There's been an 800 lb. gorilla roaming the chambers of my heart that I've barely even noticed until recently. He can feed off of most anything. He spends most of the time throwing away all that is good and right and chewing on the imperfections that are left. His name is Judgmental Attitude, and he's quite skilled at putting the gracious little monkey in my heart, Bold Adventure, under lock and key. You see, Bold Adventure is eager to please the Lord in faithful obedience, venturing out into new and deeper territories of relationships in order to communicate the Gospel. Judgmental Attitude is heavy and fairly immobile. The pursuit of new and deeper relationships seem like hard work and because he feeds on all that is wrong, anything that requires exertion comes close to giving him a heart attack.
Thankfully the Spirit of God has sent a helper to Bold Adventure, a helper to liberate him from the chains that Judgmental Attitude seeks to keep him in. This helper is Charitable Judgment.
Showing posts with label Uprooting Pride. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uprooting Pride. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Core of Christianity, and the Crust
A most profound article written by Kevin DeYoung...
"If we are to be fruitful and godly Christians we need to have a theological core without being theologically crusty.
In desiring a theological core I don’t mean that all Christians must be bookish and given to intellectual contemplation. I mean that every Christian must be shaped from the inside out by a set of convictions about who God is and what he has accomplished in Jesus Christ. As Christians we should be animated (given life) and motivated (compelled to action) by a core of doctrinal truths–truths like God is loving, sovereign, and holy; God created the world and created it good; as a result of Adam’s sin humans are bent toward evil; Jesus Christ was God’s Son, begotten not created; Jesus suffered and died on the cross for sins and rose again on the third day; the Holy Spirit is God and fills us with power, enables us to believe, equips us with gifts, and bears fruit in our lives; the Bible is God’s word; Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and justification is by faith alone.
These truths need to be more than a set of beliefs we assume. They should be the lens through which we look at ourselves and the world. There are many Christians and churches that don’t deny any cardinal doctrine of Christian faith, but they still don’t have a theological core. They have, instead, a musty statement of faith they barely understand and hardly believe and wouldn’t dare preach. They are animated and motivated by politics, church growth, relational concerns and the like, but the gospel is merely assumed. “Yes, yes–of course we believe in the Virgin Birth, and the atonement, and the resurrection, and heaven and hell,” they say. But its all periphery, not core. It’s all assumed, not all-consuming. Theologically hollow congregations and pastors may like to think they will bequeath a gospel legacy to the next generation, but the truth is we only pass on what is our passion. New converts and new kids won’t think and live and love like mature Christians, let alone be able to articulate the Christian story, if our beliefs rest in a pamphlet and not in our hearts.
I make no apologies for having a theological church. The church ought to be about the business of the gospel, and the gospel is a message of historical fact plus God-given interpretation. That’s theology. I hope we never feel like we have the “theology thing” down at URC just because we have solid book studies and long, meaty sermons. The “theology thing” is a lifelong project of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. We want to be thinking Christians who know what we believe, why we believe it, and live and die in the comfort of these beliefs.
Having a theological core means, among other thing, that our unity is theological. Of course we want to be united in love and purpose too. But whatever actions and affections we share in unison ought to radiate from a theological core. There is so much talk around the broader church about being missional Christians that it’s easy to think the church should be missional-centric. And in one sense, mission is certainly at the center of what we do. But mission itself is not what ties us together or fires us up. It’s only when the mission is defined and it’s genesis is proclaimed that we can rally around mission.
What I mean is that we should be, first of all, Christocentric; that is, centered on the cross of Christ. Christ is our identity, our passion, and our hope. And because of this identity, passion, and hope we pray, and evangelize, and do missions. But missions is not the center. Christ is–which shapes, defines, and launches us into mission. It’s like John Piper’s famous line: “Mission is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is.” Being missional is not a sufficient basis for unity. One, because I’m never quite sure what missional means. Two, because the blazing hot center of Christian identity, passion, and hope is not that we are all doing things in Jesus name. Of course, we should be doing things in Jesus’ name. But the blazing hot center is what God has already done for us in Christ. This must always be explained and rejoiced in, not merely assumed.
Which brings me back to the main point. We desperately need Christians and pastors and missionaries and churches and denominations and movements and institutions which are theological to the core, where doctrines are not simply items to be checked off the dogmatic grocery list or statements to be dusted off out of the ecclesiastical attic. We must all be theological because being a Christians means we embrace a message about who Jesus is and the victory he won for us. And that’s theology.
