5 Warning Signs Your Relationship with God is Strictly Professional
I think Eric McKiddie knocks this one out of the park.
This is a sobering reality and a great challenge.
Evolution is Most Certainly a Matter of Belief—and so Is Christianity
Al Mohler just being Al Mohler.
The Idol Behind Same-Sex Desires
An honest piece from Sam Allberry.
(HT: Kevin DeYoung)
Day Seventeen: That she would not be embarrassed of her femininity*
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. –Genesis 1:27
Elisabeth Eliot wrote this 15 years ago, it is even more true today:
I find myself in the sometimes quite uncomfortable position of having to belabor the obvious, and hold up examples of femininity to women who almost feel apologetic for being feminine or being womanly. I would remind you that femininity is not a curse. It is not even a triviality. It is a gift, a divine gift, to be accepted with both hands, and to thank God for. Because remember, it was His idea… .
The world would have our daughters believe their femininity is something to apologize for. It is not. Let us praise God for giving us the gift of femininity in our homes. Also let us pray that she might not be embarrassed by her femininity but “accept it with both hands” and glorify God through the gift of being female.
Lord, thank you for my daughter’s femininity. Thank you for her tenderness and sensitivity. I’m glad that she is a woman—and I’m thankful for all that this means. I pray Lord that she delights in this sacred calling of bearing your image as a female. Help her to rejoice in this gift and not be embarrassed by her femininity. Help her be the woman that you call her to be. May she reflect your glory.
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*We prayed this same prayer for our wives a few months ago.
Tullian Tchividjian was recently interviewed by Jonathan Merritt. In the interview Merritt noted that Tchividjian’s work would likely be met with criticism. Here is Tullian’s response:
I’m sure it will get mixed reactions. This isn’t the kind of book that people can feel neutral about. People who are aware of their weakness, failure, smallness, and incompetency will love it. Those who are aware of their desperation love grace and they will find new life and breath in One Way Love. But those who want to believe that they’re strong and competent, capable and sturdy, will be offended. That’s fine.
I bring out this quote to highlight something that I have been noticing recently in all of our discussion on gospel, law, antinomianism, grace, etc. In the above quote it’s as if only two options are given. Either you understand grace and love his book or you “want to believe that you are strong, competent, capable, and sturdy”. There seem to be only two options: bang the center of the gospel djembe (see here) or preach moralism.
There is a third option. That third option is what I hope to spell out today.
The Problem
The central imbalance that I perceive in some of our gospel-centered rhetoric has, I believe, already been summarized well by Kevin DeYoung in his book The Hole in Our Holiness. Speaking of an emphasis on spirit-powered, gospel-driven, faithful-fueled effort, DeYoung closes by saying:
Without this biblical emphasis, we’ll be confused, wondering why sanctification isn’t automatically flowing from a heartfelt commitment to gospel-drenched justification. We’ll be waiting around for enough faith to really ‘get the gospel’ when God wants us to get up and get to work (Phil. 2:12-13). Because when it comes to growth in godliness, trusting does not put an end to trying. (DeYoung, 91)
What has me concerned is that I keep hearing things similar to the frustration that DeYoung mentions. Folks that are really struggling with sin are being counseled to “get the gospel”, as if truths about our justification will automatically produce righteousness. The problem isn’t grounding everything in the gospel. That’s well and good. Do that. Always. But simply reiterating precious gospel truths over a struggling brother or sister is not sufficient. We need the gospel’s root work and axe work.
It is true that rules without reason lead to drudgery. To simply tell people “do more, get better, try harder, get after it” and the like isn’t good gospel preaching. It’s moralism. And it’s not Christian preaching.
But I also agree with Bryan Chapell that “information without application yields frustration” (Christ-Centered Preaching, 56). The truths of the gospel are precious indeed but a man needs to know how to specifically apply them to his marriage. He needs to be taught how to love his wife the way that Christ loved the church. And that doesn’t happen by simply telling him that he is a justified husband. Again I think Chapell is correct:
We are not simply ministers of information; we are ministers of Christ’s transformation. He intends to restore his people with his Word and is not greatly served by preachers who do not discern the transformation Scripture requires or communicate the means it offers. (57)
Moralism isn’t a good option. But neither is gospel proclamation that doesn’t get its hands dirty in the nitty-gritty of every day life.
An example
There are many faithful gospel preachers that can help us to strike the beautiful balance of faithful gospel proclamation. One of these men is Martin Lloyd-Jones. In his commentary on Romans 6 he says this:
There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. That is a very good test of gospel preaching. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel.
That’s the type of drunk on gospel grace that I believe Tullian and others are promoting. To which I say, Amen! Let us preach grace so full that others charge us with antinomianism and misunderstand and misinterpret grace. But when they misunderstand and misapply we also need to be able to speak like this:
The New Testament calls upon us to take action; it does not tell us that the work of sanctification is going to be done for us…We are in the ‘good fight of faith’, and we have to do the fighting. But, thank God, we are enabled to do it; for the moment we believe, and are justified by faith, and are born again of the Spirit of God, we have the ability. So the New Testament method of sanctification is to remind us of that; and having reminded us of it, it says, ‘Now then, go and do it’” (Lloyd-Jones in that same commentary on Romans 6 as quoted by DeYoung).
Moralism isn’t the only option to those that want to encourage brothers and sisters to live out the precious gospel of Jesus Christ.
Day Sixteen: That she would seek knowledge for the sake of knowing God.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1:17
I often pray that my daughter would develop a passion for learning and studying God’s Word. I also often forget the point of seeking this knowledge. Head knowledge has the potential to do nothing but enlarge the ego and create a false sense of self-righteousness and good standing before God. Paul tells us that the pursuit of wisdom and revelation is indeed a worthy one, yet we do this so that we may know our Father better. The world may occasionally dress us up with accolades and praise for any knowledge we possess, but God looks at the heart. Let us pray that our daughters choose to forego the praise of man in favor of a heart clothed with the longing to know God more deeply.
Father, I thank you for the ability we have to expand our knowledge of you and grow in understanding. I pray that you would plant in my daughter a deep desire to seek you and know you. Keep her free from the chains of impressing others and from the vanity that knowledge can create. I pray that learning would lead her to greater worship and give her power to understand your incredible love for her. In Christ’s name I pray, amen.
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Sarah Van Beveren is a wife and mother raising her three girls in Ontario, Canada. She’s a book and coffee lover who is currently in recovery for knowing it all. She’s also rocked by grace.