The Old School

As we look around our culture we see many advancements in technology, science and engineering.  And these in themselves are all good as we enjoy efficient air conditioning, low emission combustion engines, or the latest software update on our computers and mobile devices.  We seek to be up to date and trendy with gadgets, software and knowledge of what works and what is worth buying.  We keep up to date with the latest fashions and styles in clothing to look our best with those around us.

Even the marketing we receive in all forms of media has to be up to date, novel and appealing.  Not only do we see the latest style sports cars but we see them being driven by a young, good looking model.  The evening news went obsolete years ago as a 24/7 news coverage from articulate and attractive men and women became mainstream.  What a culture of change, developments and modifications that controls our thinking and perceptions.  Have you kept up with all the new ideas and stuff?  Is it even possible?

It is in this culture of breaking news and changing fashions, customs and beliefs that the Christian message of a Savior and Redeemer in a Jewish carpenter from two thousand years ago gets evaluated.  How up to date is Jesus?  How appealing is a man scorned by his own religious leaders and crucified for his teachings?  What is trendy about sacrificial faith in this man?  Do we feel the tension between the old and the new?  Do we see the conflict between the cool and the Spiritual?  Do we seek the truth of both salvation by grace as well as the call to discipleship to pick up our cross daily?

Possibly the greatest appeal of this great salvation in Jesus is that it is, "(B)y grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast," Ephesians 2:8-9.  We celebrate in this faith because the Bible clearly teaches that someone else, Jesus, has lived in complete righteousness before God and we can receive salvation only through him.  It is in Christ alone that we can find salvation.  In my humble opinion, that's cool, that's WAY COOL.  If you want to be in with God, this is how it's done.

The Christian faith however can never keep up with the world simply because they are going in opposite directions.  The world is seeking the 'kingdom of man' and the Christian church is seeking the "the kingdom of God."  We must remember that the gospel, this good news of a substitutionary atonement from Christ to all those who put their faith in him, will never mix with the world, because it is completely from God.  By definition this gift of righteousness by grace cannot accept our input, help, works or self righteousness.  We must relinquish complete control to Christ.

Once we accept this faith however, there is much work to be done, "in Christ".  The work of sanctification is becoming like Christ through the teachings of scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit, and this comes after the gift of faith and salvation.  And this is not cool, it is flat out difficult, it is uncool to deny ourselves and pick up our 'spiritual' cross to live for Christ.  But it yields the greatest Spiritual fruit that anyone can imagine.  To grow in Christ is the best change, or update, or modification, or fashion, style and trend we can experience.

We must be careful as our constantly changing culture influences us to be trendy, fashionable, comfortable and conformable with the kingdom of man.  We must seek the truth of Christ and Scripture as it was originally described and as it is eternally preserved.  The old school theology of the Bible does not change because God does not change, Christ does not change, nor does the Holy Spirit change.  Nor does the Word of God change where we learn of all these great truths, and that also means the gospel of grace is eternally true.

Therefore we must not change the content of the gospel of "Christ alone" even as we seek to reach a constantly changing culture, and as we seek to make new applications to the truth of the gospel.  We also need to accept the old school theology of sanctification in Christ to come to love the kingdom of God over anything this world can offer.  And we will be Spiritually blessed if we do.  

Is Jesus the Christ?

Is Jesus the Christ?  This is a big question that needs to be handled carefully so as not to be misunderstood.  For Jesus' title is Christ, as in Messiah, Savior or Lord.  And the question is meant so as to understand his true identity not in a sarcastic but in a reverent way.  We should seek to know the truth of who Jesus really was.

The identity of Jesus has been debated for centuries and even during his own life many disagreed with who he was.  He claimed to be the very incarnation of God, the Son of God, and the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.  The Bible also teaches that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, and therefore he was both human and divine.  He performed miracles and revealed his Spiritual nature in a transfiguration of divine light, and even was raised from the dead.  Yet today many still question his identity, and many are indifferent or ambivalent to who he was.  This is a pivotal question however for if he really is the Christ, if he really is alive and reigning in heaven today, then he is the Lord of all of life in all the world.