So, core, yes. Crust? No.
Please, don’t skip the last part of this post, especially if you really liked the first part. Because you may just be a crusty Christian if you’re not careful.
What makes a Christian crusty? A number of things. For starters, it’s an attitude. It’s a demeanor where being Calvinist or paedobaptist or inerrantist (three things I am gladly) are put on like armor or wielded like weapons, when they are meant to be the warm glow of a Christian whose core radiates with love for Christ and the gospel. I believe in theological distinctives–I believe in them and I believe it is good to have them–but if the distinctives are not manifestly the flower of gospel root, the buds aren’t worth the blooming.
A second mark of crusty Christians is approachability, as in, not having any. There is a sizing up-ness that makes some theological types unnecessarily prickly. They are bright and opinionated and quickly analytical. As a result, knowingly or unknowingly, they emit a vibe which communicates something between “You Max Lucado reading moron!” and “I wish R.C. Sproul were here to teach you a thing or two!” Crusty Christians are hard to be around. They are intimidating instead of engaging and growling instead of gracious. They are too willing to share their opinions on everything and unable to put any doctrine in any category not marked “absolutely essential.”
When theology is more crust than core, it’s not so much that we care about good theology too much, we just don’t care about some other hugely important things in the same proportion. So we end up largely skeptical of a prayerful, fruitful, warm-hearted, godly, Arminian leaning pastor. Now, I might think such a pastor is prayerful, fruitful, warm-hearted and godly despite too much emphasis on libertarian free will, but I sure hope to be mighty thankful for all his prayerfulness, fruitfulness, and warm-hearted godliness. Some Christians allow evangelism to trump all other considerations, others size up fellow Christians by their attention to social justice concerns, but a lot of us do our judging with theology. If the theology fits, the lack of mission, prayer, and compassion doesn’t matter much. But if a few theological pieces are misplaced in the puzzle, see you later and don’t let Hymenaeus and Philetus door hit you on the way out.
Striking the balance is not easy. But let’s try hard to be discerning and grounded without always looking for the next theological misstep in our friends, our family, or the songs we sing. And let’s be able to tell the difference between wandering sheep and false teachers. We must delineate between a slightly ill-informed wording of a phrase and a purposeful rejection of truth. We must pursue a passion for fidelity to Scripture and a winsomeness that sweetens the already honey-like drippings of the word of God. Let us be more like a chocolate covered raisin, likeable on the outside and surprisingly good for you on the inside, and less like a tootsie roll pop with its brittle, crunchy exterior that must be broken through before anyone can get to the good stuff. Our theological heart, if it is worth anything, will pulse throughout our spiritual bodies, making us into someone more prayerful, more godly, and more passionate about the Bible, the lost, and the world around us. We will be theologically solid to the core, without the unnecessary crust."
"If we are to be fruitful and godly Christians we need to have a theological core without being theologically crusty.
In desiring a theological core I don’t mean that all Christians must be bookish and given to intellectual contemplation. I mean that every Christian must be shaped from the inside out by a set of convictions about who God is and what he has accomplished in Jesus Christ. As Christians we should be animated (given life) and motivated (compelled to action) by a core of doctrinal truths–truths like God is loving, sovereign, and holy; God created the world and created it good; as a result of Adam’s sin humans are bent toward evil; Jesus Christ was God’s Son, begotten not created; Jesus suffered and died on the cross for sins and rose again on the third day; the Holy Spirit is God and fills us with power, enables us to believe, equips us with gifts, and bears fruit in our lives; the Bible is God’s word; Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and justification is by faith alone.
These truths need to be more than a set of beliefs we assume. They should be the lens through which we look at ourselves and the world. There are many Christians and churches that don’t deny any cardinal doctrine of Christian faith, but they still don’t have a theological core. They have, instead, a musty statement of faith they barely understand and hardly believe and wouldn’t dare preach. They are animated and motivated by politics, church growth, relational concerns and the like, but the gospel is merely assumed. “Yes, yes–of course we believe in the Virgin Birth, and the atonement, and the resurrection, and heaven and hell,” they say. But its all periphery, not core. It’s all assumed, not all-consuming. Theologically hollow congregations and pastors may like to think they will bequeath a gospel legacy to the next generation, but the truth is we only pass on what is our passion. New converts and new kids won’t think and live and love like mature Christians, let alone be able to articulate the Christian story, if our beliefs rest in a pamphlet and not in our hearts.
