Your Responses During COVID-19 Will Influence Your Children and Grandchildren in Ways You Might Someday Regret and Hope They Will Forget

Bobette Hatteberg

This strange time we’re living in will likely shape many things in your children’s life… most notably their hearts. However, it is not actually living during this pandemic that will shape them, but more importantly it’s how they and you respond to our current situation that will do much to shape their hearts. That’s why it’s a great time to be a parent! You have the opportunity to use this time to dramatically impact their hearts! During this pandemic we’re faced daily with new information, plans, and changes that we must process and that we then respond to and react to. Every gamut of life is impacted – work, leisure, relationships, ministry, family, school, etc.

Parents are called by God to shepherd their children – to guide them and teach them. Some of that shepherding happens during formal times of teaching, devotions, Bible reading, and talking about Sunday’s worship service. Some of that shepherding happens in more natural ways. When the Lord gave the Law to the Israelites it was meant to help them know Him and know how to follow Him. At the same time, he commissioned parents to teach their children this law, not just in formal ways, but in the daily organic aspects of life. We see this commissioning in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” In the New Testament we see Jesus modeling this form of discipleship. He taught spiritual truths using everyday things around him. He taught not just in formal settings but also as he walked and rested and visited people in their homes.

Shepherding happens in all spheres of life. As a parent you are never really not shepherding. Let me say that another way: As a parent you are always shepherding! This involves helping your children understand themselves and the world in which they live. You shepherd your children by the things you teach them during devotions, prayer time, and family worship. But you cannot shepherd them merely by instruction. You shepherd them also by how you live, how you respond to life. Proverbs 13:20 tells us “He who walks with the wise becomes wise.” The reality is that much of our formal instruction is actually watered and nurtured in the organic moments of our days. A parent can teach their children what the Bible says about God being sovereignly in control. But it’s when they see and hear how we respond to the ever-changing world around us that they begin to question whether God really is in control. Shepherding happens during deep interaction during car rides, chatting over a game or at the dinner table, or during prayers of repentance (both our own and our child’s). Shepherding also happens when we don’t even realize it, as our children watch and listen to how we react to the news, other people, and situations in our lives.

This is true in every year for every child. Today, during this pandemic, shepherding happens as our children witness our reactions, frustrations, and interactions with this new world in which we live. Shepherding happens when they hear our response to the latest virus information or how we respond when we receive the school or church plans for fall.  

No matter what is happening in each arena of our life there will be disappointments, things we don’t agree with, and things we would like to be done differently. But the plans and news around us is not the most shaping impact on our children. How you as a parent respond will be what impacts them the most directly.How do your children see and hear you respond to all that is happening? What are you teaching them about our God’s place in all of this? What are you demonstrating about the intersection of faith and trials, of faith and living in a fallen world? Here are some suggestions for shepherding well during this pandemic.

• Discuss the bigger issues in private. While I’m not suggesting you hide the current reality from your children, it is wise for parents to discuss the hard, confusing, and conflicting information out of the ears of their children. Work through your own emotions and frustrations before the Lord and with your spouse, not in front of your children. When we first prioritize informing our own hearts with the Word and what is good and true about God, we can then sow truth and grace in our children’s hearts. We notice the opportune moments to then plant gospel seeds while we practice cultivating godliness in our own lives.

• Confess your own sin to your children when your sin impacts them – If you have a melt-down in front of them, go back and put a biblical perspective on the situation. (Mommy was not happy about the news from the school today. But part of my unhappiness was my own selfish desires. I had to ask God to forgive me and now I’m ready to trust and honor Him even though I don’t really like the plan. God always has good plans for those who love Him.”) Confessing our sin in front of our children helps them see that we are more like them than they realize. We, just like they need to be rescued by the Savior. Let them see the Gospel worked out in your own life. Are there some recent interactions that your children have witnessed that you need to confess before the Lord and before them?

• Model respect for authority. God calls us to live under authority. He is our ultimate authority and has vested authority in people within the institutions he has established (home, church, state, and business). One of the most important foundational heart issues in the life of every child is how they will respond to authority. Teaching and modeling the protective beauty of authority is one of the foundations of good parenting. Every time you communicate something about submission to authority, you are also teaching your child something about how to respond to God’s authority. There is no more important heart issue for every child ever born, including you and I, than the issue of authority. Sin makes us want our own way. Sin makes us want to establish our own rules. Sin convinces all of us that we know better. Sin causes me to want to do what I want to do, when and how I want to do it. Sin makes me resist being told what to do by another. Sin inserts me in the center of my world, the only place that I must never be because it is the place for God and God alone. What kind of picture are your children getting of submitting to God’s authority by the way you submit to the authorities around you?

• Teach and model biblical qualities like contentment, trust, love, joy, patience, and submission. Set your children up for spiritual growth and success by teaching them how to make the best of these hard situations. You’ll probably have enough of your own heart issues to have to grow through that you can do it right alongside your child. (Mommy doesn’t like wearing a mask either. But I’m wearing it anyway because it shows love to our friend who has some serious health issues by protecting her.) Continually connect the motive to God’s glory and the testimony of the Gospel.

• Build a big view of God. This will be crucial for helping them deal with their own worries and disappointments. When a child expresses fear we can lead them to a big God. (“Mommy can be afraid sometimes too. But God is always with us. He tells us not to be afraid but to trust in Him. Let’s read about that in the Bible.”) (“Mommy is really sad too that we can’t do what we had planned. I’m so thankful we can trust God even in our disappointment that He is loving and good.”)

• Keep God central. Read God’s Word together frequently. Share what God is teaching you during this hard time. Make Sunday worship a priority even though it is different for all of us. If your kids are very young, use this as a training ground for teaching them how to sit and listen – starting with small increments. I recently noticed one family sitting on the far edge of the outdoor worship area. They encouraged their preschoolers to participate in the worship music. Then they gave them the lesson pages, whispering some simple instructions and guiding them as they colored. After coloring and eating the snack, the kids started to get really squirmy. I saw Mom hold up five fingers which I’m guessing meant “Hang on for 5 more minutes.” Then Dad walked the kids over to the empty yard and let them run around him for a few minutes. Then together they sat back down and listened to the remaining part of the sermon. Did Mom and Dad hear every word? No, but they were shepherding their kids’ hearts – teaching them that corporate worship is vital, teaching them to grow in patience and self-control, teaching them that God is central to all of life…even when life looks differently.

Shepherding a child’s heart does not happen on a schedule. It happens every day all day long, especially during these days we are living in. What a great time to be a parent! You have daily opportunities to shepherd during one of the most unusual times in history! Take a few minutes and examine your heart before the Lord. How are you shepherding your child’s heart during this time? What attitudes and character qualities are they learning from you? How is their heart being trained by how they see and hear you respond? May God strengthen you and guide you as you shepherd your child. You are in my prayers!

*This post is written by Bobette Hatteberg, director of Children’s Ministries at our church, and was originally published here.

Posted at: https://counselingoneanother.com/2020/07/28/parent-your-responses-during-covid-19-will-influence-your-children-in-ways-you-might-someday-regret-and-hope-they-will-forget/

Three Ways Meekness Fuels Peace

Andrea Lea

Joy Davidman, C.S. Lewis’s wife, wrestled with huge trials throughout her life—all the way to her early death from cancer at age 45. She learned there’s a big difference between saying to God, “Your will be done,” and, “Fine, have it your way.”[1]

When we are confronted with circumstances outside our control, we are tempted to an angry resignation: “Fine, have it your way.” But a trusting humility before God and His ways fuels deep peace. This gentle submission, otherwise known as meekness, is an unexpected but important way to fight for peace during trials.[2]

If you are anything like me, the trial that is COVID-19 has spotlighted some cracks in your life. And as life-disruption wears on, the pressure may be making these gaps more obvious. It’s tempting to think that demanding more control in key areas will generate peace. But true peace doesn’t come from a sense of control. Peace is fueled by meekness, the quiet submission of our souls to God and His will. Here are three ways to grow in meekness so peace can flourish in our homes and hearts:

The Meek See the Choice

The meek realize they have a choice in how to respond when their desires are not met. They don’t lash out in anger and complaint. They know they can turn to the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving instead of turning to grumbling and self-pity.

