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Cold Law, Hot Gospel
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Introduction
The law of God is like math. It doesn’t care about anybody’s hurt feelings. It is straight, and hard, and cold, and altogether righteous. But at the same time, when this cold, cold law is resurrected in the body of Christ back from the tomb, it comes to us as burning love. And this is why we preach cold law and hot gospel.
The Text
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Gal 2:16).
Summary of the Text
This passage comes in the context of Paul’s rebuke of Peter at Antioch. Paul says that we knowthat a man cannot be justified by the works of the law. If we know that, then it is imperative that we act as though we know it. Peter knew that truth, but he had started to wobble in his actions concerning it. We are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ, and not by our own works. There is debate among interpreters as to whether this is referring to “the faith ofJesus Christ” (as in, His faith) or “faith in Jesus Christ” (as in, our faith in His obedience). We are not going to go into that because, fortunately, it amounts to the same thing. We are justified by Christ, and not by our own labors. We have believed in Jesus so that we might be justified, and not by the works of the law. Justification through our own efforts is nothing but a pious pipe dream.
The Threefold Use of the Law
God is one, and this means that His Word is unified. But His unified Word can have multiple applications. His law is one, but there are three crucial applications. In Reformed theology, we are accustomed to speak of the threefold use of the law.
The first useis to make us aware of our need for salvation (Rom. 3:20; 4:15; 5:13; 7:7-11; Gal. 3:19-24). In this application, it is impossible to keep.
The second useis for the maintenance of civil order. The magistrate can use the guidance of the law as he fulfills his duty of restraining evil (1 Tim. 1:9).
The third usehelps the regenerate understand what love looks like in particular situations. In this sense the law is a guide for us in our sanctification (Rom. 13: 8-10).
You can see how individuals who are jealous for the purity of the first use of the law would be suspicious of those who make much of the third use. In other words, there is real legalism, but we want to make sure that we don’t define a legalist as someone who loves Jesus more than we do.
Where the Law/Grace Divide Actually Is
There are some believers who want to think in terms of a law/gospel hermeneutic. Now the word hermeneutic has to do with how we interpret a text, like the Scriptures, and so what this means is that they want some passages in the Bible to be “law,” condemning us in our sin, and other passages to be “gospel,” offering us a gracious way out of bondage to sin. But this won’t do.
We couldn’t really color-code a special edition of the Bible in law/gospel categories. What is more “law-like” than the Ten Commandments? And how do the Ten Commandments begin? “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lordthy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Ex. 20:1–2).
And here is an odd statement about “the law.”
“The law of the Lordis perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the Lordis sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7).
And what is more gracious than the gospel of our Lord Jesus?
“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:14–16).
And this gracious gospel is what? To those who are perishing is the aroma of death.
So this tells us that the fundamental law/gospel divide is notto be found in the text of Scripture. It is found in the difference between regenerate and unregenerate man. For the regenerate, everything from God is sweeter than the honeycomb. All of it is grace. For the unregenerate, the whole thing is the stench of death, including the good news of Christ on the cross. All of it is law and condemnation.
Objective Guilt, Not Hurt Feelings
When we are held up against the law of God and measured by it, the measurement is always constant. It does not show partiality, and does not adjust anything on the basis of how we feel.
It is true that sinners are a tangled mess of spiritual bruises, but that is simply a symptom of the problem. It is not the problem. The objective problem is objective wrath.
Hot Gospel
When we stand before the tribunal of God’s law, our trial there is deliberate, careful, meticulous, and altogether just. This is what I mean with the reference to cold law. But the sentence? The sentence is notcold and clinical.
“Who can stand before his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him” (Nahum 1:6).
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
This is just where the gospel comes in. Our evaluation by the law of God is deliberate and judicious. But the sentence is a fireball, and yet there is no grounds for complaint. Every mouth will be stopped before Him. And here is where the wisdom of God overwhelms all the pretended wisdom of man. The reason there can be a hot gospel is because in the cross of Christ, the hot wrath of God was poured out upon Christ, and He took it all in. The word propitiationrefers to the fist of the Father, striking the Son, so that you might be struck down in Him, and raised again to life in Him. “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
State of the Church 2019
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Introduction
As you know, it is our custom to present a “state of the church” message every year around this time. Sometimes the message addresses the state of the church generally, as in, across the nation. Other times, like today, the message concerns particular issues that pertain to our congregation.
