Big Brains and Diseased Heart

Paul Tripp

Has your personal study of the Word of God informed and enlarged your brain without convicting and transforming your heart?

When I was a younger pastor, I was exegeting my way through Romans, engulfed in an intoxicating world of language syntax and theological argument. I labored over tenses, contexts, objects, and connectors. I studied etymologies and the Pauline vocabulary.

Countless hours of disciplined private study were represented by page upon page of notes. It was all very gratifying. I felt so proud that I had filled my notebook with copious notes on Romans.

Then one evening, it hit me. It was a sweet moment of divine rescue by the Holy Spirit. I had spent hours each day for months studying perhaps the most extensive and gorgeous exposition of the gospel that has ever been written, yet I had been fundamentally untouched by its message.

My study of the Word of God had been a massive intellectual exercise but almost utterly devoid of spiritual, heart-transforming power.

You may never exegete an entire book of the Bible, but God does call you to be a diligent student of his Word. But here’s the danger: because of remaining sin and self-righteousness, our study of Scripture could leave us with big theological brains and untouched and diseased hearts.

Could I be describing you? Here are three signs of an untouched and diseased heart that I have experienced, even after studying passages that speak directly to these symptoms!

Anxiety

In Matthew 6, Christ asks his followers, “Why are you anxious?” He explains that it makes sense for the Gentiles (unbelievers) to be anxious because they don’t have a heavenly Father, then reminds us that we have a Father who knows what we need and is committed to delivering it.

As you study the Word of God and see evidence of his past, present, and future provision splashed across every page (Phil. 4:19, 2 Pet. 1:3, etc.), does it give your heart rest? If this theology informs your brain but does not capture your heart, the anxieties of life will likely influence how you live.

Control

I am convinced that rest in this chaotic world, submission to authority, and a willingness to give and share control all arise from a sure knowledge that every single detail of our lives is under the careful administration of One of awesome glory.

As you memorize verses like Daniel 4:35, Psalm 135:6, and Isaiah 46:10, does it create peace in your heart? When the theology of God’s sovereignty moves beyond your brain and transforms your heart, you won’t have to be in control of everything and everyone in your life.

Addiction

Whenever you ask creation to do what only the Creator can do, you are on your way to addiction. I’m not talking about life-destroying addictions that require a rehabilitation center, but anything (however small) that provides a temporary retreat or pleasure or buzz that you return to again and again. When the joy of Christ isn’t ruling your heart, you are rendered more susceptible to some form of everyday addiction.

As you study the Word of God, are you searching for heart and life-transforming pleasure? (The pleasure of knowing, serving, and pleasing Christ: see 2 Cor. 5:9, 1 Thes. 4:1, Eph. 5:10) Some Christians get way too much pleasure from being theogeeks!

I am not suggesting at all that your Bible study cannot include any scholarly components. But whenever you search the Scriptures, it should be a time of worship and not just education.

Each time you open the Word of God, you should be looking for your beautiful Savior, whose beauty alone has the power to overwhelm any other beauty that could capture your heart.

God bless,

Posted on Paul’s Tripps Wednesday’s Word email.

Avoid Two Distortions of Grace

By: Paul Tautges

The heart motivation behind Jesus’ teaching ministry was His love for God and others. This explains why, when He saw how the external, law-keeping approach to spirituality placed unbearable burdens upon others, He spoke against them (Luke 11:37-46). But He also warned against a loose view of the commandments of God by exalting the listening that leads to obedience (Matt. 7:24-29). The apostle Paul did the same.

In his letter to the churches of Galatia, the apostle warns congregations to avoid two distortions of biblical grace that hinder sanctification.

Two Dangerous Ditches

Properly understood, the Christian life is a balanced walk, which means we need to learn to stay on God’s good road by keeping out of the ditches. Two ditches that Galatians warns against are legalism and antinomianism.

• Antinomianism is a compound word made up of anti (against) and nomos (law), meaning against law, or against the righteous standards of the law. This error stems from a misunderstanding of the sanctifying power of grace. Though the person guilty of this error rightly understands that when we come to God for salvation, He accepts us the way we are, they also wrongly think that God is content to leave us that way. In his outstanding book, The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance, Sinclair Ferguson says it this way: Antinomianism “fails to appreciate that the law that condemns us for our sins was given to teach us how not to sin.”[1] The antinomian Christian is one who gets so enamored by the free grace of God in Jesus Christ that he abandons the hot pursuit of practical holiness. Instead, he remains in spiritual immaturity by continuing to live in the flesh, with one foot in the world and the other foot in the church.

