Stop trying to be someone you're not!

I'm beginning to memorize a chunk of Ephesians with a friend from church, and here is the first part that I was working on today:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

-Ephesians 4:17-24 (my emphases)

Paul is writing here to Christians, encouraging them to not go on sinning like they use to do, and like the Gentiles continue to do. But notice how Paul doesn't say, "Stop sinning or else God will disown you!" or, "You'd better stop sinning or else you'll cease to be a Christian and then you'll go to hell!" No, Paul simply says, "Stop being controlled by sin... because that's not who you are anymore."

If you are a Christian, this doesn't mean that you're not still a sinner in a fallen world. What it does mean, however, is that you're no longer a slave to sin:

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

-Romans 6:17-18

This freedom from the reigning power of sin is the beginning of the release from sin that Christ's atoning sacrifice purchased for you 2000 years ago. It means that your sin no longer keeps you under God's judgment, because it has been paid for. It also means that God has given you the ability to turn away from sin, to resist temptation, and that He is strengthening that ability in you as He sanctifies you and grows you. One day, when you are finally in the presence of Jesus, the release from sin will be completed, and at that time you will no longer be under any effects of sin. But until that day, remember what the true Gospel is, remember what it has purchased for you, and remember what it has made you: a person free from the reigning power of sin.

If we are people who have been freed from the reigning power of sin, then let's stop letting sin reign over us. Let's stop trying to be people we're not.

Stop the presses!!!

I know that this may come as a shock to anyone who has read my posts before, so you may want to sit down before you read this next part.

Are you sitting down? Okay... here goes...

I may disagree with John Piper on something.

Now... get the smelling salts, clear your head, and continue on reading, if you can muster the energy.

Now that classes are over, I'm trying to get back to reading Piper's "The Pleasures of God", and I just finished chapter 5, titled "The Pleasure of God in Election". Toward the end of the chapter (pp. 150-151), Piper discusses that our assurance of salvation is ultimately rooted in our election. I agree with this. However, I don't think I agree with why Piper says that this is the case. According to Piper, our assurance is rooted in our election because:

"Divine election is the guarantee that God will undertake to complete by sanctifying grace what his electing grace has begun... Election is the final ground of assurance because, since it is God's commitment to save, it is also God's commitment to enable all that is necessary for salvation." (P. 150, emphases mine)

I most certainly agree that God will surely sanctify those which He has justified, and that this will be done unto perfection for each one of God's children, continued until the day when he or she enters the presence of God, and perfected there. This is the biblically sound teaching of a perseverance of faith, which I have posted about before, and will write about more extensively in the last of my series of posts on "Why I am not Catholic".

So, it is true that I believe that God will slowly, but surely, mold me into the image of His Son. With all the sin that is still in me, I love God, and strive to follow His will, more today than a year ago, and pray in faith that I will do this more a year from now than I do today.

However, I do not believe that my continued sanctification is what "is necessary for salvation." I believe that I am no more justified, or even assured, today than I was a year ago, nor do I believe that I will be any more justified or assured a year from now than I am today. If I were to drop everything I am doing right now to become a lifelong missionary in some foreign land, I do not believe that this work for God's kingdom would make me any more justified in His sight than if I continue to work in research as a phonetician. If God were ever to call me to become a missionary my response would be, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8). But if that were to be the case, my salvation would be no more secure than that of the thief on the cross.

Rather, as I have written about many times, I believe that the assurance of my salvation is rooted in my election because it is in my election that God has chosen to open my eyes and ears to receive the truth of the Gospel, has given me the ability to repent of my sin, and has given me the desire to turn to Him by my own free will. And it is through all of this that my justification comes, because, by the power of God, I have turned to Christ to receive His righteousness, which clothes me in a spotless garment, and I know that my salvation is assured, not because I see the daily evidence of sanctification in my life (although it's true that this is a very real evidence of my justification), but because the wrath of God toward my sin has already been poured out on Christ, and it is His righteousness, and His holy obedience to the law, not my own imperfect sanctification, that assures that I will one day see Him in glory.

Edit 5/20/08: Well, now I'm just confused. Piper definitely believes in the doctrine of imputation (i.e. Christ's righteousness imputed, through faith, to God's elect), so I'm not quite sure what he was talking about here...

Luther's Free Beer, Part 2: "Righteousness is not obtained through works" (part 2)

In closing, however, I would like to quickly address the fact that there are some texts in the Bible that have been used to support the idea that justification is obtained through both faith and works. I believe, however, that this reading of the passages is a case of misinterpretation, or rather, misapplication of the text. Let's just look at one section of the Bible, which contains some of the most famous passages of this sort, James, chapter 2. The main prooftexts for perfected justification by works are verses 14, 17, 20, 22, and 24:

14: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

17: So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

20: Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

22: You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works

24: You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

However, I don't believe that what James is referring to here is the basis of justification, but rather the fruit of justification. He has already noted, along with Paul, that we are all sinners and have transgressed the law of God, and, therefore, should justly be under His wrath: "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it." (verse 10) Therefore, James did not believe that we humans can fulfill the righteous requirements of the law, because we have all transgressed it. Moreover, James was speaking this truth about Christians, because it was to "the twelve tribes" that he wrote this epistle. He recognized that even those who had the Spirit in them could not keep the law perfectly.

