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By Whose Authority/Preface

Jlmsgm — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:52:38 GMT

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Family Traits

Jlmsgm — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:23:59 GMT

Jlmsgm:

{{MasterHeader|author= Dr. Wynn Kenyon|partnerurl= http://www.ligonier.org|partner= Ligonier Ministries|date= 16 June 2008|topic= No Topic |mediatype= article |lang= English|editor= n/a |translator= |levels= 1 |reviewed= Not Reviewed |newtitle= Family Traits}}

     The family is central to the biblical ethic. It is the primary image of the relationship of the saints to God. The work of Christ was required to bring about regeneration and adoption, making believers heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. And the book of Revelation culminates in the wedding feast of the Lamb. Given the significance of this concept, what does it mean to live a life “worthy of this calling?” What should family members look like? To answer these questions we turn to the biblical narrative.

     Why was the family instituted? God’s observation in Genesis 2:18 that “it is not good that the man should be alone” does not contradict the sevenfold “it is good” of Genesis 1. Rather, it gives us a correct notion of man. Individuals were not made to exist in isolation, but in community, just as the triune God exists in community. Because we are created in the image of God, we are relational beings. The difference between God and man is that the persons of the Godhead don’t grow into perfection where humans do. Since “it is not good that the man should be alone,” God made “a helper fit for him.” God created woman and established the family, along with other significant social structures to meet this need. God designed the family to be the primary institution to give children the moral and rational tools to subdue the earth. God created the bonding that naturally occurs (that is, family ties) as well as natural instincts and declared them good. However, the structure of family and community are useless without some sense of moral direction and purpose. So, God gives the law. We are to love God first and our neighbor as ourselves. The law requires equal respect for all image-bearers and protects their basic rights. The law also requires social responsibilities, establishing obligations upon individuals to promote those social institutions (for example, family) needed for people to grow into responsible stewards of God’s will on earth. Genesis carefully balances the significance and purpose of the family.

     Adam’s sin destroyed the Genesis balance, bringing alienation from God, ourselves, others, and the world. Satan’s victory “appeared” final. Death reigned supreme over mankind. But God came bringing the Great Reversal. He put hatred between Satan and the woman and between their offspring. “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (3:15). Bruising (crushing) the heel is a painful injury; bruising (crushing) the head is fatal. God cursed the serpent, declaring that God would bring victory and life to man through the seed of the woman. Adam understood God’s promise and named his wife Eve “because she was the mother of all living” (v. 20). Moses tells us this hope continues through Abraham to all the nations of the earth (12:3), and Paul informs us that it is complete in Christ (Gal. 3:29).

     But how? The moral law reveals man’s guilt. How can guilty persons come into the presence of the holy God? The ceremonial law shows us that the death of a substitute provides the way. Isaiah prophesied the coming of the Messiah who gives us peace with God by bearing our sin (53:5–6). What’s more, this salvation reaches “to the end of the earth” (49:6). Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Before He ascended to His Father, Jesus tells His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:18–20). This job is for the whole family of God, not just its leaders. Paul closes his letter to the Romans: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20).

     Mark tells of a confrontation between Jesus and His family. Thinking Him insane, they desired to seize Him (Mark 3:21). The crowd tells Jesus: “‘Your mother and brothers are outside, seeking you.’ And he answered them, ‘Who are my mother and brothers?’ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother’” (3:32–35). His “easy dismissal” of His family does not contradict the teaching of Genesis. Rather, His action illustrates the Genesis balance. Jesus knew He was the prophesied sacrifice, for He refers to Isaiah 53:10 when He says He came to give His life as a ransom (Mark 10:45). He knew His work was essential to salvation. At first, because many of His family did not understand this, the family structure designed to promote the plan of God was actually hindering it. Hence Jesus says that those who do the will of God are His family. However, Jesus is not rejecting the importance of the family. Mark also records Jesus’ condemnation of the scribal tradition, which allowed a son to declare his property an offering to God, freeing him from the filial responsibilities of the Law (Mark 7:11–13), and Paul says that God’s servant who does not care for his own family is worse than an infidel (1 Tim. 5:8).

     Jesus knew that truth is like a BB balancing upon a razor’s edge. A little to the left or right (it makes no difference) and you fall into error. Jesus was also aware of what we call “slippery slopes,” for He condemns the attitude that leads to sinful acts as well as the external acts. But Jesus knew that there are always more than just one slippery slope. The Bible teaches both the importance of the family and that its purpose is to cultivate faithful stewards to rule so that God’s will is done on earth.

     Living in a time when the family is under attack, the real danger is idolizing the family. We hear “the family first” and may be tempted to say “amen.” But Jesus will have none of this. When family is first, God plays second fiddle. The idolization of the family is a problem that kept many Jews from coming to Christ. Their pride in being the natural seed of Abraham (John 8:40) kept many of them from the Christ who calls His people from all the nations.

