What Happens at an Atheist Church?

David Norman is currently pursuing an M.Div. at Southwestern Seminary and has served in ministry for over 12 years. He thinks Jesus is enough, reading heavy books covered in dust is awesome, and the church is still the hope of the world.  He blogs at www.davidnormanblog.com and tweets (twits? twitters?) from @david_norman. ___

A recent BBC News Magazine article asked, “What happens at an atheist church?”:

The theme of the morning is “wonder” – a reaction, explains Jones, to criticism that atheists lack a sense of it.

So we bow our heads for two minutes of contemplation about the miracle of life and, in his closing sermon, Jones speaks about how the death of his mother influenced his own spiritual journey and determination to get the most out of every second, aware that life is all too brief and nothing comes after it.

The audience – overwhelmingly young, white and middle class – appear excited to be part of something new and speak of the void they felt on a Sunday morning when they decided to abandon their Christian faith. Few actively identify themselves as atheists.

“It’s a nice excuse to get together and have a bit of a community spirit but without the religion aspect,” says Jess Bonham, a photographer.

“It’s not a church, it’s a congregation of unreligious people.”

Misapplied Worship

God has created within the human heart the need to worship. We have been created with the inward desire to give ourselves to something greater – something beyond ourselves. Because Christ alone fills the void, whenever we refuse to bow our knee to God, we find ourselves on a perpetual search for something else to worship. An “atheist church” stands as a modern-day evidence of this truth by providing an avenue for worship while denying the only person truly worthy of worship.

More interesting is that the article notes that the atheist congregation spends time contemplating the miracle of life. This in itself is a fascinating discovery. Atheism, as a worldview, is not a specific denial of the Judeo-Christian God, but of the supernatural in general. It is a thoroughly naturalist anti-religion that scoffs at the notion of the miraculous. One wonders, then, how they can both contemplate the miracle of life, and yet be so deeply tied to the refusal to believe in the supernatural and manage not to see any discontinuity of thought?

The article itself references ten virtues, or commandments, that have been written for the faithless. The list can be found here. None of the virtues are evil, in fact they promote such things as politeness, sacrifice, and forgiveness. But in the absence of the Divine, these virtues are nonsensical. If there is no Creator, no afterlife or eternal life, no judgment, no reckoning – if this life truly is all that there is – virtues such as sacrifice and politeness are pithy ideals that hinder one from making the most of every moment.

The argument could be made that the desire to live in such a manner – “to flex our ethical muscles,” as the author put it – testifies to an innate knowledge that a life spent hedonistically seeking pleasure and gain at the expense of others is objectively wrong. In fact, every practice of this atheist church, including its very existence, testifies to the vain attempt to replace a life devoted to the Sovereign God with something – anything – else.

This same article claims that England and Wales are now the most unreligious nations in the Western world. What was once the missionary-sending “hub” that sent such men into world as Andrew Fuller, William Carey, and Hudson Taylor is now hard soil – desperately in need of laborers of the gospel. The streets that once thundered with the preaching of Spurgeon, Morgan, Stott, and Lloyd-Jones have now become full of men and women who have never heard the gospel. May God raise up thousands of missionaries to carry it back into these nations.

Redeeming “Church”

The last line in the quote above sounds eerily familiar to quotes used by many contemporary churches. In effort to distance themselves from what the culture may perceive to be dry, dusty, lifeless “church,” it has become common to use another term. We call them fellowships, communities, even bodies – anything, it seems, to avoid the use of a term that carries such historical baggage as “church.”

Perhaps we’d do well to return to using the term, “church.” After all, it is Christ’s church that Jesus bled for, died for, promised to build, and calls His bride. The church is the only institution that God promised to sustain eternally. Of course, using those other terms doesn’t abdicate a congregation’s place in the universal church. The Reformers were quick to acknowledge that the church existed wherever the Word was rightly taught and the sacraments rightly administered. But the solution to the growing dissonance between what the church was established to be and the current perception of the church cannot be solved by merely opting to use another descriptor.

Instead, we must redeem even the word “church” by repenting of our failure to sail between the Charybdis of absorbing the values of our culture and the Scylla of creating an artificial Christianese counter-culture. We must, instead, live as pilgrims – citizens of another Kingdom – in this world, wholly committed to the God whose gospel we proclaim. Then we are more than a fellowship, more than a congregation, an experience or a community – we are an outpost of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are the church.

May God bring us to such repentance for His glory.

The Dark Knight Rises (Or, the Return of Rob Bell)

Rob Bell was once a rising star in evangelicalism. Back in the day, many conservative evangelicals overlooked his pithiness and obscure descriptions of doctrine because his voice was different, his reach was broad (for example, the Chicago Sun-Times dubbed him "The Next Billy Graham"), and he seemed to be orthodox. Over time, many evangelicals began to distance themselves from Bell as he minimized the virgin birth of Christ in Velvet Elvis or even when he toyed with ethereal thoughts on quantum physics in "Everything is Spiritual." But, the nail in the coffin was his placation of Hell in Love Wins. This book's release even lead to an apparent denouncement from John Piper.

Like Batman, this hero became a reviled vigilante in the eyes of the very ones who once praised his work. Eventually, even Bell's own congregation couldn't handle the controversy.

Why is all of this important? Because he has a new book on the way. In What We Talk About When We Talk About God, Bell "shows how traditional ideas have grown stale and dysfunctional and reveals a new path for how to return vitality and vibrancy to how we understand God." (Here's the somewhat confusing trailer.) I'm not sure if this book is about evangelism or perhaps some sort of theology on the doctrine of God, but it's sure to sell and sure to confuse more than help Bell's target audience of people disillusioned with "traditional" Christianity. Get ready to immunize your church for the next wave of Bell.

Christian leaders have already chimed in on this subject and undoubtedly more will. Here are a few worth reading:

Owen Strachan:

If you want mystery and the ethereal stuff of faith without the burdens of inerrancy and orthodoxy, you could go his way. I do happen to love the “numinous” nature of Christianity, too. But I find it, and see my senses most come alive, not when I’m plumbing uncertainty (which leads ultimately to destruction), but when I’m peering into the mind of God in Scripture. This is why I so love Jonathan Edwards: because his vision of God, thoroughly biblical, is so transcendent, captivating, grand, large, deep, soaring, and exciting.

Carl Trueman:

[Y]es, people will take it seriously and the book will no doubt sell in vast quantities. As the old song has it: Find out what they like and how they like it and let them have it just that way.

Steve Knight also talks about Bell's promotional event for the book and the positive response he received from his supporters.

A Gospel-Driven Catechism for Kingdom Warfare

Jeff Medders is the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Church in Tomball, Texas. He is pursuing his M.Div. at Southern Seminary. He and Natalie have one precious little girl, Ivy.  Jeff digs caffeinated drinks, books, and the Triune God. He blogs at www.jeffmedders.org and tweets from @jeffmedders. ___

Today, we are at war. Not with flesh and blood, but in soul. Our heart, soul, mind, and strength are in daily conflicts with the Cosmic Powers. How do you fight?

The Apostle Paul wants us to be catechized. We need a catechism—a gospel-driven catechism of victory.

Dust off Your Catechisms

Catechizing believers, teaching a set list of questions and answers, is a long-rooted practice of the Bride of Christ. It's one that seems to be waning, if not already gone. It's definitely dusty, but we can recover it. Catechism is a powerful, helpful, biblical method of teaching others—and yourself.

How ultra-helpful are the Westminster and Heidelberg versions?

Westminster Catechism

Question 1: What is the chief end of man?

Answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Question 4: What is God?

Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

The Heidelberg Catechism

Question 1: What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

Preaching the Gospel to Our Hearts

We need to become experts in the art of preaching the gospel to ourselves. One of the greatest thinkers and pastors of the past 100 years was Martyn Lloyd-Jones, referred to by many as “The Doctor.” He rightly diagnosed why so many Christians flounder in their daily lives and experiences with God. The Doctor said, "Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?" How right on was he? A defeated, depressed, downtrodden, exasperated, exhausted, joyless, burnt-out Christianity is not Christianity.

We need to lay hold of the cross and remember our new life in Christ. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves. We need to catechize ourselves. Catechisms are a turnkey help in the practice of preaching to yourself.

Catechism ought to be in our spiritual discipline gun cabinet.

The long tested spiritual disciplines need a freshening in our perspectives. What can often be seen as a quiet and cute time around a cup of coffee, Moleskine, ESV Study Bible, assorted pens and highlighters—maybe some instrumental music—is nothing short of Kingdom warfare. We don't read the Bible to get a pick-me-up; we read to grow in the knowledge of the holy—yes, and amen!—and we take up the spiritual disciplines as weaponry against the ancient Reptile and his hobgoblins. “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ”(2 Corinthians 10:4–5 ESV). The last thing Satan wants of the Church is to obey Jesus, glorify Jesus, honor Jesus, spread the fame of Jesus—and that should be our first thing, the chief aim of all spiritual disciplines.

Attack With Gospel Truth

When the hiss of accusation, doubt, and fiery arrows draw near, Paul walks us through a catechism of victory in Romans 8:31-39; and if we resist the devil, and draw near to God, the snake will bolt (James 4:7-8). As you read Romans 8:31-39, look for the question marks.

Romans 8:31-39:

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul sets up seven questions (in ten verses!) and gives the answers—what is he doing? He is catechizing us. Romans 8:31-39 may be one of the first Christian catechisms.

There seems to be four main questions:

Question: Why should I not doubt God's love and care for me? (vv. 31-32)

Answer: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Question: How come charges will not stand against me? (v. 33)

Answer: It is God who justifies.

Question: Can I ever be condemned? (v. 34)

Answer: Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Question: Can anything separate me from the love of Christ? Will I ever be unloved by God? (vv. 37-39)

Answer: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Glory to God!

It All Comes Back to The Gospel

The questions are helpful, but the weapon is the answer. What weapon does Paul give when we are wondering if we'll be condemned? Read your Bible more? Pray harder? No way. He gives gospel truth. Stand-alone spiritual disciplines are not an encouragement; they are a vehicle, meant to help us draw near to God (James 4:8). Spiritual disciplines alone aren't the answer to a struggling heart; they take us to the answer. And each question is answered with gospel glories.

• Question: Why should I not doubt God's love and care for me?

Answer: v. 32, He gave us his Son! (Gospel)

• Question: How come charges will not stand against me?

Answer: v. 33, It is God who justifies us! How? The Cross & Resurrection (Romans 4:25). (More gospel)

• Question: Can I be condemned?

Answer: v. 34, Never! Jesus died for you, is alive for you, is at the Father's right hand for you, and interceding for you. (Yep, more gospel!)

• Question: Can anything separate me from the love of Christ?

vv. 37-39, No! You are a mega-conqueror through Christ. You have victory in him & nothing can separate from him. (And again, more gospel!)

Gospel. Gospel. Gospel. Gospel.

It always comes back to God's love; it's lauded four times in the passage (vv. 35, 37, 39). Always come back to his love. And God's love is made plain and clear in the gospel.

Romans 5:6–8 ESV

“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.”

God wants you to know and feel his love. While else frame every answer with it?  You can never feel too loved by God.

Are you sure of his love (v.38)? That's the point of the catechism, to be sure. Preach to yourself the immeasurable, matchless bounty of God's love for you.

RESPONSIVE READING

Here is responsive reading based off of Romans 8:31-39, that could assist you catechizing yourself with the gospel.

I struggle to believe God's love and care for me. Is there hope?

God is for me. No one can stand against God’s plan for me. He didn't spare his Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Is it true that God won't cast me aside? I've done some bad things; I'll never be good enough.

No one can condemn me, for Jesus died in my place—more than that, He is alive—and he reigns over my life, and is interceding for me.

My life is heavy; things aren't going as I planned. I thought God loved me?

Nothing can separate me from God's love. Trouble, distress, persecution, poverty, danger, and death cannot remove me from God's grace. In all these things, I am more than a conqueror through him who loved me.

Satan prowls around me. I've sinned too much. I've sinned too big. I'm nervous about my future.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord.

I confess these truths, clinging to Jesus — I believe and live again.

Christ be praised.

Is the Bible Anti-Wealth? No!

A few months ago, I wrote a review of David Platt’s Radical Together. I strongly commended the book. Here’s one major strength: its exaltation of and dependence on a sovereign, awesome God:

Platt wisely grounds human action in the sovereignty of God. There has been a great deal of discussion in certain circles over whether certain strands of theology kill missions. Is embracing God’s comprehensive sovereignty like a nail gun to the head when it comes to evangelism and discipleship? Not if Radical Together has anything to say about it. As the Bible does (see Job 38-41, for starters, or Isa40-48), Platt exalts a massive, awesome, authoritative, majestic God in his book. But he doesn’t end there. He knows that God is great and also good and so desires to extend his goodness to sinners. Platt therefore calls for holistic personal commitment to the Great Commission (see ch. 5).

God is using David Platt to help change the priorities of a whole generation of believers. That is truly remarkable.

I registered one concern with the book: that we not think that the Bible is anti-wealth. Actually, in some instances, wealthy Christians used their money to build up the church. Working off of 1 Timothy 6:17-19, I wrote this:

So Paul does not, in this passage, malign wealth, possessions, or even what you might call a “nice lifestyle.” We are tempted to look down upon such things, but it seems fairly clear to me that the biblical authors did not do so. In fact, as Richard Bauckham has shown in his book Gospel Women, wealthy women connected to the imperial court and possessing mind-bending wealth provided major funding to the apostles. It is not always right, then, for the wealthy (and, globally speaking, relatively wealthy folks like the American middle-class) to sell their homes and cars, or for churches to sell their buildings and end sports leagues. It might be. We want to feel that tension, in accord with Prov 30:8 (“give me neither poverty nor riches”).

