Christian Mourning

We live in an era where all mourning and sadness are regarded as fundamentally bad. To a certain degree this is in line with a biblical worldview for we know that in the heavenly state there will be no more tears, crying, or pain (Rev. 21:4). Even though mourning and crying are regarded as aspects of a fallen world, there is still a place for them in the Christian life.

In fact, mourning is sometimes the right, godly, and necessary response to situations. Though we would never choose to mourn as if it were enjoyable in itself, unquestionably the path to true joy in God sometimes travels through deep valleys of sorrow. This was true of the life of our Lord, the ‘man of sorrows’ (Is. 53:3) who for the joy set before Him endured the cross (Heb. 12:2), and it is true for us as well. How did the authors of Scripture present godly sorrow in their writings? There are at least three categories in which they present righteous mourning.

First, Christians ought to mourn over their own sins. James, as he rebuked the Christians to whom he wrote, instructed them regarding repentance in light of their adulterous love for the world (Jas. 4:4). He wrote: “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:7-10). This act of mourning is not redemptive or propitiatory—we do not save ourselves—rather, it is line with the gracious salvation described elsewhere in the New Testament (cf. Luke 18:9-14). The Christian, when struck by the reality of his own defiant corruption against the good and gracious God, cannot help but mourn. Such perversity in our persons is appalling. This is Christian mourning.

Second, Christians are called to mourn over the sins of others. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said that they had become arrogant instead of mourning over the sin of a man in the church (1 Cor. 5:2). We must understand that every persons sin affects others as well—a little leaven leavens the whole loaf (1 Cor. 5:6, Gal. 5:9), which is to say that sin spreads when it is not addressed. Even Christ Himself wept over the sad state of Jerusalem, which did not know ‘the things that make for peace’ (Luke 19:41-44). Seeing the continued rebellion of our fellow man against our loving God is saddening because the insurrection is against the worthy King, who ought to be worshipped. The replacement of sin for God’s deserved praise is truly tragic—things ought not be this way.

Third, there is a godly manner in which Christians can and ought to mourn over losses and pain. This is probably the least familiar and least favorable type of mourning in our lives today. Nevertheless, Scripture says that “it is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart” (Eccles. 7:2). The losses that we experience in this life prevent us from getting too comfortable here, so that we may continually long for the heavenly state where God’s presence forever drives away sadness, pain, and death. The difficulty of this life keeps our perspective rightly on the ‘things above’ (Col. 3:1-2).

--Dean of Admissions

The Future of the Reformation

The reformation of the church has been in a state of constant progression since its earliest days. This statement might surprise some Christians because we tend to think of reformation as occurring periodically, as in ‘the’ Reformation (i.e. the Protestant Reformation). Though it is not wrong to use the definite article when referring to that particular, drastic movement, it is also not wrong to say that the reformation began at Pentecost (or before) and continues to progress to this very day. So, for example, Paul said that Jesus Christ gave Himself up for the church, to sanctify her so that the church would be holy and blameless (Eph. 5:25-27). This is not merely the church in one age or under the influence of one particular doctrine, it is the church in every age and in every area of life and truth (John 17:17-20).

Because of this, we must be aware that the reformation is ongoing today in our midst—in our selves, our families, and our churches. That alone should cause us to consider soberly how we ought to pursue growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18). I believe that there is another truth that we must ponder if we are to be faithful stewards of the God-given, apostolic doctrines that we believe. We must consider the fact that the generation after us, and the generations after that, will be subject to God’s reforming grace as well. In light of that, how can we prepare younger Christians for the good fight of faith?

This question should weigh heavily on the consciences of church leaders, of course, but it should also influence the minds of parents, spouses, friends, and mentors. We must all come to terms with the reality that though we are just one link in a long chain, we do play a vital role in preserving the fidelity of the overall chain. Our actions will, in large measure, determine how the reformation progresses in the generations to come. Obviously, God is sovereign, so He can grant reformation even ex nihilo if He wills, but most often He has willed to work through the faithful stewardship of His servants from one generation to the next. That’s us.

We bear the responsibility to train up younger men and women in the faith so that when we are dead and gone, which we will soon be, there is still a strong and glowing testimony in God’s church. We bear the responsibility not just to look back at our predecessors, analyzing their great works of reformational thinking, but also to look forward, synthesizing documents in light of Scripture to address the pressing issues of our own day. We bear the responsibility to write the songs, hymns, poems, and books that will influence the children of our day so that, by God’s sovereign grace and according to His will, there will be a testimony in the days to come.

