This past Sunday I was again privileged to fill in for our pastor by delivering the Sunday morning message. My theme this time was baptism, and I took as part of my title, the question that Ananias asked the future Apostle Paul before his baptism in Acts 22:16. He asked “why do you wait?” I enjoyed tracing the pattern of baptism as seen in the book of Acts and spent time talking about what baptism symbolizes and what it does (and doesn’t) do. I also looked at when it is appropriate to wait.
I trust this message will be a blessing to my readers. If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (42 minutes), please do look over my notes.
The latest addition to P & R Publishing’s “31 Day Devotionals for Life” series has just been released. Assurance: Resting in God’s Salvation by William P. Smith is an encouraging look at the important doctrine of assurance. But this book is more than just an academic treatment of a biblical subject: it is a devotional celebration of the richness of the Gospel of grace.
With each of the thirty-one readings, Pastor Smith invites the reader to a warm and personal one-on-one chat. He unpacks God’s role in our salvation and repeatedly stresses our part is to receive. Our love falters, but God first loved us. We didn’t conceive ourselves, being God’s children is His plan not ours. Our failures and missteps were known ahead of time: and just as Jesus foresaw Peter’s denial yet prayed for and loved him anyway, so to will Jesus be faithful despite our frailties. Each reading includes a section for reflection or action, and the book includes recommended resources for further study.
A few quotes can capture the spirit of this little gem of a book:
Does your love for him seem weak and feeble at times? Try looking at it from a different perspective: Do you have any love at all? Since you used to have none, the presence of some tells you that right now, he loves you. (58)
God is not surprised that your life doesn’t perfectly reflect his glory. But he does intend it to. Jesus did not die for the mere possibility that you might end up a little bit better than you used to be. He died to guarantee that one day you would be pure and perfect, just like him. (76)
If God can transform Jacob, he can transform you too. (82)
You have much greater confidence in your ability to ruin your life than in God’s ability to rescue you from yourself and to redeem you. (84)
Smith deals with several of the passages that doubters often worry most about — the unpardonable sin and the warnings for those who deny Christ, among them. His treatment takes to heart Jude’s admonition (Jude 22) to “have mercy on those who doubt.” He explains, “Mercy to the doubting must characterize God’s people, because it characterizes God” (85). That said, I do think a word about true apostates could be in order, since today many of us have close friends or family who have walked away from the faith: leaving us to grapple with our own faith as well as their departure. People can shipwreck their faith – so what does that look like when we talk about assurance?
My own quibbles aside, this is a helpful and hope-building book that deserves a wide audience. Many are weak in the faith and beset by doubts. This book can fortify their faith. I highly recommend it.
Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.
This past Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching for a special five-part series at our church. Each week a sermon has been devoted to one of the Five Solas of the Reformation. In English, the Five Solas are: Christ Alone, Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and to the Glory of God Alone. This is also the order we are using for the sermon series. Our pastor has opened the series and will finish it, and two other men and I are privileged to contribute one of the messages for the set.
My sermon from this Sunday was on Sola Gratia, or Grace Alone. I was especially burdened by this topic which is so all-encompassing. My sermon highlighted the role of Grace in salvation — we are saved not on account of our works (praise God!). And I also emphasized how grace opposes legalism, in both its doctrinal and practical forms. Finally I was able to touch on Sovereign Grace just a bit as well.
My text was Titus 3, and I was pleased to discover that Martin Luther preached a pair of sermons on Titus 2:11-4 and Titus 3:4-7 for Christmas of 1522. Those sermons were epsecially pertinent to my theme and I included some quotations. (You can find Luther’s sermons on Titus here and here).
I’m sharing my sermon notes and audio in this post and welcome any feedback. You can also find all my recent sermons from The Heights Church, St. Paul, here.
If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (52 minutes), please do look over my notes.
This Fall marks 500 years since the start of the Protestant Reformation. October 31, 1517 is the date that Martin Luther nailed his “Ninety-five Theses” on the church door in Wittenberg. His Reformation ideas quickly spread over all of Europe by means of the movable-type printing press… and the rest, they say, is history.
