve vain imaginations of the worst sort (Prov 17:24). Thus sexuality is depersonalized and degraded into mental and physical self-stimulation. Third, they involve coveting, a violation of the tenth Commandment (Eph 5:3-5). There are clear connections between sexual sins, coveting and idolatry. Lust, at the core, is worship of the creature instead of the Creator and the neglect of the good of others. The two great commandments are sacrificed on the altar of self-love. Thus, when a man turns to porn, he says at least three things: one, the Father’s love, the Son’s sacrifice and the Spirit’s fellowship are not enough; two, sexual love of spouse—present or future—is not enough; three, “I’m lord and king over me and can care for myself.”

On the one hand, the world’s view is that porn and lust are not serious problems, since, after all, “Everybody (almost) indulges.” On the other hand, our culture has little hope of change for sex offenders who engage in criminal behavior. But we Christians know better. The gospel of God’s free, sovereign grace through the life and death of Jesus the Messiah is the only effective answer to these sins.

What does the gospel say about these lusts? What would a pastoral approach to them look like? Is there any realistic hope for victory? Let’s try to summarize a biblical plan of care. I believe there must be at least the following seven things in a biblical pastoral plan that will result, LORD willing, in the renewal of a soul scorched by sexual sin: regeneration, renewed repentance and faith, a renewed mind, renewed obedience, regular use of various means of growing in grace, regular reporting to responsible shepherds, and reading good literature on these subjects. I address the issue of lust in men, but the same is true for women. Consider each one in sequential order.

REGENERATION: Jesus made it clear that the new birth is not optional, but absolutely essential. The unregenerate church member is incapable of producing the fruit of the Spirit as opposed to the deeds of the flesh (John 3:3-8; 15:4-5; Gal 5:16-26). If the disciple is a goat and not a sheep, chaff and not wheat, deep and lasting change is impossible. While a subjectively oriented inquisition is not helpful, a gentle probe can help. If Dr. C. John Miller had not probed my heart when I was in my first year of seminary, I might still be fighting a losing battle against my sins of the flesh, failing and on my way to a Christ-less eternity in hell! The pastor who is counseling should not try to be the Holy Spirit, of course; but he should ask questions and observe responses in ways that bring to light the true condition of the disciple’s heart.

RENEWED REPENTANCE AND FAITH: If there is evidence that the disciple is truly converted and he is a member in good standing of a Bible-believing church, then he must be renewed in his relationship with the Father through the Son by the power of the Spirit. Unless the brother can, to some extent, pray Psalm 51 with a straight face and heart, he is still trapped in sin and self-deception. Most believers caught in sin know they are wrong, just as David did. Yet it took the Spirit, using Nathan, for David to crack and repent (2 Sam 12:1-14). C. John Miller’s Repentance and the 21st Century Man is very helpful. Repentance is simply the flip side of the coin of faith. The brother must look to Christ for forgiveness in a fresh way (1 John 1:9-2:3). He must realize he is a new creature in Christ—justified, adopted, united with the Vine and sanctified (1 Cor 6:9-11; Heb 11-12).

RENEWED MIND: If the brother is to win, he must know his enemies—idolatry, covetousness, impurity. His mind must begin to perceive life in general and sexuality in particular in the light of God’s word (Eph 4:17-24, 5:3-21; 1 Tim 5:1-2). He has to see and respond as God’s adopted son, not as a pagan or an orphan.

RENEWED OBEDIENCE: He must understand the nature of covenant faithfulness and his part in progressive sanctification. This process is called mortification and vivification by the Puritans or “put off and put on” by Jay Adams. Adams’ works and those by Kris Lundgaard are helpful here. (3)

REGULAR USE OF VARIOUS MEANS OF GROWING IN GRACE: The disciple cannot win the battle while he is weak. Public worship including the preaching of the good news of God’s grace in Christ, the Lord’s Supper, prayer alone and with others, Bible reading, and fellowship with the saints is foundational to spiritual vitality.