I do not say that we bear this responsibility alone, however. Who could possibly be adequate for such a great task? We, like Paul as he surveyed the monumental responsibility of ministry in his day (2 Cor. 2:16), must say, “not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant” (2 Cor. 3:5-6). We have spiritual authority and power to do this constructive work through the gifts that the Lord has provided (1 Tim. 3:14-15, Eph. 4:11-13, 1 Cor. 3:10-11, 2 Tim. 1:7).

We are not responsible to provide the power or wisdom to perform these tasks, then, since those things must come from God. We are responsible for the results of our labors, however (1 Cor. 3:8-15). Unfaithfulness in stewardship is a very serious sin and is dealt with rigidly by God (Luke 12:41-48). Consider the elders of Israel in the days after Joshua who failed to teach their children about the mighty works of the Lord (Joshua 2:6-12). When one generation is unfaithful to the Lord it is very likely that they have corrupted not just themselves but also their descendants. The future of the reformation depends essentially on God’s sovereign, sustaining power. In many ways, however, the working of that power will be demonstrated in our day through our faithfulness or faithlessness to reform according to God’s Word. May God grant that we pursue His course with zeal, diligence, and ever-deepening love for His Name.

Remember the generation that must inherit the works of our hands!

--Dean of Admissions

Always Reforming, Part 2

“Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”

                                     —the Apostle Paul, 1 Tim. 4:16

As a corollary to what we said last time, that we must patiently bear with those who struggle against sin, we must also affirm that we are touched with the same sinful tendencies. It is for this reason that the New Testament contains warnings against carelessness in keeping our own souls, such as the one listed above. What was at stake in our teaching, Paul said, is the very salvation of our souls.

We must realize that there is only one, narrow path of salvation but that there is an abundance of ways to go astray. Even under the leadership and teaching of the apostles there were people in the church who eventually went astray (cf. 1 Cor. 5:3-5, 1 John 2:19). Even among the twelve disciples of our Lord by His foreknowledge and providence there was one who went astray (John 6:70, 17:12). The point is that we must be on guard against our own deceitful hearts.

The Lord works on others through progressive sanctification and growth in grace (2 Peter 3:17-18) and, in the same way, He works on us progressively. The expectation of the New Testament authors is that individual Christians will grow progressively more holy as they live longer in Christ (John 15:2, 2 Cor. 7:1, Heb. 12:4-14, etc). We must be aware that the Lord is operating in the same manner on our own hearts, minds, and emotions.

This should greatly protect us against spiritual pride, for if we are aware of our own growth and our own ever-present trespasses then we will humbly serve those brothers and sisters who, like us, need an ever-gracious Savior. When we see accurately the need for constant reformation in our own lives, we will be gracious in bearing with the progressive reformation of those around us.

Additionally, this truth about our God should help us be diligent in the fight against sin. Though God is sovereignly and solely in control of our sanctification (Heb. 13:20-21, John 15:5, Phil. 1:6/2:13), He has chosen to work imperceptibly through our will as He sanctifies us (Phil. 2:12). This means that when God has chosen to ramp up sanctification in the life of one of His children, the only visible result will be fervent desire in their will and the visible fruit in their life. If we yearn for greater holiness, then, we should not sit back and ‘wait’ for God to work, but just the opposite. Paul told the Philippians to work out their salvation with fear and trembling because (or for) it was God who was at work in them both to will and to work.  He expected them to apply themselves to the task because God was at work in them! Likewise, we should diligently apply ourselves to growing in Christ. In this way, we will be always reforming for the glory of God and for our own joy.

“…not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord…”

                                      —the Apostle Paul, Romans 12:11

--Dean of Admissions

Always Reforming, part 1

Part of Paul’s regular affirmations to the churches is that at the beginning of our new life in Christ, there is a radical change in the actions of each Christian. It is for this reason that he can exclude those who practice blatant, outward sin from the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10, Gal. 5:19-21, Eph. 5:5-6). The idea is something like this: those sinners whom God saves, though they are real sinners, are changed by God through the Spirit so that they no longer live in their same, old manner of life (1 Cor. 6:11, Gal. 5:16-17/22-25, Eph. 5:7-10).

