The Incarnation

Over the Christmas break, I had the privilege of preaching a short series of sermons before my home church. It was a brief, three-part series on a few of the results of the incarnation of Jesus into this world. They are posted on my sermons page, and you can also access them below:

The Incarnation (Advent Series 2013)
Date:	Title:	Scripture:	Recording:	Transcript:
Dec. 29, 2013	The Incarnation: Unshakable Hope	Ro. 5:1-5	MP3	PDF
Dec. 22, 2013	The Incarnation: A Merciful Priest	He. 2:14-18	MP3	PDF
Dec. 15, 2013	The Incarnation: Victorious Light	Jn. 1:1-14	MP3	PDF

I pray that God will use them to magnify His glory in your heart and encourage you.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Unassailable Acceptance

"Mark, believer, how sure and unchanging must be our acceptance, since it is in him! Take care that you never doubt your acceptance in Jesus. You cannot be accepted without Christ; but, when you have received his merit, you cannot be unaccepted. Notwithstanding all your doubts, and fears, and sins, Jehovah’s gracious eye never looks upon you in anger; though he sees sin in you, in yourself, yet when he looks at you through Christ, he sees no sin." ~ Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, evening March 28

What we celebrate on this day--Easter--is central to Christianity, and it guarantees our full, irremovable, unassailable acceptance before God. Is it historical? Absolutely. Is it important? Absolutely, for as Paul says, "...if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." (1 Co. 15:17) Christ's resurrection is essential for the completed work of salvation, for an unresurrected Christ still bears the guilt of sin and has secured nothing (1 Co. 15:14-17). As long as He remained in death the righteous character of His work as our federal head and Savior remained in question. Through His resurrection He secured justification (1 Ti. 3:16), adoption (Ro. 1:4), sanctification (Ro. 6:3-11), glorification (1 Co. 6:14), and eternal life (Ro. 6:4-8). Since we are united to Christ in His death and resurrection (Col. 2:12), we have all these things too. Without His resurrection we have nothing.

As Spurgeon says, "when you have received His merit, you cannot be unaccepted." When Paul said, "³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Ro. 8:38-39) he meant nothing can separate us from God if we are in Christ and that includes we ourselves. Nothing means nothing; so you cannot be unaccepted. If you have repented of your sin and accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you cannot make God love you any more or any less by anything you do. You are fully accepted before God in Christ, period. Bask in that truth today and every day, and go live a life of thankfulness to Him for it.

Someone might say, "All of my incentive goes away when I know that my acceptance with God does not depend on my success or failure in obedience." But, if you say that, you do not really know or understand the love of Christ. Let me give you an example. (It is a marriage one so for those of you who are not married, use your imagination.) Husbands, would you cheat on your wife, if you knew that she would love and forgive you anyway? (Wives, think about it from your perspective.) I doubt it. Why not? Because her unconditional love engenders your love and thankfulness, and you would not do that to someone you love, even if you knew for certain they would still love you if you did cheat. You would not bring yourself to hurt them that much for your own selfish gain because their love has engendered your reciprocating love and thankfulness. You would want to show them by not cheating how thankful you are for a love that would forgive you even if you did cheat. Now, if you would cheat, then you do not really understand her love or understand love at all and probably have never understood it.

True believers have been changed by the love of Christ and will want to please Him and show Him their thankfulness. In fact, the only people who get any better are those that know if they do not get any better, God will still love them anyway. Does that mean we will not sin? No, of course not (1 Jn. 1:8). But, we do when we forget the truth of the gospel and go looking for what we already have in Christ in some idol that is smaller than Him. We have hearts that are prone to wander, which is why we need to come back to the gospel over and over again. The gospel is not just the flame that ignites the Christian life, it is the fuel that makes it burn every day. Jonathan Edwards used to say, "The key to the Christian life is letting the gospel filter down into every aspect of your life both rationally and experientially." You need the gospel as much today as you did when you were still dead in your sins. Never forget that, and never forget that you "cannot be accepted without Christ; but, when you have received His merit, you cannot be unaccepted."

