I Love the Gospel

We love a lot of things in America. We love TV shows. We love cars. We love sports. We love food. We love other people. We love sleep (well, not me, I took a night off that to write this and do a few other things). We love to use the word love. There is one thing, however, that I especially love, and that is the gospel.

The gospel gives me the strength to get through each day. The gospel is my highest joy. I never get tired of talking about it (and trust me, I talk about it a lot). It captures my wonder. It is my cause for praise. It is my motivation for living and is my reason for hope. I have cast all I am on the truth of the gospel. Without the gospel, my heart is a dull, dreary dungeon, but with the gospel I carry the hope of eternal life and have been granted soul as white as snow. It is the power of God for salvation to all who believe (Rom 1:16). Coming this July I will have been a Christian for 5 years, and I love the gospel more now than the day I was sanctified by it. It is a treasure to me.

But what is it?

That's the question these days, isn't it? What is the gospel? Let's look at some scriptures and see what the LORD Himself says the gospel is from 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.

1. "For I delivered to you as of first importance [the gospel] I also received:" (3). The gospel is a message, not a lifestyle. The gospel cannot be "lived out" in the most precise sense of the terms, because the gospel doesn't have anything to do with what I've done right, except to say that I haven't done anything right at all! The gospel is about Christ's work, and we don't live out Christ's work. We only demonstrate the power of the gospel by doing good deeds, we don't share it that way.
   
   
   
2. "that Christ died" (3). The gospel is that Jesus Christ died on a cross at Calvary. If the cross is missing from a presentation of the gospel, you have not been presented the gospel. Without it, there is no basis for hope in the rest of the message. For example, what does it mean for Christ to be raised without first dying? How is there a sacrifice (atonement) without a death (Heb 9:22)?
   
   
   
3. "for our sins" (3). The gospel is primarily about God dealing with specific sins of specific people. This means that the gospel is NOT social. The gospel is not to prepare the world for Christ's coming by feeding the hungry and caring for the poor, but to snatch people out of the flames (Jude 23). The fact is that the gospel is primarily about our spiritual relationship to God, and by the way, the picture isn't pretty. We fall far short of God's glory and apart from the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit we like it that way. The personal nature of the sins being paid for informs us that the death of Christ is three things:
   1. Penal - He was punished. His death was not an unfortunate accident, nor was it an example to follow. This was a deliberate (Acts 4:27-28), predestined (Rev. 13:8), God-pleasing (Is 53:10) punishment of the Righteous on behalf of the wicked.
      
   2. Substitutionary - His death was in our place. We deserved exactly what He received. The wrath directed at Him we kindled, so in a very real sense, we personally add to the suffering of the Son of God. Christ's death was not for sin in general, but for my personal sins (1 Pet 2:24). Christ's death must be more than some sort of example to follow. If He died and there was no actual danger toward us, it would be like jumping in front of a bus for a person who wasn't about to be hit by it. Ridiculous.
      
   3. Atoning - His death satisfied God's wrath against the sin. It was a sufficient payment, and God was appeased by it. But it not only clear us of guilt and satisfy God's wrath against us; it reconciles us to God (Col 1:22). The resurrection is the proof of this.
   
   
4. "that he was buried, that he was raised" (v.4). The power and effectiveness of the gospel is secured and vindicated by the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as verified by many eyewitnesses. This is the sign that God accepted the sacrifice of Christ as totally sufficient, and is ultimately the first fruits of God's solution of the problem of death - that fearful thing which ushers you from earth to the judgment seat of God (1 Cor. 15:55).

Now because of the gospel the fear has been removed. Now because of the gospel, death has lost it's sting. Now because of the gospel, I can sing this verse louder than anyone I know:

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul!

Too much could not be said about this topic, but then I wouldn't be writing a blog, I'd be writing a book. I hope this blog encourages you greatly, especially given my 2 months MIA. God bless, and preach the gospel to yourself daily. We all need it.

