Audio: Gospel-Driven

http://heidelblog.wordpress.com/2009/05/06/audio-horton-on-the-gospel-driven-life/

A Great Quote from “Good News For Losers.”

“God helps those who help themselves.” The emphasis on divine rescue has to be watered down to divine assistance. And I tell you it will make a lot of difference perhaps not today, especially those of you who are younger, maybe some of you have not yet had anything but your hamster die, and that was a crisis, really, but you are going to face a lot more, and you may be sitting here thinking it does not matter that much what you believe about God. Who cares the sick soul religion or the healthy minded religion. It will matter right now which religion you embrace down the line when you face those trials and those circumstances, whether you are tossed back and forth with every blow of life circumstances, or whether you are an oak tree rooted by the streams of living water even when life blows really hard at you. The religion of the healthy minded is pervasive in our time, and it’s pervasive in the pagan West all the way back to the time when the apostle Paul said, “the Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing.” The Greeks are looking for wisdom for living: how could I be happier, healthier, wiser, how could I get further in life, what’s the best root to my own personal happiness? And the Gospel answers the question: how can I be accepted before a Holy God? And it answers it by saying, this Jew over here who was cursed by God in your place, so that you would not be cursed and He was raised on the third day for your Justification. He is your hope, He is your righteousness, He is your wisdom, He is your sanctification, He is your life. The Greeks said the same thing that Nietzsche said: Christianity is a slave morality, Christianity is for the weak, for the hopeless, you don’t put one of our criminals on a cross, and worship Him. What a weird religion that is when you think about it. The irony is that the religion of Nietzsche’s superman, which the 16^th century Reformation dubbed as a theology of Glory when the medievals tried to pull it off, is its own kind of slave morality. It makes the weak subservient to the powerful, it makes the consumers subservient to those who can manipulate the market. It makes the common person the servant of the genius, and all of this is easily supported by a church that depends on the market place for its own power stake in popular culture. Again, this is not to advocate pessimism because of God’s common grace, all spheres of human endeavor are not as bad as they could be, we are not as badly off as we could be, however, a religion of healthy mindedness which ignores the reality of the Fall in all of its aspects renders itself finally nothing more than a form of therapy in times of plenty, and absolutely irrelevant in times of tragedy. There is no answer. People who have the religion of healthy mindedness move in times of tragedy very quickly and very easily to atheism, there is just nothing holding them down. See, what we need is not therapy, but news, Good News, because a radical problem needs a radical solution. Not for us to be reformed or improved, but for us to be slain by the law and raised up by the Gospel.” 

Dr.Michael S. Horton 2004 Faith & Life Conference in a lecture (46 minutes) titled “Good News For Losers.” 

 

 

Read the Forward and Introductions of In Living Color by Danny Hyde

Foreward and Introduction as a free .pdf here.

Enjoy! 

Rod Rosenbladt allows the Gospel to be the Gospel.

This portion is directly taken out of “The Gospel for Those Broken by the Church” by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt.  The page numbers are the page numbers of a booklet which was on the book rack provided by Oceanside United Reformed Church.

It seems to me that the key question here is a very basic one: Can the cross and blood of Christ save a Christian (failing as he or she is in living the Christian life) or no?

I hope that most of us would say that the shed blood of Christ is sufficient to save a sinner? All by itself, just Christ’s blood, “nude faith” in it, “sola fide”, “faith without works”, “a righteousness from God apart from law,” a cross by which “God justifies wicked people,” etc. So far so good, right?

But is the blood of Christ enough to save a still sinful-Christian? Or isn’t it? Does the Gospel still apply, even if you are a Christian? Or doesn’t it? It seems to me (1) that the category “sinner” still applies to me, (2) that the category “sinner” still applies to you, (3) that the category “sinner” still applies to all Christians. (If you are a Wesleyan and have reached perfection, what I have to say here doesn’t, of course apply to you.) But for the rest of us, it seems that what Luther said of the Christian being “simultaneously sinful and yet justified before the holy God” is critical. Is what Luther said Biblical? Or isn’t it? Is it Biblical to say that a Christian is “simul justus et peccator” or no? Are we Christians saved the same way we were when we were baptized into Christ, or when we came to acknowledge Christ’s shed blood and His righteousness as all we had in the face of God’s holy law? That all of our supposed “virtue” – Christian or pagan – is just like so many old menstrual garments (to use the Bible phrase)? But God imputes to those who trust Christ’s cross the true righteousness of Christ himself? We are pretty sure that unbelievers who come to believe this are instantly justified in God’s sight, declared as if innocent, adopted as sons or daughters, forgiven of all sin, given eternal life, etc. But are Christians still saved that freely? Or are we not? We are pretty clear that imputed righteousness saves sinners. But can the imputed righteousness of Christ save a Christian? And can it save him or her all by itself? Or no? I think the way we answer this question determines whether we have anything at all to say to the “sad alumni” of Christianity.

We Lutheran pastors haven’t done a great job of getting across the central nature of righteousness by imputation alone. I hope you’ve done a better job at it than we have!

