S T A G G E R E D

I cannot express how staggered I am by the mercy and love of God. His faithfulness and longsuffering towards me even when I am not brings me breathlessly to my knees.

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
-Psalm 51

Limited Atonement

It is the sticking point when discussing Calvinism. It is the point folks get so hung up on, and so distressed over, but the Atonement is truly limited. I think the argument is not so much over it being limited, but rather over who limits it; us or God. For if the Atonement were unlimited, then it would have to be universalism. And if that is the case...well then we all owe Rob Bell a big fat apology.

"Atonement" has been the center of my study and a few discussions this week. We know that Christ died for the sins of the World, Christ died as a ransom for many, that ALL are commanded to come to repentance and faith, and that NO ONE may come to repentance and faith unless the Father who sent the Son through the work of the Holy Spirit draws us to Himself (regeneration/transformati​on/etc.).

Yet when we talk of Atonement (the act of making right or peace with God, or biblically rendered Christ's act which made right and peace with God the Church), the struggle becomes for whom and how.

Some argue passionately that the Atonement is for ALL mankind. If this were true, then universalism is true and all roads do in fact lead to God. Yet we know by the Word of God that universalism is not true. So while Jesus died for the sins of the world, He did not do so as to save ALL people.

Some argue passionately that the Atonement is for ALL who accept the gift. It is limited by us. It makes Christ a potential Savior, and the Atonement is applicable to only those who choose to believe. This would seem to indicated, then, that Christ died for all sin EXCEPT unbelief. And apparently that sin is made right by us through our act of belief. If this were true then not all of the righteousness which we bring before God is as filthy rags; there is something we could bring that is acceptable. The Bible contradicts this therefore it cannot be true.

Some, and I am of this party, say instead that the Atonement is for ALL for whom God intended it. Truly Christ is a complete and sufficient Savior completing the work of Salvation at the Cross. Christ died for the sins of the world, but also true, He died as a ransom for many. We cannot have faith unless it is given to us by God as a gift (Eph. 2), and we are unable to even approach Christ unless we are drawn by God (John 6). And we know this to be very true because Scripture is clear not only in this, but also in proclaiming that our wills are enslaved; enslaved either to sin and death or to God.

So before God shatters our chains and calls us by name out of death, our wills are tuned, ensared, and enslaved to our hearts which are incredibly deceitful and desperately sick. In this state we, like all unbelieving, not only do we love our sin, but also HATE God. We are uninterested in repenting and submitting to Christ.

And if, as Scripture proclaims, we have turned away and none seek God, then God seeks us. He calls those whom He has foreknown from the foundation of the world having predestined us to be conformed into the image of His Son.

So then if the Atonement is limited, and it is, then it is either we or God who limits the Atonement. Scripture not only indicates, but proclaims that Salvation is based upon God's will and not our own. Therefore it must be God who limits the Atonement, and truly He has completely and sufficiently completed what He has intended from the foundation of the world.

Zombies or Brilliant Picture of the Gospel?

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
~Matthew 27:51-53

I have been known to tease about there being zombies in the Bible. The above text is my proof text when playfully defending my position on zombies and the role they played in spreading the Gospel (I call them my "Zombies for Jesus"). However, when looking at this passage with a bit more serious thought and contemplation I believe that we see an amazing picture of the Gospel.

Many times we read in Scripture that before the grace and mercy of God was poured out upon us, we were dead in sin. And like the bodies in those tombs, we were utterly helpless and unable to do anything until the power of God fell upon us.

If you were to walk into a graveyard and command the dead which lie in their graves to rise up and flee their confines, nothing would happen. They are unable and incapable to do whatever it is you command them to do. Likewise the Bible reminds us that we were once like those bodies; dead. Unable, we could not repent. We could not turn away from our sin. We could not do that which all have been commanded to do by God.

Prior to the work of God in us, we were nothing more than slaves to sin and death; following in passionate pursuit the desires of a corrupt and deceitful heart. But God, being rich in mercy, has made us alive through Christ.

Those believing, He has called specifically and intentionally out of death and into life. By the power of God upon us, we have errupted out of our tombs. We have been brought from death to life. Transformed from slaves of sin and death to fellow heirs with Christ; living and alive in Christ. And like those saints who came up out of their tombs to appear to many, we now stand before all men as witnesses to the Gospel which raised us from the dead, echoing with God that all men must repent, believe, and be saved.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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 one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
-Ephesians 2:1-10

Still I Care...

It is strange that after a l l this, I l o v e you. I find that I have compassion and sympathy and hope towards you. I find that even after all of the bruises and all of the wounds and all of the brokenness, I care for you. I pray with all sincerity that the Love of our Lord would find you and bring you to repentance and faith.

I would like to say that this is my doing; that it is I who broke the cycle. I would like to take credit for this change in me, but that would be dishonest. This is the work of the Lord in my life. This is what God has done with me.

Truly I am transformed, for the Old Man hates you and mocks you. He despises you and revels in your misery. But he is put off and killed daily. Christ is put on, and Christ calls you to repentance and faith, and so I echo this message.

We are so dirty and deserving of our just reward, but Christ, and only Christ, makes us clean.

...For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
-Romans 3:20-26

THE Shocking Youth Message given by Paul Washer

I Hate Windows...(Beating Children for Jesus)

...Or rather I hate seeing my reflection in windows. Every time, without exaggeration, every time I see my reflection in a window or a glass door, I remember.

