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calvinism

Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace

Sunday, July 01, 2012

bullseye

Redeeming Your Time, Part 1: What the Gospel Says About Your Time

Friday, May 20, 2011

argument

How to Let the Gospel Drive Your Disagreements, Part 2

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

argument

How to Let the Gospel Drive Your Disagreements, Part 1

Monday, March 21, 2011

Acts 29

Reformed/Charismatic/Missional Conference - Session 5 - Elliot Grudem

Saturday, March 05, 2011

Session 5
The Gospel of Grace
Elliot Grudem

_____________________________

ELLIOT GRUDEM is the network coordinator for the Acts 29 Network and a pastor at Mars Hill Church. Prior to his work with Acts 29, Elliot served as the senior minister at Christ the King Presbyterian Church, a church he replanted in Raleigh, NC. He has worked for an urban ministry in New Orleans. He worked for a Fortune 100 company prior to seminary. He is the editor of Christian Beliefs, a book he completed with his father Wayne. Elliot holds degrees from Miami Univeristy (BA, History and English) and Reformed Theological Seminary (M.Div.).
_____________________________

What is most noticeable in this one of many meals we see in the gospels, is that the meal with Jesus provides an opportunity to experience God's grace. This just what we observe in the meal between Jesus and the Pharisees in Luke 7.

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table.
37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment,
38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner."
40 And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "Say it, Teacher."
41 "A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
43 Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly."
44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven-for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."
48 And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?"
50 And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

This story is unique to Luke's account of Jesus' life. Like most stories there's conflict and resolution, peppered with conversation. There are two conflicts in this story. First, there is a conflict over Jesus relationship with sinners. Second, there is conflict over Jesus' authority to forgive sins. Both conflicts are resolved in the gospel of grace, summarized like this: "God saves sinners...God saves big sinners." No matter where we are in our spiritual journey, God will reveal something about ourselves and His gospel in this story.

Resolving the Conflict of Jesus' Relationships

In verse 34 Jesus is said to be a friend of sinners...friends with gluttons and tax collectors. Yet how ironic is it that in verse 36, Jesus is asked to have dinner with Pharisees, the very same people who hated His relationships. They were men who defined themeslves by their scrupulous adherence to God's laws...separating themselves from those unfavored, from sinners. As a result, they hated those who didn't measure up to their standards. These were high and lofty standards, to be sure, totalling some 613 additional principles and standards accessorizing the law.

For example, they were rigid about their generosity. They knew God required giving 10% of their harvest. So just to be saved, they tithed from their spice cabinet. And in whatever they ate, they made sure it was tithed off of. And when they ate, they saved 10% of what they were eating for the priests. Yet how strange that they never invited to their table to eat those who really needed food to eat: the ritually unclean, the morally unclean, the sinners, the marginalized, those on the fringes. So Jesus is accused of being a glutton and drunkard, a friend of prostitutes and tax collectors, and He comes to the table of a Pharisee's house and does nothing to help His reputation at all.

A prostitute decided to visit the house while Jesus was eating there at the table that night. She came in and broken open an expensive jar of perfume and anointed Him with it. However, she was demonized by the Pharisees as they idolized their holiness and righteousness. Mark Driscoll says that when we idolize one thing we must also demonize something else by necessity. The Pharisees idolized their view of God's Word, and therefore demonized Jesus and the people He hung out with.

This woman was a "woman of the city," and it appears everyone in town knew who this woman was. But she complicates things when, in verses 37-38, she opens up this jar of perfume and anoints Jesus' feet, and stood there weeping, her tears wetting His feet...a veritable rainstorm of weeping on His dirty feet. So she wiped His feet with her hair, and kissed His feet, and then anointed His feet with the perfume. Luke is very, very careful to describe this scene act by act for the singular purpose of contrasting her treatment of Jesus with that of the Pharisees.

If you're a guest at this meal, you're feeling very awkward at this moment. It even appeared erotic no doubt, to the Pharisees. He engages in a scandalous intimacy with the profoundly immoral. This is why Luke records the thoughts of the Pharisees in verse 39. They call His prophetic ministry into account by wondering whether or not He even realized who this woman was and what she is guilty of, thinking that if Jesus really knew He wouldn't be allowing this. But He knew. And this is where we find the inherent disturbing scandal of the gospel.

Jesus came to reconcile profoundly, unholy sinners to a profoundly, holy God. Jesus knew her reputation. He says in verse 47, "her sins which are many." He knew all about it, and He was approachable by sinners. Sinners knew this, and when they looked at Him for forgiveness of sins, they experienced it and responded in love...the kind of scandalous love that displays itself in humility and generosity. Who wants to interact with a woman like this? God does. Jesus did.

Resolving the Conflict of Jesus' Authority to Forgive

So Jesus tells the Pharisee a story in answer to his thought. He does this to present an opportunity to contrast the Pharisee's lifestyle with that of His own, in the story of the money lender and the debtor. In this story, there are two persons, niether of whom can pay what they owe. So which one person would love Jesus MORE? Simon the Pharisee answered correctly: the one who had the bigger debt.

So Jesus turns to the woman, but is really speaking to Simon. He compares what this woman did with what Simon did. The contrasts were amazing and many. Washing, cleaning, anointing were all done by a prostitute, none of which was done as a good host by the Pharisee. They weren't required, and Simon didn't do them at all. The prostitute wasn't required either, but she went overboard. Going overboard in love shows a heart filled with forgiveness for a life filled with overboard sin.

Hospitality wasn't the issue here, for Jesus. It simply provided an opportunity to describe the state of one's heart. It's an opportunity to respond with thanksgiving, as we are reminded of His promises. Simon responded with no treatment at all, except judgmentalism, despite his love for the law of God. The prostitute responded with overflowing love and worship, despite her sin against the law of God.

