Romans 5 | Therefore

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1-2).

Are you living on the correct side of the "therefore?" On this side of the therefore there is peace, hope, grace, and rejoicing. Yet many Christians live without experiencing this side of the therefore. They live with an understanding of the gospel that leaves them unaffected. They know the truths, but for some reason it isn't affecting them yet. Tim Keller has a great example of a Coke machine at in his building that you put coins but the machine fails to produce Coke. What he realized is that you must hit the side of the machine to get the coins to drop. When the coins actually drop then you can push the button and a Coke will come out. He makes an excellent point saying that many Christians have had the gospel deposited in them. They have attended church, heard about Christ, even believed in Him for salvation, yet there are no gospel behaviors coming out.

This is true of us isn't it? We know the gospel but we don't always produce the gospel behaviors that we should. So we must hit the side of our heads and hearts until "the gospel drops." We do this by constantly reminding ourselves of what Christ has accomplished for us... eventually--with enough gospel clobberings--we act inline with the gospel.

So once again, let Paul hit you with this truth. "Since you have been justified through faith." Because you have laid hold of what Christ accomplished on the cross, His obedience for your rebellion, His incarceration and punishment for you liberation, cast away and forsaken for you to be brought near, "...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." You now have access to this grace by faith in which you now stand(vs. 2). Now your life should reflect that hope and peace in a tangible act of rejoicing.

So, has the gospel dropped in your life? Are you standing in grace? Are you living on this side of the "therefore?" Are you living in peace, hope, expectation, and rejoicing?

Or do you know these truths, yet are unaffected by them?

Let the gospel hit you once again... Pray for the coin to drop. Pray for gospel transformation.

Things I Love | C.H. Spurgeon

Somewhere along the journey, I heard that C.S. Lewis avoids chronological snobery. Meaning, he isn't always enamoured by the newest books and ideas.... That concept got a hold of me. In fact, I remember walking into a Family Life book store in Florida and purchasing Autobiography of George Muller, Sermons of Jonathan Edwards published by Hendrickson, and Lectures To My Students by C.H. Spurgeon.

What I didn't know was how influential those books would be on me. Particularly LTMS by Spurgeon. No other book has had a greater influence over the way that I think about ministry than LTMS. I read it over the course of a year and have since returned to it over and over.

I am constantly stunned by how well Spurgeon can put plainly the things of God. I am often helped by his ability to colorfully describe things.

Recently I purchased a copy of All of Grace. I had never heard of it before, but it is a wonderful book. It is a tiny little book where Spurgeon explains salvation, atonement, faith, and more... Within reading the first few pages I had to stand up and fist pump... mainly because I am dork, but also because these things were explained in a way that made my heart race. I learn so much from Spurgeon because he understood that these truths should never simply be explained. As if we are teaching a textbook on literature or something... no, the truths of God need to be compelling put forth... And they demand a response. Spurgeon never writes or speaks without having in mind an appeal to the people hearing him. "Please, turn to Christ. Trust in Christ."

It may seem weird that I love an old dead guy... but because of his influence over me, I am indebted to him.

Things I Love | Missions

As I write about "Things I Love" I am becoming aware that there was a particular experience that brought about my loves... At the end of 2006 I blew out my knee... During the same time, my wife now--girlfriend at the time--moved in to Chicago. We made it work for about a short time, then we split. Frankly, I was angry at God. I was depressed and upset. I was hurting.

God used that time to refine me. He was teaching me new things and recommissioning me for His service. In January of 2007 I went to the Passion Conference in Atlanta Georgia with some friends from Heartland Church. Two of the keynotes there were John Piper and Francis Chan. They brought the Word.

I left that experience with more questions than answers. It just so happened that I was about to depart for a month long adventure to Nairobi Kenya. So I loaded up my ipod with Chan and Piper sermons and boarded a plane. For a month I served with the children of the Kibera slum with First Love Kenya. Many of the kids were orphans.

That experience, or I should say, that season of life had a huge influence over me. God was doing something to me... in me.

Out of that came a passion for world missions. Specifically, frontier missions. If what people need most is the gospel--and it is, and if God uses missions to spread the gospel--and He does, then we need to be about missions.

I pray that God will raise up a new generation of workers to do His work. I pray that there will be people that give their lives to make sure that all nations have heard of Him.

Things I Love | Preaching

Matt Chandler of The Village Church, bringing the word.

It is interesting for me to reflect on this. My personality is very introverted and very timid. I can recall--and often tell others about this too--that during my first speech in my freshmen English class, I froze up. I made it through the first line on my note card with my voice shaking. Then I stared blankly at the class... I was sweating, trembling, and unable to make my mind recall what I planned to say. I looked at the teacher and shrugged my shoulders. Then I sat down. I got an "F" on the speech.

