Masked Men

Where you understand that God is aware of all of your sinful rebellion and has loved you anyway, you have been set free to not pretend you're more than you are. If you don't get Jesus, like you don't get that he knows, you don't get that all the thoughts of your mind, all the desires of your heart are known by him, and he loves you anyway…you don't get that…you will be forced to pretend you're more than you are, and that's exhausting. It's exhausting.

There's this weird thing that happens in church life, all churches everywhere, it doesn't take you long to put on the "clothes" of the church you worship at. You understand what I'm saying? I'm not talking about how we dress, because we're all over the map here. I'm saying it doesn't take long to go,

"Oh, I need to have my Bible. It probably needs to be in ESV. I need to have a journal, take some notes. I need to learn certain phrases: It's okay to not be okay, gospel-centered, worship, community service. I need to learn phrases. I need to learn at what part of the song we raise our hands. I need to learn…Do I pat my chest? When do I do the pat-chest thing?" 

Then to begin to mimic the actions of a congregation and, in so doing, to compare yourself spiritually with the Joneses to where you measure up, and where you feel you're not measuring up, you just pretend that you are, and so you tend to regurgitate truth rather than walk in it.

Source: Affections Matter - Matt Chandler

The Authority of Scripture Over Our Lives

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." | 2 Timothy 3:16-17

With those verses in mind, listen as Matt Chandler shares an always relevant truth from Acts 20:26-31:

A Walk Through Holy Week - Post #5

After readying himself through prayer and receiving the blessing of spiritual strength from the LORD, Jesus hears muffled sounds in the distance and looks to see the dim light of the torches. As expected, the arrest party has secretly come in the cover of darkness. Peter, James, and John awake just in time to see their Rabbi betrayed with Judas' kiss. Startled and afraid, Peter quickly grabs his sword and strikes Malchus, the high priest’s servant, and cuts off his right ear. But Jesus says to Peter, “Put your sword [away]; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” And thus begins the most unjust and unmerited arrest and trial in the history of the world.

The trial has been assembled hastily and witnesses haven’t been screened well. Testimonies don't line up. Council members look disconcerted. Jesus is silent as a lamb. Irritated and impatient, Caiaphas cuts to the quick: “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 26:63).

The hour has come. Charged in the name of his Father to answer, Jesus speaks the words that seal the doom for which he had come to endure (John 12:27): “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64).

Then in an act of both manipulative dramatics and law-breaking (Leviticus 21:10), Caiaphas tears his robes and with those gathered at the Sanhedrin declares, “what further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.” (Luke 22:71). And with that statement, the Council had the verdict and sentence they had been waiting for. They declared Jesus guilty of blasphemy and sentenced him to death, but they would need the help of Rome because they didn't have the authority to carry out capital punishment.

What happened next was "a game of political chess" between Pilate, Herod, and the Council. All of them acting as authorities, yet none of them realizing that they were merely pawns in the plan God had established before the foundation of the world. Pilate tried to appease the Council's thirst for blood and justice by having Christ flogged and humiliated...but humiliation wasn't enough. They wanted him dead and nothing would keep them from achieving this end. Pilot even tried to offer Jesus's release as the year’s annual Passover pardoned prisoner, but the Council refused his effort by saying, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (John 18:40). Their hearts were so hardened by their hatred for Jesus, that they were willing to free a murderous thief instead of Jesus.

[But] the triune God has the Council, Pilate, and Satan where he wants them. They would have no authority over the Son at all unless it had been given [to] them from above (John 19:11).

Unknowingly, they were all carrying out the plan God had already set in place. They were helping Jesus drink the cup he came down from heaven to drink. It was for this very purpose that Christ became flesh. The Son of God was born...to die. By the Council's unjust and shameful actions and Pilot's cowardly efforts to wash his hands of it all...God's will was being carried out. Once again, God was turning what men meant for evil into good, as they "unwittingly collaborated in executing the only innocent [man] who could possibly grant sinners life."

