Declarations and Obligations Leading to Love

In their book Counsel from the Cross, Elyze Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson help us see how the Scriptures contain both elements of obligations and declarations. Both elements are helpful in particular when we think about Paul's call to accurate self-perception from Philippians 3:12-16.

Without a true understanding of the obligations at work in the Bible that the fact that every time we open God's Word, God is speaking and laying some claim on our lives. If we don't come with this perspective, aware of real obligations of obedience in the Christian life, we can become complacent and not see the call to press on and grow in our Christian walk.

However, the conversely can also be true. When we become aware of the obligations God sets before us, we can become more concerned and even consumed with our failure to live up to these commands.

This is where the gospel declarations become so important. In Philippians 3:12, Paul tells us that we can pursue God's call to press on because, "Jesus has made me His own."

We can pursue God because, through faith in His Son we receive strength to press on. But not just that, because we are owned by God through Christ, His Son's perfect obedience is placed on us and now God does not look at us through our faltering obedience, and instead looks at us and see His perfect Son.

The result in my heart is love for God, recognizing what He has done for me and this love then motivates me to obey Him more and more.

Biblical obligations are there and bring me to my knees as I see the real call to obedience but the gospel declarations build my love for God and keep me moving towards Him.

Infinitly indebted to God and grateful

Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson in their book, Counsel from the Cross, ask this question in relation to how we view God's love.

"What make me acceptable to him?"1

To help us then understand that our works won't get us there, that it is not about being good enough, later this quote struck my heart,

"Are you trying to avoid the truth that all you can bring to him [God] is debt that must be paid for by another?"2

Everything I do creates debt with God. Whether it is my sin that taints my good works or that next breath where I don't acknowledge the Lord for the gift He has provided, my life accumulates debt with God everyday.

In talking about this with a friend too, it isn't that some days I build up less debt that others because I have read my Bible or gone to church or prayed a little longer. No, my life, my conscious existence creates debt.

But what seems like horrible news is actually great news because through Jesus not only is my debt cancelled, forever, but He creates my account with His righteousness and His perfect obedience. I, in turn am eternally grateful to God because the mountain of debt that I created has been fully and finally paid for by another.

This great news leads me to love God, to appreciate Him and worship Him more because He has through His Son paid a debt I can never repay.

The wonderful hymn from Robert Lowry concludes it wonderfully,

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

1 Counsel from the Cross, Elyze Fitzpatrick and Dennis J Johnson, 77

2 Ibid, 77

Psalm 16 - True Satisfaction

"The unhappy restlessness of those who go astray is doubtless to be traced to their being destitute of the true knowledge of God." John Calvin

When am I truly happy and what brings that happiness? What brings me real joy? Is it a great dessert, my sports team winning again, finding that deal at the store, a great movie, a great concert? I am too easily amused, too easily pleased, like if I have a weekend filled with [literally] great desserts, then my life is complete. But the reality is as Calvin reminds me from Psalm 16, that happiness is short lived and leads to restlessness. When that cheesecake is digested, the happiness is gone.

We need to, I need to again ask myself the question, am I finding happiness and satisfaction in other things. But if the answer today or often is yes, what is the remedy, how do I learn to find happiness in God alone?

Well, it comes first through having our emotions captivated by something greater than the creation, recognizing though that our sin and our worldview want us to settle for less. Again, as Calvin states to respond we need to,

"...set God before us and keep all our senses bound and captive [to Him] lest they break loose and run after any other object."

We live in a sensory world with a worldview that tells us to be satisfied with the material, to be happy with stuff and the pursuit of stuff. And so we need to remind our souls of the many ways God has provided and again see His unique and abundant care for me, so that my emotions will then be filled with love for God rooted in the tangible blessings He provides.

Second though, as Christians we can rest in the fact that God is helping us with this battle, again as Calvin states from Psalm 16,

"God himself has engaged to exercise His power to maintain us in the safe enjoyment of Himself, a blessing inconceivably great."

God will remind us that nothing satisfies, nothing sustains, nothing blesses, nothing protects like He does and He will not let us be satisfied with less that Himself. And when He reminds us of this we will learn increasingly to see the inconceivably great blessing that He is.

So today, where am I settling for less and how do I need reminding that nothing satisfies like the Lord?