REGULAR REPORTING TO RESPONSIBLE SHEPHERDS: This may be the most underused tool in the battle against these sins (Jas 5:13-18). Shepherding starts with the pulpit but must never end there (Matt 18:15-20; Luke 17:1-10). Someone must monitor the brother as a coach or trainer would (Gal 6:1-2). Accountability is essential. A man who will not submit to a shepherd whom he sees will not submit to a Shepherd that he does not see (1 John 4:20).

READING ABOUT THESE ISSUES: To ignore the wisdom of the elders of past generations and the developing classics of today is folly (Prov 1-9).

Conclusion
Jesus is exalted at the Father’s side and rules over all His enemies, including sexual sins. He is crowned, thus the victory is ours. On this “pagan planet,” in a crumbling culture saturated with sleazy sex, porn is norm. But for you, child of God, Christ is the norm and purity is possible. Don’t exchange your eternal inheritance and reward for some temporary sexual stimulation (Heb 12:16-17). Don’t be led like an ox to the satanic slaughterhouse (Prov 7:6-23). Keep your eyes fixed in faith upon Jesus and follow His footsteps to glory (Heb 12:1-2). (4)

FOOTNOTES

1 Jones, Peter, Capturing the Pagan Mind (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2003).

2 In addition, the Internet poses a problem for women as well. While not as drawn to porn as men, the Internet replaces the romantic or raunchy novel as a major polluter of women's hearts. I know of several instances of women leaving their husbands and children for a total stranger met online.

3 Lundgaard, Kris, The Enemy Within (Phillipsburg: P&R, 1998).
___, Through the Looking Glass (Phillipsburg: P&R, 2000).

4 Please refer to suggested references.



This article is not intended to be comprehensive due to the limits of space. For further information, here are some suggested references on this topic:

BOOKS
Harris, Josh, Not Even a Hint (Sisters: Multnomah, 2003).
Wilson, Doug, Fidelity (Moscow: Canon Press, 1999).
Hall, Laurie, An Affair of the Mind (Colorado Springs: Focus on the Family, 1996).
Journal of Biblical Counseling, Vol. 13, No. 3 (available at Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, www.ccef.org).

AUDIO
"The Pain of Porn" by Jim Newheiser, # ibc0111
"Purifying the Heart of Sexual Idolatry" by John Street, # ibc0314
(These can be ordered from www.soundword.com)

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is the law of moses timeless?

Some reformed say yes, some say no.

Here's a quote from Dr. Greg Bahnsen on the former view:

"When God promulgated His moral will through the Mosaic law, how much of mankind did He consider accountable to keep that law? From Paul's standpoint the answer was obvious: "Now we know that whatever things the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God" (Romans 3:19). God declared His righteous standards to Israel, and through Israel to all the world, thereby stopping every mouth and bringing all men, Jew and Gentile alike, under judgment. "Whatever things the law says," therefore, it says to the whole of mankind. Precisely for this reason Paul could "lay to the charge both of Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.... There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (vv. 11, 23)." Read More

Here's a quote from Lee Irons on the latter view:

"In Paul's normal usage, nomos means the Mosaic Law as a covenant of works. As such the Mosaic Law includes all of the stipulations given to Israel through Moses, founded on the "Do this and live" principle, accompanied by the threat of the curse for those who transgress the Law. The sanctions of the Law (blessing and curse) cannot be separated from the stipulations of the Law because the two are inextricably intertwined. Believers have been set free from the Law by means of their union with Christ in his death. The Law has jurisdiction over a person only as long as he is alive (Rom. 7:1; Gal. 2:19). Because we have died with Christ, we are "not under law" (Rom. 6:14-15; 7:4-6; 1 Cor. 9:20; Gal. 3:23-25; 4:4-5, 21; 5:18). This means we are free from its condemnation and from its commanding authority."Read More


Thoughts?