Why stagger at this word of promise?

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless

Words: Christian L Scheidt (1709-1761)

By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath scripture ever falsehood taught?
No! then this word must true remain:
By grace thou, too, shalt heaven obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in His love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace! O, mark this word of promise
When thou art by thy sins oppressed,
When Satan plagues thy troubled conscience
And when thy heart is seeking rest.
What reason cannot comprehend
God by His grace to thee doth send.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
So long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in His word our God commands,
What our whole faith must rest upon,
Is grace alone, grace in His Son.

Selah.

If you are not willing

The destiny of misery

If you are not willing that God should have His way with you, then, in the name of God, be miserable -- until your misery drive you to the arms of the Father.

Selah.

George MacDonald

A word for the day: Keep me as the apple of your eye

Let my vindication come from your Presence

Psalm 17

Hear my plea of innocence, O Lord;
give heed to my cry;
listen to my prayer,
which does not come from lying lips.
Let my vindication come forth from your presence;
let your eyes be fixed on justice.
Weigh my heart, summon me by night,
melt me down; you will find no impurity in me.
I give no offence with my mouth as others do;
I have heeded the words of your lips.
My footsteps hold fast to the ways of your law;
in your paths my feet shall not stumble.
I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me;
incline your ear to me and hear my words.
Show me your marvelous loving-kindness,
O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand
from those who rise up against them.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me under the shadow of your wings,
From the wicked who assault me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
They have closed their heart to pity,
and their mouth speaks proud things.
They press me hard,
now they surround me,
watching how they may cast me to the ground,
Like a lion, greedy for its prey,
and like a young lion lurking in secret places.
Arise, O Lord; confront them and bring them down;
deliver me from the wicked by your sword.
Deliver me, O Lord, by your hand
from those whose portion in life is this world;
Whose bellies you fill with your treasure,
who are well supplied with children
and leave their wealth to their little ones.
But at my vindication I shall see your face;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied,
beholding your likeness.

Selah.

Repentance: Facing the Apocalypse

How penitence renews us in covenant protection

The rush of natural disasters, hurricanes, wind and fire, the march of terror and war, the hint of economic crash… these things we can no longer ignore. People now ask me, “Is this the beginning of the end?”

It is a serious question.

I try to answer it in biblical terms. Scripture never emphasizes the when of apocalypse, but always emphasizes the what of apocalypse, as in, “What should be our response in such a time as this?” “How then should we live?”

The Hebraic prophets called for repentance when faced with national disaster. Such teaching is totally opposite our postmodern intuitions. What? A spiritual response to physical disaster? Surely not!

We then ask, “Why?” Why would the prophets call for a moral response to material calamity? Why would Jesus finish His sermon on apocalypse by saying, “Watch, therefore…”? In other words, ‘Live a certain way.’

Is there some link between moral and physical reality? Scripture answers this, a resounding “Yes!”

Scripture asserts that our spiritual thoughts, our mental and internal status, affect physical reality. Our universe is first a spiritual universe. All that is, is held together by the Spirit of God. ‘In Him we live and move and have our being.’ ‘And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.’ ‘By the word of the Lord were the heavens made…’‘You send forth your Spirit and they are created…”

So when faced with physical calamity, the prophets say, “Repent.”

When humans repent, we bring our lives into line with the Spirit that holds the whole together. An actual connection with the eternal occurs – whether we realize it or not.

This is why it is no mere child’s game to say that our prayers affect even physical disasters, such as hurricanes or economic crash. The prophets emphasized this, repeatedly. And they were only applying the specific covenant promise of God. 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

It is the same promise that God offered them in when He brought them out of Egypt:

There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there He tested them, saying, ‘If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer’ [Exodus 15:35, et al].

In covenant repentance, God acts on behalf of His children. “I am your healer; I will heal your land.” Penitence and prayer thus become the most powerful things in the universe – things that re-connect us to the One who renews us, even if silent and unseen

Physical reality is connected with spiritual actions. Sara Yoheved Rigler, a Jewish writer, puts it this way:

A person stealing $100 in Tel Aviv lowers the moral fiber in Mexico City and could encourage massive embezzlement in Melbourne. Conversely, a person [praying] in Haifa may avert an auto accident in London or prevent complications during open-heart surgery in Los Angeles. The spiritual channels of effect run far below the surface, untraceable but powerful.

