Set to music here.
I wrote this poem a while back and recently Roxanne Smith composed music for it. She and Richard Schletty then recorded it as a wonderful song of testimony and worship. Also, Richard took one of my guitar pieces and recorded his vocals of this poem... beautiful... take a listen.
COVERED
[inspired by Romans 3:21-31]
The blood of Christ
It covers me
The blood of Christ
He died for me
My sin taken
His life given
No condemnation
He has risen
Declared now just
No merit mine
By grace now blessed
Free gift I find
A new heart given
Faith to obey
His yoke easy
Christ led each day
God of heaven
Savior He
This soul, blood-sealed
Eternally.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
"Reckoning ourselves to be..." in the church
An encouragement to find and join a church where the Word of God is rightly preached and the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper are rightly administered:
Paul has spent the first five and a half chapters of Romans declaring what is true concerning God's moral and written Law, about man's sinful condition and utter lack of righteousness. He has made that case that both Jews and Gentiles are shut up before the Law and are under the sentence of death (2:12, 3:19). For "by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." (3:20) And starting with 3:21 Paul trumpets the good news of justification by faith in Christ:
John Stott writes in his Romans commentary concerning this new "reign of grace":
So now back to the verse at the start of this post, "even so consider (reckon, recall, remember, bring to mind) yourselves..." Paul is emphatically stating that it is inconceivable, having died to sin i.e. to it's dominion and penalty, that we should return and again submit ourselves as slaves to unrighteousness. And as I ponder this admonition it becomes obvious that this remembering and reckoning of ourselves in light of Christ's cross is the very heart of the work of the church. Together we are to so reckon ourselves through the reminding of each other, the encouraging each other, recalling to each other that which is true. And this, I really think is why there can be no such thing as a lone Christian.
Daily we battle against our sinful-self inclinations, all too often willingly embracing them. We have seen the enemy and the enemy is us, to quote Pogo. So by ourselves we too easily succumb to discouragement and even despair, often losing sight of why the good news is really good... "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness." And if not discouragement, we can lapse into the false security of self-righteousness by adhering to a select performance of outward measures, as if those acts could atone for our sin and save us. No we need something more for this life.
We need the preaching and teaching of His Word in Spirit and in truth, which creates and strengthens the eyes of faith beholding Christ. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). We need nourishment for our hearts and souls by partaking of His body and blood in the Lord's Supper as we remember and recall His death on the cross for our sins. And we need edification, confession, forgiveness through the worship and prayers of the church... singing to one another with "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." God gives all this to His people through the visible, locatable church, the communion of saints.
Sources:
Romans Commentary by John Stott
NASB
King James Bible
Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.Finally after setting forth all the bad news of man's sinful condition deserving of God's wrath and the wonderful good news of God's grace in Christ, Paul addresses the believers with the indicative of Romans 6:11. "So consider yourselves... reckon yourselves..." We are to consider, reckon, recall, remember, fix our minds, i.e. believe on that which has been accomplished for us by God through Christ's death and resurrection.
Paul has spent the first five and a half chapters of Romans declaring what is true concerning God's moral and written Law, about man's sinful condition and utter lack of righteousness. He has made that case that both Jews and Gentiles are shut up before the Law and are under the sentence of death (2:12, 3:19). For "by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." (3:20) And starting with 3:21 Paul trumpets the good news of justification by faith in Christ:
21-But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22-even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23-for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24-being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;Paul extends his discourse of righteousness by faith into chapters 4 and 5, showing that our justification and salvation are by grace alone in Christ alone. "'Tis mercy all, immense and free." (And Can It Be That I Should Gain - by Charles Wesley)
John Stott writes in his Romans commentary concerning this new "reign of grace":
“Grace forgives sins through the cross, and bestows on the sinner both righteousness and eternal life. Grace satisfies the thirsty soul and fills the hungry with good things. Grace sanctifies sinners, shaping them into the image of Christ. Grace perseveres even with the recalcitrant, determining to complete what it has begun. And one day grace will destroy death and consummate the kingdom. So when we are convinced that grace reigns’, we will remember that God’s throne is a ‘throne of grace’, and will come to it boldly to receive mercy and to find grace for every need.”As we are brought to the beginning of chapter 6 Paul once again addresses the charge that hounded his ministry, that his gospel of grace encourages not only a lax attitude to godly living but actually encourages believers to sin in order that grace would abound even more.
