The Glorious Gospel (Part 7)

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Several years ago, I remember counseling a young man who was struggling with his faith. This individual thought he loved God but still wondered if his profession of faith was sincere. Although he had prayed that God would be gracious to save him, he struggled with recurring sins that caused him to doubt. Many believers come to this struggle at one point or another during their Christian lives. Having a valid concern in wanting to make sure they get the gospel right, they scrutinize their lives for the evidence of genuine salvation. Part of the reason for a believer’s doubting their faith is because of confusion regarding what the Bible teaches on the assurance of salvation.

A person’s eternal security and their assurance of salvation are two sides of the same coin. It comes down to the different perspectives of their salvation. Eternal security looks at an individual’s salvation from the perspective of God. Certainly God knows who are His people and who are not. He knows who the genuine followers of Christ are as well as who the pretenders or rejecters are. Eternal security is objective in that it is based on the truths of Scripture and the faithfulness of God to His promises (cf. Titus 1:2). Because of this, it is unchanging. Once God saves a person, their salvation is completely secure in Him. Paul writes about this security in Romans 8:29-39. Christ is the one who establishes the golden chain of salvation (Rom. 8:29-30), so that no one can stand against His elect to condemn them (Rom. 8:31-34). Once a believer is saved by God’s grace, nothing can separate them from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:35-39). From this perspective, salvation is entirely God’s work. He begins it, He sustains, and He is sure to finish it (cf. Phil 1:6).

The assurance of salvation, however, is from our own perspective on salvation. Our sense of assurance is the feeling of whether or not we are saved. It is critically important to understand that our assurance of salvation should rest in the promise of eternity security. We should feel secure in salvation because our salvation is secure in Christ. God doesn’t change His mind about our salvation and promises that once we are saved, we will always be saved (cf. John 10:9, 16, 27-28). Still, the assurance of salvation, unlike eternal security, is subjective and fluctuates. This is because our feeling of assurance is contingent upon our obedience to God. While our salvation is completely sustained by God, our feeling of salvation can be sustained by man. This is why James says things like, “I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). Likewise, the Apostle Paul could affirm the salvation of the Thessalonians because of what he witnessed in them (1 Thess. 1:1-10).

There is significant danger in mistaking these two things. Some people have a sense of assurance without the reality of eternal security. In other words, they might feel saved but are not really saved. This might be the case with someone who trusts in some shallow confession of faith. Perhaps they prayed a prayer when they were a child but since have not walked in faith. Their lives are all about themselves and not about Christ, and even a general perusal of their life evinces that Christ is really not a part of who they are at all. This could also describe someone who trusts in a different gospel or even in his works to save. Sadly, many people will stand before Christ one day thinking they are saved when they are not (Matt. 7:21-23).

On the other hand, there are also those who have eternal security in Christ, but who struggle with a sense of assurance. In other words, a person may really be saved, but still not feel saved. This tends to describe the person who doubts the power of the gospel because of recurring sin in their life. Sin stands in the way of their having complete confidence in their salvation.

So, how can you know if you are a Christian? As was mentioned in the previous article in this series, it must begin with “God saved me.” We stand secure in Christ because God promised salvation through Jesus’ redeeming work on the cross. This salvation shows itself through the evidence of a life that has been changed by God. The Christian can see the fruits of saving faith in his life (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17 – old passed away, the new has come). Paul could proclaim as a follower of Christ that he died to himself and lived for Christ (Gal. 2:20).

We must understand that our deeds do not sustain our salvation. Salvation is entirely God’s Work – to begin, sustain, and complete. But our works demonstrate the genuineness of our salvation and confirm that God has saved us. It is possible that at times true Christians will struggle with their faith, so we must remember that this work of change will not be completed in this life. As long as we live this life in the flesh, we will be tainted by sin. Our hope must rest in God who saves by grace and is faithful to His promise. We are not saved because we live our lives to deserve salvation. We are saved because (in spite of our ill-deserving selves) there is a loving God who desires to show us mercy, grace, and love.

Praying Always

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Ephesians 6:18

What multitudes of prayers we have put up from the first moment when we learned to pray. Our first prayer was a prayer for ourselves; we asked that God would have mercy upon us, and blot out our sin. He heard us. But when He had blotted out our sins like a cloud, then we had more prayers for ourselves. We have had to pray for sanctifying grace, for constraining and restraining grace; we have been led to crave for a fresh assurance of faith, for the comfortable application of the promise, for deliverance in the hour of temptation, for help in the time of duty, and for succour in the day of trial. We have been compelled to go to God for our souls, as constant beggars asking for everything.

