[Sermon] Connecting the Dots: How the Gospel Connects with “Real Life”

Sermon audio is up (no manuscript this week):

Connecting the Dots: How the Gospel Connects with “Real Life” 

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Christian Women: Are You Imitating or Idolizing?

Trisha Wilkerson asks Christian women, "Are You Imitating or Idolizing?" and discusses the difference between the two. (Men - read the post and replace "woman" with "man" and "Barbie" with "Ken." It works.)

She writes:

Imitation keeps Jesus as the goal. Idolatry makes being like that person the goal. Being like this woman became more motivating than being like Jesus. Now, as an adult, I’m not immune from this temptation. From Martha Stewart to the Proverbs 31 woman, my heart is easily persuaded to idolize. Idolatry of a particular woman brings condemnation; instead of feeling inspired, it feels like I can never measure up. For some, it's an imaginary woman we long to be and this fictitious perfection is the unattainable goal.

When it comes to being a Christian woman, there's often a desire to become or look like what we think a Christian woman is. We read women’s role books, attend women’s groups, watch shows aimed at women, and compare ourselves all along the way. If there were a Christian Barbie, we would own her.

Read the rest here.

Free Book: Don Whitney, Ten Questions

For a limited time, the Kindle version of Don Whitney's Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health is available for free.

You might also be interested in Don's other titles:

• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
• Spiritual Disciplines within the Church

Galatians 5:25-6:5 – The Conceit-Slaying, Community-Serving Gospel (Part 1)

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached July 3, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Audio will be available here.

Tomorrow is Independence Day. Americans love their independence. And yet, we have also recognized that independence has necessary limits. For example, the Great Seal of the United States of America bears the Latin dictum: “e pluribis unum,” which means “out of many, one.” It is, after all, the United (not, the Independent) States of America. We recognize that independence in one realm does not mean rule out responsibilities to others elsewhere.

We live in a world where, too often, people use their “freedom” as a license to use, abuse or neglect other people. Is someone poor? “He’s probably irresponsible.” Am I selling a product for an unreasonable rate? “If the buyer doesn’t do his homework, it’s not my fault!” Am I being less than honest to get or keep a job? We live in a “dog-eat-dog” world. Nature is red in tooth and claw. We must “look out for number one” (who is, of course, me). It is a tough world, and only the strong survive.

I imagine that most of us—regardless of whether we participate in such a mindset (and we all do)—recognize that this is wrong. This is why people drink fair-trade coffee, fight for child-labor laws and boycott companies that use sweat-shops. Perhaps, you mourn the fact that the interests of the majority too often trample on the rights of the minority. And, perhaps, you lament that there is no clear way to fix it.

Christianity offers us answers and solutions. Our passage this morning tells us why people mistreat other people in the world—even in the church. And, it tells us how this is fixed. 

This final chapter of Galatians, especially this passage, shows us that the Gospel promotes a right balance of individual accountability and corporate responsibility. We each will stand before God alone. This fact, seen through faith, frees us to love our neighbor, even at cost to ourselves.

What Does It Mean to "Walk By the Spirit"?

That's the question I tried to answer in a recent five-part sermon series on Galatians 5:16-24. Follow the links below to listen/read:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Faith and Sanctification

"In the bond between faith and sanctification we perceive, no less than in the bond between faith and justification, the pulsebeat of the Gospel. If faith will but lift its blossoms to catch the sunlight of God's grace, the fruit will be a life imbued with holiness."

~ G.C. Berkouwer, Faith and Sanctification

How are Christians Prone to Misunderstand the Process of Change?

In this recent interview, Tim Lane (You Can Change) and Mike Emlet (CrossTalk) discuss misunderstandings Christians are prone to have regarding the process of change, particularly given their emphasis on the heart. Here are the misunderstandings they discuss:

• "I have to fully discern the inner-workings of my heart...before I take a step of action."
• Inadequately calibrated expectations.
• We can change simply as individuals, apart from community and corporate worship.
• Fear of calling someone to obedience lest we lead someone down the road of moralism.

Listen to their explanations.

Galatians 5:16-24 – The Flesh-Defeating, Fruit-Producing Gospel (Part 2)

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached June 5, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Audio will be available here.