In verse 14, it seems that James is referring to a question not of works as the basis of justification, but as the evidence of true faith. "If someone says he has faith", James writes, and continues, "can that faith save him?" What kind of faith is it that this person says he has? Is it merely a knowledge of the facts of the Gospel? "I believe in God," one might say. Can this belief alone save them? No, for even the demons believe this (verse 17), and they are certainly not of God's children. What if someone says, "I believe in Jesus"? Are they saved by this kind of faith? No; for, again, Satan and his own know who Jesus is better than we do (Mark 1:24). What, then, if someone says, "I not only believe in Jesus, but I also believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He came to earth to be an atoning sacrifice for those who have faith in that sacrifice. I also believe that He was raised to life by God and now sits in heaven at His right hand." Surely, this person, with this kind of faith must be saved! Right? Still, I say no, not necessarily, because these are all facts of our world that Satan himself is fully aware of. However, saving faith is the kind of faith which allows a person to say, "I believe that all of these things are true... and that they apply to me! Not only do I believe that Jesus came to die, but that He came to die in my place!"

And it is this kind of faith, the kind of faith which can only be obtained through the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corithians 12:3), that will save a person. Furthermore, because this kind of faith comes by the power of the Spirit, it is a transforming faith, a faith that will necessarily produce the fruit of the Spirit. I believe that this is the important framework of knowledge to have while reading these passages. For surely, faith, without the fruit of the Spirit, without the ability and desire to obey the commands of God, is not a saving faith, but a dead faith. This faith is not the kind of faith which saves, it is not the kind of faith which is living, and it is not the kind of faith that produces works... because is not the kind of faith which is given to the children of God by the Holy Spirit upon the hearing of the Gospel!

Luther's Free Beer, Part 2: "Righteousness is not obtained through works" (part 1)

This second part of the reason why Martin Luther's gettin' a frosty pint from me in heaven is very closely related to the first. We've already seen that, due to original sin, there is no person who has a righteousness of their own. We are all contaminated by sin (Romans 8:23) and cannot possibly give ourselves as a pure atonement for ourselves, nor for others. Nevertheless, just as the sin-atoning sacrifices of the covenant of Abraham in the Old Testament required the shed blood of a spotless sacrifice in order for the sin of the people to be forgiven, so the covenant of Christ in the New Testament requires the shed blood of a spotless sacrifice to the same end. This has already been accomplished by Jesus Christ's righteousness and sacrifice... because it could not be accomplished by us.

Well, this often doesn't ring too well with the individualistic nature of us humans, since we like to do things on our own. We like to try to be autonomous creatures. We like to think that we are able to do enough so that we can work our way from sinfulness to a righteous, holy state. We know intrinsically that we are not perfect, so we want to try to do things in order for God to forget our sinful state, and justify us based on our works. "If I'm just good enough," we say, "I'll surely go to heaven when I die." This common desire to atone for our fallenness by human means is clearly opposed in Scripture. Here are just a few passages to look at, but there are many others to be found-


1) Works will not justify us before God:

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
-Romans 3:20

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith."
-Galatians 3:10-11

Again, we must recognize why this is impossible, in order to get ourselves out of a legalistic mindset. As the Apostle Paul indicates clearly in Romans 5:18-19, all human beings are justly under condemnation because of the original sin committed in the Garden of Eden. We did not take the fruit ourselves, but it was taken for us by a just and fair representative of the human race, and the judgment rendered in response to this rebellion was rightly imputed to each and every one of us. Therefore, each and every one of us is contaminated by sin, and cannot fulfill the righteous requirement of the law.


2) Christ died to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law on our behalf:

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
-Romans 10:4

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
-Galatians 2:21

The beauty of the Gospel is that the very same God who demands that which we cannot possibly do fulfills His own perfect requirement by Himself. We cannot do it, but God did it for us. And for each and every one who looks not to their own efforts to be saved, but places their faith in the righteousness of Christ, this fulfillment of the righteous requirements of the law by Jesus is ascribed to them. This is what is meant by imputed righteousness... a concept which is opposed by the Catholic church, and the "New Perspectives" movement... but is, itself, the very heart of the Gospel! How can the news of a requirement which we cannot fulfill ourselves possibly be "good"?! If our justification were to be obtained through our perfect obedience to the law, then the Gospel would cease to be good news. But furthermore, if our salvation were even to be maintained by our obedience to the law... this still wouldn't be good news! Our sanctification cannot be made perfect until our glorification, which will not happen in this world. Therefore, even for those who are in Christ, who are given the power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify them, to conform them to the image of the Son, they cannot possibly be made sinless this side of heaven, and so cannot fulfill the righteous requirements of the law even after their conversion! This is the very problem that the early church in Galatia struggled with, and Paul properly rebuked them for:

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
-Galatians 3:1-3

The answer to Paul's rhetorical question is an emphatic "no!" He realized that, even after the commencement of human sanctification, the "flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63), and our salvation is not perfected by it. What then is Paul's answer to the bondage of law that the Galatians were placing upon themselves? It was Christ who fulfilled the law, that we might be free from it:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"
-Galatians 3:13

It was Paul's correct understanding of the Gospel that lead him to preach that "the righteous shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17, Habakkuk 2:4). You see, Christianity in fact is a works-based religion... it's just not our works which count! Christ has done the work that we could never do. It is through the faith which is given to us, not through our works, that our salvation is both begun and perfected. This, then, leads me to the next discussion, "Righteousness is obtained through faith".

