Category: Christian Culture Page 9 of 11

The Fear of the LORD is Hatred of Evil

On April 8, 2008

“The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” – Proverbs 8:13

Within the church many times, we consider “gross” sins to be homosexuality, excessive drinking, fornication, adultery, thievery, murder, cursing, etc. And while those are in no way minimized in the Scriptures as sins that are destructive both personally and relationally (and above all in relation to God Himself), the passage above speaks just as strongly against those who are prideful and arrogant within themselves. In fact, as the passage says, wisdom hates pride, arrogance, the way of evil, and perverted speech, all of those together. Seeing as how the Scriptures are the Word of God breathed out, these are His thoughts. The LORD hates pride and arrogance with a just and righteous passion.

While even unbelievers should be humbled by the fact that God doesn’t bring His hand down to crush them at this instant, how much more humbled should we be who claim to have been shown mercy at the hand of God through Christ? And yet so often, this is not the case. We so quickly turn our judgment to the outside world and what they’re doing wrong, when we need to be turning the cutting standard of the Word inwardly and analyze ourselves, measuring ourselves against it, and not our own ideals of what is morally better and worse. What about our pride and arrogance against those very people who need Jesus and are running from Him in defiance? Is this pride we possess not just as wicked in the eyes of the Lord as the evil committed outside the church? What about our hatred of those who run wholeheartedly away from the Lord? Shouldn’t you have been the one that ran away from God? What made you humble and willing to believe in Christ, yourself or the grace of God alone?

I’m in no way saying I am exempt from having committed these sins myself and speak to myself just as much as anyone reading this. I’m a sinner and have fallen in so many ways. But regardless, it seems to be a spirit within many churches where others, those outside the church, are looked down upon as greater sinners who do not hold to our own personal moral standards, when in reality, we are murderers in our hearts just like those in prison who have committed the outward act. When we hate or look down upon people for their sins, the Lord sees our hearts much like He sees Jeffrey Dahmer’s. Meditate on that for a minute in light of Romans 3:9-18. We are commanded to be pursuing holiness through faith in Christ, and yet it seems we have forgotten the fundamentals of how we were saved.

So how do we come to hate what is evil, namely pride and arrogance within our own hearts? The answer is in the verse above. “The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.” What does it mean to fear the Lord? “I thought we weren’t supposed to fear Him at all because of Christ?” There is one sense in which that is true. Those in Christ have been ultimately accepted for eternity. There is no fear of condemnation for those who believe. And yet at the same time, even as believers, we are called by Scripture to fear the Lord. This fear is humility. Andrew Murray talks about three separate ways in which we should be humbled as believers: 1) as a creature, 2) as a sinner, and 3) as a saint.

As a creature: There is great amount of humility we should have in being a creature subject to the King of glory. He created us without our permission, for His own glory and purposes, and He has freedom over us that we do not have over Him. This is abundantly clear in Scripture. He is the Creator, we are the creatures.

As a sinner: We should also be greatly humbled that as sinners, we have slapped God in the face and told Him, “No, you do not have control over me, in any sense. I control myself and my own destiny,” and yet He is extremely patient toward our evil toward Him. It is God’s sheer grace toward both believers and unbelievers that He doesn’t stomp us out right now for the vile that comes out of our hearts through our mouths, hands, and feet. We have offended an infinitely holy God and therefore the wrath justly due to us is infinite and eternal. This is greatly humbling and strikes right at the heart of human pride, and is one of the biggest reasons people cannot accept it. They are hardened to this message because they do not want to hear it.

As a saint: Having been rightly humbled by our willful disobedience against the King of Glory, how humbled should we be to see that this holy God who owes us nothing but wrath made a way for us to be accepted through taking that wrath Himself on our behalf at the cross? We should be greatly humbled and possess an honest fear at the greatness of the frightening power and unfathomable depths of the love of God. As a saint we are humbled to not be objects of wrath, but now, because of Christ’s perfect work, we are objects of mercy. Did He have to save you? No. Why did you believe while another person in a similar position that heard the same Gospel message did not heed the call? Why did you willingly say yes to Christ? Was it not the grace of God who Himself made you willing? Ultimately, this is humbling and should move us to love the things Christ loves and hate the things He hates more and more. “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.” All kinds of evil, including our own self-righteous pride and arrogance.

