Unworthiness

"When the sinner is held back from the gospel by a sense of unworthiness, his worthiness is the implied ground of his coming to the gospel–his work–not Christ’s. When the Christian longs for a deeper view of sin, and love to Christ, and forgets, that, when attained, he will have the same need as before of the blood and righteousness of Christ–this is again to put spiritual self in the place of Christ" (Charles Bridges The Christian Ministry 366).

I find my self feeling unworthy. This, however, makes my worthiness the grounds for my coming to Christ. I begin to focus on my insufficiencies and beg for mercy. But God resists the proud–and what could be more arrogant than to think I will ever discipline myself into a worthy state. With a fresh view of my sin and with a disciplined life, my need remains the same as before–the blood and righteousness of Christ. I cannot take the place of the one who took my place. In him alone can I stand before a righteous judge and live. May God continue to teach me about the sufficiencies of Christ.

Legalism

Legalism seems inevitable when preaching regularly calls believers to change or obedience without reference to the enabling and motivating power of the gospel.

To strive for the elimination of sin without grace and the gospel is to play the fool and confirm yourself in sin. Legalism flourishes where the outward sins are dealt with apart from inward matters of the heart and the gospel that alone can change it.

Converse Towards Consistency

A faithful church will need to change the way it does things (the things will likely change little) in order to remain consistent and constant in the midst of an ever changing culture. Be constantly having conversations about worship, etc. because of ever changing culture, etc.

Worldviews - Seven Basic Questions

I am taking an Intro to Philosophy class later this month and have found this book by Sire excellently written and a useful introduction to worldviews. I hope to summarize the chapters/worldviews, following largely his points, for easier access in the future. I also plan to post these summaries as I go. Here is 'where he is going' in the book as he asks these seven 'basic' questions of the major worldviews considered. The worldviews are considered in historical/logical/progressive order by Sire.

Seven Basic Questions:

(1) What is prime reality--the really real?

(2) What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?

(3) What is a human being?

(4) What happens to a person at death?

(5) Why is it possible to know anything at all?

(6) How do we know what is right and wrong?

(7) What is the meaning of human reality?

--James W. Sire, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog (Fourth Ed.), 20.

The Value of Mankind

"God does not love us because we are so valuable; we are valuable because God loves us."

--Helmut Thielicke, Nihilism, 110.

Knowing and Arrogance

Two solid reminders:

Just because I don't know everything,

doesn't mean I don't know anything

and

arrogance is to be uncertain about that which God has spoken.

a little principle

Simple hermeneutical principle: Assume everything is prescriptive unless it is descriptive.

[Frankly not sure of the utility of it, but it seemed profound at the time I noted it.]

Christian Theism in History . . . Clearly Dominent

"In the Western world up to the end of the seventeenth century, . . . [i]f battles were fought, the lines were drawn within the circle of theism."

--James W. Sire, The Universe Next Door, 23.

Evangelicalism (and the Ecumenical Involvement)

While discussing Evangelicalism Divided, I noted from an intern discussion that what Evangelicalism (and the Ecumenical Involvement) is about for (a) Packer is a question of ecclesiology and (b) Murray is the definition of a Christian; thus these men differ concerning their interaction with it.

The Gospel, Its Fruit, and Christian Cultural No-No's

Why do churches allow into their rolls those whom the Bible would not consider Christians? Maybe churches aren’t keeping rolls today. Why then are they allowing those whom the Bible would not consider Christians to attend and consider themselves part of the church? An evangelical church must agree on the gospel. But agreement is not enough.

Christ warns that false prophets are like ferocious wolves in sheep’s clothing. How is the church to discern sheep from wolves who look and even sound like sheep? “By their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt. 7:16). Those who only profess Christ must not be considered Christians. The Bible doesn’t ask us to assume. We don’t need to assume. Rather we need to wait and watch their actions. With numbers being the criteria for success, waiting makes no sense. One who acts like a sheep and cries ‘Lord, Lord’ like a sheep is welcomed into the fold. Patience and wisdom are needed. They are what the Bible expects.

