Salvation (Luke 18:18-30) When the rich young ruler came to Jesus he asked the question, “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded by listing the commandments. But why? Jesus knew that this man had not kept the commandments and that he could not keep the commandments. The point our Lord was making is that the sinner himself needed to understand that he could not be justified by the works of the law. So how is it that people are saved? If this man and the Pharisees could not be saved through their strict adherence to the law then how can anyone be saved? Faith Alone? (Romans 3:19-31) I am sure that my readership is probably mostly believers. As a matter of fact, I write this blog for the purpose of encouraging our church members. With that said I hope you are saying, “Brother Eddie, people are saved by faith in Jesus alone.” Which is absolutely correct! However, when we say “alone” what do we mean? What we mean is apart from the “works” of the law. Paul is clear that the law was given to reveal the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of all humanity including both Jews and Gentiles. This means that when we say that we are saved by faith alone we are referring specifically to faith apart from our own ability to keep the law. But God is righteous and just, so the law is not incidental but rather a reflection of His character. As such, He cannot and will not overlook the demands of His own character (law) in those He has created to bear the divine image. This means that someone must actually keep the law not to abolish it but to fulfill it so that there now exists a transferable and imputable righteousness for those who have faith. This is what Jesus has done! He has fulfilled the law so that everyone trusting in Him can be justified by His amazing grace. Justified by Works (James 2:14-26) But someone will say, “James tells us that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” It is true that the Bible does say that. So what do we conclude? Is there an inconsistency between Paul and James on this essential question of justification? I would propose that if this is a genuine contradiction then Christianity cannot be true. But of course, I believe and know that Christianity is true and justification is real so how do we explain this seeming contradiction? The issue comes down to the works that James is referring to in this passage. Both Paul and James are talking about faith and justification but the difference is that they are not using the word “works” in the same way. Above, I argued clearly that Paul was talking about works of the law being the basis for one's justification. Paul was informing us that we cannot be just justified by the works of the law because we cannot keep it perfectly; only genuine faith in Jesus can be the basis for our justification. However, James is not talking about works of the law and he is not talking about these works as the basis for our justification. So what kind of works is James talking about? James is talking about works of faith. These works are the fruit that comes from saving faith. His point is simple: if you do not have the works that are the inevitable fruit of genuine faith then you do not have genuine faith which is the only kind of faith that saves anyone. So people can only be justified by faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from the works of the law. But that genuine faith will produce the works of faith which are the fruit of real salvation.
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Asbury One week ago at the conclusion of the chapel service at Asbury University the students were called to a time of repentance and confession. The reports are that God moved on those in attendance and began an ongoing service that at the time of this writing has not ended seven days later. I’m sure most people have already heard about this event. My purpose in this post is to think through how we should respond to what is clearly an extraordinary event. Most people are celebrating that God has come and finally brought the revival or spiritual revitalization that has been sought by Christians for decades. Some others are denouncing this as youthful exuberance or worse an evil deception. So which is it? How can we know and how should we be thinking and praying in light of the biblical revelation and historical examples? History I do not have the space in this short blog to recount the full history of revival or even the history in relation to America. But most people will have heard of the first major revival in American history, which was called the First Great Awakening (1730’s-1770’s). Key figures in the First Great Awakening include George Whitfield, Samuel Davies, John and Charles Wesley, and probably most famously Jonathon Edwards. In these years, the preaching of the gospel saw unprecedented and explosive success as thousands were coming and confessing faith in Jesus Christ. A half century later another amazing movement spread across the land that has been called the Second Great Awakening (1810-1835). Key figures in this movement were Lyman Beecher, Timothy Dwight, and Asahel Nettleton. Toward the end of this movement arose Charles Finney who ushered in new measures that more closely resemble the manipulative practices often associated with revivalism since that time. In February 1970, at a chapel service at Asbury College in Kentucky (yes this is the same place as the current revival) a chapel sparked a week long continuous meeting that later came to be included with the larger movement in the 70’s known as the “Jesus Revolution.” All of this brings us to today and the