Tried With Fire

A friend on Facebook shared a quote from an evangelical preacher who opined that marriage is the "greatest instrument of sanctification." "greatest" Really? I question this for several reasons.  - Does that mean those of us who are single, divorced, or widowed will be incompletely sanctified?  - Is the marriage relationship the instrument or the environment where sanctification takes place. If it is the former, then it goes against the 1689 London Baptist Confession 13.1: "They who are united to Christ, effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, are also farther sanctified, really and personally, through the same virtue, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them ; the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified, and they more and more quickened and strengthened in...

I can so relate to this excerpt by Michael Horton. Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt. Lived with this fear, and carried its heavy weight. I am so glad for the freedom of the gospel. Not the freedom of license to sin, but the freedom that comes from trusting God, who will complete what He has started. "According to the Reformation position, regeneration inevitably results in a changed life. Anyone who is truly born again by grace alone will be a "new creature," and therefore will be eager to love and obey God even when he or she ends of falling short of the mark constantly, as we all do. Looking back at those calls to "higher life," realizing that there is no such thing as a Christian who wants to be simply carnal, I can see how the call to enter into the "victorious Christian life" was appealing to all of us. We wanted it desperately. We would do anything for it. And, as [Zane] Hodges puts it, discipleship is not free in this system. It ...

The following excerpt is from B.B. Warfield's Perfectionism. He is critiquing the work of William Boardman who was the author of The Higher Christian Life . According to Warfield, this movement took off where Oberlin perfectionism left off. One common point of all these perfectionist movements is the separation of justification and sanctification chronologically and the separation of Christians into two classes. Christians who are only justified or carnal Christians and Christians who have received the 2nd blessing or 2nd work of grace. Notice the problem here? So little is Mr. Boardman inclined to sink "the second experience" in the first, that his tendency is to exalt it above it. He speaks of it as "the second and deeper work of grace." He declares plainly that "the second is the higher stage, and more difficult too. It is really harder to overcome sin in the heart, than to break way from the world at first. And it is harder to come to the point of trus...

"It's clear from the Scriptures that sinless perfection is impossible in this life. ( 1 John 1:8-10 , 2:1-2 ) We will battle indwelling sin until we die or Jesus returns, which is why Christians need the gospel just as much as those who have yet to enter the Kingdom of God. But what about mistakes? What about those silly, careless things that crop up now and then?  Life would be easier if I would always get it right. Life would be even easier if everyone else would get it right, too. For example, can you imagine how this would transform shopping at Walmart? What would it be like if there were always enough cashiers? And cashiers who were efficient? What if everyone counted their purchases so no one had too many items in the express lane? Think of how pleasant that experience would be. But I will not always get it right no matter how hard I try and neither will you or the folks at Walmart." Read the rest of the post at Out of the Ordinary.

"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" —Mark 4:37-40. Many of God's children get on very well so long as they have no trials. They follow Christ very tolerably in the time of fair weather. They fancy they are trusting him entirely. They flatter themselves they have cast every care on him. They obtain the reputation of being very good Christians. But suddenly some unlooked for trial assails them. Their property makes itself wings, and flies away. Their own health fails. Death comes up into their house. Tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word. And where now is ...

Active Spirituality: Grace and Effort in the Christian Life , Brian G. Hedges, Shepherd Press , April 2014, 144 pages. What is the Christian life all about? Do we rest or run? Does any effort on our part conflict with the grace of God? How do we know we're saved? What about continuing struggles with sin? Have you ever asked these questions? I certainly have. In Active Spirituality: Grace and Effort in the Christian Life ,  author Brian Hedges provides biblical and pastoral answers to these and other questions. While there are many books on Christian growth, Active Spirituality has taken a unique tack. These topics of the faith are discussed in the form of 31 letters from the author to a fictional young believer. As far as the book's style, the letters are engaging and very believable. They are interspersed with scripture and quotes and are well-anchored in the gospel. As far as the content, Active Spirituality couldn't have come at a better time. Sanctification ...

"The superiority of a grown-up in Christ to his younger counterparts lies chiefly in the fact that the Lord has blessed his going to church, praying, listening to biblical preaching and receiving the Lord's Supper and has given him a clearer view of the greatness and majesty of Christ… He grasps the great mysteries of redeeming love and cherishes the One who took on human weakness in order to atone for his sin. He marvels at the stability, unity, beauty, and certainty of the Scriptures and frequently meditates on the height, breadth, depth, and length of the love of God in Christ for him. In fact, his greatest joy is to behold the glory of God in Christ, and as he gazes at the Savior, he is gradually changed into the likeness of the one he adores." Sounds a bit contrary to the Christianoid culture that seeks one emotional experience after another to compensate for the current one that has fizzled out. Who would have thought that grasping the gospel and "ordinary...

First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Mark 4:28 In Extravagant Grace , Barbara Duguid distills several of John Newton's letters on the progression of Christian growth. For new believers, there is great enthusiasm and zeal. They have new revelation and gain victory over certain sins, but often there is less compassion and understanding. They view other Christians through the lens of their own experience which may result in a legalistic and judgmental attitude. I would also add cage-stage believers in this category too. As one blogger wrote , "No Calvinist is so brutal in his assessment of Arminianism as the recent Calvinist." Sound familiar?   I love how Newton describes the process in which God humbles us through our own struggles with sin.  We realize where we've been too big for our britches. We appreciate His forbearance which results in greater compassion for those who are struggling. This is what I want to be by His grace. ...