But if wolves act like sheep and the church is to judge sheep by their actions, how are the two to be kept separate? In between his teaching on sheep and wolves and his comment about those who cry ‘Lord, Lord,’ Christ answers this. “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18). Wolves bear bad fruit. Wolves cannot bear good fruit. It seems so clear, yet I look at churches I’ve been in and people would say, ‘we have no wolves here.’ The church has mistaken ‘Lord, Lord’ with doing the will of the Father.

Even more of a problem, the church has mis-defined fruit. Not watching movies in the theater, attending concerts, listening to ‘bad music,’ smoking, drinking, and a hundred other understood no-no’s has been mis-taken with actually bearing fruit–that is acting like a Christian. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are understood to be needed, but not essential. Faithfulness to Christian cultural norms–the no-no’s–has replaced faithfulness to Christ. Not doing (in the name of Jesus) has replaced bearing.

So one who cries ‘Lord, Lord’ and doesn’t do these understood no-no’s is believed to have found the small gate and the narrow road. I fear the gate they have walked threw and the road they are on feel small and narrow due to exclusive legalism–yet they are wider than they know. Their road will lead to Christ as judge and–at the end–he will say ‘I never knew you.’

The Weight of My Sins

“It is not that you become spiritually paranoid and begin to imagine that you have committed more sins than you had previously realized (though in a sense you do begin to do this). What really happens, as God’s Spirit begins to convict you in this way, is that, as He brings a particular sin to your attention, that particular sin seems more serious than it did before”(9 Marks of a Healthy Church, 100).

I think the first sentence describes life for me–worried over my sin, thinking in terms of the number of my sins. The second sentence describes what I need (and what God works)–a sense of the seriousness of each sin, thinking in terms of the weight of my sins. May God be gracious to me–allowing real conviction towards true repentance.

How do I hear the Word of God? Preparation for Sunday

Here are notes from a favorite sermon by Daniel Davey, who draws heavily from Piper. I try to review these, at least mentally, each Sunday night.

How do I hear the Word of God? Preparation for Sunday
1.Pray for a good and honest heart -Luke 8:15
2.Meditate on portions to cultivate an appitite for God
3.Purify your mind by turning away from worldy entertainment -James 1:21, Phil 4:8
4.Trust in the truth you already have -Luke 8:28
5.Get a good night's rest on Saturday night. It takes more discipline to go to bed on time than to get up on time. 'Take head how you hear.'
6.Forbear one another without grumbling and criticism. 'Humble me and cleanse me.' Ps 106:25
7.Come in a spirit of teachability.
8.Be still as you enter the room and focus your mind's attentinon and heart's affection on the Word of God. 'We come to look out for God and leave to look out for people.'
9.Think earnestly about what is sung, prayed, and preached. Worship engages the mind and then the emotions.
10.Desire the truth of God's Word more than I desire riches and food. Ps 19:10-11 Lk 8:19-21
-Take head how you hear.
-Attentdance doesn't count.
-Ability to hear doesn't count.
-You hear with your heart and you grasp it.

Elders and Statements of Faith

If elders need to hold something not in the statement of faith, then the problem may be with your statement of faith. You may need to change or add to your statement of faith over time.

Making Visible the Spiritual - Thoughts from a Talk by tml

Baptism - incorporation into body union with Christ

getting into

Lord's Supper - ongoing incorporation into body union with Christ

borders/how you remain in

Membership - the thing itself because it is the visible display of the body union with Christ

Dealing with a visible spiritual reality--that is, the body of Christ/union with Christ/the church. Illustrated with a circle (the visible manifestation of spiritual reality) made up of members, inclosed by the Lord's Supper, and entered into by baptism.

Trees

Welch writes on the knowledge of God: If you walk "among giant redwoods, you will never be overwhelmed by the size of a dogwood tree" (119, When People Are Big and God Is Small).

May 2009 be a year in which we find ourselves lost amid redwoods often!