2-May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3-Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?...Chapter 6 teaches that sin no longer has claim upon us, for we died and rose in Him. His death to sin is effectual for us (in the likeness of His death). And His resurrection is effectual for us unto our justification before God. His perfect obedience is accounted to us (in the likeness of His resurrection) and we are now justified through faith in Him and His finished work on our behalf. United with Christ through baptism we come to share in the benefits of His death, burial, and resurrection. "In the likeness of His death.... shall also in the likeness of His resurrection." No longer under the reign of sin which leads to death, we are under grace, creating in us a repentant gratitude which leads to righteousness. So much for the charges leveled by Paul's critics.
7-for he who has died is freed [justified] from sin.
So now back to the verse at the start of this post, "even so consider (reckon, recall, remember, bring to mind) yourselves..." Paul is emphatically stating that it is inconceivable, having died to sin i.e. to it's dominion and penalty, that we should return and again submit ourselves as slaves to unrighteousness. And as I ponder this admonition it becomes obvious that this remembering and reckoning of ourselves in light of Christ's cross is the very heart of the work of the church. Together we are to so reckon ourselves through the reminding of each other, the encouraging each other, recalling to each other that which is true. And this, I really think is why there can be no such thing as a lone Christian.
Daily we battle against our sinful-self inclinations, all too often willingly embracing them. We have seen the enemy and the enemy is us, to quote Pogo. So by ourselves we too easily succumb to discouragement and even despair, often losing sight of why the good news is really good... "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness." And if not discouragement, we can lapse into the false security of self-righteousness by adhering to a select performance of outward measures, as if those acts could atone for our sin and save us. No we need something more for this life.
We need the preaching and teaching of His Word in Spirit and in truth, which creates and strengthens the eyes of faith beholding Christ. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). We need nourishment for our hearts and souls by partaking of His body and blood in the Lord's Supper as we remember and recall His death on the cross for our sins. And we need edification, confession, forgiveness through the worship and prayers of the church... singing to one another with "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." God gives all this to His people through the visible, locatable church, the communion of saints.
Hebrews 10:We are comforted and strengthened, growing into His likeness during this sojourn on earth by these very God instituted ordinary means of grace, Word and Sacrament. And as His people assembling together in the church, we find that that which we indeed deserve, the wages of our sin which is death, we do not receive. Rather we are given what we do not deserve, the free gift of God - eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
23-Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24-and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25-not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Sources:
Romans Commentary by John Stott
NASB
King James Bible
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Paul versus James: Justification and Works...
I have been reading a very edifying and helpful book by Ashley Null, Thomas Cranmer's Doctrine of Repentance: Renewing the Power to Love. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the theological thought process Thomas Cranmer went through as he sought to bring the Church of England into a reformed and Scriptural faith and practice.
In an earlier post I wrote concerning the relationship of our justification by faith in Christ to our works of sanctification. Do our works play any meritorious role in our justification? Some would say yes. Certainly this is the official position of the Roman Catholic Church. Others such as N.T. Wright and those of the Federal Vision persuasion likewise blur the necessary distinctions between the two. Indeed, many in the Evangelical/Protestant stream who hold to justification by faith alone can still struggle with the distinctions that are made regarding justification and works of sanctification, especially when Paul of Romans 3-5 meets James in chapter two of his epistle. It is on this question that I find what Ashley Null writes concerning Cranmer's explanation to be most helpful. Let me quote from the section entitled, Cranmer's 'Notes on Justification':
... Cranmer's fifth proposition addressed the common objection to claiming ancient authority for justification by faith, the relationship between James and Paul: 'St. James meant of justification in another sense, when he said, "A man is justified by works, and not by faith only". For he spake of such a justification which is a declaration, continuation, and increase of that justification which St. Paul spake of before.' Without any specific definition of justification as either forensic or intrinsic in 'Notes', this phrase could be construed as implying factitive righteousness. However, as in his great notebooks, Cranmer merely meant that good works which followed justification served as a testimony to that justification and an indication of the increasing inner rectitude against the infirmity of the flesh. Underneath this proposition, Cranmer recorded quotations which illustrated this point. Abraham was justified by his works in the sense that they demonstrated his faith. Paul excluded human works prior to justification, whereas James excluded the possibility that those so justified did not have to do good deeds. Finally, although good works augmented justification, they did not do so in the sense of increasing personal righteousness. Rather, good works strengthened the source of a believer's righteousness through Christ, his faith. Cranmer's reconciliation between Paul and James was consistent with Protestant thought.