Bear witness, children of God, you have never been able to get anything for your souls elsewhere. All the bread your soul has eaten has come down from heaven, and all the water of which it has drank has flowed from the living rock-Christ Jesus the Lord. Your soul has never grown rich in itself; it has always been a pensioner upon the daily bounty of God; and hence your prayers have ascended to heaven for a range of spiritual mercies all but infinite. Your wants were innumerable, and therefore the supplies have been infinitely great, and your prayers have been as varied as the mercies have been countless.

Then have you not cause to say, ‘I love the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplication’? For as your prayers have been many, so also have been God’s answers to them. He has heard you in the day of trouble, has strengthened you, and helped you, even when you dishonoured Him by trembling and doubting at the mercy-seat. Remember this, and let it fill your heart with gratitude to God, who has thus graciously heard your poor weak prayers. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.’

2.6a

Weekly Links – Update (10/28/2011)

by Stephen Rodgers

Normally I would just save these for next week, but a couple of them are time-sensitive, so I’ll make an special update.

  • Until October 31st, christianaudio.com is giving away free copies of Martin Luther: In His Own Words.
  • Until October, 31st, Ligonier Ministries is giving away free copies of The Barber Who Wanted to Pray.
  • Steve Lawson has updated his series with an article on John Calvin.

That is all.

Pro Rege

Weekly Links (10/28/2011)

Now suppose both death and hell were utterly defeated.  Suppose the fight was fixed.  Suppose God took you on a crystal ball trip into your future and you saw with indubitable certainty that despite everything — your sin, your smallness, your stupidity — you could have free for the asking your whole crazy heart’s deepest desire: heaven, eternal joy.  Would you not return fearless and singing?  What can earth do to you, if you are guaranteed heaven?  To fear the worst earthly loss would be like a millionaire fearing the loss of a penny — less, a scratch on a penny. (Peter Kreeft, Heaven)

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome to Friday!  Hopefully you’ve arrived not too much the worse for wear.  Regardless, here’s a few links to give you something to sink your teeth into…

See you Sunday! (Or tonight, if you’re in my flock!)

Pro Rege

From Fireflies to Sonlight

by Lillian Kim

I have had the joy of serving on Fireflies staff for a total of four-and-a-half years. And now I have the joy of serving on Sonlight staff alongside my wonderful husband, Abram Kim.

The decision to switch from Fireflies to Sonlight wasn’t a very hard decision for me to make but it was a hard transition to go through. When Abram and I got engaged last April, we began talking about our future family and how our ministry would look like as a family. When we talked about my involvement in Fireflies, Abram was fine with me continuing on since it fit under the umbrella of Children’s ministry. We’d still attend the monthly children’s staff meetings together and he’d have more perspective from me on what goes on in the life of a Firefly kid so that it could help him understand how all the ministries of children’s ministry from newborns to eleven-year-olds connect. But as we thought about it and prayed about it more, we both realized that I would be a more effective helper for Abram if I served alongside him in Sonlight. I would be able to give him perspective and insight as I served with him on Sundays to encourage him to grow as teacher, to be his biggest cheerleader, to be his biggest critic, and to know how to better pray for him and help him prepare to teach on Sundays and to lead the ministry. Along with that, we would be ministering to the children, parents and staff together and would be able to talk about the joys and struggles and how to pray and watch the ministry grow as the Lord would be the ultimate leader of the group. So with that, it was easy to make the decision because my heart’s desire since being engaged to Abram is to carry out the words of Scripture, to be his “suitable helper.”

However, the transition was a bit difficult to go through. How do you say farewell to a wonderful staff and an energetic group of babies, infants and toddlers? It’s just hard because the staff is so supportive and loving and of one mind in passing on the glory of God to the next generation. And the kiddies are just so cute and impressionable and are very interested in knowing the truths about God—that he is good, big, everywhere, and that God always wins, Jesus is the boss, Jesus is my friend, Jesus is alive…and the list continues.

God is gracious and he made moving from Fireflies to Sonlight smooth. The Sonlight staff is wonderful and the children are great. Also, it’s neat to see how the Children’s Ministry’s philosophy of ministry is consistent and constant with what the church-at-large stands for. It’s not just that way on paper but it’s also that way in practice.

I’m currently working with the yellow table which is the Kindergarten table. The last interactions I had with these kids were in nursery. It’s been fun and a huge blessing to see how much these kids have grown and learned since their Fireflies days. I can see how the foundations laid out in Fireflies has really helped them in their spiritual journey. Some of the things they’ve been learning this year in Sonlight–like adoption, justification and sanctification–are very big concepts, but they are slowly getting it because they have learned truths about God and Jesus over the course of their participation in the Children’s Ministry here at LBC.

