by HARVEYOPP | Jun 17, 2014 | Scott Henry
“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing” … “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise” (Psalm 100).
A mark of a true believer is a delight in the worship of God. What about you? Do you wake up on Sunday morning rejoicing to go to worship or is it a burden to you? Would you rather stay home and sleep or go to the ball game on Sunday morning? What about you young people? What do you think when Mom or Dad wakes you up on Sunday morning and says, “Get ready for church”? Would you rather be at the shopping mall or home watching TV? Do you rejoice or do you mumble and groan when you hear the word “church”?
You see, how you respond to worship on the Lord’s Day reveals what’s going on in your soul. And if you’d rather be some other place when the church gathers together for public worship then you reveal, at worst, an unbelieving heart, or at best, a heart of a spiritual infant. Every Sunday morning we ought to sing these words: “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.” We ought to delight to “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”
By God’s grace, believers are those being conformed into the very image of Jesus Christ. Was Jesus ever burdened by worship? Was He ever burdened to hear the Word of God? NEVER! Therefore, as believers, we ought to delight in the worship of God by hearing His word on the Lord’s Day. Parents, you must teach this principle to your children. They must learn what a great joy and wonderful privilege it is to go to a church that faithfully stands on the truth of God’s Word. If you parents don’t rejoice to worship God neither will your children! You must teach your children to cultivate a spirit of worship for the true and living God out of a thankful heart.
Today there’s such a famine for the preaching of God’s Word and a famine for the hearing of God’s Word. Too many “preachers” don’t preach the Word of God and too many church members don’t desire to hear God’s Word preached … and yet they call themselves followers of Christ? The duty of a follower of Christ is to obey His Word. Jesus said in John 10: “My sheep hear my voice and they follow Me.” And the sheep hear Christ’s voice on Sunday morning when the preacher faithfully proclaims God’s Word. Therefore, every believer has a responsibility to be in a place of worship on Sunday morning where the Word of God is faithfully preached and taught in order that they might bow their necks in faithful obedience to the God who has saved their soul by the person and work of Jesus Christ. As believers, we must be seen ‘entering into His gates with thanksgiving” and we must be heard entering “into his courts with praise.”
by HARVEYOPP | Jun 16, 2014 | Mark Snoeberger
In this post my goal is to utilize the issue of homosexuality as a case study to demonstrate that the “Jesus + Nothing = Everything” approach to sanctification is not merely an academic wrinkle, but an error of such prodigious import that it threatens the very essence of the Christian church.
American culture has apparently reached a tipping point when it comes to homosexuality. It’s OK to be homosexual now. In fact, those of us who aren’t homosexual are apparently supposed to trip all over ourselves in our affirmation of homosexuals to make up for all those years in which American consensus stood against this vice. Blah, Blah, Blech. I’m disappointed, but not particularly devastated: this kind of thing really is an inevitable result of the non-foundational, democratic, and relativist worldview that America has been cultivating for decades.
What is devastating to me, though, is some of the Christian responses to the problem that have recently been raised: applause for believers who have “come out” to unabashedly affirm (not to repent of, mind you, but to affirm) their homosexual status; gracious acceptance of and commiseration with homosexuals who sit beside us as fellow-members of the Christian church; etc. The new angle is that Christian homosexuals are a growing part of the Christian community and we need to be attentive to, not contemptuous of, their peculiar needs.
This conclusion is a necessary one if we hold to a “Jesus + Nothing = Everything,” “Preach-Justification-to-Yourself” approach to sanctification. At the point of salvation, we are told, nothing really happens to us: we still are what we were, with the only notable difference being that we have been declared righteous. If I was a thief before I was converted, I’m still a thief, but a thief saved by grace. If I was a drunkard before I was converted, I’m still a drunkard, but a drunkard saved by grace. If I was a homosexual before I was converted, I’m still a homosexual, but a homosexual saved by grace. And so forth. But this is an inaccurate explanation of the Christian experience. Note with me the following from 1 Corinthians 6:9–11:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
In these verses Paul clearly states that thieves, drunkards, and homosexuals (and a bunch of other sinner-types) will not inherit the kingdom of God. This does not mean that believers who feel acutely the temptation to steal, drink to excess, or to act homosexually are barred from heaven, but it does mean that anyone who unashamedly and persistently self-identifies as a thief, a drunkard, a homosexual, etc., is unconverted, should be excluded from membership in the Christian church, and must be handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Cor 5:5). What Paul excludes here is any possibility of the kind of sanctification in which one “comes out” about what he irremediably is and then excuses his identity by musing repeatedly on what he has been declared to be in Christ. Instead, Paul’s vision of sanctification involves the repudiation of what one once was in Adam (the old man) and the embrace of the new creation in Christ that now is (the new man).
Paul does not allow Christians to self-identify as sinners. The church is not comprised of thieves, drunkards, homosexuals, etc.; instead, the church is comprised of Christians who once were thieves, drunkards, homosexuals, etc., but who are no longer what they once were. The church is to be populated by new creatures in Christ who have become “spirit people”—people who still sin, but whose dominant trajectory of life is upward. Christians persevere in their identity as spirit people, repent when they fail to live out their new identity, and beat and enslave their bodies lest they be disqualified for the prize (1 Cor 9:27). Anyone who fails to do this will not inherit the kingdom of God. Period.