I remember being a young boy between the ages of six and eight. We lived on Wren Drive, and we had a big backyard where I would spend most of my outdoor time (because we weren't allowed in the front yard). I had dragged out all these toys and chairs and carefully arranged them to form the bridge of my star-ship.

I was the captain of the universe embarking on a quest to explore the galaxy. I was dodging torpedoes and lasers and destroying enemy warships. Often I would glance up at the glass door and admire my reflection as I stood as the proud captain of an indomitable crew.

At one point I saw my father's silhouette, only just, beyond my reflection. I waved and he waved back, or so I thought. What I didn't see was that he was actually motioning for me to come inside. I continued to play, look at the reflection of my set up, and embarked on the excitement of saving the universe, all the while my father was waving me to come inside.

He must have decided that I was ignoring him because he opened the glass door and calmly called me over as he did that "come here" thing people do with their index finger. Unaware of the rage boiling under the surface, I cheerfully walked over to him. He grabbed me by my shirt and threw me across the living room and onto the couch. He stormed over and all I can remember is trying to protect myself from a combination of open handed and clenched fist blows. When it was over he sent me out to put away my mess, and go to my room.

When my mother found me, she, though I didn't understand it at the time, greatly feared the thought of sending me to school. She was afraid that my teacher might see the bruises on my face and report it. I got a week's vacation from school, and all I understood was that I wasn't to show or tell anyone about my face because I would be taken away from my family; after all it was my fault for upsetting him anyway.

One particularly peculiar moment I remember is that of a lady from our church, Calvary Chapel Hanford, who came over a day or so later while I was riding my bike in circles out back. I knew I wasn't supposed to let people see my face, so I awkwardly pulled my shirt up over the side with the worst bruising and kept riding as she and my mother talked outside. Some very deep part of me wanted her to see what I was doing as a flag being waived for help. I wanted the shirt to slip so she could see the bruises and ask me what happened.

She must have noticed something because my mom told her some story that allowed her to laugh off what she saw. I try often to remember her face, to remember who she was. I have a few suspicious, but all I know for certain is that she was slender, had a light complexion, and mid-shoulder length dark hair; and I think I remember her hair being curly. I hope to one day remember who she was that I might have the opportunity to ask her if she remembered that day.

Afterward, and I mean immediately afterward, whether my father was inside or not, anytime I was outside and I walked by the sliding glass door I would peer in out of fear. I would check to see if he was summoning me when I could not hear nor see. I did this up even until I moved out.

Over twenty years later and I still remember this moment clearly. I see my reflection in a window or a glass door and I am reminded. It used to bother me. It used to bring an overwhelming sense of shame to my heart. Not anymore.

The Lesson

My daughter is six years old now. She is the same age I was when my father was especially brutal towards his children. By remembering these things, no matter how much I would rather forget, I am reminded of the responsibilities the Lord charged me with as a father.

I am to lead my children in godly ways pointing them always to the Gospel. To be an example of Jesus for them. To love them -as short as I may fall- as God loves them and has shown mercy towards them in commanding all to come to repentance and faith.

I am to pray for them and watch over them. Correct and lead them along the path that they ought to go, so that when they grow older they will not soon depart that path.

I can do this, and I am enabled and empowered to do this through Christ. Though I look very much like my father, and though we share many similar traits and features, I am not my father. I could be him, but by the grace and mercy of God I am not him.

Confessedly, there are days when I fear that I may become that man because of the similarities between us. He has given to me for an inheritence his anger. But all that crap is bound up in the old man who is put to death in Christ. The chains that once enslaved me to sin are broken, and I have been brought from death to life.

In Christ I am a new creation, and the old things are gone, put out, and passed away. The new things are here; now. And I entrust to Christ Jesus the things of my past, for those things have been answered for at the cross. They have no power over me. They have no sway. And they certainly do not belong to me.

Our Lord, who died for the sins of the world as a ransom for many, called me to drink freely from his living waters. The wrath of the Father, Christ drank to the brine for me that I might be reconciled to Him.

It is these things that are my inheritence, and it is these things that I am to bring to my children.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
-Proverbs 22:6

Mercy...

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
-2 Timothy 4:18

There are nights when I drop my teeth on the floor and pick them up to remember and relive a past I can't seem to forget. And I can't tell if this is my dark valley of death, or the thorn in my flesh to remind me that...

If not by the sweet mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who through the Cross has made heirs of the Father all who repent and believe, I would be the very same monster who raised me. And I see in all that God has seen me safely through the affirmation of Romans 8:28-29 in that truly ALL THINGS -for those of us who Love God- work together for our good; namely being we conformed into the likeness of Christ.

Dirty

Before Christ my life was dirty.
I couldn't do anything to be clean
Of all the awful things that would cling to me.
Through the Cross
That filth was at a loss,
For when Christ died and rose for me,
By Grace through Faith,
I was set free
And made perfectly...
Clean.

We Need Jesus...

...The Scriptures; yeah they bloody hurt when we compare ourselves to them. They tell us that everything we bring to the table of God is dirty. That is why we need Jesus. He took that filth from us, bore the Wrath for us, with His blood cleansed us, and acceptable to God's table brought us...