Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Under Grace
In
John 10:28 Jesus says, “I give them
eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my
hand”. This is certain and sure.
“Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under
grace”.. The grace of God and the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, it is invincible, it is everlasting, it is final, it is certain.
Nothing will be lost, we will all be delivered entirely from sin, and we will
all be raised perfect, spotless, and blameless in a glorified condition.
It is the realization of this truth that
constitutes the greatest incentive to “let
not sin reign” over you. This is the New Testament way of producing
holiness in us. This is saying to us: realize these truths, and in realizing
them stand against sin. Don’t let sin reign in your mortal body. Don’t offer
your members to sin; you are under grace and sin will have no dominion over
you.
There is nothing that is so encouraging so
stimulating, so uplifting as to know the certainty of my final salvation and
glorification. I agree with the apostle John when he said, “Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies
himself as he is pure” (1John3:3). We need to remember “sin will have no dominion over you, since you
are not under law but under grace”.
Realize all that grace means, read again the
terms of the new covenant and live as a person who has read the title-deeds,
and who is proud of them. Live as a person who has lost all their depression,
all their hopelessness and despair and who is looking for the glory that is
coming. Tell yourself, I don’t have any time to waste I am looking for glory. I
must press on; purify myself as he is pure. I look for the great day that is
coming so that when I stand before him I will not be ashamed. You are under grace; these things are all
true of you. You are going to stand in his presence, you will see him, you will
be like him, and your very body will be glorified. Sin does not have dominion
over you because you are no longer under law, you are under grace!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Only One Could Fully Taste Death
In August 1939 C. S. Lewis wrote a fascinating letter to his friend Owen
Barfield concerning the incarnation. At one point Lewis said:
Dane Ortlund
In Gethsemane it is essential Freedom that is asked to be bound, unwearied control to throw up the sponge. Life itself to die.--The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume 2 (Cambridge University Press, 2004), 268
Ordinary men have not been so much in love with life as is usually supposed: small as their share of it is they have found it too much to bear without reducing a large portion of it as nearly to non-life as they can: we love drugs, sleep, irresponsibility, amusement, are more than half in love with easeful death--if only we could be sure it wouldn't hurt!
Only He who really lived a human life (and I presume that only one did) can fully taste the horror of death.
Dane Ortlund
Saturday, March 3, 2012
No Condemnation - Not Now Not Ever
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
However
deep and wide you think the freedom offered to sinners in the gospel
is–it’s more, not less. As my friend Dane Ortlund says, “It’s time to
blow aside the hazy cloud of condemnation that hangs over us throughout
the day with the strong wind of gospel grace.”
Robert Capon expounds on this:
Saint Paul has not said to you, “Think how it would be if there were no condemnation”; he has said, “There is therefore now none.” He has made an unconditional statement, not a conditional one–a flat assertion, not a parabolic one. He has not said, “God has done this and that and the other thing; and if by dint of imagination you can manage to pull it all together, you may be able to experience a little solace in the prison of your days.” No. He has simply said, “You are free. Your services are no longer required. The salt mine has been closed. You have fallen under the ultimate statute of limitation. You are out from under everything: Shame, Guilt, Blame. It all rolls off your back like rain off a tombstone.”
It is essential that you see this clearly. The Apostle is saying that you and I have been sprung. Right now; not next week or at the end of the world. And unconditionally, with no probation officer to report to. But that means that we have finally come face to face with the one question we have scrupulously ducked every time it got within a mile of us: You are free. What do you plan to do? One of the problems with any authentic pronouncement of the gospel is that it introduces us to freedom.
So, what are you going to do now that you don’t have to
do anything? The secret of worship is that it’s only when you deeply
grapple with the pride-smashing fact that you can’t do anything for
Jesus, you begin wanting to do everything for Jesus. True discipleship
happens when you come to terms with the fact that you are so
unconditionally loved, forgiven, pardoned, and free that you say “yes”
to whatever God wants.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Knowing God Is In Control Brings Confidence
Believing in a sovereign God means that we
believe that God is in control of any disaster from start to finish and that He
knew from all eternity how he would use the disaster to bring glory to himself
and good to his suffering child. “Of course a belief in the absolute
sovereignty of God is of little comfort if we do not also believe just as
strongly in the infinite love and unfathomable wisdom of God. But it is also of
little comfort to believe in the love of God if we do not believe in his
sovereignty. Paul assures us that nothing can separate us from the love of God
(Rom. 8:35-39). Yet if God is not in control of every circumstance of our
lives, then we can effectively be separated from his love. If my son is drowning,
my love to him is of little value if I cannot swim. But God can swim, so to
speak. Therefore divine sovereignty ought to make a difference in our lives. It
ought to give us courage when we encounter adversity of any sort.” (Jerry
Bridges in Still Sovereign, pg.305).
Thursday, March 1, 2012
What Mess are You settling For?
Remember
the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25. Esau was the older of the two sons
and had the birthright. This meant he inherited the bulk of his father’s estate. One day he came in from the field and was exhausted. Jacob was cooking stew
(KJV pottage). Esau said give me some stew and Jacob said sell me your
birthright. Esau said I’m about to die what use is my birthright to me? So he
sold his birthright to Jacob. Esau settled for a mess of pottage. What mess are
you settling for?
Norah Jones (with Wynton Marsalis) - You Don't Know Me
This music knocks me out, songs like this always hit my heart, I always enjoy Norah Jones
What The Future Holds For those Who Believe In Jesus Christ
C.
S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity wrote
“He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a
dazzling, radiant immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and
joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine a bright stainless mirror
which reflects back to God perfectly (though of course, on a smaller scale) his
own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in
parts very painful, but that is what we are in for, nothing less. He meant what
he said (pg.206).
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