Greg Johnson's eye-opening "Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt"

This provocative and challenging article by Greg Johnson is entitled, "Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt".

It is not entitled, "Freedom from Quiet Time," and for good reason. Please read it carefully to find out why.

May the Lord use this so that we can enjoy more wholeheartedly, the beauty and majesty of Jesus Christ as we discover more of Him in His Word.



Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt
The Rare Beauty of Weakness Christianity
by Greg Johnson, St. Louis Center for Christian Study

1. The Diagnosis: Quiet Time Guilt

I recently watched as a congregation I love was spiritually raped. A Christian ministry came into the church for a three-day program whose purpose was to encourage believers to pray more. During one of the breakout sessions, a man expressed his frustration with unanswered prayer. He had faithfully prayed with and for his daughter for years, and still she was not walking with God. He was broken, depressed, perhaps more than a little ashamed. How does God in his grace speak to this man? A bruised reed was crying out for help.

“You need to try harder. You need to pray more.” That was the message he was given. I was enraged.

Having known this church for many years, I was horrified. What I was hearing was what one seminary professor calls sola bootstrapa. Self-reliance: We pull ourselves up by our own spiritual bootstraps. The teachers who said such things surely meant well. The problem was not a lack of sincerity on their part. The diagnosis is far more severe. The problem was heresy. Any heresy wounds the soul.

When I look upon the evangelical world today, I see millions of sincere believers who are loaded down with false guilt by teachers who fail to grasp the basics of biblical prayer.

To sharpen the point slightly, Christ’s sheep have been lied to. They have been told that prayer is a work that we must perform in order to get God to bless us. As heresies go, this one is often subtle. Prayer has become a work rather than a grace. The result has been a loss of joy in prayer.

And prayer is not the only grace we’ve turned into a work.

Personal Bible study has become a source of bondage as well. A whole generation of Christians has been told that God will bless them if they read their Bibles every day, as if the act of reading the Scriptures were some kind of magic talisman by which we gain power over God and secure his favor. This is not the religion of the Bible.

This pervasive belief that God gives us grace as a reward for our devotional consistency is antithetical to the religion of Jesus Christ. Prayer and Bible study—what evangelicals for the past century have called the “quiet time” have become dreaded precisely because they have been radically misunderstood.

It’s ironic, but the Quiet Time has become the number one cause of defeat among Bible-believing Christians today.

At one time or another, nearly every sincere believer feels a deep sense of failure and the accompanying feelings of guilt and shame because he or she has failed to set aside a separate time for Bible study and prayer. This condition is called Quiet Time Guilt. And it’s a condition with many repercussions. The shame of Quiet Time Guilt manifests itself in even deeper inability to fruitfully and joyfully study Scripture. Prayer becomes a dread; Bible study a burden. The Christian suffering from Quiet Time Guilt then despairs of seeing God work in his or her life, until finally he or she simply gives up. He may continue outward and public Christian commitments like church attendance, but secretly he feels like a hypocrite. What is the root of Quiet Time Guilt?

2. The Culprit: Legalism

The root of Quiet Time Guilt is legalism. Often when we think of legalism, we think of the petty man-made rules that have so often strangled the churches—rules against dancing or drinking or makeup or ‘secular’ music. But these legalistic rules are merely an outward sign of a deeper legalism of the heart.

When prayer and Bible study are thought of primarily as duties (‘disciplines’) rather than as grace, both prayer and the study of Scripture become unfruitful in our lives.

We put ourselves on a performance treadmill and cease relying on God’s grace to sustain us. We trust in ourselves and our consistency, becoming proud if devotionally successful—or despairing because of our inconsistency. Either way, our spiritual self-reliance short-circuits the inexpressible joy of life in Christ. The quiet time becomes a human work whereby we think we gain—or lose—God’s daily favor. When we’ve started our day with Scripture, we presume that God’s blessing will rest upon us because of it. When we fail in our quest for devotional consistency, we feel we’ve short-circuited God’s grace in our lives. Quiet-Time Guilt.

If this describes you or anyone you know, the situation is far worse than you think. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for this very attitude about Bible study.

“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me” (John 5:39).

Yes, that’s what Jesus said. Bible study can be a sin.

The Pharisees assumed the Bible was a book of rules or principles for living, but failed to grasp it as a story about God’s love for His people. The quiet time can drive you far from God if you fail to understand that the Scriptures are a story about grace.

The Scriptures are a story about Jesus Christ, the man of grace. His works—not our works—are the center of the biblical story. And this Jesus gives grace daily to those who fail Him. How you approach the Bible—as needy sinner or as self-reliant Pharisee says a lot about the state of your soul.

Just like Bible study, prayer too can be sinful. Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisee and the tax collector. The one saw prayer as a work, the other as an expression of need. The one who merely expressed his neediness to God—the expression of our neediness being the heart of true prayer—that one went home right with God.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

Often we assume that if we really had it together and could approach God without sin, without failing, with only pure spiritual successes to offer, then God would somehow delight in our prayer more. The opposite is true. If you approach God in that manner, you approach him as his enemy.

We are all fallen. If we presume to approach him as something more than needy, dependent sons and daughters, God rightly takes offence. There’s nothing more dangerous than the pride of devotional consistency.

3. The Remedy: Weakness Christianity

There are two religions calling themselves evangelical Christianity today: Strength Christianity and Weakness Christianity. (These are sometimes also referred to as the Theology of Glory and the Theology of the Cross - Boms)

Strength Christianity is that religion which places both feet squarely on the Bible and proclaims, “I am strong. I sought the Lord. I’m a believer. I’ve turned away from sin. I read my Bible and pray every single day. I’m for God!”

Weakness Christianity, by contrast, places both knees squarely on the Bible and says, “I am weak, but the Lord has sought me. I believe, but help now my unbelief. I fail and am broken by my continued sinfulness. Have mercy on me, Lord, and grant me favor, for apart from you I can do nothing.”

Those who pursue Strength Christianity will never find joy in God, for they will never find God. Our Father refuses to be approached in that manner. They will find only increasing religious pride and secret hardness of heart. On the outside, they will project a picture of righteousness. They’ll have it all together. They’ll be spiritual. But only on the outside.

For those who stumble across the rare jewel of Weakness Christianity, however, there is provision beyond what we can possibly imagine. Our suffering, our failures, our weaknesses and disappointments all gain an incredible spiritual significance.

God never says He’ll be glorified in our religious accomplishments. But He does promise that His power will be made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9).

Neediness is the heart of Biblical religion. When we honestly lay our brokenness before God, we’re surprised to see a radically different message in the Bible.

While we had perhaps expected a to-do list from Holy Writ, a program to make us righteous, or a divinely sanctioned self-help book, we instead see a shocking message that centers on our God and His grace to His broken people, not about us and our performance and expected rewards.

