The Shame of Sin

If I was asked to sum our culture up using only one word, I might choose "shameless." No one seems to be ashamed of anything. Let me provide an example. Recently a mother of twins, each of which had been conceived by a different father (see My Twins Have Different Dads, went on one of the national morning news shows to discuss her experience. Of course this story is sensational and I'm sure it grabbed ratings, but while I was watching it I just kept thinking, "Is any one ashamed of anything anymore?" Here was a woman who had had sex with two different men within a couple days time and, as a result, had ended up pregnant - one child with each man; but instead of feeling some shame for had taken place, she was on national television being celebrated as a wonder of human reproduction.

Puritan Thomas Watson, in his book The Doctrine of Repentance, lists the different elements of repentance, in which he includes shame. He writes that each of these are is a necessary element of repentance and argues that you cannot have true repentance without all of these. Here is Watson's list: the sight of sin, sorrow for sin, confession of sin, shame for sin, hatred for sin, and turning from sin.

If Watson is correct, and I think his assessment is quite biblical, then our culture is in deep trouble. We seem to have lost shame; in fact, we're often quite prideful about our own sin. Are you ashamed of anything in your past? If so,has that sense of shame lead you to your knees in repentance or led to guilt that further separated you from God.

Read a sermon on shame, The Shame of Repentance, by Pastor H. Leon Ben-EzraPastor of Faith Reformed Church, Erie, PA

Expressing the Glories of the Lord

By A. W. Tozer

In view of what the Scriptures tell us of Jesus, it should be our primary concern to show forth the eternal glories of this One who is our divine Savior and Lord.

In our world are dozens of different kinds of Christianities. Certainly many of them do not seem to be busy and joyful in proclaiming the unique glories of Jesus Christ as the eternal Son of God. Some brands of Christianity will tell you very quickly that they are just trying to do a little bit of good on behalf of neglected people and neglected causes. Others will affirm that we can do more good by joining in the “contemporary dialogue” than by continuing to proclaim the “old, old story of the cross.”

But we stand with the early Christian apostles. We believe that every Christian proclamation should be to the glory and the praise of the One whom God raised up after He had loosed the pains of death. I am happy to be identified with Peter and his message at Pentecost:

Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him (Acts 2:22-24).

Peter considered it important to affirm that the risen Christ is now exalted at the right hand of God. He said that fact was the reason for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Frankly, I am too busy serving Jesus to spend my time and energy engaging in contemporary dialogue.

19b and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:19b-20).

HT: The Alliance

John Piper Answers: Do you ever doubt your devotion to Christ?

The following is an edited transcript of the audio. Audio and video are available as well.

Do you ever have doubts about the sincerity of your devotion to Christ? If so, what do you pray and where do you go in God's word?

And the answer is, Yes, I do. And they're very scary. I don't blow them off.

I've been a Christian for 52-53 years. I've been in the ministry, I suppose, since I was 28 (before that, if you count seminary and school). And I'm 63 now. Why should I be wondering about this?

Satan is very, very deceptive. Our own hearts are very fallen. Indwelling sin is real. And there are low seasons in life that come from physical features, emotional features, and spiritual attack that make you ask the most frightening questions. "Am I doing this because I'm making a living at it? Am I a pastor because it has gone well (and why would you not want to have your life go well)? I haven't been persecuted enough recently, and I see some evidences that my life hasn't borne as much fruit as I would like." So, yes.

It is so scary when that happens because if that took hold and conquered, then you would be over. Your faith would be over, your ministry would be over, and it would be terrifying.

So I plead with the Lord to open my eyes. I plead with him to incline my heart to his testimonies. I plead with him to pour out the love of God into my heart. I plead with him to help me see the glory of Christ as self-authenticatingly real and compelling. And I go to those places in the Bible that speak of his subjectively-experienced and objectively-grounded love for me.

I'll just give you one. This is the way I did it this morning. I got up, and before I got out of bed, feeling some heaviness, I went in my head to Romans 5:5-6, because the two are brought together there: "Hope will not put you to shame, John Piper, because the love of God is poured out into your heart through the Holy Spirit who has been given to you."

So there it says that my hope will not put me to shame, because the experience of the love of God has been given to me by the Holy Spirit. And then it adds, "because (for) God shows his love to us in that while we were yet weak, Christ died for the ungodly."

That happened 2,000 years ago. I was loved 2,000 years ago, and now the Holy Spirit is given.

So where my mind goes is to the historic reality. He loved me there. Christ died for me. Holy Spirit, come! Open my eyes to this! Help me to see the wonder of this!

And he has to this point in my life. And I believe he will to the end. That's what the doctrine of perseverance is. To this point in my life, he has done it. He has done it, and I pray that he'll do it for you.

HT: Desiring God

One Reason God Created Singing and Poetry

By John Piper

In the Religious Affections Jonathan Edwards ventures this explanation of why there is song and poetry.

And the duty of singing praises to God, seems to be appointed wholly to excite and express religious affections. No other reason can be assigned, why we should express ourselves to God in verse, rather than in prose, and do it with music, but only, that such is our nature and frame, that these things have a tendency to move our affections.

For this to have the weight it does for Edwards we need to remember that 1) “true religion consists very much in the affections,” and 2) there is no true Christian faith without the affections being awakened, and 3) God is most glorified when he is affecting us and not just known by us.

HT: Desiring God

Pastor as Scholar : John Piper

HT: Desiring God

Staying Centered on the Gospel

By JD Greear

"Dear, Lord, three things I pray..." I know that sounds like the opening to a bad Ben Stiller rendition of the Lord's Prayer, but there are three things that I pray every morning that help me begin my day centered on the gospel.