By His Grace,
Taylor

I Love the Church and the True Religion that Forms It

With all the word floating around the Internet about the video "Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus," I thought I would repost an article I wrote a while ago expressing why I love the Church. Now, do not get me wrong, as I said in the post previous to this one, there is a lot to like about Mr. Bethke's video. I also do not want to beat this subject to death, but those of you who know me know that I am a master of that (it is one of my many sins). When we start to emphasize the things we dislike about contradiction in the Church (one of the main reasons people say, "I hate religion"), we miss out on what the Church is, the true religion that formed it, and the many things to love about it. Below is why I love the Church reposted (and slightly updated):

Every Sunday, right before we take communion at my church, we repeat the words of the Apostle’s Creed. I must confess, sometimes I drone through them without really considering what they mean. However, many times lately the words "I believe in… the holy catholic Church…" have stuck in my mind. Believing that the catholic Church (i.e. the invisible, universal Church) is holy is tough, especially when those in the Church hurt me, hurt those I love, or embarrass me; but they are Jesus’ bride and my people, the "holy catholic Church".

Ronald Rolheiser, in his book The Holy Longing, wrote that "to be connected to the church is to be associated with scoundrels, warmongers, fakes, child-molesters, murderers, adulterers, and hypocrites of every description. It also, at the same time, identifies you with saints and the finest persons of heroic soul within every time, country, race, and gender…because the church always looks exactly as it looked at the original crucifixion, God hung among thieves." Most days I am one of those thieves and no one in their right mind would want to confess me as one of their own. There are other days, only by the grace of God, where I show a glimpse of the "heroic soul" that Mr. Rolheiser wrote about and someone might dare to claim me. Jesus, however, claims me and loves me on all those days, which means I need to do the same for the rest of His Church, His bride.

Loving the Church is hard sometimes. All of us know what it is like to be embarrassed or ticked off by someone in our family but they are our family and we love them. Well, the Church is my spiritual family (whom I will spend eternity with) and there are a lot more of them than in a normal family. There are millions, which means many more opportunities to be embarrassed or ticked off. I heard about a Christian congressman in Florida who wanted to make some law that would force all the science books to be rewritten to say that the earth is the center of the solar system. He claimed that the heliocentric model was all a sham and he tried to prove it from a gross misuse of the Bible. That really burns me up, but Jesus claims him as part of His bride so I cannot disown him. Every time I look at Joel Osteen I want to smack that stupid smile off his face and staple his lips shut, but (this may sound radical but I think it is true) he belongs to Jesus so he belongs to me. John Wesley used to really get under my skin (even though he has been dead for more than 200 years) until I started to read his journals and found things like, "Everybody who belongs to Jesus belongs to everybody who belongs to Jesus." He is right.

Being connected to the millions of the Church also means many more opportunities to be pleased and encouraged by "heroic souls." I could mention the hundreds of Christian organizations that fight hunger, sex trafficking, and all other sorts of injustice but that would be too obvious. I would rather write about my professor's fourteen-year-old daughters who love to sit and talk with the elderly at their church because his daughters "like to hear them talk about Jesus." That makes me proud. I would rather talk about how my church loves on the marginalized in our city—the men on the street, the addicts, and transgendered, to name a few. That makes me proud. I would rather talk about my hero, Steve Brown, who runs two ministries that could easily take up all his time and yet he still takes the time to mentor young seminarians like me. He gets a lot of flak from many Christians (some in my denomination) because of his radical teaching on grace but he does not retaliate (no matter how much he may want to) and practices what he preaches by giving them grace. He makes me proud. I have several missionary friends preaching the gospel in countries where there is civil unrest or it is a capital crime. They make me proud. At our PCA General Assembly last year I met a Palestinian Reformed Christian and a Messianic Jew who were working together to spread the gospel in Palestine. In a group meeting one of them said this when asked how the gospel makes Jews and Arabs relate differently:

I believe that in Christ we have a common ground so Jews and Arabs, yes, but the common ground is the gospel and is our Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ. Me as a Palestinian I have to choose day after day, if not moment by moment that I want to reconcile with my brothers, my Jewish brothers, because the challenge is an instant challenge, endless challenge. It is in my home. It is affecting me day after day. Therefore, I say that we have to be committed to each other. So it’s not just an emotional reaction. It’s not just that I love and pray for my brother, but I am committed through Christ who brings us into a new creation to be together, to be supportive to each other, to love each other, and to embrace each other…. So as a sum up for all this, I believe from all my heart, that we, Palestinian Christians, together with Messianic believers have a message that politicians have never delivered. It’s Christ, the Prince of Peace that makes us peace-makers and through that we can love and live a life that is worthy, a Kingdom life.

