Category Archives: Grace

The (right) doctrinal drop

Grace, In Christ, Quotes

We’ve been spending time as a church in John’s gospel, and what it says continues to impact my life. I’ve been thinking about how Jesus affirms the religious folk of the day – “you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life” (John 5:39).

That’s me, I think. I search, diligently search, the Scriptures. I think that in them is life. I read and consider and meditate. I want to obey.

But actually, Jesus slams these diligent searchers: “…yet you refuse to come to me, that you may have life.”

Ouch.

It is possible to be a Scripture-searcher and not get the content.

Now, before you jump right to the “normal” conclusion – that doctrine has to go the 15 inches from the head to the heart – please bear with me. That’s not really what Jesus is saying.

When we say that, we mean that people are “eggheads,” full of knowledge about Jesus but not “doing” the Christian life.

Jesus, though, is saying that the “doctrine” of these Bible-searchers is actually wrong because it is not grounded in Him.

He’s saying that all their “doing” of Scripture gets them nowhere… they’ve made a head-to-heart connection all right, but it is the wrong one. They are are busy practically “doing” Scripture… and they have no life.

Why? Because Scripture isn’t primarily a collection of rules, a list of behaviors, or even an instruction manual on life.

Scripture is about Jesus.

If we don’t understand the reality of Jesus, we won’t really understand the Bible. And we won’t get life. That’s because of what the Bible actually says. The Bible points us to salvation by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone.

Many – most, perhaps – nod heads sagely at this brief recitation of the Solas. Yet too many of us (me included) often don’t actually function like this amazing message — the main content of the Bible — is true.

Yes, the Bible is about Jesus.
Yes, the Bible is about the gospel… pointing to the redeemer, the messiah, the savior of the world.
Yes, the Bible is about life in Him – by faith.

Yet we still show that we don’t really get the Bible by our faithlessness, by our trusting in other things (ourselves, our works, our goodness) than in Jesus Christ.

I like how Tim Chester puts it. See if this makes sense to you:

“Problems for Christians do not often arise because of disbelief in a confessional or theoretical sense (though this may be case). More often they arise from functional or practical disbelief. Asked if I believe in justification by faith, I may reply that I do (confessional faith), but still feel the need to prove myself (functional disbelief). I may affirm that God is sovereign (confessional faith), but still get anxious when I cannot control my life (functional disbelief). Indeed, sanctification can be viewed as the progressive narrowing of the gap between confessional faith and functional faith.”

If you say – yes, that’s me – then there’s hope for you, in turning back to God in faith. In actually believing in our justification by our Savior, in actually trusting in His sovereignty and His work in us. And in crying out to Him who bore our sins on the cross when we fail.

Hmm… maybe there’s something to that doctrinal drop into the heart after all… as long as what is actually dropping down is the wondrous truth of the gospel.

May we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)!

Repentance revealing grace

Grace, Repentance, ,

I ran across this helpful quote today. It is on the topic of repentance.

“The difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that the one has sins and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.” (William Arnot, Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth, 1884, p.311)

I like Arnot’s pointing to repentance as the key between one born again and one not. I can hear him asking, “Whose side are you on?”

It reminds me of the close association of repentance and belief. Jesus commands us to do both in Mark 1:15 – “repent and believe in the gospel” – and yet often, as the well-known John 3:16, belief in the Son of God encompasses repentance: “whoever believes in him shall not perish…”

It seems that to believe in the gospel is to believe in your own horrible state and the depth of your offense to God… and to trust Him both for forgiveness and righteousness… as Arnot says, to “take part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.”

I also appreciate that this removes repentance as a work and puts it as a unity with faith. I’ve often heard it said that repentance is more than a “change of mind” but an “actual turning,” and as such, must be actually seen externally. A “turn” from old behavior, if you will.

Yet you and I still sin.