I don't offer these as a formula or mantra, but just as a practical way to live a gospel-centered life. (I, for one, have found that it is easier to espouse a gospel-centered theology than live a gospel-centered life!) Embracing these principles each morning applies the gospel to my heart, helping me to subdue my idols, counter my propensity to works-righteousness, and grow in the grace of God. Enough intro. Here are the three things I pray: unmerited love and grace, joy in Christ's sufficiency, and resting in God's goodness.

Unmerited Love and Grace

"God, because I am in Christ I know there is nothing I can do today that would make you love me any more, and there is nothing I have done that makes you love me any less."

As Martin Luther said, the default mode of the human heart is "religion." Even after we are converted, our hearts gravitate back toward works-righteousness unless we continually set them on the gospel. This prayer helps me remember who God has made me, by his grace, in Christ. According to John 17, God loves me now as much as he loves Jesus. Wow. On that basis, the notion that I can add to or take away from his love becomes absurd.

Joy In Christ's Sufficiency

"God, your presence and approval is all I need to have joy today."

This prayer helps me battle against my natural proclivity to idolatry. John Calvin described the human heart as "a perpetual factory of idols." We were made to worship, but we substitute the creature for the Creator (Romans 1:25). We turn anything that we find pleasing into an idol, looking to it for happiness rather than to God. This sentence helps me remember that I don't need man's praise, monetary blessing, success, or even "happiness" to have joy.

Resting In God's Goodness

"God, everything the gospel tells me about your intentions for my life is TRUE."

In the gospel, God shows me that his intentions for me are blessing, not cursing; hope, not despair; and resurrection, not death. This completely changes how I approach the day. I realize that God's plans for me, my family, and my ministry are good beyond even my wildest imagination. The sky is literally the limit (Ps. 103) on the salvation he wants to work in and through me. It helps me to, in the words of William Carey, "expect great things from God, and then attempt great things for God."

Abiding Through Meditation

Meditating on these three things allows me to leave the house "abiding" in Christ, which is, as Jesus said, the way to abundant fruitfulness. Meditation, though a lost art among Christians, is essential for gospel-centered living. It is different from Eastern meditation, where you cleanse your mind of everything, commune with Enya, or lie naked in the grass and listen to John Denver. It is meditation on God's promises, which brings God's presence into our lives.

HT: The Resurgence

Is Sola Scriptura Dead?

At the Emergent Village, Blake Huggins posted the question, "What happens after Sola Scriptura?" I don't agree with most of Blake's argument, but it's a reasonable post and raises some important questions for Christians to consider. In sum, Blake argues that Sola Scriptura (i.e., that the Scriptures are the only infallible rule of faith and practice) is not only an idea that is losing it's usefulness, but isn't even possible to begin with because: (1) we are limited in our understanding of scripture; (2) we are incapable to coming to scripture without bias and thus even if the scriptures are infallible, our own biased interpretations will distort the original meaning; and (3) the scriptures were written by fallible men and recorded over the years by many more fallible men (I hope I'm not misrepresenting your points Blake).

Of the three arguments, I want to focus on the second because no one can deny that the scriptures have been, and continue to be, abused in this way throughout history. As Blake points out, the scriptures have been used to legitimize great injustice, like slavery. Blake is right here, I think, and it's important for Christians to ask, "Does the Bible really say what I believe it says?" before using our own interpretation of God's Word to teach or rebuke another.

However, this point plays out in a different way as well. I was in the bookstore the other day and I overheard a conversation a man was having with one of the salespeople. The man was upset about something he a read in scripture (I wasn't able to determine his complaint) and wanted something to help him determine if what he had read in the scriptures had actually been translated accurately. What this man was saying was that he didn't trust the Bible translators for the same reason that Blake doesn't believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, that is because it was written by sinful men, wearing often quite narrow cultural lenses in their reading glasses, who seek to advance their with their own political, theological, and social agendas. In this way, Blake is right! We cannot begin with Scripture alone when reaching out to someone like the guy in the bookstore, because he doesn't trust how the Bible has been translated.

Of course I believe Blake goes too far when he claims, "I seriously doubt whether the Bible is infallible since it was written by pre-modern men." While it's true that the men who God chose to reveal His infallible Word were indeed fallible, I do not agree that they were incapable to presenting God's revelations without error. The Bible teaches that the scritures are God-breathed and that the writers of the Bible were lead by the Holy Spirit in their writings. This means that God himself is the author of scripture, so if there is an error in the Bible, then it must be a God-inspired error, which of course is inconsistent with the nature of God. That said, please do check out Bloake's post (and if you disagree, please disagree respectfully), as well as the following resources, which I believe help us understand what Sola Scriptura means and why the infallibility of the Bible is essential to the Christian faith.

What Do We Mean By Sola Scriptura? By Dr. W. Robert Godfrey
The Sufficiency of Scripture By John MacArthur
Traditionalism and Sola Scriptura, Part I By John Frame
Traditionalism and Sola Scriptura, Part II By John Frame
Men Moved By the Holy Spirit Spoke From God By John Piper
The Holy Spirit: Author of Scripture By John Piper
Thoughts on the Sufficiency of Scripture: What It Does and Doesn't Mean By John Piper
Sola Scriptura By A.A. Hodge
The Bible's Sufficiency By Tim Challies

More helpful kinks here.

The Meaning of God's Will

By R.C. Sproul

(Continued from Can I Know God's Will?)