Simon was offended for one simple reason: all of this revealed his own self-righteousness. This led him to demonize God's scandalous, disturbing, amazing grace. Simon didn't see his sin as offensive. He didn't believe God was offended by his sin. He was in love with his own righteousness and saw no need of God's grace. But if God is offended with Simon's self-righteousness, he stands in need of the very same thing the prostitute does. But her response, saying nothing about her forgiveness, simply stands as a manifestation of the forgiveness she knows she has already received.

Jesus' assurance of her forgiveness is troubling to the other Pharisees at the table, according to verse 47. He is the One most offended by all of the sin at the table, and therefore is the Only One who can offer forgiveness to anyone He desires. He gives it to those who know they need it, and in response we see stories like this of this prostitute's response. This is why Simon responded the way he did. He remained blind because he would not turn his shoe over to discover that he had the same waste on the bottom of his shoes that the woman did. She realized it and wanted forgiveness. He didn't realize it and did not want forgiveness, because he didn't think he needed it.

Conclusion

Jesus came to save profoundly, unholy sinners to a infinitely, holy God. In order for your debt to be forgiven, your sins forgiven, several options are available, though only one is realistic. It is the option which says, 'I simply can't pay it.' And that option earns forgiveness of the debt. Otherwise, the person is left owing what they owe and having to pay for it on their own. But if Jesus paid the debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay, then in Jesus the wrath of God against our sin was satisfied and forgiveness can be offered freely.

Grace is meant to be scandalous. If it doesn't appear scandalous, then our sins do not appear equally as scandalous in contrast to a holy God. The scandal is that my scandal has been written off and forgiven when it justifiably deserves wrath. This scandalous plan of forgiveness finds men like the women here, blind and helpless to do anything about their plight, and wipes their slate clean, reconciles them to God, and awards them with the wealth of heaven.

GOD saves sinners. Sinners do NOT save themselves. It's by GRACE you've been saved, through FAITH, which is a GIFT of GOD. This makes grace disturbing, as it is meant to be. God saves sinners, not because of what they will do or want to do, but because of what Christ has done. He didn't save us out of a good look into our future with the realization that we were gonna be a great guy one day. He took a good look at our present reality and saw a life that was an affront to the infinite holiness of God.

At the new member interview Elliot does in their church membership process, each candidate took two vows, both of which publicly acknowledged the need for grace (because of sin) and the means of grace (Jesus' death). These vows are representative of the person's actual need to see their actual condition so that they can receive the only actual solution to their problem.

In the end we must ask ourselves: "Would we or could we respond like Jesus to that woman?" That's the wrong question to start with, however. The right question to start with is the one asked to Simon: "How are you gonna deal with Me?" The prostitute is not the issue here, nor his response to her. The issue here is Jesus Christ and Simon's response to HIM!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:N Starr St,Tacoma,United States

gospel
The Gospel on Homosexuality: What Jesus Thought About Marriage
Thursday, February 24, 2011

One of the most interesting features used to support a pro-homosexual lifestyle is the reference to Jesus. There are many things Jesus did not talk about, yet the interesting thing to note about this thought-process is that if He did not talk about something, then that something must somehow be okay.

But here's the real question: if Jesus did say something about...marriage, for example...then could the things He did say be helpful as a guide for the other things He did not say? Is it possible that what He did say and what was recorded was all that was important for us to know? And is it possible that from the things that we do know we are to responsibly interpret whatever else hangs on it?

I personally think that this is where we find ourselves when it comes to this issue of homosexuality. The fact that Jesus did not discuss it or bring it up, at least as we have it recorded in Scripture, does not necessarily mean that He would condone it. Rather, since we do have what Jesus said about marriage, then it seems more in keeping with the "spirit" of the matter (instead of the "letter of the law" so to speak) that we use what He did say about marriage to interpret the matter of homosexuality. In fact, that is a pretty normal way to interpret pretty much anything that anyone says.

If, for example, I tell my kids not to hit each other, then it would pretty much follow that I also don't want them to cuss each other out. The normal process of interpreting someone's words would show that...assuming my kids are thinking...my main point is that I don't want them hurting each other...with fists or with words. And we parents pretty much assume that our kids should understand that normal process of interpreting and applying our words. In fact, when a kid says, "well, daddy, you didn't say we couldn't cuss each other out," my natural response is to say, "Stop playing word- games with me! You know exactly what I mean!" Am I right?

Or if I tell Johnny not to take Susie's toys away from her, the normal process of interpreting that would naturally mean that Johnny should not take Bobby's toys away from him, or Jane's toys away from her. But if Johnny got in trouble for taking away Bobby and Jane's toys, and then had the nerve to respond, "Well mom...you didn't say I couldn't take away their toys!" then our natural response would be, "What in the world...?!!! You know exactly what I was talking about. If I said not to take Susie's toys then I mean not to take anyone's toys away from them!"

In reality, it is only a purposeful and intention desire to be obtuse and get one's way that compels Johnny to argue his point based on the "letter of the law" rather than the "spirit" of the law, if you get my drift. And it seems like only pride that drives the kid to argue with mom and dad about cussing out a brother or sister, when all he heard was "don't hit." It is a natural and normal thing to reason from what someone did say to a subject matter which that same someone did not say. Yet when we come to the words of Jesus, what is natural and normal all of the sudden is not so natural and normal? If this is the way we normally communicate with one another, and if we can agree that our kids...or anyone else for that matter...is being purposefully obtuse or difficult to argue otherwise, then could it be that those arguing in favor of homosexuality are being driven by the same attitude?

I stood before a probate judge last week to answer for two deer-hunting fines I received the week before Thanksgiving. A relative of the owner of the house I was renting for the weekend told me to throw out some corn and see where the deer were coming from. I knew it was illegal to actually hunt a deer over corn and kill it. But I didn't know that the law was specific as to the actual number of yards from the corn one had to be in order to take the deer legally. In Georgia, it's 200 yards.

