Creation Ordinances

I was preparing my sermon on the fourth commandment this week. I was re-reading the book, The Market Day of the Soul by James T Dennison, Jr. where he shows the development of the Puritan doctrine of the Sabbath as a creation ordinance. The concept of a creation ordinance got me thinking about the news today of the action of the PCUSA affirming so called “homosexual marriage.” I refer to this as “so called” because by definition the term “homosexual marriage” is nonsense by definition. Marriage is a creation ordinance instituted by God as the mutual and intimate covenant relationship between a man and a woman and it has been acknowledged as a cultural universal for the history of humanity. Clearly the promoters of homosexual unions as “marriage” are on the wrong side of history, but I digress.

An acquaintance of mine wrote on his blog about the present state of the PCUSA. This action does not make them apostate. That sad fact occurred when that branch of Presbyterian Churches embraced “liberalism” and denied the scriptures as the infallible rule of faith and practice. J. Gresham Machen understood this in the 1920s and wrote the book, Christianity and Liberalism, in which he affirms that Liberalism is not another form of Christianity but entirely different, so different as to belong to a distinct category. The actions of the present General Assembly have their roots in this sad history of denying the scriptures. I am saddened by this expected result in the church of my youth. I was a member of the then UPUSA in Ohio. I remember as a teen when my family left with other families to start a new as a congregation of the newly formed PCA in the early 1970s that homosexuality was already an issue in Eastminster Presbytery of the UPUSA. The issue then and now is not homosexuality per se; it is the authority of God’s word. While I am not surprised, I am still saddened and even weep before God for the Church of Jesus Christ.

But my thoughts are not solely focused on the news of the PCUSA but really about creation ordinances. It absolutely astounds me that modern man has the very audacity to attempt to over throw the creation ordinances of God. To be sure, no lightening is immediately striking the arrogant rebels. They think God either doesn’t exist or doesn’t care. I think otherwise (Romans 2:3-7). Indeed God must sit in the heavens as ruler and king and laugh at our puny efforts to overturn His order (Psalm 2). A school boy learns that one can fight against God’s natural law of gravity only so long but in the end it will overtake you. We are creatures of this creation. God’s order, whether natural law or spiritual law, wins in the end. It is the reality we must deal with. We are not God. We bought the lie of Satan that we can be but that doesn’t make it any more true.

So my heart grieves for those who set up their own laws to replace the laws of God. This is nothing but self-destructive behavior. The reality and futility of sin will be made manifest but how many lives will be eternally ruined because of the present purveyors of such monstrous thinking and teaching? How many families will be torn apart by this irrational stupidity? In fact, I believe is it the goal of Satan and those that follow his perverse thinking that people should tear apart their most cherished relationships, kill their unborn offspring, and destroy themselves physically and spiritually by outright rebellion against God. What is the end? I marvel that many don’t see it. The end is the enslavement of all under sin and evil. Without spiritual discipline and the truth of God all we have is slavery and death. It seems ironic that this should be most manifest in America, “the land of the free and home of the brave.” America that has become the land of political correctness and government tyranny by regulation. America, the place where anything is tolerated so long as it isn’t the truth and true freedom.

But back to creation ordinances. They are the fabric of life in this age. They will not disappear whatever human beings may do. Only one man has kept them. That man is the man Jesus Christ, the Son of God come in the flesh. Only by faith in his righteousness and self-sacrifice is there life for the souls of men, women, and children. If we want to be true patriots we need to do two things. We must call men and women to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus. We must defend and practice the creation ordinances of God. If we wish to remain free we must preserve the sanctity of marriage and the family, we must defend the necessity and legitimacy of labor, and we must observe and rest in the hope of the Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3; Heb 4:4ff).

Sanctification and the Means of Grace

All the dust up about sanctification, the three uses of the law in reformed theology, and the distinction between law and gospel involving Tullian Tchividjian and members of the Gospel Coalition reveals that controversy isn’t easily diffused. The blog on Ligionier posted the applicability of John Newton’s warnings about controversy here. We should all heed Newton’s advice about warily taking up controversies. Indeed such controversies rightly or wrongly entered upon affect the greater circle of Christians as well as non-Christians.

I am not attempting here to add any more light or heat to what has already been posted elsewhere. I do hope the men involved can find a way to further the discussion without making caricatures of other’s opinions and to be reconciled doctrinally or personally where needed.

I was struck about one thing in the issue of sanctification that was raised. What seems central to me and important for all believers is the rediscovery of the ordinary means of grace. We can talk about categories of law and definitions of terms but in the end the Christian believer is strengthened in his faith and one grows in his sanctification by the faithful use of the God ordained means of grace. These are not mere good works or activities that believers do as suggested by some.