I make no apologies for having a theological church. The church ought to be about the business of the gospel, and the gospel is a message of historical fact plus God-given interpretation. That’s theology. I hope we never feel like we have the “theology thing” down at URC just because we have solid book studies and long, meaty sermons. The “theology thing” is a lifelong project of being transformed by the renewing of our minds. We want to be thinking Christians who know what we believe, why we believe it, and live and die in the comfort of these beliefs.
Having a theological core means, among other thing, that our unity is theological. Of course we want to be united in love and purpose too. But whatever actions and affections we share in unison ought to radiate from a theological core. There is so much talk around the broader church about being missional Christians that it’s easy to think the church should be missional-centric. And in one sense, mission is certainly at the center of what we do. But mission itself is not what ties us together or fires us up. It’s only when the mission is defined and it’s genesis is proclaimed that we can rally around mission.
What I mean is that we should be, first of all, Christocentric; that is, centered on the cross of Christ. Christ is our identity, our passion, and our hope. And because of this identity, passion, and hope we pray, and evangelize, and do missions. But missions is not the center. Christ is–which shapes, defines, and launches us into mission. It’s like John Piper’s famous line: “Mission is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is.” Being missional is not a sufficient basis for unity. One, because I’m never quite sure what missional means. Two, because the blazing hot center of Christian identity, passion, and hope is not that we are all doing things in Jesus name. Of course, we should be doing things in Jesus’ name. But the blazing hot center is what God has already done for us in Christ. This must always be explained and rejoiced in, not merely assumed.
Which brings me back to the main point. We desperately need Christians and pastors and missionaries and churches and denominations and movements and institutions which are theological to the core, where doctrines are not simply items to be checked off the dogmatic grocery list or statements to be dusted off out of the ecclesiastical attic. We must all be theological because being a Christians means we embrace a message about who Jesus is and the victory he won for us. And that’s theology.
So, core, yes. Crust? No.
Please, don’t skip the last part of this post, especially if you really liked the first part. Because you may just be a crusty Christian if you’re not careful.
What makes a Christian crusty? A number of things. For starters, it’s an attitude. It’s a demeanor where being Calvinist or paedobaptist or inerrantist (three things I am gladly) are put on like armor or wielded like weapons, when they are meant to be the warm glow of a Christian whose core radiates with love for Christ and the gospel. I believe in theological distinctives–I believe in them and I believe it is good to have them–but if the distinctives are not manifestly the flower of gospel root, the buds aren’t worth the blooming.
A second mark of crusty Christians is approachability, as in, not having any. There is a sizing up-ness that makes some theological types unnecessarily prickly. They are bright and opinionated and quickly analytical. As a result, knowingly or unknowingly, they emit a vibe which communicates something between “You Max Lucado reading moron!” and “I wish R.C. Sproul were here to teach you a thing or two!” Crusty Christians are hard to be around. They are intimidating instead of engaging and growling instead of gracious. They are too willing to share their opinions on everything and unable to put any doctrine in any category not marked “absolutely essential.”
When theology is more crust than core, it’s not so much that we care about good theology too much, we just don’t care about some other hugely important things in the same proportion. So we end up largely skeptical of a prayerful, fruitful, warm-hearted, godly, Arminian leaning pastor. Now, I might think such a pastor is prayerful, fruitful, warm-hearted and godly despite too much emphasis on libertarian free will, but I sure hope to be mighty thankful for all his prayerfulness, fruitfulness, and warm-hearted godliness. Some Christians allow evangelism to trump all other considerations, others size up fellow Christians by their attention to social justice concerns, but a lot of us do our judging with theology. If the theology fits, the lack of mission, prayer, and compassion doesn’t matter much. But if a few theological pieces are misplaced in the puzzle, see you later and don’t let Hymenaeus and Philetus door hit you on the way out.
Striking the balance is not easy. But let’s try hard to be discerning and grounded without always looking for the next theological misstep in our friends, our family, or the songs we sing. And let’s be able to tell the difference between wandering sheep and false teachers. We must delineate between a slightly ill-informed wording of a phrase and a purposeful rejection of truth. We must pursue a passion for fidelity to Scripture and a winsomeness that sweetens the already honey-like drippings of the word of God. Let us be more like a chocolate covered raisin, likeable on the outside and surprisingly good for you on the inside, and less like a tootsie roll pop with its brittle, crunchy exterior that must be broken through before anyone can get to the good stuff. Our theological heart, if it is worth anything, will pulse throughout our spiritual bodies, making us into someone more prayerful, more godly, and more passionate about the Bible, the lost, and the world around us. We will be theologically solid to the core, without the unnecessary crust."