The Texts
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6: 9–10).
“But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing” (2 Thess. 3:13).
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).
“Use hospitality one to another without grudging” (1 Pet. 4:9).
Summary of the Texts
Before highlighting what each of our texts is saying, let me begin with the takeaway point from all of them. If we hear the message here rightly, we will see that the fusion of joy and staminais a peculiar work of the Holy Spirit. And if we are in the path we ought to be in, if we are walking in the right way, we will be in great need of Him to perform that work in us. We will need that peculiar fusion of joy and stamina.
In Galatians, Paul exhorts us to not give way to weariness, and the way we are to do this is by keeping our eyes on the agricultural metaphor. We will not grow weary if we keep our eyes on the harvest. Good works, done for all men, but especially for the household of faith, are a form of farming. Plowing hard ground can seem like an eternal distance from the ripening grain of autumn, so lookahead. Consider the whole point.
In Thessalonians, the same exhortation is given—do not grow weary in doing good. In this instance, it is an exhortation given to hard-working saints who are surrounded by goof-offs, leaning on their shovels. Not only must we not grow weary in the good work we are doing, we must also not grow weary in the work of disciplining those who do not understand the biblical view of work, or who do not understand it in their hands.
In Corinthians, Paul says that we are to aboundin our work. We are to be committed to it, and are to be steadfast and immoveable. This work that we are to abound in is work that is not in vain. This means that God wants us to hustle. And remember that this is in the chapter that is talking about the resurrection of the dead. Our abundant work nowis not going to be considered in vain then. Or, as R.C. Sproul put it, right now counts forever. If a cup of cold water given in the name of Christ will not be forgotten in the Lasts Day, then what of the greater words that are assigned to us?
And then Peter tells us to be given to hospitality, and not to be put off by the rudeness or thoughtlessness of others.
As Our Congregation Ages
I know that a number of you have been taking care of elderly parents. This is good and right and holy. Some of you have moved in together, while others are having to navigate this transition from varying distances. As lifespans increase, one of the things that also increases is the need to take care of the elderly. Something that used to be relatively rare is becoming relatively common. So as a congregation, you are to be commended for being the kind of support network that aging families need. And the next generation down needs to be taking notes, because this is a problem that is not likely to shrink. “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Tim. 5:8). You all are living it out.
Life’s Report Card
Our congregation is filled with the spirit of entrepreneurship. That is all to the good, but you must remember the key role that failureplays in every true free market system. There is a strong temptation for many to think that objective standards of excellence only exist for as long as you are in school. Thereyou are evaluated, right out of a grade book—everything clean and tidy. And then, after you graduate, and are out in the world of business, you can start to think that all the standards are somehow subjective now. But frequently it is the other way around. “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean men” (Prov. 22:29).
The Hospitality Dilemma
There is a reason why Peter says that we are to show hospitality without grumbling. Hospitality is a principal way of showing love for one another, and hospitality can be a principal occasion for thoughtlessness and rudeness. Love, in short, creates opportunities for lack of love. So take care, and beware. You are a hospitable group, and so the temptations that accompany hospitality—temptations for hosts and guests alike—will be plentiful.
Called to Our Work
Work is not a result of the fall. Adam was given his task of exercising dominion before he disobeyed the commandment. And he was given a helper for the task before he disobeyed the commandment. God has called us to our work.
This is not the same thing as being called to the work that we assumed that we were going to get done today. God often changes the schedule on us. How many times have we said something like, “I didn’t get anything done today,” when what we mean is that we didn’t get any of ourplans accomplished. All we did was what God assigned to us to do. Oh, only that?
Life in a working community is angular. There are bumps, misunderstandings, understandings, collisions, rivalries, envies, competencies, incompetencies, honest evaluations, and much, much more.
All of it is life in the body, which is to say, life in Christ.
