History of the Modern Gospel 4 - I've Got a Feeling

"But the one who endures to the end will be saved." Matthew 24:13 "By your endurance you will gain your lives." Luke 21:19 -- Although objectively justified, are an individual's efforts the source of his/her endurance to the end?

Great question! Through scripture, I’m convinced that the answer is yes. Yes, our individual efforts are the source of our endurance to the end. It’s what’s behind our individual effort that really matters. The Christian will be saved and will be brought to final salvation in the end only because of the merit of Jesus Christ. Because of His life, death, and resurrection, all who believe and trust in Jesus and His work on the cross will be saved and kept by His power. John 10:27-29 states “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Jesus saves His sheep. Jesus gives His sheep eternal life. Jesus keeps His sheep to the end. The Father gives these sheep to Jesus. The Father makes sure that His sheep are kept unto the end. Therefore, the credit for our arriving justified on the last day goes only to God and His Christ. There is a human part to endurance though. Although our efforts are not the grounds on which we are saved, they do matter and what Matthew says is true “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Every day the Christian must fight, he must war with sin, temptation and the flesh. Here is the connection between God’s part in keeping His sheep and our part in fighting as sheep; the only reason that the Christian can fight is because God is keeping Him and enabling him to fight. The only reason the Christian has the strength to endure is because God is keeping him and giving him strength to endure. I think Paul deals very well with this topic of endurance in Philippians. Philippians 1:6 states “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Paul is basically saying God began the initial work of salvation. God will finish the work of salvation. Hebrews 12:1-2 states that Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith. What God begins He finishes. Salvation and the keeping of it belongs to God and there is rest for the Christian when he realizes that God is the Savior and Protector of his soul. Based on this knowledge of God as Savior and Protector, Author and Finisher, the believer has all the provisions and strength to fight and endure in the Christian life because he already knows God is protecting him and keeping him. In Philippians 2:12, Paul encourages the Philippian believers to “work out” their salvation with fear and trembling. “Work out” means to literally “get it done” concerning their salvation. Now, to the person who reads this and discards the fact that God keeps His sheep primarily, it would sound like “I keep my salvation” and “My working out is the reason I am saved”. But one does not need to go too much further in Paul’s writing to see that much more is going on in this “working out” than merely our human efforts. Paul says in the next verse that the ground for our working is “for (because) it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” God is responsible for our working. We run the race of endurance because God is moving our muscles in the stride. We fight the good fight of faith because God is working AND willing in us to fight. To use the illustration of sports, it is God who works in the team to play the game, its God who causes the team to win the game and it is God who is the arena for the team to play in. We are called to suit up and play – and play hard. We are called to go teach, make disciples, war with sin, examine ourselves, kill the flesh, and resist the devil but God is at work both in keeping us so that we can do all these things and in working through us, willing and working for His glory. Endure to the end means just that: endure to the end.

Ask me anything

G.O.S.P.E.L. by Propoganda

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

Divine Support - Valley of Vision

Thou art the blessed God, happy in Thyself, source of happiness in Thy creatures, my maker, benefactor, proprietor, upholder. Thou hast produced and sustained me, supported and indulged me, saved and kept me; Thou art in every situation able to meet my needs and miseries.

May I live by Thee, live for Thee, never be satisfied with my Christian progress but as I resemble Christ; and may conformity to His principles, temper, and conduct grow hourly in my life. Let Thy unexampled love constrain me into holy obedience, and render my duty my delight. If others deem my faith folly, my meekness infirmity, my zeal madness, my hope delusion, my actions hypocrisy, may I rejoice to suffer for Thy name.

Keep me walking steadfastly towards the country of everlasting delights, that paradise-land which is my true inheritance. Support me by the strength of heaven that I may never turn back, or desire false pleasures that will disappear into nothing. As I pursue my heavenly journey by Thy grace let me be known as a man with no aim but that of a burning desire for Thee, and the good and salvation of my fellow men.

History of The Modern Gospel 3 - "Welcome to The Circus"

Finally, Somebody Said It.....

