Saturday, April 30, 2011

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. 

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 

Titus 3:3-7 NIV

Wednesday, April 27, 2011


“The Bible’s purpose is not so much to show you how to live a good life. The Bible’s purpose is to show you how God’s grace breaks into your life against your will and saves you from the sin and brokenness otherwise you would never be able to overcome… religion is ‘if you obey, then you will be accepted’. But the Gospel is, ‘if you are absolutely accepted, and sure you’re accepted, only then will you ever begin to obey’. Those are two utterly different things. Every page of the Bible shows the difference.” -Tim Keller

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Jesus is the Interpretative Key to the Bible

 
“…the soundest methodological starting point for doing theology is the gospel since the person of Jesus is set forth as the final and fullest expression of God’s revelation of His kingdom. Jesus is the goal and fulfillment of the whole Old Testament, and, as the embodiment of the truth of God, He is the interpretative key to the Bible.” -G. Goldsworthy
"Repentance of the evil act, and not of the evil heart, is like men pumping water out of a leaky vessel, but forgetting to stop the leak. Some would dam up the stream, but leave the fountain still flowing; they would remove the eruption from the skin, but leave the disease in the flesh." -Charles Spurgeon

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Good Friday - Easter

Suffering, Waiting, and Easter



Can you imagine what was going through the minds of Jesus' followers on a day like today? The authorities just brutally murdered the Son of God that you had left all to follow. What about the Kingdom? What about my life?

Can we relate? Yes and no.


Not in the sense that we can feel the emotions as intensely as they did on that dark Saturday, but all of us endure the painful process of having to wait for the resolution of the tension that suffering brings.


Here is the difference: we know for sure that it is going to happen. They didn't. But our waiting may be much longer than a few days. Some of us will have to wait a lifetime for the relieving of our suffering. For the day when all things will be made right.


We all have to wait. That is a huge part of what faith is all about. We live in a constant state of hope and belief. Those first believers probably didn't have much hope or belief on this dark Saturday. But Sunday came and because of it we look forward with hope and joy to the eternal Sunday that will one day be ours.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Charles Spurgeon: God Was the Author of My Faith

“One week-night, when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher’s sermon, for I did not believe it. The thought struck me, ‘How did you come to be a Christian?’ I sought the Lord. ‘But how did you come to seek the Lord?’ 

The truth flashed across my mind in a moment – I should not have sought Him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek Him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures? I did read them, but what led me to do so? 

Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that He was the Author of my faith, and so the whole doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, ‘I ascribe my change wholly to God.’” 

-Charles H. Spurgeon, Autobiography, vol. 1, The Early Years, 1834-1859

Follow

This is an amazing video. HT: Chosen For Grace

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God



Truly, the creator of such beauty is worthy of our praise.

Our New Identity Found in Christ


The gospel frees us from this obsessive pressure to perform, this slavish demand to “become.” The gospel liberatingly declares that in Christ “we already are.” 

While the world constantly tempts us to locate our identity in something or someone smaller than Jesus, the gospel liberates us by revealing that our true identity is locked in Christ. Our connection in and with Christ is the truest definition of who we are. 

If you’re a Christian, here’s the good news: Who you really are has nothing to do with you—how much you can accomplish, who you can become, your behavior (good or bad), your strengths, your weaknesses, your sordid past, your family background, your education, your looks, and so on.

Your identity is firmly anchored in Christ’s accomplishment, not yours; his strength, not yours; his performance, not yours; his victory, not yours. Your identity is steadfastly established in his substitution, not your sin. As my friend Justin Buzzard recently wrote, “The gospel doesn’t just free you from what other people think about you, it frees you from what you think about yourself.”

You’re free!

Now you can spend your life giving up your place for others instead of guarding it from others—because your identity is in Christ, not your place.

Now you can spend your life going to the back instead of getting to the front—because your identity is in Christ, not your position.

Now you can spend your life giving, not taking—because your identity is in Christ, not your possessions.

All this is our new identity—all because of Christ’s finished work declared to us in the gospel.

John Stott: Nothing Cuts Us Down to Size Like the Cross

 
“Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ 

Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.”

-John Stott, The Message of Galatians (London, 1968), page 179. HT: RO

Tempted and Tried

Tempted to Despair

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died

My sinful soul is counted free. 
For God the just is satisfied 
To look on Him and pardon me.
-Charitie Bancroft

Friday, April 15, 2011

 Show me your ways, LORD,
   teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
   for you are God my Savior,
   and my hope is in you all day long.

Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love,
   for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
   and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
   for you, LORD, are good. 
Psalms 25:4-7

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Suffering Servant


J.C. Ryle writes:

Was he flogged? It was done so that "by his wounds we are healed" (Isa. 53:5). Was he condemned though innocent? It was done so that we might be acquitted, though guilty. Did he wear a crown of thorns? It was done so that we might wear the crown of glory. Was he stripped of his clothes? It was done so that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness. Was he mocked and reviled? It was done so that we might be honored and blessed. Was he reckoned a criminal, and counted among those who have done wrong? It was done so that we might be reckoned innocent, and declared free from all sin. Was he declared unable to save himself? It was so that he might be able to save others to the uttermost. Did he die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful death? It was done so that we might live forevermore, and be exalted to the highest glory.

HT: Z

Monday, April 11, 2011

Kari Jobe: Revelation Song

 

This is awesome!

This video represents a mere foretaste of what heaven must be like.

Picture millions of perfect voices from every tribe and nation joined together in impeccable harmony, all worshiping the Son, the Sacrifice, the Savior - Jesus Christ.

God will be revealed in all his magnificent glory, and when that happens, even Baptist's will be raising their hands, shouting, and dancing.

Our relationship to him will no longer be hindered by sin. Truly, it will be amazing.

Unconditional Election and the Great Commission

Lee Shelton over at CC writes:

I believe the Great Commission would be impossible apart from the doctrine of unconditional election. If the winning of souls were entirely up to us, we would undoubtedly fail. The only reason any evangelist has won someone to Christ is because Christ has already gone into the world ahead of him. Or, to put it in Star Trek terms, Christ has boldly gone where no evangelist has gone before.

The God who has determined the end has also determined the means, and that includes believers going into all the world to proclaim the gospel. God has said that his word "shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). That is encouraging news for every believer.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

"If you try to stand before God on the basis of your own person you will fail that test." -R.C. Sproul

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Lecrae: Background


 If you are going to talk about yourself in a song, this is the way to do it - lifting up the name of Jesus Christ.
You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, 
and afterward you will take me into glory. 

Whom have I in heaven but you? 
And earth has nothing I desire besides you. 

My flesh and my heart may fail, 
but God is the strength of my heart 
and my portion forever. 
Psalms 73:23-26

Thursday, April 7, 2011

"God is an end in himself, not a means to an end. He is of value to us for what he is in himself, not merely for what he does." -Erickson

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Can the Bible Contain Error?


If God has in fact chosen to reveal himself through inspired Scripture, then I contend that the Spirit’s utterance cannot include error.

Repeatedly, the Scriptures teach us that God cannot lie. Therefore, writings backed by the character of God must be inerrant and infallible. This comprehension is absolutely vital to the follower of Christ. It is the foundation upon which a proper understanding of the Christian faith is built.

If the Bible should prove to be in error in those realms where its claims can be checked, on what possible basis would we logically continue to hold its dependability in areas where we cannot verify what it says? (Erickson) All credibility would be compromised and uncertainty would abound. This cannot be.

Therefore, I propose that God did give humanity his word, and that word (i.e. Scripture) is inerrant in all that it asserts when interpreted properly.

To state that the Bible is inerrant or always tells the truth does not imply that it tells us every fact there is to know about any one subject, but it affirms that what it does say about any subject is true (Grudem). It is also important to note that the term inerrancy allows for the Bible to represent the ordinary language of the day, to include loose and free quotations, and to have unusual or uncommon grammatical constructions. The issue is not whether Scripture fits into our postmodern journalistic standard; the issue is truthfulness in speech.

What about Bible difficulties?

As far as they are concerned, I appreciate what is called the “moderate harmonization approach.” It seeks to synthesize the “supposed” inconsistencies while acknowledging that we do not yet have all the answers.

When all the facts become known, they will demonstrate that the Bible in its original autographs and correctly interpreted is entirely true and never false in what it affirms (Erickson). I find this method to be much more appealing than trying to force cohesiveness and give fanciful explanations without all of the data.

As an example, in the past, many of the alleged conflicts between Scripture and science turned out to be founded on flawed biblical exegesis (Horton). So, humility should be carry the day regarding data that we simply do not currently have available to us.

On a personal note, I do not hold to this position lightly. I have arrived here by traversing a long and painful road. A few years ago I began reading books written by men who claimed to be Christian, yet attacked the inerrancy of Scripture. Their words had an affect on my young and undiscerning mind and I took their assertions to heart. Quickly I fell into the trap of moral relativistic thinking and nearly ruined my life. Thankfully, God saved me. He pieced together my brokenness.

Since then, I have realized that there must be absolute truth. It is not optional. That truth is God’s word. It is inerrant, infallible, and beautiful.