Monday 25 January 2016
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Friday 22 January 2016
The Order of Salvation
by Stuart Olyott
Contents
But how are they brought into the actual enjoyment/experience/possession of salvation?
The Scriptures teach that God works in their lives, doing certain things in a certain order. The very first of these (Romans 8:28-30) is:-
CALLING
The outward call
The reason is not in the Gospel itself.
Effectual calling may be sudden, or it may be gradual, it may be accompanied by strong feelings, or it may not.
Do not assume that because you have had sudden religious experiences accompanied by deep feelings, that you have been effectually called.
Where is your faith now?
All men and women are spiritually dead.
And much modern 'Gospel preaching' is seen to be erroneous.
Christ died to save those whom His Father had given Him.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
Faith
Faith is God's gift.
Repentance is God's gift.
Repentance and faith always go together. You cannot and do not have one without the other.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
Justification is a declaration.
Imputation means that God has reckoned or credited to one person what originally belonged to another person.
"It is GOD that justified" (Romans 8:33). He declares us righteous.
Justification is an ACT completed in a moment, NOT a process which is only gradually completed.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
Not all men are the children of God - only believers.
Some things which happen to a Christian who constantly remembers his adoption
Christ died to save those whom His Father had given Him.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
Sanctification begins with an inward change.
Christ died to save those whom His Father had given Him.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
In feet and inches, heaven is no distance at all from us.
They are already:-
Then the new Jerusalem will descend out of heaven from God, and the redeemed will enter into their final joy. - 2Revelation Ch 21 & 22.
The present distinctions of material/spiritual, visible/invisible will be wiped away, and GOD WILL BE ALL IN ALL.
"For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen." - Romans 11:36
Contents
- Calling
- The New Birth/Regeneration
- Faith and Repentance
- Justification
- Adoption
- Sanctification
- Glorification
But how are they brought into the actual enjoyment/experience/possession of salvation?
The Scriptures teach that God works in their lives, doing certain things in a certain order. The very first of these (Romans 8:28-30) is:-
CALLING
The outward call
- God addresses all men in what we call 'natural revelation' - Psalm 19:1-3, Romans 1:1823, 32, 2:14-15, 10-18.
- But He has chosen to save His people through the preaching of the Gospel. - 1 Corinthians 1:21, Romans 1:16, 10:17
- But not everybody who hears the Gospel accepts it.
The reason is not in the Gospel itself.
- the same message is preached to all - Romans 10:13.
- there is nothing in the message itself which stops a man from accepting it
- all of them are equally dead, spiritually - Ephesians 2:1
- all of them are naturally anti-God - Romans 8:7-8
- all of them, left to themselves, would certainly never accept the saving Gospel, but would perish in their sins - 1 Corinthians 2:14.
- all are called by the same message but not all are 'called out' by it
- only some receive the call which actually united them to Christ - Colossians 1:9
- it is a miracle - like Lazarus they hear the Divine summons, and are actually brought to Christ by it (GOD calls!)
- another illustration and example of this call is Zaccheus
- to be called is to be a Christian - Romans 1:6-7, Ephesians 4:1
- this special and inward call is referred to in Romans 8:30, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, 2 Peter 1:10,
- it is an act of God, and of God alone - 1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:8-9
- it is specifically attributed to God the Father - Romans 8:30, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Galatians 1:15, Ephesians 1:17-18, 1 John 3:1
- it is given in time because it was planned in eternity - Romans 8:28-30, 2 Timothy 1:9, Ephesians 1:4 - it is all part of God's purpose in Christ.
- once it is given, it is never withdrawn - Romans 11:29
- it is high, holy, and heavenly - Philippians 3:14, 2 Timothy 1:9, Hebrews 3:1
- No-one is lost or saved against his will. Natural men do not want the Gospel, and called men do!
- Effectual calling is not an act of forcing, but an act of creation. A new nature and a new will are given The called person WANTS to do what he did not want to do before.
- he sees the Gospel as true, as a blind man sees the sun - 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
- he sees his unworthiness and guilt before God. - Acts 2:37
- he is drawn to the Saviour. - John 6:44.
- he turns from his sin to this Saviour. - Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26-27. Acts 26:18.
Effectual calling may be sudden, or it may be gradual, it may be accompanied by strong feelings, or it may not.
Do not assume that because you have had sudden religious experiences accompanied by deep feelings, that you have been effectually called.
Where is your faith now?
- that is the question to decide whether you have been called or not,
- because TRUE calling always leads to CONTINUING FAITH. - 2 Peter 1:10
- you are COMMANDED by God's Word to repent and believe the Gospel.
- if you do not, you will perish
- if you do, you will be saved
- this will in turn prove that you have been effectually called
- you can have no such assurance until you have believed.
- the first act is calling, God calls, His people come
- but how can dead men hear the call, obey it, and come?
- it would never happen - if it were not for regeneration.
All men and women are spiritually dead.
- they are governed by their sins; unable to please God; and consider spiritual things to be foolish. - Ephesians 2:1, Romans 8:5-8, 1 Corinthians 2:14.
- they cannot give themselves spiritual life; and have no desire or power to do anything at all about their condition. - Titus 3:5, John 6:44, Jeremiah 13:23.
- it is spoken of this way in Ephesians 2:1, 1 John 3:14, 4:7.
- elsewhere it is spoken of as birth, the giving of life. - John 3:3, 6-8, James 1:18, 1 Peter 1:23.
- or as new creation, or renewal. - 2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5-6.
- the Word (especially the preached Word) is the means God uses. See how calling and the new birth are intimately linked! - 1 Peter 1:23,25, 1 Corinthians 4:15
- The Holy Spirit accompanies this with life-giving power in the hearts of the elect. - 1 Corinthians 2:2-5, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6
- God regenerates whom HE wills. - John 1:12-13, James 1:18, 1 Peter 1:3.
- Man has no understanding of the process, and no control whatever over it. - John 3:1-13.
- Yet the new birth is absolutely essential to salvation, and all spiritual graces flow from it. - John 3:3, 5-7, 1 Peter 1:3.
- all who are regenerated are given saving faith - John 1:12-13, Ephesians 2:1-10, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 John 5:1, 4.
- all who are regenerated are inwardly changed and outwardly different (This is because regeneration is the implanting of the new nature, which inevitably asserts itself increasingly in sanctification). - Ezekiel 36:25-26, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 5:17, 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:18
- this is taught in 1 Peter 1:3.
- the power which worked in Him is the same power which works in every believer - Ephesians 1:19-20.
- all for whom He died are certain to experience this divine miracle of regeneration. - Ephesians 2:5, Titus 3:5-6.
And much modern 'Gospel preaching' is seen to be erroneous.
Christ died to save those whom His Father had given Him.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
- the first act is calling God calls His people outwardly & inwardly
- they come; for although they are dead, God gives them life (regeneration)
- they come from sin (repentance) to Christ (faith)
- this happens to all who are regenerated - John 6:379 1:12-13 - and cannot happen without regeneration - John 6:44, 65.
Faith
Faith is God's gift.
- this is clearly stated in Ephesians 2:8-10.
- yet you must have it to be saved. - John 3:16, 18
- this proves that all salvation is by God's free grace
- it is the believing of certain facts. - Romans 4:24-25, 10:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:1-5.
- the person believing the facts puts his personal trust in the Lord Jesus Christ ALONE for his salvation. - Acts 15:11, 16:31. John 1:12, 3:16, 4:42. Galatians 2:20. 2 Timothy 1:12.
- The sinner is active, not passive. He acts as a person, not a robot. He believes, He cries, He rests. Faith is the first conscious act of the Christian life.
- His faith is in God's promises which freely invite all to salvation in Christ; not in God's decree of election. He comes because he is invited, not because of prior knowledge that God chose him.
- He has confidence in the facts, not just a knowledge of them. He is convinced that he is a great sinner, and that Christ is the Saviour of sinners -.so he goes to HIM to be saved.
Repentance is God's gift.
- this is clearly stated in Acts 5:31, 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25.
- yet you must have it to be saved. - Luke 13:3, 5.
- this proves that all salvation is by God's free grace.
- something done, not felt. It is turning. - Acts 3:19, 26,20
- it is turning from sin - 2 Chronicles 7:14. Hebrews 6:1
- it is turning to the living God, by faith in Christ. - Acts 14:15, 1 Thessalonians 1.9, Acts 20:21, Mark 1:15.
Repentance and faith always go together. You cannot and do not have one without the other.
- Faith looks to Christ for salvation. But why should it want to be saved? Because it wants to finish with sin. This is repentance.
- Repentance is turning from sin. But where is it going to turn? To Christ! This is faith.
- 'Believe' means 'repentantly believe'. 'Repent' means 'believingly repent'
- To see this clearly, look at .the following pairs of verses. - Acts 3:19-4:4, 10:4311:18, 17:30-l7:34, 26:18-26:20.
- It is plain that one term includes the other.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
- the first act is calling God calls His people outwardly & inwardly
- they come; for although they are dead, God gives them life (regeneration)
- they come from sin (repentance) to Christ (faith)
- and are immediately clothed in a robe of righteousness (justification).
Justification is a declaration.
- Look at Deuteronomy 25:1.