I dont usually blog too much about basketball, but after I saw this, I couldn't say it any better (besides a word or two of it)...Chuck, you got it right, NUFF SAID!

Likewise, this finish in UConn's game was epic...the kind of stuff you dream about (and he smashed McGee's ankles) ...WOW!

Thoughts on Sanctification

Just recently, I had the opportunity to speak to a few brothers about Romans 6 and the doctrine of sanctification. I wanted to write a few thoughts about some things that the Spirit brought to my attention as I prepared to talk and share with these guys.
Romans 6:12-14

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Paul's basis for giving this command seen in Romans 6:12, "Let not sin reign..." is founded upon verses 6-11 which tell of how Jesus defeated sin in His death and therefore since we were "baptized" with Him in His death, we are dead to sin, and we ought to "reckon" ourselves dead to sin. When Jesus was resurrected, He showed that He had defeated the power of sin and death and the one who believes in Jesus is also free from this enslavement to sin and death. Through Christ's death and resurrection He has absorbed the wrath of God and the borne the punishment for sinners, and He has broken the fetters of sin and death for those who believe. Therefore sin has no power over the one who trusts in Jesus's work.
So Paul's command in Romans 6:12 is not a command to dethrone sin in our own power. Rather, Paul tells his readers to keep dethroning sin because it has been dethroned. Jesus has defeated sin once and for all and so sin has absolutely no power over the one who trusts in Jesus. The command "let not sin reign.." is based upon Jesus already having defeated sin. This gives us rest.
Romans 6:12-13 presents a real command and responsibility on our part as patients resurrected by the Doctor, to not return to the sin that enslaved us and trapped us in spiritual death. Everyday we must fight sin passionately, resisting temptation, wrestling with the flesh, and violently cutting off ourselves from sinning. But this war on our sin is not the grounds for our salvation. Our work in fighting sin is not the merit that earns us righteousness. Jesus's once and for all cancellation of sin and death is the rock upon which our righteousness and salvation rests. So the only way that we are able to fight is because He has fought.
When I had previously read Romans 6:14, I had always believed that this verse was Paul simply stating a fact, or giving encouragement to the believer to execute this command he just gave, but recently I have found that this statement "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.", is a promise, rather than just a "good luck, homie...Im praying for you" encouraging sentence. I guess what I believed previously was that this was Paul's encouraging statement, but recently I have seen that this is the Almighty God's promise. Sin WILL NOT have dominion over you! It came off the pages as a protective, Fatherly sounding promise that says "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. (John 10:27-29)
Furthermore, after reading this promise, I began reading these three verses backwards in my head, saying "Sin will not have dominion over you, because you are not under the law but under grace, therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body..." Sin will not win the war because Christ has already won the war, so go fight! I am an avid basketball fan, and I enjoy playing far more than watching, so when I read this, an image came to mind. The parallels will not match everywhere, but you'll get the point. Imagine that a team is in its locker room before the final game of its season. They are nervous in facing an opponent that is highly ranked and greatly feared. Just before the game, God Himself walks into the locker room and informs the coach and the players that they will win by 15 points, says "This team will not beat you, now go play", and then walks out. This would be way more than encouraging to the players in the locker room and it would completely remove any stress, tension or worry about what the outcome of the game would be. I think God does way more for us when it comes to us fighting sin, and this was a very trite illustration, but I think this is generally what is happening in Romans 6:12-14. The promise takes the burden off of the command.
Thinking more about these verses in Romans 6, I was looking for confirmation of this promise/command thing in other places in Scripture. I came across several Old Testament passages where this pattern of promise and command happened for God's people in many instances of war and battle.
Deuteronomy 2:30-33 states

"But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. And the LORD said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. And the LORD our God gave him over to us, and we defeated him and his sons and all his people."

In these verses, the promise from God is given to Israel before the battle takes place. "I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you." is the promise from God to His people that Sihon didn't stand a chance against them. Next is the Lord's command to them to "begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land."

