In 2000, my sister, Joy Dyer, tried to pay for a purchase at a department store but could not make her hand write out a check. That was the first sign that something sinister was attacking her body. Almost one year later to the day, cancer took Joy’s life. The following article is taken from the upcoming book, Suffering with Joy, which is comprised of letters that were written out of a desire to walk with Joy, her husband, Dean, and their family and friends through this hard journey. My hope is that these letters will provide comfort and encouragement in Christ to other fellow sufferers who are walking a hard path.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

Psalm 37:7a

Faith is not a one-time event for the Christian. It is not merely something that we did at some point in our past. Certainly, there was a time when we moved from unbelief to belief. But that moment of initial believing ushered us into a life of faith. A Christian is someone who, having initially trusted Jesus as Lord, goes on believing. We continue depending on Christ. This trust is not perfect. Sometimes it may grow dim and waver, and other times it can be strong and sure. But faith for the Christian is continuous. It is ongoing. It is a way of life. 

The apostle Paul calls this way of life a fight. He encouraged his young colleague in the ministry to “Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12a). Faith is a fight for the Christian in that we must work hard, discipline ourselves, and sometimes struggle to keep on believing. The seeds of unbelief remain in our hearts, and sometimes it seems as if they have so successfully sprouted that real faith is almost choked out. At such times I take comfort in that heartbroken father who asked Jesus to heal his son. With his demon-possessed boy writhing in the dirt at his feet and foaming at the mouth, this man looked at Jesus and, with tears in his eyes, said, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). He had faith (“I believe”). But he was lacking in assurance (“Help my unbelief”). 

These words have been my prayer many, many times over the course of my life. When trials come, when it seems that God’s promises (what He has pledged Himself to do) are being contradicted by God’s providence (what He actually is doing), our faith can be severely tested. At such times the person who is trusting Christ needs to remember that the Christian life is a fight, and we are called to “fight the good fight of faith.” 

What makes faith hard and unbelief easy is losing sight of things that are true.

One good way to equip yourself for this fight is through Scripture memory. What makes faith hard and unbelief easy is losing sight of things that are true. Storing up your mind with God’s own Word makes His truth more accessible to you than if you only had a general idea of it. Scripture that is committed to memory can be readily called to mind by the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. The psalmist testified to the power of Scripture to work this way in his life when he wrote, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11).

Another good way to wage war against unbelief is by heeding the specific counsel of God’s Word. The Bible records the real-life stories of people who faced all kinds of trials and challenges. God taught them important lessons through these experiences. And by recording their stories in the Bible, He also can teach us through them. Often the Bible gives us the counsel of men and women who have gone before us in the fight of faith. By both their example and words, we are encouraged to keep believing. 

This is true of King David and his instructions in Psalm 37. He wrote this psalm when he was an old man (v. 25). It reeks of the wisdom of long experience. David knew what it was to be “on top of the mountain.” At one time he could do no wrong in the eyes of his fellow countrymen. Songs were written about him. Foreign kings respected him. His enemies feared him. But by the time he wrote Psalm 37, he had lived long enough to experience the reversal of fortunes. He had sinned grievously against his God and his people. He had experienced the death of a baby and inconceivably wicked conduct by other children, including the murder of one son by another and the betrayal and execution of that murderous son. 

To rest in the Lord means to trust Him to do what is right and what is good for us.

David had seen wicked people prosper and good people suffer. And out of the wisdom of long experience with God, he encourages us to “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (v. 7a). This is sound counsel for people who really know God. The Lord never hurries and is never late. Furthermore, what is sometimes easy for us to forget, He is always working for eternity. We often become anxious and wonder where God is or if He really cares. It is good to hear the God-inspired counsel of an experienced man like David, who also had those thoughts: Rest in Him. Wait patiently for Him.

What exactly does it mean to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him? It means to give our burdens and concerns over to Him. To trust Him to do what is right and what is good for us. It means to remember heaven, to remind ourselves that we are in this fight of faith for the long haul. God’s sense of timing is not limited to our clocks and calendars. To rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him means to orient our hearts with such determination toward Jesus Christ and His death on the cross that the bloody scene of Calvary begins to melt our fears and anxieties as we gaze on it and are enabled to say, “For me.”

In 2000, my sister, Joy Dyer, tried to pay for a purchase at a department store but could not make her hand write out a check. That was the first sign that something sinister was attacking her body. Almost one year later to the day, cancer took Joy’s life. The following article is taken from the upcoming book, Suffering with Joy, which is comprised of letters that were written out of a desire to walk with Joy, her husband, Dean, and their family and friends through this hard journey. My hope is that these letters will provide comfort and encouragement in Christ to other fellow sufferers who are walking a hard path.

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

James 1:12

Joy had her first treatment of new chemotherapy on Monday. The side effects were hard on her. She was very sick Monday evening and night and unable to sleep at all until Tuesday afternoon. Her next treatment is scheduled for July 17. Continue to pray for Dean and Joy, specifically that this new treatment would eradicate the cancer cells and that the side effects would not be as difficult next time. Most importantly, pray that they will continue to experience God’s grace and strength to help them through this. Their faith remains intact. Despite the number and intensity of the assaults this ordeal keeps bringing against their faith, they continue to trust Christ. They are looking to God for strength day by day. In other words, they are fully engaged in what the apostle Paul calls the “fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12).

Our next Joy Verse comes from the same book as last week’s verse. James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”

The word translated “temptation” is the same word translated in the plural as “trials” in verse 1:2. Trials become temptations to us because, when we go through them, we are often plagued with doubts about God’s goodness or sovereignty or wisdom. Such doubts are natural, and we might even say inevitable at points. But when doubts and questions give way to despair and unbelief, then we have moved from being tempted to actually sinning. While it is never right or helpful to fall into this kind of sin, it is easy to do.

Everyone who loves Joy and Dean is facing this temptation right now. Why has God let this happen? Why doesn’t He miraculously intervene? The simple truth is we do not have definitive, complete answers to these questions. So we must live by faith and trust God through this trial. The things we have learned about Him from His Word are still true. He is still good, sovereign, and wise. He does not make mistakes. Successfully resisting the urge to quit believing these truths during severe trials is what James means by “endur[ing] temptation.”

That person is truly blessed who lives through trial and does not give in to unbelief. Such endurance proves the genuineness of his or her faith. Real faith lasts. It doesn’t always soar on the wings of eagles. Sometimes it barely walks. But it never finally quits. 

What does real faith look like amid a severe trial? There is a great deal of confusion about this in our day. Some well-meaning but wrong-thinking Christians have taught that real faith will always be bright, almost happy-go-lucky, no matter what kind of trial it goes through. But this kind of superficial spirituality is foreign to the Bible. In the Old Testament, Job provides a great example of one whose faith was severely tried. He lost his family, his wealth, and his health. But he did not lose his faith. He faced his trial with genuine agony and sorrow. And at times he entertained serious doubts about God and looked like he was right on the brink of cursing God and turning away from Him. But in his weakness and brokenness, he persevered. And his faith was rewarded with a deeper knowledge of God. 