And when we approach God in brokenness—Weakness Christianity—we find a radically different vision for prayer.

Prayer is not something we do—a performance designed to get something from God. Instead, it’s merely a free and honest confession of our neediness to God and our spoken reliance upon Him for each and every blessing. When you stumble upon Weakness Christianity, you realize that true religion is all about God’s grace, not about our devotional consistency.

4. The Shocker: Grace for the Christian

This grace is for you right now, now and tonight and tomorrow and next week and forever.

The deadly assumption made too often among those who claim to heed the Scriptures is that grace is only for non-Christians. Grace is what God offers to people who don’t know Christ. Grace is what makes us Christians; but once we’re Christians, we live by our own resources.

This is why advocates of Strength Christianity so often sound like evangelical Christians. They really do believe that God offers grace to unbelievers who will turn to God through Jesus Christ. And they’re right on that. What they wrongly assume, though, is that the Christian life begins by grace, but continues by human works.

I’ve seen this confusion many times. I found it ironic that the very same prayer program that so hurt the church that I love, included within it an absolutely wonderful children’s program. This at first puzzled me. The children who attended were pointed to Jesus, reassured of God’s love for them, and encouraged to rest in God’s mercy and total acceptance in Christ. In the adult activities, by contrast, people were told to try harder, to persevere, to do better, to be more consistent and to pray more, so that God could bless them. The children heard, “God did it,” while the adults were told, “Just do it.”

Why the difference? The difference was simple. These teachers were assuming that the children of the church were not yet Christians (…an assumption I would question). God offers non-Christians grace. The adults, however, were committed Christians. The Christian’s relationship with God rests not upon God’s grace, but upon his or her performance, particularly the performance of the ultimate devotional duty, the daily quiet time. This assumption that "grace isn’t for Christians" is spiritual venom, which is keeping millions of Christians in bondage to self-reliance, guilt, shame, and despair. Quiet Time Guilt is the great epidemic among Bible-believing Christians today.

If you think the purpose behind this little tract is to absolve you from the call to pray or the need for Scripture, think again.

My purpose is to free you to desire prayer—to desire God. I want you to long for the pure message of the gospel, spelled out on page after page of the Bible, and to find the joyous freedom found in Christ. Prayer is a grace, not a work. It is a confession of our neediness to God, not a proof that our “relationship with God” is going well.

If you think that God will not bless you today because you missed your quiet time, this has been for you. If subtle legalism has left you in bondage so that you no longer hunger for God’s word or freely call out to him in prayer, then hear this: God has already chosen you, pronounced you righteous, adopted you into his family, and promised to finish his work in you. Perhaps you have been lied to in the past. Now it is time for the truth to set you free. Free to be needy. Free to fail. Free to approach God without dread. Free to delight in him rather than in your performance.

But I have a few more theological reflections to share before you leave. Keep reading.

5. The Surprise: The Quiet Time is Optional

Imagine for a moment you’re meeting a Christian friend. “How’s your relationship with God going?” they ask you. “Well, I’m struggling with my attitude about my job—but God is teaching me to be content and to not gossip when people rub me the wrong way.” A silent stare greets the words, your inquisitor’s eyes staring you up and down. After a moment of awkward silence, the question comes again, “But how is your relationship with God?” Hmm. What wrong with this picture?

Perhaps this has never happened to you. But I’ve found contemporary Christians are often more concerned about my ‘relationship with God’ than with my relationship with God. Whose idea was it to define the sum total of my relationship with God as my devotional consistency? Your quiet time is not your relationship with God. Your relationship with God—or, as I prefer to say, God’s relationship with you—is your whole life: your job, your family, your sleep, your play, your relationships, your driving, your everything. The real irony here is that we’ve become accustomed to pigeonholing our entire relationship with God into a brief devotional exercise that is not even commanded in the Bible.

Yes. That’s what I said. The daily quiet time—that half hour every morning of Scriptural study and prayer¾is not actually commanded in the Bible. And as a theologian, I can remind us that to bind the conscience where Scripture leaves freedom is a very, very serious crime. It’s legalism rearing its ugly little head again. We’ve become legalistic about a legalistic command. This is serious.

But don't misunderstand what I’m saying. My goal isn’t that we pray and read the Bible less, but that we do so more—and with a free and needy heart.

Does the Bible instruct Christians to call out to God in prayer? Absolutely. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Th 5:16-18). But this isn’t a command to set apart a special half-hour of prayer; it’s instruction to continually call upon God. Elsewhere the Apostle calls us to pray: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7). But notice that the focus here is not on the performance of a devotional duty, but on approaching God for grace—for our heats and minds to be guarded by him. Paul’s burden is that we would rely upon God in every circumstance and therefore have peace, rather than relying on ourselves and finding ourselves captive to the anxiety that accompanies self-reliance.

Does the Bible command us to read our Bibles every day? No. Not really.

What Scripture actually instructs is that we meditate on God’s word all the time. Consider the Godly man in Psalm 1. “His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night” (Ps 1:2). This is not exactly the same thing as reading the Bible every day. Personal Bible reading is one—and only one—way we to meditate upon God’s word.

At this point it’s helpful to consider the difference between a good idea and a Biblical mandate. A Biblical mandate is something that God explicitly or implicitly commands in Scripture. Loving your neighbor is a Biblical mandate (Mt 5:43). Moving to Philadelphia to work in a homeless shelter, by contrast, is not a biblical mandate. Rather, it’s a good idea, a wonderful possible application of the Biblical mandate to love your neighbor. But moving to Philly isn’t the only way you can love your neighbor. Similarly, meditating on God’s word is a Biblical mandate. The daily quiet time, by contrast, is a good idea, a wonderful possible application of the mandate of Biblical meditation.

It may surprise you to know that the concept of the quiet time as a command is a modern invention. It’s only in recent centuries that Christians have been able to actually own Bibles—the printing press and cheap paper have given us more options so far as Biblical meditation is concerned. But remember that most Christians throughout history have not owned Bibles. They heard the Bible preached during corporate worship. They were taught the Bible in the churches. They memorized the Bible profusely—a first century rabbinic saying stated, “If your rabbi teaches and you have no paper, write it on your sleeve.” But for most Christians through history, Biblical meditation took place when they discussed the Bible with family and friends, when they memorized it, when they listened very carefully to God’s word preached. The concept of sitting still before sunrise with a Bible open would have been very foreign to them.

