What is a Christian?

“What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father.” 

~ J. I. Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 200.

When it comes to being a Christian, I live in a very dangerous cultural context. That may sound like a bit of an overstatement considering I live in the “Bible belt” of a country that has freedom of religion and was founded on biblical values; but when I say dangerous I don’t mean in danger of physical or emotional harm, but rather danger that comes from the eternal righteous wrath of God. I live in the southern portion of the United States of America. Over the past 100-200 years this area has been heavily churched, and because of that the culture has been heavily influenced by biblical principles and morals. That in and of itself is not a bad thing, in fact it’s a good thing, the problem is that somewhere along the line Christians became so focused on morals and principals that many lost sight of the gospel which led to many false conversions and nominal Christianity. A person would/will simply claim to be a Christian because they go to church, because they grew up in a Christian home, or even because they were born in a certain area. Many would/will engage in “religious activity” and try to be a “better person” and claim the name of Christ.

Along with this form of nominal Christianity is the form that comes from what has been labeled easy believism. Many well meaning churches, pastors, and evangelists have unintentionally created a false form of Christianity that puts its assurance in an act or decision instead of the work of God. Pastor and author Mike McKinley says it like this.

"[M]any churches make the decision to follow Jesus a little too easy. They make it about the decision. Just say you want to be a Christian, and you are one. Pray these words. Sign this card. Follow those steps. Presto, you are a Christian. End of story. Case closed. Welcome to heaven!

It is true that we need to make a onetime decision to follow Jesus. But a true onetime decision is followed by the everyday decision to follow Jesus. Jesus did not think that it was enough just to superficially identify yourself with him. There is more to being his follower than just a profession of faith. My fear is that too many churches have encouraged people to expect that Jesus will one day say to them, "Well done, faithful servant." But in fact, they will hear him say, "Depart from me." Such people will discover the truth only after it is too late." 1

In the first form of nominal Christianity that I mentioned people consider themselves Christians because of association. They often push themselves to appear as Christians by striving for righteousness and trying to be a better person, but it never last because what they are doing is just behavior modification; the only change that last is change that comes from a heart that has been transformed by the gospel. This form of nominal Christianity looks to outward obedience and association with certain groups (family, church, location) for assurance.  

In the second form of nominal Christianity people consider themselves Christians because of some sort of profession of faith. While we certainly should make a public profession of faith, namely baptism, it is not our profession of faith that saves us or even gives us assurance. No; biblical Christianity is much more than behavior modification, association, or professions of faith. D. A. Carson writes:

“[B]iblically authentic Christianity is never merely a matter of rules and regulations, of public liturgy and private morality. Biblical Christianity results in transformed men and women—men and women who, because of the power of the Spirit of God, enjoy regenerated natures. We want to please God, we want to be holy, we want to confess Jesus is Lord. In short, because of the grace secured by Christ’s cross, we ourselves experience something of a transforming moral imperative: the sins we once loved we learn to fear and hate, the obedience and holiness we once despised we now hunger for. God help us, we are woefully inconsistent in all this, but we have already tasted enough of the powers of the age to come that we know what a transforming moral imperative feels like in our lives, and we long for its perfection at the final triumph of Christ.” 2

How do you become a Christian?

Biblical Christianity comes from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us that all men are naturally dead in their trespasses and sins, following the prince of the power of the air, living in the passions of the flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and are by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3). The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, namely all of mankind outside of Christ, to keep them from repenting and believing the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace (Ephesians 2:4-5).

How did He make us alive with Christ? “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). “[F]aith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). The word of Christ is the gospel and the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes; for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith (Romans 1:16-17).

When we were exposed to the gospel (Bible, preaching, tract, etc…), God worked in us and gave us the ability to repent and believe by opening our hearts to the truth of the gospel. “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13). “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God” (1 John 5:1a). The regenerating work of the Holy Spirit caused us to be born again which enabled us to repent and believe. The Bible is clear, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, upon hearing the gospel, all to the glory of God alone. Salvation from beginning to end is the work of God. That’s why the Bible says that “children of God, [are] born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). A true Christian is born again. And this only happens by the power of God, not by anything we say or do.

How do I know if I’ve been born again?

