The Language of Salvation- A Further Look at Misusing Phrases and Imagery for Salvation

October 28, 2008

Just to continue the idea that I started yesterday, about the misuse of certain verses and imagery in presenting the Gospel message, I thought I would share with you guys a quote from Dr. John MacArthur which deals with the subject:

Listen to the typical gospel presentation nowadays. You’ll hear sinners entreated with words like, ‘accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior’; ‘ask Jesus into your heart’; ‘invite Christ into your life’; or ‘make a decision for Christ.’ You may be so accustomed to hearing those phrases that it will surprise you to learn that none of them is based on Biblical terminology. They are the products of a diluted gospel. (The Gospel According to Jesus, p.21)

These words strike even further to the core of what I simply breached yesterday which was the fact that many evangelists just throw around spiritual phraseology, to the point that we basically accept it as biblical talk, and yet at the end of the day most of it doesn’t stand up to the truth of Scripture.

The thing that is even more provoking about it is that all of these phrases seem to emphasize a highly man-centered view of the act of salvation. Now, I believe that man does have the responsibility of exercising repentance and faith in the act of redemption, as called by forth by Acts 2.42 and Romans 10.9, but by describing the receiving of salvation as “asking Jesus into your heart” or “accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior” it seems we lose the very God-centered flavor of many passages in Scripture, such as 1 Peter 1.3 (”Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again . . . “) or Ephesians 2.4-5 (”But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved“) or Colossians 2.13 (”And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses“).

Scripture is very clear that there is some sense in which it is God who “saved us . . . according to his own mercy” (Titus 3.4-7), and yet that is overlooked, even taboo in some circles of the church. Maybe this is part of our wanderings in attractional, self-esteem based evangelism which makes us desire the act of salvation to be a brass ring that we are skilled enough to grab, I don’t know. But I can tell you this, if we really long to see a change in the life of the American church we are in dire need of a return to the biblical accounts of salvation which emphasize God’s goodness and our inability, a humbling perspective on what has become a disgustingly consumerist idea.

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Posted by Todd Burus

Are We Christian Yet?- Erwin Lutzer on the Purpose of Our Politics

October 26, 2008

With the whole country staring down the barrel of Election Day 2008, there are many opinions out there on who you should vote for and why (I have my own if you would like to hear them, not here though). A number of opinions out there will even brandish the moniker of the “Christian viewpoint.” Now, I’m not saying that there is not a viewpoint which is more consistent with Christianity than another, but if you take the whole landscape of people who claim to be giving you the “Christian” candidate you will be amazed by the worlds of difference in interpretation.

That’s not what this is about. What this is about is what our endgame should be in all of this. If Christians are getting involved in the electoral process, if Christians are throwing their support behind this candidate or that one, then the hope would be that these Christians have a clear purpose envisioned for what they are seeking. And we do, right? We want to end abortion, feed the poor, display the 10 Commandments, and protect the environment. We want to preserve the family and promote community. And we all know just who can do those things for us.

But at the end of the day next Tuesday, whether our guy wins or not, it is important that we keep a proper perspective about what we are to be striving for in the first place, and it is this that I think Dr. Erwin Lutzer proclaims well when he says:

[L]et us not think that getting a community to change its laws means that it has been ‘Christianized’ or that its citizens are closer to believing the Gospel. Christianity, properly understood, is a message that a holy God punishes sin, and if we do not flee to the protection of Christ, we will be damned forever. Redemption and not reformation is what we should be about. (Is God on America’s Side?, Lutzer, p.80)

That’s what it’s about. Yes, there are many social and economic issues that will make living the Christian life easier day-to-day in these United States, but above all else we must remember the words of Peter in Acts 4.12 when he said, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Be it John McCain or Barack Obama, no one will be saved from the condemnation that awaits all of us without knowing Jesus Christ as Lord, and that should be what we campaign for more than anything else!