Real faith lasts. It doesn’t always soar on the wings of eagles. Sometimes it barely walks. But it never finally quits. 

An even better example is given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. As He hung on the cross, dying in the place of sinners, He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).He felt utterly abandoned by His Father and expressed His sorrow of heart in that cry. But even as He asked this question of His Father, He prefaced it with, “My God.” Jesus did not give up His confidence in God even at the point of feeling most forsaken by Him. 

So what did faith look like for Job in his trial? And what did it look like for Jesus on the cross? Glib, superficial pronouncements that all is well? No! Rather, in both cases real faith was demonstrated by what John Piper calls, “an uncursing hope in an unfelt God.”[1] For Job, the refusal to curse God, even when God seemed so uncaring, so distant, was faith. And for Jesus, the refusal to come down off the cross and to turn away from His planned death was faith. 

So for us, humble submission to God in steadfast hope may be the clearest demonstration of our faith when we are going through trials. James says such tested, proven faith will be rewarded with a crown of life, just as the Lord has promised. Like every reward that comes from God, this crown will not be given because we have deserved it. It is not because we have in any way earned it by our faith. Faith does not earn or merit God’s gifts; rather, it accesses them. 

The crown of life, which is eternal life with God in heaven, is given to everyone who loves God. We love Him because He first loved us. We trust Him because He has given us faith to believe. As we go through trials, we must fight to keep trusting Jesus Christ. We must remember all that God has done for us and is for us. And we must hope in God, knowing that a crown of life awaits us on the other side of the grave.

[1] John Piper, “We Do Not Lose Hope,” desiringGod.org, April 11, 1998, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/we-do-not-lose-hope. Accessed April 19, 2024

One of the greatest blessings any pastor can experience is the prayers of the people he serves. There are people in the church I serve who regularly let me know that they are praying for me and there are others who, although they do not tell me in so many words, demonstrate a prayerful interest in me and my responsibilities. I am among those blessed pastors who can confidently, as Spurgeon put it, “take it for granted that his people are praying for him.”

But I am confident that if the people I serve knew more of the depths of my need for prayer, they would pray even more. Many of the needs are evident. The deepest needs are known—and that only partly—only to the pastor’s own heart.

My wife, Donna, and I are reading again this year Octavius Winslow’s Morning Thoughts. I am not sure how many times I have been through it myself or the two of us together. But each time it has proven to be a helpful instrument to help frame our thoughts for the day ahead. Recently we read his meditation on Romans 15:30 in which he expounds on the need that pastors have for the prayers of their people. Once again, I was moved deeply with a sense of gratitude and a fresh awareness of how desperate my need is of that which only God can supply.

Because of His grace and mercy toward us in Christ, He does supply it. And He supplies it through the prayers of His people. I commend Winslow’s words to you with an encouragement of my own, that you make it matter of studied, heartfelt discipline to pray for your pastor.

***

“Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” Romans 15:30

The Magnitude of Their Work [1]

There are many weighty and solemn considerations which powerfully plead for the prayers of the Church of God, in behalf of her ministers and pastors. The first which may be adduced is- the magnitude of their work. A greater work than theirs was never entrusted to mortal hands. No angel employed in the celestial embassy bears a commission of higher authority, or wings his way to discharge a duty of such extraordinary greatness and responsibility. He is a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ- an ambassador from the court of heaven- a preacher of the glorious gospel of the blessed God- a steward of the mysteries of the kingdom. Properly to fill this high office- giving to the household their portion of food in due season- going down into the mine of God’s word, and bringing forth to the view of every understanding its hidden treasures- to set forth the glory of Emmanuel, the fitness of His work, and the fullness of His grace- to be a scribe well instructed, rightly dividing the word of truth- to be wise and skillful to win souls, the grand end of the Christian ministry- oh, who so much needs the sustaining prayers of the Church as he?

Their Own Insufficiency

Secondly. The painful sense of their insufficiency supplies another affecting plea. Who are ministers of Christ? Are they angels? Are they superhuman beings? Are they inspired? No, they are men in all respects like others. They partake of like infirmities, are the subjects of like assaults, and are estranged from nothing that is human. As the heart knows its own bitterness, so they only are truly aware of the existence and incessant operation of those many and clinging weaknesses of which they partake in sympathy with others. And yet God has devolved upon them a work which would crush an angel’s powers, if left to his self-sustaining energy.

Their Peculiar Trials

Thirdly. The many and peculiar trials of the ministry and the pastorate ask this favor at our hands. These are peculiar to, and inseparable from, the office that he fills. In addition to those of which he partakes alike with other Christians- personal, domestic, and relative- there are trials to which they must necessarily be utter strangers. And as they are unknown to, so are they unrelievable by, the people of their charge. With all the sweetness of affection, tenderness of sympathy, and delicacy of attention which you give to your pastor, there is yet a lack which Jesus only can supply, and which, through the channel of your prayers, he will supply. In addition to his own, he bears the burdens of others. How impossible for an affectionate, sympathizing pastor to separate himself from the circumstances of his flock, be those circumstances what they may. So close and so sympathetic is the bond of union—if they suffer, he mourns; if they are afflicted, he weeps; if they are dishonored, he is reproached; if they rejoice, he is glad. He is one with his Church. How feelingly the apostle expresses this: “Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of how the churches are getting along. Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?” To see a Christian pastor, in addition to his own personal grief, borne often in uncomplaining loneliness and silence, yet bowed down under accumulated sorrows not his own—others looking to him for sympathy, for comfort, and for counsel- is a spectacle which might well arouse in behalf of every Christian minister the slumbering spirit of prayer. We marvel not to hear the chief of the apostles thus pleading, “Brethren, pray for us.”

(This is taken from the entry on August 1 of Winslow’s Morning Thoughts)

[1] I added the subheadings.

When called to bear your weighty crossOr sore affliction, pain, or loss,Or deep distress or poverty,Still as your days your strength shall be.

– John Fawcett

Dear bereaved parent,

I wanted to write this letter to you. I want to remind you that you are not forgotten. If you are in Christ, you have the all-seeing, sympathizing eye of your Saviour upon you. He is near to the broken hearted and the crushed in spirit (Ps. 34:18). My friend, there are no words to adequately describe what you are going through right now. The words of John Fawcett’s hymn, Afflicted Saint, To Christ Draw Near, rings true to your heart. You feel this weighty cross. The throbbing affliction, pain, and loss of your child penetrates your soul. The deep distress you have been placed under seems to never end at times. The horror of burying your child in the grave is a horror that comes with a crushing blow. After losing his son in infancy, theologian R. L. Dabney wrote, “Ah! When the mighty wings of the angel of death nestles over your heart’s treasures, and his black shadow broods over your home, it shakes the heart with a shuddering terror and a horror of great darkness.”[1] In his book, From Grief to Glory, James W. Bruce writes: “When small coffins are placed in the ground, more than the body is buried. Parents also bury all the hopes and dreams they had for those children. The mother buries the lullabies she would have sung, the little clothes, the first day at school; the father buries the baseball glove and thoughts of playing catch — all the things they see other parents doing and had hoped to do with their own sons and daughters.”[2]

