A Stolen Throne

"Sin has many manifestations but its essence is one. A moral being, created to worship before the throne of God, sits on the throne of his own selfhood and from that elevated position declares, "I AM". That is sin in its concentrated essence; yet because it is natural it appears to be good. It is only when in the gospel the soul is brought before the face of the Most Holy One without the protective shield of ignorance that the frightful moral incongruity is brought home to the conscience.

In the language of evangelism the man who is thus confronted by the fiery presence of Almighty God is said to be under conviction. Christ referred to this when He said of the Spirit whom He would send to the world, "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment".

The earliest fulfillment of these words of Christ was at Pentecost after Peter had preached the first great Christian sermon. "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" This "What shall we do?" is the deep heart cry of every man who suddenly realizes that he is a usurper and sits on a stolen throne. However painful, it is precisely this acute moral consternation that produces true repentance and makes a robust Christian after the penitent has been dethroned and has found forgiveness and peace through the gospel".
--A. W. Tozer

Did God Cause the Fall of Man? A Response to Arminian Today Part 4

This is the 4th and final installment of a series of posts. I encourage you to go read parts 1, 2, and 3 as well as Arminian Today's article, "Did God Cause the Fall of Man."

In the final paragraph of his post Roy writes:

To me it is not a question of sovereignty as much as it is a question of God's love. If God truly loved humanity why would he want to grant by his own sovereign choice that Adam would Fall and that this would plummet mankind into a horrible existence marked by death, destruction, and decay?

This is a fair question that does need to be addressed by myself and others who hold my position that God predestined the fall of man. The question in my own words is, "how can a John 3:16 God predestine such a catastrophic event that would hurt so many people?" Let's look at how the Bible defines the love of God.

As I have written in the past, I do not believe that Calvinists can simply replace the word "world" that appears in John 3:16 with the word "elect." It seems to me that a natural reading of the text indicates a love of God for the world. However, I am troubled at the emphasis that the word "world" gets from so many people when discussing such a Christ centered verse. In light of the context it seems best to understand John 3:16 as a wonderful description of God's willingness to save people from such an evil world. Because the verses that follow 3:16 explicitly disallow for a universal understanding of salvation we must realize the difference between God's love for the world in a general sense and His love for those whom He has chosen to save.

It was important for me to go through all of that to make the distinction between God's love for the world and His love for the elect because I think we can clearly see how God's love fits perfectly with predestining the fall of man.

Here are 5 verses that show the greatness of God's love and the necessity of the fall for that love to be demonstrated:
Red= God's loving purpose.
Bold= Necessary consequence of the fall of man.

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you." (John 15:13-14)

"Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline..." (Revelation 3:19)

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

"I have loved you,' says the LORD. But you say, 'How have you loved us?' 'Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?' declares the LORD. 'Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated." (Malachi 1:2-3)

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:25-27)

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8)

Just to recap. God's love is shown in:
Death.
Reproof and discipline (which doesn't happen without sin).
Loving people who don't love Him.
In contrast to those whom He does not love.
Removing wrath that was meant for sinners (that's what propitiation does).
The Church (the church is a called out assembly of believers in Christ).
Sanctification and cleansing (which doesn't happen to perfect people).
Our Weakness.
Our Ungodliness.
Our Sinfulness.

When we allow God to speak for Himself through the Scriptures it is clear how His love is best demonstrated. I am willing to accept the Arminian claim that they do not hold to their views because of free-will but, rather, because of their understanding of the love of God. However, I disagree that the Arminian understanding of God's love is the correct understanding. The Bible displays God's saving love as amazing for 3 reasons: (1) it is a love for such vile sinners, (2) it is a particular love for those whom He chose to love, and (3) it is a love with an infinite cost, namely, the death of the Son of God.


I think it is good for people to engage in civil debate from time to time. Roy and I would disagree on this subject whether I wrote a response to his post or not so I didn't think it would hurt to voice my disagreement. If you have questions or comments (whether positive or negative) I would love it if you would post them in the comment section.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

God and the Psalms

Reading through the Psalms in the Bible can often times be a shocking experience. The violence, the raw confession, the wildness, the dancing, the hatred, the doubt, the despair, the loneliness, the joy, the celebration, the death, the mystery...it is a very exciting and diverse collection of experiences and emotions. One particularly interesting topic that many of the Psalms deal with is sin.


Sometimes it can feel that the Psalmists can be "too honest". Whenever I am reading through a Psalm and I come across a verse that says "my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head, my heart fails me" (Psalm 40:12) it takes me off guard no matter how familiar that experience is to my soul. It is amazing how often and how severely the Psalm writers deal with the struggles and evils in their lives. Psalm 38 verses three and four state "There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me". Psalm 51 shows David lamenting the reality of his sin being ever before him. When I read these passages I always think of Romans 7 where Paul says "For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." (Romans 7:18b-19)


It is amazing sometimes to realize that the people who were living for God back then are just like us in their struggles, temptations, and sin. No Christ-follower misses the war. No one who has been rescued by God is exempt from dealing with the powers of darkness.


