a fellowship group of West Shore Evangelical Free Church
Well today is the day. The six of us are heading to Roubaix, France. We have already seen the Lord’s hand upon the trip as we traveled to Philadelphia for our flight. We will be boarding in Philadelphia and then landing in Atlanta. For now we hope that you will enjoy a picture of Brock enjoying an early morning Dunkin Donut.
I found this video, which is narrated by R.C. Sproul, which underlines the questions of so many people. Why aren’t there 5 saviors? Why couldn’t there be 15 ways to obtain righteousness?
If you are a Christian, I encourage you to watch and remember the greatness of your salvation. If you are not a Christian, maybe a searcher or maybe investigating Christianity, please watch with an open mind and consider history’s drama, as it unfolds itself in the pages of Scripture, and comes to climax in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” ~Acts 4:12
If you weren’t in class this past week, or you just want a summary of what we talked about, Nate was kind enough to provide his notes on Job 12. Here they are!
The following are 12 ways in Job 12 where we see the precision of God’s sovereignty – the (sometimes) tough truth that God is always in control. God is not accountable for the sin we commit; although, He may use it (Genesis 50:20) and will cause even the sin committed against us to be turned for our good (Romans 8:28).
In pursuing the sovereignty of God more directly, does anyone have any good books (or other resources) they’d recommend for further study into this difficult topic?
From Kim Winters:
Here is an awesome sermon by Ray Ortlund, Jr. which clearly explains the importance of gospel culture and how it is not enough to have gospel doctrine – we must have a culture that matches our doctrine, or we are sunk.
You can listen to the audio here.
From Kevin DeYoung:
Is sanctification by faith alone?
That requires some explanation.
In saying sanctification is not by faith alone, I’m not saying the work we do is somehow owing to us and not to God. He works in and we work out. But if we say sanctification is by faith alone, aren’t we severely reducing what we mean by saying justification is by faith alone? It was the mistake of Catholics to inadequately distinguish between justification and sanctification. If in trying to honor justification by faith alone we provide the same formula for sanctification, we are destroying the former as much as the latter.
Faith that Worketh
It’s true that we are sanctified by faith–both by believing in Christ’s complete work on our behalf and by trusting in future grace. Faith continues to play a crucial role in sanctification, but not in the exact way it does for justification.
Listen to J.C. Ryle:
Moreover, the Scriptures nowhere teach us that faith sanctifies us in the same sense and in the same manner that faith justifies us! Justifying faith is a grace that “worketh not,” but simply trusts, rests, and leans on Christ (Rom. 4:5). Sanctifying faith is a grace of which the very life is action: it “worketh by love,” and, like a mainspring, moves the whole inward man (Gal. 5:6). (Holiness, xviii).
Sanctification is a gift just as justification is (a double grace, or duplex gratia, as Calvin called it). Both are the gift of God, ours by virtue of union with Christ. Both are found in Christ alone. Both are necessary for salvation–justification being the root and sanctification being the fruit. As is often said: faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone.
So we must never separate justification and sanctification. The former can’t help but produce the latter, and the latter must flow from the former. And yet we should not be afraid to talk about justification in a different way than we talk about sanctification. One calls us to rest; the other to fight. One reckons us righteous; the other makes us righteous. One allows for no increase or degrees; the other expects progress and growth. One is a declaration of God about us, the other a work of God in us.
Consider this paragraph from the Westminster Confession of Faith:
Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled thereunto, beside the graces they have already received, there is required an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to work in them to will and to do, of His good pleasure: yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special motion of the Spirit; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them. (16.3)
This paragraph summarizes what I’ve been trying to say in this series of posts and what I find some Christians reticent to say. We don’t just fight to believe in sanctification (though everything flows from faith). We actually will and do. We don’t just dive deeper into our justification, we perform a duty. We must be diligent to stir up the grace of God that is in us. This sort of language—willing, doing, perform, diligence—has no place in talking about justification. But if we do not use this language in talking about sanctification we have missed the language of the Bible.
If the words mean all that we want them to mean with regard to justification, then “faith alone” is not the right phrase for sanctification.
