Grace Defined, Explained, and Applied

Just as Paul has given us the most concise presentation of the gospel in I Corinthians 15:1-8, he gives us the most concise definiton of grace in Ephesians 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (italics mine)  Paul then spends the rest of the first three chapters of Ephesians explaining what this means, and tells us how God wants us to apply it in chapters four through six.

What is Grace

What is grace?  In the New Testament, grace means God's love in action toward people who merited the opposite of love.  Grace means God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves.  Grace means God sending his only Son to the cross to descend into hell so that we guilty ones might be reconciled to God and received into heaven.  "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (II Corinthians 5:21).

J. I. Packer

Knowing God

Page 249

Being Grasped by the Truth

If the truth of the passage that he is preaching

has not grasped the preacher, he has nothing

of substance to convey to his people.  In fact,

he can little expect it to grasp them.

Milestone IV

Well, the water of another year has passed under the bridge as we have finished year number four in the life of Grace Covenant Church.  I don't know how church years compare to dog years, or such, but this has been a pretty quick year; but time does that, as it has its own ebbs and flows like the tide.  Of course, the main reason it has passed so quickly is that we have been pretty busy.

One of the good things to happen was our move to a better facility last August.  We are now meeting at Midland Classical Academy, a private Christian school that has already housed two other churches.  When the last church moved we jumped on the chance to meet there, and now have consistent heating and cooling and a nicer all around facility to meet in, and room for growth.  We were able to also get the lease at a rate that was affordable, and are appreciative of MCA working with us as we are paying less than our predecessors.

One of the highlights again this year was the baptism of two men last fall.  One was saved during our Easter service and the other had come to the conviction that his salvation had occured only a few years ago.  It was a joy to baptize these men and hear their testimonies of God's faithful work in their hearts.  Both are active and committed, which is a double blessing.

Our other elder, Bill Lawless, and I led a leadership development group on Saturday mornings.  Our desire is for this to be the foundation of training men in our church.  We limited it to the leadership team, but will open it up this next year to more of the men in our church.  It is my belief that the church will go no farther than the strength of its men will carry it, and we want to train up the men in our church to be strong in the faith.  In that vein, we once again took seven men to the Shepherd's conference; and each year it leaves its mark on us.

That is not to rule out the role of women in the church, nor is it to say that the women should not be strong spiritually, as well.  We sent seven of our women to the True Woman conference in Dallas, and will send a group to the True Woman conference in San Antonio this year as well.  It was a spiritually rich conference that has born fruit in the lives of those who went.  We also had a women's mid-week bible study this year and hope that it will grow.

Additionally, we had a church wide bible study on Tuesday nights.  We used the Precept curriculum and studied Covenant last fall and Exodus in the spring.

Our music/worship has been blessed of the Lord this last year.  He indeed inhabits the praises of His people, and His presence during our worship time has been a joy and blessing.  We have two sax playing brothers  who provide the music on most Sundays as our keyboard player has had job assignments that have taken him away many Sundays.  But, it is required of a steward to be faithful, and that is what our worship team has been, and God has honored that and shown us His goodness.

I am still preaching through John's gospel, and will finish up chapter fourteen this week.  Not just because we are in John, but out of personal conviction, we have really focused on being more gospel centered and gospel proclaiming.  We want our people to go deeper and deeper into Christ, to more fully understand and more deeply appreciate grace.  But to do this you must have a grasp on the gospel, in all its fullness, in all its aspects, in all of its application; in other words, the better you grasp the gospel the richer will God's grace be to you.  As such, we believe the gospel is important for the believer as well as for the unbeliever.

Speaking of the unbeliever, we pray corporately each Sunday for the lost that God has placed in our individual paths.  We also have identified one thousand households in north Midland that we will target with the gospel every three to four months.  We are going to start out by sending them Grace for You, an evanglestic booklet written by John MacArthur, that is the telling of the story of the prodigal son. We are going to send them something each mailing that is gospel centered and gospel proclaiming.  What will God do with this?  We are not sure, but we are sure that He stands over His word to perform it, that the gospel is the power of salvation, and beautiful are the feet that bring the gospel.  In addtion to these, as a church we are also praying for the Hispanics in our area, as they make up close to 40% of the population.