A necessary corollary of this truth is that growth in the Christian life proceeds by true, constant, perceivable advancement in holiness. Though Christians are fully, completely, eternally justified in the eyes of God by the work of Christ (Rom. 5:1, 8:1), they still struggle against their sinful flesh (Rom. 7:14-24, Gal. 5:17). Even the apostle himself had to admit that nothing good dwelt within him, that is, in his flesh (Rom. 7:18).

It is from these ideas that our spiritual ancestors recognized the idea that each Christian and, therefore, each Christian church, would be always reforming. Though we have perfect standing before God in Christ, our real state is that we are still sinful. In the words of the Reformers we are simul iustus et peccator—at the same time justified and a sinner. God does not leave us in our sin, however, He changes His children (John 15:1-5). We call this sanctification.

This is one way that God makes His glory shine in His children, by conforming them ever more and more to His splendid character (2 Cor. 3:18). If we affirm this, however, we must also affirm that there is much in every Christian that is, by nature, not glorious at all. In fact, our sin is rebellion against God whose glorious character we deface.

For this reason, it is crucial that we consistently apply the truth of the perpetual reformation of each Christian and each local church. If we expect perfection of others, we are sinfully pretending that they are flawed while we are not. If we expect perfection of local churches, we are sinfully pretending that they are backwards while we are righteous. I’m not saying that we should discard standards for individuals (e.g. 1 Tim. 3:2-12) or for churches (Gal. 1:2-6), but rather that we must be gracious and forgiving of the faults of others.

One paradox of the Christian life is that we must abhor what is evil (Rom. 12:9) and lovingly restore repentant evildoers (Gal. 6:1-2). No pastor, seminarian, brother, or sister is perfect in this life—that must wait for the life to come (Heb. 12:23, Rev. 21:27). Every earthly church is imperfect because churches consist of fallen men and women who, though indwelt by the Spirit of the omnipotent God, still fall regularly into sin.

We must strive to constantly reform our own lives and to edify our family in Christ—but we must also bear graciously with them when they trespass the laws of our God. We must be consistent as we apply the truth of the constant reformation of God’s people. He has graciously borne with us, and we can do no less.

--Dean of Admissions

God's Standards

Mark recorded an interesting set of historical events for us in Mark 10:13-27. What these verses teach us about ourselves and about God is extremely simple, yet piercingly profound.

Mark related that Jesus welcomed children to Himself in order to bless them. This seemingly elementary act is absolutely packed with significance about the character of God. The disciples, in contrast to Jesus, had tried to prevent the children from coming to Him. In response, Jesus became indignant with the disciples for their interference. This account shows us that Jesus is a welcoming and tender Savior—even those who appeared most insignificant are counted worthy of salvation in God’s eyes.

But that is not all that we learn about God. In fact, we also see that God has standards for those whom He saves. Jesus, in the midst of His rebuke of the disciples, said, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all” (Mark 10:15). This demonstrates that God, though He is an exceedingly willing Savior, does not prima facie save all sinners. God, without being discriminatory in the least, saves a certain type of person.

God does not save people based on race, age, intelligence, beauty, or wealth. The standard by which people enter the kingdom is based on humility.

If we wish to enjoy the refreshing, merit-granting but not merit-based grace of God, we must come to Him like a child—like an insignificant, unworthy, lowly child who bears nothing to enhance His position. If we do not receive the Kingdom of God like a child, Jesus assured us that we will never enter it at all.

The text continues to portray God’s character in verses 17 to 27. Mark highlighted God’s willingness to receive sinners by recording a rejection story. That is to say, what we see about God is that He is happy to save sinners but that He does so on His own terms. The next story after Jesus welcomed the children is that of the rich, young ruler. Mark tells us that Jesus loved this haughty and undeserving man; that Jesus lovingly communicated the gracious standards of God’s Kingdom and that He told him of the one source of salvation, namely, Himself (Mark 10:21).

Yet the account ends unhappily for the man, for he was not willing to give up his temporal, fading wealth to receive the glorious privilege of being a child of God. He was, we can say, enslaved to his own wealth. The barbs of his own riches were deeply planted in his heart and he could not break free. He did not want to be free—the only thing that held him back was his own sinfulness (Mark 4:18-19). He was not willing to receive the kingdom as a child. Such people as this, God will not save.

God is a gracious and willing Savior—the only Savior (cf. 10:27)—but He saves sinners on His own terms. He will not tolerate idolatry in the heart of those who serve Him; either He will purge that idolatry out of the heart of His true children, or He will cast away those who are falsely His (Heb. 12:10-11, John 15:2, 1 John 2:19, Matt. 7:19-23).

