Of Repentance Unto Life And Salvation

1. Such of the elect as are converted at riper years, having sometime lived in the state of nature, and therein served divers lusts and pleasures, God in their effectual calling giveth them repentance unto life. Titus 3:2-5.
2. Whereas there is none that doth good and sinneth not, and the best of men may, through the power and deceitfulness of the corruption dwelling in them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall into great sin and provocations; God hath, in the covenant of grace, mercifully provided that believers so sinning and falling be renewed through repentance unto salvation. Ecc. 7:20; Luke 22:31, 32.
3. This saving repentance is an evangelical grace, whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, doth, by faith in Christ, humble himself for it with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrency, praying for pardon and strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavor, by supplies of the Spirit, to walk before God unto all wellpleasing in all things. Zech. 12:10; Acts 11:18; Ezek. 36:31; 2 Cor. 7:11; Ps. 119:6, 128.
4. As repentance is to be continued through the whole course of our lives, upon the account of the body of death, and the motions thereof, so it is every man's duty to repent of his particular known sins particularly. Luke 19:8; 1 Tim. 1:13, 15.
5. Such is the provision which God hath made through Christ in the covenant of grace for the preservation of believers unto salvation, that although there is no sin so small but it deserves damnation, yet there is no sin so great that it shall bring damnation on them that repent, which makes the constant preaching of repentance necessary. Rom. 6:23; Isa. 1:16-18; 55:7.

(The Second London Baptist Confession of 1689)

I haven't been in a Christian Bookstore in years. It isn't that I don't like them or that I made a decision to avoid them. It's that I live in another country and there are few “Christian Bookstores” and those that exist can be hard to find. I can recall, however, when frequenting Christian Bookstore in America that there always seemed to me to be a ton of books devoted to “Victory,” “How to be Victorious in the Christian Life,” or “We are More than Conquerors.” These types of books lined the shelves.

I have to admit I never purchased any of these books but was always curious to note how many variations there were of the general theme of how to overcome the circumstances of life that seem to come in the form of trials and tribulations in the Christian's walk with God. Whether these books were correct in their doctrine and consequent advise I do not know, but I have been thinking lately of what the Bible teaches with regard to this issue. And, after all, it is the Bible we want to consult as the final authority for faith in practice.

First of all, the Bible does indeed say that in the midst of circumstances we are “more than conquerors through Christ.”

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? According as it is written, For thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we have been reckoned as sheep for slaughter. But in all these things we more than conquer through him that has loved us." (Romans 8:35-37; Darby)

The Apostle Paul, who penned these words, spoke under the most incredibly and dramatic circumstances in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to his countrymen and Gentiles. And yet, he was, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, convinced to say that in the horror that he had to suffer for the cause of Christ, he “more than conquered through Christ who loved him.” Another version puts it like this: “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37; NJKV)

Now, dear Reader, your circumstances in life may not even come close to rivaling those of the Apostle. You may be in the battle of trying to trust God in situations of your own making with the fault lying squarely on your shoulders for the mess you find yourself in. I cannot count the times where this has been true in my life. The trials and tribulations (or even temptations) were of my own doing and in what a mess I found myself involved. What is one to do?

No matter the circumstances, God's Word is true. We can be more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. No matter the degree of the severity of the trial, let me make some suggestions.

Number One: Examine yourself. Take whatever time you need to be alone and pray. Ask God to open your understanding to what actually is happening to you. Ask God to show you how, if at all, you have sinned in this trial and then confess your sin to God (1 John 1:9).

Number Two: Continue to read in 1 John, specifically 1 John chapters 2-3, paying close attention to 1 John 2: 3-11. Examine your part in your trials or tribulations to see, as says ch.2: 6, whether you have been abiding in Christ and walking as Christ walked when He was on this earth. Confess any sin after this self-examination.

Number Three: Give thanks for the situation in which you find yourself. Some who claim to be true believers will look at you like you have a hole in your head when you ask them if they have given thanks for the cancer diagnosis just given to them or to a family member. But, this is what God says to do in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”

Number Four: Granted, there are trials and tribulations that God will in His Sovereign Grace allow or direct to happen in your life where it is absolutely due to no fault of your own. I know this from personal experience. I suffer from a syndrome that afflicts me with a number of maladies that pretty much torture me night and day. The medicines work, sometimes, to alleviate the pain but God has seen fit not to heal me from this incurable disease.

Then there are trials and tribulations that are indeed due to our own disobedience to the commands of God. A cheating spouse destroys not only his or her mate but also the children, relatives, friends, and the cheater; someone who is dishonest in filing tax returns does untold damage to conscience and reputation; someone who drives drunk and wipes out an entire family does seemingly irreparable harm to scores. Is a Christian to give thanks for these tribulations? Yes. In fact, glory in them.

