Tried With Fire

Pastor Ryan preached on Romans 1:18-32 yesterday. Yes, that chapter about those sexual sins. But we need to examine the Word itself before jumping to how a passage may address the current culture war. So here's a summary of my sermon notes and then a few of my reflections. The 1st question in the Westminster catechism is - "What is the chief end of man? Answer - "To glorify God and enjoy him forever." Paul lays out the need for the gospel because we need a perfect righteousness to be made right with a holy God. Why? Because there is none righteous, no not one. It's not just out there in the culture. It is in me because I have no righteousness of my own apart from Christ. vs. 18-20 None of us are righteous because we suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness. vs. 21 The root cause - We do not glorify God nor give him thanks. vs. 22-23. We pursue idolatry and because of that pursuit, God has given us over to: vs. 24-25 Uncleanness vs. 26-27 Vile...

Scandals involving Christian organizations/celebrities broke shortly before I went on vacation. I told my daughter it was probably a good thing I was taking an Internet break. I tend not to be a big "issue" person, but I make a very strong exception when it comes to abuse and any alleged cover-up within the Christian community. I thought time and distance would cool-off my response. Evidently not. I am still grieved and heartbroken. I get a gnawing pit in my stomach every time a fresh account is made public of alleged abuse within Christian circles. This not only includes abuse in its criminal forms but spiritual abuse as well. This causes me to wonder -  does spiritual abuse provide the necessary cover under which other forms of abuse can hide in a Christian environment? Having witnessed several incidents over the past decades, there is nothing so disheartening as Christian leaders sweeping sin under the rug. When the scandal involves celebrities, the news spreads far...

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...

The issues of sin and justice have been on a back burner in my mind for several years. One particular aspect is the idea of moral equivalence - where all sins are considered equal. This older post by Kevin DeYoung is worth reading, the majority of which is also in Hole in our Holiness . In the book, he references The Holiness of God where R.C. Sproul states that all sins require atonement but all sins are not equal. [I]t seems humble to act as if no sin is worse than another, but we lose the impetus for striving and the ability to hold each other accountable when we tumble down the slip-n-slide of moral equivalence... When we can no longer see the different gradations among sins and sinners and sinful nations, we have not succeeded in respecting our own badness, we've cheapened God's goodness. 1 The idea of gradations of sin is important for us to keep in mind so we understand the difference between sin and gross sin . Again, all of our sins require forgiveness. All of...

From the Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, Ligonier, page 206 The idea of gradations of sin is important for us to keep in mind so we understand the difference between sin and gross sin .  Again, all of our sins require forgiveness.  All of our sins are acts of treason against God. We need a Savior for our "little" sins as well as for the "major" ones.  But some sins are more significant than others, and we need to identify which these are, lest we fall into the pharisaical trap of majoring in the minors. This was a very interesting chapter, because I had assumed that "sin is sin, and no sin is greater than the other." However, the damage inflicted and the consequences from sins can be very different.  Dr. Sproul illustrates this point by comparing how we control our eating  versus how we control our speech.  Many have weight issues.  Great effort is spent to bring our appetites under control, but how much is spent on tongue control?  Perhaps it ...

When I came to my senses yesterday, I realized (not for the first time) that self is self destructive. I could believe God's Word by faith, believe that He hears my prayers, believe that He is absolutely sovereign, believe that He works all things according to the counsel of His will. I could believe that He is good. I could trust Him and rest in Him. Is that the first thing I do? Nope. What is my default setting? It is to disbelieve God and wallow in the sin of unbelief. Is that self destructive or what? What is the root? I don't believe the Gospel. In Sunday's sermon, Pastor Ryan spoke on the the blind man in Luke 18 as a beautiful picture of the Gospel at work. He also mentioned several things that are not the Gospel, one of which was "Jesus can save me, but Jesus can't keep me." That nailed it on the head, because that was my experience until the last 2 years. I believed that Jesus saved me, but there was no assurance that He could keep me. Not because ...

I was feeling a little moody last night, not because of post Christmas blues, but because my daughter will be going away to be with her dad for a week. Add some self pity to the mix, some circumstance-related stress, and soon my anxiety cupboard was wide open. To combat my "woe is me" attitude, I began to pray. I turned on my shuffle to listen to the Messiah and came across the chorus based on these verses: Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him. I opened my Bible to the Isaiah 53 and read these words, Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted . I am ashamed of the times when I question God's love. But I thank God that He reminded my poor soul that forgets so easily. The reminder wasn't a warm fuzzy, Hallmark moment but a vivid reminder of the death of Christ on the cross. I wasn't just a morally neutral person...

