Have you ever thought about what kind of things you take for granted? In most cases, when you come to a stop sign, you stop, then look both ways. If there is a stop sign to your right or left and a car is approaching, you go ahead and pull through the intersection. Right? You just assumed that the approaching car was going to stop at that stop sign. You are trading on the obedience of the other driver to stop. Or, when you sit down to watch TV, you click the button on the remote and expect the television to come on. In a sense you are trading on the technology of that TV and remote. "Trading on" can mean roughly the same as "take for granted".

In the same manner, many Christians trade on mercy. We choose to sin without much thought of the repercussions. In ways that we cannot even know, God graciously extends His mercy to all people every moment of every day. For example, we all slept through the night without consciously remembering to breathe. We woke up, and most likely didn't give a lot of thought to the miracle that we are awake. We walk throughout our homes, breathing, blinking our eyes, sometimes coughing or sneezing. We have coffee, eat breakfast, read the paper (or hopefully the Bible). That's only the first few minutes of the day. During that time, how many sins have been committed? Thoughts, reactions, deeds not done in faith, etc…Yet, God has said that He would punish sin. The wages of sin is death… (Rom. 6:23). In those moments we are trading on mercy.

Well, how do we get to this point? It's easy for us to get here: we relish in the promises of God, and choose to ignore the wrath of God. It's not new. It was happening throughout the Old Testament as well. Consider God's commands in the Garden of Eden: "from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die (Gen. 2:17). One command, one result. What happened? Eve, then Adam ate from the tree. Then what happened? There are many different opinions about what actually happened, but for our argument, they didn't die. In a very real way, God showed them mercy. He had every right to exterminate mankind from the face of the earth, but He didn't. Or what about King David? He committed adultery and murdered, but God showed him mercy by allowing him to live. We could list many more examples of sinners who seemingly go unpunished in the Old Testament.

Now consider Uzzah, the Kohathite. God required that the Ark of the Covenant be carried a very specific way. It had rings on each side where poles were inserted and used to hoist the ark, and it could only be carried by the sons of Kohath (see Exodus 25 and Numbers 3 & 4). However, in II Samuel 6, we have the Ark being brought to Jerusalem on a cart! As they came to a particular location, Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark on the cart. The text says, that the anger of the LORD burned against Uzzah for his error and God killed him. God had every right to exterminate Uzzah due to his disobedience in handling the Ark- and He exercised that right! Here again, we could list many examples of sinners who receive God's immediate wrath (i.e. Lot's wife, the prophets of Baal, the children who mocked Elisha, and so on).

What about the New Testament? Are there examples of God's immediate retribution on sinners? Remember Annanias and Sapphira? They were struck down immediately for their deceit. Admittedly, there are fewer of these examples in the New Testament. In fact, there are countless examples of sinners receiving mercy. Herein lies the problem. We are used to receiving mercy. We read about the wretched apostles, the pathetic disciples, the pagan Herods and Pilates - all of whom received abundant mercy at the hands of God (at least in this life). We forget that God is perfectly justified to wipe out every person from the earth! No one has the right to question God about how He chooses to deal with His creation.

Yes, we trade on God's mercy. We abuse His grace. We take them for granted when we sin because we are used to seeing God deal mercifully with sinners. However, neither mercy nor grace are licenses to do whatever we want. God's mercy and grace are extended to all men everywhere so that they may repent and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! The tragedy is that we don't take it seriously. We think of eternity as "down the road", not imminent!

Non-believers trade on this mercy to a greater extent than believers. They are one breath away from eternal damnation. Yet, they continue in their rebellion without regard for Christ and the Cross. Believers trade on it as well. Our sins have been forgiven. We received mercy to a degree that's incomprehensible. Yet, we go throughout our day without being thankful for another breath, another meal, another good night sleep, another cough or sneeze to protect our bodies, another ____________ (you fill in the blank). God's mercy is not something to wink at or take for granted. It comes to us a great cost to Him. Let's stop trading on the mercy of God. Let's be about the business of guiding sinners to repentance and being thankful for what we have received. (1 Cor. 4:7b)

The preceding article was donated to the cause by Brad Wilson. Thanks to Brad for sharing some great thoughts about mercy and for allowing me to post it here.

How many times has someone told you that they "accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior?" Have you ever asked them what it means that Jesus is their Lord? Have you ever asked them how Jesus is their Savior? What makes Him their Savior? And what does it mean that He is their personal Lord and Savior?

How many times have you heard people open a prayer with the words "Dear God?" What do those words really mean? Are they addressing God or addressing a letter?

How many times have you heard people say that "where two are more are gathered together, Jesus is there?" Have you ever asked them why Jesus is only there where two or more are gathered? Have you ever asked if He is present in a more special way when people are gathered versus when they are alone?

There are so many times we flippantly speak of God and His attributes without even caring to understand what we are saying. So we really understand what it means to address God and to bring ourselves into His presence? Do we understand what it means that "Jesus is there?" Do we even care to know what it means that Jesus is my Lord and my Savior?

The awesome thing is that we don't need to understand these things to be God's children. We do not need to devote ourselves to endless studies in theology and doctrine in order to be saved.

But if we want to grow deeper in our love for God, we need to begin to understand these things. We need to grow deeper in our knowledge of Him.

