Romans 7:6 – “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”

In verses 4 and 5 of Romans 7, Paul tells us we are dead to the Law which aroused our sinful passions. Telling a child, “No,” “Don’t,” “Stop,” often causes him to want to do it all the more. And so it is with us adults as well; we have disciplined ourselves to say no to our passions for various reasons: custom of family, social acceptance, to get in someone’s good graces. The point is that we still have to say no to our outward actions when in our minds the desire is still there. We may even fantasize about it. And if not fantasize, we may at least grumble within about having to go against our desires. This is the letter of the Law: Obeying it for all the wrong reasons, actually forcing ourselves to against our natural bent. That oftentimes leads to “overkill” – going beyond what the Law states and acting as if that were Law as well.

In Christ, we are dead to the Law, we are dead to the burden of guilt it once put upon us. We are dead to the constant demands of condemnation and judgment. It no longer governs and taunts us. Now we are alive in Christ and we serve Him in love and hopeful expectation whereas we used to serve the law in anger, fear and dread. The Spirit of Christ within causes us to love the Law, which is the expression and portrait of the character of our dear Savior and Lord. The Law informs us of the holy character of our Lord and surely – because He has loved us so much and rescued us from death and judgment – surely we would love Him back by modeling ourselves after His character. Now the Law has become our guideline, not our angry condemner.

Paul goes on in the chapter to explain the constant tension under which all true Christians live: the presence of sin in the flesh. Those sinful desires plague us. Oh, we are usually able to conquer the biggies. But sin is insidious. Those desires to be “one up,” lording it over, thinking more highly of oneself, ungodly motivations – they are all still there and we must continue to fight them, sometimes mourning over them, sometimes angry or frustrated, sometimes wimping out and giving in.

I am so thankful that God does not condemn me in my weakness: my disability to conquer myself and my love for my sin. Instead He uses it all for my sanctification. He doesn’t desert me nor leave me here in my muddles and messes. His Spirit lifts me up by reminding me of His promises. God will never fail me.

Living in the plains of light, if we did always what pleased Him, it would never raise us up to be any closer to Him on the heights of righteousness, for we would only be doing what the creature should be doing in respect to the Creator – as the child to the parent, or the subject to the king. If the child obeys the parent in every way, does this change the role of the child? Can he now be equal to the parent? If the subject remains truly loyal to the king, does this move him up in nobility? Can he sit with the king in the throne? Of course not, for the child and the subject are simply fulfilling who they are. They cannot attain to the same position as those over them.

So we, subjects of the great eternal King, are only doing what we ought when we obey in every way (Luke 17:7-10). How, then, can we be seated with Christ in the heavenly places as we are told in Ephesians 2:6.

Just as it pleased God to create this fascinating, wondrous universe, displaying all His glorious attributes of creativity: power, knowledge, presence, and more – so it pleases Him to create anew in His people. In the dead soul, the seed of the Word is implanted. The Holy Spirit breathes upon the dead man and life is born!

We have here a picture of the three persons working together, in full agreement. The Father points to the dead soul and the Word of Christ is gifted to that soul. But understanding – life-giving understanding – is not achieved until the Spirit blows across that soul. The sleeper awakes and walks in the light of that implanted Word, legs of faith strengthened by the all-powerful, life-giving, life-sustaining God.

We who have been pulled up from the pit not only walk in the plains of light. We also have a place, a seat, on the heights of righteousness (Eph. 2:6). What! Not only does He remove us from the pit and washes the filth away and causes us to walk in the light of His law. He doesn’t just take away from us – He adds to us! We are granted righteousness and raised up and called His “Holy Ones” (Eph. 2:19).

Why would He do this? He could leave us in our dark, filthy pit forever and be just in doing so. He owes us nothing – consider He has already created us and supplied us with all we need to live, sustaining the entire universe to make life possible.

While we were hating Him, He loved us and brought about His plan in real time and real space to rescue us from this dungeon.

You say you don’t hate Him? By what definition? Or, should I say, whose? The Bible defines love and hate differently than our culture does. Our culture says that love is a feeling that cannot be helped; it controls us and makes us do things we might not ever have done before it took control. We use hate in response to how something happened to us that we could not stop and therefore, we hate it or him.

