Grace, Sin and Righteousness

Reading through Paul Tripp's twitter feed has been a massive blessing. Here are a few of what I think are his best tweets...

• If the righteousness of Christ is my hope, then I am freed from any need to polish and display my own.

• Christ fulfilled the law's requirement, not so you would be a law breaker, but one who celebrates the grace that enables you to keep it.

• The greatest threat to the church isn't atheism or materialism, but moralism that celebrates a righteousness that doesn't come from Christ.

• Admitting you are a sinner means running from your tendency to defend, excuse, or shift the blame for what God clearly says is wrong.

• Why is legalism dangerous? It makes you think you're more righteous than you are and that you don't need grace as much as you do.

New Year, Same Resolution

Happy New Year to everyone who reads/glances/scrolls through these posts! It's that time of the year when people make an extra effort to make a fresh start and turn over a new leaf. We call it making a New Years Resolution, but often these resolutions don't work. This is all because we look to the resolution for power to keep it. This is one of the big mistakes that lots of people make (including me) with the Christian life. We look at the law and think to ourselves 'God wants me to do this or that. So I need to try really hard to do what he wants'. We treat God's standards like a resolution, we look for power to keep the law in the law, we look for strength to be a good Christian from the commands. Again and again we find we aren't living in a Christian way because we look to the wrong source for our and strength power. The Christian life is a life of faith (Hab 2:4). The way to live according to God's ways is by faith. What does that mean? 'Faith' doesn't really mean anything until we describe what we have faith in. This is how Paul sums up the Christian life:

'The life which I know live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved my an gave Himself for me'

Galatians 2:20

Paul wants us to know that the only way to for God is by faith. And that faith needs to be faith in the gospel. It's faith in the fact that the God-man was slaughtered in my place and for my sin. But not only that. Paul also wants us to know that His bloody death is the greatest indicator of God's love. Jesus death means God's love. But not only in a general sense. We need to have an impression of His love on our hearts. We need to see and be amazed that He gave Himself for us and you individually. We need to see that God's love is wonderfully personally and beautifully individual, whilst being at the same time collective.

So according to Paul the Christian life is empowered by a realisation of God's love shown in Jesus. If I'm to do anything Christian in my life- if I'm to love my neighbour, help the poor, serve my city, kill sin- I need to believe the gospel to greater degree everyday. The extent to which I believe the gospel is the extent of the empowering I receive to live God's way.

My resolution for 2010 and (continuing resolution for every year to come) is reflected in Ephesians 3:17-19

'that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.'

The Cross Hurts Proud People

"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." What does it mean to be crucified with Christ? I think it means this: First, that the gruesome death of the all-glorious, innocent, loving Son of God for my sin is the most radical indictment of my hopeless condition imaginable. The crucifixion of Jesus is the open display of my hellish nature. And, second, when I see this and believe that he really died for me, then my old proud self which loves to display its power by climbing ladders of morality and intellect and beauty and daring dies. Self-reliance and self-confidence cannot live at the foot of the cross. Therefore, when Christ died, I died.'

-John Piper

Loving to Obey

Below are notes from a talk I gave at Olivet English Language School last Tuesday. Comments and criticisms are encouraged!

Deuteronomy 8:1,6-10
1 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.
6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.

Deuteronomy is a collection of sermons written by Moses for the 2nd generation of Israelites. The situation is like this: the first generation of Israelites have been released by God from Egypt - from the bondage of slavery in that land for as a nation for 430 years to the liberation of serving Yahweh.

Moses led the people with divine authority out of Egypt through the red sea and all the way to Sinai to receive the law. On the way they take a diversion through the wilderness for 40 years, complaining, grumbling and sinning against the Lord. And the Lord wipes the first generation of Israelites he destroys them. This book (the fifth book of Moses) is designed to stir up the second generation to obey God and take the Promised Land by looking back at some of the faults of the first generation.

Why should we want to obey God? What motivates us to obey?
Grace- God free love to sinners like us who don’t deserve it at all.
There are 2 types of grace that make us want to obey God:

1) Past Grace:
In Exodus 20 God says:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me….’