Luther's Free Beer, Part 1: "Man has no righteousness of his own"

Okay, let's start this...

At the heart of the dividing line between the Protestant and Catholic belief systems is the question of how man is made righteous before God. Both sides recognize that we, as human beings, are sinful, and that our sin needs to be atoned for in order for us to be justified in God's sight; however, they differ greatly in their views of precisely how this justification is obtained.

It seems that Bob Dylan might be a Protestant:

You can't get to glory by the raising and the lowering of no flag.
Put your goodness next to God's and it comes out like a filthy rag.
In a city of darkness there's no need of the sun
And there ain't no man righteous, no not one.
-"Ain't No Man Righteous (No Not One)"

Why do I say that I think Dylan is a Protestant based on these lyrics? Well, he's alluding to Isaiah 64:6 when he compares our goodness and God's goodness ("We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment."), and to Psalm 14:1-3 and Romans 3:10-12 when he declares that no man is righteous ("As it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.' ").

But don't both Catholics and Protestants believe this? What's the problem, then? Well, to understand the full effects of the truths of these verses, we need to understand how the Bible presents the concepts of original sin, justification, and sanctification.

The term "original sin" means that, since the fall of mankind to sin, we humans - as descendants of Adam - are no longer born holy, righteous, without sin. More than that, we are not even born morally neutral! Rather, we are born in a state of sin (Psalm 51:5) and, as an entire race, are condemned and justifiably under God's holy wrath. Paul states clearly this condition of our inevitable condemnation in Romans 5:18-19. However, in the same breath, intertwined in those very same sentences, he gives a hope for us condemned sinners, the righteous life of Christ:

Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.

The importance of recognizing the truth of original sin for the full understanding our own justification is found in the fact that, as the Bible teaches the hopelessness of man's condition (if left to himself!), it shows us that man can do nothing to bring himself to righteousness, to justify himself in God's sight. God requires perfect holiness - not just our best effort! - in order to proclaim a human being as righteous. I will say it again: God requires perfect holiness, not a single drop of sin, to proclaim a person to be righteous. If we are born in sin, condemned by the fall of Adam, we cannot, absolutely cannot have this righteousness on our own! Therefore, if we cannot justify ourselves, then it must be God who justifies (Romans 8:33), and He must justify on the basis of something outside of us, since He requires an absolutely perfect holiness for the atonement of sin, and such a holiness cannot be found in any one of us.

A couple more verses to ponder over:

Do not enter into judgment
with your servant,
For in Your sight no one
living is righteous.
-Psalm 143:2

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good – except God alone."
-Luke 18:19

Relevant to the discussion of original sin and justification is sanctification. This term refers to the very real life transformation that every Christian begins experiencing from the very moment that they believe upon the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for their sins. This is an ongoing process of conforming us to "the image of the Son" (Romans 8:29) that enables us to turn from sin and, through the power of the Holy Spirit, begin living a life that glorifies Christ. However, this process is not perfect: sanctification does not make us perfect like Christ is perfect. Rather, it is a word (which means, literally, "to set apart") given for the very gradual process by which we are given the power to choose holiness over sinfulness... but it will not be perfected in this life. We cannot become perfect beings who never commit sin while we are still living on this earth, in these bodies.

I stress this point of understanding the Biblical definition of sanctification (Paul makes his stance on this matter very clear in his epistle to the Romans, if you would like to know more) because there are many who seem to confuse sanctification with justification, or will even collapse the two categories into one. The latter is the stance that the Roman Catholic church takes, which I do not believe is Biblically sound. Justification and sanctification are two very different things that happen in the Christian life! Rome would have us believe that we are justified not only by the atoning sacrifice of Christ, but also by a life-long process of sanctification. I believe that this is simply not true, and that it is not supported in the Bible*. Our sanctification is the fruit of our justification, it is not the basis for our justification! Justification will inevitably lead to sanctification, but sanctification can absolutely never lead to justification.

If we are to believe that the Bible teaches that no man is righteous, that God demands an entire life of perfect living in order to justify, and that what semblance of righteousness that man might have within himself is as filthy rags in the sight of God, then we must concede that man cannot be justified on the basis of something that God might see inside of him. This point leads me to the Biblical teaching that our righteousness is not based on works, which I will discuss in the next part.

*There are some texts which have been used to support the idea of justification based on human works, but I will discuss this later.

The Gospel is for believers!

