Paul David Tripp, Author at Refcast

8 Words of Warning

By Paul David Tripp — 4 months ago

These words have been recorded and preserved for us by our loving heavenly Father. They have been recorded for us as a defense against sin’s deceit. Just as with the tribes of Gad and Rueben, our sin is never secret or without consequences. It’s wonderful to know that our Lord meets us in our weakness and not only warns us but also empowers us to live inside of his boundaries.

Sin Lies to You
Scripture tells us that sin is deceitful. We are often deceived into believing two lies, as we step outside of God’s boundaries and do what he has forbidden. The first lie is that no one will know. That may be true of the people near us.
You can hide your sin so that those around you are unaware. But our sin is never hidden from the eyes of the Lord. His eyes are always on his children. You and I will never escape to a place where he is unable to see what we are doing. Hidden sin is a delusion. The second lie is that we can sin without consequences. I have sat with many adulterous men, with marriages in shambles, and thought to myself, “Where did you think this story was going? How long did you think you could have a relationship with a woman other than your wife and still have a healthy marriage?” I am amazed, in my own life and in counseling others, at our ability to convince ourselves that things are okay that are not and never will be okay.

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What We Misunderstand about Freedom

By Paul David Tripp — 5 months ago

God doesn’t give you grace so you can live how you want. His agenda for grace is to transform you into a person who humbly recognizes your need for authority. Grace leads you to celebrate the holy, loving, and benevolent authority of God.

I think we misunderstand true freedom. Freedom that satisfies your heart is never found in setting yourself up as your own authority. True freedom is not found in doing whatever you want. True freedom is not found in resisting the call to submit to any authority but your own. True freedom is never found in writing your own moral code. True freedom is not the result of finally deciding on your own identity. When you attempt to do these things, you never enjoy freedom; you only end up in another form of captivity.
Why is this true? Because you and I were born into a world of authority. First, there is the overarching authority of God. Nothing exists that does not sit under his sovereign and unshakable rule.
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Hardship Is Not the End

By Paul David Tripp — 5 months ago

As the children of God, we are ruled not by our circumstances but by the one who controls every circumstance for his ultimate glory and our ultimate good. It may seem like hardship is winning, but whatever hard thing you are going through is not your final destination. God is preparing us for our final destination, where suffering will die and hardship will be no more, forever.

Hardship Is Inevitable
If you’re not dealing with hardship now, you will someday. And if you’re not dealing with it now, you are near someone who is. The Bible is very honest about the condition of the world we live in. The apostle Paul says that our world is groaning, waiting for redemption (Rom. 8:22). Peter writes that we should not be surprised when we face trials (1 Pet. 4:12). The blood and dirt of this fallen world and the theme of suffering splash across the pages of your Bible from Genesis 3 until the end of Revelation. Because this broken world is not functioning the way God originally intended and because it is populated by flawed people, hardship is the environment in which we live. From our irritation with little things that just don’t seem to go right to tragic, life-altering moments of suffering, we all have to deal with the unexpected and the unwanted. It’s easy to get disheartened with how hard life is. It’s easy to become cynical and negative.
It’s easy to allow yourself to question the goodness of God or the reliability of his promises. It is here that the story of the troubled life of Joseph can help us.
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You Need a Well-Oiled Gospel Memory

By Paul David Tripp — 5 months ago

It’s vital to remember that we not only experienced his forgiving grace at the moment of our conversion, but continually experience his grace as a lovingly patient process of restoration. God has forgiven you again and again, he has restored you to himself again and again, and he will continue to do so again and again.

Remember the Gospel
It is important to have a well-oiled, activated gospel memory. It’s important to require yourself never to forget. Few things are more spiritually benefiting than rehearsing the story of God’s rescuing, forgiving, and restoring grace in your life. It’s vital to remember that we not only experienced his forgiving grace at the moment of our conversion, but continually experience his grace as a lovingly patient process of restoration. God has forgiven you again and again, he has restored you to himself again and again, and he will continue to do so again and again.
God knows that between the “already” and the “not yet,” living in a fallen world and with sin still inside of us, we will mess up. There will be times when we think, desire, and do wrong things. There will be times when we willingly step outside of God’s holy boundaries. This side of eternity we will sin. This is why God’s commitment to forgive us and restore us is so beautiful and hopeinspiring. If you are at all humble, then you know you’re not perfect. You know no day in your life is totally sin-free. You know you are a person in need of daily forgiveness.
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Are You Losing Your Gospel Mind?

