Why the Law of God? (LD 44; Phil. 3:12-16)

We are a people who will always struggle in sin on this side of glory. One would think that we would never want to hear about the Lord's holiness. This is something that would potentially discourage us from pressing forward in the Christian life. However, we are exhorted in Paul's writings to keep pushing forward. The law of God is a good, it is the Lord's righteous standard, and so we lay out why the Lord's law is something that we should continually hear and be exhorted to conform to the Lord as we walk in Christ.

#expositorypreaching #lawofGod #christianstruggle #sanctification

Christian Metamorphosis (LD 12; Romans 12:1,2)

Christ presents our discipleship and conforming to his purpose as cross bearing. Peter speaks of sanctification as a refining fire. Paul uses the language of sanctification as a living sacrifice. These terms can discourage us from seeing the bigger picture. You see Paul speaks of us not merely being transformed as a heavenly people, but undergoing a process of metamorphosis. This is communicates the beauty and the bigger picture of sanctification. We are not just denying ourselves something, but we are becoming something by God's grace.

#sanctification #expositorypreaching #romans12 #livingsacrifice

Redeemed from Impurity (Titus 2:14; LD 1)

A strange slogan for the gospel could be, “The Lord can save even a cretan.” This does not sound very polite, but the apostle Paul quotes from a cretan philosopher who summarizes non favorable cretan philosophers. Nevertheless, Paul makes very clear that even the cretans get the same gospel as Abraham. The point that Paul is making is that we are all set apart in Christ as a people who have been made worthy in Christ. It is because Christ has redeemed us that desire to live out of gratitude. In fact, it is a blessing to be owned by Christ.

Godliness through Assurance (2 Corinthians 7:6-13; COD Head 5, Arts 12, 13)

Our instinct is to think that if we are assured of our faith then we will not grow because we will continually backslide. We might think that in order for us to grow we should be a little afraid, terrified, of God. If we are not terrified of the Lord's wrath then we will not be properly motivated to grow to conform to him. This is what we might think, but the Canons of Dordt is teaching us the opposite truth. The Canons of Dordt teaches us that If we are not assured of our faith then we will not grow in our faith. How does the Apostle Paul exhort the church? What can we learn from his exhortation?

God's Gracious Boundaries (Head 5; Art 4-6)(1 Peter 1:1-9)

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is sometimes summarized as, "Once saved always saved." There is truth to this statement, but it radically misses the complexity of the Christian walk. God will certainly preserve his people until the end, but we are called to persevere by the Lord's grace. The challenge in this life is that we can have sinful desires that are contrary to God's kingdom. The Canons of Dordt warns us that God can hand us over to those desires. Where do we find our strength in this life to continue on our Christian sojourn?

Discerning our Strength in Christ (2 Timothy 2:1-13)

Paul gives us the assurance that where we are faithless God remains faithful. Does this mean that we do not seek and desire to live a Christian life? Are we indifferent or neutral to the plan of God? Paul does exhort Timothy and he exhorts us not to fall away as Paul also says, "If we deny him he will deny us." Do we seek to conform to the Lord our of fear? Do we seek to live for the honor and glory of our king just for our own benefit? What is Paul fundamentally teaching us about the Christian life?

"Blessed are the Pure in Heart" (Matthew 5:8)

Christ assures us that those who are pure in heart will see God. Does this mean that if we are pure enough then we will have a vision or be taken up into heaven immediately? How do we know if we are pure enough to see God? How does one attain this purity blessing?

Approaching God’s Throne Room (1 John 5:13-15)

It is easy to think that God is distant or that God does not care about the here and now.  However, when we learn about prayer the opposite is rather true: we are those who have life in the Lord and we can talk to our Lord.  Is prayer something that is merely a psychological thing or does the Lord really hear our prayer?  How does our prayer continue to ground us in the Lord?

Competing to Conform? (Phil. 3:12-16)

The apostle Paul continues to compete for the prize.  What is that prize?  Does this mean that the Christian life is some sort of a competition?  Is there a bigger picture?  What does this tell us about conforming and struggling to our Lord as we sojourn through this age?

