Dallas Willard is the leading writer in our day on spiritual formation (the business of becoming more like Jesus and becoming more centered on him as our ultimate, God-honouring, joy and treasure). In this bit of video he's being interviewed by John Ortberg (who wrote what amounts to an "Idiot's Guide to Willard" in his book The Life You've Always Wanted - Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary Life). Definitely worth a look. (it's 6 minutes). I love the thing he says about grace being opposed to earning not effort - a common misconception.....
http://vimeo.com/13268061
Friday, 20 August 2010
Thursday, 19 August 2010
What's the Minimum Required?
We live in a day and age where we're pretty keen to know, in all sorts of situations, what's the minimum that's required. Students want to know what the minimum required standard is for a certain grade, we want the best deal, the least cost solution, we want to be able to get as close to the fire without being burnt, husbands want to know.....actually, just let's leave it there. I think we get the idea.
Anyway sometimes I'm asked what's the minimum that's required to be "saved" (why do I wince inwardly when I use that word even though it's straight out of the bible?) What are the most basic things a person needs to believe in order to be put right with God. It's a good question and one worth pondering particularly, if the bible is to be believed (and it should), our eternal destiny is at stake. we could spend a long time in the wrong place if we mistakenly believe that "believing that Jesus is the Son of God" is all that is required, or even that "He died on a Cross".
I found this from John Piper quite helpful:
Paul says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." He says, "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved."
So I take texts like that and begin at the core—the death of Jesus. He died for our sins, which means I must believe I am a sinner. A person that doesn't believe he is a sinner can't be saved. If there is nothing to forgive, Jesus didn't do anything for me. If he didn't do anything for me, I'm not believing him for salvation. If I'm not believing him for salvation, then I'm not saved. So you must believe you are a sinner.
You must believe that there is a God who has created the possibility for sin. That is, sin by definition is the falling short of the expectations of your Creator. So there has to be a Creator God out there who has expectations of humans. God expects humans to trust him, love him and live for him. And we fail.
Which leads us to the third thing we must believe. Because we fail to trust, love and live for God we are under his holy judgment—his wrath. You've got to believe that.
If you are a sinner and there is a holy God, and if you are defining sin as a falling short of that God, then in order to understand what he is doing to make things right you must understand that God is angry about sin. He is a good and just judge.
So, what has he done to solve the problem of our alienation from him? He has sent his Son into the world. You've got to believe in the deity of Jesus. Psalm 49 says that no man can pay a ransom for another man. A few verses later, in verse 15, it says God will pay the ransom.
He couldn't have used John, or Peter or Paul to die for us. He had to have the God-man die for us. So the deity of Jesus is essential.
You also must acknowledge what Jesus did. He lived the perfect life. I don't think you can believe that Jesus sinned and still be saved. Because then the sacrifice made for you was not what God required, and you aren't believing in what God did for you. So Jesus is the sinless Son of God and he gives himself up to die in my place.
This substitutionary dimension of the death of Christ for my sins is necessary. There are lots of ways the Bible talks about this and I think you can be very confused about some of them while still being saved. I don't want to start listing off all the ways the Bible talks about the atonement and how confused you can be about them while still being saved. Let's just say that what is required is the core of the gospel—that the remedy is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who never sinned got in my place and took the wrath of God for me. He died in my place.
If he had stayed dead, we would still be in our sins. So you must believe he rose from the dead. So now he has risen from the dead.
I am willing to stop there. This is the cluster of essentials for salvation. You might be able to bring to mind some things that are so theologically attached to this cluster that I would say, "OK that has to be included as well." But if someone asks, "What do I have to believe to be saved?" My answer is, you must believe this cluster of things about yourself, about God, and about the cross.
One more thing. I am assuming something because the question was, "What do I have to believe?" But I should make clear that you have to believe something about belief. Meaning, you must believe that belief is required. If you say, "I get all of what was said, but now I'm going to work so that God can make all of this count for me. I'm going to keep the law 85% so that all this redemptive work will count for me," then you've missed it. You're not saved.
For salvation you must believe that instead of working for this salvation, Jesus has already done what needs to be done. We receive it. "As many as received him, who believed in his name, he gave them the right to become the children of God." So I think sin, God, cross and faith. That is the summary, the core of truth surrounding those four things.
Anyway sometimes I'm asked what's the minimum that's required to be "saved" (why do I wince inwardly when I use that word even though it's straight out of the bible?) What are the most basic things a person needs to believe in order to be put right with God. It's a good question and one worth pondering particularly, if the bible is to be believed (and it should), our eternal destiny is at stake. we could spend a long time in the wrong place if we mistakenly believe that "believing that Jesus is the Son of God" is all that is required, or even that "He died on a Cross".
I found this from John Piper quite helpful:
Paul says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." He says, "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved."
