Month: September 2014

Abraham, Paul and Luther

In Proverbs 30:18a we read;

There are three things that amaze me — no, four things I do not understand…..

Three things and three people that amazes…..

Abraham – who overcame human sacrifice only through his willingness to lift the sacrificial knife against Isaac.
Paul – who was emancipated from Jewish legalism after seeking to fulfill all righteousness as a Hebrew of Hebrews.
Luther – who led reformation after a desperate attempt to follow the way described by the medieval church.

Abraham, Paul and Luther revolted from human traditions as an act of obedience to the God they had tried to serve without success. It is as if the harder they tried, the more depressed they became. Then at last they discovered that salvation is God’s free gift and it did not come through human sacrifice, legalism or monasticism.

Abraham, Paul and Luther in revolting were led to the overwhelming experience that the righteousness through which women and men are saved and become God’s children is not their own achievement at all. It is a divine gift, awarded by God out of incomprehensible and unmerited grace because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even though Abraham lived before Jesus, he was sure about this gospel, the good-news which constitutes the only treasure entrusted to the church.

Abraham, Paul and Luther did not know at first that the decision to obey God was creating conflict with the established ‘churchanity’ and religiosity of their day, {which made reconciliation ever more difficult if not impossible}. Standing on the word of God, they had peace, and assurance that – God had willed – and had given them the right and duty to call their generation to God {and back to the Holy Scriptures}. This was not a matter of personal opinion and there was no need for the polite avoidance of controversy. These men took a stand because God’s cause was at stake and they knew that it was their duty to identify what is wrong in the ‘churchanity’ of their day.

In very unique way, and in different places and times, Abraham, Paul and Luther discovered the gospel and assumed full responsibility for it.

Today’s Word & Question

κένωσις

Our finite minds cannot fully comprehend why Jesus saw it fit to give up His authority for the time, his position of authority, without surrendering one whit of His attributes of Deity, in order that He might work out our redemption.

The word ἐκένωσεν (ekénōsen) is used in Philippians 2:7, “[Jesus] made himself nothing …”^{[Phil. 2:7]} (NIV) or “…[he] emptied himself…”^{[Phil. 2:7]} (NRSV).

In Christian theology, kenosis (from the Greek word for emptiness κένωσις, kénōsis) is the ‘self-emptying’ of one’s own will and becoming entirely receptive to God’s divine will.

What shall be our attitude towards to those who scorn the Cross of Christ? We must empty ourselves of holy indignation and put on the soul that expresses its compassion for the lost.

Four Questions

How is a person saved? Luther answered: Not by works, but by faith. In other words, salvation is by faith rather than by works.
Where does religious authority lie? Luther answered: not in the visible institution but in the “Word of God” contained in the bible. In other words, authentic religious authority lie in the Bible interpreted by the consecrated conscience.
What is the church? Luther answered: The whole community of Christian believers, since all are really priests and since every person must be “a Christ to his neighbor.” In summary, the priesthood of all believers.
What is the essence of Christian living? Luther answered, serving God in one’s calling, whether secular or ecclesiastical, since all useful calling are equally sacred in the eyes of God. In other words you can serve God in secular field as well as in clerical callings.

God has gained the victory over us, in us and through us

Sin had left us thinking in terms of a won-lost record, and who is stronger or weaker so we can pick our side. But God through the finished work of Christ at Calvary has left us thinking in terms of grace.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be;
Let that grace now like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Every healthy move starts small

In Genesis 1 and 2, you don’t have the creation of a global society, but the creation of man and woman made in the image of God and the creation of marriage and the family.

In the story of creation, we see the basic theological principle of subsidiarity that says that issues are best addressed in the smallest possible social unit.

Subsidiarity reminds us that it’s built into creation itself by God’s intention that things have to be made right at the local unit, at the smallest unit, at the family unit, if they’re going to be right anywhere else ultimately.

Salvation is not a human achievement, but a divine gift.

Martin Luther became a doctor of theology on October 19,1512. This was surprising because no one under 50 years of age received that degree. For the next 34 years, he taught the bible.

It was while doing his job as a teacher of the Bible, preparing lectures and participating in debates that Luther discovered the GOSPEL. It was not while desperately trying to save himself to the strictest monastic discipline, not by fasting and self-mortification, but while doing his assigned task as teacher of the Bible that Luther was given the insight that salvation is not a human achievement, but a divine gift.