In 2022, as Dabney put it, “the angel of death nestled over [our] heart’s treasures.” On April 28, 2022, our precious son Isaac passed away in his infant days. That day, the Lord brought us into a new circle of friends, which is called “The Sacred Circle of the Sorrowing.” In his book, Seasons of Sorrow, Tim Challies describes this group of bereaved pilgrims:

“If you have lost a child, you are not alone. After Theodore Cuyler’s child passed away, “he was ushered into “the sacred circle of the sorrowing,” a community made up of fellow sufferer … He had not been invited into the circle or asked if he wished to join. Rather, Providence had directed him to be part of it, and he had chosen to submit, to bow the knee… I would never wish it on anyone to join this circle, this club, for the membership fee is at the death of a child and the dues are a broken heart. Yet priceless consolation comes to those who have joined, for we know that none of us need ever stand alone”[3]

If you are new to this “sacred circle”, I want to remind you of one reality. God is good, even when you don’t see it or cannot sense it. As the hymn writer once said, “When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace.” There will be many days in your grief when the darkness of bereaving will “veil” His lovely face. With William Cowper, you will feel that “frowning providence” at times, and you may not see His “smiling face.” Beloved sufferer, in your season of sorrow, you must “rest on His unchanging grace.” The apostle Paul urged Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:8 to “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.” You must remember that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). One of the most helpful truths that reinforces this reality comes from Jonathan Gibson in his book, The Moon is Always Round. Gibson reminds us that just as the moon is always round, even when we cannot see it, so too is God’s goodness. God is good even when we cannot see it. Maybe tonight you will look up at the moon, and find it covered with clouds. But you know the truth that the moon is still round, even if you can’t see its roundness. May that be a helpful lesson to you in your grief. When the tears make it hard to understand God’s goodness in your bereavement, remember that He is still good, even when you don’t see it or can’t sense it.

How do we know that God is good, even in the darkest of circumstances? Well, we look to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. During the darkest hour of human history, our Triune God was up to the greatest good. For three hours, our Lord hung on the cross in utter, supernatural darkness, as He bore our sins and the just wrath of God for our sins. In His humanity, Christ was forsaken from the Father in our stead so that all who trust in His beloved son would never be eternally forsaken. That is good news! In the darkest hour of human history, God was up to the greatest good, namely, the accomplishment of our redemption. As we gaze at the cross of Jesus Christ, we begin to understand more of what the apostle Paul had to say in Romans 8:32: “If He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” If my God brought about the greatest good for me on the darkest day of human history, namely, my eternal redemption, then I can say with the apostle Paul, even when I don’t see it, that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

Dear bereaved parent, as I conclude, my only advice to you is that you must run to Jesus Christ and daily sit at His feet in your affliction. He is the only one who can truly sympathize with you. On this earth, He was known as “a man of sorrows” and “acquainted with grief” (Is. 53). He was a Saviour who wept at the graveside of his dear friend Lazarus (John 11). Fall into His arms. Be well acquainted with the lament Psalms. Our Lord has given you a category to pour out your griefs and pains to Him in lament. Though the darkness you are experiencing may rest upon you for some time, remember your blessed hope, given to you by grace, through faith, in Christ: On that final Day, “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Malachi 4:2).

As I wrap things up, I want to briefly bring you to the year 1774. After a hard season of sorrow, John Newton wrote a letter to his friend John Ryland Jr. In this letter, Newton laid open to Ryland his current season of sorrow and his blessed future hope. Newton writes: “Do you ask how it is with me? Just as the weather is this morning. My heart is cold as the snow under foot, and cloudy as the sky over my head. Not a beam of sunshine, but it is a mercy to have daylight. It will not be always winter, thought it has been a long winter with me.”[4] Since our faith is in the finished work of Jesus Christ, we can say with Mary B. Peters:

We expect a bright tomorrow; All will be well;

 Faith can sing through days of sorrow, All, all is well.

On our Father’s love relying, Jesus every need supplying, Or in living, or in dying, All must be well.

Yours Truly,

A Fellow Servant in Christ’s Army

[1] Thomas Cary Johnson, The Life and Letters of Robert Lewis Dabney (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977).

[2] James W. Bruce III, From Grief to Glory (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2008), 29.

[3] Tim Challies, Seasons of Sorrow (Zondervan, 2022) ), 128-129.

[4] John Newton, Wise Counsel: John Newton’s Letters to John Ryland, Jr. (Edinburgh, Banner of Truth).

In 2000, my sister, Joy Dyer, tried to pay for a purchase at a department store but could not make her hand write out a check. That was the first sign that something sinister was attacking her body. Almost one year later to the day, cancer took Joy’s life. The following article is taken from the upcoming book, Suffering with Joy, which is comprised of letters that were written out of a desire to walk with Joy, her husband, Dean, and their family and friends through this hard journey. My hope is that these letters will provide comfort and encouragement in Christ to other fellow sufferers who are walking a hard path.

You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

Trust in the Lord forever,

For in YAH [Jehovah], the Lord, is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 26:3–4

Joy and Dean went to MD Anderson yesterday in hopes of beginning the agreed-upon chemotherapy treatment today. But a discovery was made while checking her blood that something is not quite the way it should be in her liver. Because of that, the doctor recommended a different type of chemo with a different treatment regime. Joy started this new regime last night. She will take chemotherapy by pills at home every six hours, beginning at midnight last night and continuing for three days. She will then travel to Houston on Saturday for a four-hour intravenous treatment. These steps will be repeated every six weeks with her blood being checked in Bryan every two weeks. She will also have an MRI every six weeks. This change of plans at the last minute is just the latest in a series of challenges Joy and Dean have faced with her sickness.

As you can imagine, the changes and uncertainties tend to put one on an emotional roller coaster. But they are trusting the Lord and believing that these changes are from Him and for their good. Is it possible to have real peace through all the ups and downs and unexpected turns in life? This week’s Joy Verse answers with a definitive “Yes!” and tells us how to obtain not only peace but perfect peace.

Chapter 26 of Isaiah starts off with a song of praise and thanksgiving, which the prophet tells his fellow countrymen they will sing once they have been restored from exile in Babylon. It is a testimonial song, and it makes claims that anyone who knows the Lord can affirm. And as it testifies to God’s character and involvement in the lives of His people, it becomes an invitation to others to come and trust this God and to receive the salvation and peace He offers. 

Peace—real peace—is possible even in the most stressful times. Sometimes we Christians are tempted to pretend that we have peace because we feel like this is what we are “supposed” to do. Giving in to that temptation does not help and, in fact, can be spiritually harmful. It certainly does nothing to commend the cause of Christ. You can pretend to have peace by acting like you are not affected by things. The Stoics were masters at this. They developed an outlook on life that celebrated not being emotionally moved by either good or bad things. Such detachment may be good Stoicism, but it is not even close to Christianity!

The peace God gives is genuine, strong, and sure. It can thrive in both joy and sorrow and has no need to downplay either.