As parents, we are sometimes more interested in protecting our children from the sinful influences of the world than we are preparing them for the deep sinfulness of their own hearts. We think that if we can just keep them from sinning too much while they are young and vulnerable, then they won't struggle with sin so much as adults. Of course, good parents don't allow their kids to sin much. They discipline, teach, restrain, and intervene. Yet these actions alone don't prepare young people well for the reality of the powerful temptations they will face when Mom and Dad aren't around. Simply building a fence between a child and temptation is not the same thing as preparing him to face life. Extravagant Grace , Barbara Duguid, P&R Publishing, pp. 78-79.

ht: Justin Taylor The video is a Q&A session with Rosaria Butterfield , author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert .   It's one of the best books I've read this year in which she relates her conversion from lesbian, atheist, feminist college professor to psalm-singing, OPC pastor's wife and homeschooling mom. If you don't have time to watch the whole Q&A, watch from around 11:00 - 15:00. Butterfield answers a question about how can the church help believers who are struggling with sexual sin. I think one could make the same application for all the sins believers still struggle with, not just the ones of the flesh. I do not believe she is advocating giving sin a pass. Rather, it probably wouldn't hurt any of us to examine our hearts to see if our prejudices and fears keep us from believing that God is able to save or if we would prefer that God save those people, whoever those people may be, in someone else's church or at least clean them...

In a recent sermon on Romans 8, Pastor Ryan stated that often we are afraid to say "God is for us" (vs. 31). The prosperity gospel (and run-of-the-mill American evangelicalism for that matter) has taken that verse and so many others out of context, It has made God all about us and our temporal happiness. But just because people have twisted scripture doesn't mean we should be afraid to believe what He has said. You may not feel that way, but I can relate completely. I've known situations where "grace" was deliberately turned into license, so in response to that misuse, I swung to the extreme where I was almost afraid of that word. I think I'm getting better, but sometimes I still tense inwardly when I read or hear what IMO isn't a balanced gospel message. But after thinking more about my reactions, I realized that, more often than not, pride is pushing my pendulum. If so-and-so is getting (insert favorite theological pet peeve here) wrong, then b...

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  Romans 8:4 Pastor Ryan spoke yesterday on Romans 8:1-4.  The whole sermon was great, but this point stuck with me.  From my notes: In verse 2, God has set us free from the law of sin and death, and yet verse 4, implies a responsibility on our part to walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Is Paul making a contradiction between verse 2 between verse 4? No, because this is descriptive not prescriptive . Paul is describing what the believer look...

It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary: I've been thinking about my words, both written and spoken. My pastor recently completed a sermon series on Job. Although I had read the book several times before, I winced when I listened to the advice from Job's would-be comforters. They probably meant well. They probably wanted to help him see the light. But boy were they insensitive and clueless. They also have the distinction of having their counsel preserved on the pages of the Bible as a glaring example of words un-fitly spoken. Since those sermons, I've had a harder time writing because there's a new awareness of the weight of my words no matter how little my sphere of influence.Have I inadvertently torn down rather than built up? Caused confusion rather than conveyed truth? Have my words been more about me, myself, and I or about Christ? And have they been about the Christ revealed in the Word of God or a "Christ" defined by my experience? Read more he...

I spent a good part of yesterday re-reading The Organized Heart by Staci Eastin.  Staci's book covers four potential idols that can creep into our hearts - Perfectionism, Busyness, Possessions, and Leisure.  What these all have in common is that they're good things that can go bad, and they go bad when they cease to be done and used for the glory of God and become ends in themselves for ourselves. Striving for excellence for the glory of God can morph into pride in performance. Diligent hard work and productivity can turn into a never ending hamster wheel of task upon task that leads to burn-out. Possessions, which are gifts from God, can mutate into false security and fool's gold when treasured above the Giver. Healthy recreation and pleasure can become toxic when the pursuit of amusement becomes the ultimate goal of our existence. I'm not a fan of morbid introspection. But healthy evaluation in the light of God's word is a good thing. So ask myself, have I an...

"Let go and let God" is one of those Christian phrases that is used frequently.  But is it scriptural? Here are John Frame's thoughts on this: [W]e should not wait passively for God to sanctify us.  Some have taught that the way to holiness is to "let go and let God."  But that is not biblical.  In the first place, we don't need to "let God," for God is sovereign and does not need to wait for us to let go before he can work.  And we should not let go, for God commands us to fight in the spiritual battle.  So, there's the paradox: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil 2: 12b-13).  God does it all, but he does it by the use of human effort (2 Peter 1:5-11). Salvation Belongs to the Lord , John M. Frame, P&R Publishing, pg 217.

Golden Celebration Crown Princess Margareta These are David Austin English roses from the garden. How I wish the fragrance could be relayed across the internet because they smell beautifully. When I was cutting the roses this morning, I noticed all the weeds at the base of the bushes. Like most people, I dislike weeding. It's far easier to spray them with an herbicide like Roundup and cover the remains with mulch, which I will probably do. Weeds come up without any effort at all and never need planting. If left to itself, a flower bed will become over run with weeds rather than over run with flowers. Since sin is like a weed, wouldn't it be nice if there was a form of spiritual Roundup? The Holy Spirit applies it and v oila! , in 5-7 days our indwelling sin is gone without any toil or effort on our part. Not. Human nature would love for a quick and easy way to be sanctified. However, it will be lifetime of discipline and chastening, active participation with the Holy Spirit in...