Man's wisdom is foolishness with God

In chapter eleven of John Piper's book Think he introduces us to two kinds of wisdom, the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man.

The main idea or thought that Piper tries to convey in this chapter of the book is that there are two kinds of wisdom spoken about throughout the Bible. It is of utmost importance that we understand the difference between the two. By understanding the difference we can fight against any thoughts or ideas that promote anti-intellectualism in the christian community. Also we can distinguish between the wisdom that saves a sinner and reconciles him with God and a wisdom that is proud and will send a sinner to an eternity without God.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:21 that the world by its wisdom can't know God. However, in 1 Corinthians 1:24 Paul tells us that the preaching of Christ crucified is " the wisdom of God."

This is the thought or idea that is covered by Piper---there are two kinds of wisdom, a wisdom from God and a wisdom of this world or a human wisdom. I'll just spend a little time on the difference between the two.

Take the time to think on this thought: Jesus told us in Luke 10:21 that God has hidden his truth form the wise, but has revealed it to the little children.  Again Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:21 says that the wise of this world do not know God.

Since I like to get to the point, here it is---Piper notes that "The Cross is the continental divide between human wisdom and divine wisdom.

God's wisdom will always exalt the cross while human wisdom will always be offended by what the cross stands for.

Here is a very succinct definition given by Piper on the ultimate difference between God's wisdom and man's wisdom:

"God's wisdom makes the glory of God's grace our supreme treasure. But man's wisdom delights in seeing himself as resourceful, self-sufficient, self-determining, and not utterly dependent of God's free grace."

Thus God's wisdom promotes humility and brings us to the foot of the cross---while man's wisdom will always do things his way, man's wisdom will not submit to God's plan. All of the religions of this world are built on man's wisdom, and only Christianity is built on the wisdom of God, where the cross is lifted up and exalted.

Take the time to read 1 Corinthians 1:1-3  and see how these two types of wisdom are contrasted.

What Does Saving Faith Receive?

One of the questions that is asked by John Piper in his book Think, is what does saving faith receive?

And over the next five paragraphs Piper's explanation of what faith receives in order to make it justifying faith so moved me that I want to share his thoughts with you today.

Now, we know that there has to be an object or something that faith believes in or receives, or it simply wouldn't be faith. Religious systems all put their faith or trust in something; it could be: rituals, ceremonies, rules, sets of laws and ordinances, or simply their own religious leaders.

But here is the apex of Christianity, the soul of Christianity, the Christian puts his faith in and receives Jesus. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). "To all who receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God" ( John 1:12).

Piper then cuts to the chase and makes a stark contrast between those who say they received Jesus and those who have received Jesus. Piper notes, " But we must make clear what this actually means, because there are so many people who say they have received Christ and believed on Christ but give little or no evidence that they are spiritually alive.

Now what Piper says next is the heart and soul of Christianity and this is what so moved me and compelled me to share today as he shares what dead faith is:

"They are unresponsive to the spiritual beauty of Jesus. They are unmoved by the glories of Christ. They don't have the spirit of the apostle Paul when he said, 'I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ'" (Phil. 3:8).

Piper continues with his description of those who just say they have received Christ:

" They don't receive Him the way Paul did when he spoke of the 'surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.' They don't receive Him as He really is---more glorious, more beautiful, more wonderful, more satisfying, than everything else in the universe. They don't prize Him or treasure Him or cherish Him or delight in Him."

Piper ends his thoughts by telling his readers that it is not enough to simply say you have received Christ or to make an intellectual accent to the facts about Christ, but Piper tells his readers that Christ must be embraced as your supreme treasure, he must be desired above all else, Christ must be loved with all your heart, mind, body and soul.

We are told that no person can do this naturally. We must be born again (John 3:3). We must be made new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17). We must be made spiritually alive (Eph. 2: 1-4). 

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, don't these truths drive you to your knees? We see so clearly that salvation is of the Lord ( Jonah 2:9). Let us today thank our God for giving us the eyes to see Jesus as he really is: beautiful, glorious, supreme, and our great and loving Savior.

How are we to view other world religions?

Today's post will be a little different. I'm going to lay out three different and distinct theological worldviews concerning how other religions are viewed.