You can also pretend to have peace by wearing rose-colored glasses and acting like the silver lining is the only part of a black cloud that really exists. Some (not all) advocates of various types of positive thinking encourage this approach to life. But like the Stoic, the person who goes through life like this may appear unflappable, but he or she will not experience the kind of true, deep, life-giving peace that our Joy Verse promises that God will give. 

The peace that comes from God is “perfect peace”; literally, it is “peace, peace.” To emphasize the excellence of a thing, the Hebrew language (the language of the Old Testament) repeats it. That is what Isaiah does in verse 3. The peace God gives is genuine, strong, and sure. This peace does not pretend that life is other than it really is. It can thrive in both joy and sorrow and has no need to downplay either.

When the apostle Paul was in prison, facing possible execution, he not only experienced this peace; he commended it to others. While in prison he wrote to Christians in Philippi, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6–7). The peace that God gives defies explanation. But those who have experienced it would not trade it for anything.

How does one receive this peace? How can it be accessed? Well, it is not manufactured by playing mental tricks on ourselves or through some psychological ploy. Some who have never experienced it may think this must be the case. But those who have experienced it know, and the Scripture teaches, that it comes from knowing God. Our Joy Verse says (speaking to God), “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”

God keeps in perfect peace those whose minds are focused on, oriented toward Him. Knowing God, and knowing and believing the truth about God, is the key to real peace.

Think about this for a minute. If God really is all the Bible declares Him to be, then He is the most awesome Being in all the world. He is unlimited, all-powerful, absolutely sovereign, perfectly holy, infinitely good, full of mercy, loving and kind and gracious, patient, righteous, wise, eternal. I could go on because every moral excellence you can imagine reflects God. The Bible is filled with these kinds of descriptions (just read Psalm 145, for starters, and notice all the things that are true of God).

Knowing God, and knowing and believing the truth about God, is the key to real peace.

If you really know this God personally and are known by Him; if you love Him and are loved by Him; if you have been adopted by Him, chosen by Him, purchased by Him, and given tremendous promises by Him, wouldn’t it stand to reason that you could live with confidence and peace? It makes perfect sense. In fact, it would seem strange that one who has such a relationship with such a God could ever be without peace.

But of course, Christians are not immune to fears and anxieties. Sometimes we even give in to them and find ourselves in despair. The key is keeping our minds fixed on God. Hoping in God. Believing God. God is true and all the things the Bible teaches us about Him are true. Our challenge is to keep believing the truth about God, even when life starts to hurt. This challenge is what the apostle Paul calls the “fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12). It is the diligent effort to keep believing what God has taught us to be true, no matter what happens to us.

So after the promise that the Lord will keep us in peace as our minds are stayed on Him, the song in Isaiah goes on to encourage us to keep trusting: “Trust in the Lord forever, For in YAH [Jehovah], the Lord, is everlasting strength.” The word YAH is an abbreviated form of God’s covenant name (YAHWEH) in the Old Testament. This name is usually translated by Lord (in large and small capital letters), to let us know it is the name that God used when He revealed Himself to Moses as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Verse 4 says, “For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength.” We might translate this, “For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

The point is: the one true God, Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer is like an unmovable rock. As we anchor ourselves to Him through faith, we will not be moved but will be kept in perfect peace, real peace, no matter what.

Over the course of our study on God’s holiness, we have seen the significance of the Lord’s holiness when His creatures encounter Him, and the reverence and awe His holiness produces. We also have seen why His holiness has this effect upon us, because God is incomparable in His holiness, incorruptibly pure in His holiness, and holy in all His infinite perfections.

God’s holiness has a certain and inevitable impact when He interacts with sinful people. God’s holiness results in His wrath on sinners who come to Him in their sins. However, God’s holiness does not always end in wrath upon sinners because God, in His holy love, sent His perfect Son to die on the cross and bear the sins of all who would put their faith in Him.

When we, as Christians, consider these truths about God’s holiness, we might ask, “What comes next now that I have been accepted by God in Christ because of God’s holy grace?”

As people who love Christ, we want to be holy and pursue holiness – and we all need help with that pursuit. Hebrews 12 gives us a clear outline and concise summary of how to pursue holiness as a believer.

First, to pursue holiness, we must set aside hindrances.

The writer specifically notes two things that cause hindrances to our pursuit of holiness by faith. First, he mentions encumbrances, which are things that are unnecessary or that get in the way of running the race of faith so that we are pursuing holiness. We must set aside the things that drain our time, focus, energy, and attention away from what God has called us to do.

A second hindrance the writer mentions is sin. This warning should be obvious because people can’t pursue holiness and hang on to sin. The problem is, though, that sin so easily entangles us, which is extremely difficult to understand and accept at a practical level for many Christians. We must not compromise for sin. We must not make excuses for sin. We must not blame others for our sin. We must not justify our sin but instead we must lay aside all our sins to run the race of faith and pursue holiness in our lives.

We must not justify our sin but instead we must lay aside all our sins to run the race of faith and pursue holiness in our lives.

Next, to pursue holiness, we must stay focused on Christ.

This is so crucial because it is all too easy for us to become focused on all the hindrances we just set aside. We can become consumed with all the sins we battle, the temptations we face, the weights we carry, and all the impediments on the track. Our race becomes impossible to run when we try to employ our own power rather than by faith in the power of Christ in our lives.

Instead, we must keep our eyes focused on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and perfector of our faith. The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to run the race of faith with our focus kept on Christ, because He gives and sustains our faith until it reaches its goal of total and perfect holiness in glory with Him. Christ is the great resource we have in this race because of our reliance on Him.

Third, to pursue holiness, we must submit to divine discipline.

No one likes discipline because it is hard and painful. Discipline stretches, challenges, and corrects us. Yet even though we chafe against discipline in our human flesh, we must submit to God’s discipline if we would be holy.

God’s discipline isn’t merely correction for some sin present in our lives, but anything God brings into our lives to push us toward holiness and greater trust and obedience to His Word. Trials are used by God in this way. Difficulties, tribulations, sufferings, and trials are all designed and employed by God to refine our faith and strengthen our character so that we might share in His holiness.

Fourth, to pursue holiness, we must strive for peace.

Sanctification, or pursuing holiness, is not meant to be something we do in isolation. Our growth in holiness is directly impacted by our relationships with other believers. In fact, we can go as far as to say that if we are not seeking peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we are failing to pursue holiness as God has commanded in His Word. Disunity or bitterness are sins that so easily entangle us and must be put off if we are to run unhindered and unencumbered.

The context of this verse is for all believers – all those in the church – not all men in the world. Many times, pursuing holiness will put us at odds with the world, and seeking peace with the ungodly at the same time we strive for holiness can be impossible. While we should not provoke unnecessary controversy or conflict with unbelievers, expending all our energy trying to make peace with those who are not at peace with God or us is futile. The context of Hebrews 12 is the community of believers, and we are to be at peace with fellow Christians.

Trials are designed and employed by God to refine our faith and strengthen our character so that we might share in His holiness.

Finally, to pursue holiness, we must strive for holiness.