That makes me really proud and I feel honored to have known these men, men of whom the world is not worthy.

Entering into a covenant relationship with Jesus means being a part of His bride, the "holy catholic Church." He is a lot more accepting than I would be if I were Him, but that is why He is God and I am not. I may not always like her but the Church is His bride, so I must love her. She is an ugly bride, no doubt, but she is loved dearly by Him and will one day be fully conformed to His likeness. Until then, she is still my people and I can never forget that.

By His Grace,
Taylor

What is Sanctification?

"Union with Christ in his death and resurrection is the element of union which Paul most extensively expounds...if we are united to Christ, then we are united to him at all points of his activity on our behalf. We share in his death (we were baptized into his death), in his resurrection (we are resurrected with Christ), in his ascension (we have been raised with him), in his heavenly session (we sit with him in heavenly places, so that our life is hidden with Christ in God), and we will share in his promised return (when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory) (Rom. 6:14; Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-3). This, then, is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology. It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God's activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness." ~ Sinclair Ferguson

If you want to get a great summary of the Reformed, and I think correct, view of sanctification you can find it in Sinclair's article in Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification. His article is worth the price of the book alone, but it is also great to see other traditions' views presented by their best scholars and critiqued by each other. In a nutshell, below is how I would explain sanctification:

What is sanctification? From the Reformed perspective sanctification can be defined as the life-long process (Philippians 1:6) of our whole man being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) through the work of God’s grace (John 1:16; II Corinthians 9:8; 12:9) by the agency of the Spirit (Galatians 3:1-5; I Corinthians 6:11) applying the blessings of our union with Christ (John 14:20; 15:5; Ephesians 5:25-32) to us through the means of grace—the sacraments, the Word of God, and prayer.

When does this happen? In the logical order of salvation sanctification begins after our justification and adoption and continues until our glorification. One might ask, “Why is this important?” It is important because we must understand that the foundation for the transformative process of sanctification is our forensic standing before God. We are declared righteous and adopted into the family of God by being united to Christ through the Holy Spirit. Only on the certainty of this foundation can we truly understand the way of sanctification. The principal means of the believer’s sanctification is union with Christ. As Paul reminds the Galatians, this foundation assures us that sanctification is not by human effort—it began with faith in Christ, it will end with Christ, and in between it continues with faith in Christ (Galatians 3:1-5).

The key focus that needs to be brought out is that Christ Himself is our sanctification (I Corinthians 1:30) and it is only by our union with Him through the agency of the Spirit that we can “bear fruit” (John 15:5) in our Christian lives. Paul reminds us in Romans 6:5-8 that we were united with Christ in His death, we were united with Christ in His burial, and we are united with Christ in life. It is because of this union with Christ that we can “consider [ourselves] dead to sin and alive to God” (Romans 6:11). Being united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection broke our chains of slavery to sin and made us “slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:15-18). It is only because of the blessings of this union with Christ that Paul can pastorally say to his Roman audience, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body” (Romains 6:12) for it does not and cannot depend on “human effort” (Galatians 3:3).

If we are united to Christ and can have victory over our sin by this union why, then do we still sin? To understand this we must remember that God has replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26-27) and created in us a new, inner man—we are a new creation in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17)—but since we have not yet been glorified with Christ the old, outer man still persists (Ephesians 4:22-23). The flesh has been defeated, but the loser still fights. We will not be completely free of sin until we are glorified with Christ and the old man is completely done away with.