The rest of the story is one we're well familiar with. Christ's cross was strapped to his already lacerated back and he was forced to carry it to the top of Golgotha. Unable to physically handle the task, a man from the crowd was chosen to help him make the trek. Hung between two thieves, Christ endured more ridicule from the crowd as they mocked him while the centurions cast lots for his garments. In the ultimate act of humility and unconditional love, Christ looked down from the cross at those who mocked him. His heart continued to break for them as he pleaded with his father to have mercy. His words equally sad as they were true, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Suffering both from physical pain and thirst, Christ asked for a drink. Physically he was exhausted, but his deeper pain was spiritual. Carrying the sin of the world on his shoulders he was separated from his Father for the first time and last time of eternity. Christ mustered just enough strength to say..."It is finished." And indeed it was. Christ successfully drank the cup his father had set before him, and God received his son's death as payment for the sins of the world.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. | Rom. 3:23-35

A Walk Through Holy Week - Post #3

Today is "Holy Wednesday" also knows as "Spy Wednesday" by many, because the dark and secret plot to kill Jesus is starting to take shape. Yesterday, the chief priests, scribes, and elders were humiliated by Jesus, who compared them to wicked tenants in the parable he told in the temple (Matt. 12:1-12). The hatred in their hearts towards Jesus was growing stronger and stronger as they sought ways to defame him and minimize his influence over the people. However, their efforts continued to fall short, and because they feared an uprising among the people Jesus continued to gain favor and converts. Something had to happen to stop Jesus. These men needed a different way to get to Jesus that could be done secretly. They needed a closer connection to him. They needed a spy.

Enter Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of Christ's twelve disciples. He traveled with Jesus throughout his ministry and was very close to him. But he was also caught up in a grave sin, one which would eventually lead to his own demise. He was the treasurer and "keeper of the moneybag." But the Bible also said that he was a greedy man who was dishonest and a thief. One piece of evidence occurred when Jesus was reclining at a table in the house of Lazareth, Mary, and Martha. Mary approached Jesus, and began to wash Christ's feet with expensive perfume and dry it off with her hair. It is in this story that we get a clearer picture of Judas' heart and motives:

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” | John 12:1-8

In John's gospel we are told that Judas' concern was not for the poor (as he claimed), but was instead concern that he wasn't able to embezzle money from the sale of the expensive ointment which was being "wasted" on the feet of Jesus. John surmised that Judas' heart was hardened by the sin of greed and the evidence we have in scripture, shows that Judas was willing to do anything to fulfil his desire. Even betraying the Messiah. And in the gospel according to Mark, there is no subtle transition between the exchange Judas had with Jesus while Mary was washing his feet and his effort to fulfill his greedy passions.

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. | Mark 14:10-11

And just like that, the evil plotters had their spy. One of Jesus' inside men was willing to betray him for the small price of (30) pieces of silver, the going price of a slave in Jesus day. Game. Set. Match. Or so they thought. Little did they know that their actions were simply a small piece of a much greater story God had begun to tell before the foundations of the world. Christ came to earth to die for the sins of the world. Those plotting against Jesus needed someone (like Judas) to turn Jesus over to them and for it to be done in secrecy so it wouldn't start an uprising. However, God knew the evil in their hearts and the evil in Judas' heart as well, and he used the sinful desires of these men to accomplish his plan of redemption. And once again we see, what men mean for evil, God will use for good...to accomplish his holy purposes.


Why the Insult of Betrayal? (David Mathis - DesiringGod.org)

Why would God have it go down like this? If Jesus truly is being “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23), and his enemies are doing just as God’s hand and plan “had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:28), why design it like this, with one of his own disciples betraying him? Why add the insult of betrayal to the injury of the cross?

We find a clue when Jesus quotes Psalm 41:9 in forecasting Judas’s defection: “He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me” (John 13:18). King David knew the pain not just of being conspired against by his enemies, but betrayed by his friend. So now the Son of David walks the same path in his agony. Here Judas turns on him. Soon Peter will deny him, and then the remaining ten will scatter.