What Makes Us Unclean? (Matt. 15:1-20)

The pharisees desire to confront Christ because they think that Christ is the one who is misleading his disciples.  The pharisees, righteous leaders of Israel, think that Christ should wash before meals.  Christ and his disciples do not wash before meals and the pharisees are offended.  Why does Christ offend them?  What is the fundamental problem with humanity?

What is a Good Work? (Ephesians 2:10)

As Christians we want to avoid become legalists where we make the law a tangible thing that is easy for us to keep in our strength.  We also want to avoid saying that the law of God has no place in our lives.  So, how do we define a good work without minimizing the law, but also without dismissing the law?

Is Christ Enough? (Romans 8:1-8)

When we talk about the work of Christ we can talk about Christ securing us, or Christ redeeming us, or Christ paying the debt so we can be righteous. However, is the work of Christ complete enough to save us until the end? How do we know that we will partake of Christ’s work making Christ’s work our work?

Worship Elements: Baptized in Christ (Romans 6)

The apostle Paul exhorts us to walk in the Spirit as people who have moved from death to life in Christ.  He also exhorts us to walk in light of our baptism moving us from death to life in Christ.  Is Paul teaching that as one receives baptism that one necessarily receives the Holy Spirit?  Why would Paul use such strong language regarding baptism? 

The Cross Examination (2) (Malachi 2:1-9)

We know that the ministering priesthood of Israel has come to completion because of Christ’s priestly work.  Malachi rebukes the priests in Israel, and so what value can Malachi’s warning for the priests have for us today?

Corporate Cleansing (Isaiah 6:1-13)

Isaiah the prophet is called into the most holies of places.  You would think that he would be overjoyed to encounter the full holies of our Lord, but he is overwhelmed by his placement in the true temple.  Why is Isaiah so upset and concerned?  This is a prophet set apart unto the Lord and so what does he have to worry about?  What is the Lord ultimately going to do to set aside this man’s fears, but at the same time equip this man to come into HIs holy presence?

Repent! (Job 18:1-21)

Job has made a passionate speech about someone taking his case to the heavenly courts.  He is done with the counselors for they are not taking his case seriously.  Bildad has heard these words and he responds to Job.  Will this man, who is most likely a grandson of Abraham, respond with the promises of the Gospel?  Will they come together and realize that maybe the Lord’s purpose is bigger than their understanding?

Why Love God? (Job 1)

The story of Job opens with a man who is righteous, fears God, and turns from evil.  This is a man who lives out the wisdom of the gospel as he even sacrifices a burn offering in case one of his children cursed God in their heart.  This is a man who is worthy of blessing and a man who deserve blessing from the hand of God.  So, what sort of wisdom is being communicated to us when Job receives the exact opposite of what he deserves?  What is the driving force of Job’s suffering?  Does Job really love God because of who God is or does Job love God because of what God can do for Job?

Sojourning Under the Sun: Sabbath Surrender (Genesis 48)

This is the first part of our consideration of Jacob blessing his grandsons.  The family of God has not performed so well in terms of morality.  There are a lot of discrepancies within this family in terms of their calling before the Lord.  The rivalry between Cain and Abel is repeated, there is outright immorality, the Lord strikes dead some of the covenant children because of their wickedness, and Jacob fails to consistently lead the family in a Godly direction.  What do we do with this?  What are God’s people beginning to realize about the Lord’s Sabbath?

Judging Wisely (James 2:14-26)

The reality is that we desire to make the Lord’s standard something that will comply to our standard.  It is not an easy thing to realize that we are a sinful people in need of the Lord’s redemption.  His redemption has to cleanse us from the core of our being so that we see the fruit of His power.  So, how are these fruits manifested?  What figures in covenant history have demonstrated a life ordered by the principles of the Lord?

Being a Doer (James 1:19-27)

The law of God is one of those difficult things to address.  On the one hand we can go down the road of being self righteous where we reduce the meaning of the law down to a few outward things that are easy to keep.  We can also become a people who dismiss the seriousness of wanting to conform to the law.  We can claim that this law is not binding.  We can also go to a place where we claim that our works are needed for our entrance into heaven.  So, when James exhorts us to be doers of the law what can he possibly mean?  How can we be a doer of the law without minimizing Christ’s one time completed work?