Monthly Archives: July 2011

The Heart of the Gospel: Justification by Faith Alone

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“In a free act of grace, God justifies the ungodly by faith alone apart from works, pardoning their sins, and reckoning them as righteous and acceptable in His presence. Faith is the sole instrument by which we, as sinners, are united to Christ, whose perfect righteousness and satisfaction for sins is alone the ground of our acceptance with God. This acceptance happens fully and permanently at the first instant of justification. The righteousness by which we come into right standing with God is not anything worked in us by God, neither imparted to us at baptism nor over time, but rather is accomplished for us, outside ourselves, and is imputed to us.” Bethlehem Baptist Church, Statement of Faith

This message below (broken up into 5 parts) by Dr. R. C. Sproul is something I wish every Christian could hear. Then I would wish that they heard it again. Even if we think we know this subject inside out, it would still do our souls good to hear this doctrine taught again. Yet in listening to this lecture by Dr. Sproul, I believe we all may well learn a thing or two.

As R.C. says, the doctrine of justification by faith alone is not hard to comprehend, but to get it into our bloodstream requires that it be heard repeatedly. For my own heart’s sake, if I was on my deathbed with only hours to live, and could hear only one sermon before leaving this world, I would want to hear about Sola Fide “justification by faith alone” one more time. It is the very heart of the Christian gospel.

Some Quotes from Martin Luther:

“Justification by faith alone is the article of the standing or falling Church.”

“This doctrine [justification by faith alone] is the head and the cornerstone. It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour. For no one who does not hold this article or, to use Paul’s expression, this ‘sound doctrine’ (Titus 2:1) is able to teach aright in the church or successfully to resist any adversary… this is the heel of the Seed that opposes the old serpent and crushes its head. That is why Satan, in turn, cannot but persecute it.”

“Whoever departs from the article of justification does not know God and is an idolater… For when this article has been taken away, nothing remains but error, hypocrisy, godlessness, and idolatry, although it may seem to be the height of truth, worship of God, holiness, etc… If the article of justification is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost at the same time.”

“When the article of justification has fallen, everything has fallen. Therefore it is necessary constantly to inculcate and impress it, as Moses says of his Law (Deut. 6:7); for it cannot be inculcated and urged enough or too much. Indeed, even though we learn it well and hold to it, yet there is no one who apprehends it perfectly or believes it with a full affection and heart. So very trickish is our flesh, fighting as it does against the obedience of the spirit.”

Here then is Dr. Sproul: Continue reading →

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Last Stand Against Socialism

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Here’s a video of part of a Question time session in the House of Parliament in London, at the end of the Iron Lady’s eleven year tenure as Britain’s Prime Minister. Though it was undeniable that she had led the country into much economic prosperity, she faced accusations that the gap between rich and poor had increased. Here is her response to the charge.

HT: Thirsty Theologian

Miscellaneous Quotes (18)

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“It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.” – Winston Churchill

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” – Winston Churchill

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln

“My people’s greatest need is for my own holiness.” – Robert Murray M’Cheyne

“Without Christ crucified in her pulpits, a Church is little better than a dead carcass, a well without water, a barren fig-tree, a sleeping watchman, a silent trumpet, a lighthouse without fire, a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to unbelievers, a hot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offence to God.” – J.C. Ryle

“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of God’s willingness.” – George Mueller

“To touch the image of God is to touch God himself; to kill the image of God is to do violence to God himself.” – Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 16.