From the beginning of his public ministry, the disciples have been at his side. They have learned from him, traveled with him, ministered with him, been his earthly companions, and comforted him as he walked this otherwise lonely road to Jerusalem.

But now, as Jesus’s hour comes, this burden he must bear alone. The definitive work will be no team effort. The Anointed must go forward unaccompanied, as even his friends betray him, deny him, and disperse. As Donald Macleod observes, “Had the redemption of the world depended on the diligence of the disciples (or even their staying awake) it would never have been accomplished” (The Person of Christ, 173).

As he lifts “loud cries and tears” (Hebrews 5:7) in the garden, the heartbreak of David is added to his near emotional breakdown: “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” (Psalm 41:9). He is forsaken by his closest earthly associates, one of them even becoming a spy against him. But even this is not the bottom of his anguish. The depth comes in the cry of dereliction, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

But more remarkable than this depth of forsakenness is the height of love he will show. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends, even when they have forsaken him.

Jesus. The Cure for Addiction.

"When Jesus becomes your treasure, nothing else will ever satisfy you again."

How do you overcome a pornography addiction? Believe it or not, it's not by finding the perfect method to modify your behavior. It really comes down to one simple thing...finding your satisfaction in Jesus Christ.

When we love Jesus more than ourselves, we begin to develop a love for the things he loves and a hatred for the things that he hates. This will include the sins that we have been enslaved to for years or even decades. The liberty Christ offers to us isn't simply the ability to remove sin from our lives. It's far greater than that brothers. Jesus not only helps remove the worldly pleasures that we have so easily accepted and settled for, he also fills those voids with what we were created to find our ultimate satisfaction in, namely himself.

If you truly desire to be set free from the chains of addiction...don't focus your attention on the behavior itself but instead invest your time, energy, and effort into Jesus Christ. When Jesus becomes your treasure, nothing else will ever satisfy you again.

The Word of God

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. (Hebrews 4:12)

The Word of God is our only hope. The good news of God’s promises and the warnings of his judgment are sharp enough and living enough and active enough to penetrate to the bottom of my heart and show me that the lies of sin are indeed lies.

Abortion will not create a wonderful future for me. Neither will cheating, or dressing provocatively, or throwing away my sexual purity, or keeping quiet about dishonesty at work, or divorce, or vengeance. And what rescues me from this deception is the Word of God.

The Word of God’s promise is like throwing open a great window of bright morning sun on the roaches of sin masquerading as satisfying pleasures in our hearts. God has given you his good news, his promises, his Word to protect you from the deep deceptions of sin that try to harden the heart and lure it away from God and lead it to destruction.

Be of good cheer in your battle to believe. Because the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and it will penetrate deeper than any deception of sin has ever gone and reveal what is truly valuable and what is truly worth trusting.

Original Link: HERE

Marriage Does Not Redeem Sin

"I know...why over 50% of Christian marriages end in divorce: because Christians act as though marriage redeems sin. Marriage does not redeem sin. Only Jesus himself can do that." | Rosaria Champagne Butterfield

What God Requires

The demand in Romans 8:13 is not sinlessness but mortal combat with sin. This is utterly essential in the Christian life. Otherwise we give no evidence that the flesh has been crucified. And if the flesh has not been crucified we do not belong to Christ (Galatians 5:24). The stakes in this battle are very high. We are not playing war games. The outcome is heaven or hell.

How then do dead people "put to death the (sinful) deeds of the body"? We have answered, "By faith!" But just what does this mean? How do you fight sin with faith?

Suppose I am tempted to lust. Some sexual image pops into my brain and beckons me to pursue it. The way this temptation gets its power is by persuading me to believe that I will be happier if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier. No one sins out of a sense of duty, when what they really want is to do right.

So what should I do? Some people would say, "Remember God's command to be holy (1 Peter 1:16) and exercise your will to obey because he is God!" But something crucial is missing from this advice, namely, FAITH. A lot of people strive for moral improvement who cannot say, "The life I live I live BY FAITH" (Galatians 2:20). A lot of people try to love who don't realize that, "What counts is FAITH working through love" (Galatians 5:6).