One of the most abused verses in the context of false conversions is Romans 10:9. Paul says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Now don’t get me wrong, this verse is inspired, inerrant, and completely infallible, so of course I believe it is completely true; however, the key to understanding this verse is to know what Paul means when he uses the word heart. The word heart here is not some “fluffy” language used for emotions. Author Jerry Bridges says, “what the Bible calls the heart…[is] the very core of our being…the center of our intellect, affections, and will.” 3If we take this definition of heart and apply it to Romans 10:9, we can see that to believe with your heart effects everything you are. You think and feel differently and now you want different things as well.

Paul ends this verse by saying “you will be saved;” Paul is speaking of our salvation from sin, sin’s effects, and the righteous wrath of God. Sin is what put us in the position of needing to be saved. As we have already seen we naturally desire sin over God and live in the passions of the flesh. So if to believe in our heart is change in the very core of our being, then we must change from being a sinner loving sin to being a sinner grieved over our sin. When I say grieved I mean true sorrow and conviction over our sin, not just guilt. Paul says it like this, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Now we can see that this idea of believing in our hearts is directly linked to repentance; so when Jesus says, “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15b), we know that Paul means the same thing in Romans 10:9. Now, linking all of this together we can see that repentance is a deep experience that profoundly affects the mind, will, and emotions. Repentance changes the heart. It is not enough to ask for forgiveness, be baptized, or join a church; repentance involves our whole being…

Repentance literally means to turn. When the Bible speaks of repentance it is in the context of turning from sin to God. Because we are sinners by nature we are unable to completely turn from sin. Because we were born in Adam there is always lingering sin in us. The Bible tells us, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). We know our repentance is true when we have genuine godly grief over our sin. “[T]he sins we once loved we learn to fear and hate, the obedience and holiness we once despised we now hunger for.” 4 When a Christian looks at their sin they should despise it and see it as the reason Jesus, their Lord and Savior, uppermost in their affections, had to die. A true Christian views sin as the nails that nailed Jesus to the cross. The clearest way that I know of to tell if you have been born again or not is to take an honest look at how you view the sin in your life. Are you grieved? Does your sin bring you sorrow? These are marks of a true Christian.

What is a Christian?

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Christ became sin on the cross, meaning He took our guilt and our punishment upon Himself, and in doing so He imputed His righteousness to us. Because God poured out His wrath upon Christ He can now look at the Christian and say this is my son in whom I am well pleased. A Christian’s identity is in Christ. In Romans 5 Paul says there are really only two kinds of people, those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ (Romans 5:12-21). “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Peter tells us that Christians “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Biblically then, there are only two types of people; those who are in Adam or those who are in Christ. Again I say, the Christian’s identity is in Christ.

Paul opens up his letter to the Ephesians by pointing to this glorious truth.

Ephesians 1:3-10 (ESV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.(emphasis added)

Conclusion:

As J. I. Packer says, “a Christian is one who has God as Father,”5 but the only reason we have God as Father is because we have been adopted through Jesus Christ. A Christian is someone who has been saved, redeemed, reconciled, adopted, and loved in Christ. The only thing we deserve in this life is death and hell but by God’s grace in Jesus Christ we have been adopted into His family and will spend eternity in His presence. What is a Christian? A Christian is a blood bought child of God who is saved, sanctified, and sustained by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord for His mercy and grace!

_____________________________

1 Mike McKinley, Am I Really a Christian? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011), 23.

2 D. A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 31-32.  

3 Jerry Bridges, The Transforming Power of the Gospel (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012), Inside Cover.

4 D. A. Carson, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 32.  

5 J. I Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 200.

You cannot accomplish the mission on your own!

1 Peter 2:9-10 (ESV)

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy

Ephesians 2:19 (ESV)

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God

Hebrews 13:14 (ESV)

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

2 Corinthians 5:20a (ESV)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

It is incredibly important that Christians be members of a local church.