When I got married I loved my wife deeply. On our wedding day, as I looked at her walking down the aisle towards me, I never would have believed that I could love her more than I did right then. I had known her for four years and had spent thousands of hours just being with her, listening to her talk and watching her interact with other people. And now she was walking towards me, looking absolutely beautiful, and intending to pledge her life to me. I began to sob like a child and felt my heart would nearly burst with the love I felt for her. But you know what? Six years into that marriage I can honestly say I love her more now than I did when we got married? Why is that? It is simply that I know her so much better now. The more I learn about her, the more I know her, the more I love her.

I use that illustration to show that you can really only love God inasmuch as you know Him. When you are an unbeliever and do not know God you cannot love Him at all. When some day you die and go to be with Him, you will know Him in a perfect way, and will accordingly love Him in a perfect way. The time between when you come to love Him and you are called to be with Him is your opportunity to experience that love and get just a foretaste of heaven here on earth.

I love God more now than I did when I first believed. As a child I loved God with a childlike love, but I barely knew Him. I can think back to distinct moments as I grew older when I learned something new and amazing about God. I can remember moments where something hit me like a lightning bolt and I was awakened to a new reality about God that I had not known before. There were times when my whole body broke into chills as I grew in my knowledge of God. There were other times when I broke into tears as I began to realize the necessity of Christ's sacrifice for me or the vast depths of His love for me. As I learned about my God I learned to love Him more. As I learned about my God I had to love Him more!

You can be a believer and know almost nothing about God. The man who hung on the cross beside Christ new little more than that Christ had forgiven His sins. And that was enough. But if you want to love God more you need to know Him more. I know that I'm a mere preschooler when it comes to knowing God. I look at others and see some who are in primary school, some who are in high school and some who must be about ready to finish up their post-graduate studies. And how I yearn to know Him that much, knowing that the love I feel for Him now, as great as it may be, is nothing more than a child's love! I long to love Him, and therefore long to know Him. And I look forward to the day when I will know Him even as I am known by Him, that I may love Him with the perfect love with which He loves me.

Unless you've been hiding in dead, country churches for the past decades, you'll know that there is a movement in the Evangelical church to be relevant to the culture around us. Obviously, there is nothing inherently wrong with being able to effectively communicate with the people in our society. Since the days of the apostles, Christians have gone to extraordinary measures to learn about the cultures they are living and preaching in. Missionaries have studied foreign cultures to find ways of sharing the gospel of Christ in a way indigenous people will understand. The book "Peace Child," for example, shows the brilliant way Don Richardson adapted beliefs held by a native culture in order to preach the Good News to the people. And of course the apostle Paul was known to say "as your own poets have said…" He used what was relevant to the people as a starting place to share the Christian message.

Relevancy, then, is not a bad thing. However, I do believe it can present a sort of "slippery slope" that we must be careful to avoid. Where is the line between relevancy and sinfulness? How relevant is too relevant?

Immediately after the horrible events of September 11, pastors around North American and probably around the world used those events as a starting place for messages of hope and encouragement. They took an event that touched people in a way nothing else in this generation has, and used it to share the Good News that only Christ can offer. That was relevant to what was happening in society and impacted people's lives. Though September 11 did not result in a long-term influx of people into the churches, it did provide an opportunity for pastors to reach many people at least temporarily. I believe that was relevance at its best.

On the other hand, when the film The Matrix was released, I remember reading several articles about pastors who used images from the movie and details from the plot to portray the gospel. If you have seen the movie you know that there is a strong spiritual theme that runs throughout it - a story of a "messiah" figure who saves people who generally are quite content to be living out death. It sounds great, except the movie was rated R for extreme violence and lots of bad language. Despite this it formed the basis for many sermons preached from pulpits of Christian churches. I believe this example goes beyond relevance and becomes sinful. By condoning such a movie pastors were encouraging people to watch a film that is sinful. You can argue all you want - it is awfully difficult to biblically justify watching such movies.

FoxNews recently published an article discussing several new ministries which seek to help pastors see the relevance in modern film. They find themes in the movies and suggest ways pastors can build sermons around these themes. "As to how the religious movie sites reconcile films' sex, violence and profanity with good Christian values, those involved in the effort point to the Bible. 'The Bible is filled with stories that are ugly, violent and rapacious,' Newman said. 'There are lots of cautionary tales designed to be lessons.'" This, of course, is a common argument. People will argue that since the Bible has stories about killing, sex and even rape, this gives us license to experience such stories in other media. To this I would say two things. First, God is the author of the Bible and presented information we absolutely needed to know. There isn't a word of the Bible that we do not need and there is nothing excluded from the Bible that we absolutely do need to know. We cannot justify sinful behavior with this argument. And second, the Holy Spirit went to great lengths to ensure the stories in the Bible were not overly graphic. While we read about the rape of Dinah, we certainly do not read about it in great detail. Furthermore, the Bible contains no graphic visual images to pollute our minds. Reading the article a bit further we read "For one "Collateral" scene Newman cautions: "If you choose to use this whole clip, you must be aware that Vincent uses the word 'sh_.'"" Wonderful. Now we have swearing in church for the sake of winning unbelievers. While I am sure many unbelievers would be suitably impressed that a church allows swearing from the "pulpit (or silver screen, in this case") this can hardly be considered godly evangelism.