- When a judge justifies a man, he is declaring that innocent man to be righteous
- The opposite is condemnation
- But we are guilty - Romans 3:23
- How can the righteous Lord declare the guilty to be righteous?
- The answer lies in imputation
Imputation means that God has reckoned or credited to one person what originally belonged to another person.
- for instance, the sin of Adam is imputed or 'laid to the account' of all Adam's race. We receive from him. He receives nothing from us.
- In the case of Jesus Christ and His elect people there is a double imputation :-
- my sin is laid to His account - and He is treated as if He had sinned my sin. - 2 Corinthians 5:21.
- His perfect righteousness is laid to my account. God treats me as if I had never sinned. I am treated as if I had lived Christ's perfect life. - 2 Corinthians 5:21
"It is GOD that justified" (Romans 8:33). He declares us righteous.
- do not think that it is your faith which makes you righteous. Faith is not a 'good work' which commends us into God's favour. Faith is not the ground of righteousness
- the work of Jesus Christ alone is the ground of righteousness. - Romans 3:24. There is no other sin-bearer.
- Faith is an INSTRUMENT ONLY
- the hand by which we receive the righteousness of God - NOT the source of that righteousness.
- so faith in any other will not do - none but Christ alone is righteous.
Justification is an ACT completed in a moment, NOT a process which is only gradually completed.
- you are either justified or you are not.
- once justified, you cannot. be Unjustified! You are legally righteous with God for ever, and free from wrath & condemnation. - Romans 8:1.
- it is God's plan to justify His people, but they are NOT IN FACT justified until they believe. Until then they are lost. - Galatians 2:1.6. Colossians 1:21-22
- yet the moment they believe, they are at once justified. - Acts 13:38-39, Romans 3:22.
- as faith is God's gift, and it is impossible to be justified without it, it is right to describe justification as an act of God's free grace. - Romans 3:20-24, 4:16.
- these works do not commend us to God.
- but whoever God justifies He sanctifies (as we shall see), and so a believer's life just cannot be the same as it was before.
- it is "the article of a standing or falling Church" (Luther).
- in it the power and glory of God's grace shine out brightly.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
- the first act is calling Cod calls His people outwardly & inwardly.
- they come for although they are dead God gives them life (regeneration).
- they come from sin (repentance) to Christ (faith).
- they are immediately clothed in a robe of righteousness (justification).
- they are then received as Sons in God's family (adoption).
Not all men are the children of God - only believers.
- in the OT God is only the Father of Abraham's seed. - Exodus 4:22, Hosea 11:1.
- in the NT God is only the Father of those who repent of their sins and turn to Christ as sin-bearer and master, thus becoming Abraham's spiritual seed. - Galatians 3:26, 28b-29, John 1:12, 14:6.
- this Sonship is not natural It is a gift of grace, an adoptive sonship - Galatians 4:4-7 Romans 8:14-17 Ephesians 1:4. 1 John 3:1-3.
- it is the highest privilege which the gospel offers,
- your sonship is to be the controlling thought at every point of your Christian life :-
- when you think what a disciple is. - Mark 3:35, Matthew 28:9-10, John 20:17-18, Hebrews 2:11-13,
- when you want to know how to behave. - Matthew 5:43-45a, 48, 5:16, 6:1-18,
- when you pray. - Matthew 6:7-18. 7:7-11
- when you worry about material things. - Matthew 6:25-32,
Some things which happen to a Christian who constantly remembers his adoption
- He is overcome by the greatness of God's grace. - 1 John 3:1-3. Luke 1:18. John 17:23
- He longs for heaven.
- Adoption means being a 'chosen heir'!
- He cannot help thinking of what awaits him - Galatians 4:7, Romans 8:14-19
- He Stops seeking second experiences,
- For he is well aware that the basic ministry of the Holy Spirit is not to give us power etc., but to be to us the Spirit of adoption! - Romans 8:5, Galatians 4:6
- He longs for personal holiness
- He can see what it is - family likeness
- He has a motive for seeking it - to avoid shaming the Father
- He knows how it will come about - instruction & discipline,
Christ died to save those whom His Father had given Him.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
- the first act is calling God calls His people outwardly & inwardly
- they come for although they are dead, God gives them life (regeneration)
- they come from sin (repentance) to Christ (faith)
- they are immediately clothed in a robe of righteousness (justification)
- they are then received as sons in God's family (adoption).
- they then increasingly take on the family likeness - for this is God's will and purpose for them - Ephesians 1:4, 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 1 Peter 1:16.
Sanctification begins with an inward change.
- When God saved you, the Holy Spirit entered you. - Romans 8:9.
- He made you clean, and renewed you inwardly. - Titus 3:5.
- He gave you a new heart - a heart which wants to obey God - Ezekiel 11:19-20.
- You are a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. - 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15
- The old nature has been destroyed - Romans 6:2-6, 14.
- And you have received a new one - Romans 8:2, 2 Peter 1:4, Ephesians 4:24 Colossians 3:10, Galatians 5:16
- There is still indwelling sin in the believer, and he is not free from sinning, either in heart or life. - Romans 7:14-25, 1 John 1:8, 2:1.
- He is at war with it. - Romans 7:14-25
- And it does not have the mastery. - Romans 6:12-14, 17, 22. 1 John 3:9, 5:18.
- He endeavours constantly to bring holiness to completeness - 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2 Peter 1:5-8, 2 Corinthians 7:1.
- This progressive work has likeness to Christ as its goal - Romans 8:29, Philippians 1:9-11
- But entire sanctification will not be ours until our bodies are changed into the likeness of Christ's glorious body. - Philippians 3:21. 1 John 3:2. Romans 7:24.
- to us comes the call to be holy, the commands to throw off sinful ways, the direction to be like Christ. See 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7. Colossians 3:1-6. Ephesians 4:17-5:21 etc...
- all sorts of incentives are given to us, to set about this work. See Romans 12:1-2, 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8, 1 Peter 1:17, 1 John 3:3, Romans 8:13, Hebrews 2:14,
- WE must work
- from God comes the promise that He Himself is at work in us; and that He will strengthen and assist us. - Philippians 2:13, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, 4:16, 1 Peter 1:2.
- HE works
- It is declared to be God's chosen instrument. - Psalm 119:9, John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:1617
- This is why Christ has given to His church men who will enable God's people to be instructed in His Word. - Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Timothy 5:17
- So nothing is more important to us in our Christian lives than the proper hearing of the Word of God. - Luke 8:18.
- That is our part. God also brings into our lives experiences which are not pleasant at the time, but which lead to greater sanctification. - Hebrews 12:10-11.
Christ died to save those whom His Father had given Him.
By a series of acts, God brings these people to actually possess this salvation.
- the first act is calling. God calls His people outwardly & inwardly.
- they come: for although they are dead, God gives them life (regeneration).
- they come from sin (repentance) to Christ (faith)
- they are immediately clothed in a robe of righteousness (justification).
- they are then received as Sons in God's family (adoption).
- they increasingly take on the family likeness (sanctification).
- and they come at last to the family home!! (glorification). - John 6:37-40. Romans 8:28-30. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14.
In feet and inches, heaven is no distance at all from us.
- heaven is not to be confused with the physical heaven above us.
- it is an entirely different realm; dimension; sphere of existence - not far away (of - Jacob; Isaiah; Stephen; John; Jesus; believer at death).
- the real world, the holy world, the eternal world. - Hebrews 8:5, Psalm 20:6, 89:29.
- God is constantly said to be 'in heaven'. - Matthew 5:16, 6:9, 12:50.
- so are His angels. - Matthew 18:20, 22:30.
- He is Lord of Heaven - Daniel 4:35, 5:23, Psalm 11:4, Matthew 11:25.
- His presence, glory & majesty fill the place. - Jeremiah 23:24, Hebrews 8:1.
- From there He speaks to men and women - Hebrews 12:25.
- And from there He sends His judgements. - Romans 1:18.
- He came from there, and returned there. - John 3:13. 1 Peter 3:22.
- He is still there, interceding for us, preparing a place for us, and reigning. -Acts 7:55, Hebrews 9:24, John 14:2-3, Matthew 28:18.
- He will return from there - 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Philippians 3:20.
- Paul was caught up into heaven, and witnessed things which cannot, and must not, be put into words - 2 Corinthians 12:1-4.
- Yet God's Word describes it in pictures, to help our understanding, a barn; the Father's house; a city, heavenly Jerusalem, a better country, an inheritance of treasure. - Matthew 13:30, 43. John 14:2. Hebrews 12:22, 11:16. 1 Peter 1:4.
They are already:-
- heirs of heaven. - Matthew 25: 34
- enrolled in heaven. - Luke 10:20.
- citizens of heaven. - Philippians 3:20.
- knowingly going to heaven. - Hebrews 13:14.
- the unveiled blessing of the Father. - Matthew 25:34.
- all they ever hoped for - Colossians 1:5.
- their reward - Hebrews 10:34-35.
- their treasure. - Matthew 6:20
- the sight of the Lord.' - John 17:24
Then the new Jerusalem will descend out of heaven from God, and the redeemed will enter into their final joy. - 2Revelation Ch 21 & 22.
The present distinctions of material/spiritual, visible/invisible will be wiped away, and GOD WILL BE ALL IN ALL.