The fight against lust (or greed or fear or any other temptation) is a fight of faith. Otherwise the result is legalism.

John Piper - How Dead People Do Battle with Sin

Don't Settle for Counterfeit Fulfillment

This [boredom] is why people are so prone to an addictive lifestyle. Many people who fall into sinful addictions are people who were once terminally bored. The reason why addictions are so powerful is that they tap into that place in our hearts that was made for transcendent communion and spiritual romance. These addictive habits either dull and deaden our yearnings for a satisfaction we fear we’ll never find or they provide an alternative counterfeit fulfillment that we think will bring long-term happiness, counterfeits like cocaine, overeating, illicit affairs, busyness, efficiency, image, or obsession with physical beauty. They all find their power in the inescapable yearning of the human heart to be fascinated and pleased and enthralled. Our hearts will invariably lead us either to the fleeting pleasures of addiction or to God. | Sam Storms

God Grant Me a Sensitive Conscience

Here's a newsflash for you: The Christian Life is Hard.

Now while you try to come to grips with this crazy thought, I want to share with you a few resources from John MacArthur on one of the greatest tools God has given us to help us battle sin.

"The conscience is generally seen by the modern world as a defect that robs people of their self-esteem. Far from being a defect or a disorder, however, your ability to sense your own guilt is a tremendous gift from God. He designed the conscience into the very framework of the human soul. It is the automatic warning system that cries, "Pull up! Pull up!" before you crash and burn." | John MacArthur - The Conscience, Revisited

That's right. A "guilty" conscience should not be ignored. Sensitivity to guilt is not primarily about making a person feel bad, but is instead about helping them stay sensitive to their sin. In Jeremiah, we see a passage of scripture that shows how Israel's sin no longer had any effect on them at all. A land where people had ignored their consciences and guilt for so long that their hearts were no longer sensitive to their sin. Their hearts were hard towards their iniquities and they actually forgot how to blush.

Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. | Jeremiah 6:15

The conscience is a tool which can be used to help us in our Christian walk, but we must work to keep our conscience sensitive. If we are not investing significant time into God's word and working to apply it to our lives, then our conscience will not be trained towards righteousness, but will instead be trained in worldliness. The old cliché, you are what you eat rings true here. What we invest our time into will be what we become. If we desire to be holy, then we must cling to what is holy. We must study God's holy word that our hearts may remain soft and aware of what is good, acceptable and perfect. Paul tells us in Romans 12:2:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We can't discern what the will of God is if we are not investing significant time into studying, meditating on and memorizing his word. God has given us his bible and our consciences as tools for our pursuit of holiness, but these two things must work together. We must fill our hearts (and conscience) with God's truth if we truly desire to have a heart that is passionate for God and his glory.

I'll leave you with this short audio clip from John MacArthur which gives a wonderful analogy of how this all applies to our lives.

For His Glory,

Jason

Have We Forgotten How to Blush?

I'm back from vacation and I am catching up on my Bible reading program. I came across a section of Jeremiah today, which brought me back to the first time I really read (and understood) it. Almost as if it was yesterday, I can still remember how this section of scripture hit me like a ton of bricks...like a punch to the stomach from Mike Tyson. The reality for Israel (as well as people today) is they became so comfortable and used to their sin, that they forget how to blush.

Jeremiah 6:13-15 (ESV)

“For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
says the Lord. 

Questions that deserve answers:

- Just like the prophets and priests of Israel, where is our embarrassment and shame about our own sin?
- Why can we so flippantly wear our sin around our necks, like a badge of honor, joking with our friends about choices we've made and things we've done which (as professing Christians) we should be embarrassed by.
- Why do we swat away, like a pesky fly buzzing around our food, the Holy Spirit's conviction...without taking even a moment to consider the damage we are causing by being so dismissive about our sin.
- Why have we lost our ability to see the reality of what sin is doing to us and to our lives, and worse yet...what our sin already cost our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ?
- Why does it seem that we we are more concerned with how our sin affects/hurts other people (i.e. our family, friends, co-workers etc) or selfishly: how the consequences of our sin affects us (i.e. feeling sorry for ourselves) and yet we give so little regard to the fact that the most disastrous part of sin is that (as R.C. Sproul puts) it is cosmic treason.