• Legalism, like antinomianism, stems from a misunderstanding and misapplication of law and grace. It fails to understand that the purpose of God’s law is to drive us to Christ, where we find saving grace as a gift from the One who fulfilled the law on our behalf (Rom. 5:18-19). It, too, fails to apprehend the fullness of God’s grace in Jesus Christ and results in a person’s confidence remaining in their own law-keeping ability. Again, Sinclair Ferguson gives helpful insight: “Legalism is simply separating the law of God from the person of God” (p. 83). “The essence of legalism is a heart distortion of the graciousness of God and of the God of grace” (p. 88). He then goes on to say, “Legalism is almost as old as Eden itself. In essence it’s any teaching that diminishes or distorts the generous love of God and the full freeness of his grace. It then distorts God’s graciousness revealed in his law and fails to see law set within its proper context in redemptive history as an expression of a gracious Father. This is the nature of legalism” (p. 95).

The answer to both errors is a more accurate, fuller understanding of the gospel and its implications for Christian living. Ferguson writes, “Antinomianism and legalism are not so much antithetical to each other as they are both antithetical to grace. This is why Scripture never prescribes one as the antidote for the other. Rather grace, God’s grace in Christ in our union with Christ, is the antidote to both” (p. 156).

A Life-Transforming Bible Study

In Galatians, the apostle deals with both errors by directing our attention to God’s sanctifying grace, the sufficiency of the work of Christ on our behalf, and the supernatural outworking of the Spirit’s indwelling presence. Read Galatians 5:1-26. Specifically, think about how staying close to this Scripture will help to keep you out of these two ditches:

• The Ditch of Legalism- Meditate on Galatians 5:1-15. Notice how legalism undermines Spirit-produced sanctification in three ways:

  1. Legalism erodes the hope of righteousness by minimizing the gift of grace (vv. 2-6).

  2. Legalism hinders the true obedience of faith by minimizing the sufficiency of the cross (vv. 7-12).

  3. Legalism feeds the self-centeredness of the flesh by minimizing the priority of love (vv. 13-15).

• The Ditch of Antinomianism- Meditate on Galatians 5:13-21. Think again on verses 13-15 and how love keeps us on track. Notice three ways that antinomianism undermines sanctification:

  1. Antinomianism diminishes the law of love, which guards against the abuse of liberties that may harm others (vv. 13-15).

  2. Antinomianism works against the sanctifying purpose of the Holy Spirit (vv. 16-18).

  3. Antinomianism hinders the development of biblical assurance of salvation, which the Spirit develops internally through an increasing growth in holiness and Christlikeness (vv. 19-26).

God wants us to walk in love, which requires avoiding law-based sanctification as well as grace-abusing approaches to the Christian life—not only for our spiritual health but also for the sake of those whom we disciple.

Questions for Reflection

1. In what ways are you tempted to base your relationship with God upon your ability to keep rules and regulations?

2. In what ways are you tempted to take advantage of God’s grace?

3. In your counseling ministry, are there ways you are subtly slipping into the ditches of antinomianism or legalism? If so, what do you need to change in your manner of communication and your design of homework?

[1] Sinclair Ferguson, The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2016), 141.

Posted at: https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2020/03/02/avoid-two-distortions-of-grace/

Prayer Doesn't Create Salvation

Michael Youssef 

In the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17–23, a wealthy young man runs up to Jesus and says, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus tells him that he must keep all the Ten Commandments. The young man says, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Of course, no one can keep all the Ten Commandments perfectly, but Jesus didn’t argue that point. He was trying to get to a more urgent issue in the young man’s life. The text tells us that Jesus “looked at him and loved him.” I think Jesus saw a real sincerity of heart in him; but there was something in the young man’s soul that was a roadblock to his salvation.

“One thing you lack,” Jesus said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

The young man walked away sad, Mark tells us, “because he had great wealth.”

Now, was Jesus saying that the way to be saved and have eternal life is to sell everything you have and give it to the poor? If you read the story carefully, it’s clear that Jesus wasn’t saying that at all. He gave the same plan of salvation to the rich young ruler that he gave to Nicodemus—but he gave it in different words, tailoring his gospel call to each man’s individual need.

Same Gospel, Different Presentation

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and he had certain rigid, legalistic ideas about what it meant to be saved by God. Jesus had to shake him out of his narrow mindset by telling him he needed to be born again. Likewise, Jesus knew that the rich young ruler’s heart was tightly gripped by all his possessions, so he tried to shake the materialism out of the young man’s heart by telling him to sell everything and give to the poor. The point of the story was not that giving to the poor would save his soul, but that his love of possessions prevented him from following Jesus.

