Sola Gratia: The Erosion of The Gospel Unwarranted confidence in human ability is a product of fallen human nature. This false confidence now fills the evangelical world; from the self-esteem gospel, to the health and wealth gospel, from those who have transformed the gospel into a product to be sold and sinners into consumers who want to buy, to others who treat Christian faith as being true simply because it works. This silences the doctrine of justification regardless of the official commitments of our churches. God's grace in Christ is not merely necessary but is the sole efficient cause of salvation. We confess that human beings are born spiritually dead and are incapable even of cooperating with regenerating grace. Thesis Three: Sola Gratia We reaffirm that in salvation we are rescued from God's wrath by his grace alone. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ by releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from spiritual death to...

  In time John’s popularity came to the palace of Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee. Herod called for John and listened to him preach. Mark tells us that at the beginning Herod heard John gladly and did many good things as the result of John’s preaching (Mark 6:20). Unfortunately, Herod enjoyed John’s preaching only so long as John preached in generalities . When he was specific enough to speak out against the fact that Herod was then living with his brother Philip’s wife, Herodias, Herod’s enthusiasm cooled. John had said, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” This so angered Herodias that eventually she succeeded in having John arrested and later killed. James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 253.

Mark 6 v 7-9 (CSB) 7 He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a staff—no bread, no traveling bag, no money in their belts, 9 but to wear sandals and not put on an extra shirt. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The plan, of course, is genius. Dump a year's supply of manna into cold storage and, guaranteed, you will forget God until the supply disappears (Deut. 8:10—14). Such prosperity would be a curse. God's strategy is to give us enough for today and then, when tomorrow comes, to give us enough for that day too.   Do you see how this is exactly what we need? Fears and worries live in the future, trying to assure a good outcome in a potentially hard situation. The last thing they want to do is trust anyone, God included. To thwart this tendency toward independence, God only gives us what we need when w...

  The New Testament word for repentance means changing one’s mind so that one’s views, values, goals, and ways are changed and one’s whole life is lived differently. The change is radical, both inwardly and outwardly; mind and judgment, will and affections, behavior and life-style, motives and purposes, are all involved. Repenting means starting to live a new life. The call to repent was the first and fundamental summons in the preaching of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), Jesus (Matt. 4:17), the Twelve (Mark 6:12), Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:38), Paul to the Gentiles (Acts 17:30; 26:20), and the glorified Christ to five of the seven churches in Asia (Rev. 2:5, 16, 22; 3:3, 19). It was part of Jesus’ summary of the gospel that was to be taken to the world (Luke 24:47). It corresponds to the constant summons of the Old Testament prophets to Israel to return to the God from whom they had strayed (e.g., Jer. 23:22; 25:4–5; Zech. 1:3–6). Repentance is always set forth as the path to remis...

Discernment and Dismissiveness. A call to question our own discernment process. In Mark 6 v 2-3 (CSB) we read:   When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished . "Where did this man get these things?" they said. "What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are these miracles performed by his hands?  3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they were offended by him.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- We should be astonished  by Jesus because we are born ignorant of the Lord Jesus Christ. The rest of our Christian walk, by the grace of the Spirit, should include ongoing wonder and delight in Jesus. It should be the kind of astonishment that leads us toward greater humility.  However, as you see in Mark 6 v 2-3 , not all are astonished that way.  Sometimes pe...

  1 Peter 2:13–17 This section is the first of several that speak of the importance of submitting to authority, again with an eye to how this behavior will present the Christian faith in a favorable light. Ancient Roman society criticized Christians as atheists because they rejected Roman religion and the worship of ancestral pagan gods. In a culture in which religion and the state were so enmeshed (especially given that in Rome its emperors were revered and even deified), the general populace viewed Christians as enemies of the state.  Without capitulating to such societal pressures, Peter nevertheless urges the believers to be model members of society insofar as possible. They should submit to the authority of the emperor and his subordinate provincial governors, who, when fulfilling their rightful role, will punish evildoers and reward those who do what is good (Ro 13:1–7). Such godly behavior will serve to shut down the ignorant criticisms leveled against Christianity....

This post   by Miller and Walker articulates the view of the elders here at LPBC. It cautions us to be careful about how we use religious liberty and our need to be more involved citizens.

  The kingdoms of this age, like Rome, pursue their common vocations, and now believers are commanded by Jesus, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mt 22:21). Even oppressive rulers are “God’s ministers” in the cultural sphere of our common curse and common grace as we live alongside unbelievers; we must honor and submit to these governors (Ro 13:1–7; 1 Pe 2:13–17). Believers pursue their common vocations alongside unbelievers in the world with distinction in service and godliness. At the same time, believers also pursue the aims of the Great Commission that Jesus gave to his disciples rather than to the world at large. Like Joseph and Daniel, who held positions of secular leadership during periods of exile, some believers may become rulers of state and leaders in many other cultural labors. Nevertheless, like Joseph and Daniel, they are not to confuse their cultural mandate (which they share with unbelievers) and their e...