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The Measure of a Man- Spurgeon on Proper Perspective in Ministry

October 17, 2008

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” -Proverbs 11.2

One of my biggest problems, a concern I am reminded of most every time I present a Bible study lesson or special message before a crowd, is an unholy preoccupation with the responses of men. My own pride and desire to see myself elevated has many times gotten in the way of my ability to advance the cause of Christ in my circumstances, and it seems that, as someone who has recently received the call into pastoral ministry, this is an issue I will have need to focus on for the remainder of my ministry on earth.

Of course, this problem goes beyond just a desire for people to like me, extending out into areas such as innovation and uniqueness of my work. It is here that the words of God to an Elijah who thought much too highly of his own importance should be heard:

And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19.13-18)

Another quote which I find helpful here is the following from Charles Spurgeon in his book An All-Round Ministry:

Let us not judge ourselves by others, and say, with deadening self-complacency, “We are getting on well as compared with our brethren. There are not many additions to our churches, but we are as successful as others.” . . . Let us measure ourselves by our Master, and not by our fellow-servants: then pride will be impossible, but hopefulness will be natural.

Elijah held himself in too high an esteem, Spurgeon warns against measuring by inappropriate markers, and the onus falls on me to take these thoughts to heart. Pride comes before the fall (Proverbs 11.2). This is certainly a lesson that I must learn if I am going to be able to execute a God-honoring ministry with my life. Maybe this will find you too.

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Posted by Todd Burus

How Dead is Dead?- Thomas Manton on the Ability of Man to Save Himself

October 16, 2008

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” -Ephesians 2.1-3

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” -Genesis 6.5

We have spoken here numerous times, and probably alluded towards a number more, that there is somewhat of a controversy over just how capable man is of “deciding” for God, i.e. if it is man’s choice to follow God or if God sovereignly leads man to following him.

As a personal apologetic, I often find myself referring to Ephesians 2.1-3 (above) as my key passage in favor of the view that, aside of the regenerating work of the Spirit in our hearts, man is utterly unable to do anything pleasing to God or decide to live in anyway for God.  However, this is certainly not the only passage in favor of this view.  It is because of that that I was so struck by a quote of Thomas Manton, taken from his sermon “Man’s Impotency to Help Himself Out of that Misery,” where he appeals to the shear bulk of evidences for this view.  Quote:

If the scripture had only said that man had accustomed himself to sin, and was not “born in sin;” that man were somewhat prone to iniquity, and not “greedy” of it; and did often think evil, and not “continually;” that man were somewhat obstinate, and not a stone,” and “adamant;” if the scripture had only said that man were indifferent to God, and not a professed “enemy;” if a captive of sin, and not a “servant;” “rebel;” then there might be something in man, and the work of conversion not so difficult.  But the scripture saith the quite contrary.

There is certainly something inside man which longs to be able to save ourselves, but Scripture is, in my opinion, overly clear on the fact that this is simply something that we cannot do.  As a result of Adam’s sin in the Garden, the whole lineage of humanity has been corrupted and there is not a person born (aside from the miraculous birth of Christ) who is not subject to a fallen, depraved nature which leads them “astray from birth” (Psalm 58.3).  This is such an enlightening doctrine, and to stubbornly hang on to “man’s ability to choose” puts us at risk of elevating man to the place of God, a place of worship, in violation of the second commandment.

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Are We Truly Being Disciples?- Baxter on the Necessity of Christian Studies

October 14, 2008

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” -Matthew 28.18-20

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” -Hebrews 5.12-14

This is a pet peeve of mine, and maybe I get a little too harsh on it sometimes, but I was excited to see Richard Baxter address it in his book The Reformed Pastor. The issue is that of Christian brothers who are not interested, sometimes even disdainful, of studying the deeper things of God.

Maybe you know who I’m talking about. Those brothers and sisters who week in, week out want to come to church to hear the same old message on John 3.16 or Philippians 4.13 or Jeremiah 29.11, a message of encouragement and self-esteem, and maybe even a word or two about someone else’s sin. The ones who get mad at you or think you are trying to act smart when you use words like ‘justification’ or ‘penal substitutionary atonement.’ The ones who put books like Your Best Life Now and The Shack on the best-seller list while skipping over more edifying works such as Don’t Waste Your Life or Knowing God. On this, I know I have much to say, but I really liked the way Baxter said it, with all his Puritan tongue-in-cheek:

Convince [the church members] what a contradiction it is to be a Christian, and yet to refuse to learn; for what is a Christian but a disciple of Christ? And how can he be a disciple of Christ, that refuseth to be taught by him? And he that refuseth to be taught by his ministers, refuseth to be taught by him; for Christ will not come down from heaven again to teach them by his own mouth, but hath appointed his ministers to keep school and teach them under him. To say, therefore, that they will not be taught by his ministers, is to say, they will not be taught by Christ; and that is to say, they will not be his disciples, or no Christians.