As Greg Gilbert explains in his little book What is the Gospel?, “Because we will continue to struggle with sin until we are glorified, we have to remember that genuine repentance is more fundamentally a matter of the heart’s attitude toward sin than it is a mere change of behavior” (p.81).

This is repentance that is a critical component of faith. A change of my heart to agree with God’s view of me; how wretched I am! How wondrous that I am cleansed, forgiven, declared righteous, and grown in faith and godliness!

May we never think that we can change our own ways before coming to God; nor that we can simply assent to the fact of Christ’s death and resurrection and consider that ‘belief.’

Grace really is amazing — even more so as I see the depths of my offense against God. Thank you, Lord, for opening my eyes, even a little bit, to it. And as I see it more, thank you for the depth of love which bore the price of such offence on the cross.

Glory full of grace and truth – without video

Grace,

John 1:14 reads, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

I was thinking about Jesus, the unique Son of God, the maker of the universe, in flesh on the earth. I was thinking that I wish I could have seen him. At the time that John is writing about above, when he “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.”

Aside from seeing “his glory” – what about just seeing him? How tall was he? Did he have a favorite color? Did he like to sing?

This led me to think about video and the Bible. As we preach and teach and use today’s media (mp3 audio, web-hosted video, etc) I was struck that Jesus came to a time and place that had no such modern information-transmittal technology.

Did He look like this?
Did He look like this?

I was struck that all I know about Jesus, I know from a book. Written language. Even when I watch a “dramatization” of the Bible, or watch a preacher… what they know is from a book.

I’m thinking of how perfect God is in his planning, that this written display of his character is true. It means that image is not as important as substance is. Ideas are the key issue, communication via memes and pericopes and languages. Much care has to be taken to get them right – to translate rightly, to understand rightly… but what God has chosen is the Word.

Think if that wasn’t the case.

I’d look at my Savior and think things like: “He had a beard! I should too!” or I’d be tempted to make sandals the godly man’s footwear. I’d want to see what foods Jesus ate, and eat them (did Jesus eat meat? Let’s zoom in on what he’s eating, that must be the best food…). How often did He smile? Did He keep His fingernails trimmed?

The video aspect of what really happened when the incarnate God came to earth would, unfortunately, be fertile ground for my innate legalism, I fear. It would be fertile ground for my desire to make inconsequential things consequential, and non-ultimates ultimate.

Which is why I return to being so grateful for the Word. He said what was important, communicated it, with language. So I’m not distracted by the style of his garments or the color of his skin.

And so I come back to seeing “his glory.” I think John is saying that we all, who are his kids, have seen his glory, just as “we have all received” grace from him in v. 16.

And the glory you and I have seen, who are Christians, is the glory that is “full of grace and truth.”

How amazing can it be, 2000 or so years after the Word became flesh, that I can see his glory… in the depth of the grace that I have tasted in him. True forgiveness. Promised heaven. Understanding reality, what is true. All because of him… and thus revealing his glory.

It just makes me stop and worship… that without 1080p or iPhone apps or Flash (as great as those are)… you and I get to experience the true glory of God, in the grace and faithfulness of the Son.

To Him be the glory forever!

Less optimism, more worship

Grace, In Christ, Righteousness,

I think sometimes that I’m too much of an optimist.

It’s true. I bounce. I love the beauty of the sky. I have experienced such blessings.

Beautiful creation... soiled, polluted
Beautiful creation... soiled, polluted

But I also tend to think that people are innately ok. Especially Christians, with the new creation, the new covenant.

And so I speed over the sea of sin that we swim in. Really. Sin is real. Sin is horrific. Husbands, wives, parents, kids, work relationships… fallen. We experience pain – not just physical pain, but the pain of disappointment, of spiritual hurt and loss.

The very best Christians I know, pastors, servants… flawed.

Perhaps a more realistic view of my world – less unreal optimism, more recognition of sin – actually leads to a more worshipful relationship with my God.

