God-Centeredness & Doctrine 1

July 12, 2006

“A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God” (A. W. Tozer).

This statement by Tozer is so powerful and thrilling to read that it is hard to get beyond it. If only theologians, biblical scholars, and pastors would wake up to this basic but ignored truth. The Bible is the revelation of God and His glory first and foremost. If we approach Scripture from a man-centered point of view we will miss the vital issue and the real point of it. Reading theology is a good practice for all, but reading people who try to write about theology (theos = God and ology = study of) without taking God into consideration is amusing on the one hand and horrifying on the other. God is the center of theology and the study of theology is to be primarily a study of God. If we have low views of God or try to study the doctrines that theology consists of without the primary reason for them, that is like using plastic toys to study biology. This is exactly why theology has lost much of its meaning for the average person and that is why the academic study of the Bible has lost much if not virtually all of its power. The study of Scripture and the study of theology should be a study of the glory of God.

John Calvin said that man cannot know himself without knowing God. Perhaps that is why there used to be so many people wondering around trying to find themselves. While different terms are used today, that is still an issue. People cannot find out who they are and their purpose in life without knowing about God. The Death of God movement has largely died out in one sense, but the concept of God has been largely so watered down that most people who attend church these days hear nothing but idolatrous blather. If Tozer is correct, and I certainly think that he is, then the real problems within the church have to do with a low view of God. The real issues that people fight about concerning theology are missing the main point. They use logic and historical documentation to try to come to an understanding, but those are almost never the real issue. The real issue that divides people is God. The real issue that divides one theology from another is the view of God that one has.

For example, let us look at the issue of free will. I can almost hear someone laughing now and saying something to the point of how crazy it is to assert that the real issue that divides people on free will is their view of God. That is exactly what I want to assert. As Tozer said earlier, and I tried to defend his statement in an earlier blog, the most important thing about us is what comes to our mind when we think of God. While our true views of God may be hidden underneath piles of rubbish of modern religious notions, our true view of God is what determines virtually everything we believe and do. My view of man and his freedom is determined precisely by how I view God and His sovereignty. If God is free to do as He pleases and free to allow only that which He pleases, then how much freedom does that allow man? If man is dead spiritually and God is the only author and sustainer of life in the universe, then how free is man in light of that? If man has no spiritual power other than what the Holy Spirit works in man, then how free is man in the spiritual realm? In other words, man’s freedom can only be conceived of where God’s freedom sovereignty, and power are cut off.

What are the real issues in theology today? Some of them are the New Perspective, Open Theism, and the Auburn Avenue Theology. All three have to do with the Gospel and both ultimately have to do with the very nature of God. While there are important historical (hysterical?) issues that some think are the basis for the New Perspective, at root the real issue is over the character of God and how He saves. The Gospel is about how God saves according to His character. The issue is not ultimately over how one stayed in the covenant during the times of Christ and of Paul, but how God glorifies Himself in the Gospel. Indeed we must be faithful to the text of Holy Writ, but just as important if not more so is to be faithful to the character and glory of God. We may not always be able to figure out exactly what a text means, but we can know that God saves according to the good pleasure of His will and to the glory of His grace. Those are basic because God does nothing that is not ultimately to the glory of His name. We can know that the New Perspective is wrong because it adds works to the Gospel and so it is not a Gospel that exalts the pleasure and grace of God. The New Perspective goes wrong because it is wrong on the character of God. It ends up with a man-centered view of the Gospel that is not dependent on a full and glorious free gift of grace that exalts God. It goes wrong in thinking that man can stay in the covenant by virtue of his works instead of looking at God who keeps man in covenant because of who He is. It is a wrong view of God.

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Infinity & the Gospel

July 8, 2006

The infinity of God brings great light to the Gospel. The Gospel is the Gospel of God (Mark 1:14; Rom 1:1; 15:16; II Cor 11:7; I Thess 2:2, 8, 9; I Peter 4:17), the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and the Gospel of the grace of God. In other words, the Gospel is all about God and the outshining of His glory (Hebrews 1:3) which is seen in the face of Christ (II Cor 4:4-6). Since infinity is of necessity an attribute of God that flows through all of His other attributes in a glorious simplicity and oneness, the infinity of God shines in and through the Gospel as well. It is only if in some way the glory of God is infinite in the Gospel that dwelling upon the Gospel for all eternity without some degree of tediousness will be possible.

The first thing to be noted is that the Gospel brings eternal life. In fact, John 17:3 says that knowing God and His Son is eternal life. Now what is eternal life? It is to share in the life of the infinite God. Eternal life is something that starts the moment a person has Christ who is eternal life. Whatever is eternal has is roots in the Infinite. God, who is self-existent by virtue of possessing life and even eternal life, or perhaps is life and eternal life itself, brings Himself to sinners and gives Himself through Christ which is to say that they share in His life. Sinners only obtain eternal life to the degree that they have the life of God in them through Christ. That is exactly what Christ did in coming to give understanding, “so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (I John 5:20).