It was the story of the Bible which led Luther to the overwhelming experience that the righteousness through which women and men are saved and become God’s children is not their achievement at all. It is a divine gift, awarded by GOD out of incomprehensible and unmerited grace because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and accepted by faith alone. The BIBLE teaches this everywhere. This is the GOSPEL, the good-news which constitutes the only treasure entrusted to the church.

“Yes, we’ll gather!” at the Beautiful River

On a sultry afternoon in July, 1864, Dr. Lowry was sitting at his study table in Elliott Place, Brooklyn, when the words of the hymn,

”Shall we gather at the river?”

came to him. Then he answered his own question,

“Yes, we’ll gather!”

That became the foundation of the song – “SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER!”

Yes, we’ll gather at the river, The beautiful, the beautiful river; Gather with the saints at the river That flows by the throne of God.

On the margin of the river, Washing up its silver spray, We will talk and worship ever, All the happy golden day.

Ere we reach the shining river, Lay we every burden down; Grace our spirits will deliver,And provide a robe and crown.

At the smiling of the river, Mirror of the Savior’s face, Saints, whom death will never sever, Lift their songs of saving grace.

Soon we’ll reach the silver river, Soon our pilgrimage will cease; Soon our happy hearts will quiver With the melody of peace.

One of those greatest days of my life

It is so much more emotional when your child chooses to be a follower of Jesus and be baptized.

God is so gracious because he uses broken people like you and me to point them to Christ.

I can’t help but shout and sing of the goodness and grace of God.

Joyce and I have been greatly blessed and favored.

Thank you, Jesus, for your amazing grace.

Thank you, Jesus, for the joy of our family

and our church.

Obedience to God’s law doesn’t enslave, it liberates

Psalm 119 is basically a very long love song expressing joy and gratitude for God’s law, instruction, and wisdom. It is the longest Psalm in the book.

In a span of 176 verses, the Psalmist dwells on the gifts of the law…

“….your decrees are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of your words gives light…with open mouth I pant because I long for your commandments…my eyes shed streams of tears because your law is not kept.”

When was the last time you felt any deep gratitude to the point of tears for speed limits or tax laws? As Christians, we often have a somewhat uneasy relationship to what we think of as “Old Testament law” because we suppose Jesus came to free us from the law and to remind us of God’s grace. And yet in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus specifically challenges us,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.”

Jesus in his holiness, in his mercy, in his sharp criticisms, in his willingness to dwell among the sick and the sinner, in his journey of sacrifice to the cross reminds us that God gives us the law for our good.

The entire life of believers is to be one of repentance

On 31 October 1517, Luther posted the ninety-five theses, which he had composed in Latin, on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, according to university custom.

The famous 95 Theses opened with the assertion that repentance must be a new attitude toward God and the life God has given us. This new attitude cannot be replaced by paying money.

Luther objected to a saying attributed to Johann Tetzel that “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory [also attested as ‘into heaven’] springs.

Luther insisted that the pope could not possibly be responsible for the nonsense peddlers promoted, for every Christian who is truly sorry for his sins will receive God’s forgiveness for Christ’s sake, even without letters of indulgence.

Luther taught that a person who sees people in need and passes them by to buy indulgences is not purchasing the indulgence of the pope, but calls down the wrath of God upon himself.

Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of challenging the church but saw his dispute as a scholarly objection to church actions, and the voice of the letter is accordingly “searching, rather than doctrinaire.”

THE 95 THESES by Dr. Martin Luther went as follows;

Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, the following heads will be the subject of a public discussion at Wittenberg under the presidency of the reverend father, Martin Luther, Augustinian, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and duly appointed Lecturer on these subjects in that place. He requests that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.

When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.

Yet its meaning is not restricted to repentance in one’s heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh.

As long as hatred of self abides (i.e. true inward repentance) the penalty of sin abides, viz., until we enter the kingdom of heaven.

The pope has neither the will nor the power to remit any penalties beyond those imposed either at his own discretion or by canon law.

The pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God; or, at most, he can remit it in cases reserved to his discretion. Except for these cases, the guilt remains untouched.

God never remits guilt to anyone without, at the same time, making him humbly submissive to the priest, His representative.

The penitential canons apply only to men who are still alive, and, according to the canons themselves, none applies to the dead.

Accordingly, the Holy Spirit, acting in the person of the pope, manifests grace to us, by the fact that the papal regulations always cease to apply at death, or in any hard case.

