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“God never places us in any position in which we cannot grow. We may imagine that He does. We may fear we are so impeded by fretting petty cares that we are gaining nothing; but when we are not sending any branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress. Look on and look up. Lay hold on Christ with both your poor, empty hands. Let Him do with you what seems good to Him. Though He slay you, still trust in Him, and I dare in His name to promise you a sweeter, better life than you could have ever known, had He left you to drink of the full dangerous cups of unmingled prosperity.”
- Elizabeth Prentiss
HT: Grace Gems
Being a Christian involves more than putting our faith in Jesus at the moment of salvation. It is about actively pursuing holiness and godliness. Yet, how do we strike the right balance between God’s role and our own part in this walk of faith? I believe that true progress in our Christian lives can only be made relative to a right understanding of the relationship between God’s grace, and our responsibility. Without it, aren’t we subject to such spiritual wanderings, and harassments? This is an excerpt from “The Discipline of Grace” in which author, Jerry Bridges, discusses the nature of the relationship between a guilty conscience and what he calls, “the verdict of heaven.” I think it strikes at the heart of the question that every Christian struggles to understand. How do we rise above a conscience that continually screams, “GUILTY!” and walk instead in the light of the truth of the Gospel?
“There are two ‘courts’ we must deal with: the court of God in Heaven and the court of conscience in our souls. When we first trust in Christ for salvation, God’s court is forever satisfied. Never again will a charge of guilt be brought against us in Heaven. Our consciences, however, are continually pronouncing us guilty. That is the function of conscience. Therefore, we must by faith bring the verdict of conscience into line with the verdict of Heaven. We do this by agreeing with our conscience about our guilt, but then reminding it that our guilt has already been borne by Christ.”
The Discipline of Grace, by Jerry Bridges, (page 54)
“Now, I know there are some who say, “Well, I hope I have given myself to the Lord, but I do not intend to give myself to any church, because—” Now, why not? “Because I can be a Christian without it.” Now, are you quite clear upon that? You can be as good a Christian by disobedience to your Lord’s commands as by being obedient? Well, suppose everybody else did the same, suppose all Christians in the world said, “I shall not join the Church.” Why there would be no visible Church, there would be no ordinances. That would be a very bad thing, and yet, one doing it—what is right for one is right for all— why should not all of us do it? Then you believe that if you were to do an act which has a tendency to destroy the visible Church of God, you would be as good a Christian as if you did your best to build up that church? I do not believe it, sir! nor do you either.”
The law supposing I have all,
Does ever for perfection call;
The gospel suits my total want,
And all the law can seek does grant.
The law could promise life to me,
If my obedience perfect be;
But grace does promise life upon
My Lord’s obedience alone.
The law says, Do, and life you’ll win;
But grace says, Live, for all is done;
The former cannot ease my grief,
The latter yields me full relief.
The law will not abate a mite,
The gospel all the sum will quit;
There God in thret’nings is array’d
But here in promises display’d.
The law excludes not boasting vain,
But rather feeds it to my bane;
But gospel grace allows no boasts,
Save in the King, the Lord of Hosts.
The law brings terror to molest,
The gospel gives the weary rest;
The one does flags of death display,
The other shows the living way.
The law’s a house of bondage sore,
The gospel opens prison doors;
The first me hamer’d in its net,
The last at freedom kindly set.
An angry God the law reveal’d
The gospel shows him reconciled;
By that I know he was displeased,
By this I see his wrath appeased.
The law still shows a fiery face,
The gospel shows a throne of grace;
There justice rides alone in state,
But here she takes the mercy-seat.
Lo! in the law Jehovah dwells,
But Jesus is conceal’d;
Whereas the gospel’s nothing else
But Jesus Christ reveal’d.
- Ralph Erskine (1685-1752)
In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul challenged the Corinthians to, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.” This is a good thing. The neglect of our own salvation (Hebrews 2:1-4) and a sinful unbelieving heart (Hebrews 3:12-14) are ever present dangers in our walk with the Lord for which we must be vigilant against.
There is however, a time and place to set aside the self-examination and just do what the author of Hebrews said to do: Consider Jesus. For me, that day is today.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:2-4)
Thanking God for the finished work of Jesus at Calvary.
Romans 1:21 says, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” According to this passage, God gives humanity over to depravity when, in foolish pride, they fail to give thanks.