Jude, the brother of Jesus, describes people who don’t see this choice as “grumblers and malcontents” (Jude 1:13, 16).  They seem to believe they have a right to complain and rage when they don’t get what they want. They choose to follow their own sinful desires instead of following God in trust and thanksgiving.

We grow in meekness when we see we have a choice and move toward God in prayer instead of tossing out harsh critiques of God’s ways. Prayer can compose our souls and bring us into submission to God’s path, even when we are uncomfortable and inconvenienced. The childless Hannah struggled with irritation and despair as her husband’s second wife constantly taunted her. She longed for her barren circumstances to change. She poured out her trouble and grief to God. And before God answered her prayer, her soul was quiet because she knew God had heard and was with her (see 1 Sam. 1-2 and Ps. 62).

The Meek Reject Self-Righteousness

The meek recognize the slippery slope of self-righteousness that disrupts peace in hearts and homes. They see how their haughty hearts are quick to find fault and are easily outraged when their plans are disrupted. They know they are prone to excuse their irritability by pretending their idolatrous desire for order and control is noble.

The meek fight for peace by rejecting this self-righteous irritability. As we turn to the only Righteous One, we see our patient God who freely gives us a clean record and a warm welcome long before we are perfect (Rom. 5:1-5; 8:1; Col. 2:13-14). So, in imitation of Him, we can overlook the faults of others, or we can gently reprove without anger or clamor (Eph. 4:31). The meek reject the pride that claims to know best and to always do what’s right. Instead, the meek extend gentleness and grace because they know the One who graciously forbears with them even though they are beset with weakness and sin (Heb. 5:2).

The Meek Embrace Patience

Oxford’s English Dictionary defines patience as the “capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.”[3] The meek accept trouble and hardship for one fundamental reason: they recognize that God is the Author of their circumstances (Isa. 45:7). God really does work all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11; Job 42:2)—even when we don’t see how things could possibly bring glory to God and even when we are in pain (Isa. 46:10; 2 Cor. 1:8-9). When we trust God’s goodness and power, we can patiently endure the circumstances He has ordained. God gives the grace to patiently bear trials as we fix our eyes on His steadfast love and discipline ourselves to trust Him.

During this season of uncertainty, circumstances seem engineered to disrupt our plans. But growing in meekness can fuel our peace even when our preferences and desires remain unfulfilled. We can calmly see the choice we have to trust and give thanks, to reject self-righteousness, and to embrace patience. No matter what the day holds, we can say with peace, “Your will be done.”[4]

Question for Reflection

What passages from God’s Word are fueling your peace during this pandemic season?

[1] Patti Callahan, Becoming Mrs. Lewis (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2018), 161.

[2] For verses on meekness see: 1 Peter 3:4, 3:15; Titus 3:2; James 1:21, 3:13; Galatians 5:23.

[3] Oxford English Dictionary, “Patience,”  https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/patience (accessed 5/14/20).

[4] For an excellent treatment of meekness, see Matthew Henry’s The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2017).

Andrea Lee

Andrea Lee serves as a biblical counselor for women at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. She has a Masters of Arts in Biblical Counseling from The Masters University. Andrea has been married to her husband, Darien, since 2006.

Posted at: https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2020/07/27/three-ways-meekness-fuels-peace/

Moralism is Not the Gospel (But Many Christians Think It Is)

Al Mohler

One of the most amazing statements by the Apostle Paul is his indictment of the Galatian Christians for abandoning the Gospel. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel,” Paul declared. As he stated so emphatically, the Galatians had failed in the crucial test of discerning the authentic Gospel from its counterfeits.

His words could not be more clear: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you have received, he is to be accursed!” [Gal. 1:6-7]

This warning from the Apostle Paul, expressed in the language of the Apostle’s shock and grief, is addressed not only to the church in Galatia, but to every congregation in every age. In our own day — and in our own churches — we desperately need to hear and to heed this warning. In our own time, we face false gospels no less subversive and seductive than those encountered and embraced by the Galatians.

In our own context, one of the most seductive false gospels is moralism. This false gospel can take many forms and can emerge from any number of political and cultural impulses. Nevertheless, the basic structure of moralism comes down to this — the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior.

Sadly, this false gospel is particularly attractive to those who believe themselves to be evangelicals motivated by a biblical impulse. Far too many believers and their churches succumb to the logic of moralism and reduce the Gospel to a message of moral improvement. In other words, we communicate to lost persons the message that what God desires for them and demands of them is to get their lives straight.

In one sense, we are born to be moralists. Created in God’s image, we have been given the moral capacity of conscience. From our earliest days our conscience cries out to us the knowledge of our guilt, shortcomings, and misbehaviors. In other words, our conscience communicates our sinfulness.

Add to this the fact that the process of parenting and child rearing tends to inculcate moralism from our earliest years. Very quickly we learn that our parents are concerned with our behavior. Well behaved children are rewarded with parental approval, while misbehavior brings parental sanction. This message is reinforced by other authorities in young lives and pervades the culture at large.

Writing about his own childhood in rural Georgia, the novelist Ferrol Sams described the deeply-ingrained tradition of being “raised right.” As he explained, the child who is “raised right” pleases his parents and other adults by adhering to moral conventions and social etiquette. A young person who is “raised right” emerges as an adult who obeys the laws, respects his neighbors, gives at least lip service to religious expectations, and stays away from scandal. The point is clear — this is what parents expect, the culture affirms, and many churches celebrate. But our communities are filled with people who have been “raised right” but are headed for hell.

The seduction of moralism is the essence of its power. We are so easily seduced into believing that we actually can gain all the approval we need by our behavior. Of course, in order to participate in this seduction, we must negotiate a moral code that defines acceptable behavior with innumerable loopholes. Most moralists would not claim to be without sin, but merely beyond scandal. That is considered sufficient.

Moralists can be categorized as both liberal and conservative. In each case, a specific set of moral concerns frames the moral expectation. As a generalization, it is often true that liberals focus on a set of moral expectations related to social ethics while conservatives tend to focus on personal ethics. The essence of moralism is apparent in both — the belief that we can achieve righteousness by means of proper behavior.

The theological temptation of moralism is one many Christians and churches find it difficult to resist. The danger is that the church will communicate by both direct and indirect means that what God expects of fallen humanity is moral improvement. In so doing, the church subverts the Gospel and communicates a false gospel to a fallen world.

Christ’s Church has no option but to teach the Word of God, and the Bible faithfully reveals the law of God and a comprehensive moral code. Christians understand that God has revealed Himself throughout creation in such a way that He has gifted all humanity with the restraining power of the law. Furthermore, He has spoken to us in His word with the gift of specific commands and comprehensive moral instruction. The faithful Church of the Lord Jesus Christ must contend for the righteousness of these commands and the grace given to us in the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. We also have a responsibility to bear witness of this knowledge of good and evil to our neighbors. The restraining power of the law is essential to human community and to civilization.

Just as parents rightly teach their children to obey moral instruction, the church also bears responsibility to teach its own the moral commands of God and to bear witness to the larger society of what God has declared to be right and good for His human creatures.

But these impulses, right and necessary as they are, are not the Gospel. Indeed, one of the most insidious false gospels is a moralism that promises the favor of God and the satisfaction of God’s righteousness to sinners if they will only behave and commit themselves to moral improvement.

The moralist impulse in the church reduces the Bible to a codebook for human behavior and substitutes moral instruction for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Far too many evangelical pulpits are given over to moralistic messages rather than the preaching of the Gospel.

The corrective to moralism comes directly from the Apostle Paul when he insists that “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus.” Salvation comes to those who are “justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” [Gal. 2:16]

We sin against Christ and we misrepresent the Gospel when we suggest to sinners that what God demands of them is moral improvement in accordance with the Law. Moralism makes sense to sinners, for it is but an expansion of what we have been taught from our earliest days. But moralism is not the Gospel, and it will not save. The only gospel that saves is the Gospel of Christ. As Paul reminded the Galatians, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” [Gal. 4:4-5]

We are justified by faith alone, saved by grace alone, and redeemed from our sin by Christ alone. Moralism produces sinners who are (potentially) better behaved. The Gospel of Christ transforms sinners into the adopted sons and daughters of God.