In honor of this anniversary, I am re-posting my teaching series entitled, “A Survey of the Reformation: Its History and Doctrine.”
I developed this teaching series in 2012 and have taught through it for adult Sunday School classes in two different churches. The audio files are primarily from 2012, but one of the lessons had corrupted audio and so I made a replacement recording in 2014 the next time I taught the material.
My goal in this series is two-fold: to introduce people to the history and ideals of the Reformation, and to give an introduction to the doctrine known as the five points of Calvinism or the doctrines of Grace. I have found that understanding and appreciating the doctrines of Grace is easier when one is led to understand the history of the Reformation as a whole. Also stressed in this study, are the Five Solas, and the Reformation emphasis on God’s sovereignty.
The Reformation doesn’t stand or fall with the doctrines of Grace, but that understanding flows directly from the heart of the Reformation. And while Luther may not have agreed on all the particulars of how the five points came to be articulated, he is in fundamental agreement on God’s role in salvation — as were all the original reformers.
Feel free to use the .pdf and .mp3 audio files freely, I just ask to be credited as the source of this presentation. May God grant the spirit of the Reformation and its doctrine, to continue to occupy a warm place in the hearts and minds of God’s people.
Why the Reformation Matters Today • No audio (see note below) ∼ View the Slides.
Note: You may notice that the audio deviates from the slides more and more as the lessons progress. This is due to the fact that the slides match the 2014 audio, which is unavailable. The 2012 audio files line up closely with my older slides available here.
I used a variety of resources for this series, but the four I recommend to my SS class are listed here below:
Commentary Roundup posts are a series of short reviews or overviews of Bible commentaries. I’m working my way through a variety of commentaries, new and old, and hope to highlight helpful resources for my readers.
Book Details:
• Author: Timothy Keller
• Series Editor: Carl Laferton
• Publisher: The Good Book Company (2014)
• Format: hardback
• Page Count: 208
• ISBN#: 9781908762917
• List Price: $22.99
• Rating: Highly Recommended
Series Description:
Each volume of the God’s Word For You series takes you to the heart of a book of the Bible, and applies its truths to your heart. The central aim of each title is to be:
Bible centered
Christ glorifying
Relevantly applied
Easily readable
Each title in the series can be used “To read… as a book that explains and explores the themes, encouragements and challenges of this part of Scripture. To feed… as part of personal devotions, or alongside a sermon or Bible-study series. Or, to lead… as a resource to help one teach God’s word to others, both in small-group and whole-church settings.”
Commentary Type:
This is a devotional, introductory-level commentary designed for personal reading and growth rather than a technical commentary.
Special note: The series introduction on page 5 states: “These books are not commentaries.” I respectfully disagree. This title is more accessible than the average commentary, but still functions much like a commentary, so I am treating it as if it is a commentary.
Structure and Features: Romans 1-7 For You includes an introduction to the Book of Romans. Each textual section in Romans 1-7 is covered in a chapter, which is then split into roughly two equal parts. At the end of each part are three “Questions for Reflection.” The Scripture text is not included in the commentary, but verse references from Romans are bolded to help the reader follow along in the commentary as he reads the Bible text. At the end of the book is a glossary where bolded words in the commentary are defined. Following this are three appendixes and then the bibliography. The first appendix is a helpful summary of Paul’s flow of thought through the first seven chapters of Romans. The next appendix defines idolatry and explores how to identify and dismantle the idols of the heart — those underlying motives that stand behind our sins. The last appendix is a brief, two and a half page discussion of the recent debate over the New Pauline Perspective and how that impacts our understanding of Romans. He concludes that it doesn’t require a completely new reading of Romans, while it can add to our understanding here and there.
Throughout Keller’s discussion of the text are pastoral nuggets of wisdom. Quotes become sidebars in the text to encourage the reader to continue reading. Lists of three reasons for this, or three kinds of churches, and other pastoral wisdom are brought to bear on the text. This is fitting for a devotional commentary where the comments need not directly flow from the text itself. Yet Keller’s comments are not just devotional. He draws careful distinctions from the text, such as pointing out how the aorist tense in Romans 5:12c indicates all of humanity sinned corporately when Adam fell. The commentary aims to illumine the Scriptural text and does just that in a variety of ways.
