go deep

this is the gospel!

Thus faith links us to Christ and receives all that he has to give us. Through faith in Jesus our sin is imputed to him so that he pays for these sins on the cross and through that same faith his righteousness (his merits and holy works) becomes ours. This is what we mean when we speak of being justified by grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone. This is the gospel! God freely gives in Christ what he demands of us under the law. And if we are not clear about this, we have no foundation for living the Christian life, no assurance of our salvation, and we have nothing left to confess to the unbelieving world around us. - Kim Riddlebarger

what is true spirituality?

"...true spirituality is an on-going, moment by moment trusting in Christ and his word. It is a thankful trust sustained by the realization that the shed blood of Christ provides for us completely; for our sanctification now as much as for our salvation which is still to come in its fullness. It is also an applied trust, a living by faith as though we were already dead and a stepping out into the external world as though we were already raised from the dead; and it is a transforming trust, a trust that testifies to the real forgiveness of sins and manifests the fruit of the indwelling Spirit."

- Mark Ryan, commenting on the "beating heart" of Francis Schaeffer's theology

true perfection is imperfect

Romans 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

- He recovers himself, and shows us that he rests only in Christ.
- This is the true perfection of those that are born again, to confess that they are imperfect.

(from the 1599 Geneva Bible)

love that never quits

"I am the Lord, I change not."
— Malachi 3:6

He is unchanged in His love. He has loved His people with "an everlasting love"; He loves them now as much as ever He did, and when all earthly things shall have melted in the last conflagration, His love will still wear the dew of its youth. Precious is the assurance that He changes not! The wheel of providence revolves, but its axle is eternal love. - C.H. Spurgeon

a tulip in the psalms

Psalm 65: 3,4

"When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions. Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!"

T = "When INIQUITIES PREVAIL against me..."
U = "Blessed is the one YOU CHOOSE"
L = "...the ONE you choose"
I = "...and BRING NEAR"
P = "We SHALL BE SATISFIED with the goodness of your house"

Sure, there are more clear verses in scripture that point us to the wonderful truths of God's salvation, but once you are convinced of these, then your eyes are opened to see the more subtle verses that echo His unbelievable love.

key: T (total depravity) U (unconditional election) L (limited atonement) I (irrisistable grace) P (perseverance of the saints)

a quote worth remembering

"Alot of what Job's friends said could be put on a coffee cup and sold in a Christian bookstore." - Michael Horton

Here mp3's of OKC Conference on Reformed Theology "Too Good to be True: Finding Hope in a World of Hype" with Dr. Michael Horton

faith is hard

"Our opponents regard faith as an easy thing, but I know from personal experience how hard it is to believe. That the Holy Ghost is received by faith, is quickly said, but not so quickly done.

All believers experience this difficulty. They would gladly embrace the Word with a full faith, but the flesh deters them. You see, our reason always thinks it is too easy and cheap to have righteousness, the Holy Spirit, and life everlasting by the mere hearing of the Gospel" - Martin Luther

zealous for good works

"[He] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." - Titus 2:14

"At the heart of Christianity is the truth that we are forgiven and accepted by God, not because we have done good works, but to make us able and zealous to do them. The Bible says, "[God] saved us... not because of our works" (2 Timothy 1:9). Good deeds are not the foundation of our acceptance, but the fruit of it. Christ suffered and died not because we presented to him good works, but he died "to purify for himself a people... zealous for good works".

"Zeal means passion. Christ did not die to make good works merely possible or to produce a half-hearted pursuit. He died to produce in us a PASSION for good deeds. Christian purity is not the mere avoidance of evil, but the pursuit of good."

- John Piper, from Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die

death and the gospel

"...let us never forget that the gospel is for Christians too. We need to hear the word preached to us, whether from the pulpit on a Sunday or in conversation with other believers. If a brother or sister is mourning, then let us not simply tell them that the death of their loved one is all within the will of God; let us not even stop with simply feeling compassion and sympathy for them; let us also point them to the Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the dead.

Death is an outrage, an illegitimate boundary; it is nasty and brutish; but the captain of our salvation has burst through that boundary and come out on the other side. He is risen from the grave; and in his resurrection we see that, though we live in a vale of tears and agony here and now, where death seems to hold all the trump cards, there is a day most certainly coming when we know that we too, and all the loved ones who have gone before us in Christ, will rise to be with Christ. His death was agonizing but it could not hold him; ours will no doubt be terrible and traumatic; but because of Christ, death will not hold us either. " - Carl Truman

the swiss army verse

"For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." - Hebrews 10:14

There are some verses in the bible that are so packed full of meaning and significance, so as to cause one to read and re-read them for a period of time. Bye the way, this is a great definition of "biblical meditation". The above verse is one such example. Read it again carefully.

Consider how many false ideas this verse demolishes. It's like a swiss army knife, it has a tool for everything you could possibly need.

Just a small number of things this verse clears up for the believer:
1. We know Christ's sacrifice was final and complete.
2. He didn't do a half-way job, it was a perfect sacrifice. We can add nothing to it.
3. It covers all sin past, present and future.
4. It points to limited atonement; Christ died for His people.
5. It points us to perseverance; He will complete what He started.
6. It assures us of eternal security being linked to the cross.
7. It affirms, not a sinless life for the believer, but a perfect position before God based on His substitution for us.

any more thoughts?

no strings attached?

