Tag: grace

Book Briefs: “Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It” by Adam Hamilton

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

John Wesley is a pivotal figure in the history of Evangelicalism. His ministry resulted in both the Methodist church and the Wesleyan church. Adam Hamilton, an influential United Methodist Church pastor in Kansas city, takes us on a tour of Wesley’s life and ministry. This tour is replete with photos and recommended stops should the reader actually visit the places in question. The book is more than just a historical survey or tour guide for Wesley’s life. Hamilton aims to go back to the roots as a way of encouraging personal and corporate “revival.”

Hamilton makes clear this is not a biography as such, instead it is a spiritual overview of Wesley’s life and a study of it that is intended to further the spiritual growth of those who read this. The book then functions as a text for small groups or Sunday Schools and is replete with Hamilton’s own personal reflections and insights. That being said, it still gives a good overview of Wesley’s life, and does an admirable job pointing to other resources for further study.

The book is also an advertisement, of sorts, for Methodism. Wesley’s vision and his Church is held up as a standard. A perfect blend of head and heart, evangelism and social concern, conservatism and liberalism. Even those of other traditions can appreciate the desire to paint your own Church in the best light, but this feature of the book will diminish its usefulness in other church contexts. Truth be told, Wesley’s ideas cannot always truly be a “via media” or middle way with the best of both worlds. He did plow his own path, and Methodism does have some deficiencies.

As someone blessed by the Reformed tradition, I found his explanation of Wesley’s stance on prevenient grace and his opposition to Calvinism too simplistic an account of the debate. Intriguingly, while George Whitfield is mentioned as an evangelist who both spurred Wesley on (showing him the usefulness of open air preaching) and yet was influenced by Wesley (as one of the first Methodists), he is not mentioned as an antagonist to Wesley. Whitfield disagreed with Wesley’s stance on grace, holding to a Reformed position. The interaction between Whitfield and Wesley is quite well-known and important historically, yet reading this book would not clue you in that Whitfield and Wesley split over this — and importantly it wouldn’t imply that other good evangelists might conclude differently than Wesley on this point.

All told, the book is a helpful look at Wesley’s life and the inclusion of numerous historical pictures adds to the value of the work. Wesley’s own writing concludes the book as an appendix. His work “The Character of a Methodist” is given and fleshes out the picture of Wesley we find in these pages. Conservative evangelicals and those of Reformed persuasion will perhaps chafe at the unabashed embrace of a social gospel. Hamilton’s seeming desire to include everyone as a preChristian or a Christian diminishes the seriousness of Wesley’s call that we beware lest we find ourselves “almost Christians.” So I recommend the book with some cautions. Still, the book can encourage faith and promote the kind of balance that is helpful for Christians of every persuasion today.

Disclaimer: this book was provided by the publisher for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to provide a positive review.

This book is available for purchase at the following sites: Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, or direct from Abingdon Press.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.

Book Briefs: “Still Protesting: Why the Reformation Matters” by D. G. Hart

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

500 years ago the Reformation was transforming Europe. Politics and nation-states would be affected, but the relationship of the average Christian to the Church was forever altered. Protestant Evangelical Christians look back on the Reformation with gratitude. The Reformation recovered the Christian Gospel of grace after all. But the contemporary Church has wandered far from the faith of its fathers, and more than ever before calls for denominational unity and even ecumenical togetherness with Rome are hitting home. Secularism is a threat to Catholic and confessing Protestant alike, so why not band together? How big, after all, are the points that separate us? Didn’t the Roman Catholic Church reform in the wake of the Reformation too?

It is these questions and this concern that D. G. Hart addresses head on in his recent book Still Protesting: Why the Reformation Matters (Reformation Heritage, 2018). Hart expertly unfolds the history of the Reformation and evaluates key evangelical truths (including the important “5 Solas”) as compared to the historical Roman Catholicism of that day. He goes on to examine whether the Roman Catholic Church has truly changed in its stance on these points over time. In his case against Rome, Hart also finds liberal Protestantism and lackadaisical evangelicalism at fault as well. He argues that the Reformation is still needed and a return to the faith of our fathers may well help American Christianity as it faces its own cross-roads.

