Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. Some of us are busy rushing around in preparation for family gatherings, turkey dinners, and football games. Others, however, may be finding this time of year a bit difficult. Many have lost jobs, homes, and loved ones.

All the more reason to take time to Reform our Thinking about Thanksgiving.

We may be truly thankful for all the many blessings that we enjoy such as our family, friends, homes, jobs, etc. However, in the midst of all the celebration we can easily forget the greatest blessing.

The Heidelberg Catechism speaks of Guilt, Grace, and Gratitude. It reminds us of our Guilt before God due to our sinful nature that makes us prone to hate God and our neighbor. But, by Grace, our Heavenly Father has freely given to us our Lord Jesus Christ for complete redemption and righteousness even though we are sinners. As well, we are led to Gratitude because just as Christ has redeemed us with His blood, He also renews us through His Holy Spirit according to His own image, so that with our whole life we may show ourselves grateful to God for His goodness.

What a blessing for which to be thankful.

I was recently reminded of a song entitled There Is A Redeemer, written by Keith Green. The song contains these words that I consider fitting for Thanksgiving:

There is a Redeemer,

Jesus, God’s own Son,

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,

Holy One.

Jesus my Redeemer,

Name above all names,

Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,

Oh, for sinners slain.

Thank you oh my Father,

For giving us Your Son,

And leaving Your Spirit,

‘Til the work on Earth is done.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Love God and Neighbor?

Matthew 22:34-40
You Shall Love

Jesus informed the Sadducees about the Great Commandment in the Law. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The first and great commandment is taken from Deuteronomy 6:5. The command calls for total commitment and devotion of the entire person to God and His commandments.

The second is taken from Leviticus 19:18, with a related statement in 19:34. This command calls for each person to seek the well-being of all people whether Jew or Gentile.

The problem that we have with these commandments is in our inability to fulfill them. Since we all are unrighteous and don’t do the good that we ought (see Romans 3) then it is unclear how it is that we “shall” love God and “shall” love our neighbor. It appears that God has called us to do what we are not capable of doing in and of ourselves.

The Law first crushes us under the weight of our sin so that it can lead us to Christ who bore the crushing weight of our sin and the judgment that it deserves.

So, the only way that we “shall” love God and “shall” love our neighbor is by the love of God in Christ by the Spirit. Once we are brought to faith in Jesus Christ by the gift of faith that He alone gives us, then we are continually sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit within us. We do not sanctify ourselves. We do not make ourselves grow.

It is fascinating to watch small children grow into adults. But it is interesting that the little boy or girl does not make himself or herself grow into an adult. The growth occurs without the child’s conscious effort. While one major contributing factor to growth is nutrition, at the youngest age, the child is totally dependent upon someone else to feed him or her.

But who feeds the young Christian? The Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit draws us to do as the first disciples did as noted in Acts 2:42: "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."

Note that they did not devote themselves to legalistic calls to love one another. If we follow their pattern, we will eventually recognize the work of the Holy Spirit to bring about our growth in the faith that Christ authors and finishes. We should become increasingly thankful for such mercies of Christ. As we do, we may also recognize our increasing though imperfect Love for God and for our neighbor.

Reforming our Thinking may cause us to realize that the only way we can love God and our neighbor is by Christ completing His perfect work in us. Then, and only then, shall we love as He intends.

Is It Law or Gospel?

Matthew 22:34-40: But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducess, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

I recently heard a sermon in a church that historically has belonged to the Reformed Tradition. In summary, the pastor's point was that we need to love more. There was no presentation of how Christ had fulfilled the Law of Love. The preacher simply nagged the congregation to recognize that they simply didn’t love God or their neighbor enough.

In another congregation that claimed to belong to the Reformed Tradition, the objective was to be a Matthew 22 church. The effort was to be a church that loved God and neighbor.

The only problem with the two above situations is that Matthew 22 is Law. This fact is recognized by both the lawyer and Jesus Christ. If it is the Law, it is not the Gospel. The Law is a revelation of God’s moral will. But it is not a revelation of God’s redemptive will. Even before Christ died on the Cross, human beings knew that we should be better people.

If we try to follow the Ten Commandments, it may improve our outward behavior toward God and our neighbor. But the result will be a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law. Self-righteousness does not justify. Instead, the Law brings death. No one needs to go to church on Sunday morning to hear a nice self-help program about how to be a nicer person by keeping the Law.

We need to go to church on Sunday, not to be part of a social club, but in order to hear the Good News in response to the Bad News. The bad news is that we are born spiritually dead in sin, and therefore can not keep the Law and cannot save ourselves from the wrath of God. We also need to hear repeatedly that we are justified only by God’s saving work in His Son, Jesus Christ, and by His Holy Spirit.

When the Gospel is proclaimed, and faith comes to us by hearing that Gospel, the reborn will understand God’s Law as the concrete expression of God’s moral will by which we relate to Him and one another. Alive in Christ and no longer afraid of the wrath of God, the Law becomes a guide. We trust in Christ, who alone fulfilled the Law, and are guided by His Spirit. As a result, we are no longer fearful of judgment for our failures to keep the Law.

Unless we are Reforming our Thinking, we may not recognize the very important distinction between the Law and the Gospel.

REFORMATION DAY OCTOBER 31, 2009

REFORMATION DAY OCTOBER 31, 2009

This Saturday, October 31 is Reformation Day. While many are dressing up and celebrating Halloween, an important historical event is overlooked. On this day in 1517, 492 years ago, Martin Luther nailed to the Wittenberg door his 95 theses in order to prompt a debate.

But what prompted Luther’s action? Luther was responding to the actions of John Tetzel (1465-1519). Tetzel was a Dominican friar best known for the fundraising jingle, "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs." Tetzel was raising money from German peasants to build a building - St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Tetzel claimed that contributions would help the souls of others and/or shorten the time in purgatory for the contributor. Luther was sufficiently angered by Tetzel's antics that he posted his famous 95 Theses on the university chapel door in Wittenberg.

John Tetzel has become the example of preachers who promise to grow the Kingdom and the message of salvation through contributions received in response to a plausibly deniable effort to achieve personal gain and to further their ministry’s financial position.

But Luther and the Reformers saw that the heart of the biblical gospel was God's free gift of righteousness and justification.

The Roman Catholic church had taught a progressive salvation that may be gained by progressively working up a sacramental ladder. The Reformers proclaimed salvation received in its entirety here and now by self-abandoning faith in God's promise, and in the Christ of that promise, as set forth in the pages of the Bible.

Rome had said, God's grace is great, for through Christ's cross and his Church salvation is possible for all who will work and suffer for it; so come to church, and toil! But the Reformers said, God's grace is greater, because through Christ's cross and his Spirit, salvation is given completely and freely once and forever to all who believe; so come to Christ, and trust and take, and enjoy the unlimited guarantee of eternal joy!

The Reformers reclaimed the Biblical position that:
Salvation is by faith only, without our being obliged to work for it;
it is by grace only, without our having to earn or deserve it first;
it is by Christ only, without there being need for any other mediator, whether priest, saint, or virgin;
it is by Scripture only, without regard to such unbiblical and unfounded extras as the doctrines of purgatory and of pilgrimages, the relic-cult and papal indulgences as devices for shortening one's stay there;
and praise for salvation is due to God only, so we are unable to take any credit for His acceptance of us.

The Reformation started because Luther’s conscience was so troubled by the actions and doctrinal faults of the church he had served for years. Eventually, to protect his conscience, he had no choice but to walk away from that church. Because of Luther’s concern for the Biblical Gospel, the Reformation began so long ago.