     We are now ready to answer important questions. Firstly, what should the family look like, and what vision should it have? Clearly, individual families should be unified, actively pursuing the growth of all its members. Since this growth must be consistent with the purpose of the family, the larger family of God should consist of people from all nations. Indeed, our individual churches should reflect this truth in their membership as they actively promote discipling the nations. More than being just interested in increasing heaven’s population, we should desire that God’s will be done on earth. This is neither an exclusive call to foreign nor home missions; rather, we must pursue the delicate balance. Believers must first care for their own (1 Tim. 5:8), but we may idolize neither our family nor our nation.

     Secondly, how do we achieve this goal? We need to understand rightly the church militant. This is not a call to arms, nor is it a call to out-shout our adversaries. The church militant reminds us to let our light shine so that men might see our good works (that is, love of God and love of neighbor) and glorify the Father (Matt. 5:16). We must cultivate this love and keep the new commandment Christ gave us, that we love others just as Christ loved us (John 13:34). The new commandment is that we exemplify Christ’s self-sacrificing love. In fact, Jesus tells us that this visible demonstration of love is what enables others to know we are His disciples (v. 35). And in His High-Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed for this visible love within His church “so that the world may believe” (John 17:21). We need to imitate persistently Christ’s self-sacrificing love, because the brighter it shines the more effective is our work. When Abraham’s children balance faithfulness to God’s word with an appreciation for legitimate cultural expressions of that truth, this light shines brightly.

     What effect should this have on our outreach? Churches often reason, “Since resources are limited, helping the poor and oppressed hurts our evangelism.” But this is wrong. Not only are we to help the poor and oppressed, we are to do good to our enemies. Jesus tells us to love our enemies so that we may be sons of God (Matt. 5:43ff.). This does not teach that we earn our sonship. Instead, the sons of God love as God loves, and God makes the sun rise on both the evil and good. In fact, Jesus here teaches that demonstrating love in these difficult situations is the true test of love. If we only love those who love us, our love is the same as the publican’s. But love also shines most brightly when done in difficult situations. A small candle in the dark is more easily seen than a big candle in bright sunlight. Directing resources toward the poor and oppressed is not only a true test of our love, but a chance for it to shine brightly. Remember, Jesus prayed for this display of love so that the world might believe. Rather than hurting, this would help our evangelism.

     Devout Christians sometimes balk at this because they think it sounds liberal. True, liberal theology emphasizes love to the neglect of truth. But the family of God is to emphasize love and truth, trying to keep the BB on the razor’s edge. Perhaps, in conclusion, we should emphasize that true obedience requires awareness of all slippery slopes, and not so focusing on one that we unconsciously slide down the other. What should the family of God look like? Individually and corporately, it should look like Christ who carefully kept the balance between inward unity and outward mercy.

Building up the Body

Jlmsgm — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:17:26 GMT

Jlmsgm:

{{MasterHeader|author= Rev. Ken Jones|partnerurl= [http://www.ligonier.org/]|partner= Ligonier Ministries|date= 16 June 2008|topic= No Topic|mediatype= article|lang= English|editor= n/a|translator= |levels= 1|reviewed= Not Reviewed|newtitle=Building Up the Body}}      Make no mistake about it, ours is a culture of specialization and niche marketing. From vegetarian or vegan restaurants to the most obscure hobby, entrepreneurs have found a way to tap into every conceivable niche market. And just as the church has borrowed other trends and techniques from the marketing world, niche marketing has been no exception. It should come as no surprise that para-church ministries and organizations have a target audience that they aim for, but we are seeing an increasing number of Christian churches that are shaping their ministries to reach a particular niche market. Sometimes this trend is the result of a subtle shift in the church’s ministry as they minister to a particular segment of the congregation. For instance, a church with a growing number of college age members may develop programs geared to meet the needs of that group. Concern for this group can evolve from a Sunday School class, to a small group fellowship, to a series of sermons tailored for that group, music that would appeal to that group, and on and on until the church has the character and reputation of being “a church for college students.” You can substitute “college student” with any other group or special interest such as family, young marrieds, business people, ad infinitum, but the end result is the same, a special interest-groups church, with a certain target audience.