Historically the “means of grace” are believed to be those things which God has given to strengthen the believer’s faith. The reformed churches have customarily considered the “means” as being comprised of the Word of God, the sacraments, and prayer. What is meant by this terminology is that God’s grace, his favor to us in Christ, is communicated by the Holy Spirit through these ordinary means. Ordinary they are. There is nothing fancy or spectacular about them. That is partly why they are ordinary. They are termed ordinary however because they are the ordinary or normal means whereby Christ communicates the benefits of his mediation (WLC # 154). Christ does this by the effective work of the Holy Spirit who applies the work of Christ to the believer. This application of the benefits of redemption purchased by Christ is through the Holy Spirit’s working faith in the believer and by the instrumentality of faith uniting the believer to Christ.

What seems apparent to me is that the work of God’s grace in sanctification is the result of the ongoing union with Christ by faith through God’s appointed means. We can talk about the lack of power of the law and the power of the gospel but the scriptures are plain. The power is the working of the Holy Spirit applying the word (law and gospel) to the believer’s heart and life. Grace isn’t a mystical thing but the unmerited favor of God to the believer in Christ. The power is the recreative and redemptive power of God wrought by the Holy Spirit upon the heart and life of one through faith. The ordinary means are indispensible because they are the ordinary channels of God’s grace to us.

If we want to grow in grace we need to use the means of grace to strengthen and grow in our union with Christ by faith. That is why faith is important and active in appropriating the means of grace. Whatever we may think about the above controversy all of us would agree that we must diligently apply the means of grace with faith. This is key to our spiritual growth. Too many believers have left the ordinary means in search of the “extra-ordinary.”

The Humility of Humility

I’ve been working through Philippians 2. The Apostle Paul writes strikingly and clearly about the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. And while this central truth of Christianity is important Paul uses it as an encouragement for our lives as believers. In other words, Paul wants us to understand and to live out the reality of our union with Jesus Christ that is effected through faith alone. So what does union with Christ practically look like?  In one word, humility.

Humility seems easier when we are faced with the accolades of others and we feel uncomfortable about the attention. We can shy away from public adulation though some of us tend to inwardly like it. Humility seems possible when we are called to perform some service that is needful but perhaps “below our pay grade.” Christians seem to quickly embrace service because after all, we know that Jesus came to serve others, us. We can “do” that. Humility is something we can resign ourselves to when things are not going our way and someone has to give in for the success of the project or ministry. That seems like the right thing to do.

Humility gets really hard when we have to, as Paul puts it, obey. Ouch! That is difficult especially for 21^st century evangelicals. That smacks of law and an unyielding God who makes Old Testament like demands. I mean, the Apostle Paul is the one who wrote, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Gal 5:1). We like the idea of liberty and freedom.

Paul also reminds us that not only was he a bond-servant of the Lord (Romans 1:1, Galatians 1:10) but we are to present ourselves as slaves to righteousness and servants of God (Romans 6:19). Now to be sure Paul is writing in human terms but the seriousness of the real Lordship of Jesus Christ cannot be understated. What we are talking about is sanctification.

Note the humility in the believer’s obedience in Philippians 2. The believer is to be doing all things without grumbling and disputing. God calls us like Christ to sacrifice ourselves trusting in his good plan. Like Christ by faith we are to be obedient to the extreme. God doesn’t promise us an easy life. We are called to die to self and to the world. Humility means that we ought not grumble and complain as we so often are tempted to do even when we suffer and struggle. It isn’t about our rights but God’s glory and his purposes which are really for our good. Real humility starts with easy things and moves to the sacrifice of one’s self for Christ and his kingdom glory.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…being found in the appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even, the death of the cross.”

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”

Books and Sanctification

Books! I find myself in agreement with the preacher of Ecclesiastes where he writes, “...Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.” This probably sounds strange coming from a pastor. I am always challenged by the number of books written and people asking me my opinions of them. I am a slow reader and it takes me much time to work through books.

I was recently asked my opinion on the book, “Extravagant Grace” by Barbara Duguid. This volume has received many good reviews. The inquirer had some questions and concerns. There are also a couple of reviews out there that raise some criticism. Even the OPC magazine, New Horizons posts a positive review in the February 2014 issue and a letter in May 2014 issue that offers a critique. So what did I think? Yep, I had to admit I hadn’t read the book.

So, my comments are not about Mrs. Duguid’s book, “Extravagant Grace” but about the topic raised by it and my questioner, Sanctification. I just want to make one point from the scriptures that I think is relevant to the discussion and perhaps of help to others.

