The Good News That We Forget Part 2 : I Need The Gospel Daily

   The gospel really does define the Christian life. There is no alternative way to live in Christ. The Christian life that is lived without the imprint of the gospel is mere religion. The life that is soaked by the gospel is the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10:10) In my previous post, I posed this question to help us think through how the gospel is applied to daily living.

How does the finished work of Christ (the gospel) satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?

   Here's a few examples,

1. A major theme in the gospel is forgiveness. Forgiveness satisfies my deepest longings for reconciliation with God and liberates my heart from bitterness that comes from unforgiveness. I am still being sanctified by Jesus Christ while I live this life here on earth. The fullness of my sanctification comes when Jesus Christ returns. This means that I can still commit sin.  Hence, I need to come to Jesus everyday to confess and ask that my trespasses be forgiven. Jesus Christ is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9). The gospel's offer of forgiveness liberates me to forgive others. Everyday someone will offend me in some way or fashion. Because I am forgiven by Jesus Christ, I can choose to freely forgive (Colossians 3:13) or overlook the offense.

2. Because of the gospel, I am able to comprehend how to love my wife as Jesus Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). In a wedding last week, I was reminded of the famous saying, "Happy wife, happy life". Well, the key to my wife's happiness is to love her like how Jesus Christ demonstrated his love for me.

3. Though Christ's finished work, I can count myself dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:11). This is a profound change! It is arguably one of the Christian indicatives that I deliberately remind myself daily. Everyday, I am faced with temptations. The gospel spares me from falling into sin. The gospel beats down desires that lead to sinful acts.The finished work of Christ means that I have an escape hatch (1 Corinthians 10:13).
4. The gospel says that it is by the grace of God that I am saved as I come to Jesus Christ in faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and repentance (2 Peter 3:9). I stop being a moralist. A moralist is someone who relies on good works and moral living in order to be accepted by God. Many people fear living in grace. Grace is misunderstood. It is not a license to continue sinning. Rather, grace leads to true repentance which is a complete turning around from sin. Now I keep my eyes on Jesus Christ the author and perfecter of my faith (Hebrews 12:1-2).

The Good News That We Forget - Part 1

    The centrality of the gospel has been in my mind for a couple of weeks now. The gospel is the good news that we often forget. But the gospel has to be for every day living. Without it, we don't truly live and we have no hope.Tullian Tchividjian points out that the gospel is not just salvation for sinners. It is also necessary for spiritual maturity. I've extracted and made some slight edits on portions of his blog post that help to explain this further : 

All our problems in life stem from our failure to apply the gospel. This means I can’t really move forward unless I learn more thoroughly the gospel’s content and how to apply it to all of life. Real change does not and cannot come independently of the gospel. God intends his Good News in Christ to mold and shape us at every point and in every way. It increasingly defines the way we think, feel, and live.

Spiritual poverty in so much of our Christian experience is the result of inadequate understanding of the gospel’s depths. The answer isn’t to try harder in the Christian life but to comprehend more fully and clearly Christ’s finished work for sinners and then to live in more vital awareness of that grace day by day. The main problem in the Christian life, in other words, is not that we don’t try hard enough to be good. It’s that we haven’t accepted the deep implications of the gospel and applied its powerful reality to all parts of our life.


He asks this great question that we should take time to reflect on :
How does the finished work of Christ satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?


I've come up with several answers in head already. Will write them in the next posts. How about you, what is your answer? Feel free to reply in the comments.

Faith Vs. Unbelief

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

- Hebrews 11:6 (ESV)

Why is this so? I found this list to be helpful in making Hebrews 11:6 clearer.