Now, the reason for this is two fold---first, so that we know that there are other different views and second so that we can defend our position from a strong biblical platform.

I think that it is extremely important for followers of Christ to think through these three different positions by using the word of God as the standard to measure all and every idea or concept. For the follower of Christ it is not which position makes the most sense or which potion is the most equitable and fair, no, for the believer it is having our minds informed by God's infallible inerrant Word.

After a brief description of each of the following views, I'll give my reasons why the first two are not Biblical and why the third view is the only view that the believer can hold.

Are you ready? here we go with the first view:

The Pluralist Perspective
According to the pluralist view all religions are equally valid paths to the Ultimate Reality ( a term that is considered synonymous with God). Pluralists would tell you that all religious people around the world really are saying the same thing just in different forms of expression; they would say that all the world religions point to the same truth.

This view is the predominate view in our culture. The pluralist view is certainly characteristic of our postmodern culture were open mindedness and being non-judgmental are to be coveted above all else.

Another characteristic of those who hold this position would be the refrain, " your truth is true for you, and my truth is true for me."

My Comments:

 The problem with the pluralists' position is that it violates the clear teaching of the Scriptures. Here's the part were we can't let human emotion and human reasoning color our view. Sure it makes sense, a loving God surely would welcome all who are trying to do their best, and certainly a loving God would not be mad at those who are doing their best just because they don't cross all their T's and dot all their I's.

 But God's ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). It goes against all our humanness to put our thoughts off to the side and allow God's voice to speak through the Scriptures into our lives and inform and shape our world view. 

We are to Cast down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). The issue here is the truth of the Bible, for if the Bible is truly God's word then it must have supremacy in our lives. We as followers of Christ do not stop using logic and reasoning, but we submit our logic and reasoning to the authoritative word of God.

 Jesus said that he is the way, the truth and the life and that no man can come to the father except through Him (John 14:6).

The Apostle Paul said, there is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name (Jesus) under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

For the follower of Christ it comes to having a complete and deep knowledge of the teachings of the Bible: concerning mans' helpless estate, Christs atoning work on the cross, and the understanding of salvation, etc.

The Inclusivist Perspective
The inclusivist view holds that God is at work among all people everywhere even where there is no Christian witness. The inclusivist Christian believes that Jesus Christ is the definitive revelation  of God: God's Word made flesh. Therefore all other religious claims must be measured in the light of Jesus. Jesus is the most complete picture of God. His life, death, and resurrection are the good news for all people.

Here now is the fly in the ointment. The inclusivist also believes that God is actively involved in the lives of non-Christians, too. They would tell us that God has not written off those who do not understand the gospel. They believe that  God in His love and mercy works through their  religious systems and sees their acts of righteousness and worship.

Adam Hamilton, in his book, Christianity and World Religions says, "even if those of other faiths have yet to understand or accept God's definitive Word to them. God accepts the intent of their hearts---that they are reaching and yearning---and God credits this to them as faith."

The inclusivist view is held by a large segment of those in our main line denominational churches, and sad to say many hold to this view even in our evangelical churches.

My Comments
The error of this view again is theological---it lacks a proper understanding of the total depravity of man. This view also assumes that the gospel can be changed and made to accommodate other religious views.

The Scriptures make it clear that before we are converted or regenerated we are in darkness, and natural enemies of God, and are spiritually dead (Col. 1:21; Eph. 2:1). When God looks at the heart of an unconverted man He does not see good intentions---no, he sees a heart that is in rebellion and alienation.

This view has splashes of pelagianism all over it---pelagainism was a teaching of a forth century monk that taught man was not created with original sin, but that man is basically good, but just makes the wrong decisions and needs some guidance.

Pelagianism was condemned as a heresy at the Council of Carthage in 418 A.D. These condemnations were summarily ratified at the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431).

The Inclusivist View

The third world view to other religions is the inclusivist view which holds that all who don't know Jesus as their Savior are condemned. The inclusivist would hold that God is sovereign and He shows mercy to those whom He will show mercy (Rom.9:15).