Of course we are rightly chastened by Paul’s reminder that we too were once enslaved by such sins. As such we should expect unbelievers to be thieves, drunkards, homosexuals, etc., and should treat them no differently than any other sinner—there’s nothing here to suggest that more sanitary sinners such as “the greedy” will fare any better than homosexuals at the Great White Throne. Further, we are sobered by Paul’s observation that all believers have lingering sinful tendencies (like stealing, drinking to excess, and acting on homosexual impulses) that need to be addressed with exhortation, discipline, encouragement, and love. There is no room here for sequestering particular kinds of sins as more contemptible or “yucky” than others. The church must surely learn this virtue and quickly.
But those churches who would accept sinners “as they are” (whether homosexuals or any other variety of sinner) into their memberships, and who would encourage such sinners to ponder the glories of justification rather than repent, engage in a great evil. Such acceptance violates this and every biblical text on church discipline, destroys the purity of the church by including in its ranks those who will not inherit the kingdom of God, and injures severely the witness of the people of God. The problem is not a minor one.
by HARVEYOPP | Jun 16, 2014 | Mark Jones
When one of the religious scribes asked Jesus which commandment is most important, He answered: “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:28–30). Christ essentially quoted Deuteronomy 6:4–5, thus showing that the requirement for God’s people has always been the same, and, indeed, always will be the same, even into eternity. What, then, does it mean to love God with all of one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength?
JESUS FIRST
He who answered the scribe’s question also happened to be the One who, unlike any other person since the fall, knows what it is to love God perfectly with all of His being. Jesus had one duty on earth: to love His Father. He did not merely avoid sinning while on earth, but by recognizing the Father’s presence with Him, affirmed that He “always” did what was pleasing to God (John 8:29). In fact, Jesus kept God’s commandments in order to abide in His Father’s love (John 15:10), for if He had shrunk back even once, His Father would have had no pleasure in Him (Heb. 10:38). Just as Christ said to His disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15), the Father could have said the same to Christ. Jesus kept His Father’s commandments because He loved Him. The Shema was Christ’s great confession. His heart, soul, mind, and strength were in perfect unison as He loved His Father with a perfection that should humble us to the very core of our beings.
HEART, SOUL, MIND, AND STRENGTH
The Scriptures are clear that the heart is central in loving God; we are to “keep [our] heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Prov. 4:23). Those who are good are those who have good stored up in their hearts (Luke 6:45). Purity of heart is required for those who love God and wish to worship Him (Ps. 24:4). Indeed, only those with pure hearts will see God (Matt. 5:8), whether in this life by faith or in the life to come by sight (1 John 3:2–3).
We are not only to love God with all our heart, but also with all our soul (synonymous with “spirit”). In our devotion to God, our soul is responsible for our highest spiritual exercises; it is the seat of our emotional activity. Christ’s obedience was nowhere more tested than in the garden of Gethsemane, where His soul was “very sorrowful, even to death” (Matt. 26:38). The soul expresses the sorrow and joy that inevitably accompany the life of faith (Ps. 42; 32:2). Thus, without wishing to press the distinction too far, it would seem that the “heart” relates to the will and the “soul” to the emotions.
To love God with our whole mind involves the seat of our intellectual life. However, to love God with our mind is also to love Him with the right dispositions and attitudes, those that place our intellect in strict subordination to God’s revelation of Himself, not only by thinking about Him, but by submitting our thinking to His revelation. Because of our finiteness, we will never get to a point where we have no need of learning more about God. We read in Isaiah 50:4 that God had given the “servant” (that is, Jesus) “the tongue of those who are taught,” and that “morning by morning” the servant was awakened by God to be taught. Christ’s love for God meant He applied not only His heart and soul, but also His mind. If it was necessary for Jesus to be taught so that He could love God with His mind, how much more is it necessary for His people?
To love God with all our “strength” brings together all the various elements that have been discussed so far. Our heart, soul, and mind are distinguished in the words of Christ, but they should not be thought of as three distinct and separable pieces of our natures. Just as God’s attributes cannot be divided, so these elements of our being cannot be divided. In other words, just as God’s power is His love is His wisdom is His eternality is His knowledge, and so on, our “heart” is our “soul” is our “mind” is our “strength.” To love God with all of our strength, then, is to love God with all our being, which involves the whole man, both body and soul. That explains why the word all is repeated four times by Christ (Mark 12:30). Moreover, all four commandments are prefaced by the Greek preposition ex, thus highlighting that we love God not only with our whole heart but from our whole heart.
POSSIBLE OR IMPOSSIBLE?