Christians can relish in the grace of God through faith in Christ as they have the greatest gift given to mankind.  In Christ we can be Spiritually transformed, saved forever and forgiven completely.  Yet we are also called to live under the Lordship Christ in all aspects of life.  This includes our vocations, our callings, our work, our careers, our families, our avocations, our recreation, our fun times.  And this means good things, it is not a detriment but a fulfillment of our beings.  Jesus as the Christ provides, protects, empowers and equips believers with his Word and Spirit.  This is an abundant life indeed.

Even more, the sphere sovereignty doctrine (most recently of Kuyper, but also Calvin and Paul) teaches that Christ is sovereign over all spheres of life.  And, if we live in this faith that Christ is sovereign over all, we should not participate in or promote the 'city of man'.  We will live changed lives and encourage others to live for Christ, not by force, but by faith, faith in obeying Christ's commands, in Spiritual life.  We live for Christ in all of his commands, in grace, in love, in discipleship, in obedience, in evangelism, in government, in education, in church and in family.  Following Jesus as the Christ means we follow him as Lord in all things to develop his kingdom, to the restoration of all things to God.

This doctrine of Jesus as the Christ reaches out into all aspects of life, so that the secular is penetrated by the Spiritual, that all of life is lived to the glory of God in Christ.  Christians bring forth the kingdom of Christ in faith, living for Christ as king of their hearts, souls, minds and strength in all of life.  This causes new structures or forms for living, it reforms all of life to God.

We can find eternal life from the divine nature of Christ and we can serve Christ in a cockpit or a pulpit, as a physician or a laborer, as a mother or as a father.  They all are vocations from God and can be performed to the glory of Christ.  Jesus is the living Christ and not just a historical figure from two thousand years ago.  He is alive and he is the Creator and Lord of life, and the King of the universe.  Amen.

The Question of Marriage

The definition of marriage in America has been under attack by those who would like to change its traditional meaning.  Instead of the historical definition of being a bond between a man and a woman in a heterosexual relationship, the progressive argument seeks to break all ties with anything traditional and redefine "marriage" as a relationship between any two people, even two homosexuals. But why the surge to redefine marriage?  If homosexual people want to live together why not just call it a civil union or a civil relationship, and seek all the benefits from the civil courts as those who are "married"?

I've been ignorant to the extent that the homosexual community has been engaged in the same sex marriage fight.  It has been in the works for decades and soon the Supreme Court will decide what marriage is, at least in the eyes of our contemporary culture.  It's interesting to note that the homosexual argument is based upon a secular view of the Constitution and the will of the people, and in making progress in human freedom in the here and now.  But if the argument is structured from a perspective of Truth and the Bible it looks completely different as there is a Spiritual question to consider.

I'm not sure whether the attack on traditional morality relates better with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, or with Romans 1 in general, or the fall of Rome in particular.  But if the Bible is true, then the USA is going through a tremendous loss of morality in the name of personal freedom, and a Spiritual implosion is underway that will destroy any remaining Biblical authority in our culture.  I guess that's what it's been all about from the beginning.  There's an agenda behind the argument of freedom and equality, and it's the attack on Biblical truth.  In order to normalize homosexual relationships they need to be redefined as equal with heterosexuals.  And in order to be considered equal with heterosexuals, marriage itself needs to be redefined, and morality needs to change for the definition of marriage to change.

Natural law shows however that our anatomies were created male and female, one for the other, and procreation can only result from this relationship.  The Bible has much to say about marriage as well, that marriage is a divine illustration between the Lord and the church, his bride, his body.  This is a tremendous Spiritual truth that the Apostle Paul describes in Ephesians 5 as a great mystery.  We cannot understand this completely but we can understand in our conscience it is part of the Spiritual order.  In short, there's something very ordinary and something very big about marriage.  It not only is the source of intimate companionship as God created, it is the illustration of what God is doing between Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:28-32, "In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.  "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."  This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church."

There is a Spiritual element in marriage because it reveals the divine relationship between the Savior and the people of God.  Christ loves the church and came to the earth, lived sinlessly, taught, led, provided and died for her.  And he still cares for her in the same way.  This relationship is to be replicated in heterosexual marriage between husbands and wives and illustrates a Spiritual bride and groom.  It is a reflection of a greater reality than just the here and the now.  In the divine perspective Christ is seeking his bride to restore her from a broken relationship.