Now, here's the point that feels most important to me this morning:

I want you to see that the Gospel is the power of God... for all of that! Not just for conversion, not just for justification; for salvation, for the whole thing!

And so we need to hear the Gospel again, and again, and again, because it is not only the power of God that converts us. It is the power of God that sanctifies us! It is the power of God that sustains us! It is the power of God that keeps us persevering in the faith!

Faith comes from hearing the message, and that doesn't just meant justifying faith. Sanctifying faith comes from hearing the message! Persevering faith comes from hearing the message! And that's why Paul said in verse 15 that he is so eager to preach the Gospel to believers! The Gospel is for believers!

-Mike Shea, on Romans 1:16

Daily employing the Spirit and new nature

Not to be daily employing the Spirit and new nature for the mortifying of sin, is to neglect that excellent succour which God hath given us against our greatest enemy. If we neglect to make use of what we have received, God may justly hold his hand from giving us more. His graces, as well as his gifts, are bestowed on us to use, exercise and trade with. Not to be daily mortifying sin is to sin against the goodness, kindness, wisdom, grace and love of God, who hath furnished us with a principle of doing it.

-John Owen, from The Mortification of Sin

The still, deep waters of sin

Sin doth not only still abide in us, but is still acting, still labouring to bring forth the deeds of the flesh. When sin lets us alone, we may let sin alone: but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times, in all conditions, even where there is least suspicion.

-John Owen, from The Mortification of Sin

The Soul and Substance of All False Religion

The principal efficient cause of the performance of this duty is the Spirit mentioned (v. 11), the 'Spirit of Christ', the Spirit of God that dwells in us (v.9), that quickens us (v.11), the 'Spirit of adoption' (v.15), the Spirit that maketh intercession for us (v.26). All other ways of mortification are vain; all helps leave us helpless; it must be done by the Spirit. Men, as the apostle intimates (Rom. 9:30-32), may attempt this work on other principles, by means and advantages administered on other accounts, as they always have done and do: but (saith he) this is the work of the Spirit; by him alone it is to be wrought, and by no other power is it to be brought about. Mortification from a self-strength, carried on by ways of self-invention, unto the end of a self-righteousness, is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world.

-John Owen, from The Mortification of Sin, on Romans 8:13

And God saw the light

'And God saw the light'
Genesis 1:4

This morning we noticed the goodness of the light, and the Lord's dividing it from the darkness. We now note the special eye that the Lord had for the light. "God saw the light" - He looked at it with complacency, gazed upon it with pleasure, saw that it "was good." If the Lord has given you light, dear reader, He looks on that light with peculiar interest; for not only is it dear to Him as His own handiwork, but it is like Himself, for "God is light."

It is pleasant for the believer to know that God's eye tenderly observes that work of grace that He has begun. He never loses sight of the treasure that He has placed in our earthen vessels. Sometimes we cannot see the light, but God always sees the light, and that is much better than our seeing it. Better for the judge to see my innocence than for me to think I see it. It is very comfortable for me to know that I am one of God's people - but whether I know it or not, if the Lord knows it, I am still safe. This is the foundation, "The Lord knows those who are his."

You may be sighing and groaning because of inbred sin, and mourning over your darkness; yet the Lord sees "light" in your heart, for He has put it there, and all the cloudiness and gloom of your soul cannot conceal your light from His gracious eye.

You may have sunk low in despondency, and even despair; but if your soul has any longing toward Christ, and if you are seeking to rest in His finished work, God sees the "light." He not only sees it, but He also preserves it in you. "I, the Lord, do keep it." This is a precious thought to those who, after anxious watching and guarding of themselves, feel their own powerlessness to do so. The light thus preserved by His grace, He will one day develop into the splendor of noonday, and the fullness of glory. The light within is the dawn of the eternal day.

-Charles H. Spurgeon, "Morning & Evening", January 5

But grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ!

The devotional reading for this morning was from 2 Peter 3, the first half of verse 18:

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There are many of these admonishments in the epistles that have often been very dear to my heart, since I find that they are filled - even in their brevity - with many Gospel truths that often escape us. This one is no exception.

Spurgeon, in commenting on this text for the morning devotional reading, says the following:

"He who does not long to know more of Christ, knows nothing of Him yet. Whoever hath sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ doth satisfy, yet it is such a satisfaction, that the appetite is not cloyed, but whetted. If you know the love of Jesus - as the heart panteth for the water-brooks, so will you pant after deeper draughts of His love. If you do not desire to know Him better, then you love Him not, for love always cries, 'Nearer, nearer'. Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Rest not then content without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. [...] An increase of love to Jesus, and a more perfect apprehension of His love to us, is one of the best tests of growth in grace."

I believe that this is the flipside of the coin that I tried to look at in July (here and here). It's not an easy coin for us to examine, to be sure, but it is a necessary one. On the one side we find an exhortation to fight against sin, as in the words of John Piper:

"The distinguishing mark of saving faith is not perfection. [...] The mark of faith is that I fight. I fight anything that dims my sight of Jesus as my glorious Savior."

