What Is Saving Faith?

Recently Matt Tully from Crossway Books interviewed John Piper on his new book, What Is Saving Faith?, from Crossway in a podcast entitled Can Affectionless Faith Be Genuine?  Here are some quotable quotes from the interview.

“A lot of people think that the people who have been born again out of the most horrific lives of sinning have the clearest idea of what depravity means and what salvation means. I think that’s wrong because I don’t think experience can come close to teaching us about the nature of our depravity that we find in Scripture . . . We have to see in the Bible what our condition was before we were saved, what our condition is after we are saved, and we get from the Bible that line in between, which is what we want to talk about—What is the saving thing that happened in our hearts?”

“What I’ve come to see is that I think the church, especially in certain parts of it, has many unbelievers who think they’re saved. It’s why the church is weak, it’s why the church is ineffective in so many ways, it’s why worship is so flat—because there are a lot of unregenerate, non-born-again people in the church who have been taught that they are to make a decision, so they decide to believe some doctrines, to believe that they are going to heaven, and nothing has changed in their heart.”

“The will, when it inclines vigorously with all of its force, we call affection. I prefer my wife over all other women. That’s not a small preference. I prefer life over death. In other words, the will can act without affection, and the will can act vigorously with affection.”

“America is a free will driven culture, meaning I have ultimate control over my destiny. I’m the captain of my fate! That’s all heresy. We don’t have ultimate control over our fate; God does.”

“Faith is affectional, and so it does rest on knowing and believing that I have a treasuring of Christ that ranks him above mother and father, because Jesus said, If you don’t love me more than your mother and father you don’t belong to me. I can’t get away from that. That’s real. I have to fight for that. I have to treasure him more than I treasure my wife and my children and my mother and father. Otherwise, I’m not a Christian. That’s truth from Matthew 10:37.”

“When we believe and do not work for our justification, we glorify the grace of God. We glorify grace by looking away from ourselves to the all-sufficiency of his justification by imputing Christ’s righteousness to us. However, God aims to get more glory than being a sufficient sin-forgiver, or an efficient righteousness-imputer. He means to get glory for being an all-satisfying treasure, so he built that into saving faith as well. Saving faith embraces Christ as my righteousness, embraces Christ as my Lord, embraces Christ as my treasure. In doing that it is satisfied in him, and so we arrive at the basic statement of Christian hedonism: God is most glorified in me when I, in my saving faith, am most satisfied with all that he is for me in Jesus.”

Normalizing Same-sex Marriage

 Herein is a stunning statement by Dr. Albert Mohler, if you’re an evangelical Christian:

“In the end, we will almost surely have to concede that divorce will harm far more lives and cause far more direct damage than same-sex marriage . . . Heterosexuals did a very good job of undermining marriage before the culture forces began advocating for the normalization of same-sex relationships and the legalization of same-sex marriage . . . Today’s movement toward the total acceptance of homosexual behavior and relationships was only made possible because some heterosexuals first did their best to undermine marriage.“ [1]

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1.  We Cannot Be Silent: Speaking Truth to a Culture Redefining Sex, Marriage, and the Very Meaning of Right and Wrong by R. Albert Mohler Jr.

https://a.co/b3DzsJD

What is “secularization”?

“Secular refers to the absence of any binding divine authority or belief. Secularization is a sociological process whereby societies become less theistic as they become more modern. As societies move into conditions of deeper and more progressive modernity, they move away from a binding force of religious belief, and theistic belief in particular.”

“In his book A Secular Age, Taylor described the pre-modern age as a time when it was impossible not to believe . . . In the modern age, a secular alternative to Christian theism emerged and it became possible not to believe . . . But, as Taylor noted, those days are behind us. In our own postmodern age it is now considered impossible to believe.“

Secularization isn’t the opposite of religion or spirituality.  “Secularization, according to Taylor, is about the rejection of a belief in a personal God, one who holds and exerts authority.” [1]

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1.  We Cannot Be Silent: Speaking Truth to a Culture Redefining Sex, Marriage, and the Very Meaning of Right and Wrong by R. Albert Mohler Jr.

https://a.co/7DwHgP6

You don’t just lose someone once

 You don’t just lose someone once.