It is different in the Bible. Hate in the Bible is failing to do for others, to live as if you are more important, to be willingly ignorant or to be oblivious of the needs of others. And hatred toward God is to fail to obey Him in the role He created you for: that of creature to Creator, that of child to Father, that of subject to King. Hatred toward God is to live as if He isn’t there, didn’t create you, has no interest in you. In other words, hate is what defines a sinner, a citizen of the pit – and you cannot escape this citizenship. As a descendant of Adam, you were born in this pit; there is no escape outside of God.

But what is love by the Bible’s standards? Love is an action that involves giving for the benefit of the other, even at cost to self. The Father demonstrated His love for the Son by giving Him a people who would worship and adore Him forever. He had to give the Son as a sacrifice in order to do that. The Son demonstrates His love for the Father by revealing who the Father is to the human race by doing what none of us would have ever thought to do – He became one of us so that we could see the Father. He had to give His life over into the hands of wicked men to do with Him as they pleased. The Spirit demonstrates His love to the Father and the Son as He illumines the Word of God in the hearts of dead souls, blowing as the wind over whomever the Father chooses. All of this is done out of a great love for me! For the church, the people of God.

This great love with which He loves us – His people – is a revelation of His mercy and grace and goodness and faithfulness. It is a mercy to pick one out and lift him out of the pit of darkness, when the one does not deserve it. It is grace to shine on one with the light of mercy and love, to give favor where death should reign. It is goodness because God has worked it all out in justice and righteousness and holiness; He does not do this arbitrarily; He does not break His own law. Christ suffered the punishment due to the sins of His people – an eternity of wrath for each one of His people as He hung on that cross. Justice was done and righteousness was displayed and a holy God was vindicated. It is faithfulness because God kept His promise made within the Trinity to save a people and to exalt the Son for His glory. It showcases His power: not one thing went undone, not one plan went awry, not one molecule slipped past Him in working it all out. It shows His wisdom and infinite understanding and knowledge: the minutest details were worked out and every heart of every man was understood and fit into the plan according to the sovereign plan of God. It shows His presence: God is not an impersonal God. He is intimately involved in the history of man, both as a body and as individuals, past, present and future.

God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Beth McMichen

February 2009

“Hosts of Christians have a dreadful fear of God’s Law, as if it were the useless relic of a past age, the use of which in our day would keep sinners from the grace of God. Our Saviour used the law as a primary tool of evangelism. He knew that preaching the Ten Commandments was the only way to teach a sinner his guilt and thereby stir within him a desire for God’s grace.

The woman at the well must have the seventh commandment applied to her conscience or she would never be converted (John 4:16-18). This nobleman (Mark 10:17-30) must have the law personally preached or he would dwell in constant confusion. Every true saint would have to agree with Paul, who attributed his own conversion to the agency of the law: ‘I had not known sin, but by the law’ (Romans 7:7). It is God’s law that convicts of sin. Until its condemnation of particular evils is forcefully pressed upon a sinner, he will not flee to Christ for mercy. At best he can only ask, ‘What is it that I need for eternal life?’ (Mark 10:17) The man who understands the law clearly knows that only God’s grace can help him. What the sinner must do is beg for mercy.”

Walt J. Chantry, Today’s Gospel, Pg 39

Brother Mantle Nance reads First Day, Morning Worship from

The Valley of Vision, Puritan Prayers and Devotions

First, it causes us to embrace doctrinal humility. I notice that the reappraisals and defections come as a result of individual inquiry. When I set myself up as the doctrinal authority (or rely on some other individual to do the same), I set myself up as the standard and criteria for judgment. How often have I heard someone say “I have studied this matter and here is my conclusion . . . .”, a conclusion often novel or out of harmony with received doctrine. When I submit myself to the wisdom of the church, gathered over the ages, I am kept from assuming a place of authority. In reality, I am in a position of submission. At this point, someone will protest, but what about Scripture? Isn’t it an authority over the Confession? Well, of course, and it always must be so. But the problem is that I never read Scripture apart from my own gloss on Scripture. It is too easy for me to think that my reading of the Bible is necessarily the correct one.

Secondly, confessionalism ties us to the church past and present. A good Confession of faith will express doctrines always believed by Christians. This was one of the great issues of the Reformation. The Reformers viewed themselves, not as innovators, but as recoverers of the tradition (read this as doctrine and practice as in 2 Thess 2:13-15) of the apostles and their successors. I think it was Anthony Lane who wrote that the Reformation was, in one sense, a dispute over the proper interpretation of the Fathers. This is a brilliant observation, pointing up a very important aspect of Reformation thinking: the truth is not new, it is old. When we adopt a Confession, we are identifying with every group of Christians which has confessed the same doctrine, all the way back to the apostles. Confessions keep us from theological and practical novelty.

excerpt from Prof. James Renihan’s blog – Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies

But the awe of his night vision held his feet in that place. This was something he could not forget: God had spoken to him; made him a promise, no less. A promise that He would be with Jacob, prosper him, and actually bring him back to this place. Jacob couldn’t shake the awe and fear that seemed to hold his feet down. “How awesome is this place!” he exclaimed. “This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven.”

