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The Puritans: Five Major Concerns.

“The recent revival of interest in and commitment to the truths of Reformed theology is due in large measure to the rediscovery of Puritan literature. The Puritans of old have become the prophets for our time.”                                                                                            R.C. Sproul

Throughout the ministry and writings by the Puritans, five major concerns dominate their thinking. Each of the five were thoroughly considered in the vast volume of their work.

First, the Puritans were concerned with searching the Scriptures, organizing their findings and apply what they had learned in every area of life.

Second, the Puritans possessed a commitment to Trinitarian theology. They loved the electing grace of God, the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, and the applying work by the Holy Spirit. Their experiential Christianity was not an experience for the sake of experience. Rather, they examined how the experience of living for Christ stemmed from God’s work in them resulting in Him receiving the glory.

Third, the Puritans were committed to the local church. They believed worship should be biblically orientated, preaching should focus on the meaning of the biblical text and the fostering of Christian fellowship should never be taken for granted. These disciplines, they believed, ensured the well-being of the local church.

Fourth, the Puritans were not separatists from politics, but were engaged and involved in English government. They looked to Scripture for insight on the duties, rights, responsibilities and the authority of the king, Parliament and the citizens.

Fifth, the Puritans preached an individual, personal, and God centered conversion of the sinner. They agreed with Jesus when He said in John 3:3, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.” Therefore, they preached the biblical gospel, called the sinner to repentance and faith, rested in the Holy Spirit’s monergistic regenerating work in conversion, and to disciple the new believer in Christ in order for the new convert to grow in their faith. The Puritans agreed with James 2:17 that faith without works is dead and one’s faith in Christ should impact one’s home, work, church and culture.

Dr. J.I. Packer summarizes the Puritans this way: “Puritanism was an evangelical holiness movement seeking to implement its vision of spiritual renewal, national and personal, in the church, the state, and the home; in education, evangelism, and economics; in individual discipleship and devotion, and in pastoral care and competence.”

Take time today to evaluate how well you are committed to the previously mentioned five major concerns of the Puritans. May your concern for personal piety and biblical truth mirror theirs.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

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Profiles of Courage: Why the Puritans?

“The Puritans [were] burning and shining lights. When cast out by the black Bartholomew Act, and driven from their respective charges to preach in barns and fields, in the highways and hedges, they in a special manner wrote and preached as men having authority. Though dead, by their writings they yet speak: a peculiar unction attends them to this very hour.”                                                                                                                 George Whitfield (1714-1770)

After yesterday’s introduction to the subject of the Puritans, you may be asking yourself this question: Why the Puritans? What possibly could we glean from a group of pastors, parishioners and churches who existed for a brief period of time 300-400 years ago? In England no less!

Dr. Joel Beeke explains, “Just who were the Puritan writers? They were not only the two thousand ministers who were ejected from the Church of England by the Act of Uniformity in 1662, but also those ministers in England and North America, from the sixteenth century through the early eighteenth century, who worked to reform and purify the church and to lead people toward godly living consistent with the Reformed doctrines of grace.”

Do the Puritans have anything to offer the church today from what they experienced, learned and wrote in their own day and time? I believe they do. I submit the Puritans, their personal history along with their valuable and voluminous writings, can contribute much to the health and stability of today’s evangelical church and the biblical gospel. When many churches, and pastors, are content to engage today in frothy Bible study and man-centered entertainment as a substitute for God-centered worship, the Puritans are a breath of fresh air in their singular devotion to the glory of God.

Let me remind you that the word “Puritan’ originated in the 1560’s as a bit of pejorative hurled at people who wanted further reformation in the Church of England. While some social historians think the term should be abandoned due to various ways it was used at that time, there are others who continue to defend the terms “Puritan” and “Puritanism.” The word “Puritan” originated from the Greek word katharos meaning pure.

Don’t misunderstand me. The Puritans were not perfect. They were men and women much like ourselves. They were susceptible to the same temptations we face. They struggled with the same issues we encounter. If this be the case, what then sets them apart for this special study?

First, the Puritans possessed and sought to foster a consistent and dynamic fellowship with God that shaped not only their thinking, but also their emotions and their wills. In short, their souls. Their grounding was in the God of the Bible: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The church today must return to such a “focus”, which in large measure it has forsaken for popularity and acceptance by the culture.