An intriguing feature of the book is his examination of conservative political theory in America in relation to “anti-Catholic” sentiment. Historically, Protestants looked at the “golden age” of America as an advance in the history of the West (almost a postmillennial viewpoint) and lauded the rise of democracy and liberty. However “Roman Catholics saw those same developments negatively, as declension from an ideal time when church, government, society, and culture coexisted harmoniously under the sacred canopy of Christian influence” (p. 152). As progressive politics moved on to promote social change and “progress” in general – Catholicism’s opposition to unfettered equality and freedom became more in-step with conservatism’s resistance to progressive politics. For those who have wanted to “dissent from the logic and momentum of progressive politics” more help is found “for political conservatism in Roman Catholic sources” (p. 159). This leads to the pain-point that Hart is addressing: many political conservatives today claim that to be a true conservative, you must become a Roman Catholic. In response, Hart points to Abraham Kuyper (an evangelical leader and Prime Minister of The Netherlands) and J. Gresham Machen (founder of Westminster Theological Seminary) as examples of Protestant contributions to conservatism.

What sparked my interest in that section of the book was his point that American Protestantism had developed a “form of patriotism that unhealthily equated the faith with democracy and liberty” (p. 159). Protestantism’s fight against Catholicism mirrored democracy’s fight against the Monarchy. The founders of our country very much fit in with this patriotic version of faith. Indeed, this patriotism must have enabled the onset of the “social gospel.” Today’s patriotic, “God and Country” version of evangelical “faith,” which is “unhealthy” and unbiblical, has a long history indeed.

Those well-versed in the Reformation are sure to find new insights and connections in the pages of this book. Readers less familiar with the Reformation will also be helped. Anyone interested in what really separates Protestants from Catholics will find this book useful. I highly recommend it.

Pick up a copy of this book at any of the following online retailers:
Westminster Bookstore, Amazon, ChristianBook.com, or direct from Reformation Heritage.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by the publisher. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.

About Book Briefs: Book Briefs are book notes, or short-form book reviews. They are my informed evaluation of a book, but stop short of being a full-length book review.

Sermon Download: Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)

~ Bob Hayton ~ Leave a comment

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of preaching for a special five-part series at our church. Each week a sermon has been devoted to one of the Five Solas of the Reformation. In English, the Five Solas are: Christ Alone, Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, and to the Glory of God Alone. This is also the order we are using for the sermon series. Our pastor has opened the series and will finish it, and two other men and I are privileged to contribute one of the messages for the set.

My sermon from this Sunday was on Sola Gratia, or Grace Alone. I was especially burdened by this topic which is so all-encompassing. My sermon highlighted the role of Grace in salvation — we are saved not on account of our works (praise God!). And I also emphasized how grace opposes legalism, in both its doctrinal and practical forms. Finally I was able to touch on Sovereign Grace just a bit as well.

My text was Titus 3, and I was pleased to discover that Martin Luther preached a pair of sermons on Titus 2:11-4 and Titus 3:4-7 for Christmas of 1522. Those sermons were epsecially pertinent to my theme and I included some quotations. (You can find Luther’s sermons on Titus  here and here).

I’m sharing my sermon notes and audio in this post and welcome any feedback. You can also find all my recent sermons from The Heights Church, St. Paul, here.

If you don’t have time to listen to the entire sermon (52 minutes), please do look over my notes.

Place: The Heights Church, St. Paul
Date: November 12, 2017
Title: Sola Gratia (Grace Alone)
Text: Titus 3:3-8
Notes: Download PDF
Audio Link: Click to listen (right click to download)

The Five Solas of the Reformation

~ Bob Hayton ~ 2 Comments

Tuesday will mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. One way of focusing on the key truths recovered by the Reformers is looking at what has come to be known as the “Five Solas.” These truths are pictured below and represented by the following Latin phrases: Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria.

The following points are adapted from part 5 of my teaching series: “A Survey of the Reformation: Its History and Doctrine” which is available for free download here.

∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∼

Scripture Alone

  • The Scripture was liberated for the common people.
  • Reformers insisted on Scripture’s supreme authority. [Scripture has final say over church tradition, but the Reformers still appreciated much that the Church Fathers and the ecumenical Church councils had agreed on (e.g., the orthodox statements on the Trinity and the Deity of Christ, for instance).]
  • Scripture was held as infallible and inerrant.
  • Scripture was preached — preaching and Scripture reading took pride of place in the “order of worship.”

Faith Alone

  • Faith, not works, is the condition for justification.
  • Faith provides an “alien righteousness” –the works of Christ on our behalf (active and passive).
  • Justification by faith is a gift of God — and was absolutely essential to the Reformation.
  • Justification declares us righteous, it doesn’t start the process of making us righteous (sanctification).
  • However, we are justified by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone. (No place for “easy-believism”).
  • Helpful quote: “Where there is true faith, works necessarily result, just as fire necessarily brings with it heat.” (Swiss Reformer, Ulrich Zwingli)

Grace Alone

  • Grace didn’t just enable man to “pull himself up by his bootstraps.”
  • Grace for the Reformers, was Sovereign
  • Helpful definition: “the free favour of God… conferred… upon the unworthy.” (19th Century Calvinistic Baptist, William Newman)
  • Grace = “unmerited favor”
  • God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
  • Grace calls us (Gal. 1:15), regenerates us (Titus 3:5), justifies us (Rom. 3:24), sanctifies us (Heb. 13:20-21), and preserves us (1 Pet. 1:3-5).

