Overcoming Temptation

I thought this video with D.A. Carson was really good, full of gospel-saturated practical help for fighting temptation.

What is Marriage Mainly About?

If you haven't seen the video below yet, take nine minutes and watch it. Trust me.

After watching the video the other day, I found my way to this blog post written by Larissa.

I also started reading John Piper's book This Momentary Marriage, and wanted to share a couple of extended quotes from the first chapter:

There never has been a generation whose general view of marriage is high enough. The chasm between the biblical vision of marriage and the common human vision is now, and has always been, gargantuan. Some cultures in history respect the importance and the permanence of marriage more than others. Some, like our own, have such low, casual, take-it-or-leave-it attitudes toward marriage as to make the biblical vision seem ludicrous to most people.

That was the case in Jesus’ day as well. But ours is worse. When Jesus gave a glimpse of the magnificent view of marriage that God willed for his people, the disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry” (Matt. 19:10). In other words, Christ’s vision of the meaning of marriage was so enormously different from the disciples’, they could not even imagine it to be a good thing. That such a vision could be good news was simply outside their categories.

If that was the case then—in the sober, Jewish world in which they lived—how much more will the magnificence of marriage in the mind of God seem unintelligible in a modern Western culture, where the main idol is self; and its main doctrine is autonomy; and its central act of worship is being entertained; and its three main shrines are the television, the Internet, and the cinema; and its most sacred genuflec- tion is the uninhibited act of sexual intercourse. Such a culture will find the glory of marriage in the mind of Jesus virtually incomprehensible. Jesus would probably say to us today, when he had finished opening the mystery for us, the same thing he said in his own day: “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. . . . Let the one who is able to receive this receive it” (Matt. 19:11–12). (pp. 19-20)

The ultimate thing we can say about marriage is that it exists for God’s glory. That is, it exists to display God. Now we see how: Marriage is patterned after Christ’s covenant relationship to his redeemed people, the church. And therefore, the highest meaning and the most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and his church on display. That is why marriage exists. If you are married, that is why you are married. If you hope to be, that should be your dream.

Staying married, therefore, is not mainly about staying in love. It is about keeping covenant. “Till death do us part” or “As long as we both shall live” is a sacred covenant promise—the same kind Jesus made with his bride when he died for her. Therefore, what makes divorce and remarriage so horrific in God’s eyes is not merely that it involves covenant-breaking to the spouse, but that it involves misrepresenting Christ and his covenant. Christ will never leave his wife. Ever. There may be times of painful distance and tragic backsliding on our part. But Christ keeps his covenant forever. Marriage is a display of that! That is the ultimate thing we can say about it. It puts the glory of Christ’s covenant-keeping love on display. (p. 25)

To download a free PDF of the book, go here. Or you can buy the book from Amazon or Westminster Bookstore.

Free Indeed

I've read and heard a handful of thoughts and stories about Chuck Colson since his death on Saturday.  But none of them has stuck with me like the story I first read more than 10 years ago.  I suppose part of the reason is because I love music, and I love hearing good stories behind the writing of good songs.  Here is the story that I read, written by Steven Curtis Chapman in Speechless: Living in Awe of God's Disruptive Grace. (pp. 111-115).  At the end of the story are the lyrics to and audio of Chapman's song Free.

I have had the privilege of meeting some extraordinary Christian leaders, but none has made a greater impression than Chuck Colson.  God brought us together, and it has been my honor to invest time and heart in the work of Prison Fellowship.  Chuck has enabled me to take my music into may prison facilities during the course of my concert tours--but that's the easiest thing he has done for me.

.....

It was a bright sunny day as I emptied my pockets before passing through the metal detectors.  No, I was not boarding a plane for yet another concert date.  I stood at the entrance to the Michigan City Correctional Institute, a maximum security prison in Northern Indiana.  I felt both excited and nervous as I anticipated visiting death row for the first time.  Every preconceived image of life within prison I had obtained from film, news clips, and a child's imagination ran through my mind.

"Steven!" I heard the ring of that familiar voice from across the room.

"Hi, Chuck, how are you?"  It still felt kind of strange calling this hero of the faith of mine by his first name, but it also felt reassuring to know I was with a friend.  He explained that prior to our worship service on the prison yard, we would be visiting inmates on death row, including one man who had become a Christian forty years earlier.  The ministry of Prison Fellowship had become a primary means of discipleship and nurture for him, even as Chuck had become one of his best friends.

I stayed close to my new buddy and mentor as he navigated our way through the series of iron-gated entries.  Each set of doors would electronically open and then close behind us before the next set would do the same.  What an eerie feeling.  Eventually we began our journey down the long hallway lined with cells inhabited by sons, fathers, and grandfathers who were paying the price for some terrible crime committed.

I watched my teacher intently as he offered grace to those we encountered.  Whether it was simply a smile, a word, a handshake through the bars and many times a prayer, Chuck was showing me what it means to treat all men with dignity and respect.  I'm not sure I have ever met anyone who can so freely love in the most difficult of situations a segment of society that appears to be so unlovable.

I tried to emulate him as I grew a little more confident.  I listened to the sad lament of a grandfather who showed me the pictures of his grandchildren whom he had wounded deeply with his tragic choices.  Together, Chuck and I prayed with one African-American brother who greeted us with a smile and a joy that could only be traced to the life-giving grace of God.  He, like many others, spoke with great remorse and sorrow for the lives of those affected most by the evil they had done, namely, the victims and their loved ones.  This brother went on to tell us how God had given him life and freedom even though he was deserving of death.  He told us how he had been and would continue to be praying for us as we carried the gospel to others inside the prison, as well as those outside the stone walls.  In some ways he seemed to be a whole lot more free in his prison cell than many of us who will never see the inside of such a person.