I am terrified of public speaking. It has always been my enemy. Which is ironic because God has called me to speak His Word... I often have to remind myself of Moses' and God's dialogue where Moses says to God, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” (Exodus 4:10-12). I feel like Moses arguing with God of my incapability's. But God continues to remind me that He is able to speak through me.

That makes me realize that preaching for me is a spiritual gift. I work hard to get better at preaching, but at the end of the day it is a supernatural experience that I can stand before a group of people and not pass out. And even more amazing, it is supernatural that people hear the voice of God when I preach. Incredible.

So that is the personal and selfish side of it... The other thing that I have come to see about preaching is that it is critical to the purposes of God. For some strange reason God has chosen the instrument of preaching to accomplish His mission. A frail man standing before a group of people and, in a sense, saying "thus saith the Lord" is the way God designed gospel-proclamation. Weird.

But it is powerful and effective. Preaching is life changing. Preaching transforms culture and brings dead men to life. Preaching is miraculous.

So I have given my life to preaching.

I want to rightly handle the word of truth. I want to be found a workman that need not be ashamed. I want to speak as one speaking the very words of God. There is a fire in my bones. His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. (2 Tim 2:15, 1 Peter 4:11, Jeremiah 20:9)

Things I Love | The Church

There was a time in my life when I questioned the institution called the church. I think it was popular at the time and I was young enough and arrogant enough to swallow that pill... but, God in His goodness, helped me to see the beauty of the church.

In Ephesians we are told that Jesus is making His Bride ready by the washing of the Word. In February of 2007, God put that verse on my heart and life. I saw the importance of the church and the necessity of the washing of the Word. People need the church because it is God's agent of change in the world. God has chosen to change the world through communities of His people. Those people when gathered are called the Church. Historically, churches have been the primary means by which disciples make disciples. The Church is the implication of the gospel. When you understand the gospel aright, it is natural that you see a church planting movement. That is the story of Acts in the New Testament. Leaders that plant churches, that plant churches, that plant churches, until Jesus returns.

So, I am a church guy. I love the church and I will give my life to her. But to be fair to those that are a little skeptical of the institution... I do not see the church with rose colored lenses. I see the potential and also the misgivings. I know that there is no perfect church this side of eternity. Even the famed Acts 2 church became an Acts 5 church. What I mean is that the church we boast about in Acts 2 had a short lived glory day before it became a place where deception occurred (Acts 5), and a place where strife and division brewed (Acts 6). The early churches all had issues. That's how we got our New Testament. Paul, Peter, James, and John were all writing churches that they planted, to address problems facing the church and within the church. That being said, yes the church has problems, but it is God's Bride. It is the hope of the World. And it is worth your life. What else could you give yourself to that so perfectly aligns the heart of God?

Gospel Statesman Jerry Bridges

Tyler Kennedy has posted some videos of Jerry Bridges at the Desiring God blog. Here are a couple of the short vid's from Jerry Bridges regarding the Gospel that I so love... And you can find more here.

Things I Love | The Gospel

I am starting a new blog series... It's called "Things I Love..." I want to highlight some of the things that are dear to me.

The first installment is on the Gospel. Go ahead, say it. I am a one trick pony. I love the gospel. It is the one drum that I bang on. You want to know why? Its because it is dear to me. The gospel has crashed over me afresh over and over again. I don't think I could ever get tired of it... and I'm pretty sure that Scripture affirms that too. One million years from now I will still be wrecked by the gospel... I will still be worshiping Jesus. Incredible.

Also, it is important to me that I wear primary belief's on my sleeve. The Gospel is a primary... It isn't assumed. It's the main event. So many people assume the Gospel, but get excited about something else... Please God never let anything overtake my passion for the Gospel.

D.A. Carson comments on the importance of gospel primacy:

If I have learned anything in 35 or 40 years of teaching, it is that students don’t learn everything I teach them. What they learn is what I am excited about, the kinds of things I emphasize again and again and again and again. That had better be the gospel.

If the gospel—even when you are orthodox—becomes something which you primarily assume, but what you are excited about is what you are doing in some sort of social reconstruction, you will be teaching the people that you influence that the gospel really isn’t all that important. You won’t be saying that—you won’t even mean that—but that’s what you will be teaching. And then you are only half a generation away from losing the gospel.

Make sure that in your own practice and excitement, what you talk about, what you think about, what you pray over, what you exude confidence over, joy over, what you are enthusiastic about is Jesus, the gospel, the cross. And out of that framework, by all means, let the transformed life flow.