Speaking of the gospel.  My wife, Angie, has made it a focus in her teaching the children to present the gospel in as many lessons as possible.  I am grateful that our children are hearing the gospel, hearing of their need for a Savior, hearing of God's great salvation in Christ.  Planting gospel seeds is an important, really the most important function, of a children's ministry.  We all are to receive the word implanted which is able to save our souls, so why not plant it early and often?

I gave the covenant charge in two weddings this year.  It was a blessing to me to be involved in them, and to see the seriousness with which the couples took their vows.  May God's protection and blessing be upon them.

Yes, we have had some numeric growth this last year, and the number of our visitors has increased; but the real story is the continued growth of the people.  God's word does not return to Him void, and it is Him that is building His church.  I am so blessed to be the pastor of this group of people that have committed themselves to the Lord through Grace Covenant Church; and blessed to be able to serve the Lord in this way.  My prayer for myself is for my own faithfulness and obedience to Him who has given Me this sacred responsibility and trust.  May He be glorified in and through this gracious work of His called Grace Covenant church. 

For the Love of the Father

but, so that the world may know that I love the Father,

I do exactly as the Father has commanded Me.

John 14:31a

Christ's holiness was not a legal holiness,

but a loving holiness---as ours is to be.

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

John 14:15

A Christian's Desire

As Christians, we are to be overcome

by the desire to please our Father,

rather than be overcome by the desire

to please ourselves.

(Isaiah 58:13-14a, John 8:29, Colossians 1:9-10,

Ephesians 5:8b-10, Romans 12:1-2)

Real Righteousness

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves 

that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:

"Two men went up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee

 and the other a tax collector.  the Pharisee took his stand and

 was praying like this: 'God, I thank You that I'm not like other

people--greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax

collector.  I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of everything I get.'

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise

his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest saying, 'God, turn

Your wrath from me--a sinner!'  I tell you, this one went down

to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone

who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles

himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:9-14

The startling contrast between the prayers of the Pharisee and the publican furnishes an indication of Christ's standards of value, as applied to the most important realm of men's lives--their approach to God.  For some men God can do nothing. Their attitude of heart toward Him, their self-sufficiency and self-complacency, ward off the beneficent intentions of His grace.  Their bodies may posture in His house, but their spirits

are an immeasurable distance from Him; and the only result of their miscalled worship is in the continued hardening and deadening of their moral sense.  As in nature the action of some streams tends to turn living objects into stone, so does the stream of unfelt and mechanical and self-seeking praying petrify the soul of its offerer.

How simple as to form and direct as to request is the prayer of the publican.  Standing "afar off" in the conciousness of the sin which separated him from God, he realized that the was yet alone with Him.  "God...mercy...me" are the notes of his heart's cry.  But he has already come to know that the span of mercy bridges the sin-gulf, and is confident that even such a one as he is may safely venture across.  On its further side the Father awaits him with a welcome which is unmixed with any reproach.  Over that scene a veil is drawn, and the sacred intimacy is unrecorded.  But from its strengthening assurance the man goes down to his house to declare what God has done for him.  He has learned by an experience which nothing can modify, that sin confessed is sin covered, and that life humbled is life exalted, and this is sufficient inspiration for the long moral conflict that is yet before him.  Such prayer is the one gateway to the life victorious and beautiful, alike for him and for us.  It demands our stooping, but it ensures our salvation.

J. Stuart Holden

The Holy Gospels Opened

Pgs 103-104

True Lovers of Christ

True lovers of Christ

can stand the pain of self-denial.