But why did the Psalmists write like this? Why did Paul write what he wrote in Romans 7? Because of who God is.


In Psalm 40 David knows His God is the one who "drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock". David knows that God will show steadfast love and faithfulness. The writer knew that our God is the God who gives us a new song to sing.

In Psalm 38 David again comes to the Lord for he believes that God is all knowing. He comes to God for He knows that the Lord "will answer." He calls out to the Creator for the Creator is our salvation. In Psalm 51 David cries out to his Father for he believes that He can give him a clean heart and the renewal of a right spirit. He comes to the Father of Lights because He trusts that this one at whose right hand are pleasures forevermore will be able to restore the joy of His salvation. Paul, in Romans 7, ends by saying "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!". In chapter 8 Paul writes those words that bring so much comfort, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."


The writers of these sections of the Bible spoke so honestly about their struggles because of the God they believed in. They trusted that the Lord Jesus who shed His blood for the glory of redemption would cover their sins. They trusted that the Father who loved the world and gave His only Son would forgive them. They walked by faith in the promises of God.


These sections in the Scriptures are very encouraging. They admit the sin, but they point to the gracious and merciful God who loves us. I hope that we will join with the Psalm writers and continue to point ourselves and others to the Maker of the heavens and the earth who offers to forgive sins.

Ya just missed it!

Over the weekend my husband and i watched an incredible movie. Like most dramas, i was not interested but knew that once i saw it, i would be sorry i hadn't seen it sooner. I was correct. When the movie was over and a very important fact was revealed i wanted to watch it all over again. The movie...The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington. Now im not going to try and relate this movie to the gospel, far from it. And im not going to give the plot totally away, but i will say this...

Some catacalismic event has happened to the earth and populations are low. The "bad guy" send illiterate (yes, hardly anyone knows how to read) motorcycle gangs out to look for this book. Having the book will give him great power and make people do what he wants them to do. Guess what book he is looking for? You guessed it! The ONLY surviving copy of a King James Bible. Coincidentally Denzel aka Eli, has said book and is taking it somewhere that he believes he has to go to. I'll stop here to interject a few things.

1. You can gather from the movie that the bible is precious and very worthy to be protected. This is awesome but made me think seriously about how sad it would be if there were only 1 copy of God's work in the whold world and how often i forget to treasure the fact that i get the honor of carrying a bible with me everywhere i go.
2. At one point a scripture from Psalms is read aloud to someone and they are shocked at how beautiful and uplifting the words are. I would love to get back to that point. To be absolutely floored anytime i read in my bible.
3. the "bad guy" wanted to use this book to control people. It made me think how over time the name of christ has been dragged through the mud by people who wanted power and control and got it by falsely using God as a shield. I really don't like that.

Overall i was impressed with how the movie portrayed the bible as being such a good thing that was precious and worth fighting for.

What i did not like was when another character asked Eli what was so special about this book or why was is so meaningful to him. He replies "to do unto others as you would have done to you, that's what i got from it anyways" or some variation of that statement. WHAT?! Way to go Hollywood, once again you completely MISS what the gospel is about and just how truly precious the word of God is. No mention of Jesus, or the cross, nothing period!

I still enjoyed the movie, but what is the point of protecting God's word, and reading it everyday (because Eli did) if all you get from it is "do unto others...." yes that is a good point, but what about i am a sinner and i need a savior and the only chance of atonement i have is in christ? Huh hollywood, how about that for a movie?

grace and peace
sarah b.

The Role of Christians and Heterosexuals in the Overturning of Proposition 8 Part 2

Last week I discussed how changes in America’s understanding of gender contributed heavily to a federal judges ability to overturn California’s proposition to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. This week I want to move to a discussion on how divorce has also contributed.

The word divorce shows up 25 times in the ruling document, which is a little ironic seeing as how it is a ruling on marriage. Some quotes:

“Blankenhorn identified changes [in the institution of marriage] that to him signify the deinstitutionalization of marriage, including an increase in births outside of marriage and an increasing divorce rate.” (14)

“Blankenhorn identified several manifestations of deinstitutionalization: out-of-wedlock childbearing, rising divorce rates, the rise of non-marital cohabitation, increasing use of assistive reproductive technologies and marriage for same-sex couples.” (45)

“The development of no-fault divorce laws made it simpler for spouses to end marriages...” (64)

Before I begin much commentary let me say that divorce is a difficult subject in the Bible. Many Christians have differing views on when it is permissible and whether or not remarriage can occur. But let me be clear, divorce is a horrific but not unpardonable sin. I also realize that there are so many different stories of how divorce occurred, many of which amount to one person having no choice in the matter, I do not place blame on those people for being victimized in this way.

