Author: fundyreformed

The Gospel’s Work in Believers, Part 2

~ fundyreformed ~ 10 Comments

Continued from part 1.

So, in the gospel, as unbelievers we found acceptance through Christ and forgiveness from sin. But as believers, don’t we rely on that acceptance as we work out our salvation? Don’t we need to be constantly challenged to obey more and be more faithful to God? Does our spiritual life depend in some sense on our own efforts and our obedience to Christ? Yes and No. Let’s look at what the Bible says about the Gospel’s work in believers more closely.

The Gospel and the Believer

1. Spiritual growth comes by hearing the Gospel and believing.

Galatians 2:19-3:5 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain? if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

Just as we initially receive the Spirit when we are converted by hearing (the gospel) with faith (Vs. 2). Even so, our continued life in the Spirit comes by hearing (the gospel) with faith (Vs. 5). We cannot live our spiritual lives by fleshly effort (vs. 3, 2:20, cf. Col. 2:20-3:4).

2. All of life is to be lived in accordance to the Gospel.

Gal. 2:14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all,….

Paul challenged Peter that his conduct was not measuring up to the gospel, implying that our conduct needs to measure up to the gospel. Paul could have scolded Peter for displaying the sin of racial prejudice. He could have called him to the carpet for disobeying the command to love his neighbor. Instead, Paul pointed out how Peter had failed to live in accordance with the gospel. The gospel has claims on us and requires we live in light of it as we make decisions in all of life.

3. Holiness, and proving that one has a genuine faith, depends on not shifting from the hope of the gospel.

Col. 1:21-23 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has not been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I Paul, became a minister.

Holiness and growth in godliness depend on keeping close to the gospel. Proving that one is indeed reconciled, that they have a genuine faith is manifested by how they continue in believing the gospel.

4. Strength is supplied to us by the gospel.

Rom. 16:25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith.

Strength is from the gospel, which is further described as the “preaching of Jesus Christ”. This preaching brings about the obedience of faith. So strength to obey and persevere in faith comes from the revelation of Christ in the gospel.

5. The Gospel is the very Power that Saves us.

Rom. 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (literally = everyone [presently/continually] believing), to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith.

In one sense we are already saved from having believed the gospel, but in a very real sense we are not yet ultimately saved. When the New Testament uses the term saved or salvation, it often refers to the point in time when we are glorified in heaven, when we actually arrive there. Often Scripture speaks of salvation as in a sense a work in progress, it’s not yet complete. This is reflected well in how the ESV translates the meaning of the Greek tenses for the word sowzo (saved) in the following passages.

1 Cor. 1:17-18 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Cor. 15:1-2 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you””unless you believed in vain.

Salvation depends on us “holding fast to the word … preached” . When this doesn’t happen, it reveals that the individual has “believed in vain” . They have a faith like that described in Luke 8, they “believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away” (see also 1 Jn. 2:19). True saving, genuine faith endures to the end and doesn’t fail. What supplies us with that kind of faith is a holding on to the Gospel. The Gospel has a power by which it saves us.

To conclude this point: we have seen the Gospel has many purposes for believers beyond initial conversion. It is as much for believers as unbelievers. We’ll explore some practical ways we can avail ourselves of the power of the Gospel in our Christian life, in the third and final post in this series.

For more on the idea of “being saved”, check out posts in my topic on perseverance, especially My 219 Epiphany.

The Gospel’s Work in Believers, Part 1

~ fundyreformed ~ 5 Comments

The following is taken from an adult SS lesson I taught this past Sunday. I thought it would be a blessing to share it by means of my blog for a wider audience.

1 Thess. 2:9-13 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

What does the Gospel do in believers? Many would say it supplies us with assurance of forgiveness, a home in heaven, and it obligates us to server God to Whom we are greatly indebted. The gospel when received admits us into the church, we become believers in Christ, and we now start the work of living by faith in God’s principles. We now, since we believed (past tense), work on growing into the kind of people God wants us to be. We work hard, train ourselves to flee from sin, we develop habits of prayer and Bible study, and we look to the Bible for guidance on how to use money, succeed at work, have a blessed life and a good family, how to do church, reach the lost, and worship God.

Sounds pretty good. But where does the gospel fit in again? Is it only the first hoop of many that we must jump through as Christians? Is it what gives us the uniform to be a soldier for Christ? Is it the Get-Out-of-Hell-Free Card that settles our conscience and encourages us that living for God has benefits?

Consider the following texts again:

1 Thess. 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Acts 20:32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (cf. 20:24 & 14:3 word of grace = gospel message)

Col. 1:3-6 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. OF this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing, as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

So what do you think? What does the Gospel do in us believers?

Before we answer that question directly, perhaps its best to focus on this question: What does the Gospel do in unbelievers?

The Gospel and the Lost

1 Thess. 1:5-6, 9 Because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit…. You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.

The Gospel challenges the lost to repent of their sin and believe Christ. The Gospel says Jesus absorbed the just punishment we deserved and He will accept all who repent and turn to God in faith.

Tim Keller says this about the Gospel:

The gospel is that you are more wicked and flawed then you ever dared believe, and more loved and accepted than you ever dared hope at the same time. Unconditionally loved and radically humbled.

(And) Religion is “if I obey I will be accepted.” Irreligion is “I don’t really have to obey anyone but myself.” The gospel is “since I am accepted, I will obey.”

