It is an amazing thought to consider that people can be with Jesus and live life with Jesus! This is precisely the call that Mark gives in chapter 3 of his gospel when speaking of Jesus’ call of the Twelve as His appointed apostles. He writes:
Mark 3:14-15 14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach,15 and to have authority to cast out the demons.
The three noteworthy points to mention in these verses consist of:
1. The apostles of Jesus Christ were with Jesus. What an amazing thought! They were appointed to live with Him, to be with Him, to watch Him, to learn from Him, to be His ambassadors and His witnesses. By way of application, how imperative it is for us—His servants—to be those who are with Jesus on a daily basis as we spend time in the Christian disciplines of Bible reading and prayer.
2. The apostles of Jesus Christ were preachers of the Gospel. Again, Jesus appointed twelve men to be those who would be His heralds—His proclaimers! They were to permeate the land—yes, even the world!—with the gospel of Jesus Christ! The good news that Jesus has come offering salvation and complete and total forgiveness of sins to sinners deserving hell who believe and place their saving faith in Him was the theme of their message! What a fitting reminder for us! We are also to be preachers of the gospel! We have a message that we are to bear and hold high as we live life wherever God places us.
3. The apostles of Jesus Christ were able to cast out demons. The authority of God here is so clearly revealed that one could hardly overlook this simple truth. God has absolute authority over Satan and his minions. Jesus Christ entrusted this same authority to His twelve apostles so that they could also cast out demons to heal and to verify the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Though Jesus may not have specifically entrusted all of His followers with this same call and responsibility, we as God’s witnesses today are mandated to pray when hardships come; we are commanded to trust God and let our requests be made known to Him; we are to surrender to and submit to the all-powerful authority of God over everything—even Satan and demons. Therefore, let us as God’s servants take courage and take heart: God has absolute authority and nothing can thwart His perfect will!
May we learn from these concise phrases as we endeavor to be better servants of Christ and better witnesses of the gospel as we live our lives to please our commanding Officer!
This morning in my quiet time I came across these magnificent verses in the Psalms:
Psalm 50:10-12, 21 "For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. "I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. "If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. . . . You thought that I was just like you.
The notion of God controlling absolutely everything fills the Scriptures! Specifically, here God speaks and says that every beast of the forest is His. The cattle--every single one of them--on a thousand hills also belongs to God. God finally notes that the world is His and all it contains. This all-inclusive statement brings everything together under the sovereign reign and dominion of Yahweh! To state it negatively, there is nothing that is not under the sovereign reign of God. His sovereign and determined will is unchanging and cannot be thwarted. And lest believers think that God is "one of us" or "just like us", this verse quenches that thought immediately. God certainly is lofty, sovereign, perfect, immovable, powerful, and majestic. His transcendence is incomprehensible to us frail and finite beings. Yet the magnificent truth of this psalm is that though God is transcendent and glorious, He condescends and stoops to be actively involved in every aspect of life. What a tremendously good, loving, and holy God we serve!
Pray for me this week. I'm preaching the following sermons:
Tuesday - the Sovereignty of God (selected Scriptures) Wednesday - Psalm 30 - Thankful Worship Friday - Ephesians 5:1-5 - Live like Christ! Saturday - Acts 4:32-5:16 - Church Ministry! Saturday - 2 Chronicles 24 - Christian Accountability Sunday - Psalm 27 - Confident Trust in God! Monday - Psalm 24 - How to Respond to the Sovereign King!
God is good and He gives strength to those who are weary (Isa 40:28). I'd covet your prayers this week.
Paul continues to lay forth the dazzling pearls in the discourse chain arguing in favor for the believer’s eternal security. Quite simply, the security of the believer’s salvation means that a person, dead in sin and totally helpless and lost, who believes in Jesus Christ and confesses Him as LORD is justified (Rom 5:1) and is totally safe and secure for that final day when the individual is glorified (=made perfect) in heaven beholding Jesus Christ face to face (1 John 3:2-3). To review briefly, we have observed Paul’s argument in Romans 5 proving without a shadow of a doubt that the believer in Jesus Christ who has been justified will most definitely be glorified and can never lose that salvation. In a word, a true Christian will not—indeed, he can not—lose his salvation!
