“You can be sure of one thing though: When you set yourself to pursue holiness, you will begin to realize what an awful sinner you are. And if you are not firmly rooted in the gospel and have not learned to preach it to yourself every day, you will soon become discouraged and will slack of in your pursuit of holiness (Bridges, 60).”
So, how can we become more firmly rooted in the Gospel? You could do no better than to meditate on Titus 3:3-7. It is one of the richest summaries of the doctrine of salvation. Notice how many doctrines Paul references in these verses.
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
Lostness / Total Depravity. Sin has destroyed the relationship with God that every man and woman needs. All are born in sin: spiritually dead.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
Mercy. Salvation is at the initiative of God. Jesus came into history and became humanity, see 5b.
5 he saved us,
God saves. He delivers sinners from being objects of His anger and eternal punishment.
not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,
Grace. Salvation has nothing to do with our righteousness, works, conduct or what we earn. Salvation is based on grace (see v. 7 below), God’s unmerited favor. Grace is the overarching terms that includes all that God offers freely in Christ to save the lost.
by the washing of regeneration
Regeneration is God’s changing of believers when they are saved so they are completely made new and have new direction for their lives.
and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Sanctification is God’s setting apart of believers and the Holy Spirit working in their lives so that their lives reflect that they are justified.
6 whom he poured out on us richly
Pentecost was the very important day that the Holy Spirit was poured out on believers. All believers are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not presented as a second work of the Holy Spirit that happens at some point after salvation.
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
Atonement is the work which is needed to reconcile sinners to God. Christians can have a relationship with God the Father because Jesus paid the penalty for their sins.
7 so that being justified by his grace
Justification is God’s declaration that believers are from that time on righteous and no longer guilty of their sins.
we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Hope is the certain expectation for every believer that Jesus will one day return and that we will spend eternity with him where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. We will share with Him in the great adventure that will never end, in which every chapter is better than the one before.
At a minimum – - be aware that there is a major discussion taking place today in the church about the doctrine of justification. The parties include those who defend a traditional reformed understanding of the doctrine of salvation and others who espouse what is often called the New Perspective on Paul.
One of the decisions I have made with my blog over time is to target the people in my church. I avoid getting into doctrinal discussions that are unnecessarily esoteric or difficult to follow. Of course, I am not a pastor who believes we should preach “down” to our people. And, I do believe that people in our churches need to be aware of significant doctrinal developments.
So, for those willing to stretch their thinking, go over to Mike Wittmer’s blog and read his post on N.T. Wright’s latest book (Click here).
Again, be aware that there is a major discussion underway in the Evangelical church about the doctrine of justification. Since the Reformation, the Protestant definition of “justification” has been a legal declaration by God that those who believe are righteous. But, N.T. Wright and others are calling into question the Reformer’s understanding of the doctrine of justification. Which leads Wittmer to ask, “If someone adopts a different doctrinal understanding . . . should they still consider themselves Protestant?”
This is arguably the most important doctrinal discussion taking place right now in the English speaking world. (Agreed?)
I would acknowledge that I have not studied this enough to write with real clarity about it. I welcome comments from those who will help others understand more clearly the nature of the debate.
This is one of the most important words in the human vocabulary. The church Reformer Martin Luther said that in it are contained all the other doctrines of the Christian faith. Luther also said that this is the doctrine on which the church rises and falls. Think of that. According to Luther, if a church failed to truly understand and proclaim this one word, then it would no longer truly be church.
The word is “justification.” Justification is legal word. It is the idea that when we truly believe in Jesus for salvation, God the father legally pardons us for our sins and imputes to us the righteousness of Jesus. Picture a courtroom setting with yourself on trial and you know that you are guilty. But, Jesus approaches the court and says that you have truly believed in Him, that he has paid the penalty for your sin, and therefore the gavel of the Heavenly Father comes down declaring that you are no longer guilty of sin.