There’s much to engage here, and I’ve only scratched the surface.

Evangelicalism desperately needs Platt’s laser focus on the gospel and missions. The church exists to make disciples for the glory of God, both locally and abroad. I would only point out that I think that wealth and philanthropy can actually be our friend here. In other words, if you want to apply the “radical” model–with its many strengths–I can think of few things more radical than using one’s wealth for gospel purposes. Maybe the most spiritual thing to do to support the promotion of the gospel is this: stay in your job, save and invest scrupulously, and keep pumping out money to support missionaries and pastors.

Here’s just one example of thousands we could give on this point. A forgotten man named Henry Parsons Crowell made vast amounts of money through the Quaker Oats company. Did he hoard it? Nope. He gave away 70% percent of his massive income and helped bankroll Moody Bible Institute, the school that Joel Carpenter has shown in Revive Us Again (Oxford, 1999) has sent out thousands upon thousands of missionaries in its century of ministry. Yes, every time you eat Quaker Oats, you’re paying masticular homage to a man who–merely by giving money–helped catapult the gospel all over the world. Read a full free book about this inspiring man here.

This is a testimony to what wealth, including but not limited to truly fabulous wealth, can do if committed to the Lord. It’s one of countless others we could share of evangelicals of great or small means who tucked money away not for themselves, but for the work of Christ’s church.

Let this also be said: beyond support of missions, I don’t think the Bible is against using money for other purposes, either: buying cars or houses or air conditioners or running shoes. Where, after all, are we going to draw the line on this issue–you can’t have indoor plumbing? You shouldn’t buy ground coffee beans from Starbucks? You’re in the wrong if you pay a photographer for family pictures? Where are such directives in Scripture? And wasn’t Job, for example, wealthy and prosperous as a sign of God’s blessing (Job 1, 41)? This is a pretty slippery slope, as one can see. It can lead to false guilt for leading a normal life. Platt has already given us all the foundational motivation we need in Radical Together: the greatness of God and the mercy shed abroad in the cross of Jesus Christ.

So Platt’s fundamental message is sorely needed and personally challenging: are you and I making and using money as if there is no such thing as the work of the gospel? Is the promotion of Christ in the 10/40 window to people who will never hear of him if we don’t send folks important to us? Do our church budgets reflect this reality? Do our home budgets?

Read Radical Together and Radical. Be challenged. Reorient your spending, even as you avoid false guilt. Homes, cars, coats, paved driveways, dark chocolate raisins, and good books are gifts of God. Let’s hear Platt’s sorely needed call and his powerful solution and subordinate all things to the kingdom of Christ and its advancement over all the earth.

_

Cross-posted from Thought Life.

Leading Ladies Everywhere

Current trends in faith intrigue me because I'm a blogger and I'm a blogger because I'm innately curious. Trends interest me but they do not capture me, and I think this distinction is important. I have had times where I have been momentarily distracted by ideas and methodologies, shoes and styles, but at the end of all things, I think we can agree these momentary pleasures are best if they pass away. And good riddance, too. I am, however, still interested in faith trends. I'm lured by them because I love the culture of heaven and I think it ought to affect the culture of earth, and what are trends if not culture's response to heaven's delay?

Leading Lady

One such trend that has gotten less airplay in recent years is the Emergent Church Movement (ECM) (some of you are rolling your eyes here, having already moved on past that old thing and fancying some new thing these days), but I'm still paying attention to it because the effects and the sustainability of it are just now beginning to show their true colors. You only thought the effects of it were things like Love Wins and the rise of feminism, but they were only catalysts. The true effects are where are all those people now?

Phyllis Tickle is a leading voice in the emergent movement, a Christian-mystic, a contributor to USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, PBS, and NPR. I've often been drawn to Tickle's voice because there's a sense of reverence, the Holy, I've found lacking in much of evangelicalism these days. She's gentle and lulling, and of course she is—if there's anything the ECM is known for, it is half of the whole of love—the gentle passive half void of the justice of God.

The Death of Feminism?

In the recent Emergence Christianity Conference, Tickle spoke. (And I'm getting to the point about all this and why it matters.)

The audio for the conference is not available, but the blogs of attendees are in plenty. One such attendee-blogger wrote of how disappointed she was by Tickle's talk. This leading lady of the movement who has brought a voice to equality in the church, primarily in gender roles, spoke of the downfall of modern faith being the lack of women at home, bringing up babies and such:

"Phyllis described the freedoms working outside the home in WW2 and the ability to control our cycles the Pill brought women and argued that such things led to the destruction of the nuclear family and therefore the foundation of the civil religion of Christendom. While it is a narrow assessment of causality, I can agree with the descriptive observation that such things changed our culture. But then she jumped from these changes as that which brought an end to Christendom to describing how such changes led to the destruction of the ways the faith is passed on to new generations which thereby resulted in a biblically illiterate society. As she described it, when mom is not at home weaving the stories of scripture and the church calendar into her day to day activities in front of her children, they do not receive the basics of the faith. One cannot apparently have a sacred family meal over Papa John’s pizza picked up on the way home from work the same way that one can if one is baking bread, doing family crafts, and eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. Phyllis ended the session by encouraging us to discover ways to be back in the kitchen with our children and finding crafty ways to import the rhythms of the church year to them. Essentially to focus on the family and all that. That is the great emergence. The end."*

Because the audio isn't available (and I wish it was so I could not only give you a fuller picture, but give myself a fuller one too), I don't know if any of this was a direct quote from Tickle. However, I know the general thrust of her argument sent the bloggers into a tizzy, so I would guess this paragraph is fairly close to the original.

Passing Away

Here is my purpose in sharing this quote. It is not to raise the flag of complementarity, or to espouse the incorrect view that Biblical-Womanhood is home/baby-making and nothing else. My purpose is not to say the Feminist Movement got it completely wrong or dinner around the table is the answer to all the world's problems. My purpose is to highlight trends in the Church are trends; they are as temporal as the dew on the morning grass and the oak leaves on the tree in my back yard. They are not only passing away, but they are also not important enough for us to get waylaid by as they pass.

There are moments to confront with truth, to stand firm when the waves threaten to knock down what we hold most dear. Riding trains and beating drums of passing movements, though, is not as helpful as simply adoring Christ and preaching the simplicity of the gospel in every area of our lives.

Douglas Wilson shared this from his book Five Cities that Ruled the World recently:

"Truth and error will get sorted out in the long run, and probably much quicker if we just let it rip rather than try to manage the whole process. Somehow the managers of the process are frequently found to be an essential part of the problem, and it turns out they tend to manage the discussions in such a way that that interesting fact never comes out" (pg. 191).

Movements will pass away. Error will be seen. History might repeat itself, but it will always do so with a little more hindsight and a little more abandon. Things might not get better and we may feel the negative effects of feminism for a long, long time. But truth works itself to the light with the help of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God.

What Lasts Longest

What we see in that snippet of a commentary on Tickle's talk is an acknowledgement that what a movement once espoused as best, was perhaps not best. And I think, in some ways, we all see a bit of ourselves in that. Ways we once thought were ultimate now pale in comparison to the bigger, more full picture of God's grandness we have.

Stay your eyes on Christ in these days, meditate on the truths of the Gospel, on the sufficiency of His word and the delight of the Father toward you. Do all of this with the help of the Holy Spirit and be not distracted by the morning dew.

It is passing away.

Sanctification: The People We’re Becoming

I love the movie A Beautiful Mind. The acting, story, and music are all superb. The first time I saw the movie, I was caught by surprise by the twist at the end – the revelation of what was really going on in the life and mind of the main character. With this new insight, A Beautiful Mind became one of my favorite movies. Having knowledge of the ending and understanding the truth in no way lessened my enjoyment of the movie, but rather excited me as I was able to watch the movie numerous times to see evidences of the truth that I had previously missed. Similarly, the doctrine of illumination is not only initial, but ongoing – a continuous work of the Holy Spirit giving believers insight and wisdom through Scripture. While initial illumination is involved in regeneration, ongoing illumination is involved in sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being made holy and set apart for holy use. Millard Erickson explains,

Although regeneration is instantaneously complete, it is not an end in itself. As a change of spiritual impulses, regeneration is the beginning of a process of growth that continues throughout one’s lifetime. This process of spiritual maturation is sanctification. Sanctification is the ongoing transformation of character so that the believer’s life actually comes to mirror the standing he or she already has in God’s sight.

Sanctification is the work of God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us (John Murray, Redemption: Accomplished and Applied). The Word is the primary means of the work of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification, therefore, is the work of the Spirit with the Word. Sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit that has both happened and continues to happen. As a completed event, Scripture teaches definitive sanctification in that believers have been “sanctified through the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:16), “were washed” and “were sanctified” (1 Cor. 6:11), and “were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30). Likewise, sanctification is a continual process as believers live in holiness (1 Thess. 4:7-8) as the word of God “is at work in you” (2 Thess. 2:13), for obedience to Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2). Sanctification is both an event and a process of the Holy Spirit whose principle means is Scripture.

The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind of the believer enabling him to see “all the great doctrines of the Bible concerning God, Christ, and things spiritual and eternal . . . revealed by this inward teaching of the Spirit” (Charles Hodge). The Holy Spirit operates through the Scriptures, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). This active work through the Word grows our understanding of Scripture through interpretation and obedience, both personally and corporately.

Interpretation

“Longview made dookie go gold.” This statement may sound nonsensical, ridiculous, or even profane out of context. However, this is a quote from the punk rock documentary One Nine Nine Four referring to the album “Dookie” by the band Green Day whose single “Longview” launched the band to international fame and gave the album gold status. Context is important, not only for this musical quote, but more so for our understanding and application of Scripture. Apart from the Holy Spirit working in our hearts and minds, Scripture will not make sense and achieve within us the author’s intent.

The work of the Holy Spirit through Scripture in illumination, both in initial regeneration and ongoing sanctification, has both personal and community implications. How believers understand these implications involves interpretation. The text has one meaning that the interpreter must understand and apply. That meaning is whatever the author intended the meaning to be (Walter Kaiser, Toward an Exegetical Theology). Theology cannot be separated from the text.

Illumination involves the work of the Holy Spirit “assisting the reader to achieve clarity in understanding the content of the Word.” (R.C. Sproul, The Internal Testimony of the Holy Spirit). This assistance happens personally to the individual as well as to the community. This conviction is not against reason, but beyond reason.

The Holy Spirit illumines the mind and inwardly teaches so that the Word renders faith “superior to all opinion.” Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). We therefore act in obedience with faith; we are to trust and obey. While we have “faith seeking understanding,” our understanding is not a prerequisite for obedience. Often in and through obedience we grow in greater understanding as the Holy Spirit’s work of illumination brings forth our sanctification and empowered obedience.

The Holy Spirit’s inward work happens to individual hearts and minds. Working simultaneously through the Word and in the heart and mind of the hearer, the Spirit does not operate independently from the Word in illumination. To dismiss personal illumination is to neglect the Holy Spirit’s work through the Word.

Both the Means and the Result

Sanctification is characterized by ongoing understanding of and application of the Scriptures. Paul writes, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12). John writes, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge” (1 John 2:20). Jesus states, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14). We see, therefore, that regeneration is the motivation for obedience. Indeed regeneration is necessary for fruitful application of Scripture.

Scripture is the root for both faith and practice. When God speaks, man is required to obey. Authority implies obedience. The authority of Christ and Scripture is both bestowed and inherent, therefore we submit to God’s authority. We are to obey even if we do not understand because the authority of Scripture rests not in our minds or perceptions, but in God’s Word. Scripture is God’s authoritative and revelatory Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit who also illumines the believer so that the truth of God can be applied.

Application of Scripture is for both personal and corporate sanctification. Colossians 3:16 instructs, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Likewise Paul writes in Ephesians 5:19, “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” Growing in holiness is both a personal and community occurrence.

Empowered Obedience

Paul writes in Titus 2:14 how Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” As people for Christ’s own possession, redeemed and purified, we are increasingly given opportunities for good works. As disciples, we experience personal redemption in the context of community on mission. In this we grow as disciples as well as forward the gospel in making disciples.

Obedience gives evidence to both personal and corporate sanctification. Paul writes in Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” This admonition follows the promise, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). This is understood in the context of the Philippian believers’ “partnership” as “saints” in gospel mission.

Illumination, both in regeneration and sanctification, shows us that it is the believer  and the community of believers who are changed, not Scripture. The Christian life, therefore, is not only doing transformative things, but being a transformed people. Paul writes to Titus,

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. - Titus 2:11-14

Transformed identity, both personally and corporately, results in obedience. Murray writes that Scripture confirms “this great truth that regeneration is such a radical, pervasive, and efficacious transformation that it immediately registers itself in the conscious activity of the person concerned in the exercises of faith and repentance and new obedience.”

The application of Scripture to the believer’s life is the work of the Holy Spirit. Like sanctification, this is an ongoing process. This ongoing application of the Word by the Holy Spirit affects the intellect as well as the will. The result is obedient action rooted in faith. Scott Hafemann connects faith and obedience with God’s Word: “Faith is trusting God to do what he has promised because we are convinced by his provisions that God is willing and able to keep his word.”