The Biblical Meaning of the Will of God
We yearn for simple answers to difficult questions. We want clarity. We desire to cut through the entanglements to the heart of the question. Sometimes the answers are simple enough in themselves, but the process of finding them is laborious and confusing along the way. Sometimes the answers are simplistic, giving us temporary relief from the pressures and the burdens of confusing questions. However, there is a profound difference between the simple answer and the simplistic answer. The simple answer is correct; it accounts for all the data found in the complex problem. It is clear and can be easily grasped in its fullness. It abides, being able to stand the test of rigorous questioning.

The simplistic answer is a counterfeit. On the surface it appears to be the genuine article, but under closer scrutiny it yields its bogus flaws. The simplistic answer may account for some of the data but not all of it. It remains fuzzy. Worst of all, it does not abide; it fails the test of deeper questioning. It does not satisfy in the long haul.

One of the most excruciating questions of all theology is the question, Why did Adam fall? The simplistic answer, commonly heard, is that Adam fell by his own free will. Such an answer is satisfying until we probe the question more deeply. Suppose we ask, "How could a righteous creature created by a perfect Creator sin? How could Adam make an evil choice while possessing no prior inclination or disposition to evil? Was he simply deceived or coerced by Satan? If so, why would Adam then be blameworthy?" If he had been merely deceived, then the fault is all Satan's. If he had been coerced, then it was not a free choice. If he sinned because he had a prior desire or inclination to sin, then we must ask, "What was the source of his evil desire? Did God put it there?" If so, then we cast a shadow on the integrity of the Creator.



Perhaps the simplest way to expose the weak character of the simplistic answer that Adam fell by his own free will is to ask our question another way. "Why did Adam exercise his own free will to sin?" Here it simply won't do to answer, "Because he chose to." This answer is a mere repetition of the question in a declarative form.

I would like to offer a simple answer to the difficult question of Adam's fall, but I simply can't. The only response I can give to the question is that I simply don't know the answer.
Some readers will surely chasten me at this point by saying to themselves, "I know the answer! Adam fell because it was the will of God."

But I immediately ask, "In what sense? Did God force Adam to fall and then punish him for doing what he had no power to avoid?" To ask such an impious question is to answer it. Certainly it must have been the "will of God" in some sense, but the crucial question remains, "In what sense?"

So, here we are, pressed squarely against a biting question that involves the whole matter of the will of God. We want to know how the will of God worked in Adam's life; but more personally, we want to know how the will of God works in our own lives.

When questions are difficult and complex, it is a good rule to collect as much data about them as we possibly can. The more clues the detective has to work with, the easier the solving of the crime usually is (note the word usually). Sometimes the detective suffers from having too many clues, which only serve to compound the difficulty of the solution. The corporate executive faced with major decision-making responsibilities knows the importance of sufficient data and record keeping. His maxim may be: "If you have enough data, the decisions jump out at you." Again we must add the qualifier usually. Sometimes the data is so complex that it jumps out like screaming banshees, defying our ability to sort through it all.

I emphasize the point of data, complexity, and simplicity because the biblical meaning of the will of God is a very complicated matter. To approach it simplistically is to invite disaster. At times, wrestling with the complexities of the biblical concept of the will of God can give us an Excedrin headache.

Yet ours is a holy quest, a pursuit that is worth a few headaches along the way. If we proceed in a simplistic way, we run the clear and present danger of changing the holy quest into an unholy presumption.

We note at the outset that the Bible speaks of the "will of God" in more than one way. This is the problem that complicates our quest and serves as a warning against simplistic solutions. In the New Testament there are two different Greek words, both of which can be, and have been, translated by the English word will. Now it would seem that all we need is to identify precisely the meanings of the two words and check out the Greek text every time we see the word will, and our problems will be solved.

Alas, it doesn't work that way. The plot thickens when we discover that each of the two Greek words has several nuances of meaning. Simply checking the Greek text for word usage is not enough to solve our difficulty. But it helps. Let's examine the two words briefly to see if they shed any light on our quest. The two Greek words are boule and thelema.

The Meaning of Boule
The term boule has its roots in an ancient verb which meant a "rational and conscious desire," as opposed to thelema, meaning "an impulsive or unconscious desire." The ancient subtle distinction was between rational desire and impulsive desire. As the Greek language developed, however, this distinction was softened, and eventually the words became used at times as synonyms, with authors switching from one to the other for purposes of stylistic change.

In the New Testament the use of boule usually refers to a plan based upon careful deliberation and is most often used with respect to the counsel of God. Boule frequently indicates God's providential plan, which is predetermined and inflexible. Luke is fond of using it this way, as we read in the book of Acts: "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan [boule] and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men" (Acts 2:23).

Here the resolute decree of God is in view, which no human action can set aside. God's plan is impregnable; his "will" is unalterable.

The word thelema is rich in its diversity of meanings. It refers to what is agreeable, what is desired, what is intended, what is chosen, or what is commanded. Here we have the notions of consent, desire, purpose, resolution, and command. The force of the various meanings is determined by the context in which thelema appears.

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This is part two of R.C. Sproul's book How Can I Know God's Will?. If you would like to study this topic further, here are a couple of products that may interest you: Knowing God's Will CD Collection or Knowing God's Will MP3 Collection. Also read Part 2 & Part 3 of this blog series.

HT: Ligonier Blog

The Gospel in All Its Forms

By Tim Keller

The gospel has been described as a pool in which a toddler can wade and yet an elephant can swim. It is both simple enough to tell to a child and profound enough for the greatest minds to explore. Indeed, even angels never tire of looking into it (1 Peter 1:12). Humans are by no means angels, however, so rather than contemplating it, we argue about it.