How does the Spirit reshape us into the image of God? It is not by works that the Spirit molds us into the image of Christ. Good works do not produce holiness. It is the grace of God working in us by the Spirit through faith in Christ that produces holiness. How then do we receive this grace? The Spirit applies this grace to our lives through the use of the means of grace—the Word of God, the sacraments, and prayer. This is contrary to our normal was of thinking. We feel like we have to do something—that we must bring something to the table. However, we do not bring anything to the table, we rest in Christ. Sanctification, like justification, is by faith in Christ. We do this by letting the Spirit minister to our hearts through the Word of God (the reading, study, and especially the preaching of the Word in public worship), the observing of the sacraments during worship, and prayer (private and corporate). By the Spirit’s work through the means of grace we can respond with works of thankfulness to the unconditional love of God shown in the gospel. By the Spirit’s work through the means of grace we draw near to Christ and let the Spirit sanctify us in Him.

By His Grace,

Taylor

Unity Amid Diversity

"[Unity] is not achieved by hunting enthusiastically for the lowest common theological denominator, but by common adherence to the apostolic gospel, by love that is joyfully self-sacrificing, by undaunted commitment to the shared goals of the mission with which Jesus’ followers have been charged, by self-conscious dependence on God himself for life and fruitfulness. It is a unity necessarily present, at least in nuce, amongst genuine believers; it is a unity that must be brought to perfection (v. 23)." ~ D. A. Carson

This past Sunday I was given the opportunity to preach before my church family. I decided to speak on something that all Christians need to hear and that is difficult for all of us--unity. The passage I preached from is John 17:20-23 where Jesus prays for the unity of His Church.

I could say more but the sermon pretty much sums up what I know on the subject. You can read my manuscript here or listen to it here. I pray that it encourages and challenges you on this important subject.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Pentecost and the OT Believers

"It is fair to say that everything said in the New Testament about the Spirit’s work looks forward or traces back to Pentecost; everything pivots on Pentecost (along with the death and resurrection of Christ)." ~ Richard Gaffin, Perspectives on Pentecost (pg. 14)

I just recently finished a class on the Holy Spirit, which I took from the RTS Virtual Campus. Before taking this class I had, from time-to-time, wondered about the nature of the Holy Spirit's relationship with the Old Testament (OT) saints and how His relationship with believers changed at Pentecost. I agree with Gaffin's statement above but I still wanted to know what changed. Since starting this class, that question had come into my mind often and I must admit that I did not have an adequate answer. I also did not really get an answer from the class, at least not a detailed one. So, since this class had a final paper that was 45% of the grade, I decided to do it on this topic so I could (hopefully) get an answer to my question (and hopefully a good grade too). If you have ever wondered that, then you might find this paper helpful. If you do read it, let me know what you think.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Justice Demands

"The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep, and pleads that they must therefore go free. The Surety is bound, and justice demands that those for whom He stands a substitute should go their way." ~ Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Morning March 26

There is an anecdote (which I cannot confirm) that tells the story of a conversation between Spurgeon and one of his congregation. As the story goes, the member came up to Sprugeon, after a particularly good sermon on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ being the only way to obtain eternal life, and asked him, "Pastor Spurgeon, what would you do if you got to the gates of heaven and God did not grant you entrance." Without missing a beat Spurgeon replied, "I would demand to be let in!"

Whether the story is true or not, it brings up an interesting point. Could we ever make demands of God? Could we demand to be let into heaven? If you have placed your faith in the propitiatory sacrifice (satisfying God's wrath) of Christ then you could. I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." God is not only faithful to forgive our sins if we come to Him on the basis of the righteousness of Christ; He is just in doing so. In fact, it would be unjust for God to refuse if we come on the basis of Christ's righteousness alone. Why? Romans 3:23-26 tells us the answer,

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

The emphasis in the last verse is my own, which I added to bring attention to the part of the verse that I want to focus on. Because of the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, God can both justify sinners (declare them not guilty and righteous on account of Christ) and be just in doing so. It is just because Christ took the punishment for our sin (became a propitiatory sacrifice for us) and imputed to our account His perfect righteousness. Since Christ took our punishment and we have His righteousness it would be unjust for God to do anything other than declare us not guilty and righteous--to justify us. So Christians can confidently before God because, as Spurgeon says above, "justice demands that those for whom He stands a substitute should go their way."

As Easter approaches consider this: "³³Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is to condemn?" ~ Romans 8:33-34a. If you are His, then you can rejoice because nothing can separate you from His love... nothing (Romans 8:35).