As Scripture reveals the nature and character of God our rightful response is to obey. Hafemann continues,

Faith in God is an active dependence on his word that always expresses itself in action. The reason for this unity of faith and obedience as two aspects of our one response to God is the promises of God are always organically linked to corresponding commands. Every command of God is built on a promise from God. Therefore every divine call to action (obedience) is, at the same time, a divine summons to trust in God’s promises (faith) . . . trust in God’s promise would mean obedience to his commands.

The Holy Spirit works in and through Scripture to actualize our faith and empower obedience, therefore we must depend on the Holy Spirit. Scripture testifies to both initial and ongoing illumination, both of which are closely tied to the Word. Faith and obedience depend on the continued work of the Holy Spirit with and through Scripture.

Mission

The mission to “make disciples” is an act of empowered obedience. Jesus states in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit, were on mission locally, regionally, and globally to “make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20). The mission is under the authority of Christ, empowered by the Spirit, and saturated with Scripture. This is consistent with God’s instruction in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (which Jesus quotes as the greatest commandment):

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 

In this passage, Israel is instructed in missional discipleship. Reminded of their identity as God’s people and His authority as their God, they are instructed to “teach” what God has “commanded.” They do so in all areas of life: personally (“you”), family (“children”), community (“house”), and culture (“gates”). This missional rhythm is as they go about life: “when you sit,” “when you walk,” “when you lie down,” “when you rise.” Likewise, a missional rhythm is included in the great commission. The imperative to “make disciples” is by “going, teaching, and baptizing.” As this mission continues for us today, D.A. Carson writes, “The Kingdom of God advances by the power of the Spirit through the ministry of the Word.”

Sanctifying Discipleship

We must ask ourselves: Are we growing in holiness personally? Are we growing in holiness in community? As we increase in information and application, are we growing in transformation?

Sanctification is not just knowing about holiness and doing holy things. Sanctification is about being and becoming holy people. Illumination is both the means and result of transformation and missional obedience gives evidence to this transformation. We return to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” We must not overlook the truth that this equipping is a work of the Holy Spirit who, through “the sacred writings . . . make[s] you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15) which then identifies one as a “man of God.” We see that this is not about making oneself good, but about being redeemed. Redemption is an identity change, not just behavior modification. 2 Timothy 3:16 is about righteous faith and character that manifests in obedience.

Since the Holy Spirit works through and with the Bible, we have a permanent need for His work.

We do so with confidence in Scripture as the written promises of God.

Scripture is a generous gift from the generous Father revealing the generous Son by the generous Holy Spirit to people transformed to be His generous church: saints in partnership in the gospel. The new community of disciples relates in the gospel and grows in understanding and interpretation of Scripture. Likewise, we grow together in obedience and application of Scripture as a community on mission with the gospel.

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Jeremy Carr (ThM, MDiv) is lead teaching pastor and co-founding elder of Redemption Church in Augusta, GA. He has been a member of the Acts 29 network since 2007 and has written for the Resurgence. Jeremy is husband to Melody and father to Emaline, Jude, Sadie, and Nora. His book on Scripture will be published by GCD Books this spring. Twitter @pastorjcarr.

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Read more in the e-book, Gospel Amnesia: Forgetting the Goodness of the News by Luma Simms

Read more free articles: The Love of God and the Local Church by Brandon Smith and The Gospel Gives us a Secure View of Self by Jared Wilson

Gospel Amnesia in the Local Church

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Gospel Amnesia by Luma Simms. The ebook edition will be available next week from GCD Books.  In Gospel Amnesia, Luma fearlessly interrogates how our prideful forgetfulness of the power and grace of the gospel of Christ undermines the foundation of our relationships with God, ourselves, and each other. For the purposes of this excerpt, Luma defines gospel amnesia in this way: "an extensive degradation or suppression of our consciousness of the gospel." It is our sincere prayer that her words will inspire believers to renewed gratitude and deeper understanding of all that Christ is and all that he has done for us.

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A few years ago I watched one of my dear friends start maturing and growing spiritually. There seemed to be a tangible difference in the way she served her family and in the way she related to her husband. This was not an act; the Lord was working in my friend's life. Instead of rejoicing with her and seeking to learn from her, I became envious. I told myself that it was okay, that we are allowed as Christians to “covet” someone else's sanctification because it would drive us to try hard and do better and become more spiritually mature ourselves. This was at the height of my gospel amnesia years, and I had “moved on” from the gospel and was busy growing and becoming “more sanctified” with all those “right things” I was doing. Except that I wasn't growing, my heart was becoming darkened with envy. I actually envied my friend's spiritual growth; I wanted it for myself, and not in addition to her, but instead of her! Is that not sick with sin? How very Cain-like of me. If that's not gospel amnesia, I'm not sure what is. It grieves me deeply when I think about how sick my heart was that I would resent the work of the Holy Spirit in my friend's life.

This went on for almost an entire year until one day I couldn't take the conviction from the Sprit any longer. This sin was crushing me. I called my friend and admitted everything. Of course she forgave me. It's not like my poor friend hadn't noticed that I had been irritable with her for almost a year, but she waited patiently for me to come talk to her. She was very longsuffering, way more than I had ever been with her, to my shame.

This type of sin is real in the local church and it needs to be brought into the light. As long as we keep our “little” sins hidden in the dark we have no hope of overcoming and standing victorious over them. The entire time I was being eaten by envy over my friend's spiritual growth, my longsuffering friend had been praying for me. She saw that I was in bondage. I will dare to say that gospel amnesia is that—bondage.

SPIRITUAL COVETEOUSNESS & SPIRITUAL PRIDE

Have you ever felt ashamed or guilty because you can't seem to keep up with someone else's sanctification? On the other side: have you ever let words slip from your lips (e.g. how many times a week you do family worship, what books you are reading, which parenting and education method you are using, etc.) to show how far along your family is on the sanctification spectrum? In other words, have you ever “preached Christ” out of envy, rivalry, or selfish ambition (Philippians 1:15–17)? I certainly have.

Spiritual covetousness and spiritual pride are real, and can do damage to relationships and to a church body. These are subtle sins. Nourished by the fertile soil of a gospel amnesic church culture, they creep into hearts under the guise of the call to “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24). They manifest themselves in a myriad of ways across countless personalities. How does this type of thing happen? How do we get to a point in the local body where we resent the work of the Holy Spirit in someone else's life, or sling around our spiritual pride provoking our brethren? How do we forget that it was he who said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion?”

The answer is: gospel amnesia. We forget the gospel and the cross at the heart of the gospel. We forget the work of Christ.

The local church is a messy place; a place full of sinners in need of their savior every day. You and I are part of this organism. Hence, if we personally have gospel amnesia, we can imagine how that could exponentiate within the local body. Here too we have to ask ourselves: What has become the center of our local church? What excites those in the pews around us?

SINS IN THE LOCAL CHURCH

There is sin in every church, because every church, no matter how small or how selective, is made up of fallen humans.

Gospel amnesia flourishes in a local church where there is a disconnect between doctrine and culture. An obvious case would be a church where there is no gospel preaching. Another would be a church that is obligation-heavy and gospel-light. Yet another is where there is a fair amount of gospel doctrine with little or no gospel action.

Ray Ortlund Jr. asks in his sermon Justification versus Self–Justification, “what kind of dark church culture can a mentality of self-justification (gospel amnesia) create?” (I am substituting 'gospel amnesia' knowing that the gospel is more than just the doctrine of justification.) Here are some of his answers: Selfish ambition, manipulative power of exclusion, a sense of grievance toward some, a redefining of what it takes to be an acceptable Christian (a “Jesus + Something” mentality), biting, devouring, insecurity, anxiety, fear and anger. I would add suspicion, warring over secondary matters, verbal or non-verbal pressure to adhere to unstated rules, a culture of affectation, preoccupation with outward behavior, and a lack of humility and transparency. A church rife with gospel amnesia can trumpet all day long that they hold to the gospel, but if the fruit of church culture shows otherwise, they have effectively de-gospeled the gospel. (My deep gratitude to Pastor Ray Ortlund Jr. whose sermon helped me to crystalize some of these thoughts. His phrase “de-gospel the gospel” had me taking notes feverishly while driving and listening.)

When members of a church are blinded by gospel amnesia, dealing with sin in the congregation is hampered by a lack of grace and a gospel-centered rebuke and restoration process. How can a people tackle difficulties in their relationships and in their body life when they have forgotten the gospel, Jesus has been marginalized, and the center has become many things, none of which is the gospel and cross work of Christ!?

The friend I mentioned has long since forgiven me. Although we went through more hard times, the Lord has always brought us back together. I will say this: The only reason our relationship survived such heavy sinning was due purely to the cross of Jesus. When the two of us grabbed hold of the gospel again, when we started understanding the grace of God and when we became more comfortable with our identities being in Christ, that is when our friendship truly deepened, and love—Jesus' love—covered a multitude of sins.

What has become the center of your life in your local church?

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Luma Simms (@lumasimms) is a wife and mother of five delightful children between the ages of 1 and 19. She studied physics and law before Christ led her to become a writer, blogger, and Bible study teacher. Her book Gospel Amnesia is forthcoming on GCD Press. She blogs regularly at Gospel Grace.

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For more GCD articles from Luma on the life-changing power of the gospel, read: Gospel Amnesia & Building a Sister Up and Raising Gospel Centered Children.

The Image of God and the Life of Love

When Paul proclaims in Romans 3 that “no one is good, no not one,” he makes a bold statement. Indeed, the scope of sin's reach within creation is wide and its effects are devastating. In the case of mankind, it’s safe to say that we do not naturally compare to the original model of moral perfection. At the start, God created man and woman in his image, placed them in a garden, and assigned them dominion over everything that he had created and had called “very good” (Gen. 1:27-31). He marveled at his work, including the pinnacle of his labor, Adam and Eve. The beginning of the Bible portrays God and his masterpiece dancing in perfect harmony. As the story goes, this did not last (Gen. 3:24).

Though the first sin laid waste to the perfection of God’s creation, his glory still radiates from the skies (Ps. 19:1) and creation reveals his attributes for all to see (Rom. 1:20). Sin marred creation such that we can still clearly see the beauty of God’s handiwork in sunrises and ocean tides, but as those looking through a dim mirror (1 Cor. 13:12). Likewise, God’s image-bearers now reflect him in a rather distorted way, but reflect him nonetheless.

Love: the Divine Reflection

As the world around us drudges along in a perverted mirage, those redeemed by Christ have the unique opportunity to truly portray God’s beautiful design for his people. Though mankind’s image-bearing manifests itself in various arenas of life, it could be said that love is most practical way that we as God’s reflections can join in his reconciling of all things (Col. 1:20).

Jesus teaches that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love others (Matt. 22:37-39). John tells us that God is love and that those who claim to love God had better show it through love (1 John 4:8). These statements are not trite; they are monumental.

Sin brings death, destruction, and a mighty chasm between God and man. If love is a defining attribute of God, then his image-bearers should be distinctively known for their love. This means that we counter grudges with forgiveness, harshness with gentleness, abuse with tenderness, and derision with encouragement. Satan pushes us into self-absorption but God pushes us to radical acts of service. As Jeff Vanderstelt so aptly charges, “We should live a life that demands a gospel explanation.”

The natural bent of the human heart is to play the role of king. Whether it’s belittling others, stock-piling material goodies, griping at other drivers on the road, or working hard to reach maximum success in personal endeavors… people will find a way try and manipulate for themselves a world to their liking. When God’s people respond to such urges with unexplainable selflessness, they take part in the reconciliation of creation. Every time Satan’s lies are met with the character of God, things look much like they ought to. Love forges more paths than violence.

And let’s be clear, love is not always warm and fuzzy. It is paramount to remember that love is often displayed in hard truth. When Peter argues against the plan of God, Jesus uses strong language: “Get behind me Satan!” (Matt. 16:23). In the next verse, he reminds his disciples that they must be willing to give up everything to follow him. Now, this is not to say that we should liken everyone to the Prince of Darkness, but it is a reminder that sometimes the most loving thing to do is to rebuke others in order to point them to something better: Christ.

Albeit Imperfect

As previously stated, we are imperfect carriers of the divine image. We are not pre-Fall Adam and Eve, but we are still the apex of God’s creation. This is significant, life-changing.

Wayne Grudem rightly reflects: “This realization will give us a profound sense of dignity and significance as we reflect on the excellence of all the rest of God’s creation: the starry universe, the abundant earth, the world of plants and animals, and the angelic kingdoms are remarkable, even magnificent. But we are more like our Creator than any of these things.”

As we assess our own purpose and reason for existence, may we remember that God is renewing us into his image (Col. 3:10) and that he wills for us to be conformed into the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29). This gives us hope in the fight to love him and those around us. Though it will not always play itself out perfectly, God’s people can know that the gospel is powerful enough to overcome their weaknesses and propel them into service for his eternal Kingdom.

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[Portions of this article originally appeared at Servants of Grace.]

Inter-Trinitarian Joy, and the Joy of Knowing and Loving God

Dave Jenkins is the Director of Servants of Grace Ministries. He earned his M.A.R. and M.Div. through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He is happily married to his wife Sarah and lives in Caldwell, Idaho where he enjoys spending time with family and playing golf.

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Inter-Trinitarian Joy

Luke 10:21-22 - “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

The greatest joy of all is the joy that God the Son has in God the Spirit and God the Father. The word that Luke uses for rejoicing in this passage is more intense than any other word for joy including the other terms he has used in Luke 10. The Greek word agalliao is a word for exuberant ecstasy meaning complete exultation in the fullness of joy.