The church is to make God's kingdom, His rule and reign, visible in the world by submitting to it and bearing witness to it until Christ returns and His kingdom comes in its fullness. So as Jonathan Leeman has said, "We do not join churches like we join clubs. We submit to them. It is an act of citizenship. . . . Church membership is a deceleration of citizenship in Christ's kingdom. . . . Church membership is a church formally affirming your profession of faith and you formally submitting to the affirmation and oversight of that church.”[i]

Only when Christians submit themselves to the authority of a local church and link arms with their brothers and sisters in Christ can they truly partake in the mission of the church. I am in agreement with Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert who say, “the mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship and obey Jesus Christ now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father."[ii]

Mark Dever says, “The proper ends for a local congregation’s life and actions are the worship of God, the edification of the church, and the evangelization of the world. These three purposes in turn serve the glory of God.”[iii]This cannot be accomplished by one Christian, it takes the whole church. According to the Joshua Project there are currently 6,000 plus unreached people groups. That is roughly 2.8 billion people who have little to no access to the Gospel. 2.8 billion people who have little to no access to a church. 2.8 billion people who have little to no access to a Christian.[iv]

We as Christians need to get over ourselves and our bent towards selfish individualism and get to work at getting the Gospel out and making disciples. There is much work to be done!

---

[i] http://www.9marks.org/media/session-3-vision-membership

[ii] Kevin DeYoung & Greg Gilbert, What Is the Mission of the Church? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011), 241.

[iii] Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2012), 69.

[iv] joshuaproject.net

What I Believe The Bible Says About Marriage And Homosexuality

A Biblical Worldview

In light of the current controversy over the issue of homosexual marriage and the opinions that have been flying around, I thought it would be helpful for us to look at what the Bible says on the subject. In the first part of this post I will look at how the Bible defines marriage and what the Bible says is the purpose of marriage. In the last part of this post I will look at what the Bible has to say about homosexuality. My hope is that this post might bring about some clarity for those curious what the Bible actually says on these subjects.

I will do my best to not show any bias to the right or left side of the political spectrum but rather write as a Christian who is committed to the sufficiency of the inerrant and infallible Word of God. Though certain politicians or sometimes even political parties may line up more closely with a biblical worldview, the Bible is clear; the Christian is an elect exile, a citizen/representative of heaven, an ambassador for Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:1, John 17:14, 2 Corinthians 5:20)… My allegiance is to God first and foremost and I hope to write in a way that shows that to be the case.

With that in mind let me address briefly my worldview, just so you know where I am coming from. I am of the conviction that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible, all sufficient Word of God; this means many things for me, but the most important part of this worldview is that I believe that Jesus is who the Bible says He is and did what the Bible said He did. I believe in absolute truth because I believe statements that Jesus made such as when He declared Himself “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). I believe the Christian Gospel makes a comprehensive claim to all areas of life and thought. Most people’s problem with the Bible is that it does not change with the culture, but in my view this is a good thing because “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9), and “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).

I am well aware that I am a sinner saved by grace. I understand that I have a fallen nature and that my views are not perfect, nor is my interpretation of the Bible, but nonetheless I will do my best to explain what the Bible says on these issues as it was intended to be understood. There are many people who love Jesus and have very different views of what the Bible says on these issues; that is fine and I am glad they have a right to their opinion, however, my hope is that after reading this you would see that their interpretation is hermeneutically detrimental to the text and that a literal interpretation of what the text says is the right view.

In this post I will go through quite a bit of Scripture, some of it I will expound in detail while other passages I will just breeze over or perhaps just let the passage speak for itself. This post is not meant to be exhaustive but merely to go over the basic beliefs the church has historically held based on the Bible. With these things in mind, let’s get started…

What is marriage according to the Bible?

In Genesis 2:18-25 God sees that it is not good for man (Adam) to be alone; He decides to make Adam a helpmate. God makes the woman from a rib of Adam; when Adam sees God’s creation he says, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23). After this exclamation of joy from Adam the Scripture goes on to say, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). This text has classically been the text that Christians point to for the creation of marriage. With that in mind I would like to point out three things from this passage.

1. God is the creator of marriage, not man.

This truth speaks volumes in a day and age when the culture is trying to redefine marriage. Marriage is not ours to redefine, it belongs to God.

2. God created marriage to be between one man and one woman.

This combined with the first truth we pulled from this text shows us that God is the creator of marriage and only He has any right to define what it is, and He has done so; marriage is a covenantal union between one man and one woman.