As I finish The Reformed Pastor and as I move on into Light and Heat: The Puritan View of the Pulpit, I am becoming more and more convicted of the need of strong, deep, challenging Biblical teaching from the pulpit and Sunday School classes of our churches. As a Sunday School teacher myself, I see the tendency of church-goers to slip into a humanistic coma, unaware that the doctrines of God’s majesty and man’s total inability to reach him are just as applicable as passages on prayer and the Proverbs.

More importantly, the church continues sliding away into liberalism and pluralism, neglecting the Word of God, because, I believe, they see so much of the Word of God as unnecessary. What matter is it if we deny a fifth of the text when we see half of the text as being of no use to begin with? The battle for the authority of Scripture is more than just a battle over inerrancy, it is a fight over the proper purview of the Living Word in our everyday lives.

We can no longer be satisfied being Christians that aren’t disciples of Christ. We must be committed to the study of the Word or else we might as well neglect the whole thing!

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Welcome Words from the 1600’s- Richard Baxter on Every Generation’s Battle

October 8, 2008

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” -2 Timothy 3.16

As I have written before, echoing the words of men like Al Mohler and John Piper, it is every generation’s battle to determine whether they will stand on the authority of Scripture or not. In light of this thought, I found it refreshing to see the call to arms for standing on God’s One Inspired Word, turning away the philosophies and ponderings of imperfect man, tucked inside of a classic work of Christian thought.

The piece I am talking about is Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor. I am about two-thirds of the way through this treatise right now and already I know that it will be a book I come back to for years as a guide on the pastoral ministry. Baxter speaks with such clarity and passion on the issues he sets out to deal with that it is hard to imagine him fitting the mold of the cliched stuffy-shirt Puritans.

In the close of his discourse on how ministers should exercise the oversight of their flocks (taken from Acts 20.28) Baxter says these words:

The Scripture sufficiency must be maintained, and nothing beyond it imposed on others; and if papists, or others, call to us for the standard and rule of our religion, it is the Bible that we must show them, rather than any confessions of churches, or writings of men.

This is such an incredible declaration. How often do we find Christians trying to define their faith by pointing to the current fad in Christian publishing (think Blue Like Jazz, Velvet Elvis, A Generous Orthodoxy, or The Shack) when all that is need and sufficient is the collected Word of God in the Bible? Or even among my own Calvinist friends, how fast are we to want to bind people by their confessions of faith, the same confessions which Baxter is decrying here (This book was published in 1656, the Westminster Confession of Faith was written in 1646)? This is a stern reminder that there must never be anything which we would refer to in place of the Bible when we are looking to defend or guide or lives as children of God.

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The Corruption of Modern Cultures- The Papacy Weighs in on the Decline of “Christian” Societies

October 6, 2008

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” -Romans 1.18-23

In light of some former posts on the problems facing the church in so-called “Christian” societies such as Great Britain, France, and even the United States (see The Laodicean Project), I thought it was interesting to hear the words which Pope Benedict XVI had to say this weekend is opening up a synod on Biblical relevancy. [Note: I do want to remark that I am in no way endorsing the papacy or the Catholic church, but only find this interesting as a matter of general Christian awareness]

Here are a few of the quotes from his speech:

Today, nations once rich in faith and vocations are losing their own identity, under the harmful and destructive influence of a certain modern culture.

There are those, who, after deciding that ‘God is dead,’ declare themselves to be ‘god’ and the artisan of their own destiny, the absolute master of the world.

When men proclaim themselves to be absolute masters of themselves and sole masters of creation, can they truly build a society where freedom, justice and peace reign?