On the other side we find a calling to seek after Christ, to know Him more today than we did yesterday, and more tomorrow than we do today. This is why the regenerated believer should seek to fight against sin: not in an attempt to justify himself, but as a means of growing closer to his Savior. We die to ourselves daily so that, daily, we might be able to love Christ more fully.

This is absolutely essential to the Christian life! Our own human attempts at holiness will not gain us anything before the judgment seat of the Almighty God (John 6:63), for the Law was not meant to save, but to point us to a Savior (Romans 5:20-21). Our right living does not justify us before a perfectly just God, for it is impossible for man to be holy in His sight on the basis of his own righteousness. Christ is righteous; we don't have to be...

...but! This striving for holiness is a mark of true regeneration, not because we sons and daughters are holier-than-thou legalists... but because it is sin which keeps us from growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior! This is why we should strive to keep God's commandments, and to exhort others to do the same, not in an attempt to polish our rusty exterior to pass it off as a shiny one, but in order to throw off all that might keep us from from running our race (Hebrews 12:1).

And this distinguishes the sons and daughters of God, for the world can try to appear holy through means of dressing up outward appearances, but only the Spirit of God can give the desire to know the Son more fully by turning from sin, and to Himself, the One who has already paid its penalty. And this can be a great encouragement to us in times of darkness, failure, and holy conviction. We will sin, it is inevitable. But when we sin, let's embrace God's loving rebuke, mourn the sinfulness of our hearts, and turn from our ways, all the while relishing in the full knowledge that it was never our own holiness which ever justified us in the first place. And let us be grateful for the fact that, even when we sin, the desire to turn from our sin, to be made whole, to know Christ more fully, is, itself, a wonderful priceless gift from the Author and Finisher of our faith.

How to Stunt the Growth of the Soul

There is no ongoing spiritual life without this process of letting go. At the precise point where we refuse, growth stops. If we hold tightly to anything given to us, unwilling to let it go when the time comes to let it go or unwilling to allow it to be used as the Giver means it to be used, we stunt the growth of the soul.

It is easy to make a mistake here. “If God gave it to me,” we say, “it’s mine. I can do what I want with it.” No. The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him, ours to relinquish, ours to lose, ours to let go of – if we want to find our true selves, if we want real Life, if our hearts are set on glory.

-Elisabeth Elliot

Doctrine of Amputation?

Quick on the heels of yesterday's post, here's some great encouragement in the form of a reminder from the Heidelberg Catechism (1562):

60.
Q: How are you righteous before God?

A: Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.1 Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all God's commandments, have never kept any of them,2 and am still inclined to all evil,3 yet God, without any merit of my own,4 out of mere grace,5 imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ.6 He grants these to me as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me,7 if only I accept this gift with a believing heart.8

1 Rom 3:21-28; Gal 2:16; Eph 2:8, 9; Phil 3:8-11. 2 Rom 3:9, 10. 3 Rom 7:23. 4 Deut 9:6; Ezek 36:22; Tit 3:4, 5. 5 Rom 3:24; Eph 2:8. 6 Rom 4:3-5; 2 Cor 5:17-19; 1 Jn 2:1, 2. 7 Rom 4:24, 25; 2 Cor 5:21. 8 Jn 3:18; Acts 16:30, 31; Rom 3:22.

This is the beauty of the one true gospel, that our righteousness is not our own, but is a gift from God. And beyond that, it does not claim - as, it seems, many tend to believe - that this gift gives us the ability to be righteous, our own selves working in conjunction with the sanctifying work of the Spirit to produce a semblance of righteousness, and upon these grounds we are declared innocent.

No!

This is again confusing justification with sanctification. Our justification is not given to us on the basis of our sanctification; rather it is, itself, the basis of our righteous standing with God. And this standing is not based on our own work, but on the perfect work of Christ, which has been imputed to us, and now belongs to us as part of the holy "transaction" which was purchased at the cross. The righteousness by which we are to be judged in the last day is truly not our own. It never was, is not now, and will never be had with any merit of our own!

And this, my brothers and sisters, is the unsurpassed JOY of the true gospel of Jesus Christ!

Lingering Death to the Law

The following excerpt is from a sermon by Ralph Erskine, 18th century Scottish clergyman, on the nature of being dead to the Law (Romans 7:4, Galatians 2:19, etc.):

It is a lingering death. It is not easy to get the law killed; something of a legal disposition remains even in the believer while he is in this world. Many a stroke does self and self- righteousness get, but still it revives again. If he were wholly dead to the law, he would be wholly dead to sin; but so far as the law lives, so far sin lives. They that think they know the gospel well enough, bewray (expose) their ignorance; no man can be too evangelical; it will take all his lifetime to get a legal temper destroyed. Though the believer be delivered from the law, in its commanding and condemning power and authority, or in its rightful power over all that are under it; yet he is not delivered wholly from its usurped power, which takes place many times upon him, while here, through remaining unbelief.

Christianity is sort of the odd child of the world religion family. It is the only one (that I know of) that calls people to do nothing. One of the hardest things for man to do is to do nothing for his own salvation. Passively receiving grace seems to go against something that is deeply entrenched in our "legal temper" as fallen beings.