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:3-5; KJV)

Number Five: What about trials and tribulations that are the result of yielding to sin that we know is wrong? First of all, how do we as believers know the difference between right and wrong? Through His Word, God tells us and He does so plainly. What God says in His Word to seek, we seek. What God tells us to avoid, we avoid. Not to do so essentially demonstrates the truth I cited about in 1 John:

"But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked" (1 John 2:5-6; NKJV)

If you are not keeping His Word so that what can be said that characterizes you is that you are walking as Jesus Christ walked, then it is time for some deep soul searching questions: “Are you even truly saved, born again?”

If you find you are really in the faith, then how about beginning to do what is so obvious: AVOID THE TEMPTATION TO WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN YIELDING AND WHICH HAS CAUSED SORE TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONS?

How about walking in the way of obedience, rather than disobedience, to God's Word. This of course implies you having to get to know what that Bible that is sitting on your shelf collecting dust actually says. Do not give the Devil the chance or opportunity to tempt you. Are you praying to be spared the temptation? Are you asking God to “lead you not into temptation but to deliver you from the Evil One (Satan)? Did you know this exactly what the Lord Jesus told His disciples as the very thing to have victory over the temptations to which we so often yield causing so much heartache (those pesky trials and tribulations) in our lives?

"Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38;)

Our Lord and Savior, Who by the way was tempted in all things as we yet without sin (see Hebrews 4:15), exhorted His disciples to do this very thing lest they fall into (yield) the temptations: “Watch and pray!” These were His very words to His disciples, Christ's doctrine, for avoiding and yielding to the temptations that, if yielded to, bring on all manner of trials and tribulations.

"For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:18)

Whether your trial and tribulation is the result of Providence or because you yielded to sin, we as Christians have got to be ready “in season or out” for the eventuality of temptations and trials. It is going to happen. And, Christ’s advice, His very words, is to “watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation.”

Always be on the watch because the Devil himself is for those from whom he can rob God of the glory He so richly and rightly deserves.

Faith and Trust as a Rule of Life

Many times we as Christians regard faith as something we use when we need something from God. The car is going on the fritz and what do we do, we pray. The kid is sick, and sometimes seriously, we pray. The church needs a new roof, we pray. We should indeed pray for these things. After all, did not Paul tell the Philippian church that, “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus?” (Phil. 4:19) If it is a need, we should pray, right?

The problem I have is with the word use. It sounds like how we use a screwdriver when we want to tighten a bolt, or when we want to use the right kitchen implement. Is faith a “tool” we get out of the “prayer shed” when we have a need for it and then put it away when were done with it and until the next time we need to use it?

Faith is not to be regarded as a tool that we need to use when a need arises. It is not to be thought of as something we only get out of the drawer when something goes wrong and then put it away when things cool down. Faith is the rule, practice, moment by moment manner of life, and not the exception, by which we live in the physical and spiritual world. It is not something we use when we are in trouble. A true child of God, a real Christian, lives by faith as a rule of life.

Look at this text of Scripture:

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:6,7)

Another translation put the clause, “In the same way you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him...”

How did you receive Christ Jesus the Lord? According to Ephesians 2: 8,9 it was “by grace through the instrumentality of faith,” that we were brought to faith and trust in Christ Jesus. The text goes on to tell us that it was the act of God alone and not of ourselves. Even the faith to believe was a gift of God. We could not generate the necessary faith. God had to make us alive from the dead, regenerate us, in order that we might believe unto salvation.

In that way, the way in which we were brought to faith in Christ, is how Colossians 2:6 and 7 tells us we are to walk in Him. By grace through the instrumentality of faith we are to walk in Christ. That is how we received Christ Jesus as Lord and that is how we are to walk in Him!

I want to make a connection between what I just said and the Word of God.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

In the tenth chapter of Romans, Paul speaks to the Gospel and shows us another instrumentality by which we were brought to faith and trust in Christ: by the hearing of the Word of God. Beginning with the 14^th verse of chapter ten, he makes the point that it is through the preaching of the Word of God that the Gospel message is heard. Linked to the Colossians 2:6,7 text, “In the same way you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him,” we could also say that it is through the hearing of the Word that we are to walk in Him. Just as faith to believe savingly comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, so does faith to walk in Him come by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Do you see that?

In other words, faith exercised in prayer is not a Sears and Roebuck mail order catalog to order what we think we need from a deity. Faith is the instrumentality, means, by which we not only come to faith in Christ but how we are to live in this world. It is by faith in God and His Word that we live as a rule of life if we are truly born again.

I want to share a very practical application to what I have just written. If we are to live (walk) by faith in God and the promises of His Word, how exactly does that work? What does this look like in the life of the believer?

Take for example Paul's explanation in Galatians:

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” (Galatians 5:6,7)

Does not this pretty well sum up the point in the Christian's life? Walk in the Spirit and you will not do the evil within your sinful flesh that you do not wish to do? (See Romans 7) But how do you do this thing of “Walking in the Spirit?”

Now, in 1 John:

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 1 John 5:14,15

And, Philippians:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2;12,13)

Now, think with me through this:

1. Does God want us (Is it His will?) to Walk in His Spirit that we not fulfill the lusts of our flesh? According to the Galatians 5 text the answer is, yes.

2. Does God promise that whatever we ask according to His will that He not only hears us, but we can know that we have that which we have asked of Him in 1 John? Yes.