As a point of information, these comments were directed specifically at the withering communities of Western Europe which have in the past half-century seen secular humanism replace Christianity, and are on the verge over the next half-century of seeing Islam replace Western society as a whole. I am curious to see how the wider Christian community deals with this issue, as these words coming from the papacy, though certainly nothing new, may strike many people for the first time as to the degradation plaguing the culture around (and possibly including) them.

I’ll be the first to say that a return to the 1950’s is not what we need, but it would be negligent to think that things aren’t snowballing downhill rather quickly these days. In a time when the Gospel message has all but vanished from our daily lives, I am thankful for any voice which may speak awareness to this in the Christian community (even if it is the Pope).

Here is the full news story from the Associated Press: Pope decries godless nature of modern societies

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Avoiding the Fruit that Kills- More Quotes by Owen on Entering Temptation

August 15, 2008

As I wrap up John Owen’s short treatise Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It, I would like to share one more post with you guys containing quotes from the text that I found particularly interesting.

One of the most common ways that people handle their failures of entering into temptation these days is by diagnosing it as some sort of neurological/psychological disorder which they are bound by genetics to have to obey. We call it ADD or homosexuality or alcoholism or kleptomania; but, we refuse to call it what it really is, that being sin. Amazingly, Owen dealt with these same issues in his time:

Were not men utter strangers to themselves- did they not give flattering titles to their natural distempers- did they not strive rather to justify, palliate [moderate the seriousness of], or excuse the evils of their hearts that are suited to their natural tempers and constitutions, than to destroy them, and by these means keep themselves off from taking a clear and distinct view of them- it were impossible that they should all their days hang in the same briers without attempt for deliverance.

Owen notes that these people try and justify away the sinfulness of their actions and in doing so find ways to allow themselves to remain waist deep in the very temptations which are causing them to fall. This can be seen in the guy who struggles with alcohol and yet still decides to hangout with their friends at the bar on Friday night. We all know that there are situations which cause us to be more vulnerable to sin, but we make excuses for why it won’t end like that this time and then jump in head first.

Or maybe we find ourselves in a situation which we didn’t realize was bad, where we think everything is okay, and then all of a sudden WHAM! And you hit bottom again. If this is the case we must act quickly, repenting and seeking Christ’s help. As Owen puts it:

Inquire when, how, by what means, you fell into this distemper; and if you find negligence, carelessness, want of keeping watch over yourself, to have lain at the bottom of it, fix your soul there . . . - make up the breach- and then proceed to the work that lies before you.

In my personal experience I know that most every time I find myself engaged in sin when I was caught unawares, I can easily track my failure back to a string of looseness in actions and behaviors, of veering away from the holiness which I should be aiming for, which ultimately led to it.

Of course, one final word of Owen helps us put it all into perspective:

He that makes it his business to eat daily of the tree of life will have no appetite unto other fruit, though the tree that bear them seem to stand in the midst of paradise.

We always hear that “The forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest” or “The grass is always greener on the other side,” but we know this not to be the case. We know that regardless of how pleasing the fields of the forbidden fruit appear, in the end they are fields full of fierce wolves which will not spare you (Acts 20.29) and a lion seeking to devour you (1 Peter 5.8). Therefore, in order to avoid the affliction on the other side, we must keep our appetites whetted daily on the fruits of the tree of life, the eternal goodness of our one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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Confronting Madness- Some Quotes from Owen on Temptation

August 14, 2008

I want to pause for a moment on a topic which I think we spend precious little time on, that being the dangers of entering into temptation. The reason why I am drawn to this thought is because I am currently reading a book by John Owen entitled Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It, and hearing him talk about entering into temptation makes me think so much about my own past struggles with lust and a slew of other sexual sins. I feel like he characterizes so rightly the intensity of the issues which I dealt with on a daily basis, in trying to be freed from these desires and yet always giving into them.

The first quote I want to lay out has to do with the shear danger of temptation:

A man knows not the pride, fury, madness of a corruption until it meets with a suitable temptation.