There is no question that divorce is prevalent in our society. It is not merely a fact of life, it is a lucrative business. Some have divorce parties, some go for the “quick and painless” route, while others acknowledge it as a probability by creating a document to protect their things in case they can’t protect their marriage.

As one who is getting married in just under a month, I’m terrified of divorce. I hate everything about it. A 0.111111% chance that I could end up divorced is too much for me to handle. In my mind it’s not an option, but I have heard enough stories to know that I have to fight for my marriage from the first day.

I think the liberal side of the so-called “homosexual marriage” debate is correct when they say that the institution of marriage is under as much attack by straight people than it is by homosexuals. Homosexuals didn’t create no-fault divorce, they haven’t forced us to divorce, and they certainly aren’t responsible for the fact that those who claim Christianity get divorced at nearly the same rate as everyone else. That’s on us. It doesn’t make so-called “homosexual marriage” right, it just makes their case look better.

So, like last week, allow me to give some biblical points on marriage and divorce to encourage you to hate it as much as our Lord does:

God created the institution of marriage.

"Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male
and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?” (Matthew 19:4-5)

Divorce is the enemy of God’s purpose for marriage, namely, the display of the gospel in the relationship between husband and wife.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for
her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

God has very harsh things to say about divorce.

“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD,the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.” (Malachi 2:16)

What do these texts tell us? I believe they tell us that God created marriage with an explicit purpose- one that cannot be fulfilled by so-called “homosexual marriage”- and that the act of divorce works against that purpose. Notice the harshness of the words in the last text I cited from Malachi. Many will look at this as being merely a hatred of an act, but we must accept the complex fact that God sees a man who has just divorced his wife like O.J. Simpson running from a crime scene. It’s not clean, it’s messy, and it’s selfish.

Thankfully there is another thing that God has to say to those who are divorced:

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may
not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins…” (1 John
2:1-2a)

These things should encourage us to hate divorce but if you have been divorced you are still not beyond the reach of Christ’s love and grace. As unrighteous as we are Christ is still more righteous. So trust him, love his gospel, and love the display of the gospel that is biblical marriage.

Grace and Peace…

Cordially,
Stephen A. Bean

An Infinite Sacrifice for an Infinite Crime

I tend to think that a person who has never question some aspects of their beliefs doesn’t have a very good understanding of their beliefs. This applies to faith, politics, business philosophies, etc… By that I am not saying that a person should doubt everything they believe, thus becoming a skeptic. I am saying that we should ask questions and be honest about things that we don’t understand very easily.

For example, last week Jonathan B. posted on the incommunicable attributes of God. I for one have often thought of the concept of eternity and it hurts to think about. I mean, I can’t imagine not existing because I’ve never done that before, but something about always existing is impossible for my brain to comprehend.

If we don’t ask ourselves and others these questions how will we ever “be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us” (see 1 Peter 3:15)?

One of the questions that I had to think through and study long and hard was how the chronologically short-lived suffering of Jesus could atone for my sin which is deserving of eternity in hell. There isn’t a category in my brain for peculiar justice that immediately makes me understand God’s ways in redemption.

Could it be true, as Shai Linne says, that “forever will I tell in 3 hours Christ suffered more than any sinner ever would in hell”?

Because I asked the question, put in the time, I feel confident that “there is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim. 2:5)

My answer to this question is that finite punishment cannot satisfy the demands of an infinite sentence. Allow me to explain:

I. Why is Hell Eternal?

1. The honorability of the offended party increases the magnitude of the crime, the magnitude of the crime increases the level of punishment.

Is there a difference between the punishment for lying to an infant and lying to the President? Absolutely there is. Because we sin against the Holy God of the universe we deserve to be punished for an infinite crime, namely, cosmic treason.

2. There is no biblical evidence of the sinful nature being reversed when a person goes to hell.

We tend to assume that people repent in hell but it seems that their hearts are still hardened toward God (example, Luke 16:19-31 the rich man still sees himself as greater than Lazarus). Therefore, there is no reason to believe that cosmic treason ceases to be committed in Hell. A person cannot fulfill their sentence if they don’t stop committing punishable crime.

3. There is no biblical reason to assume that we can bear the full wrath of God.

This is where I believe many who believe in annihilationism get it wrong. They assume that a finite number of years (even in the millions) will eventually lead to a person bearing the full weight of the wrath of God for their sin. Even forgetting the first two points I just made, do we really believe we have that capacity? We can’t even look at God in the face without going blind, how will we bear His wrath sufficient to save ourselves?

II. How is the Suffering, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Sufficient to Save us from Eternal Punishment?