This sermon is really the second of three sermons on this passage. Last Sunday (part 1), we gave the most attention to verses 16-18. And, as we examined this passage, we considered three main points:

First: There is a battle raging in the believer between the flesh and the Spirit. 

Second: However, we should be optimistic: since the war is won, the battles may be too. 

Third: The battle is won when we “walk by the Spirit.”

Last week, we began to overview what it means to “walk by the Spirit” (or, to be “led by the Spirit”).  I attempted to outline what it means to “walk by the Spirit” in four parts:

1) Identify whether a desire is of the flesh or of the Spirit.

2) Destroy those desires that are contrary to the Gospel.

3) Be satisfied with (savor) who you are and what you have in Christ.

4) Live out the desires of the Spirit by faith, in the power of the Spirit.

This morning, we’ll look at half of point one—identifying whether a desire is of the flesh. We’ll come back next week to finish point one (identifying whether a desire is of the Spirit) and, Lord willing, points 2-4.

Galatians 5:16-24 – The Flesh-Defeating, Fruit-Producing Gospel (Part 1)

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached May 29, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Audio available here.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a United States federal holiday commemorating men and women who died while in military service to the United States. (I encourage to you to, and hope you will, visit a cemetery and Memorial Day service to honor those who have died to provide and protect the freedoms we enjoy.)

Memorial Day is a reminder to a nation’s citizens that freedom is neither cheap nor easy—either to provide or to maintain. Neither the provision nor the protection of freedom are without war, battle, conflict and struggle. Just as blood had to be shed to set us free, we are all too aware that battles must be continuously fought against those who would destroy our freedom.

Memorial Day then stands as a parable and an illustration of the Christian life. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul has been reminding his readers of their freedom and how it came to them. It was through the God-man, Jesus the King, who lived a perfect life, died under God’s curse for our sins, and rose from the dead that we who trust in him have been set free from the tyranny of the law and its curse, from the burden of our sins, from the dominion of Satan and from the bonds of death. Our freedom came through the death of Christ and is ours by faith alone.

But, this does not mean that the Christian life is without conflict or that the protection of those freedoms is easy. There are enemies of the cross who, in the name of Christ but empowered by Satan, want believers to abandon their freedom and submit again to yokes of slavery. There is the pull of the world that wants us to forsake the freedom of sonship for the bondage of the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world. And, there is our old flesh, always seeking an opportunity to see its desires gratified.

The Christian is called to stand firm against all of these. In the previous verses, Paul has warned us against letting the flesh co-opt freedom. Rather, the freedom that comes through faith in Christ should issue in love that serves others. He encouraged this by pointing out the consequences of each course. Allowing the flesh to high-jack freedom results in the destruction of the church. Their use of their words to bite and devour other believers will result in them being consumed by one another. However, letting freedom through faith spill over into self-sacrificing love is the fulfillment of the law.

John Piper: "Die to the Law for Justification and Die to the Law for Sanctification."

"This brings us to our text in Romans 7:7-12. Paul is defending the Law. Verse 7: "What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be!" The reason he is defending the Law is that he has said some things about the Law that would shock some of his readers. In essence he has said: If we make the Law the decisive means of justification or sanctification (being declared righteous, or becoming righteous) we find that its effect is exactly the opposite.

• It does not justify from sin; it reveals sin. Romans 3:20, "By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." If we try to make it a means of justification, it becomes a means of condemnation.

• Neither does it sanctify; it stirs up more sin. Romans 7:8, "But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead."

"The Law reveals sin and stirs up more sin. Therefore, the holy, just, and good Law of God is not the decisive means of justification or sanctification. It is not the first and decisive way to get right with God, and it is not the first and decisive way to bear fruit for God.

"Instead, Paul says – shockingly – that, if we are going to bear fruit for God, we must die to the Law. Romans 7:4, "Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God." If you are going to bear fruit for God, you must die to the Law and be united to the living Christ. Again, Romans 7:6, "But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter."