To the matter at hand, the fifth proof that the believer cannot lose his salvation is because of the clear statement Paul makes in Romans 5:9:
Romans 5:9 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
In this verse, Paul speaks in no uncertain terms and affirms that those who have been justified (action that proves the right and gracious standing of the Christian before an infinitely Holy God) will be saved from the wrath of God.
The wrath of God is a prominent theme in the Scriptures—both OT and NT. Contrary to what many preach in pulpits today or what many may read on the NYT best-sellers at Borders, the wrath of God is being kindled and infuriated to be poured out without restraint and without a drop of mercy upon those impenitent on the final day of judgment. God’s wrath is disclosed clearly and undeniably in such Scriptures as:
Psalm 5:5 5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.
Psalm 9:7-8 7 But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment,8 And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
Psalm 11:5-6 5 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
Psalm 60:1-2 O God, You have rejected us. You have broken us; You have been angry; O, restore us.2 You have made the land quake, You have split it open; Heal its breaches, for it totters.
Isaiah 63:3-6 3 "I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment.4 "For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come.5 "I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me.6 "I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."
Revelation 14:10-11 10 he [the Non-Christian] also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
These are just a few of the many Scriptures affirming the wrath of God that will be revealed against sinners who have no Advocate—that is, no one to plead their case before an infinitely Holy and Righteous God. All are found to be guilty and worthy of the eternal, conscious, unmerciful, hateful, angry wrath of God.
But note, Paul affirms in Romans 5 that for those who have been justified, they are saved from the wrath of God. This refers not only to (1) the eternal wrath in hell and eternally in the Lake of Fire being judged by God Himself (Rev 20:11-15); but also (2) it refers to the future coming wrath of God where He will pour out His anger upon a humanity that has rejected His Son in the future time. This seven-year period is known as the Tribulation (cf. Matt 24; Rev 4-19). And for those who are justified, there is the promise from God Himself that he will be spared from ALL divine wrath! Why? Because Jesus bore it in full on the cross at Calvary. This is what the phrase “it is finished” means! The debt has been paid. The wrath of God has been satisfied in place of the sinner who believes because Jesus bore it in their place!
If we were at one time reconciled to God while being enemies, how much more shall we, who are NOT enemies any longer but are children and sons of the Living God, be saved from His angry wrath!
Therefore, take note that in Romans 5:9, again, it says that we are saved from the wrath of God through Him referring to Jesus Christ! The only remedy for man’s plight is the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ! And once a person believes and is saved—and declared right with God (=justification)—this person is saved, secure, and surely to receive eternal life with His Savior, Jesus Christ, for all of eternity!
The one who recognizes his sinfulness and utter depravity, who thrusts himself at the mercy and grace of God for forgiveness, and proves his genuineness by a radical life-change is, in the language of the New Testament, a “new creation” (2 Cor 5:17). This defines what it means to be a Christian—a Christ-follower.
The question Paul raises in Romans 5, which logically follows after the lengthy discourse of Romans 3:21 continuing through the end of chapter 4 is this: “If a person receives such a glorious salvation, can it ever be lost?” And to his question, Paul now turns to answer. He upholds the thematic thread which winds all the soteriological (“salvation”) Scriptures together by affirming that the believer in Jesus Christ will never (yea—he can never) lose his salvation!
In Romans 5 Paul states that the believer cannot lose his salvation because the new, regenerate person has peace with God (v.1), stands within the sphere of God’s grace (v.2a), and the believer holds and possesses the sure hope of glory (v.2b-4). Here, Paul continues in v.5 by affirming that the believer’s hope does not disappoint because the “love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us.”
In verse 5, Paul regards the love of God as the secure guarantee of the believer’s salvation. He notes that this love is from God and sourced in God and this all-powerful and self-giving love from God has been poured out into the hearts of true believers. Interestingly, the verb referring to God’s love being “poured out” is in an emphatic tense bringing the idea to the foreground with all the spotlights shining upon it! In other words, God’s salvation is so certain and so sure to finally and fully happen in the future because God loves His own children eternally. This love from God has been poured out full into the hearts of believers.