Recently I had a, “Jesus, have mercy on me!” moment. I have a lot of them — especially at work! I was, what some would call “proactive” and applied my own brand of “damage control.” When the situation passed and the fallout had been averted, I quietly gave myself praise. I forgot all about my secret cry for mercy! I forgot all about the sovereign God, of whom Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem when he was met by ten men who had leprosy. They pleaded, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us.” Jesus healed all ten of them, but verse fifteen tells us that only one came back to give thanks. ”One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan.”
Jesus responded in a way that ought to put the fear of God in all of us. ”Were not all ten cleansed?” he asked. “Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Bottom line: God notices when we fail to give thanks.
Now, we can make special efforts to remember to give God thanks. That’s a good discipline to develop, but true thankfulness can only take place within the context of a renewed mind and regenerated heart. Colossians 2:6-7 is key, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
My prayer for us today is that we be found in him. May we continue to live in him, be rooted in him, and be built up in him. And, may the evidence of this union be a heart that is overflowing with thankfulness.
In 1 Timothy 4:7, Paul told Timothy, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.” If Paul saw fit to encourage Timothy with such a reminder, we certainly would do well to pay attention too! When it comes to growth in our own spiritual lives, many Christians sit around for years waiting for God to just magically touch them. That’s not what the Bible teaches.
Here’s what Jerry Bridges has to say on the Christian’s progress in godliness:
“We Christians may be very disciplined and industrious in our business, our studies, our home, or even our ministry but we tend to be lazy when it comes to exercise in our own spiritual lives. We would much rather pray, “Lord, make me godly,” and expect Him to “pour” some godliness into our souls in some mysterious way. God does in fact work in a mysterious way to make us godly, but He does not do this apart from the fulfillment of our own personal responsibility. We are to train ourselves to be godly.”
May God give us the grace to not take for granted this matter of godliness. Rather, let us pursue it will all of our hearts.
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3)
If you are interested in learning more about how to grow in Christian character consider “The Practice of Godliness” by Jerry Bridges.
“Christian! the only thing that makes you differ from the vilest being that pollutes the earth, or from the darkest fiend that gnaws his chains in hell, is the free grace of God!”
- Octavius Winslow, Jesus, Full of Grace
“For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)
This road gets a little rugged sometimes, doesn’t it? But, by faith, we know that Christ is with us. Despite daily pressures (seen and unseen) Jesus is God forever and He never changes. Just as He led Moses and the Israelites in the desert, He will lead us in our wilderness.
As Matthew Henry tells us, “Those who make the glory of God their end, and the word of God their rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be sure that the Lord goes before them, though they cannot see it with their eyes: we must now live by faith.”
If you are weak or weary today, if your mind is dogged by all kinds of ”what ifs”, I pray you are encouraged by this little gem of truth that Andrew Bonar so beautifully captures.
“Their past experience was not of great use to the Israelites in their journeyings. They needed always to consult God. If you think you will get through anything because you got through before, you will certainly fail. You must ask fresh counsel of God and consult with him continually; and since the pillar cloud and not your own experience is your guide, see that you make it so. Perhaps some Israelite, looking on the burning all around and thinking of the scorching heat, would say, ‘What if this continue? What if that friend should die? What if the little ones be worn out?’ Let us follow the pillar-cloud and not trouble ourselves with ‘ ifs.’” (Heavenly Springs, page 19-20)
“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” (Exodus 13:21)
Today Al Mohler reports a trend that is starting to take hold in the Atlanta area. My prayer is that it will spread. You can read the whole thing here. In short, Catherine Davis, The Director of Minority Outreach for Georgia Right to Life, has launched a massive public awareness campaign that is starting to stick.
Abortion providers, in particular, Planned Parenthood, are being called out for targeting blacks for abortion and thereby dramatically stunting the fertility rates of the African American community. As Catherine Davis tells the New York Times, “Let me put it this way . . . 18,870,000 black babies have been aborted since Roe v. Wade. If those babies had not been aborted, we would be 59 million strong — over 19% of the population.” She goes on to say, “The more I dug into it, the more vast I found that the network was and I realized that African-American women just did not know the truth, they did not understand the truth about the abortion industry.”
Abortion has been cast by secularists as a “personal choice.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. The decision to abort a child has physical, emotional, and spiritual repercussions that do not magically disappear when a woman walks outside those clinic doors. Moreover, far from being a personal choice, it is a decision that has broad social implicatons.
How ironic that the very thinking that presents itself as founded upon the championing of individual freedom is actually leading people right into the cruel arms of bondage. Freedom? I don’t think so. As a Christian, this article is a reminder that we must resist the temptation to be molded into the world’s thinking. Let the Absolute of God’s Truth as revealed in the Bible be your compass. That is freedom!