We must constantly reorient ourselves with our humble position as creatures, sinners, and as God’s adopted people through the work of Christ. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 1:7) And at the same time, There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” These are both different forms of humility, one in which we despise ourselves for our rebellion and yet know that we are accepted. Reorienting ourselves with the Gospel daily should bring about a correct response of both acceptance and fear of God’s might and power. God had mercy on you through the work of Christ while you were still unwilling to submit to Him by yourself. And He did this by turning your heart and giving you a willing spirit that was sensitive to heed the call of the Gospel. Praise God for His grace in moving us to faith when we wanted nothing of it until He opened our eyes to His beauty! May that squash our pride and arrogance against an increasingly pagan society. Just remember, that should have been you and would have had God not intervened and gone underneath your entire being to move you to love Him.

Why Has Reformed Theology Surged Among the Younger Generation?

By David Westerfield

On April 7, 2008

In Audio, Christian Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

Nathan Pitchford, blogging over at www.reformationtheology.com, makes some very good observations as to why this phenomenon has occurred. To sum up what Pitchford says, Reformed Theology has surged among us mainly due to five things (though there very well could be other factors as well):

1) Dissatisfaction with the theology and religious environment of our parents.

I believe this factor is one of the largest. Much of this discontentment has to do with a tiredness of the way things have been done in our parents generation. It’s old, worn out, and about 3 inches of spiritual depth. At the root of that is a discontentment with their particular brand of a Christian worldview, their presuppositions, theology, and philosophy of ministry, all of which seems to be more temporally focused rather than eternally focused on the Kingdom. We’re tired of the idolatry, materialism and consumerism that have invaded the church. It needs to stop. The Protestant Church needs a temple cleansing, so to speak. The Church is not the market place nor should it act like it. And that’s what we are reacting against is this blatant idolatry that has moved from worshiping Christ as the supreme King to idolizing self and using Christ to that end. Now of course, it is not a blanket statement to say all within my parents generation are involved in this, because, as noted below, John Piper has been one of the largest influences on this surge. There are many others as well who have made a difference and opposed this idolatry, calling for us to reclaim the faith once for all delivered.

2) Desire for a rootedness and connectedness with the historic faith.

In the latter part of the 20th century, most within the Protestant church were simply looking to the past 100-200 years (or only their present day pastors and teachers) for information concerning the exposition of Scripture. And yet there is a deep, rich, long history of men of the faith who have contributed greatly to the Church’s literature. Our parents generation, in general, seemed to ignore these voices. No more. We want to reclaim those voices. As Pitchford says, we indeed want to be reconnected with those who have gone before us and brought so much rich theology and thinking to the church. Looking to those in church history for their input concerning the Scriptures can really help us see our own blind spots within our culture. As Greg Love, a great friend of mine has said before, you can always go and stare at a wonderful work of art for hours and glean a lot of great perspective. In fact you must be doing that. But to hear an expert on that piece of art go into detail about things you had no idea were there, you can find some things you may never have seen by just observing it yourself. So it is with Church History.

3) The resurgence of Puritan literature.

There are some works out now that you simply could not have gotten a hold of just 20 years ago. This helps greatly for the cause. The publisher Banner of Truth Trust is one of the forerunners and largest distributors of Puritan works, though there are others that have contributed greatly as well.

4) John Piper.

This man is one of the single biggest influences on the shaping of my own personal theology. The first sermon I ever heard from him was this: http://www.desiringgod.org/download.php … 961027.mp3. It shocked me how much of eternal perspective he had. I soaked it up and continue to do so to this day. To me, John Piper is a modern day Jonathan Edwards/John Owen. He takes their theology and makes it accessible. He has been an incredibly vital influence to the surge.

5) The internet (and www.monergism.com in particular).

I can’t tell you how big of help websites like www.monergism.com and www.spurgeon.org, as well as other sites, have been to influencing my own personal theology. God has richly blessed us with these resources. Take advantage of them.