This is the thrust of Paul's answer to those who claim that justification by faith apart from works is an excuse to sin even more and excludes the necessity of good works in those justified! Paul responds in part in chapter six of Romans:
11 Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof:
13 neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
In an earlier post I wrote concerning the relationship of our justification by faith in Christ to our works of sanctification. Do our works play any meritorious role in our justification? Some would say yes. Certainly this is the official position of the Roman Catholic Church. Others such as N.T. Wright and those of the Federal Vision persuasion likewise blur the necessary distinctions between the two. Indeed, many in the Evangelical/Protestant stream who hold to justification by faith alone can still struggle with the distinctions that are made regarding justification and works of sanctification, especially when Paul of Romans 3-5 meets James in chapter two of his epistle. It is on this question that I find what Ashley Null writes concerning Cranmer's explanation to be most helpful. Let me quote from the section entitled, Cranmer's 'Notes on Justification':
... Cranmer's fifth proposition addressed the common objection to claiming ancient authority for justification by faith, the relationship between James and Paul: 'St. James meant of justification in another sense, when he said, "A man is justified by works, and not by faith only". For he spake of such a justification which is a declaration, continuation, and increase of that justification which St. Paul spake of before.' Without any specific definition of justification as either forensic or intrinsic in 'Notes', this phrase could be construed as implying factitive righteousness. However, as in his great notebooks, Cranmer merely meant that good works which followed justification served as a testimony to that justification and an indication of the increasing inner rectitude against the infirmity of the flesh. Underneath this proposition, Cranmer recorded quotations which illustrated this point. Abraham was justified by his works in the sense that they demonstrated his faith. Paul excluded human works prior to justification, whereas James excluded the possibility that those so justified did not have to do good deeds. Finally, although good works augmented justification, they did not do so in the sense of increasing personal righteousness. Rather, good works strengthened the source of a believer's righteousness through Christ, his faith. Cranmer's reconciliation between Paul and James was consistent with Protestant thought.
This is the thrust of Paul's answer to those who claim that justification by faith apart from works is an excuse to sin even more and excludes the necessity of good works in those justified! Paul responds in part in chapter six of Romans:
11 Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof:
13 neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Loss...
The Christian message often produces in its hearers what could be termed a cognitive dissonance. It is replete with markers that are counter-intuitive to the normal human way of thinking and living e.g. love your enemy, turn the other cheek, forgive your brother seventy times seven...
The Psalmist writes,
But for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. - Ps. 44:22, Rom. 8:36
Jesus states in the Gospels,
"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" - Luke 9:24
Paul writes,
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9
J.C. Ryle, the 19th century Anglican minister writes:
Affliction is one of God’s medicines. By it He often teaches lessons which would be learned in no other way. By it He often draws souls away from sin and the world, which would otherwise have perished everlastingly. Health is a great blessing, but sanctified disease is a greater. Prosperity and worldly comfort, are what all naturally desire; but losses and crosses are far better for us, if they lead us to Christ. Thousands at the last day, will testify with David, and the nobleman before us, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” (Psalm. 119:71.)
And the writer in Hebrews:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
As we suffer the loss of things esteemed by the world, leaning on Him by His grace we find that for which we were created and redeemed.
LOSS
Losing what was never mine
Spectral idols tempting me
Fruitless paths and ravaged time
Companions in my misery
Fading hopes refuse decline
Distracted thoughts mocking me
Circle now this body find
A dying dream not to be
Yet ‘neath these ruins’ wasted climb
The quiet recall in memory
Reasserts the truth sublime
Through loss, life found eternally
-August 2008, Jack Miller
The Psalmist writes,
But for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. - Ps. 44:22, Rom. 8:36
Jesus states in the Gospels,
"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?" - Luke 9:24
Paul writes,
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9
J.C. Ryle, the 19th century Anglican minister writes:
Affliction is one of God’s medicines. By it He often teaches lessons which would be learned in no other way. By it He often draws souls away from sin and the world, which would otherwise have perished everlastingly. Health is a great blessing, but sanctified disease is a greater. Prosperity and worldly comfort, are what all naturally desire; but losses and crosses are far better for us, if they lead us to Christ. Thousands at the last day, will testify with David, and the nobleman before us, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” (Psalm. 119:71.)