Then he took the stone on which he had pillowed his head during the night, stood it upright and poured oil over it. Why did he do that? The stone, set up as a pillar, was meant to be a marker, a signpost, a memorial to both him and God. He set it up as a reminder of God’s promise to Jacob.

This signpost is the focus of my thoughts. This is not the only time in the Bible that a stone or a pile of stones was used as a memorial. Fast forward about 20 years. Jacob is coming back into Canaan. He is now a husband with two wives, a father with 12 children and a wealthy man with many flocks and herds and servants. Laban, his father-in-law, is pursuing him and we are not told his actual intent, but we may surmise that it is not good because of the warning God gives Laban that he is not to harm Jacob. When Laban catches up to Jacob, they make a covenant that neither would pass beyond this point to harm the other. Jacob stood up a stone as a pillar and the witnesses piled up stones around it as a witness to that covenant. These standing stones were to serve as a reminder to both parties that they were not to pass this “line in the sand” with the intent to harm the other.

Now, skip forward a few hundred years. When the children of Israel had crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Last at Jericho, Joshua, at the Lord’s command, chose 12 representatives from the tribes to dig a stone from the river bed and place them in the camp.

So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:4-7

Again, another memorial to God’s grace and power and faithfulness.

Another 500 years go by and David, King of Israel, wants to build a temple to the glory of God. Out of a heart of worship and reverence and thankfulness, come the plans for the great temple of God at Jerusalem. It is to be built of stones, cut and shaped at the quarry so no sound of hammering and chiseling may be heard at the temple site. David’s plans are carried out by his son, Solomon.

Solomon built a temple without equal. The stones were laid quietly upon the cornerstone. Then, when the building was finished, he beautified it with cedar and gold. It was a marvelous tribute to the glory of God, who had remained faithful to His covenant. As time went by, however, the people forgot the original purpose of the temple. As a matter of fact, it became a center for the worship of hideous, demonic idols. It seemed the people even worshiped the building itself. They seemed to think that the temple held God to His promise, kind of twisted His all-powerful arm and prevented Him from scattering them.

God destroyed that building. And He razed the second one to the ground as well. For the people rebuilt it hoping to recapture the splendor of days gone by. Why would He knock down a tribute to His great glory?

Does anything mankind builds or makes or designs – does it last forever? It cannot. God had plans to build a lasting, permanent temple, not of stones quarried from the earth, but of living stones. He laid His cornerstone, the foundation of His eternal temple, a foundation which would never fail – Christ, the Beloved Son. And we, generations later are part of this great building. Quarried and shaped out of the world by unseen hands, we are being fitted together, growing, building up into a temple in the Lord. We, the church, are His dwelling place. Here is the true existence of Immanuel on earth. Here is why Christ prayed for unity among His people, for stones who have a falling out with each other could shake the walls! We are called out, quarried out, of this world by one Spirit with one Hope, into one body. We are being built up together as a marker, a signpost, a memorial to God’s grace and faithfulness. He will build His church – He is building his church. Stone by stone. We are each living stones, trophies of His grace, being built up together into a masterpiece of construction, held together by the mortar of Truth activated by the Holy Spirit. Our foundation is Christ the Solid Rock and God dwells within our walls. For this reason we should pray and work along with Paul in Ephesians 3:14-21:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

]]> http://trinityrbc.org/discussion/2008/12/31/a-grand-memorial-to-god%e2%80%99s-grace/feed/ 0 http://trinityrbc.org/discussion/2008/12/15/bit-and-pieces/ http://trinityrbc.org/discussion/2008/12/15/bit-and-pieces/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:51:32 +0000 Beth M http://trinityrbc.org/discussion/?p=24 Little bits and pieces. This is how knowledge is gained; or rather, understanding. As we pick up these bits and chunks of knowledge and information, they are not always understandable. We may parrot them to others without any true understanding. But a true seeker of understanding will not stop at adding these bits and chunks to his collection. Those who do this gain nothing but shiny baubles, worthless trinkets. A true seeker of understanding will examine and try these bits, measuring them and comparing them against others. Sometimes when the light shines just right on these pieces, the seeker will see it . . . a bridge is made in his knowledge, a sort of synapse is forged between two or more of these pieces. Not like a puzzle. No, that is two-dimensional and has little meaning. One can only see one side, one perspective of that picture. True understanding is “3-D”; one piece may have connections to many others, making a model that exhibits height and depth and breath.