Spiritual forces, like ocean waves, do not lose their power over distance.[1]

Our repentance, covenant repentance, means that the power of God comes to bear, to forgive past offenses and grant healing. God promises himself as healer and deliverer.

Covenant repentance: exactly what is it? Since it is so compelling, how does it happen?

2 Chronicles 7:14 gives the pattern: humble the self, pray, seek the face of God, and turn from personal unrighteousness. It is simply taking relation with God seriously, accepting the fact that God is a Holy God. This is biblical penitence: Humility, committed prayer, wholehearted seeking of God, and turning away from known sin: Life in light of the gracious choice of God.

It is so powerful, it could save a nation. It could save a city. It could save a family. It could save a relationship. It could save you.

C. S. Lewis frames repentance as lived remorse, “where we lay down our [weapons] and surrender, say we're sorry, realize we're on the wrong track, and move full speed astern.” Repentance, he says, is “the only way out of a hole.”

In practical terms, penitence is humbly living in the grace of God – and this to such degree that we bring God into the details of daily life, into the small things. This is the test of grace.

Francois de Fenelon says:

To do small things that are right continually…is much more important [than doing 'great things']. These small acts attack our pride, our laziness, our self-centeredness, and our oversensitive nature. It is much more appealing to make great sacrifices to God, however hard they might be, so that we might do whatever we want with the small decisions of life. Faithfulness in the little things better proves our love for God. It is the slow, plodding path [of daily obedience] that matters...

Righteousness is letting God into the small things, and then realizing that He owns all things.

Our defense against the day of apocalypse is the action of this day. This day! ‘Today, if you will hear my voice,’ says the Lord. ‘Harden not your heart as in the day of provocation…’ ‘Now is the appointed time. Today is the day of salvation…’

Today!

Hear the voice that calls for repentance, and face the Apocalypse. It could be that your prayers will avert the day of disaster. Your prayers might save a relation or save the nation.

Alleluia!

Selah.

[1] S.Y. Rigler, “A spiritual response to disaster,” Society Today, http://www.aish.com/societyWork/society/Reacting_to_the_Tsunami.asp

A word for the day: Joy is strength!

The joy of the Lord is our strength

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! for the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted. — “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” — The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him. — My soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. — We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. — I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Neh. 8:10; Isa. 49:13; Isa. 12:2; Ps. 28:7; Isa. 61:10; Rom. 15:17; Rom. 5:11; Hab. 3:18

Selah.

To be a Christian...

Patrick O'Hannigan at Paragraph Farmer quotes Jennifer from Et Tu, in a post about waiting for a tow truck driver:

"To be a Christian is not to make God part of your story, but to realize that you are part of God's story."

Rich. Apt. Counter-intuitive for postmoderns. Definitely counter-zeitgeist. Truly prophetic.

Thanks, Jennifer! And Patrick!

Selah.

A light that lightens sage and savage

The grace and responsibility of the Light

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John 3:19

I therefore go on to say that it does not follow, because light has come into the world, that it has fallen upon this or that man. He has his portion of light that lighteth every person, but the revelation of God in Christ may not have reached him.

…Everyone who has not yet come to the light is not necessarily keeping his face turned away from it.

We dare not say that this or that man would not have come to the light had he seen it. We do not know that he will not come to the light the moment he does see it.

God gives every man time. There is a light that lightens sage and savage, but the glory of God in the face of Christ may not have shined on this particular sage or that particular savage. The condemnation falls, rather, on those who having seen Jesus, refuse to come to Him, or pretend to come to Him but do not the things that He says. They have all sorts of excuses at hand. But as soon as a man begins to make excuse, the time has come when he might be doing that from which he excuses himself.

How many are there, who, believing that there is somewhat or something of this claim of light upon them, go on and on to get more out of the darkness! This consciousness, all neglected by them, gives ground to the Lord’s words: You will not come unto me that you might have life!

Selah.

George MacDonald, “Light,” Unspoken Sermons, Third series.

