Calvinism, Pain, and Scrutiny

This is just a brief post to let you know Time magazine recently interviewed Al Mohler regarding his Calvinism, and his recent near-death hospital stay. He did recover fully, by the way. But Time’s interview gives a fascinating insight into how secularism looks at both Christianity and Calvinism. This is definitely worth a quick read.

Here it is. (HT: Ryan DeBarr)

Jesus’ Demands — Take up your Cross and Follow Me (#8)

Click to orderDemand #8 — Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt. 16:24-5)

Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men. (Mark 1:17)

I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead. (Matt. 8:22)

If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me. (John 8:31)

Following Jesus means Fulfilling Jesus’ Mission.

Jesus came to “seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). And he did this ultimately through his suffering on our behalf on the cross. Jesus’ mission was “to gather a people in allegiance to himself for the glory of his Father” as Piper puts it. And following Jesus is joining Him in that mission, or helping Him fulfill that mission. This is why Jesus said “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17)

Following Jesus is Painful.

Jesus promised us, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (Jn. 15:20) Jesus did not promise us a rosy life. He promised us suffering. This is why he calls his followers to first “take up their cross” and then to “follow” Him. In Matt. 16:24 “Jesus put the emphasis on self-denial and cross-bearing”.

The suffering we are called to endure creates ruptures in our relationships with people, wealth, and our occupation. We are to hate our most intimate family members, even our own selves, in comparison to our devotion to Jesus (Luke 14:26). And we are to “renounce all that [we have]” if we want to be a true disciple (Luke 14:33). This results in a liberal approach to giving, such that Jesus can say to the rich young ruler “sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me”. (Matt. 19:21) Piper points out that many of the disciples had to leave their occupations, and many times Jesus will move his people to leave their good jobs, pack their bags, and head off to Africa or Asia, or go into ministry here in America. Not everyone will be called to leave, but all are called to follow which will change your perspective on your job, your money, and your family.

Following Jesus is “Worth It”.

The suffering we are called to endure as we follow Jesus will be worth it. Jesus promises that if we hold on to our life we’ll lose it, and if we lose our life we will save it. (Mk. 8:35) And He constantly declares that following Him is a wise and exceedingly beneficial choice. Consider Jesus’ stress on our eternal reward to be received through this suffering/following in the following verses Jn. 12:25; Matt. 19:27, 29; Luke 14:14; Matt. 5:12. So while the suffering is only temporary the pleasure is eternal.

Yet the pleasure is not only future. Following Jesus brings joy now. It can make the persecuted “leap for joy” (see Demand #10 and Luke 6:22-23). This kind of faithful following even through suffering—the kind that rejoices to suffer for Jesus’ name—brings great glory to our Savior. A sad, somber, doleful “suffering for Jesus” will not necessarily glorify Him. But the kind of triumphant joy which smiles in the midst of tragedy, that points to the incomparable worth of Jesus Christ and properly displays His value to a watching world. Consider Piper, finally, on this point.

If you follow Jesus only because he makes life easy now, it will look to the world as though you really love what they love, and Jesus just happens to provide it for you. But if you suffer with Jesus in the pathway of love because he is your supreme treasure, then it will be apparent to the world that your heart is set on a different fortune than theirs. This is why Jesus demands that we deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. [emphasis added]

—See all posts on, the Demands of Jesus


∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7

The Christian Life As a Race–Heb. 12:1-17

Run the Race

Hebrews 12:1-17 speaks of the Christian life as a race. Here are some thoughts concerning that race which were helpful in my Christian walk/race!

I. Pattern for our race.

A. OT Saints (chapter 11)

  • Ran it by faith
  • Endured hardship (self-chosen risk and external persecution)
  • Had a definite goal in view (Abraham = heavenly city; Moses = wealth/reward of Christ)

B. Christ (vs. 1-4)

  • Trusted the Father [had faith, in a sense] (“for the joy”; learned obedience)
  • Endured hardship (cross, shame, sinners, hostility, death)
  • Had a definite goal in view (joy; redeem a people for God)

II. Problem for our race.

A. We need faith

  • To see the witnesses
  • To see Jesus
  • To see the reward

B. We have obstacles

  • Weights (entanglements, see 2 Tim. 2:4)
  • Sins (besetting sins)

C. We have hardships

  • Requires endurance (v. 1)
  • Potential weariness (v. 3)
  • It is painful (v. 11)
  • Wears us out (v. 12)
  • Requires striving (v. 14)

III. Purpose of our race

A. Ultimate purpose

  • To win the prize (1 Cor. 9:24-27)
  • To gain Christ (Phil. 3)
  • To see the Lord (Heb. 12:14)

B. Progressive purposes

  • Our good (v. 10)
  • Share in his holiness (v. 10)
  • Fruit of righteousness (v. 11; Phil. 1:10-11)

IV. Perspective for our race

A. Our intensity/difficulty is really minor

  • Consider Christ (v. 3-4)

B. Our difficulty is to be welcomed not begrudged (v. 5-6)
C. No difficulty = no sonship (vs. 7-8]
D. God is working in this for our good (v. 9-10)
E. Our hardship is unpleasant but effective (v. 11)
F. Keep the pitfalls in view.