The Church must never evade, accommodate, revise, or hide the law of God. Indeed, it is the Law that shows us our sin and makes clear our inadequacy and our total lack of righteousness. The Law cannot impart life but, as Paul insists, it “has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” [Gal. 3:24]

The deadly danger of moralism has been a constant temptation to the church and an ever-convenient substitute for the Gospel. Clearly, millions of our neighbors believe that moralism is our message. Nothing less than the boldest preaching of the Gospel will suffice to correct this impression and to lead sinners to salvation in Christ.

Hell will be highly populated with those who were “raised right.” The citizens of heaven will be those who, by the sheer grace and mercy of God, are there solely because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Moralism is not the gospel.

Posted at: https://albertmohler.com/2018/01/12/moralism-not-gospel-many-christians-think?fbclid=IwAR1xWZKMD0_of2NzM8Bcl3MJ3Py57-zJoltsNh_0zbsVxy4LrS9yZGGyu30

Cultivate Humility

By Erik Raymund

Pride. Is there a more pregnant word in the English language? It’s the mother-sin that gives birth to all others. We may sin in many different ways, but it’s impossible to sin without being prideful. And as pastors, we are in ministry to fight against pride and to see an increase in humility. We long to see people come to know, follow, and reflect Jesus—the most humble person who ever lived. But we do this with the irritating, though persistent reminder that we are prideful. Like an itch in our throat in the middle of a sermon, we just can’t clear our throat from the effects of pride.

If we’re going to help our people, we pastors must cultivate humility. We need to grow in our Christlikeness to help others do the same. So how do we do it? Here are a few ways to cultivate humility in ministry.

1. Deploy the ordinary.

If any of our church members asked us how to grow in humility, we know what we’d say. We’d start by telling them of their need to spend time with God in prayer and the Word. And rightly so.

Prayer is an expression of our weakness and need while also a declaration of God’s strength and abundance. It clings to the God of steadfast love while acknowledging one’s total dependence upon his grace. To fail to pray is to declare one’s omnipotence, omniscience, and self-sufficiency. How much more prideful can we get than this? Likewise, when we read the Bible, we come face-to-face with the worth and works of God. We are reminded amid our spiritual amnesia of who God is and what he has said.

Neglecting these ordinary means of grace will hurt us. Like a physician who neglects his health, we can quickly write a suitable prescription for our friends while we languish in poor health. Pastors, we must not be like Naaman, who looked down upon the ordinary instructions to be made well (2 Kings 5:10–12). These prescriptions from the mouth of God are his means to make us well—and part of this means being humbled. Deploy the ordinary means of grace, and do not neglect them.

2. Look in the proper mirror.

I remember someone comparing ministry to looking into one of those mirrors at a carnival. Depending upon your perspective, you may be tall or short, fat or skinny. Your perspective changes as you move around. This is how it seems as we get feedback on our sermons, the health of the church, or really anything related to our ministry.

One may say the sermon was great—another implies it was a dud. One person tells you the church is so friendly—someone else says it’s full of cliques. After a while, you don’t know what you are seeing.

Pastor, how do you see your ministry? I’ve found that the answer to this question depends on the following perspectives: how I view myself, how others see me, and how I think others see me. Hopefully, you can see the folly in this.

My view of myself is rarely accurate. It’s often inflated in my favor. My consideration of how others view me is also a distorted mirror. It can be inflated or deflated depending upon circumstances. The same is true for how I think others see me. If we let this question master us, then we become enslaved to the fear of man. We long for others’ approval above everything else. We long to maintain a favorable perception.

This is deadly in the pulpit, but also in the counseling room and at the dinner table. It’s a sinister trap that plays upon our pride.

What can we do about this? We need to look at another mirror. We need to ask the question, How does God see me?

I’m glad you asked. The Bible says we are loved before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4–5). We are counted righteous in Christ (Romans 4:5). We are accepted in the beloved (Colossians 1:13–14).

Think about this, dear pastor: you are known by God to your very core and loved by God to the very end. You are united to Jesus and accepted in him. This is the mirror that eradicates pride and cultivates humility.

3. Smile under a frowning providence.

The trials of ministry are myriad. Pride runs through the church. Like a tornado in small Midwestern towns, it leaves only destruction in its wake. We see broken marriages, disunity among members and elders, apostasy, and a host of stomach-turning realities.

We also face our own spiritual, physical, relational, and economic trials. We are often laid low and driven to despair. We are bitter about the past, anxious about the future, and mired in self-pity about the present. In all of this, we forget a vital component of our faith: the providence of God. The Heidelberg Catechism defines providence this way:

God’s providence is his almighty and ever-present power, whereby, as with his hand, he still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things, come to us not by chance but by his fatherly hand.

Everything comes to us, even the difficulty, as a result of God’s fatherly hand. To forget this is to walk in pride. It’s to accuse God of getting the past, present, and future wrong. We must never interpret the character of God in light of our circumstances. Instead, we are to interpret our circumstances in light of the character of God. God loves his people (1 John 3:1), works all things together for our good (Romans 8:28), and uses even the difficulties of life to strengthen our faith (James 1:2–4; 2 Corinthians 12:9–12; Hebrews 12:3–8). The old hymn rings true:

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

We can smile under a frowning providence because we know God’s heart toward us. This cultivates humility amid difficulty.

4. Give it a rest.

“Why do you suppose you have to do all of this?”

That question lingered in the air like smoke from Gandalf’s pipe. A wise and loving friend asked me this question as he deconstructed my schedule and motives for ministry. He saw some unhealthy patterns of work and rest. So he asked me, “Don’t you believe that God is sovereign?”

This conversation popped the balloon of personal pride in ministry. I was sleeping very little, adding more hours to each week’s work, and taking on more responsibilities. Texts and emails continued in the evening and early morning. Days off blended into days on. Rest became as common as topical sermons. And it was beginning to eat away at my health and happiness.

And do you want to know the tricky part? It was all under the guise of noble work: ministry. It couldn’t be pride if it were ministry, right? It was. Sleeping is an expression of submission to God. It declares our humanity, our creatureliness, our dependence upon God and our agreement with his wisdom for our lives.

So pastor, take some time off. Give it a rest. Take one day off per week—at least. Use up your vacation days. Take advantage of holidays. Though it seemed counterintuitive at the time, it was true: my exhausting efforts for God had the scent of pride because I couldn’t trust God enough to rest. Regardless of your theological convictions about the Sabbath, we can all agree that rest is God’s good gift that we should steward well for his glory and our good (Psalm 127:2; James 1:17).

5. Look at the Lord Jesus.

There are certainly more ways to cultivate humility in ministry. As we pursue them, may we always remember the posture of humility we find in the gospel. May we always remember the Lord Jesus, the incarnated epitome of humility; the one who condescended to rescue and redeem us from our sin.

And as we consider Jesus, we see that the way up is the way down. The narrow road is paved with humility. May we pastors lead our people by walking that road, following our Master every step of the way (Philippians 2:5–11).

Posted at: https://www.9marks.org/article/cultivate-humility/

The Doctrine of Saving Faith

AN ESSAY BY J. V. Fesko

DEFINITION

Saving faith is faith that not only knows and comprehends the facts about the gospel of Jesus Christ but also trusts in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

SUMMARY

While faith can be used in various ways, saving faith is faith that not only knows and comprehends the facts about the gospel of Jesus Christ but also trusts in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Historical faith understands the claims of Scripture, and temporary faith seems for a time to trust in them, but saving faith is a firm conviction and trust in the person and work of Christ. While demons understand and comprehend the facts about God and Jesus Christ, this faith causes them to tremble. For the Christian, faith leads to joy and confidence in the goodness and grace of God, which bestows salvation through Jesus Christ apart from works, even apart from the fruit that flows from faith.

The Bible is replete with references to faith. Hebrews 11 stands out as the great “Hall of Faith,” where the author highlights the many Old Testament saints who placed their faith in the promise of the gospel. But what exactly is faith? And why do theologians add the adjective saving? In other words, what is saving faith?