We’ll continue in the next post to look more closely at what the Gospel actually does for believers. But please use the comment section and share your thoughts on this so far. What does the Gospel do for believers? How does the Gospel impact your life?

Mircroblogging: Twitter As the New Frontier of Blogging

~ fundyreformed

Twitter is steadily becoming more and more popular, especially with bloggers. If you haven’t explored Twitter yet, you’re missing out on the microblogging revolution.

Blogging is great, but particularly with biblioblogging, posts can tend to be lengthy and updating one’s blog can be time-consuming. Microblogging, however, provides a much simpler alternative to blogging. Sites like Twitter, allow you to provide a link or a comment or both, in 140 characters or less. One click, and the update is published. You can follow lots of people’s updates more easily because they are at most 140 characters long (2 or 3 sentences). For commenting, you can reply (with an @ sign as in @johndoe how are you doing today?). You can also direct message your twitter friends.   Conversations are still possible, but everything is streamlined in the microblogging world.

Some blogging friends of mine enjoy Twitter more regularly than their blogging platform. It’s easy to discover new links and trends than using a standard blog reader (like Google Reader). When news is happening, it spreads fast on Twitter. And for those who use cell phones and hand held media devices, twitter is a perfect way to stay connected to your online social sites and friends, while on the go.

From time to time, I’m sure you’ve noticed that things slow down around here. My blog has always been somewhat inconsistent, with flashes of blog action followed by seasons of sporadic posting. If you’re hungry to know what I’m up to, and what I’m finding interesting on the web during these times, you can check my twitter feed (now in its own box in my sidebar). Sometimes I’ll share things on Twitter that I decide not to highlight on my blog. I was twittering about the Mark Driscoll – John MacArthur blog wars, and recently shared a link with John Piper’s thoughts on the topic in my twitter feed. Speaking of Piper, I also recently shared a link to his positive mention of Kevin Bauder’s call for fundamentalists to fight for a fundamentlism worth saving in light of recent anti-Calvinistic rhetoric from a FBBF speaker.

I also use my Twitter feed to update my Facebook account status. This lets me interact more on Facebook without having to log in over there. It makes me look like I use Facebook all the time, when in reality I only respond to people contacting me through Facebook from my Twitter updates.

Microblogging with Twitter makes sense, especially for bloggers, who can publicize important posts with Twitter, and reach a wider audience. It’s a whole new social media that’s really its own new world. Why not add some Christ-centered content into the mix?

One more application regarding microblogging. I have some friends who enjoy reading blogs, but don’t want to keep up with one of their own. For them, microblogging had given them an easy way to be a blogger of sorts, to share info and links and thoughts with others in an effort to influence them for Christ. I’d encourage any of my regular readers who don’t have their own blog, to sign up for a Twitter account, and add me as a friend. In time, bit by bit, you’ll see the benefits of Twitter and learn how it works. From there it’s fun to enter the world of microblogging.

Okay, one more tip. If you have Firefox as your browser, consider adding TwitterFox as an add-on. It is the easiest way to manage your twitter updates right from your browser. It makes Twittering even easier. You can retweet and shorten links automatically, and it sorts your replies and direct messages as well.

What I Mean by Preaching :: Desiring God

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

Preaching is Expository Exultation. This clip is a good illustration of the importance of preaching. It was from Saturday night’s message. We saw Piper live at the north campus Sunday morning, and the video from that would have been even more passionate! I trust you’ll all enjoy this clip and rejoice in a pastor’s heart for preaching. Read a transcript of this part of the message here.

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more about “What I Mean by Preaching :: Desiring God“, posted with vodpod

The Bible on Hair Care

~ fundyreformed ~ 5 Comments

No, I haven’t yet found a Biblical defense for using Pert’s Plus. I’m talking about what the Bible says about hair length.

This may be a surprise to you, but listen to what Paul says in 1 Cor. 11:14-15.

Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

What do we do with this teaching? In my fundamentalist upbringing, we had hair rules, and for us guys: hair check. If our hair was getting anywhere near our shirt collar or ear lobes, we would be in trouble. Demerits and/or detention would come in a hurry!

It’s easy to discount such standards as tomfoolery. Along with the head covering that 1 Cor. 11 refers to, we can easily contextualize this command as appropriate for Corinthians only. But are we doing justice to Paul’s appeal to “nature” here?

This is the question that a bunch of reforming fundamentalists and I have been addressing in one of our forum topics over at our new group site: Transformed by Grace. The discussion has avoided hard and fast extra Biblical rules, and has been quite profitable. Let me share one small quote, out of several I gave in the discussion. This is from Tom Schreiner in the book Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Crossway):

Paul’s point, then, is that how men and women wear their hair is a significant indication of whether they are abiding by the created order. Of course, what constitutes long hair is often debated–what is appropriately masculine or feminine in hairstyle may vary widely from culture to culture.

I agree. On this point, I concluded with the following:

I do think women’s hair should be generally long, and men’s generally short. There is some room for varying styles and cultural fashions, but I do think today many of the short, short hairstyles worn by women are both non-attractive, and not glorifying to God.

What do you think? Does the Bible deal with our hair care? What about hairstyles today, is everything neutral or a-moral? Should a Christian look to the Bible before they run to a hairdresser? Please join the discussion in the comments here, or visit the Transformed by Grace forum on the question.

One last point: the Biblical view of a distinction between the genders being reinforced by our dress is also taught in Deut. 22:5. I dealt with that passage (often misused to condemn all women who wear pants) in an earlier post.