Apologetic Frustration

"In order to know truth, you must pray that God will reveal it to you. In order to know truth, you must read God's word. If you do these two things, sincerely, then God will show you that what I am saying is true. Why don't you pray that God will reveal to you that the Book of Mormon is true, he did for me."

Sounds pretty good right up to the last point, doesn't it? I have faithfully kept my appointments with the LDS missionaries each time they come by since I have been here. I'm on the list, and so each new crew comes by for a visit. Tonight's appointment was the most frustrating yet.

The girls were sweet and gracious. They were not argumentative, nor were they easily ruffled. Though they were certainly not Scripturally knowledgeable, they knew their Mormon theology quite well. After a certain number of visits, I know, generally where to steer the conversation, but tonight that didn't help.

Did you know that the authority to baptize was lost from the death of the apostles until the apostles appeared to Joseph Smith? When I argued the point, I was told that this was the fulfillment of the great "falling away" that Paul predicted to Timothy. Amos had foreseen it as well.

So I turned to the essence and being of God Himself. This proved totally fruitless. They simply insisted that we were the same essence as him, that we were eternal like him, that we had chosen to come here from before the foundation of the world so that we might become more like him, and that the Scripture never contradicted this. Nothing I could muster would satisfy.

Besides, they knew that the Book of Mormon was true because God had told them it was true. And that, in the end, is how we know truth. God tells us through our feelings, and when that happens, no amount of persuasion would change our minds.

We touched on the glory of God, I countered with every Scripture I could think of, but each was cleverly warped to fit into their thinking. The fact that I refused to pray about God revealing to me whether or not the Book of Mormon was true was simply evidence of my hard-heart. I said plainly that the Bible was the source of authority and that it contradicted Joseph Smith. That was met with incredulous looks.

I seriously prefer debate with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Seriously.

So where would you go, dear reader, to demonstrate that we are not of the same essence as God? (It's not enough to say, "There's nothing like God!" They simply respond, "Of course there's nothing like God. He's way ahead of us!") And where would you go to prove that the church never ceased to exist outside of Ephesians 3?

The Ordinary Jesus

You would not have known him, most likely, if you had passed him on the street. He would have been just another face in the crowd. Especially if you had met him before his ministry really began to take off. One testimony to this fact is that from 12 to roughly 30, we know nothing of what Jesus was up to. Nothing at all.

Isaiah said it would be like that. As he peered down the corridor of time with the eyes of the Spirit, he saw the Messiah. This is how he described his coming King:

He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:2).

Isaiah thought that there was nothing particularly attractive about Jesus. He looked to Isaiah to be stunningly normal. No shekinah glory beaming from his face, and no halo encircling his head. He was an ordinary Jewish guy, an ordinary man.

Another shocking example of Jesus' apparent normalcy was his reception at Nazareth. Upon his arrival the people exclaimed, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?" (John 6:42). Think on that for a moment. Nazareth was probably a small, rural town where everyone knew everyone else. They'd seen Jesus grow up, they knew where he lived, they knew his parents and what his father did for a living. Whatever they had observed in his young life must have been rather unimpressive. After all, they certainly hadn't expected that he would be the Messiah of Israel, and frankly, they thought he was probably out of his mind for saying so.

There are two points that I want to make from the ordinary life of Jesus. The first is that when you silence his word, you take away much of what demonstrated how extraordinary he truly was. Jesus was ordinary to look at, but when he opened his mouth rivers of living water flowed out. This is why churches die today, I believe. They hold to an exalted Jesus, and they picture him as a sort of mystic, probably, with a halo over his head, but they will not heed his word, and because of this, they miss the marvel of who Jesus is. When pastors and teachers fail to proclaim the Word of God, we will wind up missing the human Jesus as well as the divine one.

How quick we run past the man to embrace the God, and thereby we miss much wonder. Yes, I trumpet and proclaim Jesus as God, and I love that truth with passion. But with equal fervor I must say, "Yes! Yes! And he is man! (With a little 'h',even!) He cried and bled and worked and walked and breathed and fell. He was splendidly and wonderfully ordinary. Yes, he holds the worlds together by his will, but behold him stumble on the way to calvary! I am excited, friends, that Jesus is God, but I am also excited that he is man.

