Ever pack a PBJ in your lunch? Ever try to neatly separate the PB from the J several hours later when it's time to eat? Of course not; there's no point, and it's impossible.
I am utterly convinced by Scripture that those the Lord saves, He also keeps. He has saved me and will keep me saved. I won't write at length about that now, because I want instead to consider a piece of truth that travels hand in hand with perseverance: sanctification. These two are smashed together in a sweet and fortifying combination, just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
And knowing that God is committed to my growth in holiness gets me almost as excited as knowing that He has me snugly in His grip, because frankly, right now I need to know that I'm moving toward holiness. I feel heavy with self and I'm weary of battling my own heart and mind along with the onslaught of temptation that comes with any given day. Just as in times of doubt and anxiety when I cast myself upon the promises of God regarding my preservation as His child, I can cling tightly to the declarations in Scripture that promise my growth in holiness.
In fact, many of the passages that affirm God's intent to preserve His elect also speak confidently of his intention to refine them as well:
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. 1 Corinthians 1:8-9
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30
If God will preserve, He will also refine and sanctify. This definitely blows away any silly notions people have about living any way they please, because, hey "once saved always saved!" It also destroys the argument some folks have against the perseverance of the saints (or, more properly, the perseverance of God with the saints, ala J.I. Packer) who say that this doctrine encourages sinful license. Of course, the Bible does seems to teach that some of the saints will appear in heaven virtually empty-handed, having wasted their lives on this earth being lazy and/or foolish (1 Cor 3:12-15) - a good rebuke to keep up the fight.
But, in regard to my struggle with sin and the flesh, I find so much comfort in crying out to God and boldly asking Him to conform me to the likeness of Christ, because He has promised He will do it and can bring me victory over sin.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Continuing On...
So it's a bit lazy to simply link to someone else's post, but it's sure easy when it comes to formatting. Today I've linked to a post at the Contemporary Calvinist regarding John Piper's view on the continuation of spiritual gifts. For those who care, I am a gentle continuationist (please note that is spelled differently than charismaniac). By gentle, I mean that I'm not disposed to argue until I'm blue in the face about it, which might actually be mistaken for not caring that much. But I do.
Anywho.
I've come to appreciate (what I deem to be) measured, well-thought-out, and balanced perspectives in favor of continuationism from a Reformed/Calvinistic viewpoint. I think Piper (et al.) does a good job with it.
You can read all about it right here. And I hope you will.
Anywho.
I've come to appreciate (what I deem to be) measured, well-thought-out, and balanced perspectives in favor of continuationism from a Reformed/Calvinistic viewpoint. I think Piper (et al.) does a good job with it.
You can read all about it right here. And I hope you will.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Symptoms Of False Doctrine, J.C. Ryle
Just yesterday I cruised by something on Facebook that made me scrunch up my face and go "Hehrm?" It was the announcement of a special guest at the church of someone I know. After a perusal of this speaker's writings and teachings, I found myself seriously questioning what any of it had to do with Jesus Christ or the Gospel. I was uncomfortable and confused by the description of one of his books that would help me to "obtain God's Higher Wisdom " and teach me how to "engage Heaven's Host in a completely new dimension." ..... Now, maybe the choice of words was just a real disaster and it's actually completely orthodox and harmless. I don't know, but it all kind of weirded me out.
I don't know enough about this fella to make a judgment about him or his ministry; one thing is for certain though: it's easier to discern right from wrong than it is to discern right from almost right.
J.C. Ryle has given us some guidance when it comes to false doctrine:
Many things combine to make the present inroad of false doctrine peculiarly dangerous.
1. There is an undeniable zeal in some of the teachers of error: their “earnestness” makes many think they must be right.
2. There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge: many fancy that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe guides.
3. There is a general tendency to free thought and free inquiry in these latter days: many like to prove their independence of judgment, by believing novelties.
4. There is a wide-spread desire to appear charitable and liberal-minded: many seem half ashamed of saying that anybody can be in the wrong.
5. There is a quantity of half-truth taught by the modern false teachers: they are incessantly using Scriptural terms and phrases in an unscriptural sense.
6. There is a morbid craving in the public mind for a more sensuous, ceremonial, sensational, showy worship: men are impatient of inward, invisible heart-work.
