Friday Fellowship

Our friends from Kansas, the Hulets, arrived last night. They are headed over to the beach today. They were members of the first church I served. It is great to have life-long friends.

This week I read Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, by JI Packer. It was very encouraging and came at the right time for me. My personal devotional reading has been in the Minor prophets. Surely, all of these words were written for our instruction. The Word (and the prayers that accompany it) is our most practical comfort. Rekindle your Bible reading zeal.

I am looking forward to Sunday. I will be preaching from Acts 26 in the morning and Gal. 2:22-25 The Fruit of the Spirit-Patience. I need to heed these words more than anyone. I want it all and I want it now. May the Lord be pleased to give me victory over this sin.

Antinomian evils

One reason a proper view of the law is so important is found in the definition of sin. Jesus had to die on the cross to be the propitiation of God's righteous wrath. If you start tinkering with what law is you effectively redefine sin. The Catechism answer to the question What is sin? is "Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God." If you say law is unimportant you unwittingly assault the very reason that Christ had to be our representative. The holiness of God demands absolute conformity to His Law. We are personally disqualified by original sin and our own transgressions. This is the backdrop for the glorious Gospel of Christ. As our federal representative the righteous requirements of the Law, which He fulfilled, are imputed to our account. Faith is the only mechanism for redemption and it is a gift of a gracious, electing God. A proper view of Law keeps the Gospel God-centered. Can anyone argue against the need for a more robust God-centered soteriology in our day?

The trouble with us is we feel justified in creating our own subjective and inconsistent measures of righteousness. Idolatry in its essence is fashioning a God in an image of our liking, either physically or intellectually. This is the great transgression of our time and every other...We need to repent of our hatred for God's holy standards. In so doing, we will see more of the Glory of Christ!