It is a wrongful act, due to ignorance, when priests retain the canonical penalties on the dead in purgatory.

When canonical penalties were changed and made to apply to purgatory, surely it would seem that tares were sown while the bishops were asleep.

In former days, the canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution was pronounced; and were intended to be tests of true contrition.

Death puts an end to all the claims of the Church; even the dying are already dead to the canon laws, and are no longer bound by them.

Defective piety or love in a dying person is necessarily accompanied by great fear, which is greatest where the piety or love is least.

This fear or horror is sufficient in itself, whatever else might be said, to constitute the pain of purgatory, since it approaches very closely to the horror of despair.

There seems to be the same difference between hell, purgatory, and heaven as between despair, uncertainty, and assurance.

Of a truth, the pains of souls in purgatory ought to be abated, and charity ought to be proportionately increased.

Moreover, it does not seem proved, on any grounds of reason or Scripture, that these souls are outside the state of merit, or unable to grow in grace.

Nor does it seem proved to be always the case that they are certain and assured of salvation, even if we are very certain ourselves.

Therefore the pope, in speaking of the plenary remission of all penalties, does not mean “all” in the strict sense, but only those imposed by himself.

Hence those who preach indulgences are in error when they say that a man is absolved and saved from every penalty by the pope’s indulgences.

Indeed, he cannot remit to souls in purgatory any penalty which canon law declares should be suffered in the present life.

If plenary remission could be granted to anyone at all, it would be only in the cases of the most perfect, i.e. to very few.

It must therefore be the case that the major part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of relief from penalty.

The same power as the pope exercises in general over purgatory is exercised in particular by every single bishop in his bishopric and priest in his parish.

The pope does excellently when he grants remission to the souls in purgatory on account of intercessions made on their behalf, and not by the power of the keys (which he cannot exercise for them).

There is no divine authority for preaching that the soul flies out of the purgatory immediately the money clinks in the bottom of the chest.

It is certainly possible that when the money clinks in the bottom of the chest avarice and greed increase; but when the church offers intercession, all depends in the will of God.

Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed in view of what is said of St. Severinus and St. Pascal? (Note: Paschal I, pope 817-24. The legend is that he and Severinus were willing to endure the pains of purgatory for the benefit of the faithful).

No one is sure of the reality of his own contrition, much less of receiving plenary forgiveness.

One who bona fide buys indulgence is a rare as a bona fide penitent man, i.e. very rare indeed.

All those who believe themselves certain of their own salvation by means of letters of indulgence, will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.

We should be most carefully on our guard against those who say that the papal indulgences are an inestimable divine gift, and that a man is reconciled to God by them.

For the grace conveyed by these indulgences relates simply to the penalties of the sacramental “satisfactions” decreed merely by man.

It is not in accordance with Christian doctrines to preach and teach that those who buy off souls, or purchase confessional licenses, have no need to repent of their own sins.

Any Christian whatsoever, who is truly repentant, enjoys plenary remission from penalty and guilt, and this is given him without letters of indulgence.

Any true Christian whatsoever, living or dead, participates in all the benefits of Christ and the Church; and this participation is granted to him by God without letters of indulgence.

Yet the pope’s remission and dispensation are in no way to be despised, for, as already said, they proclaim the divine remission.

It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, to extol to the people the great bounty contained in the indulgences, while, at the same time, praising contrition as a virtue.

A truly contrite sinner seeks out, and loves to pay, the penalties of his sins; whereas the very multitude of indulgences dulls men’s consciences, and tends to make them hate the penalties.

Papal indulgences should only be preached with caution, lest people gain a wrong understanding, and think that they are preferable to other good works: those of love.

Christians should be taught that the pope does not at all intend that the purchase of indulgences should be understood as at all comparable with the works of mercy.

Christians should be taught that one who gives to the poor, or lends to the needy, does a better action than if he purchases indulgences.

Because, by works of love, love grows and a man becomes a better man; whereas, by indulgences, he does not become a better man, but only escapes certain penalties.

Christians should be taught that he who sees a needy person, but passes him by although he gives money for indulgences, gains no benefit from the pope’s pardon, but only incurs the wrath of God.

Christians should be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they are bound to retain what is only necessary for the upkeep of their home, and should in no way squander it on indulgences.

Christians should be taught that they purchase indulgences voluntarily, and are not under obligation to do so.