God entices the people to obey because He is God and He’s brought them out of slavery. He’s done so much for them. He’s been so good to them. He’s loved them when they deserved His anger.

We should want to obey because we can see change in our life. We hated God now we love Him- God did that! God changed you. We were running to Hell as God’s enemy. Now we can’t wait to get to Heaven to be with our Father forever!

God has given us the Holy Spirit and through the Holy Spirit we get gifts. We get comfort, we get led, we get taught. We get power to kill sin in our life.

2) Promised Grace:
Look at verses 8:6-10
6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.
7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;
9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.

The Israelites were promised Canaan and encouraged to obey because God was giving them a good land, it’s a beautiful land. In verse 7 Moses describes it with commodities that are precious and expensive. This is the inheritance that Christians –not because we’re good, only because Jesus is good!

God’s got a wonderful place for us. He’s prepared it Himself. He’s going to collect us Himself so that we can be with Him forever.
And the best thing about this place is Himself.
We’ll be observing and enjoying His own dazzling beauty forever. We’ll be looking at His indescribable glory forever.
We’ll be beholding our God and making a loud noise of praise to Him forever.

In heaven we have ‘an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved for [us]’ (1 Peter 1:4).
Thinking about Heaven ignites our hearts to want to obey God.

So what is obedience?
Obedience is the proper reaction to Grace. Obedience looks at the goodness of God and says ‘tell me what to do and I’ll do it because I love you.’

The last phrase ‘I’ll do it because I love you’ is really important.
Because If you ‘do the right stuff’ without having a heart for God- a heart that desires God and see God as beautiful then God does not accept what you do as obedience.

Obedience is never outward acts. Everything has to be done with a love for God and a joy in Him. It has to be delight more than duty. Joy is our duty!

The Pharisees obeyed, they did all the right stuff and Christ said:’ These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honour Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.’ (Matt 15:8).

Obedience is the heart-felt reaction to grace. We love Him because He first loved us! (John 4:19)

In Deuteronomy 7:7-8 God shows His love to the Israelites. He affirms that He is for them.
‘The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.’

God’s love doesn’t consider the ability of a person-
God’s love simply loves for one reason: love! God chooses to love.

God chose to love Israel over other nations God chooses to love us. He didn’t have to-He could have given us what we deserve: Hell- he didn’t He’s gracious and kind.
God chose to love us because He chose to!

The Context of Obedience is Love-
Obedience has to come from a heart of love because obedience is a reaction to Grace.

1) Love makes obedience enjoyable- it becomes a pleasure
Before I was saved I though of obedience as a word that was against me. God was trying to make me unhappy by getting me to obey him.
When I was saved everything that was boring to me became a joy.
His word became enjoyable to me!
Psalm 119:24 ‘Your statues are my delight’.

What makes you read your Bible? Because you know you should or because you love it? Because someone has told you to or because you know that scripture is ‘more to be desired than gold’ (Psalm 19:10)? This book is better than gold!

Jeremiah says: ‘You words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me my joy and rejoicing of my heart’ (15:16).

2) Love makes obedience liberating – it’s not a burden
‘For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.’ (1 John 5:3).
Keeping God’s commandments used to feel restrictive- they stopped me from doing what I really wanted to do!
Now they are liberating and wonderful- it’s great to obey God and do what He wants!

1 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe,
that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.

What does God want from us?
God wants universal obedience – ‘Every commandment’
We should obey all the commandments. He wants us to submit every area of our life to Him- Jesus needs to be Lord over all that we are and do.

God wants exact obedience – ‘be careful to observe’
We need to be constantly re-examining ourselves and asking: ‘is this right in God’s eyes?’ ‘Am I doing His will?’

Obedience brings blessing through the promise – life, multiplication, and possession –‘that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.’
1) Obedience shows us that we are God’s children
If obeying God is a reaction to grace then when we obey God we are preaching to the world: ‘God has worked in this soul’.

In John 14:23 Jesus says: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him.’

John 14:15 ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments.’

2) Obeying God allows us to enter into a greater fullness of God in this life.
When we live a life that is obedient in every area we experience more of God.