"In other words, Paul is saying that getting right with God in the first place as an undeserving sinner, and then learning to serve him and bear fruit for him as a justified sinner, must be pursued in an entirely new way having to do with the Spirit of the risen Jesus Christ, not in the old way, having to do with the letter – the writings, the Law written on stone. Becoming a Christian and becoming Christlike (justification and sanctification – declaration and transformation) must be pursued in a way that does not make Law the decisive means or agent.

"How then is it to be pursued? Paul answers at two levels. He says pursue justification and sanctification by faith alone apart from works of the Law. That's one level. And he says pursue justification and sanctification in the newness of the Spirit, not the oldness of the letter. That's the other level. Die to the Law for justification and die to the Law for sanctification. And in the place of the Law as a means of justification and sanctification, put faith in Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Jesus Christ."

~ Jesus Christ and the Law of God

How Christianity Differs from Most Religions

A good word from Tim Keller's latest book, King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus:

“Most people in the world believe that if there is a God, you related to God by being good. Most religions are based on that principle, though there are a million different variations on it. Some religions are what you might call nationalistic: You connect to God, they say, by coming into our people group and taking on the markers of society membership. Other religions are spiritualistic: You reach God by working your way through certain transformations of consciousness. Yet other religions are legalistic: There’s a code of conduct, and if you follow it God will look upon you with favor. But they all have the same logic: If I perform, if I obey, I’m accepted. The gospel of Jesus is not only different from that but diametrically opposed to it: I’m fully accepted in Jesus Christ, and therefore I obey.”

(HT:Z)

What Accomplishes Real Obedience?

"Terror accomplishes no real obedience. Suspense brings forth no fruit unto holiness. No gloomy uncertainty as to God’s favor can subdue one lust, or correct our crookedness of will. But the free pardon of the cross uproots sin, and withers all its branches. Only the certainty of love, forgiving love, can do this."

~ Horatius Bonar, God's Way of Holiness

Law, Gospel, and Sanctification

Justin Taylor's post, Gospel Grace, the Pursuit of Holiness, and the Charge of Antinomianism, is well worth reading.

Can I Be Saved If I Am Living in Constant, Secret Sin?

David Powlison, author of Pornography: Slaying the Dragon, answers the question. (He refers to a chapter he wrote in the excellent collection of essays, Sex and the Supremacy of Christ.)

(HT:JT)

Sin – Confrontation – Heart – Idol – Gospel

Dustin Shramek has a worthwhile post at Life2gether on the role of the Gospel in change. Here is his conclusion:

The gospel makes a claim on our lives. It calls us to change. It calls us to holiness and obedience. So we need to preach the gospel to one another and call each other to greater holiness and obedience. But we will never be able to heed the call of the gospel if we don’t also have the comfort of the gospel. We need to understand that in Christ our sins are forgiven. I can’t live the life God wants me to live if by living it I think God will love me more. I first need to know that God loves me and he couldn’t possibly love me more because his love is already endless. It is the knowledge and experience of that love that enables me to strive for greater holiness. We obey not in order for God to love us, but because he already does.

Read the rest.

What Sanctification Means

"The motivation and direction for obedience is the holy status which God has given us by bringing us to himself and the holiness of his own character, revealed throughout Scriptures but pre-eminently in his Son.  In practical everyday terms, sanctification means living in gratitude for what God has already accomplished for us and promised us in Christ.  The New Testament consistently uses the language of sanctification to describe what it means to be ‘in Christ.’  To separate sanctification from redemption and conversion is inaccurate and unhelpful."

- David Peterson, Possessed by God

Sanctification by the Gospel Alone

"When we speak of the centrality of the gospel we refer to the fact that every aspect of our salvation stems from the gospel.  We mean that the gospel is truly the power of God for salvation in that it is through the gospel we are called, regenerated, converted, sanctified, and finally glorified.  We mean that Jesus Christ, God come in the flesh, as he lived, died and rose again, gave meaning to all history and human existence.  We mean that the gospel is the only means we have of beginning, continuing, and persevering in the Christian life . . . . When we approach sanctification as attainable by any means other than the gospel of Christ–the same gospel by which we are converted–we have departed from the teaching of the New Testament."

~ Graeme Goldsworthy, The Gospel in Revelation