Saturday, April 10, 2010
How Awesome Is Our God
Look upon the following verses and meditate on them. Know that Christ's coming and sacrifice was not a "Plan B." Our God is not some small, reactionary god who is shaped by the decisions of man.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
"His saving work in the world was not an afterthought because of sin, but was the eternal purpose of God. It was the plan of God before creation and from all eternity. Upon this plan God created all things. If we can imagine God drawing up the plans for the universe before he created it, and if we could examine these plans, we would not see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but Jesus Christ in the gospel." Graeme Goldsworthy, According To Plan, pg. 60.
Yes, all things were created with wisdom and foreknowledge. Sadly, many today have such a diminished view of what foreknowledge is. They think to foreknow is simply to know the facts beforehand (omniscience).
Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Look at "foreknew" in relation to "predestined." We know that not all people are becoming conformed to the image of Christ and yet an all knowing (omniscient) God certainly is aware of every person He has created. Therefore "foreknowledge" must mean something more than merely "an awareness of events to come." Nowhere in Scripture do we see that God "foreknew" those that are not among the elect.
The intimacy of knowing:
The root of foreknowledge is know. In scripture, to know someone denotes a particular intimacy.
Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain,...
Now either Adam stood around pointing at Eve, identifying her until she bore him a son or there was something more intimate going on in the business of knowing.
Matthew 7: 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Either Christ had no awareness of these workers of iniquity (even though He was addressing them and identifying them as workers of iniquity) or the knowledge represents a particular intimacy.
Further study: For a more scholarly biblical exegesis (with the original Greek) of understanding foreknowledge click here.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
"His saving work in the world was not an afterthought because of sin, but was the eternal purpose of God. It was the plan of God before creation and from all eternity. Upon this plan God created all things. If we can imagine God drawing up the plans for the universe before he created it, and if we could examine these plans, we would not see Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but Jesus Christ in the gospel." Graeme Goldsworthy, According To Plan, pg. 60.
Yes, all things were created with wisdom and foreknowledge. Sadly, many today have such a diminished view of what foreknowledge is. They think to foreknow is simply to know the facts beforehand (omniscience).
Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Look at "foreknew" in relation to "predestined." We know that not all people are becoming conformed to the image of Christ and yet an all knowing (omniscient) God certainly is aware of every person He has created. Therefore "foreknowledge" must mean something more than merely "an awareness of events to come." Nowhere in Scripture do we see that God "foreknew" those that are not among the elect.
The intimacy of knowing:
The root of foreknowledge is know. In scripture, to know someone denotes a particular intimacy.
Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain,...
Now either Adam stood around pointing at Eve, identifying her until she bore him a son or there was something more intimate going on in the business of knowing.
Matthew 7: 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Either Christ had no awareness of these workers of iniquity (even though He was addressing them and identifying them as workers of iniquity) or the knowledge represents a particular intimacy.
Further study: For a more scholarly biblical exegesis (with the original Greek) of understanding foreknowledge click here.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Faith in Religion vs. Faith in Grace
Because this man can say it better than me, I'll let him speak.
... and a bit of Mr. Washer to wash it down with.
... and a bit of Mr. Washer to wash it down with.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Is it okay for God to effectively love those who don't love Him?
"I shudder to remember the day she [my daughter, Ashley] almost died when she was roughly two years old.
"At that time we lived off a busy street next to the football stadium of the University of Washington. Beyond our front porch there were perhaps twenty feet of property followed by a sidewalk and then four lanes of nearly constant heavy traffic. One day, when we opened the front door to walked to our parked car, Ashley started running toward the street, so we chased her, grabbed her, and carefully explained to her that she was never to run away from us again toward the traffic. She did not fully understand what we were saying; she just thought it was fun that we would chase her. To her, the whole thing was basically a playtime game. For some weeks she stayed near us as we went to put her in the car... until one nearly fateful day.
"As we were loading her newborn brother, Zachariah Blaise, into the car, she turned from my side and ran as fast as she could toward the busy street. She was exercising her free will and made her own decision for her life. In panic, I cried out to her, essentially preaching repentance to her, pleading her to turn around and return to her daddy. She foolishly did not respond, and I will never forget the smile on her face and the look in her eye as she ran toward the street, thinking we were playing a game and not seeing the death that awaited her.
