God Hates & Loves Sinners ~ David Platt

Quotable Christians

“The rejoicing is not in the trial but in what God is doing in it & through it. We need to snap out of the delusion that God made us in order to make us happy. God made us to make us holy. ’Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me’, was Jesus’ command; and He was headed straight for the cross.”

~David Kizziah, preaching on James 1:2,

as quoted on A Glimpse of Our Vapor

"True holiness, we surely ought to remember, does not consist merely of inward sensations & impressions.  It is much more than tears & sighs & bodily excitement & a quickened pulse . . . .  It is something of 'the image of Christ', which can be seen & observed by others in our private life & habits & character & doings (Rom. 8:29)."

~J.C. Ryle, Holiness, introduction pg. xx

"If God's love for His children is to be measured by our health, wealth, and comfort in this life, God hated the apostle Paul."

~John Piper

John Piper & Kevin DeYoung on Holiness

I have been sharing a lot of 3rd party articles & videos, I know, but I hope you've settled down to it, because I'm going to be sharing a lot more!  I've been reading & watching a plethora of truly excellent material that I just know you'll want to know about, if you don't already.  To kick off my continued sharing, let me begin with these 2 stellar videos featuring John Piper & Kevin DeYoung discussing holiness.  Seriously good stuff!

Law & Grace: Old Friends

There is apparently much debate regarding holiness that is pitting God's grace against God's law.  I haven't entered into the fray here - honestly, I don't read many blogs anymore, they're just too time-consuming - but my understanding of it is that people believe that if we believe & preach grace, then there is no need to preach the commands of Scripture, & it might even be harmful to do so.  Ironically, I wonder what Paul would have to say to that argument.  Well, not really, because in reading his epistles, I know what he would say . . . & if you don't, you need to read said epistles.

So, anyways, Michael - who keeps up with this stuff - told me about Kevin DeYoung's post on this issue & fairly raved over it.  I hopped on over to Mr. DeYoung, Restless, & Reformed to see what he had to say & found these incredibly wise & well-timed words:

"Let’s not be afraid to land on law—never as the means of meriting justification, but as the proper expression of having received it. It’s not wrong for a sermon to conclude with something we have to do. It’s not inappropriate that our counseling exhort one another to obedience. Legalism is a problem in the church, but so is antinomianism. Granted, I don’t hear anyone saying “let’s continue in sin that grace may abound” (Rom. 6:1). That’s the worst form of antinomianism. But strictly speaking antinomianism simply means no-law, and some Christians have very little place for the law in the pursuit of holiness. One scholar says about an antinomian pastor from 17th century England: “He believed that the law served a useful purpose in convincing men of their need of a Saviour; nevertheless, he gave it little or no place in the life of a Christian since he held that ‘free grace is the teacher of good works.’” Emphasizing free grace is not the problem. The problem is in assuming that good works will invariably flow from nothing but a diligent emphasis on the gospel.

The irony is that if we make every imperative into a command to believe the gospel more fully, we turn the gospel into one more thing we have to get right and faith becomes the one thing we need to be better at. If only we really believed, obedience would take care of itself. No need for commands or effort. But the Bible does not reason this way. It has no problem with the word “therefore.” Grace, grace, grace, therefore, stop doing this, start doing that, and obey the commands of God. Good works should always be rooted in the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection, but I believe we are expecting too much from the “flow” and not doing enough to teach that obedience to the law—from a willing spirit, as made possible by the Holy Spirit—is the proper response to free grace.

For as much as Luther derided the misuse of the Law, he did not reject the positive role of the law in the believer’s life. The Lutheran Formula of Concord is absolutely right in when it says, “We believe, teach, and confess that the preaching of the Law is to be urged with diligence, not only upon the unbelieving and impenitent, but also upon true believers, who are truly converted, regenerate, and justified by faith” (Epitome 6.2). Preachers must preach the law without embarrassment. Parents must insist on obedience without shame. The law can, and should, be urged upon true believers—not to condemn, but to correct and promote Christlikeness. Both the indicatives of Scripture and the imperatives are from God, for our good, and given in grace."  Read the rest here.