3. In God’s design for marriage the wife is given as a helpmate.

The man is established by God as the head in the marriage, but not in a way where he rules and reigns over his wife like some sort of tyrant. The man is to love, lead, and serve his wife in a way that is for her good and God’s glory. The woman is to love, submit, and serve her husband in such a way that she comes along side her husband and helps him to better serve God and their family. God said it was not good for man to be alone and that he needed a helpmate and God filled those needs by creating for Adam his wife Eve. 

Now most people are not satisfied with this brief argument, so let’s go a little deeper. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, Paul unpacks marriage for us in a way that lines up perfectly with what I just pointed out in Genesis, but he goes a step further by showing us not only what marriage is but what its purpose is as well.

Ephesians 5:22-33

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Paul is unpacking marriage for the church in Ephesus. He begins by stating the roles of the wife and the husband as God intended them, but then he goes a little deeper by saying in verse 32, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” So what is this mystery that Paul is speaking of? To answer this we’re going to have to look at the context of the word mystery in Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. In chapter one Paul states that God is “making known to us (Christ’s church) the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:9-10). He goes on to say that, “In him (Christ) you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). So the idea of “the mystery of his will” is tied directly to the Gospel of our salvation.

In chapter three Paul states, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). Here we see why Paul has tied the mystery of God’s will to the Gospel; now Jew and Gentile are able to repent and believe and become “partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” In the Old Testament God’s chosen people was Israel but now through the person and work of Christ God is redeeming for himself a people from all tribes, tongues, and nations. Through this mystery God is uniting sinful man to Himself. Before we apply this to Ephesians 5 let’s look at one more passage.

Ephesians 3:8-11

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord          

Paul by the grace of God is preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ (the Gospel), so the church (those who repent of their sins and believe in the Gospel) might make the manifold wisdom of God (the Gospel) known… So the mystery is that sinners of all nations are being saved from their sins and reconciled to God, so that they might display the Gospel and the glory of God to the world. Now with this in mind let’s get back to Ephesians 5.

 Ephesians 5:32

32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

What Paul is saying here is that marriage is a God glorifying display of the Gospel to the world. When a man loves his wife “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” he is displaying Christ by sacrificially leading, loving, and serving his wife. In a biblical marriage the husband lays down his wants and needs for the good of his wife and the glory of God. By leading in this way he is painting a picture of the way Christ leads His church. Jesus loved his church so much that He laid everything down and took on our sin by being crucified and having the wrath of God poured out upon Him in our place. Jesus modeled perfect sacrificial love for us on the cross and this is the example the husband is to follow in loving his wife.

On the other side of this is the wife. The wife is called to submit to the leadership of the husband, just as Jesus’ church submits to His leadership. This is not a begrudging submission, but rather a glad submission that comes from the love that they have been shown. And just as the church is to come along side Jesus as His ambassadors (I realize that this is not the best way to word it), so too is the wife to come along side her husband as his helpmate and partner in the Gospel.

So marriage is something that is much bigger than the individuals that are in the relationship. Dr. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary says it like this in his book Desire and Deceit, “Marriage is not merely the arena for sexual activity; it is presented in Scripture as the divinely designed arena for the display of God’s glory on earth as a man and a woman come together in a one-flesh relationship within the marriage covenant. Rightly understood and rightly ordered, marriage is a picture of God’s own covenantal faithfulness.” He goes on to say, “Marriage is to display God’s glory, reveal God’s good gifts to His creatures, and protect humans from the inevitable disaster that follows when sexual passions are divorced from their rightful place.”    

So a biblical marriage, a Christian marriage is bigger than husband and wife because the covenant between husband and wife represents the covenant between God and His chosen people. Alongside this, the purpose of the marriage is to glorify God and image the Gospel to the world; as the husband sacrificially loves and leads his family he’s displaying the love of God to his family and the outside world, and as the wife gladly submits to her husband’s leadership seeking to glorify God by partnering with her husband for the spread of the Gospel and the glory of Christ to be made known in all nations by being faithful disciples who make disciples, they together paint a beautiful picture of the relationship between Christ and His church.