3. Does God tell us in Philippians that we can “work out our salvation (Walk in the Spirit) with fear and trembling because it is He, and He alone, who works in us the desire and the doing of His good pleasure (His will)?” Yes.

Then as a child of God go to Him praying in believing faith:

“My Lord and God, I thank you for the promise in Your Word (1 John 5:14,15) which tells me that whatsoever I ask according to Your will that You hear me. And, if I know that You hear me in whatsoever I asked I can know that I have that which I have asked of You. Therefore, grant me the Grace I need to obey your Word where you command me to Walk in Your Spirit (Gal. 5:16,17) that I not fulfill the desires of my flesh. Thank-you that it is, again according to You Word, You Who is working in me this desire and it is You and You alone that will work in me the doing (Phil. 2:12,13) of walking in the Spirit. I ask these things in Jesus' name Who said that whatsoever I ask in His name You would give me (John 15:6-8). Amen.”

While I do not mean that you should pray this pray literally, what I am meaning is to show you the connection between prayer, faith, and the Word of God. What is expressed in that prayer example is a life ruled by faith in God and the promises of His Word. That is what should characterize the life of the believer. That is the principle by which we should be living if we really are men and women of God.

Do you have a need in your life? Whether it is a physical or spiritual need, find in God's Word a text of Scripture that matches that need then claim it according to the promises of His Word. Have as your heart's desire the glory of God in His answering that prayer:

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:7-8)

Of the Fall of Man, Of Sin, And of the Punishment Thereof - 1689 LBC - 2

They being the root, and by God's appointment, standing in the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed, and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free.
( Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22, 45, 49; Psalms 51:5; Job 14:4; Ephesians 2:3; Romans 6:20 Romans 5:12; Hebrews 2:14, 15; 1 Thessalonians 1:10 )

From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.
( Romans 8:7; Colossians 1:21; James 1:14, 15; Matthew 15:19 )

The corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be through Christ pardoned and mortified, yet both itself, and the first motions thereof, are truly and properly sin.
( Romans 7:18,23; Ecclesiastes 7:20; 1 John 1:8; Romans 7:23-25; Galatians 5:17 )

Salvation Is Of God and Not Man

It was a decision made before the world was. Before the existence of any human or animal, before the creation of the heavens and the planets, before time itself, the Triune God made a Divine decision. As God in His Word so perfectly phrases it, “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4) He chose us. To what did the Divine choose us and why did He do it? The Ephesians 1 text elaborates:

"just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:4-6)

Please note three things from this text:

One: We were chosen before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

Two: We were chosen before the foundation of the world through “predestination unto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself.”

Three: We were chosen before the foundation of the world according to the good pleasure of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the beloved.

1) If you are believer, a true Christian with a sincere and visible profession of faith in the Lord and Savior, then it is not because you at some point in your life “decided as an act of your will to invite Jesus into your heart.” If you today believe in Christ as your Lord and Savior, it is because God made a decision. He made a choice before time even was that you should be “holy and blameless before Him in love.”

"Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace." (THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH 1689)

2) Predestination is that act of God whereby certain individuals, based absolutely on no merit of their own but entirely and infallibly due to “the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace” (See Ephesians 1:4-6), were chosen, ordained, elected to be brought to faith in Christ Jesus.

"What did God determine ahead of time? According to Romans 8:29-30, God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified. Essentially, God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved. Numerous scriptures refer to believers in Christ being chosen. Predestination is the biblical doctrine that God in His sovereignty chooses certain individuals to be saved." (http://www.gotquestions.org/predestination.html)

"As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so he hath, by the eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreordained all the means thereunto; wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ, by his Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation; neither are any other redeemed by Christ, or effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only." (THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH 1689)

3) God does nothing arbitrarily or capriciously. He acts according to the “good pleasure of His will” and is perfectly righteous in choosing some unto salvation while leaving others to the evil passion and desires of their fallen souls who freely, according to their sinful natures, choose to reject The Son of God. The Bible says plainly that salvation is not man who makes a “decision based on an act of His free will”—man has no free will—but according to God who has mercy on Whom He wills. (Romans 9:1-13)

Jonathan Edwards said,

“The sovereignty of God is his absolute, independent right of disposing of all creatures according to his own pleasure.” Then he went on to say, “God can either bestow salvation on any of the children of men, or refuse it, without any prejudice to the glory of any of his attributes”

"God is the king of the universe and he has all the power, the right to rule and carry out his will according to his own pleasure. When we say his own pleasure that means, God is not obligated to anyone, he has the full liberty, full freedom and he is fully independent. No human being how rich they are do not have this kind of pleasure, as all humans have an obligation to somebody and they are not fully independent, but God is fully independent and can do any thing according to his pleasure without any damage to his attributes." (http://www.sounddoctrine.net/Nick/uncondional_election2.htm)