Amazingly, v.6 says that while we were weak, at the very right time, Christ died for the ungodly! If we were the ungodly sinners , hating God, and fleeing from Him and He loved us enough to die for the ungodly, how much more can God love and keep those who are His very own sons and daughters! Again in v.8 the same thought is reiterated: God demonstrates His love towards us, that while we were still sinning, Christ died for the ungodly. The point is unmistakable, if while we were God’s enemies, sinning and spitting upon God and His glory, if He loved us enough to send Christ to die for wretched sinners, how much more can God’s love save, guard, keep, and perfect those who are in His family!
This verse guarantees that for the true and genuine child of God, he cannot do anything bad enough to “fall out” of God’s love. If God loved us when we were His enemies, He can certainly love us when we are His sons! If God loved you like this when you were ungodly, He can certainly love you now that you are His cherished possession. We were once enemies and God loved us; we recognize that we will never be there again as God’s enemies, so certainly God can love us the same now as His saints just as He did before when we were His enemies! This is Paul’s logical argument in Romans 5.
Take encouragement and believe that your salvation is secure and safe because it is anchored in the unchanging and sovereign character of God! However, it behooves you to examine yourself and see whether you are even in the faith (2 Cor 13:5)!
Continuing our study on the security of the believer’s salvation leads us to the third proof that the sinner who has been saved is absolutely secure is that the believer has the hope of glory.
Note Romans 5:2b-5a“and we exult in hope of the glory of God.3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;5 and hope does not disappoint…”
These verses declare in no uncertain terms that the believer who has been justified by faith (5:1), and who has peace with God (v.2), now exults in the hope of the glory of God. The believer can—and should!—exult in the hope of seeing the glory of God fully revealed in the beatific vision in heaven (1 John 3:2).
The verb “we exult” in 5:2b signifies an ongoing and emphatic exulting or boasting in that future day of beholding the glory of God! And because of this unshakable hope that the believer in Jesus Christ possesses, he can withstand and persevere through any—any!—trial that may arise in life regardless of its severity (cf. 5:2-4).
Paul concludes this by stating that all the persevering through trials, and the proven character that comes, and the hope that results is NOT in vain. It is not worthless. Rather, biblical hope does not disappoint. Indeed, this hope cannot fail. The believer in Jesus Christ has the confident joy and boast that the glory of God will be seen for all eternity—in perfection!
And note, this hope of the glory of God is not a mere wish. It is not something that can ever be lost. When God elects and saves a sinner, He does not save that sinner only to justification, or even to sanctification. Rather, God saves that sinner all the way to glorification. There is no break in the chain of salvation from the moment of conversion till that day when the believer stands face to face glorified and like the Savior!
Salvation must include a living hope. Peter affirms this when he writes:
1 Peter 1:3-4 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
This is a living hope. The hope of glory is a certain hope. The glorious day of being made like Jesus Christ is most certain to happen and, in fact, it must happen if God is true—and He is (Rom 3:4)! Therefore, the hope that the believer has is not one that fades away, nor is it one that may be lost. It is a sheer impossibility. The salvation that the penitent sinner has received by means of faith in Jesus Christ is so absolutely certain and sure to reach glorification in heaven that Paul writes in Romans 5 that “we exult (“boast”) in the hope of glory!”
We saw last week that from Paul’s glorious epistle to the Romans that the believer in Jesus Christ is absolutely secure and safe after having been justified (5:1). The first proof that we saw which guarantees the believer’s salvation is that the justified sinner now has peace with God. There is no longer enmity. God is no longer at odds with the person. The person is no longer under God’s wrath. He has transferred from being under the wrath of God to under his loving mercy. Therefore, all enmity, war, anger, and hatred has been removed in Jesus Christ.
The second proof that shows why the believer’s salvation is secure is because the believer stands in grace. Hear what Paul says:
Romans 5:2 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand;
Romans 5:2 simply states that the believer, who has been justified and who now has peace with God, has obtained an “introduction” (better translation is “access”)—by faith—into this grace in which we stand.