While most think of eternal life as simply being in heaven for eternity, that idea does not give any real insight into eternal life. Eternal life is sharing in the very life of God through Christ. It is sharing in the life of God that flows between the members of the Trinity. That life starts now and continues in a higher degree in eternity. “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself” (John 5:26). It is because the Son has life in Himself that He can say “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24). It is when a person comes into union with Christ that the life of Christ (which is life itself and eternal life) is in a person and that person has eternal life. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28). It is because He is eternal life that He can give eternal life.

It can be clearly seen simply from what eternal life is that the infinity of God is relevant to the Gospel. In fact, without the infinity of God there is nothing intelligible about eternal life. However, with the nature of God as infinite we can clearly see that eternal life is possible only as an act of sheer grace. In fact, the infinity of God in reference to eternal life also shows that there must be an infinite grace that saves man. What else but an infinite grace can save man when whatever saves man gives an infinite life or an eternal life? God saves to the glory of His grace (Eph 1:6) which means He gives eternal life in accordance to that grace. Can we have a small amount of grace that bestows eternal life? Can we have a small amount of love that bestows eternal life? Clearly we cannot understand how this can be. The cause of an effect must be at least as large as the effect. If eternal life is the effect, then the cause which is grace and love must be infinite.

“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Eph 3:16-21). The Gospel of Jesus Christ comes from a love that surpasses knowledge. That, I would think, would be an infinite love in that regard. The Gospel is all about bringing the infinite love of God to dwell in man and is all about the God who is able “to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or thing.” Is there a better way to describe the infinity of God? He is love and His love in Christ surpasses knowledge. You can explore the depths and all directions of His love and yet it still surpasses the human understanding. A Gospel like that is surely the Gospel of the infinite God who beyond all human understanding showers sinners with love, grace, and eternal life. That is simply a way of saying the infinite God redeems sinners in order to live His infinite life in them which is sharing in His life. The Gospel of the infinite God is a Gospel that is all about the infinity of God.

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Justification, Part 9

July 7, 2006

As we continue thinking about Justification, we have seen that God justifies the ungodly. It is not that we are to live ungodly lives so that we can be justified, but those who come to recognize and feel the weight of their sin and ungodliness are the ones who believe in Christ alone for salvation. How can one believe/trust/have faith in Christ alone who came for sinners and not the righteous if he does not see and feel himself as being ungodly? One question that needs to be answered has to do with the sinner knowing and feeling that he is ungodly. Is this really necessary in order to be saved?Human beings are all born in sin. Sin is a state from which pride, selfishness, and unbelief flow out of the unbelieving heart. Can a person born in sin really trust in Christ alone without knowing and feeling his own sinfulness? Can one born and practiced in pride and independence rely and trust in Christ alone without being brought from his pride to a humble and contrite heart? When Romans 4:5 sets out the shocking truth that “to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,” does this mean that the person has to know and feel his ungodliness in order to be justified? If not, then what does Romans 3:19 mean when it says this: “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.” The Law came to show man his sin so that every mouth would be closed. This sounds as if people need to know and feel their sin to the degree that their mouths are closed before the holiness of God.

“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted”” (Luke 18:11-14). Here we see a tax collector who recognized his sin and saw his helplessness before God. He did not look to his own works whether it was God working those works in him or not, but instead looked to God and His mercy alone. The result, according to Jesus, was that this man went to his house justified. The tax collector was unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven which shows humility. He was beating on his breast which shows the inner pain of contrition. He cries out to God to show him mercy which shows that he was broken from anything that he could do. He went home justified.

What was the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector? On the outside the Pharisee would have appeared far more attractive with his honesty, fasting, and tithing. He stood before God and thanked God that he was not as other people. The tax collector, on the other hand, saw his own sinfulness so much that he would not look to heaven and simply cried out for mercy. The Pharisee did not see himself as ungodly and so was not justified. The Pharisee, even though he thanked God for his own actions, was not justified. This should make those within Roman Catholicism and the New Perspective and Auburn Avenue Theology movements take notice. The Pharisee attributed his moral actions to God but still was not justified. God justifies the ungodly, not the outwardly moral. The people that God justify have lost all sense and claim to goodness in themselves and simply cry out for mercy. When people are emptied of their own righteousness and pride and are then able to look to Christ alone, they are declared just on the basis of the propitiatory sacrifice and imputed righteousness of Christ. That person and that person alone believes in Christ alone for everything.

Let us notice a few more things about the tax collector. He referred to himself in his plea for mercy as “the sinner.” One meaning of the Greek word here is “one devoted to sin.” This man saw himself in a true light, one who was “the” sinner and one who was devoted to sin. Here was a man who saw the enormity of his sin and knew that it was the mercy of God alone that would save him. He was not proud of anything, he just wanted mercy. Jesus told this story to bring down the pride of the Pharisees and to show just who the people are who are justified. We must learn this lesson. It is the person who knows his sin and feels in his heart that he or she is “the sinner.” This is the person who does not look to himself for anything good and simply cries out for the mercy and grace of God. That is the person who is justified, not those who are religious and righteous in and of themselves.

