Tried With Fire

This is another quote from The Whole Christ on another negative side effect of separating the benefits of the gospel from the Benefactor. The separation of the benefits of the gospel from Christ, who is the gospel, is also the mother of the many varieties of "multiple stage" Christianity in which a person can enjoy some, but not necessarily all, of the discrete blessings. Thus one may experience an abstractable "second blessing"; or alternatively enjoy the blessings of salvation without obedience, having Christ as Savior but not (at least not yet) as Lord. But this, as Calvin noted, is to "rend asunder" the Savior. What Marrow theology grasped was the New Testament's stress on the fact that when we are "in him," we possess Christ himself; all spiritual blessings are ours immediately and simultaneously "in him." Yes, this is true eschatologically - in the sense that their full realization awaits glorification. But, nevertheless...

For the past 10 years, my church has been hosting a theology conference. We've had some great speakers over the years, and this year's topic and speaker were announced yesterday. The topic is The Marrow of Salvation: Assurance, Legalism, & Antinomianism with Dr. William VanDoodewaard from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Our pastor just preached a series on assurance, and I read The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson last year, which goes into the practical application of the Marrow Controversy. Thus I am looking forward to the conference. What was the Marrow Controversy? Dr. VanDoodewaard will be giving the historical background in one of his talks, but in a nutshell, the dispute centered on whether a group of Scottish Presbyterians (labeled the Marrow Men) were advocating antinomianism. Spoiler alert - They weren't. They were defending the gospel. The dispute also centered around a book, The Marrow of Modern Divinity by Edward Fisher. I refrained from orde...

"And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye hate committed" (Ezekiel 20:43). When we are accepted of the LORD and are standing in the place of favor, and peace, and safety, then we are led to repent of all our failures and miscarriages toward our gracious God. So precious is repentance that we may call it a diamond of the first water, and this is sweetly promised to the people of God as one most sanctifying result of salvation. He who accepts repentance also gives repentance; and He gives it not out of "the bitter box" but from among those "wafers made with honey" on which He feeds His people. A sense of blood-bought pardon and of undeserved mercy is the best means of dissolving a heart of stone. Are we feeling hard? Let us think of covenant love, and then we shall leave sin, lament sin, and loathe sin; yea, we shall loathe ...

In the light of the latest round of accusations and all around ugliness on social media, here are some random ruminations and questions for myself: Do I pray before I respond? Do I pray that my response would be Christ-like? Do I pray for the people who I am responding to? Would I say what I tweet or post to another brother or sister, particularly a brother or sister in my local church? Social media seems to give vent to words that we would never say face to face or so it seems. Incidentally, studies show that venting only increases anger rather than dissipating it. [ Mistakes Were Made (but not by me) Tavris & Aronson.] Do I take "Love your neighbor as yourself" seriously? Do I believe I am called to love according to 1 Corinthians 13 and demonstrate kindness, patience, and forbearance? Am I willing to admit that I am wrong about a situation or people? Am I willing to learn about others who are different than myself? I still may disagree but I have a better u...

"When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed" (Isaiah 53:10). Our LORD Jesus has not died in vain. His death was sacrificial: He died as our substitute, because death was the penalty of our sins. Because His substitution was accepted of God, He has saved those for whom He made His soul a sacrifice. By death He became like the corn of wheat which bringeth forth much fruit. There must be a succession of children unto Jesus; He is "the Father of the everlasting age." He shall say, "Behold, I and the children whom Thou hast given me." A man is honored in his sons, and Jesus hath His quiver full of these arrows of the mighty. A man is represented in his children, and so is the Christ in Christians. In his seed a man's life seems to be prolonged and extended; and so is the life of Jesus continued in believers. Jesus lives, for He sees His seed. He fixes His eye on us, He delights in us, He recognizes us as the fruit of His ...

I am posting at Out of the Ordinary today: I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. These are the last two lines from the poem,  Invictus , by William Ernest Henley. It's been quoted by many people throughout history as an expression of the tenacity and triumph of the human spirit. It also invokes the idea that no matter the odds, we have the ability to control our own destinies. While some may find this inspiring, this is terrifying to me. During a past trial, I was faced with the grim possibility that the outcome of my future was solely up to me. There was no one nearby who could give me the help I needed. The loneliness and being at a complete loss felt worse than the situation itself. What if I made a wrong decision? Not only could I ruin my life but also the lives of others. I was a believer, and my concept of God was better than the absent deity in  Invictus , but not by much. He was just one of many players in the drama with slightly ...

One of the elder's preached Sunday morning since the pastor is out of town. The text was John 13, and the theme was - love one another. This was a timely sermon because our church is beginning to get larger. It's easier to get lost in the crowd and not know everyone's names. It's also easier to fall into set patterns of gravitating to some versus others. I'm thankful for this challenge to love and, as an integral part, to know one another in greater depth. As Ron said during the sermon, "How can we love people we don't know?", and this is something I've been thinking about for some time. In my opinion, one mistake is to assume that we are more alike than we really are. Thus it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that I don't need to learn anything more about you. I already know you because we must be similar especially if we are part of the same church. I don't need to stop and listen to a different perspective because I'v...