Christ is our surety of redemption from law

Safety, fullness and sweet refreshment in Christ

But yet if the distressed trembling soul who is afraid of justice, would fly to Christ, He would be a safe hiding-place. Justice and the threatening of the law will have their course as fully, while the trembling soul is safe and untouched – just as if he or she had borne eternal justice. Christ bears the stroke of justice, and the curse of the law falls fully upon Him; Christ bears all that vengeance that belongs to the sin that has been committed by that person, and there is no need of its being borne twice over.

Christ’s temporal sufferings, by reason of the infinite dignity of His person, are fully equivalent to the eternal sufferings of a mere creature. And then His sufferings answer for the one who flees to Him as well as if they were that sinner’s own, for indeed they are his or her own by virtue of the union between Christ and them. Christ has made himself one with them; He is the head, and they are the members. Therefore, if Christ suffers for the believer, there is no need of his suffering; and what needs she to be afraid? Their safety is not only consistent with absolute justice, but it is consistent with the tenor of the law. The law leaves fair room for such a thing as the answering of a surety.

If the end of punishment in maintaining the authority of the law and the majesty of the government is fully secured by the sufferings of Christ as surety, then the law of God, according to the true and fair interpretation of it, has its course as much in the sufferings of Christ, as it would have in the sinner’s own sufferings. The threatening, “thou shalt surely die,” is properly fulfilled in the death of Christ, as it is fairly to be understood.

Therefore if those who are afraid will go to Jesus Christ, they need to fear nothing from the threatening of the law. The threatening of the law has nothing to do with them!

Selah.

Jonathan Edwards, “Safety, Fullness, and Sweet Refreshment in Christ,” a sermon from Isaiah 32:2.

A healthy look at the five points of Calvinism

A view of grace and freedom

[The] so-called five points of Calvinism were defined in controversy, and the titles are not an accurate indication of their meaning. Total depravity did not mean that human beings are totally evil; it meant that human beings are corrupt in every dimension of their existence and at the critical point of existence – namely, turning to God – they were totally unable to do so. Irresistible grace did not mean that grace could not be resisted, for grace is frequently, if not always, resisted. It did mean that God’s grace cannot be thwarted. Limited atonement did not mean for the majority of Calvinists that Christ died only for a select few people; the atonement is adequate for all people. It did mean that it was efficacious only for the elect or for believers. Unconditional election did not mean that salvation is by an arbitrary decree; it meant that God redeems us not because we deserve to be redeemed or because of anything we do but only out of His free love. The perseverance of the saints meant not so much that the saints persevere, as that God’s grace perseveres and brings the work of salvation to its completion.

The theological controversies of the medieval church as well as subsequent theological efforts have demonstrated that the problems of God’s grace and human freedom cannot be resolved by dividing up the work. Salvation is not partly the work of God and partly the work of human beings. It is not that God begins what humans may complete, or completes what human beings have already begun. The best solution seems to be to affirm that salvation from one perspective is completely the work of God. From another perspective – that is, the historical and psychological – it is completely the work of human beings.

John H. Leith, “The Prevenience of Grace,” Basic Christian Doctrine, 233.

True faith rests upon the character of God

Faith is more than believing the evidence

…Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar. As it is written, ‘That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings…’ Romans 3:4

by A.W. Tozer

Faith based upon reason may be faith of a kind, but it is not the character of Bible faith, for it follows the evidence infallibly and has nothing of a moral or spiritual nature in it.

Neither can the absence of faith based upon reason be held against anyone, for the evidence, not the individual, decides the verdict. To send a man to hell whose only crime was the follow evidence straight to its proper conclusion would be a palpable injustice; to justify a sinner on the grounds that he had made up his mind according to the plain facts would be to make salvation the result of the workings of a common law of the mind as applicable to Judas as to Paul.

It would take salvation out of the realm of the volitional and place it in the mental, where, according to Scriptures, it surely does not belong!

True faith rests upon the character of God and asks to further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie. It is enough that God said it, and if the statement should contradict every one of the five senses and all the conclusions of logic as well, still the believer continues to believe!

“Let God be true, but every man a liar,” is the language of true faith. Heaven approves such faith because it rises above mere proofs and rests in the bosom of God!

Selah.