You lose them when you close your eyes each night.

And as you open them each morning.

You lose them throughout the day.

An unused coffee cup.

An empty chair.

A pair of boots no longer there.

You lose them as the sun sets.

And darkness closes in.

 

You lose them as you wonder why.

Staring at a star lit sky.

You lose them on the big days.

Anniversaries.

Birthdays.

Graduations.

Holidays.

Weddings.

And the regular days too.

You lose them in the ordinary.

Paperwork.

Household chores.

Routines taken for granted.

You lose them in the familiar.

A song they used to sing.

The scent of their cologne.

A slice of their favourite pie.

You lose them in conversations you will never have.

And all the words unsaid.

You lose them in all the places they’ve been.

And all the places they longed to go.

You lose them in what could have been.

And all the dreams you shared.

You lose them as you pick up the broken pieces.

And begin your life anew.

You lose them when you realize.

This is your new reality.

They are never coming back.

No matter how much 

You miss them or

Need them.

No matter how hard you pray.

They are gone.

And you must go on.

Alone.

You lose them as the seasons change.

The snow blows.

The flowers blossom.

The grass grows.

The leaves fall.

You lose them again and again.

Day after day.

Month after month.

Year after year.

Time marches on, carrying them further and further way.

You lose them as your hair whitens and your body bends with age.

Your memory fades.

And the details begin to blur.

Their face stares back at you from a faded photograph.

Someone you used to know.

You think you might have loved them once.

Long ago.

Back then.

When you were whole.

You don’t just lose someone once.

You lose them every day.

Over and over again.

For the rest of your life. 

~ Donna Ashworth

Lament for a Son

 In Lament for a Son[1] Nicholas Wolterstorff writes not as a scholar but as a loving father grieving the loss of his son. The book is in one sense a narrative account of events--from the numbing telephone call on a sunny Sunday afternoon that tells of 25-year-old Eric's death in a mountain-climbing accident, to a graveside visit a year later. Lament for a Son gives expression to a grief that is at once unique and universal--a grief for an individual, irreplaceable person.

Quotable Quotes

“Often, I am asked whether the grief remains as intense as when I wrote. The answer is, No. The wound is no longer raw. But it has not disappeared. That is as it should be. If he was worth loving, he is worth grieving over. Grief is existential testimony to the worth of the one loved. That worth abides.”

“It’s the neverness that is so painful. Never again to be here with us—never to sit with us at table, never to travel with us, never to laugh with us, never to cry with us, never to embrace us.”

“IT’S SO WRONG, SO profoundly wrong, for a child to die before its parents. It’s hard enough to bury our parents. But that we expect. Our parents belong to our past, our children belong to our future. We do not visualize our future without them. How can I bury my son, my future, one of the next in line? He was meant to bury me!”

“His death is things to do not done—never to be done.”

“THERE’S A HOLE in the world now. In the place where he was, there’s now just nothing. A center, like no other, of memory and hope and knowledge and affection which once inhabited this earth is gone. Only a gap remains. A perspective on this world unique in this world which once moved about within this world has been rubbed out. Only a void is left . . .  A person, an irreplaceable person, is gone. Never again will anyone apprehend the world quite the way he did. Never again will anyone inhabit the world the way he did. Questions I have can never now get answers. The world is emptier. My son is gone. Only a hole remains, a void, a gap, never to be filled.”

“I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and resurrecter of Jesus Christ. I also believe that my son’s life was cut off in its prime. I cannot fit these pieces together. I am at a loss. I have read the theodicies produced to justify the ways of God to man. I find them unconvincing. To the most agonized question I have ever asked I do not know the answer. I do not know why God would watch him fall. I do not know why God would watch me wounded. I cannot even guess.”

“WITH THESE HANDS I lifted him from his cradle—tiny then, soft, warm, and squirming with life. Now at the end with these same hands I touched him in his coffin.”

“And at the end, that we now must learn to live as faithfully and authentically with Eric gone as we had tried to do with Eric present.”

“I will indeed remind myself that there’s more to life than pain. I will accept joy. But I will not look away from Eric dead. Its demonic awfulness I will not ignore. I owe that—to him and to God.”