What about people who are not Christians? If the purpose of marriage is to display God’s covenantal faithfulness to His redeemed people then should a person who is not a Christian even get married? The answer is yes… Marriage though, unlike baptism and the Lord’s Table, is a creation ordinance, given to all people (Genesis 2:23-24). It is good for unbelievers to marry rather than to live in immorality. Paul’s words to the Corinthian church apply to unbelievers as well, “But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (1 Corinthians 7:9). Every single human being who has reached puberty has to deal with sexual temptation, that’s why Paul says if you cannot get control over it and you burn with passion then you need to pursue marriage.

Dr. Mohler again says in his book Desire and Deceit, “The human sex drive is not the product of biological evolution or cosmic accident. Our creator made us sexual beings and put a strong sex drive within us in order to drive us toward marriage and the goods that are united in the marital union.” So marriage is the covenantal one-flesh relationship between a man and a woman, designed to glorify God, image the Gospel, and help humanity flee sexual immorality. Anything other than this is simply not marriage. God created it for our good and His glory and no man can redefine it.           

What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

Romans 1:18-32
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 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. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

            I have often heard people reference this passage and say things such as, “if America doesn’t straighten up, this is exactly what is going to happen.” Well unfortunately this has already happened; it happened in Genesis 3, which was long before America was even thought of. This passage is the story of the fall of man. In our first passage from Genesis 2, man is in the Garden of Eden, which just so happens to be paradise. Man is sinless at that point and in perfect loving relationship with his creator, but it does not last. In Genesis 3 Adam and Eve sin against God, thereby bringing spiritual and physical death into the world; this is exactly what God told them would happen when He gave them their one rule to follow (Genesis 2:17).  Paul tells us that sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin (Romans 5:12). Since the fall all of mankind are born by nature dead in their trespasses and sins, literally slaves to sin (John 8:34, Romans 3:9-12, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:1). This is what Paul means in Romans 1 when he says God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity… All kinds of impurity are now the result of the fallen heart condition of mankind; today however we will be primarily focusing on homosexuality.

Romans 1:26-27

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 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.

            Paul assumes two things in this statement. First that his readers would understand that God created marriage to be between a man and a woman, and second that anything outside of this one-flesh relationship would be unnatural because it would go against God’s created design. As we established earlier, God created us as sexual beings in order that our sex drives might push us toward marriage. What Paul means by “natural relations” is sex between a man and a woman within the covenant of marriage…

            With this understood Paul makes the point that homosexuality is a sinful result of the fall of man. Because all men are by nature sinners, all men are now by nature prone to sexual immorality. This plays out differently for everyone but make no mistake, everyone has struggled with some sort of sexual temptation. The common argument for homosexuality today is that the individual was born that way; I am not educated enough in genetics to argue for or against that, but what I do know is that they were most definitely born a sinner and that in itself is reason enough to believe that the individual may very well have been born prone to the sin of homosexuality. The Bible is clear, all of us are going to struggle with sin, however that may play out, but no one should embrace their sinfulness as a lifestyle, instead we must make war against sin by responding to the Gospel in repentance and faith and trusting in the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to give us new hearts.

Dr. Mohler in the above mentioned book states, “Since our sexuality is such an important part of our lives, we are naturally tempted to think that our profile of sexual attraction is central to our identity. But our identity must not be constituted by mere sexuality. We are first of all human beings created in the image of God. Secondly, we are sinners whose falleness is demonstrated in every aspect of our lives—including our sexuality. Every single human being who has reached puberty has to deal with some kind of sexual temptation. For some, that profile of temptation is homosexual; for others it is heterosexual. The key issue for both is what God commands concerning our stewardship of sexuality and the gifts of sex.”

Please, make no mistake, no matter what you may have heard from liberal pastors or theologians; the Bible clearly considers homosexuality along with all other kinds of sexual immorality, such as any sex outside of the covenant of marriage, a sin. Let’s consider another passage of Scripture.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 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, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 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.

