Christ-less Self Examination, Judging My Salvation by My Sanctification

One of the most sobering questions a Christian can ask is, "How do I know I'm saved?" This is a question that every Christian has had to grapple with at one time or another.
If this is a question you're struggling with now, you're not alone. Many Christians are struggling with assurance, even to the point of despair.

Assurance Does Not Lie Within Us

Although the Bible does teach us that the sanctification process begins at conversion, and that every Christian should be becoming more and more like Christ, it doesn't make sanctification the primary test of one's salvation. Assurance does not lie within us, but outside of us.
For years I was told, and I taught, that the key to assurance of salvation, i.e. "how do I know I'm saved," lied in self examination. In other words, I know I'm saved if I'm progressing in my sanctification.
So, I need to look at my works to see whether or not I'm becoming more and more holy. If I'm not, well, it could mean that I'm not a genuine Christian. If I am, then there's good evidence I'm really saved.
This is what I call "Christless self examination," a looking away from Christ as my substitute in life and in death, and a constant looking within to see if there is any evidence of conversion.

The Way to Despair

What a horrible way to live the Christian life. Living this way will either lead to despair or even worse, spiritual pride.
Sanctification, the process of becoming holy, can be a tricky thing.
First, not everyone grows at the same rate. Certain sins can take a long time to be rooted out. But even the process of dropping particular sins from one's life doesn't mean a person is holy. I know plenty of unsaved moral people.
Second, how do you measure spiritual growth between say, someone who was converted as a child and never had to deal with certain outward immoral behaviors, and someone converted from a long life of immoral behavior?
And third, how do you know whether or not your "holiness" is nothing more than legalism? There's a big difference between obedience to biblical commands, and obedience to personal standards.

Assurance Lies in Christ's Work for Us

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that we shouldn't strive for holiness. The Bible makes it clear that we should:

Hebrews 12:14 (ESV) Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
Romans 8:29 (ESV) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

What I am saying is that our assurance lies in Christ's work for us, not in our works for Him.

Just and Sinner

Every Christian has to deal with the problem of indwelling sin. And because we are at the same time just and sinner, we need to know where to look when we blow it. And we will blow it.
The answer to assurance lies outside of us to something objective, the work of Christ on our behalf.
The work of Christ was twofold, active and passive. Active in that He obeyed the entire Law of God perfectly on our behalf, and passive in that he paid the penalty God required from us for breaking His Law by "bearing our sins in His body on the tree," 1Pet. 2:24.
The work that Christ did for us is objective. It actually happened. All of our sins were punished at the cross. The judgment of God against our sins has already taken place. Christ was judged on our behalf. No more judgement remains for us.
Looking to the objective work of Christ alone is what gives us great comfort and assurance. Looking to the subjective work of our sanctification can be deceptive.

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Links to Make You Think

Here are this weeks links to make you think.
Ever wonder about God’s sovereignty over salvation and His desire for all to be saved? John Piper has a new book out that deals with the will of God in salvation. Here is a good review of the book.

This is a good article by Ligonier on why we come to while our neighbor doesn't. Does this mean we are smarter or better than our neighbor?

Am I in trouble? A short but good post by Desiring God reminding us of God’s grace when we blow it.

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4 Things To Do When You've Blown It

How many times have you seen the bumper sticker that says "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven?" I understand what the first part of that phrase "Christians aren't perfect" is trying to say, but the second part, "just forgiven" really bothers me. "Just forgiven?" As if forgiveness is thrown in as an, "Oh, and by the way." Forgiveness is a big deal, not an afterthought. It’s how the believer stands before God. Our sins have been taken away through the death of Christ. We stand perfectly righteous before God because we have been given the righteousness of Christ. That being said, we aren't perfect. We do blow it. We sin everyday, multiple times a day. This can bring guilt, shame and doubt into our lives and can often times cause us to despair. So what should we do when we've blown it? Here are four things.

 

1. Confess

 

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Once we have been born again God is no longer our Judge but our Father. So John is speaking of parental forgiveness not judicial forgiveness. Judgement for all our sins is past tense. It has already taken place at the cross. Through faith we have been adopted into the family as sons and daughters of God. Now when we sin we go to God our Father and ask for forgiveness, not because if we don't we will be judged by Him, but because sin hinders our fellowship with Him.

