Love and Marriage go together like...

A couple of weeks ago while eating breakfast with my wife and grandson, I noticed a man wearing a t-shirt with a special message. That message was "I heart my wife" in large letters across the chest. In smaller letters underneath it continued, "because God loved me." While I am not necessarily fond of Christian slogans and Christian bookstore novelty items/trinkets, this shirt caught my attention. I immediately admired the man and his message. I didn't stop and talk with him and so I don't know him and I probably never will. But I think I know a few things about him:

1)This guy loves his wife, and he wants his wife to know it and feel loved.
2)This guy loves his wife and he wants his children to know it and feel secure.
3)This guy believes in marriage commitment and is inviting all readers to hold him accountable.
4)This guy believes in marriage commitment (and vows!) in a culture that has devalued marriage in many ways (e.g. ignoring, redefining, and easily dissolving).
5)This guy has his priorities straight (wife before sports teams, vacation spots, hobbies, political causes, or sarcastic messages which are the usual t-shirt slogans).
6)This guy has a high view/standard of love (Divine, inner-Trinitarian, active commitment love not the fluffy and feathery emotional bed that you might fall into).
7)This guy has an appropriate view of himself and his ability to love.
8)This guy has a gospel which both energizes and directs his personal affections.

I probably won't be wearing this t-shirt in the future. But, I will be striving to follow his example and to live his values.

Old, Stable, and Reformed #3

In the last article I said that the most fundamental issue in our discussion about the gospel is the issue of authority. The complete and exhaustive authority of the Bible in our study is of critical importance. That is, we must be completely submissive to the Word in all things. If, in the study of any issue, we leave the umbrella of submission to God’s Word (whether intellectual or otherwise), we revert to our natural and comfortable rebelliousness. Intellectual rebellion is sin, too!

Foundational accuracy is especially important because we are prone to rebellious, self deceived error. We cannot trust our own judgment on any issue. We certainly cannot trust our judgment on such a serious issue as the gospel. In our natural state we are dead in our sin, insensitive to Spiritual realities, deaf to God’s Word, convinced that we know truth apart from God, and actively opposed to God’s Kingdom and authority. We were lost, sick, and dead while thinking we were healthy, morally good, and justified in our rejection of God’s revelation.

Our salvation comes to us through the Word of God. The Spirit uses the Word to convince us of our sin, its heinousness to God, and its consequences. The Spirit then uses the Word to display Jesus Christ to us as the answer to our sin problem. We are convinced of his loveliness, the sufficiency of His work, and the availability of His grace and mercy. The Spirit changes our heart and mind by the Word. The Word is the instrument by which a heart of stone is transformed into a heart of flesh. We throw off our rebellious God-less-ness and submissively embrace His offers of grace and mercy. We repent and believe the Word. The Word is now our guide and authority. Any rejection or diversion from this foundational principle is a return to our own autonomy and a rejection of the authority of Christ. We grow in holiness as our minds are transformed and renewed by the Spirit’s application of the Word of God.

Our gospel (definition and dispersion) must be God’s gospel. God’s gospel is the gospel that is given in God’s Word. If the message given is not God’s gospel, it is a lie. And those who tell lies are called….

Old, Stable, and Reformed---#2

“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes and councils who have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.”

When considering the issues of salvation and the gospel, the most crucial concern is the question of authority. What is the final authority for establishing and defining the message of salvation? Who owns the gospel? Who has the right to define the gospel? How can I know and trust the gospel message that I hear? That was the concern of the young monk Martin Luther as he faced the might of the political and religious rulers of his day. Luther saw the issue as a gospel issue. The Roman church asserted their ownership of the gospel and opposed any questioning of their authority. Luther struggled with the authority question as he exegeted scripture and assessed the practices and preaching of the Roman church around him. After several years of development, Luther stood before the Diet of Worms and rejected the Roman church’s claim to absolute authority over the gospel. Luther asserted that the church’s authority over the gospel was secondary and derived. The church’s authority was limited to the scripture and scripture alone.

Luther’s dilemma must be lived out in the thought of each would-be theologian. What/who is our ultimate authority? Is it the scripture or one of the scripture’s rivals: human reason, human tradition, or human psychology? Is it God or one of God’s rivals? It is important for us to establish the correct epistemological foundation early in the process because of the difficulty of the questions that eventually develop in our study of the gospel.

The central issue in all of human knowledge always boils down to revelation vs. autonomous reason/experience. It is no less so in this crucial are of the gospel

Old, Stable, and Reformed-- Personal Journey

I am reformed. I have been reformed since my early days of college (a long time ago, on a planet far, far away). In some respects it was a big change for me as I moved from a confused fundamentalist to a more clear thinking reformed perspective, but in other respects it was simply dealing logically and consistently with the deepest concerns of life.

The move officially began with an effort to clearly understand the gospel as the Bible presents it rather than the gospel that had permeated the particular Christian subculture that I had been born into. I wanted to understand the gospel for several reasons. First, because I was plagued with lack of assurance. I had never had the dramatic emotional experience that I had been hearing in the testimony conversion stories in the churches that I was attending. I wanted a biblical assurance that was rooted in something outside of me, apart from my feelings and performance (or lack thereof). Second, I wanted a gospel that was firmly planted within the entire context and flow of the big biblical story. The gospel that I had heard was more a collection of snippets, slogans, and potpourri (I always wanted to use this word). Third, I wanted a "Big Gospel" that was mysterious, audacious, and had operative roots outside the salesmanship and persuasiveness of men. A gospel that was consistent with Jesus' words, consistent with the Apostles' words, and consistent with the formulations and clarifications of the Church Fathers. A time tested and confirmed formulation of the gospel.

Some of the early questions/issues were: What was the goal of the gospel: my eternal safety or God's glory? What was the tipping point of the gospel: my decision or the Spirit's sovereign work? What was the security of the gospel: My conviction and lack of doubt or the sufficient priestly work of Jesus? What was the presentation of the gospel: appeal to man's felt needs or informing man of God's demands upon him (possibly un-felt needs). What was the authoritative standard for the gospel: my philosophical reasoning and rationalizations or the clear statements of the biblical texts? The question ultimately boiled down to: Whose gospel was it anyway: mine or God's?

I am reformed, so you know the answer to the question. The gospel is God's. It is God's whether I like it, accept it, proclaim it or not. Facts are facts.