Do you think that you would have recognized him just by looking? Could you have spotted him in a crowd? I think not. He was too ordinary. If you still think that you would have been able, then I propose a test. Go to your church nursery this Sunday and look at all those precious babies and see if you can pick out the next great pastor or evangelist or author or Christian. Then go to to where the toddlers are being taught and see if you find greatness there. Or observe the teenager who serves you fries with your burger or sacks your groceries. Can you see glory there? Or do you overlook them because they are ordinary and familiar? Do not underestimate the "ordinary" man, for from such stock God saved the world.

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

Creative Writing: Last Minute Preparation

The people of God are singing. Each verse that is sung is like a tick in a countdown, and when it is over I must stand and declare the gospel. It is my duty to declare the unsearchable riches of God's Word. I must prepare.

I have a charge, and it is a dreadful charge. A dread like no other I have known. I must remind myself of this to extinguish my pride. My words will be weighed by the One before whom the mountains will flee and the earth will burn. I will stand before Him, when the heavens have melted from the heat of His glory, after the fierceness of His countenance has flattened every hill, and after the earth has worn out like a garment. Yet I will remain, and I will stand before Him and give an account for what I say today. All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of the LORD endures forever.

Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. This is what I remember now as I move to the pulpit to do my sacred duty and fulfill my charge. The King bought these people with His blood and defended them with His life. His Spirit hovers over the congregation like a mother hen over her chicks. He, too, will weigh my words to see if I will feed the flock the Word of Life. The Spirit wishes to hear the gospel and to exalt the Lord's Christ. He who was there when the earth was formed, He who brought it forth from nothing, He who sustains my own life and breath listens to see how I will use that life and breath this morning.

My heart pounds as I open the text. I pray, fervently, silently before I begin. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. That I might do your Word justice, O Lord! Today I will do my best to preach the Word. Today I will lift up Jesus Christ will all my might. I need this, the people need this, and with this responsibility comes the promise of great reward. When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

The time has come. Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!

Overcoming The Long Night of Unbelief

I once heard a story about a rather cruel experiment. It seems that a researcher put a mouse in a bucket of water to see how long it would tred water. Just as the mouse was going under to drown, the researcher rescued the unfortunate rodent. The researcher found that if the same mouse were subjected to the same conditions, the mouse would tred water for much longer than the first time the experiment happened. The reason it could last longer, the researcher hypothesized, was because the mouse had hope based on its first rescue. That hope of rescue gave the mouse the strength it needed to hold on.

David likened calamity to drowng. He wrote:

"If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
Let Israel now say—
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
Then they would have swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have gone over our soul;
Then the swollen waters
Would have gone over our soul. (Psalm 124:1-4).

The physical threat of armies caused anguish for the whole person. The spirit was affected as well as the body. The spiritual floodwaters of fear threatened to overwhelm their very souls. Yet, God delivered, and David reminded them, "Let Israel now say, if it had not been the LORD who was on our side" then the enemy would have prevailed.

God's faithfulness is the key to surviving the long night of unbelief. That is, after all, the main cause of our fears and woes. We believe that we will fail, that the enemy will prevail, or that nothing will ever change. The monotony of life and apathy erode our confidence in God. Yet, there is hope while faith holds and a candle yet smolders. The bruised reed may stand straight and strong again.

I have often said to those who grieve that the candle of hope kindled in Christ's resurrection shines brightest in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. The same can be said of the long night of unbelief. Though surrounded by doubt and hopelessness, if we can yet see the promise of God in the risen Christ, we may yet come out of this vale to the green pastures.

My failures as a husband and pastor are legion. I am unworthy of the mantle of those who came before me. And for every failure, I feel the accusation of Satan as did Martin Luther of old. Luther said that Satan would come to him and say, "Luther, Thou art a great sinner!" And what shall I say? There is truth to the charge. I answer with Paul, and with Luther, and with John Newton, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Tim. 1:15). John Newton who said, "My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things; That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."