Certainly no one disputes that Christ loves His Father with all of His heart, soul, mind, and strength. But not all Christians are persuaded that they can approach such love. However, as Augustine famously prayed, “God give what You command and command whatever You will.” By the Holy Spirit, Christians can, in a real sense, love God. Psalm 119:34 says, “Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.” Keeping the law with the “whole heart” may be understood legally or evangelically. Legally, only Christ loved God with His whole heart because the law requires perfect conformity, of which we are incapable. Nonetheless, in an “evangelical” sense (to quote the Puritans), God, out of His love and mercy in Christ, enables us to love Him truly but imperfectly. Evangelically, our love for God is always flawed and incomplete, and we must be ever repenting of our failure to love Him fully. Still, we have love for God, while unregenerate hearts know nothing of it. If our love for God arises from a heart regenerated by His Spirit, we may be said to love God with our “whole heart,” though such love remains imperfect until our glorification.
This should be a great source of encouragement to us. Why? Because our hope is in Jesus, who fulfilled this command perfectly in our place so that we do not have to stand before God with only an imperfect love as our hope for entering heaven. Second, because of our union with Jesus, what is true of Him becomes true of us. God enables us to obey this command and love Him, albeit imperfectly, with all that we are so that God is delighted in the love He receives from His people. After all, an intense desire to love God with all of our being is the only proper response to the One who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all (Rom. 8:32).
by HARVEYOPP | Jun 12, 2014 | Scott Henry
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).
Every believer must make diligent use of the means of grace that God has given for our spiritual growth, and at the same time we must also avoid things that are harmful to our growth. The same is true in the physical world … if a farmer wants his livestock to grow healthy he feeds them good food, but he also keeps them away from poison. So also in our spiritual life … there are many things that are harmful … it’s what the Bible calls “the world, the flesh and the devil” (1 John 2; 1 Thess. 2). We must be careful who we associate with because “Evil company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33). The believer must also put away sinful activities such as sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, and things like these. We must replace these vices with the virtuous qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, truth, and righteousness.
But especially destructive to spiritual growth is the sin of the tongue: gossip, slander, and backbiting not only damages others but also ourselves. James 3:6: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.” We must speak gracious and wholesome words that promote spiritual growth, and we do this by having the love of God as the law of our tongue. Colossians 4:6: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt…”
But if we are to grow spiritually, we must also have spiritual rest. As an infant needs rest in order to grow, so also believers need rest if we are going to grow spiritually. We need to have peace of mind. We can become so restless by the trials, temptations and suffering of this life. Therefore we need to rest, and we do this by trusting that we are accepted by God on the basis of Christ’s merits and that our future is certain and secure because it rests on nothing but the blood of Jesus. Spiritual rest is trusting completely in the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf and this gives us the confidence that He will keep us safe until the end! If we are to grow spiritually we must cultivate a restful spirit through faith in Christ.
The Apostle Peter says: Grow in grace that you might stand and not be led astray by the error of the wicked. But Peter also says we must also grow because in this way God is glorified as we are conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. May God give every believer the grace to continue to grow in Jesus Christ and may we be faithful in exercising the means of grace God has given us so that we also might say with the Apostle Peter: “To God be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”
by HARVEYOPP | Jun 6, 2014 | Scott Henry
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).
Every true believer is the product of God’s grace. He is one who has been born of the Spirit of God and called to live according to the principle of grace, which now reigns in his soul. That means spiritual growth is only possible when the life of Christ has first been implanted in a person’s heart. A Christian is not just a person who is a church member that has been baptized, catechized, confirmed, and partakes of the Lord’s Supper. Important as all these things may be, they do not make a person a believer, although if you are a believer you’ll delight in doing these things! Rather a Christian is one who has been born from above by the Spirit of God and given new life in Jesus Christ. We read in Ephesians 2:4-6: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”
And out of this new life we must grow. Just as every sapling tree that is alive must necessarily grow and produce fruit, so the one who has received new life in Jesus Christ must also grow and produce good fruit. And Christian growth is not simply the piling on of external things. Christian growth is being conformed to the likeness of Christ and it reaches more and more into every area and aspect of our life by dominating our thoughts, words and deeds as the mind is being continuously renewed by the Word of God. Literally, Christian growth means to enlarge or increase in graciousness as one is being conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
This Christian growth is a vital, living, and active work of God in the believer, but it’s also gradual. It never reaches perfection in this life. The Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 114 states: “Can those who are converted to God keep these Commandments perfectly?” “No, but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of such obedience, yet so that with earnest purpose they begin to live not only according to some, but according to all the Commandments of God.” As long as we are in this world we have the remnants of sin to struggle against every day (Romans 7). And this is important to understand because many people think spiritual growth is instant, but Scripture teaches that Christian growth is gradual. Philippians 3:12: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Spiritual growth is a gradual growth through many trials, temptations, sufferings, persecutions, and just as a plant grows by taking in the sun, rain, and nutrients from the soil, so the Christian grows spiritually by feeding on the Word of God, the sacraments, prayer, and fellowship (Acts 2:42). You grow as a believer by living every day according to what you’ve learned in God’s Word.
What about you … are you growing in Christ? Is your life progressively being conformed into the likeness of Christ? You must be if you’re truly a Christian. John 15:2: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” May you truly be a fruitful branch united to the vine, Jesus Christ.
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