Keeping the Message Clear

To anyone who uses the phrases I am about to warn against (and anyone who might consider using them):

I am for the gospel. I am for its spread. I am for its glorious proclamation. I am for making it more fully and clearly known. I am for letting people know that they are enemies of God but can be reconciled to Him through the blood sacrifice of Christ. I am for people becoming genuinely converted from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19), from a life lived in darkness to a life lived in the light (John 3). With these commitments in mind, let me say that I am convinced that phrases like "accept Christ" or "ask Jesus into your heart" hinder this process. I believe they hinder the communication of the gospel because they are not descriptive of God's good news or His required response to said news, and we (all Christians, not just professional theologians) should be striving with all our might to make it as clear as possible (Col 4:3-4), if indeed we believe it is so vital and so central to the faith (Gal 1:6-9). I see no Biblical precedent for these phrases, and have no reason to believe they either clearly communicate or sufficiently summarize the only right response to the gospel; therefore, it is my conviction that they ought to be discarded from our vocabulary.

Two more phrases come up in my mind that I must address when I discuss this issue of clarity in gospel presentation. The first is "praying the prayer." This prayer is also referred to as "the prayer of salvation" or "the sinner's prayer" and usually is repeated after the evangelist who is leading the prayer phrase by phrase (though I did not repeat after someone when I prayed this prayer for the first time). Often, when I ask people their testimonies, they point to the time they "prayed the prayer" as the time when they became a Christian, and are unable to articulate that event beyond this phrase without serious coaching. The use of this phrase elevates outward conformity above the heart change that needs to happen, namely repentance from (turning from, hating) sin and faith (belief, trust) in Jesus Christ (Luke 13:1-5, Eph 2:8-9). Regardless whether we strive to be assured of someone's understanding of the gospel before leading them in "the prayer" or whether we tell people that there are no magic words, when we say things like "You can repent now by praying…" or "You can commit your life to Christ by praying…" we reveal a soteriology that says the prayer of commitment is the key to ensuring God will save you, rather than that the commitment itself is the key: biblical repentance and faith.

The second phrase I must address is "rededicate your life." This is also a favorite of many testimonies I've heard in the church. Besides being a contradiction in terms (If you were truly dedicated, you wouldn't have to rededicate), it is a concept found nowhere in the Bible. In short, Christians continue walking with Christ. They don't "leave" Christ and then come back as if nothing happened, clutching their ticket to heaven the whole time. If professing believers leave, it proves that they were not committed (read: dedicated) to Christ to begin with! This is not a cop out; it is the Biblical position (1 John 2:19), and it's called the Perseverance of the Saints. When we think about it in those terms, rededication makes no sense - how can you redo something you haven't done before? Saints (Christians) continue in their faith. They endure. Rededication is people's excuse for claiming to be a Christian while living in sin. Bobby Blakey wrote an excellent blog on this subject a while ago that lines up quite accurately with the Bible's teachings on the issue. I encourage you to check it out right here. He makes the case quickly, but it's also enlightening to read the comments afterwards.

I hope it's clear that I am passionate for the lost, and I would be greatly encouraged to hear your heart on the issue as well (Romans 10:1). I love evangelism and wish more people would do it. I want everyone to be saved from the wrath of God to enjoy fellowship with the Trinity and glory in the gospel as much as (and more fully than) I do. I want them to be so overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit and with joy and with gratefulness that they'd want others to experience what they'd experienced. That includes unchurched people and churched people. In light of these things I urge you: strive for clarity and cling to the scriptures. They are your authority. They give you the right to speak with authority. I hope this blog comes as an encouragement to press on through the struggles of laboring to present the gospel clearly. You may get discouraged at times. People might get uncomfortable when you get clear about what it is and clear about what it isn't. I plead with, admonish, encourage, and charge you to keep first things first. And that is the gospel (1 Cor 15). Keep it clear and keep it clearly the center.

Grace be with you.

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. - 2 Thess 2:15-17

 

Resolved – Heaven & Hell

Hello my faithful (and if I still have your attention by this point, it's definitely because you're faithful!) readers. My apologies for being so absent for so long. I figured if I were going to leave a blog up for a long time it should be about the gospel, but then I also had the end of school… and frankly it doesn't take long to get out of the habit of blogging. None of that is really an excuse, but hey, I'm a junior now, and I don't have any schoolwork for a good 3 months.

So here I am, back again and excited about what I have for you this weekend. I am at Resolved. Resolved is probably the best Christian conference I know of. The worship is heavenly, and the preaching is legit. What else do you need for a good conference? The folks at Resolved do it far better than any other I've ever been to. Granted, no other conference has been as big, but even if you've been to a crusade or something, I guarantee you this is better.

