FreeTruth

Last week I shared an excerpt from Finally Alive, by John Piper, that listed a number of necessary Biblical evidences of the new birth, of true conversion. If we have truly been regenerated by the Holy Spirit these evidences must be present, to a greater or lesser extent, or else we are not truly spiritually alive. Yet if we are alive, or perhaps I should say in spite of being alive, something else will also always be present in this life--sin. We will still sin, in thought, word, and deed, every day. So, how do we relate our sin to these neccesary evidences of life? A most practical and important question it would seem.

The following, I believe, are some very helpful additional thoughts from Finally Alive that should minister to us in the daily battle-royal that is the Christian life:

DEALING WITH OUR ONGOING SIN

Now we come to the question we raised at the beginning: How do people who have experienced the miracle of the new birth deal with their own sinfulness as they try to live in the full assurance of their salvation? My answer is: You deal with it by the way you use John’s teaching. John warns against hypocrisy (claiming to be born again when your life contradicts it), and John celebrates the Advocacy and Propitiation of Christ for born-again sinners.

The question is: How do you use these two truths? How do you use the warning that you might deceive yourself? How do you use the promise, “If we do sin, we have an Advocate”? The evidence of your new birth lies in how these two truths function in your life.

Here’s the way they function if you are born again:

FLEEING PRESUMPTION, FLYING TO THE ADVOCATE

One common scenario for believers is drifting toward sinful presumption. You are slipping into a lukewarm, careless, presumptuous frame of mind about your own sinfulness. You are starting to coast or be indifferent to whether you are holy or worldly. You are losing your vigilance against bad attitudes and behaviors—and starting to settle in with sinful patterns of behavior.

When the born-again person experiences this kind of drift, the truth of 1 John 3:9 (“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning”) has the effect, by the Holy Spirit, of awakening him to the danger of his condition so that he flies to his Advocate and his Propitiation for mercy and forgiveness and righteousness. He confesses his sin and receives cleansing (1:9). His love for Christ is renewed and the sweetness of his relationship is recovered and the hatred of sin is restored and the joy of the Lord again becomes his strength.

FLEEING DESPAIR, FLYING TO THE ADVOCATE

Another common scenario for believers is drifting toward despair. You are sinking down in fear and discouragement and even despair that your righteousness, your love for people, and your fight against sin are just not good enough. Your conscience is condemning you, and your own deeds seem so imperfect to you that they could never prove that you are born again.

When the born-again person experiences this, the truth of 1 John 2:1 has the effect, by the Spirit, of rescuing him from despair: “My little children [he wants to be tender with our consciences], I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

John’s warning of hypocrisy calls us back from the precipice of presumption. John’s promise of an Advocate calls us back from the precipice of despair.

THE REDEMPTIVE POWER OF GOD’S WORD

The new birth enables you to hear Scripture and use Scripture helpfully, redemptively. The new birth doesn’t use the promise “We have an Advocate” to justify an attitude of cavalier indifference to sin. The new birth doesn’t use the warning “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning” to pour gasoline on the fires of despair. The new birth brings a spiritual discernment that senses how to use John’s teaching: The new birth is chastened and sobered by the warnings, and the new birth is thrilled and empowered by the promise of an Advocate and a Propitiation.

May the Lord confirm your new birth as you experience both of these responses to the word of God. May he grant you to embrace both the warning and the comfort. May you hear the word of God as God means it to be heard, and may God’s all-sufficient word preserve the full assurance of your salvation.

Labels: Guest Post, Regeneration, Sin, True Conversion

In his comment on my May 19th post, Gregory asked about whether fasting should ever include abstinence from things other than food. His point is well taken and is worthy of a post all its own.

Remember that Dr. Piper says that it is not the poison of evil so much as the simple pleasures of earth that most often distract us from devotion to God. These we have to renounce. That doesn't mean that we can never enjoy these things (unless they are sinful in themselves) but it does mean that if any of these are impeding our walk with God in any way, they need to go.

You might remember the words of John Wesley's mom, Susannah, who answered her son's question, "What is sin?" with these words:

Whatever impairs the tenderness of your conscience, weakens your reason, obscures your sense of God, or dulls your deep desire for spiritual things; whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind and will, that thing to you is sin.

This wise woman knew that Christians need to guard their souls from anything and everything that distracts them from God.

I've noted elsewhere that in a recent conversation someone asked me what my greatest pastoral concern is at this moment. It's an easy question to answer: My greatest concern is the fact that so few believers practice the spiritual disciplines which are meant to increase their devotion to God. And if someone were to ask me why this is so, I'd have to suggest that it is largely because so many people are distracted by so many lesser things.