NOOMA Review by Greg Gilbert @ 9Marks Ministry

By David Westerfield

On February 13, 2008

In Apologetics, Christian Culture, Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Reviews, Theology

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

This video series is apparently sweeping the country in youth groups. And while I don’t doubt that there are a lot of good things that can be taken away from this series, we must pay very close attention to 1) how things are said (mainly the Gospel itself), and 2) what is not said (pertaining to the essential message of the Gospel). This series of reviews points out the high points of the series, but also the deficiencies when compared with the historic Christian faith message we have been entrusted with. Brothers and sisters, “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (Hebrews 2:1) Error always starts out small, like a ball slowly starting to roll from the top of a hill. Then the ball gains momentum, and by the time it reaches the bottom of the hill it is speeding so fast you can’t stop it, and the Gospel is lost and people are believing a lie craftily devised by Satan over time. One of the main ways Satan works to destroy the church is not so much persecution from without, but he comes and destroys the church from within by slowly (and sometimes rapidly) twisting the message just slightly. Church history proves this to be the case.

Tim Keller Sermons Related to His New Book

By David Westerfield

On February 11, 2008

In Apologetics, Audio, Christian Culture, Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

This is awesome … Tim Keller has the following sermons available that go along with his new book The Reason for God coming out this Thursday.

Exclusivity: How can there be just one true religion? (MP3)

Suffering: If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world? (MP3)

Absolutism: Don’t we all have to find truth for ourselves? (MP3)

Injustice: Hasn’t Christianity been an instrument for oppression? (MP3)

Hell: Isn’t the God of Christianity an angry Judge? (MP3)

Doubt: What should I do with my doubts? (MP3)

Literalism: Isn’t the Bible historically unreliable and regressive? (MP3)

Links point to: http://sermons.redeemer.com/store/index … gory_id=29

The Reason for God by Tim Keller – To Be Released on Feb 14

By David Westerfield

On February 6, 2008

In Apologetics, Christian Culture, Culture, Reviews, Theology

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/052595 … 0525950494

Table of Contents: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2007/08/ … eller.html

Finally, after months of anticipation, Tim Keller’s new book, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, will be released next Thursday, the 14th. I can’t wait … here is how Keller describes it on Redeemer.com:

I’ve been working for some time on a book for the ordinary (which means very sharp) spiritually skeptical New Yorker. Ever since I got to New York nearly two decades ago I’ve wished I had a volume to give people that not only answered objections to Christianity (what has been called ‘apologetics’) but also positively presented the basics of the gospel in an accessible yet substantial way. I had some books that did the one and some that did the other, but only one did both—Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. As you know, I think Lewis’ book is peerless, and foolish would be the author who tried to replace him!

However, the issues in the public discourse around Christianity have become much more complex than they were in the mid and late 20th century. The questions are now not just philosophical (e.g. Is there evidence for God’s existence?) They are also now cultural (Doesn’t strong faith make a multicultural society impossible?), political (Doesn’t orthodox religion undermine freedom?) and personal. Also fifty years ago, when C.S. Lewis was writing, there was general agreement that rational argument and empirical method were the best ways to discover truth. That consensus has vanished. Today there are deep disagreements over how we know things and how certain we can be about anything. Most of the older books presenting Christianity now are only persuasive and even comprehensible to a very narrow range of people.

All this means that there is a great need for new literature that speaks to our time and says, “Christianity makes sense.” I know I’m only one of many who are trying to do this over the next few years. My contribution is slated to be released February 14, 2008, by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Books. Its title is The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. You can find a little more information about it on Amazon.com.

Even though the book is not addressing believers, I still hope it will be a help to the members and friends of Redeemer. It may make it easier to represent your heartfelt beliefs to people you love. That’s my prayer.