The Bible is unambiguous on this point: Good works won’t save you. Only Jesus saves. By grace are you saved through faith. Salvation is a gift of God, not an achievement of our own works. The plan of salvation that Jesus gave to Nicodemus was the same plan of salvation he gave the rich young ruler. He told Nicodemus that whosoever believes in him will have everlasting life. He told the rich young ruler, “Follow me.” Believing in Jesus and following Jesus are the same thing.

The point of the story was not that giving to the poor would save his soul, but that his love of possessions prevented him from following Jesus.

When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, he didn’t tell them to sell their fishing boats and give the money to the poor. He simply said, “Come, follow me.” Jesus dealt differently with each person he met, because he treated each one as a unique individual. But no matter whom he was talking to, the plan of salvation he shared was the same: “Believe and follow me.”

Praying the Prayer

For many years, evangelists and preachers have used terms like “receive Christ” or “invite Jesus into your heart” to describe Christian conversion. The decision to receive Christ is often accompanied by a prayer of commitment. In his book Love Wins, Rob Bell ridicules the idea of a conversion prayer:

Christians don’t agree on exactly what this prayer is, but for many the essential idea is that the only way to get into heaven is to pray at some point in your life, asking God to forgive you and telling God that you accept Jesus, you believe Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for your sins, and you want to go to heaven when you die. Some call this “accepting Christ,” others call it the “sinner’s prayer,” and still others call it “getting saved,” being “born again,” or being “converted.” That, of course, raises more questions. What about people who have said some form of “the prayer” at some point in their life, but it means nothing to them today? What about those who said it in a highly emotionally charged environment like a youth camp or church service because it was the thing to do, but were unaware of the significance of what they were doing? What about people who have never said the prayer and don’t claim to be Christians, but live a more Christlike life than some Christians?

Here’s someone who founded a church, was a pastor for 13 years, and yet seems to have completely missed the point of the prayer of conversion. Obviously, praying a prayer at one point in your life doesn’t make you a follower of Christ. Jesus didn’t say to Nicodemus and the rich young ruler, “One thing you lack—just pray the sinner’s prayer.” No! He said, “Believe in me. Follow me.”

Obviously, praying a prayer at one point in your life does not make you a follower of Christ.

Praying to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior isn’t a magical incantation or a spiritual prescription. It’s a commitment to follow Jesus and make him Lord of your entire life. If it’s a decision you make lightly or in an emotional moment, and you don’t keep that commitment, then you were never saved to begin with.

Conversion isn’t a matter of praying the right words; it’s a matter of believing and following Jesus. It means not merely receiving him as your Savior but making him the Lord of your life. For some people, following Christ begins by praying a prayer. For others, the decision to follow Jesus takes place gradually, and they have no recollection of a single moment when they prayed to accept Christ. That’s okay. What really matters is believing and following Christ.

Jesus said we must be born again. We must follow him. And if we all follow him as our Savior and Lord, if we abide in him and hold to his teachings, then our lives—and our world—will be transformed.

True Conversion

I hope you’ll take some time to examine your life and your soul, and ask yourself, Do I truly believe in Jesus? Am I following him? Have I made him the Lord of my life? If the honest, searching answer to those questions is yes, then take a moment to thank Jesus for dying on the cross for your sake. Thank him for the free gift of eternal life. Give praise to God the Father for his forgiving grace. Give thanks to the Holy Spirit for sealing your salvation for all eternity.

If your answer is no, then you can offer to God a prayer of commitment right now. You can invite Jesus to become the Lord of your life. If you don’t know what to say to Jesus, here is a prayer you can pray:

Dear Lord,

I know that I’m a sinner. I’m sorry for my sin, and I ask you to forgive me. I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead. I repent of my sins and I ask you to come into my life and take control. I make a commitment to follow you, and I trust you as my Lord and Savior.

In your name, Amen.

Remember, it’s not the words that save you. It’s the commitment of your heart that makes you a genuine follower of Jesus. If you prayed that prayer, and you mean these words with all your heart, then you’ve been forgiven. You’ll experience the abundant life in the here and now. And you’ll have eternal life in the world to come.

Editors’ note: 

This is an adapted excerpt from Michael Youssef’s new book, Saving Christianity?: The Danger in Undermining Our Faith—and What You Can Do about It (Tyndale Momentum, 2020).

Michael Youssef is the senior pastor of the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia, and the executive president of Leading the Way.

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/prayer-doesnt-create-salvation/

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE ROOTED IN THE GOSPEL?

Jen Oshman 

To be rooted in the gospel is to be like the banyan trees of the tropics. The trees’ roots are many. They shoot out from all over and reach down toward the nutrient-rich soil. The trees thrive because of their many roots and the luscious soil. The soil is just right—exactly what these organisms need. The nutrition causes the trees to grow tall and broad and to reproduce. The far-reaching roots enable the trees to stand firm in the midst of hurricane-force winds, which lash the tropics every year. Even the fiercest storms cannot uproot the banyans.

