Wrestling with Sovereignty

“…keep yourselves in the love of God….”
- Jude 20-21

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
–Jude 24-25

“Perseverance is God’s singular gift.”
- John Calvin, Commentary on Ezekiel, I:380

“We are to maintain our allegiance to God until the end and not stray from His love.”
-Thomas Schreiner, The Race Set Before Us, p. 257

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

So which is it…divine sovereignty or human responsibility? Are they opposed to one another? Or are they held in tension with one another? They are both supported biblically. Now let’s be clear; I am a champion of divine sovereignty. God saved me by a sovereign act of His love on my behalf. I was dead in my sin and He alone brought me to life. I had nothing to do with it. Put simply - salvation is monergistic. God is salvation’s Prime Mover. And at the end of the day even my perseverance is a gift of God and He will receive the glory even for my obedience. How is it that the biblical writer Jude was worried about apostasy, and yet many people in the church live like it could never happen? At times grace seems to be misunderstood to the point that really any behavior is excusable and perseverance is unnecessary. For some, the doctrine of election is so air-tight that every possibility of falling away is precluded. The problem is God’s Word warns against falling away. Faithfulness, vigilance, perseverance, and watchfulness are part and parcel to the Christian life and do not stand in opposition to divine sovereignty. While at the same time encouraging his readers to keep themselves in God’s love, Jude affirms God’s sustaining grace on their behalf. We will fall into error if we embrace the one and not the other. May we be absolutely convinced of God’s sovereignty and absolutely convinced of our need to persevere.

Persevering in Grace with you,

Dan

Called to His Own Glory

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 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.”
– 2 Peter 1:2-4

“He (Peter) refers to the boundless goodness of God which they had already experienced, so that they may place a greater reliance on Him in the future. It is a consistent mark of God that He prosecutes His course of benevolence right to the end, unless we interrupt it by our faithlessness. His power is inexhaustible and His desire of beneficence (good toward us) is equally so, and hence the apostle rightly encourages the faithful to good hope on the basis of God’s former benefits. His words of amplification are to the same purpose. He could have said more simply, ‘as He has fully given us everything’, but by using the expression ‘divine power’ he lifts his argument to the higher consideration of how God has unfolded the vast resources of His power.”
- John Calvin, Commentary on 2 Peter, p. 328

“The act of calling us is a demonstration of God’s own glory and goodness. These two characteristics are highly personal; the adjective ‘own’ modifies both terms. Moreover, the two terms, although in a sense synonymous, differ. We are able to observe glory with our eyes (compare John 1:14), and we become aware of goodness (praise) with our minds and hearts. Conclusively, God reveals his essential being through visible glory and he displays his goodness in his deeds.”
- Simon Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary on 2 Peter, p. 247

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
- C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, pp. 3-4


Dear Christ our Redeemer Friends and Family,

When you really think about it, how amazing is grace, anyway? I’m afraid many times we think of God’s grace towards us in small measure. I’m afraid we think small thoughts of grace because we think small thoughts of sin and small thoughts about God’s holiness. We often don’t realize the depth and the pervasiveness of sin and as a consequence we don’t recognize the breadth and boundlessness of grace. God has become far less in our eyes, because salvation doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. Morbid introspection is never good, but neither is a cavalier and uninformed sense of our own sinfulness. We will never be amazed by grace or never truly understand the gospel without at least a modicum of awareness of our deep need for a Savior. Dear friends, we were hopelessly lost without Christ. We were the just recipients of God’s wrath and judgment. Erstwhile, the sinful woman loved much, because she was forgiven much (Luke 7:37-50). Could it be that we love little, because we’ve been forgiven little? Could it be that we worship only a little, because we’ve only been forgiven a little? Could it be that we are only a little thankful, because we’ve only been forgiven a little?

Peter writes and says that God has called us to His own glory and excellence with precious and very great promises. He uses the superlative to describe what God has done for us in Christ. We have become partakers of the divine nature. This is not some weird Gnostic language, but rather, because of God’s work of beneficence (Calvin’s word) towards us in Christ we have grace and peace and glory and excellence and life and godliness in abundance. And not only has saved us from the wrath to come, by grace we have become partakers of the very character and nature of God. Brothers and sisters, God’s salvation of sinners is not stingy. It is abundant and amazing grace that He has demonstrated toward you. All of our days may we always be truly amazed by grace.