JW 3: Discerning Truth from Error

Time flies way too fast! If you people actually want information from me on a more regular basis, someone will have to jump on my back about it. …Ok well let’s not resort to physical violence, but I think you get my meaning. I figure I might as well address a few more issues I have with the Watchtower organization, so that we can be done with that segment of my blog. Bear in mind, however, that these issues are not the fault solely of JW’s. Some “mainline Christians” may be guilty of the same things. Do let me know if I am guilty of these things. First off I’d like to mention a couple things I’m happy about in JW theology.

They said some hard things

"God is not obligated to show favor or mercy to anyone" (30).

Some people think that God owes them happiness, or a good life, or a ticket to heaven. Otherwise they claim He’s unloving or unforgiving. The definition of grace implies that He is not obligated to give it. Yet He still chose to give it! That is so mind boggling to me. Anyways, on this point the JW’s are solid.

"The Bible condemns premarital intercourse and homosexuality" (122).

I think that’s pretty clear! Refreshing to know how clear the Bible is on the topic especially in this day an age when it seems like everyone and their brother is jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon and sex is treated like an everyday biological function – no more than scratching an itch or feeding a hungry stomach. They even used the word condemn. Those judgmental JW’s… someone needs to sue them for hate crime… (/sarcasm).

Now, on to the many things to be wary of.

Happiness as a reason to accept the(ir) gospel

1. "Calling on Jehovah...can lead you to endless happiness" (27).

This stuff really gets under my skin. Let me make clear that I do not think God is a cosmic kill joy. In fact, He is the only true source of joy (Gal 5:22; Ps 16:11)! I just never see anyone in scripture giving that as a reason to call on Him and be saved. If you do, let me know. Indeed, God did make things for us to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17). However, that is not why we submit to His Lordship and turn from our sin. Not only does an unregenerate person not have a desire for the things of God (Rom 3:11; so they are guaranteed not to be made happy with the “eternal pleasures at [His] right hand” - Ps 16:11), but this simply centers the gospel on man and thereby minimizes the gospel. I’ll say it loud and clear: Jesus did not die on the cross to make you happy! He died to satisfy the wrath of God. Go to the cross because you’re so thankful that He would do such a thing for you. Repent of your sin and trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to pay the due penalty for your active rebellion against God.

The appeal to the reader in order to determine spiritual truths

"Is this not the kind of God that you want to worship?" (15).

Rom 3:11 – “There is none who seeks after God.” Also see 1 Cor 2:14. But they will seek after they’re own gods. This is a huge red flag, tipping you off to the fact that the JW god is not the God of the Bible, but a God of man’s own making. Watch out for people everywhere with this mindset. Mankind has not gotten tired of making a god to suit himself. If I have done this, let me know. Now… the following section contains some frankly odd phrases that I found in the book. You just need to take a look at them for yourself. Perhaps you can help me out with them.

Weird Stuff

"The work of witnessing to Jesus" (49).

Witnessing to Jesus? I checked the context. I have no idea what this means. Ideas?

"...sin was deeply engraved into the genes of our first parents" (58).

Sin is a physical problem?

"...only 144,000...will God take to heaven...(Rev 7:4; 14:1)" (88).

The funniest thing about this is that in verse 9 of chapter 7 there is a numberless quantity of saints standing before the throne of God in heaven… Why they interpreted the 144,000 sealed of Israel to be the only ones who go to heaven, I have no idea.

Legalism

"We must make sure that we avoid religious holidays and other customs that violate God's principles (1 Thess 5:21)" (49).

Since they’re quoting the “test all things” verse (I don’t know how it supports their position), I’ll be doing just that… oh look. Here’s an interesting verse… "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath." – Col 2:16

Maybe they just missed it…but I doubt it. Also check out Rom 14.

Annihilationism

"Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul living on elsewhere after death"

"...the Bible never uses the expression 'immortal soul'" (84).

