The Lash of the Law

"A sergeant told a grim joke to his trainees during the Second World War, which shows the real flaw in the Pharisaic understanding of Christianity. A man stopped on a dirt road to help get another man's car our of the ditch. The latter was beginning to harness two small furry kittens to the bumper of this huge car when he was asked, 'Mister, you aren't going to try to get those kittens to pull that car out of the ditch, are you?' His reply was, 'Why not? I've got a whip.' The lash of the Law is used in similar spiritual situations. Without the principle of forgiveness our conscience acquires a quality of cruelty that makes the Gospel of Christ anything but the Good News."

Bishop C. FitzSimons Allison

Road Map?

This morning I heard a radio preacher say that if you follow Jesus your problems don't go away but you receive a map or a compass for life. That might well be true to a certain extent but that is not the good news of the gospel; even with a map people sometimes get lost. Followers of Jesus don't get a map, they get a Christ. This means that His life of obedience becomes their life of obedience, His resurrection and exaltation is credited to them and His future victory is their future victory. As followers of Christ the life we live is not one of following directions but of living by faith in the only one capable of following directions. Paul beautifully summarizes the Christian life in Galatians 2:20 by saying:

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Election Perspective

I have observed that evangelicals tend to overreact to world events (a man in Israel gets a cold and someone will write a book showing how it's proof that the anti-Christ will soon be revealed). While I have purposely avoided subjecting myself to the evangelical reaction to the recent election, I have read and heard enough to know that hyperbole is alive and well in the evangelical community. For some the outcome of the recent election proves that all is right in the world or at least that things are finally going in the right direction. With that being said I want to put forth three important biblical truths that I believe ought to temper and guide our reaction not only to this election but to all of the events that transpire in this world.

1. Remember the fall – it seems to me that around election time many in the evangelical church seem to forget the utter depravity of man. No politician or political party is going to save America. This even begs the question as to whether or not as Christians we ought to be concerned with “saving” the American way (this is fodder for another post).

2. Remember the curse – after the fall God cursed Satan and established two kingdoms—the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, or if you prefer the city of God and the city of man. As a consequence we (the church of Christ) did not win or lose anything in this election. The election represented two parties fighting for control over one of the kingdoms of this world; nothing more.

3. Remember God’s providence – many have made bold claims about what this election means. But ultimately we have no idea what this election means since God puts people in power according to the secret counsel of His own will. This means that this election could bring a blessing but it is just as likely that this election is a form of God’s judgment; we simply do not know.

Finally I think we would do well to remember the simple admonition from John 16:33

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

Mockingbird: In Law We Trust

Great article from Mockingbird, go check it out.

Mockingbird: In Law We Trust

Leerestademoda.com - Did you know the BOOK? English subtitles

The End of Christianity

Very thought provoking article published recently in Christianity Today.

The End of Christianity as We Know It

Church Stuff

This week I came across two posts that powerfully address a couple of issues challenging the church today.

The first is a video from John Piper and addresses the question of church membership:

The other post is from R. Scott Clark, Professor of Church History and Historical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. In this post he analyzes the recent controversy surrounding Ergun Caner and Liberty University (if you are unfamiliar with the controversy you can find the details here). What is important about this post is not what he says about the particulars of this case but his analysis of what this issue says about the state of the modern evangelical church. You can find R. Scott Clark's post here.