This light we have here is feeble, shadowed by many things: physical and mental condition, perspective, events and words that shade our present with the past. Occasionally, the shadows move and we have a bright glimpse. That is a wonderful moment, when a strong bridge or synapse is created. “Aha!” we breathe in exquisite pleasure.

Information, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, prudence . . . unfortunately, we are in the information age where we have constructed these superhighways on which little tidbits to great big chunks whiz by us so fast, all we can do is scan. We train our minds to be satisfied with this, for to focus on one means millions of others passing by in a blur. We sacrifice understanding for information, worthless because there are no connections made, no bridges built, only a flat and lifeless picture with lots of missing pieces.

Searching for knowledge and yet never satisfied, never satiated, always hungering and thirsting for more. Piling up bits and pieces and grabbing the next, like a toddler, a baby always wanting the next toy.

Some liken gaining knowledge and understanding to peeling off the layers of an onion. That’s a good analogy. But if we continue to peel and seek and grab for knowledge and yet never come to the knowledge of the truth, what good does it do us in the end?

A man who lived long ago set himself to getting much knowledge. He was known in ancient times for his vast knowledge and ability to make wise judgments. Rulers came to him to seek counsel, to pay tribute and to marvel at his great accomplishments. At the end of his life, he all but despaired, because in all his life-long gathering of knowledge, it still did not satisfy. He would go the way of all the earth: He would go to the grave, and what good would all the understanding he had gained do him then? It was all in vain. He pondered this dilemma and came to a very important conclusion. There is a source of knowledge: it is Truth. Not a popular word in our culture, which likes to believe that there is diversity in knowledge and even in reality, an indication that there is no source, no fountain of truth. So we move ever faster, grabbing this and that piece or bit, but never settling, gaining important knowledge, experience, understanding, but missing the underlying truth. How can we see it when our eyes are mesmerized by the blurred flashing of the information superhighway we have built?

Step away from the superhighway. Check out that quiet dirt road. Stop under that shade tree and think. Take time to look at both sides of the road, around the tree, the other side of the fence. Observe the critters; converse, no, dialog (that means two people talking and listening) with others who are walking here.

Especially important is to stop in the Light of the source of all knowledge. For there is a source. Unless we acknowledge that source, we are losers, no matter how much wisdom we have accumulated. Without the foundation, the accumulated wisdom is faulty. The source, the fountainhead of all wisdom, understanding and truth is the One who IS Truth. The fear of the Lord (old language for honoring Him as King – which He is) is the beginning (source) of knowledge. It is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of Him is understanding. He is the base of the “3-D” model we are building. Without it, our model is useless. It will topple!

God became man in Christ because only one who was both God and man could achieve our salvation. In approaching the subject from Anselm’s perspective,* we do not want to say that there are no other reasons for the Incarnation. We have … noted that it reveals the value set by God upon human life. Life is declared to be valuable by the creation alone, but sin has cheapened life. The Incarnation, coming in the midst of a history of human sin, indicated that God has not abandoned us but loves us and values us even in our fallen state. The Incarnation does two further things. It shows us that God is able to understand us and sympathize with us, which is an inducement to come to him in prayer. Also, the Incarnation gives an example of how a person ought to live in this world. Peter refers even to the crucifixion in such terms: “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

But the atonement is the real reason for the Incarnation. The author of Hebrews affirms this clearly. “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,” as it is written of me in the roll of the book’” (Hebrews 10:4-7). The writer then adds that when Jesus said he is coming to do God’s will, that will must be understood as the providing of a better sacrifice. “And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ one for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

*(Anselm of Canterbury – born 1033 – died 1109 )

from chapter 11, page 287-288 – Foundations of the Christian Faith, James Montgomery Boice

Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
Worship the LORD with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Psalm 2:10-12

We have been studying the 2^nd Psalm in our home group the past few weeks, using Walt Chantry’s book, “Praises for the King of Kings,” as a guide. When taken with the whole counsel of God, the Psalm seems to expand and expound the Gospel to the nations, who are described as mankind at war against the Lord and His Anointed, Christ. All are or have been members of this tumultuous and rioting army; the Lord makes it quite clear in Romans and many other passages that none of us are righteous and none of us seeks for God. We are His enemy.