It is only by the instrument of faith that the believer now transitions into the realm and sphere of grace. Once the sinner has repented and believed upon Jesus Christ, he is now standing in grace. It is absolutely impossible to go from standing in grace back to standing under God’s judgment and wrath.
One of the reasons it is impossible for the believer to lose his salvation is because the word in Romans 5:2 for “obtained” is a perfect indicative signifying emphasis. This verb is in the foreground and all the spotlights are shining on it. It signifies a past action with ongoing (and continuous) results lasting even to the present. This, then, would show that through Him (Christ, v.2), we who have been justified by grace (v.1) have obtained and will continue to obtain forever our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. Do you see the emphasis on the verb?
It is absolutely impossible after the wretched sinner who has come to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, who has also received access by faith into the realm and sphere of grace to ever revert back to the unsaved, graceless state of being under God’s wrath and judgment. It is utterly impossible for God to do this. For then, he would be a faithless father and an impotent father who cannot save and secure His children. What a diminished, distorted, and unbiblical view!
Furthermore, I leave you with one final Scripture which, in my mind, seals the deal in allowing no exceptions to this clear affirmation that we as believers are secure:
Hebrews 7:25 25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
The phrase “he is able to save forever” comes from a Greek phrase which could be literally translated “unto the completion” or “unto the perfection.” Obviously, Scripture shows that believers will never be complete or perfect until we arrive at heaven where we are made like our Savior. Thus, Christ, as our High Priest, saves forever, that is, until those who believe are made perfect and made complete in heaven! What a glorious verse! Therefore, I propose again that it is impossible for the individual, after having been justified and who has transferred out of the realm of darkness into the realm/sphere of God’s grace in which he stands to ever lose that solid footing in grace! It simply cannot happen. Scripture cannot allow for this. And certainly the character of God cannot allow this to happen.
In the book of Job, God reveals that He is sovereign over circumstances, people, hardships, and Satan--yes, even everything! Through the various discourses between Job and his three (not-so-good) friends, he wonders how God could have brought all this calamity upon him. Furthermore, in chapter 28, Job seeks for wisdom and recognizes that it is God who is the source and wellspring of all wisdom. Hear what Job asks:
Job 28:20 20 "Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?
Job immediately responds with a remarkable and pithy discourse on the sovereignty of God. Here's how he counsels himself:
Job 28:21-27 21 "Thus it [=this wisdom of v.20] is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky. 22 "Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' 23 "God understands its way, And He knows its place. 24 "For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. 25 "When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure, 26 When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt, 27 Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out.
Job wisely remembers that this wisdom resides in God Himself and it is, in fact, hidden from the eyes of all the living. Verse 23 leaves no one questioning, however, as it states that God knows the way of wisdom and he even knows its place--for, indeed, it dwells within His very being!
Take note of Job's logic:
God sees everything under the heavens (v.24)
God knows everything about the wind (that which is invisible!) (v.25)
God sets limits for the rain--yes, every drop! (v.26a)
God determines the course for every single thunderbolt (v.26b)
God saw His works which He had sovereignly and powerfully declared (v.27a)
God established all His works--from everything under the heavens (v.24), everything about the wind (v.25), the formation of every single raindrop (v.26a), the size, magnitude, and power of the thunderbolt (v.26b), yes, even all his works (v.27).
Indeed, Job wisely deduces the proper response that He must have (*take note--this ought to be our response as well) when considering the ways and workings of God:
Job 28:28 28 "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"
The only proper response after recognizing that God sovereignly establishes and carefully ordains everything that happens is to fear the LORD. Herein lies the fact that Job seeks to find--namely, wisdom. The fear of the LORD is wisdom. Very simply, the one who does not fear the LORD does not have wisdom. Consequently, this fearless one is a fool--a stupid fool. And those who do not fear God will one day fear God as they are forced to bow the knee and confess Jesus Christ as LORD before being judged at the Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15) and violently thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire.
What an important lesson for us to heed this day, fear the LORD and be wise. Trust God's sovereignty and lean on His infinite wisdom and understanding. For here--and here alone--is where divine wisdom may be found.
Yes! Last week, my pastor and I went up into the mountains to pray, read through Scripture, and shoot! What a great combination. Here are some pictures of Geoff (=city-boy) shooting a gun way back in the forests of California.
