Does the average professing Christian truly understand the character and nature of God? Does the average professing Christian even care about the character and nature of God?
Why is it important to understand the character and nature of God?
Matt Chandler has some thoughts. Matt was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He has undergone surgery and continues to undergo chemotherapy for the cancer that remains.
Showing posts with label doctrine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doctrine. Show all posts
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Bible's not about you...
It has been said that we are all the stars in our own life story. Everyone else is just a supporting actor. Without realizing it, we also begin to regard God in this way; we treat God as a supporting actor in OUR life story. Then it is no surprise that we have carried that sentiment over into the Church, and our reading of Scripture has become me-centered rather than Christ-centered. We have turned the Bible into a moral guide for self-improvement or a charm for self-empowerment.
Perhaps we read Scripture for tips on how to have Our Best Life Now, rather than to understand who Christ is and what He has accomplished. Maybe we read Scripture in an effort to add to our salvation. But, if we truly understand who Christ is and what He has done, we would find rest in Him. We would find that He is altogether glorious and "the things of earth would grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace." We would find that we are transformed by seeking and beholding the face of Christ in Scripture.
In this short clip, Tim Keller explains what the true focus of Scripture is, and why it is more about Christ, and less about us.
Perhaps we read Scripture for tips on how to have Our Best Life Now, rather than to understand who Christ is and what He has accomplished. Maybe we read Scripture in an effort to add to our salvation. But, if we truly understand who Christ is and what He has done, we would find rest in Him. We would find that He is altogether glorious and "the things of earth would grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace." We would find that we are transformed by seeking and beholding the face of Christ in Scripture.
In this short clip, Tim Keller explains what the true focus of Scripture is, and why it is more about Christ, and less about us.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
A Sweet and Bitter Providence
Another important theme Piper explores is how God works in the ordinary events of our lives for a grand and eternal purpose. Here is one of my favorite passages from the book:
"... God’s purpose for his people is to connect us to something far greater than ourselves. God wants us to know that when we follow him, our lives always mean more than we think they do... For the Christian there is always a connection between the ordinary events of life and the stupendous work of God in history.
Everything we do in obedience to God, no matter how small, is significant. It is part of a cosmic mosaic that God is painting to display the greatness of his power and wisdom to the world and to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10). A deep satisfaction of the Christian life is that we are not given over to trifles. Serving a widowed mother-in-law, gleaning in a field, falling in love, having a baby—for the Christian these things are all connected to eternity. They are part of something so much bigger than they seem."
The good folks at DesiringGod.org have made this book available for free online. Or, if you wish, you can also purchase it online, at Amazon, and at your local bookstore.
Here is a little more about the book:
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Imperatives – Indicatives = Impossibilities :: Justin Taylor
The dominant mode of evangelical preaching on sanctification, the main way to motivate for godly living, sounds something like this:
You are not _____;
You should be _________;
Therefore, do or be ________!
Fill in the blank with anything good and biblical (holy; salt and light; feed the poor; walk humbly; give generously; etc.).
This is not how Paul and the other New Testament writers motivated the church in light of the resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit. They did give imperatives (=what you should do), but they do so only based on indicatives (=what God has done).
The problem with the typical evangelical motivation toward radical or sacrificial living is that “imperatives divorced from indicatives become impossibilities” (to quote Tullian Tchividjian). Or another way that Tullian puts it: “gospel obligations must be based on gospel declarations.”
This “become what you are” way of speaking is strange for many us us. It seems precisely backward. But we must adjust our mental compass in order to walk this biblical path and recalibrate in order to speak this biblical language.
We see this all throughout the NT. Here are a few examples of this gospel logic and language:
“You really are unleavened” (indicative), therefore “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump” (imperative). [1 Cor. 5:7].
“You are not under law but under grace” and you “have been brought from death to life (indicatives),
therefore “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. . . .
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness,
but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (imperatives). [Rom. 6:12-14]
“Having been set free from sin, [you] have become slaves of righteousness (indicatives) . . .
[therefore] now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification (imperative). [Rom. 6:18-19]
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (indicative), therefore, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (imperative). [Gal. 5:16, 24]
Pastor, are you encouraging your people to become who they already are in Christ Jesus?
.
You are not _____;
You should be _________;
Therefore, do or be ________!
Fill in the blank with anything good and biblical (holy; salt and light; feed the poor; walk humbly; give generously; etc.).
This is not how Paul and the other New Testament writers motivated the church in light of the resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit. They did give imperatives (=what you should do), but they do so only based on indicatives (=what God has done).
The problem with the typical evangelical motivation toward radical or sacrificial living is that “imperatives divorced from indicatives become impossibilities” (to quote Tullian Tchividjian). Or another way that Tullian puts it: “gospel obligations must be based on gospel declarations.”
This “become what you are” way of speaking is strange for many us us. It seems precisely backward. But we must adjust our mental compass in order to walk this biblical path and recalibrate in order to speak this biblical language.
We see this all throughout the NT. Here are a few examples of this gospel logic and language:
“You really are unleavened” (indicative), therefore “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump” (imperative). [1 Cor. 5:7].
“You are not under law but under grace” and you “have been brought from death to life (indicatives),
therefore “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. . . .
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness,
but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (imperatives). [Rom. 6:12-14]
“Having been set free from sin, [you] have become slaves of righteousness (indicatives) . . .
[therefore] now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification (imperative). [Rom. 6:18-19]
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (indicative), therefore, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (imperative). [Gal. 5:16, 24]
Pastor, are you encouraging your people to become who they already are in Christ Jesus?
.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Maundy Thursday – Kevin DeYoung
Maundy Thursday – Kevin DeYoung
Monday, November 2, 2009
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