I put the corn at the bottom of a mountain, in order to see whether the deer were coming from the bottom of the mountain or at the top near the road. That would, of course, determine where I set up to hunt...assuming, of course that if the deer came from the bottom they would eat the corn and then I could hunt there legally. When I tried to explain my confusion to the judge, it didn't matter. "Your honor, I realize the law says 200 yards, but I didn't know that at the time. I also realize that ignorance is no excuse. However, clearly you can see that I would be genuinely confused by the law," I argued. "After all, is that 200 yards from point A to B, or is it 200 yards along the pathway to the bottom of the mountain? If it is the latter, that pathway well exceeds 200 yards. But if it is point A to B, then that's just over a hundred yards." Her response? "It's point A to B."

Of course it is. And I knew it. I was looking for a loophole. And I knew that too. Lawyers know it when they try to do that. The effort is plain and simple, isn't it? Try to get out of being held accountable or responsible for wrongdoing by any and every means necessary...even if you have to argue that the written law is not specific or explicit about the wrongdoing. Yet pretty much any jury member sitting there is smart enough to know that a game is being played. And often times they don't stand for it...except in cases where they are instructed by a judge to "disregard" something that was said or done because they were not "allowed" to take it into consideration. That's always weird to me.

I owned up to what I did, even despite my attempt at using a loophole. The judge's job, you see, is to interpret the written law. And she did. It wasn't in my favor. I knew it. She knew it. And there was no sense in arguing it because it's pretty plain. And it's only a heart or mind that is being purposefully obtuse and difficult and prideful that will continue to push the "letter of the law" when it is plain that they did not follow the "spirit" of it. I sense that this is where we find ourselves when we read the following statement by Dr. Jennifer Wright Knust, in her article on Belief Blog on CNN's website several days ago.

Paul’s letters urge followers of Christ to remain celibate and blame all Gentiles in general for their poor sexual standards. Jesus, meanwhile, says nothing at all about same-sex pairing, and when he discusses marriage, he discourages it.

So why are we pretending that the Bible is dictating our sexual morals? It isn’t.

For the last several posts in this series of responses to Dr. Knust, I've attempted to open up each of her statements and handle the arguments in a plain and normal way, much like we'd read anything else. There is an integrity about reading and processing anything that is largely based on what type of literature we are dealing with. The Bible is history. So if we read that history as we normally would any other history, taking it at face value and working with to understand who it was written to, why it was written, when, where, etc. then we will handle what it says with a measure of integrity that takes it seriously. And based upon my previous observations it just didn't appear that Dr. Knust was doing that with the texts she was using. But again, hers was a blog post and not a theological research article.

Jesus on Marriage...and Homosexuality

However, there is some accountability to which we must hold Dr. Knust when it comes to her passing statements about Paul and Jesus. Let's examine each of them briefly, starting first with Jesus, since He didn't say anything about homosexuality, and per Dr. Knust, evidently discouraged marriage. I want to look first at Matthew 19 where Jesus engages in a little bit of Q&A with someone who basically asks, "Can I divorce my wife if she burns my toast at breakfast...or basically, can I divorce her for any reason...whenever I feel like it?"

Matthew 19:4 "Haven't you read the Scriptures?" Jesus replied. "They record that from the beginning 'God made them male and female.' And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together."
Notice first that Jesus didn't discourage marriage, per Dr. Knust's assertion. If He did, his answer about divorce would be completely different. He would have said, "Yes! Divorce her. I discourage marriage!" Instead, Jesus appeals to creation as the foundation for marriage, just as Paul did, as we'll see in a few minutes. In Matthew 19:4, Jesus is quoting Genesis 1:27 and 5:2.

Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 5:2 He created them male and female, and he blessed them and called them "human."

This is the first place where we find what I was referring to earlier, as a foundation for the "spirit" of Jesus' intentions on marriage. The old adage that "God didn't create Adam and Steve, but Adam and Eve" may be offensive to some, but is appropriate here. It is a fact that God made a man and a woman, and He joined them together. (See my post entitled, "What Was God's Original Design When He Made Adam and Eve?") In Matthew 19:5, Jesus continues,

And he said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.'

If we approach the Bible with integrity as a reliable, historical document, then Jesus' words here mean what they mean on the surface...as well as beneath and beyond. On the surface, they mean just what they say, namely that a "man" leaves his family (mom and dad), and is joined (via marriage, according to the context) to his wife (who also leaves her mom and dad's household). When they are joined they become one, united together in a mysterious but tangible, divine force and declaration. Again, this is one man with one woman for one lifetime. That's God's plain, original intention when He created Adam and Eve.

Beneath the surface is this plain intention that God is revealing the natural order of marital (and therefore, sexual) unity: one man and one woman. Beyond the surface, any relationship that does not fall within the trajectory of this plain meaning is obviously not something God intended for marriage. There simply is no room for such a relationship...whether it's cohabitation or same-sex relationships.

What follows in Jesus' continuing interaction with the Pharisees simply serves to confirm that Jesus did not in fact discourage marriage at all. Rather, He affirmed it in almost every verse of His communication. If He discouraged it, again He would have recommended divorce or He would have given some sort of affirmation that the Pharisees were right on the divorce issue. Instead, Jesus appeals to creation where God's original design and intention of marriage was clearly displayed.

It is only when we come to verses 8-12 that some people feel that we run into some trouble with regard to Jesus' feelings on marriage.

Jesus replied, 'Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery - unless his wife has been unfaithful.' Jesus' disciples then said to him, 'If this is the case, it is better not to marry!' 'Not everyone can accept this statement,' Jesus said. 'Only those whom God helps. Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.'

Extracted from the context of the overall interaction, it would be quite easy to see that Jesus is discouraging marriage. Instead, if we follow the first three and most important rules of interpretation (context, context, context!), we see that what Jesus was saying must be maintain within the context of the conversation about divorce. And when we do that, it becomes pretty evident that it must have been rampant...perhaps as much as, if not even more so than we see it today. That's why the disciples said what they did in verse 9. They saw so much of it that it seemed impossible to them to get married to one woman and stay married to her.

