Spurgeon Nails It

Keeping the Gospel of Grace Front and Center

It's easy to get sidetracked from what is most important. Not only is our society an extremely busy one, but so is the church. Amidst this busyness, it is quite easy to take our eyes off what is most critical. When it comes to Christianity, the most critical thing is the Gospel itself.

The Gospel at its heart is based in the grace of God. We must never forget this. In our man-centered culture, the tendency is to elevate humanity to the position of most importance. This can and does seep slowly into the church. This in turn even impacts what Christians believe about the Gospel. In particular, I'm concerned about two growing segments within the church as they relate to the Gospel. Albeit in different ways, both groups stress man's work as being important to the Gospel. Both groups are wrong.

The first group I'm referring to is those Christians who act as if man's response of faith is something that he himself instigates (some call this group "Arminian," but I'm going to avoid that term because it simply leads to arguments). These folks believe that God bestows a certain amount of grace upon every human, but that it is up to said human to respond in faith of his own doing. They believe faith precedes regeneration. What this does is turn the faith response into a work. In essence, these believers are saying that a spiritually dead man can repent and believe while still spiritually dead. Not only does it make no sense theologically, but it also is patently false. Worst, it denies that grace is enough for salvation.

The second group is even more problematic. These folks, who may or may not actually be Christ-followers, deny that the atoning work of Christ is necessary for salvation. Rather, they say that Jesus' work on the cross was an act on his part to set an example of living sacrificially for others. While it is undoubtedly that, it is so much more. What Christ did on the cross caused the great transaction to occur: my sin for his perfection. This great exchange is absolutely necessary for salvation. If it is not, then salvation once again becomes a work of mankind as he wills himself to God. In order to deny that the atonement is necessary, you have to reject a great portion of the bible. In fact, the entire sacrificial system of the Old Testament makes no sense when you hold this position.

The above two beliefs are just two of many variants that deny that God's grace is sufficient. As Christ's body, we must reject any and all of these positions. God's grace is not only what makes Christianity unique, it also makes salvation possible. If knowing God through Christ depended on our works, then no one would ever come to salvation. It is God's amazing grace, and it alone, that both makes salvation possible and causes it to occur.

Let's keep this issue front and center. God is honored when we emphasize his grace.

Simple Church Bloggers and Their Murky Theology

It's an odd thing that so many simple church bloggers have murky, soupy, grayish, ill-defined theology. It's odd because most Christians who blog about simple church life do so out of biblical conviction. They read what the bible says about church life and then say, "This is the way it should be now." They, myself included, then look to the institution and say, "No thanks!"

Now to the odd part. A significant number of bloggers who espouse simple church principles at the same time call into question numerous points of theology that the church as a whole is in general agreement upon (or at least used to be). It's weird. Many of the same simple church people who point to the bible for church life then ignore the plain teachings of the bible when it comes to theology, salvation, cultural issues, etc. It is a strange situation indeed.

My biggest concern is the simple church bloggers who call into question Jesus Christ's atoning work on the cross. It appears to embarrass them just as it does the liberal "Christians." This is extremely problematic because the atonement is at the heart of salvation. Simply put, if there is no atonement there is no salvation - period. Jesus certainly did more for his people than just die on the cross in their place, but he did die in their place. It was a substitutionary, penal atonement. Those who call this into question are left with an empty theology of salvation.

Speaking of salvation, a good number of simple church bloggers don't hold to a literal existence of Hell. Now, I'll say that I myself am not sure of Hell's specifics. However, I'm certain that it is an eternal place of torment; whether or not that is physical or emotional in nature I do not know. I do know that it is a spiritual Hell that will last forever. Some in simple church prefer annihilationism; this apparently squares with their understanding of a loving God. Apparently they conveniently ignore the holiness of God in coming to this conclusion.

Delving deeper into the issue of salvation, I've found that most simple church bloggers detest the doctrine of predestination. That's unfortunate since the bible tells us that some are, in fact, predestined. Some bloggers go far beyond rejecting predestination and instead hold to a near universalism. Yuck. As for the process of sanctification, I've read bloggers who basically say that since God saves and loves, it's O.K. to go right on sinning. Yet again, it requires a great deal of ignoring the bible to make a claim like this. God expects increasing holiness post-salvation.