 

2. Repent

 

Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Holding on to sin brings chastening. After David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband Uriah to cover it up (2Samuel 11-12) he describes how the heavy chastening hand of God was upon him sapping his strength:

Psalms 32:3-4 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted awaythrough my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.Selah

But after he confessed and repented of his sin he found forgiveness (yes, even for adultery and murder) and the joy of his salvation returned:

Psalms 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

3. Remember

I believe this is the most crucial point. Because we are fallen creatures we tend to go back to our default mode of trying to make up for our mistakes. Guess what? We can't. One sin is enough to condemn us to eternal judgement in hell. This is why remembering is so important. Christ was our Worker. He did all of the work that God requires of us. We need perfection in order to be saved and Christ was perfect for us. There must be a penalty for every sin we commit and Christ paid the penalty, absorbing the wrath of God for every time we've sinned. All of our sins have been dealt with at the cross our past, present, and future sins have been punished.

4. Preach

In his book The Gospel for Every Day Life Jerry Bridges speaks of the importance of preaching the Gospel to ourselves every day. He reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus is not just good news for the unbeliever, but for the believer as well. Because we blow it every day the Gospel must be preached everyday, to ourselves. This is why it is so important to know the Gospel. Start by reading the epistle of Romans. It's only 16 chapters so it can be read straight through in a about an hot and a half. Make it your goal to read Romans every day, even if it's only 3 or 4 chapters a day. Know the Gospel and know it well. This way you will have the content to preach to yourself.

In this video John Piper speaks of the importance of preChing the Gospel to yourself:

 

 

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7 Reasons Why God Does Not Accept the Homosexual Lifestyle

Before I state the reasons let me start by saying that real Christians struggle with the sin of homosexuality. The key word is struggle. They fight against sinful desires in order to obey their Savior. Christians fight sin. Whether it is lust, drunkenness, slander, gossip, laziness, pride, or homosexuality the Christian must fight the evil desires that still reside within, even after being regenerated by the Spirit of God. So in this post I'm not saying their aren't genuine born again Believers who struggle with same sex attraction. That being said, the Bible is clear about it’s position on homosexuality. Here are seven reasons why God does not accept the homosexual lifestyle. Again the key word in the last sentence being "lifestyle."

1.God created man and woman

I know this may sound simplistic but creation itself testifies against homosexuality. God did not create another man for Adam. He created a woman. The command that God gave both the man and woman was to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth and subdue it:
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Two men or two woman cannot multiply. The parts don't fit. God did not design the male body with the capacity to join with another male body in the proper way. The woman was designed for the man, and the man for the woman.

2.God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for the sin of homosexuality

"Gay Christian" advocates will say that God destroyed Sodom for being inhospitable to others as well as not aiding the poor. They get this from from Ezekiel 16:49.
Ezekiel 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom:she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
Now certainly these were grievous sins. But what "Gay Christians" do not quote is the next verse:
Ezekiel 16:50 They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.
The Hebrew word for "abomination" is to‘eba. It's the same word used in Leviticus 18:22 where God calls the sin of homosexuality an abomination- to‘eba: Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination-to‘eba.

3.God destroyed the surrounding nations for sins such as homosexuality

The nation of Israel was commanded to drive out and destroy the inhabitants of the land of Canaan for such sins as, human sacrifice, bestiality, and homosexuality.
Leviticus 18:22-24 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it:it is perversion. "Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean,
Notice homosexuality is one of the abominations for which God is driving out the surrounding nations and giving them to Israel.

4.Jesus only recognized marriage between a man and a woman

Mark 10:6-9 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female. ’ ‘ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. ’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
Notice what Christ says- "from the beginning God made them male and female." There was never any intention on the part of God for a male to be with a male or a female with a female. He also said that "the two shall become one flesh." Marriage is a covenant relationship between a man and a woman. This is something "God has joined together" and His command is "let not man separate." Gay marriage destroys the covenantal relationship of marriage.

5.Jesus never mentioned the homosexual lifestyle.

This is the common objection by the homosexual. The argument goes like this: "Since Jesus never even mentioned homosexuality you have no right to use Him in your arguments against it." The problem for the homosexual is that Jesus never mentioned homosexuality. Weren't there homosexuals in His day that wanted what homosexuals want in our day, just to be accepted? Since people are supposedly born gay shouldn't Jesus have addressed the issue? Shouldn't He have stood up for the rights of gay people who were obviously treated worse than they are today? And yet He said nothing. Since "sexual orientation is from birth" homosexuals are born the way they are right? And yet nowhere does Jesus even mention it. Which brings us to the next reason.