Our cell block walk culminated with a visit to Chuck's friend Bob (not his real name) inside a heavily secured room.  I would describe it as the equivalent of a large iron-caged room inside two other iron cages.  Bob was a large man, and when he shuffled into the room in shackles and handcuffs, I felt a surge of fear come over me.  However, as we all talked, I only saw the evidence of a man who had been changed from death to life.  I watched as Chuck and Bob embraced for the first time without handcuffs impeding their hug.  The three of us then wrapped arms around each other in a circle and thanked God for his love.  What else could level the ground in such a profound way that one of the great Christian leaders of our time, a death-row inmate, and a Christian songwriter could come together before the throne of the living God as brothers, one in Christ?

This first trip proved to be one of the most profound experiences of the awesome reality of God's grace I have ever encountered.  It also helped me further define the kind of men and women who I want to follow as they follow Christ.  The events of that day inspired me to write a song called "Free," which was included on my Signs of Life album.  Knowing Chuck and getting to visit many correctional institutions since that first visit only deepens my desire for God to free my heart to love all men as he loves me in his Son.

Free

The sun was beating down inside the walls of stone and razor wire
As we made our way across the prison yard
I felt my heart begin to race as we drew nearer to the place
Where they say that death is waiting in the dark
The slamming doors of iron echoed through the halls
Where despair holds life within its cruel claws
But then I met a man who's face seemed so strangely out of place
A blinding light of hope was shining in his eyes
And with repentance in his voice he told me of his tragic choice
That led him to this place where he must pay the price
But then his voice grew strong as he began to tell
About the One he said had rescued him from hell, he said...

I'm free, yeah, oh, I have been forgiven
God's love has taken off my chains and given me these wings
And I'm free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom I've been given
Is something that not even death can take away from me
Because I'm free
Jesus set me free

We said a prayed and said goodbye and tears began to fill my eyes
As I stepped back out into the blinding sun
And even as I drove away I found that I could not escape
The way he spoke of what the grace of God had done
I thought about how sin had sentenced us to die
And how God gave His only Son so you and I could say...

And if the Son has set you free,
Oh, if the Son has set you free
Then you are free indeed,
Oh, You are really free
If the Son has set you free,
Oh, if the Son has set you free
Then you are free, really, really free

Oh, we're free, yearh, oh, we have been forgiven
God's grace has broken every chain and given us these wings
And we're free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom we've been given
Is something that not even death can take from you and me
Because we're free, yeah, the freedom we've been given
Is something that not even death can take from you and me
Becayse we're free, oh, we're free
We are free, we are free
The Son has set us free

If the Son has set you free
You are free indeed

Jonah and Jesus

Tim Keller on Jonah and Jesus (comparing & contrasting Jonah 1 with Mark 4:35-41), from his book King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus:

We have a resource that can enable us to stay calm inside no matter how the storms rage outside.


Here’s a clue: Mark has deliberately laid out this account using language that is parallel, almost identical, to the language of the famous Old Testament account of Jonah.

Both Jesus and Jonah were in a boat, and both boats were overtaken by a storm—the descriptions of the storm are almost identical.

Both Jesus and Jonah were asleep.


In both stories the sailors woke up the sleeper and said, “We’re going to die.”


And in both cases there was a miraculous divine intervention and the sea was calmed.


Further, in both stories the sailors then become even more terrified than they were before the storm was calmed.

Two almost identical stories—with just one difference.


In the midst of the storm, Jonah said to the sailors, in effect: “There’s only only thing to do. If I perish, you survive. If I die, you will live” (Jonah 1:12). And they threw him into the sea.
Which doesn’t happen in Mark’s story.


Or does it?


I think Mark is showing that the stories aren’t actually different when you stand back a bit and look at it with the rest of the story of Jesus in view.


In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says, “One greater than Jonah is here,” and he’s referring to himself: I’m the true Jonah. He meant this:

Someday I’m going to calm all storms, still all waves.


I’m going to destroy destruction, break brokenness, kill death.

How can he do that?


He can only do it because when he was on the cross he was thrown—willingly, like Jonah—into the ultimate storm, under the ultimate waves, the waves of sin and death.


Jesus was thrown into the only storm that can actually sink us—the storm of eternal justice, of what we owe for our wrongdoing. That storm wasn’t calmed—not until it swept him away.


If the sight of Jesus bowing his head into that ultimate storm is burned into the core of your being, you will never say, “God, don’t you care?”


And if you know that he did not abandon you in that ultimate storm, what make you think he would abandon you in much smaller storms you’re experiencing right now?


And, someday, of course, he will return and still all storms for eternity.


If you let that penetrate to the very center of your being, you will know he loves you. You will know he cares. And then you will have the power to handle anything in life with poise:

When through the deep waters I call you to go,
The rivers of woe shall not overflow;
For I will be with you, your troubles to bless,
And sanctify to you your deepest distress.


The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

A Look Back & A Look Ahead

We talked about this a few times during our study of James: Justin Taylor shares some "Echoes of the Sermon on the Mount in the Book of James."  You may have noticed some of these between our lessons in James and Quintin's series through the Sermon on the Mount.  Here are a few examples (out of 18) that Taylor lists:

Rejoice and be glad in your trials. 

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12) 

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” (James 1:2) 

Be perfect and complete. 

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) 

“And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:4) 

Ask your good and wise God who loves to give good things. 

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11) 

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. . . . Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:5, 17)

Read the rest of the parallels here.

---

Looking ahead to our next study, this is something that I've been meaning to share since I found out that we would be studying Jonah.  A little over a year ago, Tullian Tchividjian was interviewed by Collin Hansen of the Gospel Coalition about his book, Surprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels.  Hansen asked Tchividjian the following questions:

• Why do you say Jonah is one of the best books for helping us get a better grip on the gospel?
• How does the book of Jonah reveal the contrast between God's heart and ours?
• How does Jesus' treatment of Jonah help us teach it today?
• How did you see your congregation respond when you preached the gospel from Jonah?
• What do you mean by saying Jonah is a storied presentation of the gospel?
• What books, articles, sermons, etc., helped you preach Christ and the gospel from Jonah?