     But while some churches evolve to this point, others are planned and planted with the intention of catering to a specific group. Whether the specialty church is the result of efforts to meet the needs of a particular group within a given congregation, or of a church plant with a target audience in mind, the result is the same — an unnecessarily unbalanced and unhealthy church. This may appear to be an overstatement, but consider a family where one child is catered to and another is neglected. This is to the detriment of both. The one that is catered to develops unrealistic expectations and possibly a sense of entitlement. While the one that is neglected is made to feel inferior and at times even unloved, if not resentful of the favored child. But let’s consider a church scenario. A friend once told of an elderly widow who visited his church because her pastor was starting a prolonged series of sermons on sex. She understood the importance of addressing this subject from a biblical and pastoral perspective, but several weeks on the subject was more than she needed. Or, take a church that tailors its ministry to families with children, not only will such an emphasis not minister to those who are not married and have no children, but it could also prompt them to become discontent in their state. Contrary to what some may think or say (even many Christians), everyone that is single is not necessarily looking to be married. I have heard the complaints of unmarried Christians about the subtle pressures placed on them (sometimes in the context of singles ministries) to find a suitable mate, when finding a mate is the least of their concerns. In fact, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 7:8, 32–35 suggest that single Christians have fewer hindrances when it comes to serving the Lord. It is the responsibility of church leaders to provide an atmosphere that nurtures and edifies the whole covenant family.

     Of course there is a place for special interest or small group ministries in the church. But I wonder if the contemporary church has made these secondary auxiliary ministries the driving force and defining character of the church. In other words, if a local church does not have a youth ministry, or a young adult fellowship, does this mean that church has nothing to offer youth and young adults? Have these special interest groups become the cornerstone of the church? On the contrary, the apostle Paul presents a different picture. In Ephesians 4:11–16 he says that Christ has given His church pastor-teachers to the whole body (family) for some very specific purposes:

     First, they are for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. Edmund Clowney in his book, The Church, says that the work of ministry consists in three things: serving God in worship, the world in missions and evangelism, and each other in nurture. Our gifts and participation in these things may differ, but our commitment to them should be equal.

     Another purpose of the church in its ministry to the whole family is “building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God” (Eph. 4:12–13). Knowledge of the person and work of Christ is important to the whole body.

     Thirdly, it is the duty of the church to build up the family so they are not easily deceived “by every wind of doctrine.” In other words, the family of God must be instructed in what we believe and why.

     A fourth purpose of the church to the whole family is the stressing of our organic unity. Paul says “the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (v. 16).

     If these things are our primary focus, then each member of the family will be equipped to serve, they will recognize their individual value to the body and appreciate the value of their brothers and sisters, as we uphold our common faith, and glorify our heavenly Father.

Nurture and Admonition

Jlmsgm — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:08:44 GMT

Jlmsgm:

{{MasterHeader|author= Greg Bailey |partnerurl= http://www.ligonier.org |partner= Ligonier Ministries |date= 16 June 2008|series= |categorytopic= No Topic |mediatype= article|lang= English|editor= n/a|translator= |levels= 1|reviewed= Not Reviewed|newtitle=Nurture and Admonition}}

     The young couple stood before our congregation that Sunday morning holding a tiny baby recently adopted into their family. They had come to have the sign of water baptism applied to him, the sign of their faith in God’s promise that their son will be adopted into the family of God.

     But in addition to the baptism, another adoption took place that day, during that very service. After asking the couple to publicly acknowledge their son’s need of the cleansing blood of Christ, to claim God’s promises on his behalf, and to dedicate their child unreservedly to God, the pastor turned to those of us in the congregation and asked, “Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting these parents in the Christian nurture of this child?” In response, we solemnly but joyfully raised our hands to take on that responsibility. With that, the couple’s tiny child became, in a very real sense, ours.

     Now what? Simply put, the same responsibility that resides with the parents now resides with all of us who took that vow — we must raise him in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Yes, the child’s mother and father will see to his immediate physical needs, though we need to be there to help feed him, rock him, or change his diaper if the parents are providentially hindered from doing so. And yes, those parents are the point people for the child’s spiritual upbringing, but those of us who took that vow that day have committed ourselves to unite around that family to help in raising that child, and especially in nurturing him spiritually.

     What does that look like? In spiritual terms, it looks very much like parenting one’s own covenant children. We need to be doing the same things those parents committed themselves to do.

     The couple vowed that morning to set before their son a godly example. We who were in the congregation that day should do the same. He ought to grow up witnessing a body of believers gathering joyfully each Lord’s Day to worship the one, true God, praying, singing, and receiving the Word preached along with the sacraments. He needs to be exposed to people who use their spiritual gifts in sacrificial service to the body — devoted nursery workers and Sunday school teachers, deacons with hearts for orphans and widows, and committed elders who pray and teach. And he must see us beyond the sanctuary walls, living out our faith as neighbors and community members. In short, he needs to see the Christian faith practiced in as many lives as possible. We understand that we live coram Deo, before the face of God. We also ought to consciously live as though little eyes were watching — as they often are.

     That mother and father also vowed to pray with and for their child. Those of us who make up his church family must do the same. His name should be on our hearts and his picture on our refrigerator doors, that we might be reminded of him in the midst of daily life and lift him up to the throne. Moreover, we ought to have a list of every covenant child in the church, that we might pray through it regularly. Of course, we must keep in touch with the parents, that we might know the child’s needs so as to pray for him intelligently. And we ought to seize opportunities, during interactions with him, to pray with him about his needs and others’ needs that he recognizes.