We had some trouble coming down 5 (the grapevine was closed), so we ended up arriving about 3 hours later than we had originally planned. Luckily, though, we walked in while Rick Holland was still preaching and managed to catch him making his 3 main points. He had just done a short intro before that (30 minutes or so), and we missed all of that unfortunately, except for my friend Roni, who kindly filled us in when we got back to the hotel later that evening.

Rick's text was Hebrews 9:27-28, and his focus was on death. He had 3 intense points that I very much needed a reminder of: 1) Death is unavoidable, 2) Judgment is certain, and 3) Salvation is possible. Basically what I took away was this: get it in your head that you only have one shot. You will die, and you will be judged, and you need to consider the very real possibility that you may not fare well on that day. Most people (if they believe in hell) believe that God would never send them there. Hell is always a place for the other guy. The reality is that hell is a place for everyone who has disobeyed God and has not been covered by the blood of Christ. That is, each person who has broken God's law is accountable to being punished according to that law, except for those who have received the divine pardon made possible by Christ's death. It is this except clause that is the hope of every Christian. This refreshing perspective helped me consider the necessity of loving evangelism: an evangelism that is purposeful, passionate, and yet gentle enough to woo people away from the (apparently) attractive fires of hell.

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.

Forgiveness: Unconditional?

Today in order to let you know I haven't died, I direct your attention to Tim Challies' blog, where he has written a provocative article on forgiveness: whether God dispenses it unconditionally and whether we should dispense it unconditionally. Tim Challies is, as far as I know, the most popular Reformed Christian blogger out there. Check it out, and let me know what you think!

Thoughts on Racism from Peter

Do you remember the story of Cornelius in Acts 10-11, where Peter gets this strange vision about animals coming down on a sheet? That's in 10:10-17. I remember the typical interpretation being "Hey, now we can eat whatever we want!" referring to the cancellation (for lack of a better term) of Old Testament dietary laws. That's convenient for us, but it struck me that this is not at all how Peter interprets it! He interprets it as having to do with the Gentiles and God's acceptance of them as legitimate receptors of His grace. "God has revealed to me that I should not call any person common or unclean" (10:28). Additionally in chapter 11 when Peter is recalling the events to the men of the "circumcision party" he mentions that it is immediately after having this dream that the three men sent to him appear at his door, and that he goes with them "making no distinction" (11:12).

The good news? God is not racist or elitist. I can certainly thank God for that because "white" is not the race of the chosen people of God. Anyone who comes to Him in humble repentance and genuine faith can be saved, not just a special class of people or certain ethnicity. This might seem obvious to you, but I would encourage you to take a look at your church. How many different races are represented there? Are there only one or two major groups? Is this because of the area or because you might be subconsciously (or consciously!) favoring people more like you? Check the heart of you and your church. Do you just give lip service to the inclusiveness of different peoples or does your church demonstrate it by actions (1 John 3:18)? More importantly, do you demonstrate it by your actions? I know I don't as much as I would like to. It's hard to think of ways to destroy racism in our hearts, because often we think we're immune to it, especially in today's progressive age when such an issue is supposed to be long over and dealt with! I'm not saying that a church has to have no more than 20% of one race in order to be in a state of godly diversity! I just want everyone to make sure that the racial uniformity is absolutely nothing more than coincidence and not a result of different people being welcomed less than similar people!

On the flip side, you can be certain a church which encourages the promotion of a certain race is not honoring to God (in that area, anyways). This was both true back when racist slavery was rampant in America and it is true today. Black people were not welcome in white churches, but unfortunately some of that same attitude has back lashed into the black community. Take for example a church that is "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." Now, why is skin color (or culture, if you feel that's what they're referring to) even coming up when it comes to being a Christian? What would you think if I made a church that was "Unashamedly White and Unapologetically Christian"? Would that be viewed as at all inclusive of black people? How could I become a member of a church that is "Unapologetically Black," which I am certainly not! The pastor has made a statement against critics that "The African-centered point of view does not assume superiority, nor does it assume separatism. It assumes Africans speaking for themselves as subjects in history, not objects in history," but this seems a bit disingenuous as he is admitting from the start that it is "African-centered" rather than… God-centered, maybe? Even Bible-centered would leave me with nothing to mourn! Whatever the motto does or does not assume, it certainly has the effect of seeing African culture and history as objectively more important than other cultures, and it definitely encourages separatism, as I have already said. I could not join a church whose motto is "Unashamedly Black," because I am not black!

May it never be so in my own heart or in yours! The Lord died for the whole world (John 3:16), not just yours.