Everybody needs to have some understanding of predestination since it’s in the Bible.

The dictionary says that “predestinate” means, “to foreordain to an earthly or eternal lot or destiny by divine decree.” Or, in simpler terms predestination means, “God’s decision as to what will happen to a person, especially after they die (heaven or hell).”

There are two basic responses to the idea of predestination:
1. God makes His choice based on his foreknowledge. This means that God (who is omniscient) chooses those He saw from the beginning who would choose God, have faith and follow Christ.

2. From all eternity God decided to save some members of the human race and to let the rest of the human race perish. God made a choice – He chose some individuals to be saved unto everlasting blessedness in heaven, and He chose others to pass over, allowing them to suffer the consequences of their sins, eternal punishment in hell. He chooses based on His good pleasure who will receive grace and who will not. Those that He gives grace, are changed. They desire God and receive the gift of faith and salvation.

- R.C. Sproul

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Hermen E. Utics

...No, it's not a nerdly guy, it's how to read the bible!

“By referring to the gospel as the hermeneutical key I mean that proper interpretation of any part of the Bible requires us to relate it to the person and work of Jesus. This was recognized in Article III of the Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics, which says, ‘We affirm that the Person and work of Jesus Christ are the central focus of the entire Bible.’ We have already considered some of the ramifications of Jesus’ post-resurrection claims that all the Scriptures are about him. This is another way of saying that Jesus is the sole mediator of the truth of God. This mediatorial role has great significance for how we understand the Bible. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human who gave himself a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:5-6). The Jesus who mediates the word of God to us is the Jesus who is defined in terms of his historic saving act. The meaning of the Bible, in that case, is tied to the saving work of Jesus
(Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture, p. 84).

on weekly communion

"Perhaps the idea of coming to the Table weekly is troubling, but why? The most common argument against weekly celebration of the Supper is that it might become routine. Doubtless this is a danger, but by this rationale all churches should hold only monthly worship services so that the sermons and singing will be truly meaningful. The absurdity of the argument is obvious. The possibility of abuse is no excuse for not making use of the divinely instituted means of grace.

Perhaps there is a more fundamental reason we are reluctant to observe the Supper more regularly. One fears that the simple gospel message of Christ offered for and to sinners is not really on the evangelical agenda—or credenda for that matter. (Agenda is Latin for “things to do,” and credenda is Latin for “things to believe.”) It might be that regular observance of the Supper would require a transformation of most evangelical worship services. It is difficult to imagine how a solemnly joyful service of the Supper would fit into some “seeker sensitive” services.

Weekly Communion would also affect the preaching by tending to orient the service around Christ’s finished work and away from the constant diet of “how to” messages. The juxtaposition of “Ten Steps to a Happy Marriage” followed by a Communion service is too jarring to contemplate. Simply considering a weekly Communion a hypothetical possibility in our time seems to present radical challenges to evangelical piety." - R. Scott Clark

a bittersweet sojourn

The Christian life is one of constant repentance over sin and constant clinging to Christ's bloody, nail-driven hands; sorrow and bliss walk hand in hand with us on our earthly sojourn, until sorrow finally departs on that glorious day when our beautiful Redeemer returns!

faith comes by hearing, not fads

What’s the difference between the latest, greatest religious attraction at the stadium and an ordinary service at your local church, where the Word is properly preached and the sacraments are properly administered? In one, the religious ego is fed; we hear the hype and come to believe – or, at least, to hope – that after having tried so many other spiritual fads, at least this one will do the trick. We’ll raise ourselves from earth to heaven, from blahs to bliss, from strain to living at the center of God’s blessing.

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humility

"When a certain rhetorician was asked what was the chief rule in eloquence, he replied, 'Delivery'; what was the second rule, 'Delivery'; what was the third rule, 'Delivery'; so if you ask me concerning the precepts of the Christian religion, first, second and third, and always I would answer, 'Humility'. - Augustine

are you a deiphobe?

"Even the Christian must fear God. But it is another kind of fear. It is a fear rather of what might have been than of what is; it is a fear of what would come were we not in Christ. Without such fear there can be no true love; for love of the Saviour is proportioned to one’s horror of that from which man has been saved. And how strong are the lives that are suffused with such a love! They are lives brave, not because the realities of life have been ignored, but because they have first been faced — lives that are founded upon the solid foundation of God’s grace. May such lives be ours!" - J. Gresham Machen

calvinism

Well can I remember the manner in which I learned the doctrines of grace in a single instant. ... I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths in my own soul when they were, as John Bunyan says, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man that had made progress in Scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God. - C.H. SPURGEON

faith is a gift

"Faith is a gift from God, so that no one may boast ... The last bastion of pride is the belief that we are the originators of our faith ... This teaching about faith being a gift of God raises many questions. God has answers for all of them, even if we don't. Let us seek to put the teaching into practical biblical use, namely the humbling of our pride and the stimulation of our prayers. In other words, let us pray daily: "O Lord, thank you for my faith. Sustain it, Strengthen it. Deepen it. Don't let it fail. " - John Piper