Perhaps it all comes down to this statement, again from the article: "”They’re out to attract an audience,” said Gabler of church leaders. “Their competition is Hollywood.”" Churches are in competition with other forms of entertainment to fill the pews. When you look at church in those terms, I suppose you do need to show violence, special effects and sex in order to bring people in. The only problem, of course, is that church is not entertainment. Nowhere in Scripture do we find God telling the church to provide entertainment or even to be fun! The purpose of the church is to build the faith of believers while sharing the gospel with unbelievers. It is to equip believers to share the Good News with unbelievers. That Good News is not entertaining. It is dead serious. All eternity depends on that news. We can try dress it up and make it look all pretty, but we do so at the sake of the message.

Is it important for Christians, and pastors in particular, to have an idea of what is happening in the culture around them? I believe it is. I remember several years ago hearing a sermon where a pastor said "even the churches have their own rocks and their own rolls." Clearly he had no idea even what rock and roll was! But what about having a ? Again, we've gone too far in the other direction.

In order to connect with people around us we need to have some common ground and burying our heads in the sand will not allow us to be relevant. However, when we compromise our beliefs in order to attempt relevance, we go too far. There is never an excuse for sin. Never. While we should make great efforts to reach people with the gospel message, we must never do so at the sake of our beliefs.

I spent almost the entire duration of my education in Christian schools. From the first grade until the eleventh I attended several different Christian schools in various parts of Southern Ontario. The only exception was a year I spent in Edinburgh, Scotland where I attended first the local public high school and then the American School of Edinburgh. While there were many benefits in attending Christian schools, not the least of which were training in the Bible, doctrine and church history, there was also one great downfall. Every Christian school I attended had an abysmal athletic program. Because these schools are privately funded (there is no public funding for Christians schools in Canada) the money can only go so far and athletics inevitably falls by the wayside. Somehow I never had opportunity to participate in athletics in the other schools I attended.

I remember in the eighth grade we had a track and field day where our school competed against other local Christian schools. Because I was a bit taller than average, I was told to do high jump. In the days and weeks leading up to the track meet I do not recall having a single practice. And so it was that I found myself representing my school at a track meet lining up to take my first ever high jump. They set the bar at a pretty good height and one competitor after another took a turn at attempting to jump over. A few made it; most did not. When my turn came I shrugged my shoulders, took an good run and just plain jumped over it. Now I know there is a technique to doing the high jump where you jump almost backwards so you can twist your way over the bar. But having never practiced that particular technique I just ran and jumped over it. I cleared it too. As I headed back down the line I heard people giggling at me, yet I think they were quite impressed that I could just jump over it and land on my feet on the other side. I didn't win that day because in the end my technique just wasn't good enough. I could only do so much with the training I had received (which is to say, no training at all). As usual I found myself near the middle of the pack.

That same day I had to run a 400 meter relay and once again, we were victimized by unpreparedness. Our coach (who was also our teacher and principal) neglected to tell us that after the first lap of the race we were no longer required to stay in our lane. The four of us from Timothy Christian School ended up running a significantly longer race than people from the other schools! And of course we lost.I do not come from particularly athletic stock and while I may have dreamed of being a sports star, I knew the odds were stacked against me. The only sport I excelled in was baseball and that was due to long hours I spent throwing a tennis ball against the wall of a local building. One of the proudest moments of my youth was when I tried out for a baseball team and I heard the coach exclaim "that kid's got a cannon!" To interpret the baseball lingo, that means I had an exceptionally strong arm. One of the first games of the season they put me out on the mound to see if I could pitch. Generally that is something you'd try first in a practice, but as seems to be my lot in life, I was not so fortunate. I stared down the batter, checked the runner at first, wound up and heard "Balk!" And again I fell victim to a lack of proper training. I got an impromptu lesson on winding up and pitched my way out of the inning, never to pitch again.

I often wonder if, with proper training, I could have done better in athletics. I received such abysmal training from the time I first entered school all the way until I left, that I can't help but wonder if, with proper training, I couldn't have excelled at a sport or two. Though not particularly strong, I did have good endurance and surely could have played soccer or done long distance running. But at this point I'll never know. I really never had a chance to find out.

Sometimes I look at the Christian world and wonder what kind of potential there is in the pews of churches that never really teach the Word. Perhaps a man with the brilliant mind and logic of Charles Spurgeon sits every week, listening to feel-good sermons, never realizing that there is a whole depth to the Christian walk that he does not even know about. Perhaps a man with the dedication of Hudson Taylor is in a church that has never told him about the desperate situation of the lost and the unthinkable fate that will befall those who die without Christ. He has never been given an opportunity to see the need to reach out to the lost. Perhaps a songwriter with the talent and depth of Charles Wesley has given up on Christianity, never having heard the true call of the Gospel, even after years of attending church. Perhaps one of these people sits next to you every Sunday morning. Perhaps one of these people is you.

I am convinced that there are so many who could do so much, if only they received the proper training. There is so much potential that may never be tapped, simply because so many churches fail in their duty to adequately train Christians in knowledge of the Bible, in doctrine and tragically, even in the fundamentals of the faith. Training for athletics is hard work. Ask any of the ten thousand men and women competing in Athens today and I'm sure they will tell you that without suitable instruction, without coaches and trainers dedicating their time and talents to the athletes, they could not possibly be the best at their sports. And in the same way we cannot expect to see more giants of the faith unless we provide proper instruction. Churches need to dedicate themselves to training Christians properly, not leaving them with a shallow, superficial faith, but teaching them deep, wondrous truths. Until churches truly dedicate themselves to the training-up of believers, we may only ever be able to wonder at what could be.