And the writer in Hebrews:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
As we suffer the loss of things esteemed by the world, leaning on Him by His grace we find that for which we were created and redeemed.
LOSS
Losing what was never mine
Spectral idols tempting me
Fruitless paths and ravaged time
Companions in my misery
Fading hopes refuse decline
Distracted thoughts mocking me
Circle now this body find
A dying dream not to be
Yet ‘neath these ruins’ wasted climb
The quiet recall in memory
Reasserts the truth sublime
Through loss, life found eternally
-August 2008, Jack Miller
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Faith Alone? What about our works?
An email conversation with a friend has caused me to think extend my remarks begun in this post and this post.
To quote Luther:
So, too, faith comes only through the word of God, the Gospel, that preaches Christ: how he is both Son of God and man, how he died and rose for our sake. Paul says all this in chapters 3, 4 and 10.
That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law; faith it is that brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ. The Spirit, in turn, renders the heart glad and free, as the law demands. Then good works proceed from faith itself. That is what Paul means in chapter 3 when, after he has thrown out the works of the law, he sounds as though the wants to abolish the law by faith. No, he says, we uphold the law through faith, i.e. we fulfill it through faith.
And below, an interesting item from the Roman Catholic Pope Benedict. I don't think he is adopting the reformed doctrine of sola fide, but it is hard to escape the Apostle Paul's teaching in his clear words on salvation which is of faith in Christ alone and not of works, especially as found in Romans and Galatians. The Pope quotes an unlikely source:
Pope Benedict: "And to the Christians of Rome he [Paul] reasserts that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Rm 3: 23-24). And he adds "we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law" (v. 28). At this point Luther translated: "justified by faith alone". I shall return to this point..."
"Further observances are no longer necessary. For this reason Luther's phrase: "faith alone" is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love. Faith is looking at Christ, entrusting oneself to Christ, being united to Christ, conformed to Christ, to his life." from his General Audience of Nov. 19, 2008.
Me: a true and lively faith in Christ alone for our forgiveness and justification will show forth the fruit of good works born of thankfulness and charity... never perfect yet always acceptable by His grace.
and from another source:
Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us ...
It is quite telling though how quickly as believers we want to immediately move on to law after hearing this good news.
"Yeah but don't we need to obey? We do need to do good works, you know! We can't just have faith!!"
As Michael Horton has pointed out, humans identify with law and works. It is our default position. Faith and trust in Christ alone, i.e. dependence on what Christ has done through the cross, is counter-intuitive and itself a gift of grace. Paul in Rom. 3:21, after showing how all are shut up in sin under the law, introduces the good news of justification by faith with the exclamation "But now!". We hear that good news and too often instinctively ask,"Yeah, but what do I need to do?" It's as if God has only started our justification through faith in Christ and now, in order to complete it and maintain it, we need to make sure we're holding up our end of the bargain.
There are good works. But they necessarily proceed from our justification in Christ. Trusting in Christ alone for one's salvation results in a new heart (a work of the Holy Spirit) that is now alive to God and inclined toward obedience. Thus works flow from faith and thankfulness in light of his wondrous gift of forgiveness and justification. But these works (being yet imperfect) are never, partially or whole, the basis of our right standing before God. That righteous standing is secured solely on the basis of Christ's death and resurrection. So to say "by faith alone" is to say "by faith in Christ's finished work of the cross alone", i.e. being declared righteous before God because of his perfect sacrifice for our sins and his perfect obedience on our behalf for our justification. Our motive then for obedience to him is one of thankfulness, not need or fear. Paul sums up at the end of Romans chapter 3:27-31,
"Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."
Faith in Christ alone never obviates good works. Faith alone speaks of what (and Whom) the Christian depends on for his acceptance before God, for his redemption from the curse, and for 'the' - though I was lost, now I am found!
To quote Luther:
So, too, faith comes only through the word of God, the Gospel, that preaches Christ: how he is both Son of God and man, how he died and rose for our sake. Paul says all this in chapters 3, 4 and 10.
That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law; faith it is that brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ. The Spirit, in turn, renders the heart glad and free, as the law demands. Then good works proceed from faith itself. That is what Paul means in chapter 3 when, after he has thrown out the works of the law, he sounds as though the wants to abolish the law by faith. No, he says, we uphold the law through faith, i.e. we fulfill it through faith.
