Shaking Like a Leaf and Being Firm in Faith

King Ahaz was a wimp, and he lead a wimpy kingdom. Judah was going to be attacked by its sister to the north, Israel, and Syria, and yet Ahaz had no plan, no courage, no faith.  He and his kingdom were so scared they were going to wet their pants.  Isaiah 7:1-2 tells the story:

In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and n Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

God says that despite these human threats of invasion, Judah will remain unharmed because of his promises to the house of David. In verse 9, after God said that Israel would fall and Syria would not invade, he declares to King Ahaz, “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” God just commanded Ahaz, the king who shakes like a leaf when a gentle breeze blows through the forest, to have faith and be firm. In other words, God just commanded Ahaz to do something he cannot do. This doesn’t get Ahaz off the hook. It doesn’t take away his guilt simply because he’s unable. Instead, it adds to it. It shows that Ahaz, along with you and me, are so bad that we are incapable of having faith in God on our own.

The only answer to how Ahaz, and we, can have faith in God is that God gives it freely.  Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus is the “founder and perfecter of our faith.” Other translations say that Jesus is the “author…of our faith.” He writes the story of faith in our lives. Acts 14:27 says that God “opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.” They didn’t create faith on their own, God made it possible.  It takes faith to come to God and please him (Heb. 11:6), and Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father” (John 6:65; cf. 1:12-13; 8:47; 10:26; 18:37).  This shows that faith must be granted by God to people in order for them to come to Jesus.

Furthermore, Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no man can boast.” What is not the result of our own doing? Paul cannot mean grace in this context. He has to mean faith, for no one would ever say that grace is of his own doing. Everyone knows that God alone gives grace.  On the other hand, people might think that they can muster up enough faith to claim it as their own: “I was in the right place at the right time around the right people and I just decided that I needed to follow Jesus” or something of that nature. This would be a cause for boasting. But that can’t be the case because at our core we are people who shake like trees in a forest when a trial comes.  We are people who aren’t righteous, do not understand or seek God, and are not good (see Rom. 3:10-12).

The opposite of good is bad. And bad people cannot have faith in a perfect God, unless that perfect God graciously gives faith to our hearts so that we might move from being a flimsy leaf in a summer breeze to a firm branch attached to the great Vine even during the most gale-force winds.

Why God Says He is Angry and Sorry

John Calvin:

Why is it that God says he is angry, that he is sorry? Is it not because we cannot comprehend him in his incomprehensible majesty? So then, it is no absurd matter, that holy writ should speak unto us of the will of God after two sorts: not because his will is double, but to apply himself to our weakness, because our understanding is gross and as heavy as lead.

More reading:

• Are There Two Wills in God? - John Piper
• God’s Sovereign Choice in Salvation

The Ready-to-Preach Sermon

Ligon Duncan on the greatest advice he’s received to improve his preaching:

Mark Dever’s counsel has been helpful and instructive to me: “if your wife wakes you up at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning to ask you what your sermon is about, and you cannot tell her in one crisp sentence, then that sermon is not ready to preach.” Basically, we must be really clear on what the main thrust, thesis, argument, point, and main application of our sermon is.

Free Calfskin ESV Study Bible

Check out this post by David Porter, where he is giving away one free Calfskin Premium Leather ESV Study Bible (retail value of $239).

The 50/50 Gospel and Grace

Jonathan Dodson:

In his newest book, Christless Christianity, Michael Horton argues that a semi-pelagian understanding of the gospel plagues the American church. Is it fair, however, to lay our rampant nominalism at the feet of Pelagius? After all, most so-called “semi-pelagian” churches are neither aware of nor lay claim to Pelagian doctrine (heresy). Perhaps it is overreaching to frame the Christless Christianity of America with a 6th-century theology? Regardless, Horton has placed his finger on the near lifeless pulse of the American gospel.

He points out that American Protestantism has come to view grace as “divine assistance for the process of moral transformation rather than as a one-sided divine rescue.” That gospel operates on what we’ll call a 50/50 principle. This 50/50 gospel offers salvation via a blend of fifty percent grace and fifty percent good behavior. The cross is no longer expiation of sin but an example of how to live sacrificially. People are good enough to choose Christ but they simply need to be reminded of how good a choice he is. Broken marriages, patterns of sexual sin, deep-seated anger, and rampant debt are primarily the product of our failure to behave like Jesus.

Read the whole thing.

Hades is Worse Than You Think

C.J. Mahaney recently interviewed Thabiti Anyabwile and asked about his exercise habits.  Thabiti, not much of an exerciser, gave a very deep theological answer for why he hates working out alone:

I prefer team and competitive forms of exercise. I hate treadmills. The lowest parts of Hades will be lined with treadmills with CNN and Oprah playing for all of eternity. I need competition to enjoy the exercise.

Now, if there ever was a reason to repent, that’s it.

God’s Adoption Agency

In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.
- Ephesians 1:5

Jesus Christ is the divine Adoption Agency that God works through to bring his children to himself.  He predestines and adopts not because he is a mean, old sky fairy who is a control freak.  No.  God is a loving dad who has an incorruptible will and brings people to himself because he is love and only acts in love toward his children.