One Final Thought
The Bible is a big book with a lot in it. As such, the Christian has a lot of tools in his sanctification tool belt. Are we sanctified by remembering our justification? Yes. But God also motivates us by a sense of duty, by gratitude, by threats, by promises, and by the fear of the Lord. We are told to follow the Lord’s example and to live out our union with Christ. We’re also exhorted to make our calling and election sure. So while we never move past justification. We can do more than revisit our justification to grow in our sanctification.
I’ve posted this video before, but thought it necessary in light of Pastor Phil’s sermon this morning. Jesus, our great and high priest, fulfills Old Testament prophecy by becoming for us, a sacrificial lamb. He was led to the slaughter, having become the only substitute qualified to appease the wrath of God. As you watch, may the Spirit of God lead us to remember his sacrifice and how all of history rests in the events of his death and resurrection.
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” -Hebrews 9:11-14
From Kim Winters:
On May 31, a group of us gathered in the Blue Room to once again discuss the topic of Biblical manhood and womanhood. Cindy Agoncillo and I partnered up to lead the event, and although we were few in number (four men and ten women) we were very encouraged at the level of interest and participation by everyone who turned out.
First, we talked about why this topic is as important to singles as it is to married people. Next we reoriented our perspectives on singleness with the Bible, placing a high value on the “call” of singleness (both the temporary and the permanent call) and finally we discussed the importance of not condescending to those of differing marital status.
Next the three main views on the issue of manhood and womanhood within the church were briefly outlined (hierarchism, egalitarianism and complementarianism), including an explanation of how people within all three views use the Bible to defend their position. A call was made for everyone to determine which view best “fits” them, and in particular, the importance of “landing” on a perspective that is not only biblically sound, but also beautiful in practice. A discussion of the importance of “gospel culture” was shared (in light of giving people room to “land” on a view and then live it out), and then a deeper look at complementarianism was taken, as that is the view I (Kim) have “landed” on after years of study and debate. Even so, we sought to keep the dialogue open, especially in consideration of the egalitarian position. Cindy shared openly that while she agreed that the complementarian view was beautiful, she had not yet firmly landed there for a multitude of undertstandable reasons. Cindy’s insights helped to remind us that truly “landing” on a perspective on this incredibly important topic should not in any way be two-dimensional. We also took some time to remind everyone that while SixTen tends to lean complementarian (owing to the conviction of most of our current leaders), both egalitarianism and complementarianism are found within SixTen and within West Shore Free church, and there is certainly room for both. As always, our desire in SixTen is to continue to cultivate gospel culture where people are truly able to be open and transparent about their journey toward God’s best for their lives.
At this meeting, Cindy and I chose to outline the “definitions” of biblical manhood and womanhood and then look more closely at the biblical basis for the call on men to carry the “benevolent” responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women in ways appropriate to their differing relationships. Based on work Mary Kassian has done on this topic, the group looked at Genesis chapter 2 and the unique ways the first man (and therefore, all subsequent males) were created and called by God to be people who represent Jesus Christ, people who have a special call of authority; people who have a unique relationship to work; people who are called to primarily provide, and people who are expected to offer protection to others.
The inspiring things we discovered in Genesis helped us to see how important this call on men actually is. Kassian tells us that God has such important things He wants to communicate about Himself that He did not write it on paper, but rather on human bodies.
If you missed this first gathering, you can still catch up. Much of what we shared can be downloaded from Kindle or found on the internet. First, the book “Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood” is around $11 on Kindle. Read the first three chapters of that book, and you will be caught up to where we are. Additionally, you can hear the message by Mary Kassian called “The Genesis of Gender” and be as inspired as we were by the awesome things that message contains!
Everyone in attendance shared a desire to meet again soon, and so we are looking at some future dates in July and August. We would especially love to see more men in attendance this next time! Stay tuned for the date and time, and thank you for praying for our group as we seek to honor God in all of our male/female relationships!
From Jenn Kern:
This is an awesome video from Justin Taylor’s blog about a family with a son with extensive mental and physical disabilities. It’s an inspiring picture of how God is behind the twists and turns of life. At one point the father in the video states: “Your circumstances don’t define God’s love for you. The cross defines his love for you…” That’s just so awesome and something I know I need to be reminded of! I encourage you to watch this short video, to hear this family’s testimony, and to be in awe of the ways our Savior redeems!