1. The value of the sacrifice (Christ) is equal to the value of the offended party (God).

It’s not easy to get my mind around this. In the same way that my crime against God is worthy of greater punishment than a crime against a person, Christ’s sufferings are worth more than my sufferings. Christ’s value makes him the sufficient savior for my sins, and not for mine only…(see 1 John 2:2)

2. Because Christ’s death purchased righteous standing before God, and eventual glorification for the saints, our crime against God has a stopping point.

Though we sin as Christians (more than we realize), and that sin can only be atoned for by Christ, we will eventually be given a new nature in which we will not sin. Therefore Christ’s infinite sacrifice atones for a finite number of sins.

3. There is every biblical reason to believe that Christ did bear the full wrath of God.

From the garden where he felt the weight of the cup of God’s wrath (see Luke 22:42), to his cry “it is finished” (John 19:30) Jesus suffered through what we are fully incapable of bearing, the wrath of God.

For these reasons and more we can be certain that Christ is the fully sufficient savior for the sins of mankind.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

God is Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
--1 John 4:7-9


God is love, and He has poured out His love upon the world in an amazing way. The Gospel shows us that God's love for the world is so strong that He came and died for the sins of the world! Sacrificial love is what brought deadness into life. And now (it should be no surprise) our perfect Father calls His children to be imitators of Him. His desire is that we walk in love (Ephesians 5:1-2). We are liberated so that we can be copy cats of God. We are given new life so that we can love. We are graced with freedom so that we can lay down our lives for our brothers. God calls His family to operate in a framework where love is our constant, consuming, joyous pursuit. We are called by God to love in such a way that baffles those who are not in Christ. Yes, they ought to know that we are Christians not by how smart we are, not by how well we can argue, not by how sinfully judgmental we are, but by our love!

Does this mean that we should love those that we disagree with?


Yes.


What if they are Christians but they don't line up with our theology like we think they should? Should we look down upon them? Should we mock their beliefs or interpretations of the Scriptures? Should we make their ideas or their concerns the butt of our jokes? Do we spend more time trying to defend our particular denomination or branch of theology than we do trying to creatively and affectionately serve our brothers and sisters? If so...why? Who are we really helping?


I believe that love ought to be the defining motive and mark in all of our interactions with those in the family of God. I think that friendly, helpful, and passionate debate is a wonderful thing; but if done without love, what is it really being done for? In 1 Corinthians chapter 13 we see some amazing thoughts. Paul writes to the believers in Corinth that if someone has prophetic powers, understands all mysteries, has all knowledge, or has a mountain-moving faith, but doesn't have love, that person is nothing. This is crazy! If you win the debate, but you don't have love, you are nothing. If you understand everything there is to ponder but you don't have love...you are nothing! It goes on to say that even if we give up everything to the point of giving up our body to be burned but don't have love, we are nothing. Romans chapter 12 also tells us that our love should be genuine as we seek to pour out brotherly affection. In fact we are instructed to "outdo one another in showing honor"!


In the book of Colossians we also see a huge emphasis on loving others. It commands the chosen ones of God to put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Paul continues on to say, "Above all these put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Colossians 3). Love for the family of God is absolutely not a side issue in the Christian life. Any theology that fails to put love front and center ought to be abandoned for the truth of God's Word. This is not some sort of thought that is trying to diminish the necessity or the importance of sound doctrine, rather, it is a sort of thought that is trying to flesh out the precious doctrines of the Bible into day-to-day living! I have heard it said, and I believe rightly, that "love is truth with legs on it". Biblical theology rightly understood ought to result in a greater love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.


These are not easy commands or concepts, but God continually shows His love towards repenters in forgiveness when we fail. I am so thankful that He continues to forgive when I don't love how I ought to. May it be our prayer that He strengthens us with supernatural love so that we might pursue this privilege and command to love all the more. What a beautiful way of living the Lord calls His children to.

the truth about man

Confession: for a very short time in my life i really really liked communism/socialism. the idea of people working together and taking care of everyone's needs and looking out for the greater good was just so wonderful to me. i was even tossing around the idea of living in a commune minus all the drugs and different sexual partners. But God in his sovereignty had me take a comparative economics class for my degree where we learned about different communist nations and different capitalist nations. And even better was just learning the ideals and where these two very different systems came from. I remember sitting in class and looking at the basic structures of communism and as i read "man is inherentely good and will work for the good of his fellow man" i knew that was wrong. All i could think was yeah "Romans says the complete opposite and im go with God on this one not Karl Marx."

i don't mean to start any kind of political discussion but rather write abou tour depravity and that man is not inherently good. Were not, lets face it we are evil fallen people capable of all kinds of sin if given the opportunity. We couldn't even choose God if we wanted to because we are dead in our trespasses and the uncircumsision of our flesh (colossians 2:13). If something is dead can it choose anything at all? No, therefore we certainly cant choose what is righteous and true. Our nature is sin thats why there is evil in the world because it is post genesis 3.