We can also see that Jesus came as a physician for sinners, not the righteous (Luke 5:31). Those who are righteous or healthy do not need a physician. Jesus came to deal with and bring healing to those who are terminally ill with sin. The Pharisee in Luke 18 indeed thanked God for his morality and righteous behavior. However, that meant that he was well and was not in need of a physician. God declares the ungodly just because they alone see their true sinful nature and actions and so see their need of a real physician of souls, Christ Jesus the Lord. Seeing sin as it really is puts man beyond any hope within himself and so he sees that he needs a Divine physician to have mercy on him. The tax collector saw his ungodliness and so looked to God alone to justify him.

In the story of the Rich Young Ruler we see that he also found out that sinners alone need apply for salvation. Just after the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, a rich young ruler came to Jesus. What did he find out regarding justification and salvation? “A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.20 “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.'” 21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 23 But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! 25 “For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

The ruler that came to Jesus wanted to know what he could do to inherit eternal life. As usual, people always want to know that they can do in order to be saved. Jesus simply told him what he needed to do if he was going to save himself. But again, people look at the outward aspect of the commands and just assume that they keep them because they for the most part keep the outer part of the command. But something about that does not answer the questions of some who have an inward awakening of some kind. So Jesus went to the spiritual aspect of the commandments and stuck the sword of the Spirit into the pride and love of the ruler. The young man could not because he would not sell all that he had. Indeed he was an idolater who loved his money and wealth. He went away sad because he was unwilling to be a sinner, even a poor one. To deal with sin of the heart means that a person must deal with those sins that are in the heart. Coveting and idolatry are sins that mere confession alone is not enough, but there must be some selfdenial that is produced. It is not as if selling all that he possessed would have saved the rich young ruler, but it was in turning from them in his heart that would have demonstrated a changed heart. The rich young ruler was not willing, therefore, to turn from his sin. He was unwilling to see the depths of his sin of idolatry in loving his possessions. He was unwilling to face the fact that he was ungodly. So even though he had kept the outward commandments since his youth, he was a wretched man in his heart.

What we can learn from these biblical stories (one parable and one story of how Jesus dealt with one man) is the necessity of seeing and feeling one’s own wretchedness before God. Jesus even told why He gave the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt” (Luke 18:9). Those who are self-righteous are proud people who view others who are less righteous with contempt. This would be true of those that give credit to God for their righteous actions as well. So those who wish to be declared righteous by God should not be declaring their own righteousness. God declares sinners and the ungodly just because in that method alone does the glory of His grace shine. God does not declare sinners just so that they may exalt themselves, but so that they will exalt Him.

The doctrinal part of Justification is not a terribly hard thing to grasp. What is hard to deal with is the sinful and proud heart of men. The doctrine can be grasped by the natural mind, but the natural man in his pride and self-righteousness does not want to let go of all his righteousness. I am sure a Pharisee would have seen that he was not perfect, but he did not see or admit his own ungodliness. However, God only justifies the ungodly. The doctrine of Justification and of the Gospel is built on sinners who cannot save themselves. The Gospel only comes to the helpless and the ungodly. The reason why the true Gospel is refused by so many is that people will not relinquish the grip on their own righteousness and pride, even to some degree. Jesus did say “blessed are the poor in spirit” thus showing that people need to know and feel their own ungodliness.

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God-Centeredness & Our Actual Thoughts 3

July 7, 2006

“That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little importance. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God” (A.W. Tozer).

We continue to think through this enormous statement by Tozer. When we begin to think about this issue, we can readily see it throughout the Church today. That is not unusual; we can see it in the churches in Revelation, the Pharisees, and the Israelites in the Old Testament. We can also see it throughout the history of the Church. The Pharisees were quite orthodox and believed they held the truth and had true ideas of God. But underneath all of their religion they had ideas of God that were buried under the rubbish of their conventional religion notions. In the Sermon on the Mount, for example, Jesus said “you have heard that it was said.” He then went on to correct their interpretations. He did this with the basic commandments. Of course they knew the commandments as to the words and all the laws that they had set up, but they were ignorant of the true meaning of them.

In Matthew 23 Jesus went after the Pharisees with a series of “woes.” He blasted the Pharisees for all of their external religious activities and for not having a heart. How much is the modern Church like the Pharisees? Where is our heart in the midst of all the moral activism? Could it be that our moral activism in many cases is really more about our own self-righteousness than the honor of God? Could it be that in many cases moral activism is an activity that hides our own hearts from ourselves and our sins from others as it did the Pharisees? As long as we are busy doing things that outwardly have the appearance of morality about them we can hide our sins from ourselves and others. Those same outward activities can also help us deceive ourselves when we judge what we are doing with the sins of others. But beneath all of that activity, what do we really think of God?

