1. They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.
2. This perseverance of the saints depends not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ, the abiding of the Spirit, and of the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof.
3. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and, for a time, continue therein: whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit, come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts, have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.
I like snow in potraits I see on the Internet. Somehow though, the being stuckness makes me want to be Floridian. This too, I view as a sanctifying agent, teaching me another aspect of contentment. How do you feel about the snow?
In light of the reading from Day 12 of #wcs40, I'd like to recommend shai linne's song, Justified, from his Solus Christus Project LP. Enjoy, and if you are indeed IN Christ, Praise God this morning. IT...IS.....A....MIRACLE!! Take a few minutes and meditate on what it means to be Justified. Here's the text of Chapter 11 of the Westminster Confession as well. Happy Friday Eve!
1. Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness, by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.
2. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification: yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.
3. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are thus justified, and did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to his Father's justice in their behalf. Yet, inasmuch as he was given by the Father for them; and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead; and both, freely, not for anything in them; their justification is only of free grace; that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners.
4. God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for their justification: nevertheless, they are not justified, until the Holy Spirit doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them.
5. God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified; and, although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God's fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.
6. The justification of believers under the old testament was, in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers under the new testament.
My good brother @thriceborn just put me on to pixelpipe. It allows you to create a post, then pick and choose where it goes. This includes places like, Vimeo, Blogger, and just about anywhere else. Try it www.pixelpipe.com
So I was hipped to (like that?) this article today on Twitter. Each line I read made it more and more clear that this writer would be a landslide victor in today’s Be Forreal post. I will allow her to speak for herself, though, and just quote one of her sentiments [click post title to read entire article]:
“And it’s your problem, too, if you happen to object to an anti-abortion premise that makes no distinction between an ill woman with a wanted pregnancy deciding not to terminate, and a woman with an unwanted pregnancy.”
As one insightful reader commented, that is a “pretty subtle distinction. Rather fades into insignificance compared with ‘alive or dead.’” ——Exactly! And for her comment-which I cannot believe she goes on to further justify under the guise of clarification-Melissa McEwen gets the coveted
Westminster Larger Catechism (all emphases mine) Q. 55. How doth Christ make intercession? A. Christ maketh intercession, by his appearing in our nature continually before the Father in heaven, in the merit of his obedience and sacrifice on earth, declaring his will to have it applied to all believers; answering all accusations against them, and procuring for them quiet of conscience, notwithstanding daily failings, access with boldness to the throne of grace, and acceptance of their persons and services.I am so thankful to the Lord for His daily, continual intercession on my behalf. Without it I'm doomed. Many (like 90% many) of the accusations against me would ring true and leave me in the hot seat of the Father. Romans 8:33 is clear that it is God who justifies, therefore no one can bring a charge against God's elect. That is alien; just as our righteousness, our ability to pray well enough to keep us from a deserved hell is found in Christ not us. He is the perfect prayer for us to the Father (WOW). Jesus Christ, the one mediator between man and God, because He alone can put together a case tight enough to keep me from eternity in prison. He alone has amassed a record of perfection, then gave His very life, so when the great exchange takes place, it is absolutely complete. My sin (even daily), my filth---exchanged for His perfection, His purity. God's Justice satisfied completely on the Cross. It is on THIS basis that our High Priest can make intercession for us daily, and every accusation or stirring of conscience is addressed. Perfectly. Thank you Lord. I am so unworthy of your grace and mercy.....Solus Christus!
Day 9, and I was left mainly thinking about.... Amazing Grace Lyrics "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me.... I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see. T'was Grace that taught... my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear... the hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares... we have already come. T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far... and Grace will lead us home. The Lord has promised good to me... His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be... as long as life endures. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, and mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil, a life of joy and peace. When we've been here ten thousand years... bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise... then when we've first begun. "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me.... I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.
