Thinking Deeply for God’s Sake

 

by Alastair Begg Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything 2 Timothy 2:7 It is not unusual—in fact, it’s quite common—for Christian faith to be regarded as a kind of illogical belief in improbable events. For some, faith is seen as a crutch to prop up less rational people as they navigate life’s challenges. Such critics may be surprised to learn that in reality, Christianity calls its followers not to neglect their minds but to critically engage them. When we read the Bible, we discover that it never invites us simply to feel things; it never attempts merely to sweep us up in an emotional surge. God never once asks for or endorses the disengagement of our thinking processes. Instead, God’s word repeatedly shows us that Christianity is actually a call to think rightly and deeply about God, His world, and our place in it. When the apostle Paul addressed the Ephesians, we read that he was “reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus,” which was likely a school for philosophy or rhetoric (Acts 19:9). Paul wasn’t just singing songs or attempting to stir up some emotional experience. No, he essentially said, Citizens of Ephesus, I want you to think and reason with me today. In Thessalonica, too, Acts tells us that Paul “reasoned” with the people, “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead” (17:2-3). The book of Isaiah begins with a similar call to think earnestly: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD” (Isaiah 1:18). This exhortation to think and reason isn’t just for proclaiming the gospel but for growth in Christian maturity too. Writing to the Corinthians, Paul said, “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking” (1 Corinthians 14:20). He wanted the church to think intently and intensely about the issues they were facing. Paul was even more direct when he wrote to Timothy: “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” We do need God’s Spirit to be at work in order to think rightly (Luke 24:45; 1 Corinthians 12:3), for our intellects are as affected by sin as every other part of ourselves (Ephesians 4:17). But it is as we expend mental energy to consider the wisdom of the Scriptures that God will give us greater and greater understanding. To follow Christ, then, is not to take a step of blind faith into the darkness but to have your eyes opened to the light of rigorous truth. It will take a lifetime—and more!—to unearth the riches of the truth you encounter in God’s word about His Son, but one thing is sure: today, as every day, God wants you to love Him and honor Him with all your mind.

True Friendships

 

By Jill Briscoe

We can learn from the Bible what strengthens friendships and what kills them. For example, taking offense easily kills friendship. Amy Carmichael, in her little booklet If, says, “If I take offense easily–if I am content to continue in a cool unfriendliness though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.” Again Amy says, “If I do not give a friend the benefit of the doubt but put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done, then I know nothing of Calvary love.” And, “If I can hurt another by speaking faithfully without much preparation of spirit and without hurting myself far more than I hurt that other, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

Good forgivers make good friends too. This is not contradicting what I have said about saying things that need to be said. Remember, “faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Prov. 27:6, KJV). But when necessary hard things are said, afterward forgiveness is needed to heal the rough edges of those painful conversations. Sometimes we even have to forgive our friends for being faithful friends and telling us the truth!

David had two good friends, Jonathan and Nathan. Jonathan loved David to death. In Jonathan’s eyes, David could do no wrong. We all need that sort of friend. Nathan loved David too. But when David did something wrong, Nathan called him on it! We need a “Nathan” too.

Encouragement isn’t always “soft.” I well remember a great friend of mine listening to my litany of woes and then saying firmly but kindly, “Have a good cry, then wash your face, get up, and get on with it.” It worked. The word “encourage” means to “put courage into.” She surely put it into me!

We also need to be a Jonathan and a Nathan for others, as well as looking for those types of friends for ourselves. In fact, if we try to offer these two elements of friendship we will probably find the real friends we are looking for. In other words, be a friend and you will find a friend!

A friend loves at all times, and it is this element of “Calvary love,” as Amy Carmichael puts it, that helps us listen to our friends’ loving encouragement and act on it. Paul said, “I have you in my heart” (Phil. 1:7) and then proceeded to correct and rebuke his friends. When you know someone loves you and has you in their heart, you can hear their words of correction. It’s called “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) or sometimes we call it “leveling in love” but when it happens you aren’t “leveled.”

Remember this bit of advice...Real friendship needs to be based on biblical principles, and it also needs to be practical. For example, we can offer words of encouragement but we also need to think of concrete ways to help. It’s more than talk–it’s offering a meal if your friend is sick, a ride in your car if she needs it, help with her kids if she is exhausted and needs a break. Sometimes your help will be verbal. As Ecclesiastes warns, however, there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (3:7).

A friend of mine took a risk on our friendship by talking to me about a problem that had arisen. First (she told me afterward), she fasted and prayed about whether to talk to me at all. That is a good start. Second she told me she decided she would not say anything more than she had to say. The old saying, “The less said, the sooner mended” is a very sound principle! My friend did it right, and said it right, and I was pleased to respond to her. What does “Calvary love” mean to you? What are some ways you can make this a reality in your friendships?

Does Doctrine Really Matter?

Short answer - YES, it matters!  Why?  Below is a solid, condensed article by John MacArthur explaining why.  If you would like to dig in deeper, you can access his other articles about this subject on his website - Grace To You. I would also add the following scripture to all the scriptures in MacArthur's article because of it's crucial importance - it speaks for itself: 

This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!  Galatians 5:9 NLT  

Does Doctrine Really Matter

Psalm 111:10; Psalm 119:66; Proverbs 2:2–6; 1 Timothy 4:6; 1 Timothy 6:3–4; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Timothy 4:2–3; Titus 1:9; Titus 2:1

by John MacArthur


Is it enough to "believe in Jesus" in some amorphous sense that divorces "faith" from any particular doctrine about Him, or is doctrine—and the content of our faith—really important after all?

Scripture plainly teaches that we must be sound in the faith—which is to say that doctrine does matter (1 Timothy 4:6; 2 Timothy 4:2-3; Titus 1:9; 2:1). It matters a lot.

"If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing" (1 Timothy 6:3-4, emphasis added).

Sound, biblical doctrine is a necessary aspect of true wisdom and authentic faith. The attitude that scorns doctrine while elevating feelings or blind trust cannot legitimately be called faith at all, even if it masquerades as Christianity. It is actually an irrational form of unbelief.

God holds us accountable for what we believe as well as how we think about the truth He has revealed. All Scripture testifies to the fact that God wants us to know and understand the truth. He wants us to be wise. His will is that we use our minds. We are supposed to think, meditate, and above all, to be discerning.

The content of our faith is crucial. Sincerity is not sufficient.

Consider, for example, these well-known verses. Note the repeated use of words like truth, knowledge, discernment, wisdom, and understanding:"Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom" (Psalm 51:6).

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments" (Psalm 111:10).

"Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Thy commandments" (Psalm 119:66).
Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding" (Proverbs 2:2-6).
"The beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7).
"We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (Colossians 1:9).
"In [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

God's Word makes it abundantly clear that He wants us to use our minds. And one of the most vital duties facing every Christian—especially in an era (such as ours) when the church is overrun with contradictory ideas and spiritual confusion—is the duty of discernment.

In the days and weeks to come, we are going to consider what Scripture has to say about discernment. We'll look at some common pitfalls that often ensnare the best of Christians, and we'll look at some popular ideas circulating in the church today that demand careful biblical analysis and discriminating wisdom.

What does it mean that God draws us to salvation?

 

Answer from Got Questions . . . . . 

The clearest verse on God’s drawing to salvation is John 6:44 where Jesus declares that “no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Greek word translated “draw” is helkuo, which means “to drag” (literally or figuratively). Clearly, this drawing is a one-sided affair. God does the drawing to salvation; we who are drawn have a passive role in the process. There is no doubt that we respond to His drawing us, but the drawing itself is all on His part.

Helkuo is used in John 21:6 to refer to a heavy net full of fish being dragged to the shore. In John 18:10 we see Peter drawing his sword, and in Acts 16:19 helkuo is used to describe Paul and Silas being dragged into the marketplace before the rulers. Clearly, the net had no part in its being drawn to the shore, Peter’s sword had no part in being drawn, and Paul and Silas did not drag themselves to the marketplace. The same can be said of God’s drawing of some to salvation. Some come willingly, and some are dragged unwillingly, but all eventually come, although we have no part in the drawing.

Why does God need to draw us to salvation? Simply put, if He didn’t, we would never come. Jesus explains that no man can come unless the Father draws him (John 6:65). The natural man has no ability to come to God, nor does he even have the desire to come. Because his heart is hard and his mind is darkened, the unregenerate person doesn’t desire God and is actually an enemy of God (Romans 5:10). When Jesus says that no man can come without God’s drawing him, He is making a statement about the total depravity of the sinner and the universality of that condition. So darkened is the unsaved person’s heart that he doesn’t even realize it: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Therefore, it is only by the merciful and gracious drawing of God that we are saved. In the conversion of the sinner, God enlightens the mind (Ephesians 1:18), inclines the will toward Himself, and influences the soul, without which influence the soul remains darkened and rebellious against God. All of this is involved in the drawing process.

There is a sense in which God draws all men. This is known as the “general call” and is distinguished from the “effectual call” of God’s elect. Passages such as Psalm 19:1-4 and Romans 1:20 attest to the fact that God’s eternal power and divine nature are “clearly seen” and “understood” from what has been made, “so that people are without excuse.” But men still do deny God, and those who acknowledge His existence still do not come to a saving knowledge of Him outside of His drawing them. Only those who have been drawn through special revelation—by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God—will come to Christ.

There are tangible ways in which those who are being drawn to salvation experience that drawing. First, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sinful state and our need for a Savior (John 16:8). Second, He awakens in us a previously unknown interest in spiritual things and creates a desire for them that was never there before. Suddenly our ears are open, our hearts are inclined toward Him, and His Word begins to hold a new and exciting fascination for us. Our spirits begin to discern spiritual truth that never made sense to us before: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Finally, we begin to have new desires. He places within us a new heart that inclines toward Him, a heart that desires to know Him, obey Him, and walk in the “newness of life” (Romans 6:4) that He has promised.

How Should We Occupy Ourselves

As Christians, just how should we be living our lives?  I know we are supposed to be in the world but not of the world (John 15:18,20) but what does that really mean?  If I look at my life I wonder if it looks any different than a nonbeliever's life. Ok, maybe church attendance and Bible study look different - and maybe prayer before meals out in public - but that's probably all that  actually looks different. I still watch TV, go to the movies, shopping and restaurants. I live in a nice home with LOTS of stuff, two cars and a closet FULL of clothes. 

 What is it Jesus wants to come back and find his bride doing?  The following is from a blog by Mike Livingstone that outlines very well how we should be occupying our time: 

1. LIVE IN THE LIGHT OF HIS FIRST COMING.

Do you want to be prepared for Jesus’ second coming? Then live like His first coming mattered.

Jesus spoke parables about His return. In Luke 19:11-27, He told about a nobleman who traveled to a far country to become king. This nobleman called ten of his servants, gave them each a mina (coin), and told them: “engage in my business until I come back” (v. 13). After an unspecified duration of time, the nobleman returned as king and summoned his servants to give an account of their faithfulness. The first two servants had been productive with what was entrusted to them. But another servant had done nothing. He simply wrapped his mina in a cloth and hid it. His mistake was that he didn’t act on what he professed to believe. He professed something about his master but didn’t live by his profession, and lost his reward (vv. 21-23).

Those who profess Christ as Lord and live according to their profession will receive great reward when Jesus returns.

2. BE DISCERNING.

Twice in Mark 13 Jesus warned His disciples not to be led astray by false claim: “Watch out that no one deceives you… false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect” (vv. 5-6,21-22). Paul warned, “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him…. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way” (2 Thess. 2:1-3).

The warning of Scripture is consistent: use discernment in listening to those who claim to have all the details of the end times figured out, and ignore those who resort to date setting end time events.

Unfortunately many Christians are not watchful nor are they discerning and so they are duped over and over by false teachers, so-called prophets and false preachers. They read "Biblical" books, watch "Christian" movies and TV shows, listen to "Christian" music and think they are filling their heads with good things. Trouble is Jesus specifically warned his flock about this and so we should be wary of being deceived by being like a Berean and checking things out carefully. Not all things that appear good actually are. 

 
3. ACCEPT THE UNCERTAINTIES.

“Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son​—but only the Father. Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming” (Mark 13:32-33). If Jesus was content not to know the day or hour, then let’s stop speculating about it. Be content with “no one knows … only the Father.”

Going along with #3 and leading into #4, we are also told to pray for the return of our Lord (Rev. 22:20-21). When we remember and focus on his return, it reminds us what our purpose here on earth really is. 

4. DON’T LOSE HOPE.

Paul reminded Titus that Jesus’ first coming brought salvation and it instructs us how to live “sensible, righteous, and godly” lives in this present age. It is our “blessed hope”—the expectation of Jesus’ return—that compels us to do so (Titus 2:11-13).

5. ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER.

The promise that “the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout” in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 is followed by a command: “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:18). Again, the affirmation that “the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2) is followed by the exhortation: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up” (v. 11).

Scripture’s teachings about the second coming are not given to satisfy our personal fascination with future events but that the body of Christ might encourage one another with the promises.  AMEN, AMEN, AMEN!

6. LIVE AS IF TODAY WAS THE DAY.

If we’re not careful, the delay in Jesus’ return will lead us to complacency. Living in the expectation that He could return today compels us to live every day for what really matters—for eternity.