The banyan trees’ roots connect the trees to their life source, the soil. We too must be rooted in our life source, which is the gospel. As Christians, we know that the gospel is the good news of salvation. It is our rescue from hell and deliverance to heaven.

But the gospel is also the truth that propels us and compels us in all things. It is the very foundation of our lives and worldview and understanding of reality. The gospel is the most basic and important truth for all people. Sending our roots into any other soil causes us to wither.

John Calvin writes, “For true doctrine is not a matter of the tongue, but of life: neither is the Christian doctrine grasped only by the intellect and memory, as truth is grasped in other fields of study. Rather, doctrine is rightly received when it takes possession of the entire soul and finds a dwelling place and shelter in the most intimate affections of the heart.”[1]

In other words, to believe the truth about the gospel, one must do more than mentally assent to it. The truth of the gospel is meant to transform us. And if it does not, then we do not really believe. The gospel has something to say about how we spend our time, where we spend our money, the goals we pursue, the careers we seek, the hobbies we enjoy, the food we eat—everything.

The gospel says that we are not our own.

PAUL PRAYED THAT THE CHURCH WOULD BE ROOTED

The word rooted appears in two places in the Bible. Both are found in letters written by Paul to two different church communities, which he helped to establish. One is to the church at Ephesus and one is to the church at Colossae. In both contexts, Paul urges his readers to be rooted in the gospel.

First, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says,

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:14–19)

You can hear Paul’s labor and love for the Ephesians in these words. First, he says he earnestly prays for them. He prays to the Father of every family, meaning we are all created by God. Paul says that he asks God to fill them with power from the Holy Spirit, so that Christ may dwell in them. He wants them to be rooted and grounded in love—not just any love, but the love of the Father, who gives us his Son and empowers us by the Spirit—which is the gospel.

The love of Christ that surpasses knowledge is communicated radically in the gospel message, which the Ephesians believed by faith and Paul longed for them to comprehend. He desired that they (and you and I!) be filled with the fullness of God. The gospel is not peripheral. It is not secondary. It is meant to be the very center of our lives as followers of Christ.

Paul closes his prayer with these powerful words: “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20–21).

When we believe the gospel by faith, when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, when Christ dwells in our hearts, when we are filled with the fullness of God, then God is able to do far more abundantly than all we could ever ask or imagine! This is the power of the gospel in us. And when this power is at work, it brings glory to Jesus throughout all generations.

When we are rooted in Christ and built up in Christ, we will be established in Christ. This leads to rest in the gospel—a rest that can do far more than we ever ask or imagine.

Second, in his letter to the Colossians, Paul says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6–7).

This prayer points to that moment when the Colossians surrendered to the Lord and believed the gospel by grace, through faith. Paul says if you have received Christ, then be rooted in Christ, be built up in him, be established in him and grow from that foundation.

Receiving Christ, being rooted in the gospel, is a water-shed moment. It changes everything. It takes possession of all who believe.

ROOTS IN THE GOSPEL, NOT IN THIS WORLD

Interestingly, Paul continues from this urging of the Colossians to be rooted in Christ with this exhortation: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).  

The age of self says that life and meaning begin and end with us. But this is empty deceit and a human-centered tradition.

Like the Colossians, we must be aware of the philosophy of our culture and measure it against the truth of the gospel. The cultural air we breathe says to believe in yourself and you will be saved. But the true gospel says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

The gospel truth that God is both our Creator and Redeemer is the only soil that will nourish us. When we come to the end of ourselves, we must examine the soil in which our hearts have taken root. Are we rooted in ourselves and this world, or in the power of him who made us and longs to save us? Does the one true God nourish our souls? Does he equip us for life and enable us to bring him glory? Or is our soil toxic?

Only God can make us aware of what is toxic in our soil. Only he can show us that we must seek sustenance that comes from him alone. When we are rooted in him, rooted in the gospel, our whole being is forever changed.

Jen Oshman is a wife, mom, and a staff writer for GCD. She has served as a missionary and pastor’s wife for over two decades on three continents. She currently resides in Colorado, where her family planted Redemption Parker, an Acts29 church. Read more of Jen’s writing on her website.

[1] Calvin, Little Book on the Christian Life, 12–13. Emphasis added.

Content taken from Enough about Me by Jen Oshman, ©2020. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, crossway.org.

Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/2020/3/2/enough-about-me-excerpt

He Loved You Before There Was a You

by Jared C. Wilson 

God's love for his children is grounded in the eternal reality of his very self. It is predicated on nothing but the purity of his very nature, the endless-both-ways love he both has and is. 