Jesus rejoices to see Satan defeated and to give the free gift of eternal life. Here was an even greater joy because it took place within the triune being of God, who exists eternally as one God in three persons. By its very nature, the joy of Jesus is greater than any joy that we could ever experience. Jesus is the God the Son, so His joy is a divine rejoicing. It is a perfect joy, unspoiled, and undiminished by sin. Here His joy is especially intense because He is rejoicing in the revelation of the Holy Spirit and in the secret, saving work of His Father. Luke is showing us the joy at the heart of the universe – the rejoicing that takes place within the Godhead, where God is both the subject and the object of His own joy.

The Father, Son and the Spirit glory in one another. When Jesus was baptized in Luke 3:22 and again when He was transfigured in Luke 9:35 we see the pleasures that the Father takes in His own beloved Son. Jesus rejoices in the Spirit and the Father, and as He rejoices we catch a glimpse of God glorifying and enjoying Himself. There can be no greater joy than this: the eternal joy that God Himself enjoys in the being of God. Jesus was so overwhelmed with the triune joy that in a spontaneous outburst He rejoiced out loud. He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit finding His enjoyment in the Third person of the Trinity. He also rejoiced in the Father, praising him for his supreme greatness over heaven and earth.

The Glory of God in Salvation

Many people would be surprised at the occasion for this joy. Luke 10:21-22 gives the reason for this rejoicing. Jesus was rejoicing over the sovereignty of God in salvation, over the doctrine of election, over the fact that God reveals the truth of salvation only to His own beloved children. People often consider the sovereignty of God’s grace to be a dark and difficult doctrine.

Why does God bring some people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ while others are left to perish for their sins? The Bible never gives us a full answer to this question except to say that God does it for His own glory. Far from treating this mystery as an occasion for anxiety the Bible presents it as a comfort for the soul.

The doctrine of election, which proves God’s sovereignty in salvation, is a doctrine of joy. We find this on Christmas night with the angel singing “glory to God in the highest” and “bless the people who are in God’s pleasure” in Luke 2:14. We find it in Romans 9-11 where Paul’s exposition of election ends with a grand doxology of praise. We find it in Ephesians 1, where the fact that God has chosen us in Christ is celebrated with high praise to God. We also find it here in Luke 10, where God’s sovereignty in salvation brings joy to the very Godhead.

Jesus rejoices in the Father’s gracious will to reveal salvation to some but not to others. To be specific, God has hidden the secrets of His Gospel from people who think that they are wise and revealed them instead to little children. In other words, He reveals to people who know that they do not know everything and who therefore come to Him in simple, childlike faith. When Jesus spoke about the wise and understanding He may have been referring ironically to members of the religious establishment like the Pharisees and Sadducees theological know-it-all who refused to believe that He was the Christ. When Jesus spoke of little children, He was referring to ordinary disciples who for all their weakness were learning to follow Him in faith and obedience. Jesus is not praising ignorance but humility.

Searching Our Hearts

The contrast here in Luke 10 is not between educated and uneducated but between those who imagine themselves to be wise and sensible and want to test the Gospel truths by their own intellects, and to pronounce judgment according to their self-formed ideas. Those who live under the profound impression that by their own insight and their own reasoning demonstrate they are utterly powerless to understand the truths of God and to accept them.

Which two of these categories describes your own attitude toward Christ? Are you still trying to evaluate Christianity according to your own belief system or are you ready to learn what God wants to teach you? If in our arrogance we insist that God wants to meet our own intellectual standards, we will never be saved.

The mystery of God’s person, His mind, His heart, and His salvation are infinitely too exalted and wonderful to be penetrated and understood simply by submitting them to a sufficiently powerful intellectual analysis. By God’s own choice and decree they remain hidden from the wise. By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit plainly reveals these same profound mysteries to humble sinner who come to God with nothing except their need for him. God is not an intellectual elitist.

There is no minimum IQ for membership in the family of God. The Gospel is not restricted to people who are smart enough to understand it. All we need is a teachable spirit and a childlike trust in Jesus. Giving God’s grace to the humble is one of God’s greatest joys.

In Luke 10:21, Jesus had rejoiced in the revelation of the Father; here in Luke 10:22, He rejoices in His own revelation as the Son. It is all interconnected. Jesus Christ is God the Son. Therefore everything that belongs to the Father – such as His sovereign power and divine authority – also belongs to the Son. When Jesus said that the Father had given Him all things, He was making the strongest possible claim to His own deity. All things belong to Jesus Christ the Son of God. Not a single atomic particle in the entire universe is outside His supreme Lordship. Due to His divine identity, the Son has perfectly knowledge of the Father, in the same way that the Father has perfect knowledge of the Son.

The Father and the Son share mutual intimacy with the Spirit in the fellowship of their triune being. Only God can know God perfectly and therefore no one knows the Son as does the Father, or the Father as does the Son. We ourselves are able to have fellowship with the triune God. By the grace of the Father, according to the will of the Son, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, the Christian knows the living God. It is the work of the Son to bring us into fellowship with the Father and Jesus rejoices that this is so. God the Son came into the world so that we could enter His joy, the joy of knowing and loving God. As the Son of the Father, He enjoyed unique knowledge of the intimate relationship that lies at the heart of the Godhead, and with that unique knowledge the unique privilege of communicating it to whomever He pleased.

The Joy of Salvation

Luke 10:23-24 - “Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Jesus ends this conversation with a blessing that came from a heart full of joy – a blessing that must have made His disciples joy complete in Luke 10:23-24. This joyous benediction is in keeping with what Jesus already said about the secrets of salvation belonging only to God. The Father and the Son have exclusive, mutual, intimate fellowship within their triune being. According to the Father’s gracious will, by His own sovereign choice and through the revealing work of the Holy Spirit, the Son invited His disciples – and His disciples alone – to share in their fellowship. Theirs was the high privilege of knowing the Father and the Son, with the Spirit.

To make sure they understood what a great privilege this was, Jesus referred to all the men who desperately wanted to have this knowledge but never lived to that day. He was referring explicitly to the prophets and kings of the Old Testament who prayed for the coming of the Christ. How these men longed to see the promise of the ages fulfilled in the long awaited Messiah! Imagine what Jeremiah would have given to see the righteous branch raised up from David described in Jeremiah 23:5. Or Isaiah to see the son conceived to the virgin described in Isaiah 7:14. Or Micah to see the baby born in Bethlehem in Micah 5:2.

Imagine what David would have given to see his God-forsaken Savior poured out like water or laid in the dust of death. Or Isaiah to see the Suffering Servant wounded for his transgressions and buried in a rich man’s tomb. Imagine what Job would have given to see his risen Redeemer standing on the earth. With a holy jealousy these mighty kings and faithful prophets longed to know the Christ as the disciples knew him. What a blessing it was for the twelve to see the ancient promises fulfilled in the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. What a blessing and what a joy!

Only one thing could add to the disciples’ joy: our own believing response to the Gospel. The apostle John who had been with Jesus the day he rejoiced in the Spirit wrote about this saving response in his first epistle. John began by testifying to the things he had heard with his own ears and seen with his own eyes – the Gospel realities that were the envy of prophets and kings. Then he celebrated the joy he had in knowing God. 1 John 1:3, “that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeedour fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  “

John’s joy was not yet complete. There was still one thing he had desired which was to join him by trusting in Jesus for our salvation. 1 John 1:3-4, “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 sothat ourjoy may be complete.” The joy of the apostles is complete whenever we join their fellowship with the Father and the Son through Jesus Christ. Their joy becomes our own when we come to Christ. The ancient kings would have laid down their crowns, and the old-time prophets would have left behind their ministries to know Jesus the way we know Him in the Gospel: as our Savior from sin and our God forever.

What joy is ours! We have the great joy of having our names written in heaven and the still greater joy of knowing the Father, the Son and the Spirit in their rejoicing. No one is more greatly blessed than we are and therefore no one should live with greater joy.

The Noetic Effects of Sin and Discipleship of the Mind

Matt Capps is an ordained Baptist minister and a pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in North Carolina. Matt is a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and is currently a student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (D.Min.). Matt blogs here.  

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“In spite of a clouded memory, the mind seeks its own good; though like a drunkard it cannot find the path home.” - Boethius[1]

The scandal of the evangelical mind is that the evangelical mind is darkened by the noetic effects of sin.[2] Hoekema argued that “…sin has poisoned the very fountain of life [therefore] all of life is bound to be affected by it.”[3] Sin cuts through all aspects of our being, and even has consequences to our cognitive faculties. This is true of Christians and non-Christians alike. This is not to say that human depravity has darkened the mind to the extent that human intellect is incapable of knowing truth, beauty, and goodness. The fall did not destroy human reasoning faculties all together. John Calvin asserts, concerning earthly knowledge:

Shall we deny that the truth shone upon the ancient jurists who established civic order and discipline with such great equity? Shall we say that the philosophers were blind in their fine observation and artful description of nature? What shall we say of all the mathematical sciences? Shall we consider them the ravings of madmen? No, we cannot read the writings of the ancients on these subjects without great admiration.[4]

Van Til makes a similar point in arguing that we are well aware of the fact that all humans, by virtue of common grace, have a great deal of knowledge about this world which is true as far as it goes.[5] However, concerning spiritual knowledge Plantinga has argued that if it were not for our sin infested noetic structure, human beings would believe in God [thus the gospel] to the same degree and with the same natural spontaneity that we believe in “…the existence of other persons, an external world, or the past”, but because of our sinful condition faith seems to difficult and for some absurd.[6] Moreover, as Bavinck has labored to show us, relying on human reason alone to ground faith will always disappoint.[7]

Humanity sees through a glass dimly because of the effects of sin. One of the most baffling characteristics of sin is that it is usually masked and elusive, and is especially hard to recognize in ourselves. For this reason it is important to understand the noetic effects of sin and its implications for the discipleship of the mind. Moroney argues that sin disturbs human thinking in some areas more than others, more so when it comes to matters related to God.[8]

The Origin of the Noetic Effects of Sin

In one sense, the fall of mankind occurred because of noetic rebellion. What the serpent proposed in the Garden of Eden was nothing less than a line of thinking diametrically opposed to God’s good and designated order. Essentially, Adam and Eve questioned God’s truthfulness and reliability and decided that autonomous reasoning would reign supreme as the definitive mediator of truth. After the fall God declares that “…the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.”[9] In other words, man wanted to be like God in determining for himself what is true and good, and became, as it were, his own god. As a result of the fall, sin has become universal; except for Jesus Christ, no person who ever lived, or ever will live, on this earth has been free from sin.[10]  Therefore all have inherited sinfulness along with its noetic effects.[11]

The Noetic Effects of Sin and the Good News of Jesus Christ

Thankfully, the gospel is the power of God for salvation. According to Paul salvation includes the renewal of the mind.[12] As Goldsworthy puts it, “…it stands to reason [nice play on words there] that, if the fall involved an epistemological disaster, then salvation must include epistemological redemption.”[13] As mentioned earlier, Jesus Christ is the only one who has ever lived with a sinless and pure mind. A robust account of salvation includes redemption of the mind through the perfect mind of Christ our savior. According to Paul, all believers are given the mind of Christ.[14] At the same time, all believers still experience the effects of sin until the new heavens and new earth.[15] Until then, believers are conformed to the image of Christ in the process of sanctification. Our noetic sanctification is the fruit of our justification in Christ. Simply put, the Christian mind is renewed at conversion, but it continues to be transformed throughout the life of the believer. Goldsworthy describes this process of noetic sanctification as follows:

It is the gradual formation within us of what we have in Christ through faith. The renewal of the mind is an on-going process by which our thinking is conformed more and more to the truth as it is in Jesus.[16]

Towards a Discipleship of the Mind

Apart from regeneration, reason is in bondage to sin.[17] Even the Christian mind is not sequestered from the reality of sin. Our natural tendency, inherited from Adam, is to seek and love the wrong things, or seek and love the right things in an inordinate manner. This is why Paul commands that Christians need to be continually “transformed by the renewal of the mind.”[18] The renewing of the mind is a common theme in the writings of Paul.[19] While the transformation of the mind is an act of God, there is also responsibility upon the Christian concerning their intellectual life.

How then is one to take all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ? At the heart of this discussion is revelation of, and faith in, the gospel of Jesus Christ, through which noetic salvation is granted by the grace of God. Anselm and Augustine’s “faith seeking understanding” approach to knowledge is helpful here since it implies that faith for the Christian is always striving to understand and apply what has already been believed. By his grace God has provided means through which noetic sanctification can be spurred on in the life of the Christian.

First, humanity has been given God’s word, the cannon of Scripture. When it comes to distorted minds because of the noetic effects of sin, God is not passive but intentional in clearly revealing and communicating divine truth to humanity. God’s self-revelation through works in the unfolding drama of revelation is made clear to darkened minds through his word. Moreover, all Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is himself the focus of divine revelation. As Paul argued, it is God who shines light into the darkness of our minds to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God’s word is the perfect treasure of divine instruction through which the Spirit shapes our mind to the mind of Christ.[20] Understanding and passing on the deep treasure of Scripture is the task of all intellectual theological endeavors and catechesis in the church.