Here the writer makes it plain that when he talks about running the race, he means to pursue holiness. We should be people intent on being holy as God is holy. That should be our aim, our joy, and our privilege – to reflect the character of our thrice holy God.

Striving for holiness is not salvation by works because these works flow out of the heart of someone who is already saved by grace through faith. However, if people aren’t pursuing holiness, then they prove not to be saints. Those who are not holy will not see the Lord. The reason for their lack of holiness is that they aren’t really in Christ at all, and their profession of faith is illegitimate. As 1 John 3:3 reminds us, if we really love the promise of Christ’s coming, then we will long for and pursue holiness.

It’s not popular today to pursue holiness. In fact, there’s often the sentiment that as Christians, we should only pursue holiness to a certain degree. Or there’s the idea that we will become holy through osmosis, without any effort required. Some fear that if we become holy, it will turn the world away from Christ because of its distain for holiness. Those who pursue holiness are criticized often as being hypocrites because ungodly people equate a love for obedience to God’s Word with legalism and hypocrisy.

Yet we are called to pursue holiness, the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. This doesn’t happen by accident, because no one becomes holy without disciplining themselves for the purpose of godliness. God is holy, holy, holy; and in Christ, we have been made saints. May God grant us the grace to pursue holiness by faith, and may it be our prayer that we would be holy – as our Lord is holy.

Few things are more important than knowing and understanding God’s holiness. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” If we want to have any wisdom at all or if we want to begin to make any progress in understanding God, ourselves, and the world, then we must seek to know the Holy One.

After understanding the meaning of God’s holiness as best we can with our humanity, we are left with a significant question for consideration: how does the holiness of God impact His relationship with us as sinners?

The Bible spends a great deal of time unpacking the meaning of God’s holiness and establishing the reality that we are sinners. Unlike the general view of the world about the goodness of people, the Bible’s description of mortal beings is not merely that we are sinful people, but that we are totally depraved. Apart from Christ, every person is dead in and in love with sin, rebellious against God, detestable, and deceived – not only about God – but about their own heart. This truth about sinners only makes sense when we arrive at the correct understanding about the absolute holiness of God.

If we want to have any wisdom at all or if we want to begin to make any progress in understanding God, ourselves, and the world, then we must seek to know the Holy One.

There is a massive tension when God, who is holy, interacts with people who are not – and many people cannot grasp this concept.

First, we must understand that God’s holiness ensures wrath on sinners.

This is one reason why we don’t like to talk about God’s holiness – because it inevitably leads to the necessary conclusion that God’s wrath comes upon the wicked. There are many clear statements that bear this out, starting with Psalm 5:4-6. Here, the Psalmist gives us an unmistakable statement about God’s hatred of wickedness. God does not merely hate wickedness in some abstract sense, nor does He merely hate wicked things people do because they harm others. Rather, God hates all who do iniquity. God’s holiness means that God destroys all those who speak falsehood, which is just another way of saying ‘everyone who is a sinner.’ God abhors liars and violent people.

We have several examples of this playing out in Scripture. In Genesis 6, we observe a narrative of God in His holiness, looking at humanity, examining the heart, intentions, and deeds. When God looks at humanity from every angle, all He sees is continual evil. God’s response is total destruction of the world and an uncreation of creation. The wrath of God comes, not just on one person, family, or nation, but on the entire world. This response of God should not be shocking if we understand that God is holy, because when God’s holiness comes upon mankind’s sin, wrath is the outcome.

Thankfully, God’s holiness also ensures grace for sinners.

No one should be surprised that God’s holiness is the basis of His wrath toward sinners, and yet it is unexpected to learn that God’s holiness is also the foundation of His grace toward sinners. This fact is crucial because it gives legs to our faith; it gives certainty to our hearts; and it strengthens us when we discover that God’s grace is not arbitrary whimsical, mutable, or temporary. Because God is holy, He does not always bring wrath on sinners but shows mercy and grace.

There is no greater example of this reality than the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we see in Psalm 22 (words which Jesus uttered on the cross), what gave Jesus the courage, strength, and fortitude to go through the cross, enduring the holy wrath of God even though He was righteous and holy Himself – was that God was holy (v. 3). God’s holiness was Christ’s strength as He suffered and died for the sins of humanity.

Christ knew that God’s holy character provided the absolute confidence that God would be faithful to His covenant promises. God’s perfect holiness meant that Jesus’ death would not be in vain and that the promises of God to bring salvation to His people would be fulfilled. On the cross, the Messiah looked back at the fathers who trusted God and were delivered, and He knew God would deliver Him from death through the resurrection because God is holy. What an amazing reality to consider that God’s holiness not only ensures wrath upon sinners but grace for sinners.

God’s holiness was Christ’s strength as He suffered and died for the sins of humanity.

Finally, the consequence of God’s holiness depends on the offering the sinner brings.

Here’s the question: When individuals come before a holy God, what should they bring to make them acceptable to their Lord? Every sinner comes before God with an offering or some reason for God to accept him. Whether sinners incur God’s wrath or receive His grace depends on what they bring into His presence for their sins.

This is graphically and tragically played out for us in Leviticus 9-10. God explicitly commands the priests not to offer something on the altar that is strange, foreign, or outside the prescribed offerings – or there will be consequences. Nadab and Abihu ignored that command and were consumed; their sacrifice was rejected. As this passage instructs us, when people come into the presence of God, if they do not come with a sacrifice that atones for their sins, the holiness of God will consume them.

All the Old Testament sacrifices were a picture of the one, final, true sacrifice that God would provide for the sins of His people: the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is only this sacrifice that God accepts to atone for the sins of sinners. If we are reading Leviticus 9-10 correctly, we will understand this very important truth: if people come to God with anything other than the blood of Jesus Christ to atone for their sins, they will be destroyed by His holiness in wrath.

A line from the old hymn “Rock of Ages” sums up this theme so well: “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.” We do not come to Christ with anything of value, worth, or merit. Rather, we come as sinners in need of a Savior and all our trust is in Christ.

It is vital we do not forget the holiness of God. His holiness is our anchor during the dark night of the soul. When Satan tempts, condemns, accuses, or tells us we are unworthy, doubtful, fearful, wicked, ungodly people, we recognize that, though our faith might sometimes be weak, our God is not. He is holy and will meet us with grace through Jesus Christ.

Displaying His Imprint

As Jesus Christ walked the earth as God incarnate, He also taught disciples to follow Him by keeping His commandments and glorifying God through service. The New Testament defines a disciple as a “learner, indicating thought accompanied by endeavor.”[1] To be a biblical disciple goes beyond being a pupil in a classroom, studying for exams, striving for high marks or letter grades. Disciples of Christ are adherents or imitators of Him, exhibiting marks (characteristics) consistent with His teaching and ministry.[2] 

True disciples display the imprint of a life transformed by Jesus to other Christ-followers and the unbelieving world as evidence for belief and trust in the authoritative and sufficient Word of God. This essay will define and demonstrate the four essential marks associated with disciples of Christ outlined in the Bible.