So I take texts like that and begin at the core—the death of Jesus. He died for our sins, which means I must believe I am a sinner. A person that doesn't believe he is a sinner can't be saved. If there is nothing to forgive, Jesus didn't do anything for me. If he didn't do anything for me, I'm not believing him for salvation. If I'm not believing him for salvation, then I'm not saved. So you must believe you are a sinner.
You must believe that there is a God who has created the possibility for sin. That is, sin by definition is the falling short of the expectations of your Creator. So there has to be a Creator God out there who has expectations of humans. God expects humans to trust him, love him and live for him. And we fail.
Which leads us to the third thing we must believe. Because we fail to trust, love and live for God we are under his holy judgment—his wrath. You've got to believe that.
If you are a sinner and there is a holy God, and if you are defining sin as a falling short of that God, then in order to understand what he is doing to make things right you must understand that God is angry about sin. He is a good and just judge.
So, what has he done to solve the problem of our alienation from him? He has sent his Son into the world. You've got to believe in the deity of Jesus. Psalm 49 says that no man can pay a ransom for another man. A few verses later, in verse 15, it says God will pay the ransom.
He couldn't have used John, or Peter or Paul to die for us. He had to have the God-man die for us. So the deity of Jesus is essential.
You also must acknowledge what Jesus did. He lived the perfect life. I don't think you can believe that Jesus sinned and still be saved. Because then the sacrifice made for you was not what God required, and you aren't believing in what God did for you. So Jesus is the sinless Son of God and he gives himself up to die in my place.
This substitutionary dimension of the death of Christ for my sins is necessary. There are lots of ways the Bible talks about this and I think you can be very confused about some of them while still being saved. I don't want to start listing off all the ways the Bible talks about the atonement and how confused you can be about them while still being saved. Let's just say that what is required is the core of the gospel—that the remedy is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who never sinned got in my place and took the wrath of God for me. He died in my place.
If he had stayed dead, we would still be in our sins. So you must believe he rose from the dead. So now he has risen from the dead.
I am willing to stop there. This is the cluster of essentials for salvation. You might be able to bring to mind some things that are so theologically attached to this cluster that I would say, "OK that has to be included as well." But if someone asks, "What do I have to believe to be saved?" My answer is, you must believe this cluster of things about yourself, about God, and about the cross.
One more thing. I am assuming something because the question was, "What do I have to believe?" But I should make clear that you have to believe something about belief. Meaning, you must believe that belief is required. If you say, "I get all of what was said, but now I'm going to work so that God can make all of this count for me. I'm going to keep the law 85% so that all this redemptive work will count for me," then you've missed it. You're not saved.
For salvation you must believe that instead of working for this salvation, Jesus has already done what needs to be done. We receive it. "As many as received him, who believed in his name, he gave them the right to become the children of God." So I think sin, God, cross and faith. That is the summary, the core of truth surrounding those four things.
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Purity
John Tauler was a 14th century mystic who although having some theologically, lets say, creative ideas said this great thing about purity.
A pure heart is a heart which finds its whole and only satisfaction in God…to which all that is not of God is strange and jarring.
Which is interesting given Jesus said:
Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.
A pure heart is a heart which finds its whole and only satisfaction in God…to which all that is not of God is strange and jarring.
Which is interesting given Jesus said:
Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.
Are There More Gifts For You To Unwrap?
I found this really helpful from John Piper:
Is the Holy Spirit under emphasized in Evangelical circles?
Sometimes we hear people say that the Holy Spirit is the "forgotten person," or that he has been ignored and that we need to bring the Holy Spirit back in full force.
I have been around long enough to know that there are seasons when the Holy Spirit is over attended to. And there also are seasons when he is under attended to.
If you are asking me about right now, I would say that he is probably under attended to somewhere, maybe in "young, reformed and restless circles" — or whatever this movement is called - especially as it concerns the fullness of the work of the Holy Spirit. Not his role in effectual calling, but his gifts. His necessity for powerful witness. 'Wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes upon you... You will receive the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses.' So maybe we are under emphasizing the necessity and the power of the Holy Spirit for witnessing.
Also, I was just thinking the other day that we downplay the work of Holy Spirit in terms of his varied gifts. This is under emphasized too much in our reformed churches, and in typical evangelical churches.
Here is an illustration. If you've been praying for a person, or maybe even for yourself, to be delivered from a sin or sickness and if that moral or physical issue hasn't yielded to your prayer for years, but you still struggle from the moral or physical ailment, there are a few things to consider.
One absolutely biblically correct factor to take into consideration is God's sovereign timing. He wants you to pray and he is going to answer you, but it may not be for 13 years. In David Mathis' teaching the other night on Psalms, he drew attention to the fact that Joseph was sold into slavery and didn't understand why he was going through tremendous pain for 13 years. But when he became the vice president of Egypt and saved the seed of the Messiah, it all became clear. "OK, now I get it Lord, I'm willing."