As bad as this is, our depravity, there is still hope that we have in christ. He rescued us from our fallen state and has paid the price for our sin and though we will still struggle with our flesh, we are reconciled to God and able, by the holy spirit, to be changed from the inside out and be more like christ.

anyone who says that man isn't inherently evil needs a reality check i would suggest either turning on the news to look at stories of who is killing who, or just watching children play. Both will prove that man is selfish and seeks his own desires when not ransomed to christ.

grace and peace
sarah B.

"That's a nice testimony you have....Wanna swap?"

Recent events concerning Dr. Ergun Caner, Dean of Liberty Theological Seminary have reminded me of a great joke by Tim Hawkins. It’s at around the 3:10 mark on this video but the rest is just for you to enjoy:



We laugh about this until we see how true it can be. I remember being in Peru and thinking that I shouldn’t have to share my testimony because I was so young when I was saved. In fact, the great majority of the sin in my past is post-conversion, not pre-conversion. But this really is a problem. The value we place on “better” testimonies. Sure we can think, “if God could save him He could save anyone” just as long as we are thinking, “if God could save ME He could save anyone.” Because that’s the truth.

Moreover, we tend to think of the grand testimonies in the Bible thinking that they are the norm, and let’s face it there are some good ones. Paul goes from being a church persecutor to the greatest theologian we’ve seen since the ascension of Christ. The thief on the cross turns to Jesus for mercy in the last hours of his life. The Philippian jailor was about to commit suicide when he found out Paul and Silas hadn’t left so he asks them for the gospel. But we forget just how many testimonies there are that look like ours (assuming you don’t have one of those “spectacular” ones).

Take Lydia for example:

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16:14-15)

Here’s a woman who is hard working, financially stable, and religious. Chances are she isn’t a murderer or drug dealer. She simply pays attention to Paul’s words, gets baptized, and shows hospitality. Big deal right? RIGHT! What she probably didn’t even realize was the fact that the Holy Spirit was leading the evangelists to her (Acts 16:6-10), that her prior status as a “worshiper of God” was not enough to save her, and that the Lord opened her heart to hear the gospel. Now things are starting to sound more like 2 Corinthians 4:3-6.

We are all in the same boat. No matter how your sinful heart manifested itself, you needed Christ. So there is no need to embellish your testimony or covet someone else’s. So to all who have done so, or been tempted to do so (including Dr. Caner) just know that Christ is still as powerful a savior for that sin as he is for any other sin.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

The Message

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

-1 John 1

Subtraction by Addition

"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power" (1 Corinthians 1:17).

Some people don't see the glory in the penal substitutionary atonement for various reasons. When we try to make the gospel too much about a relationship or a better life we think we are giving immediate application for the sinner so that they understand things better. The problem is that it can hinder people from seeing the necessity of the cross and the great kindness of God.

That said, here is a quick breakdown of one of the most important doctrines of the Christian faith, namely the penal substitutionary atonement. Don't run away from this because it has a big word or two in the name, it is really quite simple.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands . This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).


This is typical of the great Christian doctrines because it is simple enough for a child to understand and yet, at the same time, complex enough for PHD students to write their dissertations on. The three writers of Pierced For Our Transgressions give a simple definition,

"The doctrine of penal substitution states that God gave himself in the person of his Son to suffer instead of us the death, punishment and curse due to fallen humanity as the penalty for sin" (p 21).

This is an essential of the gospel that must be understood to some extent for a person to be saved.

Penal because we deserve wrath.
Substitutionary because he took it in our place.
Atonement because it worked.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

Theology Of Sleep

The Theology of Sleep
Mark Chapter 4:26-29

John MacArthur preached at Together for the Gospel 2010 on the theology of sleep. I recommend going and checking out the session he did at www.t4g.org.
It puts a good reminder that God is sovereign when reading Mark 4:26-29. When you come face to face with the fact that my confidence is in the Lord & in His power, not in me.

The gospel cannot be spread if it really isn’t the true gospel. The thinking that more persuasive words and ingenuity result in more conversions inevitably result in adjusting (and eventually corrupting) the Gospel. Entrepreneurial types attempt to change the results by changing the message. The wonder of the gospel is this: you sow the seed, you go to sleep, and it grows. (Mark 4:27) We may be the means but we are not the power. We are the secondary agency.

The thief on the cross saw a beaten, rejected, half naked dying man on a cross, and believed. There was nothing impressive or convincing in that moment. The only explanation is the Spirit of God. There is no human explanation for the thief’s change of mind, heart and will. In my mind that is the greatest human conversion moment in the New Testament.