     Furthermore, the couple promised that they would teach their son the doctrines of the Christian faith. One major aspect of this responsibility involves teaching the child to read and study the Scriptures. Some of us will have opportunities to assist the parents with this duty in formal ways — in Sunday school, in a home school co-op, or even in Christian or public school settings. But we need to use every chance, formal and informal, during ordinary interactions with the growing child to make eternal applications — just as we do with our own children. As Moses wrote, this kind of instruction needs to happen “‘when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise’” (Deut. 6:7b). Why should we limit this calling to our own children?

     Finally, the young man and woman who stood before our church that day vowed that they would “strive, by all the means of God’s appointment, to bring (him) up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” A committed father and mother will use every chance to teach and encourage a child in the faith, and we “adoptive parents” must do the same. This must be a major priority for us, for we are called to “strive” at it. Every opportunity God presents must be seized. Nurture and admonition must be employed. In short, the child needs to be saturated in the Gospel.

     All this calls for a level of involvement with one another in the local church that most of us rarely experience or even desire. Our interaction with most other families in our churches is superficial at best. We must intentionally resist this. Introduce yourself to other parents and to their children. That you might get to know them better, invite them into your home, having prepared it beforehand to welcome adults and little ones alike. Befriend the families of your children’s friends from Sunday school. Look for ways to minister to the youngsters of your church. Interact with them and learn their needs. Press the Gospel into their lives. See yourself as their foster parent, sharing the same responsibility as their true mothers and fathers.

     In truth, this kind of familial care should mark every relationship in the local church. We are called, after all, to “encourage [an older man] as you would a father” and to “treat younger men like brothers, older women like mothers, [and] younger women like sisters” (1 Tim. 5:1–2). We would certainly look after an aged parent or a beloved brother or sister, and the Scriptures call us to do no less for those who are also part of our churches. The Bible means what it says when it repeatedly uses family imagery in reference to the body of believers.

     Admittedly, beginning to love the children and others in our churches in a biblical way will require us to step out of our comfort zones forever. But it’s not optional. We have adopted, and have been adopted by, one another. It’s important that we act like it.

The Family of God

Jlmsgm — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:08:01 GMT

Jlmsgm:

{{MasterHeader|author= Iain Duguid |partnerurl= [http://www.ligonier.org] |partner= Ligonier Ministries |date= 16 June 2008 |topic= No Topic |mediatype= article |lang= English |editor= n/a |translator= |levels= 1 |reviewed= Not Reviewed |newtitle=The Family of God}}

     The theological doctrine of adoption is not one that readily comes to most people’s minds. It has often received short shrift in text books of systematic theology and in the church’s confessions, so it is little wonder that even people who can tell you clearly what they believe about justification and sanctification will often give you a blank look when you inquire about adoption. Yet properly understood, adoption is one of the most precious, heartwarming, and practical of all of our theological beliefs. It invites us to consider the amazing privilege that is ours that we should be called the children of God (1 John 3:1). Whereas justification rests primarily on a legal image and invites us to revel in the freedom that comes from our undeserved acquittal at the court of God’s judgment, adoption focuses our attention on a relational image and points us to the joy and assurance that comes from receiving a father who loves us and a family with whom we can enjoy our new freedom in Christ.

     Perhaps one reason that we fail to appreciate the privilege of being adopted as God’s children is because we have never considered ourselves to be orphans. We tend to think that by nature everybody is a child of God. After all, didn’t Paul tell the Athenian philosophers that we are all God’s offspring (Acts 17:29)? It is certainly true that there is a sense in which we all have a relationship to God by virtue of our creation in His image. This relationship gives each one of us an innate knowledge of God’s existence and of our duty to worship Him, which is the point Paul was making on Mars Hill. Yet the Scriptures make it clear that there is another sense in which we are not all by nature children of God: on the contrary, there are two families of people on this earth, the children of God and the children of the Devil, who are locked in a perpetual life and death conflict (John 8:44; 1 John 3:10).

     The biblical doctrine of adoption begins with Adam and Eve. Being created in the image of God, they were indeed God’s children, enjoying close fellowship with their heavenly Father daily in the garden of Eden. Yet with their fall, the image of God in them was marred and their relationship as children of God was lost. They became outcasts from the garden, alienated from the presence of God, children of His wrath. This is the condition into which all human beings are now born: aliens and strangers with respect to God (Eph. 2:3).