What other issues are there? Well, some simple church bloggers have completely accepted homosexuality; others seem dazed and confused about the whole thing. Many just want everybody to get along. As for women's roles, it appears that the vast majority favor an egalitarian approach to church life (that complementarian thing is just too old-fashioned apparently). Regarding spiritual gifts, nearly anything is acceptable.

What is going on here? I see three major factors at play. First, these simple church bloggers are not being fair or consistent in how they interpret scripture. While they demand a literal understanding of the text when it comes to the N.T. model for church life, when it comes to these other issues they think of the bible as a sort of play thing. Second, these bloggers are clearly questioning both the infallibility and authority of the bible (at least when it is convenient). Third, and possibly the largest factor, these bloggers are bowing to secular cultural norms in a variety of areas.

I admit that at times I'm not consistent while interpreting scripture. Everybody makes mistakes. However, we ought to all try to understand the bible in as consistent a manner as possible. Either it is infallible or it isn't. Either it is authoritative or it is not. As we do this, we must keep factors such as historical context and genre in mind. We should also take a long look at the church's understanding of the issue throughout its history.

The simple church bloggers I'm referring to in this post need to start being honest. They cannot pick-and-choose how they are going to approach the bible. If the New Testament in particular shows us how the church should function, then it also shows us what we need to know about these other issues. To all you murky blogging types, you cannot cling to some scripture and ignore the rest. Either take the whole bible or leave it all.

Cherishing the Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ

Few doctrines are as important as Jesus Christ's substitutionary atonement (which is defined well in the graphic above). I love Jesus for both who he is and for what he has done. Therefore, I cherish the atoning work as my substitute sacrifice on the cross.

In the bible we see a consistent pattern of substitutionary sacrifice. For example, just before the Hebrews escaped from Egypt after years of captivity they killed a lamb without blemish and put the blood over their doors. If anyone failed to do this (the Egyptians), the firstborn was killed.

During the hundreds of years of tabernacle and then temple sacrifices the people understood that the sacrifices paid what they owed (for example).

In Isaiah 53:4-6, the high point of the final Suffering Servant passage, we read the following prophecy:

4 Surely he has borne our griefs
  and carried our sorrows;
  yet we esteemed him stricken,
  smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
  he was crushed for our iniquities;
  upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
  and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
  we have turned—every one—to his own way;
  and the Lord has laid on him
  the iniquity of us all.

In the New Testament we see Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the O.T. prophecies. One of my favorite verses in the entire bible is II Corinthians 5:21. Paul tells us, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." We see that Jesus became sin (took on our sin), and in this great exchange we receive his righteousness. What an amazing gift!

In I Peter 2:24 we read, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." Jesus was our substitute, taking our sins upon himself. He was the spotless lamb, executed in our place.

Elsewhere Paul writes, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree' — so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith" (Gal. 3:13-14). This description of Christ's work informs us that Jesus bought us back from our impossible sin debt by becoming the curse we deserve.

In Colossians 2:13-14 we see the following, "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." God has made us spiritually alive by cancelling the legal debt we could not pay. How? He accomplished this by nailing it to the cross (specifically by nailing Christ to the cross).

I cherish Christ's finished and accomplished work at Calvary because it is at the center of salvation. Jesus atoned for our wretched sinfulness by becoming that sin for us. He stood in our place and took what we deserved. He became the curse we could not pay. He, the perfect lamb, gave himself up as our atoning sacrifice.

Jesus Christ is our one and only, infinitely perfect substitute sacrifice! All praise and honor are due his name!

5 Blog Themes for 2015

Bloggers must blog about what they care about. Otherwise, their writing will be lifeless, without passion, and dull. Much like in 2014, I plan to blog about a wide range of topics in 2015. However, five topics that I care about deeply will receive quite a bit of my attention. I'll be regularly writing on the following five themes:


1. Church Body Life

It's no surprise that I'm a big proponent of simple church life. Within this framework body life is critical and can flourish. Mutual edification is the prime reason for gathering. Every person involved matters and is, therefore, expected to be an active participant. Each member can and should carry out the "one anothers" we see described in the New Testament. This is an extremely important issue because healthy body life is directly related to maturity in Christ.