"Even the slightest sin that a creature commits against his Creator does violence to the Creator’s holiness, His glory, and His righteousness. Every sin, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is an act of rebellion against the sovereign God who reigns and rules over us and as such is an act of treason against the cosmic King." | R.C. Sproul

Wake Up:

Isn't it time for us to wake up from our slumber? Isn't it time that we start to think biblically about sin? Put aside, just for a moment, how sin may affect other people. While the horizontal effects of sin are important, there is something much more devastating when it comes to the eternal significance of our sin, namely that unrepentant and habitual sin is what makes us enemies of God? (James 4:1-6)

Examine Yourselves:

The apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"

"The truly loving child of God, though he knows sin is there, hates that sin; it is a pain and misery to him, and he never makes the corruption of his heart as an excuse for the corruption of his life; he never pleads the evil of his nature, as an apology for the evil of his conduct. If any man can, in the least degree, clear himself from the conviction of his own conscience, on account of his daily failings, by pleading the evil of his heart, he is not one of the broken-hearted children of God; he is not one of the tried servants of the Lord, for they groan concerning sin, and carry it to God’s throne; they know it is in them – they do not, therefore, leave it, but seek with all their minds to keep it down, In order that it may not rise and carry them away." | C.H. Spurgeon

I pray that as professing Christians, we will truly understand the significance of our sin. We can't afford to take this subject lightly. Yes, Jesus Christ paid the price for sin on the cross, but that was not so people could make a mockery out of Him by the way they choose to live their lives. We must examine ourselves and our hearts, to see if we are truly in the faith. If a person is not (by the power of the Holy Spirit) making war against the sin in their life....like it or not...they very easily might be heading towards eternal damnation. If a person cherishes their sin more than they cherish Christ, then the writing is already on the wall. “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [sin]."

The Christian walk (i.e. discipleship) does cost us something, In fact, it costs us everything. Jesus said, "therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." We must do all we can to ensure we are not being fooled by false and misleading doctrine. The cost of true discipleship is very significant. However, what is gained by renouncing everything we have, will last for eternity. (Luke 14:25-33)

One of my favorite authors on the deadly effects of sin is John Owen. In his work, The Mortification of Sin, he said the following:

“Let no man pretend to fear sin that does not fear temptation also! These two are too closely united to be separated. He does not truly hate the fruit who delights in the root.” | John Owen

“Do you make [killing sin in your life] your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you” | John Owen

For His Glory,

Jason

Satan Wants to Help You

Satan wants to help you—to help you sin. He is hell bent on taking you to hell with him. Thomas Books, in his book Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, drew up a list of the devices Satan uses to draw you—yes you!—to sin. 

Click [HERE] to read the article.

Click [HERE] to purchase the Kindle Edition of, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices for $0.99.

Do You Love [Your Sin Here] Enough to Go to Hell For It?

Pornography is ubiquitous today; addiction to pornography, especially among men, is equally widespread. Young men are often introduced to pornography long before they are able to understand what it is and what it means. Many a young man's first awakening to sex and sexuality is by exposure to pornographic sex and nudity. This is sadly, increasingly, the case with women as well. 

Some Christians can take a kind of refuge in the fact that so many others share in the struggle. "We are all in this together" can minimize the weight of it. Yet the ubiquity of porn and porn addiction does nothing to lessen the horror of it. I want to ask you a question. But not quite yet. Read on…

Original Post (Desecration and Titillation) by: Tim Challies

The Essence of Male and Female Corruptness

"The essence of sin is self-reliance and self-exaltation. First in rebellion against God, and then in exploitation of each other."