Finding Your Identity in Christ
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The Text
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Introduction
Who are you? From one vantage, the gospel is a great re-memory project. To be lost and dead in our sins is to have forgotten who we are and what we are for, and this makes us afraid. But the gospel of the cross of Jesus is God’s perfect mirror showing us our sin, showing us our Savior, showing us who we really are in Him so that we will not be afraid.
Overview of the Text
Paul is in the middle of an argument here seeking to call the Galatians back to the gospel of Christ (Gal. 1:6-7). And the central point of contention is between the freedom of finding your identity in Christ and the bondage of seeking the approval of man (Gal. 1:10). Paul told his own story of being saved in order to demonstrate that his gospel was not from man but directly from Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:11-16). Paul relates how he was received by the other apostles as a fellow apostle in his ministry to the gentiles, leading to a confrontation with Peter in Antioch who withdrew from eating with Gentiles when some Judaizers showed up (Gal. 2:1-13).
Our text is part of Paul’s confrontation of Peter or at least his continued meditation on that topic. He explains that Jews and Gentiles are alike justified by faith in Jesus Christ and not by works of the law, not the least because nobody can actually be justified by works of the law (Gal. 2:16). Paul’s next thought seems to be a sort of reductio on Peter’s conduct, pointing out that if a Jew eating with a Gentile is wrong, then wouldn’t that make Christ’s ministry through Peter sinful? Isn’t Peter contaminated? God forbid (Gal. 2:17). Besides, why would we try to rebuild exactly what we already broke with our sin (Gal. 2:18)? The law literally curses all lawbreakers and requires their cursed death, which the law specifies as crucifixion on a tree (Dt. 27:26, Gal. 3:10-13). Therefore, in terms of justification, the law’s job is to slay us so that being dead in our sins, we can live by being identified with the One who died for our sins (Gal. 2:19-20). This is where Jesus always meets us. Beginning with Mary Magdalene, Jesus has always met His people in graveyards. Or as Paul says here, Jesus meets us in the cross, at the cross. He saves sinners who are crucified with Him.
Crucified with Christ
Paul is here speaking of what it means to be a Christian. He doesn’t necessarily mean literally dying or being killed on a cross. He means being so identified with Christ by faith, that you reckon yourself, you think of yourself and your life as virtually crucified with Christ. Paul speaks this way with regard to baptism and sin: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? … reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:3, 11). He also speaks this way in terms of repentance and mortification of sin: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God… Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection…” (Col. 3:3, 5). So on the one hand, reckoning yourself crucified with Christ, dead with Christ, means that you reckon all of your sin crucified in Christ. Part of this is in seeing what our sin deserves, and part of this is wanting to be truly free of it. But elsewhere Paul also speaks this way about his human achievements: “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of Hebrews… But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil. 3:4-5, 7-8). So on the other hand, reckoning yourself crucified with Christ means reckoning any good thing as nothing compared to Christ; you count it as essentially lost for the sake of Christ’s work. It is not lost as in good for nothing, but lost as in laid completely at the disposal of Christ who is reconciling all things to Himself (Col. 1:20). Finding your identity in Christ means reckoning all that you are, good and evil, as crucified with Christ. This drives away all fear.
The Life We Live
Paul considers this embracing of Christ’s death the way of Christian life and not just one time at the beginning of your Christian life. Christian life is an ongoing identification with Christ crucified. Paul says that he no longer lives, but Christ lives in him (Gal. 2:20). But this life he now lives is actually by the “faith of Jesus Christ.” This is a highly debated phrase since it can rightly be translated as “faith of Jesus Christ” or “faith in Jesus Christ.” The Bible does teach that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). But the Bible also teaches that our salvation rests on top of Christ’s finished work, His faithfulness. In other words, our imperfect faith in Jesus saves because His faith was perfect. Romans 1:17 says that the righteousness of God is revealed “from faith to faith.” Jesus is the Righteous One who lived by faith and so became our Righteousness by faith. Elsewhere, Paul seems to have both in view: “And being found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:9). The Christian life in this sense is the faithful and perfect sacrifice of Jesus living inside you.