Seen in its context then, Jesus is pretty much saying that in a culture or society where divorce is so rampant that people get divorced for any reason (as the Pharisees indicated in verse 3), it is better not to marry. The disciples were no doubt feeling the pressure of the culture around them, and they were scared when they compared the situation (perhaps even theirs personally) to God's original intention and design at creation. If they felt that divorce would be always imminent in their potential marriage, it would be better not to allow that potential to turn to reality. In other words, don't get married if you have any reason at all to think that you may get a divorce, like almost everyone else seems to be doing.

I trust that makes more sense to you when you read it in light of the context. Jesus in no way discourages marriage. Rather, He affirms the sanctity and intention of marriage by referring to creation and by discouraging divorce for any reason, other than unrepentant marital unfaithfulness. If anything, the Old Testament's description of God's marriage to Israel shows us that even despite their unfaithfulness, God remained with His bride. And undoubtedly, the book of Hosea is the best story God uses to illustrate that truth. So while Moses allowed divorce because of people's hard hearts, Jesus nails it when He refers to creation and says, "it was not what God had originally intended" (v. 8). Marriage is what He originally intended.

From this plain teaching we have a trajectory of sorts created for marriage. Homosexuality does not fall within that trajectory. Therefore the teaching of Jesus leaves no room for it. He may not have addressed the issue directly and explicitly. But what He does say about marriage answers any questions about homosexuality that may come up. Again, it's a matter of appealing to the "spirit" of what Jesus says here, rather than the "letter of the law" which leads one to interpret what Jesus doesn't say about homosexuality by what He does say. That is the fourth rule of interpretation...interpreting the not-so-clear in light of the clear. What He does say about marriage in Matthew 19 is enough to lead us to conclude that a man marrying a man is not God's original design and intention for marriage.

Gospel-Designed Marriages are the Ideal

The central reason for Jesus' teaching on marriage, and His reference to the first marriage in Genesis, is to show the heart of the gospel. It is grounded upon the faithfulness of God to His covenant promises. When two people get married, they generally make vows and promises to each other. Too often, we don't keep those promises. But when God made a promise to love us unconditionally He will never break that promise. That's because He cannot break that promise. It is impossible for God to lie.

The gospel is good news because it says that the unconditional love of God for humanity has been displayed in Jesus and is offered to those who believe in Him. When they come to believe in Him, they are unconditionally loved forever. Jesus promises in John 10 that nobody is able to pluck His children from His hand. Nobody. Ever. Forever!

When we see this as the background for marriage, my relationship to my wife becomes something that preaches this good news. By remaining faithful to my wife, I am essentially modeling God's faithfulness to His family. By remaining faithful to me, my wife is essentially modeling the church's faithfulness to King Jesus. This can only take place in the confines of marriage.

But can't a homosexual marriage do the same thing? Honestly, I don't have any other reason to say "no" to this question other than the fact that God's original intention for marriage was Adam and Eve, one man and one woman for one lifetime. God did not originally create Adam as an androgynous human being. And even if He did, He ended up making a woman to accompany Adam...not another man. That's huge. And it has huge implications for marriage.

Take a recent study for example, which concluded that states which do not ban gay marriages saw their divorce rate decrease. Nate Silver (FiveThirtyEight.com) reported that states that had no gay-marriage ban

"saw their divorce rates decrease by an average of 8 percent between 2003 and 2008. States which had passed a same-sex marriage ban as of January 1, 2008, however, saw their divorce rates rise by about 1 percent over the same period" (quoted here).

Bruce Wilson (Huffington Post) is quoted as saying,

"Provisional data from 2008 indicates that the Massachusetts divorce rate has dropped from 2.3 per thousand in 2007 down to about 2.0 per thousand for 2008. What does that mean ? To get a sense of perspective consider that the last time the US national divorce rate was 2.0 per thousand (people) was 1940. You read that correctly. The Massachusetts divorce rate is now at about where the US divorce rate was the year before the United States entered World War Two" (quoted here).

This is just a sampling of the data, most of which seems to conclude with a rather dogmatic belief that (1) there isn't enough data on gay-marriage divorce rates to make a conclusive claim one way or another, and (2) even if we had the data it wouldn't necessarily argue that same-sex marriage isn't as good as heterosexual marriages. However, both Silver and Wilson's conclusions do not make reference at all to cohabitation as the possible, if not probable, reason that divorce rates are down. Per the "Alternatives to Marriage Project",

"The number of cohabiting unmarried partners increased by 88% between 1990 and 2007. - U.S. Census Bureau." See America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2007)

They also quote the following statistics.

"In 1995, 24% of women aged 25-34 were cohabiting, compared to 22% of women aged 35-39, and 15% of women aged 40-44. In every age group, the percentages have increased since 1987. - Bumpass, Larry and Lu, Hsien-Hen. 2000." (See Trends in Cohabitation and Implications for Children's Family Contexts in the United States. Population Studies, 54: 29-41)

"10.7% of the unmarried population report living together with unmarried partners." (U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey: 2005-2007)

"12.8% of unmarried-partner households report being same-sex." (U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey: 2005-2007)

If cohabitation is on the rise, per these statistics, and if the time period covers relatively the same time period of various states lifting bans on same-sex marriages, then isn't it at least plausible that the divorce rate has gone down in those states because couples are simply choosing to live together instead of getting married? It seems like it to me personally. And this is where the gospel's implications on marriage as Jesus taught it are so huge.

Marriage is supposed to be between one man and one woman for one lifetime in order to be a living-color model of one truth: the unconditional love of God in the good news of the gospel of Christ. Not only is that truth based on the Genesis record of Adam and Eve's relationship. But it is also based on the sanctity and purpose of marriage. If couples choose to live together instead of getting married, then there are less and less models of the gospel.

Do you see what a massive impact the gospel has on marriage and same-sex marriages? If male gay couples get married, it doesn't reflect God's original intention and design, and therefore cannot essentially be a living-color model of the gospel. The same applies to female gay marriages, as well as cohabitating couples, regardless of sexual preference. The good news seems to be inherently interwoven into the very nature of marriage as God originally designed it.