current meetings taking place at Asbury. Hysteria The events which are taking place at Asbury are extraordinary regardless of if they are of God or not. But the question remains, what is this that is happening in these meetings? I think that there are a few important things that we must keep in mind. First it is important that we are careful about judging from a distance what is or is not happening. I have heard conflicting reports about the soundness of the things that are taking place there. Since this is the case I believe that we must refrain from making hasty judgments about the actions of God. It is neither safe to affirm or condemn without direct experience, evidence, and evaluation of the fruit. By this I mean that if anyone is declaring this a definite work of God they are doing so prematurely. But if someone is condemning this as a demonic deception they are also doing so prematurely. Second, even true movements of God can be mingled with the fallible efforts of man. Most observers would conclude that Finney’s tactics toward the conclusion of the Second Great Awakening should not be used to invalidate the whole movement. In optimism, we should be willing to try to observe both the bad and the good that seems to be on display. Finally, unless we believe that only those sharing our own doctrinal confession are truly saved, we must be willing to concede that a genuine move of God can happen even among those with less than perfect theology. We should hope that this is true because none of us have perfect theology. Properly assessing this movement will require liberal doses of both grace and discernment. To neglect either will most certainly mean a less than accurate view of what has happened. Hope Ultimately, all believers desire to see our Lord rightly glorified and many souls brought into the kingdom. With this being the genuine and correct desire of our hearts it seems right that we would hope for this to be a true work of God. Honestly even if it is not we can still trust that God will use even those things meant of evil for His sovereign purposes (Genesis 50:19-21). I do believe that there is danger in being gullible, because God has told us to be shrewd as serpents (Matthew 10:16). However, we should not be cantankerous pessimists either for we are called to be harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). So let us hope not in the wishful sense of the world but with the sure sense of the unassailable will of God! (Hebrews 6:9-20) Apologies This blog is coming out late. That is not for any specific reason other than I just forgot to do it. Over the last couple of weeks our schedules have been impacted by the weather and now back into the somewhat normal pattern, I simply overlooked this task. Now I know that you all are eagerly anticipating the appearance of the blog each week (haha, sarcasm) so I know you have been constantly refreshing your browser to see if it's there. In reality, I truly hope that this blog is of help to you as you read it. It actually serves me as both a creative outlet and a discipline. I am not really an author. I much prefer face to face conversations, however, the weekly discipline to sit down and order my thoughts has been extremely helpful to me. I suppose I just want to say thank you for taking a few minutes to read each installment. Priorities Many different factors can affect our punctuality. Of course, this can be because we are disorganized and not on top of our commitments. Or we could be providentially hindered by something completely out of our control. But often, for those of us including myself, tardiness comes down to what we prioritize. I'm sure that psychological studies exist that show underlying issues that contribute to people being late. For example, many people who are chronically late are probably ironically trying to be so efficient with their time that they simply want to use every moment causing them to fall behind schedule. However, this takes on an even more moral component when we understand that this implies a prioritization of personal efficiency over other people. When our tardiness causes us to disrespect the time and attention of other people we are in essence putting ourselves before others. But among those in the kingdom of God we are to esteem others ahead of or before or above yourself (Philippians 2:4-11). When we do not prioritize people over our personal interests we have deviated from following the example of Christ. This also means that it is possible for circumstances involving our prioritization of others above ourselves to be the reason for us to be thrown off schedule. It could very well be the case that an unexpected or urgent need would be sufficient to cause an adjustment to our plans for the good of another person or persons. The behavior of the good samaritan takes real investment including our time (Luke 10:25-37). Preparation Earlier I mentioned that our tardiness could be because of disorganization. I know that I find myself often running late for no other reason than that I simply did not properly budget the time I have for the things that need to be accomplished. I think that many of us assume that we can get more done in a small amount of time than we can and so we fill up our time with more things than we can get done. The point here is simple: we need to learn the lesson of the ant and get an early start on the things that are truly important (Proverbs 6:6-11). We also need to heed the implicit warning from the sluggard that delay will result in disaster (Proverbs 6:6-11). Principles As believers we should also rest in the reality that God is sovereign over all timing. By