Who Loved Us
It is entirely possible to talk about all of this as though it were a possibility for some people out there somewhere in principle, in the abstract, as though it were something that just happens to befall some people. Maybe some people get identified with Christ like some people get the chicken pox. But Paul grounds this reality of identifying with the crucifixion of Christ with the love of Christ in personal terms: “who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Christ did not go to the cross with a vague or ambiguous or general goal in mind. He went to the cross with you in mind. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13). So this too is what it means to find your identity in Christ. It means knowing that Christ laid His life down for you in particular, by name. Those welcomed into heaven are those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 21:27).
Conclusion
Who are you? Learn to say, I am not my own but belong body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. Learn to say, I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. You are not defined by your sin or by your successes, but by the perfect finished work of Jesus on the cross. This perfect love casts out all fear.
Apostles Creed 1: I Believe
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What we now know as the Apostles Creed descended from an earlier form of the creed, known as the Old Roman Symbol. The beginning of the creed dates from as early as the second century. We do not have any direct evidence that it was penned by any of the apostles, but it is an admirable summary of the apostolic teaching.
Introduction:
Most of the sermons preached at Christ Church are expositional, and seek to unfold and apply the meaning of a text of Scripture. Sometimes the messages are topical, and various passages of Scripture are brought to bear on the selected theme. This is a bit different. It is an expositional message of an uninspired text, but the thing that makes it a sermon is that this uninspired text is going to be used as the basis for the selected themes we will then treat, gathering the teaching of Scripture from all over as we go. We are going to be working through the Apostles Creed, phrase by phrase.
The Text:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the virgin, Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hades. On the third day He rose again from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Summary of the Text:
The first two words of the Creed are individual and personal. I believe. The Creed began as the confession that men and women would make upon their baptism, and so it is, as baptism is individual, so also the confession is individual. I believe.
Sole Instrument:
The noun form of this word in the New Testament is pistis, and the verb form is pisteuo. In order to get the same connotations in English, we have to use words with different roots. The word faith presupposes genuine faith, but believe doesn’t quite have the same force. “Everyone should believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink.” To get the force if the New Testament usage, we would say something like I trust.
In Scripture, the sole instrument for apprehending all God’s blessings is faith. This begins in the first instance with justification, but it extends throughout our lives. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
But it is not the case that faith is some kind of a nanosecond thing at the beginning of the Christian life, disappearing immediately after. “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3). We walk as Christians the same way we became Christians, which is by trusting God.
The Spirit is the one who enables us to do anything worthwhile, and He accompanies us throughout our lives. And the power of the Spirit is available to us through faith, and only through faith. “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17).
There are two crucial things to note here. One is that the righteousness of God is revealed by faith, from first to last. There is no other way for it to be revealed. The second is that faith undergirds absolutely everything spiritual in our lives—the righteous will live by faith.
The Elements of Faith:
There are three elements to genuine faith, or to genuine believing. They are knowledge, assent, and trust (notitia, assensus, and fiducia). The first is awareness of the content of what is to be believed. The second is intellectual assent to it. The last is trusting in it. When you have all three together, and the object of faith is the truth of God, you are looking at a gift of God.
A Gift of God:
In our own fallen nature, we are incapable of trusting God. This is a moral inability, not a natural inability. We cannot trust God because we don’t want to trust Him. But our hearts are fully capable of trusting. They just aren’t capable of trusting anything good. If I could repent and believe with my old heart, then it is plain that I wouldn’t need a new heart.
This is why Scripture teaches that saving faith is a gift of God. We don’t gin it up ourselves. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8–9). “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” (Phil. 1:29). “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3).
The Object of Faith:
You have heard a number of times from me that there is no virtue or strength in a transitive verb. Everything depends on the nature of the direct object. What would you rather have? “I have bigfaith in puny object,” or “I have punyfaith in big object”? What is the difference between the early inventor with Batman wings jumping off a bridge, and a nervous and panicked little granny flying across the country in a 747? If we compared the size of their faith, the guy on the bridge has more.
Sara was able to conceive because “she judged him faithful who had promised.” (Heb. 11:11). And this is why Jesus taught us the mustard seed principle. “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6).
Is your faith alive? And is it resting in the appropriate object? And of course the only appropriate object of faith is Christ Himself.