"Ashley ran in front of a vehicle parked on the side of the road. As I sprinted toward her, I looked to my left at the oncoming traffic and saw a large delivery truck rumbling down the road, right in the lane where Ashley was about to step. To make matters even worse, she was so short that the truck driver would never see her if she came out from behind the parked car, and I was certain that my daughter was going to die in front of my eyes. I closed in on her just as she stepped into the lane of the oncoming delivery truck. She was a few steps into the street when I grabbed her by the back of her vest and literally pulled her out of the way of the truck. She was a few steps into the street when I grabbed her by the back of her vest and literally pulled her out of the way of the truck. Everything happened so fast that the truck driver did not have time to hit the horn or the brakes. My daughter's life was spared by just inches.
"With one arm, I reached out and overrode the free-will decision of my daughter and saved her. I did this because my love for her is more important than her free will.
"Tragically, I have heard a well-known Christian radio show host explain the Reformed view of predetination as God being a rapist rather than a lover because God overrides the free will of some people. My heart brakes every time I hear that kind of statement, because rapists are not the only people who impose their will on others; sometimes so do loving daddies who want their kids to live. They reach out their hand to ensure they are saved from death.
"Being a daddy myself, the predestinating hand of God the Father reaching down to me through Jesus makes me worship him for being such an amazing Dad."
~Pastor Mark Driscoll, pg. 102-103 "Religion Saves + nine other misconceptions"
"At that time we lived off a busy street next to the football stadium of the University of Washington. Beyond our front porch there were perhaps twenty feet of property followed by a sidewalk and then four lanes of nearly constant heavy traffic. One day, when we opened the front door to walked to our parked car, Ashley started running toward the street, so we chased her, grabbed her, and carefully explained to her that she was never to run away from us again toward the traffic. She did not fully understand what we were saying; she just thought it was fun that we would chase her. To her, the whole thing was basically a playtime game. For some weeks she stayed near us as we went to put her in the car... until one nearly fateful day.
"As we were loading her newborn brother, Zachariah Blaise, into the car, she turned from my side and ran as fast as she could toward the busy street. She was exercising her free will and made her own decision for her life. In panic, I cried out to her, essentially preaching repentance to her, pleading her to turn around and return to her daddy. She foolishly did not respond, and I will never forget the smile on her face and the look in her eye as she ran toward the street, thinking we were playing a game and not seeing the death that awaited her.
"Ashley ran in front of a vehicle parked on the side of the road. As I sprinted toward her, I looked to my left at the oncoming traffic and saw a large delivery truck rumbling down the road, right in the lane where Ashley was about to step. To make matters even worse, she was so short that the truck driver would never see her if she came out from behind the parked car, and I was certain that my daughter was going to die in front of my eyes. I closed in on her just as she stepped into the lane of the oncoming delivery truck. She was a few steps into the street when I grabbed her by the back of her vest and literally pulled her out of the way of the truck. She was a few steps into the street when I grabbed her by the back of her vest and literally pulled her out of the way of the truck. Everything happened so fast that the truck driver did not have time to hit the horn or the brakes. My daughter's life was spared by just inches.
"With one arm, I reached out and overrode the free-will decision of my daughter and saved her. I did this because my love for her is more important than her free will.
"Tragically, I have heard a well-known Christian radio show host explain the Reformed view of predetination as God being a rapist rather than a lover because God overrides the free will of some people. My heart brakes every time I hear that kind of statement, because rapists are not the only people who impose their will on others; sometimes so do loving daddies who want their kids to live. They reach out their hand to ensure they are saved from death.
"Being a daddy myself, the predestinating hand of God the Father reaching down to me through Jesus makes me worship him for being such an amazing Dad."
~Pastor Mark Driscoll, pg. 102-103 "Religion Saves + nine other misconceptions"
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
to those who by grace had believed (Acts 18:27)
Whoa, wait a second. Did I read that right? Did Luke just give away all my credit of belief to grace? But wasn't it by putting my faith in the grace of Christ that saved me?
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8
Wow, Paul. You're stealing my thunder here. But I at least get some props for repentance. After all Mr. Robinson said, "faith without repentance makes Christ nothing more than a fire escape. There must be a work of repentance and faith upon the sinner's heart before salvation can become a reality."