Decades ago, a gigantic survey of our clergy and laity showed that we Lutheran pastors hadn’t even convinced our own members of the sufficiency of Christ’s cross and blood and death for them! (And I mean Lutheran members who might never have sneaked out to attend some evangelical revival, might never have spent 5 minutes watching crazy Trinity Broadcasting Network). Proof: A Study of Generations [results: 75% gave perfect Roman Catholic answers!]

• “When you die, are you sure you will enter heaven? [“I hope so.”]

• “I was president, tithed, sang in the choir, taught Sunday School,” etc.

• Perfect Roman Catholic answers! And this survey was done decades ago!

What the “sad alumni” need to hear (perhaps for the first time) is that Christian failures are going to walk into heaven, be welcomed into heaven, leap into heaven like a calf leaping out of its stall, laughing and laughing, as if it’s all to good to be true.

It isn’t just that we failures will get in. It’s that we will probably get in like that! We failures-in-living-the-Christian-life-as-described-in-the-Bible will probably say something like, “You mean it was that simple?!” “Just Christ’s cross & blood?! Just His righteousness imputed to my account as if mine? You gotta be kidding!” “And all of heaven is ours just because of what was done by Jesus outside of me, on the cross—not because of what Christ did in me” – in my heart, in my Christian living, in my behavior?! “Well, I’ll be damned!” But, of course, that’s the point isn’t it? As a believer in Jesus as your Substitute, you won’t be damned! No believer in Jesus will be. Not a single one!

• “Be of good cheer, my son. Your sins are forgiven.”

• “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

• Fear not, little flock. It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

• “Come to Me, all you who are heavy laden. Take My yoke upon you, for My Yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

• “And He, when He comes, will neither break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoldering wick.”

• “When You return, remember me.” I tell you, this day yhou shall be with Me in paradise.”

• “It is finished!”

• “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…” • “God made Him to be sin who Himself knew no sin…”

• “…for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as man of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

• “For by grace you are saved, through faith, and that [faith in Jesus is] not of yourselves, but it is a gift of God, lest any man should boast.” • “And to the man who does not work but trusts the One who justifies the wicked, his faith is counted as if it were righteousness.” • “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith, apart from works of the law.”

• “….knowing a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” • “But now a righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law,…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

• “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” • “There is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

(pages 18-21, 27-28).

In Living Color by Danny Hyde

Danny Hyde has written an excellent piece on a very misunderstood subject. Through effective combination of biblical, theological, and confessional discussions, he has presented the Reformed view of the second commandment winsomely and attractively. He helpfully emphasizes not the negative prohibition of making images of God but the positive facts that God has revealed himself now so generously in Word and Sacrament and will one day reveal himself visibly in the most perfect and authentic way.

—David VanDrunen, Robert B. Strimple Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Christian Ethics, Westminster Seminary California

Here is the link to the Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Living-Color-Images-Christ-Means/dp/0979367735/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240578164&sr=1-7

For the Table of Contents and Endorsements see this page: http://dannyhyde.squarespace.com/journal/2009/4/24/announcing-in-living-color-images-of-christ-and-the-means-of.html

Next Up On the WHI: If Christ is Not Risen

Here.

(Q.) Is There Such a Thing as a First Class Christian? (A.) NO!

The White Horse discuss this question here.

It’s a fruitful discussion titled Spiritual Gifts. They’re going through 1 Corinthians 12-13.

Raised for Our Justification at Johannes Weslianus

Full Blog Post Here.

“This can be explained by a familiar comparison. The death of Jesus Christ is the payment of our debt. His resurrection is the receipt. Does a receipt add more to the payment? No. It presupposes it as made and accomplished. What does it do, then? It certifies the payment, attests to it, and convinces everyone of the payment. It shuts the mouth of those who would like to contest it.

It is the same with the resurrection of the Savior. It does not add any merit or any satisfactory virtue to His death. But it’s an authentic document that powerfully attests that God has received the payment of our Surety, that He has agreed to it, that He is content with it, that we should not fear the investigations of His justice or the condemnations of His tribunal. And if the devil or our consciences present our sins again to us, this admirable receipt shuts their mouths and forces them to be silent.

This is just like what we say with a receipt of payment. It releases a debtor, although it is not itself the payment of the debt. In the same way, Paul is right to say that Christ was raised for our justification, for the remission of our sins, although this is not what obtained the pardon.”

(HT: Heidelblog)

A Great Quote at “I Need Jesus.”

What do you do with the person who says, “I’ve asked God to forgive me about this, but I still feel guilty”? I hear that statement over and over again.

Sproul: I usually say to these people, “If you still feel guilty, then pray to God again. But this time don’t ask him to forgive you for the sin that is haunting you. Rather, ask him to forgive you for insulting his integrity by refusing to accept his forgiveness. Who are you to refuse to forgive yourself when God has forgiven you? When God promises to forgive his people when they repent, he is not playing games.  If he says he will forgive you, then he will forgive you.  And if God forgives you, you are forgiven.” It is often a difficult thing to accept the grace of God. Our human arrogance makes us want to atone for our own sins or to make it up to God with works of super-righteousness. But the fact of the matter is that we can’t make it up to God. We are debtors who cannot pay. That’s what justification by faith is all about.

-R.C. Sproul

HT: Roy Kil

Talk of the Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ

At the Heidelblog.