That’s because reality is that sin does hang on. The life-and-godliness-power that I’ve been given is a knowledge of Jesus Christ, which is to say, of the gospel (2 Peter 1:3).

And the knowledge of Christ is incredibly freeing because it stands is such stark contrast with my experiential knowledge of me and of other people.

Think on this, from Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson, in Counsel from the Cross:

“Either we train ourselves and others to put our trust in our ability and then hope for the best, or we train ourselves and others to self-despair and to live ‘on in naked confidence in the mercy of God.’ We will view God as either the “rewarder of all our ‘good’ works, the pot of gold at the end of our rainbow of merit,” or as our merciful Father who inexplicably identifies with us, loves and welcomes us, and rewards us with blessing despite our sin and failures…

The point is precisely that the power to do good comes only out of this wild claim that everything has already been done.” (pp. 180-1)

I need to stop, again, and not put my trust in my ability… but instead wholly trust Jesus Christ.

The gospel is that Jesus Christ, the firstborn of the dead, has “freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:6) even when I don’t exhibit it, nor feel freed.

The gospel is that Jesus has ransomed people for God with his blood, at great cost. His blood is the grounds for my acceptance, not my moral fiber. And it continues to be the grounds… all through life.

The Bible actually says this in wonderful ways.

Let’s just take one, 1 Corinthians 6:11. Speaking of our sin, Paul writes:

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

It isn’t that we became more moral, or had some extra individual goodness. It is that we were washed, and sanctified, and justified by Jesus.

Washing in 1 Corinthians 6:11 (as in other verses, like Titus 3:5) doesn’t refer to moral amendment or inward holiness but to deliverance from guilt, and the estrangement from God which sin has caused. These passages, as George Smeaton in his excellent book on the atonement notes, “are rightly explained only when we take them in their sacrificial reference.”

My sin has been atoned for, regarded as if it had never been. It is my Savior’s bloody death which makes me clean… not my post-salvation perfection or moral aptitude.

I can still experience sin and the effects of sin, and I still struggle with sin… but I know it is covered… and the grateful fruit of worship and service grows.

That fruit may mean that I struggle less… but even when I fall, I know that my standing is sure, because it is not based on my struggle, but on the blood of Jesus Christ. By faith I am saved, and even that a gift.

We have such great reason to be optimists… not because we will not experience pain, disappointment, and sin… but because we know our standing is sure, and our Savior has removed our guilt, and we have a glorious future in Him.

Truly he has saved us according to his own mercy… praise be to Jesus Christ forever!

Auld Lang Syne

Grace, Righteousness,

2010 has officially begun. Every year seems to go more quickly than the last; it will probably take me three months just to get my mind to think of this year as 2010 and not 2009.

Thinking about the New Year and times passing makes me think of Auld Lang Syne. The song is an old Scottish one, and the phrase is, loosely translated, Times gone by.

Times gone by. 2000 years since my Savior was on earth. 233-odd years of the United States as a country. 4-some odd years since my grandparents went to be with the Lord. 3 years since we were blessed with our first child.

Times gone by.

Theologically, I wonder about humanity in all these years. Are the issues the same, through the centuries? Does the church struggle with the same doctrinal questions? Were people of years past more strongly planted, more firmly founded, than we in our day are?

I’ve just finished reading a book which speaks to that question… it’s called The Christian Leaders of the Last Century. But it’s not about the 1900’s. It was written by J. C. Ryle in the 1800’s, of Christian leaders in the early 1700’s. So it is fascinating to see what he (in the 1800’s) thought the issues of church leaders were 100 years prior… what he brings out, and how the men are presented. He details 11 men in England, all clergy, including a couple that you’ve heard of (Whitehead, Wesley) and many that you (probably) haven’t.

I’ve been amazed at the piercing commentary that Ryle has of the spiritual walk and foundation of these men who lived before the United States existed. He could be speaking of people I know, of concerns I have, of struggles seen all around me.

