From Francis Schaeffer - words that once rocked my world

"How beautiful Christianity is - first, because of the sparkling quality of its intellectual answers, but second, because of the beautiful quality of its human and personal answers. And these are to be rich and beautiful. A crabbed Christianity is less than orthodox Christianity...There must be orthodox doctrine, true. But there must be orthodox practice of those doctrines, including orthodoxy in the human relationships...

God means Christianity to be fun. There is to be a reality of love and communication in the Christian-to-Christian relationship, individually and corporately, which is completely and truly personal." "True Spirituality", Francis Schaeffer

What I loved about listening to Dr. Schaeffer speak was how he connected words like, intellectual, orthodox with beauty, personal and fun. It revolutionized my dry joyless fundamentalism.

Sermon, Sunday Aug. 21, at First Presbyterian

Click on title above to hear the audio of my sermon in a series from Timothy and Titus. This focuses on a concise statement of the Gospel most likely used as a Creed in the early aposotlic church. "Christ Jesus came to save sinners". Amen and Amen!

September 11 - Informational Meeting

Here is an excerpt from the letter sent from our session to our congregation as we look forward to our church renovation.

Most of you are aware to some degree of the need to address the current physical condition of our sanctuary, our future need in the face of growth, and the changing needs of the congregation. First and foremost, as a people called by God’s grace, chosen through the mercy and love that comes in Christ, our Savior, we know that all we are called to do; we do in light of Grace and for God’s glory.
For years, we prayed and considered moving from the present location. Every evidence seemed to indicate God was telling us to be faithful with what we have and seek to glorify God in this place.
A professionally developed plan, bathed in prayers will be presented to the congregation so that you can see the general picture of what our present sanctuary can be transformed into as an attractive, and God honoring place of worship for generations to come. We believe it is an achievable task, but will require faith, stretching ourselves in obedience and unity as a church body.

The National Presbyterian Church of Mexico severs ties to the PCUSA

I have many Presbyterian friends in Mexico, and the recent vote to sever ties with the PCUSA, inspite of 149 years of history working together, shows the spiritual and biblical discernment of this denomination. The issue has been raised many times before at previous General Assemblies. All I can say, is that I pray the Lord will richly bless their commitment to the Gospel and this clear stand on the side of Biblical faithfulness, even though this will cost them financially. In times where things are already difficult, they have taken a stand. I have nothing but admiration for them and their sacrifical love for Christ and His Kingdom. Dios los bendigo.

Romantic Love as an Echo of Divine Love

Song 1:2-4 (ESV)
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
For your love is better than wine;
[3] your anointing oils are fragrant;
your name is oil poured out;
therefore virgins love you.
[4] Draw me after you; let us run.
The king has brought me into his chambers.

Others
We will exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.

From The Problem of Pain (C.S. Lewis)

~~"There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else. You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words: but most of your friends do not see it at all... Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling... of that something which you were born desiring... All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it... echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. But if it should really become manifest... you would know it. We cannot tell each other about it. It is the secret signature of each soul... If we lose this, we lose all.

"Your soul has a curious shape... made to fit a particular swelling in... Divine substance, or a key to unlock one of the doors in the house with many mansions. For it is not humanity in the abstract that is to be saved, but you—you, the individual... Blessed and fortunate creature, your eyes shall behold Him and not another's... God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love. Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it.... (Problem of Pain)


Lewis understands the common thread in all the books one reads, in all the stories and all the experiences that leave a person desiring something unreachable, something unexplainable, in short, ineffable.

Love in the best of human relationships (i.e., marriage) is but the echo of God’s love woven in the fabric of his creation. In the Song of Solomon the portrayal of human romance, is but the reflection or shadow of a more perfect love – a holy pursuit and wooing of the beloved. This is why the Gospel is the story of God’s love in reaching down into time and history to bring to final consummation the greatest romance. I see this is the way to read the Song of Solomon in its fullest meaning. Not as the medieval commentators who spurned the gift of human love, nor in the modern overly sensual version – for both are off the mark. It is reading the one in light of the other. We who are bought by the price of Christ’s blood (the bride’s price) now wait the arrival of the wedding feast. Then the bridegroom will come and say, "Arise my beloved, arise."