I'm open for some dialogue and interaction on this point, and would love to entertain some.

gospel
The Simple Kingdom: "I just feel so lost..."
Friday, February 04, 2011

Those are the words of a dear woman named Colleen who's living with us right now. She and her common-law husband, Robert, were asked a couple of days ago by Colleen's daughter to leave the trailer home where they lived across the street from our church building.

Robert had dinner with us last night. He says he has a problem stuttering, that everything on the left side of his body is bigger than his right side, and that he was admitted to special ed when in school, told he'd never amount to anything. Later, he went to Vietnam as an airborne rescuer of war casualties. After the war he went to college, got a degree, and then went to culinary school after which time he has worked his way up in various jobs to become an executive chef. During that time he was married twice and is now "married" to Colleen after having been together for seven years now.

Colleen has raised three kids, all of whom have gone astray, per her story a while ago. She broke down in tears wondering why God was punishing her. At least that's what she feels like after so many moves, so many kids gone astray, so many bad things happening. She was married young, and after the wedding night things went south, she said. They continued to remain married for several years, then split up. She's never officially divorced her husband. However, she went on to enjoy a 27 year relationship and common-law marriage to another man, whom she absolutely adores. He died at 72 years old, and then met Robert. They've lived together for over seven years now. Colleen's first husband, who never legally divorced her, has been married twice since then.

Their relationship has remained firm, Colleen and Robert, that is. They love each other dearly, and stick with it in thick and thin. They've lived in PA, KY, OR, and now GA all in the last several years, going from job to job, seemingly laid off constantly through apparently no fault of their own. Who knows for sure, though, right? One person's side of the story sounds good til you get the other side (Prov. 18:13, 17). Undoubtedly there are a laundry list of personal issues that have created much of their heartache, besides just being marginalized people who've been relegated to the segment of the "damned." You know the type of people I'm talking about...the ones who go from job to job, have family problems, constant drama, money-problems, few teeth, and who blame everyone else for their problems.

Jesus came to save people like that.

He loves Robert and Colleen, and it's evident they don't really know that. Robert says he's been a high-priest in the Mormon church for many years, and then left because he just couldn't reconcile some of the strange teachings with common sense. Colleen said she's been saved and baptized in an Episcopal church in her 20's, and that she tried to walk with God with her common-law, second husband. But she says she eventually backslid. Robert started worshiping with us several weeks ago and has come faithfully every Sunday, even giving money, despite the fact that he doesn't have a job.

Their view of Christianity and walking with God is typical: do your best, work hard at trying to do what God wants you to do, and...well, you know the rest. Somehow that kind of thinking and lifestyle ends up still making a person feel lost...like Colleen. I told her the truth: God had put us together and my family was the next part of her journey in life, as well as Robert's.

I said that so she would decide to spend the night again with us. She said she was feeling like an imposition and she didn't want to. I read from Romans 12:9 and following, and camped out on that verse that talked about hospitality. In the Greek, I explained, it means welcoming strangers into your home. In other words, it means turning your home into a hotel. Her eyebrows went up and she tried to form a response, but couldn't. All she could say was, "Well maybe that was how it had to be back then. You just can't trust people now."   Really? So you could trust people better back then, two thousand years ago, I responded? She laughed and saw the silliness in that assumption.

I told her that my family and I had been making our home a hotel for strangers for many years now. She asked what was the longest we'd had someone live with us. I told her briefly of Gregory, the demon-possessed, crack/meth addict, homosexual, homeless-for-twenty-years, black man who lived with us for six to seven months, who was delivered from all of that on Easter morning in 2006. She looked shocked. God's power is always surprising to those who haven't experienced it. And real stories - first-hand, eyewitness testimony stories - of God's power are even more surprising.

So I told her that if it took us all these years to get comfortable with the idea of turning our home into a hotel for strangers, then it may take her a while to get comfortable with that idea too...especially since she's the "customer"! She laughed. So did Robert, holding an aging, trembling, Shih Tzu, Lord Caramel, in his lap. (His toy Chihuahua, Sissy, broke her leg and handed Robert and Colleen a thousand dollar vet bill). It's weird, I told her, that our culture makes us feel uncomfortable around stuff like this. I explained that the whole point of the gospel is an announcement of good news that God is doing something for us that we can't do. That changed my life, including my view toward the "charity" of others. I'm God's charity case, for sure. And that means everyone else is my "charity" case. Except, I don't look at it like charity. That's what some people do for less-fortunate persons, in order to make themselves feel better. Romans 12:9 and following calls that just plain, genuine, authentic, fervent love for one another.

They can't do for themselves, right now. She works a decent job at the nursing home a block from my house. And he's gonna apply at Cracker Barrel come Monday morning. We're heading to Goodwill right now to pick up some new duds so he can look sharp at the application and hopeful interview. But they have no apartment, slept in their car for two nights, and have no way to buy and keep food. They have a station wagon with an inflatable mattress, and all their currently worldly possessions in the floor boards of the vehicle. No one should live like that when Christians are around. And if they cross my path or anyone at Church in the Boro, their lives should be marked by a rescue from us, just like God rescued us when we were helpless.

Where does stuff like this go? I mean how does one rearrange his life and task list to make people the focus of ministry once again, rather than all the aggravating administration that seems to always eclipse real ministry? I have no earthly idea. I suppose that's what walking in the Spirit is about, and being led by the Spirit. He interrupts our agenda with His agenda, which is to seek and save the lost, to love one another, to show hospitality to one another and help others in need. Christians are marked by being led like this. No doubt this brings a grinding halt of frustration and confusion to our lives, especially since we live in Western cultures by the clock and "to do" lists. But God wants to alter and revise our culture, making it about His kingdom.

We're praying that God would bring His kingdom to earth like it is in heaven...right here in our home. This is where the "magic" happens. This is where the rubber meets the road, where the nitty-gritty happens. It happens around pizza tonight as Robert and Colleen join us for family night...as they humbly accept our "charity" sleeping on a pull out couch, Robert eating dinner with us each night, figuring out how to juggle our family schedules with theirs, helping Robert find work and a place to live, creating resumes, etc. It will happen around the Super Bowl Sunday night, which they are desperately looking forward to.