A generation ago evangelicals agreed on "the simple gospel": (1) God made you and wants to have a relationship with you, (2) but your sin separates you from God. (3) Jesus took the punishment your sins deserved, (4) so if you repent from sins and trust in him for your salvation, you will be forgiven, justified, and accepted freely by grace, and indwelt with his Spirit until you die and go to heaven.

There are today at least two major criticisms of this simple formulation. Many say that it is too individualistic, that Christ's salvation is not so much to bring individual happiness as to bring peace, justice, and a new creation. A second criticism is that there is no one "simple gospel" because "everything is contextual" and the Bible itself contains many gospel presentations that exist in tension with each other.

No single gospel message?

Let's take the second criticism first. The belief that there is no single basic gospel outline in the Bible goes back at least to the Tubingen school of biblical scholarship, which insisted Paul's gospel of justification was sharply different from Jesus' gospel of the kingdom. In the 20th century, British professor C.H. Dodd countered that there was one consensus gospel message in the Bible. Then, in turn, James Dunn argued in Unity and Diversity in the New Testament (1977) that the gospel formulations in the Bible are so different that we can't come up with a single outline.

Now hundreds of websites of young Christian leaders complain that the older evangelical church spent too much time reading Romans rather than Jesus' declaration that "the kingdom of God is at hand." But to be true to first-century Christians' own understanding of the gospel, I believe we must side with Dodd over Dunn. Paul is emphatic that the gospel he presents is the same as the one preached by the Jerusalem apostles. "Whether it was I or they," Paul says, referring to Peter and the others, "so we preached and so you believed" (1 Cor. 15:10-11). This statement assumes a single body of gospel content.

One gospel, many forms

So yes, there must be one gospel, yet there are clearly different forms in which that one gospel can be expressed. This is the Bible's own way of speaking of the gospel, and we should stick with it. Paul is an example. After insisting there is only one gospel (Gal. 1:8), he then speaks of being entrusted with "the gospel of the uncircumcised" as opposed to the "gospel of the circumcised" (Gal. 2:7).

When Paul spoke to Greeks, he confronted their culture's idol of speculation and philosophy with the "foolishness" of the cross, and then presented Christ's salvation as true wisdom. When he spoke to Jews, he confronted their culture's idol of power and accomplishment with the "weakness" of the cross, and then presented the gospel One of Paul's gospel forms was tailored to Bible-believing people who thought they would be justified by works on judgment day, and the other to pagans. These two approaches can be discerned in Paul's speeches in the book of Acts, some to Jews and some to pagans.

There are other forms of the gospel. Readers have always noticed that the kingdom language of the Synoptic Gospels is virtually missing in the Gospel of John, which usually talks instead about receiving eternal life. However, when we compare Mark 10:17, 23-34 , Matthew 25:34, 46, and John 3:5, 6 and 17, we see that "entering the kingdom of God" and "receiving eternal life" are virtually the same thing. Reading Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:15 and John 3:3, 5 together reveal that conversion, the new birth, and receiving the kingdom of God "as a child" are the same move.

Why, then, the difference in vocabulary between the Synoptics and John? As many scholars have pointed out, John emphasizes the individual and inward spiritual aspects of being in the kingdom of God. He is at pains to show that it is not basically an earthly social-political order (John 18:36). On the other hand, when the Synoptics talk of the kingdom, they lay out the real social and behavioral changes that the gospel brings. We see in John and the Synoptics two more forms of the gospel—one that stresses the individual and the other the corporate aspect to our salvation.

What, then, is the one simple gospel?

Simon Gathercole distills a three-point outline that both Paul and the Synoptic writers held in common. (See "The Gospel of Paul and the Gospel of the Kingdom" in God's Power to Save, ed. Chris Green Apollos/Inter-Varsity Press, UK, 2006.) He writes that Paul's good news was, first, that Jesus was the promised Messianic King and Son of God come to earth as a servant, in human form. (Rom. 1:3-4; Phil. 2:4ff.)

Second, by his death and resurrection, Jesus atoned for our sin and secured our justification by grace, not by our works (1 Cor. 15:3ff.) Third, on the cross Jesus broke the dominion of sin and evil over us (Col. 2:13-15) and at his return he will complete what he began by the renewal of the entire material creation and the resurrection of our bodies (Rom 8:18ff.)

Gathercole then traces these same three aspects in the Synoptics' teaching that Jesus, the Messiah, is the divine Son of God (Mark 1:1) who died as a substitutionary ransom for the many (Mark 10:45), who has conquered the demonic present age with its sin and evil (Mark 1:14-2:10) and will return to regenerate the material world (Matt. 19:28.)

If I had to put this outline in a single statement, I might do it like this: Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.

One of these elements was at the heart of the older gospel messages, namely, salvation is by grace not works. It was the last element that was usually missing, namely that grace restores nature, as the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck put it. When the third, "eschatological" element is left out, Christians get the impression that nothing much about this world matters. Theoretically, grasping the full outline should make Christians interested in both evangelistic conversions as well as service to our neighbor and working for peace and justice in the world.
Feeling the tension

My experience is that these individual and corporate aspects of the gospel do not live in easy harmony with one another in our preaching and church bodies. In fact, many communicators today deliberately pit them against each other.

Those pushing the kingdom-corporate versions of the gospel define sin in almost exclusively corporate terms, such as racism, materialism, and militarism, as violations of God's shalom or peace. This often obscures how offensive sin is to God himself, and it usually mutes any emphasis on God's wrath. Also, the impression can be given that the gospel is "God is working for justice and peace in the world, and you can too."