Christians should be taught that, in granting indulgences, the pope has more need, and more desire, for devout prayer on his own behalf than for ready money.

Christians should be taught that the pope’s indulgences are useful only if one does not rely on them, but most harmful if one loses the fear of God through them.

Christians should be taught that, if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence-preachers, he would rather the church of St. Peter were reduced to ashes than be built with the skin, flesh, and bones of the sheep.

Christians should be taught that the pope would be willing, as he ought if necessity should arise, to sell the church of St. Peter, and give, too, his own money to many of those from whom the pardon-merchants conjure money.

It is vain to rely on salvation by letters of indulgence, even if the commissary, or indeed the pope himself, were to pledge his own soul for their validity.

Those are enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid the word of God to be preached at all in some churches, in order that indulgences may be preached in others.

The word of God suffers injury if, in the same sermon, an equal or longer time is devoted to indulgences than to that word.

The pope cannot help taking the view that if indulgences (very small matters) are celebrated by one bell, one pageant, or one ceremony, the gospel (a very great matter) should be preached to the accompaniment of a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.

The treasures of the church, out of which the pope dispenses indulgences, are not sufficiently spoken of or known among the people of Christ.

That these treasures are not temporal are clear from the fact that many of the merchants do not grant them freely, but only collect them.

Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, because, even apart from the pope, these merits are always working grace in the inner man, and working the cross, death, and hell in the outer man.

St. Laurence said that the poor were the treasures of the church, but he used the term in accordance with the custom of his own time.

We do not speak rashly in saying that the treasures of the church are the keys of the church, and are bestowed by the merits of Christ.

For it is clear that the power of the pope suffices, by itself, for the remission of penalties and reserved cases.

The true treasure of the church is the Holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

It is right to regard this treasure as most odious, for it makes the first to be the last.

On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is most acceptable, for it makes the last to be the first.

Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets which, in former times, they used to fish for men of wealth.

The treasures of the indulgences are the nets which to-day they use to fish for the wealth of men.

The indulgences, which the merchants extol as the greatest of favours, are seen to be, in fact, a favourite means for money-getting.

Nevertheless, they are not to be compared with the grace of God and the compassion shown in the Cross.

Bishops and curates, in duty bound, must receive the commissaries of the papal indulgences with all reverence.

But they are under a much greater obligation to watch closely and attend carefully lest these men preach their own fancies instead of what the pope commissioned.

Let him be anathema and accursed who denies the apostolic character of the indulgences.

On the other hand, let him be blessed who is on his guard against the wantonness and license of the pardon-merchant’s words.

In the same way, the pope rightly excommunicates those who make any plans to the detriment of the trade in indulgences.

It is much more in keeping with his views to excommunicate those who use the pretext of indulgences to plot anything to the detriment of holy love and truth.

It is foolish to think that papal indulgences have so much power that they can absolve a man even if he has done the impossible and violated the mother of God.

We assert the contrary, and say that the pope’s pardons are not able to remove the least venial of sins as far as their guilt is concerned.

When it is said that not even St. Peter, if he were now pope, could grant a greater grace, it is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.

We assert the contrary, and say that he, and any pope whatever, possesses greater graces, viz., the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as is declared in I Corinthians 12 [:28].

It is blasphemy to say that the insignia of the cross with the papal arms are of equal value to the cross on which Christ died.

The bishops, curates, and theologians, who permit assertions of that kind to be made to the people without let or hindrance, will have to answer for it.

This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult for learned men to guard the respect due to the pope against false accusations, or at least from the keen criticisms of the laity.

They ask, e.g.: Why does not the pope liberate everyone from purgatory for the sake of love (a most holy thing) and because of the supreme necessity of their souls? This would be morally the best of all reasons. Meanwhile he redeems innumerable souls for money, a most perishable thing, with which to build St. Peter’s church, a very minor purpose.

Again: Why should funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continue to be said? And why does not the pope repay, or permit to be repaid, the benefactions instituted for these purposes, since it is wrong to pray for those souls who are now redeemed?

Again: Surely this is a new sort of compassion, on the part of God and the pope, when an impious man, an enemy of God, is allowed to pay money to redeem a devout soul, a friend of God; while yet that devout and beloved soul is not allowed to be redeemed without payment, for love’s sake, and just because of its need of redemption.