The Israelites were commanded to do certain things in worship. At times God hated their worship and told them to stop. They did them as externals and did not do them from the heart. “21 I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. 24 But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”” (Amos 5). The external actions of a church can be hated by God. There is no guarantee that a particular church is blessed by God because of great numbers, lots of activities, moral activism, orthodox creeds, and expositional preaching. Where is God? What do the people really think of God down deep in their hearts? Do they do all of these things to an idol and from a self-righteous heart? If so, then all of the activities of the churches are hated and rejected. They are unacceptable to Him and are an abomination to Him. Many seem to think that because they tack on the name “Jesus” after a prayer or something they do that this makes things acceptable. In all honesty, if a false god is in the heart then tacking on the name “Jesus” simply makes it more abhorrent to God. If we pray or do things in the name of Christ we are to do them in a way that truly exalts Him in action and in our hearts. It is to go out in His power as well.

But what are we to think of modern conservative morality today? Are we so sure that we have the right ideas of God? Could it be that we have a lot of conventional religious notions and so our real ideas of God are underneath that rubbish? How would we know if we don’t take a careful look? Is it so impossible to think that the spirit of the Pharisees, which is really pride, self-love and self-centeredness, is alive and growing within the Church today? We know that the Bible says that certain things are wrong. Okay, but how are we to treat people after they have done those things? Do we behave in a self-righteous way toward them? Do we treat them like dirt? What of the people who are divorced or those who have had abortions? What of those who have repented of homosexuality? What of those leaders who have fallen? If God forgave Manasseh, then we had better be careful of who we cast off. Modern Christianity seems so willing to receive murderers and those who have committed vicious crimes. But are we going to cast off people who have committed crimes against our pet issues in morality? If we do, what is the real idea of God that we have? Wouldn’t we be more like the men who brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus than Jesus who forgave her and told her to sin no more? When people were at their worst, the kindness and love of God appeared (Titus 3:4). He saved really horrible sinners. Do we really believe that?

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God-Centeredness & Our Actual Thoughts 2

July 6, 2006

“That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little importance. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God” (A.W. Tozer).

Last time we looked a bit at how it is more important to deal with our actual thoughts of God rather than just creedal statements. We want to look at more of this magnificent statement of Tozer’s. While this may appear tedious and slight in importance, it is just the opposite. If Tozer is correct, this is an utterly vital topic for today. How can it be that “our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional notions”? One way is for people to hear a statement about God and attach that meaning to the idea of God. For example, what do people think of God’s love today? Usually people obtain their idea of love from the culture or a liberal pastor and simply think of God as love in a diametrically opposite way than He really is. In this sense, then, many have their real notions of God from the rubbish of conventional religious notions. But a second way we can look at this is if people have the truth in their creeds but down deep believe things about God that come from conventional religious notions. A third way is to teach the creeds but in a way that buries the truth about God. This can be done while using the writings of Calvin and other greats.

In the modern day there is a proliferation of tapes, books, Bibles, radio, computers, ipods, and so on. We have information and material up to our eyeballs. However, that can be a curse as well. With so much information within easy reach, we can soak up information and think of ourselves as quite informed and orthodox. However, all of that information most likely will not change the heart and our real concept of God. We can take our basic ideas of God and fit about any theology with them. We can listen and read voluminous amounts of material and yet not have our hearts changed a bit other than to build up our pride. It takes prayer and meditation to reach the depths of the heart. It takes a real desire to have a real and true heart regardless of the pain to reach the heart. Those things take a lot of effort and a lot of pain. It takes God Himself to reveal Himself to us and to communicate His character and glory to and in us. We want to have it under our control.

What is our real idea of God in terms of gaining knowledge of Him? Is it true that we think we can obtain knowledge of Him by reading books and study alone? If we believe as our deepest belief in the heart that He alone can give this knowledge, then we will study in a far different way. We may profess by a creed that He alone can give us a true understanding of Him in the heart, but what is the deep belief in our hearts? If we try to attain spiritual knowledge of God by our own efforts alone we are closer to atheists than robust theists in our hearts. If we want to understand a text of Scripture or of the glory of God, it will cost us much time in meditation and prayer. It might cost us some real rending of our hearts. Are we sure we want to know the true God in reality?

We may believe that God alone builds His Church, but where is the evidence that people really believe this? We seem to think that this is all in our power. So we make our plans by our own wisdom and ask God to bless our plans. Who do we think we are? The Church is His and He is the One who is to give it the plans it is to live by. Do we believe deep down in our hearts that we must wait on God for His plan or are we going to do it by conventional wisdom? Is it really up to us? Are we willing to wait on God with true crying our and submission of hearts?

Reformed churches usually have the ancient creeds and want to stick with them. That can be a very good thing. However, this can be a real problem as well. People can be proud of the creeds and their history of orthodoxy rather than love God and His truths as set out in the creeds. Unless the teachings of the creeds help people to understand Scripture and engage God in the depths of their souls, they are not being used properly. Part of the creeds is usually deals with the importance of Scripture. We must believe from the heart what Scripture teaches. We should only believe a creed or confession if we believe that Scripture teaches it. We must also know that the creeds and confessions teach us that all should be done to the glory of His name. That would also include what we believe about God and the creeds and confessions. Reformed churches will also have the problem of having the true notions of God hidden under the rubbish of conventional religious notions until they begin to teach all that they teach with the glory of God as the center of it all. The heart must be reached or all is lost.