7. KEEP ON DOING THE WORK JESUS LEFT US TO DO.

Jesus warned of troubling events as we near the end of the age, including persecution of believers (Mark 13:7-9). Then He added that nothing—not even persecution—should distract us from the one necessary thing: preach to the gospel to all nations (v. 10).

Before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave the church its marching orders: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The very next verses report that the disciples just stood there looking up into the sky. Two angels appeared and spoke the words the church today needs to hear: Why are you standing there gazing into heaven? Jesus is coming back the same way you saw him go (vv. 9-11). In other words, get moving!

I would only add what should be the obvious to this list - being in the word daily along with a healthy prayer life. Abiding in Christ is the Christian's lifeline from which all else will flow. 

Do You Pray This?

"Come, Lord Jesus!"

SCRIPTURE READING — REVELATION 22:20-21

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

— Revelation 22:20

by Kurt Selles


Prayer is so essential to the Christian life that the Bible closes with a short prayer: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

The words “Come, Lord” probably draw from an Aramaic expression used by early Christians: “Maranatha!” For example, the apostle Paul used this Aramaic phrase as he closed his first letter to the church in Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 16:22).

Why would Paul use an Aramaic phrase while writing to a Greek-speaking church? Well, Aramaic was the common, local language spoken in the region where Jesus and his disciples lived. Some have suggested that maran was a word the people used to voice their longing for the Messiah to come. And by adding atha, they say, Paul echoed a confession of the early Christians in his day. Pointing to Christ, those words mean, “Our Lord has come.”

In Paul’s day, Christians apparently also used maranatha as a mutual greeting, identifying themselves in a world that was hostile to them. They also used similar words as a short prayer repeated throughout the day, Maranatha, “Come, O Lord.”

Significantly, at the close of the Bible, this prayer for Jesus’ second coming is preceded by a promise from Jesus himself: “Yes, I am coming soon.” Can there be any greater assurance?

As we work and long for the coming of God’s kingdom, may our prayers often include these words from the closing lines of Scripture: “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”


Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.

Did God Ever Make A Covenant With America?

 Just today I heard Glenn Beck say America needs to "re-covenant" with God. What? America never had a covenant with God, sorry Glenn. God's covenant and promises to Israel were just that - to Israel.  Not to Germany, France, Sweden or the U.S.  I have been guilty in the past of taking OT scriptures and applying them to myself, my country, my situation, etc. This is in error. Not that we cannot learn things from the OT - specifically about God and His character. I was prepared to write a blog about this when I came across Lamar Gibb's article that explains it perfectly - so here it is!

It’s safe to say that there’s a lot that has happened this past year in America. The hatred, bigotry, and wickedness has been blatant. We don’t even blush at the sins we commit anymore, like Jeremiah said to Israel.

Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the LORD.

Jeremiah 8:12 (ESV)

What we’re seeing has caused many of us to get together and pray for our nation. We pray that we are healed, and that things are restored to where we used to be. We encourage ourselves, saying that 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us if God’s people would humble themselves, pray, and repent of sin, that God would come and heal our nation!

There’s only one problem though. This verse doesn’t actually apply to us.

Yet many of you would say it sums up what we’re seeing before our very eyes, and when we as believers come together and pray, we truly see things happening. I’ve personally had prayers answered, and witnessed prayers for others answered as well, so I can understand this feeling too well. I also used to think that this verse applied to us.

Yet if we apply this verse incorrectly to America and the Church, we will misinterpret what is going on around us, and it influences how we pray concerning the will of God for our nation. The difference between a right and wrong application of this verse stems from our understanding of God’s national covenant with Israel.

The Law of Moses is the covenant between God and Israel, and it’s compiled in four books from the Old Testament; which include Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is more of a rehashing of the main points of this covenant, along with other unique events covered, since this happened after Israel took over the land of Canaan.

The other three books focused on what took place in the wilderness. Near the end of Deuteronomy, we find the blessings and curses God reveals to Israel as part of His covenant with them. This is the background that helps us to read 2 Chronicles in its proper context. Let’s read it below:

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

This verse is God speaking after the temple was completed by Solomon. When God says if His people will humble themselves to pray and confess their sins, He wasn’t talking about the body of Christ, but to the nation of Israel. The healing of the land was the physical land of Israel that ended up suffering due to the curses of the covenant that came upon Israel because of disobedience.

We saw God fulfill this towards Israel after King Solomon and the whole nation went astray. Then there was national repentance from the leaders to the people, as God healed the land. Unfortunately, Israel constantly fell back into sin and apostasy, and by the time of Christ, they were under foreign occupation.

When Christ started His church, there were similarities to Israel, yet things were completely different between the two. It is similar in that the church is formed with the people of God and we are a holy nation like Israel was, while the difference is that we don’t have any land to claim and possess. We also are not a theocracy like Israel. The kingdom of God is currently invisible, and is administered through His church.

As for America, God has never made a covenant with this nation the way He did towards Israel. In fact, many if not all of the founding fathers openly admitted that America was not founded as a Christian nation. So how do we process and deal with what is going on in our nation if that verse doesn’t apply to us?

What we do is we change the way we think about our place in America. Yes, we are citizens of America, and we are supposed to play our part in its progress. But we are also citizens of the kingdom of God, and are sent as ambassadors to this foreign land of America.

Our purpose as Christians is to be salt and light in America, and to pray for the peace of our land so that we ourselves can move freely in doing God’s will. We also pray for the strength to stand strong in these perilous times, that we would be filled with the peace of God.

We also must manage our expectations in this country. Every nation that exists has a time limit, and America is no different. God will call this country to account for the sins throughout it’s history, and I believe we’re seeing some of that before us now. We must reject the idea that America is different from any other nation, and that God will protect the American empire from being ruined in the future.

Let us be the witnesses that Christ ordained His people to be, to a nation that needs revival and repentance. But may we also approach our part to play in what God is doing, and see the true nature of God’s relationship to America.

If it gets worse in this country, it is not because the church hasn’t prayed hard enough or hasn’t repented. We are not the end-all-be-all of America. America and every other nation are under the sovereign discretion of the LORD, and will answer to Him.

Jesus Is Not A Rebel

 

So many people (mainly Christians) want to say Jesus was a rebel. No, he was not a rebel - he was holy, he was perfect, he was and is our plumb line. WE ARE THE REBELS. We have rebelled against God and to say God is rebellious is ridiculous. Jesus didn't come to earth to rebel against the government or religion. He came to show us how to live and that the only way to have a relationship with God, the Father was through Christ, the Son. How can God rebel? Who is he rebelling against? It doesn't even make sense.

If someone commits a crime (or a sin) then they are being rebellious. Jesus never committed a crime nor a sin so how can anyone call him a rebel? He came here to show us how it was supposed to be – the correct way we are to live – and then give us the ability to run the race toward that goal. Those who chose to ignore Jesus are rebelling against the God who created everything. Should God rebel against Himself? Ludicrous!