Essential Mark # 1: Disciples Love God Supremely

The biblical principle of “love for God” spans the Old and New Testaments throughout the Bible. Deuteronomy 6:5 says disciples show love for God with their heart, soul, and might,[3] and Leviticus 19:17-18 expands this love through a disciple’s kindly treatment towards a neighbor, or “fellow countryman.” 

In the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus reiterates the Law of Moses, funneling the entirety of the Law into the two commandments of loving God and loving neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27). This love is again displayed through all of a disciple’s being: the heart, soul, strength, and mind. 

True disciples display the imprint of a life transformed by Jesus to other Christ-followers and the unbelieving world as evidence for belief and trust in the authoritative and sufficient Word of God.

The disciple’s love for God stems first from God’s pursuit and love for the creature (1 John 4:19), and as Michael Gorman asserts, “Divine love experienced has to become divine love expressed.”[4] The apostle Paul aptly portrays this divine love in 1 Corinthians 13, and Gorman concludes that love “is the defining characteristic of the individual in relation to others….”[5] 

This earthly representation of love points back to a disciple’s character toward God. Yet, a disciple’s love for the Almighty is not a general affection or appreciation exactly similar to earthly relationships. Instead, a biblical disciple loves God in Christ supremely, exemplifying that all other relationships fall inferior. 

Jesus claims this love is essential to being His disciple. In Luke 14:26, He says, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” In proper context, Jesus is not asserting that hatred is a prerequisite for discipleship. Rather, He emphasizes that the order of love and allegiance for God outranks the love of earthly relationships, including family and marriage.

Essential Mark # 2: Disciples Grow in the Knowledge of Christ

Knowledge is a good gift from God, and as bearers of His image, disciples go beyond knowledge by description or solely knowing about Christ. Biblical disciples are lifelong learners of the Lord, spending time with the living Word of God through the inspired written Scriptures, enjoying knowledge of Him by acquaintance. In his work on spiritual disciplines, Donald Whitney writes, “No one is made right with the God about whom he knows nothing. No one is made right with God unless he or she learns about Him and His message to the world, a message of good news called the gospel.”[6] 

To spiritually mature in Christ, disciples grow in Him by reading and studying the Scriptures with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7, 13), both in private devotion and corporate worship (Acts 2:42). J. P. Moreland describes the maturity of this kind as ordering your overall lifestyle, especially being immersed in the Scriptures.[7] 

In Deuteronomy 6:6-9, the Israelites were instructed to teach God’s Word diligently to themselves and their children as often as opportunities arose throughout a given day. The Scriptures were to encompass all facets of life for the Israelites: “You shall bind them on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:8-9). 

This knowledge not only teaches the truth and wonder of God and His gospel, but it also protects against what the apostle Peter calls being “carried away by the error of unprincipled men…” (2 Peter 3:17). Peter expresses it is far greater to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, both now and into eternity (2 Peter 3:18).

Essential Mark # 3: Disciples Endure Suffering

Loving God and growing in His grace does not always happen unhindered. As imitators of Christ, disciples are promised degrees of hardship, suffering, and possible persecution. In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he writes, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Paul also explains that disciples suffer hardship, similar to soldiers carrying out their duty (2 Timothy 2:3). 

To spiritually mature in Christ, disciples grow in Him by reading and studying the Scriptures with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The personal testimony of a disciple may be a powerful pathway toward gospel proclamation. Paul instructed the Philippians to suffer in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27), which provided confidence and compassion for the church when facing various trials throughout the centuries.[8]

Jesus illustrated the nature of suffering for the sake of the gospel akin to carrying a cross. Since the cross was used as an instrument of death, Jesus unfolded the importance of His disciples dying to themselves so that the resurrected life of Christ may be seen. Luke 14:27 says, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Andrew Murray asserts this cross-carrying and death-to-self is evidenced by the Holy Spirit’s work to place “yourself before God in your utter helplessness…and trustful surrender to [Him].”[9] This display of humility was employed most obediently by Jesus’s death (Philippians 2:8). 

Similar to Jesus emptying Himself, He calls His disciples to a complete “self-abandonment,”[10] not on the grounds of meritorious works that would earn salvation… but instead, to fulfill the will of God by His sufficient grace. In the Old Testament, Joseph endured great hardship and rejection at the hands of his brothers until God exalted him in due time (Genesis 37-50).

Comparatively, the book of Job chronicles how Job’s most prized possessions were taken away from him until God restored him (Job 1:13-22; 42:10-17). Even though both of these disciples of God suffered greatly, neither cursed God nor wavered in their faith. These examples, including the sufferings of Christ, abundantly comfort biblical disciples for salvation through Him (2 Corinthians 1:5-6).

Essential Mark # 4: Disciples are Commissioned to Make Disciples

Hardship creates perseverance in biblical disciples when taking their knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ to the unbelieving world. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus commissions His followers to go into all nations and make disciples, teaching what has been given to them by Christ (Matthew 20:19-20). 

This task of testifying about Jesus resembles the role of the prophets throughout the Old Testament, speaking forth the truth of God as written in the Scriptures. Disciples in the New Testament age proclaim the good news of Jesus’s life, ministry, death, and resurrection to a dying world in need of eternal life that can only come through Christ’s finished work on the cross (John 14:6). 

Adam McClendon writes about engaging with the world and proclaiming the good news through every opportunity possible, keeping a gospel mindset always at the forefront.[11] As disciples engage the world, they put the authority of Christ on display through obedience to His call.[12]

Hardship creates perseverance in biblical disciples when taking their knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ to the unbelieving world.

Graciously, the commission of Christ to His disciples to go and make more disciples was not left to figure out on their own. Before His crucifixion, Jesus paradoxically explains that it is to the disciples’ advantage that He departs so that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, comes to them. Further, Jesus unpacks the role of the Holy Spirit: He is the disciples’ advocate who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; He testifies of Christ; He helps the disciples remember all that Jesus taught; and He guides them into all truth (John 14:26; 16:8-13). Jesus taught His disciples how to be disciple-makers by the power of the Holy Spirit, a commission that has continued since the first century through today.

Conclusion

As adherents of Jesus Christ, biblical disciples display evidence of imitating Him through the four essential characteristics outlined above. The mark of loving Christ above all earthly relationships shows others His authority and supremacy. By knowing the living Christ through the written Word of God, disciples grow in spiritual maturity and Christlikeness, privately and among the church body. Disciples are also marked by suffering and hardship as they walk with Christ in the process of sanctification. Suffering is seen through multiple scriptural examples and the Lord Himself, who faced the ultimate suffering at the hands of humanity. Lastly, disciples are called and sent out to the world as disciple-makers, proclaiming the gospel for the glory of God.

End Notes:

[1] W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 308.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New American Standard Bible.

[4] Michael J. Gorman, Cruciformity: Paul’s Narrative Spirituality of the Cross (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Co., 2001) Chapter 8, Kindle.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, rev. ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2014), 276, Kindle.

[7] J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul, 2nd ed. (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012), 108, Kindle.

[8] Joshua D. Chatraw and Mark D. Allen, Apologetics at the Cross: An Introduction for Christian Witness (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 139, Kindle.