this I do not mean that we shouldn’t care about schedules and getting needed things finished on time. But rather that we can trust that God’s timing is right even when we cannot understand it. For one thing, God exists outside of time and beyond its confines. Our God is the creator of time and He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:8-11). It is for this reason that God is never early and He cannot be late. Consider the miraculous reality of the incarnation. The Lord Jesus did not enter into our world at just some random point in history but rather Scripture tells us that in the fullness of time Christ came (Galatians 4:4-5). Meticulous sovereignty refers to the fact that God is in control and in charge of both the ends and the means. This means that God is not only orchestrating the purpose or result that He intends but the exact method and circumstances to the end. This includes when all things happen. Ultimately, even our own lives are a part of God’s eternal plan. He will bring the temporal reality to its appropriate and glorious conclusion and bring us in His eternal joy (Jude 24-25)! Brothers and sisters, let me urge you to spend some time thinking and meditating on the eternal joy of His presence when time will be no more (Revelation 22:5)! Power Why don’t we see the kind of amazing revivals happening today that have happened in past church history? I’m sure that if we are honest many of us have thought that maybe our modern society is just too sophisticated for such simple and extensive advances of God’s kingdom. It really is a silly notion that modernity has somehow changed how God deals with people. The other issue is that many church growth gurus and demographical experts will tell us that we need to mold our methods and practices to appeal to the sociological realities around our congregation. If we want to get people to come and invest themselves in our church we must put out something exciting and attractive. It really does sound like a bait and switch kind of thing doesn’t it? But what if we are missing something that was a regular part of the Christian practice back in the time of those revivals and reformations in church history? What if we need to re-engage an old practice used by Christians going all the way back to the Lord Himself. We need to pray! Ask The Lord Jesus Himself taught us that everyone who asks, receives (Matthew 7:8). Jesus’ point is not just ask and you will get your wish as one might imagine a genie in a bottle. But rather Jesus is instructing us that only those who ask, and keep asking, will receive. So could it be that we are anemic in our spiritual experience because we are neglectful of engaging in earnest and eager prayer? We must ask that God would save sinners through our evangelistic witness and presence in our community. If we truly believe that salvation belongs to the Lord (Jonah 2:10) then isn’t He the one that we should be coming to if we want to see people truly changed and transformed! We must ask God to give us boldness and success in proclaiming Christ to everyone around us. Even the Apostle Paul asked for the faithful believers in the churches to pray for his boldness in evangelism and mission work (Ephesians 6:18-20). We must ask God to help us grow spiritually and in our understanding and obedience to His word. Do we truly understand that we cannot grow spiritually through mere intellectual effort? We need the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth (John 16:12-15). The church must always remember that the things of God are discerned spiritually (1 Corinthians 2:14-16). We must ask God to bind us together in the local church in bonds of fellowship and friendship as the family of God. Our only hope is that we would ask! Receive The prince of preachers from the nineteenth century, C. H. Spurgeon, regarded the prayer meeting as the most important meeting of the week. Imagine, thousands of people were attending multiple services on the Lord’s Day each week to hear the word, but he regarded the prayer meeting as the most important gathering. Many were also coming for baptism and church membership and still Spurgeon believed that the prayer meeting was most important. The reason is that he knew that the great harvest and blessing was not a result of his oratory skill, even as great as it was, but rather these things were the result of God answering the prayers of God’s people. Dr. Pierson, a fellow minister with Charles Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, said that it is a house of prayer most emphatically (Wonders of Grace, pg 116). Those ministers, including Spurgeon, attributed the success of the ministry to “the power of simple gospel preaching backed by believing supplication.” If we truly desire to know and love God then we must be people of prayer. If we truly desire for others to know and love God then we must be people of prayer. If we truly desire to see Christ Kingdom come then we must be people of prayer. If we truly desire for Christ to be fully glorified then we must be people of prayer. But if a church regards the prayer meeting of little value then we need not be surprised when the fellowship, the worship, the preaching and teaching is powerless and the meetings are dead. For they have been starved of the very lifeblood of corporate prayer. Let us pray! For more on this you can listen to my discussion with my good friend Pastor Allen Nelson IV of Perryville Second Baptist Church on the latest episode of the Rural Church Podcast 2.0 (here). |
AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
May 2024
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