Here are a couple of Tchividjian's answers:

Why do you say Jonah is one of the best books for helping us get a better grip on the gospel? 

Surprised by Grace started out as a series of sermons on Jonah that I preached during the hardest year of my life. Preparing those sermons and preaching them proved to be a functional lifeline for me, not because of things I learned about Jonah (everything we learn about Jonah we learn by way of negative example), but because of things I learned about God’s amazing, sustaining, pursuing grace. 

I learned that God’s capacity to clean things up is infinitely greater than our human capacity to mess things up. I learned about the “stubbornness” of God to accomplish his will, regardless of how hard we may try and thwart it. In fact, as I reflect on that painful season of my life now, I can honestly say that I am genuinely thankful for all the ache I experienced. For it was during this trying time that God helped me recognize, through the story of Jonah, the practical relevance of the gospel—that everything I need and long for, in Christ, I already possesses. 

What do you mean by saying Jonah is a storied presentation of the gospel? 

It is a story of sin and grace, of desperation and deliverance. It reveals the fact that while you and I are great sinners, God is a great Savior, and that while our sin reaches far, his grace reaches farther. This story shows that God is in the business of relentlessly pursuing rebels—a label that ultimately applies to us all—and that he comes after us not to angrily strip away our freedom but to affectionately strip away our slavery so we might become truly free.

Read the full thing here.  More importantly, read through all four chapters of Jonah sometime this week and come prepared to dive in this Sunday.

How Deep The Father's Love For Us

I wanted to share one of my all-time favorite songs.  Below the video are the lyrics along with some Scripture references that may be of help to you as you worship the Savior this week.  He is Risen!

How Deep the Father’s Love For Us

Written by Stuart Townend

Performed by Joy Williams

How deep the Father's love for us,.................................................... 1 John 3:1
How vast beyond all measure..................................................... Ephesians 3:18-19
That He should give His only Son......................................................... John 3:16
To make a wretch His treasure.................................................. Romans 7:24-25

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away....... Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Psalm 22:1
As wounds which mar the chosen One,.......................................... Isaiah 53:5
Bring many sons to glory ..................................................................... Hebrews 2:10

Behold the Man upon the cross,.......................................... John 19:17-19, 31-37
My sin upon His shoulders..................................................................... 1 Peter 2:24
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.................................................... Matthew 27:22-25

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life................ Mark 15:37-39; Luke 23:46
I know that it is finished......................................................................... John 19:30

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom......................... Jeremiah 9:23; 1 Corinthians 4:7
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,............................................... 1 Corinthians 1:31
His death and resurrection............................................................... Galatians 6:14

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom........................... Mark 10:45; Colossians 2:14

I'm a Wreck, Too

I'll readily admit that I'm abnormal.  In a lot of ways.  One of those is in my musical taste.  I consider myself to be rather eclectic, listening to a little of this to a little of that - from pop to rock to oldies, classical to rap, I'll even tolerate a little bit of country from time to time.  But for the past 22 years, I've given the same answer time & time again when asked who my favorite artist or group is.  Steven Curtis Chapman.  Ever since I got my tape of his For the Sake of the Call (go ahead, I'll wait while you go check out his mullet from back then; by the way, When You Are A Soldier continues to be one of my favorite all time songs).  I was reminded yesterday of one of the many reasons why I continue to love Steven Curtis Chapman.  Andrew Peterson recently wrote about his experience touring with Steven Curtis Chapman.  Here's a bit of what he wrote:

And yet, though everyone seems to know him, I’ve never heard a single negative story about the guy. I’ve been in Nashville for 15 years now, and, well, you tend to hear less-than-flattering stories about folks from time to time (I’m sure there are a few about me floating around out there), but I have yet to hear one of those about Steven. What that might lead a rascal like me to conclude is that either a) Steven is so squeaky-clean he must be hard to like or b) he’s a complete wreck and he’s hiding it. I didn’t realize until this tour was underway that there’s a third option. Here it is: Steven is a wreck, he’s not hiding it, and because of the mighty presence of Jesus in his life, grace abounds to those around him.


It’s the great, confounding reversal of the Gospel of Jesus. If the word we preach is one of attainable perfection, of law, of justification by works, then when we fail, our testimony fails with it. But if we preach our deep brokenness and Christ’s deeper healing, if we preach our inability to take a single breath but for God’s grace, then our weakness exalts him and we’re functioning as we were meant to since the foundation of the world. Steven isn’t super-human. He’s just human. But what a glorious thing to be! An attempt on our part to be super-human will result only in our in-humanness–like a teacup trying to be a fork: useless. But if the teacup will just be a teacup, it will be filled. Humans were made (as was everything under the sun) for the glory of the Maker. Why should we try to be anything but fully human? Let God fill us up and pour us out; let him do what he will, let us be what we were meant to be. That gives us the freedom to sing about what’s really happening in our hearts without being afraid of sullying the good name of God. If our hearts are contending with the forces of darkness, clinging desperately to the hope of a Savior, then to sing boldly about the battle is no shame to us and all glory to our King.

Amen.  That reminded me of the line I've seen - "I'm the wretch that song refers to."  We need to be reminded of this, of God's glorious grace to us in Christ Jesus.  We need to remember that our witness to the Gospel is not primarily that Jesus has made our lives better or easier, but that we are sinners who have been saved by the grace of God.  I want to be able to say, as John Newton (the author of Amazing Grace) did, "Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior."

James 4:11-17 Notes from Sunday

Here are my teaching notes, mixed in with the handout, from Sunday:

JAMES 4:11-17 ON SLANDER & RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
(James 4:11-17, ESV)

INTRODUCTION

After the harsh rebuke and call to repentance at the beginning of chapter 4, James now returns to addressing his readers as ‘brothers’ and pleads with them not to slander one another. In the second section, James brings God’s sovereignty into view as he encourages his readers to have a right perspective of themselves.

DISCUSSION

What thoughts and/or emotions come to the surface when you think about the future?