So what is really described in the curse of Genesis 3:16 is the ugly conflict between the male and female that has marked so much of human history. Maleness as God created it has been [distorted] and corrupted by sin. Femaleness as God created it has been depraved and corrupted by sin. The essence of sin is self-reliance and self-exaltation. First in rebellion against God, and then in exploitation of each other.

So the essence of corrupted maleness is the self-aggrandizing effort to subdue and control and exploit women for its own private desires. And the essence of corrupted femaleness is the self-aggrandizing effort to subdue and control and exploit men for its own private desires. And the difference is found mainly in the different weaknesses that we can exploit in one another.


The Different Weaknesses Exploited in One Another

As a rule men have more brute strength than women and so they can rape and abuse and threaten and sit around and snap their finger. It's fashionable to say those sorts of things today. But it's just as true that women are sinners. We are in God's image, male and female; and we are depraved, male and female. Women may not have as much brute strength as men, but she knows ways to subdue him. She can very often run circles around him with her words and where her words fail, she knows the weakness of his lust.

If you have any doubts about the power of sinful woman to control sinful man, just reflect for a moment on the number one marketing force in the world—the female body. She can sell anything because she knows the universal weakness of man and how to control him with it. The exploitation of women by sinful men is conspicuous because it is often harsh and violent. But a moment's reflection will show you that the exploitation of men by sinful women is just as pervasive in our society. The difference is that our sinful society sanctions the one perversity and not the other.

(Note: There are societies that do just the opposite.)



John Piper - Manhood and Womanhood: Conflict and Confusion After the Fall

The Pursuit of Holiness

As The Journey class I'm involved in quickly comes to an end, we are each being challenged to find our personal mission statement moving forward. Looking back over the past (7) months since this class started, there is very little doubt what God has been up to in my life. I'm thankful for the ability to clearly see his work in me and the direction he is challenging me to go, in faith, moving forward.

The topic that God has laid on my heart this week is the concept of personal holiness. Now to many, if not most, the idea of holiness comes with a somewhat of a sour taste. Many of us have run into people who strive for holiness via human mechanisms which reek of pride, legalism, self-righteousness and personal morality. However, pushing all those sinful concepts aside...it is still clear in scripture that as Christians each of us have been called to be holy. Look at these verses:

For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. | Leviticus 11:44 (ESV)

but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, | 1 Peter 1:15 (ESV)

These verses show us that God commands and expects us to be holy as he is holy. So, knowing what we know about our own sinfulness...how are we to live into this command? Jerry Bridges has a wonderful book called "The Pursuit of Holiness" which I think is a recommended read for every Christian. In this book he spends a great deal of time helping readers to understand that the Christians ability to be holy comes only through God's provision. However, he also goes on to show that while God does provide the way (through faith in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit) for our holiness, each Christian still bears the responsibility of living out the holiness that God calls us to.

[God] makes provision for our holiness, but He gives us the responsibility of using those provisions. | Jerry Bridges

Far too often, Christians take the easy way out. Yes, we are all sinners...that's a rudimentary understanding to our faith...and our need for Christ...but as Christians we are sinners who have been saved by grace, transformed by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit and are liberated from the bondages of sin in order that we may live our lives in such a way as to rightly reflect the image and the glory of God. The sad reality for man of us is that we are far too easy on ourselves when we sin. Sin is not something we should simply shrug off in our lives and it is certainly not something that we should ever make friends with as if it was nothing more than a mark or blemish on our otherwise decent-looking physique. We make war against our sin in order that we may be holy as God is holy.

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” | (Romans 8:12-15 ESV)

As Christians, we have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit and therefore we have the ability to pursue holiness and to "put to death the deeds of the flesh". Through Christ, we are no longer debtors to sin, but are now debtors to God. Is it not time that we start living fully into this freedom and stop using grace as the perpetual excuse for why we continue to fail? Is it not time that we equip and encourage the body of believers at Harbor to surrender their excuses and live unto Christ? Can we not live out, in all areas of our lives, 1 Cor. 10:31? Yes, we will still continue to need God's grace for the rest of our lives...but grace is no excuse for laziness, apathy, indifference and lack of zeal. God has rescued us from self-loathing and sloth he has rescued us from the bondage of sin and he has called us to make war with sin in every capacity (i.e. pride, worldliness, laziness etc). We have been set free that we may show our community and the world, through our personal witness, that Christ has restored for us the ability to bear God's image and reflect God's glory as we were originally created for. (Gen. 1:27)