This is so true in my life. As a teenager I knew the pull that sexual temptation had on my life, but thinking back to the first time that the actual opportunity to engage in sexual activity presented itself and the madness that ensued, I know exactly what Owen is talking about. I gave a year of my life, and countless more time in emotional damage and reconstruction, all because I entered into a temptation and it unleashed my radical corruptness.

Thinking about that in your own life, it can be so easy to feel like you have a certain problem whipped, or even that it is not a problem for you at all and you breeze right on past it. But we can never be too comfortable because it may happen that the right temptation comes along one day and all hell breaks loose. For sexual sin this can present itself in a relationship that goes too far, or on the computer when you’re just clicking around out of boredom. Particularly for men, that fury and madness of sexual desire, when unleashed in an non-biblical manner, can lead to a faster fall and a deeper addiction than anything else. Therefore, we must always be heeding Christ’s warning to his disciples in the garden, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26.41).

The second quote I want to share deals even further with this admonition to “watch and pray”:

Do not flatter yourselves that you should hold out; there are secret lusts that lie lurking in your hearts, which perhaps now stir not, which, as soon as any temptation befalls you, will rise, tumultuate, cry, disquiet, seduce, and never give over until they are either killed or satisfied. He that promises himself that the frame of his heart will be the same under a temptation as it is before will be woefully mistaken.

We must be focused on “watching and praying.” We cannot rely on our own strength, no matter how slight we think the temptation to be. There is only one strength strong enough to resist all evils, that being the strength provided by God in the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 10.13), and so we must be faithful to call upon him. My worst decisions came in light of the fact that I wrested on my own abilities to protect me from the snares of temptation and sin. We must not neglect in seeking council, in the form of God and in Godly peers, to protect us during our struggles.

I hope that the message comes across clearly enough. Sin kills. And temptation unchecked and unfortified against in the Spirit will lead directly into sin with a madness that no human will can quench. When temptation comes a-knocking, don’t just stand there looking out the peephole, but run straight to God, through prayer and meditation, the study of his Word, and the fellowship of his people. Do not be consumed, be prepared.

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Wandering in Wonderland, part 2- A Quote by Dan Kimball Adressing Emergent Motivations

August 10, 2008

In discussing the topic of emergent motivations and whether or not we should be concerned with “the destination,” I think it would be nice to post a quote by someone who is so closely linked to the debate that he even has a book out entitled The Emerging Church, that being Dan Kimball (for the distinctions/relation between “emerging” and “emergent,” at least in my own use, check out the “Emerging vs. Emergent” tab above).

Now, I know I have not always agreed with everything Dan Kimball says, but in this ever growing divide between orthodoxy and “generous orthodoxy” I think it is important to know who you can trust to maintain the integrity of the truth, and I believe Kimball is one of those people.

The following quote comes from a message Kimball delivered at the recent Shift youth ministry conference at Willow Creek Community Church. What makes this even more impressive a statement is the context in which it was delivered: Kimball’s remarks came two days after Brian McLaren got up and spoke about the fact that “Many of us [theologians] have been increasingly critical in recent years of popular American eschatology in general, and conventional views of hell in particular. Simply put, if we believe that God will ultimately enforce his will by forceful domination, and will eternally torture all who resist that domination, then torture and domination become not only permissible but in some way godly.” So, what did Kimball have to say in response to this?:

“This is what I’m just concerned about a little bit with some of the things that are going on today. The church is waking up to the fact that we have to be involved in global social justice issues. And that is fantastic. We should be repenting (and saying), ‘I can’t believe we did not think of this. This is the command of Jesus and what we should be about.’ And we need to be so involved in all of this because the kingdom is about life on this planet here and not just about when we die.

“But my subtle fear is that we don’t then swing the pendulum so much that we forget that there is life after we die and that we do have to still remember that there is an eternity with God and an eternity apart from God.”

These are surely pertinent words, and awfully brave things to say in front of a room which has been digesting the social gospel/universalist biases of people like McLaren and Shane Claiborne. I am thankful for people like Kimball who, though I may disagree with them on some issues, they understand the importance of submitting to God’s revealed word in the Bible and being disciples with a big enough a pair to live out Titus 1.9: “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.“

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