Art Azurdia

Salvation

Salvation is not a singular event, but is a work of God, a process if you will, whereby God conforms us completely into the image of His Son.  This work starts with justification, continues on in sanctification, and ends in glorification.

Romans 8:29-30 For those whom he foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the first born among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

I John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.  We know that when He appears we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

Salvation is the work of God that carries out the purpose of God, which results in the glory of God.

Famine in the Land

As a follow up to my post yesterday on The Great Disconnect, I have provided a link below to Steve Lawson's sermon "Famine in the Land."  This sermon is based on Amos 8:11 and speaks quite clearly to why there is the great disconnect in the church in our land today.  Enjoy the sermon...I believe it will eventually be a Christian classic.  Also, Steve has published a book by the same title, "Famine in the Land."  It is a great read.

http://www.newreformationministries.org/audio/2007/10/famine-in-the-land.php

The Great Disconnect

In the Western church, more noticeably in the church in the US, we are living in a time of disconnection. A time in which there is a disconnection in so many who claim to be a Christian, and that disconnection is between what they claim to be and how they are actually living; and what is even worse, is that others who claim to be Christian see no problem with the disconnection, and in fact see no disconnection at all.

Yes, there is nothing new under the sun, as Solomon would say, as we see this same issue talked about by Paul as he says in Titus 1:16, They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed." James also alludes to this problem in James 1:22 as he says, "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves." So yes, this problem is not new, it actually existed in Israel before the New Testament times, but it seems to me that this disconnection in the Western church (especially in our country) has gone from epidemic proportions, to pandemic. This disconnection is most visibly demonstrated in the area of sexual promiscuity, sensuality, and immorality.

Let me give you three examples that have come to my attention over the last few weeks.

#1. The vote, this week, by the Twin Cities presbytery of the PCUSA to okay the ordination of clergy without regard to sexual orientation.  This was the vote that gave the majority vote in favor of this change to their constitution.

#2. While having lunch with a friend of mine last week he told me of a youth minister in Houston who had moved in with his girlfriend.  His comment to me was that they should know better, and, yes, they should; but what bothered me was that the youth minster and his girlfriend obviously did not see anything wrong with co-habitating outside of marriage.

#3. The latest Youtube buzz about Carrie Underwood singing "How Great Thou Art."  Only a few weeks ago, at the ACM awards, she was provocatively dressed and gyrating around while singing with Steven Tyler.  It was bad enough that I turned off the television.  Obviously she doesn't see a problem with how she was performing at the ACM's or she wouldn't do it.  But does that performance, that activity, square with the profession of being a Christian?  Would she dress and perform like that at church?

Where is the disconnect here?  It is between their profession to be Christians, and their actions.  It is the difference between what the Scripture says and how they live their lives, which is also shown in the choices they make. Let's look at some Scripture that addresses all three of the examples I have listed above.

So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk

(live your life, or behave) no longer as the Gentiles walk,

in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding,

excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that

is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they,

having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality

for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard

Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside

the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the

lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been

created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Ephesians 4:17-24

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the

kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived; neither fornicators,

nor idolaters, not adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,

nor thieves, nor the covetous, not drunkards, nor revilers,

nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.  Such were

some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified,

but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ

and in the Spirit of our God.

I Corinthians 6:9-11

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness;

and sin is lawlessness.  You know that He appeared in

order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

No one who abides in Him sins (practices, habitually,

lives a lifestyle of sinfulness); no one who sins has

seen Him or knows Him.  Little children, make sure no

one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness

is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices

sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 

The Son of God has appeared for this purpose, to destroy

the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices

sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin

(practice, habitually, live as a lifestyle), because he is

born of God.  By this the children of the devil are obvious:

anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God,

nor the one who does not love his brother.