Holiness, for the Christian, is a choice. We can either choose to live into the freedom which Christ has provided us...or we can choose to allow sin to win the battles in our lives. God calls us to holiness, but this holiness will not come without a fight...and we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling and we must "do our best to present ourselves to God as one who is approved" (2 Tim. 2:15). Either way, we must acknowledge that personal holiness is not something that will fall into our laps or come easily. We must pursue it...and in our pursuit, God will bless our faithfulness and obedience.

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. | D.A. Carson

This is something that Jonathan Edwards understood very well. He wrote a list of "resolutions" to which he made a covenant with God to live by. If you have time, I'd encourage you to check out the following link to see the things which he resolved to do, as a Christian. They are amazing examples of what we can choose to be, if we are willing to stop selling ourselves short and instead hold ourselves and each other accountable to the holiness which God demands from each of us.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-resolutions-of-jonathan-edwards



For His Glory,

Jason

Obedience is the Pathway to Holiness

Romans 8:12-13

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Pastor John Piper had a two-part sermon about (10) years ago that hit me hard. Often times I find myself traveling back to those sermon to listen to it again and remind myself of one of the things that I believe Christians should constantly be working towards, namely killing the sin that still lurks in our hearts and lives. (If you are interested you can find the sermons -- HERE)

Here are some of the take-aways that I've been thinking about over the past week.

What Is This Putting to Death of Sin?

The answer is that you suffocate the sinful deeds of the body. You cut off the life-line, the blood flow. Deeds of the body come from somewhere. Jesus said, "The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. (19) For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. (20) These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man" (Matthew 15:18-20). Sinful deeds have a life line that must be cut.

In other words, there is a condition of the heart that gives rise to the "deeds of the body." It's a heart issue. We must cut off the hands and gouge out the eyes, not literally – that would do no good – but with that kind of violent heart-work. You kill the bad fruit by severing the bad root.

What's the bad root of "the deeds of the body"? You can see it in Romans 8:7. "The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so." The root of "the deeds of the body" that have to be killed is the flesh that is hostile to God and unwilling and unable to submit to him. Verse 12: "If you live according to the flesh you will die." Flesh is the great enemy here. And it's an enemy because it is insubordinate and hostile to God. It doesn't like God and does not want to be told by him what to do.

So to kill "the deeds of the body" that this enmity produces, you have to cut the life-line. Pinch the air pipe. Stop the blood flow. Deeds must be killed before they happen by severing the root of hostility and insubordination that rejects God.

If you try to survive as a Christian in any other way than "by the Spirit," you will not survive. You will die. Until you believe that life and fighting sin is war – that the stakes are your soul – you will probably just play at Christianity with no blood-earnestness, no vigilance, no passion no wartime mindset. (HERE)

We may learn hence, that we are never secure from the greatest sins, till we guard against those which are thought the least; nor, indeed, till we think no sin is little, since every one is a step toward hell. | John Wesley

Paul tells us again in Romans:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. | Romans 12:2 (ESV)

These are not passive words from Paul.  This is a call to action.  "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind". But how does this really happen?  The answer is wrapped into the source of the command. Christians are transformed by the renewal of their minds which takes by living and abiding in the word. With the Holy Spirit's help, it is the responsibility of every Christian to be Holy (1 Peter 1:16).  Sin, therefore, for Christians is a choice and we are responsible and accountable for avoiding sin.

Obedience is the pathway to holiness, and the Holy Spirit gives us the ability and capacity to be obedient.

God's word must be so strongly ingrained into our hearts and our minds that it becomes the dominating force behind the choices that we make. If we are not filling our minds with the truth (the Bible) how can we expect to make good decisions when the moments of temptation come?  If the word of God is the sword of truth how will we be able to use it as it's intended (an offensive weapon) if we don't keep it close to our hearts and meditate on it day and night?