The Spiritual definition of marriage is part of the great truth of Scripture that God has a plan of redemption to call us back to him in a covenant relationship.  To distort the design of marriage is to distort any illustration of a Spiritual union with Christ.  The marriage between husband and wife is by creation design and is by necessity heterosexual as the husband is figurative for Christ as the wife is for the church.

The salvation that comes from Christ is like a love affair made in heaven of which humanity has been created for a personal relationship with God.  It's all very good, just as being forgiven for our sins and being restored to God is the greatest joy we can experience.  This is the relationship between Christ and the church, and marriage itself cannot be properly understood outside of this primary created design.

Laws of Nature?

The recent religious liberty legislation in Indiana has produced an outcry of discrimination against sexual orientation.  Yet since the sexual revolution of the sixties we have seen a downward slide in traditional values in our country.  What was once abnormal is now described as normal and moral values have changed as man’s capabilities and technology have changed.  

But why is the sexual orientation argument being described as discrimination and not as a moral issue?  If it is unjust to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, isn’t that a moral judgment of something right and wrong?  From what value system is sexual orientation determined to be true or false, or true today but not true a few decades ago?  The debate about this discrimination is really about a new morality.

Those who promote religious liberty also see sexual orientation as a moral issue, and that it is our religious right to be moral.  Religious liberty is a hallmark of our country based upon truths that are, "self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” as we know from the Declaration of Independence.  The right to the freedom of religion is an unalienable right, yet the civil rights of sexual orientation have developed just recently in our culture.

Religious freedom lies at the core of what America stands for as all other liberties come from this unalienable right.  This liberty is based upon “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” that also is in our Declaration, which means that our laws should not be founded upon the preferences or tyrannies of men.  All true liberty is based upon truths that are from the laws of nature and nature's God.  In our contemporary culture there are many laws however that have departed from these laws and have established a precedent of preference instead of rights endowed by our Creator.

We’ve come a long way since the eighteenth century and there is an equivocation being made today from our technical progress to a moral progressiveness.  But the self evident truth and the laws of nature do not change by the opinions or progress of people.  Our religious freedom is directly tied to unchanging truths and when these principles are rejected then all our freedoms will be lost.  There is no real progress without the foundational laws of nature and nature's God which do not change.

Remarkably there is even a growing demand for the acceptance of sexual orientation despite self evident truth and the laws of nature.  Have we lost all common sense as a culture?  For even the human anatomy reveals that male and female are created by design for each other.  And if heterosexuality is not moral then what is morality?  The sexual orientation argument fails in its fundamental reasoning as it has no foundation in natural law.  Even more, the sexually progressive cannot defend their practices from any lasting truth principles as they seek to normalize a new morality.

Departing from the primary truths that our nation was founded upon severs us from all our American justice and even the very foundation of civilized society.  We must distinguish the difference then between being equal in essence and in practice, and between morality and discrimination.  We need to clarify the essence of all our liberty by upholding the laws of nature and nature's God and the unalienable rights endowed by our Creator.  Otherwise we will have no self evident truth or natural law for which a defense can be made from the preferences and tyranny of men.

As we remember Easter Sunday this week let's remember that Christians also have truth from the Scriptures that we trust and depend upon.  This is the truth of the grace of Christ that can change our hearts and forgive our sin as we put our trust in him.  It's also a truth that does not change with the shifting winds of the doctrines in culture.  Let's proclaim this grace in Christ so as to respect the humanity of all people and the need we all have for grace.

Spiritual Leadership

Possibly one of the most pragmatic and necessary elements for any organization, business or family is good leadership.  And when it comes to a Christian church or institution it is Spiritual leadership.  Good Christian leadership is an expression of wisdom for those in faith and a witness to the secular world.  Every organization needs effective leadership to thrive and when Christians exhibit sound mind leadership based upon truth principles they display the wisdom of Christ.