(For further study read: Isaiah 46:10; Ephesians 1:11; Hebrews 6:17; Romans 9:15, 18; James 1:13; 1 John 1:5; Acts 4:27, 28; John 19:11; Numbers 23:19; Ephesians 1:3-5; 1 Timothy 5:21; Matthew 25:34; Ephesians 1:5, 6; Romans 9:22, 23; Jude 4; Romans 9; Ephesians 1 & 2;Romans 5:6; Romans 8:7; Ephesians 2:1, 5; Titus 3:3-5; John 6:44 ... See also THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH--With Scripture Proofs Adopted by the Ministers and Messengers of the general assembly which met in London in 1689) 


Recommended Reading

Incorruptible Seed

It continues to amaze and sadden me just how many so-called professing believers I run into or hear of who base their salvation in Jesus the Christ upon what is often expressed as, “Oh, I made a decision for Christ when I was young.” Yet, the vast majority of these with whom I am personally acquainted and who tell me this are caught up in besetting sins and are living like the devil himself. I am talking rampant sexual immorality or they are chronic liars and see nothing wrong with doing one or both of these sins while professing Christ as Lord and Savior.

Christ, in other words, has had NO impact upon their personal morality or ethics and their behavior betrays their profession of faith. Why is this so? Why is it that so many think that just because they prayed a prayer, raised a hand, walked an aisle, or signed a card in an evangelistic presentation that they are saved? That sounds good, right? What's wrong, if anything, with a scenario like that?

I can sum up the answer to those questions in one sentence:

“God has done all He can for you, now it is your turn.”

I have heard hundreds of variation of this; two are:

“God has done His part, now you must do your part.” … “Belief now is what God requires of you and that's all He expects as your part in this.”

And the list can go on and on.

A false, watered down, weak and emaciated gospel is presented in almost every professing evangelical church around the world. An appeal is made to man as if he or she had the ability to make a righteous decision to come to Christ. The results of this message are the shipwrecked lives so dominant in evangelical churches today.

Besides having no real sense of the crushing weight of their sin in their “decision for Christ,” no conviction, there is no understanding of the high calling of the believer in Christ. There is no sense of the New Creature that has been planted into the souls of True believers.

Listen to this:

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” ” (1 Peter 1:13-16)

This is what a valid profession of faith should look like: 1) Resting your hope fully upon the unmerited favor of God; 2) Resting as obedient children; 3) Not walking as we did when we were non-Christians in our former lusts; 4) Walking as holy New Creations because He who called us is Holy. Do not miss this last point: “...be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

The idea here is that if in all your conduct you are not walking as “holy New Creations” in Christ, then you cannot profess to be a Christian. (Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:17).

It would do the true believer good to keep his or her focus on the high calling of our new natures (New Creations) in Christ. We would fall less and grow more if we devoted our daily devotions less to physical needs and more to our spiritual ones. Take unto one's heart, thinking long and hard, that to be Regenerated, to be born again, is to have a new birth of an incorruptible, not corruptible, seed.

“having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,” (1 Peter 1:23)

Do you see this? Someone born again, has had a spiritual re-birth, is of an incorruptible seed. If he or she lives as though he or she is of a corruptible seed, then a profession of faith in Jesus Christ cannot be made because He is that incorruptible seed.

We have to understand this calling if we are to be Christians and live like we are Christians. We cannot deny in word, thought, or deed that we are of (born again) an incorruptible seed and then not live as though we are. This we must keep in the forefront of our hearts if we are really born again.

We have to “carry ourselves,” in our conduct, as someone from a high and regal calling, heavenly speaking. In the world, we must, we have no other choice, to live as someone who is not “of the world.” As believers, we must live as though, and we are, of another world—heaven. As those distinguished by and in Sovereign Grace, we must—no alternative—live as holy princes and princesses of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

“It would be well if, in the spirit of humility, we recognized the true dignity of our regenerated nature, and lived up to it … Let the dignity of your nature, and the brightness of your prospects, O believer in Christ, constrain you to cleave unto holiness, and to avoid the very appearance of evil. ” (C.H. Spurgeon)

Lord We're Prone to Wander

The Christians (true believers) in the Body of Christ, the church, represent a vast collection of levels of spiritual maturity. Some are fairly mature while others are depressingly children in the faith. But when our Great High Priest cares for them by interceding for them before the Father, He does not show favorites and treats His elect, the immature and the mature, on an equal basis. The most immature Christian is as precious to Him as is the greatest man or woman of God.

Young Christians are so prone to be all over the place doctrinally and not know the basics of the faith or how to trust God. Much like human toddlers, they are constantly falling down and getting bloodied noses, scraped knees, and eating what they shouldn't be eating. They need tender care with firm but gentle leading and correction. Christ, the Great Shepherd, protects the weak in faith to guide them to some semblance of spiritual maturity.

No matter our level of spiritual maturity when we are waning, on the verge of shipwreck, God comes swiftly with just the right spiritual food to satisfy our hungry souls. When our hearts are ready to break from the stress of life, God comforts fully and leaves nothing to our sinful selves. He knows how to strengthen us, and He does so. We are never left abandoned.