We have so many options today, why do we get hung up on the quiet time? Listen to Christian teaching tapes. Invest your time in a small group Bible study. Have friends over for coffee and Bible discussion. Sing and listen to Scripture songs. Read good theology. Tape memory verses to the dashboard of your car. And pray throughout your day. I always reserve the drive to church on Sundays as a time of uninterrupted prayer for my pastors and elders, for those leading worship, and for the peace and purity of the church. Certain landmarks around town remind me to pray for certain churches, Christians I know, or causes God says are important. I suspect I spend more time praying in my car than on my knees. (Though I love praying on my knees as a concrete display of my dependence on God, I can’t do this in my car without causing an accident.)

If you have a regular quiet time, don’t stop. You’ve found a wonderful way to meditate on Scripture. You’ve set aside a specific time to call upon God in prayer. But if the quiet time doesn’t work for you, that’s okay. You should not feel guilty since you have not broken a commandment. The quiet time is an option, a good idea—not a Biblical mandate. If the quiet time isn’t working for you, there are other options as well.

The key is to rely on God to accomplish His plans, a reliance expressed in prayer and fed in Scripture. You have all kinds of opportunities to call upon God in prayer and to meditate upon His Word. He loves you and delights in your expressions of weakness and dependence. He is glorified in your weakness.

6. The Theology of Prayer: Means of Grace

So what exactly does prayer do? That’s the question I’m often asked. There are several wrong answers to this question. Some assume that prayer furnishes God with the information he lacks. God doesn’t view it that way. He not only knows what’s going on now, he knows what will be going on next week. Indeed, he even ordained what will be going on next week¾the Bible speaks of “the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

Neither is prayer an attempt to convince God to do what he wouldn’t otherwise do. He will grant our requests only insofar as they accord with his eternal purpose—his will. “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).

And I hope we’ve dismissed the idea that prayer shows God how much we love Him! It’s not a work, but a grace! But often we think that prayer is something we do to obligate God to bless us. This is the subtlest of errors, for it resembles the Biblical teaching. Indeed, it is a caricature of the Biblical picture of prayer. Grace-empowered, grace-motivated prayer does bring blessing, but prayer isn’t a work we do that obligates God to give blessing. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one. Prayer is a means of grace, not a work to merit grace.

Theologians have classically called prayer and Scripture (along with the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper) means of grace—highways along which the Holy Spirit tends to travel. The means of grace are the normal instruments God uses to accomplish His saving work in and through us. Does prayer change things? Yes, because God changes things, and prayer is an expression of our reliance upon Him to accomplish his purposes.

I remember about six months ago calling upon God in prayer about my finances. Starting a not-for-profit teaching ministry is hard work, and church missions committees would often rather support a missionary doing evangelism than one who is training believers. One evening I called out to God with great urgency. After a year of support raising and teaching, I could still only afford to teach half-time while working another job, and even the funds that had enabled that year of half-teaching were almost all gone. “Father, this is your ministry, not mine. If you have raised me up for this, then something must change. I cannot go without food. I cannot fail to pay my rent. If you wish me to teach, you must grant the resources to do this. If you do not enable me to teach, I will not teach. Apart from you I can do nothing.”

Was I manipulating God by threatening to stop teaching? No. And being a sovereign God, He wouldn’t have been impressed. Rather, I was confessing to God my utter and total dependence on Him to fund my work.

The next day, after eight months without any new support, a new friend took me out for coffee and told me he felt compelled to support me at $100/month. That same day, I received a note from an old friend in another part of the country pledging monthly financial support. When I checked my email, I had received a message from a member of my church who had since moved away, telling me a $1200 check was in the mail.

Did my prayer force God’s hand? No. All of this was already in the works long before I prayed. But when I confessed my neediness to God, He was pleased to provide for me. Prayer was the means of grace, not a work I offered for reward. And God was glorified in my weakness.

God is faithful to hear our prayers, and He delights in answering them. Prayer is one of the basic freedoms Christians have, and freedoms aren’t given to leave us in bondage. There is a cure for Quiet Time Guilt. That cure is the Gospel of Christ, in whom we have redemption. Gospel—our need and God’s provision—is the heart of Biblical prayer. God will care for us. We belong to Him.

Pls enjoy more of Greg Johnson's work at GregsCouch

Author Tim Challies also wrote an article entitled "Quiet Time Performance" (citing Greg Johnson) which can be enjoyed here. Many thanks and God bless!

Sanctification through Christ Alone, in Christ Alone

Sanctification via Union With Christ by John Hendryx

(Please see the original post along with any comments at ReformationTheology.com. Thank you!)

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1 Cor 1:28-31)

I often think that our sanctification is very much like our original conversion experience. The more we grow in grace, the more we lose all confidence in ourselves. It seems, somewhat ironically, that as Christ works sanctification in us, the greater is our recognition of our own sinfulness. And it seems this is done for a purpose, for as we come face to face with our own corruption, we are driven to Christ as our righteousness, holiness and redemption, our all in all...our only hope before God. So sanctification is not so much about our own spirituality as it is about Christ and Him becoming greater. 

Christ commanded us to partake of Communion "till He come" and perhaps the reason for this is to continually focus our eyes less on what we do for Him, and more on what He has done for us and relish it. What we do in response to Him is only penultimate or secondary. 

The most critical error we make as believers is to look in ourselves for something that can only be found in Christ.

The principal means of the believer’s sanctification is union with Christ. 

We are united to Christ in his death and resurrection in which He, as its first fruits, inaugurated the new creation. The Age to come presses in to this Age in such a way as to bring kingdom benefits to those united to Him. We do not grow in our sanctification when we are overly focused on our own spirituality. It comes as we gaze on the beauty and excellency of Christ. We are united to Him in such a way that his death is viewed as our death and his resurrection ours. (Rom 6:1-11) The identification is complete in Christ, who is our life! We must, therefore, never separate the Benefactor (Jesus Christ) from benefits of redemption, including our sanctification.

Dr. Sinclair Ferguson explains that "Union with Christ in his death and resurrection is the element of union which Paul most extensively expounds...if we are united to Christ, then we are united to him at all points of his activity on our behalf. We share in his death (we were baptized into his death), in his resurrection (we are resurrected with Christ), in his ascension (we have been raised with him), in his heavenly session (we sit with him in heavenly places, so that our life is hidden with Christ in God), and we will share in his promised return (when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory) (Rom. 6:14; Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-3). This, then, is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God's activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness."

As long as we live in this world of sin, we should let it drive us to Him. The Scripture clearly states that Christ is our sanctification. The whole of Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension have provided to us a deposit of His own sanctified life, from which all our needs can be supplied. So we feed on Him in the Eucharist as a visible gospel, where He communes with us in a spiritual way. Because of our union with Him, we partake of His resources. That is why he can "become for us" sanctification, just as he is also our wisdom, righteousness and redemption (I Cor. 1:30).