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God-Centeredness & Our Actual Thoughts 1

July 5, 2006

“That our idea of God correspond as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little importance. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God” (A.W. Tozer).

I don’t think it requires much thought to know that it is vital to a person and a church to have ideas that are close as possible to being true about God. While that is not what a large number of professing churches hold to today, it is still a true statement and can be seen without a lot of deep thought. God can only be worshipped in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Jesus Christ came to reveal the truth of who God is and no one can come to Him except through Christ because Christ alone gives the correct understanding of God. We are to be centered upon Christ because Christ gives the truth about who God is.

The next part of this statement should give us great pause. Can it be true that our creedal statements that we have worked so hard on to get passed in the church and to teach to our classes are of little importance compared to our actual thoughts about Him? Can it be true, liberalism and nominal believers to the side for the moment, that there are many orthodox people in terms of what they confess in our churches but who might be idolaters in their hearts day after day and Sabbath after Sabbath? Could it be that the heart is so deceitful that we confess things that do not correspond with our ideas of God from the deepest parts of our hearts? Could it be that we even convince ourselves that we believe these things with rational argumentation and in reality we have differing beliefs in our hearts? For example, “I believe God is sovereign.” Really, but how do I act the next time something happens that I don’t like? What is the deep belief about this in the depths of my heart?

What about the teaching that it is God who must make sinners alive and not sinners themselves. That is fine when it comes to teaching it to other people, but what about when I examine my heart to see if Christ is really there? Do I rely on self and what it has done or the work of a sovereign God? What do I really believe? I believe that I am to deny self in order to follow Christ, but what happens when I am really required to deny self? Do I really believe in the glory of God and His Word enough to do the hard things? It is so easy to say that Christ is Lord, but do I really bow to Him in my heart, mind, soul, and strength in order to love Him with them in all things? Okay, my creed says that I must believe it and I have an intellectual argument for it so I must believe it. But what comes out of my heart through my mouth and life when something hard is brought to me? Do I really believe that God is in control? Do I really believe that I must submit to Him in all things?

My creedal statement says that God is love. Fine, that is wonderful. I like the idea that God is love because I like to be loved. I like to think of a God who makes much of me and thinks I am wonderful. First, that is not what it really means for God to be love. But do I believe God is love when He brings hard things to me? Do I really believe that the hard things are from love and are meant to burn the dross and impurities from me? What is the deep belief about God in my heart?

If what Tozer says is true, and I think that it most certainly is, then the churches must be careful to teach people more than just the words of the creeds and confessions. We must teach them about God and His glory. We must make every effort to reach the hearts of people with the truth of and about God. This does not mean that the creeds must go, but simply says that a belief in them is not enough. We must teach the real character and glory of God to their hearts so that they will believe the creeds as they were intended. I may be able to teach young children to memorize and even give argument for some deep theological truths, but that does not mean that they understand or love them. When something hard comes up, they will revert to what they know well and what comes from their sinful little hearts. The same is true of people in the churches. They need to be taught so that their deepest thoughts and beliefs are grounded in the character of God. If this does not happen, all else is in vain. We will essentially have people memorizing things and remain unchanged at the deepest levels of their beings. That may sound familiar because I think that is an accurate description of what is going on today.

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God-Centeredness & The Silent Witness of the Church

July 1, 2006

“Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God” (A.W. Tozer).

This is but another powerful statement of truth by Tozer. But can it be true? What would reveal a particular church’s idea of God? If we went to visit a local church, what would we look for? Would we look to see what kind of band or type of music they had? Would we be happy if the preacher preached on a certain subject or particular doctrine? Would it please us if the sermon was expository? Would we be happy if the preacher preached with enthusiasm? How must like Martin Lloyd-Jones are we when he said regarding listening to sermons: “I can forgive a man almost anything if he will give me a sense of God.” That is the most important issue.

A church reveals a lot about herself by what she does and the reasons why she does them. A church usually has a written creed or one that is just accepted. Sometimes the creed is that we have no creed so anything is accepted. But a church is going to do what it does for a reason. That reason is very telling about the church. It is also true that a church can accept a pious reason at one point and degenerate into other reasons later, or perhaps just tack on a good statement at the front to cover bad motives and reasons. The heart is really so deceptive.

What is hard these days is finding a church that will talk about God much at all. He is, well, just assumed if we are not ashamed of Him. We might have an orthodox creed, but where is God in the daily work of the church? The songs might be good as far as it goes, but where is God in all of that? The sermon may be expository but hardly even mention the name of God. The sermon may be with enthusiasm but is the enthusiasm real and is it about God? A sermon declares a lot about God even if it is what it refuses to say. A preacher that dances around the hard issues about God and sin makes a clear declaration about God. Sermons that refuse to deal with the heart make declarations about the outward life as if that is all that is required. Sermons that are orthodox in doctrine may simply never say anything negative or hard. All of those declare a lot about a church, primarily what it really thinks of God.