The beauty of the doctrines of grace is that they emphasize the imputed righteousness of Christ. This means that all that we do, even in our most righteous moments, are but as filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6), who demands perfection for those who are to be in His holy presence, because sin cannot exist in His presence. There is nothing that we can do to merit the mercy of God, because our hearts, tainted by sin, cannot possibly muster up any sort of righteousness which can please Him (Romans 8:8).

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25)

Graciously, it is the true (and only) righteousness of Jesus, the Holy Lamb of God the Father Almighty, which has been imputed - or ascribed - to His redeemed bride, and when God looks upon us, He no longer sees our filthy rags, but only, and ever, the righteousness of His Son.

What Erskine acknowledges in the above excerpt is that it is exceedingly difficult for us to completely, and continually, accept this imputation, to realize that the pardon for our sins has already been purchased, the price of our redemption already paid, our death already died in our place by Another.

But to forget, ignore, or deny this is to confuse our justification with our sanctification, to blend the two together. Our standing in God's sight is declared as righteous because of the justification that we receive - definitively, once and for all! - upon our salvation. However, this is also the beginning of our sanctification, of God's conforming us to the image of His Son. Unfortunately, since we still live in this world, our sanctification process will not be completed until the Beatific Vision, our perfected glory not fully realized until that magnificent day when we see Christ upon our death or His return.

If we ignore this fact, we may be tempted to become discouraged so greatly upon the recognition of our lingering sinfulness, that we confuse justification with sanctification: that we believe we are no longer seen as righteous in God's eyes if we fail to act righteously. But since it is not our righteousness that matters - our own righteousness being but filthy rags - we can boldly claim our justification by the blood of Christ, and therein find the assurance of our faith and salvation.

It is this aspect of dying to the Law that lingers in us, stressing the importance of proclaiming the gospel not only to the unbelieving masses, but also to ourselves and fellow believers, in a regular - even daily - manner. Don't assume that you've ever fully understood the gospel; instead, preach it to yourself always, dying to the Law, and basking in the beauty of the imputed righteousness of the spotless Lamb of God, ascribed to you by grace through faith.

A bit more help. Thanks, Mike.

Just read this tonight on my pastor's blog.

God's effectively-powerful sanctification process shown in Peter's denial of His Son. Why? Humility.

How fitting...

Why does the Lord let this happen? Why does he let us go our own way? If he gives us the grace to keep coming back in repentance, why doesn’t he give us the grace to never depart from him again? Because he wants to cure us of the folly of self-reliance. The arrogance of relying on willpower and neglecting prayer for strength to withstand temptation.

Soli Deo gloria.

More confusing ramblings. But less confusing, hopefully.

So... still thinking about this sanctification stuff and discussing the idea with various peeps.

The more I discuss it, though, the more confused I tend to get. Yuck.

Here's a few questions which may help clear things up:


When do we feel more like God is conforming us to the image of His Son? When we aren't struggling with open sins (mind you, the heart is an idol factory, and I'm not claiming that fallen humans can ever not struggle with sin!), or when we are struggling?

When do we feel that the Spirit is doing the most powerful work in our lives? During times of spiritual prosperity or spiritual dryness?

Does God ever purposefully ordain periods of spiritual dryness in our lives in order to make us realize that we are fully reliant upon His grace for everything that we do?

Does God ever do the same with our own sin?


Or should we even make the distinction?


Again, please forgive me if I am working too much off of philosophical nonsense right now. I haven't had the time yet to seriously tackle this question through Scripture, so I'm still at the beginning stages of mulling things over in my own teeny brain.

Thoughts? Is anyone even reading this stuff?

Confusing ramblings on sanctification

Yesterday's sermon was on Romans 8:28.

I'll give the text, so's we's all on the same page:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Pastor Mike asked a question that many ask in response to this verse: What about our sins?

We can see in the following verse (v. 29) that the main "good" that Paul is referring to here is sanctification: "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." So, that being the case, how can (no, does!) God work our own sin (a part of all things) for our sanctification?

The answer that Mike gave has had me thinking for the past 24 hours. He said that the primary good that God works through our own sin, which is evil, is humility. God providentially uses our sin to give us knowledge of that sin, so that we may be kept aware of our daily, continual reliance upon His effectively-working grace.

I know, and have known, that God uses our sin to sanctify us, but I wonder exactly how God uses something that is evil to slowly conform us into the image of Someone who is perfectly holy. I guess I always assumed that sin was just a part of the process: you have to first give into sin before God can give you the power to resist sin. Otherwise, what are we being conformed from? But is this really the only way in which a providential and sovereign God can use our evil for our good?

I think that there may be a danger here: in limiting the role of sin in our lives to those acts that we perform (or fail to perform) which are not evidence of our sanctification, we may be losing out on a great blessing... one which may even be one of the primary ways in which God sanctifies us by using that sin.