V. Pitfalls of our race

A. Potential to not see the Lord (v. 14)
B. Potential to fail to obtain grace (v. 15)
C. Potential to become or be poisoned by a “root of bitterness” (v. 15–also cf. Dt. 29:18ff. for the OT context of the phrase “root of bitterness”)
D. Potential to cross the line and be rejected finally (v. 16-17)

VI. Partners for our race

A. Brothers (and sisters) in Christ

  • Strive together (v. 14)
  • Help all (v. 15)
  • Prevent any (v. 16)
  • Also see Heb. 3:12-14 and 10:24-25

B. Christ (vs. 2)

The outline above should be sufficient for you to catch the gist of my thoughts on this passage. But let me expound on a few points so you better understand the outline. First, I take the “chastening” or “discipline” of verses 5 through 11 to be not so much God’s punishing us when we do evil as it is the whole difficulty involved in the sanctification process. What makes me conclude in this way? Well, verse 3-5 uses the concept of chastening to remind us to not view the race with a bad attitude. Verse 7 continues, “It is for discipline that you have to endure”. I see that as connected with the endurance mentioned in verse 2 and 3. In other words the whole Christian life–the race–requires endurance because it is God’s disciplining work. Verses 11-13 go back to the race metaphor again, showing that chastening should be viewed within that motif. Further, if chastening is done only to believers, and yet all the lost equally reap the bad results of their bad deeds, something different must be understood in the idea of chastening. I do not discount that an inward grief and struggle concerning sin is in view with this chastening, but it is only part of it and not the sum total of chastening.

Second, some of you may wonder what I am getting at under point number 5–the pitfalls. Feel free to consult a post dedicated strictly to this concept–the perseverance of the saints–entitled “Once Saved, Always Saved?!?!”. There I maintain that the warnings against apostasy are real and are used to help us become sanctified. In our race, we better remember that if at any time we give up, we may very well prove to have been a fake all along (1 Jn. 2:19). Only those who endure to the end will be saved, remember.

“Lifesong” by Casting Crowns

On Feb. 8 Casting Crowns won a Grammy Award for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album for their second album Lifesong. Winning a Grammy means you are both good and popular. Casting Crowns is definitely popular. Their first album went Platinum (i.e. sold a million copies) within 16 months of its release–making it one of the fastest selling Christian Albums in recent history.

Casting Crowns also happens to be one of my favorite groups. And their popularity actually speaks volumes about Christian Contemporary Music as a whole. Why? Because their songs are not mere Christian fluff dressed up in a popular music style. Their songs convey a deep and thoughtful message that is meant to challenge, provoke, and elicit heart-felt worship. And their songs are really popular for just that reason. In other words, a significant number of CCM fans really care about the message of their songs.

Kim Jones (of ChristianMusic About.com) calls Casting Crowns’ success “a God thing”. She sums up a review of Lifesong as follows:

“Bottom line – my hat goes off to Casting Crowns for a job well done, once again. This is one band that doesn’t soft-pedal their message, even if it is one that people enjoying a “comfort-zone” may not want to hear. It’s apparent to me that their incredible popularity isn’t just due to their obvious talent. It’s what I like to call a “God thing.” Think about it … most people don’t want the errors of their ways pointed out to them, yet Casting Crowns does just that. But people flock to see them and hear their music. I believe that’s because God is opening hearts to see the ugly truths about ourselves so that the seeds that Casting Crowns plants have a place to grow.”
[Read the whole article]

With the announcement of their Grammy Award (winning over the likes of Jars of Clay, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and Michael W. Smith), I felt it would be a good opportunity to highlight some of my favorite songs from their Grammy-winning second album.

Lifesong The title song is a prayer that our life would praise you not just our lips. “Let my Lifesong sing to you”. I blogged about this song in an earlier post, where you can check out the lyrics.

Praise You in This Storm This is a great song which speaks to the problems of unanswered prayer. The solution is “I’ll praise you in this storm…for You are who You are no matter where I am…though my heart is torn I will praise you in this storm.”