For someone to say that God does not elect people for salvation, and that he merely lets us “choose” him, they are essentially holding an open palm at God’s face saying, “No God!  You can’t love me like that!  I won’t let that kind of love to embrace and encompass me.  I won’t allow it!”  How selfish and arrogant.  How sad.  The doctrine of election is the most humbling doctrine in Scripture.  It teaches that a loving Father sent his only Son on a rescue mission to earth to save lost and blind people who never had any intention of searching for truth.

God saves people.  He adopts his kids through Jesus.  He alone get the glory.  This is election.  This is God’s grace.

The Woefulness of Sin

Isaiah 5 is a dark chapter for God’s people.  Chapter 4 prophesies the coming Messiah, the Branch of the Lord, who will be beautiful and glorious, who will draw all people to himself.  Before that day, however, darkness and growling will be over Judah.  In 5:18-23, there are four “woes” that the Lord gives to his people, and it shows the downward spiral of what sin does to our lives.

• They “draw iniquity with cords of falsehood” and “draw sin as with car ropes.” Their sin follows them everywhere. They are a slave to their sin (cf. Prov. 5:22). They are so deep in their sin that their spiritual eyes cannot see the works of the Lord. They cry, “If he’s real, let him come so we can know him!” (cf. 2 Peter 3:4). They are treasuring their sin and God’s creation more than God himself.
• They “call evil good and good evil…put darkness for light and light for darkness…put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” They are very confused about what is right and wrong. Sin is not just the doing of bad things, it is the twisting of good. Romans 1:24-25 says that people have exchanged the truth about God for a lie. That is what we do when we sin. That was the temptation that caused the first sin. Adam and Eve were deceived and they exchanged the truth for a filthy deception.
• They “are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight.” Sin corrupts the perception we have of ourselves.  We are bad people, but sin makes us think we are good.  God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). We should only have any wisdom in God. Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.”
• They “are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink” and they “acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right.” We are not supposed to be drunk on wine — or anything else! Instead, we are to be intoxicated by God’s Spirit (cf. Eph. 5:18). We should be valiant in spiritual battle for ourselves, our families, our church, and our communities. We should be people who seek justice instead of falling into the snare of the love of money (1 Timothy 6:9).

Notice the progression of the “woes.” First, we become slaves to sin as it draws us around like we are on a cart rope. Next, we begin to think what we are doing is good and right even though it is wrong and evil. Then, we actually believe what we are doing is wise and become proud, unrepentant, and arrogant in our actions, thoughts, and words. Finally, we become “heroes” at what we do, that is, we become very good at sinning.  We are not excelling in love for God and people. We are excelling in sin and unrighteousness.

This is the woefulness of sin.  This happens before we come to Christ, and at varying times, this can even happen in the life of a believer.  That is why we are called to “put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13).  It can only be done by the Spirit.  It can only be done by grace through faith.

Discipline is Not Legalism

From John Piper:

But the hard truth is that most Christians don’t pray very much. They pray at meals—unless they’re still stuck in the adolescent stage of calling good habits legalism. They whisper prayers before tough meetings. They say something brief as they crawl into bed. But very few set aside set times to pray alone—and fewer still think it is worth it to meet with others to pray. And we wonder why our faith is weak. And our hope is feeble. And our passion for Christ is small.

And meanwhile the devil is whispering all over this room: “The pastor is getting legalistic now. He’s starting to use guilt now. He’s getting out the law now.” To which I say, “To hell with the devil and all of his destructive lies. Be free!” Is it true that intentional, regular, disciplined, earnest, Christ-dependent, God-glorifying, joyful prayer is a duty? . . . Is it a discipline?

You can call it that.

• It’s a duty the way it’s the duty of a scuba diver to put on his air tank before he goes underwater.
• It’s a duty the way pilots listen to air traffic controllers.
• It’s a duty the way soldiers in combat clean their rifles and load their guns.
• It’s a duty the way hungry people eat food.
• It’s a duty the way thirsty people drink water.
• It’s a duty the way a deaf man puts in his hearing aid.
• It’s a duty the way a diabetic takes his insulin.
• It’s a duty the way Pooh Bear looks for honey.
• It’s a duty the way pirates look for gold.

I hate the devil, and the way he is killing some of you by persuading you it is legalistic to be as regular in your prayers as you are in your eating and sleeping and Internet use. Do you not see what a sucker he his making out of you? He is laughing up his sleeve at how easy it is to deceive Christians about the importance of prayer.

God has given us means of grace. If we do not use them to their fullest advantage, our complaints against him will not stick. If we don’t eat, we starve. If we don’t drink, we get dehydrated. If we don’t exercise a muscle, it atrophies. If we don’t breathe, we suffocate. And just as there are physical means of life, there spiritual are means of grace. Resist the lies of the devil in 2009, and get a bigger breakthrough in prayer than you’ve ever had.

Anger: The Image of Satan

Jonathan Dodson, pastor of Austin City Life Church, writes a challenging, convicting article on anger and what it really means.