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Tag Archives: Justification

Martin Lloyd-Jones in Romans 6:3-4 (Buried and Raised)

28 Monday Aug 2017

Posted by memoirandremains in Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Uncategorized

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Justification, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Resurrection, Romans 6, Romans 6:3-4

Romans 6:3–4 (ESV)

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

 

I As an objective fact we are joined to Christ in his death: “We He did we have done; because we have been baptized into His death, we died with Him. As we sinned with Adam, we died with the Lord Jesus Christ.”

A He then makes a note of how we tend to miss the objectivity of this event. In part this is because our singing emphasizes the subjective side of the Christian life.

B “We are so subjective that we miss his glorious truth, this objective truth, this great thing that has happened outside of us — our position.”

C.  It has happened to us. “You cannot be a Christian without this being true of you.”

D.  “The Apostle’s statement has nothing to with sanctification as such; it is purely a question of that which is true of every Chritian, and, as it were, an aspect of his justification.”

E. “His death means the end of the relationship to the realm and reign of sin, therefore we have died to the real and the relationship and reign of sin.”

II.  Joined to his resurrection.

A. “So the first thing we have to hold on to is that God raised him from the dead by His own eternal glorious power. The first thing the resurrection proclaims is the tremendous power of God that was exercised and revealed.”

B. “All sin can is to kill us and bury us; but it cannot go further. That is the ultimate of its power. Our Lord resurrection proclaims that, and establishes it. He has finished with it, He is out of it, He has no more do it with it.’

III.  What this means.

A. “The same glorious power of the Father that raised Him fro the dead has done th same to us.”

B. We are in the newness of life: “The Apostle is not saying that we ought to do so, he is not saying that we ought to strive to do so, that we out to strive to crucify ourselves and to die. No! It has happened already, we are in this new position.”

IV. “We shall not be allowed to live a life of sin; it is not only unreasonable as a suggestion, it is in a final sense impossible.”

The danger of preaching salvation by grace (MLJ)

14 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by memoirandremains in Grace, Justification, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Uncategorized

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Grace, Justification, Martyn Lloyd-Jones

There is a sense in which the doctrine of justification by faith only is a very dangerous doctrine; dangerous, I mean, in the sense that it can be misunderstood. It exposes a man to this particular charge. People listening to it may say, ‘Ah, there isa  man who does not encourage us to live a good life, he seems to say that there is no value inner works, he says that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Therefore what he is saying is, that it does not matter what you do, sin as much as you like.’ There is thus clearly a sense in which the message of ‘justification by faith only’ can be dangerous, and likewise with the message that salvation is entirely of grace. I say therefore that if our preaching does not expose us to that charge and to that misunderstanding it is because we are not really preaching the gospel.

Martin Lloyd-Jones, Romans 6, The New Man (Sermon One, Romans 6:1,2), p. 9. But it is precisely that “misunderstanding” which leads to the question and answer of Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead in sin live any longer in it.”

What is the business of grace? Is it to allow us to continue in sin? No! It is to deliver us from the bondage and the reign of sin, and to put us under the reign of grace. So when a man asks, “Shall we therefore continue in sin that grace may abound?” hr id merely showing that he has failed to understand either the tyranny or the reign of sin, or the whole object and purpose of grace and its marvelous reign over those who are saved.

John Newton’s Letter to Miss M, November 11, 1775

02 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by memoirandremains in Biblical Counseling

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Animals, Biblical Counseling, Building, Eclispse, John Newton, Justification, letters, Mortification, Sin

In this letter, John Newton addresses a lady who seems to have been disappointed in some good undertaking. After a brief introduction, he comes to his point:

“One reason why he often disappoints us is, that we may learn to depend on him alone.

While this is not a direct quotation from Scripture, it is a principle which runs through out the Bible. For example, in 2 Corinthians 1, Paul explains that his overwhelming trial had a purpose: “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” 2 Cor. 1:9.

