Our Ongoing Need of Redemption as Christians
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” (2 Peter 1:3-8)
"Fear, lest, by forgetting what you are by nature, you also forget the need that you have of continual pardon, support, and supplies from the Spirit of grace, and so grow proud of your own abilities, or of what you have received from God, and fall into condemnation ... Fear, and that will make you little in your own eyes, keep you humble, put you upon crying to God for protection, and upon lying at his footstool for mercy; that will also make you have low thoughts of your own parts, your own doings and cause you to prefer your brother before yourself. And so you will walk in humiliation and be continually under the teachings of God, and under His conduct in your way, God will teach the humble. "The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way." - Psalm 25:9 (John Bunyan - The Fear of God, page 96)
When the Lord opened my heart to the gospel in December of 1985, He set me on a radical new course, having delivered me from a wild life which was characterized by various anti-social behaviors, selfishness, drugs, crime, and the occult. Out of the most unlikely place, as I was reading the Scripture, the Lord revealed to me my lost condition: that I was without hope save in the mercy of Jesus Christ alone. In a moment, the Holy Spirit graciously united me to Christ, adopted me into God’s family, turning me from my idols to serve the Living and True God. I reflect back with awe as I consider that during the honeymoon period of my newly granted life in Christ, how the Lord actually poured out on me an extraordinary grace to overcome some of my previous bad habits and gave me a remarkable heart for prayer, especially for the lost. With zeal and great affection my greatest desire was to follow and obey the Lord. He stirred my heart to pray for a couple hours each morning as I arose, knowing that I must call down blessing from God if I was to have any power to live effectively during this age. And the result was much fruitfulness and effective personal and corporate ministry to the glory of God.
The Testimony of Dr. Daniel Wong
Hear the powerful and moving testimony of Dr. Daniel Wong, Professor of Bible at The Master's College.
On the Birth of Our Daughter
At 10:32 P.M., on Labor Day, September 1st, 2008, God interwove his covenant faithfulness and mercy with the miserable effects of the ancient curse on the woman (see Genesis 3:15-16), and miraculously changed the tortured cries of birthpangs into the joy and triumph of new life. This was both a shadow-reminder of what he had done through Christ Jesus our Lord, some two thousand years ago, when he worked the greatest mercy through the deepest anguish, bringing eternal salvation out of the tortured cries of our Savior, who was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), who became the curse that our rebellion deserved (Galatians 3:13), and who, through that unspeakable suffering, flooded the wicked world of darkness and despair with the joyful beams of light and life (cf. John 16:20-22); and it was also a sign and promise of what he will complete someday, turning the birthpangs of this cursed world into the eternal joy of redemption, in a new heavens and new earth, where righteousness dwells (Romans 8:18-25; 2 Peter 3:13-14). It is only fitting, as we pause to consider the mighty thing that God has done for us this day, that we take advantage of this opportunity to commemorate the mighty and merciful triumph of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
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A wonderful witness in the midst of great grief
The ABC news interview of Stephen Curtis Chapman and his family after the loss of their lovely young daughter in a driveway car accident...
Jesus, Example or Savior?
Here are two fine quotes from andrew purves' "reconstructing pastoral theology"
"To be clear: union with Christ does not lead to an imitation of Christ, a life spent following Jesus’ example in the hope that we will become better people. The Christian life is not to be understood as obedience to either an ethical imperative or a spiritual ideal. Rather, the Christian life is the radical and converting participation in Jesus Christ’s own being and life, and thus a sharing in his righteousness, holiness, and mission through the bond of the Holy Spirit."
"Note, too, the emphasis I place on the work of the Holy Spirit. Union with Christ is entirely a work of God. Our human acts, beliefs, and decisions are powerless to effect a relationship with God. John Calvin understood that our deepest self had to become reconfigured and reconstituted or, to use his words, “regenerated” or “vivified,” through related to Jesus Christ. … God must reorder us be turning us in a new direction be uniting us to Jesus. So our being and becoming Christian is a divine initiative and not something that can be worked out through heightened religiosity, morality, activity, will, or spirituality. We are conjoined to Christ by the unilateral work of God though the Holy Spirit – to effect what Calvin called a “mystical union.”"