This hope, this blessed hope, that Christ came to save sinners is the guide out of the long night of unbelief. There I am, in the valley of woe, sad and filled with worry, a sinner filled with doubt. Yet that is precisely the kind of hopeless and helpless wretch that Christ came to deliver. I find in this a hope that cannot be quenched and a light that is never smothered. Hope in Christ, beloved, and He will see you through.

Centaurs and Werewolves

I cannot even begin to think of the theological implications of this research. Is it only a matter of time?

The god of Art and Culture

If this post is going to make any sense to you, then you need to read this article on idol destruction in Nigeria. I want to give you my first, gut reaction, and then my biblically reasoned one.

I confess that as I first read this article I was deeply dismayed. I thought that the "Pentecostal Pastor" who destroyed these "heirlooms" was being rash. I thought that his motivation was all wrong. I have reconsidered my initial reaction and have decided that I was, for the most part, terribly wrong.

Throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites were commended for their zeal in destroying idols. It was always with great sadness that I read about a king "...but he did not tear down the high places" or some such thing. I got excited when men like Gideon went and tore down altars to false gods. So why was I averse to my brother in Nigeria doing the exact same thing?

Some may think, "Yes, Brad, they did destroy idols in the OT, but this is the New Covenant, man! We know that idols are nothing, right?" Well, destruction of things devoted to false gods is not exclusive to the OT. These idols this man destroyed were part idol part fetish, which means that they were believed to hold magical properties. Check this out:

And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand silver pieces (Acts 19:19).

Should he have spared them because they were valuable? Not according to this passage in Acts. Should he have spared them because they told the story of his heritage? That, in the end, would be the last objection.

He certainly should, if he so desired. Those idols represent bondage. Those idols represent a system of beliefs that sent his fore-fathers to hell. Would a freed slave want to keep shackles his father had worn? Perhaps, but perhaps not. If he chose to burn them with fire as a gesture of his newfound freedom, no one would protest that they were ancient heirlooms to be preserved

Most Westerners who read this article will be miffed at someone's wanton destruction of ancient cultural heirlooms. This deception is buried deep in the mind of the West, as if culture is above reproach and to be preserved at nearly any cost. (Unless, of course, it is Western culture!) Indeed, many will see the pastor's burning of these idols as an act of barbarism. They would have no trouble seeing him bow down and worship these mute and worthless things. That would please them. But to burn them...barbaric sacrilege!

Those were his idols, not his culture's. Let him do as he sees fit before the Lord. Burn the accursed things if you see fit, my dear brother. In the meantime, I will repent of my latent idolatry of culture and art.

Father-Son Time

This afternoon my son and I had some alone time. Mommy had some errands to run in Baton Rouge. So Ethan and I had/are having man time.

I am attempting to teach him to spit like a man, but thus far I have been unsuccessful. Far from mere barbarism, spitting is an important skill. The boy cannot use grown-up toothpaste until he can spit properly. (Not to mention properly playing baseball.) We will work on this some more this afternoon.

During lunch, we shared Eggos and Mac-N-Cheese. The preparation of this kind of weird but simple meal will help to ensure his survival in college. We also drank milk straight from the jug, which, while not essential for male survival, tends to repulse those of the female gender. While becoming disgusting to the fairer sex may seem counter-productive, it is absolutely an essential male trait. Such behavior sub-conciously reinforces to the female her value in a relationship, for without her care and constant attention, the male in her life would die of malnutrition and filth.

Later today, we will tackle using the potty standing up. Should be fun.

And Now For Something Completely Different

The Kung Fu smackdown could be happening any day now. Read all about it right here. To the ladies who come here from Lisa's Place, please politely ignore this as a silly man post. I will return to more substantive thought later.

A ninja verses a whole clan of Shaolin Monks? Where is Bruce Lee when you need him?

To the Work!

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us (2 Thess. 3:6).

Christians are not to be an idle folk. If someone claims to be a Christian, and they do not seek gainful employment, then we are told in the strictest of terms to have nothing to do with this person. Paul says this is not the "tradition" which they received. The tradition they received was this, "We were not ilde when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate" (2 Thess. 3:7-9).