Second, the Puritans possessed a passion for God’s Word. They not only sought to know as much as they could from God’s Word, but they also wrote about their acquired knowledge of biblical theology in many books and published sermons. Theirs was a passion for biblical truth. As one author comments, “The distinctive character of Puritanism was its quest for a life reformed by the Word of God.” The church today must return to such a foundation”, which in large measure it has forsaken for popularity and acceptance by the culture.

Third, because of their common spiritual quest for God’s Word and unity in the Christian faith and gospel, the Puritans established a network of relationships among believers and ministers. The Puritans sought to apply God’s Word in every area of life. The church today must return to such a “fervor”, which in large measure it has forsaken for popularity and acceptance by the culture.

On author notes that, “Puritanism grew out of three needs: (1) the need for biblical preaching and the teaching of sound Reformed doctrine; (2) the need for biblical, personal piety that stressed the work of the Holy Spirit in the faith and life of the believer; and (3) the need to restore biblical simplicity in liturgy, vestments, and church government, so that a well-ordered church life would promote the worship of the Triune God as prescribed in His Word.”

It is obvious that the vision for life and ministry which consumed the Puritans in the 16th and 17 the centuries should be seriously considered by the evangelical church today in the 21st century.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

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Profiles of Courage: The Puritans.

Occasionally, we will devote significant time and space to a category of posts entitled Profiles of Courage. A profile is a sketch or a summary of an individual’s life or a brief episode in a person’s life. Courage refers to doing what is right, even when facing opposition. It is synonymous with bravery, nerve, valor, or guts.

With this in mind, we will take a brief look at particular individuals in Scripture and church history who profile, or illustrate, a courage and conviction to stand for biblical truth. One such category of individuals are known as The Puritans.

There is a lot of confusion, as there often is when the subject is the evangelical church of Jesus Christ, regarding the Puritans. The pejorative designation “puritanical” is often used in describing people, or people groups, who are judgmental of others, legalistic and who seek to restrict an individual’s freedom. This term stems from a misconception of the Puritans. Additionally, most people attribute the Puritans to be people who only wore black and white, whose men and women respectively had weird hats and bonnets, and who burned witches at the stack in Salem, Massachusetts. Perhaps people may recall they, the Puritans, had something remotely to do with the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving.

What many do not realize is the depth and breadth of biblical teaching and writings, many still in print, from the Puritans containing the vast volumes of sound and solid theological teaching.. What I hope to do in this series is to at least inform you who the Puritans were and how the Puritans still contribute to the overall health of biblical theology in the church today. I will also inform you of some wonderful books and web sites which provide introductions to this people group and their teachings.

A study of the Puritans involves not only who they were, but when they lived, what they accomplished and what they taught. As one author has commented, “History is not a popular subject. We cannot assume that those who are British are automatically well-educated in English History. It is rare for those outside Britain to know English history. How can we introduce overseas Christians to the best theological inheritance ever?

The Puritans were English Reformed Protestants in the 16th  and 17th  centuries who sought to “purify” the Church of England from its “Catholic” practices, maintaining that the Church of England was only partially reformed. They were an extended body of believers who ultimately were a result of the Protestant Reformation begun by Martin Luther and continued by John Calvin.

The Puritans, and Puritanism was founded as an activist movement within the Church of England. The founders, clergy exiled under Mary I, returned to England shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558.

As author Peter Toon explains, “In America today “separation of church and state” is basic to both political and theological thinking. In contrast, in the sixteenth century in England the union of church and state was taken for granted as governed and guided by divine providence. In fact, the one definite thing that can be said about the English Reformation is that it was first of all an act of state. Central to it all was the assertion of royal supremacy, of king or queen, in ecclesiastical affairs. And the claim of royal supremacy was made explicitly not only by Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth I, but also implicitly by the Catholic Mary when she decided to reconcile the English church with the Roman papacy in 1553.

As with any movement, theological or political, there were seeds sown which germinated only after a significant period of time. The flowering of the Puritans only occurred after years of growth of reformed protestant churches in England, and with the subsequent persecution of those same churches and pastors by those opposed to such church growth.