Pastor Ryan preached on Matthew 2 yesterday. This chapter relates Herod's slaughter of the the boys 2 years old and younger in Bethlehem. What a horrible event, and what a horrible person Herod must have been. Herod deliberately set out to murder God's Messiah to preserve himself and his position. But yesterday we were admonished that before we quickly condemn Herod, we are no different in our sinful nature. It is true that the world will array itself against Christ, but so will our sinful hearts if left to themselves. I was thinking about this last night. Haven't we all born the fruit of the first lie, "You will be like God" by our self-serving and self-preserving behavior? When I go my own way and refuse to obey, isn't that really self wanting to keep the throne? There go I but for the grace of God. Thus might I hide my blushing face While His dear cross appears, Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, And melt my eyes to tears. ~ Isaac Watts

I've had a couple of object lessons on sin from the animal kingdom. Lesson #1: We had a recent infestation of sugar ants around the kitchen sink. To get rid of them, I put out an insecticide called, Terro. It is a thick syrupy fluid containing borax. The ants were attracted to the sweet syrup. They eat it, take it back to the colony, and then die. It works very well. For some reason, this reminded me of sin. Sin disquises itself to be a "delight to the eyes and good for food". Those poor ants gorged themselves and even shared it with their family and friends. Everyone was enjoying it, everyone was doing it, so what harm can be in that? From appearances it was good for them but in reality it was poison. They were all dead in two days. Lesson #2: I always thought that our bunny, Lizzy, was relatively smart. However, in some things she is really stupid. She will eat the carpet in her condo as well as chew on plastic. Here are two substances that do not bear any resemblance t...

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...

Because Easter is tomorrow, many folks in the blogsphere are posting hymns and scripture relating to Christ's death on the cross and resurrection. It has been very edifying for me to meditate on Christ's death and atoning work. The flip side is that there are people who take on the name of "Christian" and don't believe in the penal substitutionary death of Christ at all. That boggles my mind, and I can't wrap my brain around that one. This may be completely obvious, but I wonder if the belief that man is inherently and totally sinful goes hand in hand with believing that God is a just and holy God. It seems you can't have one without the other. If God is just, holy, and righteous as well as loving, He would not be God if He did not demand punishment for sin. He is the judge. He is the standard maker and that standard has been violated. In that case and given His absolute perfection, there is no question that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of G...

I am still pondering this morning's message. I can't get away from something Pastor Ryan said in describing those who would "crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt." He said it was as if they were saying "You are no Messiah to me " and were in full agreement with the verdict to crucify Him. I am typing this in tears because of the grief I am feeling. The thought that someone would want the benefits of what Christ would give them and then turn around and reject Him as worthless is heartbreaking. It would be as if someone said to Jesus, "Thanks for taking away my sin by dying for me and suffering God's holy wrath. Now, I can continue to indulge in that sin that nailed You to the cross and still go to heaven. And BTW it's great to know that I can keep on sinning knowing that You are going to forgive me. I want what You do for me and what You give me but I don't want You ." This reminded me of ...

This is from the Banner of Truth Trust edition, pages 50-51. We must hate all sin, as sin, and not just that which troubles us. Love for Christ, because He went to the cross, and hate for sin that sent Him there, is the solid foundation for true spiritual mortification. To seek mortification only because a sin troubles us proceeds from self-love. Why do you with all diligence and earnestness seek to mortify this sin? Because it troubles you because you do not have rest through it? Yes, but, friend, you have neglected prayer and reading! You have been vain and loose in your conversation with other things. These are just as sinful as the one that troubles you. Jesus Christ bled for them also. Why do you not set yourself against them? If you hate sin as sin, and very evil way, you would be watchful against everything that grieves and disquiets the Spirit of God. You would not be concerned only about the sin that upsets your own soul! I think, too often, that I hate sin because...

This is from the section Thinking Biblically in Chapter IV God, page 99-100 ( emphasis mine ). The biblical answer about why we have lost our center is rather straightforward. The center has not been lost. What has been lost is our ability to see it, to recognize it, to bow before it, to reorder our lives in the light of it, to do what we should do as people who live in the presence of this center, this Other, this triune, holy-loving God of the Bible. And so we create our own center, we create our own rules, and we make our own meaning. All of this springs from an alternative center in the universe. It is ourselves. Paul's statement is that, since the fall, we have "worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Rom. 1:25). We will not reckon with our internal sense that God does exist. We also try to ignore our own sense of the moral fabric of life (Rom. 1:18-20, 2:14-15). And we have also made some substitutions. We have replaced the actual cent...