Again: Why are the penitential canon laws, which in fact, if not in practice, have long been obsolete and dead in themselves,—why are they, to-day, still used in imposing fines in money, through the granting of indulgences, as if all the penitential canons were fully operative?

Again: since the pope’s income to-day is larger than that of the wealthiest of wealthy men, why does he not build this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of indigent believers?

Again: What does the pope remit or dispense to people who, by their perfect repentance, have a right to plenary remission or dispensation?

Again: Surely a greater good could be done to the church if the pope were to bestow these remissions and dispensations, not once, as now, but a hundred times a day, for the benefit of any believer whatever.

What the pope seeks by indulgences is not money, but rather the salvation of souls; why then does he suspend the letters and indulgences formerly conceded, and still as efficacious as ever?

These questions are serious matters of conscience to the laity. To suppress them by force alone, and not to refute them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christian people unhappy.

If therefore, indulgences were preached in accordance with the spirit and mind of the pope, all these difficulties would be easily overcome, and indeed, cease to exist.

Away, then, with those prophets who say to Christ’s people, “Peace, peace,” where in there is no peace.

Hail, hail to all those prophets who say to Christ’s people, “The cross, the cross,” where there is no cross.

Christians should be exhorted to be zealous to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hells.

And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace.

I Corinthians 13

Tertullian (160 AD – 220 AD) reported observers remarking of Christians in the second century,

“See, they say, how they love one another.”

Let all of us, as followers of Jesus resolve to keep the first thing first – namely, loving Jesus because He first loved us and died for us and now we seek to serve, honor, and second, love one another.

Mathew 6:28-30

Therefore I tell you, stop being ^[d]perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?

²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? ²⁷And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the ^[e]span of his life?

²⁸And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and ^[f]learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.

²⁹Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his ^[g]magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?

Lilies do not toil or spin at spinning wheels to adorn themselves with beauty. Their beauty comes naturally as they go about their purpose in the world.

Baptism

A few years ago, Dr. Barth in his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans wrote;

Baptism is a sacrament of truth and holiness; and it is a sacrament, because it is the sign which directs us to God’s revelation of eternal life and declares, …… the Word of God. It does not merely signify eternal reality, but is eternal reality, because it points significantly beyond its own concreteness.

In a lecture given, May 7, 1943, Dr. Bath said the following.

The Greek word for BAPTISM originally and properly describe the process by which a person or an object is completely immersed in water and then withdrawn from it again.

Baptism carried out as immersion has the character of a direct threat to life, succeeded immediately by the corresponding deliverance and preservation, the raising from baptism.

According to Romans 6 baptism is participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ…..

As the Holy Spirit is the agent of a person’s union with Jesus Christ, therefore the work of the Holy Spirit belongs inseparably to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and to the happening portrayed in Baptism.

Some of the Basic Pillars of Christian Character

1. Faith – God’s people must have spiritual faith or trust in God. Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 5:7 –

We walk by faith, not by sight.

2. Obedience – The perfect companion to faith is obedience. The final stanza of the familiar hymn “Trust and Obey” summarizes quite well

Then in fellowship sweet, We will sit at His feet, Or we’ll walk by His side in the way, What He says we will do, Where He sends we will go, Never fear, only trust and obey.

3. Humility – The kingdom of God belongs to the spiritually destitute. Job 5:11 says that God “sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.” One of the marks of the humble person is that he see his own sin worse than others’. All who are genuinely saved have realize their own spiritual bankruptcy and like the tax collector in Jesus’ parable in Luke 18:13;

even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast saying, “God be merciful to me, the sinner.

4. Love – If you want to imitate God and be known as His child, walk in love because God is love. Ephesians 5:1-2 says;

…. Therefore, as dearly loved children ² … walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

5. Unity – The foundational, monotheistic doctrine of Judaism is “The LORD is our GOD, the LORD is one!” (Deut. 6:4) and that oneness is also basic to Christianity as stated in I Corinthians 8:4-6

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” ⁵For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), ⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

For more, see;

Important Lesson Learned

In nearly thirty years of ministry … I have learned that if the spiritual attitudes of the people are right – as a result of careful, long-term, biblical teaching – the church’s organizational structure, form and style becomes far less important. {John F. MacArthur}

The crucial issue in living the Christian life is the condition of the heart. A healthy life for the church comes only from a proper spiritual attitudes (i.e condition of the heart) of its members.