EXPLANATION

• In v.11 James exhorts his readers not to slander or speak evil against one another.
• What does it mean to slander someone? Review Numbers 21:4-7, Psalm 101:5, and 1 Peter 2:12 for some examples of what slander encompasses.
• Numbers 21:4-7 – the people have witnessed God's miraculous judgment on Egypt, deliverance through the Red Sea, being led by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, finding God's daily provision of manna, getting water from the Rock – and they have the audacity to speak against Moses and God Himself
• I love the resolution here – read Numbers 21:8-9. How weird does that sound? What's that all about? In a word, Christ. Who knows John 3:16? Who knows John 3:14-15? “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (ESV)  The wilderness serpent pointed to the One who would become the curse bearer, the One who would become the curse so that we might be blessed.
• Psalm 101:5 – through David, we see that God's just wrath stands against the arrogant & slanderous
• 1 Peter 2:12 – we are not to be people who speak evil against others; but are to be people who do good and endure being spoken evil of by non-Christians
• Two reasons are given for this prohibition. When you slander:
• You stand in judgment of both your brother and the law.
• In chapter 2, James referred to the “royal law of Scripture” from Leviticus 19:18 – “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
• You assume a role that is God’s alone.
• Who am I to judge? Judgment belongs to God alone, and yet as James reminded us earlier in chapter 4, He is a grace-giver. How can I judge those to whom God has extended the grace of the gospel? Is my standard higher than God's?

As we come to the part of the passage that speaks about planning for the future and God's sovereignty, I wanted to share some quotes I recently heard in a sermon from Mark Dever.  I'd like to call them, "Great Moments in Predictions of Technology:"

• "Everything that can be invented, has been invented." - the commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office in 1899
• "I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers." - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM in 1943
• "Computers in the future may weigh no more than one and a half tons." - Popular Mechanics in 1949.
• "I have traveled the length & breadth of this country and talked with the best people and I can assure you that data processing is a fad. It won't last out the year." - editor in charge of business books at Prentice Hall in 1957
• "But what is it good for?" - engineer at the advanced computing systems division of IBM in 1968 commenting on the microchip.
• "There's no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken Olsen, president, chairman, and founder of Digital Equiment Corporation, in 1977
• "640 K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates in 1981

We don't have to look far to find examples of how bad we are at predicting and planning our futures.  Though we seem to rarely acknowledge it, there is so little in our lives that we actually control.

• The economically mobile merchants James addresses in v. 13 are probably Christians.
• James is writing to believers, and there is no reason to expect non-Christians to acknowledge God's sovereign will.
• Vv. 13-16 reveal that their problem is not in the plan to carry on business or make a profit; rather it is the arrogant self-dependence that is undergirding their plans.
• They have substituted a dependence on God’s sovereignty for a worldly self-confidence.
• One of the interesting & important things to note here is that James doesn't just encourage us to say, “If the Lord wills, we will do this or that” but even “If the Lord wills, we will live.” God is sovereign over every aspect of our lives, and He is sovereign over just how much “little time” our mist appears.

• James reminds us of the fleeting nature of life. How does viewing life as a ‘mist’ help inform your perspective on life, time, and eternity?
• If you've heard me teach before, you know that I love a good quote. Well, I've got a couple that apply here, and I thought I'd turn it into a little game of “Guess the wise man.”
• Quote 1: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” (Ferris Bueller)
• Quote 2: “I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (King Solomon, from Ecclesiastes 2:11)
• Remember our study in Ecclesiastes? This word “mist” or “vapor” that James uses is related to the “vanity” that was repeated throughout Ecclesiastes. It sounds like Solomon found out what James tells us – that our life is a vapor.

• And then we come to verse 17.
• How does the reference to sins of omission connect to what James has been talking about in this section?
• Who thinks boasting is good? How about boasting in your arrogance? What about slanderous gossip? How about loving your neighbor as yourself?
• James has been pointing out many symptoms of indwelling sin in the lives of a Christians. The answer is not to clean up your own act, but to humble yourself before God. Repent and believe in the gospel. When Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses that sparked the Reformation, the first was that Christ “called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” As we return to the cross time & time again – God's grace continues to work in us. As believers, as dearly loved children of God, we are not to judge our neighbors, but to love our neighbors. We are not to depend on our own strength and planning, but commit ourselves to the strength of God that is perfected in our weakness and dependence on him.

Battling Worldliness

This morning in Life Group we studied James chapter 4 and the topic of worldliness and friendship with the world was discussed. James 4:4 says that "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God".

Our discussion made me think of this quote by J.C. Ryle...

Look at the cross, think of the cross, meditate on the cross, and then go and set your affections on the world if you can. I believe that holiness is nowhere learned so well as on Calvary. I believe you cannot look much at the cross without feeling your will sanctified, and your tastes made more spiritual. As the sun gazed upon makes everything else look dark and dim, so does the cross darken the false splendor of this world. As the taste of honey makes all other things seem to have no taste at all, so does the cross seen by faith take all the sweetness out of the pleasures of the world. Keep on, everyday, looking firmly at the cross of Christ

The Gospel and Children

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon wisely instructs christian parents on the importance of communicating our personal experience when sharing the gospel with our children.

Deuteronomy 6:20–21:
When your son asks you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?" then you shall say to your son, "We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand."

Charles Spurgeon:

Fathers and mothers are the most natural agents for God to use in the salvation of their children. I am sure that, in my early youth, no teaching ever had such an impression upon my mind as the instruction of my mother; neither can I conceive that, to any child, there can be one who will have such influence over the young heart as the mother who has so tenderly cared for her offspring.

We should especially tell our children our own experience… Perhaps, my friend, there is no testimony that you can bear which will be so useful, so interesting and so striking, as the testimony of what you have, yourself, seen and handled of the Word of Life.