At this point we can err by concluding that all our help from God comes by non-material means; that only a “spiritual” blessing can possibly be of God. Such thinking smacks of gnosticism, and Newton will have none of it. He admits the usefulness of “sensible comforts” but points us to the source of such comforts:

“We are prone, as you observe, to rest too much upon sensible comforts, yet they are very desirable; only, as to the measure and seasons, it is well to be submissive to his will; to be thankful for them when we have them, and humbly waiting for them when we have them not. They are not, however, the proper ground of our hope; a good hope springs from such a sense of our wants, and such a persuasion of his power and grace as engages the heart to venture, upon the warrant of his promises, to trust in him for salvation.

We may use such comforts: when the crowd hungers, Jesus feeds them (John 6:1-14). Yet, we must not trust in such things. Sensible comforts should point us to the one who grants such comforts, not to the comforts themselves (John 6:26).  

A child who receives lunch from his parent should not place his hope in the sandwich, but in his mother who feeds him. The good for the child is relationship with his parent.  In like manner, our good is not the “sensible comfort” God gives us but in the surety of our relationship with God who gives such things. As explained above, God seeks us to seek him (our ultimate good, hope, joy). 
When we realize that the chief end of our existence is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 1), we can understand God’s working:

 “”In a sense, we are often hindering him by our impatience and unbelief; but, strictly speaking, when he really begins the good work, and gives us a desire which will be satisfied with nothing short of himself, he will not be hindered from carrying it on; for he has said, I will work, and none shall let it.”

Newton then anticipates an objection: Must it really be this way? Must my trial have this shape? I once counseled with a man who suffered a grave trial. He said, I could bear trials X, Y and Z (all very painful), but this trial is the one which is too great for me. God, in his wisdom chooses the trial most fit for our soul. 
Now if Newton had said, God has chosen this trial because it is fit for you – it would have easily sounded abusive and uncaring. Therefore, he brings himself into the picture and begins with the proposition: I need such correction:
“”Ah! had it depended upon myself, upon my wisdom or faithfulness, I should have hindered him to purpose, and ruined myself long ago! How often have I grieved and resisted his Spirit! But hereby I have learned more of his patience and tenderness, than I could otherwise have known. He knows our frame, and what effects our evil nature, fomented by the artifices of Satan, will have; he sees us from first to last.”

Note the movement in his argument: He begins with himself and then moves the application to “us”:  “He knows our frame” (an allusion to Psalm 103:14 — you will never be a better counselor, a better pastor, a better Christian than as you know the Scripture).

Newton now comes to the point of correction: but note how the argument moves to Christ. Our trials expose our own weakness: we don’t know if a roof is good until a hard rain. Our trials expose the sin latent in our heart.

“A thousand evils arise in our hearts, a thousand wrongnesses in our conduct, which, as they do arise, are new to ourselves, and perhaps at some times we were ready to think we were incapable of such things; but none of them are new to him, to whom past, present, and future are the same.”

But it is precisely here that Newton displays some pastoral genius (if you will). The exposure of our sin has the tendency to drive the Christian to despair: never one sinned as I! But Newton turns the sin of our sin into a sight of the surpassing love and mercy of God. God knew our sin before we saw it exposed — and yet he loves us:

“The foresight of them did not prevent his calling us by his grace. Though he knew we were vile, and should prove ungrateful and unfaithful, yet he would be found of us; he would knock at the door of our hearts, and gain himself an entrance.  Nor shall they prevent his accomplishing his gracious purpose. It is our part to be abased before him, and quietly to hope and wait for his salvation in the use of his appointed means.”

Having struck, he drives home his point: not only our salvation, but our justification depend upon him. And, to make us know the degree to which we cannot move an inch in our justification without him, our Lord lets us see our sin run wild — like animals–and then brings them to heel (I must say this little bit was a tremendous encouragement to me)

“The power, success, and blessing, are wholly from himself. To make us more sensible of this, he often withdraws from our perceptions: and as, in the absence of the sun, the wild beasts of the forest roam abroad; so, when Jesus hides himself, we presently perceive what is in our hearts, and what a poor shift we can make without him; when he returns, his light chases the evils away, and we are well again. However, they are not dead when most controuled by his presence.”