It has been said, with some degree of accuracy I might add, that the church is its strongest when it has faced its fiercest opposition. Such could be said of the founding and flourishing of the Puritans.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

 

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Knowing God: Final Thoughts?

This is the fiftieth article I have written about the subject of Knowing God. You would think that after this many blogs and posts, I would have exhausted the subject of what it means to know God. Hardly!

However, I have a profound sense of inadequacy regarding this particular subject. I know there is so much more to say and has been said better by pastors and authors much more gifted than myself. As another author writes, “Man cannot know himself without knowing God. And God cannot be known unless God freely reveals Himself to man. God has done this in the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

I hope by now that you understand that knowing God is much more than just reciting facts about His character and His work through the Incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ.  Knowing God is not about knowing about God.

Knowing God is understanding who He is, what He likes and dislikes in this interpersonal relationship He has created with sinners by grace alone, through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. Let me explain by using a personal example.

My wife Diana and I just recently celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary. Where has the time flown? When I first met Di when we worked together at a grocery store, I became aware of certain facts about her. The longer I spent time with her in conversation, the more facts I learned. However, when our friendship turned to love for each other, I became strangely aware that knowing her was so much more than just knowing facts.

I can tell you when she is happy, sad, frustrated, troubled, joyful, contented and a whole range of other emotions. I know what she likes, and dislikes. I know that the few times in our marriage that she has called me on the phone crying, it is a big deal. Di doesn’t cry easily, but when she does, it is huge. I need to immediately drop what I am doing and attend to the matter at hand.

Here’s the question: do I, we, have that same inert sense of God? Do we immediately sense what pleases Him and what does not? Does the Word of God immediately come to our minds when we face the circumstances of life? Do we understand and comprehend about how God thinks about such circumstances? We should!

Begin this discipline: when faced with a decision, ask yourself what God, in His Word, says about the subject. If you do not immediately know the answer, then find the answer. Ask your pastor, mentor, or spouse about the issue at hand. Seek godly and biblical counsel. After a while, you won’t have to guess what God thinks, you’ll know because you are coming to a greater knowledge of God.

Dr. Michael Horton writes, “As with ourselves, God is best known by his involvement in personal relationships to which he attaches his authority. In other words, God is known as he reveals himself in Scripture, not as we “find” him ourselves. The question is not, “What should God be like, given our experiences or philosophical premises?” but “What has God actually shown himself to be like?”

May the Lord bless you as you continue to seek to know Him more and more.

Soli deo Gloria!

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Knowing God: What is Eternal Life?

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:1-3)

What is eternal life? Jesus answered this question at the beginning of what is referred to as His High Priestly Prayer in John 17. Jesus had just concluded a lengthy Upper Room Discourse (John 13-16) with His disciples immediately prior to His arrest, trial, sentencing, scourging and subsequent death, burial and resurrection (John 18-20). Perhaps just before going to the Garden of Gethsemane, or while journeying there, He speaks this prayer to God the Father.

Jesus began His prayer by acknowledging that the hour of His substitutionary death for sinners had indeed arrived. He knew that in a few short hours the wrath of God against sin would be upon Him. It would be a cup of which Jesus would willingly submit (Luke 22:29-46).

Jesus then prayed that the Father would glorify and honor Him by His death, burial and resurrection in order that the He (Jesus) would glorify the Father in bringing many sinners to salvation. This eternal life, found only in Jesus, would be to all who the Father chose to give Him (John 6:35-66; Ephesians 1:3-5).

Jesus then acknowledged exactly what is meant by the phrase “eternal life.” Eternal life is knowing God. The word “know” is from the Greek verb γινώσκω (ginosko). More than just acknowledging the existence of God, though this is a good beginning, to know God means to understand and comprehend who He is and what He does. It is to know God through a direct, personal and intimate experience of conversion by grace alone, through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. To know God is not about just knowing about Him but rather possessing an inter-personal relationship with Him. This relationship is to be a present, ongoing and active pursuit of knowing God.

Lest there be any confusion that this pursuit of knowing God may be applied to other so-called gods, Jesus makes it clear that God the Father, and by implication God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, is the Only, True God. There is no room for Allah or any other pseudo god conjured up by sinful mankind.