By His Grace,
Taylor

All I Have is Christ

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me.
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose.
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You.
~ "All I Have is Christ" by Jordan Kauflin

Tonight at our evening service our worship leader, Adam Snow, played this song. It was the first time I had ever heard it and I really like it because the first two verses chronicle how we are drawn to Christ by His love, not our choosing, and the last I take to be a prayer for the Spirit to conform us to Christ's likeness so we can be used by God for His glory. My only boast is truly Him, even though I often pridefully, arrogantly find other things to boast in. This song reminds me of a quote by my friend Steve Brown when he was preaching on the prodigal son, "Don't forget the pigs... the further they get away the better they start looking... Always remember where He found you; don't forget the pigs..." If we truly remembered that (essentially the content of the first two verses of this song) our only boast would be Him.

By His Grace,
Taylor

One holy catholic Church...

Every Sunday, right before we take communion at my church, we repeat the words of the Apostle’s Creed. I must confess, sometimes I drone through them without really considering what they mean. However, many times lately the words "I believe in… the holy catholic Church…" have stuck in my mind. Believing that the catholic Church (that is, universal Church) is holy is tough, especially when those in the Church hurt me, hurt those I love, or embarrass me; but they are Jesus’ bride and my people, the "holy catholic Church."

Ronald Rolheiser, in his book The Holy Longing, wrote that "to be connected to the church is to be associated with scoundrels, warmongers, fakes, child-molesters, murderers, adulterers, and hypocrites of every description. It also, at the same time, identifies you with saints and the finest persons of heroic soul within every time, country, race, and gender…because the church always looks exactly as it looked at the original crucifixion, God hung among thieves." Most days I am one of those thieves and no one in their right mind would want to confess me as one of their own. There are other days, only by the grace of God, where I show a glimpse of the "heroic soul" that Mr. Rolheiser wrote about and someone might dare to claim me. Jesus, however, claims me and loves me on all those days, which means I need to do the same for the rest of His Church, His bride.

Loving the Church is hard sometimes. All of us know what it is like to be embarrassed or ticked off by someone in our family but they are our family and we love them. Well, the Church is my spiritual family (with whom I will spend eternity) and there are a lot more of them than in a normal family. There are millions, which means many more opportunities to be embarrassed or ticked off. I heard about a Christian congressman in Florida who wanted to make some law that would force all the science books to be rewritten to say that the earth is the center of the solar system. He claimed that the heliocentric model was all a sham and he tried to prove it from a gross misuse of the Bible. That really burns me up, but Jesus claims him as part of His bride so I cannot disown him. Every time I look at Joel Osteen I want to smack that annoying smile off his face and staple his lips shut, but (this may sound radical but I think it is true) he belongs to Jesus so he belongs to me. John Wesley used to really get under my skin (even though he has been dead for more than 200 years) until I started to read his journals and things like, "Everybody who belongs to Jesus belongs to everybody who belongs to Jesus." He is right.

Being connected to the millions of the Church also means many more opportunities to be pleased and encouraged by "heroic souls." I could mention the hundreds of Christian organizations that fight hunger, sex trafficking, and all other sorts of injustice but that would be too obvious. I would rather write about my professor's fourteen-year-old daughters who love to sit and talk with the elderly at their church because his daughters "like to hear them talk about Jesus." That makes me proud. I would rather talk about how my church loves on the marginalized in our city—the men on the street, the addicts, and transgendered, to name a few. That makes me proud. I would rather talk about my hero, Steve Brown, who runs two ministries that could easily take up all his time and yet he still takes the time to mentor young seminarians like me. He gets a lot of flak from many Christians (some in my denomination) because of his radical (biblical) teaching on grace but he does not retaliate (no matter how much he may want to) and practices what he preaches by giving them grace. He makes me proud. I have several missionary friends preaching the gospel in countries where there is civil unrest or it is a capital crime. They make me proud.