2. Biblical Interpretation

The bible is a book (obviously). Although it was written for all of us to understand, many Christians fail to do so correctly. Much of the reason for this is that we read our traditions back into scripture. Additionally, we often see what we want to see rather than simply letting the bible speak. In order to be the church God wants, we need to interpret the scriptures accurately.


3. The Atonement of Christ

Jesus Christ died for the sins of his people. However, what does this mean? What took place when this occurred? Did he die as substitute or only as example? The church is currently all over the place on this issue. Since I believe this doctrine sits at the core of the gospel itself, I plan to write about it quite a bit. Additionally, for whatever reason the atonement has always fascinated me.


4. Doctrinal Concerns

The more I read in the Christian blogosphere, the more vague doctrine I see. Increasing numbers appear to believe that doctrine doesn't really matter. I'm talking about core issues (such as the atonement mentioned above). The truth is that doctrine does, in fact, matter. For example, we must follow Jesus Christ. But which one? The one described by the Jehovah's Witnesses who knocked on my door last week? Of course not. Rather, we follow the Jesus of the bible. Correct doctrine is one facet of following Christ.


5. Nonresistance

This will likely be the least popular of the five topics. Oh well. As I read the bible, in particular about the life of Christ, I see a pattern of nonresistance. This is a lifestyle that I hope the church at least begins to think about. I'm tired of how both the Republican Party and the National Rifle Association impact the church in this country. Jesus didn't go down with guns blazing. Rather, he did not resist when arrested, tortured, and executed. When can and must learn from this.

Buying a House or Living in a House?

I love the atonement of Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus died in my place at Calvary is an astounding thing. My favorite bible verse is II Corinthians 5:21, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Apart from His sacrifice on the cross, we would have no hope, no salvation, no eternal life.

Here's a related question: Is it possible that we spend too much time talking/thinking about the atonement of Christ and not enough time abiding in Christ?

I'm not trying to create a false dichotomy of sorts here. Of course we should both ponder/cherish the atoning work of Jesus and enjoy abiding in Him moment-by-moment. I just wonder if we spend so much time on the former that we are losing out on the latter.

Some of this stems back to the Protestant Reformation. The Reformers in general were concerned with having a biblical understanding of salvation. I am deeply grateful to men like Luther and Calvin for the work they did in this area. Those of us coming from Protestant backgrounds have been taught again and again about the transaction that took place on the cross. Jesus purchased our salvation by taking our place. This is the substitutionary atonement.

My concern is that, coming from a Protestant background, I (and maybe you too) have my priorities askew just a bit. Could my focus be off a little? Could I look more at the transaction that Christ purchased than at Christ himself?

This is sort of like the difference between purchasing a house and living in a house. The purchasing is certainly important. Without it there would be no living in the house. However, once we buy a house we do not spend most of our time thinking about the day we bought it. Instead, we simply enjoy the daily living in the house. In our relationships with Christ, it seems that we would benefit from more time basking in the presence of Christ in the here-and-now, and less time focusing on what He bought for us so long ago (I realize the above house analogy breaks down at several points. I simply include it as an illustration).

It is correct to say that we cannot and should not separate Christ from the cross. However, if we stare too intently at the cross, we may treat Christ as someone who mostly functioned in the past. He is alive and well today! We are called upon to abide in Him in the present. In the book of I John, the apostle repeatedly refers to our abiding in Christ. For example, John writes:

"And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming." I John 2:28

"Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us." I John 3:24

"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." I John 4:15-16

Click here for a complete list of John's uses of "abide" in I John.

When we read the bible we see a real person named Jesus Christ. He lived, died, and was resurrected. These things truly happened in space and time. Praise the Lord for this! These truths are necessary for our faith. If any fail (which they cannot), then we are without hope.