Definition

The simplest and most basic definition of faith comes from the book of Hebrews: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). The author of Hebrews gives a functional description of faith; in this case, faith is believing in what cannot be seen, such as God, or as the author points out, God’s creation of the world out of nothing (Heb. 11:3). We take creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo) on faith since we cannot return to the beginning personally to observe God’s act. But when we relate the doctrine of faith to salvation, the definition becomes more specific. Saving faith is a conviction wrought by the Holy Spirit regarding the truth of the gospel and a trust in the promises of God in Christ (for this definition, see Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology: New Combined Edition, 503). Given this definition, what are the parts of saving faith? What other kinds of faith does the Bible speak of? And how does saving faith relate specifically to the doctrine of salvation?

Elements

The church’s historic understanding of saving faith contains three elements: the facts (notitia), comprehension of the facts (assensus), and trust in the facts (fiducia). In order for someone to believe in and trust in the saving work of Jesus, a person must first know the facts. She must know that Jesus existed as a real, live, historical person. Jesus is not a myth or fairy tale. But a bare knowledge of the facts does not constitute saving faith. A person must know the basic facts and comprehend them. In other words, knowing that Jesus lived is not enough; one must understand what Jesus did in his life. He claimed to be God in the flesh (John 8:58), God’s son and equal to him (John 5:18), and the only way to be saved: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). But it is not enough to believe that Jesus exists and that he made these claims. The sinner must place her trust in Christ’s claims—she must believe that Jesus is the incarnate son of God and that he came to save sinners through his life, death, and resurrection (Rom. 1:16–17; 10:9–10).

We can illustrate the relationship between the elements of saving faith in the following manner. I can go to the airport and recognize the fact that there is an airplane in front of me. I can acknowledge the fact that the airplane and its pilot can hurtle down the runway and leap into the air for sustained flight. I can study the principles of aeronautics and comprehend that when air rushes over a curved surface it creates lift, which thus enables the airplane to fly. But I must trust the airplane and its pilot, board the aircraft, take my seat, and ride the airplane in order to demonstrate my faith in it. A bare knowledge of Christ and his claims is insufficient for salvation. We must trust that he is the only way to be saved from our sin and the only one who can give eternal life.

Other Types

Saving faith is thus a firm conviction and trust in the person and work of Christ, but the Bible does speak of other types of faith. Theologians have discussed historical faith, which is a bare intellectual grasp of the claims of Scripture barren of the work of the Spirit. The apostle Paul, for example, chided King Agrippa for his belief in the Old Testament prophets but the King did not believe in Jesus, the one of whom the prophets spoke (Acts 26:27–28).

The Scriptures also speak of temporary faith, which is when a person temporarily “believes” in the gospel but later falls away. Christ’s parable of the sower captures this type of faith. The sower cast seed on rocky soil, quickly sprouted, but then died for lack of a root (Matt. 13:5–6). Christ explains that this portion of the parable corresponds to the one who “hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matt. 13:20–21). Christ contrasts the rocky with the good soil, which is when one hears, understands, and believes in the word and produces fruit (Matt. 13:23). Christ never states who prepares the soil, a vital element of the parable. Within the broader context of the New Testament, we know that the Spirit prepares the soil of the heart to enable sinners to believe and trust in Jesus (Eph. 2:8–9; Acts 16:14). Apart from the sovereign work of the Spirit, the best that sinful humans can do is achieve a historical or temporary faith.

A third type of faith is the faith of demons; this category is similar to historical faith. James writes: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder” (James 2:19)! In other words, demons know the facts—God exists and is sovereign over all, including their own demonic realm. Demons comprehend these facts, and the comprehension of this knowledge creates fear in them. But they refuse to believe and trust in God, and they are incapable of doing so apart from a sovereign work of God’s Spirit. All three types of faith (historical, temporary, and demons) stand in stark contrast to saving faith. The adjective saving denotes that this type of faith is a sovereign work of God’s Spirit that secures a sinner’s salvation. But how does saving faith work in the broader scope of the doctrine of salvation?

Conclusion

We must recognize with Scripture that faith works through love, which means that the fruit of love and obedience flows from saving faith (Gal. 5:6). But we must also acknowledge faith alone saves, not the fruit of faith. As Paul writes: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9). How do we relate Paul’s two different ideas, namely, that faith works by love but that we are saved by faith apart from works (Rom. 3:28, 4:6)? A historic seventeenth-century Protestant confession of faith provides a helpful distinction. The Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) explains that the “principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life” (XIV.ii). In other words, saving faith does not save because of what it does but rather because of whose work in which it rests in, namely, Christ’s. The Scriptures regularly emphasize this fact from the very beginning.

When the apostle Paul expounded the doctrine of justification, how sinners can receive the forgiveness of their sins and the right and title to eternal life, he returned to the earliest pages of Scripture and the life of Abraham: “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’” (Rom. 4:2–3). Abraham looked to the promised Messiah, saw his day from afar, and trusted in God’s promise (Gal. 3:10–14; John 8:58). And even though faith works through love (Gal. 5:6), God does not factor this love in the justification of sinners as Paul makes abundantly clear: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Rom. 4:4–5). In fact, Paul repeatedly emphasizes the crucial role of faith by using either the term faith or believe 17 times in Romans 4 alone. This should impress upon our hearts and minds that saving faith, not our works, is the only thing that can save us, not because it is inherently worthy but because by faith we lay hold of Christ’s work and thus receive his perfect suffering and obedience as the means by which we are saved. This is the way that all sinners have been saved throughout all of redemptive history, and this is the chief point of Hebrews 11. The Bible knows of no other means of salvation other than trusting in Christ and resting in his finished work. Old Testament saints looked forward to Christ and New Testament saints look backward to Christ, but all lay hold of Christ’s work through saving faith.

FURTHER READING

• Guy M. Richard, “A Picture of Saving Faith”

• J. Gresham Machen, What Is Faith?

• John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied

• John Owen, Gospel Evidences of Saving Faith

• Ligonier, “What is Saving Faith?”

• Paul Carter, “What is (Saving) Faith?”

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/doctrine-saving-faith/

The Nature of Sin

AN ESSAY BY Christopher Morgan

DEFINITION

Sin is the quality of any human action that causes it to fail to glorify the Lord fully, which was first present in the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which has corrupted all people except for Christ, and which leads to death, both bodily and spiritually.

SUMMARY

Sin is the failure to keep God’s law and to uphold his righteousness, thus failing to glorify the Lord fully. While there are many different manifestations that sin can take, they are all rooted in the initial disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden. All those who have been born afterwards, other than Jesus Christ, have been born into sin and cannot escape the guilt and punishment that sin incurs apart from the freedom found in Christ. God did not create sin or the suffering which sin brings into the world, but God is sovereign over his world and provides a way to be reconciled to him, faith in his Messiah, Jesus.

The Bible uses many words for sin. Many are expressions that view sin as a failure or a “falling short” of a standard. In this sense, sin is a failure to keep God’s law (“lawlessness,” 1 John 3:4), a lack of God’s righteousness (Rom. 1:18), an absence of reverence for God (Rom. 1:18; Jude 15), a refusal to know (Eph. 4:18), and, most notably, a “coming short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Thus, sin is the quality of any human action that causes it to fail to glorify the Lord fully. More specifically, the biblical descriptions of sin can be further defined as a failure to glorify God and a rebellion against him (1 John 3:4; Rom. 1:18; 3:23; Eph. 4:18); as an offense against God and a violation of his law (Gen. 39:9; Ps. 51:4; Rom. 8:7; 1 John 3:4); as a willful act and a present state of human existence (Ezek. 18:4; Matt. 7:17); as personal and social (Josh. 7; Isa. 1:2–4; 10:1–4; Jer. 5:12, 28–29); as involving commission (a deed done), omission (a deed left undone), and imperfection (a deed done with wrong motives; Matt. 22:37); as a rouge element in creation (Gen. 1:31); as a failure to image the Creator to the world (Jer. 2:11–12; Rom. 1:23; 3:23; 8:20–22; 1 Cor. 1:18–25); as including guilt and pollution (Mark 7:21–23; Rom. 1:18; cf. 3:19–20; Eph. 2:3); as including thoughts (Exod. 20:17; Matt. 5:22, 28), words, (Isa. 6:5; James 3:1–18) and actions (Gal. 5:19–21); as deceit (Jer. 17:9; Heb. 3:12–13); and as having a beginning in history and an end in the future (1 Cor. 15:55–57; see John W. Mahony, “A Theology of Sin for Today,” in Fallen: A Theology of Sin).