Truth and wisdom are not always in vogue however, but they never are out of use.  Through my experience I've seen different leadership examples in families, schools, the military, businesses, and in the church.  It each of these I've seen people lead by personality, persuasion or power, and sometimes principles.  But in all organizations there is confusion, disillusionment, inefficiency and distrust when leadership is either ineffective or incompetent.  Yet we find clarity, vision, and order when there is clear leadership in place.  We all need guidance to live by and for the Christian there's no better place to find it than in God's Word.  In God's Book there is light, truth and wisdom that also gives us Spiritual leadership.

The book of Proverbs is wisdom literature filled with truth principles that were true over three thousand years ago and still true today.  For instance, Proverbs 29:18 describes, "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law."  A good leader will have a vision for his plans, and a Christian leader will have a vision from God's Word.  The vision binds people to a cause and a purpose greater than themselves.  In the KJV it reads, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."  The vision is directly related to the life of any institution, and when the vision is lost, the life is gone.  Families, militaries, businesses and churches all die when they depart from their vision in truth principles.

In Deuteronomy 28:1, Moses teaches us, "And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on the earth."  The voice of the LORD is from Scripture, He is teaching us all the time with lessons given to those who have preceded us.  We must be careful to obey the commandments of the LORD even as we know we live before Him in grace, for these are his eternal principles that are given to us to have life.

Moses clarifies to us the importance of these teachings in Deuteronomy 30:19-20, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days..."  Moses ties his leadership for the people to the commandments of God and then the commandments to life itself.  The commandments are from God and "He is your life and the length of your days."  Without the truth of God and his commandments we lack vision, wisdom and even life itself.  He is our life and He communicates to us this truth in Scripture.

There are also numerous places in the New Testament that offer truth and wisdom in living out the Christian life.  In Colossians 3:1 Paul exhorts us to look to God and not to the world.  "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."  And in Col 3:16, Paul exhorts us, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."  The vibrant Christian life is clearly Scripture centered as we are told to "seek those things which are above ... and let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."  It is from Scripture that we find truth and wisdom, and it is sufficient to know the will of God for leadership and in all of life.

We must be aware however of the world we live in to discern its affect on our thinking.  One test of truth is to ask if our decisions are consistent with Scripture.  Also are we seeking change just for the sake of being progressive with our culture?  In another way, we should ask if a decision is what our parents or forefathers would do.  Is something in violation with common sense truth principles?  If certain practices are useful for businesses are they also true for the church?  Is there sufficient reason from the texts of Scripture to lead in a certain direction?

The subtle changes of our culture in this fast paced world are normalizing new moralities in an equivocation with the changes of technology.  But, God doesn't change.  And if truth principles do change, how could we know what is true?  If truth itself is always changing, how would we know what is right and wrong, and who would get to decide what is moral?  We must not just ask what is pragmatic but what is true and consistent with God's Word.  Our modern culture is degenerating from a lack of vision for God and his truth.  It is confused, chaotic, immoral and dysfunctional.  But the Christian church should be full of life from the truth and wisdom of the Lord.

We all need a vision to live by and Spiritual leadership needs the vision of Christ and his truth principles through His Word.  Christians must be focused on Scripture in our thinking and in all our leadership decisions.  We are called in Deuteronomy 30 to "Love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice ... for He is your life."  His commandments bring life not death.  And from Colossians 3 we are called to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom."  For Christ is the source of truth and wisdom and He is alive forevermore.  We must be filled therefore with His Word to have truth and wisdom and to exercise Spiritual leadership.

A Good Conference

Have you been to a good conference lately?  How about a great seminar?  Or have you been able to read a classic book recently?  Perhaps you've been able to just make it to church and hear a solid sermon from Scripture?  Have you heard from God lately?

Recently my wife and I and another couple had the great opportunity to attend the Ligonier Ministries conference, "After Darkness, Light" and be a part of almost three days of good teaching, music and fellowship.  It was a rich time of renewal and restoration in the soul.  And it was just what I needed for the speakers communicated many realities about our culture and the unending need to know God in all his mighty attributes.  Dr. R.C. Sproul presented the need for the divine Light of Scripture to permeate our hearts and minds, as this conference highlighted a main theme from the Reformation.