Not only does justification mean that the Father no longer holds the believer’s sin against him or her. But, God also imputes Jesus’s righteousness to the believer, or thinks of the righteousness of Christ as belonging to believers.
Paul says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” If you are a hurting person dreaming there is an answer, there is. And, the answer is found through truly believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Concisely stated, the problem of evil is the question of how it can be simultaneously true that (1) God is all-powerful, (2) God is good, (3) Evil exists.
Here John Frame responds to preliminary questions in an interview with Andy Naselli.
“‘Person’ is the word in our vocabulary that applies to beings who speak, act intentionally, and so on. . . Only in biblical religions is there an absolute principle that is personal. Other religions have personal gods, but those gods are not absolute. Other religions and philosophies (Hinduism, Aristotle, Spinoza, Hegel) have absolute principles, but those principles are impersonal. Islam believes in an unknowable God who can (inconsistently) be described in personal terms; the extent to which Allah is personal is due to Mohammed’s original respect for “the book” (the Jewish/Christian Scriptures) and to the Arab polytheism described in Hadith. Other sects also hold to some level of personality in God, because of the influence of the Bible upon their founders. But groups like the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, like the Muslims, are inconsistent in their confession of God’s absolute personality.” John Frame.[1]
[1] John M. Frame, The Doctrine of God (Phillipsburg, PA: P&R Publishing, 2002), 26-27.
“Our message to the world must emphasize that God is real, and that he will not be trifled with. He is the almighty, majestic Lord of heaven and earth, and he demands our most passionate love and obedience.” John Frame, The Doctrine of God, pages 2-3.
Mark Driscoll recently asked Wayne Grudem what he would encourage young leaders to devote themselves to studying. Grudem responded:
1. Scripture — He said that every issue ultimately hinges on one’s view of the inerrancy, authority, and truthfulness of Scripture in every way. He encourages all young Christian leaders to make sure that deep within them is a love for and trust in every word of Scripture as God’s perfect revelation to us.
2. Authority — He said that he sees authority as a pervasive problem in our culture. As we talked, it became clear that what he meant is that people profess to be Christians yet refuse to submit to God’s authority, including Scripture, and people God has ordained to be in loving authority, such as godly parents and pastors.
In the first place, I can’t get the Amazon connections to link correctly . . .That said . . .
One of my summer reading projects has been John M. Frame’s magisterial, The Doctrine of the Christian Life.
Frame writes from a Reformed perspective and focuses on ethics including a voluminous section on the Ten Commandments. He deals with many ethical issues including divorce, to gambling, to birth control.
So, I was thinking, I really should blog something about this book since it has been such a blessing to me. But, then I started thinking. Most of my readers don’t spend a lot of time reading large theological books. Someone might unsuspectingly order the book only to have it show up and discover that it is literally over 1000 pages. Further, they might discover that it is a bit academic for their tastes.
Let me stop right here: you know I don’t discourage anyone from reading theology and I don’t think “academic” is bad – - not at all. But, I don’t want to surprise anyone with a book that makes War and Peace look like a dime novel.
Which led me in turn to consider what book on doctrine I would recommend as a first book. And, not surprising to the people in our church, that brings me to the abridged version of Grudem’s book which we are studying in our church doctrinal class. If you don’t have a basic book in doctrine, then this is a good place to begin.
On Between Two Worlds, Dr. David Reimer has posted a list of biblical metaphors that teach about our relationship with God. Click here. Pick one this Lord’s Day, read the associated Scripture, and meditate on it.
“. . . Chris Brauns has done a magnificent job in helping us understand the true nature of biblical forgiveness. Every Christian will profit from reading and applying this book.” Jerry Bridges.
“ . . . Unpacking Forgiveness is an engaging, convicting but emphatically encouraging treatment of this hugely important (and sometimes mindbogglingly challenging) part of life. Dr. Brauns writes from the standpoint of a faithful, wise, experienced and caring pastor . . .” Ligon Duncan, First Pres, Jackson, MS