Spiritual regeneration is divinely automatic, but there are certain attitudes that must be present in evangelism: humility, obedience, diligence, confidence.
Humility– in parable of sower there is coming a massive supernatural harvest (100 fold is way beyond humanly possible yields). Note there are no adjectives to describe the sower. No qualifications. There’s nothing in the story about the sower, he just throws the seed. The story is not about the sower.
The seed– the harvest cannot happen without the Gospel. Why did Jesus tell people not to tell people about healings, not to tell people He was the messiah, because the Gospel isn’t miracles, it is the Gospel that Jesus was crucified and risen for our sins, and after that happened Jesus commanded them to preach it to all, for it is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1)
So, the sower isn’t important, you can’t change the seed? What about the soil? Do you try to change the soils? You can’t. So I don’t ever appeal to the emotions or will, because the fallen human soul is a “fertile ground for religiosity”. I always appeal to the mind, to their understanding.

We don’t have the power to change hearts, but we have the responsibility to shine the light that changes hearts. Diligence: those who sow sparingly reap sparingly. Your usefulness and your eternal reward is proportionate to your diligence.

We have confidence because we know that God has already determined the outcome, that the Kingdom will grow & flourish.

Be an Expert in the Gospel!

And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." (Exodus 20:1-2)

In a sermon last year R.W. Glenn encouraged his congregation to become "experts in the gospel." The gospel should be the point to which Christians return again and again to find grace, hope, and a reason to live differently in this world. This is especially important with Easter weekend having just passed us by. It's easy to get excited when it's good Friday and your RSS feed is filled with posts like Luke's from last week. But what about the rest of the year? Are you an expert in the gospel then? Are you even a student?

Too many Christians are experts in secondary things while stammering at the mere thought of a coherent presentation of the gospel. If you see yourself as the type of person of which I am speaking you are certainly not alone. However, it's time to stop being that kind of person.

Until you have become an expert in the gospel you have no right to be an expert in morality.

Until you have become an expert in the gospel you have no right to be an expert in conservative politics.

Until you have become an expert in the gospel you have no right to be an expert in parenting philosophy.

Until you have become an expert in the gospel you have no right to be an expert in the direction and values of your church.

I say this because all of these things can only be understood rightly when one has a proper view of the gospel. Consider the verse at the beginning of this post which precedes the ten commandments. The ultimate code of morality is not given as a to do list. It is the proper life of a people who have been mercied by a gracious God.

What about the sermon on the mount? People of all religions (and non religions) love to quote Jesus' words as if a person can become a good person. They just happen to forget that the two books that contain the sermon on the mount are gospels. Their primary purpose is to bring about faith in Christ as Savior first. Flowing from that salvation is the life that follows his teaching.

All that is to say be an expert in the gospel. Remind yourself of what it is and what it has done for you.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

More Posts on the Gospel:

The Gospel in 60 Seconds.
More Thoughts on the Gospel.
Subtraction by Addition.
The Gospel in 6 Minutes (John Piper)

Considering Heaven: An Invitation

When we set our minds on things above and fill our minds with the Bible's teachings on Heaven, then there should be much blessing and motivation for our living in the present. Yet our meditation on Heaven should also spur us on in our proclamation of the Savior. If we are truly loving God and man, and truly excited about the New Heavens and the New Earth then we ought to be eager to extend the Gospel invitation to the world.

Consider these passages from the Word of God:

"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come'. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price."

- Revelation 22:17

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

- Matthew 11:28-30

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live..."

- Isaiah 55:1-3a

"Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst'."

- John 6:35

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

- John 3:16

Are we eager to declare the power of God for salvation? Are we eager to join Christ and say "come to find rest"? When we think about the glories of Heaven we should be all the more inspired to preach the message of these verses to the lost. For those who are hungry, thirsty, and heavy laden the invitation of the Gospel is there. Simply come. Christ's perfect life, substitutionary death, and glorious resurrection have secured for us peace with God. When we think about Heaven and being able to worship in the presence of our Creator and Redeemer, satisfied, unstained, and restored for eternity, our passion for proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ ought to be increased. When we meditate on the infinite majesty of our King and the reality that we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is, then we ought to more greatly desire to proclaim the Wedding Feast invitation!

Do we have a genuine desire that none should perish but that all should repent and find salvation in Jesus? Is that our passion? Do we want everyone to love our King and to experience the indescribable joy, glory, and peace of being in His majestic and loving presence in the New Heavens and the New Earth for eternity?

It is really quite a simple thought. If we consider how glorious, how beautiful, how joyous, how desirable, how breath-taking, how shockingly, mind-blowingly awesome it will be to forever be with the One who gave us life and breath and rescued us from sin and death, then we ought to be more eager to invite anyone and everyone to come to Christ that they might worship Him forever in the Kingdom of God. This is a convicting thought for me. May the Lord grace us with His love and strength that we might be empowered to preach the Gospel as we should. I believe that when we meditate on the glory and wonder of Heaven, then we will be more eager to extend the Gospel invitation to those who are lost.