Stained Glass Masquerade This song speaks to the typical church-experience: everyone puts on their best clothes and best face to come to church, and no one reveals their deep struggles and problems. We are content to just let church be church and not have our real needs addressed–that would be too risky. But the song says it best:

“…’Cause when I take a look around, everybody seems so strong. I know they’ll soon discover that I don’t belong. So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay. If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too. So with a painted grin, I play the part again, so everyone will see me the way that I see them. Are we happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeples with walls around our weakness and smiles to hide our pain?…But would it set me free if I dared to let you see the truth behind the person that you imagine me to be? Would your arms be open or would you walk away? Would the love of Jesus be enough to make you stay?”

Love Them Like Jesus I cried at least the first 10 times I heard this song. It paints two painful situations, which are all too common in this world: a woman losing her husband with a family still to raise, and a couple losing the baby they had hoped for. How do you face such situations? How do you help people in such situations? The song says “Just love them like Jesus, carry them to Him. His yoke is easy, His burden is light. You don’t need the answers to all of life’s questions, just know that He loves them and stay by their side. Love them like Jesus”. What moves me about this song is how Jesus can offer hope in any troubling situation. And we can offer the hope Jesus has to those who are hurting. It is a lovely song with music that matches the message of the words.

Set Me Free This song, too, wrenches tears from me most of the time when I hear it. It is extremely powerful and moving. The music is harsher to reflect the message. It is the story of the maniac of the Gerasenes (or Gadarenes)–the man who had a legion of demons in him. The song reflects the hopelessness of the man’s situation, and has him crying “Set me free of the chains holding me! Is anybody out there hearing me? Set me free!” The intensity builds through the song, “Who is this man that comes my way? The dark ones shriek, they scream His name. Is this the One they say will set the captives free? Jesus, rescue me! Set me free….” And the climax continues with “As the God man passes by, He looks straight through my eyes, and darkness cannot hide.” Jesus now speaks, “Do you want to be free? Lift your chains I hold the key. All power on Heav’n and Earth belong to me! You are free. You are free…” The song speaks of the greatness of our salvation by highlighting first our great need. All of us were as hopeless as the demoniac without Christ. And then it highlights the glorious power of Christ to set us free. I picture the image of a chained man lifting his chains and crying out “set me free”. But I see the hope that floods his soul as Christ passes by and says “lift your chains, I hold the key!” What a great Savior we have!

There are several other good songs on the CD, but these are my favorites. I encourage you to check out the CD. You can get the whole lyrics to these songs through a simple online search. A biography of the group is available here. And a review of their first album is available here.

The Fall and Faith

Here are a few thoughts from my recent reading of Genesis 3.

Concerning the Fall

Gen. 3 teaches us, through the story of the Fall, the deceitfulness and seriousness of sin. Satan’s main deception was to point out that God’s law was unreasonable, and that there was something better to be obtained (pleasure, wisdom, a God-like status) by breaking it. The application I want to draw from this relates to the fact that our own temptations to sin, are temptations to think ill of God or to distrust God, because we are tempted to believe that God’s law against the action or attitude we seek to do or have prevents us from something better which we could enjoy. For us, it is not a tree or some fruit which is “a delight to the eyes“, or that is “desired to make one wise“. Rather it is selfishness, lust, self-pity, laziness, covetousness, anger, ill-will to others, or pride (and many more) which seems so delightful and desirable. It is our pride or self-interest which causes us to accept these pleasures of sin, instead of God’s best for us through obedience. So our succombing to the lie of temptation and knowingly following on into sin is a slap in God’s face. We set ourselves up to know what is best for us. God does not give us laws to gain sinful glee over our misery, he does so for our good.

Think about it, Adam and Eve had the prospect of an eternity without pain, disease, and strife in a perfect paradise with the highest possible communion with God Himself. And they threw it away for some temporary pleasure. Ask yourself what you are giving up, the next time temptation knocks on your door.

Along these lines we need to be reminded of the seriousness of sin. Heb. 3:12-14 teaches that through the deceitfulness of sin our hearts can be hardened to the point of falling away permanently from God by not holding our original confidence firm to the end. Heb. 12:14 speaks of a “holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” So sin is serious! Jesus, speaking of lust said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” (Matt. 5:29) In other words, we need to have a “kill or be (eternally) killed” attitude with sin. John Owen, commenting on Rom. 8:13 said, “…always be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” (pg. 5 of The Mortification of Sin by John Owen [abridged by Richard Rushing], Banner of Truth: Edinburgh, 2004) He also said, “Sin is always acting, always conceiving, and always seducing and tempting….If sin is always acting, we are in trouble if we are not always mortifying.” (pg. 7)