     Yet God was not content to leave us in this lost and desolate condition. Because He had chosen before the foundation of the world to have a family for Himself (Eph. 1:5), He acted in time and history to make their salvation a reality. Whereas Adam was God’s son by virtue of creation, Israel became God’s son through adoption (Ex. 4:22). This metaphor for the relationship between God and His people highlights clearly the element of grace in their relationship. There was nothing in Israel by nature that would have drawn God to her (Deut. 7:7). In fact, on the contrary, the prophet Ezekiel pictures Israel at this point in her history as a helpless baby, covered in blood and abandoned by her natural parents, yet chosen by God and brought into His family (Ezek. 16:6). Nor did she earn God’s favor through her subsequent behavior, for the history of her relationship with Him was one of continual unfaithfulness and prostitution (Ezek. 16:15–52). Yet though she constantly spurned and abandoned Him, God still would not abandon her; her election as His adopted child was irrevocable (Rom. 11:29).

     In addition to Israel’s adoption as God’s son, the Old Testament also speaks of the adoption of the Davidic king as God’s son (Ps. 2:7). This unique privileged relationship meant that he and his descendants could not be utterly cast off by God in the way that Saul had been cast off because of his failure. Rather, when they sinned, they would be chastised by God as a father chastises his son (2 Sam. 7:14–16). The covenant between God and the line of David was unbreakable, no matter what the offense (Jer. 33:20–21). These twin themes of the adoption of Israel and the line of David find a common fulfillment in Jesus Christ. In His divine nature, Christ is God’s Son from all eternity, yet as the true Israel and the true son of David, He is the heir of all of the promises of sonship made to Israel and to David. As a result, when we are united to Christ by faith, we too receive a share in that sonship and the privileges that go along with it. As John puts it: “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Our adoption as sons of God thus comes through union with Christ and cannot be experienced apart from it. In Christ, and in Him alone, we receive the adoption that gives us an undeserved share in the promises that were made to Him and the privileges that He has earned as God’s Son (Gal. 3:29). Indeed, the reason that Christ came to this earth was so that He might give us adoption as God’s sons (Gal. 4:5).

     What, though, are the blessings that flow to us as God’s adopted children in Christ? The first blessing that we have is fellowship with our heavenly Father, a fellowship that our first parents forfeited through their sin. In the Old Testament, God’s people did not normally address Him in prayer as “Father.” Only the Davidic king could appeal to God under that title (Ps. 89:26), on the basis of the covenant God made with David in 2 Samuel 7. No one else could use such an intimate form of address. However, in Christ, the right to come to God as Father is now extended to all those who come to Him by faith, whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free. Because we are in Christ, we may now come to God, praying “Our Father,” just as Jesus taught us to pray. In Christ, we may be confident that we will never again be left as orphans (John 14:18).

     What is more, because believers share a common Father in God, we have the basis for true spiritual unity with one another (Eph. 4:6). If as Christians we all have one Father, then it follows that we are all brothers and sisters. This is why Paul could address Christians in Rome as “brothers,” even though he had never met them (for example, Rom. 8:12). As fellow adopted children, we are all part of the one family of God. This truth is the experience of Christians who travel and live in different countries and cultures: though we may be miles away from our own family and friends, in the local church we quickly discover a new family and new friends, because of the common salvation we have in Christ.

     The third great blessing that comes to us in our adoption is the gift of the Spirit of God, whom Paul calls “the Spirit of adoption” in Romans 8:15. It is the indwelling Spirit of God in our hearts who gives us the boldness to cry out “Father” (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). He bears internal testimony to the reality of our adoption, assuring us that we are indeed God’s children in those times when we are tempted to doubt God’s love for us (Rom. 8:16). He also guides us in the way of righteousness, empowering us to put to death the deeds of the body (Rom. 8:14), adding external marks of our salvation that can further testify to the truth of our adoption. By bearing His fruit in our lives, the Spirit begins to reproduce in us the image of Christ, enabling us increasingly to live as the children of God that He has adopted us to be.

     The final great blessing of adoption is the prospect of a glorious inheritance. If we have been adopted into God’s family, then we have become heirs of the family inheritance — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, as Romans 8:17 puts it. In Christ, all of the riches of God are ours and will be ours for all eternity. In what, though, does our inheritance consist? After all, Jesus lived on earth in poverty and died penniless, with no possessions to His name. That reality reminds us that bearing the family likeness of Christ in the present will often involve suffering and perhaps even humiliation for the sake of His name. Yet if we suffer with Him, we may be assured that our identification with Christ will culminate in sharing His glory (Rom. 8:17). Those who by grace persevere faithfully to the end are granted a share in the relationship that the Lord promised to David and his sons: to each of them, God declares, “I will be his God and he will be my son” (Rev. 21:7).