Working with the children of our church is such a delight. The parents have been very helpful as they teach and pass on the glory of God to them. As a church, let’s continue to strive in this endeavor to pass on the glory of God to those who do not know Him.

BOB – Leviticus

by Stephen Rodgers

LEVITICUS IN 10 WORDS OR LESS

“A holy God explains how to worship Him.”

TITLE

The English title “Leviticus” comes from the Greek word (Leuitikon) meaning “about the Levites,” whereas the Hebrew title is derived from the books’s very first word (wayyiqra’), translated “And He called.” (Lev 1:1)

As previously mentioned, it is sometimes referred to as the “Third Book of Moses.”

AUTHOR & AUDIENCE

Both Jewish and Christian traditions attribute the five books of the Pentateuch primarily to Moses.  Like Exodus, Leviticus makes explicit claims regarding Mosaic authorship (Lev 1:1;4:1; 6:1; 7:38; 25:1; 26:46; 27:34) as does the New Testament (Rom 10:5).

Furthermore, both the OT (Num 33:2; Jos 8:31; 1Ki 2:3; 2Ki 14:6; Ezr 6:18; Neh 13:1; Dan 9:11,13; Mal 4:4) and the NT (Matt 8:4;Mk 12:26; Lk 16:29; 24:27, 44; Jn 5:46; 7:22; Ac 15:1; Ro 10:19; 1Co 9:9; 2Co 3:15) credit Moses as the author of the Pentateuch.

For more information, see the “Author and Composition” section of the Pentateuch article.

The original audience were the post-Exodus Israelites, in particular the Levites (although the material in the book deals with the laity as well). Later generations of Israelites would have studied the book to learn God’s laws for worship and sacrificial practices.

DATE

Depending on whether one subscribes to an early (ca. 1,446 BC) or late (ca. 1,260 BC) date of the Exodus would determine the time during which Leviticus was written (after the Exodus but prior to Moses’ death). (It should be noted that while good arguments have been put forth in favor of both dates, the majority of scholars surveyed for this series tended to favor an early date).

BACKGROUND & SETTING

Let me begin by pointing out that Leviticus picks up almost exactly where Exodus left off.  However, whereas Exodus primarily concerns itself with the revelation of the moral law, Leviticus focuses more on the revelation of the ceremonial law.

Prior to Mt. Sinai, a number of events had never previously occurred: the presence of God’s glory had never formally resided among the Israelites, a central place of worship had never existed, a structured and regulated system of worship had not been given, and a formal priesthood had not been appointed to function in conjunction with that system of worship.

Up to this point, Israel had only the example of the patriarchs from which to derive their knowledge of how to worship and live before their God.  Coming off centuries of slavery in Egypt however, even these examples were apparently influenced by polytheism and pagan ritual (as evidenced by the golden calf incident in Ex 32).

Unlike the previous two books, no geographical movement occurs in this book.  The people of Israel are encamped at the foot of Mt. Sinai at the beginning of the book of Leviticus, and they are still there one month later when the book of Numbers begins.

HISTORICAL & THEOLOGICAL THEMES

In broad terms, Leviticus deals with three themes: 1) Holiness, 2) Sin/Sacrifice/Atonement, and 3) Worship.  Let’s examine each in some greater detail.

  • Holiness: the core theme of Leviticus is holiness, both the holy character of God and the will of God for Israel’s holiness.  God’s holiness is seen as the necessary pre-condition to make the mandate of personal holiness intelligible.  The motive for such holiness is seen in two repeated phrases, “I am the LORD” and “I am holy,” which are used more than 50 times.
  • Sin/Sacrifice/Atonement: Since no human is perfect, God provided the sacrificial system as a means of atonement for sins against Him and His law. This is in direct contrast with the underpinnings of other ANE sacrificial systems (see OBJECTIONS).
  • Worship: With the establishment of the Tabernacle, God has fulfilled His desire to be present with His people and enjoy fellowship with them. The only acceptable response to this is an appropriate worship to acknowledge who He is, what He has done, and express their love, honor, thanks, and praise.