Let me quote just a couple:

On John Berridge, curate of Stapleford:
“Berridge entered on his duties with great zeal, and a sincere desire to do good, and served his church regularly from college for no less than six years. He took great pains with his parishioners, and pressed upon them very earnestly the importance of sanctification, but without producing the slightest effect on their lives. His preaching…was striking; his life was moral, upright, and correct. His diligence as a pastor was undeniable… (but) the fact was that up to this time he was utterly ignorant of the gospel. He knew nothing aright of Christ crucified, of justification by faith in His blood, of salvation by grace, of the complete present forgiveness of all who believe…”

Berridge himself relates that He “saw the rock on which he had been splitting for many years, by endeavoring to blend the Law and the Gospel, and to unite Christ’s righteousness with his own.” His ministry over the next thirty years then bore much fruit as he preached Jesus Christ alone and salvation by faith alone.

It is striking and helpful to see J.C. Ryle, in the 1800’s, look at spiritual growth in John Berridge, in the 1700’s, and positively represent the necessity of the gospel – faith alone, imputed righteousness alone.

It’s not only with John Berridge. Another example is another clergy, James Hervey of Weston Favell. Ryle relates his early ministry as one of sincerity and purity of mind and zeal… but one who had not yet got his feet on the Rock. He relates a letter by George Whitefield, a contemporary, to Hervey:

“I long to have my dear friend come forth and preach the truth as it is in Jesus; not a righteousness or holiness of our own, whereby we make ourselves meet, but the righteousness of another, even the Lord our righteousness; upon the imputation and apprehending of which by faith we shall be made meet by His Holy Spirit to live with and enjoy God.” (Whitefield, to Hervey).

Hervey, like Berridge, was preaching morality and self-righteousness mixed into the gospel.

The wonderful account that is recorded by Ryle is… that Hervey grew.

At a later date, Hervey wrote to Whitefield:
“I own, with shame and sorrow, I have been a blind leader of the blind. My tongue and my pen have perverted the good ways of the Lord, have darkened the glory of redeeming merit and sovereign grace. I have dared to invade the glories of an all-sufficient Saviour, and to pluck the crown off His head My writings… presumed to give works a share in the redemption and recovery of a lost sinner…”

Ryle notes how interesting to see the work of the Spirit slowly in the life of Hervey, moving his theological opinions more in line with God’s truth in the grace of His Son.

How fascinating! This is the 1700’s!

From reading this book about men I do not personally know who lived before my great-great-great grandfather was alive, I’m encouraged. The issues are the same: the gospel vs. anything else. And the Spirit worked then, as now, in opening eyes and changing hearts… some quickly, some slowly, but all who are His come to know His redeeming grace from which truth, righteousness, and salvation flow.

Happy New Year, all. And as Auld Lang Syne, may you (and I) continue to grow in the grace and truth that is in Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, now and forever.

Thoughts from a Gospel-Driven Life

Grace, Quotes,

I’ve been blessed recently by Micheal Horton’s The Gospel-Driven Life.

Some excellent quotes:

“It is not Christian orthodoxy but moralistic liberalism that reduces the surprising news of the gospel to the bland repetition of what people already know.” (p.25)

“The bible is not a collection of timeless principles offering a gentle thought for the day. It is not a resource for our self-improvement. Rather, it is a dramatic story that unfolds from promise to fulfillment, with Christ at the center. Its focus is God and His action. God is not a supporting actor in our drama; it is the other way around…. Has it really hit you that no matter what your inner voice, conscience, heart, will or soul tells you, God’s objective Word on the matter trumps it all?” (p. 26)

“God’s law is not a tool that we can use; it is the rod by which God measures us. God’s law says, ‘Be perfect.’ God’s gospel says, ‘Believe in Christ and you will be reckoned perfect before God.’ The law tells us what must be done if we are to be saved; the gospel tells us what God has done to save us.” (p. 60)