Also, God has provided the Holy Spirit as the indwelling helper in the fight against the noetic effects of sin. Luther distinguished between the magisterial and ministerial uses of the mind. The magisterial use occurs when reason stands over and above the gospel and judges it based on argument and evidence. The ministerial use of the mind occurs when the mind submits and serves the gospel. While much of the gospel-centered movement today focuses on believing right propositions as the aim of fighting idolatry, one cannot forget the ministerial role of the Holy Spirit in enabling and shaping our minds to the truths of the gospel. Without the Spirit, one is powerless to believe in the gospel.[21] There must be a prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit to treasure God with all one’s mind.

Lastly, God has ordained the church as the context of spiritual formation. “The church is to be a learning a teaching fellowship in which the passing on of what we learn becomes a regular part of the service we render to each other.”[22] The church is God’s ordained context in which persons will grow in their godliness through instruction, teaching, nurture, and formation. Biblically grounded and Spirit empowered community life is vital in conforming the believer’s mind to the truths of the gospel. Often one cannot see their own need for transformation because of sin. However, others in the context of Christian community become instruments through which God’s grace is made known. Just as iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another.[23]

Concluding Thoughts

Noll has recently argued that knowledge of Christ provides the most basic possible motive for pursuing the task of Christian learning.[24] Concerning discipleship of the mind McGrath has contended that “Christian theology is one of the most intellectually stimulating and exciting subjects it is possible to study, rich in resources for the life of faith and the ministry of the church.”[25] Considering the riches of knowledge in Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian community, one cannot help but be thankful for God’s gracious provision concerning the fight against the noetic effects of sin. Let us be diligent in the transformation of our minds until the coming of our Lord, when our minds will finally be free of the noetic effects of sin and we will finally see Him as He is! As the Apostle Peter reminds us, prepare your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.[26]

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[1] Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, 49.

[2] The term ‘noetic’ includes all aspects of the mind, including the will, and is therefore a wider category than ‘knowledge’.

[3] Anthony Hoekema, Created in God’s Image, 172.

[4] John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, II.ii.15.

[5] See Cornelius Van Til, Introduction to Systematic Theology, 26ff.

[6] Alvin Plantinga, Reason and Belief in God, 66.

[7] Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Abridged, 115.

[8] Stephen Moroney, The Noetic Effects of Sin: An Historical and Contemporary Exploration of How Sin Affects Our Thinking, 37ff.

[9] Genesis 3:22

[10] 1 Kings 8:46; Job 14:4; Psalm 130:3, 143:2; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; John 3:3; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:3; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8, 10.

[11] Romans 1; 1 Corinthians 2:14.

[12] Romans 12:2,

[13] Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, 60.

[14] 1 Corinthians 2:16.

[15] Romans 7:13-25.

[16] Goldsworthy, Gospel-Centered Hermeneutics, 61.

[17] Colossians 1:21; Romans 1:18-28; 8:5-7; Ephesians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 3-4.

[18] Romans 12:2.

[19] Ephesians 4:17-24.

[20] I Corinthians 2:16.

[21] Galatians 5-6.

[22] J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett, Grounded in the Gospel, 15.

[23] Proverbs 27:17.

[24] This seems to be the primary argument throughout his book Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind.

[25] Alister McGrath, The Passionate Intellect, 7.

[26] 1 Peter 1:13.

Thinking and Feeling

John Piper has written a powerful book on the life of the mind entitled Think. Piper is easily my favorite writer, and this is possibly my favorite book of his. Here is an excerpt from the book on why our head and our heart should both be stimulated in our faith:

God has given us minds and demanded that we use them in understanding and applying his Word. And God has given us emotions which are equally essential and which he has commanded to be vigorously engaged in his service.

If we neglect the mind we will drift into all sorts of doctrinal error and dishonor God who wills to be known as he is. And if we neglect the heart we will be dead while we yet live no matter how right our creed is.

Often I run across people who are either more logically-driven or more emotionally-driven in regards to their faith. There are problems that can arise if we focus too much on one or the other.

Thinking Too Much

This can lead to 1) an issue of intellectual pride, and 2) legalism. One problem that exists in theological circles is that people tend to feel that they have so logically figured God out that they frown upon or belittle anyone who does not “get it.” This mindset drives us into idolizing something other than God and causes us to focus on the dogmatic and not the spiritual. Over-thinking makes us a sort of mindless robot, going through the motions but not taking seriously the supernatural, unexplainable work of God. We must be able to live in the tension of our finite minds and God's infinite mind, understanding that we cannot fully grasp his endless wonders. This realization should cause great humility and admiration of our matchless King.

Feeling Too Much

The main issue here is that people get so caught up in their last emotional high that they are disappointed when that high fades out. The Christian faith is not always crying during worship or an insatiable desire to read the Word; often times it is gut-wrenching and plain exhausting. You will not always “feel like” living obediently or dying to self. This is where sound, basic theology of who God is and what he has done can carry us through the dryness of life in a fallen world. We must be able to use our knowledge of God to remind our hearts that his glory is worth fighting for and that he has not lied or drawn us to himself in vain. Emotional reactions to circumstances have led me to a tainted view of a good God.

My prayer is that God would not only tune my mind to him, but tune my heart as well. The gospel frees us to take both our thoughtful doubts and heart-led burdens to the throne of grace. He is there, he promises to provide. If our minds and hearts are both in rhythm with God - albeit imperfectly - we will be a grave danger to Satan’s work in this world.

Psalm 127 & 3 ways to live

Last week I got our bicycle pump out of the shed to fill the tires on our baby stroller, and our four-year-old Samuel wanted to help. He commandeered the bicycle pump, and when I tried to teach him how to use it, he said, ‘No Daddy, I don’t need your help!’ It struck me as insanely irrational of my son to refuse the help of someone who is nine times his age and knows much better than he how to do the job. And then I realized I have often acted just this way toward God.

God does nothing & we do everything

Professing belief in God, I have often lived as a practical atheist. Functionally, I have adopted the motto of the convinced atheist: ‘God does nothing and we do everything.’ In fact, not long ago, I suddenly realized I had not prayed once about the thorny problem I had spent hours fretting and stewing over. Ouch. Faced with a challenge, I had instinctively turned to myself rather than to God.

Solomon seeks to undercut this way of living in Psalm 127:1. ‘Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.’ The key word there is ‘vain.’ (It’s used three times in verses 1-2.) Life without God is fruitless. You might be able to build the house or guard the city - there are, after all, excellent atheist architects - but if you have a big house and a safe city and no God, it’s ultimately in vain.

God does everything & we do nothing

Practical atheism is a big mistake. But so is an opposite error into which we sometimes fall. The motto for this way of living is: ‘God does everything and we do nothing.’ There came a point last week (as Samuel struggled manfully but ineffectually with the bicycle pump) when I finally stepped in and began helping. After a few moments Samuel skipped off to do something more interesting. He figured I was doing everything, so he could do nothing.

We live this way, too, don’t we? Sometimes we wrap our laziness in spiritual garb. We say, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ instead of offering practical help that will cost us something. We might even be tempted to see justification for passivity and inactivity in Psalms 127. After all, Solomon says, ‘It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil…’ (verse 2).

But of course, Solomon isn’t minimizing the importance of healthy work (as we see clearly in Psalm 128:2). Instead, he’s speaking of the fruitlessness of painful, anxious, godless labor. Psalm 127 is no advocate for passivity or laziness. As John Calvin says, ‘It is not the will of the Lord that we should be like blocks of wood, or that we should keep our arms folded without doing anything; but that we should apply to use all the talents and advantages which [God] has conferred upon us.’

God does everything & we do something

Here’s a more biblical way to express the role God plays and the role we play: God does everything and we do something. The key to seeing this is noticing the two remarkable verbal parallels in Psalm 127.1: God ‘builds’ the house and laborers ‘build’ the house. The LORD ‘guards’ the city and those ‘guarding’ watch over the city. Does God build or do we build? Yes! Does God guard or do we guard? Yes!

After my son Samuel ran off to do something more interesting, I allowed our two-year old daughter Annie to take a turn with the bicycle pump. She placed her little hand on the pump handle, and I placed my big hand over her little hand, and we pumped together. She was pumping and I was pumping at the same time.

But although we were both pumping, it was clear our contributions were not equal. If Annie had stopped pumping, I would have continued pumping. If I had stopped pumping, Annie couldn’t have continued on her own. Here’s a crucial truth to realize: we do not contribute equally with God. Our relationship with God is assymetrical. It is true to say that, ‘Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.’ But it is never true to say, ‘Unless those who labor build the house, the Lord builds in vain.’ That is heresy. God graciously uses us to accomplish his purposes in the world, but he never needs us. William Carey, the 19^th century Baptist missionary to India and father of the modern missionary movement, got it just right when he said, ‘Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.’ The order of those two sentences is crucial. The asymmetry of God’s contribution and ours is the reason we give God all the glory when things we’ve worked hard to accomplish go well. As Solomon says elsewhere, ‘The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the LORD’ (Proverbs 21:31).

God does everything, and we do something. Solomon concludes Psalm 127 by illustrating this truth in vv 3-5. Where do children come from? Well, of course the readers of Psalm 127 know that mommy and daddy play a part in the procreation of the children. (There’s been only one virgin birth in history.) But there’s a deeper answer to the question. Children are given to parents by God (verse 3). Parents who have tried unsuccessfully month after month to conceive children know they cannot simply decide to have children. God must open the womb, as he is often said to do in the Scriptures. Where do children come from? God does everything and we do something.

As Christians, we’re called to be more active and full of good works than the world. But we’re also called to be more reliant, more humble, and more aware of our need for help than the world. We are therefore to give all the glory to God when he causes our efforts to succeed. Let’s not live like practical atheists (‘God does nothing and we do everything’) or passive slackers (‘God does everything and we do nothing’). Instead, let’s live like prayerful activists. God does everything and we do something.

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Stephen Witmer (PhD, University of Cambridge) is the pastor of Pepperell Christian Fellowship in Pepperell, Massachusetts and an Adjunct Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has written for Themelios, Reformation 21, Bible Study Magazine and the Gospel Coalition website, and is the author of The Good Book Guide to Jonah and Restlessly Patient: How to Live in Light of Your Future (forthcoming).

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For more on living in Christ, check-out the free edition of Winfield Bevin's book Grow: Reproducing Through Organic Discipleship available at Exponential.

For more resources on how the gospel changes our relationships & responsibilities, see: Relationships First: Reasons it's Difficult to Share Our Faith by Jonathan Dodson & Messy Discipleship by Jake Chambers.

From We to Me?

In a recent CNN.com article Alan Miller took issue with the rising trend of young adults in America embracing a sort of generic spirituality, while eschewing more formal, organized forms of religion. Citing solid research and referencing popular books, Miller suggests that this movement is thoroughly entrenched in American life, but that it is also a “cop-out” and should be rejected. In spite of that, the “spiritual but not religious movement” continues to grow in popularity and, at least to some degree, seems to be a backlash against the excesses and inappropriate behavior that some religious organizations have embraced or engaged in, historically. Christianity is probably the most substantial segment of American religion to feel the weight of this rejection on the part of younger generations. Statistics constantly remind us that the younger the generation, the quicker they are leaving our organized faith behind.

If we are going to be honest about it, we have to admit that our Christian movements have, at times, fed the disenchantment through horrible behavior. Looking back through history to the crusades of the Catholic church, to the more recent examples of pedophilia among the Catholic church’s clergy, and even the rampant racism that used to dominate my own tribe, Southern Baptists, racism which has been publicly relegated to the trash heap in the last few years, but which still has a comfortable seat at the table in too many churches, it is easy to see why many would want nothing to do with it.

I want to suggest one biblical example, however, that indicates that rejection of the corporate expression of the church in the face of this kind of sin is not nearly as helpful to our spiritual condition as many might think it to be.

We live in America. The home of independent, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, self-success often best described by the famous Frank Sinatra song, “My Way“. We love the strong, able hero who can take on the world by themselves and succeed in the American ethic. Because of this ethos, we have so individualized every aspect of our culture, that we have also individualized our worship. We can worship God, and never be involved in organized worship. We do not need others to rightly honor him. But, is this what scripture indicates? See for yourself.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1 ESV)

I want to call your attention to one small detail in this passage, one which various translations have unfortunately missed. Notice the plural use of the word “bodies”, particularly when contrasted with the singular use of the word “sacrifice”. If you were to read a different translation, say for instance the NIV, you would see both bodies and sacrifice as plural forms. Unfortunately, the NIV translators, among others, simply got it wrong. Bodies is intended to be plural, while sacrifice is intended to be singular. Why? Simply put, God’s design for our worship; for our sacrifice, is for each of us to come together, as individuals, and for us to form one corporate act of sacrifice; of worship, to honor Him. Simply put, God has designed us so that we need each other. Put another way, the corporate church is God’s design, not ours.

The corporate nature of the body of Christ can be foreign in such an individualized culture, but it is so imperative in the Christian community. It is on this foundation that activities of the church such as church discipline, communion, baptism and more are built upon. It is because we have lost this corporate element in many of our churches that some of these activities have fallen in to disrepair, or disuse all together. Sadly we do not understand the biblical nature of the church which means we can quickly abandon the biblical practices of the church. We must resist this encroaching individualization of the body of Christ.

Yes, the organized church has made horrific errors. Yes, she has failed time and time again. Yes, there is need for great renewal and reform in many corners of, particularly, the Christian church. However, abandoning the church is not the answer. The church needs you, but maybe more specific to your life, you need the church.

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Cross-posted from Micah's personal blog.