Hopefully, you are not serving in a church with a great number of household heads who are unwilling to work to pay the bills and feed the family. If you are, then these people need a stern rebuke. I am more concerned with what we are teaching our young. My observations of the young adult population leaves much to be desired in this area.

Children of Christians ought to learn to work like Christians. A child ought to learn to do chores around the house as soon as they are able to do so. It teaches two things: Responsibility and Authority.

They learn responsibility by understanding that it is not mom's job to keep their room clean. And they learn that house-keeping is a family effort. Learning to take active stewardship over things is an essential part of a mature Christianity.

Authority is as important a lesson as learning responsibility. I seriously doubt that any child but Jesus cleaned his room without great threats and punishments. Teaching a child to work will positively teach them about the joy of a job well done, and negatively about a job ignored. Depending on the age, two things will result from neglect of duty: a red fanny or a loss of privilege. The end result should be the same: a clean room, like it or not.

I write this because one of the constant complaints from local companies is the inability to get young people who are willing to work. I believe this complaint is a serious reflection on our society as a whole, and it is a complaint that should never be leveled against Christians. We are, by nature, slothful creatures. One of the duties of the parent is train this tendency out. It is no easy task, but it must be done if we do not want to raise a generation of flakes.

A couple a generations before us, children had plenty of chores and responsibility. This was out of necessity as much as Biblical injunction. Presently, such labor is hardly necessary for survival. Indeed, the chores that we give our children may be trivial by comparison. And yet, it seems that parents have more problems getting children to comply with the trivial than our forefathers did with the intensive labors of old. We fuss with children over taking out the trash, they used to have to slop the pigs, feed the chickens, and milk the cow before school started. This mutiny against a clean room or trash duty is nothing but laziness and rebellion against authority.

A Christian child should be diligent in schoolwork and chores or whatever they put their hand to do. They ought to be an example of hard work and a willing laborer. Parents, we must teach our children to do this.

Michael Vick, Dead Dogs, and Goofy Morality

I have a passing interest in the NFL. Like many American men, I pride myself in being a fine fantasy football manager. Though the reality is that I have yet to win a Super Bowl, I have become familiar with many of the players, and consequently, with their deeds, both good and bad.

Michael Vick, the former quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, recently pled guilty to dog-fighting. In case you didn't know, that's precisely why he is now the former quarterback and not the current quarterback. The outrage over his involvement in the brutal fighting of dogs has been very vocal. His punishment has also been severe, he is suspended from football and I have read that the Falcons are asking for their $37 million dollars back. Ouch.

Vick and his fellows are guilty of illegal dog-fighting. These fights are vicious, and they often result in the death of the losing dog. For the majority of Americans this is morally reprehensible and even worse than chicken fighting. (I suppose that dogs are more valuable than chickens because they are smarter, more loyal and less tasty.)

I concede that Michael Vick should not have been dog-fighting. What strikes me as odd, however, is the furor that has arisen over this and the demand for his excommunication from football. Michael Vick is hardly the only felon in the NFL. Indeed, many of the players in the NFL have been convicted of assault, battery, felony drug possession, and etc. Some, perhaps, have multiple accounts of one or more. Such behavior hardly raises a whimper, much less the hoopla that Vick's actions have raised. The bottom line is this: We live in a world where it is bad to beat your wife, but worse to shoot a dog. (Did you know that the Jacksonville Jaguars donated $30,000 to Planned Parenthood? See here.)

With that, I am going back to my rest. I am still queasy, mostly from this invasive virus, and partly because this world can make me nauseous.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

No Creative Writing Today

My son was up all night getting rid of his food out the wrong end. It's terrible to watch a 2 year old be sick who does not comprehend what's happening to him, especially when it is your son. I'm sure that there is a sermon illustration or something in there somewhere, but right now, I've gotten what he has. So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and lie down and be miserable. Come, Lord Jesus!

Wow, Check This Out!

Jules at Everyday Mommy has redesigned my blog. I feel like I've been on one of those makeover shows that my wife watches on HGTV. I left the house with the ugly carpet, barren walls, and mismatched furniture to come home to a cool new place. It might be more fun to hang around here now.