That said, Jesus lives today. He is doing very well and sitting at the right hand of His Father. John calls upon us to abide in Him. Abiding is a second-by-second communing with Jesus Christ. It is truly living with Him in every sense of that word. His death on the cross enables our abiding, but it is not the same thing as our abiding.

Let's not spend so much time thinking on the Christ of the past that we lose out on the joy of the Christ of the present.

A Call to Live as the Priests We Are

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."  Romans 12:1

Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, performed the ultimate act of sacrifice by giving himself for us. Because of what he accomplished, we are one with him (interestingly, I just learned that the term "High Priest" is used more in the book of Hebrews than any other book in the bible).

God does not expect us to act as priests in order to come to him. Rather, because of Jesus' atoning work, we are priests. Our status is set. It does not depend on our work, but Christ's accomplished work. Notice that Paul does not call upon the Roman Christians to perform spiritual sacrifices to be right with God. Instead, he calls upon them to live out the priesthood that they are a part of. As priests, the fruit of their relationship with God is their spiritual sacrifices.

This is a clarion call from the apostle to the Roman church to embrace their priesthood. We must remember that Romans 12 comes relatively late in this epistle. For much of the previous eleven chapters Paul has discussed what God has done in his rescue mission of sinners. God performed the necessary work of redemption to make us priests.

In light of our peace with God (Romans 5:1), we can and should embrace this call to live as the priests we are. Stunningly, God has freed us to live through Christ in ways that please him. He accepts our sacrifices because of his Son's ultimate sacrifice.

Topics of Interest (at Least for Me)

I've mentioned several times (probably too many) that I'm working a lot these days. This, by the way, is far superior to being unemployed.

Due to the work, my blogging time has decreased. Therefore, I'm planning to narrow down the focus of this blog. As in the icon to the left, I'm going to be writing primarily about four things that are topics of interest at least for me:

1. Simple Church / House Church/ Organic Church Positives

I realize that I write about this quite a bit already. However, my plan is to focus more on the positives of whatever we call this sort of church life. I hope you see a smaller percentage of posts targeting negatives of institutional church; this may occur from time to time, but the percentage will be dropping.

2. The Priesthood of All Believers

This often misunderstood doctrine of the faith is critical to a healthy church. The more I ponder the reality of our priesthood, the more stunned and awestruck I am by it. Of course, this is only possible because of our great High Priest - Christ himself.

3. The Atonement of Christ

This is probably my favorite doctrine of them all. The High Priest offers himself as the once for all sacrifice for us. It's so wonderful that it's almost unbelievable.

4. World Missions

This should need no explanation. What a privilege to be Christ's ambassadors!


I hope this streamlining of focus will make for a better blog and more interesting discussions. While blogging frequency will be less than in the past, maybe the quality will rise.

The Cross Covers Church Life

A big part of the purpose of this blog is the discussion of church life. No surprise there. In doing this, my hope is that we will all be stretched by scriptural truths to be the church that God desires. This can be painful and difficult at times, but well worth it in the end.

That said, none of us is ever going to either perfectly figure out what the church should be or live out what we have discovered. Despite our attempts, we will still fall short of the ideal. Sin has a nasty way of distorting even our best intentions.

In light of these failings, I'm thrilled to remember that Jesus' work on the cross covers church life. In His grace, God forgives our mistakes, failures, and disasters in church life.  His showers His great mercy down upon all Christians as we sort of take "two steps forward and one step back" in the church.  We all desperately need this grace.

No matter if we are a part of a denomination or not, a house fellowship or not, a mega church or not, a missions team or not, etc., we need God's grace to cover our church practices.  Even if we try as best we can to selflessly serve others as Christ did, we will still fall short of Jesus' perfect example.  Even if we strive to carry out the "one-anothers of the bible" as we read them, we won't be perfect (or even close).

Thank the Lord for His great grace! I need it in all areas of my life - including the church. The more I study the church in scripture, the more I see how much I still don't understand and how much more I fail to live out. This is not a blog post based in false humility. This is reality.