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6) If you want to stop rebelling against the holy God of the universe, accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior today. Repent(turn away from your sins) and turn toward the Holy One, Jesus.

Real Zeal vs. False Zeal part 2

 

By Elizabeth Prata

Photo by Nycholas Benaia on Unsplash


Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:1-2).

By this verse we see there is such a thing as a zeal that is not of God. There can be zea, or fervor or energy around religious things, but not according to what we know from the Bible. AKA knowledge.

Zeal: great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. Synonyms: passion, fervor, enthusiasm.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached on the Romans 10:1-2 verse in a sermon called False vs. True Zeal. The sermon is stunning, relevant, and informative. He laid the foundation as he always does, logically, then laid out tests to determine of someone is exhibiting false zeal. Then in the later part of the sermon he laid out how to determine if a person is exhibiting true zeal. I paraphrased the part of his sermon discussing false zeal, here. Today, we have an exam of true zeal.

Lloyd-Jones’ sermon can be heard here, for free: True Zeal and False Zeal: A Sermon on Romans 10:1-2. Or on Youtube with closed captions (which might help due to his accent).

What follows is Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ excerpt from the sermon True Zeal vs. False Zeal, focusing on true zeal.

What are the characteristics of a true zeal? A true zeal is never a zeal that’s put on. It’s not put on you by anybody else it’s not put on by you yourself. If you’ve got a zeal you’ve got it not because you’ve been told it’s the thing to do when you join this church or this society. That’s not the reason if you are doing it, simply because it’s the thing to do in this society or company. It’s never put on or mechanical either by other people or the thing to do or by ourselves as the result of a decision.

Secondly, it is always the result of being the man who’s got a true zeal has it because he is what he is. He has it because he’s grown in grace and because he’s grown in sanctification. It’s not an act.

Thirdly and putting it still more specifically and in terms of our text true zeal is always the result of knowledge. It is always the outcome of knowledge. With the Apostle is really put this very wonderfully for us already in chapter 6 in verse 17, (KJV)

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Now you notice the order. He actually puts the obeying first. That the obeying actually in practice was the last. This is what he says has happened to you – he says the first thing was this a form of doctrine was delivered. The gospel was preached to them and they received it and believed it with their minds. But it wasn’t only in their minds, the heart was involved. They were moved by it and because the heart was involved they were moved by it. They gave it obedience. Their will came into action but that was the order they received it with the mind first, it moved the heart it moved them to action.

That is the true order of true zeal. The trouble with a false zeal is that it puts the will first and is not interested even in the heart nor in the head. The man who says ‘nothing matters but activity’ is exhibiting a false will. That’s the danger of activism. It goes on in his headlong blind manner. The right order is the mind, the heart, then the will.

The man who has the true zeal he knows what he’s doing and he knows why he’s doing it. Zeal is according to knowledge!

The fourth test is that it’s a deep zeal. Not superficial. It’s not a spectacular, showy blaze, but a controlled fire that’s longer lasting and more useful.

As such, the true zeal displays control. Fire is a bad master, but when zeal is controlled by knowledge it’s as it should be. If a fire is in the hearth it’s controlled and warming the room and pleasant to be around. Fire that is out of control is damaging and unwanted. It burns and destroys. It is the same with zeal. A person exhibiting true zeal controls it.

Sixth, a true zeal is never self-confident. He’s always reverent. He doesn’t get excited. The Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians that when he went amongst them he did so in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, Paul, trembling, apprehensive, fearful nervous? How different that is from the false zeal and the confidence and the assurance and the mastery of the occasion some men show in their false zeal!

A person with true zeal knows he operates under grace and not in his own strength. His confidence comes from knowing his energy is deposited by the Spirit of God.

Remember, the Corinthians were despising Paul because he wasn’t boasting about himself. Some of the false teachers were boasting about themselves. They were recommending themselves. Well, says Paul, if you really want to know I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God that was with me. I am what I am by the grace of God .

Seventh- What’s the motive that animates true zeal? Well it isn’t just to be busy and to do things and to get results. It’s the glory of God… the glory of God. The love of Christ. Their motivation is the love of Christ and wanting to share that with others who are lost.

A man of true zeal is not simply anxious that people should decide for Christ. He wants them to come to what Paul calls our knowledge of the truth. He’s not interested in superficial results. He is very concerned that men and women should have a knowledge of the truth that will save them from hell.

It comes to this – that the man who is animated by a true zeal however successful he may be he is never elated he’s never excited with his own success. When the Lord sent the seventy out to preach and to cast out devils and they were so successful that they came back full of excitement. They said ‘master the very devils are subject unto us!’ and our Lord looked at them and said ‘In this rejoice not that the devils of the spirits are made subject unto you, but rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’

I ask you a question as I close. What’s the effect of all this upon you is it that you are so afraid of the false zeal that you do nothing at all. If it is I have spoken in vain if you are so afraid of a false zeal that it paralyzes you, then you’re the very antithesis of Paul. You’ve not understood the truth. Knowledge of the truth always moves the heart and moves the will.

If the knowledge of the truth hasn’t moved you, hasn’t engaged your affections and your emotions hasn’t made you do something, you have not known the truth properly. When a man really knows this truth he says we cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and heard.

In any case the Apostle teaches us in Romans that we must not be slothful in business we must rather be fervent in spirit serving the law not a false zeal but a true one. Fervent in spirit serving the Lord. He’s not writing to apostles he is writing to ordinary church members. Are you fervent in spirit? Are you moved by what you claim to believe? Do you really believe it? If you do you know that everybody who doesn’t believe it is going to hell, can you be passive and quiet and paralysed and say nothing and do nothing?

To what extent are you concerned about the souls of the Lost? How can a man believe the gospel and not be concerned about those who don’t? How can a man sit down feeling his own pulse worrying about his own temptations and sins and problems and have no concern about the lost?

————end MLJ sermon part 2 on true zeal.

We don’t often talk about zeal, or energy, or fervor for the lost. We talk of how ‘busy’ we are, but as we saw in part 1 and in part 2, there can be a false motivation, a false energy propelling us in this busyness that is completely vain. Make sure your energy comes from the Spirit, that it isn’t something put on and springs from a fountain of carnality. Matthew 7:21-23 shows the unmasking of people who exhibited a false zeal, only to find they were doing it in their own strength and not in the Lord.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:1-2).

The only way to obtain knowledge of God is to go where God is: the Bible. That is where he has revealed Himself, and is the source of truth and knowledge.