Deuteronomy 3:1-3 was another passage that confirmed the same thing.

"Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. "

Here, another king, Bashan, comes out against Israel and the Lord promises His people that "I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand." The command to "do to him as you did to Sihon" follows and once again Israel has success. When God makes these promises before the battle occurs in these verses, from His reality and perspective these enemies of Israel have already been defeated. This is the same reality that is true with the Christians war on sin. "Sin shall have no dominion over you, it has been defeated in Jesus' death and resurrection, so kill it."

One last passage in the Old Testament that displays the same pattern is Joshua 10:8-11 which states

And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have given them into your hands. Not a man of them shall stand before you.” So Joshua came upon them suddenly, having marched up all night from Gilgal. And the LORD threw them into a panic before Israel, who struck them with a great blow at Gibeon and chased them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah. And as they fled before Israel, while they were going down the ascent of Beth-horon, the LORD threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

What makes this passage different from the previous two is that in these verses God is more active in this battle than in the previous two. When I say "more active", I mean that His work is more clearly seen and identified , in throwing the Amorites into confusion and then throwing down large hailstones from Heaven on them. God is always at work for His people and He never abandoned them to fight on their own, and they only fought in His strength; but in the previous two battles mentioned Israel violently pursued their enemies fully resting in the promise God had given beforehand. In this battle in Joshua 10, I'm sure combat was a lot easier for Israel's army when their enemies are suffering panic attacks from God in front of them while God later crushes their army with heavenly hailstones. In our fight with sin I think this is how God works as well.
There will be times where we will fight sin vigorously in God's strength, resisting temptation, anger, lust, pride, fear and so forth. We will have to wrestle and war violently with these sins through prayer, fasting, confession, scripture meditation and more, and this is all done while resting on the same promise that sin has already been defeated at the cross. But there will also be times where God will seem to be "more active" in our battles with sin. He may supernaturally take away evil desires, or supernaturally crush sinful habits, or make ways of deliverance in situations of temptation that only He can make. The Christian should be on lookout for God's working at all times in either of these ways , because ultimately He is at work in both of these sin fighting situations. We must always be at work as well.
Philippians 2:12-13 states

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

In our rigorous fighting against sin, God is at work. In our sudden abandoning and conquering of certain sins, God is at work. He is at work in our wills and in our work, and the work that He began at salvation in our hearts, He will bring to completion. Therefore we should rest in His promise that our greatest battle has been won already. Our sins and the principalities that chained us to them have been canceled and made an open show of. The professor has given His students an "A" at the beginning of the course and tells them to enjoy and learn the material. Jesus has defeated sin on the cross once and for all and all who believe and trust in His work, can find rest and rejuvenation in Him to beat the sin already defeated, and to take possession of the land already given to them.

I Act The Miracle - John Piper

History of The Modern Gospel 2 - Toxic Intelligence

Wow! This was all I could say after seeing this video. May we never choose knowledge over Jesus. Rather, may our knowledge come from Jesus and point directly back to Jesus in worship. Enjoy the video!

History of The Modern Gospel 1 - Departing From Scripture

History of The Modern Gospel - Intro

This will be a 5 part series that was recommended to me by a dear brother on "The History of the Modern Gospel". Firstly, Ill say just as the man in the video that for a long time, what I believed about the gospel was a deception. Why do I know this? Because I can remember the period of time in my life when I had heard they gospel, yet I didn't treasure it. It was basic to me, it was "easy" and simple. I didn't really value or treasure the worth of the gospel for many reasons. One main reason I can think of is because I hadn't truly seen the reality of what the scriptures said about me as a sinner. Also, I found myself like the Galatians, following after every other gospel it seemed and forgetting about the gospel that comes by grace through faith. So, here goes the first video.

Eric Mason on Counterfeit Repentance

Counterfeit Repentance from Epiphany Fellowship on Vimeo.

This is a great sermon by Eric Mason on Counterfeit Repentance. May God help us to change our minds concerning sin and not just change our sins.