The Gospel understanding of an eight year old

The Gospel understanding of an eight year old

Originally I did not plan on writing another post on the gospel but tonight allowed for a great opportunity.
My wife and I have an opportunity to meet with a ministry every week called STEP where we both have kids that we mentor. Tonight's lesson was strongly focused on recapping and understanding the gospel.

The conversation with my eight year old mentee Xia Xia:
Me: Who is God?
Xia Xia: The guy who made everything (referring to our conversation last week about Genesis 1 which blew his mind)
Me: Who is Jesus?
Xia Xia: The Son of God
Me: what did He do?
Xia Xia: He came to the planet as a baby and grew up and did good things for people and never did anything to hurt nobody. Then He died and came back to life, but first He talked to that other guy on the other cross about heaven.
Me: Why did He die
Xia Xia: Because thats why He came here. And so we wouldn’t have to.

(after a long conversation about what sin is and that God cannot sin or be around sin)
Me: So if God cannot be around sin what would that mean for us?
Xia Xia: It means we can’t be with God... but Jesus told the other guy on the cross he would be in heaven....

(after a long conversation on the implications of Christ’s death, atonement and beginning to move into memorizing our verse Romans 8:11)

Me: Any questions about the verse?
Xia Xia: (he decided to back track) If God can’t be around sin, and every one doesn’t believe... then where do those people go? (how would you dodge that question if you were afraid of turning people off by talking about hell)

(moved into a conversation about justice, mercy, heaven and hell)

Amazing the simplified answers and direct questions from a kid who didn’t know who Jesus was on the first lesson. He may not have all the pieces put together but at least its evident that he’s listening. Obviously this wasn’t the full conversation but this seemed to be a great complement to last weeks post.

Grace and peace,

Simple Gospel

The most simple yet complex thing to attempt to communicate is the Gospel. When your with your friends and talking about Christ its so easy to communicate the truth of Christ in a simple form. When reading a bible story to a child it seems slightly more difficult. As every sentence has to be simplified to a point where big, or even medium sized words, don't have to be defined. But the toughest time to share the gospel is when you have never articulated it in understandable terms to yourself. You've heard it but never thought it through in full yet simplified terms.

What do we mean when we hear a song and reply with “wow, now thats gospel”? Or when someone says that we have to protect the gospel message? The gospel put simply is vital to our Christian walk. We must dwell on it at all times because this message and its implications is what has taken our dark minds and brought light to every corner of our being. Let us never forget the good news that Christ died so that we can live.

Here are simplified versions of the Gospel.

God created man in His own image and likeness. He created us as good beings but the first man, Adam, committed sin against God and the curse that came on man because of sin included death; both spiritual death and eventual physical death. Adam’s sin has been passed down through all generations so that even we were born with an inclination to sin rather than to follow God. Sin is treason against a holy God and God, being perfectly just, must punish sin. However, God is also loving and merciful and sent His Son, Jesus Christ the God-man, to live a perfect live and die a sacrificial death on our behalf. Jesus bore the wrath that you and I cannot bear so that if you would repent of your sins and trust in Him alone for your salvation you can be saved from the wrath of God and declared to be righteous in God’s sight. - Stephen Bean

There is one God, He made us. He made us in His image, He made us good. We have sinned against him, we have fallen. God would be just and good to judge us eternally. But, in His amazing love, the eternal Son of God has taken on flesh; an incarnate Jesus Christ fully man, fully God lived the life we should have lived, lived perfectly, died on the cross in the place of the sins- in the place of everyone who will repent of their sins and trust in Him, and God raised Him from the dead. He ascended into heaven. He will return in the same manner and he calls us to repent of our sins and trust in him and he will give us new life, he will fill us with his Spirit and give us the new birth and adopt us as his reconciled children forever. - Mark Dever

The Gospel is the news that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over all his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy. - John Piper

1 Thessalonians 5:9–10 (ESV)

9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

We must hear the gospel, believe in it, study it and meditate daily on this truth. Simple right?

My friend Jason put this nice piece together it you want something more to look into

jrldailythoughts.blogspot.com

The Heart of Salvation

"At the heart of salvation lies reconciliation to the God who made us and under whose just judgment we lie. Its ultimate triumph is a new heaven and a new earth…the consummating transformation of this fallen, broken existence, the gain of resurrection bodies, and above all the sheer triumph and glory of God." -D.A. Carson

Thoughts on the Holiday in the Rear View Mirror

The birth of Jesus is an important, historic event which we should never forget. But one thing that has always puzzled me is why only two of the four gospel accounts depict this beautiful scene and why the epistles don't explicitly focus their attention at all on the virgin birth, the shepherds, or the star.

