Friday, September 27, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Free Grace is Dangerous
Free grace is dangerous:
[S]tick with it and sail into the storm with all guns blazing. 'We have to do something, don't we?' NO! In fact that is no longer the question. Now the question becomes, 'What are you going to do now that you don't have to do anything?' Theology based on the [Augsburg Confession] is not interested in 'something'; it is after everything.
A pastor friend related an interesting reaction from a teenager to [this notion]. . . . [I]t seemed to tell him he could do anything he wanted to do! Now what is one supposed to say to that? The most immediate reaction, I suppose, would be to jump in on the defensive and thunder, 'No! No! No!--of course not, you can't do whatever you want to do!'
But think for a moment. Perhaps then the whole battle would be lost. One must sail into the storm. Should one not rather say 'Son, you are right. You got the message. The Holy Spirit is starting to get to you.'
But is that not dangerous? . . . Is it not 'cheap grace'? No, it's not cheap, it's free! 'Cheap grace,' you see, is not improved by making it expensive. . . . It's free. Now free grace is dangerous, no doubt about it. . . . We might not survive such free grace. It might ruin us. But Jesus told us that long ago: 'To him who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even that will be taken away.'
There is indeed a danger.
--G. Forde, Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death and Life (Fortress 1982), 33-34; italics original
Think about that for a while and it will shake up all your religious ideas!
[S]tick with it and sail into the storm with all guns blazing. 'We have to do something, don't we?' NO! In fact that is no longer the question. Now the question becomes, 'What are you going to do now that you don't have to do anything?' Theology based on the [Augsburg Confession] is not interested in 'something'; it is after everything.
A pastor friend related an interesting reaction from a teenager to [this notion]. . . . [I]t seemed to tell him he could do anything he wanted to do! Now what is one supposed to say to that? The most immediate reaction, I suppose, would be to jump in on the defensive and thunder, 'No! No! No!--of course not, you can't do whatever you want to do!'
But think for a moment. Perhaps then the whole battle would be lost. One must sail into the storm. Should one not rather say 'Son, you are right. You got the message. The Holy Spirit is starting to get to you.'
But is that not dangerous? . . . Is it not 'cheap grace'? No, it's not cheap, it's free! 'Cheap grace,' you see, is not improved by making it expensive. . . . It's free. Now free grace is dangerous, no doubt about it. . . . We might not survive such free grace. It might ruin us. But Jesus told us that long ago: 'To him who has, more will be given, but from him who has not, even that will be taken away.'
There is indeed a danger.
--G. Forde, Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death and Life (Fortress 1982), 33-34; italics original
Think about that for a while and it will shake up all your religious ideas!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Cleansed From Every Fear
The
glory of salvation is that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus is
completely pardoned. It is not some of his sin that is put away, but
all of it. I rejoice to look upon it as dear Kent does when he sings,
Here’s pardon for transgressions past, It matters not how black their cast;
And, O my soul, with wonder view, For sins to come here’s pardon too.
We are plunged into the fountain of redeeming blood and cleansed from every fear of ever being found guilty before the living God. We are accepted in the Beloved through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, justified once for all and forever before the Father’s face! Christ said, ‘It is finished,’ and finished it is. And Oh, what a bliss is this — one of the things that may well stagger those who have never heard it before. But let them not reject it because it staggers them but rather let them say, ‘This wonderful system which saves and saves completely, in an instant, simply by looking out of self to Christ, is a system worthy of divine wisdom, for it magnifies the grace of God and meets man’s deepest necessities.’”
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), I:451-452.
All I can ask is Has this truth that Christians are "justified once for all and forever before the Fathers face" really staggered you? If this truth really sinks into your life all you can do is worship God and be overwhelmingly grateful and joyfully live your life to please the God who saved you by grace alone. If this is not how you are living you really don't grasp what Christ did for you and you are in some way still trying to save yourself which results in a joyless miserable life.
Here’s pardon for transgressions past, It matters not how black their cast;
And, O my soul, with wonder view, For sins to come here’s pardon too.
We are plunged into the fountain of redeeming blood and cleansed from every fear of ever being found guilty before the living God. We are accepted in the Beloved through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, justified once for all and forever before the Father’s face! Christ said, ‘It is finished,’ and finished it is. And Oh, what a bliss is this — one of the things that may well stagger those who have never heard it before. But let them not reject it because it staggers them but rather let them say, ‘This wonderful system which saves and saves completely, in an instant, simply by looking out of self to Christ, is a system worthy of divine wisdom, for it magnifies the grace of God and meets man’s deepest necessities.’”
C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1950), I:451-452.