“Jesus produced mainly three effects: hatred, terror, adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval.” – C.S. Lewis

“As creatures, we have no right or reason to expect that at every point we shall be able to comprehend the wisdom of our Creator.” – J.I. Packer

“Character is what we are when nobody sees us except God.” – John Blanchard

“To Satan no sight is beautiful but deformity itself, and no smell is sweet but filth and nastiness.” – John Calvin

“Did God not sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask, we should be ruined at our own request.” – Hannah More

“What have we time and strength for, but to lay out both for God? What is a candle made for, but to burn?” – Richard Baxter

“The gospel of justification by faith is such a shocker, such an explosion, because it is an absolutely unconditional promise. It is not an “if-then” kind of statement, but “because-therefore” pronouncement: because Jesus died and rose, your sins are forgiven and you are righteous in the sight of God! It bursts in upon our little world all shut up and barricaded behind our accustomed conditional thinking as some strange comet from goodness-knows-where, something we can’t really seem to wrap our minds around, the logic of which appears closed to us. How can it be entirely unconditional? Isn’t it terribly dangerous? How can anyone say flat out, “You are righteous for Jesus’ sake? Is there not some price to be paid, some-thing (however minuscule) to be done? After all, there can’t be such thing as a free lunch, can there?”

You see, we really are sealed up in the prison of our conditional thinking. It is terribly difficult for us to get out, and even if someone batters down the door and shatters the bars, chances are we will stay in the prison anyway! We seem always to want to hold out for something somehow, that little bit of something, and we do it with a passion and an anxiety that betrays its true source–the Old Adam that just does not want to lose control.” – Gerhard Forde, Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death and Life, pg. 24 Continue reading →

Friday Round Up

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FIVE ITEMS:

(1) Please keep our evangelistic outreach to Kerala, India in your prayers. Update make choices, and do the hard work of seeing those choices through. Too often, he writes, God’s people tinker around with churches, jobs, and relationships, worrying that they haven’t found God’s perfect will for their lives. Or—even worse—they do absolutely nothing, stuck in a frustrated state of paralyzed indecision, waiting…waiting…waiting for clear, direct, unmistakable direction. But God doesn’t need to tell us what to do at each fork in the road. He’s already revealed his plan for our lives: to love him with our whole hearts, to obey His Word, and after that, to do what we like. No need for hocus-pocus. No reason to be directionally challenged. Just do something. Paperback; 128 pages.”

For the month of July, Alistair Begg is making this book available for any size gift into his “Truth for Life” ministry. Its full title is “JUST DO SOMETHING – A LIBERATING APPROACH TO FINDING GOD’S WILL or how to make decisions without dreams, vision, fleeces, impressions, open doors, random Bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc.” Available here.

(3) If you are interested in learning something about the field of textual criticism but don’t know where to start, this will be right up your street. The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM) is committed to helping others understand the reliability of our New Testaments, the history of translations, the study of the text, and significant figures who have made this possible. Beginning today, CSNTM is making a series of videos concerning New Testament manuscripts, textual criticism, history of the New Testament, and expert commentary on key verses available as a free download on iTunes U. Featured in the videos are interviews and footage shot around the world of important people involved in the work of the Center. Noted scholar, Dr. Daniel B. Wallace explains important aspects in the study of the text of the New Testament – found here.

Note: these short clip videos are free but only available through iTunes, yet I felt that the material is too good not to mention.

(4) Ligonier has some SUPER deals today in this week’s $5 Friday sale here. Remember, if you decide to purchase material, you can claim a further 10% discount on these and on ALL Ligonier products (as a reader of this blog) by using the coupon code EGRACE10.

(5) Last, but by no means least, please keep my dear friend Jim in your prayers (I mentioned his situation a few days ago on the blog here). The amazing news is that he has been removed from ICU and doctors are trying to ascertain whether or not his body might stand up to a heart transplant (if he qualifies for one). The journey has been amazing though – with his heart stopped for 15 minutes, there was a real fear he would simply be a vegetable mentally (that fear is well and truly dismissed as he is talking now). Just three days ago, his liver readings were so poor that the medical opinion was that he needed a very urgent liver transplant – but the readings are now so close to normal that doctors are not even worried about his liver anymore. We give great thanks to God as this is nothing short of miraculous, but lets keep praying. He is not completely out of the woods yet.