With this in mind, John Calvin once said:

"We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ [Acts 4:12]. We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else. If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is ‘of him’ [I Cor. 1:30]. If we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in his anointing. If we seek strength, it lies in his dominion; if purity, in his conception; if gentleness, it appears in his birth. For by his birth he was made like us in all respects [Heb. 2:17] that he might learn to feel our pain [compare to Heb. 5:2]. If we seek redemption, it lies in his passion; if acquittal, in his condemnation; if remission of the curse, in his cross [Gal. 3:13]; if satisfaction, in his sacrifice; if purification, in his blood; if reconciliation, in his descent into hell; if mortification of the flesh, in his tomb; if newness of life, in his resurrection; if immortality, in the same; if inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, in his entrance into heaven; if protection, if security if abundant supply of all blessings, in his Kingdom; if untroubled expectation of judgment; in the power given to him to judge. In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from the fountain, and from no other."(2.16.18.)

We grow in grace by looking to Christ, not ourselves for our spiritual nourishment. We would exhaust oursleves very quickly on our own resources. God requires holy perfection from us but we always fall short. Since all we do has mixed motives and we seldom if ever love others as we should, we can confidently say that we do not bring anything of additional worth to our relationship with God. He is fully satisfied in Christ. 

Yes... we are declared righteous because of our union with Christ but few consider that we are also sanctified in the same way. 

The gospel not only justifies us but is what we run back to in order to sanctify us. Justification, where God has already fully accepted us based on Christ's alien righteouness is what he has done for us, but sanctification is what He progressively does in us. This is also a gift of grace appropriated by faith. The difference in our standing before and after salvation is that we have the Spirit indwelling us constantly newewing our affections which delight in His law and drive us to feed on Christ.

The power of the Holy Spirit working in us is never to be the basis of our relationship with God because the imputation of Christ's righteousness already sees us as holy before Him. Thus when you long for His acceptance just look to Christ, whose blood of the covenant "reminds God" not to treat us as our sins deserve. You will never be holy enough, even for an instant, on your own. Christ alone is your righteousness.

But each day subjectively the Spirit is also uniting you to the nourshment of Christ, who imparts life to you from the root. God desires that you grow in conformity to Jesus Christ. He even "predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:29) He purifies you so that you would be eager to obey and delight in Him. As we lose confidence in self, we gain confidence in Christ and the Spirit experientially imparts life to us daily so that we might see more of our own unrighteousness and be willing to forsake it in glad obedience to Him. This is as much a gift of grace as is our justification. We respond, yet the response is wrought by the life of grace that we now partake of in Christ. "His commands are not burdensome"(1 john 5:3) because in Christ we now view them as holy and good (Rom 7:12).

The prophet Ezekiel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, expresses it thus:

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

The Word as a Means of Grace

It is we who obey yet it is because of the new Spirit put in us that we have the heart to do so. The Holy Spirit has conquered our hatred of the light and moves within us to desire His law. To grow into His likeness more and more, let us constantly feed ourselves on the reading of the Word, and put ourselves before good exposition of the Word for this is the outward means the Spirit uses to bring us greater understanding. This means taking our eyes of of self and our own spirituality. Let us always pray that the Spirit removes our faithlessness and illumines our minds that we might to grow in out Knowledge of Him in the Revelation He has given us. Again John Calvin said,

"Indeed the Word of God is like the sun, shining upon all those to whom it is proclaimed, but with no effect among the blind. Now, all of us are blind by nature in this respect... Accordingly, it cannot penetrate into our minds unless the Spirit, as the inner teacher, through his illumination makes entry for it." (Calvin's Institutes 3.2.34.)

Only the Holy Spirit is equal to the task of sanctification in us. We are commanded and are indeed responsible to put on and act out Christlike character, but these are fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). That means they work themselves out in us as the Spirit unites us to Christ, not through sheer willpower or exertion. While responsible to obey, we are also dependent on Him to obey. All spiritual blessings are ours in Christ (Eph 1:3)

Now many persons have asked me if sancification is monergistic in the same way regeneration is. I am rather hestiant to say yes because the term monergism is used in regeneration because God alone acts upon someone who is dead. We do not respond to become regenerated, but are regenerated in order to respond. A believer already has the Spirit indwelling so He is in fact responding to somehting God does in him. God still initiates and moves us to obedience but we actually act. One of the classic texts for sanctification is, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Phil 2:12b,13.

God makes us will and work in a particular direction, but Paul nontheless commands believers to act on it. There is never a command to be regenerated, as it is never spoken of in the imperative. The new birth is something God does and God alone.

A. A. Hodge once said,

"It must be remembered that while the subject is passive with respect to that divine act of grace whereby he is regenerated, after he is regenerated he cooperates with the Holy Ghost in the work of sanctification. The Holy Ghost gives the grace, and prompts and directs in its exercise, and the soul exercises it. Thus while sanctification is a grace, it is also a duty; and the soul is both bound and encouraged to use with diligence, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, all the means for its spiritual renovation, and to form those habits resisting evil and of right action in which sanctification so largely consists."

"Dependence" is the key word here. The more we depend on Christ, the less we do on self, and our own resources. So sanctificaiton is all about Christ becoming greater and we becoming less. It is worthwhile to rememeber that sanctification does not earn merit for us. Christ's merit alone is sufficient. He is "our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

Originally posted by John W Hendryx on April 21, 2006 12:16 PM at http://www.reformationtheology.com/2006/04/sanctification_via_union_with.php

Sanctification by Grace Alone

Sola Gratia & Sanctification by Rich Gilbert

©1990 Modern Reformation/Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
(Kindly right-click on the links for the option to open them in a new window. Thanks!)

Sola Gratia, Grace Alone. This Biblical concept was one of the central themes of the Reformation. Simply stated, it is the teaching that men are justified, apart from anything they can do to cooperate, solely by the grace of God.

But what does this have to do with sanctification? Everything; for it is precisely this teaching which is the basis for the sanctified life.

Over the centuries (from the first century A.D. in fact! See Romans 6:1) this doctrine has been charged with being injurious to good moral behavior i.e., if it is true that we do not have to do good works in order to be saved, and indeed that we cannot do any, no one will ever try to live a holy life.

Not true. In fact, it is only when we have despaired of our own efforts to save ourselves, that good works even become possible. How so? The first and greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37). Anything done apart from this pure motive is therefore impure (since its origin is impure "a bad tree cannot produce good fruit." (Matthew 7:18). None of us is able to love God perfectly as He requires, and without this pure motive even our "good" works are like "filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6).

So, despairing of his own efforts to save himself, man turns to Christ and learns that for the sake of His (Christ's) work the sinner is graciously accounted righteous through faith in Christ's work. Now he no longer feels the weight of the law pressing down with its threats to any who don't perfectly keep its demands (see Galatians 3:10 & James 2:10). Now he is free to obey and does good works spontaneously out of love and gratitude.