We could spend time on why Matthew and Luke decided this was necessary for their gospels but Mark and John didn't but I don't know how helpful that would be for the limited space of this post. Instead I want to call of us to remember as the new year approaches and the tinsel disappears exactly why we celebrated a birth that occurred thousands of years ago. That is, what were all four gospels in agreement about as to why this birth was important. As we approach a new year leave another Christmas behind we must ask, why did Christ come into the world? Here are a few answers to this question that are very important to remember.

Jesus was born to be the true representation of God on Earth.

"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son..." (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Jesus was born to save his people from their sins and the necessary judgment on their sin.

"...you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)

Jesus was born to live a perfect, righteous life.

"Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15)

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify." (Romans 3:21)

Jesus was born to die a sacrificial death.

"My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." (Matthew 26:42)

"About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?'—which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" (Matthew 27:46)

"God put forward [Christ] as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." (Romans 3:25)

"Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." (1 Cor. 15:1,3-4)

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

God's Will: Your Sanctification

For this is the will of God: your sanctification…

-Thessalonians 4:3a

One of the more comforting and assuring truths that I have been shown is that it is God’s will that we be sanctified. The believer is commanded to put to death that which does not please the Lord (Col. 3:5) and to work out his salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12); but how much more courage, determination, and bravery should we have for this task knowing that our heavenly Father “predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29)?

To put it in simple terms: God wants us to win in the battle against sin in our daily lives! It is part of His will for us that we grow in Christ-likeness. Should these thoughts not stir up our confidence in God, believing that he will complete this good work that He has begun in us? (Phil 1:6)

Many days the children of God are weary in the battle against sin and temptation. The verses from Romans 7 can be so true to our lives, where the evil that we don’t want to do, we keep on doing (Rom 7:19). This is a difficult truth knowing that the battles against indwelling sin will last till His return or our death. Yet we are told that our great high priest Jesus is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, as he has been tempted in every respect as we have been, yet without sin. Therefore, we are told to run to our Father’s throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16). With humble, dependent confidence we fall before our Father for help! The God who redeemed us from the curse is now eager to conform us to the image of Jesus. He is now working in us for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13).

Our God is a God that saves; but He is also a God who is in the business of transforming sinners into the image of His glorious Son!

Christ himself intercedes for us that we might be sanctified in truth: God’s Word (John 17:17).

So then, let all of us who are weary, discouraged, or fearful in the battle take heart! For if God is for us who can be against us? (Rom 8:3) May our souls be encouraged to take strength and joy in the Lord as we seek to pursue God’s beautiful plan for His children. We are not a hopeless people, but rather our hope has been ignited by the light of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ that has shone in our hearts.

May our hearts be filled with hope as we see that God’s will for us is sanctification.

Just a little Babel

What power do words really hold. I have figured out recently that words have more impact than I ever thought when growing up in a home of 3 boys. In my family words bounced off as though meaningless. But now I'm married for less than a year and realizing that words have impact... sometimes even when I don't mean to put anything behind them.
Recently through some conversations I've had and through blogs that I have read it is very clear that the dialogue of words and their meaning are constantly being challenged. I do not mean the words themselves and definition is being challenged as much as the impact.
The next couple blogs I post will be on words and the impact. I hope to learn through this. Please post opinions if you have any.

In the old testament we see many instances where God does some pretty human life altering things. I wont place this as #1 but very high on the list is the separation of language at the tower of babel. Its very tough to imagine a world where people all had one single dialect and people group. When I first read this it made me think about how cool that would be, mostly because I naturally think positively about it. However then I began to think about the story and what human nature did with it. Sure it might be cool if everyone agreed on wholesome things but I look at the tower and the acts that went on surrounding Genesis 11:1-9 and I realize that once it starts going in a direction it doesn't stop. There are no barriers.

God dispersed these people all over the world into different people groups which actually made the humans do what we were told to do in Genesis 1:28 and fill the earth. He made it so they could not work together for evil. If we look all over the nations today it seems that the closer we get to being unified in dialect the further we seem to be going from the morals of God (not that I think we were ever collectively very close). Even more than that, we seem to have a task on our hands when it comes to the gospel... or do we. The task at hand may seem like a bad thing, but God has a plan. I don't believe there are accidents with God. God will be glorified when all tongues praise God in unison Revelation 5:9-10 and Revelation 7:9-10.

Dialogue is very important, it can destroy a nation when its lost. Think of what it will be like when it is restored. I know I feel a certain distance from people who don't speak english but the second I find a english speaker in a foreign country that I visit then that person is my new best friend. How beautiful is it to hear others praising God in their native tongue. Its the sound of the gospel being bigger than all words.

Has the spreading of the gospel been hindered or spurred on by the dispersing of language?