Level Ground

“God, it turns out, deliberately chose the foolish things of the world, the cross and the Corinthian believers, so that he could remove forever, from every creature, any possible grounds on their part of standing in the divine presence with something in their hands. The ground is level at the foot of the cross; not a single thing that any of us possesses will advantage him/her before the living God-not brilliance, “clout”, achievement, money, or prestige. By choosing the lowly Corinthians God declared that He has forever ruled out every imaginable human system of gaining favor. It is all- “trust him completely” (v. 31)-or nothing.”

-Gordon Fee, Commentary on 1 Corinthians

(HT: Los)

How Do You Deal With Others When They Sin?

"Here is what I have learned. How I relate to others in their sin reveals my true grasp of the Gospel. How I relate to others in their sin really reveals whether I understand what it means that God is Father, that God is merciful, that God has sent his Son"

- Dave Harvey, from the message "God's Mercy and My Marriage"

Mighty Man of Valor?

Michael Kelley writes well here:

Last night I watched the VeggieTale “Gideon: Tuba Warrior” with Joshua and got to relive the amazing story of Gideon from the book of Judges. My favorite part? The fact that Gideon was hiding in a winepress when he’s first visited by the angel. The angel says, “Greetings, mighty man of valor.”

What?

He sums up:

And that’s why, every single day, He can look down at us, at me, in the midst of many times senseless and repetitive sin, hiding in our own winepresses, and say “Hello, my righteous son.” See, what God did to Gideon He does every day for us. Though we hide in winepresses, we are mighty warriors. Though we play around with senseless sin, we are righteous saints. This is the identity which God has made for us because of Christ. And today, I’m thankful that His reality looks different than my circumstances.

Read the whole thing here.

A Gospel Lesson From My Son

Last night my son Taylor woke up in the middle of the night with a bad dream. I went up and tried to console him with the usual drill. I went back downstairs after speaking a few words to him but in a few minutes we heard in the monitor that he was whimpering again about this dream. My wife Kim went up the 2nd time and tried to console him. A few weeks ago when Taylor had a bad dream he asked to sleep with Mommy in the guest room and she did. He wanted to do this again, but since we didn't want to make this a pattern she said no and told him that he needed to go back to sleep. This didn't go over very well and thus he decided to throw a bit of a fit. At 3am, a fit from your 5-year-old is not exactly something that Daddy is super pumped about, so I went upstairs again to deal with the madness.

I spoke some very pointed words and made it clear that I expected him to calm down and he did. In the morning I felt convicted that I was not as gentle with Taylor as I should have been so I pulled him aside to chat with him. I asked him to forgive me for not being as gentle as I should have been. I made it clear that his fit was not acceptable, but that Daddy wants to strive to be more gentle in the way that he deals with him. I said, "Will you forgive me?"

His eyes softened and he immediately said a genuine, "Yes", and gave me a big hug.

In that moment the truth of Jesus' words, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" sank deep into my heart.

I was taught a powerful gospel lesson on forgiveness by my son Taylor:

1. He was so quick to forgive. There was no sense of grudge-leaning hesitation or qualification. It was an immediate and joyful, "Yes!"

2. He was so eager to have the relationship restored. Right after he forgave me he wanted to be with me and asked right away if we could play basketball. It was as if it never happened. It was gone, never to be brought up again. He embodied Psalm 103:11,12 in his love for me: For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

3. There was no hint of superficiality. It was completely genuine and real, evidenced by the demeanor of his behavior in the following moments.

How refreshing to see forgiveness modeled in this way for me from my 5-year-old! I ask myself and you: How are we doing in embodying the gospel by being child-like in the way we forgive? Are we quick to genuinely forgive for the sake of love and relationship restoration? I pray for the grace to follow my son's lead and truly become like children in this way

Gospel Check-In

A few nights ago Kim and I were doing some pre-marital counseling with a younger couple and we focused on the general idea of the Gospel being the centerpiece of marriage. In the process of this discussion, it occurred to me that asking yourself a simple question might be a good indicator of how well the Gospel is taking shape in your life. The question is: When was the last time I spoke these phrases?

1. I'm sorry
2. I was wrong
3. Will you forgive me?

If you find that you are habitually unable to say these phrases, you might have a gospel problem. The reason I say this is that these phrases underscore the fact that you are aware of your own sin. If you never see your sin, either you are perfect (not the case) or for some reason you can't seem to come to terms with your sin and confess it. If you can't come to terms with your sin and confess it then you probably are not pursuing the remedy for it, namely the Cross.

More specifically, it also seems as though the last phrase, "Will you forgive me?" is particularly humbling and yet produces a greater Gospel-centered blessing. We have started making our kids say this when they have sinned against us or one of their siblings and through this process we have started to use this phrase more in our marriage. I think this phrase is more difficult because it's not just an identification of personal sin (I was wrong) but it places you in the humbling position of needing mercy. This goes beyond just stating the fact of wrong doing. Also, implicit in the statement (will you?) is an uncertainty that the forgiveness will be granted. When forgiveness is received from the person offended and the words "I forgive you" are spoken, it's all the sweeter than someone saying, "Don't worry about it, it's not that big of a deal". Sin is a big deal, but when it is pardoned the feeling of blessing is immense. To me, this statement highlights the Gospel in more poignant ways that simply saying "I'm sorry."