I John 3:4-10

Italics mine for emphasis or explanation

Listen, the Bible is full of verses that speak to this from many different angles, and through many different scenarios.  What is the issue here?  What is the disconnect?  You cannot live the same lifestyle as the world, and be a Christian.  There is no such thing as a carnal Christian, or a nominal Christian (despite the continued misinterpretation of I Corinthians 3:3).  You are on one side of the fence or the other.  You cannot serve two masters.  There must be a consistency between your talk and your walk.  You must prove to possess what it is you profess, unless of course you fail the test. 

Another issue with the types of examples mentioned above, is that in many cases they have been told it is okay to live in this way, that as long as you have made some kind of profession you are covered...like some kind of holy fire insurance...and, if you don't accept these kind of lifestyles in those who profess to be Christians, you are being judgmental.

Scripture is the sole and final judge in these matters; and we must hold up the Scriptures as the standard for behavior for those who profess to be Christians.  We must not shrink back from declaring the whole counsel of God standing on the authority of Scripture alone.  To be able to do this we must know and have confidence in the Word of God.  In bringing this topic up with those who claim to be Christian it has become painfully obvious that their knowledge of Scripture is woefully anemic.  If we don't know the Scripture, we cannot think Biblically, and therefore cannot apply Scripture where needed.  And, if we do not know the Scriptures it is hard, nay impossible, to speak with any degree of authority on these matters.

The only way to combat this disconnect is for the Scriptures to faithfully, fully, and comprehensibly be taught and preached in our churches.  Yes, doing this might, in fact will, decrease our numbers; but what remains will be purer and then perhaps the church will gain the relevancy in the culture that is truly transforming.

Bulletin Bloopers

A little weekend humor.  Check out the first commentor.

http://www.thomrainer.com/2011/04/the-best-of-church-bulletin-bloopers.php

The Christian's Greatest Promise

In My Father's house there are many dwelling places;

if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to

prepare a place for you.  If I go and prepare a place

for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself,

that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:2-3

These words are what make the Christian life worth living, in fact, without these words the Christian life would not be worth living at all.  For Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:19, "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied." 

The truth, stated plainly by Jesus here, is that heaven is a real place, it is the place where God dwells, there are many other dwelling places there, and Jesus will personally prepare a dwelling place for each one of us in the heaven of His Father. Although we cannot get there on our own He is coming back for us to take us there, and we will be with Him there for as long as He is there.  If not for this truth, why on earth would we give up the things of this world?  For without this truth this world is all there is; but with this truth something more glorious, more abounding in riches, more peaceful, more magnificent, more splendid, and more fulfilling awaits us; and that is dwelling with both the Father and the Son for all eternity.

Rejoice, O Christian, for your heavenly Father, the Father of lights, the creator of the ends of the earth, has a place specially prepared for you to spend eternity with Him.  Rejoice, O Christian, that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life, His reservation list, never to be erased.  Rejoice, O Christian, that your heavenly Father has loved you so, so as to provide the way to Him through His Son; and to guarantee that reservation by dipping His pen in the well of the blood of His Son to write it down.  Rejoice, O Christian, for earth recedes and heaven draws ever nearer. Rejoice, O Christian, for what awaits you on the other side of this life.  Rejoice, O Christian, for the certainty of the life to come, given through the promise from Jesus, Himself.

O friends, have you placed your hope for eternity, for the life beyond this life, in the person of Christ?  Have you placed all your trust in what He has done to secure that life for you?  Have you come to God acknowledging your sin, your helplessness, your hopelessness, your absolute need of His mercy, compassion, and grace?  Have you asked Him to forgive you and save you?  Have you cast yourself upon Him as your Savior?  He is not far away, He is near if you would but reach out and call out to Him!  Today is the day, wait no longer to secure your place in heaven, for none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.

God bless you all.

In the End

In the end

man will be proven to be utterly sinful,

God will be proven to be utterly righteous.

Both will be proven to be exactly what they are.