Come to Jesus, then, all who are weary and seeking rest! Come to receive a kingdom that cannot ever be earned! Come as a child, put faith in Christ, repent from your sins—and He will welcome you! But you must also know that if you come haughtily, thinking you have something with which to enrich God, or if you come clinging to your idolatry, God will turn you away. God is a gracious Savior—but not one without standards. In truth, He saves always on His own terms, for He is the holy and worthy God.

--Dean of Admissions

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

                                                                              —Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 6:24

Evangelism

Evangelism may be one of the least popular activities of the church in this age. Whether unbelievers veer toward secularism or pluralism, few people are willing to tolerate the proclamation of the gospel. Why is that?

For secularists, the gospel of Christ is dependent on an ancient and, thus, unenlightened tradition. Secular thinking demands freedom from these ‘silly old wives-tales,’ as long as that freedom conforms precisely to the gospel of Darwin as expressed by the most recent scientific fad. Secularists are unwilling to face the reality of an invisible God, a virgin birth, the incarnate Christ, and bodily resurrection, therefore they flatly reject Christianity. Having some ‘uninformed’ Christian proclaim the truth of these backwards-sounding doctrines is not viewed favorably by many people in our day.

On the other hand, for pluralists, the Christian gospel is extremely narrow and exclusive and, therefore, it appears to be intolerant and prejudicial. Preaching the gospel requires a person to tell others that they are wrong, and that they are living in sin. Intolerance and speaking about sin happen to be two cardinal sins of our age; so few pluralistic thinkers will sit idly by while a Christian describes the exclusory salvation of the Bible.

Yet it is for these very reasons that evangelism is so necessary in our day. Our age, like every age before, must be radically confronted by the gospel of Christ—earlier eras of human history were no friendlier to the claims of Christ. It has never been socially acceptable to proclaim the cross of Christ or justification by faith. Even an examination of the Old Testament shows that those who preached the true doctrines of God were often persecuted!

Secularists must be confronted with the absolute truth of the Creator God, the One who sustains their very bodies and minds and who sovereignly rules their destiny. They must be confronted with notions of blood sacrifice, substitution, and worship of an invisible Deity. The cross will offend them. Pluralists must encounter the radical holiness of God, the unity of truth in Him alone, and the absolutely exclusive claims of Christ.  The cross will offend them.

What we must realize is that confrontation is at the heart of evangelism, but that it is a blessed and beneficial confrontation. Unless sinners are confronted with the reality of the gospel they cannot be saved. God must fundamentally change the heart of an unbeliever in order to save their soul, and this heart-change takes place by the Spirit, through the proclamation of the Word (Ro. 10:17, 1 Pet. 1:25). To confront people with the difficult realities of the gospel is loving (Mark 10:21).

Be encouraged, then, to preach the gospel to those around you, even if it means engaging them with the hard truths of Scripture. God is good to use our proclamation for the salvation of sinners—but we must be faithful to preach, even when it is unpopular.

--Dean of Admissions

New Year Resolution

Making resolutions can be a very helpful tool in the Christian life. Jonathan Edwards made resolutions to assist himself in growing in Christ. If you have never made resolutions, maybe this year would a good time to start. Here is a suggested resolution for the new year.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

—Paul the apostle, Galatians 6:7-8

Resolved, this year, to sow more and more to the Spirit every day of my life. I resolve to worshipfully pursue God’s Kingdom and His righteousness by the means He has provided, namely, by relying on the Spirit of God, by meditating on the Word of God, by obeying the commands of God, by preaching the gospel of God, and by fellowshipping with the people of God.

I resolve to conform my mind to God’s revealed will by evaluating my world according to God’s economy, by putting to death what is hateful to God in my flesh, and by actively and consciously seeking to please God in all that I do. I resolve to center my life on God in Christ through the gospel, so that my obedience is performed out of trusting love of God and not out of the mercenary desire for merit.

I resolve to labor in God’s fields, sowing the Word at every opportunity so that God may be magnified and that others may experience the joy of eternal life as well. I resolve to live as salt and light so that men will praise God who is invisible.

I resolve to sow to the Spirit every day through my thoughts, actions, words, and intentions so that God may be foremost and first in my life and so that His supremacy over all creation may be manifest in my small sphere of influence. I resolve to sow to the Spirit every day, so that I may look forward with great eagerness to the eternal life that is promised by God to all those who have faith in Christ. Come, Lord Jesus!

--Dean of AdmissionS