Apostle Paul’s earnest desire, for which he labored and prayed so diligently, was that Jesus Christ be fully formed in the lives of those he ministered to {See Gal. 4:19}. The church of the living God is to be the pillar and support of the truth. {See 1 Timothy 3:15.}.

What can wash away my sin?

Hebrews 9 speaks about the worship in the earthly tabernacle as detailed in the laws Moses brought down from Sinai some 1,350 years before Jesus walked the earth.

A number of pastors and scholars notes that in those laws, Moses gave the people a sacrificial system to atone for their sins and a tabernacle where priests offered up burnt sacrifices 24/7. But, there was no end of ritual washings that could never scrub away sin.

The writer of Hebrews notes that the laws delivered by Moses only condemned sinners. The rituals and regulations codified never transformed a single heart. But there is hope. Hebrews 9:26 says of Jesus,

He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

We all have a problem with sin. Those who try to ignore that and try to live blissfully agnostic about it, are simply cowards who are trying not to face the music. But the music is playing anyway. We all have a problem with sin. That means that we sin and that means that others sin.

What can wash away my sin? Is it fasting during the day for a month? Is it elaborate ceremonies of eastern mysticism and contemplative prayers? Is it sitting through a 40-minute service once a week and taking communion once a month?

Hebrews 9 destroys the hope that any rituals could wash away our sins. In the legalistic system of the Old Testament, priest and people had at least two million lambs killed during Passover week to atone for sins. In Psalm 40, David writes that “sacrifices and offerings you have not desired.” In other words, the death of an animal could not atone for David’s sins.

The gospel says you cannot wash away your sins. All of your efforts and ceremonies are inconsequential. When you sin, you cannot afford to pay God back. When others sin against you, it is not your job to punish them and demand relational payment from them.

So, what can wash away your sin? Christ’s life and death is sufficient to wash away all your sins and even the sins others committed against you. It is true, nothing but the perfect life and sin-bearing death of Christ in my place can wash away my sins and your sins. There is nothing left to pay.

….. It is not about us….

The Bible is not about us, or even its heroes. So is our work, careers, marriages, children and worship.

We all are prone to make everything about ourselves, or to make idols of others—even Bible heroes. Go to the Internet and look at the sermons about David and Goliath. Most of them are focused on how we can defeat the giants in our life by learning to fight like David. But, is the story about us defeating our giants, or is it about Jesus who defeated the only giant who can really kill us—so that his victory could be imputed to us? {Bob Peterson, Covenant Church of Naples, FL},

Everything for a Christian is about Jesus, a true and better Shepherd who leads his own into paths of righteousness.

Settled Purpose

On September 4, 1771, at the age of 26, Francis Asbury boarded a ship bound for America. About a week at sea, he wrote in his journal,

“I will set down a few things that lie on my mind. Whither am I going? To the New World. What to do? To gain honour? No, if I know my own heart. To get money? No: I am going to live to God, and to bring others so to do.”

The calling from God is for you to live to God, and to bring others so to do…..

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;

Thomas Obadiah Chisolm (1866-1960) wrote the song – ‘Great is they Faithfulness… “

After coming to Christ at age 27, Thomas found great comfort in the Scriptures, and in the fact that God was faithful to be his strength in time of illness and provide his needs. Lamentations 3:22-23 was one of his favorite scriptures:

“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.”

While away from home on a missions trip, Thomas often wrote to one of his good friends, William Runyan, a relatively unknown musician. Several poems were exchanged in these letters. Runyan found one of Williams’ poems so moving that he decided to compose a musical score to accompany the lyrics. Great is Thy Faithfulness was published in 1923.

For several years ,the hymn got very little recognition, until it was discovered by a Moody Bible Institute professor who loved it so much and requested it sung so often at chapel services, that the song became the unofficial theme song of the college.

It was not until 1945 when George Beverly Shea began to sing Great is Thy Faithfulness at the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades, that the hymn was heard around the world. Thomas Chisolm died in 1960 at age 94 having testified of God’s ability to care for his own…

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Refrain:
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Remembering Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928-2014)

I heard today that Pannenberg has died. He lived a long life, a full life that our Sovereign God can give.

When I was in seminary, Dr. Wood, a theology professor introduced me to Jurgen Moltmann and Wolfhart Pannenberg, two theologians who came of theological age in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Moltmann and Pannenberg were students of Barth’s theology. Pannenberg’s staunch defense of the historicity of the resurrection made him a champion among American evangelicals.