While it is true that the coming new social order is "good news" to all sufferers, to speak about the gospel in terms of doing justice blurs the fact of salvation being all of grace, not works. And that is not the way the word gospel is used in the New Testament.

Recently I studied all the places in the Greek Bible where forms of the word gospel were used, and I was overwhelmed at how often it is used to denote not a way of life—not what we do—but a verbal proclamation of what Jesus has done and how an individual gets right with God. Often people who talk about the good news as mainly doing peace and justice refer to it as "the gospel of the kingdom." But to receive the kingdom as a little child (Mt. 18:3) and to believe in Christ's name and be born of God (Jn. 1:12-13) is the same thing—it's the way one becomes a Christian (Jn. 3:3, 5).

Having said this, I must admit that so many of us who revel in the classic gospel of "grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone" largely ignore the eschatological implications of the gospel.

Texts like Luke 4:18 and Luke 6:20-35 show the implication of the gospel that the broken-hearted, unrecognized, and oppressed now have a central place in the economy of the Christian community, while the powerful and successful are humbled. Paul tells Peter that attitudes of racial and cultural superiority are "not in line" with the gospel of grace (Gal 2:14). Generosity to the poor will flow from those who are holding fast to the gospel as their profession (2 Cor. 9:13).

In Romans 2:16 Paul says that Christ's return to judge the earth was part of his gospel, and if you read Psalm 96:10ff you'll know why. The earth will be renewed and even the trees will be singing for joy. And if the trees will be able to dance and sing under the cosmos-renewing power of his Kingship—what will we be able to do?

If this final renewal of the material world was part of Paul's good news, we should not be surprised to see that Jesus healed and fed while preaching the gospel as signs and foretastes of this coming kingdom (Mt. 9:35).

When we realize that Jesus is going to someday destroy hunger, disease, poverty, injustice, and death itself, it makes Christianity what C. S. Lewis called a "fighting religion" when we are confronted with a city slum or a cancer ward. This full version of the gospel reminds us that God created both the material and the spiritual, and is going to redeem both the material and the spiritual.

The things that are now wrong with the material world he wants put right. Some avoid the importance of working for justice and peace by pointing to 2 Peter 3:10-12, which seems to say that this material world is going to be completely burned up at the final resurrection. But that is not what happened to Jesus' body, which retained its nail prints, and Doug Moo makes a case for the world's transformation, not replacement, in his essay on "Nature and the New Creation: NT Eschatology and the Environment" available on line at http://www.wheaton.edu/CACE/resources/onlinearticles/MooNature.pdf.
Preaching the forms

You would expect me at this point now to explain how we can perfectly integrate the various aspects of the gospel in our preaching. I can't because I haven't. But here's how I try.

1. I don't put all the gospel points into any one gospel presentation. I find it instructive that the New Testament writers themselves seldom, if ever, pack all of the aspects of the gospel equally in any one gospel address. When studying Paul's gospel speeches in the book of Acts, it is striking how much is always left out.

He always leads with some points rather than others in an effort to connect with the baseline cultural narratives of his listeners. It is almost impossible to cover all the bases of the gospel with a non-believing listener without that person's eyes glazing over.

Some parts simply engage her more than others, and, to begin with, a communicator should go with those. Eventually, of course, you have to get to all the aspects of the full gospel in any process of evangelism and discipleship. But you don't have to say everything every time.

2. I use both a gospel for the "circumcised" and for the "uncircumcised." Just as Paul spoke about a gospel for the more religious (the "circumcised") and for the pagan, so I've found that my audience in Manhattan contains both those with moralist, religious backgrounds as well as those with postmodern, pluralistic worldviews.

There are people from other religions (Judaism, Islam), people with strong Catholic backgrounds, as well as those raised in conservative Protestant churches. People with a religious upbringing can grasp the idea of sin as the violation of God's moral law. That law can be explained in such a way that they realize they fall short of it. In that context, Christ and his salvation can be presented as the only hope of pardon for guilt. This, the traditional evangelical gospel of the last generation, is a "gospel for the circumcised."

However, Manhattan is also filled with postmodern listeners who consider all moral statements to be culturally relative and socially constructed. If you try to convict them of guilt for sexual lust, they will simply say, "You have your standards, and I have mine." If you respond with a diatribe on the dangers of relativism, your listeners will simply feel scolded and distanced. Of course, postmodern people must at some point be challenged about their mushy views of truth, but there is a way to make a credible and convicting gospel presentation to them even before you get into such apologetic issues.

I take a page from Kierkegaard's The Sickness Unto Death and define sin as building your identity—your self-worth and happiness—on anything other than God. That is, I use the biblical definition of sin as idolatry. That puts the emphasis not as much on "doing bad things" but on "making good things into ultimate things."

Instead of telling them they are sinning because they are sleeping with their girlfriends or boyfriends, I tell them that they are sinning because they are looking to their romances to give their lives meaning, to justify and save them, to give them what they should be looking for from God. This idolatry leads to anxiety, obsessiveness, envy, and resentment. I have found that when you describe their lives in terms of idolatry, postmodern people do not give much resistance. Then Christ and his salvation can be presented not (at this point) so much as their only hope for forgiveness, but as their only hope for freedom. This is my "gospel for the uncircumcised."