If we don’t love to pray we miss out on more of God
If we don’t enjoy church we miss out on more of God
If we don’t read and study scripture with passion we miss out on more of God
If we don’t have Christian friends to help and support us we miss out on more of God

Be Careful:
Obedience doesn’t save.
If you’re not a Christian then you need to know that doing the right thing never gets anyone into Heaven – it only gets people further into Hell.
Obedience doesn’t make God say ‘Oh you’re doing well.’ We can’t please God like that. Everything good that we try and do for God is filthy rags in His eyes- disgusting and horrible.
God doesn’t want to see all your goodness because you’re not good. We’re filthy, dirty sinners.

The beauty is that one man obeyed perfectly. One man did everything right in God’s eyes. And the amazing thing is He didn’t do what was right so that He could get to God. He did it so that we can get to God. Jesus Christ chose to give the perfection that He earnt (from His perfect life) to whoever wants it.
You must come broken- admit to God that you can’t please Him- you’re a sinner. Then thank God that God loves sinners and is willing to forgive you of every sin- everything that you’ve ever done wrong in His eyes.

Obedience to God shows that grace is working; obedience never wins God to bless us.
If you put your trust in Christ- if you believe that God became a man and died for you then God is for you. And God will give you power to obey like Jesus Christ did.

The Modern Face of Antinomianism: Looking at Antinomianism

Here are my notes from the second session of the conference 'The Modern Face of Antinomianism' by Richard Barcellos. I have entitled this session 'Looking at Antinomianism'. Notes from the first session are here.

Romans 3:31: ‘Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary we establish the law.’

The aim of the session is to answer two questions:
1) What is antinomianism?
2) What does antinomianism look like today?

1) What is antinomianism?
i) Literal meaning = ‘against law’

ii) Theological meaning:
‘The doctrine that it is not necessary for Christians to preach and obey the moral law of the OT.’
‘…the doctrine that the moral law is not binding upon Christians as a rule of life. In a wider sense it is applied to the views of fanatics who refuse to recognise any law but their own subjective law.’
‘A term used to characterise believers in the early church who thought that faith in Jesus Christ allows sin.’

iii) Degree’s of Antinomianism
2 types:
Practical/radical antinomianism. This is where someone promotes a sinful lifestyle under the banner of grace. It can be a form of Christian mysticism where it is said that the Holy Spirit guides the life as obedience.
Doctrinal/theological antinomianism. These people may claim that the law of Christ is better (has a greater degree of excellency) than the law of Christ. These people deny the third use of the moral law (see below).

The three uses of the law according to Calvin:
To point out our sin
To restrain public evil
To rule the life of the believer

2) What does antinomianism look like today?
New Covenant Theology is doctrinally antinomian. This does not mean that the New Covenant Theologians live a life of sin! Some NCT have a high view of the Lords’ day.

Some might say that only those commandments that are repeated in the NT are those to be obeyed.
NCT tends to be fuzzy about its position over the moral law. Don Carson has some affinity with NCT but he hasn’t fully described as such a theologian. Gregg Welty when writing on the Sermon on the Mount critiques Carson for some of his views.
NCT’s place a wedge between the moral law and the law of Christ. NCT’s say that the Sabbath is abolished in Christ.

We must make a distinction between particular laws and moral laws. In other words the law commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son was a particular law. It had a limited scope and was only intended for Abraham. The law is not of the moral type (I’m not implying that it was immoral in the context). The moral law (the 10 commandments) is for all people at all times everywhere!

The civil law was a positive law for a particular people at a particular time. It was meant for the Israelites at that time as a benefit for them. Our mediator is Christ not Moses. We don’t go look at the ceremonies for revelation about God. We look to Christ!

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are not moral laws. They are particular laws for this time.

NCT confuse categories but not being particular with the use of the term ‘moral’.

NCT are not stupid. The historical reformed position is complicated and is partly created by implications of scripture. Meaning it is easy to reject.

The ground of our justification includes procured righteousness. This righteousness Adam never attained. Christ did attain it and gave it to us!