Just as with God's sovereignty & man's responsibility, so are law & grace - you don't have to reconcile old friends.

Church Leaders Who Permit Carnality

Church Leaders Who Permit Carnality from NCFIC on Vimeo.

As one of my sisters-in-Christ said so well, I'm thankful our pastor isn't one of these men!

Jesus Is . . .

Jesus doesn't need our acceptance.  He doesn't need you or me at all.  We need Him.  We desperately need Him.

The Marvel of God's Mercy ~ David Platt

Okay, can I just say something?  This . . . is . . . amazing!!!  Seriously!  God's sovereignty in salvation is hotly debated among professional & lay theologians.  But, Scripture lays this out plainly, & you simply cannot read the Bible without seeing it everywhere, Old & New Testament alike.  Not the least of all is Romans 9.  My understanding is that some people rose up & walked out of last week's sermon.  You may be tempted to turn away from this one, as well.  However, I encourage you to be like the noble Bereans & search out the Scriptures to see if what David is saying is true.  And if it is, no matter what your previous beliefs or biases were, you should humbly accept it.  This is biblical Christianity.  And it truly does lead one to marvel in the mercy of God.

The Cross-Centered Life ~ David Platt

"Your only hope for joy, & your only hope for peace, & your only hope for comfort, your only hope for love, & your only hope for strength in this life is found in the cross of Jesus Christ."

God is the Standard

I was pointed in the direction of this article by Al Mohler yesterday.  One particular paragraph stood out to me, so I'm quoting it below.  It's a point that I'm constantly trying to make - that God, not we, is the barometer by which all things are measured.  I think it bears repeating, especially by a man whose gift of communication far exceeds my own!

"[T]o say that God is righteous is not to say that he passes muster when tested against our own understandings of righteousness. To the contrary, we gain any adequate understanding of righteousness only by coming to know the self-revealing God who is himself righteous. One of the central problems of modern thought is the attempt by human beings to judge God by our own categories of moral perfection. Our proper responsibility is to bring our categories into submission to the reality and revelation of God."

How To Kill Sin ~ John Piper

Even though I've been a Christian for decades, I've sometimes wondered if I'm truly saved because I still struggle with sin.  About a year & a half ago, I was overcome with sadness due to this heavy burden of uncertainty.  Michael & I were listening to a Paul Washer sermon & he began talking about this very thing.  I sobbed with relief into the linens I was putting away as he assured us that only someone who was truly a child of God would ever be concerned about their salvation.  An unbeliever couldn't care less.  Words fail to express the balm that this truth was to my chafed & weary soul.

But, I'm still left with my dilemma of sin.  Like Paul, "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 7:18-19)  Can't you just hear the utter exasperation in his voice?  His cry of "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" reverberates through my soul.  This is just how I feel!  I can't get out of this!  I keep sinning & can't free myself from this death sentence!  Who will free me?!  Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Yet, while I stand before God cleansed of my sin & perfectly righteous through Christ's atonement (praise be to God!), I still sin.  I am a righteous sinner.  And I want to just be righteous.

As Christians, we hate sin because God does.  We love what He loves & hate what He hates.  So, we hate the sin in ourselves, even while we often feel powerless to overcome it.  And we are.  But God isn't.

"For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Romans 8:13)

There are certain sermons that stand out to me, & John Piper's series entitled "How to Kill Sin" tops my list.  In it, he deals with this verse & how we as believers are to "put to death the deeds of the body".  Just a hint - it's not by white-knuckled effort.  Each sermon in this series is positively, absolutely excellent!  Follow these links & download parts 1, 2, & 3.  We copied them to discs, & I've listened to them while driving & cleaning the house.  I . . . LOVE . . . THEM!!!  Seriously, I've listened to them enough to where I'm starting to be able to quote them!

Through these sermons, I'm encouraged to wield the sword of the Spirit to kill my sin.  I hope you are, too.

A Little Bit of Matt Chandler

We Are a New Creation

“Because Christ lived perfectly, died sufficiently, and rose victoriously, you and I can come out of hiding. We are free to own up to, without fear, the darkest of our thoughts and motives, the ugliest of our words, our most selfish choices, and our most rebellious and unloving actions. We are freed from our bondage to guilt and shame. We are freed from hiding behind accusation, blame, recrimination, and rationalization.