[9] Andrew Murray, Humility: The Beauty of Holiness, rev. (Abbotsford, WI: Aneko Press, 2016), 58, Kindle.

[10] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Luke 11-17 (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2013), 284.

[11] Adam McClendon and Jared E. Lockhart, Timeless Church: Five Lessons from Acts (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2020), 139-140, Kindle.

[12] Trevin K. Wax, Eschatological Discipleship: Leading Christians to Understand Their Historical and Cultural Context (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2018), 96, Kindle.

Throughout Scripture, we see repeatedly that a person’s character is revealed not just in what they say—but even more in what they do. Character is especially revealed in what someone does in moments of crisis.

Last week, a pastor in Florida was arrested on charges of possessing child pornography. His (former) church belongs to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and was listed on several church search lists, including those found on the websites of the SBC, 9Marks, and Founders Ministries. Up until this horrific sin came to light, there was no way that the SBC, 9Marks, Founders, or others could have known about this pastor’s secret sin. No amount of abuse reform can grant powers of omniscience.

Once we at Founders heard of the arrest, we immediately removed the church from our search list, wrote to the church to inform them of our actions, and offered to help them in any way that we could. Leadership in the church has expressed appreciation for our actions. They, like all of us, are repulsed by the accusations. They were also caught completely off guard and are fully cooperating with proper authorities in seeking justice.

Addressing a Serious Accusation

The actions that Founders Ministries took upon learning about the arrest of this pastor demonstrate our priorities. Likewise, the actions taken by others upon learning of this horrific crime reveal where their priorities lie.

We can see another example of one’s actions revealing their priorities in how Jared Wellman responded to this awful situation. For those unfamiliar with Wellman, he is the pastor of Tate Springs Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. He has also been very involved in SBC politics and attempted to become the single most powerful leader in the convention.

Here is a brief rundown of Wellman’s involvement in SBC leadership:

Member of the 2020 ERLC Leadership Council under Russell Moore

Member of the SBC Resolutions Committee in 2019 (of “Resolution 9” fame), 2021, and 2020

Executive Board Member of Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, 2009-2013 and 2013-2017

Trustee at Criswell College, 2020-2021

Land Center Fellow at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS)

Adjunct Professor at SWBTS

Member of the Executive Committee (EC) of the SBC, 2015

Chairman of the SBC EC, 2022-2023

Chairman of the Cooperation Group appointed by SBC President Bart Barber, 2023-2024

Numerous people alerted me last Saturday night that Jared tried to implicate Founders Ministries in the sordid accusations against the Florida pastor because his (former) church was listed on our church search list. After linking to a story about the pastor’s arrest, Wellman posted this on X:

Why does Founders have zero accountability for churches they officially recommend as “healthy, biblically-grounded” churches while being so adamant about what kinds of churches can cooperate through the SBC?

I’m genuinely confused.

Founders’s own house is out of order.

Almost immediately, multiple pastors raised legitimate concerns about Jared’s post. Here are just a few excerpts of the many concerns raised:

“Knowing secret sins is not the job of a church search. They evaluate what confessions you claim to hold & look over a church’s teachings then list them. If your pastor engages in sexual sin privately & the church doesn’t even know, how is a church search supposed to know?” (Source)

“…this is how most church searches work (Founders, 9 Marks, TGC, etc). People submit their churches, and there is a disclaimer that this is the church identifying themselves and not an endorsement. Even a quick “verification of facts” can not identify evil men harboring secret sin.” (Source)

“What kind of accountability should be applied to a church who was unaware of the creep’s crimes and acted when it was revealed?” (Source)

“This is disingenuous but more importantly, simply being used as an opportunity to strike out at an ‘opponent.’” (Source)

“If you go after Founders for recommending the church but removing their recommendation when they became aware of the pastor’s sin, how do you not take responsibility for the SBC recommending the church while you were chairman of the Executive Committee?” (Source)

Jared’s response was not to engage with these concerns in good faith. Instead, he hid several critical replies before turning off the ability to respond to his post entirely.

As the President of Founders Ministries, I offered to talk to him privately about his public castigation of Founders. Sadly, he has not has responded. But his antics are instructive.

Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste

Some will think Jared’s question is innocent and legitimate. Those more familiar with the radical progressive activist Saul Alinsky’s book Rules for Radicals will recognize that Wellman is simply following a script. Jared’s accusation doesn’t come from a confused mind. Rather, it comes from one that has an agenda.

Following the maneuver popularized by President Obama’s Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel (but first articulated by Machiavelli), Wellman simply could not let a serious crisis go to waste. That’s what his post on X was about. He took this tragic, horrific story and turned it into an opportunity to signal his virtue to a watching world while casting aspersion on Founders Ministries. Why? I will leave motives to God, but it is obvious to anyone who has kept up that I have been among those who have repeatedly protested the way that recent SBC leaders have been steering the SBC into bad paths.

Sadly, this is not the first time that Southern Baptists have seen such behavior from Wellman. He saw his political profile rise during a crisis, and he has continued to go back to that well. Every serious crisis is an opportunity for Wellman and those like him to gain more political power and attack those perceived enemies.

After Ronnie Floyd resigned as president of the EC over controversy related to an abuse investigation, Wellman used his position as Chairman of the EC and member of the search committee to attempt to take the vacant presidency for himself. He secretly resigned from the Executive Committee days before the search committee announced that he was their pick for one of the most powerful positions in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Once these back-alley dealings were brought to light, an unforeseen groundswell of opposition arose from rank-and-file SBC churches. Even liberals who liked Wellman recognized that he did not act ethically when he attempted to use a search committee on which he served to secretly appoint himself to the most powerful role in the Southern Baptist Convention. The opposition that arose led to several EC members breaking ranks, and Jared failed to be elected to the post.

Not only have we seen Jared Wellman brazenly attempt to use crises to gain power, we have also seen him use the lofty perch of SBC leadership to attack those he considers his enemies. While Wellman was on the Executive Committee, there was a misunderstanding between the outgoing chairman, Mike Stone, and the incoming chairman, Rolland Slade. Slade was mistaken about when his duties as chairman actually began and expressed frustration when he thought that Stone had overstepped. Wellman, again seeing an opportunity not to let a good crisis go to waste, used what was a simple misunderstanding to write an article filled with misrepresentations about Mike Stone and the Conservative Baptist Network. Later, when Slade recognized that he was mistaken, he apologized before the entire Executive Committee. Wellman continues to stand by his lies.

A Teaching Opportunity

Many of the current problems in the Southern Baptist Convention have been self-inflicted due primarily to failed leadership. Lack of integrity and lack of courage are two chief ingredients of such failure. Jared Wellman put both on display on Saturday night.

Lack of integrity and courage is why many SBC leaders like Wellman are quick to capitulate to worldly ideologies when doing so can curry favor with a watching world. Did I mention that Wellman was on the Resolutions Committee that railroaded the SBC into affirming critical race theory and intersectionality at the 2019 annual meeting? Or that he led the charge for the EC to waive executive privilege?