And below, an interesting item from the Roman Catholic Pope Benedict. I don't think he is adopting the reformed doctrine of sola fide, but it is hard to escape the Apostle Paul's teaching in his clear words on salvation which is of faith in Christ alone and not of works, especially as found in Romans and Galatians. The Pope quotes an unlikely source:
Pope Benedict: "And to the Christians of Rome he [Paul] reasserts that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Rm 3: 23-24). And he adds "we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law" (v. 28). At this point Luther translated: "justified by faith alone". I shall return to this point..."
"Further observances are no longer necessary. For this reason Luther's phrase: "faith alone" is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love. Faith is looking at Christ, entrusting oneself to Christ, being united to Christ, conformed to Christ, to his life." from his General Audience of Nov. 19, 2008.
Me: a true and lively faith in Christ alone for our forgiveness and justification will show forth the fruit of good works born of thankfulness and charity... never perfect yet always acceptable by His grace.
and from another source:
Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us ...
It is quite telling though how quickly as believers we want to immediately move on to law after hearing this good news.
"Yeah but don't we need to obey? We do need to do good works, you know! We can't just have faith!!"
As Michael Horton has pointed out, humans identify with law and works. It is our default position. Faith and trust in Christ alone, i.e. dependence on what Christ has done through the cross, is counter-intuitive and itself a gift of grace. Paul in Rom. 3:21, after showing how all are shut up in sin under the law, introduces the good news of justification by faith with the exclamation "But now!". We hear that good news and too often instinctively ask,"Yeah, but what do I need to do?" It's as if God has only started our justification through faith in Christ and now, in order to complete it and maintain it, we need to make sure we're holding up our end of the bargain.
There are good works. But they necessarily proceed from our justification in Christ. Trusting in Christ alone for one's salvation results in a new heart (a work of the Holy Spirit) that is now alive to God and inclined toward obedience. Thus works flow from faith and thankfulness in light of his wondrous gift of forgiveness and justification. But these works (being yet imperfect) are never, partially or whole, the basis of our right standing before God. That righteous standing is secured solely on the basis of Christ's death and resurrection. So to say "by faith alone" is to say "by faith in Christ's finished work of the cross alone", i.e. being declared righteous before God because of his perfect sacrifice for our sins and his perfect obedience on our behalf for our justification. Our motive then for obedience to him is one of thankfulness, not need or fear. Paul sums up at the end of Romans chapter 3:27-31,
"Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."
Faith in Christ alone never obviates good works. Faith alone speaks of what (and Whom) the Christian depends on for his acceptance before God, for his redemption from the curse, and for 'the' - though I was lost, now I am found!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Justification and Obedience
Some further thoughts of mine on justification by faith and its relationhip to obedience in Christ...
As sinners fully pardoned by God, we are nonetheless mindful of the woeful lack of any merit on our part before Him; yet ever thankful to Christ our Savior for taking upon Himself the penalty of our sin and in exchange imputing to us the merit of His perfect obedience.
Thus justified by faith in Him, we have the assurance of God’s gracious gift of unearned salvation, made effectual by the Holy Spirit who enlivens in us a true obedience (though imperfect) from a renewed heart; an obedience born not of fear or apprehension but of thankfulness and love for God.
... and a poem I wrote a couple days ago:
COVERED
[inspired by Romans 3:21-31]
The blood of Christ
It covers me
The blood of Christ
He died for me
My sin taken
His life given
No condemnation
He has risen
Declared now just
No merit mine
By grace now blessed
Free gift I find
A new heart given
Faith to obey
His yoke easy
Christ led each day
God of heaven
Savior He
This soul, blood-sealed
Eternally.
- March 4, 2010
As sinners fully pardoned by God, we are nonetheless mindful of the woeful lack of any merit on our part before Him; yet ever thankful to Christ our Savior for taking upon Himself the penalty of our sin and in exchange imputing to us the merit of His perfect obedience.
Thus justified by faith in Him, we have the assurance of God’s gracious gift of unearned salvation, made effectual by the Holy Spirit who enlivens in us a true obedience (though imperfect) from a renewed heart; an obedience born not of fear or apprehension but of thankfulness and love for God.
... and a poem I wrote a couple days ago:
COVERED
[inspired by Romans 3:21-31]
The blood of Christ
It covers me
The blood of Christ
He died for me
My sin taken
His life given
No condemnation
He has risen
Declared now just
No merit mine
By grace now blessed
Free gift I find
A new heart given
Faith to obey
His yoke easy
Christ led each day
God of heaven
Savior He
This soul, blood-sealed
Eternally.