This passage clearly condemns people who practice homosexuality along with just about everybody else. With all the crazy people running around screaming and holding signs that say God hates homosexuals I fear that Christianity is wrongly perceived to believe that homosexuality is the unforgivable sin. In this passage we can clearly see that this is not the case. After Paul says that those who practice homosexuality will not go to heaven he goes on to say, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 6:11). This verse shows that homosexuals can change and become former homosexuals. As with every other sin, the Bible’s solution to homosexuality is trusting in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, the imputation of righteousness, and the power to change. It makes no difference if the person was born this way or not because through repentance and faith in the Gospel they can be born again, alive to Christ and dead to sin.         

There are other passages of Scripture that clearly label homosexuality as a sin but for time sake we will not get into those. Now let’s look at the subject from a different angle. Ok, so the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong, but there are plenty of people who aren’t Christian and don’t believe the Bible, why should you care what they believe, who they want to be with, and how they define marriage? To be a Christian is to be a sinner saved by the grace of God. The Christian knows that the only reason he has been saved from his sins is because God is rich in mercy. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Christian at one point was in the same state as the rest of mankind, but by the grace of God he heard the Gospel preached and through the work of the Holy Spirit responded to the Gospel in repentance and faith. This being the case, the redeemed man sees the rest of mankind exactly as the Bible says they are, lost and in desperate need of a Savior. No matter how deep someone may be in their sin, no one is hopeless because salvation is the work of God, not sinful man. So the Christian does what he can, sharing the Gospel, praying for others, and trying to pull people away from sin in hopes that they might turn from their sins and embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior.       

The Bible is clear; sin is deadly, especially sexual sin. This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” As a Bible believing Christian it would be hateful of us to not try and detour people from their sins. Paul knew that the fallen man would not understand this.

Romans 1:32

32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

            Paul knew that man would not only sin but also give approval of sin. The Christian who embraces the Word of God as true cannot live this way. God does not take lightly the approval of sin.

Ezekiel 13:20-23
20 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. 21 Your veils also I will tear off and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, 23 therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the LORD." 

Jeremiah 23:14
But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah."

            So the Christian pleads with the world around him to flee sexual immorality, as well as all sin, because he cares about their general welfare as well as their eternal welfare. The Christian wants to see man live rightly in God’s created order because he cares about man and because he cares about the glory of God. God has given us a good gift in sex, when it is enjoyed rightly inside the covenant of marriage.

Conclusion

Hebrews 13:4
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

            This is what we are after and what we believe and this is why we care about how a country defines marriage. Marriage, even marriage between unbelievers is something that is much bigger than the husband and his wife. Homosexuality, is not a lifestyle that is to be embraced, it is a sin that is unhealthy for the body and the soul. Homosexuality is not the unforgivable sin, however a lifestyle of un-repented sin because of a disbelief in God and His Word is. This is why Christians care about the morality of a nation. It is our duty to call out as Jesus did in Mark 1:15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” To be against homosexual marriage is not hate, it is love. To stand idle while others around you are perishing is hateful. To encourage others to turn from their sin and believe in the Gospel is love. With that, I will close with one last quote from Dr. Mohler. “No act of the will, no matter how titanic, can solve the problem of sin or offer liberty from the prison of our temptations. The only way out is through the redemption Christ has accomplished. The only way to deal with the problem of sin is to trust the transforming power of the gospel and the renewal that comes to the believer in Christ. Even then, the struggle with temptation will persist—but not without hope and healing.”   

Final Words

            With the current state of affairs, such as the intolerance of tolerance that currently exists I am well aware that many will label me as a hateful, narrow minded, bigot. All I can do is hope and pray that those of you who read this will see my heart and know that I write from a position of love and not of hate.   

 

All the Scripture in this post is quoted from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2000, 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, IL 60187, USA.

All quotes from Dr. Mohler are from his book Desire and Deceit.

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R. Albert Mohler Jr., Desire and Deceit, (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2008).

True Adoption

Ephesians 1:3-14
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

In human terms, when we adopt a child legally the child is completely and totally ours, however we now have to build a relationship with the child. No parent would be contempt with merely having a child "legally" with no emotional relationship with the child. As the parent adopts the child into his or her family they must now get to know each other, grow closer to one another, and build a relationship in love. The parent already loves the child as they chose to adopt the child not because they had to but because they chose to in love. But the child must grow to love and trust... This takes time and effort but no true parent would be satisfied with having a child without a relationship and so too then, no child would truly be satisfied with merely being adopted legally with no genuine relationship built on love and trust.