Christ or Chords? The Manipulated Emotionalism of Hillsong, Asbury, and Pentecostalized Evangelical Worship

 This applies not only to music but other forms of art such as movies and TV shows like The Chosen and The Jesus Revolution. Satan is an expert at manipulating humans - their feelings and emotions - so don't be fooled. There is only one real Jesus and it's not the Jesus of The Chosen. So maybe you will get goosebumps or cry, but  beware of these things.

MAR 13, 2023

SCOTT ANIOL


When Christ was asked about the great commandment in the Law, he answered without hesitation: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mt 22:37). True worship of God is centered in our affections for him. As Jonathan Edwards rightly observed, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.” Indeed, a purely intellectualized worship is no worship at all.

This is one reason God has commanded that his people sing in corporate worship. Singing, Paul explains, allows believers to express their hearts to God, particularly thanksgiving (Col 3:16, Eph 5:19). The inspired songs of Scripture are filled with heart expression such as lament, contrition, thanksgiving, love, and praise.

However, the role of emotion and music in worship today has departed considerably from biblical precept and example. In fact, I would suggest that the relationship of emotion and music to worship in contemporary Christianity has shifted to such a significant degree that it hardly resembles what Scripture models.


The relationship of emotion and music to worship in contemporary Christianity has shifted to such a significant degree that it hardly resembles what Scripture models.


This reality is clearly evident with recent events like the faux revival at Asbury University, the global popularity of worship music of groups like Hillsong, or, frankly, the entire contemporary worship movement. It is almost impossible to engage in thoughtful, biblical conversation with contemporary Christians about worship, music, and emotion due to fundamental shifts that have come to characterize contemporary evangelicalism.

In each of these cases, intense emotional expression has come to define the essence of true relationship with God. “The students at Asbury are so passionate about God!” So we dare not question the validity of what’s happening. “I can feel God’s presence in that worship!” So why wouldn’t we promote that music? If the nature of true worship is love for God, why would we question whether these movements are biblical?

John MacArthur summarized the reason well in the recent Shepherd’s Conference Q&A session when he described what happened at Asbury as “chords over Christ.” “Shut off the music and see what happens,” he challenged.

MacArthur put his finger on the issue I have been identifying for many years: music has taken on an unprecedented and, indeed, unbiblical role in contemporary evangelical worship today, in which music is used to create what modern Christians assume to be “feelings of spirituality,” “the felt presence of God,” and “revival.” And because this function has become so intrenched in contemporary evangelicalism, to question the music, the feelings, or the experiences is to question the very work of God in many evangelicals’ minds.

No wonder I get so much hate mail.


Music has taken on an unbiblical role in contemporary evangelical worship today in which music is used to create what modern Christians assume to be “feelings of spirituality,” “the felt presence of God,” and “revival.”

Nothing More Than Feelings

Yet carefully defining the true nature of spiritual experience based upon the Word of God is critical. And, in particular, we need to recognize how modern notions of “emotion” are not the same thing as what the Bible calls praise, joy, or love.

The category of “emotion” is a relatively recent term, only entering common discourse about 200 years ago. Prior to that, people didn’t use the term, and consequently, they had a far more nuanced understanding of human sensibility.

Thomas Dixon traces the creation and evolution of this idea in his very helpful book, From Passions to Emotions. He demonstrates how the idea of emotion “is little more than a hundred years old. Darwin’s Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals (1872) and William James’ “What is an Emotion” (1884) are the first studies of the emotions using scientific methodology.”1

The category of emotion, shaped as it was by Enlightenment rationalism and Darwinian evolution, is defined primarily by effects upon the body, what we might call “feelings.” Then, with this more recent category firmly entrenched in modern thought, Christians read biblical descriptions of worship and relationship with God and define such realities also primarily in terms of feelings. Consequently, exhilaration, euphoria, and other merely chemical affects upon the body have come to define Christian worship and spirituality for most Christians today.

However, the biblical concept of affection was something entirely different. The fruit of the Spirit, for example, are by definition affections not inherently defined by physical feelings. Since God is a Spirit and does not have a body like man, affections like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are fundamentally spiritual. Though each of these affections certainly may affect the body, they are not defined by physical feelings.

Furthermore, even the nature of how spiritual affections affect the body or what kinds of feelings may accompany them differ from the nature of physical feelings typically associated with worship in contemporary evangelicalism.

For example, Michael Brown recently tweeted the following:


Immediately you can see his assumption that the modern category of emotion is inherently an essential part of worship. And so I responded to his tweet by listing many passages that do, indeed, caution against unbridled physical feelings:Romans 12:3 – Think with sober judgment
Gal 5:23 – The fruit of the Spirit is self-control.
1 Thess 5:6, 8 – Be sober.
1 Tim 2:9 – women should be self-controlled.
1 Tim 3:2 – An overseer is to be sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable.
1 Tim 3:8 – Deacons must be dignified.
1 Tim 3:11 – Deacon’s wives must be dignified and sober-minded.
2 Tim 1:7 – God gave us a spirit of self-control.
2 Tim 3:3 – The last days will be characterized by lack of self-control.
2 Tim 4:5 – Paul commands Timothy to be sober-minded.
Titus 1:8 – An overseer should be self-controlled and disciplined.
Titus 2:2-6 – Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women are to be reverent in behavior. Younger women and younger men are to be self-controlled.
Titus 2:12 – Renounce ungodliness and worldy passions, but be self-controlled.
1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 4:7 – The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
2 Peter 1:6 – Add to your faith self-control and steadfastness.

Unbridled emotion is actually a mark of spiritual immaturity, while true spiritual affections have more modest affects upon the body. Religious affections will be characterized, not by intense euphoria, but by what Jonathan Edwards calls “the lamb-like, dove-like spirit or temper of Jesus Christ.” Truly Spirit-formed religious affections, according to Edwards, “naturally beget and promote such a spirit of love, meekness, quietness, forgiveness, and mercy, as appeared in Christ.”2

Instead of cultivating true biblical religious affections, contemporary evangelicalism has become what a former professor of mine called a “glandular religion.”
Musical Manipulation

With the secular category of emotion thoroughly impacting Christian interpretation of worship and relationship with God, Christians in the nineteenth century began to look for means to cultivate the kinds of feelings they assumed to be essential characteristics of conversion, spiritual growth, and worship.

They found the perfect tool in pop music.

Charles Finney was among the first to urge those leading his revival services to use music to create “feelings of spirituality.” Believing it was the preacher’s responsibility to create the proper conditions for revival through raising excitement, a kind of music designed to quickly manufacture such excitement was the ideal stimulant.

And stimulant is exactly what that music is. Pop music is specifically designed to produce immediate gratification through direct stimulation of bodily feelings. After Finney, this kind of music began to replace the substantive hymnody of church history past that was carefully chosen to give expression to biblical religious affections.