Creative Writing: Luke 15:11-32, The Father's Heart

"I raised him better than this."

At least, he thought that he had. The grief washed over him again, the kind of grief that assails with pictures of love. Tiny hands clenching and unclenching, soft hands and baby smells come, as bold and real as yesterday, undimmed by time and longing. Visions of skinned knees and big hugs and I love yous roll in his heart like slow moving tides, gently grinding him to powder. Where had the time gone?

Oh that boy! That boy who said what he thought, that boy who would not quit until he had it. He had admired that in his son, even when the boy was wrong. The boy had a will to follow his heart, come what may. In the end, that may be why he gave into the demand, that heartless demand, born from the selfish heart of youth. He would not be dissuaded until he had it.

He took his inheritance from the living and left him as dead. And part of him was dead, in his greed the boy had taken more than money. Part of the father's life was bound up in that boy, and he was killing it slowly and cruelly. Try as he might, the father still saw his son, his beloved son, even as the boy made his willful demands, even as he granted him the request that would surely be his end. The father died a thousand deaths each evening on his porch. Straining to see him return, hoping that all was not lost, and wondering if he had done the right thing.

That is why he sat on his porch and watched. He knew, even as doubt nagged him, that he had poured love into that boy. And love is not so easily lost. The boy might seek it in gold, and he might seek it in debauchery and high living, but he would not have it. Not like that. So the father gave him the thing that he thought he wanted, in hopes that he might discover the beauty of the thing he already had.

So the father had banked it all on folly's waste and love's strong chords. Yes, and that was wise, he hoped. He had been a good father because he loved, and it must be enough.

Creative Writing: 2 Corinthians 4:6

We are not alone, and we are afraid.

It grows on you, like the prickly, anxious sensation you have when you feel that someone is watching you. This feeling, this fear, this certainty grows until it grips you. It is a sort of intuition that is felt deeply in the spirit, and while it may be suppressed, it cannot be gotten rid of.

From the time we are small, there is a sort of vague fear that flits about in the shadows of our rooms and hides in our closets and under our beds. It is the creeping sense that we are not alone. I wonder how many parents have come to a child’s rescue, to prove that there are no monsters in the closet, only to hesitate at the thresh-hold of darkness and silently be thankful for the light-switch at the door?

I believe that this feeling that all men experience is actually a flash of insight into the unknown that should be known. We busy ourselves to push it away as imagination. Only, the thing in the closet of our mind that silently waits is no monster; no, it is far worse and yet better. For the blessed, the door to the closeted soul cracks, and much to their surprise, it is not a thing of darkness that floods in but a thing of light. It is not the closet that is dark; it is the desolate room in which we live. And what emerges is not a hideous monster, but a Being too stunningly beautiful to be imagined in such a darkened mind.

With the light comes the horror, only more terrible than we could have imagined. This light allows sight, true sight, for the first time. Instead of a monster emerging from the closet, we find that the monster is us. The Being, we know with certainty, has come to destroy us, not because it is evil, but because we are. The magnificence of this One is so great that a single look upon His countenance will make all who view Him seem loathsome to themselves; as creatures fit only to be trod underfoot. This is the agony of who we are.

Yet, though it seems incredible, He did not come to destroy, not entirely. To call Him “Being” will no longer do, we know that now. Something has stirred within us, something that cries out for the One who has come, something that longs to go with Him beyond the door, something that wishes to flee the darkness, something that is more than what we were and desires to be more than we are. He put this there, and the glory of His presence is burning everything away that does not resound with this love and this new life.

This is what happens to a soul in which the day dawns and to which the light comes at last. The gospel brings the dawn, and the Lord Jesus is the sun, and yet the sun is too lowly and dim to compare to His brilliance. This thing happened to me, and is happening to me now. As I look to Him, the door cracks further, and I long to be away, away to the light, away from my darkness, and into a place where no monsters dwell.

A Most Glorious Day

I found a very wonderful thing today. It was the order of service from our wedding. On the inside cover I wrote these words on behalf of my future wife and me. I am so very thankful to God that our attitude on that day has not changed.