Entering into a covenant relationship with Jesus means being a part of His bride, the "holy catholic Church." He is a lot more accepting than I would be if I were Him, but that is why He is God and I am not. I may not always like her but the Church is His bride so I must love her. She is an ugly bride, no doubt, but she is loved dearly by Him and will one day be fully conformed to His likeness. Until then, she is still my people and I can never forget that.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Decrease, the Character of the Kingdom

"The character of ministry is not measured by how many follow this minister but by how many follow Jesus." ~ Adam Powers

Adam is a seminary classmate of mine and also a fellow intern at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church. Today he preached a great sermon in our second service on John 3:22-36 which you can listen to here (I would highly recommend it). The above quote is my favorite from his whole sermon. He was focusing on how John the Baptist shows us we will have true joy when Jesus increases and we decrease. Ministries, pastors, authors, etc. are all great things but they are not measured by how many people follow them but by how many people follow Jesus because of the impact of their ministry. John the Baptist's joy was made complete when he saw people going to Jesus (not to him). This was his joy because that is what his ministry was all about, pointing to Jesus.

It reminds me of what the first question of the Westminster Short Catechism says: "What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." There is one end, singular, but two things are intimately bound up in it: glorifying God and enjoying Him. We cannot have one without the other. Pointing to Jesus will be our greatest joy. When we glorify Him we, like John the Baptist, will find our joy complete.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Church III

I have written on my love for the Church twice here and here. One thing I love about the Reformed tradition of the Church is how it has always been a confessional tradition. Today I read Article 27 of the Belgic Confession, which is about the Church and I wanted to share it:

We believe and confess one single catholic or universal Church--
    a holy congregation and gathering of true Christian believers,
    awaiting their entire salvation in Jesus Christ being washed by His blood,
    and being sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
This Church has existed from the beginning of the world and will last until the end,
    as appears from the fact that Christ is the eternal King who cannot be without subjects.
And this holy Church is preserved by God against the rage of the whole world,
    even though for a time it may appear very small in the eyes of men--
      as though it were snuffed out.
For example, during the very dangerous time of Ahab,
    the Lord preserved for Himself seven thousand men who did not bend their knees to Baal.
And so this holy Church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain placeor certain persons.
    But it is spread and dispersed throughout the entire world,
    though still joined and united in heart and will,
    in one and the same Spirit, by the power of faith.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Church II

I have come with one purpose
To capture for myself a bride 
By my life she is lovely 
By my death she’s justified 

I have always been her husband 
Though many lovers she has known 
So with water I will wash her 
And by my word alone 

So when you hear the sound of the water 
You will know you’re not alone 

Chorus:
‘Cause I haven’t come for only you
But for my people to pursue
You cannot care for me with no regard for her
If you love me you will love the Church

I have long pursued her 
As a harlot and a whore 
But she will feast upon me 
She will drink and thirst no more 

So when you taste my flesh and my blood 
You will know you’re not alone 

Chorus:
There is none that can replace her 
Though there are many who will try 
And though some may be her bridesmaids 
They can never be my bride

This song is by Derek Webb. He is a member of Caedmon's Call and also does side projects on his own. Caedmon's Call is one of my favorite bands and his solo stuff is also very good. I love the lyrics to his songs (and Caedmon's Call's songs) because they are so rich and have so many poetic allusions to biblical stories and/or doctrine. This one in particular I really like because of the bridge lyrics:

   So when you hear the sound of the water 

   You will know you’re not alone 

   ...

   So when you taste my flesh and my blood 

   You will know you’re not alone 

Seeing baptism and taking the Eucharist, among many other spiritual signs and symbols they represent, reminds me of the greater covenant community that Christians are a part of. The Eucharist is a covenant meal, which is an act of covenantal ratification much like the meal shared by the elders of Israel before God in Exodus 24. It proclaims Christ, seals the benefits of union to Christ in believers, spiritually nourishes the believer, and pledges the believer’s fidelity to Christ and His body. (I wrote a paper called "Covenant-Renewing Worship" that speaks some about this.) Baptism is a covenant sign that brings the children of believers, or new believers, into the covenant community so when you "hear" the water you know that you are not alone. 

Last week at church we had two baptisms: the baby of a member couple of the church and a believer's baptism of a young woman who had grown up Muslim (nominal Muslim, but Muslim none-the-less). Seeing both of those really encouraged me. When the baby was baptized I thought, "This is a lucky child because he will grow up in a covenant family that will love and support him." When the believer was baptized I thought, "She is now one of my own." I do not know her personally but she is now a professed Christian and part of the covenant community of the Church and just knowing that another has been brought into the Kingdom is encouraging. They were both encouraging because, like the song says, seeing them reminded me that I am not alone. Like John Wesley says, "Everyone who belongs to Jesus belongs to everyone who belongs to Jesus" (whether we like it or not). 