“‘God justifies the wicked’ (Rom. 4:5). As counterintitive as it is simple, that claim which lies at the heart of the Good News has brought immeasurable blessing – and trouble – to the church and the world. Be nice, take out the trash, stop nagging your spouse, try to spend more time with your children, don’t get into credit card debt, lose some weight and get some exercise. Every one of these exhortations might be valid… however, it is not the big story. No wonder people – especially younger folks – are bored if this is the ‘news’ that the church has to bring to the world. This kind of news need not come from heaven; there are plenty of earthly sages who can communicate it better than most preachers.” (p. 64)

“So God justified the wicked — not those who have done their best yet have fallen short, who might at least be judged acceptable because of their sincerity, but those whare are the very moment of being pronounced righteous are in themselves unrighteous… Protestants [that’s me] are just as likely today to assume that the gospel gives us something to do rather than [sic] an announcement of something that has already been fully, finally, and objectively accomplished for us by God in Jesus Christ.” (p.73)

“I often hear believers say that it was wonderful when they first believed. Then and there they were promised forgiveness, God’s favor, and eternal life. But over time the message changed. Now it’s time to get busy. The gospel is for unbelievers, but Christians need a constant stream of exhortations to keep them going. Yet this is far from what the Bible itself reasons. Not only in the first instance, but throughout the Christian life, faith is born and fed by the gospel alone. Christ is sufficient even for the salvation of weak and unfaithful Christians.

The great divide… is between an objective, complete, perfect and finished justification by God alone in Christ alone and a subjective, progressive, incomplete and unfinished justification by the believer’s cooperation in grace.” (p.75)

“On my best days, my experience of transformation is weak, but the gospel is an announcement of a certain state of affairs that exists because of something in God, not something in me; something that God has done, not something that I have done; the love in God’s heart which he has shown in his son, not the love in my heart that I exhibit in my relationships.” (p.77)

“The gospel is not a general belief in heaven or hell or hope for a better life beyond… it is the announcement that Jesus Christ himself is our life, for he is our peace with God. He does not merely show us the way; he is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).” (p.80)

“We all want to be and to do something rather than to be made and to receive our identity from above. It is a blow to our spiritual ego to be told that everything has already been done. Yet that is the glory of the gospel! That is why it is Good News.” (p.93)

“It is often said that we must apply the Scriptures to daily living. But this is to invoke the Bible too late, as if we already knew what ‘life’ or ‘daily living’ meant. The problem is not merely that we lack the right answers, but that we don’t even have the right questions until God introduces us to his interpretation of reality.” (p.111)

Well… I’m only about halfway through the book right now. But what a refreshing and thoughtful treatment of the Gospel! How I need to hear it every day… as I, by God’s wondrous grace, am a light in a world that needs to hear the good news.

 This is not to say that I’m not progressively being changed, or that don’t I engage my will (gladly!) to follow my Father’s guides… but the center of our lives as believers is the story of the Gospel. May we hold on to the truth every day!

Grace, behavior, and unity

Grace, ,

 

I’ve been thinking on unity this week. In Ephesians, unity is the first response that we’re to have as  Christians to the overwhelming grace of God. God who in Christ raised us from the dead, abolished the law of commandments against us, and promises us eternal life.

 

What God has done is so powerful; His one-way love for me so incredible! It has birthed in me a deep desire to respond, to have my life be about whatever my Savior wants it to be. And right away, the Word says, be humbly, gently, kindly focused on unity.

 

I’ll save an exposition of Ephesians 4 for Sunday morning… but that begs an immediate question… what is unity?

 

Most of the teaching I’ve heard on unity focuses on what I’d call “behavioral unity.” Eagerness to maintain the bond of peace with each other, I’ve been told, should lead to giving up any action that might be in a “gray area,” and hence avoid causing one’s brother or sister to stumble.

 

What this practically leads to is uniformity. One develops a rather narrow subset (out of all possible behaviors not specifically prohibited by God) of approved behaviors to be done for the sake of unity.