To Our Friends and Family,

We are delighted that you are able to join us for our wedding day. It is a day of great joy for us, and it is our sincere pleasure that you are here to share in this joy with us in bearing witness to the binding of our lives. It is our hope and prayer that this service will not be a time where you are a mere spectator. Instead, we invite you to join us in thanksgiving, and we ask you to pray for us to be faithful, to be visionary, and to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our might. We praise God for His goodness and kindness in bringing us together, and we recongize that our love for one another is only a reflection of the great love that God has for us. The Apostle John wrote, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1 John 4:10-11). In response to God's love for us throught Jesus Christ, we love God and one another. Today, we celebrate God's great love, and we covenant to so love one another. This service is arranged to demonstrate our desire to worship God through faithfulness to Him and to one another. Every song, every act, and every vow have been carefully thought through to ensure that the spotlight is cast, not upon us, but upon our great Lord who binds us together.

Much Like Moses

When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. (Exodus 4:21).

So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all." (Exodus 5:22-23)

I love it that in chapter four, God explicitly tells Moses that He will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will not let the people go. In the very next chapter, Moses is down in Egypt facing a hard hearted Pharaoh who will not let the people go, and he's upset. God gave Moses the heads up on what was about to take place, and yet by the end of chapter five Moses seems shocked that God has not yet delivered the people.

I wonder how many times we have done something similar? Did not Paul tell Timothy that those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution? (2 Tim. 3:12). Did Paul not also say that we will be heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him? (Rom. 8:17). So why is it that when we suffer and are slandered, we act like this isn't supposed to happening and take it as a sign of God's abandonment? Did not Peter say "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you" (1 Peter 4:12).

Pastors abandon their posts over things like this. People flee from church to church over things like this. We nod in hearty agreement when we hear the above verses read, and then we whine like babies when it comes to pass. I'm guilty! I confess it! I'm a whiney baby like everyone else. I take great comfort in the fact that God is merciful to us in our weakness. He knows that hearing of a trial and bearing up under a trial are different things. I am tremendously happy that the Lord had patience with Moses and continued to use him. Persevere, brothers and sisters! The Lord said there'd be days like this, and He is faithful to do all that He has promised through us for His glory. "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Gal. 6:9). Amen.

Blogging to Return!

It's been a busy week. I start the Ph.D program soon, and I have to take the French proficiency exam Friday. I haven't had French since 1996, and since then I've studied several languages. I have to cram. Au revoir.

The Holy Spirit is Gracious

I believe that, at least in word, most who call themselves evangelicals consent to the fact that salvation comes by grace alone. I say that we consent to this mentally, but not always in reality. In truth, coming to terms with the absolute freedom of God's gift of salvation is part of the maturing process.

I am, however, remorseful that we have largely failed to connect the grace of God with the Spirit of God Himself. He is, after all, as gracious and kind at the Lord Jesus and God the Father. Indeed, of all the persons of the Trinity, we ought to feel the comfort and grace of the Spirit most keenly in our daily walk. He is called the "Comforter" for a reason.

Think, for a moment, on the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church. If He is mysterious to us, it is because of the position that He has chosen for Himself. He is the author of Sacred Scripture, is He not? And yet, how did He choose to write that wonderful book? He wrote it through men. He used their personalities and their thoughts and their experiences, and He guarded them from error. What a gift to the Church and to these men the Spirit gave! The Holy Spirit could have written the Bible on papyrus directly in the sight of all of Israel and then forced men to copy it. He did not need a human agent. Yet, He chose to use people. Can you see the grace in that?

And what of His ministry in the Church? Is not the Spirit of God as glorious as the Son of God? Is His ministry in the Church any less needful? Never forget that without the Spirit there would be no Christians and no Church. Yet, all of the Holy Spirit's energies are focused on bringing the glory to the Son of God. If Christ is on center stage, He is visible because the Holy Spirit is operating the spotlight. As we see the panaromic view of salvation in the Scripture, as we become enthralled with the beauty of God's salvation, we are hardly aware of the Spirit's direction in all the details until the end. He appears in the credits. All that you have seen and marveled at in God's Word, all that you have tasted and seen as good in the world, comes because the Spirit has graciously revealed it to you.