By His Grace,
Taylor

Church

"…to be connected to the church is to be associated with scoundrels, warmongers, fakes, child-molesters, murderers, adulterers, and hypocrites of every description. It also, at the same time, identifies you with saints and the finest persons of heroic soul within every time, country, race, and gender…because the church always looks exactly as it looked at the original crucifixion, God hung among thieves." ~ Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing

I love the Church. It may sound crazy but I do. All of us knows what it is like to be embarrassed or ticked off by someone in our family but they are our family we love them. Well, the Church is my extended family and there are a lot more of them than in a normal family. There are millions, which means many more opportunities to be embarrassed or ticked off. I heard about a Christian congressman in Florida who wanted to make some law that would force all the science books to be rewritten to say that the earth is the center of the solar system. He claimed that the heliocentric model was all a sham and he tried to prove it from a gross misuse of the Bible. That really burns me up, but he is one of mine. Every time I look at Joel Osteen I want to smack that stupid smile off his face and staple his lips shut, but he is one of mine. Ken Ham's bad science embarrasses me as a Christian scientist, but I cannot disown him because he is one of mine. John Wesley used to really piss me off (even though he has been dead for more than 200 years) until I started to read his journals and things like, "Everybody who belongs to Jesus belongs to everybody who belongs to Jesus."

There are some great things too. I could mention the hundreds of Christian social organizations that fight hunger, sex trafficking, and all other sorts of injustice but that would be too obvious. I would rather write about my professor's fourteen-year-old daughters who love to sit and talk with the elderly at their church because his daughters "like to hear them talk about Jesus". That makes me proud. I would rather talk about my friends whose marriage almost fell apart but they stuck it out because they are true to their vows and they love Jesus. They make me proud. I would rather talk about my hero, Steve Brown, who runs two ministries that could easily take up all his time and yet he still takes the time to mentor young seminarians like me. He gets a lot of flack from many Christians (some in my denomination) because of his radical teaching on grace but he does not retaliate (no matter how much he may want to) and practices what he preaches by giving them grace. He makes me proud.

Entering into a covenant relationship with Jesus means being a part of His bride, which is the Church. He is a lot more accepting than I would be if I were Him, but that is why He is God and I am not. The Church is His bride. She is an ugly bride, no doubt, but she is loved dearly by Him and will one day be fully conformed to His likeness. But until then they are still mine and I can never forget that.

By His Grace,
Taylor

Easter Devotions

Today we celebrate Jesus' victory over sin and death, a victory that His Church shares because of our union with Him. We can celebrate what Hosea prophesied, "[Christ] will ransom them from the power of the grave; [Christ] will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?" Hosea 13:14

In The Valley of Vision (a collection of Puritan prayers) there are a few prayers that I would like to share that express well what we celebrate on this day.

Love lustres at Calvary (pg. 76)
My Father,
   Enlarge my heart, warm my affections,
   open my lips,
   supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres
      at Calvary.’
There grace removes my burdens and heaps them
      on thy Son,
   made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;
There the sword of Thy justice smote the man,
      Thy fellow;
There Thy infinite attributes were magnified,
   and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due,
   and infinite punishment was endured.
Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
   cast off that I might be brought in,
   trodden down as an enemy
      that I might be welcomed as a friend,
   surrendered to hell’s worst
      that I might attain heaven’s best,
   stripped that I might be clothed,
   wounded that I might be healed,
   athirst that I might drink,
   tormented that I might be comforted,
   made a shame that I might inherit glory,
   entered darkness that I might have eternal light.
My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped
      from my eyes,
   groaned that I might have endless song,
   endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
   bore a thorny crown that I might have
      a glory-diadem,
   bowed His head that I might uplift mine,
   experienced reproach that I might receive
      welcome,
   closed His eyes in death that I might gaze
      on unclouded brightness,
   expired that I might for ever live.
O Father, who spared not Thine only Son that Thou
      mightest spare me,
All this transfer Thy love designed and
      accomplished;
Help me to adore Thee by lips and life.
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise,
   my every step buoyant with delight, as I see my
      enemies crushed,
   satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,
   sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,
   hell’s gates closed, heaven’s portal open.
Go forth, O conquering God, and show me
   the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