That the individual who has repented of sin, turned to Christ in faith and belief, and evidenced a life of holiness showing a true heart change is safe and secure is a theme which is replete in the Scriptures. The doctrine of eternal security or the perseverance of the saints is absolutely undeniable in the Scriptures and could not be more logical in the doctrine of salvation.
I hope over these next few posts to show why the believer is eternally saved, how the believer is eternally saved, and what the person, work, and character of God has to do in the security of the believer’s salvation. I trust it will be encouraging, challenging, and educational. For those who doubt this doctrine and believe that an individual can go from believing to “not believing” thereby losing or forfeiting salvation is an unfortunate misreading of the Scriptures and is nowhere warranted in all of Scripture. If it were possible or a believer to lose salvation, then the believer would rightly live in constant fear and trepidation over the reality of being separated from the God who “saved him by His mercy and grace.”
In this first essay, I endeavor to show from Romans 5:1 that because the believer has been justified (past and accomplished fact with ongoing and emphatic results), the result of being at “peace with God” is the first proof that a believer in Jesus Christ cannot lose his salvation (5:1).
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Because the believer has been justified by faith alone in Christ—which is the very theme that Paul labored to argue and illustrate from Romans 3–4—the first consequence that Paul lists for us here is that “we have peace with God.”
If we now have peace with God as a saved Christian, the obvious and undeniable reality is that before we were all enemies with God while unbelievers and unregenerate. Hear Scripture prove this fact:
Psalm 5:5-65 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. 6 You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
Psalm 9:7-87 But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, 8 And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
Psalm 11:5-65 The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. 6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Romans 5:10 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
It is clear from the aforementioned Scriptures that all the unregenerate are enemies of God. They are at war with God. There is no hope for them apart from Jesus Christ. All who die without Jesus Christ as their advocate will reside under the mighty, fierce, and eternal wrath of God forever—without end.
Therefore, if we, as Romans 5:1 states so plainly, are at peace with God because of our justification, how can we ever be enemies of God again? How can we move from being on God’s side to being abandoned by God? This is completely opposite of what Romans 8 teaches:
Romans 8:35 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
And again…
Romans 8:38-39 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
These are encouraging verses for the believer. Once the sinner has placed saving faith in Jesus Christ and His sufficient, sacrificial, and substitutionary death on Calvary’s cross he has become a friend of God—yes, even a Son of God. The believer has been enveloped into the “family of God.” How could God—who promises that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35, 38-39)—abandon us and forsake us to be his enemies after being at peace with God?
If almighty anger and wrath and fury has been subsided because of justification, then the peace with God that the believer has is inevitably safe and secure.
Listen to the remainder of Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:4-7 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
If the believer, who now has peace with God, has been “made alive together with Christ” and is “raised up with Christ,” and is “seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” then how could that person ever move from the state of being at “peace with God” back to the original state of being at war, enmity, hostility, hatred of God? It is inconceivable and impossible!
Therefore, because the saved sinner is at peace with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His perfect righteousness that has been attributed to the account of the believer, the regenerate individual who is now at peace with God cannotever be at war with God again—period.
My goal in the next few weeks consists of explicating on the doctrine of eternal security. I hope to show why this doctrine is so absolutely imperative for the Christian to understand, believe, and rejoice in. I have the firm conviction that to doubt one's salvation is a sin and I will endeavor to elucidate this statement as well.
I pray and trust that as we, who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ and have repented of our sins, delve into some Scriptures, theology, and the character of God that we all together come to recognize and rejoice in our security!
I will work through the character of God and Romans 5 in the study. . .
I heard someone say in the not too distant past that the New Testament Christian ought not to fear God because He is our “Abba Father.” To be sure, I concur with all my heart to this statement. The reality that the NT declares that God is the “Abba Father” is, in fact, found in the NT (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6; cp. Mark 14:36).