- March 4, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Reflections on Justification
I've been teaching a study on the book of Romans and I wanted to share some thoughts regarding the heart of the gospel.
Believers, though still sinners, are amazingly declared righteous by God; a justification secured and maintained by His grace through faith in Christ alone, apart from any merit or works of our own. This imputation of righteousness is the very ground upon which we securely stand as redeemed of God and from which we, with new right-willed hearts born of the Holy Spirit, are inclined away from sin and towards true obedience of His commands, though imperfectly in this life. This justification by faith apart from works was under attack not only in the Apostle Paul's day but in Augustine's day as well. It was the central issue of the Reformation. And today, it is by and large ignored in the Church as many substitute the "by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone" for some variation of Christ plus "moral-works" or Christ plus "inward experiential-works." As in Hebrews 4:10, For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his, we who rest from our merit-base works find much benefit of comfort in this wholesome doctrine of justification by faith.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works... -Romans 4:4-6
I think the Devil can abide many things in God's Church, but certainly not believers apprehending that for which they were apprehended, as Paul sets forth.
The necessity for believers to be taught and to learn what the gospel of God's salvation is and means cannot be over stated. As Luther wrote, we need to have it daily hammered into us. All of Scripture points to and reveals this good news of God's redemption of sinners in Christ Jesus. Therefore, mining the riches of the gospel - that faith once delivered, proclaimed through God's word in His Church, and as expressed in the Creeds and various Reformed confessions - is central to knowing and following Christ.
BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. (Collect 2nd Sunday of Advent, 1928 BCP)
This good news of the Divine transaction of the cross in which Christ takes the penalty of our disobedience upon Himself and imputes to us the merit of His perfect obedience cuts against the grain of our self-regard. As Paul writes:
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. -Romans 3:26-27
It is counter-intuitive to our fallen ego-centric nature. Man instinctively looks to his deeds and his intentions for self-justification and evidence of self-merit. That is why I especially appreciate Thomas Cranmer's focus on Christ's merit and not on ours, as found in various places in the 1928 Book Of Common Prayer:
- For the precious death and merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord...
- by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood...
- not weighing our merits...
- We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy...
- by the merits of his most precious death and passion..
This is so adequately summed up in The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion - Article XI. Of the Justification of Man.
We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.
For my part - hearing, reading, marking, learning, and digesting the gospel proclaimed in Scripture is part and parcel with embracing and ever holding fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Believers, though still sinners, are amazingly declared righteous by God; a justification secured and maintained by His grace through faith in Christ alone, apart from any merit or works of our own. This imputation of righteousness is the very ground upon which we securely stand as redeemed of God and from which we, with new right-willed hearts born of the Holy Spirit, are inclined away from sin and towards true obedience of His commands, though imperfectly in this life. This justification by faith apart from works was under attack not only in the Apostle Paul's day but in Augustine's day as well. It was the central issue of the Reformation. And today, it is by and large ignored in the Church as many substitute the "by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone" for some variation of Christ plus "moral-works" or Christ plus "inward experiential-works." As in Hebrews 4:10, For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his, we who rest from our merit-base works find much benefit of comfort in this wholesome doctrine of justification by faith.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works... -Romans 4:4-6
I think the Devil can abide many things in God's Church, but certainly not believers apprehending that for which they were apprehended, as Paul sets forth.
The necessity for believers to be taught and to learn what the gospel of God's salvation is and means cannot be over stated. As Luther wrote, we need to have it daily hammered into us. All of Scripture points to and reveals this good news of God's redemption of sinners in Christ Jesus. Therefore, mining the riches of the gospel - that faith once delivered, proclaimed through God's word in His Church, and as expressed in the Creeds and various Reformed confessions - is central to knowing and following Christ.
BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. (Collect 2nd Sunday of Advent, 1928 BCP)
This good news of the Divine transaction of the cross in which Christ takes the penalty of our disobedience upon Himself and imputes to us the merit of His perfect obedience cuts against the grain of our self-regard. As Paul writes:
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. -Romans 3:26-27
It is counter-intuitive to our fallen ego-centric nature. Man instinctively looks to his deeds and his intentions for self-justification and evidence of self-merit. That is why I especially appreciate Thomas Cranmer's focus on Christ's merit and not on ours, as found in various places in the 1928 Book Of Common Prayer:
- For the precious death and merits of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord...