And so it is with sincere grief that I see Christians act as if the Holy Spirit is stingy with the giving of Himself. We know that salvation is free, and yet we act as if the affections of the Spirit who grants salvation must be earned. How backward is our reasoning! Shouldn't we see that salvation is free and gracious precisely because the Spirit Himself is free and gracious?

You know, I trust, that when you are born from above you are ushered into the family of God. You know that God the Father is now your heavenly Father. You know, I trust, that you have been elevated to be a co-heir with Christ Himself, and that your destiny is to sit with Him on His throne. You know as well that Christ died for you, and that the Father sent Him to do this because He loved you with an everlasting love. And you know these things because the Spirit has whispered them into your spiritual ear as a mother whispers "I love you" to her babe.

And now, dear child of God, after all of this grace upon grace, after seeing Christ crucified, willingly, for you while you were yet a sinner. After knowing and believing that God the Father loved you so much that He did not spare His only-begotten Son and gave Him on your behalf...do you now believe that the third person of this gracious Trinity will withhold from you anything?

What an affront to the character of the Great Comforter to imagine Him stingy with His grace and presence! What a slap in the face to He who has freely given us all things to imagine that He now requires works of us and acts of piety in order to receive His refreshing! The Holy Spirit gives you life and breath! He spared you while you blasphemed the Beloved! He wooed you like a lover when you were far from Him! And now, now do you feel that He wants you to fast and pray and conjure faith so that He may give you something else?

The Holy Spirit is gracious. Even in our dissatisfaction with the gift of God Himself, He still bears with us.

If you are thinking that you are "missing out" on something in the Christian life because you haven't had a certain experience, then I say that you grieve the Lord with your ingratitude. (Unless, of course, you have missed salvation altogether!) The Holy Spirit is enough, and with Him I am content, for He who has the Spirit has the Son and the Father. This, in itself, gives me joy that I cannot express in words. This does not mean I must resort to meaningless mumbles to demonstrate gratitude. Yes, English, French, Greek and Hebrew are inadequate to express the great love for God that has been born in my heart. And I further submit that the tongues of angels is insufficient as well. Part of the joy is trying to express the great wonder of salvation and knowing that I am altogether incompetent to do so. Part of the joy is knowing that I will spend all of eternity trying and never feeling as if I can say, "It is enough! I have praised Him fully and completely. There are no more words of gratitude to say."

I sat down to write a exegetical treatise on why the Spirit is a gift of grace, but this post has not done that. Instead, this has been more devotional and exhortative in nature. Later, I may examine the Scriptures that demonstrate the truths I've tried to outline here.

Did You Receive the Holy Spirit?

It is unfortunate that the idea that one can be born again and yet have not received the Holy Spirit in His fullness still circulates in Christianity. It is even more unfortunate that such proponents of a "second blessing" cause otherwise faithful Christians to feel as if they are "missing something." I do not believe that the inability to babble incoherent phrases with a straight face is anything to be ashamed of.

One of the proof texts for such theology comes from Acts 19:1-6. Here's the text:

And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?" So they said, "Into John's Baptism." Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophecied.

Far from teaching a second blessing or a subsequent, new type of anointing of the Holy Spirit, I believe that this text teaches that, upon belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the believer receives the Holy Spirit. But that's not exactly the angle I want to take with this post. What I want to affirm to the Christian who may be worried that they are missing something by not speaking in an unknown tongue is that they are certainly recipients of the Holy Spirit already if they believe the gospel. And secondly, a believer ought to know that he is filled with the Holy Spirit.

I do not believe that the entirety of Paul's conversation with these disciples of John is recorded for us here. It seems that during the course of conversation, Paul realized that the testimony of these guys was not exactly accurate with the gospel. (If you look back at the preceding verses in chapter 18, you will find that Apollos had a similar problem corrected by the mentorship of Aquila and Priscila.) So Paul asks them if they received the Holy Spirit when they believed. I will draw two conclusions from this:

1. Paul assumes that when people believe the gospel, they receive the Holy Spirit.
2. Paul assumes that when a person receives the Holy Spirit, they realize it happened.
3. The ultimate spiritual gift of God is the Holy Spirit, and that is a gift of grace.