The Trinity & God the Father

Editor's Note: This is a repost of WDA's Knowing God Pocket Principle 4. It appears at GCD with the author's permission. ---

Most of us can’t remember being a baby. But we all were, even if there is no hard evidence, such as those embarrassing photos parents often bring out at holidays. As babies, we form critical ideas about ourselves and the world around us. Sociologists and psychologists tell us that one of the most basic ideas we develop is the understanding that we are distinct, separate from the world around us. We are different from everyone else, even our parents. Our hands are our hands, not somebody else’s. There is an “us” and there is a “not us.”

This concept of being distinct and separate is also true of God. He is different from His creation.

God is different from us and all the universe. Nothing can quite compare to Him nor entirely explain Him. In order to develop a true relationship with God we need to understand this. We must realize that “God Is Who He Is” (Exodus 3:14). To understand who God is, we must understand what He has said about Himself.

God reveals aspects of His character and rule through the natural world. The amazing complexity, order, beauty, and grandeur of the physical world tell us something of God's majesty. But He especially tells us about Himself through Scripture. One unique way that God has revealed Himself in the Bible involves His three-in-one nature. The Church calls this three-person aspect of God: “The Trinity.” Admittedly this is a difficult concept to grasp, but it is central to understanding Him. We can know God more fully by studying how He has revealed Himself through each person of the Trinity.

The Trinity

Deuteronomy 6:4 declares, “The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” The Scriptures are very clear, there is only one God. Yet He exists in three eternal and equal persons who are the same in essence, but uniquely distinct from one another. The Scriptures place the three persons of the Trinity together as equals: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; I Peter 1:2, I Corinthians 12:4-6; II Corinthians 13:14).

The Trinity is a great mystery to us. We cannot fully understand how God can be one God and three persons, because we have no complete and exact comparison for this concept. Many things about our infinite God are hard to understand from our finite, human vantage point (cf. Isaiah 55: 8-9). Yet we can define and believe this because the Bible teaches it. Just as we do not have to understand electricity in order to believe it exists and to use it, so the Trinity exists despite our inability to fully comprehend this truth.

The persons of the Trinity relate to each other in a living and vital way.

Consider water. It is one substance (H20), but exists in three forms: liquid (water), gas (steam), and solid (ice). Perhaps it is helpful to note that in a similar way, God is one being who is expressed in the three persons of the Trinity. Unlike H2O, however, the persons of the Trinity relate to each other in a living and vital way. Generally speaking, within the Trinity, God exhibits three roles: God the Father initiates and plans, God the Son executes the plans, and God the Holy Spirit applies the plans to believers. Within the Trinity, unity is brought about by the Son submitting to the Father and the Holy Spirit submitting to the Son and the Father. God the Father has, in turn, given all authority to the Son to carry out the divine plans.

God the Father

As the first person of the Trinity, God the Father, shows His fatherly relationship toward both believers and non-believers through Creation and His common goodness to all the world. The Scriptures say that God the Father causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. He provides for the animals and the fields, for the people of His Kingdom and even the people who oppose Him (Matthew 5:45, 6:25-33, 7:9- 11; Luke 6:35; Hebrews 12).

Furthermore, God the Father demonstrates that He has a unique relationship with believers. God draws us to Himself, graciously bringing us into His family as children (John 6:44, 1:12; I John 3:1). Indeed, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, so that we may truly call Him, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15-16; Galatians 4:6- 7). It is a great and humbling mystery to be called children of the Living God and to be made co-heirs with Jesus Christ the Son (Romans 8:17).

This adoption by God the Father leads to special privileges and responsibilities for His children. In Ephesians 1:3- 14, we see that God the Father freely forgives us and provides every good thing we need. He has special intentions for us—to be holy and blameless—and has revealed His plan to us in Scripture. As a perfect Father, He has assured us of our place in His love by giving us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance as His children. With all the joy and security of beloved children, we have free access to God the Father through faith (Ephesians 3:12).

Likewise, God the Father has endowed His children with responsibilities such as obeying His Word (John 14:21) and representing Him as messengers of reconciliation to the world (II Corinthians 5:20). As members of His family, we are to be a part of His church and to respond to Him in praise and worship (Hebrews 10:24-25; I Peter 2:9).

This adoption by God the Father leads to special privileges and responsibilities for His children.

As we study who God is, we come to understand more of His character and His nature. Through the Scripture, we learn that God is both transcendent (beyond our understanding) in the mystery of His Trinity, and He is immanent (totally accessible) as our heavenly Father. With whole hearts we can call on Him as Lord and Father!

Summary of The Trinity & God the Father

• It is important to understand what God has revealed about Himself in Scripture.
• God is a Trinity, existing in three eternal and equal persons who are one God.
• Although the Trinity cannot be fully understood, the Bible teaches us to believe.
• God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit fulfill different roles.
• God the Father is the first person of the Trinity.
• As His children, we have special privileges and responsibilities.

Application Suggestions

• Meditate on and appreciate the transcendence and immanence of God.
• Meditate on Ephesians 1 and 2 in order to appreciate the privileges God has given to you.
• Meditate on I Peter 2:9-10 and appreciate the high calling God has given to you by entrusting you with significant responsibilities.

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Robert D. (Bob) Dukes is the President and Executive Director of Worldwide Discipleship Association (WDA) headquartered in Fayetteville, Georgia. He serves as a founding member of The Steering Committee for The Pierce Center for Disciple Building at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston, MA.

* Order the Knowing God Pocket Principle Bundle at the WDA Store. 

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For more resources on digging deeper into the truth and mystery of the Trinity, check out The Holy Spirit, by Winfield Bevins.

For more free articles on living out the Trinity in a gospel centered community, read: The Harmony of Community, by Greg Wilson, and Confession Is the New Innocence, by Hayley and Michael DiMarco.

Provocative Thoughts on the Precious Puritans

*Editor's Note: This was #6 on our Top Posts of 2012. _

The talented Christian rapper Propaganda just released "Excellent," a strong new album on the Humble Beast label (buy it here).  Humble Beast is the home of Beautiful Eulogy, the group from Portland, Oregon that put out an excellent album this summer.

Propaganda is equal parts slam poet and rapper.  He hits hard in his content and is one of the most provocative rappers around.  I've listened to him since his Tunnel Rats days, and I've always enjoyed him.  His skill is undeniable, and he loves the Lord.  His new album, "Excellent," includes a fiery song on the Puritans.  Here's a sample (complete lyrics here):

Pastor, you know it’s hard for me when you quote puritans. Oh the precious puritans. Have you not noticed our facial expressions? One of bewilderment and heart break. Like, not you too pastor. You know they were the chaplains on slaves ships, right? Would you quote Columbus to Cherokees? Would you quote Cortez to Aztecs? Even If they theology was good? It just sings of your blind privilege wouldn’t you agree? Your precious puritans.

On Joe Thorn's site, there are also some comments from Propaganda about this torch of a song (see some helpful historical thoughts here).

This song raises some very big issues for evangelicals.  It confronts us with our past, one that is chock full of racism and racist oppression; it asks us to think hard about how Christians of different backgrounds perceive one another; it wonders out loud how much we should listen to past Christians who sinned publicly; it drives us to think about how edgy to be in our quest to influence and edify one another.  I'm glad that Propaganda raised these kinds of questions.  His honesty is needed in evangelicalism.  Racism is real and awful, historically and now.

There is a danger here.  Specifically, I wonder if Propaganda isn't inclining us to distrust the Puritans.  He states his case against them so forcefully, and without any historical nuance, that I wonder if listeners will be inclined to dislike and even hate them.  He groups all the Puritans together, which is problematic.  Not all of them were chaplains on slave ships, as he says later in the song.  Many were not.  But Propaganda blasts them so hard that, though he's not ultimately dismissing them, it sounds as if he is.  He qualifies his words on Joe Thorn's blog--pretty strongly, in fact--but what about all the people who hear his song but won't read that specific blog?

Some people will respond by saying, "Well, he's an artist.  He's supposed to provoke.  That's like the Old Testament prophets."  It is true that artists can provoke reflection that might not otherwise come.  I am a rapper myself.  I love art.  I love creative expression.  I love hard-hitting exhortation.  But the motive of edification does not justify any level of critique.  Artists are not exempt from giving account to God for every word they speak (see Matthew 12:36-37).  I don't know when that idea got in the evangelical bloodstream, but it's there, and it's not helpful (this is not a veiled reference to Jefferson Bethke, whose controversial videos I liked).  Let me say it again: artists will give account.

Let me be clear: If young men are failing today, strong critique and exhortation are needed.  But as a Christian, there must be grace in the mix.  I am not justified at being so edgy, so angry, so authentically steamed, that I take my fellow sinners off at the knees.  I fear that, though Propaganda ultimately points the finger on himself in the last verse, he has been harsh against the Puritans, sinful as they were in being racist and not opposing racism in the power of the gospel.

Look--I'm for public criticism of evangelical "heroes" on this point.  See the biography of Jonathan Edwards that Douglas Sweeney and I wrote for Moody.  We strongly critiqued Edwards for owning slaves, as we should have.  But that doesn't mean that we should tear him down.  He is a sinner like us.  Furthermore, if being a sinner in even a deeply regrettable way disqualifies you from being referenced by modern evangelicals, we are going to have a very difficult time finding anyone to emulate.  Luther was anti-Semitic; Calvin could be preening and cold; Edwards held slaves; and the list goes on.

Racism is awful.  Horrible.  Reprehensible.  It must be called out and condemned.  But one must do so carefully.  To tear the Puritans down with very little nuance of the kind I've offered here is problematic.  Propaganda wrote that he has learned a great deal from these forefathers despite their sins.  I fear that people who don't have his prior appreciation will not do the same.  They will write them off.  That would be a mistake.  It would also seem to be counter to the general spirit of Galatians 6:1.  This is not a passage about who to lionize, but there's a principle that seems to apply here:

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

And we take note of this:

Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Gospel Centered Religion

These days, it's not polite to speak of the gospel and religion in the same sentence without a "versus" in between. This trend of thinking is unfortunate. In the final tally, we lose more than we gain. Religion is not antithetical to the gospel. Let's unpack this truth.

The Problem

Pitting the gospel against religion stems from two very real and very dangerous problems: self-righteousness and an attempt to please God by good works or good merit. These problems are certainly anti-biblical and need to be called out wherever we notice them.

The False Solution

One popular solution offered in recent books and viral YouTube videos is to castigate religion itself. To show how the gospel of Jesus Christ is actually the antithesis of religion. For the uninitiated, this is what's at play when you hear things like:

"I love Jesus but hate religion." "Jesus hates religion." "Christianity is a relationship, not a religion."

And so on. Note: Being "spiritual but not religious" is related to this discussion as well, though this mantra suggests a rejection of both religion and the gospel.

The Problem with the Solution

The problem with "Gospel vs. Religion" is that it misses the point. This is a case of rightly seeing the problem, but coming up with the wrong steps to eradicate it. Moreover, it is not the perspective of the biblical writers. The Bible never speaks of religion as being bad, in and of itself.

If the problem is self-righteousness, we should couch the discussion using more biblically faithful polarities, such as:

• Gospel vs. False Religion
• Gospel vs. Self-Righteousness
• True Religion vs. False Religion

If this is really how the Bible speaks of the situation, we need to adopt biblical language in our own discussions.

Gospel vs. False Religion

The five chapters of the book of James is replete with favorable statements on the "doing" that is consonant with a gospel-saturated lifestyle:

• "faith without works is dead" (James 2:14-17)
• "be doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22)
•  a doer who acts "will be blessed in his doing" (James 1:25)
• "pure and undefiled religion" (James 1:26-27)

This final passage is most relevant to our discussion: James 1:26-27 contains over half of the NT uses of the Greek word for "religion" (threskeia), and the connotation is certainly not negative.

Even in James' day, there were abuses of religion. There was worthless religion, impure religion, and defiled religion. So, did he punt the word? Did he conclude that "religion" was therefore the opposite of the gospel? No, he took the time to explain what true religion looked like.

The other two instances the word threskeia occur in Acts 26:5 and Colossians 2:18. The word in Col 2 is typically translated as "worship." Most agree that worship is good,  though there can be true worship and false worship. For instance, worship of angels (Col 2) is certainly wrong.

Likewise, in Acts 26, Paul used threskeia as a defense for what a good Jew he was. He certainly wasn't saying his strict observance of religion was bad. It was simply incomplete.

Gospel vs. Self-Righteousness

Passages like Matthew 6:1-24, Romans 9:30-33, and Matthew 23:23 teach on practicing righteousness. In my blog post on Matthew 6, I explain that the problem against which Jesus is warning his followers is not practicing righteousness itself, but one's motive behind practicing righteousness. Don't be afraid to practice righteousness; just be sure to check your heart for the impetus therein.

Similarly, Paul explains why Israel did not arrive at the righteousness they pursued: "Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone ..." (Rom 9:30-33). If our works is the path to righteousness, we will stumble over ourselves. Jesus is the only true way to righteousness.

True Religion vs. False Religion

The word "religion" has been hijacked in 21st century western culture. When people hear it, they think of rules and dos and don'ts. I get it. I don't agree, but I get it. What I don't get, however, is the current trend for believers to attack the biblical term!

Perhaps it is for the sake of cultural relevance. Instead of fighting for a biblical definition, many believers have acquiesced and allowed the word to be redefined wholesale. In my experience, it's a short leap from rejecting "religion" to becoming anti-church. I've seen it happen.