Creation and Sin

At first glance, one might conclude that this first epoch of the biblical story has little to contribute to our understanding of sin. After all, sin is not even mentioned, but that silence speaks volumes! In particular, Genesis’s teaching about God’s creation clarifies two critical principles related to sin (see Christopher W. Morgan, “Sin in the Biblical Story,” in Fallen: A Theology of Sin).

First, sin is not something created or authored by God. Rather, God created a good universe and good human beings. Genesis 1–2 shows the Creator to be transcendent, sovereign, personal, immanent, and good. God’s goodness is displayed in his turning the chaos into something good—the heavens and the earth. His goodness is even more clearly reflected in the goodness of his creation, evidenced by the steady refrain, “And God saw that it was good” (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25), a goodness accentuated on the sixth day: “Behold, it was very good” (v. 31). God’s generous provisions of light, land, vegetation, and animals are blessings given for man’s benefit, as are the abilities to know God, work, marry, and procreate. God blesses man with the Sabbath, places him in the delightful garden of Eden, gives him a helper, and establishes only one prohibition, given not to stifle man but to promote his welfare.

The good God creates a good world for the good of his creatures. Humans are created good and blessed beyond measure, being made in God’s image, with an unhindered relationship with God and with freedom. As a result, casting blame for sin on the good and generous God is unbiblical and unfounded. In the beginning, God creates a good cosmos with good humans who have good relationships with God, themselves, one another, and creation itself.

Second, sin is not original. It has not always existed. From a theological standpoint, God’s creation of the universe out of nothing shows that he alone is independent, absolute, and eternal. Everything else has been created. Further, the inherent goodness of creation leaves no room for a fundamental dualism between spirit and matter. Contrary to some philosophical and religious traditions, the Bible teaches that matter is a part of God’s creation and is good. Sin is ethical, not physical or tied to the cosmos itself.

From a historical standpoint, the story of creation recounts that there was a time when there was no sin. Sin is not original. The world is not now the way it was and, as Cornelius Plantinga helpfully states, “is not the way it is supposed to be” (see Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin).

The Fall and Sin

God does not create sin but creates a good universe and good human beings. Sadly, Adam and Eve do not obey God’s command not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil but “fall.” The Tempter calls into question God’s truthfulness, sovereignty, and goodness. The “cunning” Tempter deflects the woman’s attention from the covenantal relationship God had established. In the central scene, the fall reaches its climax. The fatal sequence unfolds rapidly: Eve “saw,” “took,” “ate,” and “gave” (Gen. 3:6), and the sequence culminates in “he ate.” But the forbidden fruit does not deliver what the Tempter promises, and instead brings new dark realities, as the good truthful covenant Lord had warned.

This initial rebellious act brings divine justice. The consequences of man’s sin are fitting and devastating. The couple immediately feel shame, realizing they are naked (3:7). They sense their estrangement from God, foolishly trying to hide from him (vv. 8–10). They fear God and his response (vv. 9–10). Their alienation from each other emerges as Eve blames the serpent, while Adam blames Eve and by intimation even God (vv. 10–13). Pain and sorrow ensue. The woman will experience pain in childbirth; the man will toil trying to grow food in a land with pests and weeds; and both will quickly discover dissonance in their relationship (vv. 15–19). Worse, God banishes them from Eden, away from his glorious presence (vv. 22–24).

How they wish they had heeded God’s warning: if you eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, “you will certainly die” (2:17). Upon eating the forbidden fruit, they do not immediately die from something like cardiac arrest. But they do die. They die spiritually, and their bodies also begin to experience the gradual decay that leads ultimately to their physical deaths (as God’s judgment states, “you will return to dust”; 3:19).

Most devastating is that these consequences not only befall Adam and Eve but extend to their descendants as well. The scene is dismal, as life becomes difficult, with all of humanity shut out of the garden.

So, in the beginning, God creates a good cosmos with good humans who have good relationships with him, themselves, one another, and creation. But sin enters the picture and disrupts each human relationship—with God, self, one another, and creation.

Paul’s remarks in Romans 5:12–21 also shed light on the fall. Romans 5:12–21 is not primarily about sin, but it is instructive, setting Christ’s work against the backdrop of Adam’s sin. In Adam, sin enters, death spreads and reigns, and condemnation is sentenced. In contrast, in Christ there is righteousness, new life, and justification.

Synthesis

Sin is fundamentally against God and a failure to live as the image of God. Most fundamentally, sin must be defined as being against God. The accounts depicting the fall suggest that sin is rebellion against God, breaking his covenant, and failing to live as his image-bearers by serving as kings and priests according to his will and on his mission. As such, sin is exchanging the glory of the incorruptible God for something less, like idols (Rom. 1:23; cf. Ps. 106:20; Jer. 2:11–12). Sin is falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and brings disrepute on the name of God (2:24).

Sin enters the human experience in Adam’s sin. That sin is an intruder, entering the human experience in Adam’s sin, is clear historically from Genesis. That sin enters human history in Adam’s sin is also clear theologically from Romans 5:12: “Sin came into the world through one man.” Although clarity concerning the reason(s) for Adam’s sin remains out of reach, Scripture does indicate that Adam’s sin not only results in his own punishment but also has dire consequences for all humanity. Adam sins not merely as the first bad example but as the representative of all humanity. Recall Romans 5:12–21 and the contrast between Adam’s representation of us and Christ’s representation. In Adam, there is sin, death, and condemnation. In Christ, there is righteousness, life, and justification. In Adam, there is the old era, the dominion of sin and death. In Christ, there is a new reign, marked by grace and life (cf. 1 Cor. 15:20–57).

Sin is universal—no one escapes. That the fall of Adam results in universal human sinfulness is suggested by Genesis 3–11 and emphasized by Romans 5:12–21. In particular, verse 19 clarifies, “As by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” This can also be seen through Paul’s insistence that no one is exempt, for all have sinned and fall short (Rom. 3:23); there are none righteous, not even one (3:10–18).

Sin produces universal human guilt and condemnation. Romans 5:12–21 displays this, particularly in verses 16 and 18: “The judgment following one trespass brought condemnation” (v. 16); “One trespass led to condemnation for all men” (v. 18). Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 2:1–3 speaks similarly: we were all “by nature children of wrath” (v. 3). Humans are universally guilty, in that state by nature (by birth, see Gal. 2:15), and thereby stand condemned under the wrath of God.

Sin begets universal human death. This is evident from Genesis, including God’s warning in 2:17: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.” It is evident from God’s judgment upon Adam: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (3:19). The new entrance of death is also clear from the banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden and from participation in the Tree of Life (vv. 22–24). That Adam’s sin results in the universality of human death is also manifest in Romans 5:12–21. Death enters human history through Adam’s sin (v. 12) and spreads to all (v. 12). Indeed, the universality of death clarifies that sin was in the world before the law was given (vv. 13–14). Paul puts it starkly, “Many died through one man’s trespass” (v. 15); “Sin reigned in death” (v. 21); and later, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (6:23).

Sin brings universal corruption. The corruption of all is directly related to the domain of sin and death just mentioned. Indeed, Romans 5:12–21 conjoins Adam’s sin, humans constituted as sinners, universal guilt, universal death, and the domain of death. The domain of sin and death is the macro-environmental condition in which life occurs; the particular human corruption is a part of the personal and individual aspects of the domain of sin and death.

Sin results in the reality of human suffering. As sin enters through Adam, so do its effects, suffering included. And just as God is not the author of sin, so is he not the author of suffering. Suffering is not a part of God’s good creation but is sin’s byproduct.

Sin creates shattered relationships at every level. As noted, God created a good cosmos with good human beings who had good relationships with God, themselves, one another, and creation. But sin entered the picture and brought disruption and estrangement in each human relationship, with God, self, one another, and creation.

The Good News

Indeed, “the biblical story sheds much light on sin. But clearly, sin is only the backdrop, never the point. It emerges in God’s good creation as a temporary intruder, causes much havoc, and holds many in its clutches. But it is no match for the work of God in Christ. Through his sinless life, sin-bearing death, sin-defeating resurrection, and sin-crushing second coming, sin and its offspring of suffering and death are given the death blow. Sin abounded, but grace super-abounds” Morgan, “Sin in the Biblical Story,” in Fallen: A Theology of Sin, 162).