Tell the gospel as you find it in the Bible, but set it in the frame of your own experience of its preciousness! Tell your son how you sinned and how the Lord had mercy upon you. Tell him how he met with you, how you were brought to seek his face, how you were born again, how you received a new heart and a right spirit. He will think the more of this great change because it happened to his father, or to his mother, or to some kind friend. And, perhaps, if he is not himself converted as a child, in his later life he may think of what you told him or the remembrance of his mother’s God may rise before him when he is far away from the scenes of his youth and has spent many years in foolish vanities — and he may even then turn to God, beckoned back to the great Father’s House above by the memory of his godly father and mother here below.

Charles Spurgeon, "Brought Out to be Brought In."

(HT: Desiring God Blog)

Biblical Manhood

Few people can get in a man's face and challenge him to be the man God wants him to be like Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church. In this video he challenges christian men to invest their lives in a mission and warfare that truly matter. Warning: hard core video game players, proceed with caution.

Ryle on Parenting

I don't know much about J.C. Ryle, but I this weekend I came across a website of his quotes.  While looking around there a bit, I found this brief account of his family life:

Ryle suffered through the poor health of his first two wives. At age 29, he married Matilda Plumptre. After a few years, she died leaving him a baby daughter to care for. Then, death took his mother, older brother, and younger sister. He felt like Job undergoing God’s trials.

At age 33, he married longtime friend, Jessie Walker, and once again, joy and happiness filled his rural cottage. After 6 months of marriage, Jessie developed a lingering sickness from which she never recovered. Ryle nursed her for 10 years while managing their growing family (Jessie gave birth to four children). In addition to this stress, he managed his pastoral responsibilities.

During these years, Ryle began receiving speaking engagements. Because of his love for Jessie he often traveled 30 miles in an open carriage in the dead of winter rather than spend a night away from her. In Ryle’s 43rd year, Jessie died. For a second time he was widowed, with five children for which to care.

At age 45, he was transferred to the parish at Stradbroke. There he met Henrietta Clowes and married a third time. Unlike his previous wives, Henrietta enjoyed good health. This marriage proved long and fruitful. [Henrietta died in 1889, Ryle died 11 years later in 1900] (Quote from William P. Farley)

It is with this background in mind that the website shared five extended quotes from Ryle's 34-page booklet The Duties of Parents as he explained the following five tips for raising Godly children.  Instead of merely linking to the site, I decided to include the quotes here.

1. Training Your Child to Love God Depends on You

“We heavily depend on those who bring us up. We get from them a taste and a bias which clings to us most of the days of our lives. We learn the language of our mothers and fathers, and learn to speak it almost without thinking, and unquestionably we catch something of their manners, ways, and mind at the same time. Time will tell, how much we all owe to early impressions, and how many things in us may be traced back to the seeds sown in the days of our infancy, by those who were around us.

“And all this is one of God’s merciful arrangements. He gives your children a mind that will receive impressions like moist clay. He gives them a disposition at the starting-point of life to believe what you tell them, and to take for granted what you advise them, and to trust your word rather than a stranger’s. He gives you, in short, a golden opportunity of doing them good. See that you do not neglect such an opportunity. Once you let it slip, it is gone forever.

“I know that you cannot convert your child. I know that they who are born again are born, not of the will of man, but of God. But I also know that God specifically says, ‘Train a child in the way he should go,‘ and that He never gave a command to men and women which He would not give them the grace to perform. And I also know that our duty is not to stand still and dispute the command, but to go forward and obey it. It is only when we move out in obedience that God will meet us. The path of obedience is the way in which He gives the blessing. We only have to do as the servants were commanded at the marriage feast in Cana, to fill the water-pots with water, and we may safely leave it to the Lord to turn that water into wine.”

2. Training Your Child Means Watching Over Their Soul

“Precious, no doubt, are these little ones in your eyes; but if you truly love them, then often think about their souls. Nothing should concern you as greatly as their eternal destiny. No part of them should be so dear to you as that part which will never die.

“This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all that you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, ‘How will this affect their souls?’

“A true Christian must not be a slave to what’s currently ‘in-fashion,’ if he wants to train his child for heaven. He must not be content to teach them and instruct them in certain ways, merely because it is customary, or to allow them to read books of a questionable sort, merely because everybody else reads them, or to let them form bad habits, merely because they are the habits of the day. He must train with an eye to his children’s souls. He must not be ashamed to hear his training called odd and strange. What if it is? The time is short—the customs of this world are passing away. He that has trained his children for heaven, rather than for the earth—for God, rather than for man—he is the parent that will be called wise in the end.”

3. Training Your Child To Know The Bible

“You cannot make your children love the Bible, I admit. No one but the Holy Spirit can give us a heart to delight in the Word. But you can make sure that your children are acquainted with the Bible; and remember that they can never become acquainted with that blessed book too soon, or too well.

“See that your children read the Bible reverently. Train them to look upon it, not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the Word of God, written by the Holy Spirit Himself—all true, all profitable, and able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ.

“See that they read it regularly. Train them to regard it as their soul’s daily food—as something essential to their soul’s daily health. I well know that you cannot make this anything more than a form; but there is no telling the amount of sin which a mere form may indirectly restrain.

“See that they read it all. You need not shrink from bringing any doctrine before them. You need not assume that the leading doctrines of Christianity are things which children cannot understand. Children understand far more of the Bible than we are apt to suppose.

“Fill their minds with Scripture. Let the Word dwell in them richly. Give them the Bible, the whole Bible, even while they are young.”

4. Training Your Child to Have a Habit of Prayer

“Parents, if you love your children, do all that lies within your power to train them to have a habit of prayer. Show them how to begin. Tell them what to say. Encourage them to persevere. Remind them that if they become careless and slack about it. Let it not be your fault, if they never call on the name of the Lord.

“Remember, that this is the first step in religion which a child is able to take. Long before he can read, you can teach him to kneel by his mother’s side, and repeat the simple words of prayer and praise which she puts in his mouth. And as the first steps in any undertaking are always the most important, so is the manner in which your children’s prayers are prayed, a point which deserves your closest attention. Few seem to know how much depends on this. You must be careful that they don’t say their prayers in a hasty, careless, and irreverent manner.