Since the earliest days of the church, church leaders had cautioned against using music in worship that was simply designed to stir up feelings. Clement of Alexandria, for example, insisted,


But we must abominate extravagant music, which enervates men’s souls, and leads to changefulness—now mournful, and then licentious and voluptuous, and then frenzied and frantic.3

Rather, Clement argued that the church’s hymnody should employ “temperate harmonies.”4 In A New Song for an Old World, Calvin Stapert notes how uniform this understanding of music was among early pastors and theologians.

This emphasis was renewed during the Reformation. Martin Luther and other German reformers insisted that worship music embody reverence. For example, Johann Konrad Dannhauer required that music be “sacred, glowing with love, humble, dignified, the praise of God sung by the voice of men and instruments with becoming grace and majesty,” contrasted with “profane music, which is unspiritual, frivolous, proud, irreverent.”5 Likewise, Balthasar Meisner insisted,


Let all levity, and sensualism be absent [in worship music]. On the contrary, let gravity and a pious intent of the mind prevail, which does not contemplate and pursue bare harmony but devoutly fits and joins to it the inmost desires and affections. For unless a ready spirit is joined to the turns of the voice and a vigilant and fervent heart to the varied words, we weary God and ourselves in vain with that melody. For not our voice but our prayer, not musical chords but the heart, and a heart not clamoring but loving, sings in the ear of God.6

John Calvin, too, insisted that music used for worship fit its solemn purpose, having “weight” and “majesty” rather than being “light” or “frivolous.”7

These theologians understood the proper place and function of music in worship. They knew that biblically, emotion and singing come as a result of the Spirit’s work through the Word of God in a believer’s life, not as a cause of the Holy Spirit’s work. Calvin Stapert helpful makes this point with reference to Ephesians 5:18–19 and Colossians 3:16:


“Spirit filling” does not come as the result of singing. Rather, “Spirit filling” comes first; singing is the response. . . . Clear as these passages are in declaring that Christian singing is a response to the Word of Christ and to being filled with the Spirit, it is hard to keep from turning the cause and effect around. Music, with it stimulating power, can too easily be seen as the cause and the “Spirit filling” as the effect.8

“Such a reading of the passages,” Stapert argues, “gives song an undue epicletic function and turns it into a means of beguiling the Holy Spirit.” He argues that such a “magical epicletic function” characterized pagan worship music, not Christian.9

In other words, in Scripture, it is Christ over chords. True spiritual affections are created within us by allowing the Word of Christ to richly dwell within us; singing then helps us to express those affections that were created by the Spirit of Christ filling us with the Word of Christ.


Singing then helps us to express those affections that were created by the Spirit of Christ filling us with the Word of Christ.

The Pentecostalization of Evangelical Worship

The evangelical expectation of intense feelings manufactured by music as the essence of spirituality was only exacerbated by Pentecostalism in the twentieth century. Charismatic theologians argue that the Holy Spirit’s primary work in worship is that of making God’s presence known in observable, tangible ways such that worshipers can truly encounter God. This theology places a high emphasis and expectation in worship upon physical expressiveness and intensity, resulting in what is sometimes called a “Praise and Worship” theology of worship. The goal, in this theology, is to experience the presence of God in worship, but praise is considered the means through which Christians do so.

This change in theology of worship led to a new understanding of worship music perhaps best described by Ruth Ann Ashton’s 1993 God’s Presence through Music,10 raising the matter of musical style to a level of significance that Lim and Ruth describe as “musical sacramentality,” where music is now considered a primary means through which “God’s presence could be encountered in worship.”11
Musically Manufactured Emotion is No Work of God


We must be careful to define spiritual affections biblically and put music in its proper place. Otherwise, we risk worshiping chords instead of Christ.


The use of music to manufacture “feelings of spirituality” is exactly why Hillsong and the whole contemporary worship music movement are so popular—take away the music, and you eliminate the “feelings of spirituality.” In fact, the Hillsong documentary that came out last year made this very point:

The use of music to manufacture “revival” is what drove the events at Asbury—take away the music, and you eliminate the “revival.” Since when is a bunch of college kids swaying to music for multiple consecutive days revival?

MacArthur was right: in most of evangelicalism today, it is chords over Christ.

True religion does consist in the religious affections, and music is a wonderful gift from God that helps to give expression to the affections created by the Spirit through his Word.

But we must be careful to define spiritual affections biblically and put music in its proper place. Otherwise, we risk worshiping chords instead of Christ.

Avoid the Victim Mentality

 By Elizabeth Prata

Do you have a victim mentality? Photo by Alice Alinari on Unsplash

I was saved as a 40-something adult, never having attended church or had been involved in religion or ‘churchy’ things. I spent 18 months following Joel Osteen then rejected him when I actually got a Bible and began comparing his teachings to it. I moved to Georgia and began listening to Woodrow Kroll in “Back to the Bible”, Adrian Rogers, then John MacArthur. Solid men. I was grateful for this time of firming up my faith before I started attending church, because when I got there…

The first ‘Bible study’ I was exposed to in church was “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. I was told “It will completely change me…” “Powerful…” and all the hype. Nope. Here is a good review of that ‘study’ from Critical Issues Commentary. Blackaby was the one who in modern times of the Southern Baptist Convention church (SBC) set the course toward mysticism and contemplative prayer. I praised the Lord he had given me time & space to develop discernment before I was thrust into the soup of rotten Bible studies.

The second one was a Kay Arthur inductive study which at the time (2007-2008) was good. But the next one I was exposed to, heavily and pressingly, almost forced, was Beth Moore. I was attending a SBC church and at the time (2010-onward) Moore was reaching Everest heights of popularity. There was no escaping her studies, books, simulcasts, retreats, and conversations about the latest thing she said or did or taught. She was everywhere. Like Blackaby, Moore’s studies focused on self.

I was surprised and dismayed by the constant emphasis on self by Moore and Blackaby, and other studies I saw people doing or did myself. I’d spent 42 years before salvation studying myself and I was thoroughly sick of myself. I wanted to know about Jesus.

Along with the emphasis on self, as time went on, these studies inevitably drew a focus on our injured self. Sin was described as ‘messiness’, not sin. We know messes can be cleaned up by ourselves. Maybe that was why the term caught on. Sin needs repenting to God for, but if I’m a mess, or my life is a mess, or I’m in a mess, just clean it up, no Jesus needed.

And further away from the Godly terms of sin and repentance, we went not only in studies but also in conversation, from messiness to victim. My life is a mess because I’m a victim, not a sinner. It’s all someone else’s problem, not my fault! You see how the drift away from Biblical standards of behavior, from commonly understood terms, and from His commands to stay close to the word have gone from ‘mortifying sin’, to ‘my life’s a mess because I’m a victim.’