For His Glory,

Jason

Renewing Our Repentance

"God has already forgiven all our sins once-and-for-all through the death of Jesus Christ. Why then do we need to keep on asking for His forgiveness? The answer, of course, is that we are not perfect, and never will be in this life. We keep on sinning. We break God’s commandments every day, in thought, word, and deed. And although all our sins have been forgiven – past, present, and future – sin still has a way of disturbing our fellowship with God. It interferes with our intimacy with Him, estranging us from His holiness. When we sin, therefore, our personal relationship with God needs to be restored. The Puritans called this “renewing our repentance.” It means asking God to take the forgiveness He has already granted through Christ’s death on the cross and to apply it freshly and directly to our sins."

Philip Graham Ryken

Looking Back....Looking Forward.

“Men, you'll never be a good groom to your wife unless you're first a good bride to Jesus.” | Timothy Keller 

It's been almost a year since I finished reading Tim Keller's book "The Meaning of Marriage" and I'm trying to see how well I've retained some of the great wisdom within it's pages. There were so many sharable things in this book and I highly recommend it to everyone...married or not. I probably went through 2-3 highlighters while reading the book, which speaks volumes if you know me. After reflecting on the book and the central theme that continued to stick out to me while reading it, here are some thoughts I'd like to share with you.

Question: What is the single greatest reason I know Christ really loves me?

Answer: For me it's Romans 5:8. I'm a sinful man.

Yes, that's right...the fact that I'm a sinner. Here's what I'm getting at. Even though Jesus knew me completely...my strengths and my flaws, he still committed himself to me wholly. This is exactly how love can truly be demonstrated. It's easy to love someone who is lovable isn't it? But when the stakes change..that's when the real opportunity comes for us to be a reflection of Christ. To be willing and able to love my wife through her most difficult, sinful, angry, bitter, and grief-stricken seasons...is my greatest aim and ambition if I'm striving to be a fitting echo of Christ's love for her. Think about it this way. In your relationship with Jesus, where you often times play the role of the angry, bitter, proud, sinful person, what is Christ's response to you? Exactly! So now comes the question...how does knowing this lead us to become better husbands for our wives?

Here's how it worked for me. Remembering that my marriage is without question the deepest relationship I'll ever have, apart from my relationship with God, has been a helpful. It has been the nudge that' I've needed to remain faithful and diligent in praying for my wife and her walk with the LORD. For far too long I simply took my wife's relationship with Jesus for granted. That is until one day I discovered that she was struggling with anger and resentment towards Him. Much to my own shame, I realized that I had unknowingly turned my back on my primary ministry field, without ever intending to do so. I began to understand that for my wife, much of her anger and bitterness towards God was based on emotion, but I also realized that I needed to invest as much time and energy (if not more) into her sanctification as I was willing to invest in the lives of my accountability partner, my small group members, my ministry team, the church, and the acquaintances with whom I talk about Jesus on a regular basis. The reality for me was simply, I was failing to be faithful in my most significant ministry and my wife was paying the consequences.

This may not be where you find yourself at all, and if that is the case...that is wonderful news. However, for me to see things in this was was also wonderful news. It was an eye opening revelation and reminder about being invested in and aware of my wife's spiritual condition.

I was at a church plant conference last April and one of the major themes I remember hearing from many of the speakers was this, your ministry will never flourish if your home isn't flourishing. What a convicting thought. Where are we investing our time and our effort? If our marriages are struggling, are we giving all should to restoring them? Are we spending our time and our energy wisely? I pray that God will give each of us the discernment we need, to know how we can and should be ministering to our wives and our children. And I pray that he will bless our faithfulness to our primary mission field.

“When over the years someone has seen you at your worst, and knows you with all your strengths and flaws, yet commits him- or herself to you wholly, it is a consummate experience. To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.” | Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Finding Happiness in Your Most Profound Relationship

For His Glory,

Jason