"For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen." - Romans 11:36
Wednesday 20 January 2016
Tuesday 19 January 2016
Monday 18 January 2016
Friday 8 January 2016
Thursday 7 January 2016
The Moral Basis of Faith
by Tom Wells
If we did not know better we might suppose that every man who saw Jesus felt drawn to Him. The Lord Jesus was pure and holy. His words were wise and true. His deeds were morally blameless and visibly marvelous. Everything about Jesus - all that He said and all that He did was attractive. Or so it might seem.
We know better, of course, because the Scripture paints a different picture. Men's first impressions of Jesus, as told in the New Testament, were frequently favorable. Often, however, those first impressions did not last. We think of His visit to the synagogue in Nazareth, for instance (Luke 4.16-30]. Verse 22 tells us that 'all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips'. That was a promising attitude on the part of His listeners. But it did not last. It changed swiftly. A few verses later we read:
How do we account for this? Christians have always explained this by saying that men are sinful, that they are depraved. No one who reads and believes his Bible can doubt that this is the true explanation. The natural man does not want Christ; he wants himself. In other words, there is a moral obstacle that prevents men from believing in Christ. First, that moral obstacle must be overcome.
Many Christians, however, think that a simple decision can set this barrier aside. 'It is true', they say, 'that man is depraved. It is true that he cannot save himself or change himself into a godly man. But he can do one thing. He can turn to God and Christ for help. And in fact that is all that he must do'.
Certainly we can feel the appeal of this idea. It attempts to guard the truth that man is depraved without closing the door against his salvation. In this view man is too sick from sin to do anything except the one thing needful. He is too sick to do anything except turn to the Great Physician.
But is this view of the matter biblical? The trouble with this view is that it separates man's decision from all else that the man is and does. And it does it in a way that the Scripture forbids. Let me show you what I mean, from the words of Jesus Himself.
In John 5.44 the Lord Jesus says to a group of men:
Do you catch the impact of Jesus' words? Men must be morally changed in order to come to Him. These men were not morally changed and so they could not come. That is what the Lord Jesus was telling them. And that raises an important, an all-important, question. Who could bring about the necessary change in these men so that they could believe? Could they change themselves? Or would it require the work of God?
You will see that the view that man can do only one thing, namely, turn to Christ, cannot be true. Either he can do enough to change himself in several ways or he cannot come to Christ. In the Lord Jesus' view 'believing' is part of a larger package. There are more things to be done in the man than an act of faith.
Right here we meet a strong temptation. Nothing is easier than to claim more and more ability for the natural man. If we insist that he can do one thing, turn in faith to Christ, we shall have to insist that he can do everything else necessary that leads up to faith in Christ. But how many things are necessary? Jesus mentioned two. Are they all? Or are there others? If so, are there ten, or a hundred, or a thousand? Maybe the natural man is not so bad after all!
I do not know how many things a man must be able to do in order to believe. But more than two are needed. Several changes must take place in the man so that he may come to Christ. Let me mention another: a man's ignorance must be overcome.
Now I imagine that someone may read this and say to himself that I have changed my ground. I was talking about moral hindrances to faith. Suddenly I have switched to a hindrance of another kind. Surely ignorance is not a moral issue, is it? The answer is: that depends!
Certainly some ignorance is not a moral issue. No man, for instance, can be expected to believe in Christ if he has never heard of Him. It is not immoral to be ignorant in that way. I do not mean to suggest that it is. That is not a moral issue.
Ignorance, however, is often presented as a moral issue in the New Testament. We may see this in the words of the Lord Jesus Himself. Let's look at an instance and see if we can understand it. We find kin Matthew 15.10-14:
At first glance it is difficult to understand these words of Christ. Surely this is not an example of gross callousness on His part! Such an attitude is unthinkable. But if it is not that, what is it? How can Jesus treat these men's ignorance in the way He does?
The answer is not hard to find. In fact, you have probably read these words of the Lord Jesus before and felt no shock at them. Why? Because you sensed that this was not a mere observation on His part. It was much more than that! It was an indictment. In other words, it is clear that the Lord treated the ignorance of these men as blameworthy. With Him ignorance is often a moral issue. Jesus condemns these men because they should have known the truth, and they did not.
We can see this again quite clearly in John chapter seven. There the Lord Jesus says, 'My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me' (v16). He means that His teaching comes from the Father. How then can men take it in? By listening carefully? The Lord does not say so. Instead He says:
Consider also these words of the Lord Jesus in John 8.43-45:
So then, a 'decision for Christ' is not such a simple thing after all. In order to believe in Christ the sinner must
I have tried to show that faith has a moral basis; in other words, it must arise from the heart of a morally changed man. The Scripture sets this out very clearly, so that I might simply stop here. But two questions naturally follow from what I have said. The first is this: can we be sure that the sinner has no power to make all these essential changes?
And the second question arises out of the first: if he has no such power, how can any man be saved? Let us look at these questions in the order in which I have given them.
I have already said that the answer to the first question lies in the biblical view of depravity. Just what is that view? Does it leave the sinner helpless or not? The question is of vast importance.
In reflecting on the natural man Paul states the following sobering truths:
Look at Paul's words again. They are a strong statement of man's depravity. And notice something else. They speak to the very points that the Lord Jesus made. We see this by putting them side by side with the Lord's words:
The Words of the Lord Jesus The Words of Paul 'How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. There is none who seeks for God. There is none who understands.
Can anything be plainer than this? The Lord Jesus and Paul are in full agreement: the natural man cannot and will not understand God, or seek after Him.
But let us pursue this matter further. What lies behind the natural man's inability? Why can't he understand? Why can't he seek God? He understands many other things. He frequently seeks out other people and attaches himself to them. In some areas he seems to have the ability to seek and to find in abundance. Why not here?
The Bible's answer to man's inability is simple: the natural man hates God. The problem is man's disposition. Give him a new disposition and he will both understand and seek God. But as he is, he loves darkness, not light; he loves self, not God.
Though this may seem strange to us, it is true. We have settled into a way of thinking that is quite false. We tend to reject the fact that men either love God or hate Him. We think of most men as falling somewhere in between these two extremes. We think of them as more or less neutral. That is our mistake. We have not taken this attitude from God's Word. The Bible sees the natural man in a different light. It sees him as an enemy of God.
Here, for instance, is a word from the Lord Jesus:
But is not 'hate' too strong a word? The Lord did not think so. He used it freely to describe those who do not submit themselves to God.
'No one', the Lord Jesus says, 'can serve two masters' [Man 6.24]. And why not?
Man's hatred of God, then, lies behind his ignorance. That is an important fact. Yet how often we have thought the opposite! We have said, 'If men only knew God, if they only knew Christ, they would love them!' Yet the Scripture teaches that what men know of God and of Christ leads them to hatred, not to love. In other words, man's first problem is not ignorance. It is true that men are ignorant. There is much more that they could know about God and about Christ. But they will never learn these things unless their hatred is removed. Their ignorance is blameable. It comes from their bias. They have no sympathy with the revealed character of God. They need a new mind. They need a new attitude. They need a new disposition. They need a new heart. Without these things their ignorance will remain.
Paul also tells us the same thing. He speaks of men being hostile to God, of being God's enemies. And he goes on to show that their attitudes make them unable to respond to God. In his Letter to the Romans he says,
Let us look back for a minute. First, we have seen that the Bible teaches that faith has a moral basis. That is, faith arises out of a man's moral state. Faith may never be divorced from what a man is and does. If a man, for instance, seeks approval and honor from other men before approval and honor from God, he cannot exercise faith.
Second, we have seen that the natural man cannot change himself. He is too ignorant to do so. His ignorance, in turn, comes from his bias against God. He hates God. He is God's enemy. He has no sympathy with the things of God. This makes it impossible for the natural man to learn. The things of God seem ridiculous to him. Paul puts it this way:
Do you remember what happened the day after Jesus fed the five thousand? I want to quote John's account of that next day, at length. On that day Jesus faced the hopelessness of appealing to the natural man. And on that same day He told us the solution to the problem. We will take up the story where those who had been fed the day before had again found the Lord Jesus:
1) The Lord Jesus tells these people plainly why they have sought Him out. They sought Him to have their bellies filled again. They had witnessed a miracle of giant proportions, the feeding of five thousand men, plus women and children. And how did they respond? They responded by thinking how good it would be to get their food this way all the time.
The Lord tells them that the miracle was a sign. It was a pointer to turn their attention to Himself. But they missed the sign. Instead of focusing on Him, they think of their own stomachs. Their god is their belly! If men who had seen Jesus miraculously feed five thousand would not pay attention to Him, who would? We are meant to feel the hopelessness of the situation.
2) Again the Lord Jesus tells them how they may do the very work that will please God. The work that pleases God is to believe in the Lord Jesus. That seems plain enough. How will they respond now? By demanding a sign! Think of it! Can you avoid feeling exasperated? The Lord Jesus does not seem vexed, but patiently goes on to reason with them. Yet what could be more hopeless than the demand of these men to see a sign? They had seen one of the greatest signs in history.