There is also a sense in which we can say that sanctification (like justification) is "Sola Gratia."

Everything relating to sanctification, every aspect of it is the work of God in us and on our behalf. Our sanctification owes its beginning to God's recreative act in us. Ezekiel 11:19,20 tells us that it is God who removes our hearts of stone and gives us hearts of flesh and that it is this that enables us to keep His commandments (This teaching is so important that it is repeated in Ezekiel 36:25-27 - Boms).

1 Peter 1:3 says that God has caused us to be born again.  (This teaching is so important that Peter repeats it in 1 Peter 1:23 and is echoed in passages such as John 1:13, John 3:6, John 6:65, John 17:2, Romans 9:16, Ephesians 1:4-6, Ephesians 2:4-5, James 1:18, 2 Timothy 1:8-9 just to mention a short few. Heaven help us if we ever dare contradict or water down such a fundamental Biblical Gospel truth - Boms) 

The beginning of sanctification, its origin, is the work of God.

The righteousness that becomes ours in sanctification is the obedience Christ rendered to the law. Romans 5:10 refers to this when it speaks of being saved by His life. Christ lived the life of perfect obedience that we were incapable of living and our sanctification is the imparting of that righteousness to us.

Although our will is active and cooperates in sanctification, it is the Holy Spirit that spurs us on to do good works. This is what Paul means in Philippians 2:13 where he says "it is God at work in you, both to will and work for His good pleasure." If the Holy Spirit were to withdraw His assistance, we would no longer continue and progress in sanctification.

Scripture often speaks of sanctification in two ways, as an already accomplished fact and as a continuing process. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 we are said to have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. In chapter 6 vs. 11 it again says we were sanctified. God looks at us through Christ's perfect life and for the sake of His life and death on our behalf, and in light of this, He graciously accepts our works, deficient and impure as they are, as holy on account of faith in Christ. 

We are sanctified already in that God has called and separated us out of the world for His purposes to be His people. 

In fact, it is because we are already sanctified that we are called to live accordingly and to grow in sanctification. In all of Paul's letters where he has an exhortation to live holy lives, it is always based on the preceding section which explains what we already are in Christ. Then he says "therefore" we ought live accordingly. 

The clearest passage showing this is Ephesians 2:10. Here we are told, 1) that we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, 2) the good works were prepared beforehand by God, and 3) that we have merely to walk in them (just as the Sovereign Gracious LORD causes us to! Please see Paul's encouragement to the less than perfect church in Corinth: 1 Corinthians 12:5-6 and 11 - Boms).

Finally, no treatment of sanctification would be complete without discussing a Christian's failings. It is an unfortunate reality that Christians do still sin (please see 1 John 1:8-10 and notice how John writes "we" - Boms). 

There will always be a remnant of the Old Adam in us warring against the New. This is what Romans 7 is all about. (Paul writing in the present tense in Romans 7:14-25 - Boms.) 

Here Paul speaks of the conflict still within him (not before he was a Christian, for the desires of the New Man are not active in the non-Christian) as he wrote his letter to the Romans. He says that the good he would do is what he does not do, but rather, winds up doing the evil that he doesn't want to do. This is perhaps where grace has its most significant relationship to sanctification. 

It sometimes seems that there is plenty of grace for you if you are not a Christian, but when you become a Christian then there are all sorts of laws you must obey and you feel like you were better off before you were converted. But the good news for Christians is that the death of Christ was a death for your sins, too. Christ died for the sins Christians commit, even after they become Christians. He is still your mediator and His sacrifice is bigger than your transgression. In Him is your justification. In Him is your sanctification. In Him is your peace. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Rich Gilbert is a freelance Lutheran writer for Modern Reformation

Please see the original article here. Many thanks & God bless!

The Great Mystery of Godliness

"Indeed, to every saved man it is the greatest miracle of all that he is, himself, a believer. When I come to look at the truths upon which I rest, they are very simple indeed and, yet, around them so many doubts are cast by the evil of my own heart that I stand amazed that my faith retains her hold. I believe that Christ died for my sins with much more assurance than I believe anything else. No fact in history is one-half so certain to me, and yet, at times, it is so hard to believe that it is clear to me that true faith is not of man, but is a fruit of the Spirit." 

--Charles H Spurgeon (delivered on the Lord's Day morning, Decemeber 22, 1867)

Please enjoy the whole message in pdf format here, compliments of RecoverTheGospel.com (Kindly right-click on the links for the option to open it in a new window.)

Thank you and God bless!

May This Unworthy Post Lead Us to HIM Alone Who is Infinitely Worthy...

Grace & peace to you all!

Once again I have been caught slacking off in updating this poor old neglected weblog.

As a very quick update on what the Blacktown Care Group has been up to:

Straight after finishing the series of lessons based on John MacArthur's book "How to Survive in a World of Unbelievers," we jumped into and are now in the middle of a series of lessons based on John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life."

We praise and thank God for allowing us access to such engaging, challenging and provocative lessons from very Christ-centred Biblical Pastors such as John MacArthur and John Piper.

May others be encouraged to go through these preachers' materials as well.

Many of Pastor John MacArthur's resources are freely available at the Grace To You Ministry website: gty.org.au

(Please right-click on any of the links for the option to open them in a new window.)

And pretty much all of Pastor John Piper's resources are freely available at DesiringGod.org

Pastor Piper's many books and study guides can be accessed free of charge in pdf format at the DesiringGod website.

I hope to update thís weblog with a rough summary of our current series of lessons sometime, um... soon. (I just realised that I haven't even finished summarising our lessons on John MacArthur's book yet, as well!)

In the meantime, please enjoy this very classic message, by Jonathan Edwards entitled "The Excellency of CHRIST."

Be blessed, dear beloved!

"And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

Saying with a loud voice,

"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."


Revelations 5:2-12

Celebrating The Birth Of True Righteousness

...Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised (righteousness or right-standing with God), being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

...So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

-From The New International Version of Paul's Letter to the Galatians (3:22-4:7, 5:16-18)

May our Holy Gracious Heavenly Father continue to make us yearn for His Righteousness to be manifested more and more, in the lives that He has given us.

May those around us witness His Almighty hand transforming us and declare, "God is GOOD!"

May His Holy Spirit move in their lives just as He moves in ours, causing us all to desire Jesus above all else... and to truly celebrate Christmas throughout forever.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Surviving John MacArthur's How To Survive In A World Of Unbelievers

Grace & Peace in abundance to you all, through the knowledge of our God, Jesus Christ our Lord!

It's been quite a while since the last weblog entry and I must apologise for not having been able to update the weblog more regularly.

