Category: Gospel Centered

Together Again… for the Gospel

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

It’s hard to believe that it has been 2 years since the first Together For the Gospel conference. I remember the excitement I had as I blogged about the event (which I couldn’t attend). Then and now, I consider the conference a wonderful display of, and needed encouragement towards, Christian unity. And not just unity, but unity coupled with doctrinal commitment to the true Gospel. We don’t have to sacrifice doctrine to gain unity. Both are important, and T4G demonstrates this well.

This year, I also could not attend, but I suspected the messages would be available online for free, as they were in 2006. I’m not sure if the speaker panel sessions will be available, like last year, but the seven messages are available for free online.

And while you are there, you should check out Together For the Gospel’s updated website. The messages from last year are available as well as their doctrinal statement.

To encourage you to listen to the messages (I plan on eating them up on an upcoming road trip), let me direct you to Tim Challies’ liveblogging of the entire conference. Thanks to Tim, you can get a taste of the event and each message.

Let me conclude by quoting from T4G’s “about us” page.

Together for the Gospel (T4G) began as a friendship between four pastors. These friends differed on a number of theological issues, like baptism and the charismatic gifts. But they were committed to standing together for the main thing””the gospel of Jesus Christ..

So they began a conference which occurs every two years and aims principally at encouraging other pastors to do the same””to stand together for the gospel. And now this conference is evolving, as God pleases, into an informal network of church leaders who all share this ambition and who intend to encourage one another to do the same…..

Update: Josh Gelatt has collected some quotes and personal reflections on the conference which you may enjoy: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.

Approaching a Fearsome God — through Christ

~ fundyreformed ~ 3 Comments

Sunday Mediations — posts encouraging us all to meditate on the things of our Savior, on His day.

I don’t have a healthy enough view of God. I’ll be the first to admit that. I don’t comprehend his ultimate greatness, his “otherness” and transcendence. His awful holiness. Yes “awe-ful” and terrifying, holiness.

The Bible repeatedly calls on us to fear God. Yet fearing God is foreign to our nature. We live and breathe as if God isn’t. No wonder we don’t fear him.

And for those raised in Christianity (like me), we assume that we can approach God. We assume that we shouldn’t have to fear Him. And isn’t Christianity all happy-go-lucky anyway? What’s this about fear? Why should we tremble before God, don’t we have our ticket to heaven already?

With these thoughts in mind, lets approach a text this morning:

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Pet. 1:17-21)

I’ve been teaching through 1 Peter in our small group class every other Sunday night. This passage was a bit perplexing.

“Conduct yoursleves with fear” is one of four commands in this passage (“set your hope”–v. 13; “be holy”–v. 15; and “love one another”–v. 22 are the others). And I knew that the passage beautifully illustrates the relationship between Biblical imperatives and indicatives. Each command is expressly connected with facts that are true because of who we are in Christ.

So I was puzzled by the connection between vs. 17 and the verses that follow. In light of the preciousness of your redemption, fear God? That didn’t seem to follow, unless we are talking a debtor’s ethic where because of Christ’s sacrifice we should go on and labor in fearing God out of debt.

In looking at the text, it also seems to be disconnected. Fear God, knowing you were ransomed, not with perishable silver and gold, but with Christ. And Christ is like a lamb without blemish, foreknown and manifest for you, who believe in God. The main point of all this is still “fear God” so how does it all fit?

As I scanned through Calvin’s comments on this passage, his discussion of vs. 21 grabbed me. Here’s an excerpt:

…as faith unites us to God, we shun and dread every access to him, except a Mediator comes who can deliver us from fear. For sin, which reigns in us, renders us hateful to God and him to us. Hence, as soon as mention is made of God, we must necessarily be filled with dread; and if we approach him, his justice is like fire, which will wholly consume us.

It is hence evident that we cannot believe in God except through Christ, in whom God in a manner makes himself little, that he might accommodate himself to our comprehension; and it is Christ alone who can tranquillize consciences, so that we may dare to come in confidence to God.