3) Finally the Lord Jesus offers them bread that will give them life. 'Lord', they reply, 'evermore give us this bread'. Surely here they have broken out of their bonds of ignorance and unbelief. But, no! Jesus explains that He Himself is the bread of life. He does not, however, wait for their positive response. He does not expect it.
Instead He says, 'But I said to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe'. You have seen the miracle, the Lord tells them, but you have missed its point. So I have called attention to its point by fixing your gaze on Myself. But you were unbelievers before the miracle, and you remain unbelievers. You were without faith before I explained that I Myself am the bread of life, and you are still without faith. And with these words the Lord prepares to show us the solution to the hopelessness of appealing to the natural man. Let us listen as He speaks:
It is plain, the Lord Jesus is saying, that you want your bellies filled. And your bellies have kept you from seeing My glory. It is also true that you will not please .God by turning to Me. It is true that you are without faith, and will not and cannot change yourselves. All of that is true. But there is another truth. That truth is this: My Father is giving some men to Me. The hopelessness of human nature cannot defeat My Father. Every one that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and when he comes I will not turn him away. That is where My hope lies. Not in human nature, but in My Father!
What does this mean? We are not left to wonder. The. Lord Jesus goes on to say: 'Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught of God". Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me' (John 6.4345]. In a word, the Father will overcome some men's ignorance, and all that lies behind it, so that they will turn to Christ. It is the Father who makes the moral change in men that leads them to the Savior. That is Jesus' position. Let us take a closer look at it. First, Jesus confirms the hopelessness of human nature. 'No man can come to Me', He says. Then He adds the word 'unless'. We must not misunderstand that word. It does not introduce a condition that man can fulfill. It does not suggest that fallen human nature can do some little (or big) thing. No man can come, unless the Father does something. Human nature cannot do it. God must do it. God must draw men, Jesus says, or they cannot come to Him.
Next, Jesus tells us how the Father draws men. He draws them by teaching them. When they have learned from Him they turn to Christ. Many men perish. But those whom God teaches have their bias and ignorance overcome. In that way God draws them to Christ. And, so, they are saved. Jesus promises to raise them up on the last day. He promises them eternal life.
But you may say, doesn't God draw and teach all men? Wouldn't it be fair to say that God may teach a man, but whether that man learns is a different matter? Perhaps God draws, but men refuse. Does Jesus leave that possibility open here? Or is Jesus speaking of effective drawing and teaching in this passage?
The Lord Jesus quotes Isaiah 54.13 to these men:
But in Isaiah 54, all of that is past. God speaks of His future 'covenant of peace' that 'will not be shaken' [Isa. 54.10]. And He says further:
Isaiah 48.18 Isaiah 54.13, 14 'If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.' 'And all your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established.'
In the first column, all is failure and cause for regret. God had taught the people by His commandments, but He had not changed their hearts. Now, however, He speaks of a new covenant. In this covenant failure will be banished. Regret will have no place. All who are taught will learn; their well-being will be assured; they will be righteous before the Lord. The teaching will not simply be outward. It will be inward, changing the heart and removing the bias, so that the natural man's ignorance will be overcome.
This reminds us of God's word through Ezekiel:
In the Lord's view, those who hear and learn from the Father are precisely those whom the Father has taught, no more and no less. And we have seen already what keeps men from learning. It is their moral state. So Jesus is telling these men that His hope does not lie in them. It does not lie in the 'natural man'. His hope for success is fixed absolutely and solely on His Father. He knows that, apart from His Father's work in renewing men's wills so that they come to Him, His preaching would fall on deaf ears and unresponsive hearts. But His Father will change some men and give them as gifts to His Son. They will come to Him. So, despite His hearers' initial hardness of heart, His preaching of the gospel will succeed.
Here, then, is the answer to the question: How can any man be saved? It is precisely the same answer the disciples received from the Lord Jesus when they asked, 'Who then can be saved?' It ran, 'The things that are impossible with men are possible with God' [Luke 18.26, 27]. It is impossible for men to be saved. It is impossible, that is, unless God comes into action. He must intervene, not simply in history as He did at the cross, but in men's individual lives. Only then can they hear and learn. Otherwise they remain in their blindness and are lost forever.
But God does step into many lives. He intervenes in that act that we call 'the new birth'. A man must be born again in order to turn from his sins and to turn to Christ. God's action — the new birth — leads to man's response: faith in Christ.5
Faith has a moral basis. It is not an isolated action of the mind. As with unbelief, it has its roots in what a man is. This is what Scripture teaches.
We shall expect, then, to find moral appeals to the sinner when we open our Bibles. And we do not look for them in vain. The lost man is told to believe. Furthermore, he is also told to turn from his sin. He is told to change his ways. He is told to repent. The sinner is not left to think that a bare notion about the truth of the gospel will save him. Not at all! He must be a changed man if he is to experience the mercy of God.
An Old Testament example will illustrate this matter: Listen to Isaiah pleading with sinners:
We find a similar appeal in the New Testament. We hear a ruler ask the Lord Jesus, 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' How does the Lord answer him? By painting him to God's commandments. When the man claims to have kept the commandments, the Lord probes deeper.
Let us look at one more example from the Book of Acts. I have in mind the story of Simon the magician in Acts, chapter eight. This man heard of Christ and professed faith in Him. Soon it was clear, however, that he was not a Christian. Peter told him,
How could Simon escape from this bondage? How could he find forgiveness? Peter gives essentially the same answer that Isaiah gave to these questions. Peter says,
The question is sometimes asked, 'Must Christ be Lord to be Savior?' Must one commit oneself to Christ as Lord at the outset of the Christian life? Is it not enough to trust Christ as Savior? Doesn't the Christian later commit himself to Christ as the ruler of his life?
I did not ask this question when I started to write this booklet. Yet you will see, I think, that along the way we have discovered the answer. If faith has no moral basis, if it is a solitary action of the mind, then it may exist without commitment to Christ. But, in fact, faith is part of commitment to Christ. When God creates a new man, that man receives Christ wholeheartedly. He receives Christ for all that Christ is. He gives himself to Christ. He does these things because he is a new creation. The stony heart has been taken out of him. In its place God has put 'a heart of flesh', a heart of responsiveness to God.
Of course, the new Christian does not know all that this means. Neither do you nor I. We do not know what Christ's Lordship over us will demand tomorrow or next week. And we do not know how we shall meet the challenges God puts before us. If Christ were Lord over perfect men only, then we could predict their responses. They would always do right. They would never sin.
But Christ is Lord over imperfect men. These men characteristically do what is fight, but not perfectly. Christ asserts His Lordship over His people, but He has not yet perfected them. Every Christian, no matter how dedicated he is, may fall into sin. But he will usually succeed in avoiding sin. He will usually adorn the name 'servant of God'. He will do this because Christ is his Lord, and he has a heart to serve Him and to keep His commandments.
* * *
The burning moral issue before each man is this: what will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ? No other question ranks with this one in importance for the soul. No other question ranks with this one in importance for your soul.
May I ask how you have answered it? Have you said from the heart, 'My Lord and my God!' as Thomas did? A day is coming when those who have thought that they had plenty of time to face this question will find that time has run out. I pray that time shall not run out for you. If you have not turned to Christ, do so immediately. God commands you to turn. Do not delay!
But one of you may say, 'Must I not wait for a new heart has been taken out of him. In its place God has put 'a heart of flesh', a heart of responsiveness to God.
Of course, the new Christian does not know all that this means. Neither do you nor I. We do not know what Christ's Lordship over us will demand tomorrow or next week. And we do not know how we shall meet the challenges God puts before us. If Christ were Lord over perfect men only, then we could predict their responses. They would always do right. They would never sin.
But Christ is Lord over imperfect men. These men characteristically do what is right, but not perfectly. Christ asserts His Lordship over His people, but He has not yet perfected them. Every Christian, no matter how dedicated he is, may fall into sin. But he will usually succeed in avoiding sin. He will usually adorn the name 'servant of God'. He will do this because Christ is his Lord, and he has a heart to serve Him and to keep His commandments.
* * *
The burning moral issue before each man is this: what will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ? No other question ranks with this one in importance for the soul. No other question ranks with this one in importance for your soul.
May I ask how you have answered it? Have you said from the heart, 'My Lord and my God!' as Thomas did? A day is coming when those who have thought that they had plenty of time to face this question will find that time has run out. I pray that time shall not run out for you. If you have not turned to Christ, do so immediate ly. God commands you to turn. Do not delay!
But one of you may say, 'Must I not wait for a new heart before I dare believe in Jesus Christ? Isn't that necessary?
The answer is: 'No, you must not wait!' Let me tell you why. The reason is this: faith and repentance are the only evidences that show that a man has a new heart. Turn to Christ and it will be made clear that you have a new heart. Refuse to turn and you will show that the old heart remains. Men do not feel the new birth apart from feeling a• new commitment to Jesus
Christ. And commitment to Him is what you must have to be saved! Turn to Him and live! And when you have turned, give God the glory, for it is He who gives men the heart to turn to Christ.
I suppose, however, that many of my readers will already be Christians. If you are a believer, may I ask you a question? Have you been careful to give God the glory for your salvation? Yes, you reply, for it is the delight of every believer to glorify God for saving him. So let me ask another question. Have you given God as much glory as He deserves? Have you thanked Him for giving you a new heart so that you turned to Christ in faith? There is much more to thank God for, in salvation, than we have yet dreamed.