The Care Group has just wrapped up a very interesting and engaging 6-month (?) series of (fortnightly) lessons based on John MacArthur's book entitled, "How to Survive In a World of Unbelievers." (Many thanks to Kuya Glenn and Ate Dodie C of the Padstow Care Group for helping us obtain copies of this rare book, which has been out-of-print here in Australia for quite some time.)

Sadly, I have been unsuccessful in obtaining permission to reproduce excerpts of the book from publishers Thomas Nelson. However, most of the chapters from the book are freely available online at Pastor John MacArthur's Grace To You Ministry website and at The Bible Bulletin Board website for your review. (Please right-click on the links for the option to open it in a new window.)

If I am not mistaken, each chapter was originally a sermon message by Pastor John at Grace Community Church, in Sun Valley California. These were then compiled and edited to produce the book. A study guide was then developed to accompany it, to help facilitate group discussions.

Here's a very humble basic/bare-bones summary of what we've discussed:

"How To Survive in a World of Unbelievers" by John MacArthur is a series of lessons based on Christ’s most intimate teachings to his handpicked disciples, during the Last Supper. This was just a few short hours before Jesus knew that He would be betrayed and be given over to the Sanhedrin. These were Christ’s heart-felt instructions on how His true disciples should act under His authority and how they were to faithfully represent Him in this unbelieving world.

In the Introductory discussion prepared and led by Elder Rob V, we learned that the Last Supper occurred during the Jewish festival of Passover. Passover was one of many Jewish feasts (see Leviticus chapter 23) which included Pentecost and Tabernacles/Tents, that trace their beginnings to Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. In their Exodus from Egypt, God revealed Himself as the unfailing rescuer of His chosen people: no matter how undeserving they were, God was faithful to His promise to cleanse and save a people unto Himself. And this same God is still His people's faithful, unfailing Saviour today.

In Chapter 1, “The Humility of Love,” we learned how during the Last Supper (in Luke 22), after Christ’s triumphant entry to Jerusalem, a dispute arose among the disciples about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom. Jesus settled this dispute by declaring, “the one who is the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules, like the one who serves.” Christ graphically demonstrated the kind of humility that He was talking about, by washing the disciples feet. The important point in this was not the washing of the feet per se, but rather the incredible humility (the utter absence of self-pride or self-interest) that it took to wash the disciples' dirty, dusty, smelly feet. It is this kind of humility (a word that shares the same root as the word humiliation) that results in selfless loving service to God and to others. It is this kind of humility that characterizes The One who is The Greatest in The Kingdom. In Luke 22:27b, Jesus said, “I am among you as one who serves.” Christ’s love and humility are inseparable (John MacArthur p5). May Christ's humility be seen more and more in us, as God continues to work in our lives.

In Chapter 2, “Unmasking the Betrayer,” we learned how shocked the disciples were to hear how one of them (one handpicked by Christ Himself) would betray Jesus that very night. None of them would have had a clue, hadn't Jesus revealed this to them. Yet Jesus reassures them that all of these things have been foreshadowed in the Old Testament (David’s Psalms 41 & 55 and Zechariah 11), in effect saying that all of these were going exactly according to God's plan (not Satan's, nor Judas' nor the Sanhedrin's, but God's plan). As Jesus said in John 13:18-19, “...I know those I have chosen... this is to fulfill the scripture… I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.” (The word “He” in this passage is often italicised in many English Bible translations because it does not actually appear in the original Greek manuscripts. Thus, a much better way to read verse 19 would be, “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I AM.”) May the chapter, “Unmasking the Betrayer” cause us to focus not so much on the betrayer, but rather to focus more on the Unmasker--the Great I AM.

In Chapter 3, “The Marks of a Committed Christian,” John MacArthur lists 3 vital distinguishing characteristics that should identify every genuine believer (based on John 13:31-38): an Unending Preoccupation with God’s Glory; an Unfailing Love for the Children of God; and an Unswerving Loyalty to Jesus Christ. Each one is the mark of an active personal God, working in the individual lives of His true followers as they represent Him in this world.

In Chapter 4, “The Solution to a Troubled Heart,” we learned how upset the disciples were, since Jesus would soon be betrayed into His enemies' hands and because Jesus would be leaving them in just a while. Jesus thus taught the disciples that they were to trust in His Presence (even when He does not seem to be there); to trust in His Promises (even when everything seems to be going wrong); and to trust in His Person (even when we don’t seem to understand Him).

In Chapter 5, “Jesus Is God,” we learned how Jesus could not have been merely a good teacher or just another prophet. Anyone who made the divine claims that Jesus made was either telling the truth or he was a liar (liars do not make very good teachers). Jesus Christ is God the Son, uniquely one with, but distinct from God the Father. Jesus Christ is God incarnate, God in the flesh. This is all too much for the human mind to truly comprehend, as the disciples themselves showed how lacking their understanding of Christ’s deity was. Only God's Divine work in a person's life will cause that individual to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God the Son. This is why we need the third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit…

In Chapter 6, "The Ministry of the Holy Spirit," we learned how the Bible's imperatives (the laws & commands, all our responsibilities) are ever rooted in the Bible's indicatives (the declarations, proclamations and promises of our sovereign, gracious, eternally faithful, holy God actively accomplishing His work, in His people's lives). The Biblical imperatives and indicatives (law & gospel) should never ever be seen or taught as divorced from each other. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to actively, particularly/personally and consistently cause God's saints (former sinners, former rebels, former objects of God's righteous wrath) to become obedient to God. Nothing else and nothing less than the Holy Spirit's gracious and effectual sovereign work in our lives will result in us becoming truly Godly: truly Christ-like. All the glory belongs to God!

In Chapter 7, "The Gift Of Peace (aka The Peace of Christ)," we learned how the peace that comes from Christ is different from the "peace" that the world has in mind. The world's idea of peace is the absence of trouble or conflict. The peace that comes from Christ is a quiet blessed assurance that not only isn't affected by whatever trouble or conflict that the world throws its way, but rather even turns around the troubles and conflicts that it comes across for the glory of Christ. It is the peace that surpasses all human understanding. It is the peace that comes only from God because it is the peace of God. And this peace of God can only be experienced by those who have peace with God. And peace with God is only attainable through Jesus Christ. It is this peace of Christ that the disciples direly needed to rule in their hearts, as their Master Jesus prepared them for His date with the cross.

