Fear and Trembling

My last post discussed antinomianism.   The heresy of antinomianism teaches that true Christians do not necessarily perform good works.   This post deals with some of the logical out-workings of antinomianism.   True Christians will show their commitment to Christ in lives marked by good works.   What are we to make of the oft quoted surveys of George Barna and others that show   Christians are just as likely to divorce as non-Christians, nine percent of Christians tithe (give ten percent of their income as the Bible commands), 80% of those who take pledges to wait for marriage are sexually active outside marriage in the next seven years, and 20% of Christians do not think premarital sex is wrong?       Is it true that commitment to Christ makes no difference in a person’s life?   (Statistics as quoted in Finally Alive by John Piper, p. 13)   Keep in mind that Barna and others define Christians based on what they say they ...

I have been listening to a series of lectures / sermons by John Piper on "Understanding Future Grace" . I’d like to add my two cents. Pastor John makes a comment in the second lecture that he thinks Calvinists have not spent enough time and effort exploring why it is that the new birth leads to a change in a person’s life. I’d like to offer some thoughts on why this is the case. Faith is of it very essence a form of trust. The article on faith from the 1689 London Baptist Confession discusses faith as follows: By faith a Christian believes everything to be true that is made known in the Word, in which God speaks authoritatively. He also perceives in the Word a degree of excellence superior to all other writings, indeed to all things that the world contains. The Word shows the glory of God as seen in His various attributes, the excellence of Christ in His nature and in the offices He bears, and the power and perfection of the Holy Spirit in all the works in which He is enga...

Psychology, the way people think, has always been a fascination of mine. I took enough psychology classes in college to have been awarded a minor, but the engineering department did not want to award it (some things hard-core engineers will not “sink” to do). Great care must be used by a Christian in this area (especially if we are tempted to supplant the gospel ), but the concepts can often be redeemed . Temperament theory has roots in the psychology of Carl Jung , but can be traced back to Hippocrates . It is undeniably imperfect, and some have even rejected the theories altogether. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator has probably been the most successful application of these theories. (Note: be wary of some of the information on web sites that talk about Myers-Briggs. Good guidelines are located here .) I am an INJT (see here and here ). I am not unique in this . By type, I keep my feelings “close to my vest.” One INTJ put it like this, “I have deep feelings; they are just none of y...

There are many pastors and teachers I could look up to as heros. I have benefited greatly from their ministries. To list a few: John Piper R. C. Sproul Al Mohler Norman Geisler Michael S. Horton and Rod Rosenbladt . This is good. I have learned a lot from these men, especially Dr. Sproul. (I’ve heard and read so much of his teaching that there is a certain sense that even when I am disagreeing with him it is him I am disagreeing with.) This is also bad. I could easily get to the point where I put them on a pedestal. I could begin to take what they say as authoritative in am inappropriate sense. (No man, no matter how smart or gifted, should get an implicit faith.) I could fail to check what they say against the Scriptures. I could fail to see their imperfections and shortcomings. Al of this could be dangerous to my Christian life. If carried to far, hero worship can even ship-wreck a person’s faith. The moral failure of a pastor I had idealized as a youth was almost the undo...

I found a great sermon on justification by John Piper over at Desiring God . He takes a clear statement of Jesus on how a person is justified before God and expounds on it beautifully. It was great to be reminded that Jesus Himself taught on this subject in Luke 18:9-14 . I keep finding people on the web who want me to think that only Paul taught justification by faith (see those sites or references to these people here , here , here , here , here , here , and here ). The idea that Paul and Jesus contradict each other is wrong. Even if they were right, they have in a sense excluded Paul’s writings from consideration. These are among the earliest writings of the New Testament . Paul was a contemporary of, and even personally acquainted with, the other Apostles, and he would have shared their common theology and approach. It seems that many people, from many perspectives, want to showcase their own moral achievements instead of embracing a gospel that is outside of them .

Desiring God Ministries is looking for ideas to spread a resource of theirs: “Light and Heat,” an audio mp3 on CD resource . This is a great series of sermons for an introduction to John Piper. I love my copy. You can share your ideas here and possibly qualify to distribute 5,000 of the CDs.

Desiring God Ministries has announced the theme and speaker for their National Conference, September 28 – 30, 2007 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. “Stand: A Call for the Endurance of the Saints.” The theme verse is Revelation 14:12: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” More information is here . Registration is here .

I was asked to sing a solo at our church last night. I choose to sing a hymn that written by a man named William Cowper. Cowper was born in 1731. He was a contemporary of John Wesley, George Whitefield, William Wilberforce, and others. He struggled with depression for most of his life. After a major depression at age 21, he attempted suicide several times. At age 28, he had another breakdown caused mainly by the threat of a public examination before Parliament. They were to see if he could be appointed to a government position. He was committed to an insane asylum after more failed suicide attempts. He became a Christian during his stay in the asylum when he picked up a Bible placed there and read Romans 3:25, where Christ’s sacrifice for us is highlighted. Cowper later wrote, “I saw the sufficiency of the atonement [Christ] had made, my pardon sealed in His blood, and all the fullness and completeness of His justification. In a moment I believed, and received the gospel…” Over the nex...

I am reading a good book called Flags of our Fathers . Clint Eastwood and company made a movie out of it. I had the chance to see that movie last week while on the road. I first heard of this book when John Piper quoted from it extensively in Don't Waste Your Life . It's the personal biographies of the five men whose photo was taken while raising an American Flag on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II. Interwoven are the stories of many of the U. S. Marines who invaded this island, the first piece of native Japanese soil to fall to the advancing Americans in the pacific. Very inspiring, but might not be popular world-wide. It is a real story of real human beings who did something heroic. Like President Reagan said, "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." Piper draws the book into a Christian worldview. In the above mentioned book, he says: The greatest cause in the...