Finally, let me ask one more question. Do you witness for Christ? Is it your prayer that God would give you some soul as the reward for your bearing witness? I hope that is your prayer. And if it is, do not think that you can do the work. Do not think the sinner can do it. Both you and he are helpless apart from the work of God.
Yet be encouraged! God has determined to take a vast number of people for Himself out of this 'present evil world'. Someone must tell each of His elect about Christ. And in the telling God will work to bring each of them home to Himself. If it is true that we cannot convert a single soul, it is also true that God has determined to convert millions. And, for the most part, He will do it through us, His people. We need, then, to take heart. We need to go about the work buoyantly. In the words of William Carey, we need to 'expect great things from God' and to 'attempt great things for God!' Who knows but that we were born into the world for such a time as this?
If we did not know better we might suppose that every man who saw Jesus felt drawn to Him. The Lord Jesus was pure and holy. His words were wise and true. His deeds were morally blameless and visibly marvelous. Everything about Jesus - all that He said and all that He did was attractive. Or so it might seem.
We know better, of course, because the Scripture paints a different picture. Men's first impressions of Jesus, as told in the New Testament, were frequently favorable. Often, however, those first impressions did not last. We think of His visit to the synagogue in Nazareth, for instance (Luke 4.16-30]. Verse 22 tells us that 'all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips'. That was a promising attitude on the part of His listeners. But it did not last. It changed swiftly. A few verses later we read:
'All in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard (His words]; and they rose up and cast Him out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff' (vv 28,29).They did not find Jesus attractive for long!
How do we account for this? Christians have always explained this by saying that men are sinful, that they are depraved. No one who reads and believes his Bible can doubt that this is the true explanation. The natural man does not want Christ; he wants himself. In other words, there is a moral obstacle that prevents men from believing in Christ. First, that moral obstacle must be overcome.
Many Christians, however, think that a simple decision can set this barrier aside. 'It is true', they say, 'that man is depraved. It is true that he cannot save himself or change himself into a godly man. But he can do one thing. He can turn to God and Christ for help. And in fact that is all that he must do'.
Certainly we can feel the appeal of this idea. It attempts to guard the truth that man is depraved without closing the door against his salvation. In this view man is too sick from sin to do anything except the one thing needful. He is too sick to do anything except turn to the Great Physician.
But is this view of the matter biblical? The trouble with this view is that it separates man's decision from all else that the man is and does. And it does it in a way that the Scripture forbids. Let me show you what I mean, from the words of Jesus Himself.
In John 5.44 the Lord Jesus says to a group of men:
'How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?'Notice what the Lord does here. He ties believing to other moral acts, and He says that you cannot have the one without the other. He tells these men that they must give up seeking glory from one another before they will be able to believe. In fact, He goes a step further. He tells them that they will not be able to believe until they seek glory or honor from God. There is no such thing, the Lord is saying, as an isolated act of believing. Men must become different from what they are or they cannot believe.
Do you catch the impact of Jesus' words? Men must be morally changed in order to come to Him. These men were not morally changed and so they could not come. That is what the Lord Jesus was telling them. And that raises an important, an all-important, question. Who could bring about the necessary change in these men so that they could believe? Could they change themselves? Or would it require the work of God?
You will see that the view that man can do only one thing, namely, turn to Christ, cannot be true. Either he can do enough to change himself in several ways or he cannot come to Christ. In the Lord Jesus' view 'believing' is part of a larger package. There are more things to be done in the man than an act of faith.
Right here we meet a strong temptation. Nothing is easier than to claim more and more ability for the natural man. If we insist that he can do one thing, turn in faith to Christ, we shall have to insist that he can do everything else necessary that leads up to faith in Christ. But how many things are necessary? Jesus mentioned two. Are they all? Or are there others? If so, are there ten, or a hundred, or a thousand? Maybe the natural man is not so bad after all!
I do not know how many things a man must be able to do in order to believe. But more than two are needed. Several changes must take place in the man so that he may come to Christ. Let me mention another: a man's ignorance must be overcome.
Now I imagine that someone may read this and say to himself that I have changed my ground. I was talking about moral hindrances to faith. Suddenly I have switched to a hindrance of another kind. Surely ignorance is not a moral issue, is it? The answer is: that depends!
Certainly some ignorance is not a moral issue. No man, for instance, can be expected to believe in Christ if he has never heard of Him. It is not immoral to be ignorant in that way. I do not mean to suggest that it is. That is not a moral issue.
Ignorance, however, is often presented as a moral issue in the New Testament. We may see this in the words of the Lord Jesus Himself. Let's look at an instance and see if we can understand it. We find kin Matthew 15.10-14:
'And after He called the multitude to Him, He said to them, "Hear, and understand. Not that which enters into the mouth defiles the man, but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man". Then the disciples came and said to Him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?" But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.At this point Jesus calls the Pharisees 'blind guides of the blind'. He means that they were ignorant men, men without understanding, and that they led people of the same kind. And He says to His disciples, 'Let them — the Pharisees — alone!'
At first glance it is difficult to understand these words of Christ. Surely this is not an example of gross callousness on His part! Such an attitude is unthinkable. But if it is not that, what is it? How can Jesus treat these men's ignorance in the way He does?
The answer is not hard to find. In fact, you have probably read these words of the Lord Jesus before and felt no shock at them. Why? Because you sensed that this was not a mere observation on His part. It was much more than that! It was an indictment. In other words, it is clear that the Lord treated the ignorance of these men as blameworthy. With Him ignorance is often a moral issue. Jesus condemns these men because they should have known the truth, and they did not.
We can see this again quite clearly in John chapter seven. There the Lord Jesus says, 'My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me' (v16). He means that His teaching comes from the Father. How then can men take it in? By listening carefully? The Lord does not say so. Instead He says:
'If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God' (v 17).We are agreed on the value of listening carefully if we want to know the truth. But that is not enough, for it is not the key issue. Instead, Jesus tells us, a man needs a responsive heart, a heart responsive to God. A man must desire to do God's will. Then he will know whether he is hearing the truth or not. In other words, ignorance here is a moral issue. It is a moral condition, a condition of the heart. Change the heart and the man will know the truth!
Consider also these words of the Lord Jesus in John 8.43-45:
'Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me'.Here Jesus tells His listeners that they cannot understand what He is saying. Then He tells them (and us) why it is so. Let me point up three things about His statement:
- The Lord is not simply making an observation. No one can read these words without seeing that He holds these men to be guilty as well as ignorant.
- The Lord sees their problem as complex. He says that they cannot hear His word. That, of course, is very serious. But He says more. He tells these men that they have a basic problem with their desires. They 'want to do' the will of the devil. So their desires must be changed. But even that is not all! Behind their desires lies another fact: their father is the devil. It is not, then, purely a matter of changing their desires. They must have a new father with all that that might imply.
- The result of their state is this: 'Because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me (the Lord)'. Surely this is one of the saddest statements in the whole of Scripture! What keeps them from believing that which Jesus is saying? It is the fact that He is telling the truth that hinders them. What a dismal condition they are in! Yet these are people who, in some sense, already believed in Him. John's Gospel makes that clear in verses 30 and 31. Could anything worse be said of men who made no profession of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ at all?
So then, a 'decision for Christ' is not such a simple thing after all. In order to believe in Christ the sinner must
- stop seeking glory from men,
- start seeking the glory that comes from God,
- give up his sinful desires,
- receive the nature of a heavenly Father, and
- understand the basic elements of the truth.
I have tried to show that faith has a moral basis; in other words, it must arise from the heart of a morally changed man. The Scripture sets this out very clearly, so that I might simply stop here. But two questions naturally follow from what I have said. The first is this: can we be sure that the sinner has no power to make all these essential changes?
And the second question arises out of the first: if he has no such power, how can any man be saved? Let us look at these questions in the order in which I have given them.
I have already said that the answer to the first question lies in the biblical view of depravity. Just what is that view? Does it leave the sinner helpless or not? The question is of vast importance.
In reflecting on the natural man Paul states the following sobering truths:
'There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one [Rom 3.10-12]'.If, among natural men, there is not one who understands, not one who seeks for God, not even one, what follows? This, it seems: if there is any natural man who has the power to do these things he is not using that power. But surely some natural man, somewhere, would use his power to understand and to seek God, if He had such power. Paul means, of course, that the natural man has no power to do these things. That is why no natural man does them.
Look at Paul's words again. They are a strong statement of man's depravity. And notice something else. They speak to the very points that the Lord Jesus made. We see this by putting them side by side with the Lord's words:
The Words of the Lord Jesus The Words of Paul 'How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. There is none who seeks for God. There is none who understands.
Can anything be plainer than this? The Lord Jesus and Paul are in full agreement: the natural man cannot and will not understand God, or seek after Him.
But let us pursue this matter further. What lies behind the natural man's inability? Why can't he understand? Why can't he seek God? He understands many other things. He frequently seeks out other people and attaches himself to them. In some areas he seems to have the ability to seek and to find in abundance. Why not here?