Today I am honored to post an entry by Doug McHone, author of CoffeeSwirls, one of my favorite blogs.

Before we discuss freedom, Let’s take a look at it’s polar opposite:

Slave:

1. One bound in servitude as the property of a person or household.
2. One who is abjectly subservient to a specified person or influence: "I was still the slave of education and prejudice" (Edward Gibbon).
3. One who works extremely hard.
4. A machine or component controlled by another machine or component.

This is the widely-accepted definitions of a slave. Essentially, a slave is one who has no control over their own actions or destiny. They are commanded to perform various functions without the choice of obedience or a positive outlook of obtaining that which is the most dear to them. That is the freedom they crave.

Throughout history, we have examples of those who have been willing to sacrifice all to obtain their freedom. The first example that comes to mind for me is the Underground Railroad, which was a network of safe houses heading north from the cotton fields of the southern states of the US to the segregated freedom of the north and further into Canada. The people that left their duties risked all, as did those who helped them. To be captured in either instance meant severe punishments that must have terrified all who considered it. But for those who had the nerve to attempt such a flight, the taste of freedom was enough of a goal that they made their flight and began a perilous journey northward for the goal of living their lives as free men even though they were without potential.

The taste of freedom is a powerful drug, craved by all. People risk everything for it. Slave owners took brutal measures to discourage it. But the will of the slave was hard to crush, and their love of freedom was too delightful not to follow their difficult path. Why is it, though, that so many people find it hard to exercises their spiritual freedom, if one could call it that? Even those who know their sins are covered are tempted by the promise of continued forgiveness and take this as a license to continue to serve their old master. Consider Romans 6:15-19:

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

When one has been converted, they have a new master to encourage them in their work. This one is benevolent and loving. He only wants the best for His workers and has their ultimate good in mind. The other one took them on a road to destruction. Why would they struggle against the new one and act like they were still the property of the former? It makes no sense, but every time I sin I show my fallen nature. I disappoint my master by behaving in ways that would appease my former master and this just isn’t right.

This has been weighing heavily on my mind. I have been like a pendulum, my weight passing to both ends of the spectrum in the last two years. I have been very judgmental and legalistic toward myself and others, and I have considered that some sin of weakness might be OK, as long as I understood that it was already forgiven. Neither extreme is a healthy option for me, but that’s the nature of sanctification. God has shown me my errors and I have tried to overcompensate for them. As His work continues in me, my pendulum heads toward the healthier middle of the target, but until I see Jesus face to face, my pendulum will never stop its motion completely.

The Holy Spirit begins the purging process that expels our sinful tendencies and opens our eyes to the horror of our sins. As we recognize our shortcomings for what they truly are, we begin to wonder if we really want to give up the sins that hold us back. Of course, I will emphatically state that I desire my fallen nature to be fully sanctified and my nature made into a mirror of Christ’s, but even as I say this I look at things that are horrific to me with a longing that shouldn’t be there. My fallen nature longs to put the burden around my neck again and toil in the iniquities that I have been rescued from. These failings are not a laughing matter by any means. Romans 6:20-23 continues this thought:

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, yo u have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I long for the sins that lead to death even as I hate them! I am free, yet I knowingly have relapses toward destruction. If grace weren’t a gift freely-given, I have no doubt where my final destination would be.

We all need to take a cue from the runaway slaves of the Underground Railroad and turn away from the bondage of sin and death. We need to fight the good fight against our former master and embrace all of the cleansing of our new master without pause. We need to be free in our servitude to God and we need to live our lives according to this new master’s wishes.

This has been my struggle recently. As I fight on both sides of the fence, I find myself torn. All along, I know that the healing comes from the new master and I need only surrender another layer of my sinful nature to Him to end the strife. I have been freed from the evil one. I now must walk in the freedom that is found only in servitude to my Lord and Savior.

CoffeeSwirls is the minty fresh blog of Doug McHone, which snaps back wash after wash! Join me as I continually search for my joy on the path of least resistance.

A reader of this site posted an interesting story in the forum that I had not read before today. It is taken from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times (which is a newspaper, if that isn’t obvious by the name) and is entitled ” 165 members ousted from Gardendale Baptist.” To avoid copyright infringment I will not post the whole story, but will post some of the relevant snippets.

Members of Gardendale Baptist Church voted Sunday to expel about 165 members from their congregation because they did not support the leadership of the church’s pastor, according to a church spokesman and several ousted members.

In a letter to the congregation, Micah Davidson, the church’s pastor, called a business meeting after a July 18 baptismal service at which members would vote on the following statement: “Pastor Micah is the God-called pastor for Gardendale and is leading us in God’s direction or not.”

Davidson also stated in the letter that he would leave immediately if the church voted against him.

“If the church votes for me to stay,” he wrote, “those who vote against me will be removed from membership in the family immediately.”

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The vote was about 750 to 165 in favor of the pastor, according to John Gilbert, administrative pastor of the church. Immediately after the vote of confidence, members voted to revoke the memberships of those who voted against Davidson. Gilbert said that of the 165 members who were “removed from membership,” all could come back to church if they “signed a covenant for church unity.”

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Several ousted members said the main questions being asked to Davidson were procedural, such as why the church wasn’t holding business meetings or why the church didn’t meet on Sunday or Wednesday nights.