As man rises up and shakes his fist at the God of all creation, the Lord laughs derisively in His throne room. It would be like the 3 year old child pummeling a grown man with the intent of getting his way at any cost. The grown man would laugh at the puny fists of the impotent child; a bear hug contains his struggles! The Lord, infinitely greater and more powerful than any man, has no worries about the threat of those who hate Him. He is, after all, creator of this entire universe and of all men.

God has crowned the King of all kings, Christ the Lord, and has installed Him upon His holy hill. Christ has been given the inheritance of all things, even the nations, and He will do with them as His justice demands. He will wield an iron scepter and crush the enemies of His kingdom. And of course, mankind is deserving of His righteous justice. Man has committed treason against the rightful King and has become His sworn enemy, refusing to acknowledge the authority of his Creator.

A true king would not allow such treason in his kingdom. Christ is a righteous and just king and He stands ready to judge. However, and thankfully for us, He is also merciful and patient, longsuffering. This stands out most in our study – the longsuffering patience and mercy of our righteous God! He waits; He holds His wrath to give every one the opportunity to repent, to turn to Him and to forsake the enemy.

The entire Psalm is written in language reminiscent of days gone by, when kings ruled kingdoms and certain protocol must be adhered to in the courts of the king. It is difficult for us Americans to truly understand this and we bristle at the thought of bowing the knee to any man. But, this is no mere man. This is the God-man, the Lord and King of all creation, Christ Jesus. He has done what no other man could or would do and certainly no king would do. He has paid the price of treason for those who trust in Him. Our sins against a holy God are blotted out by the One enthroned in heaven. Thank goodness – no, thank God! – this Psalm doesn’t end at verse 9!

On page 45, Mr. Chantry writes about those who do come to Christ in repentance. This paragraph made me have to do some soul-searching. It made me wonder about my own salvation . . . here is what he says:

“Most of us who are Christians can recall our earliest approaches to God’s Son in prayer. Because God’s law had done its work in our consciences we went to the Lord loaded with a great weight of guilt and shame. We trembled to enter the courts of His holiness, justice and power, knowing that we were deserving of His wrath. But we had heard that enemies of heaven could have peace with God through Him and that there was no other way to pardon and life.”

I did not experience this at the beginning – not in the way he describes it! I thought I was saved and needed to make things right. I started going to church and found myself agreeing with the preaching. I went to an SBC church for several months then to a Christian church for a while, about 2 years or so, never realizing that I needed to repent. Yet God was changing me. Then, we started going to a church where the focus was different than anything I had ever experienced. I began to learn about God. And He kept getting bigger and bigger.

It has been difficult to shake my Arminian roots. I believe, yes, I thoroughly believe the great doctrines. They make sense to me; they are just plain right! But the old patterns of thought and of response are deeply grooved into my mind and I have to make a conscious effort to deviate from them at times. Couple this with the fact that, naturally, man (myself included) always tries to work his way toward God, has to approach Him on his own terms, and – for me at least – it takes years of prayer, study, experience, under God’s patient and loving care to change at all.

I do believe He has saved me. But when I read stuff like Mr. Chantry has written, it shakes me up. And so then I have to do some thinking and wondering, “Am I saved?” But the evidence, I have to remind myself, does not lie within me. It is in Christ. Is there faith in that great work of His; am I drawn to Him? More than anything else? What captivates me most? This present world, my family, the horses, my homeschool? Or Him? If I lost it all – all these things that are meaningful and significant to me – would I still find hope and a future in Him?

Or, to look at it from another perspective, could I walk away from this new life? Could I live as if there were no eternity? Oh, no when I think that, there is this writhing within me, an agony of thought and soul, “NO! That is the lie! There is an eternity and it is ruled by God.”

Stripped of all the trappings and distractions of my life, there is this underlying faith that is stronger than even my will, my desires. I may be shaken, but this faith remains unbroken. Not because of me. Because of Him! For some reason that I can’t understand, He has given me His love, this faith, this great gift of mercy and grace. Oh, I don’t deserve it and I certainly don’t live as if I’m grateful for it. But look, look at that One seated on the throne in the courts of heaven. He paid for my treason, and when I deserved a common traitor’s death, He gave me His life and His love instead.