So as I read the Westminster Confession for Day 6, I couldn't help but be reminded of 2 Things; Romans chapters 7,8 and Paul's apparent recognition/struggle with Indwelling sin & Lecrae's song "Indwelling Sin." Below, as you read day 6 for yourself, the section that jumped out is in red. Through Paul's recognition of indwelling sin, he still had this to say: 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Continuing on into Romans 8) Those of us in Christ can cry out the same as we mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Word and Spirit of God (Romans 8:13) A great few books on the topic are "Mortification of Sin," by John Owen (deals w/ Romans 8), as well as "Pursuit of Holiness," by Jerry Bridges Romans 7) and Triumph over Temptation, also by Owen (more on Romans 7). I'm sure there are others, more early works than late I think. Anyway, enjoy Chapter 6 of The confession, and the song by Lecrae. Happy Friday
CHAPTER 6 Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof
1. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtlety and temptation of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin, God was pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to his own glory.
2. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body.
3. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation.
4. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.
5. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be, through Christ, pardoned, and mortified; yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin. (*See Romans 7:15-25, my note)
6. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.
Now this is a video of a song called "Gain," by a gent named Mark Arthur. I feel like I should be chastised for not hearing of him before now. By random chance, I ran into this video on youtube while checking out some other Christian MC's. This is very very nice. The track is banging, and Arthur's flow is hot. Actually, I am really amped for what 2010 has in store for Christian hip hop. Mark Arthur's album is, from what I gather, coming out this year among many others. Please, give this guy a listen. I'm kicking myself right now. This. Is. Mean.
5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends. ---Thank you, Lord for your wisdom in graciously showing me ME; that I might not continually succumb to self dependance. Also that I may grow closer to you, my true sustainer and enabling. Amen
--Lyrics-- Steve: (Reject!) Anything that I spit you that isnt biblical/ but dont assume it isnt because it convicts or gets to you/ (Accept!) Your responsibility to search the scriptures dude/ its written in epistles: the Christian is to be critical// (Reject!) The misconception that says that you shouldnt judge/ the hypocritical misinterpretation of Matthew seven: one/ (Accept!) Correction comin from older brothers and sisters/ consider it with humility please dont get all defensive kid// (Reject!) the relativistic philosophy that you can find at chuch/ that says well, what I got from that was/ (Accept!) the fact that what the preacher said is what he said/ whether wrong or right or whatever/ dont try to get all up in his head/ (Reject!) the authority of a popular cliché/ if it isnt plain in the text then probly doesnt hold any weight/ (Accept!) the fallibility of any cat thats preachin or rappin that isnt Jesus/ or canonized with His teachin please/ (Reject!) the tradition of applaudin for all performers/ regardless of what he taught us or how doctrinally off it is/ (Accept!) that you might actually be a whack MC or a Christian/ too young to be spittin gifted but lackin in wisdom/ (Reject!) any promotion prior to proper preparation/ in light of the fact your facin a greater condemnation/ (Accept!) Cats who communicate the gospel completely/ a Savior still in the grave is confusing news it would seem to me/ (Reject!) the ideology that truth should be followed by an apology/ that doesnt make any sense to me logically/ (Accept!) the persecution with happiness and humility/ praising God that your able to partake in His identity/ (Reject!) the seeker-friendly mentality and delivery/ pickin apart the gospel and removing the offensive piece/ (Accept!) the fact that the Father draws em and not your methods/ but methods can turn em off and be flawed and cause a rejection so/ (Reject!) the ways of men when engagin a slave to sin/ for the sake of relatin the gospel is forsakin or way too thin/ (Accept!) the great commission as more than evangelism/ the multiplication of Christians bent for missional livin and/ (Reject!) the hypocrisy that says that a woman shouldnt wear pants but/ the church is full of women wearing the pants bruh/ (Accept!) that Jesus though He was equal was still submissive/ and such is the role of a Christian but specifically women and/ (Reject!) the femininity of men whether theyre homosexual or not/ the stumblin block has gotta be stopped/ my friend (Accept!) the roles and responsibilities of a godly man/ and stop the trend of spiritual fatherless-ness we got us in/ (Reject!) the rebellion of the youth and the stubbornness of the older/ weve gotta learn from each other to reach the culture/ (Accept!) this as the end but if needed therell be a sequel/ so read and obey your word to discern between good and evil//NOTE: Lyrics fromhttp://dawhistleblower.blogspot.com/2...