In Chapter 8, "What Jesus' Death Meant to Him," as the time of Jesus' betrayal drew closer and as Jesus made it clearer to the disciples that He would be leaving soon, we learned how hard it would have been for the disciples to comprehend how God could accomplish anything good from everything that's now happening. The disciples left their families, careers and belongings to follow Jesus. They hoped Jesus would soon march into Jerusalem to kick out their Roman occupiers and reestablish David's Kingdom, perhaps making them very high ranking officials. Instead, Jesus reveals how everything that has been going on, will soon result in Him being betrayed and nailed to a Roman cross. Jesus thus needed to reassure them that everything was going exactly according to plan--Christ's predictions of what will be happening were not guesses based on probabilities, but were revelations based on certainties. Believe it or not, acknowledge it or not: Only God can take upon Himself the ugliest, most brutal, most torturous and humiliating death penalty ever instituted by a world power... and use it to secure eternal victory, all according to His plan.

In Chapter 9, "The Vine & The Branches," we learned that while Jesus would be physically away from His disciples, they can rest in the fact that Christ would be their Eternal Vine, in whom every true disciple (past, present and future) had been supernaturally grafted into. We are His branches and apart from Christ, we can do nothing. He is central to everything that we are. Those who do not remain or abide in the vine are cast out by the Vine Dresser, God the Father. All true believers remain or abide in the Vine (keeping the Vine central to everything in their lives) and will bear much fruit. Some may bear more fruit than others, sooner than others, or more evident than others. But Christ's precious nourishing through the Holy Spirit and God the Father's careful pruning (as painful as it may be at the time), all assure that the genuine branches will bear fruit.

In Chapter 10, "The Benefits of Life in Christ (aka Abiding in Christ," we learned how the gracious Lord Jesus further encouraged His now confused, fearful, down-hearted disciples. Apart from the divine promise of bearing eternal fruit (in the previous chapter), Christ assured His chosen disciples of answers to their Godly prayers, abundant lives that overflow with God's "uncontainable" glory, joy and their eternal security in Him... only in Him. (In the end, Christ Himself is every true disciple's greatest encouragement. Christ Himself is our greatest benefit.)


(The last 2 chapters were unavailable on the Internet at the time of this posting, but their outlines with discussion questions can be enjoyed by clicking on the links below. Please right-click on the links if you would like the option to open them in new windows. Many thanks!)

Chapter 11, "How to be a Friend of Jesus"

Chapter 12, "Hated Without a Cause" Part 1 and Part 2.

John MacArthur Videos

An Interview with John Piper & John MacArthur






From the series entitled, "Does The Truth Matter Anymore" from CrossTV

The Apathy Of The Modern Church Part 1






The Apathy Of The Modern Church Part 2

Sinclair Ferguson on Focusing on CHRIST, Rather than on our own Religiosity

"The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual... but from the New Testament's point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirtuality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources.

Only where our piety forgets about ourself and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety (be) nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ." --Sinclair Ferguson 

(Quoted from Monergism.com's Gospel-Centered Life page)

Watch Out! Watch This...

Watch Out for Those Who Lead You Away from the Truth
by John Piper (November 5, 2006)
(Please right-click on the link above for the option to open in a new window.)

Romans 16:17-20:

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. Such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

I recall talking to a wise leader of a large missions organization about doctrinal faithfulness. He said something to this effect, “It’s crucial. And so is unity. Some people emphasize one, and some the other. Our organization is made of two kinds of people: purity boys and unity boys.” The unity boys naturally emphasize the preciousness of personal relationships and tend to neglect an emphasis on truth. The purity boys naturally emphasize the preciousness of truth and tend to neglect the nurture of personal relationships.

In fact, you could probably categorize people and churches and denominations and institutions and movements in the evangelical church today (or even in society in general) along these lines: There are those who emphasize doctrinal purity, and there are those that emphasize relational unity.

Loving People and Loving Truth

I hope you are feeling uncomfortable with that description. A good impulse inside of you would be saying right now: “Do we have to choose? Can’t it be both? Can’t you love truth and love people?” In fact, it would be an even more biblical impulse if you found yourself thinking, “I don’t even think you can love people if you don’t love truth. How can you do what is ultimately good for people if you don’t have any strong convictions about what is ultimately good?”

And yet there is no escaping the reality that people and churches and denominations and schools and even whole periods in history lean one way or the other. I think the period of history we live in is not an easy time to be a lover of truth. The most common criticism, if you stand for an important truth and imply by that stand that others should believe it, is that you are arrogant, which is the opposite of being loving (1 Corinthians 13:4), and therefore you are undermining relationships.

For many thoughtful people today the only path to peaceful relationships in a pluralistic world is the path of no truth that deserves assent from everyone. It seems on the face of it to make sense. If no one claims that what he believes deserves assent from anyone else, then we can live together in peace. Right? So peaceful pluralism and diminished truth claims go hand in hand.

But it doesn’t work like that. When there is no truth that deserves assent from everybody, the only arbiter in our competing desires is power. Where truth doesn’t define what’s right, might makes right. And where might makes right, weak people pay with their lives. When the universal claim of truth disappears, what you get is not peaceful pluralism or loving relationships; what you get is concentration camps and gulags.

Purity for the Sake of Unity

I want you to see from the Bible—and feel in your bones—the importance of being a purity boy for the sake of being a unity boy. I want you to see and feel how out of step this text is with today’s Western culture. It pictures a way of thinking and living that most of our fellow Americans would consider offensive, unloving, fundamentalistic, and out of date. It’s mainly a purity text—a text calling for vigilance in matters of truth and doctrine. But it’s not only that. In a striking way, it is a unity text. The goal of the vigilance for right teaching is to avoid Christ-belittling, self-exalting dissension.

So my hope in preaching from verses 17 and 18 is that you will be freed from any blindness or bondage to this truth-diminishing period of time in which we live. And I pray that, because of this liberty, you would know what it is to love your adversaries and that you would have fresh power from the gospel to magnify Christ in showing that love.

Let’s read again Romans 16:17-18,

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Verse 17 gives two commands that seem contradictory, but they are joined by a phrase that shows why they are not contradictory. And verse 18 gives two reasons why these two commands are so crucial. Let’s look first at the commands in verse 17.

Watch Out for Those Who Cause Divisions

The first command in verse 17 is to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles or stumbling blocks. “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles.” So it is clear from this command that Paul is concerned about unity. He wants to promote unity. Watch out for those who cause divisions. These are enemies of unity. Watch out for them. I don’t want them to have that effect on you.

Avoid Them

The second command in verse 17 is to avoid these people. The last phrase in the verse: “Avoid them.” Stay away from them. Now the reason I said these two commands sound contradictory is that the first one is driven by a passion for unity: Watch out for those who cause divisions. And the second one is, in fact, a call for division. When you spot such a division-causing person, divide from him. Avoid him.

The Dividing Line of Doctrine

What is it then between these two commands that helps us see how they are not in fact contradictory? It’s Paul’s reference to doctrine. Verse 17: “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.” The issue here is not the same as in chapter 14 where Paul is dealing with different convictions about non-essential things. There he said, in verse 5, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” There was no talk in chapter 14 about avoiding people. The whole point was to help the strong and the weak Christians live together in mutual respect and understanding.