I think of His effective graciousness in bringing me to faith and trust in His Son and how many are the times I have strayed. Yet, lovingly, and not always gently, He worked providentially to bring me back into His fellowship. He loves those whom He disciplines.

Why do we stray? Why do we, no matter our level of spiritual maturity in Christ, seem to lose steam at times in our Walk with God? Why does our fellowship with the Divine sometimes suffer? In a word: tribulations.

I have been writing about the necessity of trials and tribulations in believers’ lives as THE means to stretch us and make our faith grow. James 1:3,4 is a famous example that a lot of Christians memorize and quote to themselves in the midst of the storms for comfort and grace.

“knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

But, is it not interesting how no matter how long you have been in the faith, no matter how long you have been walking, hopefully, by faith in God and the promises of His Word, that He knows just how to jar you to your soul with a tribulation designed especially for you? And, invariably we are brought so close to the precipice that we end up asking, “Why are you doing this to me, Oh God?” I've asked, “Why?”

In January 2003, my mother suddenly died. She had been sick but told none of us, her children. Less than five months later, my grandnephew lived but a few hours after birth. Two months later, my younger brother was murdered. (We had just moved out of the country and could not get to the funeral.) Nine months later, my best friend, the guy with whom I grew up, who was the best man in my wedding, and whom I had known since we were fourteen years old, died of cancer. To say I felt devastated would be putting it mildly. I asked, “Why?”

To prevent a wandering from my Lord, here is what I did and I suggest the same for you:

1. Look to God and His holiness. Concentrate on the verses that tell us that He is not only Holy, but also that without the holiness of God, no man shall stand in His sight (1 Peter 1:16; Heb. 12:14).
2. Look at your union with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection (Romans 6:1-14), and realize that the same God who brought the terrible trials into your life is the same God who graciously, in His mercy, brought you to union in Christ and imputed to you the Righteousness of Christ without which no man shall see God (Heb. 12:14; 2 Cor. 5:21).
3. Look at the fact of Scripture that it is in the fires of tribulation that what is left of your dependence on your sinful flesh is purged from your body (Dan. 9,24; Psalms 66:10-12).
4. Look at your identification in Christ and know that in addition to what is mentioned in point #2, we have been co-ascended with Christ (see Colossians 3:1-4) and co-seated with Him in the heavenly places. He, in whom we are united, co-ascended and co-seated, has all principalities, power, and dominion; yes, even all things beneath His feet (Eph. 1: 20-23). The demonic powers that seek to shipwreck your faith are in submission to Him in whom we live and He in us (Gal. 2:20). HE HAS ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET!

Those of us prone to wander He is faithful to bring us back to His fold.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above. ¹

1 Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing; 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson

Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation - 1689 LBC - 3

True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light, yet are they never destitute of the seed of God and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the meantime, they are preserved from utter despair.
( Canticles 5:2, 3, 6; Psalms 51:8, 12, 14; Psalms 116:11; Psalms 77:7, 8; Psalms 31:22; Psalms 30:7; 1 John 3:9; Luke 22:32; Psalms 42:5, 11; Lamentations 3:26-31 )

Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation - 1689 LBC - 2

This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded on the blood and righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel; and also upon the inward evidence of those graces of the Spirit unto which promises are made, and on the testimony of the Spirit of adoption, witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God; and, as a fruit thereof, keeping the heart both humble and holy.
( Hebrews 6:11, 19; Hebrews 6:17, 18; 2 Peter 1:4, 5, 10, 11; Romans 8:15, 16; 1 John 3:1-3 )
 
This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it; yet being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of means, attain thereunto: and therefore it is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure, that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance; -so far is it from inclining men to looseness.
( Isaiah 50:10; Psalms 88; Psalms 77:1-12; 1 John 4:13; Hebrews 6:11, 12; Romans 5:1, 2, 5; Romans 14:17; Psalms 119:32; Romans 6:1,2; Titus 2:11, 12, 14 )

Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation - 1689 LBC - 1

Although temporary believers, and other unregenerate men, may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favour of God and state of salvation, which hope of theirs shall perish; yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavouring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.
( Job 8:13, 14; Matthew 7:22, 23; 1 John 2:3; 1 John 3:14, 18, 19, 21, 24; 1 John 5:13; Romans 5:2, 5 )

Complaining

“Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world .” (Phil. 2:14-15)

Christians are some of the biggest cry babies on the planet. The degree of their whining and griping can, at times and in some, rival if not exceed that of the non-Christian. It is such a trap into which we can so easily fall and become ensnared into a habit of complaining and disputing that ends up betraying our profession of faith.

When the rod of discipline (Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:6) strikes the so-called Christians cries the loudest, “What have I done to deserve this from God?”

I have been exercised in this very thing as of late and have had the profoundest conviction of my sinful complaining to God as though I should deserve something better from the hand of the Almighty. Let me ask you, dear Reader, that which I asked recently myself:

“Why should I complain of God's working in my life? Just what is it I think I deserve from the hand of God: all sunshine and never a storm cloud and a life where all the good guys wear white hates and the black hooded bad guys always lose the battle between good and evil?”