LITERARY FEATURES

Leviticus is most obviously a handbook of laws and regulations in the form of an oracular directive from a divine Lawgiver.  The phrase “and the LORD spoke to Moses” appears more than 30 times in the book, underscoring the fact that Leviticus is meant to be received as the very words of God.  In fact, a student at a European Bible college once enthused to me that his appreciation of Leviticus stemmed from the fact that of all the books of the Bible, it has the “highest percentage of God talking.  The whole books is almost entirely God talking.”  Granting the fact that we hold all Scripture to be the words of God, I trust you see his point.

From a somewhat different literary perspective, Leviticus has affinities with utopian literature. Literary utopias both describe how people live in an ideal society and also offer an explanation of the institutions and practices that produce the society described.

INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGES

The interpretive challenges involving Leviticus can be generalized into two groups: internal challenges and external challenges.

  • Internal challenges typically revolve around questions of how to relate and reconcile the “rituals” of chapters 1-16 with the “ethics” of chapters 17-26.  While there certainly isn’t a 1:1 correspondence between the two sections, it would be unwise to assume that they are two unrelated bodies of material. Both are equally concerned with Israel’s holiness to the LORD.
  • External challenges typically revolve around the sociological/historical context of the content.  This is difficult today both because we are far removed from the culture of the ANE, and because Moses didn’t explicate it in great detail, but rather assumed  a certain context of historical understanding. The spiritual principles of the rituals are timeless, being embedded in the nature of God.  The rituals themselves are no longer valid since the church is now under the authority of the New Covenant, not the Old (Heb 7-10).

OBJECTIONS

Objections to Leviticus typically fall into two groups: the sociological group and the moral group.

The various sociological objections have been briefly discussed in the previous section, and for the sake of brevity, will not be dealt with again beyond that.

The moral objections however will be discussed (albeit briefly as well).  These objections generally center on the alleged barbarity of a system of sacrificial atonement, and/or the alleged injustice of a system of sacrificial atonement (incidentally, keep these in mind when we get to the Gospels…they’ll be back).

  • Objections to the barbarity of the system could be treated simply as sociological, but to only do so would overlook the distinctiveness of the Israelite system.  The Israelites were hardly unique among their ANE neighbors in sacrificing animals to deity, but the differences were profound.  Other ANE tribes sacrificed animals because they anthropomorphised their pantheon; they assumed their gods had the same desires and appetites as their worshipers.  In this way, sacrifices were essentially nothing more than quid pro quo…a divine form of graft if you will.  In contrast to their neighbors, Israel didn’t offer sacrifices to curry temporary favor, rather they offered sacrifices to atone for sin. That’s the difference between a man-centered system and a God-centered system: the former is bribery and the later is worship.
  • Objections to the injustice of the system typically revolve around the acceptability of vicarious redemption.  In other words, is it “fair” for someone or something to pay the price for your wrongdoing?  Again, we’ll deal with this in greater detail when we get to the Gospels, but for now let’s simply point out that if ad arguendo there is a supreme, sovereign, divine Being…then His rules by definition are correct.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

  • Leviticus 11:44
  • Leviticus 17:11

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Unlike other religions with viewed sacrifices as literally “food for the gods” (Eze 16:20; Psa 50:9-13), Leviticus portrays the Jewish sacrificial system as being metaphorically “food for God” (Lev 21:6, 8, 17, 21; 22:25).
  • We often use the phrase “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” when describing vengeance, but the Biblical basis for it is justice.  Regardless of who had been wronged, the punishment was not to exceed the crime (Lev 24:20).
  • The blood sacrifices of Leviticus are specifically contrasted with the death of Christ on the cross in Hebrews 7:27.
Other Works Referenced

Gray Issues – Hub Post

by Stephen Rodgers

This is the hub post for Elder Peter Lim’s seven-part series on understanding so-called “gray issues” (or “wisdom issues”) in the life of a Christian. From this page, you can easily find and refer to all posts in this series.

All posts in the Gray Issues series:

Gray Issues Part 7 – Conclusion

by Elder Peter Lim

As I conclude this series of articles on “gray issues,” I hope that the main thrust has been made clear: that this is an issue of God’s glory instead of man’s liberties. Life is certainly not about you, nor about me. For Christians, it’s all about glorifying Christ with every detail of every decision, especially in the heart. Yes, there are certain things that are clearly spelled out in Scripture as being sin, with chapter and verse. However, most issues of life are not so clearly spelled out. This lack of clarity is by God’s design so that we would struggle with them and choose to make decisions for His glory and not our own. We need to walk daily, filled with His Spirit, and be dependent on Him to guide us so that we don’t get proud, thinking that we are smart enough to make good decisions without Him. What does it tell you when the one who penned the words of Proverbs, the wisest man on earth (Solomon), fell to worldly pressures and ended up with over 500 wives and concubines?