This is the simple kingdom.

fundamentalism
The Simple Kingdom, Introduction
Friday, January 21, 2011

On Sunday Morning, January 9, 2011 I laid out the vision for Church in the Boro for the upcoming year. After several months spent studying the Lord's Prayer, and several weeks introducing the prayer and preaching through the first couple of words, a realization has settled upon me more starkly than ever.   The American church does not resemble the kingdom of God Jesus preached about in the gospels. Big duh, huh? I'm the poster child for late blooming.

This realization has come slowly over the last several years, to be sure. But the emphasis Jesus puts on the centrality of the kingdom, as well as the simplicity of it, has caused some of my observations and realizations to gel into some initial conclusions. The conclusions, some of them at least, are offensive to mainline American Christianity. They hit hard, cut deep, or rub the wrong way, in the very least. Much like many of Jesus' teachings. But they need to be said, if for no other reason than that so many people take the wide road of destruction in a false sense of security thinking they are following Jesus into heaven. In reality, they are not. Many people will come to Jesus on the day of judgment thinking they should be let in. But Jesus will tell them He has no earthly idea who they are. He won't know any of them (Matt. 7:21-27; 25:31-46).

I don't want to be one of those people. Do you?

What we need to do as Christians then is to freshly approach the gospels once more to discover what the kingdom of God is. That's what I plan to do with my family this year. And that's what I encouraged my church family to do also. There are alternate realities of Christianity that we have allowed our culture to develop around us, and in some cases swallow us whole. And we need to repent from these realities so that we are not dumbing ourselves into thinking that we are pursuing the kingdom of God and His righteousness when we really aren't. What I want to do then in this series of posts is several things (giving me the author the full slack to interrupt the series with other things that seem more urgent in my mind).

First, I plan to introduce the series with some comment and observations on some of the effects of modernism on Christianity. As we globally and culturally shift from modernism to postmodernism, we will find some much-needed mental and emotional relief as Christians who've largely been trapped under a tyranny of the lust for knowledge. Such a tyranny has created a "catch 22" for us in which we have come to believe that our problems and issues are just too complex for anyone to really understand, yet at the same time demanding quick and instant fixes to all of our problems and issues. Try to put the kingdom of God in between those two bookends, and it just doesn't fit.

Second, I want to talk about a few of the alternate realities American (or Western) Christians in particular, have either established themselves, or else have allowed to be established around them. Specifically, I want to discuss the alternate realities of reductionism, patriotism, fundamentalism, futurism, skepticism, and cynicism. Each one of these realities is dangerous and anti-kingdom, which makes them anti-Christ. (This is not to be confused with the antichrist, whom many Christians believe is a very bad guy who will run the one-world empire one day soon with the mark of the beast.)

Third, I'd like to briefly look at several passages in which Jesus' teachings and views on the kingdom will deconstruct our alternate realities and reestablish a simplicity about the kingdom which clears things up. Subsequently, a line is drawn in the sand clearly distinguishing between whose really following Jesus and who's not. I've found it interesting that the more I read the gospels the clearer the kingdom gets. In addition, I've found that we have it all in reverse. It's not our issues and problems that are complex. Rather, it's our obedience to what Jesus said. The issues and problems are really simple when all of the crap and excuses are boiled out.

Fourth, I'll try to close to what the consequences look like for those who embrace a simple kingdom mindset. There are positive and negative consequences, and Jesus was equally clear about these, just as much as He was about the kingdom itself. And if Christians are not clear about these consequences, then they will be surprised when the negative ones hit, and more than likely fade away like the seed that sprung up among on the rocky ground, in Jesus' parable in Matthew 13. Instead, knowing ahead of time what to expect helps us persevere because we know what comes after all of it, good or bad. We have Jesus Himself.

Miscellanies on the Gospel has suffered some neglect over the past year, largely due to church planting endeavors. Between this and parenting and marriage, there isn't much room for anything else. However, much has solidified in my mind and heart during the last couple of years, and I thought it best to blog only when the water is not so muddy.

The internet is full of blogs in which people enjoy airing their own opinions. (And I read some of them...and enjoy them!). Miscellanies, however, are about discoveries made while on the mission of the gospel. That mission is about the kingdom. And now that the kingdom has become a little more clear, so has the gospel message. So this blog will become a little more active. I look forward to interaction and comments as we deal together with some pretty difficult stuff...which is the stuff repentance is made of. This is the stuff we need in order to take the kingdom of heaven by storm.

gospel
Gospel Obedience, Self-Denial & the Heartbeat of Legalism
Monday, July 19, 2010

The heart is a simple, yet wonderful organ. Along with the brain, it controls everything in our bodies. As I was reading, studying and praying one day on the gospel and the promises and hope that sustain the life of the gospel in our hearts and lives, it struck me that the human heart seems to provide a wonderful parallel for the spiritual heart.

Human Cardiology 101

This may be an education for you as it was for me. If not, bear with me nonetheless. The heart has four chambers. They are divided into two chambers in the right side of the heart, and two in the left. In each chamber there is an atria and a ventricle.

The function of the atria is to receive blood pumped into the heart and hold it there until it is ready to be pushed into the ventricles which then pump the re-oxygenated blood back out into the body. The function of the right ventricle is to pump re-oxygenated blood out to the lungs. The left ventricle functions to pump re-oxygenated blood to all the other organs in the body.

To keep all the blood moving in the right direction, God built in four valves. That part is really important. Get the blood flowing in the wrong direction and you're pumping non-re-oxygenated blood back into the organs, and in seconds...you're dead.

Spiritual Cardiology 101: The Oxygen of the Heart is Promise

Now, in my experience, as well as the experiences of an untold number of other believers throughout history, suffering and trial and tribulation and sin all seem to sap us for strength. Big duh there, right? I guess you could say that these things drain the oxygen from our spiritual blood. Which means our blood needs to be re-oxygenated. So what's the oxygen?