Westminster Confession: Read the first section of 2:2 of WCS with me….
2. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them.
The part there in bold italics ROCKED me this morning as I read and thought about it’s implications in my life. Throughout my Christian life and walk, I’ve considered certain things I’ve done, thoughts I’ve thought, etc, to be “glorifying to God” in a way that contradicts the teachings of Scripture. Mind you, this has not been a well thought out commitment on my part to the idea that I “give God glory,” but nonetheless has been wrongly considered. Note again, God is “alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them.”
God’s glory is already full. He does not receive any glory from us, His creatures, in a way that would at all ADD to His Glory. That is so elementary yet, apart from pondering, easy to overlook. What does it mean to glorify God then, if it doesn’t mean that we give glory to Him in some way? Well, John 17:5 gives us these words of Jesus: “And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed..”
This is a very clear text regarding the “when” of God’s Glory; namely before the world existed. This means that any glory God “receives” from us, ORIGINATES WITH, and FLOWS FROM, Himself. God doesn’t get glory from me, He gets glory OUT OF me….
I think it fantastic that yesterday’s Fighter Verse (http://fighterverses.com/) is Romans 11:34-36, which reads:
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to himthat he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
None of us has given a gift to God, including glory, that he might owe us something. God owes nothing, because He derives nothing from His creatures. God, let my life show forth the Glory that exists in you from eternity past and will exist into eternity future. Allow my thoughts, words, and deeds point folks to your pre-existent Glory. All Glory is yours, and any attempt at giving it to anything other than you is robbery and utter idolatry. Help me to recognize and walk in the truth that the Glory is yours forever and we simply reflect it as you will………
This is what I thought about this morning after the reading, what about you? What grabbed you? What left you rocked by the God we serve?
So today's the beginning of a 40 Day reading of The Westminster Standards by myself and some other Brethren. Starting with the first chapter concerning the Word of God, I expected much of what I read to mirror what I already knew about Scripture. Namely, it's authority, and its truth and power. This was true, yet I was paused in my reading and driven to contemplation, almost immediately as I read in the 1st sentences of the 1st section these words:
Nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation.
Romans 1 is clear proof of the truth in this statement. Yet it still holds for me a level of profundity as I think about the necessity of the proclamation of the Gospel. Mars Hill, Acts 17 is an example of nature, creation and providence showing the goodness,wisdom and power of God in such a way that men worshipped. That they were not worshipping the one true and living God was a function, in part, of their lack of access to and understanding of the Scripture and what (really WHO) it reveals. Enter Paul, to bring a right context to what they already knew about God. That He was wise and powerful, they knew, that He was THE ONE TRUE GOD they didn't. They were without excuse insomuch as they saw around them creation, nature and providence; yet they were unable to believe unto salvation apart from a proclamation of the nature of God and His will...... Anyway, as much as we understand that there is no such thing as an atheist, there is also no such thing as a person saved from the wrath of God apart from the knowledge of God and His will revealed only in Scripture. This is encouraging right? I mean, in truth, everyone we come across at least knows there is a God (again Romans 1), so we can start with that presupposition. It is our jobs to use Scripture to explain the God they know exists and His nature and will to them. Of course section 5 of the Westminster Standards gives this beautiful nugget: We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.
In other words, we can by normal means, bring a person to understand the depth, doctrine, majesty, purpose, prevailing statements, perfection, etc, that clearly show the Bible as the Word of God. Yet, nothing but the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart of a person brings FULL persuasion and assurance of the truth and authority of it. Magnificent!! These two pieces combined make for a grand philosophy of evangelism, in my opinion. We preach the truth (knowing so since it is contained in the canon of Scripture) about what God has done in Christ. We preach this to people who are not ignorant of God's existence, though are of His nature and will. We do all we are equipped to do to make this message clear and insure it's accurate conveyance, yet realize that no clarity of our speech or accuracy of our proclamation turns a man to Christ. We labor to magnify the excellency, beauty, and truth of God's revelation of Himself in Christ. Yet, all of those efforts, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of that man, will only produce a man who knows much about God, but is not persuaded and sure of His own standing with that God.