- by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith in his blood...
- not weighing our merits...
- We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy...
- by the merits of his most precious death and passion..
This is so adequately summed up in The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion - Article XI. Of the Justification of Man.
We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.
For my part - hearing, reading, marking, learning, and digesting the gospel proclaimed in Scripture is part and parcel with embracing and ever holding fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Senator Jim Bunning's Seminar on Deficit Spending...
This old Saturday Night Live skit really captures the heart of the issue between the Senate "spenders" and Jim Bunning's simple point that spending legislation should be funded, i.e. paid for (not to mention it's funny)...
Friday, February 26, 2010
N.T. Wright and Redeemer Church in NYC
Redeemer Church's (pastored by Tim Keller) Center For Faith and Work is hosting a talk to be given by N.T. Wright in April. I find this a disheartening bit of news given the confusion Wright has sown in some as regards the gospel of God's salvation of sinners by His grace through faith in Christ alone. Below is an email I sent to CFW expressing my concerns:
Dear fellow Christians,
I saw the bulletin note regarding the upcoming N.T. Wright speaking engagement that Redeemer is sponsoring. This troubles me, in as much as so many Christians have rightly looked to the ministry of Tim Keller and Redeemer Church. My concern regards what is the subtle change in emphasis and direction of the New Testament gospel message epitomized by Dr. Wright's innovations. I know you must be well aware of the critiques on his NPP and his less than reformed teaching on justification by faith and the righteousness of God. By sponsoring his conference, Redeemer by extension, will be seen as endorsing his errant perspective.
By the way I am a reformed Anglican, a member of one of the continuing Anglican churches in the U.S. My concern can be best highlighted by commenting on this excerpt from your web page advertising Dr. Wright's talk:
It's easy to become preoccupied with who gets into heaven; the real challenge is how we are going to live in the here and now.
Two things:
It seems this statement presents what is a false choice (as Wright oftentimes does) by suggesting that "preoccupation" with who gets to heaven and by extension 'how' - somehow precludes also focusing on how one is "to live in the here and now." The implicit message is 'don't focus on those peripheral personal salvation issues', thus weakening a Biblical teaching that one should be rightly "preoccupied" with their salvation... not in some self-centered pursuit of spirituality but by growing in our trust in Christ's death for our sins, His merit and obedience for our justification, and in a thankful obedience to His commands. Secondly, Dr. Wright's teaching advances the idea that the gospel is not about how one gets saved from sin (by grace through faith in Christ alone), rather refocusing God's purpose on building the kingdom of God here on this earth by righting wrongs and countering injustice in society. Though there are important things to be taught regarding our deeds unto others in this world, this shift in emphasis by Dr. Wright subtly moves the believer away from the gospel as it has been understood and taught by the New Testament writers, by Augustine, by the Reformers, as well as many today in the Anglican, Reformed, and Evangelical denominations.
From N.T. Wright:
"For Paul, what he means by ‘the gospel’ is not, despite some of our current usage, the description of a way of salvation... ‘The gospel’ is not, in particular, identical with the doctrine of justification. ‘The gospel’ is not itself the same thing as the revelation of God’s righteousness; that revelation takes place within the gospel, so that when the gospel is announced God’s righteousness is indeed unveiled; but ‘the gospel’ itself refers to the proclamation that Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah, is the one, true and only Lord of the world... [Paul] has presented his gospel, not as a message about how individuals get saved from sin and death, though that is of course taken for granted, but as the message about how God has brought Jew and Gentile together into one body."
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Auburn_Paul.htm
This is Wright employing (which he frequently does) straw man arguments, in order to redefine the gospel. How?... by undermining the gospel message of justification by faith - that righteousness comes through faith alone. No reformer identified "the righteousness of God" as the same thing as the gospel. As a response to Wright's wrongs - Paul did present his gospel as good news for sinners as to their salvation from sin and death precisely because it does proclaim how God in Christ justly justifies the ungodly... Paul did not take the gospel for granted, for it was constantly under assault. And no reformer presented Paul's gospel as the "message about how God has brought Jew and Gentile together into one body." But once those interpretations are subtly established, one can be moved away from the gospel of God's grace through faith in Christ's merit alone for our salvation as the heart of the Good News.
I doubt you will reconsider this event, though I wish you would. So I hope that, at least, someone will be present during the Q & A to help clarify and rectify the confusion that Dr. Wright is likely to bring with his gospel.