By Paul David Tripp — 1 year ago

What is one of the primary ways our loving Savior meets us as we struggle not to lose our gospel minds? He meets us with the gift of his church. He knows that we need help. He knows we are not spiritually hardwired to make it on our own. So he has ordained his church to regularly gather, that we would remember once again, grieve once again, celebrate once again, and go out and live in light of the beautiful values of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Subtle Loss
I don’t know about you, but in the rush and press of life I can lose my mind. No, I’m not talking about going insane and needing to be institutionalized. I’m talking about a much more subtle form of insanity that often inflicts me and a vast number of my Christian brothers and sisters. There are moments in my life when I lose my gospel mind. There are moments when I live as if God does not exist, the Bible had never been written, and Jesus had never lived, died, and rose again. I’m not referencing an intentional walking away from the faith but rather a deformative gospel forgetfulness. Why do I call it deformative? Because in these moments my life is no longer formed by a vibrant rest in a surrender to my Lord but rather it is deformed by other things in and around me. There are times when I lose sight of what is truly important and valuable in life and, when I do, it alters what I desire, how I think, what I say, and the things I do. I am sure I am not alone.
Perhaps during an argument with your husband, wife, or friend, securing affirmation as being right (for once) becomes the most important thing to you. You have lost your gospel mind. Maybe you find yourself doing whatever is necessary to get that job promotion. You have lost your gospel mind. Maybe you’re willing to destroy your relationship with your neighbor over a boundary dispute. You have lost your gospel mind. Maybe you rip vengefully into your teenager because you’re tired of being disrespected. You have lost your gospel mind. Maybe you cling to an unending obsession with your weight and appearance. You have lost your gospel mind. Perhaps a lifestyle dream is leading you into crushing debt. You have lost your gospel mind. Maybe you harbor a pattern of internet sexual sin. You have lost your gospel mind. Maybe you feel an overwhelming anxiety about what people think about you and how they respond to you. You have lost your gospel mind. Or you might demand to be in charge and in control of your relationships. You have lost your gospel mind. Maybe you are passive and complacent when it comes to your faith. You have lost your gospel mind. Maybe patterns of envy and bitterness have robbed you of your joy. You have lost your gospel mind.
Because the radical, life-shaping, and hope-giving values of the gospel are nowhere reinforced in the surrounding culture, we all live in constant need of fundamental gospel-values clarification. We all need to be reminded again and again of what is truly valuable and, therefore, what should be truly formative in life. I’m sure you are aware that it has never been more difficult to keep the worldly, materialistic, and degospelized values of the culture around us at bay. It is harder than ever to quiet the cacophony of voices and think with gospel clarity about what is truly important.
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Suffer the Loss of What Has You in Its Grip

By Paul David Tripp — 3 years ago

Satisfaction of our hearts is not the purpose of the physical creation; it actually has a much higher purpose. Creation was made to point us to the one who alone has the power to satisfy our longing hearts. He is the bread that will satisfy our hunger. He is the living water that makes us thirst no longer. With every vista, on every day, with every new experience and each new look, creation has been designed to point us to God.

What has you in its hold? Don’t rush to answer. Stop and give this question some consideration.
What do you feel you can’t live without?What has the ability to make or break your day?What has the power to make you very sad?What can produce almost instant happiness?The loss of what would leave you a bit depressed?What do you tend to attach your identity to?What tends to control your wishes?What do others have that causes you to envy?If you could get just one thing, what would it be?The absence of what tempts you to question God’s goodness?What does your use of money tell you about what’s important to you?What fills your fantasies and your dreams?What would the videos of your last six weeks reveal about what has you in its hold?What physical idols tempt you most?What relational idols attract you the most?Is there a place where you’re asking the creation to do what only the Creator can?
Lent is an important tool in the inescapable battle that rages in all our hearts between worship and service of the Creator and worship and service of the creation. Lent calls us to remember once again that sin reduces us all to idolaters somehow, someway. It gives us a season to take time and reflect on things that have taken too strong a hold on us, things that we have come to crave too strongly and love too dearly. It reminds us that often things that we are holding tightly have actually taken an even tighter hold on us.

Here’s the core of the struggle: as long as sin still resides in our hearts, we will have an inclination to ask the physical creation to do for us what the Creator alone is able to do. Everyone is in search of true and lasting joy. Everyone wants peace of heart.