Sadly, we have seen that agenda play out in the way the SBC has been steered to address such issues as racial prejudice, women pastors, and even the atrocity of sexual abuse in ways that are more concerned with signaling virtue to hostile critics than with pursuing true virtue in the fear of the Lord. Every crisis has become an opportunity for SBC leaders like Wellman to use emotional manipulation and political maneuvering to advance their own ambitions and gain the approval of those who hate Christ and His church.

That’s why Jared Wellman’s social media post is a teachable moment. If Southern Baptist pastors and church members are willing to see it for what it is, they will find a specimen of the type of leadership that has guided the SBC over the last several years—the kind of leadership that has paid millions of dollars to LGBTQIA+ affirming organizations in the name of helping the SBC address the supposed apocalypse of sex abuse in our churches. To date, according to the estimates I have heard, the SBC has spent over $14,000,000 on “sex abuse reforms” and helped 0 abuse victims in the process.

If we had the kind of leaders who would challenge SBC pastors to pursue biblical justice (heeding such teachings as Proverbs 18:13,17; Deuteronomy 19:15-19; Matthew 18:15-20; and 1 Corinthians 5), we would see much healthier churches and provide much greater protection and care for the most vulnerable among us. That type of approach will never win the world’s applause. But it honors our Lord Jesus by taking His Word seriously. Sadly, for too many in the current SBC leadership class, fear of the former outweighs the desire for the latter.

The EC was right in 2023 when they listened to concerns raised by SBC churches and rejected the recommendation of Jared Wellman as the next President of the EC. The convention narrowly dodged a bullet as a result.

If we hope to see a much-needed course correction in the SBC, we must stop entrusting leadership to men whose ambition surpasses their godliness and start following those who fear God more than they fear people and who pursue biblical virtue even if the watching world does not approve.

Pray that God will give us such men to lead us.

In the last post, we studied what an encounter with our holy God looks like and how it changes us. True believers are filled with dread, awe, fear, and reverence upon encountering the holy God of Israel. This is completely antithetical to the world and sadly many evangelical churches that display a glibness and a lack of reverence and awe when it comes to our Lord’s holiness.

Having seen what happens when sinners encounter God in His holiness, we want to answer the question, ‘What does the Bible mean when it says that God is holy?’

The Bible uses the word ‘holy’ and its derivatives over 500 times, but it never defines the word, leaving us to discover its meaning by seeing how it is used in various contexts. Scripture instead gives us three different angles to reveal the meaning of the holiness of God.

The first angle is that God’s holiness is manifest in His incomparable preeminence.

Theologians use several different terms for this aspect of God’s holiness, referring to His majesty and exaltedness. The phrase speaks to the distinction between God and everything that God has made when it is used in the context of creation. The word holy is derived from a word that means to cut or to separate, and so the idea of God’s holiness is the idea that God is separate from us. There is nothing in creation like God; He is incomparably preeminent in that He is above everything, and nothing compares to Him.

Some passages in Scripture help us understand the holiness of God in His incomparable preeminence. The foundational text to consider is Exodus 15:11, where Moses and the sons of Israel are praising God for His holiness. These people note two things about God’s holiness: that His holiness is majestic, and that His holiness puts Him in a class all by Himself. This verse really defines God’s holiness in His incomparable preeminence for the rest of Scripture because it shows us that God’s holiness speaks to His majesty and to His exaltedness over all that exists in creation.

Perhaps no one waxes as eloquently about God’s incomparable preeminence as the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 40, Isaiah invites a comparison between God and things of the world. We see that the more questions Isaiah asks, the more obvious it becomes that there is no one like God. No one is like God in His majestic holiness! No one has power like His, no one has sovereignty like His, no one has majesty like His, no one has wisdom like His, and no one creates like He does. God is in a class by Himself. As R.C. Sproul put it, “God is an infinite cut above everything else. He is so far above and beyond us that He seems almost totally foreign to us.”

The second angle is that God’s holiness is manifest in His incorruptible purity.

This aspect of God’s holiness speaks to His perfect righteousness and justice. God does not do anything evil; He does not think anything evil; He is never tempted by evil. God has no hint of darkness in Him at all, but He is pure light, righteousness, and goodness.

The Scriptures also present this aspect of God’s perfect holiness to us. The prophet Habakkuk was wrestling with God’s incorruptible purity when he learned God was going to judge Israel’s sins through the Babylonians, a nation far more wicked than Israel. In Habakkuk’s wrestling, he notes the holiness of God in Habakkuk 1:12-13 and then takes it to its logical conclusion: God is too pure to approve evil, and He cannot look on wickedness with favor. It seemed like God was doing just that, but Habakkuk was reassuring himself that God was holy; and although it might look like God was acting in an unholy way, that was impossible.

The biggest spiritual problem of our culture is that individuals think they’re generally good people because they’ve never encountered the holiness of God.

James 1:13 goes further, informing us that God is so far from evil – so separate from evil, that He never tempts anyone to do evil nor does He watch someone else do evil. He wants nothing to do with evil at all because He is incorruptibly pure.

The biggest spiritual problem of our culture is that individuals think they’re generally good people because they’ve never encountered the holiness of God – much like the rich young ruler in Luke 18. Just about everyone in the world today is like that rich young ruler: they think there is something good they can do to inherit eternal life. However, despite the mental objections of millions to the idea of eternal punishment at the hands of an almighty God, God doesn’t send good people to hell; He sends sinners to hell because God alone is good. We must declare to the unbelievers in our culture – not that God wants them to have a better life or to help them with their problems or to be all that they can be – but that God is holy, and that they are standing on the precipice of hell because they are wicked people who deserve judgment.

The final angle is that God’s holiness is manifest in His infinite perfections.

This phrase simply means that God’s holiness is not one attribute among many, but that His holiness is the attribute that permeates everything about Him. God is holy in all His perfections. R.C. Sproul once noted that “only once in scared Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the third degree…The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy…The Bible never says that God is love, love, love; or mercy, mercy, mercy; or wrath, wrath, wrath; or justice, justice, justice. It does say that He is holy, holy, holy.”

We might think about this idea by considering some of God’s many perfections, starting with His love. God is not any kind of love; He is a holy kind of love. God’s love is not perverse, self-centered, worldly, lustful, or any other worldly characteristic of love.

God’s wrath is not an outburst of wrath like ours when we give into the flesh, but it only manifests itself at appropriate times and towards appropriate objects; God’s wrath is a holy wrath. God’s grace does not violate His holiness even while He displays that grace to sinners, but that grace comes at great cost in the death of His Son. God shows us a holy grace. We know, too, that God’s omnipotence, jealousy, patience, and kindness are all holy.

These perfections of God are infinitely greater than our manifestations of them. We are not to look at human grace, mercy, love, or wrath – and think that we see what God is like because we’ve seen what men are like. Instead, we are to look at God’s Word to learn what grace, mercy, love, and wrath are supposed to be like – and then conform ourselves to God’s holy perfections.

When we talk about God’s holiness, we can scarcely wrap our minds around it or adequately capture it in human language. We can, though, understand it in measure. Seeing the greatness of God’s holiness leads us to wonder how it is that a holy God can have a relationship with sinful people. Next, we will look at the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.