NCT sometimes have unclear views of Jeremiah 31:33 ‘my law’.
They claim that this law is the ceremonial and civil.

NCT’s accuse CT’s of having a narrow view of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is a creation ordinance. The Sabbath was kept (by God!) before the 10 commandments were given.
The Sabbath is prophesied in Isaiah 56. The Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath. Christ kept the Sabbath and did not dismiss it.

NC Sabbath:
We remember He rose again on the Sabbath day
We look forward to the eternal state of rest.

The closest thing to the eternal Sabbath is the current Sabbath! Use it in happiness!

The Modern Face of Antinomianism: Looking at the Law

Yesterday I had the privalege of gong to Crawley to hear (nearly-doctor) Richard Barcellos speak on the use of the 10 commandments in the Christian Life.

The two lectures given addressed the issue of antinomianism. Literally the word means 'against law'. It's implications are that the moral law is not a binding rule for the Christian today. Barcello argued that the law is applicable today as it was for the Old Testament believers. Not that we attain our righteousness by the law. No, we receive righteousness through faith in Christ. But that the breaking any of the ten commandments is seen as sin in the eyes of God (1 John 3:4).

Here are my notes from the first session: Looking at the Law
1) Through the Baptist Confession of Faith (BCF)
2) Through Calvin
3) Through Scripture

1) Through the BCF

BCF 4:2 after words ‘having law of God written’ there’s a reference to Rom 2:14-15.
This text proves that there is somewhat a law written on the natural mans heart.

God wrote the basic elements of the 10 commandments on the hearts of Adam and Eve. After the fall our constitution changes although the revelation of the law gets through. This is the law that the religious man tries to satisfy (wrongly).
Law written on the hearts = the natural law.
A and E also received a positive law: ‘don’t eat from the fruit of the tree’. Obedience to this law can win Adam into a immutable state.
The obedience of Adam could have attained our righteousness

Adam and Eve transgressed the positive and moral law.
BCF 6:1
BCF 19:1-5 God gave Adam a law of universal obedience.
The moral law transcends covenants and cultures because it is originally written on our hearts at creation.

Jews got the law revealed to them on their heart and in the tablet.
Christians get the law via the scriptural canon, the natural heart, and at regeneration.

Moral law = the inscription of the natural law.
Natural law = the law on the heart.

The moral law is an administration of the natural law.

The fundamental law of the OC = the same law written on the hearts of men.
Besides this law God gives ceremonial and judicial laws to point to Christ.

2) Through Calvin

Calvin is not clear on some of the questions concerning the 4th commandment although it is clear that he believed in the law after creation as creation write the 10 commandments on the heart.

General rev = law on the hearts
Special rev = the 10 commandments

Calvin believes all 10 of the 10 commandments are relevant for Christians. See the institutes.
On Gen 2:3 Calvin comments that the creation Sabbath is incorporated into the NC.

According to Calvin the Sabbath is:
A day of public worship
A day of rest for servants

Calvin wasn’t clear on the absolute necessity of worshipping on the first day.

3) Through Scripture

This passage is evidently a prophecy of NT life.
Whenever ‘My law’ is used in Jeremiah it always refers to a law that had been previously revealed by God to Israel (6:19, 9:13, 16:11, 26:4, 31:33, 44:10).
Everyone in this covenant will have the same redemptive privileges.
God wrote the law explicitly with His finger (Exodus 31:18).
See 2 Corinthians 3:3 for a fulfilment of Exodus 31:18 and Jeremiah 31:31-33.
The 10 commandments don’t need to be repeated as they pre-date the OC and are based on creation.

Romans 13:8 proves that all commands for Christians can be summed up by love.
The commandments can be reduced to there bare essential elements see Romans 7:7.

It is the essence of the commandment that is morally binding not a particular form in which the commandment is expressed.

Notes from the 2nd session to be uploaded soon. Books by Barcellos

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

Why the commandments are good

1) Commandment keeping indicates a submission to God's authority and reverence to His word.

2) The commandments are the written representation of the character of God.