Before we proceed, consider the profound psychology of Newton’s statement: the animals roaming about are some many things which the psychologist or the psychiatrist would hope to control by drugs or therapy. Here Newton places the problem on a theological basis: those animals can be controlled only by Christ. If the modern Christian Church truly believed this to be so, it would profoundly change the way we consider human beings””

Now Newton pictures the Christian life as a building:

“It is your great and singular mercy, my dear Miss, that he has taught you to seek him so early in life. You are entered in the way of salvation, but you must not expect all at once. The work of grace is compared to the corn, and to a building; the growth of the one, and the carrying forward of the other, are gradual. In a building, for instance, if it be large, there is much to be done in preparing and laying the foundation, before the walls appear above ground; much is doing within, when the work does not seem perhaps to advance without; and when it is considerably forward, yet, being encumbered with scaffolds and rubbish, a by-stander sees it at a great disadvantage, and can form but an imperfect judgment of it.”

At this point, Newton seems to be thinking Paul’s thoughts (1 Cor. 4:4), it is the judgment of God, alone, which matters in the Christian life — and God alone controls the building

“But all this while the architect himself, even from the laying of the first stone, conceives of it according to the plan and design he has formed; he prepares and adjusts the materials, disposing each in its proper time and place, and views it, in idea, as already finished. In due season it is completed, but not in a day. The top-stone is fixed, and then, the scaffolds and rubbish being removed, it appears to others as he intended it should be.”

Newton ends with a doxology — which is the only natural bent of the Christian when considering God. When we consider ourselves — in the light of our indwelling sin & in the light of our savior — we are poor beasts. Yet, when we consider what Savior can and will do, it can only bring praise:

“Men, indeed, often plan what, for want of skill or ability, or from unforeseen disappointments, they are unable to execute: but nothing can disappoint the heavenly Builder; nor will he ever be reproached with forsaking the work of his own hands, or beginning that which he could not or would not accomplish; Phil. 1:6. Let us therefore be thankful for beginnings, and patiently wait the event. His enemies strive to retard the work, as they did when the Jews, by his order, set about rebuilding the Temple: yet it was finished, in defiance of them all.”

Justification and Sanctification 

26 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by memoirandremains in Uncategorized

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An Infinite Journey, Justification, Sanctification

Sanctification is different than justification. In justification, our effort and works are unnecessary and unwelcome, repugnant to God; in sanctification, they are essential and celebrated, commanded by God. Justification is unchanging, set once for all in the heavens; sanctification is dynamic, constantly changing based in part on our faithfulness or faithlessness to God. Justification inevitably leads to sanctification; without evidence of sanctification, there should be no assurance of justification. There are no degrees of justification: we are either justified or we are not. There are infinite degrees of sanctification, based on how conformed we are to the infinitely high standard of Christ.

An Infinite Journey,  Andrew Davis

Gathercole Read All 1658 Pages

29 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by memoirandremains in N.T. Wright

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Election, Eschatology, Justification, N.T. Wright, New Perspective, Paul, Paul and the Faithfulness of God

Wright is brilliant, maddening and, as in the case of Paul and the Faithfulness of God, able to write extremely long books:

Let me begin by stating the fact that most obviously strikes the recipient of a copy of Paul and the Faithfulness of God (henceforth, PFG): it is 1658 pages long. At one point, probably about a third of the way or half-way through, I had a feeling which – unprompted – interpreted itself in words similar to those of John Newton’s Amazing Grace: ‘When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun | We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, as when we first begun’. I felt at this stage at the book that, having read hundreds and hundreds of pages, I still had as many to go as I did when I first begun. One of the chapters is over 250 pages. But I did make it all the way through to what I assume was the George Herbert allusion at the end. –

Someday, I hope to have the time myself

 

The Word in Acts.4 (Good Works)

26 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by memoirandremains in Acts, Good Works, Prayer, Preaching