Why revive "religion"? Another way to put it: "Isn't it just semantics?" First, "just semantics" is a pretty big deal. Councils have been called, martyrs have been slaughtered, and wars have been fought - "holy" and otherwise - over the definition of words. More importantly, no, this isn't just semantics. Words do have meaning in context. If our cultural context is moving toward unanimously defining "religion" as evil, we need to take note. (Thankfully, we're not there yet.)

This perspective can easily morph into the before mentioned "spiritual but not religious" trend, which takes serious issue with rules. After all, Christianity is a relationship not a religion, right? We must acknowledge that being against rules is often code for bristling at the mention of obedience, accountability, and discipline.

Obedience is important. I once heard Chuck Swindoll say that there were more rules for riding a bus in Dallas than there were for joining a church. You can get kicked off a bus, but don't try to institute church discipline!

There are plenty of places in the NT where believers are admonished towards obedience. It's an obedience that flows out of the gospel and not to the gospel. Some of Jesus' last words were for his disciples to teach their disciples to obey everything he had commanded (Matt 28:20). This implies both that Jesus had commanded some things that needed to be obeyed and that this obedience was an important part of the Christian life.

There are directives within Christianity for which we need not apologize. These don't save you, but they're essential for a gospel-centered lifestyle within the Christian religion.

To conclude:

• We believers should concede no more ground and fight for a return to a biblical understanding of religion. Can religion and gospel be at odds? Sure. But it doesn't have to be; the two aren't necessarily opposed.

• Some words are worth intentionally and unequivocally defining so that people know what we truly mean by them. This is what I've tried to do in my ministry and I have not noticed a surge in people giving in to legalism and self-righteousness as a result. If we are too quick to discard "religion", the net result might be discarding obedience and a healthy ecclesiology along with it.

• We should draw a distinction between true and false religion (cf. James 1). The contrast is between believing and doing things that God desires of us (submission and obedience to Christ) and what is not required of us (e.g., don't dance or drink or watch rated-R movies). This is the distinction all believers should strive to make. It is another thing when the contrast is "faith vs. obedience," which are two things the Bible never pits against each other.

• The gospel is the beginning and foundation of one's journey in discipleship. It is the first step toward true obedience. I'm in full agreement that practicing empty rights and rituals in order to please God is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, most young believers, new believers, or even non-believers I know don't easily separate empty rights and rituals from all rights and rituals.

As a friend recently told me: "We shouldn't conceptualize faith as opposed to 'doing'; rather, we should more carefully define what 'doing' God expects of us."

Final Disclaimers

I agree with the importance of attacking the enemy that the Gospel vs. Religion proponents are attacking. I'm for the gospel! I'm for obedience that flows from faith in Christ, not obedience that somehow leads to a relationship with Christ. I am also fully convinced that the Gospel vs. Religion camp agrees with the importance of obedience in the Christian life; they're not antinomians. We are on the same team. I just think they've given the wrong label to the enemy they're fighting, and there might be some unfortunate unintended consequences.

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Jason Seville (Th.M) lives in Memphis, TN with his wife, Kim, and daughters, Sydney & Sophie. They are members at First Evangelical Church, and Jason is on staff with Downline Ministries, where he writes curriculum, teaches, and heads up Downline Builder. You can follow him on Twitter @jasonCseville. 

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For more thoughts on gospel centered religion, check out Tony Merida’s Proclaiming Jesus.

For more free articles on this topic, read: How to Respond to Religious Pluralism, by Jonathan Dodson; and What Is Gospel Centered Ministry, by Winfield Bevins.

Finding God During the Storm

As Hurricane Isaac churned through the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters debated whether to believe a model that predicted Isaac would come ashore in Texas or a different model that indicated landfall in Florida. Maybe the answer was neither. Over the next several days, Isaac continued to defy both models and crawled ashore across the southeastern coast of Louisiana late on the evening of August 28, 2012, bringing with it an uncharacteristically damaging storm surge for a hurricane with only 80 mile per hour winds. In some places around New Orleans, the storm surge associated with Isaac reached 12 feet, rivaling that of Hurricane Katrina. Although final counts have yet to be completed, Isaac has caused at least seven deaths in the United States, twenty-nine more in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and potentially up to $1.5 billion in damage. As people enjoy pointing out, meteorologists have a notoriously difficult time making accurate forecasts of hurricanes. Forecasting and modeling the weather is difficult because of the overwhelming complexity of the atmosphere and its sensitivity to small changes. Being aware of this complexity challenges us to stand in greater awe of the Creator. With Isaac fresh in our memories, we would be remiss to not take this opportunity to reflect on hurricanes and weather modeling and seek to learn about our God. At its root, being aware of our inability to understand, predict, and forecast the weather moves us to greater amazement of the unsearchable riches of Christ.

Uncertainty & The Meteorologist

Before we can begin to perceive how the uncertainties of forecasting and modeling point us to God, we have to understand a little bit about the atmosphere and the way it works. To help give concrete expression to an invisible atmosphere, it might help to picture it as a supremely thin liquid that cannot be felt. It is made up of predominantly nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (20%) and many other trace elements. These particles interact in much the same way water molecules interact with one another in a bathtub, a river, or the ocean, forming eddies, currents, and waves.

If we want to accurately predict how all of these different atmospheric molecules are going to interact - forming the eddies, currents, and waves that we know as high and low pressure, cold fronts, warm fronts, and storms - then we have to first understand that the interaction of these particles is mind-bogglingly complex. Most people are familiar with the idea of the butterfly effect - that a butterfly flapping its wings in China will have profound effects on weather around the world.

Although it would be grandstanding to say that a butterfly flapping its wings affected whether Isaac ended up in Texas, Louisiana, or Florida, it does turn out that even imperceptibly small differences in the state of the atmosphere at one time will have significant effects on weather later on. This in turn means that even imperceptibly small errors in observations and data that we feed into models can create vastly different outcomes. In addition, processes that we do not yet understand play a large role in the intensification of hurricanes.  Because of this, meteorologists attempt to analyze and forecast using imperfect data and imperfect models, making imperfect forecasts, and getting made fun of by people around the world.

This doesn’t mean that meteorologists haven’t made huge strides in improving forecasts. In 1922, Lewis Fry Richardson made the first attempt at making a 6-hour forecast for two cities in Germany using mathematical methods developed 15 years prior. Unfortunately, his 6-hour forecast took him over six weeks to calculate by hand and even then it was magnificently wrong. This basically put to rest the concept of making mathematical predictions of the weather until computers came along.

Carl Rossby, using early computers, made the first useful numerical weather forecast in 1954. By the 1960s, several countries were running their own models to make predictions, and by 1974, the first model to cover the entire globe was in use. With ever-increasing computer power, increased ability to collect observations of the atmosphere through satellite and other means, and algorithms developed to more accurately incorporate the data into computer models, forecasts of all types of weather  from many weather agencies improved exponentially between 1970 and today. The National Hurricane Center is no exception to this improvement. In 1970, the average error of a 3-day position forecast for a hurricane was 455 miles. Today, it is 105 miles. Although this is over a 75% improvement, even a 105 mile error in a forecast can cause major problems for evacuation decisions and for coastal residents.

God's Complex Creation

We will continue to make improvements in our predictions of hurricanes, but we will always be limited by the sheer complexity and chaotic nature of the atmosphere. So when faced with bad forecasts, devastation, and uncertainty, how can we begin to glean eternal truths about our God instead of criticizing our favorite weatherman?

Difficulty in forecasting weather should serve to remind us that our God is all-powerful, all-seeing, and all-creative. Remember that forecasting is difficult because the atmosphere is a complex, vast thing. Yet our God is the Creator of this unimaginably complex atmosphere. More than that, he created the entire universe without even breaking a sweat.

The psalmist says that “by the word of the LORD the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth all their host” (Psalm 33:6). Even more, Christ “upholds the universe by the word of his power.” How much more should we stand in awe of the Creator of the universe when we struggle to even understand the atmosphere that he made and sustains so effortlessly?

We are created to experience emotional reactions to and have our affections stirred by the beauty and power of nature exhibited in hurricanes, tornadoes, sunsets, and numerous other destructive and non-destructive natural phenomena. However, to let our awe and wonder rest on the phenomena itself is short-sighted and a distortion of reality. It is like sitting down to listen to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play Beethoven’s 5th symphony, but forgetting to appreciate Beethoven’s skill as a composer. Letting your affections, awe and wonder rest on the power and majesty of a hurricane is like admiring the flight of a 500-foot home run without being awed by the person who hit the ball.

Appreciating the power, majesty, and unpredictability of a hurricane without standing in complete awe of the God who created the hurricane, the whole earth, and universe surrounding it simply by the Word of his mouth is myopic.  Be reminded that the beauty, majesty, and power we see is but a shadow and foretaste of the beauty, majesty, and power of God.

Certainty & God

In addition to an all-powerful God, we can know that we rest in the arms of a sovereign God, even when hurricanes and other natural disasters seem capricious and random.  It often seems that certain areas receive a disproportionately large share of major hurricanes and natural disasters. Some of it is geography, some of it is random, some of it is associated with typical large scale atmospheric patterns. Behind all of it, though, is a God who is sovereign. God “will accomplish all [his] purpose[s]” (Isaiah 46:10).

There is nothing capricious, malicious, or unplanned about the working of God in our world and our life. The war has already been won on the cross and we can rest in knowing that God’s desire to show us mercy and saving grace cannot be frustrated or thwarted.

As you watch meteorologists struggle with forecasting a hurricane, be reminded that weather is quickly changing and chaotic. God, however, has revealed himself as unchangeable and faithful to his promises. In Scripture, we are told time and time again that “there is no variation or shadow due to change” in the character of God (James 1:17). This contrast between the changing and the unchanging separates created from Creator. Remember the unchanging character of God. He is the Rock of Ages, and Christ is our cornerstone.

We grieve because of the destructive power of hurricanes. We mourn with those who mourn the loss of family and friends. Hurricanes, despite their beauty, ultimately cause death and destruction. By contrast, our God is grace filled and life giving. Jesus tells us to “come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Paul tells us that Christ, through his death, burial, and resurrection “became a life-giving Spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). When we are faced with death, be reminded to run to the life-giving water that Jesus offers.

So how do we begin to work through a natural disaster like Hurricane Isaac with our community of believers, our neighbors, and our coworkers? Start by recognizing that the unsearchable riches of Christ are far more vast, far more beautiful, and far more worthy of worship and awe than the complexity, beauty, and majesty of a hurricane.

Do not be satisfied to simply stand in awe of the storm. Instead have your affections raised for the Creator of that storm. Know that unlike a hurricane, God is sovereign and unchanging. We are fully secure in his hands. Let us mourn with those who mourn, but let us set our sights on our Savior, the Rock of Ages. His purposes are higher than our purposes, his ways are higher than our ways, so take comfort that nothing happens apart from the Word of his mouth nor does anything happen over which he is not sovereign. In the midst of a tragedy that seems unpredictable, unknowable, and destructive, run to the unchanging, grace-filled, and life-giving arms of the Savior.

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Matt Rigney is husband to Kari and father to Eva. He is a former research meteorologist for NASA and physicist for the United States Army specializing in modeling and simulation. Currently, he is completing a church planting residency at Austin City Life in Austin, Texas.

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For more resources on proclaiming the truths of God over all creation, check out Tony Merida's Proclaiming Jesus.

For more free articles on how God challenges our assumptions, read: When is the Gospel not Good News? by Stuart McCormack, Spiritual Strength Training by David  Murray, and The Unqualified Disciple by Lindsay Fooshee.

Is the Bible Blind to Womanly Beauty?

Don’t know if you’ve followed this, but Tim Challies kicked up a bit of an Internet storm recently when he helpfully suggested that it was a good thing for Christian wives to give attention to their appearances for the betterment of their husbands.  He was responding to a post a few months ago by blogger Rachel Held Evans, who registered disagreement with Challies’s post.  In response to Evans, Southern Seminary professor Mary Kassian suggested something of a middle way in which womanly attractiveness matters but only as a reflection of God’s far more lustrous beauty. I found the discussion interesting and worthwhile not because this is a matter of outsized theological importance but because it relates closely to issues surrounding men, marriage, and beauty, all topics that interest me.  Kassian’s theocentric rendering of womanly beauty jibes with material I published with Douglas Sweeney in the book Jonathan Edwards on Beauty (Moody, 2010), part of the five-volume Essential Edwards Collection.  Edwards was an aesthetician if there ever was one.  Wherever he saw earthly beauty he saw a reflection of God, who was not only beautiful but was beauty himself.

Here’s a snatch from the book which quotes Edwards’s notebook on “types” (page 49-50 of JEOB):

There are some types of divine things, both in Scripture and also in the works of nature and constitution of the world, that are much more lively than others. Everything seems to aim that way; and in some things the image is very lively, in others less lively, in others the image but faint and the resemblance in but few particulars with many things wherein there is a dissimilitude. God has ordered things in this respect much as he has in the natural world. He hath made man the head and end of this lower creation; and there are innumerable creatures that have some image of what is in men, but in an infinite variety of degrees. Animals have much more of a resemblance of what is in men than plants, plants much more than things inanimate. (Works 11, 114)

One day, the pastor took a walk that unfolded the way natural beauty reflects spiritual beauty (pp. 41-42 of JEOB):

God’s excellency, his wisdom, his purity and love, seemed to appear in everything; in the sun, moon and stars; in the clouds, and blue sky; in the grass, flowers, trees; in the water, and all nature; which used greatly to fix my mind. I often used to sit and view the moon, for a long time; and so in the daytime, spent much time in viewing the clouds and sky, to behold the sweet glory of God in these things: in the meantime, singing forth with a low voice, my contemplations of the Creator and Redeemer. And scarce anything, among all the works of nature, was so sweet to me as thunder and lightning. Formerly, nothing had been so terrible to me. I used to be a person uncommonly terrified with thunder: and it used to strike me with terror, when I saw a thunderstorm rising. But now, on the contrary, it rejoiced me. I felt God at the first appearance of a thunderstorm. And used to take the opportunity at such times, to fix myself to view the clouds, and see the lightnings play, and hear the majestic and awful voice of God’s thunder: which often times was exceeding entertaining, leading me to sweet contemplations of my great and glorious God. And while I viewed, used to spend my time, as it always seemed natural to me, to sing or chant forth my meditations; to speak my thoughts in soliloquies, and speak with a singing voice. (Works 16, 794)

This material reveals that Edwards felt free to find resonances of a much greater beauty in the eye-catching things of this world.  In fact, the pastor-theologian made the case for finding “types” in this world.  If we buy Edwards’s argument–and I think we should–then surely we can find images of a greater luster in a flower, a sunset, and the face of a loved one.