But at year 6... 7... 8... 9... 10... 11... 12... you are saying, "God I'm trying to be faithful and I get lied about. I get thrown in prison. What is up with your children being treated this way?"
Everybody has stuff like that in their life. And timing is one answer. What about gifts being another answer?
Here's what hit me the other day. If there are gifts of healing. If there are gifts of faith, gifts of miracles, gifts of discernment. That means some Christians are going to be granted answers to those prayers where others aren't. So maybe the reason I'm not getting the answer to my moral struggle or my physical struggle is because I haven't asked Jane to pray for me. And Jane has the gift of healing. Or Jane has the gift of discernment of spirits and can see something here that needs to be seen.
But I've locked myself in my closet, "God save me. God help me. God strengthen me. God deliver me!" And God is saying, "Uh... I have taught you about spiritual gifts and you don't ever avail yourself of them. Don't come complaining to me saying that I haven't responded to you when I have gifts waiting for you and you never open the package."
So I think that I could do better, and we can do better at that level.
So the answer is that in various groups, various ministries of the Holy Spirit are probably underrated and under emphasized.
So in what ways might we be missing out on the Spirit's ministry because we don't seek and ask? How about we make more of a point of sharing in our different groups (Core Groups and Life Groups) the needs that we have and see what gifts the Lord might be wanting to use to bring about His work?
Is the Holy Spirit under emphasized in Evangelical circles?
Sometimes we hear people say that the Holy Spirit is the "forgotten person," or that he has been ignored and that we need to bring the Holy Spirit back in full force.
I have been around long enough to know that there are seasons when the Holy Spirit is over attended to. And there also are seasons when he is under attended to.
If you are asking me about right now, I would say that he is probably under attended to somewhere, maybe in "young, reformed and restless circles" — or whatever this movement is called - especially as it concerns the fullness of the work of the Holy Spirit. Not his role in effectual calling, but his gifts. His necessity for powerful witness. 'Wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes upon you... You will receive the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses.' So maybe we are under emphasizing the necessity and the power of the Holy Spirit for witnessing.
Also, I was just thinking the other day that we downplay the work of Holy Spirit in terms of his varied gifts. This is under emphasized too much in our reformed churches, and in typical evangelical churches.
Here is an illustration. If you've been praying for a person, or maybe even for yourself, to be delivered from a sin or sickness and if that moral or physical issue hasn't yielded to your prayer for years, but you still struggle from the moral or physical ailment, there are a few things to consider.
One absolutely biblically correct factor to take into consideration is God's sovereign timing. He wants you to pray and he is going to answer you, but it may not be for 13 years. In David Mathis' teaching the other night on Psalms, he drew attention to the fact that Joseph was sold into slavery and didn't understand why he was going through tremendous pain for 13 years. But when he became the vice president of Egypt and saved the seed of the Messiah, it all became clear. "OK, now I get it Lord, I'm willing."
But at year 6... 7... 8... 9... 10... 11... 12... you are saying, "God I'm trying to be faithful and I get lied about. I get thrown in prison. What is up with your children being treated this way?"
Everybody has stuff like that in their life. And timing is one answer. What about gifts being another answer?
Here's what hit me the other day. If there are gifts of healing. If there are gifts of faith, gifts of miracles, gifts of discernment. That means some Christians are going to be granted answers to those prayers where others aren't. So maybe the reason I'm not getting the answer to my moral struggle or my physical struggle is because I haven't asked Jane to pray for me. And Jane has the gift of healing. Or Jane has the gift of discernment of spirits and can see something here that needs to be seen.
But I've locked myself in my closet, "God save me. God help me. God strengthen me. God deliver me!" And God is saying, "Uh... I have taught you about spiritual gifts and you don't ever avail yourself of them. Don't come complaining to me saying that I haven't responded to you when I have gifts waiting for you and you never open the package."
So I think that I could do better, and we can do better at that level.
So the answer is that in various groups, various ministries of the Holy Spirit are probably underrated and under emphasized.
So in what ways might we be missing out on the Spirit's ministry because we don't seek and ask? How about we make more of a point of sharing in our different groups (Core Groups and Life Groups) the needs that we have and see what gifts the Lord might be wanting to use to bring about His work?
Back in the Saddle
My sabbatical and the family holiday which followed has been great.... life giving, energising, inspiring- all that it should have been and needed to be. Now it's time to re-engage and I can't wait.
Whilst away I saw the 10th anniversary of my induction to the pastorate at Lymington and I'm more committed and excited than ever about the work here. I'm gaining steam not losing it!
I'm looking forward to seeing what the Lord is going to do in us and through us as, together, we learn to love Him well and enjoy Him greatly.
Whilst away I saw the 10th anniversary of my induction to the pastorate at Lymington and I'm more committed and excited than ever about the work here. I'm gaining steam not losing it!
I'm looking forward to seeing what the Lord is going to do in us and through us as, together, we learn to love Him well and enjoy Him greatly.
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