“I cannot fit it together at all. I can only, with Job, endure. I do not know why God did not prevent Eric’s death. To live without the answer is precarious. It’s hard to keep one’s footing.”

“Will the family all be home for Christmas?” . . . “What are your children doing now?” . . .  “How many children do you have?”

“HIS YOUNGER brothers had begun to ask him for advice. To Claire and me he had become an equal, no longer a child to be cared for. Now he’s gone, and the family has to restructure itself. We don’t just each have a gap inside us but together a gap among us. We have to live differently with each other. We have to live around the gap. Pull one out, and everything changes.”

“The mourners are those who have caught a glimpse of God’s new day, who ache with all their being for that day’s coming, and who break out into tears when confronted with its absence.”

“Lament is part of life.”

 

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[1] Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Lament for a Son. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

 

"It Takes a Lot of Faith to Lament"

 

Crossway[1] Podcaster, Matt Tulley interviewed Mark Vroegop author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy. Here are some quotable quotes:

 

“Yes. I think lament in its essence is more process-oriented than what we’re familiar with. Lament doesn’t tie everything up in a nice bow. Sometimes it leaves the tension hanging in the air with unsolved problems, but a renewed commitment that I’m going to trust the Lord in the middle of all of this. While there are a bunch of things that I can’t control, a bunch of things that I can’t change or do, the one thing that I can do is talk to God.”

 

“I think the Christian life is in the space where we know God is sovereign, but the world is also broken. Those two things don’t always go together really well. You know that God is good, but there are events in life that it’s hard to make a direct connection between this specific event and God’s goodness. It’s precisely because of the fact that we believe that God is sovereign and that we believe he’s good that Christians complain. We say to God, How long, O Lord? Would you intervene? Why haven’t you intervened? Rather than throwing that in God’s face—You need to intervene because I’m telling you you need to intervene—lament actually enters into the space to say, God, you’re sovereign. You’re in control. You’re all-powerful. And yet, this brokenness is right here. I want it to be gone. I want you to do something. Lament wrestles with pain while also looking to God as the ultimate answer for that pain, with the hope that we can really fully place our trust in him.”

 

“I think, sadly, that many Christians believe that being a faithful follower of Jesus means that you never struggle with doubt, you never wrestle with despair, you’re not battling anxiety on a regular basis. They come to church, people ask them how they’re doing, and they fake it: Oh, we’re fine! Praise the Lord! But inside, their spiritual life is a train wreck and they don’t think that it’s okay to acknowledge, I’ve got unanswered questions. I have tension in my soul about God’s goodness and what’s happening in my life. So, lament enters that rather complicated terrain by saying here’s a way to talk to God about that tension.”

 

“Absolutely. In fact, I think it takes a lot of faith to lament. I think lament is one of the most theologically faith-filled things that a Christian could possibly do. In the middle of the darkest of dark moments, when your pain is so raw and so real, you have the faith to talk to God about your pain. If faith isn’t present, you would give God the silent treatment, you wouldn’t talk to him, you would just be angry, you would be resigned and say that God really doesn’t care. But in the middle of your darkest moment, you’re talking to God about what’s wrong with the world. You’re asking him to be true to his promises and recommitting that you’re going to trust in him. I don’t know what could be more faith-filled than that.” 

 

[Emphasis is mine]

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[1] https://www.crossway.org/articles/podcast-how-to-lament-after-two-years-of-loss-mark-vroegop/

Laura to Jake and back again - After trying to live as a man for years, Laura Perry finds Christ’s love in the process of detransitioning

IN 2016, LAURA EMBRACED God’s design for her as a woman. It meant leaving her partner of eight years, a high-paying tech job, her home in Tulsa, and an identity she lived for nearly a decade. She shaved her beard for the first time in five years. When she stopped taking testosterone, she experienced withdrawal symptoms, including massive headaches that left her curled in a fetal position. She recalls venturing into the women’s clothing section at Kohl’s and trying on a dress. The mirror reflected a flat, hairy chest, a short haircut, and a five o’clock shadow: “I was horrified by what I had done to myself.”

To read more click HERE.