Dr. J.I. Packer writes, “What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the “eternal life” that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God (John 17:3). What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight and contentment than anything else? Knowledge of God. Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.”

This ongoing pursuit of knowing God involves spending time with Him. This is accomplished in a daily, disciplined diet of reading, meditating and memorizing God’s Word. Knowing God is accomplished by a daily, if not a constant, attitude and discipline of prayer. Knowing God is accomplished by a personal and corporate, daily and weekly time of worship and praise: alone and with fellow believers in Christ. Knowing God involves an observance of the ordinances of believer’s baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

How are you on your journey of knowing God more intimately that ever before? Renew your quest for knowing God and continue to your quest until the Lord calls you home to heaven.

Soli deo Gloria!   

 

 

 

 

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Knowing God: The Grace and Mercy of God, Part 4.

“It is commonplace in all the churches to call Christianity a religion of grace. It is a truism of Christian scholarship that grace, far being an impersonal force, a sort of celestial electricity received like a battery charge by “plugging in” to the sacraments, is a personal activity—God operating in love toward people.”                                                        J.I. Packer

Dr. Packer in his magnum opus book Knowing God  sets forth four key truths regarding the grace and mercy of God. They are:

  1. The moral-ill-desert of man. Sinful man is fallen from God’s image, rebels against God’s rule, guilty and unclean in God’s sight, fit for only God’s condemnation. However, fallen man never grasps this truth. For the most part, he/she believes themselves to be pretty good.
  2. The retributive justice of God. Modern man additionally never grasps the idea that God is in anyway upset about sin: big or small. We sin, God forgives. It is what we do and what He does. If sin, someone else’s but especially mine, can be ignored as long as possible then that is okay. Punishment should be seen as the last resort. However, the Bible says that God is just and will punish sin and the sinner. God will do what is right.
  3. The spiritual impotence of man. Fallen man believes he can repair his relationship with God. A little penance if you please. Promises are made, but broken. Resolutions are aspired, but soon forgotten. However, the Bible says that “no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law” (Romans 3:20). Becoming right before God is beyond our ability to accomplish. It is a task we cannot master, no matter how hard we try.
  4. The sovereign freedom of God. God is in no way obliged to save anyone. Some sinners receive justice, some sinners receive non-justice (grace), but no sinner receives injustice from God. Even though we do not deserve it, fallen sinners believe God should help us. Isn’t that the fair thing to do? Remember, grace is not about being fair. It is about unmerited favor by God towards sinners.

Dr. Packer explains that, “the grace of God is love freely shown toward guilty sinners, contrary to their merit and indeed in defiance of their demerit. It is God showing goodness to persons who deserve only severity and had no reason to expect anything but severity. It is surely clear that, once a person is convinced that his state and need are as described, the New Testament gospel of grace cannot but sweep him off his feet with wonder and joy. For it tells how our judge has become our Savior.”

Hymn write Isaac Watts (1674-1748) wrote the following lyrics. I trust you can identify yourself with these words as I can.

But there’s a voice of princely grace,                                                                                        Sounds from God’s holy Word;                                                                                                       Ho! Ye poor captive sinners, come,                                                                                               And trust upon the Lord.

My soul obeys the sovereign call,                                                                                                  And runs to this relief;                                                                                                                           I would believe thy promise,                                                                                                         Lord, Oh, help my unbelief.

To the blest fountain of thy blood,                                                                                        Incarnate God, I fly,                                                                                                                             To wash my soul from scarlet stains,                                                                                           And sins of deepest dye.

A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,                                                                                                Into thy hands I fall;                                                                                                                       Thou art the Lord, my righteousness,                                                                                           My Savior, and my all.   

Soli deo Gloria!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Knowing God: The Grace and Mercy of God, Part 3.

“I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever!” Psalm 52:8

 In the immediate aftermath of Resurrection Sunday 2018 (Easter), there is bound to be a letdown following the activities of the preceding week and the fullness of yesterday. However, I discovered this devotional by Pastor Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Meditate today on the grace and mercy of God. Pastor Spurgeon writes,

 The Mercy of God.

 It is tender mercy. With gentle, loving touch, He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of His mercy — as in the matter of it.

 It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; His mercy is like Himself — infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great — that it forgives great sins of great sinners, after great lengths of time; and then gives great favors and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great Heaven of the great God!

