The Gospel

When will we learn that the gospel is enough?

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20091128/NEWS/911279977/1005?Title=Church-sermons-include-time-place-for-congregants-to-get-tattoos

The Church

Here are parts 3 and 4 of Michael Horton's series on the church.

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/archives/231.html
http://www.whitehorseinn.org/archives/260.html

Church Membership

Here is part 2 of Michael Horton's series on evangelicalism.

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/archives/216.html

Common

If you don't read Michael Horton, you should. He is currently a professor of theology at Westminster Seminary in California. He is a profound thinker, an excellent theologian and seems to enjoy all that life has to offer. What I appreciate most about him is that he is a theologian to and for the church; everything he writes is intended for the edification and growth of the church. He understands that theology is not an academic exercise; it is the examination of a beautiful and divine drama. He has just started a four part series in which he looks at some of the common misconceptions people have about the church. Here is the first; I will post the rest as they become available.

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/archives/203.html

The Glory of God

While preparing for my Reformation Day message I came across a quote by Calvin that could serve as necessary corrective to the narcissism prevalent in the church today. Calvin said:

“It is not very sound theology to confine a man’s thoughts so much to himself, and not to set before him, as the prime motive of his existence, zeal to show forth the glory of God. For we are born first of all for God, and not for ourselves.”

Indicatives and Imperatives

In communication, we distinguish between indicatives and imperatives. Indicatives are statements of fact; describing what is. Imperatives are commands; describing what must be done. The gospel is an indicative; it reveals the historical fact of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection and it reveals God’s purpose in Christ; saving the elect from their sin through no work of their own. The gospel could not be clearer in its insistence that we are saved by grace apart from works. There is nothing we must do in order to be saved; even faith is a gift from God. But along with the indicative of the gospel, the New Testament contains a number of imperatives that reveal how Christians must live. A critical question is this – How do the New Testament imperatives fit together with the indicative of the gospel? Are we saved by grace and sustained by works? In answering this question we must be careful to rightly consider and apply these New Testament imperatives. Failure to do this will result in a gospel of salvation by grace, sustained by works and the church will be guilty of an ecclesiastical bait and switch; drawing people with a message of grace that then becomes a list of works that must be done to sustain grace. I believe that we must see that the imperatives of the New Testament are in reality “gospel imperatives.” They reveal to the church the fullness of the gospel’s transformative power. They declare to us what we are in Christ and explain what He is making us. The imperatives of the New Testament are a part of the gospel of grace. We obey because of Christ and we do good works because God has prepared them for us that we might walk in them. Certainly Christians must be concerned about growing in maturity, putting away sin and embracing righteousness. But how is this to be done? Do we need a steady diet of imperative preaching? I believe that the answer is no! What we need is more of the gospel – the indicative message of what God has done in Christ Jesus. We are not made holy by dedicating ourselves to holiness but by being immersed and transformed by the gospel. The new life we have in Christ does not come naturally to us; we are like an inmate leaving prison after a lengthy confinement finding it hard to assimilate to life on the outside. The gospel imperatives reveal to us the new life the gospel is producing within us. I believe that the best illustration of this is found in Romans 7:14-8:8:4.

In 7:15 Paul laments his condition:

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

Paul was apparently not very good at obeying the imperatives of the New Testament. He had been saved by grace but he was not very good at obeying God’s commands; does this sound familiar? What if Paul found himself in the modern American church; how would his lament be addressed? I imagine that he would be told the steps he needed to follow in order to have his best life. He would be told to pray more, fast more, meditate more and get an accountability partner. He would be told to find his purpose and get serious about his quiet time. In short, he would be given more imperatives – new laws. Is law the answer to our inability to obey? No! The answer to our failure to obey the law is the gospel. The gospel is not something Christians grow out of, it is the warp and woof of our very existence. When we go back to Romans we see that Paul provides the answer to his own dilemma, in 8:1-4 he says:

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

In response to his lamentable condition Paul does not look for a better strategy of obedience. He instead returns to the gospel. What then is the answer to our rebellion and inability to put away the sin that so easily entangles us? It is the gospel! Our problem is that we have underestimated the power of the gospel and overestimated our own ability to obey.