From The Purple Cellar Blog by Lydia Brownback :

1. Faith believes the Word of God; unbelief questions it.

2. Faith sees God's promise to help; unbelief says, "How can that possibly be?"

3. Faith makes you see love in Christ's reproofs; unbelief imagines only wrath.

4. Faith helps the soul to wait; unbelief gives up if made to wait.

5. Faith gives comfort in the midst of fears; unbelief causes fears in the midst of comforts.

6. Faith finds sweetness in God's discipline; unbelief finds no comfort in mercy.

7. Faith makes great burdens light; unbelief makes light burdens heavy.

8. Faith helps us when we are down; unbelief throws us down when we are up.

9. Faith brings us near to God when we are far from him; unbelief puts us far from God when we are near to him.

10. Faith sees friendship with God; unbelief sees a hard taskmaster.

11. Faith puts man under grace; unbelief holds him under wrath.

12. Faith purifies the heart; unbelief keeps the heart polluted

13. Faith rests in Christ's righteousness; unbelief clings to the law.

14. Faith makes all our work acceptable to God; without faith it is impossible to please him.

15. Faith gives peace and comfort; unbelief gives trouble and tossing

16. Faith shows Christ precious; unbelief sees no beauty in him.

17. Faith gives life in Christ's fullness; unbelief causes spiritual starvation

18. Faith gives freedom from the law of sin and death; unbelief shackles us to them.

19. Faith shows us excellence in things unseen; unbelief sees only this world.

20. Faith makes all God's ways pleasant; unbelief makes them heavy and hard.



The Lord's Prayer Part 15: Warfare

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

 - Matthew 6:13 (ESV)

    The last petition in the Lord’s Prayer is two-fold. The second part clarifies the first with the word “but” giving us an idea on how they are connected. A better translation is “deliver us from the evil one”. This, of course, is Satan. Together, this petition recognizes human weakness to sin and the strength of an enemy that entices us to sin. It is a prayer for God to deliver us from satanic attacks that we are not able to withstand.

    There are two dangers when dealing with the evil one. First, we minimize Satan’s importance by failing to recognize that he has real spiritual power. Second, we overstate his importance by becoming very afraid of his power. There is no doubt that he is a powerful enemy. His tactics include domination (Acts 10:38, 2 Timothy 2:26), temptation, accusation (Revelation 12:10), and deception (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). Jesus, however, has already won against him through his death and resurrection. We are dealing with a defeated enemy.

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son..."

-Colossians 1:13 (ESV)

"Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery."

- Hebrews 2:14-15 (ESV)

    Until Jesus Christ returns to take his rightful throne here on earth and Satan will be finally thrown into the abyss,  we will be dealing against this enemy daily. Thus we pray for our Savior to continue to keep us from falling into the enemy's schemes. We cannot have victory over Satan on our own. The battle is won through Jesus Christ.

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

-Jude 1:24-25 (ESV)



The Lord's Prayer Part 14: How to Pray About Temptation

“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” - Matthew 6:13 (ESV)

   The Lord’s Prayer truly covers all our needs. First, it covers our physical and material needs as we ask the Father to give us this day our daily bread. Our spiritual needs are addressed as we ask the Father to forgive our debts. As you recall, we incurred this debt through our sinfulness. The next petition also addresses our sinfulness but this time we ask the Father for protection from future sins. The phrase “lead us not into” can be understood as a plea for God to keep us from falling into the hand, power, and influence of sin as we are tempted.

    The word temptation can mean either testing or trial. Trials are part of the Christian life. God sometimes allows trials to come to our lives as a means to developing persevering faith that leads to spiritual maturity and godly character.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

– James 1:2-4 (NIV)

    It can also mean as an enticement to sin. Now one thing must be made clear, this petition does not imply that God will tempt us and cause us to sin.

   

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

– James 1:13-15 (NIV)

    Notice the progression, temptation arises from our evil desire which leads us to commit acts of sin. Temptation abounds in many situations. The temptation to be proud and feel self-sufficient arises from success. Lustful desires can be aroused while browsing the Internet in the privacy of our homes and the urge to peek at an adult website pops up. The temptation of unbelief will come during times of great suffering. The temptation of self-righteousness arises as we point out other people’s flaws.

    This is why we must pray this petition every day. We must acknowledge our human weakness. We must recognize this daily battle against the sinful nature. We must realize that sin is not yet completely eradicated from our lives (Romans 7:13-25). By praying, we recognize that it is Jesus Christ who rescues us from giving in to temptation. He knows our weakness for he himself was tempted.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.  

– Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)

    And indeed the Father will answer this prayer. The Bible assures us that there is a way out of temptation and that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

– 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

    The last thing to point out is that the heart of the one praying this petition must hate sin. The person who prays this also be doing all he can to avoid a situation whereby he is tempted. (Romans 6:1-2, Matthew 26:41). RT Kendall says, “You prove how strong you are not by how you cope when being tempted, but by seeing how far you can get from temptation.”

    Let this prayer of David be our prayer :

Who can discern his errors?  Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

-Psalm 19:12-14 (NIV)

Idols : we have them in our lives...it's just not what we think they are...

Extracted From Crossway Blog :

Surface Idols -

The more observable of the two types of idolatry, surface idols are often easily-seen offshoots of deeper, less obvious sins. Some examples include:


• Image idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I look certain way.

• Helping idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if people are dependent on me.

• Work idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am highly productive.

• Materialism idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I have a certain level of wealth, financial freedom, and possessions.

• Inner Ring idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am part of a particular social or professional group

• Ideology idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if my political party or social cause is in or gaining power.

Source Idols -

The more subversive idols are the ones that drive all the other types of idolatries in our lives. They include:

• Comfort idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I experience a certain quality of life or a particular pleasure.

• Approval idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am loved and respected by ________.

• Control idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if I am able to get mastery in my life over a certain area.

• Power idolatry- Life only has meaning / I only have worth if have power and influence over others.

Beautiful in Its Time: A Story of Perception - Blog - Eternal Perspective Ministries

    What happens when a famous and brilliant violinist exchanges the concert hall stage for a small space in a subway station lobby? Will people recognize him? Will they stop and appreciate the beautiful music?

Here's some thoughts from Randy Alcorn :

Beautiful in Its Time: A Story of Perception - Blog - Eternal Perspective Ministries


Also here's the Washington Post story about the violinist and the results of this very interesting experiment.

Pearls Before Breakfast

Early and Modern Church History Heroes of Faith

    There is nothing quite like The Church History ABCs (Crossway) by Stephen J. Nichols and Ned Bustard. For each alphabet, a story is told about a famous figure in church history whose name begins or ends with that letter - 26 heroes of faith from A to Z. The book is a mix of trivia, history, and vocabulary lessons, sprinkled with a dose of humor.

    My 9 year old son was at first attracted with the illustrations and started flipping through the pages. As he got to letter P (St. Patrick), he said "Oh, this is the guy in Veggie Tales!" That's about the extent of my son's knowledge in church history. I confess that I have not spent much time studying this subject either. So I only know little about these heroes of the Christian faith that have lived in early and recent church history. Certainly,a parent like me can learn from and do a lot with this book.

    The back contains a brief biography and details that help explain the sometimes odd illustrations. For example, Jonathan Edwards is drawn wearing a Native American headpiece and eating a Hershey chocolate bar. Why? And what's up also with the reference to spiders in his write-up? Answer is in the back of the book.

    The book's design and illustration is well-suited for 3 to 6 year olds. The stories and historical lessons in the write-ups are probably more suited for 7-12 year olds who are reading to learn rather than learning to read. My kids are in this age bracket so I used this book as a starting point for them to learn more about a famous figure in church history. The part about Jane Grey for instance, deserved a little more look-up beyond the book so we googled Jane Grey and learned some English history in the process. This is a unique children's book that would be a valuable addition in any home library. Supplementary activities can also be found at this website. More importantly, this book will help young hearts to know more about Jesus Christ and will spur discussions about faith.

    Until last weekend, I really did not comprehended the value of reading about church history and prominent church figures. Illumination came as I was listening to Burk Parsons during the Sunday morning devotional at the 2010 Desiring God National Conference. He shared his thoughts on this familiar passage in Hebrews :

 ¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.   -Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)

    This great cloud of witnesses, aka heroes of the faith, serve as great examples for the living. Their stories tell about their own personal race and how they finished well. Following their lead, we must also throw away besetting sin that wraps itself on us, causing us to stumble. We learn how they endured suffering and persecution by focusing on Jesus who is the author and perfecter of their faith. So for me, the value in studying their lives is that it points my eyes to Jesus Christ and the cross and keeps my eyes off my sinfulness. Thus, Hebrews 11 points us to Abel, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and David, etc., but this great cloud of witnesses would surely also count Augustine, Hippolytus, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Patrick, John Newton and countless others among them.