Paul helps us ponder it this way:

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." - Romans 8:29

I note that Paul does not say "for what he foreknew." In other words, it is not as if God looked through time, saw you would be an asset to the organization and so chose you. He was not scouring the future for good apples for his prospective bushel.

Christians, God did not choose you based on what he foreknew you would do or be. He did not survey your good works and clear you for incorporation into the body of his son. No, none of us would qualify that way. We cannot be good enough, smart enough, or doggone it, likeable enough to earn credit with the three-times-holy God.

Paul says "for those he foreknew." For whom he foreknew.

Certainly God has a prescient foreknowledge. He is perfectly omniscient; thus, he knows all things, including things that, from our vantage point, are yet to be. But the foreknowledge spoken of in Romans 8:29 is a relational foreknowledge. He knew you before there was a you. And he predestined you to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Apart from your works, despite your sin. He saw it all. And he wanted you. He chose you.

This means that God's loving intentions for you began before the foundation of the world. From eternity past, he has loved you. Which means he will not stop. For eternity future, his love is yours, never to wane, never to be revoked.

It is not what you can do for him that he wants. He needs nothing. It is you yourself that he wants. You the unlovable. You the weak lover of him. He loves you with a boundless, free, and gracious love. He always has.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

Posted at: https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/he-loved-you-before-there-was-a-you

The Glory of Jesus Displayed in Us

Davis Wetherell

I have been reading through the Gospel of John, and I have been reflecting on two stories that particularly highlight the glory of Jesus. And I’d like to share them with you also.

Story #1: Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

This story is recorded in John 9. You may recognize the conversation between Jesus and His disciples as they saw a blind man:

“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:2-3)

Jesus then goes on to heal the man by anointing his eyes with mud and telling him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. He does this is able to see again!

This causes quite the scene for people who knew him. Everyone knew he was blind, and now they are trying to account for how he has come to see again. The Pharisees catch wind of this going on, and so they go to question him. The once-blind man told them Jesus healed him, but they don’t believe it.

The Pharisees don’t even believe that he was ever blind! So they go to the man’s parents’ house, and his parents do confirm that the man was born blind (John 9:18-23).

The Pharisees simply do not believe and question the man again. They say, “We know that this man [Jesus] is a sinner.” And the blind man responded, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” And the man continued on to testify to the Pharisees, saying:

“If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:33)

Story #2: Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead

We all may know that story of Jesus’s friend Lazarus. Lazarus died, and Jesus resurrected him from the dead. Clearly, we can already see some of the similar theological implications between being changed from blind to seeing and being raised from death to life.

But what struck me in my reading of the Gospel of John this time around was John 11:4. Now, Jesus had just been told that Lazarus was very ill. And Jesus responded:

“This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)

Compare that to John 9:3! Both the blind man and Lazarus went through suffering so that God would be glorified.

More to the Story

Now, there’s more to the story. If we jump to John 12, we see that Jesus is with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus again, and Jesus and Lazarus are “reclining . . . at the table” (12:2). What a remarkable conversation they must have been having!

Remember what has happened up to this point: Lazarus gets ill, dies, and Jesus raises him from the dead in front of a large crowd. That large crowd, upon hearing that Jesus is back with Lazarus, is keen to see what will happen next. And they “continued to bear witness” about Jesus’s miracle (12:17).

The Pharisees are interested too because they still do not believe Jesus is the Messiah. They even sentence Lazarus to death because of his involvement with Jesus (John 12:10). Poor Lazarus!

When Jesus then arrives in Jerusalem the next day, a large crowd “took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna!'” (John 12:13). Why did they go there to meet him? Well, because they heard from all their friends and neighbors that Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead (12:18).

And the Pharisees could not stop people from praising Jesus’s name. They had to listen to it. They had to hear it. But they rejected him still, saying, “Look, the world has gone after him” (12:19).

You’ll Be Surprised at How God Uses Your Suffering

These stories show us that you never know how the sufferings in your life will work to glorify Jesus. If the blind man was never blind, then his friends and family would have never known the glory of Jesus Christ. If Lazarus had never died, the large crowd would not have shown up to begin what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday.

But these stories also show us that your sufferings may not touch the person you think is most likely to see the glory of Jesus. The Pharisees had read the Scriptures, they knew the signs to look for, it was their whole life to wait for the Messiah–and they rejected Him.

So, Christian, pray for others. Pray that God would use your trial, your suffering, to bring others to know His glory.