For those who've read this blog for any length of time, you'll know what the oxygen is:

It's the life-flow of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In short...it's promise. The very "heartbeat" of saving faith is found in hearing the promises of God, believing they are for YOU, and living like you believe God will keep those promises. A good summary of saving faith is found in Romans 4:21, where we read of Abraham, "He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises."

Salvation begins when God reveals Himself to man. He reveals Himself to man in such a way that man's heart is opened up to see the true revelation of this God. The "heartbeat" of this revelation of God is that He is a promise-making and a promise-keeping God.

And there's something about this mysterious revelation of His promise that actually creates, sparks, ignites and then fans into flame a decision to act based on that promise. That's called obedience, and it's the natural outflow of a heart that has been fully convinced that God is able to keep His promises. When you believe God will keep His promise, you make decisions differently than you did when you didn't believe God's promises.

Spiritual Cardiology 201: You Do What You REALLY Believe Will Make You Happy

Obedience is not some strength or decision a Christian musters up against all odds. Self-denial is excruciating at times, but it isn't a path one chooses despite everything else inside of them. Obedience and self-denial are choices, to be sure. But they are fruits which naturally grow from the sap that is in the branches, which is in the trunk, which is in the roots, which is all in the DNA of the tree. A peach tree cannot produce grapes. And if it had a will at all, it would not even want to produce grapes....because it's not a grape vine, but a peach tree.

What happens so often in American Christianity at least, is that obedience and self-denial are preached and taught as things we must commit ourselves to...rededicate our lives toward...and somehow grunt out despite whatever other desires are in our hearts. I've taught it this way before...so many times...to my utter disgust. It's just part and parcel of fallen humanity, I think.

Two Examples of Bad Spiritual Cardiology

Here's an example of how it works. We receive a sum of money. We read our Bible which tells us to give to those in need or to the work of the ministry. We remember so-and-so who can't pay their electricity bill this month. We hear our church leaders reference it and teach the same thing. And we know we should.

But there's a stronger desire within us that wants more to spend the money on a new flat screen television and a video game console. We envision having people from the church family over to play games together and watch movies. "It'll be awesome!" we think to ourselves. "What a great tool for ministry!" We think more and more about the purchase and what we want to believe about the use of the purchase. Eventually we decide that buying it is the best thing to do.

At that precise moment, it is impossible to do anything other than purchase the flat screen and gaming console. Why? Because we've invested too much thought and rationale and especially emotion in it to do otherwise.

My issue is this: it is here at this moment in the life of a believer that obedience and self-denial are preached and taught...far too late in the process. The Bible teaches that the money should be spent on the brother or sister in need with the power bill. That's pretty plain (1 John 3:17; James 2:14-17).

However, obedience begins with believing in promise. So if you don't believe in the promise of God to provide for your needs (Phil. 4:19), to fill you with joy (Luke 15), to give you wealth in heaven (Luke 18:22), etc. then you will not be obedient to the commands to give to your needy friends. Obedience is the natural outflow of a heart oxygenated with God's promises.

Spiritual Cardiology 301: Proper Heart-Health Begins in the Mind

This brings me back to the illustration. The right and left atria receive oxygen-depleted blood into the heart and hold it there until it is ready to be pumped into the ventricles where is re-oxygenated. In a similar fashion, our spiritual atria receive promise-depleted thoughts which are held within. It is here that we find the need to, "take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). It is in this moment that we must find the sustaining need to, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes" (Eph. 6:10-17).

The battle is right here and right now, when we must "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles" (Heb. 12:1-3). And what is the sin that entangles? What is the primary scheme of the devil? What is the thought that is at the most enmity with our souls? In a word...unbelief.

If I don't believe what God promised, I won't be able to do what He commands. Promise is the spiritual oxygen for the mind. If the spiritual ventricles of the heart aren't working properly, promise won't oxygenate our thoughts, and the spiritual blood that is then pumped from the ventricles will not adequately supply the need to our spiritual lungs or our other vital organs.

In short, we will grow spiritually weak, with little desire to do great things for God, and hardly any serious actions that get great things done in God's kingdom. We will be stuck in disobedience, bad habits, sinful behavior which we feel that we cannot break and fear we will always be stuck in. We will hear the things God has done for others and promises to do for us, but we will feel nothing in our hearts and believe that He cannot do that for us.

Legalism: The Heartworms of Spiritual Cardiology

This is called powerless Christianity. And it's rooted in legalism. Legalism is like the disease known as heartworms, diagnosed especially in dogs. Heartworms are parasites that enter the bloodstream through mosquito bites. If a dog is not on heartworm prevention medication, if and when a mosquito bites, the microscopic parasite will be introduced into the blood of the dog.

Within 70-90 days the parasites have "wormed" their way through to the animals heart where they take up residence and reproduce and multiply. What is interesting is that these parasites take up residence in the right ventricle of the heart and steal the nutrients and oxygen from the bloodstream (source).

This cycle will continue for several years until the heart is so filled with heartworms that it simply cannot function properly any longer. The heart becomes incapable of re-oxygenating blood any longer, and the organs begin to shut down in the dog. My very first dog, named Benji, died of heartworm disease, hacking and gagging to death. Unfortunately, we didn't know the dog had any heartworms until the symptoms appeared. Then it was too late.

Legalism is a parasite that enters the heart and just like heartworms, it remains in the spiritual ventricle stealing away the vital nutrients and oxygen of hope and promise.

In the one ventricle, legalism presents God's commands and standards to us while stealing away promise-oxygen. Legalism lies to us again and tells us that God's promises are conditional, based on our ability to keep His commands. And the moment promise becomes disconnected from command, that non-promise-oxygenated blood is immediately pumped into our lives and we in turn immediately attempt to obey God without finding any power to do so. Part of legalism is pointing to present-day obedience to God without the past promises of God or the future hope that He will fulfill them.