For further reading on this, you might be interested in a new essay Nathan and I co-wrote called Deconstructing Uncertainty which critiques the Emergent claims that faithfulness is to be pursued over against certainty
A clearer understanding of Grace (Testimony)
This testimony comes from a lady called Analee:
I will start at the beginning. Before Jeremy and I got married we had a few discussions on what church we would attend. In my heart I new I wanted to stay at my home church, but I was going to submit and go where Jeremy felt God would have us be. I knew this meant that we would being going to CLCC. I loved everyone there, but there were just a few things I did not like about it. I disagreed with their theology and I wished that it had more for the older kids (thinking ahead of when, Lord willing, we had kids). I also just liked going to church with my family.
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20 Years On - A Testimony Concerning God's Grace
"For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:18
I was looking through an old autograph book this week. It contained signatures of all my Bible College (seminary) friends from June 1987. Some of the people who wrote in this little book are now in heaven... men like Rev. James Hunt, the Dean of Students, and an Irish student called Vaughan Gage, who was killed on a missionary trip to Africa under very suspicious circumstances... and one of them is now a Member of Parliament in England... their words are very precious to me.
In one entry a friend of mine, Graeme Adams, now a pastor in Dundee, Scotland drew three crosses on a hill, the central one being the largest one.. and he wrote these simple words: "John.. always remember Calvary. Graeme" He probably doesn't remember doing that.. but now, 20 years on (in 2 months..) he and I are continuing to do just that.. remembering Calvary, all because of the grace of God.
How gracious God is to us... not only for the cross, but for the grace to help us see its worth, and sustain our interest as the years roll by. That ugly cross.. the place of torture, pain and suffering is beautiful in our eyes, for what Christ achieved for us there makes it our only gateway to heaven. Quite something eh? - Pastor John Samson
P.S. Want to be blessed by an outstanding article on the cross?? See J. I. Packer's "The Logic of Penal Substitution" article found here .
Mail Bag October 06
Yesterday we received this email and thought it might be encouraging to regular visitors, giving you a glimpse of what God is doing to shake up the church with His grace. Salvation by grace alone in Christ alone, that we have no hope in the world save in Christ and His mercy is a hard doctrine but we must uphold it high and contend against perversions of it in the church and out of the chuch. The author of the mail gave me permission to post it here.
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Hello,
I just thought I'd send you a quick Email to inform you of a slight... problem... your website is causing.
Well, you see, it was a few years ago that I stumbled upon monergism.com. At the time I was a free-will theist, intent upon destroying everything with the word "Calvin" in it. I even thought that John Calvin was an anti-christ. (seriously) Anyway... I remember browsing through your site thinking it would be a good place to get counter-arguments to my own (for the purpose of refuting them, obviously). It was within a few weeks of finding Monergism.com, and trying to refute the arguments contained therein, that my eyes were opened to the error of my arminian ways. And now I cannot imagine disagreeing with any one of the five points of Calvinism, no less thinking that John Calvin was an anti-christ...
...so, now for the problem. I'm pretty much addicted to Monergism.com. I have a tab on my web-browser eternally open with the Monergism.com on it. (more often than not I have multiple tabs open...) If I ever have a theological question (which is quite often), my Bible and Monergism.com are my first stop for an answer. I'll sometimes get into debates over calvinism and such, and I am always sure to refer whoever I am debating with to Monergism.com. Or, if the debate is online (which it quite frequently is), I'll have multiple tabs open to each relevant theological topic, and be sure to give the link to whoever I am debating with.
... There is no doubt in my mind that, were someone to ask what web-site I visit and appreciate the most, I would refer them to Monergism.com.
Sincerely,
A Monergism.com Addict.
P.S. I really do want to thank you for your ministry through this web-site. It has been extremely edifying in my Christian walk. Turning me away from many theological errors such as Arminianism and Dispensationalism towards the great truths contained in Calvinistic soteriology and Covenant theology. It has greatly increased my understanding and appreciation of God's Sovereignty and His Word. May God bless you and all who are involved in this wonderful ministry!
The Doctrines of Grace (Testimony)
The following anonymous testimony shows how the doctrines of grace affect our whole outlook on life.