But where does the fear of God fit in? Should the Christian fear God? Is it right for him to ever tremble before God? Be afraid before God? Stand in awe of God? Revere God? I recently preached from Psalm 25 and in the psalm, David asks for the one who fears the LORD for this (i.e., the one who fears the LORD) is the one whom Yahweh will lead. I asserted that it is appropriate and proper for the NT believer to bathe, marvel, enjoy, and revel in the reality of an intimate relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son. This ought certainly to be the case. And, we could go so far as to say that the Christian need not fear or tremble before God in the sense of worrying about falling under God’s wrath. Scripture often affirms that, for the believer, God’s wrath has been turned away (Rom 5:9; 1 Thess 1:9; and 5:9-10).
Nevertheless, I still find a plethora of references—even in the NT!—speaking to the issue of the believer in God fearing God (2 Cor 7:1; 1 Pet 2:17; cp. Ecc 5:7; 12:13). Though the fear in the NT is not a trembling sourced in bewilderment wondering if the Sovereign King is going to eternally Judge the individual for sin. Rather, the fear in the NT—though, I’m still convinced, it DOES contain a notion of holy terror and holy trembling—mostly denotes a sense of awe or reverence toward a great Sovereign King.
Consider this reality. How do you find your conduct when you’re in the presence of the Sovereign King of the universe? Do you stroll into church on Sunday mornings as if it were just another day? Do you open and read your Bible as if it is the duty you must fulfill simply to check it off the list? Do you pray with wandering thoughts waiting for that long-winded person to finish praying so you can get home and attend to your duties?
I think we have, all too often, neglected to consider the presence of Him Whom we claim to worship. May we approach the throne of grace with boldness and access (Rom 5:1-2) yet these wonderful truths that we now have ought not to crowd out a holy awe and reverence for the royal and Sovereign King in Whose presence we find ourselves.
Consider the author of Hebrews, who notes this same reality, as he speaks to the believers: Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe(de,oj, fear, awe).
That seems to be the question many people cannot give a solid and direct answer to these days. Is the church comprised of all those who attend a weekly meeting or Bible study? Is the church made up of those who are part of ‘community’ (however that may be defined)? Is the church made up of those who were baptized—earlier in life or as an infant? Is the church defined as comprising of only those who have been regenerated by means of the working of God the Holy Spirit?
The answer to this question will affect the way church is done, that is, the methodology of our ecclesiology. If the church is comprised of those who are a part of community, those who attend weekly church services, and those who are in the covenant fold of God, then the church is quite a large community of people (and, frankly, the church would necessarily be comprised of both true believers and unbelievers).
But in the Scriptures, I find the reality that the church is comprised of only those who have been washed, sanctified, and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ—this refers to true believers.
Take, for example, the book of Romans. Paul’s argument in this book is deliberately laid forth to give the gospel of God’s righteousness and man’s sinfulness in chapters 1-3. Beginning in chapter 4 and continuing to chapter 5, one reads how the sinful human can be right with God—namely, justification by faith alone. Chapters 6-8 then deal with the progressive growth in the life of this new believer—known as sanctification (becoming “more holy” and “more Christlike”). All this is necessary before chapter 12 hits—the practical Christian living section. How can one be commanded to live a godly life and, furthermore, be expected to live a godly life if they are totally incapable of pleasing to God (i.e., according to Romans 8:9, the nonbeliever is not able to please God)?
Ephesians 4:12 notes that the purpose of the church is to equip the saints. Saints are not those who are made up of community or those who are part of the covenant of Abraham. Saints are those to whom God has sovereignly made perfectly righteous through the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to their account by means of faith in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, our ecclesiology must be correct if our methodology is going to be correct. If we’re going to take church and reshape and refashion it to reach the culture and nonbelievers, then there seems to be a flaw somewhere in the grid of who comprises the church and what the church is to do. But if we recognize that the church consists of regenerate believers in Jesus Christ, then we recognize that the purpose of the church is to build up the saints so that they can go out and do the work of the ministry—evangelize, fellowship, preach, etc.
Colossians 1:28-29 8 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
"A lofty, transcendent view of God is the most important thing about a Christian. As a person's vision of God goes, so goes his life. One's life will never rise any higher than his thoughts about God. A high view of God will lead to high and holy living. On the other hand, a low view of God will lead to low living. No one can live any higher than his proper understanding of who God is.
Spurgeon said: 'The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doing, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father'" (Lawson, Psalms 1-75, HOTC, 136).