“Oh, dear friend, if you love your children, I charge you, do not let the early impression of a habit of prayer slip by. If you train your children to do anything, train them, at least, to have a habit of prayer.”

5. Training Your Child to Love the Church and the Lord’s Supper

“Tell your children of the duty and privilege of going to Church, and joining in the prayers of the congregation. Tell them that wherever the Lord’s people are gathered together, there the Lord Jesus is present in a special way, and that those who are absent must expect, like the Apostle Thomas, to miss out on a blessing.

“Tell them of the importance of hearing the Word of God preached, and that it is God’s ordained way of converting, sanctifying, and building up the souls of men. Tell them how the Apostle Paul commands us not to “give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but to encourage one another—and all the more as we see the Day approaching.” [Hebrews 10:25]

“It is a sad sight in a church when nobody comes to the Lord’s Table but the older people, and the young men and the young women all turn away. But it is a sadder sight still when no children are to be seen in a church, except those who come to the Sunday School, and are often obliged to attend. Let none of this guilt lie at your doors. There are many boys and girls in every city, besides those who come to Sunday School, and you who are their parents and friends should see to it that they come with you to church.

“Do not allow them to grow up with a habit of making vain excuses for not coming. Make them clearly understand, that so long as they are under your roof, it is the rule of your house for every one in good health to honor the Lord on the Lord’s day, and that you believe that the healthy person who refuses to go to church on the Lord’s Day brings great harm to his soul.

“Do not be discouraged because your children do not see the full value of church and the Lord’s Supper now. Just train them to have a habit of regular attendance. Set it before their minds as a high, holy, and solemn duty, and believe me, the day will very likely come when they will bless you for your efforts.”

Helpful Acronyms

John Piper has a handful of acronyms he's developed that are full of Scripture and designed to help him fight for joy and seek God & His righteousness in his daily life.  The first three he shared are:

• I.O.U.S. - what to pray before reading Scripture
• A.P.T.A.T. - how to seek help from God for living the Christian life (see this video previously posted on the blog)
• A.N.T.H.E.M. - strategies for fighting lust (for men & women)

The latest one he developed is A.I.M.S. and is designed to help him maintain his Christ-consciousness throughout the day.  He explains:

Two times in his second letter Peter said he meant to stir us up "by way of reminder" (2 Peter 1:13; 3:1). This is what I need all day long. Reminders of massive truth.

If my mind is empty or worldly, my faith languishes. My joy in Christ weakens. I need truth. "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

My mind needs glory: "Set your minds on things that are above" (Colossians 3:2). I need to think on excellent praiseworthy reality:. "If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8).

But my mind drifts into banal and trivial things. And my soul shrivels.

What shall I do? I "will call to mind" amazing things about God (Lamentations 3:21). I will "remember" his all-gracious covenant (1 Chronicles 16:15). I will set my mind on "the things of the Spirit" (Romans 8:5). I will "consider his wondrous works" (Psalm 106:7).

How?

Among other ways, with A.I.M.S. Through the day I will pause and ask, What are you’re A.I.M.S. And I will answer:

A. I will call to mind the stupendous truth that Jesus is ALIVE. (Luke 24:5–6)

"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen."

I. I will remember the breathtaking reality that Jesus is IN me. (Romans 8:10).

"Christ is in you."

M. I will ponder the all-comforting fact that Jesus is MIGHTY. (Matthew 28:18).

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

S. And I will savor the sweetness that Jesus is SATISFYING. (John 6:35)

"Whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

Key To Obedience

On my good mornings, I try to take a few minutes before leaving for work and read a daily excerpt from Elyse Fitzpatrick's outstanding book Comforts from the Cross - Celebrating the Gospel One Day at a Time. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.



I want to share a few highlights from a passage I read a few weeks ago. The book is made up of thirty-one 2-3 page writings that focus on the centrality of the gospel. The notes from the chapter I am going to highlight discuss John 14:15 - "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." Fitzpatrick attempts to explain the key to a life lived in obedience to Christ. I will share a hodgepodge of her comments.

If love for God isn't present in our heart, then Godward obedience will be absent in our life.

Jesus is lovingly stating a fact (John 14:15), but he's also making a precious promise: love will motivate behavior...... But he also knows this: as our love for him grows, our obedience will grow, too.


The key to a godly life is not more and more self-generated effort. Instead, Jesus is saying "Love me and your obedience will flow naturally from that love". The secret to obedience isn't formulaic steps found in a self-help book. It is a relentless pursuit of love for him. How then do I cultivate the sincerity of love that motivates obedience? By focusing more intently on his love for me than on my love for him, more on his obedience than mine, more on his faithfulness than mine, more on his strengths than mine.


"We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). The plain truth is that my love for God (and hence, my obedience) will grow as I cultivate my comprehension of his vast love for me. This is the wonderful promise of our Savior and the only sure method for true growth in godliness.


If we neglect this key by focusing too narrowly on ourselves, our success or failure, then we'll become mired down in guilt or pride, neither of which will stimulate loving obedience. If, on the other hand, we intently focus on how we've been loved, irrevocably, eternally, freely, and without merit, if we contemplate how our obedience (or lack of it) doesn't faze his love one whit, then we'll find within our hearts a growing desire to obey. Why? Because love like that changes people. It draws us toward him; it makes us want to be like him; it makes obedience attractive. Resting in the awareness of our perfect acceptance before him and in his intense desire to have us for his own will cause us to want to please him. It will make us love him, and love for him will always eventuate in godliness.


His love is fervent, eternal, uncompromising. Rest there, drink there, luxuriate in the warm sunshine of his smile; grow strong in his everlasting embrace. Confront your own sinfulness, yes, but only after you've remembered his love for you. Then love him and obey.