Piedad Ymbert, a member for five years until she was voted out Sunday, said many members were concerned because the church stopped holding regular business meetings, such as a meeting in which an annual budget is approved. Members also questioned why new pastors were hired without approval of the congregation, she said.

“There would just be a sign on the bulletin board that said, ‘We welcome so and so as this pastor and we welcome so and so as this minister,’ ” Ymbert said.

Gilbert said opposition in the church was impeding the church’s progress. He said the members could not vote on every decision Davidson made, but could vote on whether he was called by God to be pastor.

You can read the complete story here.

The long-and-short of it is, the pastor determined that certain people in the congregation were impeding his vision for what the church should be. He felt that he should not be answerable to the congregation which had unanimously elected to call him as a pastor two years before. In his view, when he was made pastor he gained complete authority to decide the church’s direction. When people questioned why he was hiring pastors without consulting them and why the congregation was no longer allowed to vote on the church budget, the pastor deemed this as rebellion and called for the vote. It seems people were also upset that Sunday evening and Wednesday services had been stopped.

And so, those who voted that the pastor was not leading them in God’s direction were expelled from the body. I presume this was not an excommunication as much as a cancellation of membership. I wonder if the church has been warned not to associate with such people and if the people expelled are still allowed to attend services, albiet as non-members. Note that people who voted that the pastor was not leading in God’s direction did not say they would rebel against him or cause trouble - they merely gave their opinion on his leadership. There was no statement of what they intended to do about it. It is probably a safe assumption that many or most of them would have remained supporters of the church and the pastor despite the disagreement on direction. But they were not given the chance.

Interestingly, the way to be restored to church membership is to sign a covenant of unity. I would be very interested in reading that covenant! I see absolutely no Biblical basis for such a covenant, but that is no great surprise for I don’t think there is any Biblical basis for the pastor’s actions to begin with.

I find it interesting as well that if you go to that church’s Web site, you are presented with pictures of a large baptism ceremony that had following the completion of Rick Warren’s 40 Days of Purpose program. Of course if you are familiar with Purpose Driven principles this pastor’s actions will not come as a huge surprise. I found the statement of the pastor’s responsibilities which reads “Charged with casting God’s vision for Gardendale, preaching God’s Word, shepherding God’s people, and championing the purposes of the church.” Notice that casting God’s vision is elevated above preaching God’s Word. It seems this church is more concerned with leadership than with preaching.

So I wonder…is this an example of Purpose Driven principles gone wrong? Would Rick Warren, who has obviously influenced this pastor, condone or condemn his actions? Was he being brutal (just as Warren tells him to) for the betterment of the kingdom? Or did he just want to make his own job easier and solidify his own position?

Regardless, this is a scary story and I’m sure we won’t have to wait long to hear about similar stories.

Salvation is the central theme of the Bible, and indeed the very heart of the gospel. The promise of salvation is what stirs the heart of the new believer and continues to encourage Christians until the time they are called home. Salvation is a promise, a reality and a hope. Today I want to look at salvation as a past, present and future reality for every true believer.

Past

Those who are in Christ have already been saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 reads "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." As Christians we have assurance that we have already been saved.

Salvation in the past refers to two great acts of God - our justification and subsequent adoption into His family. In justifying us, God declares that the requirements of holiness required by the law have been satisfied on our behalf. The righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us so that God declares we are innocent. In this way we are saved from the damnation we so richly deserve.

Adoption is the declaration of God whereby those who have been justified are declared to be His children. They are adopted in His family and become heirs to the riches Christ gained for us. While this is a past reality, it looks to the future for its fulfillment.

So how does this apply to the lives of Christians today? Salvation as a past reality frees us from the power of guilt for sin which so often seeks to enslave us. We have assurance that the act of salvation is in our past, and when we were saved the guilt for our sin was transferred to Christ's account. This empowers us to live lives which are unburdened by guilt, freeing us to look to the present and the future.

Present

Those who are in Christ continue to experience salvation. In 1 Corinthians 1:18 we read "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." The process of salvation is ongoing so that it is a present reality as much as it is a past reality.

Salvation in the present refers to two more great promises of God - sanctification and perseverance. Sanctification is a process that is ongoing in the lives of believers. The Holy Spirit indwells us at the moment of salvation and begins to affect change in our lives so that we become more and more conformed to the image of holiness modeled in Christ. As we allow the Spirit to lead and guide us, we grow in grace.

The present reality of salvation also promises perseverance so we can have full confidence that we will continue as believers to the end. We do not need to worry about losing the salvation which God granted to us, for He continues to grant it to us on a continual basis.

Salvation, then, in its present reality, allows us to slowly but continually be freed from the power of sin. Having been once-for-all declared right in God's eyes, we have been freed from our guilt and now can begin to be freed from sin's power.

Future

Believers in Christ will experience salvation in the future. Romans 5:9 tells us that "having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." More than just the past and present, salvation points forward to the future.

Salvation's future reality points forward to our upcoming glorification. Glorification is a future work of God in which the dead will be raised and in new bodies will be ushered finally into the kingdom of heaven. Our bodies will be freed from all of sin's corruption. In Romans 8:23 Paul calls this the "redemption of the body."

The future reality of salvation is that we can look forward to being freed from sin's presence. Having been delivered from the guilt of our sin and having progressively been delivered from sin's power, we can look forward with great anticipation to the cessation of sin's presence in our lives.