 

I’m not talking about sin, the clear prohibitions against immorality, lust, and evil. I’m not even talking about the wisdom of whether to do some specific behavior (as in 1 Corinthians 10:23). I’m talking about behavioral unity in the sense of conforming to the “lowest common denominator” of what anyone might think is unacceptable. If you don’t conform, you are quickly judged as lacking unity, humility, or violating a “weaker brother” principle.

 

A personal example is rowing crew. I was strongly urged to consider stopping this athletic endeavor because some of my non-Christian associates imbibed too much alcohol and spoke too crassly. It was suggested that the behavior (rowing) was therefore unacceptable because the association might cause other believers to stumble.

 

Scriptures such as Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8 or 1 Thessalonians 5 are quickly brought to bear. “Avoid every appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Conform to the scruples of the weaker brother, so that there is unity; it doesn’t matter if something actually is evil; beware the appearance (as defined by another believer). This will preserve unity.

 

This thinking seems on closer examination to be a distortion of the Bible, and a sullying of what is a beautiful, amazing response to what Christ has done for us.

 

In the case of 1  Thessalonians 5:22, it is important to see that false teaching is in view, not lifestyle or behavior. An accurate capture of the thought  might be, “avoid every kind of false coinage.” The thought is not that the believer should avoid gray-area behavior, but that Christians should test teaching to make sure it is biblical. Dan Wallace, author of a widely-used intermediate Greek grammar, has an excellent article on this here, showing how wrongly this verse is twisted.

 

Similarly, Romans 14 seems to have a different focus than avoiding possibly criticized behavior for the sake of unity. The point Paul is making that we should be doing all that we are doing for the Lord. “The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord… the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord.” (Romans 14:6). You see, you could eat or not eat, and both would be for a single purpose: honoring the Lord. The unity is found not in the behavior, but in the purpose, and Paul urges the Romans not to judge one another in their behavior (Romans 14:10-13), nor to impose one’s own conscience on another (Romans 14:15-19).

 

Neither the “strong brother” (joyfully eating) or the “weak brother” (joyfully abstaining) is to judge the other. The “strong brother” isn’t to eat if it will destroy the weaker’s conscience by making the weaker one partake in it (1 Corinthians 8). The 1 Corinthians passage isn’t about conforming to behavior standards, it is about not actively enticing your weaker brother to do what he thinks is wrong (do you see how this is different than avoiding a behavior because it might be judged by the weaker brother)?

 

So if behavioral unity isn’t the response we need, then what unity are we really after?

 

This is where Ephesians 4 is so helpful. Our response to God’s power on our behalf is that we are to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). This is immediately followed by a list of “ones” – one body, one spirit, on hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, on God and Father. Using an asyndeton, a seeming lack of connection, Paul emphasizes the critical connection between unity and the list of “ones.”

 

So the thought is that unity is unity of truth. Unity is unity of reality, seeing what is actually true. We don’t always see what is true… but we are helping each other, day by day, see what the truth is. Reality is that there is only one body, only one Spirit, only one Lord. Though we are bombarded with differences in appearance and behavior, we have unity at our core because that is what reality is.

 

Even the rest of the passage stresses the strengthening of that unity through equipping, through the teaching of the Word. The unity is “of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” We have the exact same God, the exact same calling, the exact same Spirit sealing us, the exact same Savior. Unity is a fact.

 

So this isn’t lifestyle unity, uniformity of behavior. If anything, this unity is peaceful – Christians will lovingly tolerate each other, even when they have differences. This tolerance is because believers already have true unity, which is a singleness of faith and knowledge, and are maintaining it by growing in faith and knowledge, seeing reality as God sees it. We have a one-ness because there really is just one body, there really is one God, there really is just one Spirit. This unity of faith and knowledge won’t be knocked off by winds of human fancy, but will allow us to love each other even though we have different interests, different joys, different behaviors.