Excerpt:
Like most books I have read by Tim Keller, there are several fantastic quotes and extremely helpful insights or ways of putting things. I wanted to provide an excerpt which gives the flavor of the commentary as a whole, and also hones in on the important message of Romans 1-7. This excerpt is from the section on Rom. 3:21-31.
“But” is a word that reverses the statement which has gone before; it can qualify praise, or bring hope where there seemed to be none. This is why there are few words more glorious than the “but” that begins Romans 3:21. “No one will be declared righteous … through the law we become conscious of sin” (v 20)… But… Paul now turns from the black cloth of human sin to hold up the glittering diamond of the gospel.
Righteousness and Justification
The gospel, as we know from 1:17, reveals a “righteousness from God” (3:21); or “the righteousness of God” (ESV). It is a righteousness displayed; but it is also a righteousness granted. Our translations sometimes obscure this, but the words “righteousness” and “justified” in these verses are all the same word: dikaiosune. So, verse 21 could read: But now a justification from/of God has been made known; verse 24 could be translated: and are righteousnessed freely.
Righteousness is a validating performance record which opens doors. When you want a job, you send in a resume. It has all the experiences and skills that make you (you hope!) worthy of the position. You send it in and say: Look at this. Accept me! Your record has nothing on it that disqualifies you from the job; and it has (you hope!) everything that will qualify you for it.
Every religion and culture believes that it’s the same with God. It’s not a vocational record; it’s a moral or spiritual record. You get out your performance record and if it’s good enough, you’re worthy of life with God and you’re accepted. And then Paul comes along and says: But now… For the first time in history — and the last — an unheard of approach to God has been revealed. A divine righteousness — the righteousness of God, a perfect record — is given to us.
No other place offers this. Outside of the gospel, we must develop a righteousness, and offer it to God, and say (hopefully and anxiously): Accept me. The gospel says that God has developed a perfect righteousness, and he offers it to us, and by it we are accepted. This is the uniqueness of the Christian gospel; and it reverses what every other religion and worldview, and even every human heart, believes. (pg. 79-80, italics original, bold emphasis on the verse numbers and glossary terms, removed)
Evaluation:
This commentary is packed with gospel goodness. Romans 1-7 is perhaps the most gospel-central section in the New Testament, and Tim Keller is the perfect author to lead us through this section. His insight into legalism and religiousity on the one hand, and licentiousness and atheism on the other, helps us see how the gospel cuts into all kinds of people. This is no dry theological tome, but an exultation in the gospel of God’s grace. Keller does advocate a reformed view of salvation, but is very irenic and pastoral in how he explains the text. His position on Romans 7 is that it describes the struggles believers continue to face after salvation. Keller is careful not to force the reader into a theological mold but encourages them to see the text and feed on it. His practical insight and emphasis on application combine to provide a commentary that doesn’t stop with the head but moves to the heart quickly. It can be read as a devotional book with benefit, or used as a text for an adult Sunday School class or small group study. I highly recommend it.
About the Author: Timothy Keller was educated at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary, and is Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The Reason for God, The Prodigal God, and Galatians For You.
This past Sunday I was again privileged to fill in for our pastor by delivering the Sunday morning message. My theme this time was baptism, and I took as part of my title, the question that Ananias asked the future Apostle Paul before his baptism in Acts 22:16. He asked “why do you wait?” I enjoyed tracing the pattern of baptism as seen in the book of Acts and spent time talking about what baptism symbolizes and what it does (and doesn’t) do. I also looked at when it is appropriate to wait.
This past Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching for a special five-part series at our church. Each week a sermon has been devoted to one of the Five Solas of the Reformation. In English, the Five Solas are: Christ Alone, Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and to the Glory of God Alone. This is also the order we are using for the sermon series. Our pastor has opened the series and will finish it, and two other men and I are privileged to contribute one of the messages for the set.