Christ Alone

  • The Church does not dispense salvation, Jesus does –Acts 4:12.
  • Mary & the Saints are not the mediator, Jesus is the only mediator –1 Tim. 2:5.
  • The Cross-work of Christ is sufficient for all the merit needed for salvation –Christ is “our righteousness.”
  • The Cross-work of Christ is not repeated, but a finished work (no “re-run” of Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass).
  • Christ’s righteousness was both passive (submitting to death for us) and active (life that pleased God).
  • Today, we need to remember that Christ alone is where salvation is to be found –not in other religions or philosophies (contra postmodernism and pluralism).

God’s Glory Alone

  • Hebrew word for glory is: kabod = “weight”
  • Greek word for glory is: δοξα = “opinion”.
  • Definition: “value or worth, intrinsic to something and the value we externally place on it (in worship).”
  • God’s goal is to manifest His glory.
  • Helpful summary: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 1)
  • God is the one who gets glory in the work of salvation – not man, Mary, the saints, or the Church.

Lost in a Good Footnote: How to Have Joy When You Are Hurting

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

Have you ever read something in a footnote that was just too good to leave there? If you are like me, you can get “lost in a good footnote.” This post focuses on another great footnote.

I think that this gem buried in Joe Rigney’s book The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts (Crossway, 2015) is worth sharing.

Before you get to the quote, let me set the stage. Have you ever been hurting? Just completely consumed by grief or sorrow? If you remain in such a condition for long, you feel that there is no more joy in the world. The sun doesn’t seem fair, the flowers are dull, everything is meaningless. So what can you do to get yourself out of such a perilous state? This footnote has an answer.

At first it doesn’t sound like good news, but the Bible tells us that we must “rejoice with those who rejoice.” And perhaps that is the key. You have lost something, but they have not. You are hurting, but their hurt is of a lesser degree. Would you rob them of shared joy, by extending your grief to cover them too?

An others-focus may just free us from a pattern of self-despair. Looking away from ourselves, doesn’t mean we cease to grieve or hurt. But it does mean we see God at work in bigger and broader ways, with more people than just our immediate family.

This goes both ways, because we are called to “weep with those who weep.” So even our highest joys should be tinged with an awareness of the hurting of others. This is the sort of tangible togetherness and unity that should be the hallmark of Christian love and of the Church that Jesus founded.

Let me share the quote which set my mind to this direction. And please note that ultimately it is only the Holy Spirit and His work in us which enables such a radical others-orientation. May God bless all who ponder the Scripture behind the thoughts shared below.

In an earlier chapter, I spoke of the way that the Bible expands our minds by pulling us in opposite directions and that we must embrace the mystery and refuse to allow one truth to cancel out another. This is no less true of our emotional lives. One of the seemingly impossible commands in the Bible is found in Rom. 12:15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” The gospel lays both of these commands upon us. Those who suffer are called to add their joy to the joy of the blessed. Those who receive favor must join the grieving in the midst of their sorrow. And we must do so without allowing one emotion to tyrannize the other. The glad-hearted must not lord their blessings over the afflicted. The hurting must not allow their pain to drown out real joy when it’s given from God. Love must be genuine (Rom. 12:9), and we must endeavor to live in harmony with one another (Rom. 12:16). Practically speaking, this means that our lives will be characterized by the same heart as the apostle Paul, who lived “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Cor. 6:10). It also means that wisdom and propriety will govern our joy and sorrow, so that we move with the rhythms of Eccles. 3:4: “[There is] a time to weep, and a time to laugh.” And the only way that we’ll make any progress in getting these rhythms right is if we are open and honest in communicating with one another and if we are trusting in the grace of God to be sufficient for our every need. It is grace that enables the sorrowful to rejoice in the joy of others, especially when they receive something that we desperately want or have tragically lost. It is grace that enables the joyful to bear with the suffering of the grief-stricken, especially when our hearts are bursting with gladness. Grace must reign, love must cover a multitude of sins, wounds, and thoughtlessness, and Christ must do what is impossible for us.

— Endnote 13 from chapter 11, found on pg. 259.

Pick up a copy of this book at Amazon, or Westminster books.