In addition, the inclusivist would hold to a theological position that no man is seeking after God (Rom. 3:11), and that all men are like sheep who have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). Because of the Bible's teaching of man, God, and salvation the inclusivist is persuaded in his mind to exclaim, " Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9).

My Comments

We are not free to formulate our own ideas about how man can  be made "right with God," or how man is to worship God. We are not free to modify the  gospel to accommodate our human logic and human reasoning's. 

We are not free to alter the gospel message to make it more palatable to a society that finds the cross of Christ offensive. We are not free to make God in our own image and likeness. The follower of Christ is constrained to believe what the Bible says about man, God, and salvation.

My fellow believer, go to the God of the Scriptures, and ask that He sanctify all your abilities, all your hermeneutical principles, and all your logical and intellectual prowess for His glory and honor.

The Little Things In Life!

Life really does consist of the little things doesn't it! Think about it, how many times throughout the day do you have the opportunity to control you attitude, or a thought, or a word?

How do you handle those frustrations that arise throughout your day? How do you navigate around those irritating people that you rub shoulders with on a daily basis? All those seemingly little choices throughout the day, at day's end make up the bigger picture of what you are really are on the inside.

Life is really lived on the inside isn't it? Your thought life, your attitude, and your motives of why you do the things that you do.

Jesus' dialogue with some Pharisees and scribes brings home my point that life is lived on the inside, listen to Jesus' words:

But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man... (Matthew 15:18)

Christian, take the time to pay attention to your inner landscape, take the time to examine your inner life, take the time to see if your inner life is in harmony with those things that you believe. Integrity is the harmonizing of what is in your head with what is in your heart. 

Tip, and this is free---find someone that you are close to and ask them if you are living out those things that you profess to believe.

Jesus as a fierce lion and a humble lamb

Jesus as a fierce lion and a humble lamb

C.S. Lewis gives us such a wonderful picture of both the fierceness of Jesus and the meekness of Jesus in his classic tale Chronicles of Narnia. When he wanted to symbolize Jesus, Lewis created Aslan the lion, and not just any lion, he’s the King of Beasts and the real ruler of Narnia. Mostly unseen because he is always on the move, Aslan is powerful and yet kind, gentle but fierce. He is to be feared and revered and honored and trusted.

In one of the most famous bits of conversation in the whole series, Lucy asks the beavers, “Is he safe?” “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking,” Mrs. Beaver replies, “they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“So he isn’t safe?” asks Lucy.

To which Mr. Beaver replies, “’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King,

I present this narrative for it reminds me of how the Church has presented a lopsided Jesus to an unbelieving world. Throughout the history of the Church Jesus has either been presented as a stern judge that shows no mercy, but only has condemnation to offer when all the rules are not followed to the T.

Or, Jesus is presented as all love with no justice or fierceness or power, but a weak sentimental Jesus who will overlook and excuse our sins as mere mistakes.

No, the Jesus of the Bible is both the fierce lion as presented in the Chronicles of Narnia, and the humble servant, as presented in the gospels, who washes his disciples feet.

My plea to the Church and to the individual Christian is to approach all of the Bible's teachings with balance---we have such a tendency to overemphasize any one particular teaching of the Bible. Let us strive as the Apostle Paul warns, not to shrink from declaring  the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and as Jesus gave his parting instructions to his disciples when he told them that they were to teach others' to obey everything that he commanded (Matt. 28:27).

Do we really understand the word Evangelical?

To those thinking Christians who are weary of being the spiritual hamster on the wheel of endless "principles for living," rules that tell you "what to do"and  "what not to do" and a mentality that equates spirituality with how busy you are in your local church.
 
Today's blog has good news for you! We need to get back to our roots. We call ourselves evangelicals which is taken from the Greek word evangelion, meaning "gospel." But do we really know and understand what and who we are as evangelicals?

We as evangelicals are a people who have been called by the Gospel (good news of Jesus Christ) to become children of God. We are a people who have been rescued from condemnation and judgement. We are a people who owe our salvation to God, for we realize that we can claim nothing, do nothing, contribute nothing, to our salvation; we are a people who exclaim that "salvation is of the Lord."