Okay, this may be getting confusing, so I'll try to simplify the randomness here:

1. What is sanctification?
-Sanctification is the act of God (slowly) conforming us "to the image of His Son".

2. In what ways do we not currently bear - and will not fully bear until the Beatific Vision - this image of the Son?
-Jesus never sinned because He was not a sinner. We choose to sin because we are sinners. God is working in all Christians to give them not only the desire, but the ability, to choose holiness over sin.

3. Is this the only way in which we sin? Is a sin merely an act that we choose to perform?
-When we sin, we are choosing to follow the lie that we are creatures who are not in need of their Creator. Even Jesus, God Himself, realized that He was fully reliant upon His Father (John 5:19), and obedient to His commands (Matt. 26:39, 42).


So, my question is this: what is the primary role of sanctification? Does God work in us primarily to conform us to His Son's ability to turn away from sinful acts? Or does He work in us primarily to reveal to us our complete dependence upon Him?

If we concentrate on this first definition of sanctification, we may ignore the second definition. However it seems that the second definition, which also implies the first, gives us a more complete picture of our creatureliness and of God's holiness. In essence, it moves us away from legalism (but not towards licentiousness!), whereas the first may move us toward it.

Okay, I'm getting into the realm of philosophy and logic, and away from Scripture, so I'm going to shut up now.

Yo, bro! The slow-go of no mo' uh-oh (also: show and sow mo' glow) is fo' sho' a yo-yo!

Wow… if you’re actually choosing to read this post after having endured the title, I applaud you for your tenacity…

Since I rarely have an original thought (nothing new under the sun, eh?), today’s post is taken from an analogy that my pastor used in Sunday school this morning (this one’s for you, Crystal).

Sanctification can be tricky for us to understand sometimes. Period.

I once had a conversation about sanctification with my pastor, and I told him that I have sometimes asked myself if God has actually done any work at all in my life, because the same sins and desires that haunted me before still haunt me now. I knew that He has, obviously, but sometimes I feel very discouraged in seeing these old demons raise their ugly heads again and again and again.

Pastor Mike said something in response which I think will always stick with me. We recognize that there is a battle constantly raging within us, one of flesh and Spirit. Far too often, however, we view the process of sanctification as a reducing of the flesh. However, this will always yield a downcast heart when we find that the flesh is still very much alive in us. If we ever assume that an old temptation is no longer present, if we take our foot off of the snake’s neck (Genesis 3:15, Romans 16:20) – even if God is gracious to give to us old age, and we are still walking with our Lord; even then – it will leap up to strike us. In light of this, we must view sanctification as a process of the Spirit overcoming the flesh, rather than of the flesh simply disappearing (1 John 4:3-4, Romans 12:21). Temptation, as well as the desire for the things of this world, will never disappear from the battlefield… but our fight therein, by the work of the Spirit, will become more effective with time.

So, that being said, we’ll get to the analogy (don’t we all love analogies?). There were two that Pastor Mike used this morning, and I’ll mention the first one briefly:

Sanctification is kind of like one of those blow-up “bopper” dolls that kids use as punching bags: you punch it, it falls down, it comes back up. This is similar to our fight against sin in that once a temptation is defeated… it doesn’t stay down for long! This means that we will never stop “bopping” our sins. The good news is, however, that the “bopping” does become easier, because our arm becomes stronger the more we use it.

Okay, good analogy and all, but this is not the one of chief concern for this post. Here goes:

“Sanctification is like a man playing with a yo-yo while walking up stairs.”

I know, I know… but stay with me here…

The yo-yo will continue to go up and down, just as we continue to have highs and lows in our spiritual walk and in our fight against sin. However… we are still moving upward with every step that we take!

There is danger in focusing too much on any of the highs or lows of the yo-yo itself. Concentrating on a point where the yo-yo is near the floor robs you of your joy and ignores the power of the cross; concentrating on a point where the yo-yo is at its apex will set you up for disappointment when it falls back down.

Therefore, let us run the race as to receive the prize (1 Corinthians 4:24-27, Philippians 3:12-14), and let us not be discouraged if we fall down: the race is not over, the prize is still in sight! We must be confident that

He who has begun a good work in [us] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. -Philippians 1:6

This means that God is actively sanctifying us through the glorious work of His Spirit, and that this work is currently being perfected. Try no longer to do what God is already doing in you! Turn to Him and receive the boundless joy that is to be found in freedom from sin!

Hard words: Part 2 (!)

As I mentioned in the last post, I wasn't sure if I was going to post this follow-up, due to the fact that it may offend people who read it. However, if we please God, it doesn't matter who we displease; if we displease God, it doesn't matter who we please. While on this earth, we are to proclaim the truth of the words of God... and this will offend some, because true righteousness is offensive to human beings who, in our very fallen nature, are unrighteous, yet wrongfully believe ourselves to be made righteous by our own works.

We learned from the words of John Piper in the last post (not that the words of Piper are the very words of God, but his point is a biblical one!) that one of the marks of saving faith is the fighting of sin. This is a mark of saving faith because we, as fallen creatures, love sin: we love rebelling against God. Our nature decrees that turning from God is the only thing that we know how to do before we have been drawn to Him (Romans 8:7, John 15:5). Fighting this nature is something that we cannot do apart from the grace of God’s work of sanctification in us, which is only given to those who have been adopted as sons and daughters of the Kingdom.