A Timely Quote for our Day

By David Westerfield

On January 27, 2008

In Christian Culture, Culture, Philosophy of Ministry, Theology

“We must have the full message. . . ‘deliver the whole counsel of God’. . . . It starts with the Law. The Law of God … the demands of a righteous God, the wrath of God. That is the way to bring men and women to conviction; not by modifying the Truth…. We must confront them with the fact that they are men and that they are fallible men, that they are dying men, that they are sinful men, and that they will all have to stand before God at the Bar of Eternal Judgment….And then we must present to them the full-orbed doctrine of the Grace of God in Salvation in Jesus Christ. We must show that no man is saved ‘by the deeds of the Law’, by his own goodness or righteousness, or church membership or anything else, but solely, utterly, entirely by the free gift of God in Jesus Christ His Son. . . . We must preach the full-orbed doctrine leaving nothing out-conviction of sin, the reality of Judgment and Hell, free grace, justification, sanctification, glorification. We must also show that there is a world view in the Bible … that here alone you can understand history-past history, present history, future history. Let us show this great world view, and God’s Eternal purpose…. Let us at the same time be very careful that we are giving it to the whole man … the gospel is not only for a man’s heart, that you start with his head and present Truth to it … Let us show that it is a great message given by God which we in turn pass on to the mind, to the heart, to the will. There is ever this danger of leaving out some part or other of man’s personality… Let us be certain that we address the whole man-his mind, his emotions and his will.”

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones The Weapons of our Warfare, 1964, pg. 21-22

Uncovering Satan’s Devious Strategy to Eclipse Christ and the Gospel

By David Westerfield

On January 9, 2008

In Christian Culture, Culture, Theology

Man, what an incredible article by Michael Horton.

http://www.modernreformation.org/defaul … amp;var2=1

“The Greeks love wisdom, so show them a Jesus who is smarter at solving the conundrums of daily living and the church will throng with supporters. Jews love signs and wonders, so tell people that Jesus can help them have their best life now, or bring in the kingdom of glory, or drive out the Romans and prove their integrity before the pagans, and Jesus will be laureled with praise. But proclaim Christ as the Suffering Servant who laid down his life and took it back up again, and everybody wonders who changed the subject.”

“The church exists in order to change the subject from us and our deeds to God and his deeds of salvation, from our various “missions” to save the world to Christ’s mission that has already accomplished redemption. If the message that the church proclaims makes sense without conversion; if it does not offend even lifelong believers from time to time, so that they too need to die more to themselves and live more to Christ, then it is not the gospel.”

“Today, we have abundant examples of both tendencies: denial and distraction. On one hand, there are those who explicitly reject the New Testament teaching concerning Christ’s person and work. Jesus was another moral guide-maybe the best ever-but not the divine-human redeemer. However, evangelicals are known for their stand against Protestant liberalism. On the other hand, many who affirm all the right views of Christ and salvation in theory seem to think that what makes Christianity truly relevant, interesting, and revolutionary is something else. Distractions abound. This does not mean that Jesus is not important. His name appears in countless books and sermons, on T-shirts, coffee mugs, and billboards. Yet it has become something like a cliche or trademark instead of “the name that is above every name” by which alone we are saved.”

Great Quote on Salvation by Greg Koukl

By David Westerfield

On January 1, 2008

In Christian Culture, Theology

One question frequently stops Christians in their tracks: “If the Gospel alone saves, then what about the heathen in Africa who never heard?” Can God justly convict a man who hasn’t heard about Jesus? Some people hear the Gospel and reject it, but most never hear it. How can God condemn them? Christians are ill-equipped to respond because they don’t really understand something vital about sin and mercy. Sin brings guilt. Mercy is a gift. Anyone who is a sinner receives punishment he deserves. Anyone who is saved receives mercy he does not deserve and which is not owed him. Think of this question: How could the sheriff send anyone to jail if he didn’t offer him a pardon first? The answer is simple. If he’s guilty, the sheriff is justified in throwing him in jail. There is no obligation to offer a pardon to a guilty man. The same is true of God. He can justly convict a man who has broken His law even though the sinner has heard nothing about God’s pardon in Jesus. God owes no one salvation. He can offer it to whomever He wishes. That’s why it’s called grace.

Peace Child by Don Richardson – A Review

By David Westerfield

On December 18, 2007

In Christian Culture, Culture, Reviews, Theology

This true missionary story is such an excellent picture of how the Gospel can come in to even the most morally backward culture and transform it from the inside out. It seemed Don and Carol Richardson were up against impossible odds; indeed they were. How can a stone-age tribe who valued treachery more than sacrifice possibly comprehend, let alone believe the sacrificial message of Christ’s redemption for sinners? Only the Holy Spirit alone could make this possible. And at the same time, the Holy Spirit used the difficult work of the missionaries to clearly communicate this message to the Sawi people in Netherlands New Guinea.