Charles Hodge on Confessing the Faith of the Gospel

“To confess Christ is to recognize his character and claims. It is to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ. It is to admit the truth of the doctrines which he taught. It is to profess our allegiance to him as our Lord and Saviour. This confession must be public; it must be made before men; it must be made with the mouth, and not left to be inferred from the conduct… The confession which is required is, the public acknowledgment of Christ in his true character, and of his gospel in its real nature. It will not do to strip the gospel of everything offensive to human pride, and to acknowledge the rest. The very thing to be done is, to take the shame of professing what is a scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. It is to acknowledge our faith and confidence in a Saviour despised and rejected of men, and in doctrines which human reason can neither discover nor comprehend.” From "The Way of Life"

Confessing Gospel Truth- a line from my sermon

[15] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
Fred Sanders “God is not trifling with us in the Gospel, but opening up in the most intimate way his very heart.”

Notice how Paul describes this central truth of the Gospel. He takes what is already known by the Church “This saying” and gives his apostolic approval to it. It is trustworthy - that is it is a faithful recap of the Gospel in miniature.

Secondly, he commends it to everyone. It deserves full – wide or universal acceptance. Creeds are not private (personal in their relevance) – there is no Christianity without a common faith. Statements like “no creed but the Bible,” make no sense and lead to an individual Christianity – subjective, unhistorical and open to a thousand interpretations. (Dorothy Sayers, the literary friend of C.S. Lewis put it well - “without creed there is chaos”.)
This affirmation used in the worship of this apostolic church is summed up in 9 words. Much more can be said about the Gospel. We have creeds that delve deeper into its ramifications (Nicene Creed, the Westminster Confession) But this 9 word creed is the essence of the Gospel
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”

This was the eternal mission of God, to act in sovereign love to enter our world, in time and history in the person of his Son: to enter a world turned against God, running towards destruction and for the purpose of saving these sinners.
Everything in the life of the church and every other doctrine builds upon this central core truth.
Eveything we know about God is through the lens of this telescope – the God who saves.
Everything we do and are called to live our lives in light of is this central truth .

How the Law is Good. Sermon from Aug. 14, 2011

From my series on Timothy & Titus, this sermon in on how we need the law to properly understand the Gospel. Getting it right is vital to the Christian life. Double Click the title above for the audio link. I do my best to keep up with this technology, so if it doesn't work, just send me a message.

Guarding the Gospel - Sermon for July 31, 2011

Click the title above to connect to the audio link. It may take a few minutes.

Forgiveness and our Redemption: More Preliminary Reflections

Legal and Personal- How Justification makes us Forgiven

Forgiveness as it relates to Justification and Union with Christ is both a Legal (positional) reality and a interpersonal experience. Because of Christ’s offering of his life and the “gracious transaction” of his righteousness for our sin, enables God to as a Just Judge to act with mercy and righteousness in saving us.
But, our redemption is more than a legal transaction with some abstract status that bears no real influence on our lives. Redemptive language in the Bible is intensely personal. The Just and Holy Judge is also, by grace, our loving Father. This experience of mercy and cleansing from our sin in our union with Christ is the experience of forgiveness.

While the doctrine of forgiveness is rarely treated as an individual aspect of our salvation, it is immensely biblical. The Bible portrays sin as the great act of treason – a highly personal offense. This is especially true in the parable of the Prodigal Son, better named as the parable of the Forgiving Father (Luke 15).
Objective and SubjectiveAnother way to speak about the problem of our Redemption is the tension between the objective reality that is true of God’s provision for sin in the death of his Son, and the human experience of forgiveness in the act of confession. The question will arise, “how does God forgive sin and on what basis does He forgive?”

Forgiveness as it Relates to GodRomans 3:25-26 (ESV)
(Jesus) whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. [26] It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
“Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin”
Remission means the total removal of sin and its consequences. True remission of sin was not affected by the O.T. sacrificial system, this was a picture of what was to come. Only God could be both the Just and the Justifier of his redeemed people by the giving of his own Son, the fullness of deity, in an act of unfathomable love.
The Basis for all forgiveness is the blood of Christ - 2 Cor. 5:14, 15. Someone has to pay a price. Infinite transgression requires an infinite cost, which only the infinite Son of God could pay.
It is applied to the believer both:

Positionally - Col.2:13; Rom.8:1 – We are in Christ and a New Creation.
Subjectively – 1 John 1:5-9 - we will walk in truth and in the light of Christ’s forgiveness.

Forgiveness as a Part of SalvationThe Reformed view of the “Ordu Salutis” - a description of the process of salvation.

Effectual calling - The Spirit helps us to really hear the Gospel and effectively respond to it.

Saving faith- While this appears to be the part where we are active in the process of our salvation, the trusting belief we express is also a gift from God.

Repentance –True faith is always experienced with genuine repentance. Which comes first is sometime hard to distinguish in our lives, but it is biblically tied together like two sides of the same coin.

