More Nuggets of Gospel Gold

 

As I mentioned elsewhere, I've been reading through the book Don't Call It a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day and sharing some of what I perceive as highlights.  One of the things that has really impressed me is the fact that even though there are a myriad of authors from various backgrounds, there is such a consistently God-glorifying, grace-exalting, gospel-proclaiming message in this book.  What a joy it is to come back to the gospel time and time again! 

Some of the golden nuggets I've come across in the last few chapters I've read:

From Ben Peays on the New Birth...

"While it is crucial that we repent, confess, believe, trust, give thanks, and so on, these responses do not bring about the new birth.  God causes it to happen, and we live out the transformation."

and...

"Salvation is ultimately saving us from God's wrath at judgment, but it also saves us into a life with Christ today.  The reality changes our priorities, our desires, what we treasure, and how we will spend our time and energy on earth."

From Jay Harvey on Justification

"...we do not grow in sanctification in order to be justified.  We grow in sanctification because we are justified.  The declarative act of justification is gracious soil out of which grace-filled lives will grow."

 and...

"In our increasingly non-Christian culture, more people in out church will come to Christ with deep struggles in their past or present.  Young people are more likely to engage in sexual sins of all kinds at younger ages than before.  Pornography threatens to strangle a whole generation of young men.  Of course, these sins must be fought against.  But they cannot be battled until we know they are forgiven."

From Owen Strachan on Sanctification...

 "The struggle against our inherent unrighteousness is not a one-time cataclysm, but a lifelong war."

even so...

"Sanctification is doxological, motivated by an overarching purpose transcendent above all others: the glorification of the God whose perfect holiness requires nothing else.  Sanctification is of God, and sanctification is for God."

Book Review: Decisional Regeneration vs. Divine Regeneration

I recently received the book Decisional Regeneration vs. Divine Regenration by James E. Adams as a gift from one of the members of our church who spends his winters in Arizona. While there, he attends the church pastured by Adams. I was excited to receive it as I had been very impressed with the other book by Adams which I had read: War Psalms of the Prince of Peace. I found this second work by Adams (which is actually an updated version of his work from almost 40 years ago) quite helpful as well.

This short, very readable book is not a theological treatise on the level of Calvin's Institutes, but then it is not intended to be. It is very purposefully accessible to all audiences and is very neatly organized into concise, to the point chapters. Adams lays out a clear, biblical argument against the concept of decisional regeneration, beginning with the observation that “the ‘Christian’ segment of our society seems to be much more a reflection of our culture than a light to it.” He suggests that what lies behind this is the fact that many who may call themselves "Christians" have nonetheless never actually experienced the new birth.

What lies even deeper at the heart of this issue is an understanding of how exactly one comes to be born again. Adams speaks against the idea of “Decisional Regeneration,” that is that human beings bring about the new birth through a decision to follow Christ. Instead, he argues, such a decision could never even be made without the regenerating work of God already having taken place in their heart.

Adams does a good job of displaying that this is not just some unimportant theological argument that has no real practical implications. He does this, examining the impact of a theology of decisional regeneration on such areas as our worship, our preaching and our evangelism.

Some of the quotes in the book (especially those of Dr. Martyn Llloyd-Jones) are pure gold and throughout, Adams is tethered to the Gospel of Grace. He reminds us, “The brilliance of God’s power in saving sinners can be appreciated only against the gloomy backdrop of people’s desperate condition, their inability to please God.”

In light of such, he concludes with these words from John 1:12-13: “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

John Piper on the New Birth

John Piper synthesizes 1 John 5:1 and 1 Peter 1:23, presenting a great treatment of the relationship between the new birth, faith, and the word of God.



(HT: Thabiti Anyabwile)