If people are having a hard time finding time for daily, focused, and beneficial prayer, Bible reading, private worship, and communion with God, then they need to proclaim a fast from whatever it is that is keeping them from these delightful duties of the soul. It may well be that a prolonged period of abstinence from TV, sports, internet, movies and other forms of amusement needs to be considered.

This cannot be done as an end in itself; it must be done for the purpose of prayer and devotion. It must be done so that time and mind and heart can be dedicated to Christ, His Word and His love without the normal dulling distractions of other things.

Does this seem radical to you? If it does, then you need to ask God to give you a greater passion for Him.

If it doesn't and you find your heart connecting, how's this for a suggestion: (If you're a part of TFC) Why don't you do a fast starting right now through next Friday PM (when we gather for our time of prayer and singing at the close of our More of God season)? Why don't you reduce or even better, curtail all TV-watching, internet for entertainment purposes use, movie viewing, novel reading, non-Christian music listening, sports following, and/or any other amusements?

Then fill the time by reading the Word and good books on Christian faith and life, and by spending time in prayer.

If you don't think you could handle that, you've got a pretty good indicator that the world's got too strong of a hold on you. Are you up for it? If so, seize the moment and go hard after God!

Labels: Fasting, Sin, Spiritual disciplines

In 2 Kings 17:15, 33 we read:

They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them ...So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

As I read this in my devotional time this morning I was struck with a spirit of repentance and grief. I cannot escape the fact that I have fallen into some of the same sin as ancient Israel: in many ways I have followed the sins of the nations around me rather than being faithful to my God and confronting my culture by leading my neighbors away from their sins.

I know that I posted a series of cultural sins that we're in danger of committing back on March 28th, but this morning the reality of these came to me with greater clarity and precision. The question came to me like this: "Tim, what are the specific ways that you have taken on the thinking and values of the nations rather than the heart of God and ways of truth?"

Here are ten answers God gave to me (these are not at all polished, but are a raw expression of what the Lord said to me by His Spirit):

1. I've subtlely accepted the relativism and a live-and-let-live mindset of the nations as is evident by my lack of urgency in speaking to people of their sins and of their need for the gospel. The fact that I do not leave my house in the morning with one agenda: to speak to as many people as possible of Jesus Christ and of their desperate need for Him, reveals that I've bought into the world's lie that it doesn't need Him.

2. I've subtlely lived a pluralistic/relativistic mindset whenever I've hesitated to say point blank: "Jesus is the only way."

3. I've given in to the world's love of popularity and the idol that image is everything when I've held back in speaking of "Jesus' by name and of people's sins and of God's holiness with clarity and conviction, because I did not want to offend or lose a friend.

4. I've caved in to political correctness when I've been bold in the pulpit but fearful in the marketplace; when I've preached holiness and the exclusive claims of Christ to the choir, but not to the lost.

5. I've embraced worldly materialism when I've neglected needs of the church and kingdom, and have treated luxuries and extras like they were needs and even rights.

6. I've trusted in the city of man and in man's help when I've treated religious liberty as a right to be fought for when in fact Christians throughout time and around the world have not had one bit of it themselves.

7. I've embraced the worldly hedonism of the nations when I've lingered on the advertisement or enticing picture or ice cream buffet or pillow or juicy gossip too long.

8. I've followed the nations distorted values when I've treated the arts and entertainment and pop culture and even high culture as if they were worth a level of attention even beginning to approach the attention I give to personal holiness and specific, bold, sin and cross-saturated gospel witness. When I in all honesty have given more thought to enjoying or even recovering the arts than to the plight of and an active pursuit of the lost never dying souls that I meet everyday, I'm flat out worldly.

9. I've followed the nations when I treat government and politics as if they have answers for human need, and can ever be trusted to "do the right thing". When I devote more concern and care to how to fix the economy or vote for the right candidate than I do to how to reach my neighbor and rescue him from a dreadful eternity, I have--just like the world--valued this life more than the next.

10. I've followed my nation's values when I treat luxuries like multiple health care options, college education, religious liberty, a relaxing night out, snacks between meals, second helpings of food, a new shirt, and another pair of shoes as needs and rights rather than as the flat out excess they most often are.

Folks, I'm not nuancing anything here, I realize. And I realize that a thousand "buts" and qualifications come to mind for each of these points. But I am making a primary point: we are at great risk of repeating Israel's sin, and in truth, we already have. We have followed the nations rather than our God.

Let us repent and mean it. Let us confess our idolatries and turn from them. Let us renounce all that we hold dear and go hard after God as never before.

This is what God expects, and if the Old Testament record shows us anything, it is that God isn't kidding.

Labels: Culture War, Humility, Repentance, Sin, Worldliness