No, I am not advocating the view that we obtain our salvation by works. This is impossible to do, and an unscriptual position to hold (see Rom. 3:28, Rom. 4:1-8; Eph. 2:8-9, Titus 3:5). But Martin Luther speaks the conclusion of all the Reformers when he says, “Justification is by faith alone, but not by the faith that is alone.” In other words, true saving faith is not present without true Spirit-wrought works. Thus, concerning false prophets (obviously ones with a false profession) Jesus says, “You will recognize them by their fruits….” (Matt. 7:16). This is why Abraham is said to be both not “justified by works” (the argument from Rom. 4:1-5), and “justified by works” (James 2:20-26). The justification spoke of in James 2 (“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” vs. 24) is a vindication of God’s pronouncement that faith is to be “counted…as righteousness” (for Abraham and for all who follow his faith, Rom. 4:22-25). In other words, good works prove that one has been regenerated and saved by faith. Eph. 2:8-10 teach that we are not saved by our good works, but we are saved to be doing good works. The good works stem from a Spirit-wrought sanctification that Christ ordains for all who are his people by faith (see Titus 2:14). This is why John makes such sweeping statements in 1 John such as “Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” (3:7b-8a) And again, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” (3:9)

Our works prove the genuineness of our faith. It is possible to be self-deceived concerning our faith (Matt. 7:21-23, and 2 Cor. 13:5). We are warned that we could have “believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:2). So going back to my main point, we must remember the seriousness of sin. Gal. 6:7-8 reminds us, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

I do not want to major only on what we might reap by developing a “practice of sinning“. Also consider the glory of what we miss here and now. We miss God’s presence where “there is fullness of joy“. (Ps. 16:11) God had much pleasure and lasting joy for Adam and Eve, and God has the “abundant life” for you and I. Let us not be deceived by sin’s promise of pleasure right now. Let us follow Moses’ example and choose to endure troubles (denying our self, saying no to temptation, receiving the persecution our culture heaps on believers) rather than “enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin“, because we also “consider the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt (or any promise that sin might offer to us)”. (Heb. 11:24-26)

Concerning Faith

But this is not the only message Gen. 3 has for us, there is a beautiful testimony of faith in our gracious God. If you are like me, when I read verses 14-19 of Gen. 3, I do not see much to be happy about. I can easily imagine Adam and Eve having long faces and drooping shoulders as they walk away from God, now having received their sentence. But this is exactly what did not happen!

Vs. 20-21 follow immediately on the heels of the awful pronouncement of doom. From vs. 22-24 (where God thrusts Adam and Eve out of the garden lest they also eat of the Tree of Life) we must conclude that vs. 20-21 happened very soon after, possibly the same day, as vs. 14-19.

Before you can really see what I do, you must go back and look at vs. 15 again. This is part of God’s judment on the serpent, and in it we find the first promise of a Messiah, a Savior. This is called the protoevangelium (or first gospel). God promises that the woman will have offspring which will “bruise” the serpent’s head, while the serpent will “bruise his heel“. Heb. 2:14 tells us that Christ destroyed Satan on the cross, and Rom. 16:20 teaches that believers also ultimately will “crush Satan” under our feet. So Christ’s future work on the cross is what is foreseen in this promise.

Now back to vs. 20. Adam and Eve have just heard the awful pronouncement. But then Adam immediately names his wife Eve, because “she was the mother of all living”. [My ESV footnote says, “Eve sounds like the Hebrew for life-giver and resembles the word for living.”] So before his wife had given life to any child, Adam names his wife Eve. This was done in faith, I believe. Because God had promised his wife would bear children. This was exciting to Adam and Eve, because one of her children would bruise the Serpent’s head, providing redemption. This is why upon Cain’s birth Eve says, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord” (Gen. 4:1). And later when their third son is born, they name him “Seth” because, as Eve explains, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” (4:25)

So Adam and Eve, received with faith in God’s promise of a deliverer. And immediately thereafter God performed the first animal sacrifices (a picture of the ultimate bloody sacrifice of Christ for sin) in order to clothe them properly in coats of skin. From Rev. 3:5, 7:13-14, and 19:8 we see that the righteousness of those who are saved is pictured by white garments. It is not hard to see that these garments which clothed Adam and Eve, being given to them by God, are a picture of God’s supply of righteousness to those who believe through the imputation of Christ’s righteousness on their behalf.

So we see in Gen. 3 a picture of the deceitfulness and seriousness of sin in the account of the Fall. But we also see the gracious provision of clothing by God to those who believe in His gracious promises. May we too see the glory in God’s promises and believe, rather than seeing the harshness of God’s justice (as expressed often in the continuing misery experienced by all on earth due to the Fall–floods, tsunamis, cancer, car accidents, etc.) and complaining as Cain did in chapter 4.


∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7