Sure, we are more than conquerors through Christ but read the entire text:

“ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

What exactly does, “...all these things...” refer to? Well, if you check the preceding verses, 1-36, you will find what this phrase “all these things” is speaking to:

“Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written:

“ For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us...” (Romans 8:35-37)

You cannot be a conqueror with out something over which to conqueror, right? This is talking about the trials and tribulations that God in His sovereignty ordains in our lives. If you never have the tribulations, distresses, persecutions, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword, then you will never know what it is to be a conqueror. So, why gripe about it?

Think about how much of the carnal nature you still have in your life and you will soon come to realize just how much you need God's loving hand of discipline (the rod), harsh as it might feel, to draw the corruption out of you. Figure out just how much there is of the flesh there is left in you mixed with what sanctification you have and then can you really bellyache over the discipling hand of God that has come to rid you of it? Is the tribulation really too hard to bear when you need it so badly to make you more and more into the imagine of our Precious Lord Jesus Christ?

Look at it this way: Does not the fact of trials and tribulations in your life prove that there is much to do with regard to the Holy Spirit's sanctification in your life? Does not the degree of pain and agony in the problems you face indicate that there is much to purge from your sinful flesh to be conformed to the imagine of Christ? (See Romans 8:28-30) And the louder and louder you scream in despair in the trials of your life does this not prove just how much you lack submission to the will of God in your life?

The harder and louder you kick and scream against the trials of life the harder they will be and the longer you will have to endure them. The sooner you recognize and submit to the fact that it is God hand that has wrought the tribulations the quicker you will be able to endure them with the help of the Spirit of God. God corrects in love and in doing so has in His mind the goal to change you into a more holy creation. Stop resisting.

Hebrews 12:6 (New King James Version)

For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

Hope In The Day of Evil

In His Word, God never tells us that the life of Christians is going to be a cinch. He never intimates that life will be one big roller coaster ride with us eating cotton candy and watching clowns that make us giggle our way through our earthly existence. Our walk through our path of life will have days of enjoyment and days when it feels like all the air has been sucked out of our lungs. Life is not a bed of roses and God never promises that in His Word.

There are times when passenger cars on the roller coaster fly off the tracks, the cotton candy makes us sick, and the clowns that made us laugh with glee now are striking terror in our hearts. And, we begin to wonder through what seems now to be days upon days of dark clouds and storms, whether there ever was a bed of roses that we used to admire for its beauty.

We come to ask, “Where is God in all of this suffering and pain?” Worse yet, we ask, “Surely this should not be happening to me; I am a Christian!”

Don't think that dear Christian much less say it!

Perhaps it seemed easily exciting when you were first brought to faith in Christ by the Sovereign working of God. Persecution was nonexistent; hardships seemed remote; exciting truths from the Bible were learned and you increased in knowledge; Christian fellowship was sweet and never ending. Then, the storm clouds rolled in, imperceptibly at first, until darkness seemed to cover everything in your life.

The most heroic of God's children have had to endure the most painful of trials and tribulations:

"...Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." (Hebrews 11:35-40)

In Hebrews chapter 11, we are given the not only the definition of what faith is for the Christian but are also shown examples of how our brothers and sisters of the early church endured harrowing trials and temptations and did so by faith. Their horrid circumstances are in this chapter as a lesson to us that no Christian escapes trials. Tribulations are given, writes James, to give us opportunities to show a watching world (and other believers) that no matter in what package life arrives at the doorstep of our lives, we can have joy. Plus, endurance or patience is built into our character. But, warns James, we must let patience or endurance have its “perfect” work in us so that we will become perfect and complete and lacking in nothing. (See James 1:3-8)

No matter how unpleasant the thought, the Biblical fact is that in order to become full-grown children of God (and I am speaking to the issue of sanctification) in our experience or condition upon this earth, we have to have our faith tested through trials and tribulations.

We need to, no, it is essential that our faith be strengthened through trouble, problems, tragedies, unclimbable mountains, unsolvable puzzles, that will force us to deny our sinful dependence upon our flesh and trust in the Triune God. This is how it is and there is no avoiding it. Our God gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:4; James 4:6).

God is our hope, strength, and sustenance in the day of evil (See Jeremiah 17:17).

Can Christians Practice Sin as a Way of Life?

She lies constantly. Each time she is asked her age, she tries convincing the inquirer that she is fifteen to twenty years younger than she actually is. If pressed, she verbalizes an elaborately planned out scheme, presented in a most convincing manner, to cover her fraudulence. Not only is she a chronic liar she also is a pathological gossip. Her gossip is so laced with lies and half-truths that she can't even keep track of what is reality and what isn't. She has undermined at least one couple's marriage with her meddling and has been working on a second one.

This woman claims to be a Christian.

“For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. ” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

In redemption, the shedding of the blood of the Messiah for our atonement, we were purchased. God bought us, body and soul, by a terrible price. The death, resurrection, ascension paid a price we could not possibly pay and made us God's. We are His if indeed Christ is us and we in Him (Gal. 2:20).