A lesson in logic: this is what we like to call the Argument from Ignorance fallacy. Not having a record of Martha expressing belief in immortal souls is quite a weak reason to make a blanket statement that they definitely don’t exist. First of all, Martha could simply be ignorant. There’s no reason to believe that she had all her theology right. Second of all, the objection that the Bible never says “immortal soul” is like objecting that the Bible never uses the term “monotheistic” to describe “Fundamental Evangelical Christianity” (another term that isn’t used in the Bible). We use words to embody concepts that we deduce the people of scripture believe after taking in the whole of scripture.

"Nobody would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life, if an immortal soul survived death" (84).

This is an excellent example of “human reasoning.” Whether or not they understand the purpose of resurrecting a body and rejoining the soul with it, the Bible says we have souls, and that they can be separated from the physical body (by death) , and that they can be rejoined with the body (by resurrection). (Phil 1:23-24; 2 Cor 5:8; Rev 6:9).

Misused Scripture

"You will be with me in Paradise."-Luke 23:42,43

They subtly leave out “today,” a word that absolutely destroys annihilationism. They take from the word of God where it suits them so that they can hold on to their theology. Rest assured, believer. When you die, you will be with the Lord immediately.

Misunderstanding of Jesus' Mission on Earth

"A stable world government...was the theme of Jesus' preaching. He called it 'the kingdom of God'" (90).

A stable world government? The kingdom of God is “a stable world government?” I wonder why I never interpreted it that way. Oh yea, it’s because Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Jesus did not come to set up a world government! Nor did He come so that we would strive to set up a world government! Anyways… I’m done with my rant.

Perhaps you can sense a little anger in my tone. It’s there. It’s because these people have distorted the truth of God’s word to suit themselves (2 Pet 3:16). They do this to their own destruction, and to the destruction of those who follow them. This simultaneously breaks my heart and provokes it. I hope it is with a righteous anger. As I have said before, if it is not, let me know.

Resolved

By far the highlight of my year thus far (and for a long time to come, I’m sure!) is the Resolved conference which I had the privilege to attend this year with 13 other people from Christian fellowships on campus. It was an awesome experience hearing the word of God (Ps 119:103) and letting it do its work in my heart (Heb 4:12).

The theme this year was "the gospel." I ask you: could there be a better theme?! I was pumped to hear the central message of Christianity spoken of by such knowledgeable men of the faith. And I was not disappointed in the least (Is. 55:11). I figured at the very least it would help me articulate the message to other people, but the sermons dug deep into my heart and probed depths of the magnificence of the gospel that I never could have dreamed of knowing. If I had to pick a favorite sermon, it would be CJ Mahaney's exposition of Isaiah 53. The line that rings in my head over and over again is: "Heaven doesn't get over the cross!" If you can set aside the cross as a nice little thing that God did for us way back when, you do not appreciate the absolutely astounding nature of Christ's sacrifice. I will definitely be looking forward to the audio recordings of these sermons as they get posted on the Internet.

In all there were 9 sermons and 1 panel discussion, for a total of 12-15 hours of biblical expository preaching. We heard from CJ Mahaney, John MacArthur, John Piper, Rick Holland, and Steve Lawson. We heard about the accomplishments of the gospel (Rom 5:6-11), the supremacy of Christ (Heb 1:1-4), the shamefulness of the message (1 Cor 1-2), atonement and justification (Luke 18:9-14), the suffering servant (Isaiah 53:1-6,10), the cost of discipleship (Luke 14:25-35), God is the Gospel (Habakkuk 3:17-18, and others), humility (1 Cor 4:6-13), and the relationship between missions and God’s glory (Rom 11:36, and others). As I have said already, these were all heart-wrenching sermons, and well worth the time to travel down and listen to them.

I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions this year, but after that conference, I felt compelled to resolve to do something! CJ Mahaney counseled us to focus on maybe 2 or 3 things to take away from the conference and focus, meditate, and work on as we come back to life as it is normally presented to us. These are three resolutions I determined to do follow, and I would appreciate everyone’s accountability in all these things.

1) Resolved, to cultivate within myself a spirit of humility and slay the spirit of pride.