Sin

"The whole world consists of two classes, different in many things from each other but alike in this, that both are obliged to labour all their days: they are those who serve sin, and those who fight against it. Both experience pain and weariness; sin is a hard master, and a formidable foe. If you do its bidding, you are a miserable drudge; if you war against it, you will receive many wounds in the conflict. It would be hard to tell whether of the two is the more wearied-the carnal who obeys the flesh, or the spiritual who crucifies it. Both are compelled to labour. Both are weary: the one is weary by sinning, and the other weary of sin. One of these strifes will soon be over: the other will never cease. If sin be your antagonist, there will soon be peace; for if sin cannot be taken wholly away from you, you will ere long be taken away from sin. But if sin be, and till death abide, your master, there is no deliverance from the yoke."

William Arnot

Kingdom or Church?

"'My passion isn't to build up my church. My passion is for God's Kingdom.' Ever heard someone say that? I have. It sounds large-hearted, but it's wrong. It can even be destructive. Suppose I said, 'My passion isn't to build up my marriage. My passion is for Marriage. I want the institution of Marriage to be revered again. I'll work for that. I'll pray for that. I'll sacrifice for that. But don't expect me to hunker down in the humble daily realities of building a great marriage with my wife Jani. I'm aiming at something grander.' If I said that, would you think, 'Wow, Ray is so committed'? Or would you wonder if I had lost my mind? If you care about the Kingdom, be the kind of person who can be counted on in your own church. Join your church, pray for your church, tithe to your church, participate in your church every Sunday with wholehearted passion.We build great churches the same way we build great marriages -- real commitment that makes a positive difference every day."

Ray Ortlund

Christian Christianity

Recently I have been thinking a lot about the role of Christians (as individuals and united as the church) in society – this is a difficult and multifaceted issue that certainly cannot be adequately addressed in this format; but as I was catching up on the news this morning a couple of things struck me. To clarify, let me begin by saying that I am not thinking of one particular news story or incident; I am looking at the big picture. Next, in referring to the news I am talking specifically about the news that relates to the government and politics. My basic premise (which is not at all unique or insightful) is that our government as a whole is criminal, immoral and lacks civility. I don’t deny that there are a few that do not fit this generalization but I believe they are the exception not the rule. By the way, this is not limited to one party or ideology; it is true of every party and branch of government and can be found in every sector. I think it is also important to state that I am not arguing for or advocating a “Christian” America (Christian nations are unobtainable and unbiblical – the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent will always be in conflict). In fact this is not even a political discussion. What I am concerned about is the church. I don’t want a Christian America, what I hope for is a Christian Christianity. The decline of our nation was certainly foreseeable – I am sure that most of us are familiar with this quote by John Adams:

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

— John Adams, October 11, 1798

Those things that Adams claimed would break the strongest cords of the Constitution, avarice, ambition, revenge and gallantry, are certainly the rule of the day and they continue unchecked. Why? I believe that it is time for the church to take some responsibility for the decline. Moral people are not produced by a government agency – they are sinners remade by the justifying grace of God. But the gospel proclaimed by the church today is one that deals lightly with sin – it is even increasingly difficult to find morality in our churches. No longer are we told of the wrath of God against sinners. In fact our rebellion against God and His anger at our rebellion is generally not even put forth as our greatest problem, producing our greatest need. Churches have replaced the message of the gospel (man’s sin, God’s wrath, Christ’s death) with messages that are “relevant.” People listening to these sermons believe that their greatest needs are practical needs – the need to learn how to be better parents, a better spouse or better employees – some churches have even preached that what they needed was really a better sex life. In trying to be practical churches have made themselves irrelevant. What is needed is a Christian Christianity, where Christ and His gospel once again take their rightful place. John Piper says it well – “I do not aim to be immediately practical but eternally helpful.” We will do the greatest good in society when we stop taking the world’s concerns and wrapping them in Christian garb and start telling the world about its greatest problem – God is angry with sinners and He sent His Son as Savior. I know that I have not even begun to address the specific questions about Christians and their role in society – but this is a start; we must begin by recovering and proclaiming the gospel of Christ.

Good Works

"In all ages this irreligious affection of religion, because it is rooted in man's nature, has manifested itself and still manifests itself; for men always delight in contriving some way of acquiring righteousness apart from God's Word. Hence, among what are commonly considered good works the commandments of the law are accorded too narrow a place, while that innumerable throng of human precepts occupies almost the whole space."

John Calvin