  1 Peter 2 v 14 ...Christians are to live in obedience to every institution of civil and social order on earth. This includes obedience to the national government (v. 13, “king”), the state government, the police, and judges. Only when the government tries to force a Christian to do what is against the law of God explicitly stated in Scripture, should he refuse to submit (cf. Acts 4:18–20; 5:28, 29; Titus 1:6; 3:1, 2). John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition, 2019

  Before we disobey the authorities over us, we should be sure to be painfully self-reflective and have a clear understanding as to why we plan to disobey. If my boss told me to cook the books so that he could be protected from the charge of embezzlement, I would have to disobey. If a governmental authority told you that you had to have an abortion, you would have to disobey because you obey a higher authority. If the authorities say we’re not allowed to distribute Bibles or preach the Word of God, we have to do it anyway because we have a mandate from Christ to disciple the nations. This is why the free exercise of religion is so important. It gives the right to act according to conscience, but unfortunately, this right is currently being eroded in the United States. ... Because the matter of civil disobedience is complicated, it’s vitally important that we master the basic principles regarding the relationship between church and state. As Paul says in Romans 13, we are to be sub...

  While we should react negatively against evil and entreat God to accomplish His will here, we should not attempt to carry out God’s will for Him. As we noted in chapter 5, it is not our responsibility, neither should it be our goal, to change the culture by trying to establish God’s kingdom on earth. Neither are we to rid our culture of its evil practices by using civil disobedience to rebel against it. Such rebellion is disobedience to God and His Word (Rom. 13:1–5; 1 Peter 2:13–17). Instead, let your rebellion be manifested in your prayers and those activities that are righteous and allowable under the law. John F. MacArthur Jr., Alone with God, MacArthur Study Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1995), 80–81.

  "Does our call to submission prevent us from ever disagreeing with our leaders? If it’s permissible to disagree, when and how should we? The first thing to keep in mind is that no earthly church is perfect, just like no government is perfect. Despite that, Christ still calls Christians to submit to their churches and citizens to their governments (Rom. 13:1). It seems that God has his purposes in calling humans to submit to other imperfect humans. Primarily, of course, a Christian should submit to the local church because of his ultimate submission to the Scriptures. Neither the church nor any of its representatives has ultimate authority; Christ and his Word alone do. Just as Peter and John told the Jewish authorities that they must listen to God rather than men (Acts 4:19), so a Christian’s conscience is ultimately bound to God and no other with regard to life in the church. “True elders,” says Alexander Strauch, 'do not command the consciences of their brethren, but appe...

  "In our own day, we have people who teach riot and rebellion in the name of Christ!  They would have us believe that the Christian thing to do is to disobey the law, rebel against the authorities, and permit every man to do that which is right in his own eyes.  Paul refuted this position in this chapter by explaining four reasons why the Christian must be in subjection to the laws of the State. ...Even though we cannot always respect the man in office, we must respect the office, for government was ordained by God. ...a Christian citizen ought to be the best citizen. Christians may not always agree on politics or parties, but they can all agree on their attitude toward human government. Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 556-558.

  To submit is to recognize one’s subordinate place in a hierarchy established by God . It is to acknowledge that certain institutions or people have been placed over us and have the right to our respect and deference. In addition to rulers (see also Titus 3:1), Paul also calls on believers to submit to their spiritual leaders (1 Cor. 16:16) and even to one another (Eph. 5:21; i.e., in the ways Paul outlines in 5:22–6:9). Christian slaves are to submit to their masters (Titus 2:9), Christian prophets to other prophets (1 Cor. 14:32), and Christian wives to their husbands (1 Cor. 14:35 [?]; Eph. 5:24; Col. 3:18; Titus 2:5). In each case, one person is to recognize the rightful leadership role that another human being has in his or her life. But implicit always in the idea of submission is the need to recognize that God is at the pinnacle of any hierarchy. While not always explicit, Paul assumes that one’s ultimate submission must be to God and that no human being can ever stand as t...

  Pilate had authority in Christ’s trial. He could decide as he wished. He decided wrongly, but he had authority to make that decision even if it was wrong. This is because his authority was from God, and Jesus did not suggest that it be wrested from him even because he had made so great an error as condemning the Son of God.  If nothing else, the example of Jesus before Pilate shows us that for Christians revolution for the sake of revolution alone (“I would rather be king than you”) is wrong. Indeed, instead of being revolutionaries, Christians are obligated to be the very best citizens possible. We should obey speed limits, pay our taxes honestly, vote in elections, and in all other respects respond with respect and compliance to those who are over us. James Montgomery Boice, Romans: The New Humanity, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991–), 1645.

  The early Christians did not arrive at the doctrine of the Trinity by theological speculation. Like the gospel itself, the New Testament brings to clear expression that revelation of the Trinity that was more obscurely present all along in the Old Testament. Jesus is the Son who existed with the Father before the ages and was made human “when the set time had fully come” (Gal 4:4; cf. Rom 1:1–5).  With intentional echoes of Genesis 1, John 1 begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (vv. 1–2). Here the Son is distinct from the Father. There are two persons, yet the Son is identified as God along with the Father. He is “the one and only Son, who came from the Father” (v. 14) and “is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father” (v. 18).  Paul follows the same formula. Jesus Christ is “the image of the invisible God. . . . For in him all things were created: things in heaven and...

  James Montgomery Boice comments on Romans 16 v 1-2 The bottom line is that the text itself is not decisive, and a judgment on this question must be made on other grounds. In my judgment, based on 1 Timothy 2:12, there are two limitations placed on the function of women in the church: (1) an authoritative teaching position and (2) an authoritative disciplining position. Those seem to me to be restricted to male leaders, functioning together in what the Presbyterian tradition calls a session. But aside from that restriction there is no office or service in the church in which women may not perform. Again I quote Barnhouse:   What we owe to [women] in the Sunday school and in the work among women, is shown by the devotion to the Lord of those whom he has called to direct his work. We remember that a group of women followed the Lord Jesus Christ when he was here on earth, for we read that, in addition to the twelve, there were “certain women which had been healed of evil spirit...