3) Keeping commandments is all about faith (Romans 14v23 with 1 John 3v4)

4) Keeping commandments is all about faith working through love towards God. (Romans 13v10)

5) God keeps the commandments. (Psalm 25v8)

6) The commandments make us depend on God for the Spirit (Psalm 119v10)

7) The law brings conviction of sin that leads to conversion. (Psalm 19v7a)

8) The psalmist enjoyed the commandments (Psalm 119v47)

9) Commandments make the heart rejoice (Psalm 19v8a)

10) Keeping the commandments makes society a good place to be (Psalm 33v12)

Other things about the commandments:

1) The law can never make us acceptable before God as it becomes 'weak through the flesh' (Romans 8v3). Therefore it can't be viewed as a list to earn God's pleasure.

2) The Christian should keep the law to glorify God by faith (working through love) to express the pleasure of God's perfection. Christ fulfilled the law and claimed that it was still applicable (Matt 5v18).

3) Christ's perfect obedience to the law (His righteousness) has been transferred to every Christian by faith (Rom 5v1 with 2 Cor 5v21).

4) The implications of 3) give that every Christian has a righteousness which exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees. This means that every Christian is entitled to the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5v20) :-)

Note: The words 'commandment' or 'law' always refers to the moral law (the 10 commandments) in this post

The Law of the Lord is perfect...

Following yesterdays thoughts on the law:

'It is no small matter then to understand rightly what the law is, and what is the true use and office thereof... we reject not the law and works, as our adversaries do falsely accuse us...

We say that the law is good and profitable, but in his own proper use: which is first to bridle civil transgressions, and then to reveal and to increase spiritual transgressions.

Wherefore the law is also a light, which shows and reveals, not the grace of God, not righteousness and life; but sin,death, the wrath and judgement of God... the law, when it is in his true sense, doth nothing else but reveal sin, engender wrath, accuse and terrify men, so that it brings them to the very brink of desperation. This is the proper use of the law, and here it hath an end, and it ought to go no further.'

Martin Luther

NWA Reflections

Well I'm safely back from F-welly (Pwllheli to the welsh) after having an awesome time at New Word Alive.

Terry Virgo started the conference preaching from the last half of Romans 5. His theme was Treasuring Christ and Grace. I constantly need to be reminded that there is now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, only everlasting joy! I think it was Luther who said that the default mode of mans heart is works. In other words we naturally believe that our works effect our standing before Him. As a result of this we either become proud or full of guilt.

Terry showed us that we are completely righteous. Our justification in Christ is not based on our achievements. Our acceptance with Christ is not altered by how sinful we feel. Justification is founded on the declaration that God has made as a result of His Son's perfect obedience.

He then went on to expound Romans 5v14b: 'You are not under law but under grace'. Terry suggested that the believer is without relationship to the law. His sermon seemed to imply antinomianism as he didn't clearly define that Rom 5v14b is speaking about the believers relationship with the law in terms of obeying it for salvation. We don't keep the law for righteousness. I believe this is the meaning Paul is conveying by saying that we have died to the law.

I think some may have misunderstood Terry's sermon to imply that the law is without use today or we do not need to obey it. Scriptures like 1 Tim1v8: 'the law is good if one uses it lawfully' also Psalm 19v 7+8: 'The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul' on the surfacem, seem to contradict what he said.

Carson went through 1 John in the morning Bible readings. These were very good. He really showed us the passion of John when writing against the Gnostic's. The epistle opens with John's affirmation of the humanity of Jesus. It's powerful to ponder over the greatness of our God being 'contracted to a span' all for us. That we might have life, and as John says that our 'joy may be complete'!

Carson is cool. I like his preaching style. It's down to earth but yet powerful and proclamational. As Carson was preaching I was reminded of the power of true doctrine saturated with love. John is writing against rampant heresy but he focuses so much on the love of God. He challenges us to love one another to a greater extent than we can imagine!

More to follow...

Photo: Ian Davidson

Fly with the Gospel

Run, John, run, the law commands

But gives us neither feet nor hands,

Far better news the gospel brings:

It bids us fly and gives us wings.

John Bunyan