So I make sure that the Gospel is always on my lips. I read about it. I write about it. I let my life be consumed by it.


HT: Justin Taylor

Romans 4 | Finding the Gospel in the Bible

It is important to me that I see with Gospel lenses... What could be more important than seeing and reading the Bible the way God intends... Remember how Paul points us to things of first importance? In 1 Corinthians 15:3 he says, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." And Jesus emphasizes that point by saying, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me" (John 5:39). All of scripture is meant to lead us to the Gospel, namely Jesus himself.

In Romans 4, Paul wants us to understand that very fact:

The words, "it was credited to him" were not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" (Romans 4:23-25).

These words were written for you. "The words, "it was credited to him" were not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness (4:23,24 emphasis added)" They were written so that you can see, feel, and experience the truth that God credits to your account the righteousness of Jesus, if you will but believe. All of Scripture push in on you to make an appeal, "do you believe that God justifies the wicked?" Do you read the Bible as an instruction manual for moral living? Or do you see it for what it truly is; the story of God come down, delivered over to death, crucified for sins, and raised to life for our justification? Do you see Jesus as you hold the Bible?... I do... and it makes my soul leap for joy!

Romans 4 | A Promise Keeping God

It is sad that so many people live at such a meager spiritual level. They trudge about through life trying to live up to their own expectations and those of others. They sense no joy. They have no peace. God desires to elevate you to a Royal Status. He wants you to experience the joy of salvation. He operates with your eternal peace in His cross-hairs.

Do you feel that? Do you know that sort of peace? Or is your life a treadmill of performance, trying to impress Him and live up to His standard?

Paul reminds us, "It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith" (Romans 4:13). God made a promise to Abraham. What Paul points out is that the fulfillment of the promise is not based on Abraham's law-keeping-skills. "For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise worthless. Because law brings wrath." (Romans 4:14-15a). If the promise is based on how well we keep the law, then faith is a non-essential. So what is the point of the law? It is to show us our needs. We are without out hope and without help on our own. We cannot leverage our goodness to make God have to bless us. We are incapable of putting God in our debt. The Law is too great. The standard is too great.

Abraham couldn't live up to the promise God made with him. He was declared to be heir of the World. That through him all men would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). But Abraham was bankrupt. His ancestors rebelled against God when they fashioned a tower in Babel. Abraham himself was no great man either. He pushed his wife off on others to save his own hide. But, in God's goodness, Abraham was a conduit through which the grace of God flows...

"Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring" (Romans 4:16)--including you and me. So what is this Promise? His name is Jesus. It is through Abraham's seed that the Righteous One came. The One who could live up to all the demands of the Law. He came and conquered. God put all things under him. He owns it all. Now he extends the Kingdom to us by faith. If we will believe and trust in Him we become co-heirs.

Do you see how beautiful this is!? God saw your desperate state. He knows your inability to live up to the law... but do you? Do you see your own bankrupt status? Do you see your need for a Rescue? That is what Christ is! He is the fulfillment of the promise that you couldn't bring about yourself. But in Him all the promises of God are yes and amen. " For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:20).

So here is the rub. Will you continue trying to meet the law by your own righteousness. Or, will you live in a righteousness that comes by faith? Will you be saved or will you save yourself. God opposes the proud. He comes to those who are humble in spirit. He rescues those that need a Savior. Fall on Him. Cry out to Him. Let Him be your Promise and your Hope.

Romans 4 | The Chicken or the Egg?

Which comes first obedience or righteousness? This question is one that helps us to understand our position with God. The way of the world makes me believe that obedience leads to righteousness. Obedience could be called the pathway to righteousness. If I obey, then God is pleased with my conduct. I obey therefor I am right with God. And the opposite would be, if I disobey then I am un-right. This is the thought pattern of many Churches and Christians too. We think that if someone wants to be a righteous Christian, then they must be obedient to God. You have a problem with gossip... You must put that sin away, then you are right with God. If you do not, then expect divine punishment. It is a very calculable way of looking at life. You do right. You are right.

The Gospel has a different equation. It flips the script. It says, You are right so do right. Let me show you...

"We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after but before! (Romans 4:10)"

Paul is calling us to recognize the economy of God. When God credited righteousness to Abraham--when God called Abraham a righteous man--was it after or before Abraham was obedient? God asked Abraham to bear a mark on his body--circumcision. Naturally we would think once Abraham does what has been asked of him, then he is right. Paul says, "No! God called Abraham righteous before he was obedient!"

"What what what? How can God do that?!" We feel this is totally unfair. There are bad people in my life. They make poor choices, they disobey God, and they hurt others. I want them to do right. Here's what God wants.... He wants them to be right. Instead of demanding obedience, He provides it.