Here is one example of the victimhood mentality from recent days. Lysa TerKeurst wrote-

@LysaTerKeurst: “Your heart is much too beautiful of a place for bitterness. They made choices that hurt you. And chances are, those choices are an indication of their brokenness, not yours. Remember, it should be God’s words, not their words, that reveal the truth of who we are.”

The heart is not beautiful. Mark 7:21-23 says

or from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Meg Basham commented on TerKeurst’s tweet, saying: “The heart is deceitful above all things, & desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart'” Jer. 17:9-10 Bitterness is bad, but so is soft-focus spiritualism that teaches women to see themselves only as victims, only as sinned-against rather than sinners.

I don’t know TerKeurst’s work well at all, but quick perusal of recent posts showed many in same vein—women’s great struggle is dealing with pain others are inflicting ON them. Hence my comment. Only one post in 2022 about dealing with your own sin. Only one the year before…

thinking further, if you’re gonna weight these things for general audience, how much should focus be on teaching how to deal with sins in our own lives vs how to react to other people’s sins hurting us? Because for Christian women’s books, breakdown seems 75% their sin, 25% mine. –end @MegBasham

So these days, a commonly understood state of woman, even after conversion, is not having to constantly deal with our own sin, but rather its watered down definition-change to messiness. This diminishes sin’s potency. Then the word changed to victimhood, meaning other people are the problem, not us. Then enter the latest iteration- misogyny, defined as dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. The mentality now is we are the way we are due to everyone else’s hatred of us.

If you listen to these modern women who craft Bible studies, you soon get the idea that all men hate all women and all institutions are prejudiced against the female sex. That, it’s everywhere. And every time you encounter something distasteful against you, just call it “misogyny” and it’s the reason you’ve been hard put by- rather than probably your OWN sin nature as the root cause of your current issue.

It never occurs to these women Bible teachers who teach soft victimhood, that everyone is hard put by at some point in our lives. Everyone has something happen to them that is distasteful or worse, a crime. Everyone has something they can claim victim status about. Sadly these days, many women do claim it, whether it’s real, exaggerated, or sadly, just made-up.

That is because everyone is a sinner. Sometimes what happens to us is our own sin being reaped against ourselves. If you’re disobedient at work, or fail to produce, or a rule-breaker, you’ll be fired. That’s not misogyny, that’s the natural consequence of your own sin. Other times it’s pure injustice for no reason. A drunk driver rammed your car and someone died. It’s an injustice but nothing to do with anything you did or chose or said. That’s the world- it’s evil. It’s under the temporary dominion of the evil one. (2 Corinthians 4:4).

But if you have a victim mentality, you will see your entire life through a perspective that things constantly happen ‘to’ you. Victimisation is thus a combination of seeing most things in life as negative, beyond your control, and as something you should be given sympathy for experiencing as you ‘deserve’ better. At its heart, a victim mentality is actually a way to avoid taking any responsibility for yourself or your life. By believing you have no power then you don’t have to take action. 

Source

If you believe you’re a victim, then you think you don’t have to take action. If don’t have to take action, you don’t have take Godly actions like resisting temptation, repenting, pursuing holiness, and the like.

No, resist the victim mentality and avoid ministries that focus on the ‘something bad’ that happened to you. You’re not a victim. You are a trophy of grace, a person made in the image of God who has been given the gift of mercy because you’re saved from His wrath against your sin.

We are all sinners. We all have a past, we all do wrong things, and we’re all totally depraved. Once we are born again, all those sins are forgiven AND they are forgotten by Jesus.

A Bible study is not an extended therapy session about yourself, your wounds, the ‘toxic relationships’ holding you back. It is an opportunity to learn more about the triumph of Jesus on the cross and His ongoing gracious ministry to His people.

Steak And Arsenic: A Review of Neil Anderson’s "Victory Over the Darkness"

 

by Steven J. Cole


Reading Neil Anderson’s Victory Over the Darkness [Regal Books, 1990, 245 pp.] is like eating steak laced with arsenic. The steak tastes great and makes up the major portion, but the arsenic, imbedded throughout, will kill you.

First, the steak: Anderson strongly sets forth the believer’s position in Christ and the beneficial effects of believing this truth. He underscores the many Scriptures affirming that believers are saints, new creatures, forgiven, righteous, etc. Certainly these are crucial truths for every Christian to believe and act upon.

Anderson rightly affirms that right thinking produces right emotions: “... feelings are a product of the thought life.... Anger, anxiety and depression are usually the result of a faulty belief system. The greatest determinants of mental and emotional health are a true knowledge of God, and acceptance of His ways and the assurance of His forgiveness” (p. 236). Amen!

Sadly, though, the book is laced with arsenic. An undiscerning reader will swallow the poison with the steak. The outcome will be worse than not eating the steak at all!

The main error is that Anderson repeatedly asserts that believers are not to view themselves as sinners, not even as sinners saved by grace, but as saints who occasionally sin. If unsuspecting Christians buy into this aberrant view, they will end up minimizing what Scripture presents as the major enemy against which we must daily fight: the ongoing power of the flesh. Here’s how he puts it:

Many Christians refer to themselves as sinners saved by grace. But are you really a sinner? Is that your scriptural identity? Not at all. God doesn’t call you a sinner; He calls you a saint--a holy one. If you think of yourself as a sinner, guess what you will do: you’ll live like a sinner; you’ll sin. Why not identify yourself for who you really are: a saint who occasionally sins (pp. 44-45).

Satan will try to convince you that you are an unworthy, unacceptable, sin-sick person who will never amount to anything in God’s eyes (p. 56).

(Note the truth and error mingled in that single sentence: We are unworthy, unacceptable, and sin-sick. But by God’s grace we will amount to something in His eyes.)

If you believe that you are part light and part darkness, part saint and part sinner, you will live in a very mediocre manner with little to distinguish you from the non-Christian (p. 71). (See also pp. 69, 83; and his book, The Bondage Breaker [Harvest House], pp. 44, 81, 156).

There are numerous problems with these overstatements (which amount to a serious denial of biblical truth). First, they depend upon picking and choosing certain Scriptures, but ignoring others. For example, on pages 45-47 Anderson has a long list of verses giving the positives of who I am in Christ. Great! But why did he leave out other verses, often in the same context, that aren’t so pretty (Matt. 6:30; 7:5, 11; 5:4; Luke 17:10)? Anderson conveniently skips such “negative” verses.

Concerning Paul’s late-in-life claim to be the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), Anderson explains it as referring to his nature before conversion. But a study of the text in its context shows that Paul was talking about his ever-deepening awareness of his own sinfulness as he grew in grace. As Donald Guthrie comments, “Paul never got away from the fact that Christian salvation was intended for sinners, and the more he increased his grasp of the magnitude of God’s grace, the more he deepened the consciousness of his own naturally sinful state, ...” (The Pastoral Epistles, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Eerdmans], p. 65).