Posted at: https://unlockingthebible.org/2020/02/glory-jesus-displayed-us/

3 Things Not to Forgive

Brad Hambrick

It can be easy to fall into the “to a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail” trap when talking about forgiveness. We can get so excited about forgiveness that we start to forgive everything that annoys us. Would anything be wrong with that? Yes.

Take a moment, before you read further, and brainstorm. What are things that bother or annoy you but don’t need forgiveness? Relationally healthy people can create a long list of answers to this question.

• Chewing your food too loud

• Forgetting someone’s name

• Leaving unwashed dishes in the sink

• Vibrating your leg so that is shakes the next chair

• Saying “I’m sorry” after every awkward moment

• Being an exaggerative hand talker

• Having the sniffles and refusing to blow your nose

• Not standing to one side on an escalator

• Putting the milk carton back in the fridge nearly empty

• Wearing too much cologne or perfume

• Not replacing an empty toilet paper roll

• Unnecessarily TYPING IN ALL CAPS (I’m testing you)

• Standing too close in a checkout line

• Incessantly clicking a pen

• Heating fish in the microwave at work

• Creating excessively long lists to prove a point

• Starting group texts (okay, this one may require forgiveness)

What are things that bother or annoy you but don’t need forgiveness? Relationally healthy people can create a long list of answers to this question.

The entire premise of this reflection is: we forgive sin, but we excuse mistakes. Oopsies don’t need to be forgiven. We shouldn’t cry (or yell) over spilled milk, nor should we forgive the spiller of milk.

When we try to use forgiveness as the method to resolve relational irritants that are not moral in nature, several bad things happen.

• We establish our preferences as the moral standard for our spouse – pride.

• We begin to feel as if we forgive more than we are forgiven – self-righteousness.

• We gain an increasingly negative view of our spouse – judgmental.

• Our marriage begins to be built around an elaborate number of rules – performance-based acceptance.

• We begin to feel as if God were asking too much of us – God-fatigue.

To help us not over-apply the practice of forgiveness, here are three categories of relational strain which do not call for a response of forgiveness.

1. Human Weakness

Being clumsy, being weak with a particular aptitude, experiencing the limitation of a physical illness or injury, succumbing to the degenerative influence of aging, immaturity in a child, and similar experiences are weaknesses. These things can be frustrating, but they’re not sinful. Therefore, they don’t need to be forgiven.

The appropriate response to human weakness is compassion, patience, and assistance. Friends should be able to discuss the impact that each other’s weaknesses has on the other. Taking these conversations out of the “moral sphere” decreases the sense of shame commonly associated with our weaknesses. One of the most trust building aspects of any relationship is the freedom to acknowledge our weakness and be loved anyway.

2. Differences in Personality or Perspective

Being extroverted vs. introverted, optimistic vs. pessimistic, cautious vs. adventurous, concrete vs. abstract, and organized vs. fluid are all examples of difference in personality or perspective. These differences impact a relationship in many ways, but they are not moral, and, therefore, do not need to be forgiven.

The appropriate response to differences in personality or perspective is appreciation, learning, and cooperation. Well-managed and humbly discussed differences promote an iron-sharpening-iron dynamic within a relationship (Proverbs 27:17). Placing moral weight on differences in personality creates a sense of shame.

3. Attempting to Do Something and Failing

There are plenty of times when we will try to do something nice for a friend (i.e., cook a meal we haven’t prepared before, help with home repair, etc.) and fail in the attempt to bless them. These moments may elicit a sense of disappointment, but they are not moral, and, therefore, do not need to be forgiven.

The appropriate response to differences in these instances is affirmation and encouragement. Attempting to do a good thing and failing should still be viewed as a good thing. It is at least two steps ahead of attempting to do a bad thing and failing, and one step ahead of being passive.

Responding to these unsuccessful attempts to do good is an essential part of creating an atmosphere where both friends feel free to take healthy relational risks. The freedom to fail is an important part of any healthy relationship. Over-applying forgiveness can throttle this freedom.

Questions for Reflection

1. Which negative effects of over-applying forgiveness (pride, self-righteousness, judgmental, performance-based acceptance, God-fatigue) are you most prone towards?

2. What is an example of when it would have been easy for you to moralize a moment of weakness, difference in personality, or unsuccessful attempt to do a good thing by offering forgiveness to resolve the tension of the moment?

Posted at: http://bradhambrick.com/forgiveness04/

Don't Follow Your Heart

Jon Bloom

“Follow your heart” is a creed embraced by billions of people. It’s a statement of faith in one of the great pop cultural myths of the Western world, a gospel proclaimed in many of our stories, movies, and songs.

Essentially, it’s a belief that your heart is a compass inside of you that will direct you to your own true north if you just have the courage to follow it. It says that your heart is a true guide that will lead you to true happiness if you just have the courage to listen to it. The creed says that you are lost and your heart will save you.