Conclusion

Praise God for the act of salvation he has accomplished in the life of every believer, the act which has delivered us from the power of guilt and which has erased our guilt in His eyes.

Praise God for his ongoing salvation, whereby He gives us His authority so we can overcome the power of sin.

Praise God for the promise of salvation which allows us to look forward with eager anticipation to the time when we will finally be freed from sin's presence.

Praise God for salvation!

Last week I mentioned that I had discovered 9 Marks Ministries and that I was thrilled to find an organization that is dedicated to recovering many of the traditional marks of a Biblical church. While they mention that the nine marks they outline are not the only important marks of a healthy church, they do believe they are the most neglected. I am going to briefly outline each of the nine. And just to increase your value, I will weave in a bit of commentary!

1. Expositional Preaching

   Expositional preaching (otherwise known as expository preaching) is the investigation of a particular passage of Scripture whereby the pastor carefully explains the meaning of a passage and then applies it to the members of the congregation. The point of a sermon, then, takes the point of a particular passage. This is in opposition to the topical preaching showcased in the majority of evangelical churches, where Bible passages are woven together to support a pre-existing point.

2. Biblical Theology

   This emphasizes not only how we are taught but also what we are taught. In a sense this should follow naturally from expository preaching because the careful exposition of a passage should lead to sound theology. The majority of poor theology arises from a lack of careful Biblical exposition. Where there is poor exposition, we should expect to eventually find poor theology.

3. Biblical Understanding of the Good News

   There needs to be a proper understanding and necessary emphasis on the full gospel. Where many contemporary churches teach that Jesus wants to meet our felt needs and give us a healthier self-image, that is not the gospel. The gospel message is that we are sinners who have rebelled against our Creator. But Jesus took the curse that was rightfully ours and all that remains is for us to have faith in Him so God may credit Christ's righteousness to our account. When we de-emphasize sin and damnation to make the presentation more friendly and less offensive we cease declaring the full gospel.

4. Biblical Understanding of Conversion

   When we have a Biblical understanding of the gospel, we must then also have a proper understanding of conversion. Conversion is a new birth from death to life and is a work of God. It is not merely a change of attitude or a change of affection, but a change of nature. Conversion does not need to be an exciting, emotional experience, but does need to produce fruit to be judged a true conversion.

5. Biblical Understanding of Evangelism

   The way we evangelize speaks volumes about how we understand conversion (and further, what we understand about the good news). If we believe that people are essentially good and are seeking Jesus, we evangelize using half truths and tend to elicit false conversions. When we present a watered-down gospel, we end up with a watered-down church. We need to be faithful to present the full gospel, the good news with the bad, and leave the results to God.

6. Biblical Understanding of Membership

   Church membership is a privilege and a responsibility and needs to be regarded as such. People should only be members if they are dedicated to the church - in attendance, prayer, service and giving. To allow people to become and remain members for sentimental or other unbiblical reasons makes light of membership and may even be dangerous.

7. Biblical Church Discipline

   Discipline guides church membership. The church has the responsibility to judge the life and teaching of the membership since they can negatively impact the church's witness of the gospel. Leadership need to be firm in discipline as this is an expression of love to the congregation.

8. Promotion of Church Discipleship And Growth

   We need to recover true discipleship - discipleship that causes Christians to live lives of increasing holiness. The emphasis on growth needs to be directed at holiness rather than membership. True discipleship producing strong, committed Christians will present a clear witness to the world.

9. Biblical Understand of Leadership

   Until recent times, almost all Protestants agreed that in church government there should be a plurality of elders (which means that there should be an office of elder and not merely one or more pastors in positions of leadership). This is a Biblical and practical model that has fallen out of favor in modern times.

On the whole I think these marks are, indeed, the essentials for healthy churches and certainly have not received due attention in the contemporary evangelical churches. Traditionally Reformed doctrine has spoken of three marks of a true church - preaching of the Word, Biblical church discipline and proper administration of the sacraments. These nine marks fit quite closely with the traditional three: Marks one through five parallel the first traditional mark; Marks six and seven parallel the second traditional mark; Marks eight and nine stand alone, though eight could probably fit into the first traditional mark. Glaringly absent, then, is the emphasis on the proper administration of the sacraments. Mark Dever of 9 Marks Ministries explains this by saying that most churches still place sufficient emphasis on the sacraments. Therefore that is not a "lost" mark that needs to be rediscovered.

I would suggest that while churches still emphasize the sacraments (or ordinances if you believe "sacrament" is too strong a term for Lord's Supper and Baptism), many of them have either de-emphasized the sacraments, thus making light of them, or perform them improperly. This is part-and-parcel with the loss of the marks that have been emphasized above. In many churches the sacraments (Lord's Supper especially) have been removed from the worship services lest they serve as a stumbling block to "seekers." Instead they are celebrated in groups which do not have proper oversight to ensure that they are being governed in a Biblical way. Baptism is often opened up to people who live in open rebellion to God which should call their conversion into question. So I think it may have been wise for the gentlemen of 9 Marks to include the sacraments in their marks.

Despite that small quibble, I think the 9 marks are all important marks that have been lost to many evangelical churches. I continue to spend lots of time on 9 Marks' site reading, listening and learning.

About a month ago I wrote about Cliched Christianity and spoke of the danger of allowing words to lose their meaning. Today I would like to explore one word that has become little more than clich to many Christians.