7. There is a silly readiness in every direction to believe everybody who talks cleverly, lovingly and earnestly, and a determination to forget that Satan often masquerades himself “as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).
8. There is a wide-spread “gullibility” among professing Christians: every heretic who tells his story plausibly is sure to be believed, and everybody who doubts him is called a persecutor and a narrow-minded man.
All these things are peculiar symptoms of our times. I defy any observing person to deny them. They tend to make the assaults of false doctrine in our day peculiarly dangerous. They make it more than ever needful to cry aloud, “Do not be carried away!”
I don't know enough about this fella to make a judgment about him or his ministry; one thing is for certain though: it's easier to discern right from wrong than it is to discern right from almost right.
J.C. Ryle has given us some guidance when it comes to false doctrine:
Many things combine to make the present inroad of false doctrine peculiarly dangerous.
1. There is an undeniable zeal in some of the teachers of error: their “earnestness” makes many think they must be right.
2. There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge: many fancy that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe guides.
3. There is a general tendency to free thought and free inquiry in these latter days: many like to prove their independence of judgment, by believing novelties.
4. There is a wide-spread desire to appear charitable and liberal-minded: many seem half ashamed of saying that anybody can be in the wrong.
5. There is a quantity of half-truth taught by the modern false teachers: they are incessantly using Scriptural terms and phrases in an unscriptural sense.
6. There is a morbid craving in the public mind for a more sensuous, ceremonial, sensational, showy worship: men are impatient of inward, invisible heart-work.
7. There is a silly readiness in every direction to believe everybody who talks cleverly, lovingly and earnestly, and a determination to forget that Satan often masquerades himself “as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).
8. There is a wide-spread “gullibility” among professing Christians: every heretic who tells his story plausibly is sure to be believed, and everybody who doubts him is called a persecutor and a narrow-minded man.
All these things are peculiar symptoms of our times. I defy any observing person to deny them. They tend to make the assaults of false doctrine in our day peculiarly dangerous. They make it more than ever needful to cry aloud, “Do not be carried away!”
~ J.C. Ryle
Friday, January 11, 2013
A Lesson From Deep Survival
The words of James Stockdale, a fighter pilot shot down over Vietnam in 1965 who endured 7 1/2 years in prison camp, and how he survived:
"One should include a course of familiarization with pain...you have to practice hurting. There is no question about it . . . you have to practice being hazed. You have to learn to take a bunch of junk and accept it with a sense of humor." ~excerpted from Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales
What's that got to do with the Christian life? Mmmm...maybe that perseverance is called for, maybe it's because we're swimming upstream, and because our path is frequently like walking barefoot on hot sand, and also because we're travelling somewhere contrary to the world's way and the branches along the path tend to smack us sharply in the face. But we'll make it. Our Savior has been down that path before, blazing the trail.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
"One should include a course of familiarization with pain...you have to practice hurting. There is no question about it . . . you have to practice being hazed. You have to learn to take a bunch of junk and accept it with a sense of humor." ~excerpted from Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales
What's that got to do with the Christian life? Mmmm...maybe that perseverance is called for, maybe it's because we're swimming upstream, and because our path is frequently like walking barefoot on hot sand, and also because we're travelling somewhere contrary to the world's way and the branches along the path tend to smack us sharply in the face. But we'll make it. Our Savior has been down that path before, blazing the trail.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Monday, January 7, 2013
On The Joy of Reading
A few good quotes on the value of books. What's in your stack this year?
"It is chiefly through books that we enjoy the intercourse with superior minds...in the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most previous thought, and pour their souls into ours." ~ William Ellery Channing.
"Generally speaking, men are influenced by books which clarify their own thought, which express their own notions well, or which suggest to them ideas which their minds are already predisposed to accept." ~ Carl Lotus Becker
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you." ~ Mortimer Adler
"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity, and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon, and by moonlight." ~ Robertson Davies.
"It is chiefly through books that we enjoy the intercourse with superior minds...in the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most previous thought, and pour their souls into ours." ~ William Ellery Channing.
"Generally speaking, men are influenced by books which clarify their own thought, which express their own notions well, or which suggest to them ideas which their minds are already predisposed to accept." ~ Carl Lotus Becker
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you." ~ Mortimer Adler
"A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity, and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon, and by moonlight." ~ Robertson Davies.
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