3. I use both a "kingdom" and an "eternal life" gospel. I find that many of my younger listeners are struggling to make choices in a world of endless consumer options and are confused about their own identities in a culture of self-creation and self-promotion. These are the people who are engaged well by the more individually-focused presentation of the gospel as free grace not works. This is a lot like the "eternal life gospel" of John. However, I have found many highly secular people over the age of 40 are not reached very well with any emphasis on personal problems. Many of them think they are doing very well, thank you. They are much more concerned about the problems of the world—war, racism, poverty, and injustice. And they respond well to a synoptic-like "kingdom gospel."

Instead of going into, say, one of the epistles and speaking of the gospel in terms of God, sin, Christ, and faith, I point out the story-arc of the Bible and speak of the gospel in terms of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. We once had the world we all wanted—a world of peace and justice, without death, disease, or conflict. But by turning from God we lost that world. Our sin unleashed forces of evil and destruction so that now "things fall apart" and everything is characterized by physical, social, and personal disintegration. Jesus Christ, however, came into the world, died as a victim of injustice and as our substitute, bearing the penalty of our evil and sin on himself. This will enable him to some day judge the world and destroy all death and evil without destroying us.

4. I use them all and let each group overhear me preaching to the others. No one form of the gospel gives all the various aspects of the full gospel the same emphasis. If, then, you only preach one form, you are in great danger of giving your people an unbalanced diet of gospel-truth. What is the alternative? Don't preach just one gospel form. That's not true to the various texts of the Bible anyway. If you are preaching expositionally, different passages will convey different forms of the one gospel. Preach different texts and your people will hear all the points.

Won't this confuse people? No, it stretches them. When one group—say, the postmodern—hears a penetrating presentation of sin as idolatry, it opens them up to the concept of sin as grieving and offending God. Sin as a personal affront to a perfect, holy God begins to make more sense, and when they hear this presented in another gospel form, it has credibility.

When more traditional people with a developed understanding of moral guilt learn about the substitutionary atonement and forensic justification, they are comforted. But these classic doctrines have profound implications for race relations and love for the poor, since they destroy all pride and self-justification.

When more liberal people hear about the kingdom of God for the restoration of the world, it opens them up to Christ's kingship demanding obedience from them in their personal lives. In short, every gospel form, once it hits home, opens a person to the other points of the gospel made more vividly in other forms.

Today there are many who doubt that there is just one gospel. That gives them the warrant to ignore the gospel of atonement and justification. There are others who don't like to admit that there are different forms to that one gospel. That smacks too much of "contextualization," a term they dislike. They cling to a single presentation that is often one-dimensional. Neither of these approaches is as true to the biblical material, nor as effective in actual ministry, as that which understands that the Bible presents one gospel in several forms.

Tim Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.

HT: Leadership Journal.

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
“As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.



He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
[originally …let us die to make men free]
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

Thank you to all who have served to help keep our country safe and to protect the freedom that we too often take for granted.

Developing a Burden for Evangelism

"If you want to develop a burden for the lost, go out and talk to the lost and find out how lost they really are. If you desire to have the crucial nature of evangelism branded on your heart, go out and do it, and you will become convinced of just how crucial it is. If you want to develop the conviction that Jesus does indeed change lives, take His life-changing message to others and see if this isn't true."

- Mark McCloskey


Below is a great Ligonier Devotion from Tabletalk: April 25, 2008

Seeking the Lost

LUKE 15 "I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance" (v.7).

Generally speaking, a dog owner will search high and low for his pet if he finds that his animal is missing. He might walk through his neighborhood yelling out the name of his dog in hopes that it will come running. The local animal control center may receive several visits a day from this owner, hoping to find that the dog has been picked up and brought there. Normally, he will also plaster telephone poles on the local streets with flyers promising a reward for the animal's return. He may even go door-to-door, asking his neighbors if they have seen his pet.

While dogs are a good gift from the Lord, it is indeed sad that too many followers of Christ are more concerned to find lost pets than they are to find lost people. We easily grow complacent about our participation in the mission Jesus has given to us (Matt. 28:18-20). The task of world evangelization is so large that we often ignore it. Without necessarily bearing a malicious intent, most of us probably overlook the desperate needs found even in our own communities. Church buildings are often treated as doctor's offices. Just as a physician waits at his practice for patients to come for treatment, so too do we act as if sinners will of their own accord visit the church in order to find salvation.

The task of seeking, however, belongs to the Christian community. As indicated in the three parable found in today's passage, God's passion is to seek out the lost. If they died tonight, the unrepentant sinners around us would go to hell, and our concern for these unbelievers is to be so great that we search them out, share the Gospel, and then rejoice when someone trusts Jesus (Luke 15:1-10). Lest there be any doubt about the Creator's desire to find and be reconciled to lost sinners, the parable of the prodigal son tells us that the Father Himself rejoices when errant men and women return to Him (vv. 11-32).

We who have been found by Christ must never forget our desperation, lostness, purposelessness, and hopelessness before the Savior found us (Eph. 2:11-12). May we go out of our way to find and befriend non-Christians so that we might be used of Jesus to lead them into His kingdom.

Don't Waste Your Life Music Video

HT: Don't Waste Your Life Blog

How to Waste Your Life

1. Do NOT deny yourself (Luke 9:23).
2. Do NOT take up your cross daily (Luke 9:23).
3. Do NOT follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).
4. Work HARD at self-preservation (Luke 9:24).
5. GAIN the whole world for you to enjoy without God (Luke 9:25).
6. Be ASHAMED of Jesus and his words (Luke 9:26).
7. Do NOT worry about sin in your life (Matthew 5:27-30).
8. Continue to Suppress the truth (Romans 1:18-20).
9. Do NOT glorify God (Romans 1:21).
10. Do NOT give Him thanks (Romans 1:21).
11. Exchange stuff for the Creator (Romans 1:22-25).
12. Do NOT know God or obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).