     The full nature of this future glory as the children of God remains a mystery in the present (1 John 3:2). In some way, it will give to us a radically new likeness to Christ in His glory and holiness. When we see Him, we shall be like Him. Even now, through the Spirit we are being remade into His image, but that work is often frustratingly slow and incomplete. Yet the day will come when God’s work in us will be finished and we will be free from corruption and sin, truly bearing the family likeness. In comparison to this promise, what we have already received in the Spirit’s work within us and the Father’s presence with us is but a shadowy glimpse of our eternal inheritance as the adopted children of the King. On that day, however, we will grasp more fully how great and awesome is God’s grace and mercy to us in Christ, that has redeemed us from Satan’s family and granted us membership in His own family as His treasured sons and daughters.

Nurture and Admonition

Jlmsgm — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:54:50 GMT

Jlmsgm:

{{MasterHeader|author= Greg Bailey |partnerurl= http://www.ligonier.com |partner= Ligonier Ministries |date= 16 June 2008|series= |categorytopic= No Topic |mediatype= article|lang= English|editor= n/a|translator= |levels= 1|reviewed= Not Reviewed|newtitle=Nurture and Admonition}}

     The young couple stood before our congregation that Sunday morning holding a tiny baby recently adopted into their family. They had come to have the sign of water baptism applied to him, the sign of their faith in God’s promise that their son will be adopted into the family of God.

     But in addition to the baptism, another adoption took place that day, during that very service. After asking the couple to publicly acknowledge their son’s need of the cleansing blood of Christ, to claim God’s promises on his behalf, and to dedicate their child unreservedly to God, the pastor turned to those of us in the congregation and asked, “Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting these parents in the Christian nurture of this child?” In response, we solemnly but joyfully raised our hands to take on that responsibility. With that, the couple’s tiny child became, in a very real sense, ours.

     Now what? Simply put, the same responsibility that resides with the parents now resides with all of us who took that vow — we must raise him in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Yes, the child’s mother and father will see to his immediate physical needs, though we need to be there to help feed him, rock him, or change his diaper if the parents are providentially hindered from doing so. And yes, those parents are the point people for the child’s spiritual upbringing, but those of us who took that vow that day have committed ourselves to unite around that family to help in raising that child, and especially in nurturing him spiritually.

     What does that look like? In spiritual terms, it looks very much like parenting one’s own covenant children. We need to be doing the same things those parents committed themselves to do.

     The couple vowed that morning to set before their son a godly example. We who were in the congregation that day should do the same. He ought to grow up witnessing a body of believers gathering joyfully each Lord’s Day to worship the one, true God, praying, singing, and receiving the Word preached along with the sacraments. He needs to be exposed to people who use their spiritual gifts in sacrificial service to the body — devoted nursery workers and Sunday school teachers, deacons with hearts for orphans and widows, and committed elders who pray and teach. And he must see us beyond the sanctuary walls, living out our faith as neighbors and community members. In short, he needs to see the Christian faith practiced in as many lives as possible. We understand that we live coram Deo, before the face of God. We also ought to consciously live as though little eyes were watching — as they often are.

     That mother and father also vowed to pray with and for their child. Those of us who make up his church family must do the same. His name should be on our hearts and his picture on our refrigerator doors, that we might be reminded of him in the midst of daily life and lift him up to the throne. Moreover, we ought to have a list of every covenant child in the church, that we might pray through it regularly. Of course, we must keep in touch with the parents, that we might know the child’s needs so as to pray for him intelligently. And we ought to seize opportunities, during interactions with him, to pray with him about his needs and others’ needs that he recognizes.

     Furthermore, the couple promised that they would teach their son the doctrines of the Christian faith. One major aspect of this responsibility involves teaching the child to read and study the Scriptures. Some of us will have opportunities to assist the parents with this duty in formal ways — in Sunday school, in a home school co-op, or even in Christian or public school settings. But we need to use every chance, formal and informal, during ordinary interactions with the growing child to make eternal applications — just as we do with our own children. As Moses wrote, this kind of instruction needs to happen “‘when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise’” (Deut. 6:7b). Why should we limit this calling to our own children?

     Finally, the young man and woman who stood before our church that day vowed that they would “strive, by all the means of God’s appointment, to bring (him) up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” A committed father and mother will use every chance to teach and encourage a child in the faith, and we “adoptive parents” must do the same. This must be a major priority for us, for we are called to “strive” at it. Every opportunity God presents must be seized. Nurture and admonition must be employed. In short, the child needs to be saturated in the Gospel.

     All this calls for a level of involvement with one another in the local church that most of us rarely experience or even desire. Our interaction with most other families in our churches is superficial at best. We must intentionally resist this. Introduce yourself to other parents and to their children. That you might get to know them better, invite them into your home, having prepared it beforehand to welcome adults and little ones alike. Befriend the families of your children’s friends from Sunday school. Look for ways to minister to the youngsters of your church. Interact with them and learn their needs. Press the Gospel into their lives. See yourself as their foster parent, sharing the same responsibility as their true mothers and fathers.