As Tozer says, “for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.” What a church does not say on a regular basis is indeed an eloquent statement. Could it be that some large and outwardly appearing orthodox “churches” are really so ashamed of the holiness, justice, and wrath of God that they will not talk about sin? In reality a refusal to deal with the hard issues is really to be ashamed of the character of God. Failure to preach hard doctrines and hard teachings is simply a desire for the approval of men more than a love for the glory of God. We really should go one step more and say that the reason men will not preach against sin and teach the hard teachings is simply because they want larger churches which is a desire for honor for self rather than a desire for the glory of God to be manifested. This is simply choosing self over God and is idolatry in holy things.

A church never escapes a loud statement about what it really believes. A church can hide behind an orthodox creed or doctrinal statement but if it does not really believe in God it will not teach the glories of God in truth. As John Gerstner said, “many people are going to hell past a Reformed pulpit.” John W. Montgomery wrote a book years ago entitled Damned through the Church. Holy Scripture tells us this: “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38). If the pastors and teachers of the churches will not proclaim the whole counsel of God to the people, then they are not innocent of the blood of all men (Acts 20:26ff). An elder or leader is only innocent of the blood of all men if he has preached or taught the whole counsel of God.

What we need in our day are men who will take God at His Word and preach the hard things as well. Until our preaching declares the glory of God in its fullness we will not see a return of the power of the Church. Until we are fearless in preaching against sin and dealing with the hearts of men in their sin we will not see men turn to God from the heart. We cannot preach the glories and wonders of God without the light from that glory shining on sinful hearts and revealing things that men hate. However, it is the contrite soul that God loves. Let us be careful to love
God and declare all of His glory and not water down things to attract carnal men. They may bring a lot of money and prestige to the church, but our love is to be for God and His glory.

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God-Centeredness & Witness of the Church

July 1, 2006

“For this reason [see last blog on God-Centeredness and Levels of Thought] the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward out mental image of God” (A.W. Tozer).

How can we argue with the first part of his sentence? But how many churches or people realize this at all? Church is thought to be the place where man is the focus. We are to do all that we can do to get people in the door and then to make them happy and welcome. In one sense, that is about as backwards as we can be. If unbelieving people who by definition are hostile to God come to church and God is there, then they will not be happy and comfortable. If the glory of God is truly declared, then many people who happily attend church now would be miserable if they stayed. Unless an individual loves God, then that individual will not be comfortable where the presence of a holy God is declared. However, it is only in churches like that where people will cry out as people did in the New Testament asking how they may be saved.

The Church today must force itself to face some questions with brutal honesty. The Church is the body of Christ and the Church is the household of God. God is the One who builds His house and He is the One that adds to it as He pleases. The gravest question that any church can ask is whether God comes to church or not. The church must do some deep searching of its soul and ask what it really believes about God. We must ask if we really want God to come to church and take over or maybe if we are just too concerned with order and our own comfort levels. God is the One we must deal with in our questions and in our answers. God is the One we must deal with in our intellects, our hearts and affections. The Church must wake up and realize that if it does nothing else it must please God. It must wake up and realize that it is actually practicing idolatry in its focus on people. What people really need is a church that will magnify and declare the glory of God and not center on them.

What do the people in our churches today conceive God to be like in the depths of their hearts? Notice Tozer says that it is not about what we “at a given time may say or do,” but it is our conception of God in the heart that is vital. People can fake a lot before other people. We can speak highly of God when in church or at other places. We can even speak highly of God in our own private times. But what do we really think of God in our hearts? We can do virtually all things that go under the name of Christian by fear or by forcing ourselves to do them. We can have high thoughts of God in our intellects and live moral lives. But what happens when something happens where we are denied what we really want? What happens when life crosses our desires and wills? Do we love God and stand in awe of Him no matter what happens? Do we conceive of God as a Divine Being who carries out our desires and wills? Do we only like Him when we think He is on our side? We must realize that God is not on our side; rather we are on His if we have truly submitted to Him and love Him.

Notice that in the above paragraph there are many religious things that people can do and even with a reasonable high view of God. But they always have a secret conception of God in their hearts. People always move and operate by that secret view. What we really conceive of as God deep in our hearts is perhaps the real determiner of our motives and loves in what we do. A hypocrite can have much outward show and appear to have a high view of God, but still be one deceived person. A person can think he loves God when in fact he only loves being loved by God and so is quite deceived. We can serve a god and think that our works are signs of sanctification when in fact they are only signs of deception. No, the God we conceive of must be the true God or we are serving an idol and all our works that we think of as good are really filthy rags.

The Church must strive to exalt God in all that it does so that the God people conceive of will be the true God. Of course teaching the true God does not guarantee that the people will understand, but how will they understand about the true God if they are constantly taught about a false god? How will people understand that they are not the true God and He does not serve them at their every whim if the church tries to do that to get them to stay at that church? No, the church must declare the true God so that God and those who love Him will love to meet together whenever the church meets. The true God must be declared so that people will be turned from their self-deception of false gods in their hearts and minds.