The Bible's answer to man's inability is simple: the natural man hates God. The problem is man's disposition. Give him a new disposition and he will both understand and seek God. But as he is, he loves darkness, not light; he loves self, not God.
Though this may seem strange to us, it is true. We have settled into a way of thinking that is quite false. We tend to reject the fact that men either love God or hate Him. We think of most men as falling somewhere in between these two extremes. We think of them as more or less neutral. That is our mistake. We have not taken this attitude from God's Word. The Bible sees the natural man in a different light. It sees him as an enemy of God.
Here, for instance, is a word from the Lord Jesus:
'He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters' [Matt 12:30].We may have read these words many times, but have we listened to them? What do they mean? They do not mean that men must be in the physical presence of the Lord Jesus. The disciples once made that mistake and the Lord rebuked them for it [see Mark 9.3840]. They mean that men must be with the Lord Jesus morally. Their hearts must be disposed to follow His leading. They must love godliness as He does. Where that is not the case, they are 'against Him'; they hate His authority.
But is not 'hate' too strong a word? The Lord did not think so. He used it freely to describe those who do not submit themselves to God.
'No one', the Lord Jesus says, 'can serve two masters' [Man 6.24]. And why not?
'For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon'.God is hated and despised when men do not serve Him. The whole world of natural men hates the Lord Jesus.
'If the world hates you', Jesus said, 'you know that it hated Me before it hated you' (John 15.18]. 'If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father' (John 15.24].It is clear that the Lord Jesus did not think that 'hate' was too strong a word to describe the natural man's attitude towards God. But what kind of man hates God? Does a morally pure, holy, and righteous man hate God? No, it is impossible! A man who hates God is corrupt, unholy, and impure. A man who hates God has an antipathy to all that God is in His moral character. That is the kind of man who hates God. And where can we find such a man? The Lord tells us that such men are to be found on every hand. I came into the world like that! And so did you! In fact, apart from the grace of God, ever since man's Fall into sin as described in the early pages of Scripture, that is the only kind of man that there could be.
Man's hatred of God, then, lies behind his ignorance. That is an important fact. Yet how often we have thought the opposite! We have said, 'If men only knew God, if they only knew Christ, they would love them!' Yet the Scripture teaches that what men know of God and of Christ leads them to hatred, not to love. In other words, man's first problem is not ignorance. It is true that men are ignorant. There is much more that they could know about God and about Christ. But they will never learn these things unless their hatred is removed. Their ignorance is blameable. It comes from their bias. They have no sympathy with the revealed character of God. They need a new mind. They need a new attitude. They need a new disposition. They need a new heart. Without these things their ignorance will remain.
Paul also tells us the same thing. He speaks of men being hostile to God, of being God's enemies. And he goes on to show that their attitudes make them unable to respond to God. In his Letter to the Romans he says,
'The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God' [Rom 8.7,8].If God commands the natural man to repent, he is unable to do so. Why? Because of his hostility toward God. That is another way of saying that he hates God, he is God's enemy.
Let us look back for a minute. First, we have seen that the Bible teaches that faith has a moral basis. That is, faith arises out of a man's moral state. Faith may never be divorced from what a man is and does. If a man, for instance, seeks approval and honor from other men before approval and honor from God, he cannot exercise faith.
Second, we have seen that the natural man cannot change himself. He is too ignorant to do so. His ignorance, in turn, comes from his bias against God. He hates God. He is God's enemy. He has no sympathy with the things of God. This makes it impossible for the natural man to learn. The things of God seem ridiculous to him. Paul puts it this way:
'A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them' [I Cor 2.14].The sum of the Bible's teaching is this: the natural man is without power to change himself. For that reason, left to himself, he cannot and will not turn to God and Christ in faith. These are sobering facts. As we saw, they lead to a final question. That question is: How can any man be saved? Isn't the whole thing hopeless? Won't this teaching of Scripture lead us to despair? Let us see.
Do you remember what happened the day after Jesus fed the five thousand? I want to quote John's account of that next day, at length. On that day Jesus faced the hopelessness of appealing to the natural man. And on that same day He told us the solution to the problem. We will take up the story where those who had been fed the day before had again found the Lord Jesus:
'They said to Him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set His seal."
They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
They said therefore to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.'"
Jesus therefore said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."
They said therefore to Him, "Lord, evermore give us this bread."
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe" '[John 6.25-36].To this point I have quoted just enough to give us the feeling of hopelessness. It comes out in several ways.
1) The Lord Jesus tells these people plainly why they have sought Him out. They sought Him to have their bellies filled again. They had witnessed a miracle of giant proportions, the feeding of five thousand men, plus women and children. And how did they respond? They responded by thinking how good it would be to get their food this way all the time.
The Lord tells them that the miracle was a sign. It was a pointer to turn their attention to Himself. But they missed the sign. Instead of focusing on Him, they think of their own stomachs. Their god is their belly! If men who had seen Jesus miraculously feed five thousand would not pay attention to Him, who would? We are meant to feel the hopelessness of the situation.
2) Again the Lord Jesus tells them how they may do the very work that will please God. The work that pleases God is to believe in the Lord Jesus. That seems plain enough. How will they respond now? By demanding a sign! Think of it! Can you avoid feeling exasperated? The Lord Jesus does not seem vexed, but patiently goes on to reason with them. Yet what could be more hopeless than the demand of these men to see a sign? They had seen one of the greatest signs in history.
3) Finally the Lord Jesus offers them bread that will give them life. 'Lord', they reply, 'evermore give us this bread'. Surely here they have broken out of their bonds of ignorance and unbelief. But, no! Jesus explains that He Himself is the bread of life. He does not, however, wait for their positive response. He does not expect it.
Instead He says, 'But I said to you, that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe'. You have seen the miracle, the Lord tells them, but you have missed its point. So I have called attention to its point by fixing your gaze on Myself. But you were unbelievers before the miracle, and you remain unbelievers. You were without faith before I explained that I Myself am the bread of life, and you are still without faith. And with these words the Lord prepares to show us the solution to the hopelessness of appealing to the natural man. Let us listen as He speaks:
'All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out' (John 6.37].Here is the Lord's own solution to the dilemma of the natural man. Later He will expand on it. Now, however, let us look at it in isolation from His later words. Let us see how it fits the preceding context.
It is plain, the Lord Jesus is saying, that you want your bellies filled. And your bellies have kept you from seeing My glory. It is also true that you will not please .God by turning to Me. It is true that you are without faith, and will not and cannot change yourselves. All of that is true. But there is another truth. That truth is this: My Father is giving some men to Me. The hopelessness of human nature cannot defeat My Father. Every one that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and when he comes I will not turn him away. That is where My hope lies. Not in human nature, but in My Father!
What does this mean? We are not left to wonder. The. Lord Jesus goes on to say: 'Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught of God". Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me' (John 6.4345]. In a word, the Father will overcome some men's ignorance, and all that lies behind it, so that they will turn to Christ. It is the Father who makes the moral change in men that leads them to the Savior. That is Jesus' position. Let us take a closer look at it. First, Jesus confirms the hopelessness of human nature. 'No man can come to Me', He says. Then He adds the word 'unless'. We must not misunderstand that word. It does not introduce a condition that man can fulfill. It does not suggest that fallen human nature can do some little (or big) thing. No man can come, unless the Father does something. Human nature cannot do it. God must do it. God must draw men, Jesus says, or they cannot come to Him.
Next, Jesus tells us how the Father draws men. He draws them by teaching them. When they have learned from Him they turn to Christ. Many men perish. But those whom God teaches have their bias and ignorance overcome. In that way God draws them to Christ. And, so, they are saved. Jesus promises to raise them up on the last day. He promises them eternal life.
But you may say, doesn't God draw and teach all men? Wouldn't it be fair to say that God may teach a man, but whether that man learns is a different matter? Perhaps God draws, but men refuse. Does Jesus leave that possibility open here? Or is Jesus speaking of effective drawing and teaching in this passage?
The Lord Jesus quotes Isaiah 54.13 to these men:
'And they shall all be taught of God'. In their Old Testament context the words clearly speak of men who have learned what is taught. Earlier God had said through Isaiah:
'If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea' (Isa. 48.18].God had given good teaching but there was no response from the hearers. He had given His commandments, but men did not keep them.
But in Isaiah 54, all of that is past. God speaks of His future 'covenant of peace' that 'will not be shaken' [Isa. 54.10]. And He says further:
'And all your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established' (Isa. 54.13, 14].No contrast is intended here between teaching and learning. The whole point of the passage is that God will make men learn. That is the sense in which they will be taught. This can be clearly seen if we put the two Isaiah passages side by side:
Isaiah 48.18 Isaiah 54.13, 14 'If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.' 'And all your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established.'
In the first column, all is failure and cause for regret. God had taught the people by His commandments, but He had not changed their hearts. Now, however, He speaks of a new covenant. In this covenant failure will be banished. Regret will have no place. All who are taught will learn; their well-being will be assured; they will be righteous before the Lord. The teaching will not simply be outward. It will be inward, changing the heart and removing the bias, so that the natural man's ignorance will be overcome.
This reminds us of God's word through Ezekiel:
'Moreover (God says), I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances' [Ezek 36.26, 27].These are the thoughts that lie behind the Lord Jesus' words. It seems likely that He is telling these Jews that the time of the new covenant has come. But at the very least He is speaking of a work of God that makes men learn.