Christians and Pornography

Russell Moore deals with the issue of the Christian and pornography in an honest and straightforward way, with accompanying biblical insight.

http://www.russellmoore.com/2011/04/27/arousing-ourselves-to-death/

When to Apply Matthew 18

In the latest issue of Themelios, Don Carson has an article on the proper application of Matthew 18, especially in light of how much it gets thrown around in the blogosphere these days.  Follow the link:

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/publications/36-1/editorial-on-abusing-matthew-18

Rejoicing in Gladness

I am glad, and my heart is warmed, by the fact that God, our God, is gracious and compassionate and abounding in lovingkindness and truth, that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, that He cries out,"Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of earth."  I am grateful that He has shown all the world His eternal attributes and Divine nature through what has been created.  I am thankful for the power in the gospel to save all who believe it.  I am overwhelmed by the richness of His mercy, the depth of His compassion, and the lavishness of His love for those who are hostile to Him and are His enemies.  I am in awe of His kindness, which even extends to evil and ungrateful men.  Yes, I will rejoice for He has made me glad; and I am glad that He has included me in His eternal plan of redemption.

Knowing God

On my way to bed the other night, I happened to run across an interview on TV.  The person being interviewed is a well known television personality/celebrity.  They were talking about life and its lessons, and they mentioned some final words that someone who was close to death had given them, that in the end it is all about family and friends; in other words, it's all about relationships and it is those relationships that matter most in life, and give meaning to life.  Of course, the interviewer nodded in solemn agreement, and for the next few minutes they both talked about the value of relationships.

It is true that relationships are important, and, for those of us who are common everyday people, our legacy, if you will, is carried on in the relationships we leave behind.  However, there is an eternal relationship, a relationship that we can have both in this life and in the one to come, and that is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  This relationship is what actually guarantees our acceptance into the presence of God when we pass from this life into the next.  To those who professed to be Christians and were relying on their religious works as their ticket to heaven, Jesus had this to say in Matthew 7:23, "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew (knew in an intimate personal way) you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"  And in John 17:3 Christ tells us this, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

It is to know God personally, not just know about or have heard about Him; to have a relationship with Him, rather than an abstract knowledge of Him; to know up close and not from a distance; to be familiar and not a stranger to Him and His ways, that makes our faith a living faith.   To have this faith, this intimate knowledge of God, was one of the promises of the New Covenant as God said in Jeremiah 31:34, "For they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them."   It is the knowledge of the Most High that gives substance to our faith.

The command to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul presupposes that we know Him.  We cannot have this kind and depth of love for someone whom we do not know.  In fact, the more we know Him the greater our love shall be for Him, so as we grow in the breadth and depth of our knowledge of Him there is a corresponding growth in our love for Him that will encompass more and more of our heart, mind, and soul. This is one of the reasons we are exhorted in II Peter 3:18 to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This is also part of my personal testimony.  As I was reading an article on Tom Landry in Guidepost magazine while in the waiting room of a doctor's office, he talked about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; and I thought to myself, "How do you have a relationship with someone who has been dead two thousand years."  But this impacted me, for though I had grown up in the church and knew the facts about Jesus and had professed faith in Jesus, I knew that I did not know Him and did not have a relationship with Him.  After wrestling with this for two years, I finally came to the point where one evening I saw myself as the sinner I was and repented.  The next morning when I woke up I knew Him, and knew that I knew Him as He was alive to me; and the relationship has grown deeper and sweeter through the years.

So the question for those of you reading this is, "Do you know Him, and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, not just know about Him, but know Him and have a relationship with Him?"  Do you have fellowship and communion with Him?  Are you intimate with Him?  Do you know that you know Him?  For if you do, then you can know and rest assured that you have eternal life.

Thought for the Day

Our motive for obedience is just as important,

probably more so, to God than the level of our performance.

Jerry Bridges

Discipline of Grace

Page 123

Thinking Right Thoughts

"The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father,

the greatest unkindness you can do to Him is not to believe

that He loves you."

John Owen

Communion with God

But God demonstrates His own love for us,
in that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8