Resurrection (pg. 86)
Great was the joy of Israel's sons,
   when Egypt died upon the shore,
   Far greater joy
   when the Redeemer's foe lay crushed
   in the dust.
Jesus strides forth as the Victor,
   conqueror of death, hell, and all opposing
      might;
He bursts the bands of death,
   tramples the powers of darkness down,
   and lives for ever.
He, my gracious surety,
   apprehended for payment of my debt,
   comes forth from the prison house of the grave
   free, and triumphant over sin, satan, and death.
Show me herein the proof that His vicarious offering is accepted,
   that the claims of justice are satisfied,
   that the devil's scepter is shivered,
   that his wrongful throne is leveled.
Give me the assurance that in Christ I died,
   in Him I rose,
   in His life I live, in His victory I triumph,
   in His ascension I shall be glorified.
Adorable Redeemer,
   Thou who wast lifted up upon a cross
   art ascended to the highest heaven.
Thou, who as Man of sorrows
   wast crowned with thorns,
   art now as Lord of life wreathed with glory.
Once, no shame more deep than Thing,
   no agony more bitter,
   no death more cruel.
Now, no exaltation more high,
   no life more glorious,
   no advocate more effective.
Thou art in the triumph car leading the captive
   Thine enemies behind Thee.
What more could be done than Thou has done!
   Thy death is my life,
   Thy resurrection my peace,
   Thy ascension my hope,
   Thy prayers my comfort.

May these words from saints of old bless your heart on this glorious day. May we all remember that His death is our life and His resurrection our peace.

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Effects of Love

"When Jesus saw... the disciple whom he loved standing nearby..." ~ John 19:26

The "disciple whom [Jesus] loved" is generally agreed to be the apostle John. He was one of the inner three disciples who enjoyed a special relationship with Jesus. When Jesus saw John in the above verse He was hanging on the cross. I think it is interesting that he was the only disciple who did not flee when Jesus was arrested and he refers to himself as "the disciple whom [Jesus] loved". Did John think that Jesus did not love the other disciples? I doubt it. Did the other disciples not know that Jesus loved them? Probably not. However, it seems that John understood the love of Jesus much more deeply than the rest of the disciples and it affected him greatly. It gave him the courage to stand at the foot of the cross when most others had fled.

It is a good week to think about this love and the powerful effect it has. May we all be compelled by such "perfect love" that "drives out fear" (I John 4:18).

By His Grace,
Taylor

Just This Once?

"It is easy to tell a lie but hard to tell only one." ~ Sissela Bok, Lying

What a true statement. How easy is it for us to justify "white lies" by saying, "Just this once because I am afraid of what might happen" or "Just this once because I do not want to look bad"? The problem is that once we tell one lie (which is already pretty easy) it is a little easier to tell the next lie and then the next lie, so on and so forth. Soon our attitude snowballs and it is nearly impossible to stop.

Why do we lie? I would argue that we lie either our of fear or pride--fear of some type of consequence or pride in thinking that we deserve something be it an object or glory.

Fortunately the gospel offers a remedy. First, we are united to Christ and Christ is the truth (John 14:6). When you are united to the Truth and have His fullness that gives you "grace upon grace" it is impossible not to be changed by it. Second, when the King of the universe has set His intensive love upon you fear is driven out and pride is destroyed. How can we be prideful when we know who we are before God and what He had to do to bring us back to Him? How can we be afraid when the God of the universe has set His love upon us and promised to be with us always? This, of course, does not mean that the moment we become Christians we stop lying, not at all. I believe that successes and failures directly relate to how much or little we really believe the truth of the gospel. Some days it is in our hearts and in our minds and we can easily say, "I do not need to lie about this." Other days our belief falters and likewise go our actions. This is why Jonathan Edwards said, "The key to the Christian life is letting the gospel work its way down into our lives both rationally and experientially." Fortunately on all days we can always come to our Father and know that nothing can be done to make Him love us any more or any less. His love is constantly and infinitely intensive on His children.

By His Grace,
Taylor