FURTHER READING

• Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image

• Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson, eds., Fallen: A Theology of Sin

• Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin

• D. A. Carson, How Long O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil

• Henri Blocher, Original Sin: Illuminating the Riddle

• Mark Thompson, “An Unavoidable Truth: The Doctrine of Sin Today”

• Wayne Grudem, “Sin” in Systematic Theology

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-nature-of-sin/

Don’t Quit the Everyday Work of Marriage

 Paul David Tripp

Couples Can’t Coast

Here is what I have told couples again and again. It is what I have endeavored to live in my own marriage as well. The reconciliation of a marriage must be a lifestyle, not just the response you have when things go bad. Consider why this must be the case. If you are a sinner married to a sinner—and you are—then it is very dangerous and potentially destructive to allow yourself to coast as a couple. You simply will not live a day together where no act of thoughtlessness, self-interest, anger, arrogance, self-righteousness, bitterness, or disloyalty will rear its ugly head. Often it will be benign and low-level, but it will still be there.

If you are going to have a marriage that lives in unity, understanding, and love, you must have a little-moment approach. All this does is recognize the nature of the life God has designed for us. In his wisdom, God has crafted a life for us that does not careen from huge, consequential moment to huge, consequential moment. In fact, if you examine your life, you will see that you have actually had few of those moments. You can probably name only two or three life-changing situations you have lived through. We are all the same; the character and quality of our life is forged in little moments. Every day we lay little bricks on the foundation of what our life will be. The bricks of words said, the bricks of actions taken, the bricks of little decisions, the bricks of little thoughts, and the bricks of small-moment desires all work together to form the functional edifice that is your marriage. So, you have to view yourself as a marital mason. You are daily on the job adding another layer of bricks that will determine the shape of your marriage for days, weeks, and years to come.

A longtime Christian counselor presents reconciliation as a lifestyle for all marriages and illustrates this grace-based approach with six daily commitments that will equip couples to navigate the day-to-day realities of married life.

Perhaps this is precisely the problem. It is the problem of perception. We just don’t tend to live life this way. We tend to fall into quasi-thoughtless routines and instinctive ways of doing things that are less self-conscious than they need to be. And we tend to back away from the significance of these little moments because they are little moments. You see, the opposite is true: little moments are significant because they are little moments. These are the moments that make up our lives. These are the moments that set up our future. These are the moments that shape our relationships. We must have a “day-by-day” approach to everything in our lives, and if we do, we will choose our bricks carefully and place them strategically.

It All Takes Time

Things don’t go bad in a marriage in an instant. The character of a marriage is not formed in one grand moment. Things in a marriage go bad progressively. Things become sweet and beautiful progressively. The development and deepening of the love in a marriage happens by things that are done daily; this is also true with the sad deterioration of a marriage. The problem is that we simply don’t pay attention, and because of this we allow ourselves to think, desire, say, and do things that we shouldn’t.

Let me play out this life of little-moment inattention for you. You squeeze and crinkle the toothpaste tube even though you know it bothers your spouse. You complain about the dirty dishes instead of putting them in the dishwasher. You fight for your own way in little things, rather than seeing them as an opportunity to serve. You allow yourself to go to bed irritated after a little disagreement. Day after day you leave for work without a moment of tenderness between you. You fight for your view of beauty rather than making your home a visual expression of the tastes of both of you. You allow yourself to do little rude things you would never have done in courtship. You quit asking for forgiveness in the little moments of wrong. You complain about how the other does little things, when it really doesn’t make any difference. You make little decisions without consultation.

You quit investing in the friendship intimacy of your marriage. You fight for your own way rather than for unity in little moments of disagreement. You complain about the other’s foibles and weaknesses. You fail to seize those openings to encourage. You quit searching for little avenues for expressing love. You begin to keep a record of little wrongs. You allow yourself to be irritated by what you once appreciated. You quit making sure that every day is punctuated with tenderness before sleep takes you away. You quit regularly expressing appreciation and respect. You allow your physical eyes and the eyes of your heart to wander. You swallow little hurts that you would have once discussed. You begin to turn little requests into regular demands. You quit taking care of yourself. You become willing to live with more silence and distance than you would have when you were approaching marriage. You quit working in those little moments to make your marriage better, and you begin to succumb to what is.

Every day we lay little bricks on the foundation of what our life will be.

Why do we quit paying attention? Because it is hard work to care, it is hard work to discipline ourselves to be careful, and it is hard work to always be thinking of the other person. Now, be prepared to have your feelings hurt: you and I tend to want the other to work hard because that will make our lives easier, but we don’t really want to have to sign in for the hard work ourselves. Oh, I’m not done! I think there is an epidemic of marital laziness among us. We want to be able to coast and have things not only stay the same but get better. And I am absolutely persuaded that laziness is rooted in the self-centeredness of sin. We have already examined the antisocial danger of this thing inside us that the Bible calls sin. We have already considered that it turns us in on ourselves, but it does something else. It reduces us to marital passivity. We want the good things to come to us without the hard work of laying the daily bricks that will result in the good things. And we are often more focused on what the other is failing to do and more focused on waiting for him to get his act together than we are on our own commitment to doing whatever is daily necessary to make our marriages what God intended them to be.

You can have a good marriage, but you must understand that a good marriage is not a mysterious gift. No, it is, rather, a set of commitments that forges itself into a moment-by-moment lifestyle.

Reconciliation as a Lifestyle: What Does This Mean?

There is a very interesting passage in 2 Corinthians that provides a model for what this day-by-day lifestyle looks like.

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (5:14–21 NIV)

This passage is a call to a particular way of thinking about and living in our relationship to God. What it calls us to in our relationship with God is a wonderful model for our relationship with one another in marriage. This is always true. The first great commandment always defines the second great commandment.

Paul understands that we have been reconciled to God by an act of his grace. He knew that there is no way for us to earn God’s love or deserve his favor but, having said that, he was also quick to remind us that reconciliation to God is both an event and a process. Notice the words of verse 20: “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” Who is the “you” that Paul is addressing? (The “you” is not in the original, although it is surely implied.) The “you” is the Corinthian church. Now, maybe you’re thinking, “Paul, if these people are believers, haven’t they already been reconciled to God?” The answer is yes and no. Yes, they have been reconciled to God in the advent sense of God’s acceptance of them in Christ. But there is another reconciliation that is still going on. To the degree that we continue to live for ourselves (2 Cor. 5:15), to that degree we still need to be reconciled to God. Since, in some way, we live for ourselves every day, we need to be reconciled daily to God in confession and repentance. What a perfect model this is for our marriages!

Yes, you’ve already made that one-time decision to live in love with one another, but you don’t always live as if you have. To the degree that you daily, in some way, continue to live for yourself, to that degree you daily need to be reconciled to God and to one another. You don’t just coast along, hoping somehow, someway to avoid the bad stuff. No, you live with reconciliation intentionality. You live with humble hearts and eyes wide open. You are ready to listen and willing to hear. You examine and consider. You take on habits of reconciliation that become the daily lifestyle of your marriage. And you make those habits a regular part of your daily routine.

Sadly, I think there are few couples who actually live this way. How many couples do you know who say that their relationship is the best it has ever been and that it is getting better all the time? How many couples say that they are now experiencing a deeper level of unity, understanding, and love than they have ever known? How many couples say that their spouse is their deepest, closest, and most precious friend? These things are not like a romantic cloud that you happen to wander into. No, they are the rich, relational blessing of living the way God, who created marriage, intended us to live. They are not relational luxuries for the romantically inclined. No, they are the essentials of a truly healthy and happy marriage, one that not only makes you smile but makes God smile as well.

This article is adapted from What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage by Paul David Tripp.

Paul David Tripp (DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) is a pastor, award-winning author, and international conference speaker. He has written numerous books, including the best seller New Morning Mercies. His nonprofit ministry exists to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Tripp lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Luella, and they have four grown children.