In my own personal battle with sin a verse of scripture brought illumination and a sense of freedom, I Corinthians 1:30. Paul declares that Jesus Christ is the believer’s sanctification. In my struggle with learned habitual sins and my own weaknesses that are common to many (I Cor 10:13), I came to understand that my only hope is faith in Christ. This faith, just like the faith of justification is not a passive faith but an active trust. I could endeavor, plan, plot, promise, and try to live righteously with tears on my own all I wanted but I would fail. Surrender to my sin is the great temptation by the Tempter himself.

I read Paul in Romans 7:15-25 and I began to hope. “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” I read again I Corinthians 1:30. I read again Ephesians 4:17-24. Who is the new man? It is Jesus Christ. How do I put him on? I put him on by faith. Sanctification is by faith, an active faith which engages the will, heart, and mind to live as one united to Jesus Christ by faith. I settle for nothing less than living by faith in the Son of God, fleeing to him for forgiveness, and being fed upon him by the word of God, the sacraments, and prayer.

Just like books, there is no end to sin. No they aren’t the same but I need sanctification in both areas. My hope in the battle with sin is in my union with Jesus Christ by faith. By faith I stand and live in the daily struggle against sin and for sanctification. That is my hope for you too.

Our Resurrection in Christ

Doubtless there were many sermons preached on Easter Sunday, April 20. I did preach on the theme from I Corinthians 15. While I think that recognized religious holidays give pastors an opportunity to preach and that such holidays give churches an opportunity to share the essentials of the gospel, I think there is great benefit in the position that every Sunday is “Resurrection Sunday” and that the Christian Sabbath is the great day of week. It is a promise of the believer’s rest in Christ (Heb 4:1-10).

The idea of the Sabbath that Jesus taught that “…the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath,” relates to the promise of the resurrection and our union with Christ Jesus by faith. I am referring to the immense and often under rated benefit of the Christian believer’s union with Christ or, as it is commonly referred to, one’s relationship with Christ.

John Calvin argues thoroughly in his commentary on I Corinthians 15 that there is “a mutual and reciprocal result” established from Christ to us and from us to Christ. Behind Paul’s argument in that chapter, stands the reasoning that if Christ has risen then believers will be raised and if Christ has not risen then believers will not be raised. Equally, if believers are raised then Christ must be raised and if we are not raised from the dead then Christ has not been raised. He even goes so far to reason that “Christ did not die or rise again for Himself, but for us…” and he states further that Christ’s resurrection finds its purpose not in himself but in its result of the resurrection of his own members.

There is a connection or rather a union here. This is a relationship but more than a relationship defined in the common sort of way of an emotional connection. Nor is the believer’s relationship with Christ merely economical where we simply get things (salvation, justification, redemption, resurrection, heaven, etc.) from Jesus. As real as emotional and economical benefits in Christ are, something more profound is expressed.

What we should understand is that our relationship with Jesus by faith is one of union or identity. Christ’s death becomes the death of the believer by faith. Christ’s resurrection becomes the believer’s resurrection by faith. By this I do not mean to imply that ours is merely a spiritualized death or resurrection. No, we must truly die to self and our body of sin must die yet the penalty of death for sin is fulfilled by Christ for us so that our death is not penal (see Westminster Larger Catechism Q85). The essence of the substitutionary atonement is that Christ bears the believer’s sin, its guilt, and its required punishment for them. In this faith union believers are also sharers in his resurrection. As surely as he was raised from the dead believers will be bodily raised from the dead too. Indeed, the purpose of the resurrection of Jesus is the resurrection of believers in him. Christ has entered into his glory. Believers, by their faith union in him, enter into their share of his glory. The great Sabbath Rest is pictured and promised at every public Sunday/Sabbath worship. You see, every Christian Sabbath is Resurrection Sunday.

Christ was raised for us! (Romans 6:1-14)

Zealous for Jesus?

Reflecting on the special[i] celebration and remembrance of the substitutionary suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to be observed this Easter weekend I was reading John 18. I am again moved by the poignancy of John’s narrative, his portrayal of the nobility of Jesus before his enemies, and his testimony of the zeal of Peter.

Oh Peter! How often many of us wish we could be like him. It was earlier that evening of the celebration of the Passover that Peter vowed to give his life for Jesus (John 13:37). How zealous Peter was for Jesus, his Lord. How we wish to be so.

I find John Calvin’s thoughts about the zeal of Peter as a lesson to us very instructive. He writes:

“…(L)et us learn that in the person of Peter, Christ condemns everything that men dare to attempt arbitrarily. This lesson is especially worth noticing, for nothing is commoner than to defend everything that we do under the cloak of zeal, as if it were unimportant whether God approved or not what men think to be right…”

I am not trying to highlight Peter’s faults in order make me or others feel superior. No, we are often all too much like Peter and we need to take heed. We may, like Peter, act bravely and run great risks for Christ’s sake, but zeal alone does not justify our actions that God does not approve of. Such indiscreet zeal may put us into a more grievous situation that may hazard temptations we wouldn’t have to face if we were to restrain our zeal by God’s word and faith.