 

Unity is a fact to be understood, a truth to be walked in. We should not aim to destroy it by our petty desires for others to submit to our ways of doing things, when they aren’t backed up by God’s clear instruction. But the truth of unity is a together-submission to God’s truth, which means we all submit to God’s ways of living, when the instruction is there.

 

The fact of unity means that you and I can live to glorify God and truly enjoy Him forever… even as we live lives of different circumstances, experiences, and preferences.

 

Praise God for the reality of grace: true unity in a world of diversity!

Grace in knowledge

Grace,

We live in such an age of information. I was moving my office last week, and packed up just a few of the medical tomes that have followed me wherever I’ve lived for the past years… thousands of pages, each page filled with accumulated information and specific knowledge.

Though I’ve benefited greatly from education, I think I’m probably not alone in having grown up in a Christian culture which doesn’t value knowledge much. “Book learning” is looked at with a skeptical eye. Seminary, I was warned, is often better called “Cemetery.” Knowledge is cold stuff, making the head big and the heart small.

This is in the Bible, I’ve been told, and 1 Corinthians 8:1 quoted: “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”

Does knowledge just puff us up?
Does knowledge just puff us up?

So… why a post on knowledge in a site dedicated to grace?

Because as I’ve grown in my Christian walk, I’ve come to see true knowledge as the single greatest gift, the very ground of the grace in which I stand.

How can this be? Because knowledge, true knowledge, is a gift of God. And true knowledge of Christ is the center of my life. All the true knowledge of Christ I have is from God, from His Word. All the experience of Christ, of His love, understood in light of this knowledge.

It’s not hidden knowledge, special knowledge, in the sense of Gnosticism. But it is fantastically special, and hidden in the sense of being thought foolishness by those who don’t know Jesus. I pursue it with all my heart, mind, soul and strength.

Consider a brief survey:
“For you know the grace of the Lord Jesus” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Knowledge leads us to consider what Jesus did for us.

“We know that a person is not justified by works of the law” (Galatians 2:16). Is this not a marvelous truth that we have to know to be saved?

“I count everything loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). Everything loss, for the sake of knowledge.

“We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true” (1 John 5:20). Jesus himself gives knowledge.

We are told that the Holy Spirit is primarily a teacher, a passer on of knowledge. We are prayed for by Paul (Ephesians 1, 3), to understand (know) God’s working on and for us, and to know the love of Christ. We are urged to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

Every single one of these passages… involves knowledge.

Well, the argument goes, it needs to drop the 18 inches from your head to your heart. Because if it is in your head, it puffs up.

Well… maybe. But don’t use 1 Corinthians 8:1 for that thought. There, the thought is that the knowledge of food offered to idols is puffing up; the context is that those folks thought that they knew what God required… and they didn’t. What puffed them up was false knowledge.

You could say that false knowledge puffs up.
True knowledge, knowledge of Christ, is different. That knowledge pushes us to respond in love, because of the grace that Christ has poured out on us. That knowledge “fills us to the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19).

So… the greatest grace I’ve experienced is knowledge. Knowledge with a particular object: Christ. Knowledge of who He is. Knowledge of what He’s done. Knowledge that knocks my socks off, that changes who I am, that alters my perception of reality. Knowledge that is so huge, that God himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit, is the one who must impart it to me.

May this knowledge strengthen us, grow us, cause us to change… as all things pertaining to life and godliness are “through the knowledge of Him” (2 Peter 1:3).

Happy studying, and much grace be yours… in the knowledge of Christ!

Counting Blessings… and settling on one

Grace, In Christ,

I was counting blessings today. I don’t know if you do that. But as I was walking from where I park my car to where the church is, I had a really beautiful view of South Hill, with Western Washington University aglow, and the crisp green of trees contrasting the clear blue sky with just an occasional puff of cloud.

I thought, what a blessing. I live in such beauty.

And then, as I strode along, I was thanking God for being healthy. Big long strides, no problem.