See also:  What is Transgenderism by Rosaria  Butterfield 

What Is Biblical Counselling?

 “Biblical Counseling is a ministry of the local church whereby transformed believers in Christ (John 3: 3-8) who are indwelled, empowered, and led by the Holy Spirit (John 14: 26) minister the living and active Word of God (Heb. 4: 12) to others in view of evangelizing the lost and teaching the saved (Matt. 28: 18-20). Biblical Counseling is based on the conviction that Scripture is sufficient for the counseling task and superior to anything the world has to offer (2 Tim. 3: 16-17; Heb. 4: 12; 2 Peter 1: 3-4; Ps. 119; James 4: 4). Biblical counselors realize the significance of sin (Rom. 3: 23, 6: 23) and after self-confrontation (Matt. 7: 5) lovingly confront those who are in sin (Luke 17: 3-4) and call them to repentance (2 Tim. 2: 24-26). Biblical counselors also realize that in a fallen world people can face significant crises that are not a direct result of their own personal sin (Job 1-2). Biblical counselors purposefully and patiently walk with, serve, love, encourage, and help people in these cases (1 Th. 5: 14). They also call upon others in the church to assist based on their gifts and roles (1 Cor. 12: 4-31). Biblical counseling can be informal, accomplished over coffee, in the hallways of the church, or in the work place and community. It can also be formal, accomplished through scheduled appointments in an office setting. All Christians should be taught to minister God's Word and boldly do so in the context of the local church. Biblical counselors are motivated by the compassion of Christ (Mt. 9: 36, 2 Cor. 5: 14-15) and through obeying His commands, (John 14: 21) seek to be salt and light in such a way that others see their good works and glorify their Father in heaven (Mt. 5: 16).”

— Biblical Crisis Counseling: Not If But When by John Babler

https://a.co/j6UXoUP

The Impossible Task of the Pastor. Calling Others to Repentance While Repenting Yourself

 1 Corinthians 4:14–21 (ESV)

"¹⁴ I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. ¹⁵ For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ¹⁶ I urge you, then, be imitators of me. ¹⁷ That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. ¹⁸ Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. ²¹ What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?"

"The changes of tone in this passage reveal some of the real tensions that continue to exist in Christian ministry. How to be prophetic without being harsh or implying that one is above the sins of others. How to get people to change their behavior to conform to the gospel when they think too highly of themselves. There is no easy answer, as this passage reveals. But one called to minister in the church must ever strive to do it; calling people to repentance is part of the task, as long as the preacher is constantly repentant as well." [1]

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1. Fee, G. D. (2014). The First Epistle to the Corinthians (N. B. Stonehouse, F. F. Bruce, G. D. Fee, & J. B. Green, Eds.; Revised Edition, p. 211). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

The Pastor and an Unmessianic Sense of Non Destiny - Selected Quotations

The Pastor and an Unmessianic Sense of Non Destiny 

Carl Trueman [1]

Selected Quotations:

“The West worships the individual. From the cradle to the grave, it tells us all how special and unique we are, how vital we are to everything, how there’s a prize out there just for us.”

“What concerns me is the way in which our tendency to think of ourselves as special and unique bleeds over into a sense of special destiny whereby the future, or at least the future of myself, comes to be the priority and to trump all else.”

“This belief that we are each special is, by and large, complete tosh. Most of us are mediocre, make unique contributions only in the peculiar ways we screw things up, and could easily be replaced as husband, father, or employee by somebody better suited to the task.”

“My special destiny as a believer is to be part of the church; and it is the church that is the big player in God’s wider plan, not me.”  [Emphasis Mine]

“When I act, I act as a whole person; my hand has no special role of its own; it acts only in the context of being part of my overall body. With the church, the destiny of the whole is greater than the sum of the destinies of individual Christians.”

“Well, the world turned for thousands of years before any of us showed up; it will continue turning long after we’ve gone, short of the parousia; and even if you, me, or the Christian next door are tonight hit by an asteroid, kidnapped by aliens, or sucked down the bathroom plughole, very little will actually change; even our loved ones will somehow find a way to carry on without us. We really are not that important.”

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1. 9 Marks Journal, March, 2022. Carl Trueman is a Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.