All I can ask is Has this truth that Christians are "justified once for all and forever before the Fathers face" really staggered you? If this truth really sinks into your life all you can do is worship God and be overwhelmingly grateful and joyfully live your life to please the God who saved you by grace alone. If this is not how you are living you really don't grasp what Christ did for you and you are in some way still trying to save yourself which results in a joyless miserable life.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
Get Your Eyes Off Yourself
Life
is filled with all kinds of unexpected events and its not whether they
are good or bad or indifferent its how you react or respond to them.
When many people are surprised by some unexpected event they react by
making it all about them. How this will affect my life, what this will
put me through. Little thought is given on how this affects the person
it has happened to. God uses all these events
to test us in order to change us. Get your eyes off yourself and try to
see what God is trying to do in your life and what you can do to help
the other person. God is constantly trying to free us from our own
selfishness our own self-centeredness and change us to be someone he can
pour out his love and grace through. I have no control with what
happens around me in this life. But I do know that God is in control,
and I can completely trust Him to bring about His purposes and plans for
everyone involved. Thank you Lord for your grace.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Eric Clapton - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Clapton at The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration for Bob Dylan in 1993 doing a scorching version of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"
What Fyodor Dostoyevsky Can Teach Us about the Christian Life
Dostoyevsky is to me both the greatest novelist, as such, and the
greatest Christian storyteller, in particular, of all time. His plots
and characters pinpoint the sublimity, perversity, meanness, and misery
of fallen human adulthood in an archetypal way matched only by Aeschylus
and Shakespeare, while his dramatic vision of God’s amazing grace and
of the agonies, Christ’s and ours, that accompany salvation, has a range
and depth that only Dante and Bunyan come anywhere near. . . . [H]is
constant theme is the nightmare quality of unredeemed existence and the
heartbreaking glory of the incarnation, whereby all human hurts came to
find their place in the living and dying of Christ the risen Redeemer.
J. I. Packer
J. I. Packer
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
While the Eyes of the Great Look Elsewhere
"The road must be trod, but it
will be very hard ... Neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it.
This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong, yet
such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world. Small hands
do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
Lord Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring.
The hobbit's quest to destroy the Ring is like a commentary on Paul's words in 1 Corinthians about God using the weak and foolish things of the world, and the things that are not, to destroy the wise and mighty things of the world, the things that are. Hobbits are little people and most people outside the Shire don't even know they exist. But these meek and humble Hobbit's don't want power they live serving others with no desire for recognition or fame.God did not call many mighty or influential or of aristocratic birth. Paul said "If any man is proud, he must be proud of what the Lord has done for him." The eyes of the great are elsewhere so be encouraged while you live your life for Christ, "he sees your deeds he knows your needs even before you ask
The hobbit's quest to destroy the Ring is like a commentary on Paul's words in 1 Corinthians about God using the weak and foolish things of the world, and the things that are not, to destroy the wise and mighty things of the world, the things that are. Hobbits are little people and most people outside the Shire don't even know they exist. But these meek and humble Hobbit's don't want power they live serving others with no desire for recognition or fame.God did not call many mighty or influential or of aristocratic birth. Paul said "If any man is proud, he must be proud of what the Lord has done for him." The eyes of the great are elsewhere so be encouraged while you live your life for Christ, "he sees your deeds he knows your needs even before you ask
John Piper ~ Prosperity Gospel
Watch this share it with others think about what it means. Jesus said "Take care and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15 "For where your treasure is there will your heart be also" Luke 12:34
Friday, September 6, 2013
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
Peace?
“Why do we expect God to prohibit war? Or why should God prevent war? Apart from the theoretical reason that God should prevent war because it is sinful, . . . there can be no doubt that the real reason why people expect God to prevent war is that they desire a state of peace and feel that they have the right to live in a state of peace. But that immediately raises another question, which, in a sense, is the fundamental question with respect to this whole matter. What right have we to peace? Why do we desire peace? How often, I wonder, have we faced this question? Has not the tendency been to take it for granted that we have a right to a state and condition of peace? Do we stop to ask what is the real value and purpose and function of peace? . . . It is not enough that we should desire peace merely that we may avoid the horror and suffering of war. . . . Man’s chief business in life is to serve and to glorify God. That is why the gift of life has been given to him. That is why we are here on earth. All other things are subservient to this – all the gifts and the pleasures which God gives us so freely. . . . But is that our reason for desiring peace? Is that the real motive in our prayers for peace? . . . Do we deserve peace? Were we justified in asking God to preserve peace and to grant peace? What if war has come because we were not fit for peace, because we did not deserve peace, because we by our disobedience and godlessness and sinfulness had so utterly abused the blessings of peace? Have we a right to expect God to preserve a state of peace merely to allow men and women to continue a life that is an insult to His holy Name?”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Why Does God Allow War? (London, 1939), pages 89-92. Italics original.
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