Day 2 Conference Thoughts

Quick thoughts on Day 2:

1. From RC Sproul : For many centuries, philosophers have searched for answers on the question of life and why we exist. Ideas from Greek philosophers only resulted to idolatry - worship of false gods (Acts 16:17-21).  Life makes sense only when it's meaning is based on the objective reality that is God. When we eliminate God from the answer, nothing makes sense and the answers that man can conjure up only lead to falsehood. I believe that this remains true to this day. Modern answers to life questions also lead to idolatry.

2. From Thabiti Anyabwile :  It is crucial that we become good thinkers as we engage the world with the gospel. We are to be shrewd as snakes but innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). This is how we must deal with Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and even athiests. Becoming shrewd with the world requires a lot of thinking. As we witness, we are not to fear men (Matthew 10:26) because when fear takes control, thinking stops and we cease becoming shrewd.

3. From Al Mohler : Our unrighteousness suppresses truth (Romans 1:16-32). It is not out of ignorance that men do not know God. It is out of their own will for the will is the engine of the intellect.  It is not what we do not know but what we will not know.  In other words, ignorance is not an excuse. So we have no excuse that God did not reveal himself to us. God gives us a conscience as a pointer to his existence. Our will can change what our conscience reveals. We only believe what we want to believe because our will warps our intellect. Sin is, in a sense, a state of intellectual emptiness.

4. From Francis Chan : Knowledge is important but not sufficient. If we possess knowledge but lack love, then it is empty (1 Corinthians 8:1-3). We can be right in theology but be very wrong in front of God because that knowledge does not lead us to a life that loves our brother. Francis, shared this verse that stuck to me:

Thus says the LORD:"Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."  - Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV)

Lord, I pray that in my life I will know you truly and that you will know me.

Day 1 Conference Thoughts

Quick takeaways from the 2010 Desiring God Conference :

1. The theme was Think : the Life of the Mind and the Love of God. John Piper describes it this way,

"We often pit thinking and feeling against each other, especially when it comes to Christian experience. Glorifying God with our minds and hearths, however, it no either-or, but both-and. Focusing on the life of the mind will help you to know God better, love him more, and care for the world."

The mind is so crucial that it is a spiritual battleground. Satan puts our minds in darkness, but through Jesus Christ our minds (not our eyes) are able to see the glory of God. So the mind then must be brought into to obedience to Christ, must be conformed to Christ, so that the heart will follow Christ and find its delight and joy in God. So be thinking and pondering God and his Word all the time. Gain knowledge, not to be puffed up, but rather use it as a means know and love Christ truly.

2.  God reveals his glory and his personality through his creation. However, that is not enough to know God. God further reveals himself through words. In the gospel of John, Jesus is called the Word. Jesus, in his humanity, is God revealed before our eyes. According to author ND Wilson, this is so amazing that it's like a true fantasy novel. The big, poweful, Creator, stooping so low by becoming human in order to reveal himself and his glory to insignificant creatures. ND Wilson says for us to ponder on the sweeping story of the gospel. Know the heroes, the villains, the troubles and misery, and the glorious ending of God's redemption story.

3. Tullian Tchividjian says that the gospel is not just for people to come into faith in Jesus Christ. The gospel is also for Christians.  We err when our motivation to obey Jesus Christ is so that we can earn grace. Following Christ in obedience is an outcome of the radical grace that we experience through the gospel message.  

4. Rick Warren's message is summarized by the acrostic THINK.

Test every throught.
Helmet your head (with the helmet of salvation).
Imagine great thoughts (thoughts about triune God and his glory, dream what God dreams, vision)
Nourish a godly mind
Keep on learning