How NOT to Waste Your Life ... Be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2).

Click here to read John Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life, for free. Or listen to John Piper's message, "What is a Wasted Life?

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Eight Qualities of a Good Sermon

1. Gospel-centered
* Leads to the cross and trust/surrender in Jesus.
* Uses the Scriptures to unearth the heart not behavior.
* Bringing people to repentance
* Did Christ need to die for this to be true?
* Having the main thrust of the passage explained & applied in a way that grips and changes me
* Missional/Evangelistic

2. Bible-based, exegetically-sound (Intelligent but not academically arrogant)

3. Empowered by the Holy Spirit



4. Preached through a passionately changed man

5. Relationally-connected
* Displaying honesty and authenticity
* Inspirational (not just informational)
* Challenging and encouraging
* Humbly and compassionately
* Engaging (not boring)
* Contextualized
* Winsome

6. Simple, memorable and concise with clarity of thought

7. Bible-generated points of application
* Answers the question, "So, now what?"

8. Leads to the worship of Jesus

HT: Acts 29

Piper to Obama: No, Mr. President, Killing Is Killing No Matter What We Call It

It's a magnificent thing: The only newly-originating life in the universe that comes in the image of God is Man. The only newly-originating life in the universe that lasts forever is Man.

This is an awesome thing.

And, as everyone knows, that reverence is not shared by our new President, over whom we have rejoiced.

He is trapped and blind in a culture of deceit. On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, he released this statement,

We are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.

To which I say:

* No, Mr. President, you are not protecting women; you are authorizing the destruction of 500,000 little women every year.

* No, Mr. President, you are not protecting reproductive freedom; you are authorizing the destruction of freedom for one million little human beings every year.
* No, Mr. President, killing our children is killing our children no matter how many times you call it a private family matter. You may say it is a private family matter over and over and over, and still they are dead. And we killed them. And you, would have it remain legal.

Mr. President, some of us wept for joy at your inauguration. And we pledge that we will pray for you.

We have hope in our sovereign God.

(From the sermon: "The Baby in My Womb Leaped for Joy.")

HT: Desiring God

God's Gift to the Church: Pluralism?

"I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

The race we run is not always easy. We come across trails and pitfalls, but we know we will finish. We are never gone, just sometimes tired—and God has the strength for us.
HT: The Plow

Piper's Pastoral Accountability

Hearts can harden fast. The writer of Hebrews drives this point home: "But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (3:13).

So for pastors—and for all of us—yearly or quarterly or perhaps even monthly accountability is dangerously rare. The hardness that creates "an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God" (Heb. 3:12) can happen in a day.

John Piper and the other pastors of Bethlehem Baptist Church know this, and so, among their other strategies for sanctification, they hold each other accountable with a simple questionnaire (PDF) that they each fill out weekly. It addresses issues from days off to diet, personal devotions to pornography.


They would all agree that filling out the form is not what matters; what's important is the heart behind it—the desire to be pure and holy.

I think they would also all agree, however, that committing to answer these simple and straightforward questions each week is an invaluable tool in the fight of faith.

Update: A reader offers a challenging reminder about sexual accountability.

HT: Desiring God

Jesus: The Key to Understanding the Bible

By Darrin Patrick

One of the most difficult things to do as a new Christian is to understand what the heck the Old Testament is all about. Even seasoned Christians have difficulty with it, and often choose not to read or study that part of the Bible. Someone much smarter than me has articulated what Jesus himself was talking about in Luke 24:13-49. Enjoy:

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you — it’s about him.

HT: The Journey

Five Essential Elements of the Gospel

By John Piper

1. The Gospel is an event. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

2. He achieved something when he died: (1) Christ absorbed the wrath of God on our behalf (Galations 3:13), (2) He bore our sins and purchased our forgiveness. The payment and purchase occurred 2,000 years ago - forgiveness (on a personal level) comes later. (3) He provided a complete and perfect righteousness for us. Phillipians 2 tells us He was obedient unto death and that obedience - the obedience of Jesus Christ - is the obedience of Romans 5:19. Christ completed it. (4) He defeated death itself (Hebrews 2:14). (5) He disarmed Satan by suffering (Colossians 2:14). Satan can beat us up, but he cannot damn us, because his one weapon (unpaid sin) is gone. Where? Nailed to a cross. And Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire someday. (6) Christ purchased perfect final healing and peace for His people (Isaiah 53:4-5). Some of this is experienced in our lifetime; most of it is not experienced until we reach heaven. (7) Christ secured for us eternal fellowship with him (1 Peter 3:18).

3. The free offer to be received by faith alone, not works. If there is a historical event (Christ’s death), and it is offered to works, then there is no gospel. We nullify the cross if we make our justification by works. So faith becomes crucial


4. The application of the achievement to us: (1) When the Holy Spirit awakens us, we see Christ for who he really is, and we repent and cleave to him in faith. (2) And when that happened, our sins were forgiven and we were counted righteous in Christ. (3) It all happens through faith alone. Justification, forgiveness, and eternal life were purchased at the cross, but they become ours by faith when we believe.

Now most gospel teaching stops here. But we must press on:

5. God is the gospel. We must embrace Christ as the gospel.

Unless we grasp these things (all of the above), we won't really know what faith is.

HT: Desiring God

5 Foundations of a Truth-drenched Youth Ministry

1. Be a truth-drenched example. 1 Timothy 4:16

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The example of your life is the hammer that drives your message home. If your life doesn't exemplify what you expect, your message will not be believable.