Far too many Christians are settling for mere legal adoption into the family of Christ when we have been chosen "in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will" (Eph 1:4-5). Christian, you have full son-ship... The Father chose you in love before the foundation of the world, not so you could merely be adopted but so you would experience fully what it means to be a child of God. All the love, all the joy, all the pleasure of living in relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ and not to mention you get to spend eternity with him.

Stop settling for the mere title of Christian and get to know your Father and his will for you, to "be holy and blameless before him." He saved you to represent Christ here and now and as you do, day by day he is transforming you into the image of Christ. God pulled you from the orphanage of sin, self, and the world and adopted you into a loving relationship with Him. You have been plucked from a self serving wasted life to a life that is lived to the glory of your Father "to the praise of his glorious grace."

Will you be the child who seems to not care at all that he was adopted, who shows no desire to know His Father? Or will you be the child who is filled with joy because he was chosen? Will you be the child that is amazed that he was adopted and has a Father who loves Him and wants a relationship with Him? Will you be the child that is so amazed by the grace and love that he has been shown and continues to be shown that his deepest desire is to live in such a way that honors his Father?

What will you do?

Will you waste it or will you treasure it?

Will you enjoy what it means to be a child of God or will you continue to settle for so much less?

You decide....

How is your love for GOD

Philippians 2:5-8
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus, who is God, came down from heaven and took our punishment. The infinitely glorious God of the universe loved us enough to die in our place. When we begin to grasp this fact then will our hearts and lives begin to change. The Bible tells us that "we love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
So what I am proposing is that obedience begins with love; first with the glorious love that we see in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and second with the love that is formed in our heart by God's grace when we respond to the Gospel in repentance and faith. But it does not stop here. We must continue to grow in our love for God because love for God drives out our sinful desires. God is not after begrudging obedience. God is after obedience that stems from love.
So yes we read our Bibles, pray, do ministry and missions, and so on not to be accepted by God but because our gracious God has already accepted us in Christ. So we do all these things to know and to love Him more (also to glorify God and make His glory known), and the more we know and love God the more holy we become and the more joyful we will be.
Every command that God gives, everything He calls us to can only be achieved by repentance and faith, totally surrendering to Jesus. There are no basic practical steps towards obedience; only true love for Christ and the Gospel will fuel our obedience.
So as you struggle to fight the good fight, instead of looking for practical ways to make yourself better or to live your best life now, ask yourself, how's your love for God?

For The Praise of His Glorious Grace

We were not created so that we could be at the center of our universe. Over and over again in the Bible God tells us that He does what He for His glory, for His name’s sake.

God created you for His glory.

Isaiah 43:6-7

6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

God saves for His glory.

Isaiah 48:9-11

9 “For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off.10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

Ezekiel 36:22-23

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Psalm 25:11

11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

John 17:24

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am ,to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Romans 3:23-26

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 1:4-6

4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

If we have been saved we are called to live for God’s glory.

1 Corinthians 10:31

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

“[U]nlike all other beings, God is infinitely valuable, infinitely beautiful, and infinitely satisfying. Therefore, when he upholds and displays his glory, he is preserving for us, and offering to us the greatest and the longest pleasure.” – John Piper

 Psalm 16:11

11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

The Westminster Catechism states that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” 

God has called us to do this.

Matthew 5:13-16

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

God is about His glory and the praise of His glorious grace; therefore, we should be too. This is not a call to a life of ease, for Jesus tells us in the two verses before this passage,

 Matthew 5:11-12

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It will not be easy, but we can be glad and live for His glory even in persecution, even in suffering, because if we are living for His glory then that is where our joy comes from. And we live with the hope of the glory that is the come. There is coming a day that we will bask in the radiance of the glory of God for eternity and that makes any temporal sufferings and hardships we endure here as nothing compared to the pleasure that we will enjoy forever.

Revelation 21:22-27

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.    

My prayer is that God would grant His Church a passion for His glory and a zeal for His’ name that we would be willing to endure anything for the praise of His glorious grace.

Psalm 96 

1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;12 let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy13 before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.