It Is Finished

I read part of an interview with Tullian Tchividjian tonight, and it made me think of our discussion of faith & works in James this morning:

So how did Christians become legalists about the whole idea of sanctification, where did we get it wrong do you think?


Tullian: I think since Genesis 3, we have all been prone towards works righteousness. Our heart is bent to do it on our own and that doesn’t go away after we become Christians. We still drift into what Jerry Bridges calls the “performance treadmill.”


For instance, none of us has a problem saying that our good works don’t get us in. We know our good works don’t get us in. Any good works are as filthy rags because we’re justified by grace alone through faith alone and the finished work of Christ alone. We acknowledge that.


But once God saves us it gets weird because we start thinking, OK, my good works do keep God’s favor. My good works may have not earned God’s favor, but it’s up to me to keep God’s favor. As a result, we become the hero of the story. We become the centerpiece of our own narrative, and Jesus is sitting on the sidelines and we’re on the field and he’s like, “Put me in, coach,” and we’re like, “No. We got it. Thanks for getting us on the field, but we’ll take it from here.” And we add all sorts of things.


...


The good news of the gospel is that my standing with God is not dependent on my obedience but Christ’s obedience for me. People will say, “Well, you can’t say that because then what impetus will you have to get people to do what they need to do?” and I simply go back and give them an illustration and say, “Listen: if I know that my wife loves me unconditionally—whether I’m being nice or whether I’m being a jerk—does that make me want to be more of a jerk?” [Laughing] It actually makes me want to be nicer. The thing that makes me want to love my wife more is when she loves me when I’m not being nice.


That’s the kindness of the Lord that Paul says leads to repentance. It’s the amazing grace of God, the unconditional favor of God given to us because of what Christ has done that transforms the human heart and turns us into the kind of people the Bible describes.

This was from part 3 of the interview.  You can also check out part 1 and part 2.

Good Parenting Reads

In full disclosure, I am addicted to blogs. I love reading them. I love the wisdom that they can share. I love the practical application that can be learned.

In the past few weeks, a couple of my favorite blogs have had some great stuff on parenting. Enjoy!

1o Ways to Love Your Kids

How do you discern the conversion of a child?

For Parents Who Have Failed

How Dad's Can Impact Their Daughter's Lives

James 2:1-13

Since we won't be having our regular lesson this Sunday in Life Group (don't forget to join us Sunday to hear Dr. Amon Kasambala, CEO of Focus on the Family Africa) I wanted to share some thoughts & notes along with some questions you would have received on the class handout.  Maybe we can have our class discussion here on the blog this week.

Here are some links to help you navigate this post:

• Text of James 2:1-13
• Lesson Introduction
• Opening Discussion Questions
• Explanation
• Command Against Favoritism
• An Example of Favoritism
• Three Reasons it’s Bad
• Reason 1: God has a special concern for the poor.
• Reason 2: A special esteem for the rich is misguided.
• Reason 3: Favoritism violates the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
• Application Questions

James 2:1-13 (ESV)

[2:1] My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. [2] For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, [3] and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” [4] have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? [5] Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? [6] But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? [7] Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
[8] If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. [9] But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. [10] For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. [11] For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. [12] So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. [13] For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Against Favoritism - Introduction

In chapter two James continues the theme of being doers of the Word by addressing the problem of favoritism. The big idea of this section is found in verse one where James commands fellow Christians not to show favoritism. The remaining verses explain this command further by offering an example and giving three reasons against treating people with partiality.

Discussion

Our culture has trained us to categorize people. What are some of the categories we use to define people? How do these categories influence how we approach or treat people?

Explanation

Command Against Favoritism (v. 1)

• Showing favoritism means making value judgments about a person based upon external appearances. It is judging others based on the world’s criteria.
• Showing favoritism/partiality is inconsistent with God’s character. (cf. Deuteronomy 10:17-18)
• Why does James refer to Jesus as the “Lord of glory”? We'll come back to this.

An Example of Favoritism (vv. 2 – 4)

• This example is just one hypothetical scenario demonstrating favoritism; however, based on v. 6 we can infer it is something that James’ readers were likely guilty of.
• The rich/poor difference is a perpetual source of showing favoritism. It is easy to show favoritism to the rich to try and get something for ourselves – some of their riches, a reputation, career opportunities, self-esteem, etc.
• When we do this, we're essentially judging the poor, saying they're of no value to us.

Three Reasons it’s Bad (vv. 5 – 13)

• 
  Reason 1: God has a special concern for the poor.
  • James points out that God chooses the poor (often financially, always spiritually) to become rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
  • At the end of chapter one, James spoke of the orphan and widow being the objects of affection by pure & undefiled religion. These people were representative of the poor & helpless in society.
  • Once again James points out something that God has promised to those who love Him. In 1:12, it was the crown of life, here it's His kingdom.
  • This idea of being heirs of the kingdom connects back to verse 1, with Christ being referred to as the Lord of glory. These truths stand in stark contrast to the gold ring and fine clothing of the man in James's hypothetical example.
  • Did Jesus wear a gold ring & fine clothing to attract us to Him? I think instead of the crown of thorns. I think of Isaiah's prophecy:

    “... his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (Isaiah 52:14)

    “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 52:2-5)

  • Jesus didn't have the glory of a rich man. Instead He offers the glory of being co-heirs of the Kingdom. Only He has the glory worth elevating and admiring. While the riches of man will pass away, Christ's glory will never fade.
  • “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)
  • If Christ became poor in order that we could become heirs of the Kingdom, why would we be captivated by earthly treasure that that is fleeting?
• 
  Reason 2: A special esteem for the rich is misguided.
  • The rich are often the very people who are persecuting Christians. Why would you show them favoritism?
  • This comes across to me about as logical as trying to appease a bully and expecting them to no longer be a bully.
  • As James's rightful assertion that God chooses the poor in the world to be rich in faith, we can remember how Christ Himself spoke of how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom (Matthew 19:16-30) and how He taught us to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth (Matthew 6:19-21)
• 
  Reason 3: Favoritism violates the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
  • Ultimately, we are called to be merciful, because we have received mercy. We are to be ready to show mercy to everyone who crosses our paths.
  • James's statement that “judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (v. 13) seems to be the flipside of Jesus's statement in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)
  • Michael Lawrence rightly states: “At the cross of Jesus Christ, mercy triumphed over judgment.”
  • Lawrence sums up this portion of James like this:

    “Faith that is acceptable to God speaks & acts like one living under mercy. There is no room for pride, because mercy is fundamentally undeserved. There is no room for boasting, unless it is to boast in Christ alone. There is no room for favoritism or discrimination because faith understands that the privileges of this world, whether those be privileges of skin or wealth or gender or age are worthless in comparison to the privilege of being called a child of God. Faith demonstrates itself by being a display of mercy. It does not ignore obedience. Rather it obeys out of a different motive, a motive of love for the one who saved us.” (Listen to Lawrence's message in full here)

  • John Piper puts it this way:

    “A Christian is a person who has seen, tasted, and lives on the mercy of God in Christ. That's who you are. Let's be very clear here now. You do not get a saving relationship with Jesus by finding human willpower and techniques to become a merciful person and then say, 'Did I measure up? Will you take me now, Jesus?' That will never happen in a million years. Rather, Jesus comes to us as sinners. He folds us into His forgiveness and His justification by faith alone and we are so stunned, so awakened, so marveling at the mercy that we've been shown, that we are crushed to the ground in our pride, elevated in happy humble security and oozing mercy. Are you oozing mercy? If not, have you tasted mercy? Have you felt how horrible you are, how unworthy you are to be accepted, and then felt His arms absolutely undeserving around you saying, 'I will pay your debt. I will be your righteousness' and find yourself flying with gratitude and joy and peace?” (read or listen to Piper's message in full here)

Application

• James gives one example of showing favoritism. What are some more sophisticated or subtle ways that we tend to do this?
• Our selfish desires can influence the way we treat others. How does the gospel free us from the temptation to treat people with partiality?
• What are some practical ways to keep favoritism from creeping into our thinking and affecting the way in which we relate with people?

More on James 1:19-27

Reading through James 1:19-27, and thinking it through some more after class on Sunday, I found the following questions floating around my mind.  I thought it might be helpful (to me if nobody else) to try and work them out here.  Before I get to the questions, let me go ahead and post the text at hand:

[19] Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; [20] for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. [21] Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.


[22] But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. [24] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. [25] But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.


[26] If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. [27] Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
(James 1:19-27 ESV)

Now, on to my questions:

1. Why does James seemingly start talking about speaking, listening, and anger out of nowhere?
2. Why would anybody think that man's anger produces the righteousness that God requires?
3. Why is there a "therefore" in verse 21?
4. How are speaking and anger (v.19) related to putting off filthiness and rampant wickedness (v.21)? (Assuming that being quick to hear is related to receiving the implanted word.)
5. How do you receive the "implanted" word?
6. How do you do the "word"? (James first calls it the "word of truth" in v.18, then the "implanted word" in v.21, then he goes on to exhort us to be doers of the word and not just hearers)
7. If James is talking about the gospel (i.e. "word of truth"/"implanted word"), why does he then talk about the law?  And why does he call it the law of "liberty"?

As opposed to my typical blog posts, which drag on & on, I'll attempt to be brief.  I think James introduces speaking and anger because that's often where we fall into temptation during trials.  When we face trials, such as losing a child or loved one, or being passed over for a promotion or losing a job, what do we tend to do by default?  How often do we lash out in anger, seeking to tear others down or justify ourselves?  We're attempting to declare, by our own (perceived) authority, that life isn't fair to us, or that we deserved to get the promotion or keep our job.  This attempt at self-justification, or self-righteousness, is ultimately a display of the filthiness and rampant wickedness in our hearts.  As Jesus said, out of the abundance, or overflow, of the heart, the mouth speaks.  (Matthew 12:34, Matthew 15:18, Luke 6:45)  That doesn't result in the righteousness that God requires.

So what does?  The "implanted word."  Rather than trying to attain this righteousness on our own, by our own standards or the standards or expectations of others, we receive the implanted word.  It is the gospel that reminds us that our standing does not depend on our own feeble attempts at righteousness.  For the righteousness that God requires is a much higher standard than we could ever set before ourselves - the standard of His holiness.  And the gospel reminds us that God has imputed this righteousness to us in Christ.  "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

How do you receive this implanted word?  How do you receive something you already have?  I'm thankful to John Piper for his illustration (found here) of this word as oxygen.  We have oxygen in our lungs, but none of us would say that we no longer need to breathe.  We need fresh oxygen to live.  Likewise, we need the word again & again to sustain the spiritual life that God brought forth in us.  The word of the gospel implanted in us drives us to the written word in the Bible.

As Christians, we stand on the gospel.  We are given new birth through the gospel, and are transformed by the gospel.  The good news of God's grace forgives us of our sins, and enables us to live lives of faith, to be "doers of the word" - the "obedience of faith" Paul talks about in the bookends of Romans (Romans 1:5; 16:26).  And when we fail once again, as we all do, God's grace remains, so that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1).  That's why James can call the law the "law of liberty" - it is only a law of liberty when bound up in the gospel.  Apart from God's grace, the law leads to enslavement, sin, and death.  But thanks be to God that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us..." (Galatians 3:13).

I pray that we would be people who breathe in deeply of the Word of God.  That He would continue to work in us by His Spirit and through His Word, so that we would be fruitful.  And that we might be blessed like the man in Psalm 1:

[1] Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
[2] but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
[3] He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.(Psalm 1:1-3 ESV)

So drink deeply from the Word.  Meditate on it. Consider the grace of God to free us from our slavery to sin and self.  Worship Him, be planted in Him, abide in Christ as the vine, and see the fruit that grows.  May we be able to say with the apostle Paul, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10)