Introduction
My early Christian years were spent in evangelical churches where the ministry of the Word was far from systematic. A variety of speakers brought a variety of sermons on numerous texts, the result of which was occasional blessing but no regular consistent instruction.
During this time a Christian friend introduced me to the Reformed Faith, and as a result of reading John Owen's Death of Death in the Death of Christ, along with other Puritan literature, I was brought to see that the Arminian teaching of these churches was un-Scriptural. The more I compared these Puritan writings with the Word of God, the supreme standard of doctrine and practice, the more I realized by the grace of God just how far removed from the Bible the preaching in such evangelical churches was. Furthermore, I began to realize just how many problems and troubles spring from this fact. And so by the mercy of God I came to embrace and love those doctrines of grace which give God all the glory, and refuse to share that glory between God and man.
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An Open Door of Ministry by Pastor John Samson
This week (Tuesday, March 7, 2006) I had a wonderful God given opportunity to speak to a large audience in the Phoenix area. I was sharing with John Hendryx about what happened and he asked me if I would share some of it here on the blog.
For 2 hours each week day evening, the largest Christian radio station in Phoenix, KPXQ 1360AM, has a live call in program hosted by Andrew Tallman. Andrew and I have had good interaction over the last year or so, even though we have many doctrinal differences (I would describe Andrew as an Arminian, though he does not like the term). However, the interaction has always been intelligent (from his side) as well as friendly.
Andrew is away on vacation this week, and asked me to fill in as the host of the 2 hour program Tuesday evening (5 p.m. to 7 p.m.). He gave me the liberty of talking about anything I liked for 2 hours, while taking questions and comments from the listeners who call in. Though I do a 30 minute Bible teaching program each weekday, this live call in element is completely new to me, and more than a little scary.
So what did I talk about?
Well I started off by asking the question, "What is the Church's biggest need?"
Then I asked people to call in whether they agreed or disagreed with me when I said, what the Church needs more than anything else is GOD as He really is, and the GOSPEL as it really is. If one of these is distorted, then so is the other. In that the program lasted 2 hours, I took an hour for each theme: Hour 1 - God as He really is; Hour 2 - The Gospel as it really is.
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My Journey Into Grace by Pastor John Samson
My first 20 years as a Christian were spent as an Arminian. O.K., I've admitted it.
For the most part, I was never really exposed to these doctrines I now consider so precious. Oh, certainly, I met many a Reformed man in my time; in fact, many of them were my instructors and professors at the Bible College I attended in England, but no one ever sat down with me to try to explain the Reformed faith.
Practice doesn't make perfect, it makes permanent. In the game of golf, you can practice your swing and in all reality, if you keep repeating the same mistake (for instance, the way you hold the club), you don't make the swing perfect at all; your poor swing becomes permanent - and only deliberate and intense personal coaching can eliminate the problem.
I have been in full time ministry since leaving Bible College in June of 1987, and was fairly confident that my knowledge of the Word was sound. In the year 2,000 I had been a Christian for 20 years. This only compounded my problem - not a golf swing problem (my golfing problems remain unexposed in that I don't play the game at all) - but my many false assumptions and traditions, which were heightened by this simple fact - I had no idea that I held to faulty doctrine. I had assumed I was correct in my interpretation, and went on my way merrily for many a year. As Dr. James White so ably puts it, "those most enslaved to their traditions are those who don't believe they have any."
Because the traditions I held to were strong, when I first heard the message of Sovereign Grace and election taught, I have to admit that I resisted it.
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Amazed by Common Grace by Pastor John Samson
Common Grace. It is a term used in theology to describe the grace God gives to every living person on planet earth. It is called "common," not because it is not worth that much, but because everyone alive gets it.
Grace by definition can never be demanded. God gives grace, not because He has to, but because He decides to. The scripture says that God "makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45).
How gracious this is of God. God doesn't discriminate against the non-Christian in sending His rain, but gives it freely to saint and sinner alike. That should amaze us. It should take our breath away in fact. Yet the concept of common grace doesn't usually do that for us. We're very much accustomed to it, because it is so common, but we must always remember that God is exceedingly gracious in dispensing this kind of grace on people. The point being, He in no way has to. Through the use of a short story, I'd like to give you a glimpse into why common grace should amaze us.
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