Because in body and spirit we are not our own but God's, there can be no neutrality in our hearts and minds. In word, thought, and deed we are either His or we are not. If we belong to Christ then we take everything, even our thoughts, captive to Jesus Christ.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)

No neutrality; there is only obedience to the One Who bought us if we profess the name of Christ in our hearts and lives.

If this is so, then Christian, who do you trust? On whom do you rely? Who is it that comes up in the conversation with your neighbors? To what do you yield your tongue when asked your age or anything else? The revealing of one's age isn't the point. One could always say something like, “I'd rather not discuss my age.” But to lie and to do it chronically is to practice sin. One has a false profession of faith if there is the practice of lying or any sin in one's life.

Let me make this point even clearer. If you profess to be a Christian, you cannot practice sin as a way of life. Christ became Lord or King over you when and if you are really saved. How then are you serving your Lord and King? What is it you are taking (have taken) captive to the obedience to Jesus Christ? Or, I should say, what is it you are hanging onto sinfully and not yielding to your Lord and King?

If you think that you can call yourself a Christian and serve sin, like my lying friend I mentioned, run, don't walk, away from this thing in your life to the cross of Jesus Christ. Run to Him and yield your obedience to His Scriptures and do what He says. To be a liar means you cannot be a Christian. Obey Christ and not the sinful inclinations of your flesh. Demonstrate your love for Christ in willing obedience to His word.

The true and only proof that you are really saved is that you obey His commandments.

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6)

If you abide in Christ as 1 John 2: 6 says, then you have to walk as Jesus Christ walked. You have no other choice or option. Jesus was not a liar or deceiver of men. His walk matched His profession to being the Son of God. Your walk, your actions in word, thought, or deed have to match your profession of faith in Christ or you are not a Christian!

I close with a most sobering verse regarding lying:

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

An impenitent liar will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

At The Place of Power

To sit at someone's right hand is to sit in a place of power. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus who is the Christ, was once hated by men, beaten, bloodied, and crucified on a cross for our sins. However, He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and assumed his rightful place at the right hand of God. He is in His proper place of power sitting at the right hand of God as our advocate (1 John 2:1.2; Hebrews 7:25).

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1)

The word advocate can mean many things. It often refers to an attorney, backer, champion, defender, and many other definitions. I personally like the word backer to indicate what Christ is to us at his exalted place of ascendancy. He represents us as our eternal and Divine backer: a person who supports or aids a person, cause, enterprise, etc.

When Jesus died on a cross for His people (elect), we had a cessation from God's wrath or redemption from sin's penalty. In His resurrection, He effected for us deliverance from sin's power and control over our lives. When Christ ascended to the right hand of the throne of God (the place of power), He effected Grace and Truth in us and through us. As our advocate and because of what took place on the cross, Christ is our representative head. The raising (His ascension) and the seating of Christ at the right hand of God is His elect's exaltation too.

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:2,3)

This seating of Jesus Christ at the right hand of the throne of God, His exaltation, is indicative of God's acceptance of our Great High Priest as our Backer (Advocate) and therein lies our assurance of salvation.

This is not only our assurance of salvation, but it is our place of power to survive the tribulation and trials of our sojourn in this world that is hostile toward our heavenly Father. What threat can harm us? What insult can flatten us? What problem is too great for our Representative head who is seated at God's right hand?

“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (Romans 8: 34)

Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of God, that position of power, is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. What is too hard for Him, the Backer of our faith? What shall overcome us when He in Whom we are hidden (Colossians 3:1-4) is absolute Omnipotence?

The context of this passage is speaking about Christ, our Backer, in whom we are hidden:

"...which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. ” (Ephesians 1: 21-23)

If we are in union with Christ, then what is it that can sway us? Who can harm us? What can shipwreck us in our faith? What enemy of His elect is not under His feet?

By, in, and through our Backer (Advocate), there is no chance of being destroyed.

Walking in Saving Faith

If I had but two things to share from the Word of God that would show a believer what it is he or she should seek, they would be these two: A life of saving faith, and a life of walking by that saving faith. To understand these is to understand Biblical Salvation.

These two issues are crucial to the life of the true believer. You will never find a life of saving faith unaccompanied by true piety; nor will you ever find a genuinely pious life that does not have as its foundation the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. And the thing is, you cannot have the one without the other!

There are those who would try and have a cold and calculating orthodox faith bereft of true piety. They have lined all their theological ducks in a row but there is no Christ likeness in them. Then, there are those who seek to mimic true piety but, in their imitations, they have no actual true saving faith.

We must have a living, genuine, saving faith as the foundation of our lives with real and lasting piety as the building that is built on the foundation.

What possible use is a foundation, just the foundation, if there is no building on it? Can one shelter oneself in a storm on foundation? There must be a building erected upon the foundation where one can hide from the dangers of the storm. But, one must have both. If the foundation has no building, then one is not safe. Nor is there safety if there is a building without a foundation. The dangers of the storms of life threaten both.