2) Resolved, to adjust my mindset continually to be focused on the person of Christ and His atoning work finished at Calvary.

3) Resolved, to daily meditate on the Word of God not merely as an apologetic but exercise, but as the result of a personal and meaningful relationship between a slave and his Master, the saved and his Savior.

Again, I had a wonderful time there, almost beyond description. It isn’t often that you get together with 3000 Reformed (college aged) brothers and sisters and listen to five godly men who are dedicated to proclaiming the sovereignty of God and the truth of the Word. It was a wild ride indeed, and I highly recommend it! Resolved is coming back next year as well to Palm Springs in mid June. That is right when the quarter system schools get out, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to do schoolwork. The theme will be heaven and hell. Speaking of heaven, I got a book by that name at the bookstore that they had for us down there. It’s by Randy Alcorn, and it looks really good so far, so maybe I’ll let you guys in on a book review when I’m done! Thanks for hanging in there and being faithful to wait for my not-so-frequent blog updates, all. Until next time.

For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen.
-Romans 11:36

The True Gospel of Christ

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." - Galatians 1:8

That's harsh. With a promise like that, it becomes severely important that we get our facts straight. Recently I had the chance to talk to a Mormon about his beliefs. He opened up with "Yes I'm LDS. We're Christian." I have a serious problem with that, and so does the Bible. Basically what this experience confirmed to me is that it is vitally important to know what you believe and be able to prove it from Scripture. If you dont know, you could be tricked into believing someone who is cursed! This recently happened to a friend of mine and it breaks my heart. It seems like a lot of "Christians" don't know exactly what they believe or exactly where to draw the line between God's truth and false doctrine. My goal in this blog is to draw that line. Clearly.

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:8

1) There is only one God. There never has been another; there never will be another. He exists in three persons, the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. He is not three gods that fill some sort of office. He does not have a goddess wife. He is not an exalted man. We cannot ever become gods. We are not his spirit children that preexisted with Him in heaven. God is not a person. He is three persons. One God, three persons. This is called the Trinity and this is what Scripture teaches.

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." Deut 6:4
"Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me." Isaiah 43:10
"Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." Psalm 90:2
"The Spirit of God descending... a voice came from Heaven... my beloved Son" Matthew 3:16-17

2) Jesus Christ is God. He is the only way to have a relationship with God. Anyone who says otherwise is, to put it bluntly, lying or deceived and has a false religion. Do not believe them! Jesus Christ is not a god. He is God. He is not a created being. He is not literally begotten of the Father. He is not our spirit brother. He is not the Devil's spirit brother. He is God in flesh. He has two natures, human and divine (for you theology geeks who like big words - yes that'd be me - it's called the hypostatic union). He was born of a virgin, conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. He actually physically historically lived on earth and literally died on the cross, and was literally buried in the ground and physically resurrected the third day he had been dead.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
"...the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14
"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Colossians 2:9
"...Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He rose again on the third day...He was seen...He was seen...He was seen...He was seen..." 1 Cor 15:3-7
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6

3) We are saved by grace through faith. Works do not earn salvation. You do not need to be baptized to be saved. The faith through which we are saved produces works. The lame man got up and carried his bed home, the blind man opened his eyes and saw, the fruit of the Spirit pourds out of anyone indwelt by Him. The Holy Spirit comes into you when you become a Christian. He will not leave you. Salvation is assured and cannot be lost. We do not need to do works to stay a Christian or keep the Holy Spirit in us.

"For I am persuaded that [nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ." Romans 8:37-39
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Eph 2:8-9
"...your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God" 1 Cor 6:19
"not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit," Titus 3:5
"Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." James 2:17

These are three central doctrines to Christianity that most cults and false religions get wrong. So if you ever run into someone that says they are Christian but doesn't believe these things, you can be sure that they are involved in a very dangerous religion, and basically serving demons. We need to witness the true gospel to these people in love, and prayer is always a good idea. After all, without the help of God, where would we ourselves be?