  • Wrong conclusion: God’s wisdom isn’t all that wise.
  • Correct conclusion: Even with God’s wisdom readily available, people’s pride and lusts can lead one astray.

Questionable activities should be voluntarily avoided because… they’re questionable. The primary qualification for being a Godly man as an Elder (1 Tim. 3) is to be above reproach. That literally means not to have a handle that someone can grab on to. It would be as if someone were to bring up an accusation against you, it would be hard to believe because of your Godly pattern in your life choices. If you are not sure about a particular activity, it would be wise to get counsel from people whom you respect and trust to give you biblical advice instead of just telling you only what you want to hear. (Prov. 1:5) Remember that sin occurs before the clear sin line is crossed because sin occurs in the heart.

It is my sincere hope that this series has been helpful to you to understand God’s heart behind these issues. If we are busy spending all our time trying to think of ways to magnify His name instead of toeing the line of what we’re allowed to do or not, we would be too busy doing good to have any time left to do bad. Ironically, as we busy ourselves with God’s priorities (reaching the lost, learning from His Word, ministering to one another, discipling younger men and women, etc.) we will desire to do the questionable activities even less because we will be growing closer to Christ. Life is really meant for us to enjoy and serve God. Of course there will be difficult days but God is Sovereign and in control of them all. He is the ultimate Judge. For Christians, that’s good news. For others, that should be terrifying. I leave you with a passage of Scripture that should be eye-opening:

Ecclesiastes 11:8-9
8Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.
9Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.

At That Time Jesus Answered

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Matthew 11:25

This is a singular way in which to commence a verse-‘At that time Jesus answered.’ If you will look at the context you will not perceive that any person had asked Him a question, or that He was in conversation with any human being. Yet it is written, ‘Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father.’ When a man answers, he answers a person who has been speaking to him. Who, then, had spoken to Christ? His Father. Yet there is no record of it; and this should teach us that Jesus had constant fellowship with His Father, and that God spake into His heart so often, so continually, that it was not a circumstance singular enough to be recorded. It was the habit and life of Jesus to talk with God.

Even as Jesus was, is this world, so are we; let us therefore learn the lesson which this simple statement concerning Him teaches us. May we likewise have silent fellowship with the Father, so that often we may answer Him, and though the world wotteth not to whom we speak, may we be responding to that secret voice unheard of any other ear, which our own ear, opened by the Spirit of God, recognizes with joy. God has spoken to us, let us speak to God-either to set our seal that God is true and faithful to His promise, or to confess the sin of which the Spirit of God has convinced us, or to acknowledge the mercy which God’s providence has given, or to express assent to the great truths which God the Holy Ghost has opened to our understanding.

What a privilege is intimate communion with the Father of our spirits! It is a secret hidden from the world, a joy with which even the nearest friend intermeddleth not. If we would hear the whispers of God’s love, our ear must be purged and fitted to listen to His voice. This very evening may our hearts be in such a state, that when God speaks to us, we, like Jesus, may be prepared at once to answer Him.

2.5p

Weekly Links (10/21/2011)

The amount which you understand the gospel is measured by your ability to be joyful in all circumstances. If you grasp what a treasure the presence and acceptance of God are, then even when life goes really wrong you will have a joy that sustains you, because you’ll recognize the value of what you have in Him. When life punches you in the face, you’ll say, ‘But I still have the love and acceptance of God, a treasure I don’t deserve.’ And the joy you find in that treasure can make you rejoice even when you have a bloody nose. You have a joy that death and depravation cannot touch. (J.D. Greear, Gospel: Recovering that Made Christianity Revolutionary)

by Richard Shin

And we’re back with another set of weekly links. Enjoy!

  • Albert Mohler has published an article in the CNN Belief blog. In it, he talks about what issues are important to evangelicals and to whom we are dangerous.
  • Tim Challies continues his series on God’s will for your life. He explains to us how freeing God’s Word is when it speaks about His will for us. Confused? Read on.
  • Over at the Ordinary Pastor blog, Erik Raymond has an article on expressing emotions. He walks us through a familiar passage in Luke 7:11-17 and magnifies Jesus’ compassion and sovereignty.
  • Kevin DeYoung has a simple, yet very effective way in explaining the Christian worldview in four easy steps.
  • Ray Ortlund has some fantastic articles here, here, here, and here. They’re all short, but very awesome. Be sure to check them out.
  • C Michael Patton has an article on the difference between believing in God and believing God. And he draws a fitting analogy of where people place God in their lives.
That’s it for now. Until next time…