I love Edwards’s aesthetics.  He has a major place for beauty in his theological-philosophical system, so much so that some view him as the theologian par excellence of beauty.  By the way, this is part of why he is so relevant for today.  We live in an image-obsessed culture (part of the problem Evans rightly decries), and we can use Edwards to point people to a better way, a far more fulsome and healthy vision of attractiveness than one can find in the ambient culture.

The Bible, by the way, has much to say about physical beauty, contrary to what many think.  Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was beautiful (Gen. 12:11); Rachel was beautiful “in form and appearance” (Genesis 29:17); David “had beautiful eyes and was handsome” (1 Samuel 16:12); Esther had “a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at” (Esther 2:7!); Job’s daughters were the most beautiful of their day (Job 42:15); the man speaking in the Song of Solomon finds his wife “beautiful” to say nothing but the very least; Moses was beautiful as a child (Hebrews 11:23).  Beyond all these realities, the Lord, as Edwards knew, is pictured in Scripture as very beauty himself.  David wished only to “to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD,” Psalm 27:4.  We could go on.

What does this mean?  Well, for starters, the biblical authors and figures are not blind to physical beauty.  Far from it.  They don’t suggest that it is of great importance in itself.  That’s clear.  Neither, however, do they ignore it, just as we do not ignore it, try or not.  We’re all quite conscious of physical beauty.  One could say this is because of our genetic wiring, or our consciousness, or perhaps most satisfyingly, our natural understanding of the way earthly attractiveness prefigures God’s magnificence.  All of these reasons have credence.

In the context of marriage, this means that it is no bad thing to celebrate one’s attraction to one’s husband or wife.  It is in fact a good thing.  We should not make the cultural mistake of grounding our spousal love in physical beauty.  Anyone who has ever heard a pop song knows how common this is, and how laughable.  Those who think that a relationship can stand firm by physical attraction alone clearly have precious little practical experience in actual relationships.  Those who are married know that attraction is an important part of marriage–perhaps very important–but that like any covenantal relationship, marriage requires a continual exercise of the will for its flourishing.  It is the Christocentric and Christotelic dimensions of marriage that are most significant.  Husbands loving wives as Christ sacrificially loved the church, and wives submitting to their husbands as the church submits to Christ in love are the transcendent, indeed transforming, realities of marriage.

But in landing this plane let’s bring our altitude down a bit.  Physical attraction matters in a marriage.  The Song of Solomon makes this abundantly clear, as any red-faced teen knows in hearing it read in church.  No one is suggesting that Christian women should hold themselves up to the (relentlessly airbrushed and digitally edited) cover-girl.  It is, however, a good thing for both husband and wife to take the physical dimension of marriage seriously.  Men shouldn’t nurse a gut, and women shouldn’t let themselves go.  Both should care for the other by devoting a reasonable–and the world’s standards are often unreasonable!–amount of attention to their bodies.

We are not Platonists.  We live in bodies.  The body is good.  God designed the body, manly and womanly, for his glory.  He gave sex and attraction and passion to couples for their good and his renown.  Marriage in its fullness is to provide the world with a picture of a far greater reality, the devoted loving union of Jesus Christ and his blood-bought church.  We do not obsess over our appearances; we do not worry about physical changes over time; we do not obsess over our frames and forms.  But we do love one another by caring well for the bodies God has given us.  Whatever we do, we seek God’s glory–whether praying in church, church-planting in an unreached land, fixing a leaky faucet, comforting a crying infant, teaching philosophy in a secular college, or running another mile to keep the pounds off (1 Cor. 10:31).

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Cross-posted from Owen's personal blog.

A Six-Letter Word

Lauren Chandler is a wife and a mother of three. Her husband, Matt Chandler, serves as the lead teaching pastor at The Village Church near Dallas, Texas.

*Editor's Note: This was #7 on our Top Posts of 2012.

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We've all heard of four-letter words. You know, the ones we swear we never use (no pun intended) - aloud, at least; or, only when the occasion calls for it - like when we stub our toe, or when we miss a car wreck by milliseconds, or when we're surprised by our husbands who jump out of a closet at us when we think we're home alone, scaring the kitten we're carrying in our bare arms that then proceeds to claw it's way on top of our heads leaving a trail of scratches and scrapes that rivals the result of a rumble with a barbed-wire fence. Not that anything like that has ever happened to me - I've just heard of it happening to someone, somewhere. I dunno.

So, we've established that most of us are familiar with four-letter words, but I propose that there is a six-letter word that is just as controversial, just as cacophonous. That word is SUBMIT. Or, to the prudish, S*****. What's funny is that I keep running across this word over and over again. It lunges at me from behind booths at restaurants and hunts me down in the midst of a populous coffee house. It knows no appropriate time or place - it lacks tact. It even waltzes nonchalantly into my living room while I am spending much needed time with the Lord. How dare it.

Finally, I got to the point that I simply let it come in and sit down with me for a spell. I dove straight in. No fluffy answers. No "how's the weather." I prodded and poked it. I asked it questions on end, never knowing that I was setting up my own inquisition. It answered my questions with questions of its own. Questions that caused me to search deep into my heart - to look nakedly at my own motivations. We finally came to an agreement. In truth, it won. Not even a compromise. Submit - 1, me - 0. I'm actually starting to like it. It's becoming more of a friend to me. It has changed my marriage. It has changed how I interact with others. It has changed how I relate to the Lord. It has changed me.

Now, I can't stop using that six-letter word. I know, I know, just call me foul-mouthed. But I won't apologize for it anymore. Actually, I find myself using it with others. Here's an email I wrote to a friend. Don't let it scare you too much...

"I had a great time chatting with you tonight. Thanks for being so candid with me. I think you're at a beautiful place - difficult - but beautiful. There's a book called Sacred Marriage...the subtitle of that book has spoken volumes to me...Is marriage for our happiness or our holiness? I have learned that marriage is what the Lord chose for me to know Him more intimately...and as an incredibly wonderful by-product, I get to share life with my best friend...we hurt each other but we love each other...there's no other person I would rather be with...ever! I have found no greater earthly joy.

I pray that the Lord gives you a tender heart...a heart full of grace...a heart ready to trust and obey. I know that only He can do that in you. I highly recommend the book by Carolyn Mahaney called "Feminine Appeal." It has a little bit to do with being a mom but mostly to do with being a wife and simply a godly woman. Here's a passage of Scripture that the Lord has been laying on my heart heavily lately:

"1(A)In the same way, you wives, (B)be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be (C)won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. 3(D)Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4but let it be (E)the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 5For in this way in former times the holy women also, (F)who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; 6just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, (G)calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right (H)without being frightened by any fear. (1 Peter 3:1 - 6)"

I know a lot of those words are frightening and can cause our hairs to bristle a bit, but there is true freedom in them. We can't control our husbands, but we can ask for grace to love Jesus so much that we trust Him in any circumstance...even if we feel our husbands aren't fulfilling their God-ordained duty or if they aren't loving us in the way we want to be loved or if they stumble. There is just something breathtaking about a woman who is clothed in peace and gentleness....a woman who, though her future is uncertain and her present not picture-perfect, can stare fear in the face and be overcome with serenity. Lord, help me to be that woman!

I hope this makes sense. I in no way advocate a door-mat submissiveness but rather a "trust and obey" submissiveness. That we would trust that the Lord has our best in mind and submit to His will and His word. I am praying for you and I loved hearing your heart! I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do!"

Apparently, even email isn't immune to the six-letter word. No place is safe. Be assured, my friend, it is coming for you.

With much love, Your Foul-Mouthed Friend

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Cross-posted from Them Chandlers.

Revival: Ways and Means

Timothy Keller is pastor and founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. He received his bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University, Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Doctor of Ministry from Westminster Theological Seminary. Keller has helped start more than 100 churches throughout the world and is the author of several books, including The Reason for God.  

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How do seasons of revival come? One set of answers comes from Charles Finney, who turned revivals into a "science." Finney insisted that any group could have a revival any time or place, as long as they applied the right methods in the right way. Finney's distortions, I think, led to much of the weakness in modern evangelicalism today, as has been well argued by Michael Horton over the years. Especially under Finney's influence, revivalism undermined the more traditional way of doing Christian formation. That traditional way of Christian growth was gradual – whole family catechetical instruction – and church-centric. Revivalism under Finney, however, shifted the emphasis to seasons of crisis. Preaching became less oriented to long-term teaching and more directed to stirring up the affections of the heart toward decision. Not surprisingly, these emphases demoted the importance of the church in general and of careful, sound doctrine and put all the weight on an individual's personal, subjective experience. And this is one of the reasons (though not the only reason) that we have the highly individualistic, consumerist evangelicalism of today.

There has been a withering critique of revivalism going on now for twenty years within evangelical circles. Most of it is fair, but it often goes beyond the criticism of the technique-driven revivalism of Finney to insist that even Edwards and the Puritans were badly mistaken about how people should embrace and grow in Christ. In this limited space I can't respond to that here other than to say I think that goes way too far. However, this critique trend explains why there is so much less enthusiasm for revival than when I was a young minister. It also explains why someone like D.M. Lloyd-Jones was so loathe to say that there was anything that we can do to bring about revivals (other than pray.) He knew that Finney-esque revivalism led to many spiritual pathologies.

Nevertheless, I think we can carefully talk about some factors that, when present, often become associated with revival by God's blessing. My favorite book on this (highly recommended by Lloyd-Jones) is William B. Sprague's Lectures on Revivals of Religion (1832). Sprague studied under both Timothy Dwight, Edwards' grandson, at Yale and also Archibald Alexander at Princeton. The Princetonians – the Alexanders, Samuel Miller, and Charles Hodge – did a good job of combining the basics of revivalism with a healthy emphasis on doctrine and the importance of the church. Sprague's lectures include a chapter on "General Means" for promoting revivals, and his chapters on counseling seekers and new converts are particularly helpful.

The primary means-of-revival that everyone agrees upon is extraordinary prayer. That's the clearest of all and so I won't spend time on it. The second means is a recovery of the grace-gospel. One of the main vehicles sparking the first awakening in Northampton, Massachusetts was Edwards' two sermons on Romans 4:5, "Justification by Faith Alone," in November, 1734. For both John Wesley and George Whitefield, the main leaders of the British Great Awakening, it was an understanding of salvation by grace rather than moral effort that touched off personal renewal and made them agents of revival. Lloyd-Jones taught that the gospel of justification could be lost at two levels. A church might simply become heterodox and lose the very belief in justification by faith alone. But just as deadly, it might keep the doctrine "on the shelf" as it were and not preach it publicly in such a way that connects to people's hearts and lives.

The third factor I would mention is renewed individuals. Sprague points out how certain church leaders can be characterized by the infectious marks of spiritual revival – a joyful, affectionate seriousness, and "unction" – a sense of God's presence. In addition, often several visible, dramatic life-turnarounds ("surprising conversions") may cause others to do deep self-examination and create a sense of spiritual longing and expectation in the community. The personal revivals going on in these individuals spread informally to others through conversation and relationship. More and more people begin to look at themselves and seek God.

A fourth factor I will call the use of the gospel on the heart in counseling. Sprague and John Newton in his letters do a good job of showing how the gospel must be used on both seekers, new believers, and non-growing Christians. The gospel must cut away both the moralism and the licentiousness that destroys real spiritual life and power. There must be venues and meetings and settings in which this is done, both one-on-one and in groups. See William Williams, The Experience Meeting, a leaders' manual for revival-promoting small group meetings in Wales during the first great awakening.

Finally I would add a fifth factor. Sprague rightly points out that revivals occur mainly through the ordinary, "instituted means of grace" – preaching, pastoring, worship, prayer. It is a mistake to identify some specific programmatic method (e.g. Billy Graham-like mass evangelism) too closely with revivals. Lloyd-Jones points to some sad cases where people who came through the Welsh revival of 1904-05 became wedded to particular ways of holding meetings and hymn-singing as the way God brings revival. Nevertheless, Sprague grants that sometimes God will temporarily use some new method to propagate the gospel and spark revival. For example, under Wesley and Whitefield, outdoor preaching was a new, galvanizing method. Mid-day public prayer meetings were important to the Fulton Street revival in downtown NYC in 1857-58. I'm ready to say that creativity might be one of the marks of revival, because so often some new way of communicating the gospel has been part of the mix that God used to bring a mighty revival.

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Originally posted and permitted for use by Timothy Keller and Redeemer City to City.