Confession is powerful and effective. It turns guilt into forgiveness. It turns regret into hope. It turns slavery into freedom. It turns you from mourning over your harvest to planting new seeds of faith, repentance, and hope. You see, you are not trapped! Things are not hopeless! The Lord, the great Creator and Savior, is the God who never changes, but at the same time he is the God who promises and produces deep personal change. The changes he makes in us are so foundational that the Bible’s best words describing them are ‘new creation.’ God’s plan is to change us so fundamentally that it is as if we are longer us; something brand new has been created!”

~Paul David Tripp, Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God, pg. 124
~Of First Importance

The Hole in Our Holiness ~ Kevin DeYoung

Michael just pointed me toward an excellent post by Kevin DeYoung regarding holiness.  In it, he discusses his "growing concern that younger evangelicals do not take seriously the Bible’s call to personal holiness."  He goes on to talk about why he thinks the pursuit of holiness is so neglected among evangelical Christians.  It's an excellent post, with gems such as the following:

"When is the last time we took a verse like Ephesians 5:4–“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving”–when is the last time we took a verse like this and even began to try to apply this to our conversation, our joking, our movies, our you tube clips, our t.v. and commercial intake? The fact of the matter is if you read through the New Testament epistles you will find very few explicit commands that tell us to evangelize and very few explicit commands that tell us to take care of the poor in our communities, but there are dozens and dozens of verses in the New Testament that enjoin us, in one way or another, to be holy as God is holy (e.g., 1 Peter 1:13-16)."

You should definitely read the rest of it!

The Cup of Christ ~ C.J. Mahaney

This gave me chills & brought me to tears.  That's a good thing.

God Saves Bad People ~ Art Azurdia

Radical Christian Sacrifice ~ John Piper

The beauty of this message simply cannot be overstated.  It is chock full of profoundly edifying, convicting, & empowering words from God's word.  But one of our favorites is this little poem & Piper's response:

"'Must I be carried to the skies

On flow'ry beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize

And sailed through bloody seas?'

NO!!!  How could you ever want such a thing?!  How could you ever . . . want . . . such a thing?!"

Evangelism & Social Justice - Not Either/Or

Michael found this on Between Two Worlds & we both loved it!  I thought it was quite fitting to share it in light of my last post's mention of how "I heart John Piper".  ;-)  I don't think anyone explains things quite like he does!

Our Father Sees

I didn't even realize that I needed to hear this until the tears began rolling down my face.  Thanks, Blest Mommy, for being used by God to minister to me.

The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man. ~Psalm 33:13

"Perhaps no figure of speech represents God in a more gracious light than when He is spoken of as stooping from His throne and coming down from heaven to attend to the needs and to behold the woes of mankind. ... When a tear is wept by you, do not think that God does not see it, for "As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him." Psalm 103:13

Your sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; your whisper can incline His ear to you; your prayer can stay His hand; your faith can move His arm. Do not think that God sits on high taking no account of you. Remember that however poor and needy you are, still the Lord thinks of you. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him." 2 Chronicles 16:9"

~Charles Spurgeon "Morning By Morning" excerpt from Sept. 28th

Christian Sinners?

Mark answers a question that is highly relevant to all Christians: How do I know if I sin because I'm a bad Christian or because I'm not a Christian? I've certainly struggled with this at times. Mark's answer is perfect. If you have ever wondered this, listen & take heart!

Justice Revealed & Defended

“By Jesus’ sacrifice, God reveals and defends His justice in two ways. First, Jesus’ suffering for the sins of His people means that any sins unpunished beforehand are now fully punished in Christ. God leaves no sin unpunished. Mercy and grace do not come at the expense of justice. Second, because the sins of the faithful are fully punished in Jesus, God may justly declare righteous those who have faith in Jesus. That’s what it means to be justified in God’s sight — to be declared righteous by faith in Jesus. The cross, rightly understood, is God’s own answer to any objection that He is unfair to substitute Jesus for the unrighteous.”

~Thabiti Anyabwile, The Gospel for Muslims
Of First Importance