This creed can sound so simple and beautiful and liberating. For lost people it’s a tempting gospel to believe.

Is This the Leader You Want to Follow?

Until you consider that your heart has sociopathic tendencies. Think about it for a moment. What does your heart tell you?

Please don’t answer. Your heart has likely said things today that you would not wish to repeat. I know mine has. My heart tells me that all of reality ought to serve my desires. My heart likes to think the best of me and worst of others — unless those others happen to think well of me; then they are wonderful people. But if they don’t think well of me, or even if they just disagree with me, well then, something is wrong with them. And while my heart is pondering my virtues and others’ errors, it can suddenly find some immoral or horribly angry thought very attractive.

“No, our hearts will not save us. We need to be saved from our hearts.”

The “follow your heart” creed certainly isn’t found in the Bible. The Bible actually thinks our hearts have a disease: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus, the Great Physician, lists the grim symptoms of this disease: “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:19). This is not leadership material.

The truth is, no one lies to us more than our own hearts. No one. If our hearts are compasses, they are Jack Sparrow compasses. They don’t tell us the truth; they just tell us what we want. If our hearts are guides, they are Gothels. They are not benevolent; they are pathologically selfish. In fact, if we do what our hearts tell us to do, we will pervert and impoverish every desire, every beauty, every person, every wonder, and every joy. Our hearts want to consume these things for our own self-glory and self-indulgence.

No, our hearts will not save us. We need to be saved from our hearts.

This Is the Leader You Want to Follow

Our hearts were never designed to be followed, but to be led. Our hearts were never designed to be gods in whom we believe; they were designed to believe in God.

If we make our hearts gods and ask them to lead us, they will lead us to narcissistic misery and ultimately damnation. They cannot save us, because what’s wrong with our hearts is the heart of our problem. But if our hearts believe in God, as they are designed to, then God saves us (Hebrews 7:25) and leads our hearts to exceeding joy (Psalm 43:4).

Therefore, don’t believe in your heart; direct your heart to believe in God. Don’t follow your heart; follow Jesus. Note that Jesus did not say to his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled, just believe in your hearts.” He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1).

“Don’t follow your heart; follow Jesus.”

So, though your heart will try to shepherd you today, do not follow it. It is not a shepherd. It is a pompous sheep that, due to remaining sin, has some wolf-like qualities. Don’t follow it, and be careful even listening to it. Remember, your heart only tells you what you want, not where you should go. So, only listen to it to note what it’s telling you about what you want, and then take your wants, both good and evil, to Jesus as requests and confessions.

Jesus is your shepherd (Psalm 23:1; John 10:11). Listen to his voice in his word and follow him (John 10:27). Let him be, in the words of a great hymn, the “heart of [your] own heart whatever befall.” He is the truth, he is the way, and he will lead you to life (John 14:6).

Jon Bloom (@Bloom_Jon) serves as author, board chair, and co-founder of Desiring God. He is author of three books, Not by Sight, Things Not Seen, and Don’t Follow Your Heart. He and his wife have five children and make their home in the Twin Cities.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/dont-follow-your-heart

Don’t Waste Your Cancer

Article by John Piper

I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal — by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory, and that is why cancer exists. So, not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe God designed it for you.

It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer, but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So, when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (Job 2:10) — and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe God designed your cancer for you, you will waste it.

2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.

“The aim of God in our cancer is to knock the props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.”

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.

The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), “but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).

God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9: “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in our cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.

4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.

We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.

5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.

“Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ.”

Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).

6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.

It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32: “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2–3). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.

7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.

When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church, he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.

Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss: loss of body, loss of loved ones here, loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different — it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.

9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.

Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so, you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination — all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12–13).

“If you don’t believe God designed your cancer for you, you will waste it.”

So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

Remember, you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/dont-waste-your-cancer

5 Things Forgiveness is Not

Brad Hambrick

Sometimes the most loving way to engage a subject (that is, a topic like forgiveness) is to set someone’s (that is, a person who has been hurt) mind at ease. With children, this might sound like, “You’ve got a doctor’s appointment today, but don’t worry, you don’t have to get any shots.” It is reasonable to associate doctors with needles, but it easier to go to the doctor if you know there won’t be any needles this time (even for my children’s father).

Similarly, it can be helpful to set our mind at ease about a few things related to forgiveness. This reflection is all about, “We need to talk about forgiveness, but don’t worry, forgiveness doesn’t mean [blank].” We are going to talk about five common fears associated with forgiveness that can go in that blank.

If after reading this article you’re willing to say, “Well, if forgiveness isn’t the same thing as [blank], then I am willing to consider it,” then this reflection will have accomplished everything it set out to do.