But Paul's desire was that "God may perhaps grant [sinners] repentance." 2 Timothy 2:25
______
So long as I believe something within me autonomously chose God I have made a nest for religious pride. I can boast in the things that brought me to faith, thinking I deserve some credit or at least I was somehow able to choose rightly when the gospel was presented to me. I may then go on to prosthelytize all my religious nuances with an elitist, judgemental attitude for those who don't adopt my practices, goading them on by guilt and manipulation... or slip into a fatalistic laissez faire attitude by resting my faith in a one time act of repentance rather than the one who brought me to a life of repentance (turning away from Sin and towards God). But in light of Scripture I know that Salvation from start to finish is the work of God and there is nothing left for me to boast in but Jesus... not my choosing Him but Him choosing me even while I was at enmity with the Almighty.
(see Ez. 36.26-27, Matt. 16.17, 1 Cor. 2.12-14, 2 Cor. 3.3,6, 2 Thess.2.13-14, Titus 3:5)
And if I should take pride in my knowledge of His sovereign grace then I am failing to understand it because it is only by His Spirit and His grace these truths have been illuminated to me and even yet I am merely at the threshold of understanding the riches of God's grace that are the only thing that can rightly motivate and sustain me to a life of service for His glory in joy and gratitude for His unfathomable love for one so ill-deserving as myself. And if I should grow apathetic and fatalistic then my mind is dim to His great mercy and I miss the joy of glorifying Him and I should not be so confident that I really heard His voice in the first place if I should seem deaf to it now.
[Jan.13th ammendment]
Because there's no room for human pride in the economy of God's converting grace those who claim to understand it but yet retain pride give evidence for faulty understanding. And whether Calvinist or Arminian we all stumble in our growth through sanctifying grace, giving pride a foothold, and because we will never be free of our flesh in this life the fruit we bear will never be so perfect and pristine as to be sterilized of pride but we are in constant need of applying this gospel of Christ more thoroughly in all aspects of our life, trusting that our meager offerings of service are acceptable only because of His rich grace and mercy.
And by this grace I know I am guilty of every accusation that could be brought against me and more.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8
Wow, Paul. You're stealing my thunder here. But I at least get some props for repentance. After all Mr. Robinson said, "faith without repentance makes Christ nothing more than a fire escape. There must be a work of repentance and faith upon the sinner's heart before salvation can become a reality."
But Paul's desire was that "God may perhaps grant [sinners] repentance." 2 Timothy 2:25
______
So long as I believe something within me autonomously chose God I have made a nest for religious pride. I can boast in the things that brought me to faith, thinking I deserve some credit or at least I was somehow able to choose rightly when the gospel was presented to me. I may then go on to prosthelytize all my religious nuances with an elitist, judgemental attitude for those who don't adopt my practices, goading them on by guilt and manipulation... or slip into a fatalistic laissez faire attitude by resting my faith in a one time act of repentance rather than the one who brought me to a life of repentance (turning away from Sin and towards God). But in light of Scripture I know that Salvation from start to finish is the work of God and there is nothing left for me to boast in but Jesus... not my choosing Him but Him choosing me even while I was at enmity with the Almighty.
(see Ez. 36.26-27, Matt. 16.17, 1 Cor. 2.12-14, 2 Cor. 3.3,6, 2 Thess.2.13-14, Titus 3:5)
And if I should take pride in my knowledge of His sovereign grace then I am failing to understand it because it is only by His Spirit and His grace these truths have been illuminated to me and even yet I am merely at the threshold of understanding the riches of God's grace that are the only thing that can rightly motivate and sustain me to a life of service for His glory in joy and gratitude for His unfathomable love for one so ill-deserving as myself. And if I should grow apathetic and fatalistic then my mind is dim to His great mercy and I miss the joy of glorifying Him and I should not be so confident that I really heard His voice in the first place if I should seem deaf to it now.
[Jan.13th ammendment]
Because there's no room for human pride in the economy of God's converting grace those who claim to understand it but yet retain pride give evidence for faulty understanding. And whether Calvinist or Arminian we all stumble in our growth through sanctifying grace, giving pride a foothold, and because we will never be free of our flesh in this life the fruit we bear will never be so perfect and pristine as to be sterilized of pride but we are in constant need of applying this gospel of Christ more thoroughly in all aspects of our life, trusting that our meager offerings of service are acceptable only because of His rich grace and mercy.
And by this grace I know I am guilty of every accusation that could be brought against me and more.
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