As I really grasped the glory of what was being said in vs. 21, everything clicked. We are to fear God, and this is impossible in ourselves. So we are reminded that we’ve been ransomed from our futile ways. And not just ransomed with a fool’s gift of gold, we’ve been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. The very Christ who like the Paschal Lamb of old, was foreknown and chosen to suffer wrath in our place. This Jesus came and died “for [our] sake”. And thus through him we believe in God. And God’s resurrection of Jesus was all designed “so that [our] faith and hope [would be] in God”.

We can fear God, and reverence him, not as a vanquished foe trembles before Him. Rather because of the sacrifice accomplished for us, and because God himself has worked so that our faith and hope are in Him, we reverently fear God with Christ at our side. Because of our mediator we can approach this fearful God. And from Jesus, we can learn the true extent of God’s wrath which should cause us to tremble, while we also learn that all of that wrath was taken away for us in Jesus.

Oh how happy we are to have such a glorious mediator! Let us respect and reverence, yea fear, our Holy God more. Yet we need never shudder at this command, because we remember that God is accepting us, yea welcoming us to come boldly before His throne (which for us is a throne of grace) by the new and living way of Christ our crucified and Risen Savior! (Heb. 4:16, 10:19-21).

Minimizing the Gospel through Excessive Separation

~ fundyreformed ~ 43 Comments

In extreme fundamentalism, every doctrine is a hill to die on. Music (worship), dress, Bible versions (KJVO), personal separation (i.e. no movie attendance, alcohol, tobacco, gambling), believer’s baptism, pre-tribulational rapture — all of these are lined up right next to the Trinity, justification by grace through faith alone, inspiration, inerrancy, the virgin birth, etc. In short, every doctrine is essential, no doctrines are merely secondary. If God says it, I believe it, and that settles it!

Such a die hard commitment to truth is commendable. We certainly shouldn’t pick and choose between what parts of the Bible we should believe and those we shouldn’t! And in today’s relativistic age, when so many prize ecumenism and unity far above truth, this attitude is noble.

But let me ask an important question: “Doesn’t elevating every doctrinal position to the status of essential make the Gospel just another doctrine?”

The Gospel is just another position we stake out: one more hill to die on. When our time is spent defending the King James Bible or high dress standards, and when we start putting “KJB 1611” and “old-fashioned” on our church signs, we are acting as if these positions matter to us as much as, if not more so than the Gospel.

What we choose to separate over, defines us — whether we admit it or not. And for many well-intentioned fundamentalists, what distinguishes them are not matters “of first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3).

The Gospel should be big enough to unite over. It is a towering peak, far more important than one’s eschatological or ecclesiastic positions, and certainly bigger than one’s view of Bible translations and dress standards.

Since the Gospel is so important, we should be thrilled to find someone who believes as we do on the Gospel. If the Gospel matters so much, then it should matter much to us if someone agrees with us on the Gospel, other differences notwithstanding. I explained this point in these words in an earlier post:

Rather than prizing the actual unity we have as fellow believer-partakers in our Divine Lord Jesus Christ’s glorious provision for our sins as an altogether adequate basis for a mutual fellowship and unity which welcomes each other in spite of our differing positions on comparatively minor points, the minor points [upon which we disagree] define us as we esteem them of greater importance than our commonality in the Gospel. Our own applications of separation, views on baptism, and beliefs about the finer points of eschatology and ecclesiology and other doctrines become stumblingblocks to the real unity of the faith the One True Gospel calls us to, and the world is robbed of a clear witness to the Oneness of Christ and the Father, and of Christ and His Church, and ultimately God is denied a unified voice that glorifies His name (Eph. 4:3,13, Jn. 17:20-21, Rom. 15:5-7).

I’m not claiming we shouldn’t stand for secondary doctrines. They are important. But they are not what the kingdom of God is all about (Rom. 14:17-20). In all our defense of truth, let us make sure we are not belittling the place of the Gospel in our system of thought. Make sure the Gospel towers above your horizon as your defining reality and the focus of your faith and of your life.

