Free Grace

"If your preaching of the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus Christ does not provoke the charge from some of antinomianism, you're not preaching the gospel of the free grace of God in Jesus Christ."

- D. Martin Lloyd-Jones

Pacific Blue

No, that's not the crashed Windows XP screen...    But, have you ever wondered what shade of blue is the true color "Pacific Blue"?  I did.   Snapped this picture at 36,000 feet, just northeast of Kauai.    The vastness and beauty of the ocean is just beyond mind boggling.    And, it always makes me a little nervous when I fly to Asia - flying over the deep blue for such a long time.    Is it any wonder that so many have compared the matchless grace of God to the vastness of the ocean?    Perhaps, it's the only jaw-dropping picture that we tangibly have that comes anywhere close to describing the overwhelming, unfathomable grace of God.

Got Comfort?

"If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair."

- CS Lewis

Control is a Myth

Stumbled upon a message from Dr. Bill Lawrence a few years ago that has truly blessed me.   This is one of those gems of a talk that you just want to soak up again and again.   I've probably listened to this 15 times in the last 3 years, and each time I have been blessed.    I can say that if you choose to listen, this will be 38 and a half minutes wisely spent  --> Stormology 101.   

I'll get the Ice Creams...

A pretty familiar scene around our house... minus the ice cream. 

James 2 revisited...

The traditional Reformed view of James 2:14-26 has been one of progressive sanctification. This one text perhaps more than any other has been used as a something of a proof text that a genuine saving faith is a faith that will inevitably produce good works.  This begs the question, of course, regarding the one who claims to have a faith unto salvation but no enduring works to support such a claim.  What do we say to such a case?  The traditional answer is that such a man may never have had a true faith in Christ to begin with.

James 2 is certainly perplexing... so much so that Luther had doubts as to whether James even belonged in the canon of Scripture.  Not long ago, I came upon an excellent message that I have found helpful and worth consideration --> Faith and Works.

The view Fisher presents here cuts against the grain of the traditional view of James 2, and that should give us pause in and of itself.   Yet, Fisher presents a striking and compelling argument - mainly, the readers of James would not have associated the word "save" (that occurs in vs. 14 and sets forth James' discussion) in the same way that Paul's readers would have heard this word.  What's more, after 2000 years of Christian teaching, we naturally assume when we come to the word "save" in our English Bibles that this pertains to "final deliverance from Hell" in a legal justification sense. While Paul certainly uses the word in this sense commonly, I don't believe this is what James has in mind.  Indeed, Fisher is right on we he argues that we should be asking the interpretive question, "saved from what?"

Double Liberation...

Really enjoyed reading Dane Ortlund's insightful article "Justification's Double Liberation".    It challenged me to reflect afresh on how the truth of what Christ accomplished for me in securing justification not only wrought my eternal salvation and eternal blessing, but also is the prescription for the insecurities that plague me in the here and now.   Were only my emotional life so intertwined with the truth of the gospel - the liberating truth that I have final acceptance from the only Audience that matters! 


Said in a slightly different way, but I suppose the "second liberation" that Ortlund notes is simply becoming more acutely in tune with our true identity in Christ - with all the blessings and all that we are positionally 'in Christ.'   Indeed, isn't that the format of many of Paul's letters and at the core of his appeal for any life of holiness?   Part A --> here's who you are in Christ.    Part B --> in the light of glorious truth(s) of part A, live out your true identity.

Assurance... Objective or Subjective?

Thought anew this week about this issue of "assurance of salvation."   And, just where should a believer derive the assurance of salvation?    No doubt, there is much debate on this subject.    I found Joseph Dillow's comments to be helpful:

"How can the believer know whether or not his faith is temporary?   How much evidence would be adequate to give him assurance now?   Only with Christ in the forefront of the believer's mind and as the direct object of his faith can there be any assurance at all.    As soon as we begin to examine our love for Christ, we substitute another object.   This results in a reduction of our love for Him by the very act of measuring it.   As the love for Christ subsides through self-examination, the introspection is more and more likely to return a negative verdict.  How then can assurance ever come via self-examination?"

- Joseph Dillow, The Reign of the Servant Kings,  pg. 305

Unchanging

"Faith follows the One believed while feeling turns on how one feels. God does not change: He is the same God in either the cloudy day or the sunny day. Hence he who lives by faith is as unchanging as is God; he expresses the same kind of life through darkness or through light. But one who dwells by feeling must pursue an up and down existence because his feeling is ever changing."

         - Watchman Nee

a knothole peek

"The best we can hope for in this life is a knothole peek at the shining realities ahead. Yet a glimpse is enough. It's enough to convince our hearts that whatever sufferings and sorrows currently assail us aren't worthy of comparison to that which waits over the horizon."

         - Joni Eareckson Tada

Live Dependently?!?

       Remember several years ago when the Lance Armstrong bracelets were so popular?  Remember when folks in groupie like fashion were sporting yellow arm bracelets? The bracelet simply read “Livestrong.” These things go in and out of style with the young and teenagers especially, but interestingly the Lance Armstrong craze had a wide following among adults.  People drew so much inspiration from seeing this athlete climb to the pinnacle of his sport, win the Tour de France all with the backdrop of a successful fight against cancer. 

       I suppose the armbands were sort of a banner for the power of the human spirit, the battle of the mind and the power of sheer determination to climb any mountain, overcome any obstacle – to in essence “live strong”.   In the months that followed the sweep of popularity of the Lance Armstrong yellow armbands, many other armbands popped up with different flavors of a message. Some touting virtues like “Strength” or “Courage” or “Determination.” 

       As I mused about these armbands, a thought struck me. What if there were a Christian version of the Lance Armstrong inspirational armband? What would this armband say? Would it say “Perseverance”? Would it say “Commitment”? "Dedication"? "Holiness"? "Grace"? What would convey the heart of what it is to live the Christian life? Truly it might simply read “Christ” and that would succinctly say everything. But, if we had to limit it to a virtue of sorts, what would it say? 

           Silly as it may sound, I think that a Christian armband might just simply read “Dependence.” Wouldn’t that look odd? Imagine the scene of being in a crowd with your friends who are equally as groupie minded and you are sporting an armband that read “Dependence” or “Live dependently”.  Who would extol that sort of life? Who would say “Wow, where can I get one of the ‘dependence’ armbands!”  Dependence is not a quality we would put in the same zip code with victory.   
           
           And, yet, dependence on God the Holy Spirit and God's resources is at the heart of the Christian life. And, paradoxically, victory in the Christian life is not achieved by getting stronger and stronger, but by becoming weaker, more dependent. It's the great inversion to the natural order. The strengths in the natural world are deficits in God’s economy. And, conversely, the deficits are strengths. Amazing!

Exchanged Life

“We think of the Christian life as a ‘changed life’ but it is not that. What God offers us is an ‘exchanged life,’ a ‘substituted life,’ and Christ is our Substitute within.”

         - Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life