The World's Ruined: Through Which Covenant-Lens?

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Through Which Covenant-Lens?

Just some questions... Could the answers indicate the covenant-lens through which you tend to view your sanctification: through the Covenant of Works (Law) or the Covenant of Grace (Gospel)?

1. Are you more conscious of your good works or your sins?

2. Are you more aware of your strengths or your weaknesses?

3. Are you more attuned to your successes or your failures?

4. Are you more acquainted with your confidence or your fears?

5. Are you more certain of your moral growth or your lack thereof?

6. Are you more familiar with your other-centeredness or your self-centeredness?

7. Are you more cognizant of a love for God or a lukewarm heart?

8. Are you more witting of the rightness of your positions or the wrongness of your attitudes?

9. Are you more up-to-date with your moral consistency or your too-oft ambivalence?

10. Are you more versed in your basic goodness or your too-oft hypocrisy?

11. Are you more alive to the comfort of your good works or Christ's finished work of the cross for you?

12. Are you more sensible to your obedience or the obedience of Christ?

13. Are you more enlightened to your love for God or God's love for you?

14. Do you see the strength of your obedience as increasing your standing with God?

15. Do you see the weakness of your of obedience as decreasing your standing with God?

Though justified by grace from the Covenant of Works through faith in Christ, isn't our fallen tendency or bent to still look at ourselves to see how we measure up (self-justify)? Can't it be said, as believers seek to walk in the direction of obedience, that sanctification is yet a slow, life-long process of removing from our eyes that lens of measuring ourselves against ourselves?... dying to the esteem of our works, our goodness, our strengths... becoming more aware of the lack of true righteousness within us?... and moving toward finding all our righteousness, indeed everything we need for salvation, in Jesus Christ and his finished work alone? For those who think I'm ignoring good works, not to worry. Exhortations to love God and neighbor are commanded and necessary, the path we walk as Christians. But is that what sanctifies? We should seek to love God and neighbor while resisting sin. But do those works make one holy? It is the power of the gospel that sanctifies. No longer under the law as a covenant of works but under the covenant of grace we find

"This whole matter of sanctification and holiness is peculiarly joined with and limited unto the doctrine, truth, and grace of the gospel; for holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing, and realizing of the gospel in our souls...

"The “law,” indeed, for certain ends, “was given by Moses,” but all “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” There neither is, nor ever was, in the world, nor ever shall be, the least dram of holiness, but what, flowing from Jesus Christ, is communicated by the Spirit, according to the truth and promise of the gospel." - John Owen. Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit

3 comments:

MarkNovember 19, 2015 at 7:01 PM
Jack, if you only had a PHD in theology, you would know that everything is a lot more "gray" than your either or questions. Since the eschaton is not yet immanent, it's always both and not yet---no antithesis. I am being of course sarcastic.

p73, Gaffin, By Faith Not by Sight—“Here is what may be fairly called a synergy but it is not a 50/50 undertaking (not even 99.9% God and 0.1% ourselves). Involved here is the ‘mysterious math’ of the creator and his image-bearing creature, whereby 100% plus 100% =100%. Sanctification is 100% the work of God, and for that reason, is to engage the full 100% activity of the believer.”
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MarkNovember 19, 2015 at 7:09 PM
Do you see the strength of your sanctification as increasing your standing with God?
Do you see the weakness of your of sanctification as decreasing your standing with God?

The Gaffin school (Mark Jones, Garcia, Tipton) do not see progress in justification but they so see progress in the efficacy of prayers and in the assurance of justification based on progress in "sanctification".

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2015/02/the-prayers-of-godly-people-av.php

http://oldlife.org/2015/02/from-dgh-on-do-some-pray-more-effectually-than-others-submitted-on-20150204-at-1215-pm

Gospel imputation is not only God counting the sins of the elect to Christ
Gospel imputation is God counting Christ’s death to the elect

Romans 6 calls this counting being “joined with Him in His death”

Romans 6:7 “a person who has died is justified from sin’s claims. We died with Christ…”

zero plus Christ’s death =grace reigns, not under the law

a million minus plus Christ’s death =grace reigns, not under the law

we cannot “multiply grace”

we cannot “increase grace”

we cannot make grace go up by sinning more

we cannot make grace go down by sinning less

Christ’s death plus grace causing us to work=not enough, under law not under grace

100 percent grace enabling me to do enough to add to what Jesus did by death is NO GRACE AT ALL

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The Mere Mercy of God

This calling of Abram is a signal instance of the gratuitous mercy of God. Had Abram been beforehand with God by any merit of works? Had Abram come to him, or conciliated his favour? Nay, we must ever recall to mind that he was plunged in the filth of idolatry; and God freely stretches forth his hand to bring back the wanderer. He deigns to open his sacred mouth, that he may show to one, deceived by Satan's wiles, the way of salvation.

But this is done designedly, in order that the manifestation of the grace of God might become the more conspicuous in his person. For he is an example of the vocation of us all; for in him we perceive, that, by the mere mercy of God, those things that are not are raised from nothing, in order that they may begin to be something.

-John Calvin, Genesis, (Banner of Truth), p. 343

"Nor the faith also does not shut out the justice of our good works, necessarily to be done afterwards of duty towards GOD (for we are most bounden to serve GOD, in doing good deeds, commanded by him in his holy Scripture, all the days of our life): But it excludes them, so that we may not do them to this intent, to be made good by doing of them. For all the good works that we can do, be imperfect, and therefore not able to deserve our justification: but our justification doth come freely by the mere mercy of God..." (Thomas Cranmer - Homily of Justification)

Justification-Sanctification/Law-Gospel

In short, I affirm, that not by our own merit but by faith alone, are both our persons and works justified; and that the justification of works depends on the justification of the person, as the effect on the cause. (John Calvin, Acts of the Council of Trent with the Antidote)

The law guides, directs, commands, all things that are against the interest and rule of sin. It judgeth and condemneth both the things that promote it and the persons that do them; it frightens and terrifies the consciences of those who are under its dominion. But if you shall say unto it, “What then shall we do? this tyrant, this enemy, is too hard for us. What aid and assistance against it will you afford unto us? what power will you communicate unto its destruction?” Here the law is utterly silent, or says that nothing of this nature is committed unto it of God: nay, the strength it hath it gives unto sin for the condemnation of the sinner: “The strength of sin is the law.” But the gospel, or the grace of it, is the means and instrument of God for the communication of internal spiritual strength unto believers. By it do they receive supplies of the Spirit or aids of grace for the subduing of sin and the destruction of its dominion… (John Owen, A Treatise of the Dominion of Sin and Grace)