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Infinity & Christ

July 1, 2006

In trying to show how the infinity of God relates to Christ, we have a tall order ahead of us. How can a being that was on earth in a finite body that was human be able to open up the infinity of God to us? In truth, however, it is the infinity of God that explains Jesus Christ in many ways. The human nature of Christ is often worshipped as if the humanity of Christ was Divine. It was and is not. Let me be clear, the human nature of Jesus Christ was not Divine and is not to be worshipped. Jesus Christ is only an object of worship to the degree that He was and is Divine. In other words, as we look at John 1:1 we see that there was a pre-existent Word. It was this Word that was with God and was God. It was this Word that through whom all things that have come into being came into being. That necessarily precludes Him as One who came into being since all things that have come into being have come into being through Him. Then in John 1:14 we see that it was this Word that took human flesh to Himself and in this it is said that the very glory of God dwelt (literally tabernacled) among men. Jesus Christ is to be worshipped as God in human flesh, but not as human alone.

Jesus Christ is infinite in terms of His Divine nature. In His Divine nature He is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnipresent (all-present). He is, to put it plainly, very God of very God. Theologians have put it this way. The Trinity is One God subsisting in three Persons. The three Persons are one God but in some way they are not the same as the others. So it was the second Person (the Word) of the Trinity that took human flesh to Himself. The second Person of the Trinity, then, was one Person in Whom there were two natures joined. The Person we call and know as “the Word” in Himself joined a human nature to His Divine one. To worship Jesus Christ, then, is to worship God in human flesh if He is to be worshipped in truth. Jesus Christ as He walked about on earth was in appearance fully human. But in reality He was God in human flesh. In reality the Creator of the universe was walking around in a created body. He was infinite in terms of His Divine nature.

As we think of Jesus the Christ walking on earth and doing miracles, the infinite nature of the second Person of the Trinity was showing through the human flesh. He raised people from the dead at the utterance of His voice. He stilled the winds and the waves at the utterance of His voice. He healed with a simple touch. He turned water into wine. He fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. What was the significance of all of these and the others? One, they demonstrated that the kingdom of God was among the people. Two, these were signs for the people to see that God in human flesh was among them. The infinity of God was shining through a human body and people were so hardened that they did not see what He was really doing. The same is true today.

In terms of the cross, it took an infinite Being on the cross in some way in order to suffer for the sins of human beings and for the justice of God. In a previous blog on infinity and sin I tried to set out that sin as against God is against an infinite Being and so worthy of an infinite punishment. Since man cannot suffer an infinite punishment, he must suffer for an infinite amount of time which is eternal damnation. For man to be saved, then, someone had to pay a payment of infinite sufferings in order to pay what man owed. No one but an infinite God could pay such a payment. Therefore, Jesus Christ as God in human flesh was the only One who could pay the debt that man owed God. The Gospel is glorious because there is a glorious Savior who suffered and thereby glorified God in a way that no one but God could and would.

When Christ said in John 8:58 that “before Abraham was born, I am,” chills should go up and down our spines. The eternal and infinite God has put Himself on display in Christ. How would we ever know what humility really was unless we saw in some small way what Christ did to take human flesh to Himself? How would we ever know the depths of humility and obedience would go to unless we saw that Christ humbled Himself to go to the Cross and suffer the wrath of the Father He loves so much? How would we understand anything like infinite love unless we saw in some way God’s love for His own glory in some way being joined with His love for justice and wrath on the cross? How would we ever know what grace was if Christ had not come and out of love for the Father and His glory took human flesh and then went to the cross? There is no way to explain the life and works of Christ apart from the infinity of God. There is no way to understand the love, grace, justice, and holiness displayed at the cross apart from the character of an infinite God. How should we respond to this? It is hard to explain when people are on their faces. But perhaps that is the best way to explain it.

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Justification, Part 8

June 30, 2006

Last week we dealt with the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. While these are but very short studies, they get to the heart of the issue. A person is declared just by God on the basis of something. We can list the logical possibilities:

  1. God declares a person just by closing His “eyes” and ignoring justice
  2. God declares a person just because of what some saints have done
  3. God declares a person just because of what a sinner has done by works
  4. God declares a person just based on what God has done and what the sinner has done
  5. God declares a person just because of what God has done in the sinner through works
  6. God declares a person just because of what Christ has done in the place of sinners

As we look at those possibilities, we can ask which one glorifies God more and which one should strip pride from man more. Clearly it is # 6. Only #6 allows for salvation to be totally of grace and so gives man no basis for pride at all. In fact, man must humble himself in order to receive this gracious gift. If we meditate deeply on the subject in light of the teaching on the depravity of man and the character of God, then we can see that #6 is really the only possibility. God is perfectly just and will not just look over sin. All sin must be dealt with in a perfectly just manner. Since all so-called saints are really sinful human beings, there is no possibility that a saint could have earned his or her own salvation much less assist in the salvation of others. We can also understand that in light of a perfectly holy and just God, there is simply no possible way that a sinner can do a good work that is acceptable to God in and of himself. Once a man has sinned, there is no way for him to make up for that sin since all his future acts must be perfect to be acceptable to God. That does not allow for the possibility of man to make up for past sins. So this demands that a sinless One come in and suffer for the sins of a sinner if a sinner is going to be saved by a just God.