     In truth, this kind of familial care should mark every relationship in the local church. We are called, after all, to “encourage [an older man] as you would a father” and to “treat younger men like brothers, older women like mothers, [and] younger women like sisters” (1 Tim. 5:1–2). We would certainly look after an aged parent or a beloved brother or sister, and the Scriptures call us to do no less for those who are also part of our churches. The Bible means what it says when it repeatedly uses family imagery in reference to the body of believers.

     Admittedly, beginning to love the children and others in our churches in a biblical way will require us to step out of our comfort zones forever. But it’s not optional. We have adopted, and have been adopted by, one another. It’s important that we act like it.

The New Birth

Jlmsgm — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:25:14 GMT

Jlmsgm:

{{MasterHeader |author= Dr. R.C. Sproul |partnerurl= [http://www.ligonier.org/ www.ligonier.org] |partner= Ligonier Misistries |date= 27 May 2008 |other=  |series=  |categorytopic= No Topic |mediatype= article) |lang= English |editor= n/a |translator= Jlmsgm |levels= 1 |reviewed= Not Reviewed |newtitle=The New Birth}} 

''Right Now Counts Forever''

Regeneration Precedes Faith. This assertion that captures the heart of the distinctive theology of historic Augustinian and Reformed thought is the watershed assertion that distinguishes that theology from all forms of semi-Pelagianism. That is, it distinguishes it from almost all forms of semi-Pelagianism.

There is one historic position of semi-Pelagianism that advocates the view of a universal benefit that embraces all mankind as a result of the atonement of Jesus. This universal benefit is the universal regeneration of all men — at least to the degree that rescues them from the moral inability of their original sin and now empowers them with the ability to exercise faith in Christ. This new ability to believe makes faith possible but by no means effectual. This type of regeneration does not bring in its wake the certainty that those who are born again will in fact place their trust in Christ.

For the most part, however, the statement, “Regeneration precedes faith,” is the watershed position that creates apoplexy in the minds of semi-Pelagians. The semi-Pelagian would argue that despite the ravages of the fall, man still has an island of righteousness left in his soul, by which he still can accept or reject God’s offer of grace. This view, so widely held in evangelical circles, argues that one must believe in Christ in order to be born again, and so the order of salvation is reversed in this view by maintaining that faith precedes regeneration.

However, when we consider the teaching on this issue as found in John’s record of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus, we see the emphasis that Jesus places on regeneration as a necessary condition, a sine qua non, for believing in Him. He says to Nicodemus in John 3:3: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then again in verses 5–7, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” The must-ness of regeneration of which Jesus speaks is necessary for a person to see even the kingdom of God, let alone to enter it. We cannot exercise faith in a kingdom that we cannot enter apart from rebirth.

The weakness of all semi-Pelagianism is that it invests in the fallen, corrupt flesh of man the power to exercise faith. Here, fallen man is able to come to Christ without regeneration, that is, before regeneration. On the other hand, the axiom that regeneration precedes faith gets to the very heart of the historic issue between Augustinianism and semi-Pelagianism.

In the Augustinian and Reformation view, regeneration is seen first of all as a supernatural work of God. Regeneration is the divine work of God the Holy Spirit upon the minds and souls of fallen people, by which the Spirit quickens those who are spiritually dead and makes them spiritually alive. This supernatural work rescues that person from his bondage to sin and his moral inability to incline himself towards the things of God. Regeneration, by being a supernatural work, is obviously a work that cannot be accomplished by natural man on his own. If it were a natural work, it would not require the intervention of God the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, regeneration is a monergistic work. “Monergistic” means that it is the work of one person who exercises his power. In the case of regeneration, it is God alone who is able, and it is God alone who performs the work of regenerating the human soul. The work of regeneration is not a joint venture between the fallen person and the divine Spirit; it is solely the work of God.

 Thirdly, the monergistic work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit is an immediate work. It is immediate with respect to time, and it is immediate with respect to the principle of operating without intervening means. The Holy Spirit does not use something apart from His own power to bring a person from spiritual death to spiritual life, and when that work is accomplished, it is accomplished instantaneously. No one is partly regenerate, or almost regenerate. Here we have a classic either/or situation. A person is either born again, or he is not born again. There is no nine-month gestation period with respect to this birth. When the Spirit changes the disposition of the human soul, He does it instantly. A person may not be aware of this internal work accomplished by God for some time after it has actually occurred. But though our awareness of it may be gradual, the action of it is instantaneous.

 Fourthly, the work of regeneration is effectual. That is, when the Holy Spirit regenerates a human soul, the purpose of that regeneration is to bring that person to saving faith in Jesus Christ. That purpose is effected and accomplished as God purposes in the intervention. Regeneration is more than giving a person the possibility of having faith, it gives him the certainty of possessing that saving faith.