In the Lord's view, those who hear and learn from the Father are precisely those whom the Father has taught, no more and no less. And we have seen already what keeps men from learning. It is their moral state. So Jesus is telling these men that His hope does not lie in them. It does not lie in the 'natural man'. His hope for success is fixed absolutely and solely on His Father. He knows that, apart from His Father's work in renewing men's wills so that they come to Him, His preaching would fall on deaf ears and unresponsive hearts. But His Father will change some men and give them as gifts to His Son. They will come to Him. So, despite His hearers' initial hardness of heart, His preaching of the gospel will succeed.
Here, then, is the answer to the question: How can any man be saved? It is precisely the same answer the disciples received from the Lord Jesus when they asked, 'Who then can be saved?' It ran, 'The things that are impossible with men are possible with God' [Luke 18.26, 27]. It is impossible for men to be saved. It is impossible, that is, unless God comes into action. He must intervene, not simply in history as He did at the cross, but in men's individual lives. Only then can they hear and learn. Otherwise they remain in their blindness and are lost forever.
But God does step into many lives. He intervenes in that act that we call 'the new birth'. A man must be born again in order to turn from his sins and to turn to Christ. God's action — the new birth — leads to man's response: faith in Christ.5
Faith has a moral basis. It is not an isolated action of the mind. As with unbelief, it has its roots in what a man is. This is what Scripture teaches.
We shall expect, then, to find moral appeals to the sinner when we open our Bibles. And we do not look for them in vain. The lost man is told to believe. Furthermore, he is also told to turn from his sin. He is told to change his ways. He is told to repent. The sinner is not left to think that a bare notion about the truth of the gospel will save him. Not at all! He must be a changed man if he is to experience the mercy of God.
An Old Testament example will illustrate this matter: Listen to Isaiah pleading with sinners:
'Seek the LORD while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the LORD,
And He will have compassion on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon' [Isa. 55.6, 7].It is agreed that a somewhat similar plea might be made to true believers. We can all profit by being reminded to seek the Lord and to call on Him. But Isaiah is speaking to the wicked. He exhorts the unrighteous man. And he does it by calling for a moral change. His demand is for a complete turnabout. Then, and only then, he promises the sinner compassion and an abundant pardon.
We find a similar appeal in the New Testament. We hear a ruler ask the Lord Jesus, 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' How does the Lord answer him? By painting him to God's commandments. When the man claims to have kept the commandments, the Lord probes deeper.
'Sell all that you possess', the Lord Jesus says, 'and distribute it to the poor' [Luke 18.22].Did Jesus offer this man salvation by works? Not at all! He simply told him that there is no salvation without a godly moral base. Men who love their possessions more than they love the Lord know nothing of salvation. Just as Isaiah had said years before, this man would have to forsake his way to have eternal life.
Let us look at one more example from the Book of Acts. I have in mind the story of Simon the magician in Acts, chapter eight. This man heard of Christ and professed faith in Him. Soon it was clear, however, that he was not a Christian. Peter told him,
'You have no pan or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God' [Acts 8.21].Simon's profession meant nothing. He was still 'in the gall of bitterness and in the bandage of iniquity' (8.23).
How could Simon escape from this bondage? How could he find forgiveness? Peter gives essentially the same answer that Isaiah gave to these questions. Peter says,
'Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you' (8.22).In other words, 'Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts…' etc. The moral appeal is the same in the Old Testament and in the New.6
The question is sometimes asked, 'Must Christ be Lord to be Savior?' Must one commit oneself to Christ as Lord at the outset of the Christian life? Is it not enough to trust Christ as Savior? Doesn't the Christian later commit himself to Christ as the ruler of his life?
I did not ask this question when I started to write this booklet. Yet you will see, I think, that along the way we have discovered the answer. If faith has no moral basis, if it is a solitary action of the mind, then it may exist without commitment to Christ. But, in fact, faith is part of commitment to Christ. When God creates a new man, that man receives Christ wholeheartedly. He receives Christ for all that Christ is. He gives himself to Christ. He does these things because he is a new creation. The stony heart has been taken out of him. In its place God has put 'a heart of flesh', a heart of responsiveness to God.
Of course, the new Christian does not know all that this means. Neither do you nor I. We do not know what Christ's Lordship over us will demand tomorrow or next week. And we do not know how we shall meet the challenges God puts before us. If Christ were Lord over perfect men only, then we could predict their responses. They would always do right. They would never sin.
But Christ is Lord over imperfect men. These men characteristically do what is fight, but not perfectly. Christ asserts His Lordship over His people, but He has not yet perfected them. Every Christian, no matter how dedicated he is, may fall into sin. But he will usually succeed in avoiding sin. He will usually adorn the name 'servant of God'. He will do this because Christ is his Lord, and he has a heart to serve Him and to keep His commandments.
* * *
The burning moral issue before each man is this: what will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ? No other question ranks with this one in importance for the soul. No other question ranks with this one in importance for your soul.
May I ask how you have answered it? Have you said from the heart, 'My Lord and my God!' as Thomas did? A day is coming when those who have thought that they had plenty of time to face this question will find that time has run out. I pray that time shall not run out for you. If you have not turned to Christ, do so immediately. God commands you to turn. Do not delay!
But one of you may say, 'Must I not wait for a new heart has been taken out of him. In its place God has put 'a heart of flesh', a heart of responsiveness to God.
Of course, the new Christian does not know all that this means. Neither do you nor I. We do not know what Christ's Lordship over us will demand tomorrow or next week. And we do not know how we shall meet the challenges God puts before us. If Christ were Lord over perfect men only, then we could predict their responses. They would always do right. They would never sin.
But Christ is Lord over imperfect men. These men characteristically do what is right, but not perfectly. Christ asserts His Lordship over His people, but He has not yet perfected them. Every Christian, no matter how dedicated he is, may fall into sin. But he will usually succeed in avoiding sin. He will usually adorn the name 'servant of God'. He will do this because Christ is his Lord, and he has a heart to serve Him and to keep His commandments.
* * *
The burning moral issue before each man is this: what will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ? No other question ranks with this one in importance for the soul. No other question ranks with this one in importance for your soul.
May I ask how you have answered it? Have you said from the heart, 'My Lord and my God!' as Thomas did? A day is coming when those who have thought that they had plenty of time to face this question will find that time has run out. I pray that time shall not run out for you. If you have not turned to Christ, do so immediate ly. God commands you to turn. Do not delay!
But one of you may say, 'Must I not wait for a new heart before I dare believe in Jesus Christ? Isn't that necessary?
The answer is: 'No, you must not wait!' Let me tell you why. The reason is this: faith and repentance are the only evidences that show that a man has a new heart. Turn to Christ and it will be made clear that you have a new heart. Refuse to turn and you will show that the old heart remains. Men do not feel the new birth apart from feeling a• new commitment to Jesus
Christ. And commitment to Him is what you must have to be saved! Turn to Him and live! And when you have turned, give God the glory, for it is He who gives men the heart to turn to Christ.
I suppose, however, that many of my readers will already be Christians. If you are a believer, may I ask you a question? Have you been careful to give God the glory for your salvation? Yes, you reply, for it is the delight of every believer to glorify God for saving him. So let me ask another question. Have you given God as much glory as He deserves? Have you thanked Him for giving you a new heart so that you turned to Christ in faith? There is much more to thank God for, in salvation, than we have yet dreamed.
Finally, let me ask one more question. Do you witness for Christ? Is it your prayer that God would give you some soul as the reward for your bearing witness? I hope that is your prayer. And if it is, do not think that you can do the work. Do not think the sinner can do it. Both you and he are helpless apart from the work of God.
Yet be encouraged! God has determined to take a vast number of people for Himself out of this 'present evil world'. Someone must tell each of His elect about Christ. And in the telling God will work to bring each of them home to Himself. If it is true that we cannot convert a single soul, it is also true that God has determined to convert millions. And, for the most part, He will do it through us, His people. We need, then, to take heart. We need to go about the work buoyantly. In the words of William Carey, we need to 'expect great things from God' and to 'attempt great things for God!' Who knows but that we were born into the world for such a time as this?
Monday 4 January 2016
Steps To Peace
Step One
God’s Purpose: Peace and Life
God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life–abundant and eternal.
The Bible says…
Step Two
The Problem: Our Separation
God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice.
We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.
The Bible says…
People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God…
The Bible says…
Step Three
God’s Bridge: The Cross
Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.
The Bible says…
Step Four
Our Response: Receive Christ
We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation.
The Bible says…
Will you receive Jesus Christ right now?
Here is how you can receive Christ:
Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God’s Assurance: His Word
If you prayed this prayer,
The Bible says…
This is just the beginning of a wonderful new life in Christ. To deepen this relationship you should:
God’s Purpose: Peace and Life
God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life–abundant and eternal.
The Bible says…
“We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10Why don’t most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have?
Step Two
The Problem: Our Separation
God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice.
We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.
The Bible says…
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23Our Attempts to Reach God
People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God…
The Bible says…
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2No bridge reaches God…except one.
Step Three
God’s Bridge: The Cross
Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.