What blessings do you count?
What blessings do you count?

And the church came into view, with the sign lit up, and I was praising God for a place to meet, a place to grow. And all the people who He has stirred up to be involved. Great blessing.

And my kids. Hope & Grace are so wonderful. Even when they’re not sleeping. I can’t believe that my wife and I get to raise these precious children.

And my wife. She is such a fantastic companion and helper and friend.

These are real blessings. And there are so many more… a mind to think, fingers to type, air to breathe… endless really.

But I thought if I had to pick one this morning, it would be knowledge.

That’s a funny one, you might say. Aren’t wife and kids and health and job the real blessings? Why would you want to count as your major blessing some dry, intellectual thing like ‘knowledge’?

Well, it is because of the object. I know Jesus. I know, in the way that counts, who he is. What he’s done. I know him relationally. I know him because he’s shown himself to me. I know him when so many people don’t.

Another way to say it is that my major blessing is the Bible. The teaching of the Word. Because the Word of God is about my Savior. The Word of God reveals our need for him, his coming to earth, his life and death for me, his living right now interceding for me, his glorious return. The grace that changes everything comes through this knowledge. 

True, deep, life-changing knowledge of my Savior is the ground of my faith, revealed in the Word, implanted in my heart by the Holy Spirit, and it is all I need for life (2 Peter 1:3). This knowledge drives me to repentence, shapes my actions, motivates my heart, causes me to sing. This knowledge doesn’t make me perfect… but it works on me, and it promises a glorious future.

This is a blessing that can be counted… and is why I love to spend time in my Bible.

In the words of Sinclair Ferguson: “It is essential for us to realize that God’s word is the central gift Christ gives to the church. The major gifts of the New Testament era were given either to write that word (apostles), apply it (prophets) or teach it (pastors and teachers). We must see to it that our gifts are fed on the teaching of Holy Scripture, so that they grow strong and are channelled in the right direction, and so bring glory to Christ.” (Ferguson, Grow in Grace)

Count some blessings with me today… yours may be different than mine… but don’t forget the incredible blessing of our knowledge of our Savior.

Grace in Humor

Grace, Uncategorized, ,
Is my joy really in plumbing?
Is my joy really in plumbing?

I’m so thankful my Father in heaven has a sense of humor. I know that things like discipline are signs of His love (Hebrews 12:6), and I know that there are many serious aspects to the Christian life.  But I’m also struck by circumstances in my own life that are… well… humorous, in a good way, in a teaching way, through which my Father teaches me.

I think of the example of Jesus, who often used wit to season his teaching. After Nathanael had pestered Philip in John 1 about Jesus being from Nazareth (“can anything good come out of Nazareth?”), Jesus pokes at him: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” We might not get the humor, but it is there: Jacob, who became Israel, has a name which means deceit. “Behold,” Jesus says, “a son of Jacob indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Hmm. Just a little sarcasm, Jesus… and Nathanael may have rethought his statements about origin right there.

For me, I have to go no farther than this last weekend, when I was speaking on the joys of plumbing. Enjoy it, I was telling those around me, but don’t think it is your major blessing from God. Our blessing from God is our election, our redemption, our sealing… and we need to hold onto the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance, the greatness of His power toward us. Grand things all, and there are many who don’t have plumbing… but hold onto eternal life.

So, last night, I went downstairs into the kitchen… and lo, a veritable pool of water was on the dining room floor, having dripped down from the ceiling. It seems that our upstairs tub has sprung a leak, soaking drywall and letting water make its way down the wall and onto our floor.

I was tempted to be quite frustrated… and I was immediately reminded… my blessing is not plumbing. It is God’s certain call, His treasuring of me, power exerted on my behalf. How quickly I forget His real blessing, that ought never make me move from grateful praise.

Nothing to drive it home like water on the floor.

Thanks, Father. You always know what I need. I enjoy plumbing, running water… but I need to find my joy always in You.

Grace in plumbing.