Luther, Spiritual Disciplines, and Our Neighbors
Christians have to attend to the mastery of their sinful impulses so that they can serve their neighbors effectively. Luther approached the issue of sanctification with some reserve for fear that his generation, so recently weaned from the idea of good works as a means to grace rather than the fruit thereof, would fall back into the old patterns of thought.
One of the many practical effects of the Reformation was a change in how people viewed what are now called “spiritual disciplines.” In the context of the Reformation, most people believed that their good works contributed to their justification. They also believed that doing super-spiritual things like becoming a monk/nun would be rewarded by God. However, as the Reformers taught and preached the truths of Scripture, slowly but surely, people began to understand that their good works did not help in the matter of justification. Furthermore, they began to understand that super-spiritual things like monasticism were not found in Scripture and therefore could be abandoned. However, the Reformers noted that good works and biblical spirituality were still certainly part of the Christian life. Here’s a good summary of how Luther emphasized good works and the “spiritual discipline” of serving one’s neighbor.
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Leading Science Magazine Questions Biological Reality of Male and Female
Humanity has never had any real trouble speaking scientifically, truthfully, and factually about what it means to be human as male and female. Never. No one has ever been confused about what those two words mean (and do not mean) until the last millisecond of human history.
We are often lectured, with no small measure of intellectual arrogance, that science is the one sure way of knowing all that is worth knowing. But it is not at all as simple and sure as that. Science cannot answer all questions, by any stretch. Especially the most important ones, like who is God, why do humans seek love, why do we laugh and cry, what is virtue and why does it matter, and why does extravagant beauty exist in the world? Science cannot answer any of these questions. It is not its domain.
But increasingly, we must also not miss the fact that “Science” itself doesn’t always follow science. In fact, sometimes “Science” directly violates science. Another example of this was recently demonstrated in the highly respected scientific journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
In their most recent issue, these editors published an academic letter from two neuroscientists and a biology grad student pushing a false gender ideology in the guise of science. What did these Princeton and Harvard scientists say? Their letter introduces a entirely novel view of male and female.
The first line of their published letter blankly asserts, “Inclusive language around sex diversity has never been more important.” And since, “scientific language directly affects trans-focused rhetoric and policy” they are calling on their peers to abandon the fundamentals of science in favor of just playing along with the lie that that there are more than two sexes or that people can switch genders. Science thought their learned readers would benefit from these two wholly unscientific sentences:
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Unlikely Glory
The hour, the glory, the trouble of which Jesus spoke is the cross. How the cross of Christ is a place of unlikely glory! For it raises a question. “How can the brutal beating, crucifying, and death of a man be in any way described as glorious?” Does it not seem as if there is no glory in an act such as this?
Last Monday I presided at the graveside service of Mary Joy Blocki, the daughter of dear friends and gospel co-laborers Martin & Kathy Blocki. Though Mary suffered through many physical afflictions during her life that fell just short of twenty-three years, the Lord used her in mighty ways to advance His kingdom. The celebration service two days prior to her burial was a beautiful testimony to that truth. The post below is the meditation on John 12:23-24 that I gave at the cemetery.
Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
What hour brought Christ’s glory? How was He glorified?
When we think of glory, we think of splendor, awe, and the display of beauty. A fabulous fireworks display is glorious. A brilliant sunrise is glorious. Standing over the edge of the Grand Canyon is glorious.
When it comes to Christ and His glory, we know that the Lord will come again one day when the heavens open up with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. He will be accompanied by His mighty angels and come to earth to judge the living and the dead. How glorious that day will be!
Yet that is not the hour that Jesus said had come in this text. His final manifestation is not the glory of which He speaks here in these verses. There is another glory of which Jesus speaks. It is an unlikely glory.
Jesus makes it clear here and throughout this gospel what that unlikely glory is.
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Review of ‘Impossible Christianity’
DeYoung’s main premise is that the Christian life is not impossible, even if we have been led to believe it is. Two culprits are: 1) an inaccurate portrait of life with God, and 2) an unbiblical understanding of our limitations. He reminds us of a comforting truth: we cannot care about everything. We are not omniscient or omnipotent; that describes God alone. Our job as humans is to recognise the Creator-creation distinction and then seek to obey what God has placed in front of us, by His grace.
Impossible Christianity is written for Christians who have become disillusioned with the Christian life. Part of it is that we don’t know how God calls us to live. At the same time, our problem also has to do with the unrealistic portrait we have painted of the Christian life.
On one hand, we are inclined to view the Christian life as an endless list of ‘dos and don’ts.’ This quickly leads to exhaustion. On the other hand, we are tempted to simplistically view the Christian life as freedom from divine judgment, leaving us to do what we like in the interim.
DeYoung shows that both extremes are dangerously unbiblical, drawing particular attention to the defeatist mentality that prevails in many of our churches. He addresses this hopelessness with the gospel of grace, showing its application for the whole of the Christian life.
The Defeatist Mentality
What is the defeatist mentality? DeYoung suggests it comes about when we begin to view the Christian life as impossible to live. This is evident when we begin to say things like ‘Sin is no big deal’ or ‘We should stop being so hard on ourselves’ (pp. 18-20). At some time or another, all Christians have consciously or subconsciously lived as if such an approach was true.
DeYoung argues that while well intentioned, the phrase ‘God loves us even though we are spiritual failures’ is ‘unbiblical, inaccurate, and unhelpful’ (p. 6). It is the product of a warped view of the Christian life:
“Humility does not mean we should feel miserable all the time; meekness is not the same as spiritual failurism. The Spirit works within us. The word moves among us. The love of Christ compels us” (p. 9).
DeYoung shows there is a better alternative: namely, a proper understanding of the relationship between justification and sanctification. That is, the connection between God’s acceptance of us in Christ, and our ongoing transformation into His likeness. While the book is not structured along these lines, it is imbued with these truths from beginning to end.
Only a proper understanding of these glorious doctrines can keep a despairing believer from hopelessness, whilst simultaneously humbling the overly ambitious who expect perfection in this life.
Hope for Believers
DeYoung’s writes that ‘Ordinary Christians and ordinary churches can be faithful, fruitful, and pleasing to God’ (p. 7). This will be a breath of fresh air for many who have fallen prey to unrealistic optimism on the one hand, or unbiblical pessimism on the other.
Encouragingly, DeYoung reminds us that ‘Christians are conquerors, not capitulators; overcomers, not succumbers (cf. Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21)’ (p. 37). Even though this language is from Scripture, many Christians wince at the idea that our faith is one of victory and triumph. Maybe this is because we are overreacting to the distortion of these truths by prosperity gospel preachers?
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