But let us not rely on the words of a mere man to ascertain truth. Our sole authority is Scripture, and we gain our understanding of God's ultimate truth through the words that He has given us. And if you are inclined to argue against the inerrancy of the whole of God's writ, then let's take a look at the very words of our Lord Himself:

"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. Then we came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you." -Matthew 21:28-31

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" -Luke 6:46

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' " -Matthew 7:21-23

Hard words. But if we claim Jesus as our Lord, we must listen to them.

In our postmodern society, it is easy to find many people who claim to be "Christian", and yet ignore Christ. They will give lip service to God, but will not do what He commands: they will not fight against sin. And if they do good works, it is not for the glory of God, but for their own glory. They believe that everyone has their own "take" on religion, and that we shouldn't draw lines between world religions because God doesn't. They believe that to say that Jesus is the only path to heaven is ignorant, unprogressive, hateful, and intolerant. They believe that because God is all-loving, He will accept anyone into heaven in the last day who is a "good person".

Let us weep for these people.

And let us pray for them.

Yes, it is true that we are not saved by our works. We are forgiven, justified, and sanctified by the work of Christ on the cross. It is never about our work, but only ever about His. However, true saving faith will bear fruit, and will fight against sin. Those who are of the Kingdom of God, who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, will have this Spirit working in them. The fruit of this work will be seen by others... and will be seen by ourselves.

I am not saying that if we still have much sin in our lives, we are not saved. What I am saying is that if we do not find ourselves fighting against sin in these earthly bodies, if we cannot say alongside Paul that when we sin we do what we hate (Romans 7:15), we need to fall on our knees in the holy presence of the LORD, we need to confess that we have not loved Him, we need to ask Him in the matchless name of His Son to forgive us for these sins, and we need to ask for the desire to be implanted in us to fight against them!

If you have never done this, and yet claim to follow after Christ, you have obviously not listened to His words... and when the rain and the winds come, great will be the fall of the house of your soul (Matthew 7:27).

Hard words: Part 1 (?)

The question mark after "Part 1" is due to the fact that I'm not entirely sure that I'm going to post the second part that I have in mind to post. I may offend some in doing so. Then again, we're not on this earth to gain the appreciation of man... maybe I'm more afraid of man than I am of God....

The catalyst for my post today is a portion of a sermon that I listened to last night from John Piper (if you haven't yet been blessed by hearing this man speak of God and the infinite pleasures to be found in His holy presence, please visit Desiring God as soon as you can).

The sermon is entitled "How to Deal with the Guilt of Sexual Failure for the Glory of Christ and His Global Cause", and if you find yourself dealing with the darkness of guilt of any sin, and after having rebelled once again against your God you hear a little voice that drips lies from its lips as it whispers in your ear, "Give up. It's not worth trying because you'll never be good enough for God. Just stop trying and live your life how you want to," I recommend that you listen to this sermon (all MP3s are free in the sermon section of the website).

Anyway, let's get to the point of the post. Here's the section of the sermon:

"And this [saving] faith will fight anything that gets between it and Christ. The distinguishing mark of saving faith is not perfection. The mark of faith is not that I never sin sexually. The mark of faith is that I fight. I fight anything that dims my sight of Jesus as my glorious Savior. I fight anything that diminishes the fullness of the lordship of Jesus in my life. I fight anything that threatens to replace Jesus as the supreme Treasure of my life. Anything that stands between me and receiving Jesus faith fights - not with fists or knives or guns or bombs, but with the truth of Christ."

Did you hear that?! The distinguishing mark of saving faith is that we fight! Is something coming between you and your beautiful Lord? Fight it by the power of God! Do not just allow Satan to do what he wants with you, because what he wants is to separate you from his Holy Enemy. But we know that this cannot happen!

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39

The only tool that Satan has ever been able to use to keep man from God is unforgiven sin... and he doesn't posses it anymore! If you are of Christ, then your sins were nailed to a bloodied, wooden cross 2000 years ago! Don't believe Satan: he can't separate you from Christ if you belong to Him!

But listen carefully, brethren, to the well-known, and often ignored, words of the apostle Paul:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. -2 Corinthians 5:17

This means that we are children of the Almighty God, we are heirs to His kingdom. We are no longer men and women of this fallen world... so let's stop acting like it! Let's fight sin!!

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. -1 Corinthians 5:7

Do you see it? Do you see it?! We are no longer leavened! We are no longer slaves to our sin! So let's stop acting like it!

Yes, you will fail. You will fail over and over and over. But if you are an adopted child of God, then you have the Holy Spirit working in you, and you need but ask of the LORD to grant you the strength to fight, and He will do so. So pray that God would give you the ability to fight sin... and then fight it! Fight sin so that God may be glorified on this earth. Fight sin so that you may enjoy communion with Jesus more fully. Finally, fight sin because it no longer has dominion over you!

(To be continued...?)