Justification – God declares us righteous on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness. The great and gracious transfer of our sins for his righteousness,and he becomes our unrighteousness bearing them to the Cross.

Adoption – Because of God’s promise to Jesus, he adopts us as his children firmly establishing us as a part of his family.

Sanctification – Salvation is not just getting our ticket punched for the pearly gates. It involves the transformation of the believer. True justification will always led to a growth in holiness.
Good Works – Grace leads to gratitude and the best way to show God how much you love Him, is by loving others.
Perseverance – We don’t grow, keep believing and stay on track in this race, by our own power. Christ is in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit. What God starts he always finishes.

Assurance of Salvation- The evidence of everything that God is doing in giving us faith, trust, a new desire and the promises of His electing grace confirms in our heart that we truly belong to Him.

Glorification – Someday when Christ returns for his church or we meet him after our passing from this mortal life, we will perfectly reflect his image and lay aside all dead, powerless nature of our sin, that we’ve battled against for so long and for once know what it is to be truly human and enjoying our Creator.

Justification and Union with ChristThe Westminster Confession understood the priority of the act of judicial declaration of our imputation of Christ’s righteousness is our basis of union with Christ. In this way, we can also speak about the benefits of our union with Christ as being fully “forgiven” and restored as child of God.
“In Christ, God took the penalty of sin on his own self to abolish the cause of enmity existing between himself and sinners. Nothing unethical or unjust is implied, as Christ freely accepted this role as mediator. Consent and free choice characterize his actions for sinners. Penal substitution through sacrifice implies that he accepted to stand as the innocent one in the place of the guilty, accepts the judgment for their guilt, and assumes and abolishes it by his vicarious death. This is condescension to the highest degree imaginable and grace to the fullest extent possible.” (Paul Wells, Cross Words, pg. 149).
Forgiveness in Human ExperienceGustaf Aulen (Swedish Lutheran theologian)
“Forgiveness is not an act that occurs only once, at a certain time, and establishes once and for all the basis on which the Christian life exists. On the contrary, forgiveness belongs to the whole of Christian life, since this life depends on the fact that ‘the grace of God is new every morning.’” (The Faith of the Christian Church, pg. 292)

A Blog Interview with Dr. Carl Trueman on his book “Reformation”

Baucum: There is a rise of new interest in Reformed thinking with the new Calvinism, especially among younger pastors. Are you hopeful this will translate into a serious interaction with the core of what the Reformers taught, or just more posturing among those in various camps?

Trueman: I do hope so. My major concerns with the movement are not theological but ecclesiological. It seems to be focused on a few big personalities and a number of big conferences. My wish would be to see it taking deep root in churches and also to become more self-consciously confessional in the way it connects to the great church documents of the past. Still, I do rejoice at what I see: when I was at college, being a `Calvinist’ placed one on the lunatic fringe even of the evangelical world. It is weird to realize that, for the moment anyway, this theology is enjoying such a positive reception in many quarters.

Baucum: What is your advice to new pastors coming out of seminary where the vast number of churches want a “theology of glory” rather than dealing with the reality of the Cross and its claim upon us in radical obedience and culture opposing living?

Trueman: Preach the Bible as it centres in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no better antidote to a theology of glory than that; and in a church of Christians, such preaching through the power of the Holy Spirit should change priorities. Also, read 1 and 2 Corinthians regularly: the first lays out the theology of the cross, the second applies it to the realities of ministerial life

Dealing with Sin and the Grace of Forgiveness

See now what just cause I have to say that to know our need of forgiveness is the first thing in true religion. Sin is a burden, and must be taken off. Sin is a defilement, and must be cleansed away. Sin is a mighty debt, and must be paid. Sin is a mountain standing between us and heaven, and must be removed. The first step towards heaven is to see clearly that we deserve hell.
See too how little many persons know of the main design of Christianity. They have yet to learn that the leading mark of Christianity is the remedy it provides for sin. This is the glory and excellence of the gospel. It meets man as he really is. J.C. Ryle “The Forgiveness of Sins”
Dealing with Sin When examining the problem of sin from both an anthropological viewpoint: how sin impacts humanity; and how sin is a theological problem, we come to the very heart of what salvation is concerned about. Sin has infected the human race and the total person to such a degree that man is totally and radically polluted with its poison. We can do nothing to reconcile ourselves to God or to recover our original righteousness.
Salvation and Redemption from the viewpoint of the Reformers is always monergistic (one work, power) in that God has to be the source of our salvation and present the remedy for human sin.