Spiritual Cardiology 401: How Legalism Destroys the Christian's Heart

An all too-often illustration experienced in the ministry is single adults who hear God's promise to fulfill their lives with a powerfully, godly spouse one day. But in the face of sexual temptation begin to doubt.

Legalism then tells them to obey God's commands regarding sexual purity. But because they have begun to doubt God's promises in the past, as well as His ability or faithfulness to make good on those promises in the future, they go ahead and give in to temptation and have sex before marriage. And one thing they all tell me is this: it only produces guilt. Why?

When the promises and faithfulness of God are not operating strongly in the ventricles of the spiritual heart, thoughts about obeying God only lead to disobedience. These two things - promise and hope - are the two ventricles of the spiritual heart which God originally designed and intended for human beings. The heartworms of legalism are a parasite that God did not intend for us to bear.

In the other ventricle legalism operates in this way. It lies to us telling us that God's promise to love us unconditionally is not for us. We've sinned too much. Our sin is too big. Or our sin is too often.

By telling us these lies, the ventricle then pumps out non-promise-oxygenated blood to our bodies in the form of self-resolution, recommitment, rededication, etc. We put our own strength into our own efforts to try to do better next time. We act as if we believe that our relationship with God is based on our success...rather than God's success in Christ on the cross.

To illustrate with something we're all familiar with, imagine the last time you sinned in that specific way that you seem to always struggle with. It seems to be lust for most men. You fall to lust and watch pornography, perhaps following it up with some form of self-pleasure.

Guilt overwhelms you when it's all over. Your guilt-ridden thoughts pump into your heart, but the ventricles of promise and hope aren't operating at full capacity. Therefore, you can't hear God speaking...just your sin.

Legalism lies to you and tells you your problem is WAY too big to conquer. All you can hope to do is just continue trying to fight it and win every now and then. You recommit yourself to read the Bible more, pray more, attend church and Bible studies more often, give more money, evangelize more, etc. And you try...but fail at these things more often than you'd like. So more guilt-ridden blood enters the heart and the cycle continues.

Healthy-Heart Maintenance is a Fight!

This is why we must fight with all our might to maintain the health of these two ventricles in our spiritual hearts. Promise and hope must be kept fresh and alive in order for our hearts to pump Spirit-oxygenated blood into our bodies so that we can be real living sacrifices for God (Rom. 12:1-2). We become transformed by renewing our minds.

We renew our minds with promise and hope, with the promises God has made and the character of His faithfulness to keep those promises. Here are three of the "standard" ways we do this. And as you'll see, they are standards which we have been taught to obey, yet almost always without the oxygen of promise and hope (which only leads to legalistic obedience, producing failure, leading to guilt).

First, we read our Bibles, but not in order to maintain closeness with God. We already have that through Jesus Christ!

We must read our Bibles with both eyes open. With one eye, we read every single passage with an eye to God's character. We want to see the faithfulness of God everywhere our eye lands in reading. This builds our faith in who God is. And with the other eye, we read every single passage with an eye to God's promises.

We want to see God making and keeping promises everywhere our eye lands in reading. This builds our faith in what God has done and will continue to do. That's why we read our Bibles.

Second, we pray, but not in order to maintain closeness with God. We already have that through Jesus Christ!

We pray asking the Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts so that we can know how much He loves us, like Ephesians 1:15-22 and 3:14-19 teach us to pray. Praying like this makes our primary interest that of knowing God and knowing that He is love and knowing that He loves us.

Also, we pray reminding the Father of the promises He has made so that we can see Him fulfill those promises. This is why and how Jesus taught us to pray without ceasing in Luke 11:1-11 and 18:1-8, with an attitude of persistent belief in His goodness and faithfulness. This again builds our faith in what God has done and will continue to do. It's why we pray.

Third, we attend fellowship together with other believers, but again not to have a closeness with God. We've already been given that in Jesus Christ!

We don't neglect gathering together with other believers because it is the channel God has ordained through which we receive faith and hope in what God has done for us in Christ (Heb. 10:14-25). Talking about these things, reminding each other of these things, and holding each other accountable to these things stimulates oxygen in our blood so that we believe in God afresh once more, which in turns enables us to obey with power and success once more.

Returning to Spiritual Cardiology Kindergarten

To summarize and conclude, any attempt you or I make at obeying God without promise and hope as the oxygenating force in our hearts will always lead to legalistic obedience. This is obedience that attempts to bear fruit for God without being nourished by the Spirit and power of God.

The Spirit and power of God operates on making and keeping promises. Nourishing your heart with the history of God's promises, and the hope of God continuing this practice, re-oxygenates the thoughts in your heart and mind so that obedience becomes a natural outflow, successfully producing fruit that remains.

Perhaps the time has come for some open heart surgery. Return to the ABC's.

Acknowledge your failures and leanings toward legalism.
Believe that God is a promise-making and promise-keeping God.
Claim these promises for yourself.
Decide to do something amazing for God.
Envision the success God has promised.
Follow the path His promises lead you on.
Guide yourself back to those promises every chance you get.
Hope in everything the Lord promised.
Insist on actions that enjoy God's promises.

You get the idea.

So return once more to your God and King, and listen to what He would preach and sing. Read all that He said He would do, and believe that He said all these things for you. Don't allow yourself anymore to obey, your promise-making and keeping God the wrong way. Instead focus only on the character of Him, Who in Christ has guaranteed that you cannot not win!

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Stories

Thoughts on the Doctrines of Grace

Redeeming Your Time, Part 1: What the Gospel Says About Your Time

How to Let the Gospel Drive Your Disagreements, Part 2

How to Let the Gospel Drive Your Disagreements, Part 1

Reformed/Charismatic/Missional Conference - Session 5 - Elliot Grudem

Session 5
The Gospel of Grace
Elliot Grudem

The Gospel on Homosexuality: What Jesus Thought About Marriage

The Simple Kingdom: "I just feel so lost..."

The Simple Kingdom, Introduction

Gospel Obedience, Self-Denial & the Heartbeat of Legalism

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