We need a life of saving faith (the foundation), and a life of walking by that saving faith (the building), if we are to have peace in times of problems and trouble. We cannot seek a life of walking by saving faith (piety) if the foundation of saving faith is not there. To do this is like trying to live in a house with no sure foundation. The winds of life will blow it down.

As therefore ye have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted and built up in him, and assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. (Col. 2:6,7)

The Great Apostle Paul or The Misogynist ?

Do the pages of Holy Scripture ever refer to a situation as being a cultural circumstance and not applicable to the 21^st century? Are there cultural issues in the Bible that perhaps might be changeable for our “day?” I think in answering this question one has got to exercise a great deal of exegetical wisdom and apply a remarkably reliable hermeneutic to come up with the answer. And, how exactly can we know the difference? How can we be sure what we are looking at in Scripture so we do not become guilty of bringing into question the infallibility of the “God breathed” (inspired) Word of the Living God?

A text that some take as being cultural is found in 1 Cor. 7 regarding marriages. Paul's exhortation to remain single seems to be tied to the persecution of the times. Another text, and in my view a stronger one, is the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols. Regarding head coverings in 1 Cor 11, Paul even says, “judge among yourselves” whether it is proper for a woman to wear a head covering (verse 13). The thing to realize is Paul appeals to custom or tradition if it is not in conflict with the imperative principles of Holy Scripture.

Matthew Henry says: “The Christian religion sanctions national customs wherever these are not against the great principles of truth and holiness; affected singularities receive no countenance from any thing in the Bible.” ¹

A text that is NOT speaking to a cultural issue, but is often thought of being just a “cultural thing,” is found in 1 Timothy 2:11-15:

“Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.”

How do we know this is not some misogynistic ploy by the Apostle Paul to bring those rebellious women under control? Why isn't this a trick to make all Christian women into some inferior beings subservient to all those nasty men in the church?

“In other words, if the biblical passages merely reflect the chauvinism of a first century rabbinic Jew, they are unworthy of our acceptance. If, however, Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and if the New Testament is the Word of God, then the charge of chauvinism must be leveled not only at Paul but at the Holy Spirit Himself - a charge that cannot be leveled with impunity.” ²

I can give you the answer in three words how we know we are not dealing with the culture of the first century: Creation Ordinance Hermeneutic.

Hermeneutics is defined as: “the study of the methodological principles of interpretation (as of the Bible) ” ³

The 1 Timothy 2:11-15 text is an excellent example of Paul presenting a truth of Scripture and appealing, not to culture, but to Creation itself as the basis for his Divinely inspired, infallible, and Apostolic teaching.

Rejection of this passage as anything other than what it is, absolute Truth, stems out of liberal theology. “Of course Paul would say this. He is a man.” It is relegated to the boondocks of the cultural boogeyman by those who don't think it is “fair.” When has “fairness” ever been a valid hermeneutic for exegeses of Holy Scripture? (I'm just saying.)

Paul's hermeneutic is to use Genesis chapter one through three as the basis for what he has just said. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and in exercising his Apostolic authority, says women are to keep silent in the church and uses the Creation Ordinance in Genesis as his Divinely inspired reason. He gives no cultural “judge for yourselves” in this text.

R.C. Sproul said:

“One of the chief considerations in determining the question of principle or custom is whether the matter involves a Creation ordinance.”

And, my dear readers, 1 Timothy 2:11-15, as distasteful as liberal theology regards it, is tied directly to a Creation Ordinance.

1  Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible Public Domain

2   R.C. Sproul

3  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hermeneutic

Following Christ

Are you a Christian, dear reader? What I mean to say is did you, under the crushing weight of your sin, cry out to God for mercy and confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead kind of Christian? (Romans 10:9) If you are that kind of Christian then you are not only saved from the penalty and power of sin but are also a follower of Christ your Lord and King.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27)

Just as sheep hear and follow the sound of their shepherd's voice, so do we when we hear the voice of The Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. In fact, our Great Shepherd has the right to lead us wherever He deems fit since as His sheep, we are not our own. He bought us with the price of His own blood when He redeemed us (1 Corinthians 6:20). We are His.

It should be noted that we betray our profession of faith in Christ as our Lord and Savior if we dare shut our ears to His calling and directing. We have no right to question His leading and, if we do, we do so at our peril. Obedience to our Lord and King is our solemn duty.

But, some may say, “What if I cannot go where He leads and do what He demands?” Know this, that where and how God leads us, it is His doing and He will provide the means, the needs, the strength, the protection, the courage to do what it is He is directing us to do and where He commands us to go.

Augustine's Confessions: "Give me what you command and command what you will".

Whatever our Prophet, Priest, and King commands you to do, know that He is already there (Omnipresence), He already knows what you need to do His will (Omniscience), and He has the absolute glorious power to supply what you need to do His will (Omnipotence).

No matter if the road to which Christ is directing us is hard, perilous, long, and exhausting, we can have assurance that it will end in everlasting glory with us in the perfect will of God and His loving care. Even if following our Lord's direction leads to death, it will have lead us to the city of God!

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. ” (Hebrews 11:10)

Follow your Lord and King no matter where and even if you do not know where you are going.