If You Are Struggling with Sin...

...remember that Jesus hates sin (and your sin in particular), and if you are in Christ today, He has dealt with it and is dealing with it through the cross and the power of the Spirit at work in you. I came across these words from Charles Spurgeon this morning (Owen consistently and sweetly asks at breakfast if we can read Morning and Evening, a wonderful 365-day devotional by Spurgeon that takes about 3 minutes to read together...I think he likes looking up the date for that morning):

"[Jesus] hates wickedness so much that He bled to wound it to the heart; He died that it might die; He was buried that He might bury it in his tomb; and He rose that He might for ever trample it beneath His feet."

How Should We Think about Good Works?

The gospel teaches us that we are saved by the grace of God, through faith, not because of our good works ("For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." -Eph. 2:8-9). So, as those who have been saved by grace through faith (not good works), how should we now think about good works? Paul answers that question in the very next verse in Ephesians ("For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." -Eph. 2:10).

Matthew Henry gives some good help in his commentary on this verse:

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, &c., v. 10. It appears that all is of grace, because all our spiritual advantages are from God. We are his workmanship; he means in respect of the new creation; not only as men, but as saints. The new man is a new creature; and God is its Creator. It is a new birth, and we are born or begotten of his will. In Christ Jesus, that is, on the account of what he has done and suffered, and by the influence and operation of his blessed Spirit. Unto good works, &c. The apostle having before ascribed this change to divine grace in exclusion of works, lest he should seem thereby to discourage good works, he here observes that though the change is to be ascribed to nothing of that nature (for we are the workmanship of God), yet God, in his new creation, has designed and prepared us for good works: Created unto good works, with a design that we should be fruitful in them. Wherever God by his grace implants good principles, they are intended to be for good works. Which God hath before ordained, that is, decreed and appointed. Or, the words may be read, To which God hath before prepared us, that is, by blessing us with the knowledge of his will, and with the assistance of his Holy Spirit; and by producing such a change in us. That we should walk in them, or glorify God by an exemplary conversation and by our perseverance in holiness."

Weariness and worship

I've been reading a great little book recently called The Ministry, by Charles Brown, a Scottish pastor in the 1800s. Much of what he says applies directly to ministers, but also has relevance for all Christians. I might string together a few great quotes over the next few days for your edification.

This first one jumped off the page at me and got me thinking about its implications not for public worship (which was Brown's intention) but for private worship (personal Bible reading, prayer, meditation on the Bible reading, etc.). In speaking about the inordinate length of some public prayers, Brown cautioned, "When weariness begins, devotion ends." When weariness begins in the worshipper (due to "unduly prolonged prayers"), it dampens a devotional spirit in the worshipper.

Boy is that true in private worship as well, and in all of life. When we are weary and tired, it is so much harder for us to be attentive to God's Word and to be earnest in prayer. We are more prone to be downcast, and to listen to the inner sermon of unbelief rather than the refreshing and reinvigorating truth of the Word. I think we should praise God that our access to Him is based not on our physical or emotional condition, but on the finished work of our great high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16). And when we are weary, we should recognize our heightened vulnerability to fleshly-mindedness, and lean hard into the grace of God for help and strength.

Starting again

A good pastor-friend of mine once gave me a simple and practical encouragement to persevere in a much-neglected daily Bible reading schedule by saying, "If you stop 1,000 times, just make sure you start 1,001 times!"

So, after about a 3-month break, I'm starting again on this blog. I hope to post things on here quite regularly that are a bit more brief and stream of consciousness-like. I know it will benefit me, and I hope that it will benefit you as well.