But now here in Romans 16:17, the approach is dramatically different. Here Paul says: Avoid them. Divide from them. Why? Because they are promoting doctrine contrary to what they had been taught. Now Paul’s response to this could have been: Well, nobody has all the truth, and everybody has a piece of it, and unity is more important than truth, and so don’t divide. And we would say: That impulse would not be all bad, would it? Unity is a good thing. Paul cares about it. His first command is: “Watch out for those who cause divisions.”

Truth-Based Division for the Sake of Truth-Based Unity

But that is not the way he responded to this situation. Instead, for the sake of unity—that is, truth-based unity—Paul calls for truth-based division. Avoid them. I don’t know how Paul could make any clearer how he relates doctrine and unity. For Paul, doctrine is the basis of unity. Without the common doctrine they had been taught, the unity would not have been Christian unity. So he is willing to call for truth-based disunity (“Avoid them.” “Divide from them.”) for the sake of truth-based unity.

In other words, when a person departs from the doctrine that the apostles had taught, Paul sees this as a greater threat to unity than the disunity caused by avoiding such people. If we say: How can that be? How can dividing from a false teacher who rises up in the church promote unity in the church? The answer is that the only unity that counts for unity in the church is rooted in a common apostolic teaching. Isolating false teachers—avoiding them—is Paul’s strategy for preserving unity that is based on true teaching.

Joy in the Truth Is Dominant

Now let’s pause here before looking at the reasons for these commands in verse 18. I want to make a clarifying comment about both of these commands and the doctrine that connects them.

First, with regard to the command to “watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught,” it is possible to go overboard on this. I hesitate even to say it, since I don’t think this is the temptation of most churches or most Christians today. But it is possible, and there are churches and people that do go overboard.

What I mean is that they become so obsessed with spotting doctrinal error that they lose their ability to rejoice in doctrinal truth. They’re like dogs that are trained so completely to sniff out drugs at the airport, that even when they’re off duty they greet everybody that way. It doesn’t make for a very welcoming atmosphere.

The book of Romans does not make this mistake. Periodically Paul warns against doctrinal or ethical error. But most of Romans is a glorious display of the work of Christ for us and in us. So let’s ask the Lord to help us get the balance right here. We must do this: “Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.” But this is not the main thing we do. Vigilance over error is necessary, but joy in the truth is dominant.

There Is a Defined Body of Doctrine

Second, with regard to the doctrine, don’t miss the obvious: There is such a thing—a body of doctrine that someone can go against. Verse 17: “Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.” There is a doctrinal standard. There is something you can depart from. Paul refers to it in several ways. In Romans 6:17, he calls it the standard of teaching: “[You] have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.” In 2 Timothy 1:13-14, he calls it the pattern of sound words and the good deposit. “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” In Acts 20:27, he calls it the whole counsel of God. “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

So there is a body or standard or pattern of sound doctrine. The caution here, of course, is that we must not put every minor opinion about hundreds of Bible verses in this category so that there is no room for any disagreement at all (cf. Philippians 3:15). The pattern of sound doctrine would be a faithful summary of biblical essentials determined by how crucial they are in expressing and preserving the history of redemption, the nature and condition of man, the nature and work of Christ, the nature and word of the Holy Spirit, and the nature and work of God the Father. One of the greatest challenges in the quest for unity is deciding what belongs in this body of doctrine when Paul says, if someone departs from it, avoid him. That’s part of what the elders were working on last year in the baptism question. And which we are still working on.

Leave Room for Enemy Love

Third, with regard to the second command at the end of verse 17 (avoid them), we need to be sure we leave room for obedience to the teaching in Romans 12 that says we should “Bless those who curse you” (v. 14), and, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (v. 18), and so on.

Avoiding someone does not mean: Stop caring about him, or stop praying for him, or even stop talking to them. When Peter acted contrary to the gospel in Galatians 2, Paul did not first avoid him. He first confronted him with a view to winning him back. That kind of contact is not forbidden. What Paul commands with the words avoid them, is not no contact at all, but the kind of contact that communicates life can go on as usual between us. It can’t. If you, as a professing Christian, persist in departing from the doctrine the apostles taught, we can’t simply hang out together like we used to.

False Teachers Seem Nice

That brings us finally to verse 18 and the two reasons Paul gives for why doctrinal vigilance is so important. Verse 18: “For such persons [that is, the persons who depart from the doctrine] do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

Let’s take the second one first. Verse 18b: “By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.” The word for flattery is simply blessing. And smooth talk doesn’t necessarily mean manifestly slippery. It just means pleasant and plausible. So the reason we must be so vigilant over biblical doctrine is that those who depart from it take simple people with them by pleasant, plausible speech that presents itself as a blessing. False teachers don’t get a following by being rough and harsh. They get a following by being nice.

Just take two examples from history: Arius (d. 336) and Socinus (d. 1604)—both of whom denied the deity of Christ. Parker Williamson describes Arius like this:

Here was a bright, energetic, attractive fellow, the kind of citizen whom any Rotary Club would welcome. Singing sea chanties in dockside pubs and teaching Bible stories to the Wednesday night faithful, this was an immensely popular man. His story reminds us that heresy does not bludgeon us into belief. We are seduced. (Parker T. Williamson, Standing Firm: Reclaiming the Chastain Faith in Times of Controversy [Lenoir, North Carolina: PLC Publications, 1996], p. 31.)

And another writer describes Socinus like this:

He was a gentleman. His morals were above reproach and he distinguished himself by his unfailing courtesy. Unfailing courtesy was remarkable in an age when even the great Protestant leaders, Luther and Calvin would use vile street language when arguing with their opponents.

This means that it will seldom be popular to resist false teachers in the church because they are almost always perceived as bringing a blessing and speaking with winsome words. They are gentlemen. And Paul says the innocent are carried away. Hence he says, “Watch out for them. And avoid them.”

False Teachers Serve Their Own Appetites

The other reason why doctrinal vigilance is so crucial, Paul says, is (verse 18a) because “such persons [the false teachers] do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites”—literally their own belly. In other words, the issue in false teaching is not a simple intellectual mistake. Behind the plausible speech and the smooth gentlemanly demeanor is idolatry, and the idol is the belly—the appetite for food or sex or human approval. Behind serious false teaching, we almost always find not merely intellectual mistakes, but worldly passions enslaving the mind.

Watch Out

So I close with a pointed call to vigilance: Watch out for smooth talkers who pastor large churches, write many books, lead wide ministries, and do not manifestly prize above their earthly good the whole counsel of God.

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