The twenty-first century American culture is deteriorating and even imploding spiritually at an alarming rate.  And worse of all it changes the way we think.  We begin to see new norms and take the degradation from God's truth as ordinary.  But God doesn't change and his Word doesn't change, nor is it obsolete to the ever changing winds of the doctrines of men.  This is because God's character doesn't change for he is eternal, inerrant and trustworthy, to name just a few.

If I could highlight just one talk out of the three days that may be most beneficial I would highlight "It's Just a Book" from Robert Godfrey.  In this message he describes how the world considers the Bible to be just another book, in fact, it is quite outdated and of historical reference only.  But, to the contrary, the Bible is a supernatural book, it has a divine life because it has a divine Author and it is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The Bible has a life of its own that can never be squelched and it brings us to life for those who accept its truth and trust it.  There are many reasons why people lose their zest in the Christian life from all the brokenness and darkness of the world.  But the "Light" of the world is Christ, who is the light of life, and we can only see this from Scripture.  We need to drink long from his living waters in his Word.  As Jesus himself said, John 8:12, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

It has always been from Scripture that reformations have taken place whether individually, locally, regionally or globally.  And more than one speaker referenced the divine revelation that Peter received in his confession of Christ.  In Mt. 16:17 Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven."  This is the "divine and supernatural light" that the church has been founded upon from the beginning.  It is the Light of Christ of which we have recorded in "the good Book".

The Scriptures are truly the Word of God, they are God speaking to us.  We not only need the good Book we need good teaching from dedicated Christians in Bible studies, fellowship groups, church worship services, and occasionally a great conference.  We need to break away at times to be renewed by the Light of the world.

The great sixteenth century reformation slogan was, "Post Tenebras Lux"; After Darkness, Light.  And this comes from the Light of the supernatural book, the Bible.  It can strengthen our weary souls, it can encourage our faint hearts, it can illumine our dark minds, and it will inspire us to live for Christ.  Amen.

Free Grace?

Many people would say that grace is the most important doctrine of the Christian faith, in fact, it even defines the very essence of the faith.  Grace is the gift of salvation from God in Christ that we cannot earn ourselves.  But is grace a free gift or does it cost something?  I believe grace is free in that mankind cannot earn it, but it is not free in at least three other aspects.

Grace is not free in respect to what it cost Jesus to accomplish.  As the second Person of the Godhead, Christ had to become a man and come to Earth in humility.  He then lived a perfect and holy life in obedience to his Father and died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of mankind.  This sin offering was extremely costly and it provided the righteousness for the justification of sinners before God.  This grace is free to all who call upon Jesus, yet it cost him his very life.

The grace of Christ is also not free in that we must accept his righteousness and not our own for salvation.  This can only happen when we exchange our life for Christ's life.  We see this in Mt.16:24, "Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.""  This does not mean that we must be physically crucified on a cross, but spiritually we must die to any pursuit of self-righteousness before God.  We must accept the righteousness that Christ alone provides, which is our justification before God.

By accepting the grace of Christ we also receive a transformed heart and walk in faith and in newness of life.  And as we walk in faith with a changed heart, we must in addition turn from sin and seek to live for Christ as Lord.  We are not free therefore to live as we please but in grace we desire to live for Christ and his truth.  This is the process of growing in faith and sanctification and this produces good works as we become more Christ-like.  There is a distinction then between the meritorious works of Christ for justification and the good works of Christians in grace and growing in sanctification.

The free grace doctrine however teaches that there are no works required for Christian faith, and we are set at liberty in grace.  But the Bible teaches that we were created for good works as we live out God's grace.  We see in Eph 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  God's grace always produces faith, and faith always produces good works.  And Christians will never walk in faith perfectly as we are still sinners in a broken world, but if there are no good works there can be no true faith.

The idea of free grace is a false wind of doctrine that blows against the true Christian faith.  For we must give all we have in exchange for Christ, (Mt. 13:45-46), for our justification.  And in faith we must seek to deny our sinful natures to grow in sanctification and good works to become Christ-like.  This is sometimes called the cost of discipleship, but these are works of faith that come from the grace of Christ.

The grace of God is a precious gift we cannot earn.  And grace is not a freedom to live however we please.