Posted at: https://www.crossway.org/articles/dont-quit-the-everyday-work-of-marriage/

Remembering Our Peace

Lara d’Entremont 

“I just want peace!”  I cried, as my little boy had yet another tantrum after being told not to stand on the kitchen table. I was surrounded by water running in the sink, messy counters, and a bowl of raw dough still needing to be cooked.

Maybe as a mom you exclaimed those same words as you threw your hands in the air while your children bickered over a toy for the tenth time that day. Maybe as a friend caught in a dispute you cried, “Can we just be at peace with one another?” Perhaps at work you wished for a peaceful day without any hitches. Perhaps you said it one weary day of scrolling through social media passing by bad news after more bad news.

We want peace. While some of us enjoy the ups and downs of a roller coaster, most of us don’t want that reflected in our daily lives. We like our calendars to be filled in an orderly fashion so we can flip to the future weeks and see how life will play out. We want our relationships to be predictable. But in a world cursed with thorns and thistles—or perhaps in better words, pandemics and paranoia—that’s not always the case

How do we tuck peace away in our hearts when we live in a sin-struck world? Where do we find “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:6–7) when our world feels like anything but at peace?

THE SOURCE OF OUR PEACE

When our world is disordered, we often run for comfort and distractions. Something to block out the noise so we can pretend for a moment that it vanished. A day off. A vacation. Scrolling through Instagram or Facebook. Binge-watching Netflix. Playing video games. An overflowing bowl of ice cream. Extra sleep. A run on the trail. And sometimes we do need that. Stress doesn’t just make us emotional—we also feel it in our bodies. Headaches, nausea, achy bones, stomach problems. When we’re in a stressful season, caring for our bodies is necessary.

But caring for our bodies won’t take away the stressful situation. Sleeping in won’t make our toddlers stop bickering in the afternoon. Getting more exercise won’t stop sickness from entering our homes. A vacation won’t heal our fraying relationship. Watching another season of our favorite TV show won’t make the bad news go away.

We have a better hope than the world does (John 14:27). As believers, Christ gives us perfect peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7) because he’s the Lord of peace (2 Thess. 3:16).

The source of our abounding peace begins with the gospel. When we were alienated from God, we had no source of everlasting peace. No hope of a future where all tears would be wiped away. We had no hope that our suffering held eternal purposes. We had no hope that if everyone abandoned us, we still had a perfect Heavenly Father who loved us. But now, in Christ, by grace through faith, we’re given this abounding peace. By Christ’s blood, we have this peace with the Father (Eph. 2:11–13). 

REMEMBERING OUR PEACE

We often cry, “I just want peace!” forgetting that we already have access to it. It’s not something we have to conjure up or go searching for. Christ has given us this peace by his grace. It’s already ours because we’re secured in him. When we feel restless and overwhelmed, it’s not about climbing and grasping, but about remembering what we already have.

How do we remember this peace we have been given? Here’s how God has instructed us:

Meditate on His Word

John Calvin wrote in his commentary that our peace “does not bend itself to the various shiftings of the world, but is founded on the firm and immutable word of God.”[1] When we set our minds on God’s Word, we can be encouraged and reminded of our eternal peace. As Calvin notes, God’s Word is firm and doesn’t shift and change like our lives and culture. It’s firm. By this unwavering Word, we’re reminded of God’s everlasting goodness, his unwavering love for his children, his abundant grace, and his kind sovereignty. We’re reminded of our secure place in God’s house.

Psalm 19 tells us that God’s Word revives our souls and rejoices our hearts (vv. 7–8). Scripture has this kind of power because it’s alive. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart,” (Heb. 4:12). No other book holds this kind of living power. This book has the words to save souls and bring courage to the weariest of pilgrims. Make room for God’s Word in your daily life and see it renew your fretful heart.

Look to the Church

Despite how isolating our suffering and stress may feel, God has not left us alone. After giving his disciples the Great Commission, Jesus declared, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age,” (Matt. 2:20b). One of those ways he is always with us is through the local body of believers. He knitted us into a family of children belonging to him. In this family, we’re to encourage and build one another up in our faith (Heb. 10:24–25). When stress fogs our eyes, we can look to other believers to clear the haze and remind us of our peace in Christ.

Sometimes this may mean remembering reasons to celebrate—other times it may mean crying together (Rom. 12:15). Sometimes it may mean being drawn shoulder-to-shoulder with a fellow believer so they can help carry our loads—other times it may mean being shown how to carry the burden better (Gal. 6:1–5). Whatever it may be, we can be reminded of our peace from our siblings in Christ. Stop suffering under fear’s crushing weight alone. Look to your local body of believers, lean on them, and learn how you can one day do the same for others.

Worship by Singing

We not only instruct and encourage one another with our words, but also by our singing. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God,” (Col. 3:16).

By God’s grace and creativity, the church is gifted with beautiful voices to sing truth. Let’s take advantage of this gift and use it to remind ourselves of our reasons to be peaceful beyond understanding. 

Call on Our Heavenly Father

Not when all else fails, but at all times, let’s call out to God with our anxious, restless hearts. As Paul penned to the church in Philippi, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Phil. 4:6–7).

Because of Christ, we can step before God’s throne and cry to him. We can follow the example of the psalmists and weep before God with truthful words. We can tell him our sorrow, our fears, our shame, and our anger. Maybe by our prayers we will find courage and end in praising our faithful Father. Or maybe it will simply be the act of bringing our grief and stress before God that we will find comfort. Whatever it is, call on your heavenly Father. Through Christ, he is always near and ready to listen to what his children have to say.

PEACE FROM GOD

If we’re at peace with God by the gospel—our wretched sins are forgiven by trusting in Christ—we will have peace from God. When all other ground is as sinking sand, as the hymn writer wrote, our feet can stand firmly on Christ, our Solid Rock:

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.[2]

Perhaps you want peace amidst your flaming suffering. Or perhaps you’re simply looking for peace within a hectic day with a toddler and housework like myself. Whatever our lot God draws for us, we can find peace by resting on his unchanging grace.

[1]  https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/philippians-4.html

[2]  Edward Mote (1797-1874), My hope is built on nothing less.

Lara d’Entremont is a biblical counselor in training, and her desire in writing is to teach women to turn to God’s word in the midst of their daily lives and suffering to find the answers they need. She wants to teach women to love God with both their minds and hearts. Lara is married to Daniel and they live in Nova Scotia, Canada. See more of her writing on her website, Twitter, or Facebook.

Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/remembering-our-peace

HE HOLDS ALL THINGS TOGETHER

Dustin Crowe 

There are days and seasons where it appears like everything is crumbling.

Amid pain or hardships, our lives feel like they are collapsing before us. With weary minds, tired bodies, worn-out spirits, and emotions that feel like they’ve been tumbling in the dryer for way too long, nothing seems to make sense.

In the furnace of these trials, answers escape us. All we know is, this feels so hard.[1]

This might be how life lately has felt for many of us. So many things feel like they’ve fallen apart. Our plans, hopes, calendars, and schedules unraveled before us as the world shut down. For many, jobs, finances, health, and relationships were frayed or ripped away. In the wake of the racial divide and strife between political parties, everything feels heavy and wrong.

Everything just feels like it's too much.

GRASPING FOR CONTROL

As we seek to regain control and put things back together, we grasp with a fury as we try to piece together the patches in our life. We feel anxious, fearful, and overwhelmed by feeling like we need to hold things together; to hold ourselves together.

But Paul offers us some wonderful news. There is already someone who is holding all things together, and it’s not us. It’s Jesus:

“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17).

We’re always aware of the potential for life to bring a tidal wave, but that awareness doesn’t prevent the wave’s force from taking us under. After exhausting our energy to get our heads above the water, another wave smacks us and the disorientation sets in, as we scramble to collect ourselves again.

Hardships, pain, and trials leave us staggering with the same sentiments. How did this happen? What should I do? Will this ever get better? Why can’t I catch a break? Why isn’t God stopping this? The questions don’t stop, and life goes on.

WHO OVER WHY

In times like this, we might ask the why question. But in reality our hearts long for an answer to the who question. What matters most when things in our world appear to fall apart is that God stays with us. Above all, we crave his nearness.