The result of our regeneration is first of all faith, which then results in justification and adoption into the family of God. Nobody is born into this world a child of the family of God. We are born as children of wrath. The only way we enter into the family of God is by adoption, and that adoption occurs when we are united to God’s only begotten Son by faith. When by faith we are united with Christ, we are then adopted into that family of whom Christ is the firstborn. Regeneration therefore involves a new genesis, a new beginning, a new birth. It is that birth by which we enter into the family of God by adoption.

Finally, it’s important to see that regeneration is a gift that God disposes sovereignly to all of those whom He determines to bring into His family.

The New Birth

Jlmsgm — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:40:26 GMT

Jlmsgm:

''Right Now Counts Forever''

= The New Birth =

Regeneration Precedes Faith. This assertion that captures the heart of the distinctive theology of historic Augustinian and Reformed thought is the watershed assertion that distinguishes that theology from all forms of semi-Pelagianism. That is, it distinguishes it from almost all forms of semi-Pelagianism.

There is one historic position of semi-Pelagianism that advocates the view of a universal benefit that embraces all mankind as a result of the atonement of Jesus. This universal benefit is the universal regeneration of all men — at least to the degree that rescues them from the moral inability of their original sin and now empowers them with the ability to exercise faith in Christ. This new ability to believe makes faith possible but by no means effectual. This type of regeneration does not bring in its wake the certainty that those who are born again will in fact place their trust in Christ.

For the most part, however, the statement, “Regeneration precedes faith,” is the watershed position that creates apoplexy in the minds of semi-Pelagians. The semi-Pelagian would argue that despite the ravages of the fall, man still has an island of righteousness left in his soul, by which he still can accept or reject God’s offer of grace. This view, so widely held in evangelical circles, argues that one must believe in Christ in order to be born again, and so the order of salvation is reversed in this view by maintaining that faith precedes regeneration.

However, when we consider the teaching on this issue as found in John’s record of Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus, we see the emphasis that Jesus places on regeneration as a necessary condition, a sine qua non, for believing in Him. He says to Nicodemus in John 3:3: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then again in verses 5–7, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” The must-ness of regeneration of which Jesus speaks is necessary for a person to see even the kingdom of God, let alone to enter it. We cannot exercise faith in a kingdom that we cannot enter apart from rebirth.

The weakness of all semi-Pelagianism is that it invests in the fallen, corrupt flesh of man the power to exercise faith. Here, fallen man is able to come to Christ without regeneration, that is, before regeneration. On the other hand, the axiom that regeneration precedes faith gets to the very heart of the historic issue between Augustinianism and semi-Pelagianism.

In the Augustinian and Reformation view, regeneration is seen first of all as a supernatural work of God. Regeneration is the divine work of God the Holy Spirit upon the minds and souls of fallen people, by which the Spirit quickens those who are spiritually dead and makes them spiritually alive. This supernatural work rescues that person from his bondage to sin and his moral inability to incline himself towards the things of God. Regeneration, by being a supernatural work, is obviously a work that cannot be accomplished by natural man on his own. If it were a natural work, it would not require the intervention of God the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, regeneration is a monergistic work. “Monergistic” means that it is the work of one person who exercises his power. In the case of regeneration, it is God alone who is able, and it is God alone who performs the work of regenerating the human soul. The work of regeneration is not a joint venture between the fallen person and the divine Spirit; it is solely the work of God.

 Thirdly, the monergistic work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit is an immediate work. It is immediate with respect to time, and it is immediate with respect to the principle of operating without intervening means. The Holy Spirit does not use something apart from His own power to bring a person from spiritual death to spiritual life, and when that work is accomplished, it is accomplished instantaneously. No one is partly regenerate, or almost regenerate. Here we have a classic either/or situation. A person is either born again, or he is not born again. There is no nine-month gestation period with respect to this birth. When the Spirit changes the disposition of the human soul, He does it instantly. A person may not be aware of this internal work accomplished by God for some time after it has actually occurred. But though our awareness of it may be gradual, the action of it is instantaneous.

 Fourthly, the work of regeneration is effectual. That is, when the Holy Spirit regenerates a human soul, the purpose of that regeneration is to bring that person to saving faith in Jesus Christ. That purpose is effected and accomplished as God purposes in the intervention. Regeneration is more than giving a person the possibility of having faith, it gives him the certainty of possessing that saving faith.

The result of our regeneration is first of all faith, which then results in justification and adoption into the family of God. Nobody is born into this world a child of the family of God. We are born as children of wrath. The only way we enter into the family of God is by adoption, and that adoption occurs when we are united to God’s only begotten Son by faith. When by faith we are united with Christ, we are then adopted into that family of whom Christ is the firstborn. Regeneration therefore involves a new genesis, a new beginning, a new birth. It is that birth by which we enter into the family of God by adoption.

Finally, it’s important to see that regeneration is a gift that God disposes sovereignly to all of those whom He determines to bring into His family.