He declares Abraham, and Cory, and you righteous before we even have a chance to prove our obedience. He says, "You are right, now act like." "How can He do this," you may ask? Because Jesus is all the righteousness we will ever need. What Jesus did perfectly, we become recipients of. His perfection becomes ours. Before we are obedient, He is. When we put our faith in Him, He becomes our righteousness.

Mind blowing right!? And why does this matter? It matters because as long as you think obedience comes before righteousness you belittle the work of Jesus. You dismiss what He actually did. You say with your actions that your obedience is more important than His.

To be fair, once you understand this truth your life better show it. Abraham did what was required of him. He was obedient after he was declared right. If you really believe by faith that God has made you right by His Son, then your life will be marked with obedience.

But always remember... You are right with God because of Jesus. It is all on account of Him. He is Salvation. He is Righteous, and He is your Righteousness.

This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing But The Blood by Robert Lowry

Two Thieves

"Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves, so this doctrine of justification is ever crucified between two opposite errors.” -Tertullian

Dr. Tim Keller has helped me immensely in distinguishing these two false notions of God's saving work. Keller in his article on The Centrality of the Gospel quotes and unpack's Tertullian's statement. Pointing out that true salvation is found between two false notions. And we must be aware of these thieves.

Thief number 1) Legalism
Legalism says I am right with God because of the things that I do. For instance, we can believe that we are saved based on our ability to adhere to the law. Am I living up to God's standard in my life? If no, then I am obviously damned. If yes, then God owes me salvation.

In Christian circles, this legalism can be expressed in many different forms; Church attendance, giving, bible reading, and many more. But legalism is a dirty thief that steals our joy and misrepresents God as an employer bound to give us fair wages based on our work.

Thief number 2) Antinomianism
This thief gets its named from the Greek ἀντί (anti), "against" + νόμος (nomos), "law". It essentially dismisses the moral law of God as no longer applicable. Antinomianism is subtle and usually creeps in when people wrongly over-apply the justification of God. It belittles sin, makes God sound very gracious, and allows the person to live guilt free.

People that have antinomian tendencies live loose, dismiss sin, avoid controversy, and claim that the Spirit leads them in matters of holiness. Bonhoeffer rightly names this "cheap grace" and "the biggest enemy of the church today."

So how are we to view justification?

Justification when rightly understood, shows that God declares the wicked to be righteous. He says about Cory Williams, "he is righteous." That is an amazing declaration. I know myself. I know my flaws. I know my lack of righteousness. So, this justification has an affect on me. I see the cost of my salvation... namely, the infinitely precious Messiah being crucified. I see the perfect standard of God met by Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life and was righteous. Yet God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on my behalf. He punished the undeserving so that I could go free. Then, justification rightly understood compels me to pursue holiness, moral purity, and right living. I want to live how Christ desires. I see what it cost to rescue me. I couldn't possibly willingly go on in sin.

In the words of Keller, when justification is understood right we say, "I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe" and, "I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared hope."

Romans 4 | Why Work?

This might be one of the most offensive truths to Christians. Christians have a hard time hopping off of the self-righteous horse. We are quick to point to the things we have done as the basis of our right standing with God. In Romans 4 we see how the world usually operates: "Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation" (Romans 4:4). It is normal that someone engages in work with the understanding that they will be fairly compensated. I talked with my friend Travis about this today. He has recently been able to work for a local landlord doing routine maintenance on rented facilities. Travis understands that when the work is done, he gets paid. If the work is not completed, or is less than satisfactory, he either does not get paid or gets less. This sometimes transfers into our spiritual journey. We enter into spiritual work, like disciplines such as bible reading, small group, volunteering, tithing, obedience, journaling, etc... and our natural inclination is to think that because of those things we are compensated with the favor of God.

Then we see a crippling word in Romans 4:5, "However..." This tells us that tho we may think the world operates with this principle, however, with God it is different. "However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited to him as righteousness" (4:5). God is not shackled by your ability to work hard enough for His favor. His favor isn't contingent on your ability to give, to serve, to study... instead His favor rests simply on the blood of Christ. Do you believe that God justifies the wicked through His Son?

God, in His infinite goodness, legally declares us right based on His Son's work on the cross. Now we cannot boast in our work. We boast in the cross of Christ alone.

Yes we still work. But it is not to earn favor. We already have it in Christ. Yes we have to press on towards holiness, because without holiness no one will see God. But we can have peace and hope and rest because of Christ.

We work, but we work understanding that God is not obligated to give or withhold His favor... He has already gifted us with it at Calvary. Praise God.

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