For Christians who have walked through the valleys, they know the lowest low can be survived if God is near. But if God is absent (or seems absent), there is no getting through. Puritan Richard Sibbes understood this truth well. He said, “If we cannot rejoice in the world, yet we may rejoice in the Lord. His presence makes any condition comfortable.”[2]

“He’s with you even when you don’t see or sense it.

There’s nothing more comforting than to know that “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (Isa. 43:2). Just two chapters before this, God comforts his people with these words: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10).

If you’re crawling through a valley right now, read those verses again, slowly. He is with you. He is with you in the valley and the darkness and the raging waters. He’s with you even when you don’t see or sense it.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

In suffering and pain, most of us don’t need all our questions answered. Instead, we need the precious reminder that God is with us and won’t leave us.

“Don’t just help people get through life’s struggles; help them see God as a very present help in the middle of those struggles.

Too often when we go through pain or when those close to us are suffering, our gut reaction is to plead “get me out.” That might be a good prayer—and it’s understandable—but don’t miss the chance to experience the nearness of God as he draws near to the weak. Don’t just help people get through life’s struggles; help them see God as a very present help in the middle of those struggles.

When the news you’ve dreaded comes or the doctors still don’t have an answer, fall into God’s arms. When you’re disappointed with how life has turned out or when your marriage is shaky, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. When your prayers go unanswered and you’re tempted to stop talking to God, keep trusting and holding on to him. When you lose a job or when a person you love is ripped from you, don’t turn away from the one who holds all things together; instead turn to him.

He is with you, and he is for you—even when it seems like he’s against you.

FAITH OVER FEELINGS

We need perspective beyond our limited vantage point. We feel like everything around us is falling apart. It appears like God must not be at the helm. But feelings and appearance, though real, are not always true and are never ultimate. God is still in control.

“There is no moment where control escapes him. At no point does he walk away from his throne.

The Bible reminds us that God providentially rules over our lives. There is no moment where control escapes him. At no point does he walk away from his throne. Jesus holds all things together (Col. 1:17).

Plant that theological flag firmly into your heart now so when life does fall apart, Christ’s good and wise sovereignty is an established fact and not a question. Lean into it and learn it in small trials, so when your trust is stretched in bigger trials, it might bend but not break.

Things around us might fall apart, but even in this, Jesus is holding all things together.

OUR POWERFUL KING

Colossians 1:13–20 puts our confidence in Jesus as king. In 1:13–14, the king rescues us from darkness and brings us into his kingdom at the cost of his own life. In verse 15, Paul says Jesus is the image of God. He is the rightful heir to his father’s throne, and he rules in line with the will of his father. In verse 16, Paul emphasizes the unrivaled authority and rank of the king.

Here in verse 17, he identifies Jesus as the king who rules, sustains, and ensures the well-being of all in his kingdom: “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17).

Jesus cares for and oversees everything happening in his domain. He not only creates, but he sustains what he creates. “[Jesus] upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Heb. 1:3). He completes what he begins. He is faithful to finish anything he starts.

“Even when life feels like it’s falling apart, Jesus holds everything together.

He doesn’t give up on people, projects, or plans and move to something else. Jesus never drops the ball. That’s not only true in creation, but it’s true for you. Even when life feels like it’s falling apart, Jesus holds everything together.

His power declares that nothing keeps him from accomplishing his plans. His wisdom signifies that he knows how to use his power to best order all things for our good and his glory.  His goodness and love assure us that everything that comes from his hand springs from the fountainhead of goodness.

GOD’S SMILING FACE

When life unravels, we can find comfort knowing that Jesus is holding all things together in his power, wisdom, goodness, and love.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break, In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.[3]

[1] One way we respond is lament. For an excellent introduction to lament, see Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop. For stories of believers finding hope during trials, see Storm Clouds of Blessing by Janice M. Cappucci.

[2] Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (Carlisle: Banner of Truth, reprinted 2008), 9.

[3] William Cowper, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way” (No. 603) in Hymns for the Family of God (Franklin: Brentwood– Benson Music Publishing, 1976)

Posted at: https://gcdiscipleship.com/article-feed/he-holds-all-things-together

A Prayer for Mercy

Kevin DeYoung

O great God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who created all things, the God above all gods, the God who was, and is, and is to come, the God who never changes, the God who never slumbers nor sleeps, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon us.

We are in the midst of a global pandemic. More than 100,000 lives lost in this country alone. We hear of new cases, new hospitalizations, new deaths each day.

Lord have mercy.

In the last three months 40 million Americans have entered the ranks of the unemployed. Many who still have a job are scared. Others are anxious, depressed.

Lord have mercy.

As states re-open some cities and neighborhoods, even some families and churches, are sniping at each other over masks or no masks, re-open quickly or re-open slowly, COVID is worse than you think or this has been a massive over-reaction.

Lord have mercy.

As Christians, we have grieved to be separated from the people we love and care for. We have been forced to give up meeting together for a time. So much about ministry seems harder, more uncertain, less fulfilling. We don’t fully know when normal will return, or what normal will look like, or what to do in the meantime.

Lord have mercy.

On Monday, a white police officer in Minneapolis put his knee on the neck of George Floyd for eight minutes, murdering a black man made in the image of God, while three other officers did nothing to stop the injustice.

Lord have mercy.

The anger and fear and pain felt in the black community isn’t prompted by this one incident alone. It comes out of the legacy of slavery, and Jim Crow, and too many times where power and force were used against them in ways that are evil and unjust.

Lord have mercy.

Every time we witness another tragedy like this we know it makes the difficult and honorable job of law enforcement almost impossible. Many police officers–risking their lives to serve and protect–will suffer unfairly because of actions done a thousand miles away, actions they condemn, actions outside their control.

Lord have mercy.

And now we see dozens and dozens of our great cities are torn apart by senseless destruction and violence. Businesses have been burnt down. Grocery stories destroyed. Neighborhoods ruined. Lives threatened or lost.

Lord have mercy.

You have our attention. O God, give us ears to hear. What do you want to say to us in your Word? What should we do? What needs to change? How can we help?

Let us do as our own catechism instructs us and obey the sixth commandment by preserving the life of ourselves and others, but resisting all thoughts and purposes, subduing all passions, and avoiding all occasions, temptations, and practices which tend to the unjust taking away the life of any. Let our lives be marked by charitable thoughts, love, compassion, meekness, gentleness, kindness, peaceable, mild, and courteous speeches and behavior. Let us forbear with others and demonstrate a readiness to be reconciled, and a patient enduring and forgiving of injuries. Let us comfort the distressed and protect and defend the innocent (WLC 135).

We pray for justice for the murder of George Floyd. We pray for those living in utter chaos and darkness in Minneapolis and St. Paul, or facing the loss of property or loss of life in Atlanta, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Louisville, for facing rising tensions in Oakland, San Jose, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York City, and here in Charlotte. We pray for repentance for those who sinned against George Floyd, those who have responded in sin, and those of us—perhaps all of us—who have harbored sin in our hearts toward those who seem to be on the other side, part of the other team, those who vote for the other party.

We pray for whatever necessary reforms might give hope and healing and and dignity and the feeling of safety fo our black brothers and sisters, especially here in our church. We pray for bravery and safety, and fortitude for our law enforcement officers, especially here in our church. We pray for the mayor of Charlotte, Vi Lyles, and CMPD Police Chief Putney. Give them wisdom, strength, integrity, grace as they lead through these difficult days.

We pray for our political, religious, and civic leaders. May they be humble, honest, measured, principled, open to good ideas wherever they come form, self-sacrificing, disciplined, courageous, and compassionate. Where we have such leaders may we listen to them and follow them. Where our leaders do not exhibit these qualities, help them to change and repent. We seek the peace of our city and all the cities of this great country.

We weep. We lament. We mourn. But not as those who have no hope.

May gospel beauty rise from these smoldering, literal ashes. May truth triumph over lies and grace conquer lawlessness. May your people be one as you, O Father, and your Son are one. May the church—the body of Christ, the bride of Christ—rise up as an example of love and with a message of salvation for a weary and war-torn world. Give us grace to serve you, O God, and, if necessary, grace to suffer for what is right. Give us the peace and health and safety we do not deserve. Give us the reformation and revival we need.

Lord have mercy.

Posted at: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/a-prayer-for-mercy/