1. Forgiveness Is Not Pretending We’re Not Hurt

If we conceive of forgiveness as pretending, then forgiveness becomes a synonym for being fake. Forgiveness becomes a form of self-imposed silencing. This loss of voice only compounds the painful effect of whatever offense has already been committed against us. Forgiveness is not pretending.

Simply stated – but simpler to say than to live – forgiveness is what allows us to express hurt as hurt rather than hurt as anger. Even after we forgive, hurt still hurts. If the person who hurt us gets upset with us for still hurting, they haven’t really repented.

Forgiveness is what allows us to express hurt as hurt rather than hurt as anger.CLICK TO TWEET

Too often we view forgiveness as the culmination of a journey. When I say, “I forgive you,” I am not saying, “Things are all better now.” I am saying, “I have decided I will relate to your offense towards me differently.” Forgiveness is the start of a new journey. Forgiveness doesn’t erase the past.

When you forgive, you are not making a commitment not to hurt. You are making a commitment about what you will do with hurt when it flares up.

2. Forgiveness Is Not Letting Someone Off the Hook

When we let someone off the hook, we are saying that nothing else needs to be done. It’s the equivalent of someone eating your lunch out of the office fridge, offering to buy you lunch, and you saying, “That’s okay. I needed to diet anyway.” That is letting someone off the hook.

But when God forgives us, he does not assume we are a “finished product.” God remains active in our life to remove the sin he forgave. Forgiveness is meant to change us, not leave us as we were. Similarly, when we forgive someone it is right to expect that this grace will have an impact on them. If someone does not agree about the wrongness and weight of the sin we’re forgiving, then the most forgiveness can do is set us free from bitterness and not create relational restoration.[1]

3. Forgiveness Is Not Making an Excuse for Someone

Sometimes we resist forgiving because we do not want to ratify a perceived downgrade in the significance of the offense. Forgiveness is not a downgrade. Forgiveness does not reclassify an offense from a sin to a mistake. Mistakes are excused. Sins are forgiven.

Forgiveness inherently classifies an offense at the top level of wrongness. When we say, “I forgive you,” we are saying, “The only thing that could make right what you did was Jesus’s substitutionary death on the cross.” For someone wanting to excuse their sin, real forgiveness is offensive (I Corinthian 1:18-31).

4. Forgiveness Is Not Forgetting

We will devote an entire reflection in this series to the misguided notion of “forgive and forget.” Here we will merely try to assuage the fear that you will be pressured in that direction during this series. Many of us wish it were possible to forget our most painful experiences. Spiritual dementia towards our pain sounds blissful.

Forgiveness doesn’t unwrite history. Jesus both cried out “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34), and inspired the recording of the events that led to his death. Forgiveness did not unwrite history or mitigate any of the benefits of learning from history. As we’ve all been told, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Whatever vulnerability true forgiveness brings, it is not the vulnerability of naivety.

Whatever vulnerability true forgiveness brings, it is not the vulnerability of naivety.CLICK TO TWEET

So, what does forgiveness mean you are committing to do with your memories, fears, and imagination? Forgiveness does not add anything new to how you respond to your memories, fears, and imagination that wisdom did not already advise before you forgave.

We want to have a wise relationship with our memories. We want to mitigate the torment caused by painful, intrusive memories. We want to learn any lessons about wise trust our painful memories can teach us. We want to prevent mistrust from spreading to relationships in which it is not warranted. We want forgiveness to be part of what God does to contribute to our flourishing “from here” (even if “here” is a place we still wish we were never traveling from).

5. Forgiveness Is Not Necessarily Trust or Reconciliation

You may remember geometry class in high school. You were taught “all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.” A similar relationship exists between forgiveness and trust or reconciliation; “All trust and reconciliation are rooted in forgiveness, but not all forgiveness results in trust and reconciliation.”

When we don’t realize this then saying, “I forgive you,” implies things are “back to normal,” and normal is what got us hurt. No thank you!

In future reflections, we will consider when reconciliation is wise and what trust development looks like after a major offense. For now, all you need to realize is that the decision to forgive and the decision to trust or resume a “normal” (i.e., as things were) relationship are two different decisions. The first does not necessitate the second. If you are being pressured to believe that forgiving requires trusting, this is reason to push pause on movement towards reconciliation of that relationship.

Questions for Reflection

1. What fears did this reflection help you most set aside? What experiences prompted these fears and made this reflection necessary?

2. What changes when you realize that accepting real forgiveness, which comes with an accurate assessment of the wrong done, is actually offensive to a non-repentant person?

Posted at: http://bradhambrick.com/forgiveness02/