To start off, Don and Carol had to learn their language. Then they had to attempt to communicate the Gospel, and in so doing, the Sawi people wound up valuing Judas’ betrayal of Christ more than Christ’s sacrifice! How in the world could they possible communicate the Gospel now? Little did Don know God had foreordained redemptive analogies within the Sawi culture long ago that would be used to display the wondrous work of Christ. In order for the tribe to make peace with another tribe nearby where there had been enmity for quite some time, each tribe had to offer a peace child: one of their own children was given over to the other tribe in order to establish peace. And as long as the children lived, there was peace between the tribes, no matter what one did to the other. However, if one of the children died, peace no longer reigned between the tribes.

Don realized he could use this analogy to communicate that Christ is the Perfect Peace Child, the one who was given on behalf of sinners to create peace between us and the true God, forever; and He is the One who will never die, unlike their frail children, in an environment thick with diseases and no cures. Once the Sawi people saw this beautiful display of the Gospel in a way they could finally comprehend and see as valuable, by the work of God’s Spirit alone through the message preached, many believed, and slowly the tribe began changing from the inside out. Over time, through the continued communication of the Gospel, they no longer valued treachery, but rather they valued the Ultimate Peace Child who was given on their behalf so they could be at peace with God. In addition, the Gospel message spread to many of the other tribes and there was unity that had not been there for possibly eons. Not only did the Gospel come in and save their souls from eternal destruction, but it came in and revolutionized the culture, their ethics, value systems, and it reversed the curse of Satanaic darkness that had held this people in spiritual bondage for so long. Praise God for such a wonderful picture of how the Gospel can come in and not only revolutionize individuals but also entire communities!

The Gospel and its message is no different in our Western culture. Though we come from a Judeo-Christian background (or really post-Christian in many respects), we have value systems, beliefs, understandings of reality, that all need healing and reversal by the work of the cross. In the same way the Sawi people were held in bondage by ideas of reality that were lies of Satan (doctrinal error, if you will), so also, our culture has ideas that need reversing by the message of the Gospel. This book is a great illustration of contextualizing the Gospel to a unique people group so they can see the light of Christ. And at the same time, this is exactly what we need to be doing with the Gospel in our own increasingly secularized setting we find ourselves in. With the missionary ideas of Gospel sharing and preaching presented in this book, it is my hope we all realize we too are missionaries in our respective settings and that we have the message of eternal life to present to many who just assume they are Christians because they are Americans.

Canceling the Record of Debt that Stood Against Us with its Legal Demands By the Cross

By David Westerfield

On December 9, 2007

In Christian Culture, Theology

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” – Colossians 2:13-14

It seems to me based on this passage that Paul has in mind some form of divine legal transaction that occurs between believers and God. God is just and holy, we are sinners deserving of wrath based upon a divine law we’ve all broken. For those in Christ, the record of [infinite] debt that stood against us with its legal demands (i.e. the law) was nailed to the cross of Christ. Am I off base? The New Perspective on Paul would have us think of phrases like “works of the law” (as in Galatians) only as a badge of honor and pride within a first century Jewish culture. In addition, it would have us think in much more temporal terms when Paul goes into his legal analogies of the work of the cross on behalf of sinners. But I cannot reconcile that thinking with what Paul says: “[Christ canceled] the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands … [by] nailing it to the cross.” This is not temporal but eternal. By the cross, Christ, in His perfect work on behalf of His people, set aside that infinite record of debt demanded by the divine law of God. Paul seems to think of the cross in legal terms, and therefore, in Galatians (and elsewhere), I cannot see how Paul is merely addressing cultural pride and exclusion within a cultural community. I mean, of course its that, and yet so much more. Is not legalism a form of heresy? And is that heresy not something Paul addresses in that book, by saying to the Galatians:

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. – Galatians 4:8-11

I’m afraid I may have labored over you in vain? That’s pretty harsh if he’s just addressing a cultural pride and badge of honor. Seems to me so much more was at stake, namely, they were in danger of having trusted in their own “works of the law” to save them versus Christ’s divine legal transaction on the cross, as Paul articulates in Colossians 2:13-14.