I have chosen to begin at the end, so to speak, with the word "amen." I choose this word because my own realization of the clichs I use began with this word. I had spent a morning chatting and praying with a good friend and I posed the question of what the word "amen" actually means. We did a bit of research on the meaning of the word and its use in Scripture and found that it is used in a wide variety of ways. We settled on a working definition of the word as it pertains to closing a prayer as modeled by Jesus and the apostles. We decided that we could replace the word "amen" with a phrase such as "And we ask these things, trusting that as we have prayed in Your name, You will do them." So we prayed, agreeing that at the end we would say that phrase rather than say "amen." Finishing in prayer, I said "And God, we ask these things, trusting that as we have prayed in Your name, You will do them." We then both said, "Amen!" We looked at each other and broke into laughter, realizing just what a clich "amen" had become, that even when we tried to replace the word with something with more meaning, we were not comfortable closing our prayer without saying it. The word had taken on little more meaning than "prayer over."

"Amen," as I have said, is used in different ways in Scripture. The Hebrew word, amen, is used 30 times in the Old Testament and 126 in the New Testament and in its simplest form means "truly, indeed, or surely." The word transliterates into both Greek and English, meaning that we use the same word pronounced roughly the same way as the ancient Jews. As an aside, it is kind of neat to consider that we close our prayers now the same way the ancient Israelites, our Lord and the apostles did.

There are several ways in which the word is used in the Bible. Though similar, each has a slightly different meaning or use.

Affirmation of a curse

The first use of the word is in Numbers 5:22 where it is used as an affirmation of a curse. God spoke through Moses to tell the people about a test for adultery. As part of this process, a priest would tell a woman the curse that would befall her if she lied. The woman was to respond by saying "Amen. Amen." This response displayed agreement that the curse was a fair punishment for anyone who would lie before God. In Deuteronomy 27 we see many similar instances where the people were to agree to the curses God decreed for breaking His law by saying "Amen." Once again, their "amen's" showed submission to God's laws and affirmed that the consequences of sin were fair and just.

In this sense, then, the word was one of submission before God, acknowledging that His law was just.

Confirmation of the King's Decree

1 Kings 1:36 describes one of King David's advisors agreeing to the king's royal decree to crown his son Solomon as the next king by answering, "Amen! Thus may the Lord, the God of my lord the king, say." This use of the word carries a meaning of agreement and submission. In this use it is submission and agreement before a God-given authority and not directly to God Himself. But as with the last case, it is primarily a term of submission.

Approval of Prayer or Praise

In both the Old and New Testaments we see "amen" being used to approve of a prayer or praise. Of the five books within Psalms, four of them end with the word "Amen." As the congregation worshipped through the Psalms, they would end with "amen," showing their agreement with and approval of the praise they had offered to God (Ps 41:13, 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48). We see a similar use in 1 Corinthians 14:16. In this passage Paul is rebuking the church at Corinth for misusing the gift of tongues. He says "how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the 'Amen' at your giving of thanks…" Paul assumes the use of "amen" as an agreement of the thanksgiving being offered to God. He does not reprove them for using the word, but rather for not allowing others the opportunity to use it since they cannot agree with words they do not understand.

Another dramatic example of this is in the book of Nehemiah where the prophet Ezra reads Scripture to the people. They answer "'Amen, Amen!' while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground" (Nehemiah 8:6) Their "amens" were a sign of their agreement with the convicting words that they had just heard and were an act of worship.

This use of amen is similar to how it is often used in preaching. A pastor may close his prayer by saying "…and God's people said…" at which point the congregation is to answer "amen." In this way the congregation is agreeing with what the pastor has prayed. They are agreeing with the thanksgiving and praise that has been offered to God.

Christ's Authority

Jesus used the word "amen" in a unique way. Many times in Scripture we read of Jesus beginning a proclamation with the words, "Truly, truly." This has also been translated as "Verily, verily" or "Truly I say to you." In the original language, the term Jesus uses is "Amen, Amen." There is nowhere else in ancient Christian or Jewish literature that the word is used in this way. This double use of the word recalls His divine authority. He uses the word twice as an indication that what He is about to say is authoritative because He is God. No one but Jesus has the right to use the word in this sense.

Authority Of Inspiration

Several of the letters that comprise the New Testament books end with the word "Amen." In this use it would appear to be an affirmation that the preceding words were God's words, inspired by Him, though written with human hands. The "amen" shows that the authority is not the human author's, but God's. It is the author's indication that he agrees with what God has just enabled him to write.

Wish For & Trust In Fulfillment of Prophecy

In Jeremiah 28:6 we read "Amen! The Lord do so; the Lord perform your words which you have prophesied…" In this sense the word is being used as an expression of faith that God will be faithful to the prophecies He has seen fit to provide.

God's Faithfulness - Christ Is The Amen

Revelation 3:14 says of Jesus that He is "The Amen, the faithful and true Witness." In this use, the meaning is to show that Jesus is trustworthy and faithful. Whatever He decrees will (or already has) come to pass. The word stresses that God is a "Faithful and True Witness." This seems to point back to Isaiah 65:16 which speaks of the "God of Truth." The word translated "truth" is actually the word "amen."

I would like to close with one final use of the word. 2 Corinthians 1:20 says "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." All the promises of salvation, all that we hold onto with faith and hope, are fulfilled in Christ. These promises are forever established in Christ so that we can all place our confidence in Him. God is faithful. Christ is our Amen.