Dear fellow Christians,
I saw the bulletin note regarding the upcoming N.T. Wright speaking engagement that Redeemer is sponsoring. This troubles me, in as much as so many Christians have rightly looked to the ministry of Tim Keller and Redeemer Church. My concern regards what is the subtle change in emphasis and direction of the New Testament gospel message epitomized by Dr. Wright's innovations. I know you must be well aware of the critiques on his NPP and his less than reformed teaching on justification by faith and the righteousness of God. By sponsoring his conference, Redeemer by extension, will be seen as endorsing his errant perspective.
By the way I am a reformed Anglican, a member of one of the continuing Anglican churches in the U.S. My concern can be best highlighted by commenting on this excerpt from your web page advertising Dr. Wright's talk:
It's easy to become preoccupied with who gets into heaven; the real challenge is how we are going to live in the here and now.
Two things:
It seems this statement presents what is a false choice (as Wright oftentimes does) by suggesting that "preoccupation" with who gets to heaven and by extension 'how' - somehow precludes also focusing on how one is "to live in the here and now." The implicit message is 'don't focus on those peripheral personal salvation issues', thus weakening a Biblical teaching that one should be rightly "preoccupied" with their salvation... not in some self-centered pursuit of spirituality but by growing in our trust in Christ's death for our sins, His merit and obedience for our justification, and in a thankful obedience to His commands. Secondly, Dr. Wright's teaching advances the idea that the gospel is not about how one gets saved from sin (by grace through faith in Christ alone), rather refocusing God's purpose on building the kingdom of God here on this earth by righting wrongs and countering injustice in society. Though there are important things to be taught regarding our deeds unto others in this world, this shift in emphasis by Dr. Wright subtly moves the believer away from the gospel as it has been understood and taught by the New Testament writers, by Augustine, by the Reformers, as well as many today in the Anglican, Reformed, and Evangelical denominations.
From N.T. Wright:
"For Paul, what he means by ‘the gospel’ is not, despite some of our current usage, the description of a way of salvation... ‘The gospel’ is not, in particular, identical with the doctrine of justification. ‘The gospel’ is not itself the same thing as the revelation of God’s righteousness; that revelation takes place within the gospel, so that when the gospel is announced God’s righteousness is indeed unveiled; but ‘the gospel’ itself refers to the proclamation that Jesus, the crucified and risen Messiah, is the one, true and only Lord of the world... [Paul] has presented his gospel, not as a message about how individuals get saved from sin and death, though that is of course taken for granted, but as the message about how God has brought Jew and Gentile together into one body."
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Auburn_Paul.htm
This is Wright employing (which he frequently does) straw man arguments, in order to redefine the gospel. How?... by undermining the gospel message of justification by faith - that righteousness comes through faith alone. No reformer identified "the righteousness of God" as the same thing as the gospel. As a response to Wright's wrongs - Paul did present his gospel as good news for sinners as to their salvation from sin and death precisely because it does proclaim how God in Christ justly justifies the ungodly... Paul did not take the gospel for granted, for it was constantly under assault. And no reformer presented Paul's gospel as the "message about how God has brought Jew and Gentile together into one body." But once those interpretations are subtly established, one can be moved away from the gospel of God's grace through faith in Christ's merit alone for our salvation as the heart of the Good News.
I doubt you will reconsider this event, though I wish you would. So I hope that, at least, someone will be present during the Q & A to help clarify and rectify the confusion that Dr. Wright is likely to bring with his gospel.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Some thoughts on the Christian life...
Although Christians, trusting in Christ's merit alone for their justification, may sin less than before conversion, yet never are they any less a sinner.
And although Christians, recipients of a regenerate heart through the Holy Spirit, may by His grace in thankful obedience to Christ's commands exhibit the fruit of godliness on many occasions, yet never within themselves do they own inherent godliness.
Godliness and salvation are in Christ alone, received and held through faith in Christ alone by God's efficacious work of grace in our hearts. No work of merit on our part secures them nor maintains them.
And although Christians, recipients of a regenerate heart through the Holy Spirit, may by His grace in thankful obedience to Christ's commands exhibit the fruit of godliness on many occasions, yet never within themselves do they own inherent godliness.
Godliness and salvation are in Christ alone, received and held through faith in Christ alone by God's efficacious work of grace in our hearts. No work of merit on our part secures them nor maintains them.
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