Ask yourself: When was the last time you uttered these phrases to your spouse or those close to you? If you have not, why not?

Clarus Audio

Here you can find all the audio for our recent Clarus weekend featuring D.A. Carson and Michael Horton.

An Apostolic Disputation - and Justification - D.A. Carson

Panel Discussion 1 (Friday evening) - D.A. Carson and Michael Horton

Two Mothers, Two Mountains - Dr. Michael Horton

Justification/Righteousness and the Cross of Christ - D.A. Carson

Panel Discussion 2 (Saturday afternoon) Pt. 1 - D.A. Carson and Michael Horton

Panel Discussion 2 (Saturday afternoon) Pt. 2 - D.A. Carson and Michael Horton

The Promise-Driven Life - Michael Horton

Panel Discussion 3 (Saturday evening) - Michael Horton

"The Ironies of the Cross" - D.A. Carson

You don't want to miss these messages. These are some of the most helpful gospel related recourses I have ever heard.

Was Isaac A Type Of Christ?

...it is assumed by many Christians that Isaac, the only beloved son place on the alter by his father Abraham as a sacrifice to God, is a clear and definite type of Christ who, as the heavenly Father's only beloved Son, was sent by his Father to die on the cross. When, however, it comes to explaining precisely in which way Isaac was a symbol of Christ and his sacrificial death for sinners, and then an actual forward-looking type of Christ on the cross, persistent difficulties have not been overcome.

But Isaac was not sacrificed; he was not put to death; he was not burned as an incense gift to God and he made neither expiation nor propitiation for others. It was the ram provided at a suitable moment that became a substitutionary sacrifce on the alter, substituting, in fact, for Isaac. Thus, the ram slain served as a symbol and was a type of Christ who died in the place of others.

-Dr. Gerard Van Groningen, Messianic Revelation in the Old Testament, p. 144, 145

Grace of God

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days or never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.

~ Jerry Bridges

(HT: Doug)

The Great Exchange

"This is that mystery which is rich in divine grace to sinners: wherein by a wonderful exchange our sins are no longer ours but Christ's, and the righteousness of Christ not Christ's but ours. He has emptied himself of his righteousness that he might clothe us with it and fill us with it; and he has taken our evils upon himself that he might deliver us from them."

-Martin Luther, quoted in J. I. Packer and Mark Dever, In My Place Condemned He Stood, page 85

(HT: Ray Ortlund)

Evangelical Manifesto

Check it out here. From the introduction:

An Evangelical Manifesto is an open declaration of who Evangelicals are and what they stand for. It has been drafted and published by a representative group of Evangelical leaders who do not claim to speak for all Evangelicals, but who invite all other Evangelicals to stand with them and help clarify what Evangelical means in light of “confusions within and the consternation without” the movement. As the Manifesto states, the signers are not out to attack or exclude anyone, but to rally and to call for reform.

As an open declaration, An Evangelical Manifesto addresses not only Evangelicals and other Christians but other American citizens and people of all other faiths in America, including those who say they have no faith. It therefore stands as an example of how different faith communities may address each other in public life, without any compromise of their own faith but with a clear commitment to the common good of the societies in which we all live together.

For those who are Evangelicals, the deepest purpose of the Manifesto is a serious call to reform—an urgent challenge to reaffirm Evangelical identity, to reform Evangelical behavior, to reposition Evangelicals in public life, and so rededicate ourselves to the high calling of being Evangelical followers of Jesus Christ.

Law And Gospel

Thus gospel-grace and law-commands
Both bind and loose each other's hands;
They can't agree on any terms,
Yet hug each other in their arms.

- Ralph Erskine (1685-1752)

Ian Campbell comments:

We need to divide the truth rightly in order to show the validity of this insight. Without law we cannot define sin or righteousness, and without the imputation of these objective realities there can be no atonement. Without an objective atonement, in which the sanctions of the law are met, there can be no Gospel.

No Money

God says to us, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost" (Isaiah 55:1).

The gospel is addressed to those who have no money or good works. It invites us to come and "buy" salvation without money and without cost. But note the invitation to come is addressed to those who have no money -- not to those who don't have enough. Grace is not a matter of God's making up the difference, but of God's providing all the "cost" of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

-- Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace

(HT: Jared)

Completely Free

Because of the gospel’s power, you can be completely free of all condemnation.

Not mostly free; completely free.

Don’t buy the lie that cultivating condemnation and wallowing in your shame is somehow pleasing to God, or that a constant, low-grade guilt will somehow promote holiness and spiritual maturity.

It’s just the opposite! God is glorified when we believe with all our hearts that those who trust in Christ can never be condemned. It’s only when we receive his free gift of grace and live in the good of total forgiveness that we’re able to turn from old, sinful ways of living and walk in grace-motivated obedience.

- C.J. Mahaney, The Cross Centered Life, 39, 40

(HT: OFI)

Our Deepest Problem

"Our deepest problem is that we seek to find out identity outside the story of redemption."

-Paul David Tripp, Instruments In The Redeemer's Hands, p. 27

(HT: Justin B.)