2. Have a truth-drenched marriage and family life. 1 Timothy 3:4-5

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

We shouldn't see if someone is fit for the ministry by how they do in seemingly less important ministries. Rather, we should see what kind of husband and father he is. If he leads his family well, then maybe he's fit for the ministry.

Paul assumes that a church leader first leads his family. A truth-drenched youth ministry will get the overflow of the youth minister's leadership of his wife and kids.

3. Cultivate a truth-drenched staff. Acts 13:2-3

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Gather as a staff mainly to go vertical. Meet with God and see what strategy comes from this worship.


4. Preach and teach truth-drenched messages and lessons. Hebrews 13:7

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

The main thing your youth should think about when they remember you is how you spoke God's word to them.

Don't replace teaching truth with games, media, skits, etc.

5. Develop and implement a truth-drenched vision and philosophy of youth ministry. Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Picture youth ministry as a mountain. Develop a plan that puts the cross at the top with all the other good (but less important) things below. Then the truth of the gospel will flow down that mountain over everything you do, drenching your ministry.

HT: Desiring God

Putting Swine Flu into Perspective

When one baby dies from the flu it is a sorrowful day and a time to pray for the family who loved that infant; and when that same baby dies from a rare form of flu that is threatening to become a pandemic, the world media takes notice. But when nearly 4,000 babies* are murdered in one day just in the U.S., and it goes on day after day for over three decades, most people just ignore it, including the media. That's 4,000 babies today, 4,000 more tomorrow, and 28,000 by the end of the week ... with no end in sight.

* Centers for Disease Control

‘Homosexual lifestyle, marriage cause families pain’

By Karl Schowengerdt

This April marked our 47th wedding anniversary. My wife, Judy, and I have been blessed with an enduring love that has brought us through the ups and downs of nearly five decades together. We raised three wonderful children, and now enjoy being grandparents. Ours has in many ways been a storybook life. The single most tragic event in our years together has been the untimely death of our oldest son, Randy.

Our firstborn was a blessing that brought so much joy into our lives. He was extremely smart, he participated in extracurricular activities, graduated with many honors and went on to college.

After college, he moved to Omaha and took a job. It was while he was living in Omaha that one of Randy's co-workers recruited him into the homosexual "lifestyle." We loved our son as much as any parents have ever loved a son. Even when we became aware of his homosexuality, we assured him of our love. That is not to say that we condoned or accepted what we knew to be a dangerous "lifestyle," but we always maintained our relationship with the son we had raised and the man we prayed would be delivered from homosexuality. When we discovered that Randy was sick, we invited him to come home to seek medical attention. We suspected the worst, but hoped for anything else. Either way, we wanted to help our son and see his health restored. We knew the tests would leave no doubt, but there simply are no words to describe the pain of hearing your firstborn say, "Dad, I'm HIV positive."

As a parent, nothing can prepare you for the loss of a child to a terminal illness. It's somehow worse when that illness resulted from your child's reckless decision and his own actions. Witnessing the daily physical deterioration of our son caused great pain and sadness to us as parents and on the extended family as well. It was interesting to note that once Randy was diagnosed HIV positive, the homosexual community who had actively recruited him and had claimed to be his "family" were nowhere to be found. As his health declined, he spoke frankly about the homosexual experience. Randy said, "It is not an alternate lifestyle. It is a cult."

For years, my wife and I have watched the media and homosexual activists work together to redefine family and marriage in our society. The consistent message has been that homosexual "marriage" will hurt no one, and that those of us who support marriage only between one man and one woman will not be impacted. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our hearts go out to people caught up in homosexuality. The destruction and pain that homosexuality leaves in its wake is deep and impacts so many more than just the individuals caught up in the activity.

We now know several other couples who are struggling with a son who chose to engage in homosexuality. We know the pain they endure, and understand when they reach out for help. One person's homosexuality causes stress and strain on every friend and relative who truly cares about them. For the Iowa Supreme Court to sanction homosexual "marriage" is to encourage and underwrite the negative results that naturally come from the homosexual "lifestyle." Aside from the physical destruction inflicted on those who practice homosexuality and the incredible stress homosexuals cause their extended families, society often pays a hefty price as well. Randy lost his job when he was no longer strong enough to work. With the loss of that job, he lost his ability to insure himself. As a result, you the taxpayer paid for more than $250,000 in medical bills for this one AIDS patient.

For those still uncertain about homosexual "marriage," please understand that the more accepting we are of homosexuality as a society, the more likely it is that your family, and society in general, will suffer the pain that ultimately results. Homosexuality took the life of our son. We oppose homosexuality and homosexual "marriage" in the hope that we might help another family avoid the pain that we have endured.

HT: Des Moines Register

As Long As I Don't Hurt Anyone

"As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else" is by far the ethical principle guiding our culture today. People often use this principle to justify a whole host of behaviors, including gambling, viewing pornography, drinking alcohol to excess, and engaging in pre-marital sex, but there are several problems with this ethical philosophy.

First, if there are no concrete ethical principles that apply across the board, how do we measure hurt? We need to know what constitutes "hurt" in order to apply the "as long as" principle. Without concrete ethical norms, the "as long as" rule is empty.

Second, this principle only scraps the very bottom of proverbial ethical barrel. It's aim is only concerned with not harming others, it doesn't do anything motivate others to help others or do anything that would benefit anyone else. Suppose those who could create a vaccine for swine flu decided it would be more profitable to devote themselves to seeking a "cure" for wrinkles? Would they personally hurt anyone? Of course not. But they certainly wouldn't create any good either.