Calvin continues in his comments on John 18:10-14, “Again, it was exceedingly thoughtless in Peter to try to prove his faith by the sword, while he could not do so by his tongue. When he is called to make confession, he denies; but now unbidden by his Master he raises a riot. Warned by such a striking example, let us learn to moderate our zeal. And as the wantonness of our flesh ever itches to dare more than God commands, let us learn that our zeal will turn out badly whenever we dare to undertake anything beyond God’s Word. It will sometimes happen that the beginnings please us; but we shall pay for our rashness in the end.”

The whole of Peter’s failure lies in his focus. He is concerned about himself though he cloaked it in a concern for Jesus. He felt the need to live up to his oath and to act by himself before others for Jesus. Having failed to act rightly for Jesus reproved him, his fleshly strength gave way and his spiritual weakness was revealed. John contrasts Peter’s spiritual failure with Jesus’ solitary fidelity by juxtaposing Peter’s first denial before the mere question of servant girl with Jesus serene confident witness before the high priest and the abuse of an officer. Again, Peter is questioned by mere men and servants and he denies Jesus twice more. Jesus then stands before a Roman Governor and calmly defends himself against false charges. Peter was in the end, like we, concerned about himself. Jesus is always concerned about us (John 18:8,9).

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[i] In reformed congregations from the Scottish tradition it is customary not to observe “holy” days (i.e. holidays). Jesus Christ’s resurrection is celebrated and remembered every Lord’s Day (Sunday). See WCF 21.7, LC 116, SC 59.

You Already Have a Relationship with God

"Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned." (Romans 5:12).

I've always taught that there is no "sin" gene in humanity that is somehow genetically passed down from one generation to another. The corruption of humanity and its result, death, came by another means, a legal one that God instituted. A real historical person, Adam, was the God created and appointed representative of the entire human race. That is what the scriptures clearly teach in Romans 5:12ff, I Corinthians 15:21ff, and the story of his fall into sin recorded in Genesis 3.  When Adam sinned God imputed or credited that sin to the rest of us who biologically descended from him. Adam acted as a "public" person and not just as in individual. He acted for us. The result was dreadful. .

All of this is basic to the Christian worldview. God created all things and he alone set the rules for life. This is what evolutionary theory, whether secular or theistic, undermines. If one can get rid of a historic Adam and therefore his role as our representative, then we can get rid of sin and make death just a part of life. We are just individuals acting on our own... and dying on our own.

It is from this kind of individualistic thinking or, as Van Til would say autonomous thinking, that many modern notions spring. These notions have affected Christians who unwittingly adapt individualism to their theology. An example is the popular evangelistic question of, "Do you want to have a personal relationship with God?"

It is sometimes put this way, " Having a personal relationship with God begins the moment we realize our need for Him, admit we are sinners, and in faith receive Jesus Christ as Savior. God, our heavenly Father, has always desired to be close to us, to have a relationship with us." http://www.gotquestions.org/personal-relationship-with-God.html#ixzz2s0x91yOW

Romans 5:12ff and Genesis 3 teach us is that every human being has a personal relationship with God. The real question is, "What kind of a relationship? "  You see, God created Adam and created a relationship with him and his wife, Eve. God had to define the terms of this relationship because well, God is God and he so much more vast in every way than his creatures. Think about it. God, in all his perfect and infinite glory, power, love, truth, and being wanted to establish a relationship with his creatures. Wow!

But you know how that story ended right? Adam and Eve bought into the lie that Satan, the deceiver, sold them and they decided to be like God themselves by defining for themselves right and wrong, good and evil. From that moment on the relationship between God and humanity was broken. Now I don't mean broken as in non-existent. I mean broken as no longer functioning as intended. Adam and humanity are now under the curse of God, liable to judgment and death. Where death is sin is. This relationship became a bad one. Its like when you have had a bad argument with your wife or your children. She is still your wife and they are still your children but the relationship is strained or bad. There are harsh words. There is judgment and anger.

The point of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that Jesus came to be the new or second Adam. Jesus came to be a better representative and to do all that God required. By faith in Jesus Christ our bad relationship with God is restored and made new. A closer, friendlier, and loving relationship with God is made in place of the broken, separated, and angry relationship with God that we are born with because of Adam's sin. The issue is do you want to keep the relationship with God that you have through Adam or, do you want a new and better relationship with God through Jesus Christ?

All of us are in a relationship with God. We cannot escape that fact. God made us. We are "in" Adam. He is our first representative. Is Jesus your second and better representative?

---See the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapters 6&7 for further reading.