6.Nothing positive is ever said about homosexuality in the Bible

Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Romans 1:26-27 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Notice the phrase "and such were some of you." Why would Paul say this if "men who practice homosexuality" were not in sin? "Were" is past tense. These are people who were saved out of the sins listed in this passage which includes homosexuality.
1 Timothy 1:9-10 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,
Jude 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

7. Homosexuality undermines the gospel

How can those in the Church who accept the gay lifestyle as normative preach the gospel to homosexuals, or anyone for that matter, without destroying the gospel? In order to preach the gospel correctly, the way Jesus intended it to be preached, you must preach repentance!
Luke 24:44-47 Then he said to them, " These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, " Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
How can the Gospel be presented without repentance? It can't. The Gospel apart from repentance is a false gospel. Accepting and affirming the gay lifestyle is cruel and unloving. It leaves a person in their sin and will ultimately condemn them to hell.














For more information on this topic, listen to the debate between Michael Brown and Mattew Vines:

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God Does Not Give Second Chances

"God is the God of second chances." How often do you hear that phrase from well meaning Pastors, teachers and friends. Its a nice little phrase, but it is totally false. God is not the God of Second chances.

No do overs

His Word makes it perfectly clear that we get one shot at His Law, and if we blow it we are damned. And the bad news is that everybody blows it. No one has kept His Law perfectly. We all sinned in Adam. Not only that, but we blow it every day, countless times a day. Not only do we sin willfully, but we commit sins that we don't even know are sins. So even if God were to give us a second, third, fourth or hundredth chance we would blow them all.

Only perfection will do

Not one iota of our effort will bring us into right standing before God. Only perfection will make us right before Him. Only a perfect obedience to His Law can remove the damnation that we incurred. And the only way that we can have perfect obedience is if it's given to us. The most wonderful news in all of history is that Christ won that obedience for us. Christ became the Second Adam. Where the first Adam failed as our representative by breaking one command. Jesus, the Second Adam succeeded as our Representative by keeping all of God's commands. Christ came as a substitute for sinners. He lived a perfect life in the place of sinners. He went to the cross and died so that sinners like us wont have to. He kept the Law for us and then went to the cross and paid the penalty for every time we broke His Law.

Christ's work becomes our work through faith

The debt has been paid. Now, by faith in his work, we get all that He did credited to our account for free! And thats Good News. That’s Gospel! So God doesn't give us a second chance. As Tullian Tchividjian puts it, "God is not the God of second chances. He’s the God of one chance and a Second Adam."

 

 

 

 

 

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Excerpt from Redemption Dan Long 10/16/13

Excerpt From Redemption 

"When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died." 

 The cross of Christ is the only place where the Christian can find true assurance. Looking inward we only find guilt and shame. We must look outside of ourselves to something objective, something real, something of fact. The cross where Christ accomplished our redemption is objective, solid, and sure. When sin haunts us, when our failures come looking for us, when our past starts to mock us, looking inward will only drive us deeper into despair. But looking outside of ourselves to the objective cross, where Christ bought our redemption, will give us peace, rest, and assurance. Why? Because our redemption was accomplished 2000 years ago. Atonement has been made. It is past tense. The sins that we commit today, tomorrow, and next week have already been dealt with. They have already been punished. No wrath or anger remains for those for whom Christ died! It is a done deal. The Father is pleased to call us His own because His wrath was appeased (propitiated) by His Son at the cross.

Here is an excerpt from one of my favorite books on subject of the Atonement, Redemption Accomplished and Applied. In chapter two entitled The Nature of the Atonement, John Murray gives "specific categories by means of which the Scripture sets forth the nature of the atonement." Speaking of reconciliation he writes:

The reconciliation of which the Scripture speaks, as accomplished by the death of Christ contemplates therefore the relation of God to us. It presupposes a relation of alienation and it effects a relation of favor and peace."

Notice two things that the death of Christ has done:

First, it has accomplished reconciliation. I put the word "accomplished" in bold because as I was reading this section, that word seemed to jump off the page. Reconciliation is a guarantee for all those for whom Christ died. Reconciliation does not have to be made. It already has been made! The word "accomplished" implies that no more work needs to be done in order for us to be reconciled to the Father. Christ has accomplished this work on our behalf!

Second, the effects are "favor and peace." "Favor" implies that where we were once alienated from God, only deserving His wrath, now through the death of Christ we have His continual love, kindness and mercy toward us. And "peace," meaning that God is at peace with us. He is the One that procured peace for us.

Over the next few weeks I will try to post different excerpts from the book Redemption Accomplished and Applied. I hope that each of these small excerpts will be an encouragement to you. SDG!