Let me deal with point #1 first. Let's take a couple of Scriptural quotations that should settle this once and for all:

"In Him you trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13). This follows the order of Paul's statement in Acts. We trust in Jesus Christ after hearing the gospel, and when we hear and believe the gospel, we are sealed "with" the Holy Spirit. Not just "by" Him, but "with" Him. The Spirit Himself is the seal on our hearts. It follows that if we believe, we must necessarily be sealed (and I add filled) with the Holy Spirit.

"You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have Spirit of Christ, he is not His" (Romans 8:9). Could it be any more evident that if a person does not have the Holy Spirit he is not simply missing a blessing? A person devoid of the Spirit is simply not saved.

It is important to note that, having ascertained that these men had not received the Holy Spirit, Paul immediately moves to the gospel. He does not say, "Ask God, and He will give you the Holy Spirit. Ask and don't doubt!" Or, "Just start moving your lips and mouth. Say the first thing that comes to mind. You can do it! Do it, and you will receive the gift of tongues!" Pointedly, Paul begins to share that these men must believe on the one who John the Baptist longed for, Jesus Christ. Once they believe in the Messiah, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is assured.

Secondly, Paul assumes that if one receives the Holy Spirit, one ought to realize that something has happened. Paul's question to the disciples of John the Baptist makes no sense if these men could have receieved the Holy Spirit unawares. Here is where we must be cautious. In this case, these men spoke in tongues (which I regard to be known languages, as did 2,000 years of Church History until the Azusa Street revival) and they prophecied. Clearly, they did this because they received the Holy Spirit. But is this the only way to know if one has the Spirit of God?

We have already seen that the Holy Spirit is received by promise. He is ever and always indwelling those who believe in Jesus Christ. But there are other tests given in Scripture to see if one has the gift of the Holy Spirit. John, the beloved disciple, gives us many ways to test to see if we have fellowship with the Spirit of God:

"He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him" (1 John 1:10).

"Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us--eternal life" (1 John 2:24-25).

"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14).

1 John is a manifesto on fellowship. John's points are that if we have fellowship with the Son, then we have fellowship with the Father. If we have fellowship with the Son and the Father, then we are filled with the one who is "greater than He who is in the world." If we have the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then we will love and long to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the test to see if we have the Holy Spirit. Do we walk in love for God and the brethren? Do we walk in righteousness and truth? We do not love Christ without the Holy Spirit, and we certainly do not love His church without the Holy Spirit. And if we love Christ Jesus, the only-begotten Son of the Father, then we will love the Church of Christ and in this we may assured that we have the Holy Spirit.

The receiving of the Holy Spirit comes with believing the gospel. And just as the gospel is a total and free gift of grace, so is the gift of the Holy Spirit. I want to devote the next post to the sovereign gracious gifting of the Spirit of God. I hope you stay tuned.

Knockdown Argument

The argument over the sinfulness of man continues in the comments over at The Evangelical Outpost. Matthew Goggins is arguing that man isn't totally depraved. Here's his reasoning:

Although I do think your phrase, "the Christian doctrine of human depravity" is a bit overwrought. The traditional orthodox church would have made reference, instead, to a doctrine of "original sin", a phrase which I believe better conveys the nuances of your views.

But what have I myself been saying about this doctrine?

I'm not saying that you can't find it in the Bible. Of course you can.

And I'm not saying it wasn't a doctrinal pillar of the Christian church for many centuries. Of course it was.

And I wasn't even saying that the doctrine says we are 100% evil, as opposed to 51% evil or whatever percentage you are claiming it to be.

All I was saying is that this particular bit of biblical wisdom is just flat out wrong.

Why?

Because it is.

Follow the link from the previous post to read the rest, if you want to. This reasoning reminds me of why my son now believes he can do anything he wants by inserting, "Because I said so" at the end. Of course, he's two, and we're trying to deal with that.