Then we can ask if man can even do one work that is acceptable to go into his account as righteousness. Romans 3 has something to say here: “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE” (vv. 10-12). True enough that the context is dealing with unbelievers. But this also describes each individual before he or she is converted. All of those sins need a perfect satisfaction and that individual needs a perfect righteousness from somewhere if God is going to declare that person just. For a person to ever enter into the gift of eternal life or salvation, that person must be declared just, that is, all of his sins must be suffered for and he must have a perfect standing of righteousness before God. This must happen for a person to be converted. In other words, it must happen at the point of conversion or no one would be able to be saved in this life.

After listing how awful man is in his sin in Romans 3:9-18, and before he goes into justification, Paul sets out verse 19: “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.” The Law teaches and declares the sinfulness of man so that every mouth may be closed. In other words, before a man can even understand the teaching of justification his mouth must be closed. There are no reasons and no excuses for sin before God. There is no sinner’s prayer before God except for “God, be merciful to me, the sinner” (Luke 18:13).

Romans 4:5: “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” This text also sets this out with the utmost clarity. Which individual in the above list (list of six above) qualifies in light of this verse? We can see that it is not that a person works enough to be declared just because the text says that it is for the person who does not work. We can see from the text that it is not a saint who assists in the justification of sinners, but it is God alone because the text tells us that we must believe “in Him who justifies the ungodly.” We can see that the sinner has not worked hard because God was working in him and so God declared him just because the text says that God justifies the ungodly. Surely this leaves us with nothing other than the sinner declared just by God on the basis of Christ and nothing but Christ alone. This means that the sinner is saved by a sovereign and glorious grace or “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Eph 1:6).

As we look at the phrase “but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly,” we must be careful. This verse should give us no reason to think that we are free to sin. But, one will say, “the text does say that God justifies the ungodly and so I should be ungodly in order to be justified.” Yes, but the text also says that it is through believing or faith that God justifies the ungodly. Romans 3:31 gives the balance: “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.” A person that is justified by faith becomes a person that establishes the Law. God justifies (declares just based on the work of Christ alone) a person through faith and apart from works. But we must also not forget the doctrine of the new birth.

Titus 3 sets out the connection between the new birth and justification: “4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Salvation is according to the mercy of God, not on the basis of deeds that man does. Man is saved by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. I don’t think that there would be a real argument that this text is speaking of the new birth. So we have regeneration or the new birth in v. 6 and then in v 7: “so that being justified by His grace.” Without trying to set up a chronological order or a causal connection between the new birth and justification, we can see that they are inextricably linked. So it should be clear that justification by faith alone does not lead to ungodly living. One who is justified also has a new heart and nature and so will live differently. The one that God justifies is also the one that God gives a new heart and nature to.

So we can look at Romans 4:5 where God is said to justify the ungodly and know that it does not refer to the way a person continues to live after justification. A person who truly has faith will live by that faith and that does not lead to an ungodly life. What the text does refer to is that the person that is declared just by God is ungodly in and of himself. This teaches us that no one can be justified by the works that he does and no one can be justified by God working in the person to make him righteous. God takes a sinner that is ungodly and declares that person just based on what Christ and Christ alone has done. There is no room for boasting in the ungodly person that has been justified in this way but a boasting in the cross alone. Those who were ungodly in and of themselves know that they contributed nothing to their salvation except the sin that they were saved from. Those who were ungodly and came to Christ know that their sins were all suffered for by Christ and the only reason that they are not going to hell for eternity is because Christ suffered in their place. Those who were ungodly and came to rest on Christ alone for salvation know that they had no righteousness of their own and that the only reason that they are going to heaven is because of the imputed righteousness of Christ given to them as a free gift. We must recognize that we are ungodly in order to be saved from our sin. We must see and feel our ungodliness in order to look to Christ alone for our total satisfaction for sins and for our complete and perfect righteousness. Christ does not complete or finish what sinners can’t do, He does it all and He must be trusted in for it all.

It is this teaching that exalts Christ and the glory of grace more than any other. It is this teaching that shows how helpless sinners are who can do nothing to save themselves. God takes sinners who deserve nothing but eternal wrath and saves them by grace alone. There is nothing in the sinner that will move Him to save them; there is only grace, mercy, and love as His motivation to save the sinner. God does not need to work righteousness in the sinner in order to be moved to declare a sinner just; He has all the motivations needed within Himself. This is a freeing Gospel in that God saves according to God and needs nothing in the sinner in order to save the sinner. What must happen to the sinner, however, is that he sees and feels his sin to the point that he gives up on any and all things but Christ alone. Indeed the sinner must be taught to see that he is ungodly in and of himself. The sinner must be taught that there is no hope for him unless God has mercy. The sinner must be taught to look away from Himself and to Christ alone. God saves the humble and the contrite, that is, those who see their own ungodliness and look to Him for mercy and grace in Christ without any hope in their own works or goodness.

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