We are a people who realize our own sinfulness before a holy and righteousness God. We have come to know the true helplessness of our estate. We know and believe in our hearts that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23), and we substitute our own names in the place of the "all". We know and believe with all our hearts that no man or women could ever be justified  (made right) or (declared righteous) before God by being good. We are a people who know that the scales do not tip in our favor--- that is the good works bad works scale. We know that our own sinfulness will sink us into a Christless eternity.

Oh, but we are also a people who shout from the rooftops that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). We rejoice that the Gospel that we believe is not Christ plus our spiritual disciplines, Christ plus our free will, Christ plus our acts of love and service to others or Christ plus our pious experiences, but the Gospel we believe in is Christ alone.

We grab our bull horns and exclaim, "that the wicked are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from any works of the law (Rom. 10: 2, see vv.1-15).

So thinking Christian---since you have started the race in grace are you now made perfect through your doing or working or following the rules? No, of course not! We are a people who live in grace and follow our king and Savior out of a heart that is burning with love and gratitude. We are a redeemed people who live in total dependence on our King.

SO:

 live in grace!

Continue in grace!

 And enter into the rest that has been provided!

Skills For Becoming A Mature Adult

Well, here we are at the end of the Changes That Heal series. I always like to go over what was discussed, so real quick, we talked about how we need three ingredients in our lives in order for real growth to take place: grace, truth, and time. We talked about how grace and truth should never, never, no never be separated, they must always stay together, and then of course we need time for grace and truth to do their work.

We then went on and talked about four identifying personality traits of God that we need to emulate in our own lives: Bonding with other, separating from others, sorting out the issues of good and bad, and growing up into adulthood.

So here we go with our last personality trait of God that we need to have evidenced in our own lives.

Listed below are some of the skills you will need in order to become your own master under God, for they are skills that will help you become a mature adult:

Skills For Becoming A Mature Adult:

Reevaluate Beliefs:

 We need to evaluate what we believe. We can't live our lives because of, as Dr. Cloud calls them, " inherited beliefs." We need to have adult faith. There must come a time when we question not only what we believe, but also why we believe what we believe. 

Dr Cloud points out that "we need to look into why we think what we think and why we believe what we believe. Is it because we really believe it, or because someone told us to believe it? We need to recognize  what is a belief of "tradition" versus what is a real heartfelt conviction from God, his Word, and our own experience. This questioning period could last a while. But, when we are through, we will have developed a mind of our own."

How many times have you spoke with somebody and they said, " this is what I've always believed," or " this is what my church has always taught," now this could be "right belief", or it could be "wrong belief," but the other question is why do you believe these things?

An adult faith is borne from careful study of God's word and having those truths penetrate our souls. The truth of God's word becomes how our world view is formed and shaped. An adult faith has had both the mind and the heart touched and informed by the transformative power of God's truth. 

Disagree with Authority Figures:

An adult has no issue disagreeing with others. We must develop the mindset that there is nothing wrong with disagreeing with others, in fact in order to be an adult we must disagree with others. Disagreeing with others gives us an identity---now keep in mind we don't disagree just for the sake of being contrary, nor do we disagree with an haughty attitude, nor do with disagree without having all the facts, that would just be foolishness. Disagreement is healthy, it is "ironing sharpening iron."

Discipline Yourself:

Cloud notes, "Adults discipline themselves. Proverbs says to "Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her way and be wise, which having no chief officer  or ruler, prepares her food in the summer, and gathers her provision in the harvest (6:6 NASB, italics mine). The key phrase here is "having no chief, officer or ruler." In other words, the ant is not under another ant's authority, yet takes responsibility for her tasks."

One can't be an adult without self discipline and that always starts with taking responsibility for your own actions. 

I sit on a youth advisory board for first time juvenile offenders--the one thing that we emphasize to those young teens is individual responsibility. As one teen sat before the board it was so refreshing to hear him tell the board, " I own up to what I did,  I take full responsibility for my actions, and I'm willing to accept any consequence from the board," wow, it sounded like music to my ears.

This makes me think of the passage in Romans "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God." (14:12). There is certainly the thread of individual responsibility woven throughout the entire Bible--and this verse in Romans is inescapable.

To God be the glory, great things He hathdone;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin,
And opened the lifegate, that all may go in.