These are just the beginnings of my contemplation of what I've read on day 1 of #wcs40. What are your thoughts?
Reading through the Westminster Confession and catechisms reminded me of this song off of shai linne’s Atonement CD. It’s called “Atonement Q & A” and I think you’ll enjoy it!
So today's the beginning of a 40 Day reading of The Westminster Standards by myself and some other Brethren. Starting with the first chapter concerning the Word of God, I expected much of what I read to mirror what I already knew about Scripture. Namely, it's authority, and its truth and power. This was true, yet I was paused in my reading and driven to contemplation, almost immediately as I read in the 1st sentences of the 1st section these words:
Nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation.Romans 1 is clear proof of the truth in this statement. Yet it still holds for me a level of profundity as I think about the necessity of the proclamation of the Gospel. Mars Hill, Acts 17 is an example of nature, creation and providence showing the goodness,wisdom and power of God in such a way that men worshipped. That they were not worshipping the one true and living God was a function, in part, of their lack of access to and understanding of the Scripture and what (really WHO) it reveals. Enter Paul, to bring a right context to what they already knew about God. That He was wise and powerful, they knew, that He was THE ONE TRUE GOD they didn't. They were without excuse insomuch as they saw around them creation, nature and providence; yet they were unable to believe unto salvation apart from a proclamation of the nature of God and His will...... Anyway, as much as we understand that there is no such thing as an atheist, there is also no such thing as a person saved from the wrath of God apart from the knowledge of God and His will revealed only in Scripture. This is encouraging right? I mean, in truth, everyone we come across at least knows there is a God (again Romans 1), so we can start with that presupposition. It is our jobs to use Scripture to explain the God they know exists and His nature and will to them. Of course section 5 of the Westminster Standards gives this beautiful nugget: We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.In other words, we can by normal means, bring a person to understand the depth, doctrine, majesty, purpose, prevailing statements, perfection, etc, that clearly show the Bible as the Word of God. Yet, nothing but the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart of a person brings FULL persuasion and assurance of the truth and authority of it. Magnificent!! These two pieces combined make for a grand philosophy of evangelism, in my opinion. We preach the truth (knowing so since it is contained in the canon of Scripture) about what God has done in Christ. We preach this to people who are not ignorant of God's existence, though are of His nature and will. We do all we are equipped to do to make this message clear and insure it's accurate conveyance, yet realize that no clarity of our speech or accuracy of our proclamation turns a man to Christ. We labor to magnify the excellency, beauty, and truth of God's revelation of Himself in Christ. Yet, all of those efforts, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of that man, will only produce a man who knows much about God, but is not persuaded and sure of His own standing with that God. These are just the beginnings of my contemplation of what I've read on day 1 of #wcs40. What are your thoughts?
No idea! Last night as I left my Pastor's house (during halftime of the then out of hand BCS game), it was snowing a tiny bit. Just flurries really. This morning, what you see in the video is our reality. Now that the passive stress of Christmas has passed, I like what I see. I'm much more relaxed then I was a couple weeks ago, having to make plans for travel, who fits what size, what food to bring where, etc. Therefore, today's snow stands alone rather than being that "one more thing to contend with." It's nice....as I watch it fall I am reminded of the Gospel and God's promise to make our sins white as snow (Is.1), AND the pomise that like the snow coming from Heaven does not return, but waters the earth, so the Word of God will not return to Him before it accomplishes His bidding (Is.55). Today I'm thankful for God's mercy when I am actively undeserving, and that one day in His great Grace He sent His Word to my hard heart and granted me new life by it. That He has entrusted us as stewards of such a protected Gospel.... One that God Himself assures won't fail. I appreciate the reminder. Let it snow!!