 It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner’s part, to the saving mercy of the Most High God. Had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire — he would have justly merited the doom; and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself.

 It is rich mercy. Some things are large — but have little efficacy in them — but this mercy is:
a cordial to your drooping spirits;
a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds;
a heavenly bandage to your broken bones;
a royal chariot for your weary feet;
a bosom of love for your trembling heart!

 It is manifold mercy. As John Bunyan says, “All the flowers in God’s garden are double.” There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy — but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies.

 It is abounding mercy. Millions have received it — yet far from its being exhausted, it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever!

 It is unfailing mercy. It will never leave you. If saved by sovereign mercy — mercy will be . . .
with you in temptation — to keep you from yielding;
with you in trouble — to prevent you from sinking;
with you in living — to be the light and life of your countenance; and
with you in dying — to be the joy of your soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast!

 “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever!” Psalm 89:1.

Meditate upon the grace and mercy of God today.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

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Knowing God: The Grace and Mercy of God, Part 2.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Let us examine the grace and mercy of God by breaking this magnificent portion of Scripture into a biblical outline highlighting the Apostle Paul’s major points. Please know that this examination is just a brief overview and in no means does this section the justice it deserves.

First, what were we without God’s grace? Ephesians 2:1-3 says that we were spiritually dead because of our trespasses and sins. Living rebelliously against God was our normal way of life. We followed the course and pattern for life dictated to us by a fallen and godless world system of thought and philosophies. Additionally, whether we realized it or not, we were slaves and servants of the devil (Romans 6:15-19). Like many before and after us, we lived for the fulfillment of bodily passions and lusts and carried out what we thought about in our minds. Consequently, we were objects of God’s wrath.

Second, what did we become because of God’s grace? Ephesians 2:4-9 says that God, being rich in mercy because of His great love for sinners like us, made us spiritually alive. This was God’s work of grace and mercy. We contributed nothing, in and of ourselves, to our spiritual rebirth (John 3:1-8). It was solely a work by the Holy Spirit, based upon the sovereign grace of God through the substitutionary atonement found only in Jesus Christ.

God also made us citizens of heaven. This spiritual realm is where our spiritual blessings are (Ephesians 1:3), where our inheritance is (I Peter 1:1-4), and where our affections should be (Colossians 3:1-3). We are objects of God’s immeasurable grace and kindness and merciful displays of the same.

All of this is because of God’s grace, which is personally accessed to each believer by God given faith. Faith is trust in, dependence upon, commitment to and worship of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. It requires repenting of your sin and trusting in Jesus Christ and receiving His righteousness as your own. However, the ability to repent and believe, both aspects of what is called conversion, is only possible by the God given faith from God.

Grace is grounded in God alone. Grace is grounded in God’s rich mercy. Grace is grounded in God’s great love, with which He (God) loved us (sinners). Grace is grounded towards sinners dead in their trespasses. Grace is grounded in God making dead sinners alive in Christ. Grace is grounded in God seating saved sinners in Christ Jesus in heavenly places. Grace is grounded in God’s immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward sinners in Christ Jesus.

We can boast of nothing and, independently of God, we contribute nothing to our salvation. Dr. John MacArthur writes, “Although men are required to believe for salvation, even that faith is part of the gift of God, which saves and cannot be exercised by one’s own power. God’s grace is preeminent in every aspect of salvation (cf. Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16).”

Finally, what are believers to now do by God’s grace? We are to now serve the Lord. God calls us to be His workmanship created for good works. Our good works do not produce our salvation but rather give evidence of our salvation (John 15:8; Philippians 2:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:17; Titus 2; 14; James 2:16-26). Like our salvation, our good works were ordained to be a reality before the creation of the world.

In which category do you presently belong? Are you without God’s grace? Have you received God’s grace? Are you living a life in honor and glory of God’s grace? Your answers to one or all of these questions are a matter of life and death and indicate whether you are truly living a life as God intended for you to live.

Consider these questions very carefully. Happy Resurrection Sunday! Jesus Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Soli deo Gloria!

 

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Knowing God: The Grace and Mercy of God.

