Songs and Meditations on Grace

I was getting ready for work this morning when a song popped into my head, Jaci Velasquez's God So Loved The World. The song is simple enough, but for some reason I thought about it and went to the next verse in Scripture, John 3:17:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

The reason that this impacted me so much in thinking about this song and these verses was the correlation between salvation and the doctrine of election: Christ did come into the world to proclaim Truth and while He did state that this Truth would pit mother against daughter, and father against son, Christ came with the hope of the Gospel. Christ's entrance into the world was the ONLY way to save us from our path of destruction.

God had given His people, Israel, generations to attempt to obey His law; he would punish them, forgive them, then they would forsake him again. He could not leave redemption to chance or to our fickle nature--He sent Christ into the world to guarantee (not just make possible) the salvation that He would give.

When Christ speaks to Nicodemus in John 3 about being "born again," this is not the same as being educated on what car to buy or what college to attend and then making that choice. Because with most choices in our lives, if we really look deep down, we could see certain motivations that drive us to make those choices--even ones that on the outside appear good, moral and/or altruistic.

The radical nature of the "choice" of following Christ is one that is totally opposite of our thinking: we must "die" to self, giving up our desires to make His desires and will first. Think about that: we must submit to the will of someone else. Have you ever known yourself (or someone else) to purely want to do that, in any situation? Sure, on the outside, a person wouldn't let on that it rubs them a little wrong when they're asked to do something, but apart from Christ's indwelling, would you not act the same way? The Holy Spirit must move in our hearts, changing our hearts to be receptive to the Truth and to truly live for others rather than ourselves.

If the change in our hearts or choice to follow Christ is grounded in ourselves and our own power, rather than Christ, then is it not subject to the same weakness of foundation as all other choices?

I mean, I have a problem with "buyers remorse" sometimes--can you imagine if the salvation decision was as easily abandoned--would God do it that way? Would God, in His infinite wisdom, have Christ die for those who would not ultimately be saved simply because those people did not "choose" to? And this is election: that God not only ordained the vehicle for salvation (which is the birth, life, death and resurrection of His Son Christ) but He ordained the method, means and timing of our justification, sanctification and our ultimate glorification.

I thank God that He holds me firm in His grip and my faith is bound up in Christ's faithfulness rather than my own, and that He drew me to Himself, knowing that Christ had already paid for my specific sins on the Cross.

Fighting a "Lean" Spirituality

Spurgeon, as usual, really grabbed and convicted me this morning. Here's what he had to say (emphasis mine):

"The ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven wellfavoured and fat kine."
Genesis 41:4

Pharaoh's dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of sloth have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous industry; my seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm; and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and peace. If I neglect prayer for never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which I had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the cankerworms of worldliness, and the palmerworms of self-indulgence, lay my heart completely desolate, and make my soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing whatever. How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favoured hours! If every day I journeyed towards the goal of my desires I should soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far off from the prize of my high calling, and robs me of the advances which I had so laboriously made. The only way in which all my days can be as the "fat kine," is to feed them in the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord, in His service, in His company, in His fear, and in His way. Why should not every year be richer than the past, in love, and usefulness, and joy?—I am nearer the celestial hills, I have had more experience of my Lord, and should be more like Him. O Lord, keep far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to cry, "My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!" but may I be well-fed and nourished in thy house, that I may praise thy name.

I often find my spiritual life--my walk with the Lord--in a very bad state. I find my self simply existing or surviving but I know it should not be that way! I talk a great game, knowing my theology and my terms and even how I should pray, but do I do it? NO! I let other concerns grab my attention and before I know it, another day has gone by without prayer or without studying the Word (yes, I often READ the Bible, but I don't study it, meditate on it).

And as Spurgeon states above, even when I do make strides, my own inconsistency tears down the advances I have made because of my lack of discipline. The daily grace that we receive must be replenished; the daily supply of spiritual food through the Word and through prayer is a daily bread that the Lord grants to those who seek it. If it is not asked for, then simple struggles will help to erase strides that a Christian has made in increasing faith and trust in Christ. Of course, it is not of ourselves, but of the Lord--but our minds (and our faith) must be exercised. Just as you tone muscle in the gym or flex your brain in doing a crossword puzzle, so too is our faith toned or flexed when we consistently pray or get in the Word.

People might often wonder why those who have come to the faith need the Gospel preached to them; because we need to be reminded! I sat and watched The Passion of the Christ and I thought to myself, "what graphic images, I will never forget them!" And yet I have! I cannot even now glimpse an image from that movie in my mind! How much more do we need His Gospel in the Word and His grace as it is given to us in prayer! I fight a leanness in spirituality every day, and I must confess that I lose most of the time. Lord help me to feast in your fields and help me to hold fast to Your Word and Your love.

Our Worldview and Our Identity in Christ

As my wife and I await the arrival of our child, we have the fortunate chance to be studying Ted Tripp's Shepherding a Child's Heart in our Sunday School class. In it, it speaks of addressing the heart or sin issues that underlie the child's behavior--understanding not only the what of the behavior, but the why.

This week I was thinking of the importance of the Gospel in raising up a child in the way that he should go but in addition the importance of the Gospel in forming that child's worldview. We certainly cannot prepare a child for EVERY single situation that the child might face, nor can we shield the child from every bad thing. A proper and full understanding of the Gospel is key to giving the child the tools and framework he needs by the time he leaves home.

To give an example (and this may be a sore spot for some), the subject of drinking. Simply telling a child that he shouldn't drink alcohol because it is not a good thing as a stand-alone statement will not service them at all, not only because (as I read it) it is not borne out in the scriptures but it is not within any framework. Taught within the framework that we are put on this earth to glorify God and enjoy him forever, coupled with scriptural references to moderation (and not drinking to excess) and not causing another brother to stumble, a child can see what is proper for the situation and what is not. Giving a child precepts upon which he can address a situation is important in living the rest of his life--rules simply prefaced with "because I said so" (though there is a place for that at times) will not ultimately stick when the pressure and heat of life come upon the then-grown up adult.

How does this connect with our identity in Christ? A proper understanding of the Gospel informs the child to find his security and who he is in Christ, not in the things or pleasures of this world, or the affections or attentions of others. Even in Christian homes do children grow up to be insecure, for they are not shown the full riches of the Gospel (this is more rooted in an incomplete understanding of our adoption in Christ, but that is another post)! I admit that until I came to Reformed Theology I did not fully comprehend grace or the sovereignty of God; for me it adjusted my worldview where worry was no longer a part of who I was and my desire for glorifying God (through the continuous help of the Holy Spirit) became stronger because of this new understanding.

Preach the Gospel to your kids daily by your words and actions, confronting their hearts and shaping their minds so that they might give glory to God as a first response, even when they have left the home.

Let us make this our prayer, modeling it for our children (taken from Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Readings):

"Lord, help me to glorify thee; I am poor, help me to glorify thee by contentment; I am sick, help me to give thee honour by patience; I have talents, help me to extol thee by spending them for thee; I have time, Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve thee; I have a heart to feel, Lord, let that heart feel no love but thine, and glow with no flame but affection for thee; I have a head to think, Lord, help me to think of thee and for thee; thou hast put me in this world for something, Lord, show me what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose: I cannot do much, but as the widow put in her two mites, which were all her living, so, Lord, I cast my time and eternity too into thy treasury; I am all thine; take me, and enable me to glorify thee now, in all that I say, in all that I do, and with all that I have."