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1 John 3:16–18, 1 Tim. 5:9-16, Acts, Acts 6:1–7, Africa, Amos 2:6–8, Charity, Ephesians 2:8-10, Faith, Galatians 2:10, Good Works, James, James 2:14–17, John, John 6:63, Justification, love, Matthew Parris, Paul, Peter, Prayer, Preaching, Self-denial, Word, Word in Acts, Word of God

1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. Acts 6:1–7 (ESV)

To rightly understand the bite of these words, we must first read them against the rest of the Bible. In 1 Timothy Paul writes to Timothy to direct him on the working of the church. Paul writes:

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8 (ESV)

Thus, caring for the poor – particularly in one’s own family – is of extraordinary importance. One who will not care for his family is “worse than an unbeliever”!

What of widows who have no family? These are to be either cared for by the church or encouraged to become part of a new family by marriage (1 Tim. 5:9-16; this command obviously presents interesting challenges in the current societal structure where marriage is less than universally sought or obtained – particularly for widows).   

When Paul met with James, Peter and John, the pillars gave him “the right hand of fellowship” and left Paul with a single charge:

Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. Galatians 2:10 (ESV)

Both James and John specifically condemn those who claim faith and yet will not care for the physical needs of the poor (James 2:14-17; 1 John 3:16-18).  Both make plain that who does not actually care for the poor does not possess saving faith and does not bear the love of God!

So here we see that Peter, Paul, James & John all explicitly give commandment for the care of the poor – to the point that caring for the poor is a necessary coordinate of a truly redeemed believer. If we were to canvas the OT we would find repeated exhortations to care for the poor and repeated condemnation of those who refused to care for the poor.  The words of Amos, in particular, have always haunted me:

6 Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— 7 those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; 8 they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined. Amos 2:6–8 (ESV)

Without question, care for the poor, for the widow is of supreme concern for the Christian Church: it lies at near the very center of our life. However, there is one element which has even greater importance: prayer and the word.

There are two aspects to this hierarchy. First, without the word of God, without love and faith, such care for the poor fails. It is not the mere transfer of money which is needed. Material poverty, as awful as it is, is not the deepest danger and harm. Even the most wealthy and privileged human being will stand before God.  On that day, wealth will not help:

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36 (ESV)

The deepest and most profound need of humanity is reconciliation with God. Our particular troubles are merely symptoms and warnings of the underlying rebellion against God. All human misery flows from the fountain of sin and death. Pain and misery and oppression are merely proof that sin is present – and only in Christ will sin be destroyed.

The grandest anti-poverty program in the world – even if it lived up to its grandest claims – would merely ease the poor into hell.

Thus, the work of the word was of more importance that care for the poor (as extraordinarily important as that is), because the word is the only means to convey life (John 6:63 – interestingly coming at the end of a confrontation where the poor wanted only food and were not interested in the words of life).

Second, even as a practical matter, immediate care for the poor without the sustaining work of true faith and love will fail. The damage to the poor is much more than mere material want.  Giving money may ease one’s conscience but it does little to bring love to another human being.

Even as the welfare state has grown in the West, brutality has grown up alongside of it.  The most old and the most young, the most vulnerable of all are killed to grant momentary comfort to those with more power and strength. 

Along this line, there was an interesting article in the British Press, by Matthew Parris. Christianity Today recounted his argument as follows:

The problems in Africa cannot be solved with aid money alone, but Africans need to know God, contends an atheist journalist and former politician.

 

Religion offers change to the hearts and minds of people – something aid cannot do, argues Matthew Parris, a former conservative MP, in a column for The Times.

 

“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts,” writes Parris, who was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but now lives in England. “These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do.”

 

He went on to say, “In Africa, Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.”

 

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/atheist.africa.needs.god.not.only.aid/22223.htm

In conclusion, the word of God is more important than even the best of good work, because only the word of God transforms the heart and reconciles humanity to God. Then, as a wonderful secondary effect, the transformed life in turn flows out in good work. This is precisely the movement which Paul recognizes in Ephesians 2 where he first posits justification on the ground of God’s free grace received by faith – but such faith turns inevitably into good work:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8–10 (ESV)

 

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