“For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.” – Deuteronomy 4:31

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” – Romans 9:15, 16

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” – Lamentations 3:22

“Do you know it was His mercy that woke you up this morning? Because His judgment should’ve killed you last night.” – Voddie Baucham

No one is redeemed except through unmerited mercy, and no one is condemned except through merited judgement.” – Augustine

Let’s assume that all men are guilty of sin in the sight of God. From the mass of humanity, God sovereignly decides to give mercy to some of them. What do the rest get? They get justice. The saved get mercy and the unsaved get justice. Nobody gets injustice” – R. C. Sproul

“Is God unfair in not choosing to save everyone? ‘Fair’ would send everyone to hell. You don’t want fair, you want mercy.” ~John MacArthur

“Justice is when God gives us what we deserve; Mercy is when He withholds from us what we deserve; Grace when He gives us what we don’t deserve.” – Harry L. Reeder III

Thus far in our study of Knowing God, we have stipulated that to know God is to know His attributes, which are His personal characteristics. These are those qualities which make God, God. Some of God’s attributes He has chosen to share with His creation. Some of His attributes, He alone possesses.

We have seen that God is self-existent, He makes decisions and is glorious, omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, holy, wrathful, loving, just and righteous. The Bible also says that God is gracious and merciful.

The grace and mercy originating from and sourced in God alone is the motivation behind God’s dealings with the elect. Believers in Jesus Christ should have no confidence in their ability to come to Christ. Anyone who is a believer is so because of the sovereign grace and mercy of God.

Grace and mercy are two sides of the same coin, so to speak. God’s benevolence upon the condemned has two perspectives. Mercy is God “not giving” the believer in Christ what he/she deserves: judgment. Grace is God “giving” the believer in Christ what he/she does not deserve: salvation.

Puritan Thomas Watson writes, “Every link in the golden chain of salvation, is wrought and interwoven with free grace! God’s saving MERCY is free and spontaneous. To set up merit—is to destroy mercy. We do not deserve mercy, because of our enmity. We may force God to punish us—but not to love us! If God would show mercy only to such as deserve it—He would show mercy to none! Mercy is an innate propensity in God to do good to distressed sinners. Mercy proceeds primarily, and originally from God. He is called the “Father of mercies.” (2 Corinthians 1:3).”

Watson continues by stating, “God’s saving mercy is powerful. How powerful is that mercy—which softens a heart of stone! Mercy changed Mary Magdalene’s heart, out of whom seven devils were cast. She who was an inflexible adamant—was made a weeping penitent!”

“God’s mercy works sweetly—yet irresistibly. It allures —yet conquers! The law may terrify—but mercy mollifies. Of what sovereign power and efficacy is that mercy, which subdues the pride and enmity of the heart, and beats off those chains of sin, in which the soul is held!”

“God’s mercy is superabundant. The Lord has treasures of mercy in store, and therefore is said to be “plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 86:5), and “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4). The vial of God’s wrath, only drops—but the fountain of His mercy, runs. The sun is not so full of light—as God is of mercy. His mercy is over-flowing and ever-flowing. His mercy is infinite—without bounds, and without end. “His mercy endures forever.” Psalm 136. Every time we draw our breath—we suck in mercy!”

When we meet tomorrow, which is Resurrection Sunday 2018, we will examine one of the most definitive biblical texts regarding the grace and mercy of God: Ephesians 2:1-10. I hope you will join me.

Soli deo Gloria!

 

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Knowing God: The Righteousness and Justice of God, Part 4.

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26).

Thus far in our study of Knowing God, we have stipulated that to know God is to know His attributes, which are His personal characteristics. These are those qualities which make God, God. Some of God’s attributes He has chosen to share with His creation. Some of His attributes, He alone possesses.

We have seen that God is self-existent, He makes decisions and is glorious, omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, holy, wrathful and loving. The Bible also says that God is just and righteous. How then can fallen and condemned sinners (Romans 3:9-20) stand accepted before the just and righteous God of heaven and earth?

The answer can be found in Romans 1:16-17. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The Apostle Paul explains in detail what the gospel contains and proclaims in Romans 3:21-26. Four times in this section Paul refers to the righteousness of God. It is a righteousness which He alone possesses and originated. Righteousness is inherent within God’s being but is foreign in the being, nature, heart and soul of fallen mankind.