John Calvin on Psalm 12

From verses 1-2 on how Christians are called to be a reflection of the truth

"We who would act truthfully, therefore, must be like a mirror, in which the uprighteous of our hearts may be clearly seen."

From verses 5-6 and the value of God's Word

"The illustration of silver, though far below the dignity of so great a subject, is appropriate to our limited and imperfect understanding. Yet we rarely set sufficient value on the Word of God, and in our futile thinking we can even obscure or efface the brightness shining in His promises."

Getting Angry at Myself part 2

Continuing the theme from the previous post, the second way that self-anger can play out in our lives and what it can reveal is

2. The person who is angry at himself may not see or be willing to acknowledge the depth of his own sinful nature.

A few quotes again from Robert T. Jones to help us see how this works. First, in our thought process when we get angry at ourselves, we can be thinking,

"I still can't believe that I-I, a good moral person, I, the great I - actually did such a dastardly thing.", Uprooting Anger, 133

As Jones then wisely points out, this thought reveals,
"Your self-anger may simply be the result of naively believing that you are better than you are really are." Ibid, 133

Sometimes when I get mad at myself, I will hear myself say that I should have known better, but to say that can reveal that I think I can do well enough on my own. My failure reminds me of my need for God's strength again, His enablement and a reminder of my need for the forgiveness Christ provided through His death and resurrection. When I sin, it reminds me again that I'm a sinner, and instead of thinking that I should have known better, I can rest in one who not only knew better but did better, He lived perfection and gave that perfection to me through His death.
My self-anger reveals that I'm worse than I thought but the cross shows me that it can be and is better than I could have hoped for.

Getting Angry at Myself

I am going through the book Uprooting Anger by Robert T. Jones, and yesterday I came to the chapter about getting angry at ourselves. I was tempted to skip over this chapter because on the surface I didn't think this was an issue in my life. Thank God that He prompted me to go through this chapter, because it has convicted and confronted me about many areas of my life where this self-anger is at work. Over the next couple of days, I will share the lessons from the chapter on where this struggle can creep in.

Today, the first instruction

1. The person who is angry with himself may simply be expressing his inability or unwillingness to grasp and receive God's forgiveness.

Jones describes that this can happen when, "I'm mad at me because, while my conscience tells me I deserve punishment, in my unbelief I do not see God's judgment and forgiveness concurrently poured out on me." Uprooting Anger, Robert T. Jones, 131.

Later, he says also that, "Perhaps the person [struggling with self-anger] has not gripped the scope and depth of God's forgiving grace and power." Uprooting Anger, 131.

Let me play out how this can work. We sin, we get angry at our spouse or our roommate or a co-worker and then later become convicted of our sin. However, instead of turning to the cross, remembering the forgiveness and grace to obey purchased there, we beat ourselves up, thinking we should have known better and so there is something I need to do to be better next time. Without bringing the cross into view though, this battle and self-anger will repeat itself because there is nothing I can do in myself to remedy the problem and the guilt that ensues from self-anger will lead me away from the only sure remedy, Jesus as I focus more on myself.

If there is a sin we committed today or one that we committed recently and we are walking around angry at ourselves, condemning ourselves that "it" happened again, might we remember the true remedy for sin, the remedy that takes guilt and judgment away, Jesus Christ.

Dying to Serve

"We can imagine no higher degree of perfection than that which is here set before us. To take patiently whatever God sends, - to like nothing but what God likes, - to wish nothing but what God approves, - to prefer pain, if it please God to send it, to ease, if God does not think fit to bestow it, - to lie passive under God's hand, and to know no will but His, - this is the highest stand at which we can aim, and of this our Lord's conduct in Gethsemane is a perfect pattern.

"Let us strive and labour to have 'the mind that was in Christ' in this matter. Let us daily pray and endeavour to be enabled to mortify our self-will. - It is for our happiness to do so.

Nothing brings us so much misery on earth as having our own way. - it is the best proof of real grace to do so. Knowledge, and gifts, and convictions, and feelings, and wishes, are all very uncertain evidences. They are often to be found in unconverted persons. But a continually increasing disposition to submit our own wills to the will of God, is a far more healthy symptom. It is a sign that we are really 'growing in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ."

JC Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Mark, from Mark 14:32-42

We learned from Sunday's message that true living consists in serving others. Whenever we find that hard, let us not forget Gethsemane and that Jesus humble obedience in that moment is our great example but also forms the basis for our ability to serve Him and others.