Conclusion

Having studied this word, I hope you will use it appropriately, speaking a loud and hearty "amen" when suitable and possibly even withholding your "amen" when you cannot agree with what has been spoken. It is my hope that through this brief look at but one word, you realize how much depth can be contained in a single word. When we make light of a word, allowing it to become mere clich and to be uttered without thought, we deprive ourselves of the blessings that may be contained in that word. And far worse, we may even make light of the One to whom we speak.

Today I will be writing about how redemption is applied to the lives of believers. An obvious prerequisite to this article would be one about how redemption was accomplished. I will not be writing about that at this time, so we will have to consider it sufficient to say that redemption was accomplished through the death of Christ. Without Christ's atoning and substitutionary death, there could be no redemption.

This article will be brief, for like most theology, an entire volume would scarcely be sufficient to speak of such things. This is meant to serve merely as an outline.

In speaking about how redemption is accomplished we must consider a specific order, for God has seen fit to accomplish redemption in a certain way. The Bible is very clear that certain steps come before others. For example, John 1:12 says "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” We can infer from this passage that faith (which was necessary to receive Him) preceded adoption. Romans 8:30 is similar in that in lays out the order of several of the steps. "Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." Predestination preceded the call; the call preceded justification, which in turn preceded glorification.

Predestination

Before Creation, and indeed before time began, God chose some who would be His elect. Knowing these people would be sinners and no more deserving of His favor than the rest of humanity, He, from the good pleasure of His own will, through grace alone, chose some to be redeemed.

Effectual Calling

The effectual call is an act of God whereby He uses the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Spirit to bring His elect into union with Christ. This call is given as an act of God's grace, is His act alone and in no way involves the person being called. The word "effectual" is used to show that this is more than simply a calling which may either be heeded or ignored. This calling can only be effectual - man can not ignore or avoid it. The effectual call is the first manifestation of inward, saving grace in the life of the elect. The call effectually unites the elect with Christ so that they might become partakers in Him.

A call necessarily requires a response on the part of the person who is called. Can a person whose will is wholly corrupt answer the call of God to faith and a life of holiness? This is not possible. Therefore, God must first change the person's will so he is capable of responding to God's call.

Regeneration

Regeneration follows the effectual call and is the act of the Spirit in which the sinful nature of the elect is changed so that the person is capable of responding to God in faith. It is an act that originates entirely with God and in which man plays no part. J.I. Packer says "It extends to the whole nature of man, altering his governing disposition, illuminating his mind, freeing his will, and renewing his nature." Regeneration prepares a person to respond to God's call. God then does not just provide a call, but also makes a provision of grace so we are enabled to answer that call. In regeneration God makes us a new creation.

Prior to regeneration it is impossible for a person to believe in Christ. Once a person is regenerated it is impossible for a person not to believe in Christ. When the heart and mind have been renewed through regeneration they must act in accordance with their new nature.

Faith

Faith is an effect of regeneration, was provided for us by Christ and is wrought in us by the Spirit. Faith is an act of man, for God cannot believe in Christ on my behalf. It is an ability we have only through the grace of God, but still must be our act. Faith is a necessary effect of regeneration, for it is impossible that one who has been regenerated should have no faith. Similarly, it is impossible that one who is unregenerate should have saving faith.

Repentance

We do not know if repentance precedes faith or if faith precedes repentance. It does not matter, for they are inexorably linked. To echo the Shorter Catechism, repentance is a saving grace in which a sinner, out of a true sense of sin and understanding of the mercy of God in Christ, with grief and hatred of sin, turns from sin to God and endeavors to live in obedience to Him. Faith and repentance are interdependent because faith is faith in Christ for salvation from sin. We cannot untangle faith and repentance.

Justification

Justification is not an act of making a person holy, right or just. This is one of the great differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, for the Catholic Church holds that justification is an infusion of grace. Rather than being an act of making the elect right or holy, justification is a declaration by God that the elect are righteous in His eyes. He declares that the requirements of the law have been satisfied on behalf of that person. Justification is given to the elect on the sole basis of God's grace. We are given undeserved, unmerited, free favor.

Adoption

Adoption is the act in which the redeemed are adopted by God to become His sons and daughters. As with justification, adoption is not an act as much as it is a declaration. God declares that we have been legally adopted into His family and given full status as His children.

Sanctification

Sanctification is the process whereby the Spirit enters the redeemed and begins to work change in their hearts. The Spirit begins to put to death the old, sinful nature which loves sin and worldliness, giving instead a desire for God and holiness. J.C. Ryle says about the redeemed that "his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual-mindedness more marked. He feels more of the power of godliness in his own heart. He manifests more of it in his life. He is going on from strength to strength, from faith to faith, and from grace to grace…."

Sanctification is a lifelong work that will never reach perfection in this world. We are to continually strive to be perfectly holy in God's eyes, yet we will continually fall short.

Perseverance

Those who are redeemed in Christ will persevere to the end, for they can never lose their salvation. God will never allow their nature to become unregenerate, will never allow them to become unjustified and will never cast them out of His family. All saints will persevere to the end, and all who persevere to the end are saints.

Conclusion

As I said at the outset, this has been only a very brief explanation of how redemption is applied to the lives of believers. For further study I recommend Monergism.com which has thousands of documents to guide your studies. Also, there is an excellent book by John Murray entitled "Redemption Accomplished And Applied" which I highly recommend.