As we live today and every day as the church, let's bask in the grace of God. We should certainly try to be as biblical as we can regarding the church (and we will certainly have differences of opinion about what some of this will mean). At the same time, let's take tremendous comfort in God's gracious attitudes towards our failings.

His grace is greater than our sin!  He is indeed worthy of our praise.

"It Is Well"

In my previous post, I in essence pointed out a number of books that are not worth reading. This book, although the focus is not the church, is definitely worth the read.

It Is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement is one of those texts that is simply a joy to read. Part of the reason is the topic. I love spending time pondering the stunning atonement of Jesus Christ. His work on the cross for us should leave us in a continual state of awe.

One reason I really enjoyed this book is that the authors (Mark Dever and Michale Lawrence) focus on fourteen different scripture passages that deal directly with the atonement. Each chapter in the book discusses one passage. This book is actually taken from fourteen different sermons that they preached on the atonement. In that way, It Is Well is a little different than most books because it reads like you are listening to sermons.

We cannot think too often on the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. This book will help you in that. Enjoy.

The Sacrificial Lamb

Since yesterday was Yom Kippur, this video is especially appropriate. Praise God that Jesus Christ is the once-for-all, perfect sacrificial lamb.

The Sacrificial Lamb from SourceFlix on Vimeo.

Thanks J.T.

Nice Remake of "And Can It Be?"

My Favorite Chorus

"All I Have is Christ" by Sovereign Grace Music.

My Favorite Hymn

"And Can it Be?" by Charles Wesley

There is a Fountain Filled With Blood

Than you, William Cowper, for writing this wonderful hymn.

New Piper Book Available

John Piper's latest book is now available from Desiring God. In Jesus: The Only Way To God, Dr. Piper deals with the fundamental issue of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. This book will undoubtedly be unpopular in secular culture, where relativism rules the day.

If you follow Jesus, this book probably won't teach you anything new, but I'm sure it will be an encouragement to cherish Christ and Him alone.

I just ordered my copy from DG - only $4.99. Nice.

"The Atonement"

I would rather read about the atoning work of Christ on the cross than about any other doctrine of the faith.

I realize this is a subjective statement, but it is true nonetheless. Because of this, I enjoyed reading Leon Morris' classic entitled The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance.

This book is straightforward and to the point. The book is composed of eight chapters, each of which deals with a specific aspect of the atonement. The topics he covers are: covenant, sacrifice, the Day of Atonement, the Passover, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, and justification.

I appreciate this text for two reasons. First, Morris spends a good deal of time looking in the Old Testament to show how Jesus has fulfilled what was prophesied there. Second, Morris sticks to the literal interpretation of the biblical text. In doing this, he shows how liberal theology fails to read the bible for what it says.

If you like to read about the atonement, you'll enjoy this one.

What Did Jesus Do on Friday?

Colossians 2:13-14, "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."

"Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology"

I've mentioned before that my favorite doctrine is the atonement. I suppose that is a little silly since all the doctrines fit together in one master story. Regardless, I love to think and read about Christ's perfect work on the cross.

A few years ago the T4G guys published a book called Preaching the Cross. That book promoted the idea that the cross of Christ should be at the center of our preaching. I couldn't agree more.

I just recently stumbled upon a sequel to Preaching the Cross which is entitled Proclaiming a Cross-Centered Theology. Like the first book, this text focuses on the cross. The difference between the books is that this one focuses more on the importance of preaching and teaching a theology of the cross.

This book was a good read. If you love the atonement, you will enjoy it. In my opinion, the chapter written by R.C. Sproul, entitled "The Curse Motif of the Atonement," is the high point.

The cross is the center point of Christian theology. This book gets it right.

Twin Symbols of Christianity

I love the cross of Christ. I also love the empty tomb. I love the gospel message these symbols remind us of. In particular, I love our Lord Jesus Christ who perished on the cross but rose from the tomb.

Let us always cherish them and teach them together. The cross by itself offers no hope. The empty tomb by itself offers no hope. However, the cross and the tomb together remind us that Jesus paid for sin and rose victoriously over death.

Keep these symbols together.