A second problem with not viewing ourselves as sinners is that it destroys the basis for growing in humility before God. The most godly men in the Bible all were deeply aware of their own utter depravity in the presence of God (see Gen. 18:27; Job 42:6; Isa. 6:5; Dan. 9:4-19; Luke 5:8).

It is significant that in none of these cases did the Lord say, “That’s not true! You need to see yourself as a saint, not a sinner!” Once the man realized the truth of his sinfulness, the Lord graciously gave words of encouragement to restore (Job 42:7-8; Isa. 6:7; Dan. 9:23; Luke 5:10). But it can be argued that God’s specific intent in every case was to bring these sinner-saints to this lower (and more accurate) estimate of themselves in God’s holy presence.

Third, Anderson’s view undercuts the need for self-distrust. The more I realize my own sinfulness, the less I’m inclined to trust myself and the more I’m inclined to cling desperately to the Lord, lest I fall into sin (1 Cor. 10:12). When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

Fourth, Anderson minimizes the need for ongoing self- examination (2 Cor. 13:5). But this is the requirement for every Christian, especially before partaking of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:28).

Fifth, Anderson’s view will lead to an anemic view of God’s grace, which is the chief motivation for holy living. If I do not grow to see my own sinfulness in a deeper way, I will not grow in appreciation for the “mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary.” Those who love God much know that they’ve been forgiven much (Luke 7:47). Jesus’ point was not that some are forgiven more than others, but rather that those who realize how much they’re forgiven are those who love God much. If I’m not growing to see more of the depths of my sinfulness, I will not love God more.

Sixth, Anderson minimizes the major hindrance to holy living. If I am “a saint who occasionally sins,” then “No big problem!” That is precisely what Satan would have me believe! God wants me to see the gravity of my sin problem so that I will take responsibility to put to death the deeds of the flesh. The more I grow, the more I discover that my problem is much bigger than I ever realized! (This error is magnified if you add Anderson’s book, The Bondage Breaker, which places much of the blame for Christians’ problems on evil spirits, not on the flesh.)

Seventh, if I am not to see myself as a sinner, then how can I deny myself (Mark 8:34)? Clearly, self-denial is to be a daily, ongoing exercise (Luke 9:23). Do I deny a slight tendency I have toward an occasional sin or do I deny my continual propensity toward selfishness, pride, and the deeds of the flesh?

Eighth, Anderson’s error runs counter to the experience and teaching of the most godly men in church history. Augustine, Calvin, Luther, John Owen (the great Puritan theologian), Jonathan Edwards, Charles Simeon, J. C. Ryle, Charles Spurgeon, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and many others all taught the ongoing depravity of the human heart, even after conversion. How then can Anderson claim that if you see yourself as a sinner “you will live in a very mediocre manner with little to distinguish you from the non-Christian” (p. 71)! Those men were hardly mediocre Christians!

Ninth, Anderson’s false teaching denies the facts of every revival in church history. As Lloyd-Jones points out (Revival [Crossway], p. 231),

And there has never yet been a revival of religion, but that the moment that God’s people have this experience, though they may have been Christians for years and years, they feel utterly unworthy, they see themselves as sinners as they have never done before. Some of them have even doubted whether they have ever been Christians. They are wrong, of course, but the sight of the holiness of God, the realisation of it, has made them see nothing but their own sinfulness and their own unworthiness. It is invariable.

Indeed, Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes this point repeatedly (see pp. 41, 70-71, 80-83, 101, 156-157), thus showing how far Anderson is off.

Tenth, not seeing myself as a sinner would lead to my shrugging off the many repeated Scriptural warnings against the power and dangers of sin. Why worry about it if I’m just a saint who occasionally sins? Why should pastors preach against sin if Anderson is right? Just preach positional truth. Why preach the need for an ongoing life of repentance? Occasional repentance for occasional sins will do!

Thus Anderson’s unbiblical assertion that believers are not to view themselves as sinners is the major dose of arsenic in the steak. But other minor traces can be found in his penchant for overstatement. Some examples:

Feelings “are neither good nor bad; they’re amoral, just part of your humanity” (p. 182). If so, why does the Bible label certain feelings as sin (lust, selfish anger, bitterness, jealousy, etc.)? Anderson encourages a counselee to vent sinful anger and uses one of David’s imprecatory (and Christological) psalms as justification for “being honest with our feelings” (pp. 186-187)!

Concerning sharing with a grieving friend, he overstates what would be sound counsel if it were in balance, namely that we’re to respond to emotions with emotions, not with words (p. 189). He cites Jesus’ weeping with Mary and Martha as biblical warrant. But he conveniently omits Jesus’ pointed words (not just emotions) to Martha from the very context he cites as “proof” (see John 11:23-26).

Anderson argues (p. 215) that it is always wrong to defend oneself, since if we’re wrong, we should accept the criticism; if we’re right, God will defend us. Please snip 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians 2, and many other portions from your Bible (excuse my sarcasm). Paul defends himself rather vigorously in those places, sometimes with sarcasm, even!

We’re told that it’s always wrong to judge character; we’re only supposed to judge actions (p. 221-222). But don’t repeated deeds reflect inner character? In the same context that we’re told not to judge we are told to discern and avoid false prophets who inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matt. 7:15). Paul often judged the motives and character of his critics, based on his observation of their deeds (2 Cor. 11:13-15; Gal. 1:8-10; Titus 1:10-16).

Anderson draws a false dichotomy between being and doing (pp. 237-239). The subtle implication of his teaching here is that we can’t (and perhaps even shouldn’t) obey God (“doing”) until we’re squared away with who we are in Christ (“being”). He states (p. 237),

One of the great failures of Christian ministry is to expect people to behave as Christians ... before they have matured as Christians .... In so doing we are asking people to behave in a manner that is inconsistent with their perception of their identity and their level of maturity, and that’s an impossible task.

No! Obedience is always right, whether I understand “who I am in Christ” or not. We grow to understand our identity in Him as we trust and obey (see 2 Pet. 1:5-11).

Overall, the book, in common with many modern “Christian” books, has an underlying selfistic bent: “You will be motivated in life by what you believe will bring you success, significance, fulfillment, satisfaction, happiness, fun, security and peace” (Table of Contents description of Chapter 7, which elaborates on this bent). That’s a far cry from the self-denying faith of the martyrs! I have trouble imagining Latimer and Ridley thinking about success, significance, fulfillment, satisfaction, happiness, and fun as the flames were lit around them!

In short, Anderson’s book contains a lot of good ol’ American selfism wrapped in a lot of truth to fool the unsuspecting—steak laced with arsenic! Dear brethren, do not be deceived!