Therefore, how may God declare a sinner righteous in His sight when the sinner stands condemned before Him? The Apostle Paul sets forth the truth that Jesus Christ alone has bridged the huge gulf which exists between the righteous God and the unrighteous sinner.

Jesus Christ has alone provided justification (Romans 3:24). God can declare the sinner righteous in His sight solely based upon the merits of Christ’s righteousness. As one pastor explains, “God imputed a believer’s sin to Christ on account in His sacrificial death (Isaiah 53:1-5; I Peter 2:24), and He imputes Christ’s perfect righteousness to God’s law to Christians (Romans 5:19; I Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9). The sinner receives this gift of God’s grace by faith alone (Romans 3:22, 25).”

Jesus Christ not only justifies, He also redeems (Romans 3:24). The image behind the Greek word ἀπολύτρωσις; apoloytrosis comes from the ancient slave market. It meant paying the necessary ransom to obtain a prisoner’s or a slave’s release. While gold of silver could redeem an ancient slave, the only adequate payment to redeem sinners from sin’s slavery and its deserved punishment is “in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:1-6; 1 Peter 1:18–19), and was paid to God to satisfy his justice.

Jesus Christ not only justifies and redeems, Paul also explains that Jesus Christ alone has satisfied all of God’s just and righteous demands for the sufficient payment of sin’s penalty. The word which describes this is propitiation.

Dr. John MacArthur writes, “Crucial to the significance of Christ’s sacrifice, this word carries the idea of appeasement or satisfaction—in this case Christ’s violent death satisfied the offended holiness and wrath of God against those for whom Christ died (Isaiah 53:11; Colossians 2:11–14). The Hebrew equivalent of this word was used to describe the mercy seat—the cover to the ark of the covenant—where the high priest sprinkled the blood of the slaughtered animal on the Day of Atonement to make atonement for the sins of the people. In pagan religions, it is the worshiper not the god who is responsible to appease the wrath of the offended deity. But in reality, man is incapable of satisfying God’s justice apart from Christ, except by spending eternity in hell (1 John 2:1-2).“

It is because of the person and work of Jesus Christ that we can refer to this day as Good Friday. Dr. R.C. Sproul comments:

“If I’m happy with my life, why do I need Jesus? I hear that from a lot of folks. They say to me, “I just don’t feel the need for Christ.” As if Christianity were something that were packaged and sold through Madison Avenue! That what we’re trying to communicate to people is “Here’s something that’s going to make you feel good, and everybody needs a little of this in their closet or in their refrigerator,” as if it were some commodity that’s going to add a dash of happiness to our lives.”

“If the only reason a human being ever needed Jesus was to be happy and a person is already happy without Jesus, then they certainly don’t need Jesus. The New Testament indicates, however, that there’s another reason you or somebody else needs Jesus. There is a God who is altogether holy, who is perfectly just, and who declares that he is going to judge the world and hold every human being accountable for their life. As a perfectly holy and just God, he requires from each one of us a life of perfect obedience and of perfect justness. If there is such a God and if you have lived a life of perfect justness and obedience—that is, if you’re perfect — then you certainly don’t need Jesus. You don’t need a Savior because only unjust people have a problem.”

Dr. Sproul continues by writing, “The problem is simply this: If God is just and requires perfection from me and I come short of that perfection and he is going to deal with me according to justice, then I am looking at a future punishment at the hands of a holy God. If the only way I can escape punishment is through a Savior and if I want to escape that, then I need a Savior. Some people will say that we’re just trying to preach Jesus as a ticket out of hell, as a way to escape eternal punishment. That’s not the only reason I would commend Jesus to people, but that is one of the reasons.”

Dr. Sproul concludes, “I think that many people in today’s culture don’t really believe that God is going to hold them accountable for their lives—that God really does not require righteousness. When we take that view, we don’t feel the weight of the threat of judgment. If you’re not afraid to deal with God’s punishment, then be happy as a clam if you want. I would be living in terrible fear and trembling at the prospect of falling into the hands of a holy God.”

What about you? Are you attempting to live your life as if you do not have to face the justice and righteousness of Almighty God? The only hope is to repent of your sins and trust Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord and receive His righteousness. Only then can this day truly be a Good Friday for you.

Soli deo Gloria!