A few weeks ago my dad was in town and he sparked the idea to teach on the Parable of the Soils (Mark 4, Matt 13, and Luke 8). So, tonight I'm teaching on this wonderful parable at church from Mark's account.
One discouraging note is that many commentaries seem to think that Mark 4:13-20 (Jesus' explanation of the parable of the soils) is not an authentic "Jesus saying" simply because it is an explanation of the parable. But after my frustration with many of the critical commentaries, I kept progressing in my study of the wonderful passage of Scripture which our Lord taught on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
One striking feature of this parable consists in the reality that all four of the different "kinds" of hearers are similar in many ways. Note some of these similarities:
They all are along the road (i.e., in some "religious setting" venue to hear the Word)
The text is unambiguously clear that they all hear the Word (repeats it 4x in the passage)
Outwardly they all looks the same, they go to the same place to hear the Word, they hear the same Word taught.
They are all dry, parched land apart from the seed of the Word giving life
It is amazing to me just how similar these hearers are until you get to their specific responses. Then they differ dramatically. Three of the hearers end up in hell. One proves that salvation and belief is genuine because the Word of God affects the way he lives. In reality, this parable ought to startle the reader because going to the religious venue to hear the Word and even a constant dose of the Word is insufficient in and of itself to save a person's soul (this is diametrically opposed to much ecclesiastical thinking today).
How marvelous our Lord is when he states that the true believer hears the Word, but he receives it (the verb form is in the forefront = emphasis) and he bears fruit (again, the verb is in the forefront = emphasis). The one who hears the Word--even repeatedly--and yet fails to receive it with a willing and humble heart and bear fruit is an unsaved person regardless of how religious he thinks he may be. This passage contains some startling truths and some principles that need to be addressed to the church--especially in today's cultural church setting. Lord willing, God will soften the hearts of those who will be there tonight to hear His Word that the Word may not fall upon hard, preoccupied, or impulsive hearts, but rather that the Word would fall upon the soft, humble, and ready hearts already prepared by God resulting in much fruit to the glory of God. ========================= Update: Listen to the sermon on Mark 4:13-20 here.
Book Review. Chester, Tim and Steve Timmis. TotalChurch: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008.
by Geoffrey R. Kirkland | associate pastor | christ community church
TotalChurch proves to be compelling and carefully crafted so as to bring about the two main themes of the book, namely, a gospel centered and a community centered church. To be sure, these are both important—indeed, foundational—aspects of the local church as Scripture defines it. In no less than five times in the Introduction, Chester and Timmis state the phrase: “If only there were a different way of doing church” (13–20).
The recurring statement in the introduction in seeking to find a “different way of doing church” immediately alarmed me as I began to read the book. I have heard that this book is a hot-button book now-a-days. With the up and coming newer “missional” and “community-centered” churches, TotalChurch fronts the parade as far as impact and influence in the Christian community.
But as I read, questions erupted in my mind such as: Why must there be a different way of doing church? or What is so radically different about a community-centered approach to “doing church?” or Should “community” really be the main focus in the local church when the local community may be comprised of both believers and nonbelievers? Questions such as these must be answered . . . and answered honestly and biblically.
To briefly summarize TotalChurch, the first main part of the book contains two chapters, the first speaks to the issue of the gospel and why this must be first and central in the life, body, and ministries of the local church. The second chapter in the first part of the book summarized community by defining it, giving some clear illustrations of its implementation, and some helpful results from a “community-based” ministry.
The second part of TotalChurch focused around gospel and community in practice. Chester and Timmis related gospel and community to various aspects of church-life such as: evangelism, social involvement, church planting, world mission, discipleship and training, pastoral care, spirituality, theology, apologetics, children and young people, and success. No doubt TotalChurchcovers a broad spectrum of aspects relating to church and does a fairly good job at keeping the book gospel centered and biblically saturated.
With that said, however, I have a few critiques regarding the methodology of TotalChurch. I’m not attacking Chester and Timmis, nor am I specifically attacking TotalChurch per se. What I endeavor to do is to examine and evaluate the methodology and the practical outworkings of a church focused around gospel and community.