For His Own Glory and Excellence,

Dan

Grumbling at Grace

“Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD."
- Exodus 16:8

“But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, ‘Do you take offense at this?’”
- John 6:61

“Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.”
- James 5:9

“Murmuring is but as smoke of the fire: there is first a smoke and smouldering before the flame breaks forth; and so before open rebellion in a kingdom there is first a smoke of murmuring, and then it breaks forth into open rebellion. But because it has the seeds of rebellion, it is accounted before the Lord to be rebellion.”
- Jeremiah Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, p. 140

“Grumbling may seem like a little thing—a little sin—but I would like to propose to you that grumbling is a pollutant in the waters of your heart. It will kill life.”
– Paul Tripp, JBC, #18, “Grumbling, A Look at a ‘Little’ Sin”, p. 48

“Jesus answered them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves.’”
- John 6:43

Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

I am more familiar with some sins than others. If there were an Olympic medal given for grumbling and complaining I think would receive the gold. I am more aware of this sin now than I’ve ever been, and when I see it in my own heart and hear it from my own mouth God has been gracious to bring me increased conviction of this sin. Grumbling is like soul cancer. It is like a can of black spraypaint that begins to shade everything around us. Grumbling calls into question the ever-benevolent character of God. The psalmist declares that God’s faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 117:2), but the grumbler takes issue with the psalmist, and then takes issue with God Himself. When I grumble and complain I am indicting the character of God and making a judgment about His all-inclusive and ever-charitable mercies in my life. I am declaring God’s rule insufficient and flawed and then equally I’m declaring my perception of how best to order the world as being superior. This is consummate rebellion and the apex of arrogance.

The orginal Greek word carries the sense of muttering in a low tone. It is as if we voice our complaint just out of earshot. As I looked at different passages about grumbling I noticed a couple of things. 1) Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling (John 6:61). They may have thought they were out of earshot, but He knew their hearts. He heard their grumbling in spite of their attempts at concealment. This is a sobering realization. And, 2) In both the case of Israel grumbling and the case of the disciples grumbling both instances were preceded by incredible grace and providence. For Israel, they had been been fed manna in the wilderness by an extraordinary act of God and yet they grumbled. And then in similar manner, when Jesus performs a miracle and then begins to discuss Himself being the true manna from heaven, the disciples grumble. Jesus is directing them to the Cross and they complain. What wickedness in the human heart! God shows grace and the sinner grumbles. Dear friends, we need mercy, because God takes this sin seriously. My sin of grumbling required Christ’s death on the Cross.

I’m grateful for increased conviction of this sin and I’m growing to hate my grumbling more and more. May God bring all of us even more conviction about grumbling and may we begin to exchange grumbling for gratitude, not in low tones, but in loud expressions of thankfulness.

Dan

God's Wonderful Mess

“You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.”

– Song of Solomon 4:9

“Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready.”

– Revelation 19:7

“The church is not a theological classroom. It is a conversion, confession, repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness, and sanctification center, where flawed people place their trust in Christ, gather to know and love him better, and learn to love others as he has designed. The church is messy and inefficient, but it is God’s wonderful mess – the place where he radically transforms hearts and minds.”

-Paul Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, p. 116

“I trust that none of my readers is that grotesque anomaly, the un-churched Christian. The New Testament knows nothing of such a person. For the church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history. On the contrary, the church is God’s new community.”

- John Stott, The Living Church, p. 19

“…that he (Christ) might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

- Ephesians 5:27


Dear Christ Our Redeemer Family and Friends,

Every time I have been at a wedding there’s always been a beautiful bride there as well. Much preparation has taken place to ready her for this particular moment. She has taken every effort to make herself stunning in anticipation of greeting her long-awaited bridegroom. Often we don’t think of the church as stunning or beautiful. Many times she seems far less glorious; full of sin and imperfection, weary and battle-worn. We see the mess and we neglect to see the wonderful. For all of her flaws and imperfections, Jesus sees a glorious bride. His gaze is drawn to the perfections in her that are reflective of Himself. His perfections make her glorious. This is His new community and this is His dwelling-place. Because of His thoroughgoing work of redemption her beauty is beyond compare. His redemptive endeavors have made her stunning. She is full of splendor and without spot or wrinkle. She has captured His gaze. She is the one betrothed.

The church must capture our attention and our affection as well. To truly call ourselves Christian we must love the things Christ loves. Our affections must be drawn to both the Savior and his bride. It may seem far easier to have the Christian life without the mess of the church, but Jesus will not turn away to another. She has captivated His heart and He will settle for no less. The church is His intended and there is a marriage feast coming. Get ready, because this wonderful mess is on her way to becoming a beautiful bride.

I’m thanking God that He has joined us together in this wonderful mess.

Dan