Oxygenating Your Spiritual Life

~ fundyreformed ~ 4 Comments

Are you blue in the face?

Going without oxygen, or with too little oxygen makes one blue. And going too long without meditating on God’s Word makes one blue as well.

Yesterday’s sermon, by my pastor John Piper (will be available for download here from Desiring God) emphasized our need to be meditating on the Gospel and reading our Bibles. His text was James 1:21.

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

He focused on the second half of the verse. Why do we receive the word, when it is already implanted? This is the “word of truth” by which we have been born again, already (vs. 18). So why do we still need to be receiving the word?

Just because we are alive, doesn’t mean we don’t need to breathe. Rather, since we are alive, our bodies demand that we breathe. Breathing is necessary for life, but breathing doesn’t make our hearts beat.

Similarly, Piper reasons, if we are genuinely saved, and spiritually alive, we will want to breathe. And breathing is necessary for our life. The word is able to save our souls, but only if we receive it with meekness. Of course, a genuinely saved person will receive it with meekness.

So the Bible, and particularly the gospel message contained in it (“word of truth” primarily refers to the message of Gospel–good news of Jesus) is vital for our spiritual well being. If we don’t humble ourselves and fill ourselves with it continually, we prove that we have no real life. And availing ourselves of the Bible, reminding ourselves constantly of the Gospel, proves to sustain and nourish our spiritual life.

So aim with me this year to do a better job of oxygenating your spiritual life, by God’s grace and for His glory and our joy.

Note: I’ll add the link to Piper’s message, when it is available. I hope also to recap last year’s blogging and focus on 2008 in a post here soon.

UPDATE: Check out these Bible Reading plans available for download from NavPress. Our church uses the Discipleship Journal plan.

UPDATE 2: Here is the link to Piper’s sermon.

John Piper on Small Groups and Perseverance

~ fundyreformed

I’m getting ready to pick up my series on man-centered Christianity (see posts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) again. And I thought highlighting what my pastor, John Piper said in a recent message would help move us back into thinking about perseverance, eternal security, and God-centered Christianity.

Every year Pastor Piper preaches a message in the Fall, encouraging us to get involved with small groups. And as is often the case, this year, his text was Hebrews 10:19-25. You can read the printed version of the message here, as well as easily find links for watching or listening to the message online, or even downloading it (for free). What follows is an excerpt (transcribed imperfectly by me) from that message dealing specifically with the doctrine of perseverance.

…toward the end of the age, when the day [of judgment] draws near… [meeting together in small groups] will be essential increasingly. Have you ever thought about that?…

The Bible says that in the last days there will be times of great difficulty… it’s not going to get easier to be a Christian, it’s going to get harder to be a Christian. So what’s your plan for staying a Christian?

Or do you have this cavalier lackadaisical, eternal security thing that you can just live like the devil and do whatever you want and you’re gonna’ go to heaven no matter what. That’s not the biblical doctrine of eternal security. The biblical doctrine of eternal security is that the evidence that you are eternally secure is that you’re following the biblical means to stay safe in Jesus. And He’ll keep you—[for] those [in] whom he began a good work, He completes the good work. Yes, He will and He’ll do it by putting you into the kind of groups that will sustain your faith.

So, I take this real seriously: that as the day comes, the need for being together in mutually praying, mutually ministering, mutually encouraging groups goes up not down. Don’t think, “Oh the end’s almost here. Quick, Lord Jesus come! And I’m just holing up in my basement, or wherever.” Don’t hole up—unless you hole up with 8 or 10 other people, and of course if 8 or 10 people are there, then the Holy Spirit’s gonna’ move and you will learn that you don’t hole up. You go out and risk your lives to testify to Jesus.

To that I say amen! I encourage you to listen to the entire message. And more importantly, to get involved in small groups for the sake of your perseverance in faith!