The Bible says…
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.” 1 Timothy 2:5
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” 1 Peter 3:18
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8God has provided the only way. Each person must make a choice.
Step Four
Our Response: Receive Christ
We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation.
The Bible says…
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9Where are you?
Will you receive Jesus Christ right now?
Here is how you can receive Christ:
- Admit your need (I am a sinner).
- Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).
- Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.
- Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.)
Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
God’s Assurance: His Word
If you prayed this prayer,
The Bible says…
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13Did you sincerely ask Jesus Christ to come into your life? Where is He right now? What has He given you?
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9Receiving Christ, we are born into God’s family through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. This is called regeneration, or the “new birth.”
This is just the beginning of a wonderful new life in Christ. To deepen this relationship you should:
- Read your Bible everyday to know Christ better.
- Talk to God in prayer every day.
- Tell others about Christ.
- Worship, fellowship, and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached.
- As Christ’s representative in a needy world, demonstrate your new life by your love and concern for others.
Saturday 2 January 2016
Coram Deo (December 2015)
Coram Deo: Scripture often calls us to guard our hearts, and this is not only so that we can avoid sin and the discipline it brings but also so that we would cultivate love and the rewards that come with it. God wants us to have a true, heartfelt desire to serve Him and His people, a love born of gratitude for what He has done for us and for who He is in His holy and merciful nature. Let us reflect on God’s goodness that our love for Him might grow this day.
After graduating from the University of Florida in 1996, I was drafted by Mike Ditka to play football for the New Orleans Saints. Though still a young man, I arrived in New Orleans not only looking to play football but also open to see how the Lord might use me in the city during my time there. —Danny Wuerffel in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Any self-reliance that remains after we have come to know the Lord hinders our prayers and our trust in Him. But if we remember how great He is and how small we are, this self-reliance will be put to death. John Calvin writes, “We cannot properly estimate the divine goodness, unless we take into consideration what we are as to our condition, as we can only ascribe to God what is due unto him, by acknowledging that his goodness is bestowed upon undeserving creatures.”
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He is the Seeker; we are the ones who are running. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: All people serve a god of some kind, but only those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior have the true Lord as their God. Everyone relates to God as He is as the Creator, but not all people relate to Him as His servants who will receive the blessing of the covenant Lord. He does good things for us every day, but ultimately, the greatest blessing we have is that the true Lord is our God. Let us thank and praise Him this day for taking us as His own.
Coram Deo: In fearing God and keeping His commandments, three things occur. First, our sin is restrained, for we seek to avoid the consequences of our actions. Second, we see that we cannot keep the commandments with the perfection required to be declared righteous before God, and so we trust in Christ alone so that we will be justified—counted righteous—in Him. Finally, having been justified, we reverently fear the Lord all the more, and He empowers us to obey Him by His Holy Spirit.
Coram Deo: At various points in our study of the Wisdom Literature, particularly Psalm 119, we have noted our need for the Holy Spirit’s illumination for the Word of God to make us wise. This Spirit is a gift to us from Jesus Himself (John 14:15–17). The Wisdom Books point us to Jesus, who sends His Spirit so that His people will see Him in this literature. Let us thank God for His gift this day, and may we always pray that the Spirit will give us all the wisdom we need for life and salvation.
"I want people to love the Lord, not just for what He does for them but for who He is." —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: God is faithful and His Word is sure, so we need not fear that anything awaits believers after our deaths except heaven. Jesus sees our final dwelling with Him as so important that He has gone on before us to prepare this home for us. Ultimately, heaven will come to earth at the final resurrection and we will dwell with Him in a new creation forever. But all Christians who die before this judgment are ushered into Christ’s immediate presence in heaven.
While God invites us to enjoy His gifts in a variety of ways, temporal items are unsatisfactory foundations for lasting joy and peace. Culture may view contentment as something we gain through relationships, wealth, power, and privilege, but the Bible sets forth very different qualifications for contentment. —Melissa Kruger in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: How strongly do we believe that heaven is far better than our lives on this side of the grave? It is easy to get distracted from the blessings of the life to come, so we must take special care that we do not forget that as good as our lives can be now, life in God’s unmediated presence is far better. The joys we experience in the here and now cannot compare to what is in store for those of us who know Jesus. Let us be conscious of that fact today and always.
To put it as simply as I can, if you are not spiritually reborn, you are not a Christian. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: We do not need to know many details about the intermediate state, or even our final state for that matter. It is enough to know that the Lord says it will be better than what we enjoy now, for He is trustworthy and we know that He only speaks the truth. Yet God is gracious in giving us some details to satisfy our curiosity. In any case, the best thing about heaven is that Christ will be there, and He will satisfy our deepest longings for goodness, truth, beauty, and love.
We have not yet attained to biblical contentment when we would be content with Christ were it not for our circumstances. No, genuine contentment is realized both in our circumstances and with our circumstances. —Sinclair Ferguson in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The Bible depicts the vision of God’s face as the supreme blessing of salvation (Num. 6:22–27; 1 Cor. 13:12; 1 John 3:2). We can hardly envision what seeing our Lord’s countenance will be like, but it will be far more wonderful than the most glorious reality we can imagine. When we see God face-to-face, we will be enraptured with His beauty that will consume us for eternity and never bore us. May we long for that day and let that hope shape us in all the years to come.
After graduating from the University of Florida in 1996, I was drafted by Mike Ditka to play football for the New Orleans Saints. Though still a young man, I arrived in New Orleans not only looking to play football but also open to see how the Lord might use me in the city during my time there. —Danny Wuerffel in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: Any self-reliance that remains after we have come to know the Lord hinders our prayers and our trust in Him. But if we remember how great He is and how small we are, this self-reliance will be put to death. John Calvin writes, “We cannot properly estimate the divine goodness, unless we take into consideration what we are as to our condition, as we can only ascribe to God what is due unto him, by acknowledging that his goodness is bestowed upon undeserving creatures.”
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He is the Seeker; we are the ones who are running. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: All people serve a god of some kind, but only those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior have the true Lord as their God. Everyone relates to God as He is as the Creator, but not all people relate to Him as His servants who will receive the blessing of the covenant Lord. He does good things for us every day, but ultimately, the greatest blessing we have is that the true Lord is our God. Let us thank and praise Him this day for taking us as His own.
Coram Deo: In fearing God and keeping His commandments, three things occur. First, our sin is restrained, for we seek to avoid the consequences of our actions. Second, we see that we cannot keep the commandments with the perfection required to be declared righteous before God, and so we trust in Christ alone so that we will be justified—counted righteous—in Him. Finally, having been justified, we reverently fear the Lord all the more, and He empowers us to obey Him by His Holy Spirit.
Coram Deo: At various points in our study of the Wisdom Literature, particularly Psalm 119, we have noted our need for the Holy Spirit’s illumination for the Word of God to make us wise. This Spirit is a gift to us from Jesus Himself (John 14:15–17). The Wisdom Books point us to Jesus, who sends His Spirit so that His people will see Him in this literature. Let us thank God for His gift this day, and may we always pray that the Spirit will give us all the wisdom we need for life and salvation.
"I want people to love the Lord, not just for what He does for them but for who He is." —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: God is faithful and His Word is sure, so we need not fear that anything awaits believers after our deaths except heaven. Jesus sees our final dwelling with Him as so important that He has gone on before us to prepare this home for us. Ultimately, heaven will come to earth at the final resurrection and we will dwell with Him in a new creation forever. But all Christians who die before this judgment are ushered into Christ’s immediate presence in heaven.
While God invites us to enjoy His gifts in a variety of ways, temporal items are unsatisfactory foundations for lasting joy and peace. Culture may view contentment as something we gain through relationships, wealth, power, and privilege, but the Bible sets forth very different qualifications for contentment. —Melissa Kruger in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: How strongly do we believe that heaven is far better than our lives on this side of the grave? It is easy to get distracted from the blessings of the life to come, so we must take special care that we do not forget that as good as our lives can be now, life in God’s unmediated presence is far better. The joys we experience in the here and now cannot compare to what is in store for those of us who know Jesus. Let us be conscious of that fact today and always.
To put it as simply as I can, if you are not spiritually reborn, you are not a Christian. —R.C. Sproul
Coram Deo: We do not need to know many details about the intermediate state, or even our final state for that matter. It is enough to know that the Lord says it will be better than what we enjoy now, for He is trustworthy and we know that He only speaks the truth. Yet God is gracious in giving us some details to satisfy our curiosity. In any case, the best thing about heaven is that Christ will be there, and He will satisfy our deepest longings for goodness, truth, beauty, and love.
We have not yet attained to biblical contentment when we would be content with Christ were it not for our circumstances. No, genuine contentment is realized both in our circumstances and with our circumstances. —Sinclair Ferguson in Tabletalk Magazine
Coram Deo: The Bible depicts the vision of God’s face as the supreme blessing of salvation (Num. 6:22–27; 1 Cor. 13:12; 1 John 3:2). We can hardly envision what seeing our Lord’s countenance will be like, but it will be far more wonderful than the most glorious reality we can imagine. When we see God face-to-face, we will be enraptured with His beauty that will consume us for eternity and never bore us. May we long for that day and let that hope shape us in all the years to come.
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