The book wonderfully and repeatedly emphasizes the centrality of the Scriptures and the utter necessity of God’s supernatural and sovereign intervention through His Holy Spirit in the lives of sinners in order to respond to the gospel, believe upon Christ, and be justified. This is clearly explicated in the book.
But I struggle with community being a fundamental pillar in church life. The simple reason is this. Should we tailor and even “alter” the way we do church in order to bring in nonbelievers? The obvious theme in the book is a “new and different way of doing church” that is more appealing to the world as opposed to the traditional “just go ask your neighbor to go to church with you on Sunday” sort of approach (which they repeat constantly throughout the book). They are unmovable in asserting that going to a pub with a friend after a basketball game and “building a relationship” can be much more effective than simply talking to your friend after the game about Jesus Christ.
The problem is simply this. The New Testament no where tells—or even hints to!—the church to change its method in order to reach more people. Fundamentally, it boils down to the purpose for church. I believe that Chester and Timmis would agree that the overall purpose of the church is to glorify God by worshipping Jesus Christ through the power and joy of the Holy Spirit. Obviously, only born-again, Spirit-indwelt Christians can do this. As Paul says in Romans 8:8 “those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (oi` de. evn sarki. o;ntej qew/| avre,sai ouv du,nantai). Therefore, if nonbelievers (lit.) “are not able” to please God, then why should the church go out of its way in changing the format of the church in order to make them feel more welcome to the Christian community.
Certainly, I’m not saying that believers must never seek to go out of their way to evangelize and reach out to nonbelievers. No doubt this must be done—regularly! But, the church is not the primary place to do this. Noticeably, Peter, on the day of Pentecost when the church was founded, spoke as to what the church is: "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). Therefore, the church is comprised of those who 1) repent and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and 2) live godly lives evidencing the heart-transformation (including baptism, Lord’s Supper, fruit of the Spirit, etc.).
The church ought not—indeed, it must not—seek to making reaching unbelievers its primary function. Again, this is a function of the local church, but it’s not the only or primary function of the church.
A simple survey of the book of Acts reveals that the concept of “preaching” is thematic and domineering. “Preach” occurs 6 times in the book; “preaching” occurs 11 times in the book; “proclaim” occurs 4 times in the book; “proclaiming” occurs 6 times in the book, etc. One also finds that the phrase “gathered together” occurs nearly 10 times in the book of Acts also. The primary function of the church is the building up of true, born-again believers to the attaining of Christlikeness (cf. Eph 4:11–12). This maturity inherently involves personal evangelism, but this “new way of doing church” is not the purpose of the church.
Is it accurate then, to conclude with Chester and Timmis that people feel more loved and cared for in the context of “community?” Does a solid “community” have to be present for it to be a solid church? Is it really better to invite the nonbelieving friends to many different BBQ’s, sporting events, hang-out times at home, guys’ night out at the pub, etc. in order to reach out to the lost? I don’t think so.
I am of the strong opinion that the church is mandated to be different than the world. Though living in the world and conducting life amidst a godless culture, the true believer in Jesus Christ must be radically different than the world—not seeking to fit in to the world and do the things that nonbelievers do where the only difference is that there are a Christians at the other “function” or “event” than the other. Is it proper to invite a nonbeliever to a pub to simply “hang out” and build a relationship. Some may argue that it is profitable. I beg to differ. Am I opposed to going to a pub? A movie theater? A bar? Not really. It’s not about the rules. Rather, it’s about the motivation for going to these places. Do I go there to evangelize them and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them as if eternity were hanging in the balances (as it is!)? Or, do I go there simply to “hang out” and “fit in” and “spark relationships” (community?) with some folks with whom I will at some later point invite them to a church function?
Therefore, I hope it is clear that the main fault of the book, in my opinion, is a wrong purpose for doing church. If we are to reach the community, help people feel more comfortable, that’s fine, but I believe that we should not worry about coming across as too brash and bold in our witness for Jesus Christ. Times are nearing the end. The “judge is right at the door” (James 5:9). The end of all things is near (1 Pet 4:7). Therefore, the hour is urgent and we ought not to take away any opportunities to boldly and clearly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
